Category Archives: Intentional Communities

Joe Battista has been an integral part of the Penn State and State College communities since 1978. He is best known for his effort to bring varsity ice hockey to Penn State and in the building of Pegula Ice Arena. He is the owner of PRAGMATIC Passion, LLC consulting, a professional speaker, success coach, and the vice president of the National Athletic and Professional Success Academy (NAPSA). He is the author of a new book, The Power of Pragmatic Passion. Joe lives in State College with his wife Heidi (PSU 81 & 83), daughter Brianna (PSU 15), and sons Jon (PSU 16), and Ryan (State High Class of 2019).

Courage. It has been on my mind a lot lately. So many critics out there, so many people who are great at being a part of the problem but dont have the courage to be part of the solution. Why? Because its easier to talk a big game than to actually make a difference by having the courage to work with others and to get things done especially if it means communicating and possibly compromising to move the needle of progress.

I get so discouraged trying to find unbiased news sources and when I do watch or listen to the news its almost always negative. We are so good at playing the blame game and we will do just about anything to convince ourselves that our own point of view is correct without doing our due diligence. Oh yes, we do need to take a stand on some issues we believe in, especially involving your core values. That takes courage as well. But more and more often it is misguided courage for one reason: We have lost the courage to listen to and discuss issues with those who have a different opinion.

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This country seems to be more and more polarized politically at the very moment in history when we need the courage to come together. I believe that part of the reason we are in this current state of angry and often hostile rhetoric is because we have lost the ability to debate without being debatable. When someone disagrees, we too often want to take our ball and go home. This inability to have crucial conversations about serious topics ends up hurting everyone.

So, I get back to todays topic: courage. The courage to have the tough, intentional and meaningful discussions with loved ones, friends, managers, co-workers and those who are simply different from us. The courage to be open minded, to have respectful and dignified dialogue with people who come from a different point of view from your own. The courage to act on your ideas in a meaningful way to get things done. In the end, you may not have changed your position based on those discussions, but you will have more information, a better understanding of why the differences exist, and I hope you will leave the conversation with a foundation of common courtesy and mutual respect.

When you come across people who are closed off to discussing the pros and cons of topics, especially the polarizing ones, it can be so frustrating and feel like the weight of the world is on you. There are those who are so set in their ways that they will ignore the hard data and evidence staring them right in the face. Grace Hopper, the first female rear admiral in the Navy said, The worst phrase in the world is Weve always done it this way. But for those people who have dug in their heels and are stubbornly determined to ignore the obvious, sometimes you do need to simply remove yourself, especially if tensions begin to mount and you both cannot resist making it personal.

But there are also those who expect you to believe every new idea that comes along simply because its new. Trust but verify, folks! Especially true these days when misinformation and disinformation are spread by so many people within our country and from outside as well. Oh, and by both of our traditional political parties who keep pointing their fingers at each other about spreading fake news when they both do it repeatedly. Personally, I wish theyd all grow up and act like reasonable, commonsense adults more often. I am embarrassed by the behavior modeled by so many of our leaders these days.

I am fortunate to be back in Idaho to teach two weeks of hockey camps for the fifth year. Once again, the Sun Valley Writers Conference is also in town. My wife and I met retired Admiral James Stavridis, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, last year and were fortunate to speak with him again this year. His new book, To Risk it All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision is a book on leadership and decision making from real-life situations, not from Marvel Universe or a Star Wars reboot from Disney Plus.

It is, at its core, a book about courage. In his inscription when he signed my wifes copy of his book he wrote, Leadership matters. Especially in the first 10 seconds. He talks about the ability to make good decisions being like a muscle, it must be exercised carefully, trained to perform at peak readiness, and treated with respect.

We heard Heather McGhee, a dynamic speaker, advocate, lawyer, economic policy expert and author of a new book, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together. Its about how racism and the policies of exclusion have hurt everyone, and how our nation and the world would be a better place if wed get past our own biases. She talked about how we went from a football shaped economy with a bulging middle class to a bow tie shaped one with tremendous wealth on one side and desperate poverty on the other.

We heard Heather speak at the main pavilion and she had the courage to speak from the heart:

Our collective economic progress is being held up by a lie. The zero sum world view that, if someone gains, someone must lose, is a myth. We are not optimizing our economy. We are told we are not on the same team.

She emphasized that everything we believe comes from a story, but whos telling the story? She was the only woman and the only person of color at her job. She felt a growing sense of frustration at the data and policy blind spots that are less accurate about the real world than what she saw with her own eyes. She had the courage to quit her dream job at her economic policy think tank to hit the road to help solve an increasingly difficult problem to spread Radical Empathy.

