Walker Art Center Turns 75!

A city powered by renewal energy!

Congratulations to Burlington Vermont for being the first city in the United States to be totally powered by renewal energy sources.  You can hear/read about their accomplishment on a PBS broadcast, Running on renewable energy, Burlington, Vermont powers green movement forward.
In addition to being good for the environment, it is also good for their financial bottom line. They anticipate saving 20 million dollars over the next two decades.  

Mallards in the snow

Afternoon snow in the park

Wake up call regarding climate change in Minnesota

A report on Minnesota Public Radio, "Climate Change in Minnesota: More heat, more big storms", clearly indicated reason to be alarmed at our rapidly warming state and increasingly intense storms.  A few quick take aways:

• This past century the state has warmed two degrees, and in some parts three degrees, with Minnesota winters warming faster than all of the other states.
• The growing season is several weeks longer than it was in the 1970's.
• There is has been an increase of 37 percent in the number of large rainfalls over the past 50 years, with many being the largest on record.

Many might be happy to see our cold winters becoming more mild.  However as the report indicates, this also dramatically impacts the wildlife, trees and plants which are native to this region. 

Computers are no panacea for education

Computers and internet access alone will not solve the challenge of successfully educating all of our nation's children.  A commentary, "A computer for every student? It's backfiring." in the StarTribune by Susan Pinker suggests that computers without quality educational software and or teachers who know how to integrate them into their lesson plans can do more harm than good.  Much like televisions, the distraction posed by computers is tremendous.  That said, the tremendous access to quality information in our "information age" is staggering. As in all things, moderation.

Luminary Loppet

Yesterday evening I visited the Luminary Loppet at Lake of the Isles, in South Minneapolis. What a wonderful job by The Loppet Foundation and volunteers to construct a beautiful Luminary Loppet.  

I spoke with the young man responsible for managing the construction of many of the taller luminaries.  He was amazed at the level of volunteer support that helped to make the 1,200 luminaries.