Tomorrow night: Learn how to go from lawn to Native-Plant Rain Garden

Image by eXtension.org: Gardens, Lawns, and Landscapes via FlickrThursday, September 22nd, 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. 

Program:  From Lawn to Native Plant Rain Garden 

Straub Environmental Learning Center 

For the past 11 years, Aislinn Adams has gradually converted her shady front yard in downtown Salem from a scrubby lawn to a verdant native plant wildlife garden that hosts approximately 60 native species. The most recent addition is a rain garden that adds new native wetland species to the mix.  

A member of the Willamette Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Oregon, Aislinn will describe how she transformed her yard.   The talk, which will be offered at the Straub Environmental Learning Center, 1320 A St. NE, next to Olinger Pool, is free and open to the public.  

For more information, contact Jean Rover at 503-364-8097 or John Savage at 503-399-8615.

  

Alexandra Ninneman, Manager 

Friends of Straub Environmental Learning Center 

Mailing Address: PO Box 12363 Salem, OR 97309 

Physical Address: 1320 A Street NE, Salem, OR 97301 

Phone: (503) 391-4145 

www.fselc.org

Little free libraries

(h/t to Treehugger via Sam Smith's Progressive Review)

Idea Mill: Little free libraries

 

Tree Hugger - Andrew Carnegie built an impressive 2,509 libraries around the turn of the 20th century. Now Rick Brooks and Todd Bol are on a mission to top his total with their two-foot by two-foot Little Free Libraries, reports Michael Kelley in Library Journal.

The diminutive, birdhouse-like libraries, which Brooks and Bol began installing in Hudson and Madison, Wisconsin, in 2009, are typically made of wood and Plexiglas and are designed to hold about 20 books for community members to borrow and enjoy. Each Little Free Library runs on the honor system, displaying a sign that asks patrons to Take a Book, Leave a Book. "Everybody asks, 'Aren't they going to steal the books?'" Brooks told Kelley. "But you can't steal a free book."

Fifty libraries have been built so far, with 30 more underway and plans to expand into Chicago, Long Island, and elsewhere. Brooks and Bol have a long way to go to reach their goal of 2,510 libraries, but they're digging the ride. "At a personal, human level, it's very thrilling how it excites people," Bol shared with Kelley. "But on a larger plane, it's such a nice spark for literacy, art, and community all at once."

Littervertising update: Phone book weasels routed in court in Seattle (Jack Bog's Blog)

Salem should follow in these footsteps (h/t to bojack.org)

Salem's best pizza, Church St. Pizza, now offers delivery!

Church St. Pizza now delivers! Due to customer inquiries, we have decided to offer delivery service during all business hours. Please note that our weekly specials on Tuesday and Saturday apply only to dine in and take out and not delivery. Thank you to our customers for your continued support! Tuesday thru Friday 11 AM - 2 PM lunch 5 PM - 8 PM dinner Saturday      11 AM - 8 PM Fall pizzas are coming soon including the new and improved potato and bacon as well as some tasty new additions! Church St. Pizza, 324 Church St. N.E. Salem, Oregon 97301 (503) 363-4638

Shameless Commerce Division: Help keep LOVESalem HQ Yardwork Free

Just posted this on Craigslist -- $150 takes it ($200 new):

Click on photo to see the Craigslist ad

Spinning a little history the other way

This is a good antidote to some of the irrational nonsense spun by the Tea Party crowds, which is very similar to the nonsense spun by the Religious Right (it's positively astounding how absolutely, unalterably certain they are that God hates exactly the same people that they personally hate and fear).

Tea Party types typically pick from among the Founders' many writings and statements to justify whatever policy position they personally adhere to, ignoring that "the Founders" were themselves quite divided on nearly all important questions. But, just as the Tea-flavored Kool-Aid drinkers get it wrong most of the time, so too do those who ignore the positions of the Anti-Federalists (probably history's most important example of how important naming is to having any chance of winning a political debate).

I understand these things fill up fast, so you might want to get there early if you want a seat.
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Willamette University’s U Think, a popular pub series featuring talks and discussions with university professors, will move to the second Wednesday of each month beginning Sept. 14. History professor Seth Cotlar will discuss the historical accuracy of Tea Party claims about America’s founders.

Beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Brown's Towne Lounge, the series features topics from the sciences and humanities. No background knowledge is necessary, and a question and answer session follows each presentation.

The venue is open to adults 21 and over, and it is in the heart of downtown Salem at 189 Liberty St. NE. Willamette U Think is free, so arrive early to eat, drink and ensure you get a seat.

The dead horse beating will continue some more

What would it take to cause Salem city officials to stop squandering money on a failed business model that will never be well again?

Memo
From: the flying public
To: Salem
Re: Salem airport

We're just not that into you. Now stop pretending that we need commercial service, privatize McNary Field so that it produces some tax revenue instead of wasting it, and get on with planning for transporting people and things in the new high-cost energy world.

For those in Portland next Monday afternoon/evening:

Image via WikipediaHead over to the White Stag block for an important talk about what is perhaps the most insidious, scary part of pumping millions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere:  It makes the oceans into big vats of carbonic acid, acid that eats at the base of the food chain at the most vulnerable point.

Ocean Acidification Event in Portland

Learn more about our "other" carbon problem.

Care about the Pacific Northwest’s oceans? Worried our fossil-fuel addiction is jeopardizing our marine and shellfish industries? Learn more about ocean acidification in the Northwest at E2′s event, the Acid Test: Ocean Acidification and the Pacific Northwest.

Speakers will include Washington Representative Brian Baird, NRDC oceans attorney Leila Monroe, and commercial fisherman Amy Grondin. E2 will also screen NRDC’s new short film, Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification.

Where: White Stag Block, University of Oregon – Portland
When: Monday, September 12, 6:00-8:00 PM.

More info.
It’ll be a great, informative event about the Northwest’s “other” carbon problem.

Salem Progressive Film Series resumes with a bang

Another fine bit of Salem is the Salem Progressive Film Series, chiefly shepherded by the tireless Cindy Kimball. Launches another great year of important films with this gem tomorrow night:

Thursday, September 8, 2011
7 PM

The mining & burning of coal is at the epicenter of America’s struggle to balance its energy needs with environmental concerns. The BIG COAL industry detonates the explosive power of a Hiroshima bomb each & every week, shredding timeless landscape & leaving devastated communities & poisoned water. Oregon is at a turning point with the upcoming closure of the Boardman Coal Burning Plant, with opportunities for creating reliable, renewable sources of energy that will bring economic improvement, cleaner air and water. Stars Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Be there Wednesday evening

A very powerful demonstration and special feature for this upcoming First Wednesday -- a valuable reminder that those of us who struggle with keeping our weight down are not the only or most important people who struggle with food issues.