As my time to complete my article reached its end, Arthur C. Brooks, an acclaimed commonsense conservative and libertarian, was about to speak about his new book, From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life. A subject rather near and dear to my heart these days as my wife and I enter the encore stage of life. His talk will focus about the science of happiness, which he teaches to his MBA students at Harvard Business school. This new book sprouted from what he calls me-search. He did a deep dive into himself. That takes courage. I will share what I learn in a future column.

Listening to these passionate speakers once again raises my passion for a movement toward a more centrist, commonsense party. A fellow speaker told me if you want to maximize your profits as a speaker you have to pick a side politically. Hmmm. But what if I want to pick None of the above? I guess the older I get the more I believe in the power of collective action. The most important things can only be achieved together. Common people coming together for the greater good.

I have personally become so tired of the radical left and the radical right. I worry whether our democracy can survive without people of common sense speaking up and saying, enough already. But that would take courage.

I am tired of some of the so-called experts, at least the ones with massive egos, many of whom come from think-tanks, government policy organizations, C-suites in corporations, the snobby halls of certain academic institutions, professional sports teams and the entertainment industry, who have very little in common with the average person in this country. They make the recommendations and rules without walking in the shoes of the people they supposedly care about and attempt to represent.

You may disagree with me, and I hope many of you do, but I hope you will consider my perspective and be willing to have intentional discussion about the topics and we can find a way to actually move the needle.

I am all about getting the right people, around the right table, at the right time. I am about working together to find commonsense solutions that make sense. I hope others will be inspired by this column and the messages from these authors to be more courageous about being intentional and getting things done.

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The courage to get things done - The Fulcrum

When the Camp Fire racedthrough Paradise, California, in 2018, the towns residents were faced with a decision: They could stay in their homes, which might burn to the ground; they could sit in traffic on one of the four clogged evacuation routes in the fires path; or they could retreat somewhere that might be protected from the encroaching flames. Around 75 people rushed to the west side of town, where they sought refuge in Bille Park, 56 acres of redwood groves, hiking trails and a playground. They spent hours in the citys green space, huddled under a large metal picnic pavilion, sheltering from flying embers, but they survived.

If theyd stayed at home, they wouldve likely perished, said Dan Efseaff, the Paradise Recreation and Park District manager. Sparked by electrical transmission lines, the Camp Fire was the deadliest, most destructive fire in California history. The blaze killed at least 85 people and destroyed 18,000 structures. And it showed how the usual suggestions for home hardening, such as clearing vegetation or removing propane tanks near homes, are not always enough on their own especially since not everyone can afford to do them. Efseaff and other Paradise government leaders realized that when a fire is that dangerous, individual actions arent enough to protect homes and people from future fires. Efseaff is now working on a project that he hopes can protect entire neighborhoods, not just individual properties: a combination firebreak and trail system that would encircle Paradise.

The large pavilion in Bille Park that residents sheltered in during 2018s Camp Fire. The park inspired a model of wildfire resistance that uses community green spaces.

Efseaff had the idea for a perimeter trail before the Camp Fire struck, but the conflagration gave the project a new sense of urgency. And the Bille Park survivors, who turned to a city park in their time of need, inspired him to see park land not only as a space for recreation, but also a potential firebreak. Our vision is to build a buffer around the entire community, he said. Its fire risk reduction from a community standpoint.Its an approach that could protect entire neighborhoods, not just individual homeowners with the time, money and space to landscape their yards and retrofit their homes.

THE PROPOSED COMMUNITY FIREBREAK in Paradise differs from conventional home hardening techniques, which focus on building-level strategies that require homeowners to shore up their own property. Local governments and federal and state agencies like CAL FIRE encourage removing potentially flammable items like stacked firewood, patio furniture and combustible plants like juniper and eucalyptus from a homes immediate vicinity. Homeowners can also install new roofs that replace untreated wood shingles with materials that dont burn as easily, such as concrete, metal and slate, and they can replace single-pane with double-pane windows. Lab research and post-fire analysis show that building materials and design are key factors in determining which homes survive. For example, in 2008, California enacted building codes for new homes in high fire risk areas that required fire-resistant materials and at least 100 feet of defensible space between homes and flammable foliage; in Paradise, about 50% of homes built after 2008 survived the Camp Fire, while only 18% of older homes remained.

Right, a family on a trail in Bille Park in Paradise, California. During the Camp Fire of 2018, some Paradise residents huddled in a pavilion in the park for hours, sheltering from flying embers. The blaze killed at least 85 people and destroyed 18,000 structures. Left, tree trunks burned in Bille Park.

