Message from Ed Fallon

By Ed Fallon

After a balmy start to the New Year, February has blessed us with deliciously cold weather.  â€śReal winter,” as I like to call it.  Lately, I’ve even had to alter my practice of biking to meetings.  Yet whenever possible, I’ve been walking or busing – slower, but a more prudent choice on days when the temperature and wind chill combine to grow tiny icicles on exposed facial hair.  On such days, my stubborn mind refuses to take global warming seriously.  But sitting by the fire reading news reports about melting glaciers is enough to reaffirm the reality of climate change, and to deepen my personal commitment to working for conservation and sustainability.

Perhaps as evidence of the intrepid qualities of upper-Midwesterners – who annually face these long, dark nights and frigid, snowy days in stoic fashion – the social and political calendar appears busier than I’ve seen it for some time.

So, this update will give readers a sampling of the events and initiatives that Lynn and I will be attending and/or promoting.  As always, we’re interested in your feedback, and would love to hear about the good work you and your community are tackling.


DAVENPORT DEMOCRATS DINING DELIGHT

Saturday, February 17, the Scott County Democratic Party hosts its annual Red, White and Blue Banquet.  It’s in the Starlite Ballroom at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, 2815 W. Locust Street in Davenport.  â€śCocktails” are at 5:30 p.m. with dinner to follow at 6:30.  Featured speakers include Bruce Braley, John Edwards, Joe Biden and Christy Vilsack.  Tickets are either $30 or $50, depending on where you want to sit.  I’ve been to this event two or three times and can attest that these river folk know how to throw a good party.  Contact Audrey Linville at (563) 324-7130.


JOHN EDWARDS IN DUBUQUE

Come in from the cold and join the former U.S. Senator and current presidential candidate for a town hall forum to discuss his proposal for universal health care on Sunday, February 18, at 1:00 p.m.  It’ll be in the Grand River Center at 500 Bell Street in Dubuque.  Contact the Edwards campaign headquarters at (515) 288-0766.


SUSTAINABLE LIVING, PART ONE

This deal sounds like a blast.  It’s the third annual “Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape” symposium, described in promotional material as “a blend of creative writing, the arts and environmentalism.”  The three-day event features ongoing workshops, a local-foods potluck, music, keynote address by Bill McKibben and much more.  It opens on Sunday, February 18, at 4:00 p.m. with a barn dance at Collegiate United Methodist Church, 130 S. Sheldon Ave in Ames.  If you want a really good laugh, know that I plan to personally submit myself to the rigors of the dance floor.  If you’d like to do your bit to end global warming as we know it, I’m leaving from Des Moines at 3:00 with room for four more in my van.  For details, see http://www.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2007/feb/wildness.shtml.  
Contact Mary Swander at (515) 294-3373 or mswander@iastate.edu.


SUSTAINABLE LIVING, PART TWO

This one is coming together well in advance.  It’s called “Sustainable Living, Renewable Resources and the Future of Iowa,” and it’s scheduled for October 26 – 28 in Cedar Rapids.  Lynn and I attended a planning meeting this past week, and were impressed with how far the conference has progressed.  Over forty groups are involved, with presenters offering a wide range of expertise.  This event also opens with a big dance – must be the key to sustainable living – and concludes with an inter-faith service on Sunday.  Contact Michael Richard at Soyawax@aol.com.


BIRD-DOGGING 101

Hounding presidential candidates to nail-down their positions on key issues is every Iowan’s God-given right . . . or at least it has been since the first Iowa caucuses were held in 1972.  One group doing a bang-up job of training citizen bird-doggers is Iowans for Sensible Priorities.   They talk about the need for an intelligent federal budget. Imagine!  They want Iowans to encourage presidential candidates to commit to less money for war, more for education, health care, environmental protection, etc.  If Congress is to address the growing slate of domestic needs without driving up taxes on working families, the present allocation of resources must change.  To learn more or to become an ISP bird-dogger, contact Dave Stone at (515) 244-1207 or dave@sensiblepriorities.org .


VOTER-OWNED IOWA CLEAN ELECTIONS (VOICE)

There’s an important sub-committee meeting on Monday, February 19, from 12:00 noon until 1:30 p.m. in Room 19 of the State Capitol building in Des Moines.  Please try to attend! It’d be a great show of grassroots force to pack the room with Iowans who care deeply about getting big money out of politics. You can read the proposed bill on-line by going to http://www.legis.state.ia.us/ and typing “HSB 105” in the upper right hand corner of the page.  And since the legislative schedule is constantly in flux, check with us first thing Monday morning if you plan to attend, just in case something changes.


REPLACING JAN MICKELSON

If you missed my appearance as guest host on the Jan Mickelson Show last Friday, thanks to pod-casting, you can still suffer through a recording of the broadcast.  We covered clean elections, semi-pro wrestling, the deer problem in Cedar Rapids and what it’s like to be a freshman lawmaker with Representative Ako Abdul-Samad.  If you’d like to hear a recording of this epic event, in which I finally get the last word, check out:  http://www.mickelson.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=180853.


COMMUNITY RADIO

I’ve just become aware of a buzz across the state over the possibility of developing locally-owned, community-focused radio.  Apparently, the upcoming availability of licenses is a rare occurrence, and one that has many grassroots community leaders paying close attention and trying to mobilize resources.  If you’d like to learn more about what’s going on, call David Bradley at (319) 627-2954 or e-mail him at dlbcab@hotmail.com and mention “community radio” in the subject line.