NORTHERN LIGHTS – Local musician and producer Paul Setser recently collaborated with Currents publisher Vince Bushell and two UWM students, Ulrike Galasinski and Angel Howman, to produce “Northern Lights,” a halfhour science fiction radio play written in the late 1940s. In addition to directing the talent, adding sound effects, and editing the audio, Setser also provided the original music throughout the show. It’s available on the Riverwest Currents website as a free MP3 download. Go to riverwestcurrents.org and click on the “Catching the Wooly Bear by its Tale” article link and follow the directions from there.   ARRIVEDERCI ALBANESE’S – Albanese’s on Keefe, a neighborhood institution since 1941, quietly closed on Feb. 15. Michael Vergiels and Jody Kelly took over in June of 2007, expanding the restaurant’s hours to include lunches. Albanese’s in Mequon, 12020 N. River Rd., and Albanese’s Roadhouse, 2301 Bluemound Rd., will remain open.   FOR YOUR APRIL CALENDAR – Mark Mon, April 13 at 7 pm for the DNR Spring Hearings at Nathan Hale High School, 11601 W. Lincoln Ave., West Allis. Give your feedback on propositions affecting wildlife and other environmental issues. For more info watch for an article in the Currents next month, or visit the DNR website and click on “Wisconsin Conservation Congress.”   AND ANOTHER DATE – In the ultimate “think globally act locally” event, circle Sat, April 18 for the Annual Riverwest Earth Day Clean Up. We’ll have garbage bags available and volunteers for special programs. To help organize a clean up on your block, contact Jan at jchristensen@ymcamke. org   LIGHTS OUT! – On Sat,March 28 at 8:30 pm local time, World Wildlife Fund is asking individuals, businesses, governments, and organizations around the world to turn off their lights for one hour – Earth Hour – to make a global statement of concern about climate change and to demonstrate their commitment to finding solutions. So turn ‘em off, Riverwest!   OFF THE GRID GETS GRANT – A Riverwest-based group, Off the Grid,Inc. received a mini-grant to work with OW Holmes School to install a rain garden. The grant was awarded by the Southeast Wisconsin Watersheds Trust and Milwaukee River Basin Partnership. Congrats!   SCHOLARSHIPS FOR PARENTS – A $5,000 scholarship is available from the Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation for an enrolled UW-Milwaukee student who is a parent demonstrating financial need. The scholarship includes access to a life coach who will assess and find support for needs of the student to be successful in school. Application deadline is March 23. More info and applications are available at lifeimpact. uwm.edu or contact Natalie Reinbold, Life Coach/Coordinator, 229.4431 or mycoach@uwm.edu   CALL FOR DESIGNERS – The Urban Aquaculture Center is issuing a call to designers to create their new logo. The winning entry will become the symbol of the organization for years to come on their website, stationary, and any merchandise that may be produced during fund raising. The Urban Aquaculture Center is a nonprofit organization. The winning logo will be selected by a jury of Milwaukee designers and UAC Board Members and will receive a $200 cash prize. Entries must be received by April 30. Email jon@urbanaquaculturecenter.com or mail to Urban Aquaculture Center, 2739 N. Prospect Ave., Milwaukee 53211.   PUBLIC ART ON BEER LINE – An art installation project based on the rustic works of Andy Goldsworthy is planned for the Beer Line Trail – the reclaimed greenspace in the northern Harambee and Riverwest neighborhoods sometimes referred to as Linear Park. Under the leadership of Raoul Deal, Senior Lecturer and Artist in Residence, UWM students will work with Red Line Milwaukee’s teen program to create these one-ofa- kind works as part of the Art in the Neighborhood Series, a Public Art Collaborative sponsored in part by the Harambee Great Neighborhood Initiative. Images of the works, which will be made from recycled and organic materials, will be exhibited during the UWM Foundations Exhibit on Fri, April 17 at the UWM Union Gallery (5-8), and on Sat, April 18 (10-3) at King Commons II as part of Harambee Great Neighborhood Initiatives Gallery Day. The collaborative art exhibits also document the civic engagement process – representing the cooperation of Riverworks Corp., GroundWorks Milwaukee, LISC, the Riverwest Neighborhood Association and the local artist community, and spearheaded by local organizer and activist Isaiah Rembert.   RIGHTS FOR PARTNERS – Gov. Jim Doyle’s biennial budget proposal included critical domestic partnership protections for the state’s same-sex couples. Domestic partnerships provide to Wisconsin’s 15,000 same-sex couples certain legal protections such as: – Requiring hospitals and nursing homes to allow visitation for domestic partners – The ability to make end of life decisions for a domestic partner if he or she is unable to – Permitting family leave in the event of the death or serious illness of a domestic partner   It’s Time: Changing the Community Conversation about Depression There will be a program on various aspects of depression held on Sunday, March 8 from 2 to 4 pm at Cream City Collectives, 723 E. Clarke St. This program will be facilitated by professionals from In Health Wisconsin and Family Services. It is designed to decrease the stigma and increase our ability to support those whose lives are touched by depression. The program will help present more about the experience of depression, a look inside the brain, ways to provide support, management and healing, and hope and lessons learned from the journey. You are invited to bring a light dish to share or a donation to the Cream City Collectives for providing the space. There is no cost to attend, and everyone is welcome. Funding for the program is provided by the Riverwest Neighborhood Association and the Riverwest Health Initiative. Capacity is limited, so please reserve your spot by Monday March 2. Contact Kris Peterka at the Riverwest Health Initiative, 263.8383 ext.139 or k_ peterka@coa-yfc.org Riverwest Follies Sat., March 7, 2009 St Mary’s Colonial Hall 3063 N Fratney (& Burleigh) Compiled by Currents staff and Jan Christensen. Send news to furtherdownstream@gmail.com