Middle school students will be part of Healthy Foods, Local Farms Conference

Register now for the Sierra Club’s 11th Annual Healthy Foods, Local Farms Conference, which will be held Sept. 24-25  at  Spalding University in Louisville. This year’s theme is “A Climate for Change.” Speakers will include:

The Rethinkers, a group of mostly middle-school-aged students from New Orleans, who came together to rethink and rebuild their… »

Literary contest open to poetry, fiction and nonfiction

The 2010 New Southerner Literary Contest is open to previously unpublished poetry, fiction and nonfiction from April 1 through October 1. Although the contest theme is open, we are especially interested in work that relates to our mission, which is promoting self-sufficiency, environmental stewardship and local economies. We are also interested in works by writers… »

Farmers, teachers and concerned eaters to convene at food-focused conference

The Sierra Club’s 11th Annual Healthy Foods, Local Farms Conference will be held Sept. 24-25 in Louisville. There are three main events, and participants must register separately for each.
A free pre-conference event will take place Sept. 24; details will be announced soon. A “Harvest Party” will be held on the evening of Sept. 24 and… »

Must We Mow?

FROM THE EDITOR
My neighbors say nothing about the hip-high fleabane in our yard because they can’t see it. The gravel driveway dips from the road, and the shagbark hickories and brambles that surround our house help to camouflage the oasis of wildflowers that the family next door might consider unsightly weeds.
My husband, son and… »

Street party and concert set for second year to raise awareness of mountaintop removal

By BOBBI BUCHANAN
Louisville.VisitSouth.com
Louisville’s independent retailers will join Kentuckians for the Commonwealth to host a special street party and concert on Bardstown Road at Longest Avenue.
The second annual Louisville Loves Mountains Festival will be held Friday, May 21, from 4 to 10 p.m. and will feature music by Daniel Martin Moore, the… »

Ecologically friendly building teaches about saving energy

By CHARLIE WHITE
The Courier-Journal
Ramsey Middle School on Gellhaus Lane off Billtown Road has been saving the school district more than $1,000 a month on natural gas and electricity since it opened last school year.
The 130,000-square-foot, two-story building was constructed with several ecologically friendly features that contribute to the savings.
School district officials… »

Unplugged and Lovin’ It

FROM THE EDITOR
As a kid I looked forward to tornado season in Kentucky. Every spring brought the promise of stormy weather and, with it, the likelihood of losing our lights for an evening.
Nothing beat the thrill of watching those dark, ominous clouds roil in the western skies and hearing thunder crack so loud it… »

Critically acclaimed Kentucky duo to perform at Brown Theatre

By BOBBI BUCHANAN
Louisville.VisitSouth.com

For a taste of Kentucky’s varied and distinct music, mark your calendar for Friday, Feb. 26, when critically acclaimed natives Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore will take the stage at the Brown Theatre in Louisville.
The duo will be performing from their new album, Dear Companion, produced by another Kentucky native, Jim James… »

Solar in Kentucky? 1970s house shows it works

By TOM EBLEN
Lexington Herald-Leader
Richard Levine has heard all of the arguments about why solar energy won’t work in Kentucky. And he has been defying them for three decades.
Levine, a University of Kentucky architecture professor, designed and built one of the nation’s first solar homes on 32 acres he bought in 1974 near Raven Run Nature… »

Making Manna

FROM THE EDITOR
One of the biggest thrills of my elementary school years was the day our first-grade class made butter. We learned about the tools and ingredients necessary for this task from a smiling, sturdy woman, invited for the afternoon by our young teacher, Mrs. Lawson. I remember, in particular, the small wooden churn… »