Today is the last day to submit a public comment to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources urging them not to downgrade protections for more than 400 stream segments. Click the link for background and information on submitting a comment.

Thanks to favorable spring weather, the downtown Des Moines farmer’s market will open for the season tomorrow morning. Local farmers have plenty of produce ready for market now, and I’m looking forward to fresh spring greens.

Also on May 1, the three Republican candidates for governor debate for the second time. The Iowa Broadcast News Association is sponsoring the debate. You can watch live at 3:30 pm on IPTV WORLD (statewide on IPTV.3 or Mediacom channel 119). I’ll be watching the rebroadcast on Iowa Public Television Saturday night at 8 p.m.

Any fans of the Huffington Post should consider coming to hear Arianna Huffington speak at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines next Tuesday.

Follow me after the jump for details on those and many other events taking place in the next week and a half. If you know of other events I’ve left out, please post a comment or e-mail me (desmoinesdem AT yahoo.com). Democratic candidates, please put me to your press lists so I can add your public events to my calendar.

Congratulations are in order to Sarah Brown Wessling, an English teacher for Johnston High School who received the National Teacher of the Year award yesterday. Lynda Waddington has more here about Brown Wessling and the award.

UPDATE: I was sad to learn that “the real dean of American journalism” is retiring. From Iowa CCI:

Friday, April 30, 2010, Des Moines, Iowa — Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI) will be the focus of a twenty-minute segment during the final broadcast of the national television news program Bill Moyers Journal tonight at 9pm on Iowa Public Television. The show will focus on the power of organized people standing up to organized money (corporate power) and will feature interviews and protest footage with Iowa CCI members and leaders.

Bill Moyers Journal is a nationally broadcast, weekly public affairs series that features interviews and news analysis on a wide range of subjects, including politics, arts and culture, the media, the economy and issues facing democracy. Tonight will be Moyers’ last broadcast before retiring after decades as an award-winning television news journalist.

Friday, April 30:

Please take five minutes to submit a public comment to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources about protecting water quality in Iowa streams.

Iowa Rivers Revival is holding its annual conference:

Beyond the River Banks: Celebrating Iowa’s Cedar Valley – April 30-May 2, 2010

The Iowa Cedar Valley will be the focus during Iowa Rivers Revival’s 5th annual conference in Cedar Falls and Waterloo April 30 – May 2. The conference theme, Beyond the River Banks: Celebrating Iowa’s Cedar Valley emphasizes a watershed approach that recognizes that rivers and streams need space to expand and recede, coexisting in harmony with the communities and habitats they shape.  The floods of 2008 and threats of future flooding have many Iowans talking about a new vision for Iowa’s waterways to ensure the safety of river communities and to preserve and enhance Iowa’s natural heritage.  Registrations received after April 23rd are an additional $10.  Early registrations help keep costs down so we can plan and organize materials and meals accordingly.  Please let us know if you are coming.

FEATURES:  2010 Iowa Motion Picture Association award winning film and soundtrack:  Troubled Waters(produced by the Iowa Learning Farm); Connie Mutel (author Emerald Horizon and editor of A Watershed Year: Anatomy of the Floods of 2008; and Lieutenant General Ron Dardis, Executive Director of Rebuild Iowa Office.

Friday: 4:30-6:30; The Brown Bottle, 1111 Center St, Cedar Falls

Saturday: Black Hawk County Conservation Board, Airline Community Rm, 1346 West Airline Hwy in Waterloo

Sunday: George Wyth State Park

Agenda • On-line Registration (deadline Apr 23) • Registration (deadline Apr 23) • Sponsorship Brochure (deadline Apr 20)- sponsorships can be made on-line at Paypal.com to: rlehman@iowarivers.org • Exhibit Application • River Town of the Year Application • Lodging (block room deadline Apr 23)

From the Iowa Environmental Council:

The next Cedar River Watershed Coalition meeting will be on Friday, April 30, from 1-4 p.m., at the Center for Energy and Environmental Education at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.  The purpose of the Cedar River Watershed Coalition is to organize and advocate for practices and policies (federal, state, and local) that will reduce future flood damage and improve water quality.