While there are some less expensive measures people can take to protect their homes, like clearing gutters of pine needles, which can act as kindling, most suggested retrofits are neither cheap nor easy and that could leave some homeowners vulnerable. As climate change sets the stage for more frequent and more damaging fires, experts say that wildfire preparedness that protects the life and property of everyone, not just the wealthy, has become a climate equity issue. Retrofitting a three-bedroom home with a new wildfire-resistant roof can cost over $27,000, according to a price study done by Headwaters Economics. A lot of people dont have the time or space to think about wildfire, said Amanda Milici, who helps communities brace for fire at the Tahoe Resource Conservation District. Preparedness really is a privilege.

Current fire retrofit and mitigation recommendations are not designed with all types of housing in mind. Theyre implicitly assuming a single-family home on a large lot, said Kathryn McConnell, an environmental sociologist whorecently completed her PhD at Yale School of the Environment.And that, of course, leaves open the question: How do we protect buildings that are multifamily buildings, or mobile homes in close proximity to other homes? The Camp Fire incinerated the Ridgewood Mobile Home Park retirement community in Paradise; according to unpublished research by McConnell, the fire destroyed over 3,800 mobile homes.

Renters, too, are often left out: Theres often limited incentives for renters to make their own financial investments, and time investments, into improving a property thats ultimately owned by someone else, McConnell said.In South Lake Tahoe, Milici, a renter herself, created a renters guide for how to prepare for wildfire (available in English and Spanish) after she was evacuated during the 2021 Caldor Fire. Although not intentional, we realized our resources werent specifically relatable to nonhomeowners, Milici said. We realized renters wouldnt be able to find information about wildfire preparedness that only applies to them, like renters insurance and making a defensible space plan with your landlord.

And landlords may not take action, either. Brett Van Paepeghem, the southern Idaho project manager for nonprofit Idaho Firewise, helps run a demonstration garden of fire-resistant landscaping in Boise, Idaho. While hes assisted hundreds of individuals and at least a dozen homeowner associations with property consultations over the last 16 years, no landlords have approached him.

Left, a sign for the Camp Fire Survivor Resource Center. Right, Dan Efseaff, the Paradise Recreation and Park District manager.

Rather than just relying on residents to retrofit their homes to mitigate fire, Efseaffs proposal puts the onus of protection on the community. A firebreak could defuse a fire before it even reaches the residents homes. Paradises unique topography naturally sets the perimeter: Butte Creek and the West Branch Feather River carve canyons that create a triangle around the town. The canyons are steep, subject to high winds, and densely treed risky areas for out-of-control wildfire behavior that would benefit from a bordering firebreak. Local land managers will thin dense existing foliage, and then plant or seed new trees to create a narrow strip of healthy forest where theyd tend to potential fuels like overgrown bushes, shrubs and trees. That will also create space to build trails for runners, walkers and bikers. It might also incorporate techniques like prescribed burns and grazing to keep vegetation under control.

Efseaff applied for funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency in December 2020 and is waiting to hear whether the town qualifies. The parks department has acquired 100 acres of property to date, including donations from owners who dont want to rebuild. Its still far from its goal of a total of 16 miles encircling the community, but it has also received private funding that allowed it to hire a project manager to buy more property.

The firebreak wont be easy, or cheap, to create: Land acquisition and initial thinning could run about $30 million. Additionally, scientists dont yet know how effective large firebreaks would be; a literature review by the Conservation Biology Institute, Paradise Recreation and Park District and The Nature Conservancy found that little empirical testing had been done. More field experiments are needed to test firebreaks usefulness and limitations on a large scale.

But thinking outside the box is necessary these days, and Efseaff is optimistic that the project will not only succeed, but also spread the message that community-level wildfire preparedness should be part of every towns fire planning. It matters what happens in the neighborhood, he said. Fire doesnt stop at the fence line.

A swing set at Bille Park, 56 acres of redwood groves, hiking trails and a playground.

Kylie Mohr is an editorialfellow forHigh Country Newswriting from Montana. Email her at[emailprotected]or submit aletter to the editor. See ourletters to the editor policy.

The Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources supported reporting for this story.

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Protecting neighborhoods from future flames (It Takes a Village) High Country News Know the West - High Country News

Jul 26, 2022

By Emily Putzke

The Franciscan tradition runs deep throughout Western New York, particularly in the foothills of the Enchanted Mountains, where St. Bonaventure University immerses the region in the spirit of St. Francis. The effects of this Franciscan-hearted way of living can be felt hundreds and thousands of miles away as many Bonaventure alums have found their way to Franciscan Mission Service (FMS).

