Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Flyer available - PLEASE POST!!

The flyer for our Jan. 29 event is now available for your download and printing. Please click on the thumbnail to get a 8.5 x 11 version of the flyer, print it (preferably on the back of something you don't need anymore (like the tons of one sided colored-paper flyers the school district sends out at the start of every school year!))

Please post far and wide - school, store, laundro, car window, bicycle, work, dog, etc.

Updated list of tablers

Update on tablers for the Jan. 29 State of the Union:

[Updated 1/28/10] - Confirmed so far:
* American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin
* AMOS
* Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin
* Climate Commitment Projects at Western Technical College
* Cornucopia Institute
* CouleeCap Job and Business Development
* Coulee Partners for Sustainability
* Coulee Region Sierra Club
* La Crosse Area Freethought Society
* La Crosse City/County Strategic Plan for Sustainability
* LGBT Resource Center for the Seven Rivers Region
* NOW
* Ramona Gonzalez for Court of Appeals
* La Crosse Area Planning Committee
* La Crosse Interfaith Justice and Peace Network
* Lynnwood Farm and CSA
* Mississippi Valley Conservancy
* The Root Note
* Small Family CSA
* Three Rivers Waldorf School
* United Nations Association - La Crosse Contact Group
* UW-L Progressives
* WISPIRG

(invited/still working on)
* High school student groups
* Active Living La Crescent
* many more - email couleeprogressive@hotmail.com for table info or to sign up!

We HAVE a Speaker!

Guy Wolf's done it again! We have a speaker for our Coulee Progressives State of the Union on Friday, January 29! (Remember - for table space, email couleeprogressive@hotmail.com!)

DAVID MORRIS, Vice President, Institute for Self-Reliance (Minneapolis, MN)

For more than three decades David Morris has been one of the nation’s leading proponents for humanly-scaled, community-based economic and political systems as a prolific writer, speaker and advocate who has provided the basis for an extraordinary array of path-breaking policy initiatives. An economist by training with stellar academic credentials, David is a syndicated columnist and author of more than 200 books and articles on rural communities, energy and sustainability.

He co-founded the Minneapolis and Washington, D.C.- based Institute for local Self-Reliance in 1974 and currently serves as its Vice-President and director of its New Rules Project. The Institute’s mission is to identify public policies that promote strong, locally owned and environmentally sound economies and to assist communities to move in that direction.

Bill Moyers calls him "one of the nation's most innovative thinkers" and US Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota described him as "one of the nation's leading experts on sustainable development."

Morris holds a PhD. from Union Graduate School (1976), an MA in Political Science / Latin American Studies from the University of Florida, and a BA in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.

His articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and the Smithsonian magazine. He appears regularly on TV and radio, including All Things Considered, NBC’s TODAY Show, The O’Reilly Factor, and CNN Financial News. The Utne Reader listed him as one of the top 100 visionaries in America. President Clinton's Secretary of Energy appointed him to a congressionally created advisory committee to the DOE and USDA and President Bush's Secretary of
Energy reappointed him.

The Institute for Local Self Reliance (ILSR) is a small organization with a remarkable track record for breaking new ground in promoting sustainable communities. In 1978 RAIN magazine described ILSR as an organization that "puts hard numbers on soft dreams".

ILSR was the first to systematically apply the concept of local self-reliance to urban areas. In 1980 ILSR was the first to investigate the energy conservation and solar energy potential for a major city (Baltimore) and was one of the first groups to formally testify before a utility regulatory commission in favor of investing in energy conservation as a cheaper alternative to new energy supplies.

http://www.ilsr.org/

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Plastics and CP SOTU Update

The city is posed to approve plastic recycling in La Crosse. This is a major step - for decades, the argument has been that the city's contract for waste to the "waste to energy" plant required as much burnable waste as possible to remain in the stream. However, with stricter pollution controls required and apparently a reduced plastic waste stream (where ARE all those water bottles going??!!), more emphasis on recycling would be a good thing.

However, more emphasis on not manufacturing/purchasing/disposing of plastics would be a better thing.

--------------------

Update on tablers for the Jan. 29 State of the Union:

[Updated 1/19/10] - Confirmed so far:
> La Crosse Area Freethought Society
> LGBT Resource Center for the Seven Rivers Region
> Climate Commitment Projects at Western Technical College
> American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin
> Ramona Gonzalez for Court of Appeals
> UW-L Progressives
> Lynnwood Farm and CSA
> Small Family CSA
> Three Rivers Waldorf School
> Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin
> La Crosse Interfaith Justice and Peace Network
> The Root Note
> Coulee Partners for Sustainability
> La Crosse Area Planning Committee
> CouleeCap Job and Business Development

(invited/still working on)
* High school student groups
* Coulee Region Sierra Club
* Active Living La Crescent
* many more - email couleeprogressive@hotmail.com for table info or to sign up!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Tom Barret in La Crosse Monday

Gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett will be in La Crosse on Monday.

Monday, January 18th
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
City Brewery Hospitality Center
1111 3rd Street South
La Crosse


All Contributions Gratefully Accepted

For more information regarding sponsoring this event, please contact Kelsey at (608) 432-5597 or kelsey[@]barrettforwisconsin.com

or

Please send contributions to:
Barrett for Wisconsin
PO Box 510796
Milwaukee, WI 53203

or online.


State election law allows individuals to contribute up to $10,000 per year, corporate checks are not accepted. Contributions to Barrett for Wisconsin are not tax deductible.

Friday, January 08, 2010

6th Annual State of the Union - It's up to US! - updated

Join the local progressive community to share ideas, learn about what needs work and energize for the new year!

FRIDAY, JANUARY 29 from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the Concordia Ballroom, 1129 La Crosse Street, La Crosse, Wisconsin


[Update - UW-L Progressives are screening the new film "RETHINK AFGHANISTAN" at 3 p.m. on this day - see the film website to sign up and for more info.]

We expect about 30 to 40 tablers at our ACTIVIST FAIR where you can sign up for a cause, debate a strategy or share an idea.

[Updated 1/12/10) - Confirmed so far:
> La Crosse Area Freethought Society
> LGBT Resource Center for the Seven Rivers Region
> Climate Commitment Projects at Western Technical College
> American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin
> Ramona Gonzalez for Court of Appeals
> UW-L Progressives
> Lynnwood Farm and CSA
> Small Family CSA
> La Crosse Interfaith Justice and Peace Network

watch for more updates!

A variety of soups and breads plus plates and utensils will be provided at our COMMUNITY POTLUCK but if you can bring a fruit or appetizer or dessert to share, that would be great! Cash bar.

Our PROGRAM will include the annual Coulee Progressives Year in Review and we hope to have a speaker, too.

ADMISSION is by sliding scale fee ($2 to $20). No one will be turned away for lack of funds, but remember, you'll get free food and a warm place to hang out for a few hours on a cold January night!

If you can bring a NON-PERISHABLE FOOD ITEM for area food pantries, we will gladly accept and deliver it.

Sponsored by Coulee Region Progressives, UW-L Progressives and UW-L Native American Students Association.

For more info about securing a table space for your group, organization or cause, please email couleeprogressive@hotmail.com or call 608 788-4039.

See you there!