The April 30 meeting will include:

Federal Program Presentations – Learn what our federal agencies are doing that can help improve the Cedar River Watershed.  Representatives of the Natural Resources Conservation Services, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Geological Survey, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, USDA Rural Development, and USDA Farm Services have been invited to provide an overview of their agencies’ programs.

Congressional Delegation Panel – What advice and suggestions do our staff people for our Congressional Representatives and Senators have for our Coalition?  Representatives of Senators Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin and Congressmen Bruce Braley, Tom Latham, and Dave Loebsack have been invited.

State Legislative and Agency Update – A brief update on policy and funding initiatives from the State of Iowa to help improve watershed management that could be used in the Cedar River Watershed.

Coalition Discussion and Networking – What information do you or your organization want to share with others in the Cedar River Watershed?  What help do you or your organization need from the Coalition to improve our watershed?  What can we do to implement practices and policies to reduce flood damage and improve water quality?

Following the meeting, the Iowa River Revival is having a reception from 4:30 to 6:30 at The Brown Bottle, 1111 Center St, in Cedar Falls, to kick off its 5th Annual state conference which runs from April 30 to May 2.  For more information, please visit www.iowarivers.org.

I hope you can join me for this meeting in Cedar Falls on April 30.  If you are planning to attend, please let Barbara Payton at the Center for Energy and Environmental Education know at 319-273-2573 or by email at barbara.payton@uni.edu.  Thank you.

It’s the last day to register at a discounted rate for Whiterock Conservancy’s Yoga Under the Oaks event, June 18-20. Click here for more information and the schedule.

It’s the last day to submit public comments to the Iowa DNR on protecting more than 400 stream segments.

There’s a fundraiser for Bob Krause’s U.S. Senate campaign from 7pm to 8pm at the Barney Murphy Residence in Dunlap. More details at www.krauseforiowa.com.

Saturday, May 1:

The farmer’s market opens in downtown Des Moines.

Republican candidates for governor debate at 3:30. Iowa Public Television will stream live and rebroadcast the debate at 8 pm.

Tom Fiegen will attend the Clayton County Democrats Candidate Meet & Greet, Johnson’s Reception Hall, 916 High Street NE, 5:30 – 8:00 p.m., Elkader.

ACLU of Iowa is holding its Annual Dinner in Iowa City. ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero will give the keynote, and the plaintiffs in the Varnum v Brien case will win the annual award. The event will be at the University Athletic Club, with a reception at 5:30 and dinner and the program to follow at 7:00. For reservations or information, visit www.aclu-ia.org or call (515) 243-3576 (x 13).

Sunday, May 2:

From the Iowa Environmental Council newsletter:

An Afternoon with the Author: Fred Kirschenmann

May 2, Ames

Please join us Sunday, 2 p.m., Farwell T. Brown Auditorium, Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Avenue, for a reading by Leopold Center Distinguished Fellow Fred Kirschenmann from his newest book, Cultivating an Ecological Conscience: Essays from a Farmer Philosopher (University Press of Kentucky 2010). The book is a collection of Kirschenmann’s writings on farming, philosophy and sustainability over a 30-year journey toward what has been called a new agrarianism. Kirschenmann splits his time among Iowa, his family’s North Dakota organic farm and New York, where he is President of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. Sponsors: Ames Public Library and the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.

Iowa Wildflower Week Events

May 2-8, events statewide

This year marks the first annual week to promote and celebrate the state’s native wildflowers, with events statewide. For more details, visit the Iowa Native Plant Society website. On May 8, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation will host a hike at Wildin Prairie, 80 acres of remnant and restored prairie with 16 small potholes. The hike will be easy, but bring rubber boots for wet conditions at the site.  For more information about the hike, visit INHF’s website at http://www.inhf.org or contact Ann Robinson at 515-288-1846.

Tuesday, May 4:

Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, is coming to Des Moines. The dinner event is sold out, but you can still buy tickets to a 5 pm reception ($50 to benefit Planned Parenthood Voters of Iowa PAC) and to her keynote address at Hoyt Sherman at 7:30 pm ($40 to benefit Planned Parenthood of the Heartland). Call (515) 235-0406 for more information.

