There's a lot going on this time of year - we were just talking about how last year it seemed like people really hunkered down in the winter and not much happened. But maybe that's because we were buried.  Either way, there's a lot happening in Spokane so start filling your calendars and making appointments.

When one "friend of DTE" does something in the community it's an event, but when two "friends of DTE" are working on a project, it's a party.  More than that, well, let's just say you don't want to miss this upcoming opportunity - Press Release follows:

Saranac Art Projects and Main Market Co-op presents:
“Learn With Us”
A two-day series of public events taking place in the Saranac Art Projects gallery during the current exhibition titled “Chicken Sh@#: Exploring Urban Ecosystems.” Tobacco plants are blooming, chickens are laying eggs, seeds are sprouting, garbage is composting, and ideas are forming in this most alive and interactive exhibition featuring the work of Gabriel Brown and Rimas K. Simaitis. Amidst this mid-winter bounty, and with the excitement of the soon to open Main Market Co-op, a small series of inspiring events are taking place:
Tuesday, January 19 - 2-3:30pm
Curt Ellis co-creator of the award-winning documentary “King Corn” will join us, and the chickens in the gallery to speak about his new film “Big River”. This film follows up on “King Corn” (where he and a friend conventionally grew one acre of corn), by investigating the environmental impact of the pesticides and fertilizers. A free showing of the film will take place at SCC’s Lair Auditorium that evening 1/19, at 7:30pm.

Wednesday, January 20 7-8pm
Local Workshops “Worm Bin workshop” on indoor composting by Mariah Mckay and “Chickens in the hood” on raising chickens in the city by Bea Lackaff 8-10pm
Film and Discussion “The Power of Community- How Cuba Survived Peak Oil” a project of the Arthur Morgan Institute for Community Solutions

For more information please contact gabrielb@community-minded.org or R.Simaitis@gmail.com or call 509-844-6069

On the web:
Main Market Co-op www.mainmarket.coop
Saranac Art Projects www.saranacartprojects.com
Rimas Simaitis www.rksim.com
Gabriel Brown www.gabrielbrown.net

Going beyond planning.  But first thank you Paul Haeder for bringing this opportunity to our attention, this was the first and only announcement we saw about this. "The Spokane Parks and Recreation Department is currently conducting an ambitious, comprehensive organizational assessment process that varies from past planning efforts. One of the interests of the process is to insure sustainable parks and recreation services for Spokane residents. This assessment process began in 2009 and continues to evolve.

GP RED, the non-profit firm leading the project, will conduct another series of community workshops intended to engage citizen representatives in the next component of the process, Financial Resource Allocation. Three community groups -- Community Assembly, current parks and recreation service users, and city leaders are being asked to participate in two workshops each (90 minutes per workshop, three hour commitment total)." Service Users Workshop I will be scheduled for January 19 from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at the Finch Arboretum Woodland Center. We would appreciate your RSVP by no later than January 13 to Mike Aho at maho@spokaneparks.org or by calling 625-6546 to confirm attendance."  Read more about this here, and sorry about the late notice, but please consider attending if you can.

If you're like us you've heard rumors recently about indoor bike parking downtown (you've probably also heard about the proposed bike lockers to go in the surface parking lot across from the IMDB, but that's another topic for another time).  But about the actual indoor bike parking downtown, OutThere Monthly reported recently that they exist and that you can check them out yourself. As part of its participation in Spokane’s Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) program, The Fernwell Building and the City Ramp Garage are offering indoor bicycle parking in Downtown Spokane available to both Fernwell Building Tenants and the public. The City Ramp Garage is providing a ride-in, secured bicycle storage room in the basement of its Building starting at one dollar per day. To schedule a tour of the new bicycle parking facility, please stop by City Ramp at the corner of 1st and Stevens or contact city ramp manager Lu Gaurdipee at 509.624.1313. The Fernwell Building’s Commute Trip Coordinator, Holly Coleman, is also available to answer at questions and can be reached at 509-624-5664 or hcoleman@fernwell.net.

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