Franciscan Mission Service builds partnerships with lay Catholic women and men who are inspired to live and serve in solidarity with economically poor and marginalized communities across the globe as advocates for peace, justice, reconciliation, and care of creation. Long-term mission opportunities are offered through the Overseas Lay Mission program in Bolivia, Jamaica, and on the United States-Mexico border, along with yearlong domestic service opportunities for young adults in the DC Service Corps program.

For Sr. Margaret Carney, O.S.F., President Emeritus of St. Bonaventure University and a board member at FMS, and many Bonaventure alumni serving as DC Service Corps volunteers, overseas lay missioners, and board members throughout the years, the connection between these two organizations runs strong.

I have learned so much about the work and the lives of our mission members serving abroad and our members serving right in Washington, D.C. Each of these dedicated volunteers is bringing untold generosity into the lives of persons who suffer in ways I can barely imagine, Sr. Margaret said about FMS mission. One of the gifts I have received is to be part of the work of Liz Hughes, a Franciscan leader whose work I admire a great deal.

St. Bonaventure offers students the opportunity to live out the Franciscan ministry of presence, whether theyre involved in BonaResponds or serving at The Warming House, Bonaventures student-run soup kitchen.

Francis and Clare of Assisi were close to the poor, to the ordinary citizens of their town, Sr. Margaret said. Our students show this same kind of solidarity on so many levels whether in the area around campus or back home. There is no student organization that does not find a way to do something for the needy or to support important services like blood drives, food pantries, collections for families in need, the list goes on.

Victoria Wangler, 21, graduated from St. Bonaventure with a double major in professional & creative writing and English literature and minors in marketing and Spanish. She is a current DC Service Corps volunteer, serving as FMS development and operations associate.

DC Service Corps volunteers are placed in nonprofits throughout the District of Columbia, including the FMS office, United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees, the Fr. McKenna Center, and Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School. Volunteers live together in an intentional community at FMS house of hospitality, Casa San Salvador, in northeast D.C. during their year of service.

Wangler credits St. Bonaventure with expanding her understanding of Franciscanism while she was a student.

I had so many opportunities to lean more into my Franciscan spirituality. Volunteer days at Mt. Irenaeus and The Warming House, as well as longer term service trips, allowed me to directly use my hands and my heart to care for vulnerable people and creation, she said.

Wangler first heard about FMS when she traveled with St. Bonaventure on a short-term service trip to Guatemala in June 2019. The students stayed at the Valley of the Angels Orphanage outside of Guatemala City, Guatemala, where they spent their days living and volunteering in the community. The trip was led by Meghan Meros, former associate director of FMS.

It was an incredibly eye-opening and heartbreaking experience that had a profound impact on me. When I came back home, I had a fire in my soul to pursue service after I graduated from Bonaventure. The more I learned about FMS and its domestic service program, the DC Service Corps, the more I felt strongly to apply. I submitted my application in the winter of 2021 and by March I had signed the paperwork and began to plan my new life in Washington, D.C., said Wangler.

Lauren Barry, 21, graduated from St. Bonaventure with her BA in psychology and with minors in sociology and theater. She was first introduced to FMS through a short immersion trip with Bonaventure to St. Francis Inn in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during her freshman year. The trip was led by Jeff Sved, former director of the Franciscan Center for Social Concern at St. Bonaventure, former FMS board member, and an FMS lifelong missioner who served in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

By her senior year, Barry knew she wanted to do a year of service and was encouraged by Wangler to apply for the DC Service Corps. Through her role as case manager at the Fr. McKenna Center, she assists men experiencing homelessness with applying for Social Security, food stamps, and finding jobs.

Barrys understanding of Franciscan spirituality, instilled at St. Bonaventure, has grown during her time with FMS.

When I first came here, I thought care for creation was just nature, but then I broadened my horizons and now see it also as the creation of my Casa members and the relationships I have between them, she said.

Wanglers parents, who are also St. Bonaventure alumni, wrote her a letter to open after they helped her move into St. Bonaventure as a freshman in 2017.

In the center of the page, my mother had written, Welcome to your Bona Ventura the good journey. The bona ventura. The good journey. What is this life if not a good journey? What are Gods plans for us if not the good journey? I am so happy to be here. I am so grateful for finding my home in the Franciscan tradition, she said.

To learn more about Franciscan Mission Service, visit their website http://www.franciscanmissionservice.org.

(Emily Putzke is a communications associate at Franciscan Mission Service.)

