Highland Park will host Greentown: The Future of Community, an experience designed to promote sustainability, on October 18 and 19 at The Art Center. I will be moderating a panel on Clean Energy at 3:30 on October 19. The event will bring together business owners, municipal staff and community members to learn, create a dialogue and develop actionable ways to promote healthy living, walking and biking, downtown development, arts and culture, waste reduction and more. For more information or to register, go to www.greentownconference.com.

On October 17 there will be a screening of the film Waste Land at Renaissance Place Theatre in Highland Park at 7 pm as part of Greentown. I saw Waste Land three years ago at the Mountain Film Festival, and highly recommend it. Filmed over nearly three years, “Waste Land” follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. The film is the story of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit, as it follows an eclectic band of “catadores”—self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Directed by Lucy Walker (Devil’s Playground, Blindsight and Countdown to Zero), Wasteland won a Sundance Festival Best World Cinema Documentary award. Consider purchasing tickets in advance, as this film is likely to sell out. Tickets can be purchsed at: https://tickets.landmarktheatres.com/Ticketing.aspx?TheatreID=257&MovieID=14163&ShowDate=10/17/2012&ScheduleID=56665.

We are currently gathering signatures of registered voters in Highland Park in order to meet the legal requirement to put Kim’s name on the ballot for the April 2013 election.  If you would like to help circulate petitions, or want someone to come by your home so that you can sign a petition, please fill out the form on the Contact Page.  We will be collecting signatures through early November.