Secretary of State Mike Mauro is kicking off his re-election campaign with a tour:

Des Moines Kickoff Event

   * Date: Tuesday May 4

   * Time: 9:00 am

   * Location: State Capitol, West Steps

   * Backup Location: Capitol Rotunda, west side (by the USS Iowa model)

Cedar Rapids Kickoff Event

   * Date: Tuesday May 4

   * Time: 12:45 pm

   * Location: Blue Strawberry – 118 2nd Street SE in Cedar Rapids

Davenport Kickoff Event

   * Date: Tuesday May 4

   * Time: 3:00 pm

   * Location: United Neighbors – 808 Harrison Street in Davenport

The Center on Sustainable Communities is organizing a Day of Sustainability in Davenport:

The Davenport Police Department’s facility is a fitting host for COSC’s Day of Sustainability. Designed by Neumann Monson Architects, the structure features a green roof and rain gardens. RDG Planning & Design and Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship teach about sustainable benefits of green roofs and best practices for reducing runoff, improving water quality and enhancing overall quality of life for both humans and ecosystems alike.

SCHEDULE

9:00 am – 12:00pm

Integrating Sustainable Storm Water Management Systems

12:00pm

Free networking lunch

1:00pm

Green Roofs in an Urban Environment

These Re-Building a Sustainable Iowaworkshops are free and a networking lunch is also provided. Registration is required. Click here for more information.

From I’M for Iowa:

May 4 – Moving to a World Without Nuclear Weapons (Des Moines)

Physicians for Social Responsibility & Catholic Peace Ministry present this event at Des Moines University, Lecture Hall #2, 3200 Grand Ave from 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm. A pizza lunch will be provided.May 8 – Kickoff of Renewable Energy Training Series (Cedar Rapids) Workshops include introductory classes and site assessor training in Solar Photovoltaics (PV), Solar Hot Water (Solar Thermal), and Small Wind Systems. Classes and will be held every month through October. For details contact (319) 338-1076.

Wednesday, May 5:

Secretary of State Mauro’s re-election kickoff tour continues:

Sioux City Kickoff Event

   * Date: Wednesday May 5

   * Time: 10:30 am

   * Location: Sioux City Public Library, Gleeson Room – 529 Pierce Street in Sioux City

Council Bluffs Kickoff Event

   * Date: Wednesday May 5

   * Time: 1:30 pm

   * Location: Barley’s – 114 West Broadway in Council Bluffs

Thursday, May 6:

From the Iowa Environmental Council newsletter:

The University of Northern Iowa is pleased to announce the 2010 Solar Olympics! The event will be held on May 6 at the Center for Energy and Environmental Education in Cedar Falls and will include three events: mini solar car racing, and a solar art and solar oven competition. The CEEE has hosted solar races every May for several years, and the ovens and art are new this year. If you are unable to travel to Cedar Falls, we may be able to come to you and arrange a race for your area, so contact us today! The event is open to all students grades 4-9. More information on the events, location, and how to borrow mini solar car kits can be found at www.ceee.uni.edu, click “FREE” under the “Education” dropdown menu or email jrsolarsprint@uni.edu.

Saturday, May 8:

From I-RENEW:

Beginning May 8th, 2010, I-Renew will proudly kick off our much anticipated Renewable Energy Training Series held in conjunction with the Midwest Renewable Energy Association. These workshops will include introductory classes and site assessor training in Solar Photovoltaics (PV), Solar Hot Water (Solar Thermal), and Small Wind Systems. Classes will be held every month through October at Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids, IA. They offer a convenient local venue to attend MREA’s gold standard training classes and are a fantastic way to gain knowledge and experience within the growing renewable energy field.

As the market grows for renewable energy, certification in these areas will distinguish professionals opening up many more opportunities with renewable energy consulting.  This is a great opportunity to get in to the industry at the ground level.

Space is limited, so register today!  REGISTER NOW