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Bona Ventura: The Good Journey - St. Bonaventure

Promotional video for a new city planned to be built in Saudi Arabia from scratch, dubbed The Line.Gif: YouTube

Saudi Arabia is developing a new city, 150-stories tall and built from scratch, that will serve as a semi-enclosed environment where people can live and work without ever stepping foot outside. And while the promotional videos released Monday are likely an attempt to give the development a utopian feel that recalls so many intentional cities of the 20th century, the project comes across as extremely dystopian.

The city, completely walled on four sides with some kind of ventilation on top, is planned to be about 546 yards tall (500 meters), 218 yards wide (200 meters), and 105 miles long (170 km), according to the promotional videos, and will feature cutting-edge technology along with high-speed transportation from end-to-end. Cars will be completely unnecessary.

A video uploaded to Twitter proclaims this new city will house 9 million residents to provide a more healthy and sustainable quality of life. And while its being advertised as an eco-friendly project, with water and power supplies billed as 100% renewable, the details have yet to be provided.

For too long, humanity has existed within dysfunctional and polluted cities that ignore nature. Now, a revolution in civilization is taking place. Imagine a traditional city and consolidating its footprint, designing to protect and enhance nature, the narrator of the new video explains.

The video shows what appears to be autonomous drones zipping around the new city, with plenty of greenery. And people who live there will supposedly be able to go from one end to another in just 20 minutes.

Residents have access to all their daily needs within 5-minute walk neighborhoods, the narrator continues.

Another promotional video, uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday and similar in content, shows the city from the perspective of a young woman literally flying through the environment. And its soundtrack definitely helps it sound dystopiana dark and spooky cover of Louis Armstrongs Its a Wonderful World.

Why would they use a dark and spooky version of the songsomething youd be more likely to hear in the trailer for a 2010s movie about a serial killer? Your guess is as good as ours. But its certainly a choice.

As we mentioned earlier, this is far from the first time that an incredibly expansive planned community has taken shape on the drawing board. Even Amazon founder Jeff Bezos showed off something similar in 2019, albeit his plan is for a space colony.

Whether it was George Pullmans hyper-capitalist town in Chicagoland, the drug-free cult of Synanon in California, or Upton Sinclairs socialist cooperative in New Jersey, history has shown intentional communities are often ruined by the egos of the people building them. And theres arguably no bigger ego on the planet than the developer of this city, Mr. Bone-saw himself, Mohammed bin Salman.

We cannot ignore the livability and environmental crises facing our worlds cities, and NEOM is at the forefront of delivering new and imaginative solutions to address these issues, MBS said in a press release about the project.

NEOM is leading a team of the brightest minds in architecture, engineering and construction to make the idea of building upwards a reality, the Saudi royal continued.

The question is whether MBS will be able to pull this one off. The country likely has enough money to make it happen, but as weve learned from countless utopian communities of the 19th and 20th centuries, you always need more than just money to make a utopian experiment work.

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Saudi Arabia Wants to Build This Bizarre City Dubbed 'The Line' - Gizmodo

Emma and Noah come to Mexico for the same boring reasons that most longtime couples take vacations: to relax, to make memories (whatever that really means), and most of all to reconnect with each other. It is their 10th wedding anniversaryor, as an eccentric staffer at their all-inclusive resort puts it, the puberty of marriage. This, she explains, is when the real love begins. You become what you will be. For some, a week of drinks by the pool might suffice to ease the marriage into that forever stage. But these two, played by the charming Cristin Milioti and William Jackson Harper, seem to have more on their minds than a slackening sex life. Its going to take more than a beach getaway to open the next chapter of their relationship.

This is the familiar place where The Resort, a wild vacation romp from Andy Siara, begins its itinerary. But the eight-episode series, premiering July 28 on Peacock, sets a lighter tone than last summers sublime White Lotus and ridiculous Nine Perfect Strangers, in part by avoiding the ennui that comes with plots that revolve around rich-people problems. (At one point, Emma and Noah agree to buy a custom-made dress, only to flee the shop in a panic when they learn the five-figure price.) Somehow both broader and quirkier, shaggier and more propulsive than those predecessors, this genre-jumping adventure is billed as a comedic thriller and stakes out a space between the culty Lodge 49 and the crowd-pleasing Palm Springs in Siaras canon. It doesnt hang together quite as well as those titles, but it does still make for a fun summer binge.

Cristin Milioti and William Jackson Harper in 'The Resort'

Peacock

The caper takes off when Emma, the more restless of the two, crashes her ATV during an expedition into the jungle and lands next to an old, broken flip phone. Something compels her to track down a working model that will read its SIM card. She quickly realizes the phone belonged to a college kid, Sam (Skyler Gisondo of The Righteous Gemstones), who went missing along with another young vacationer, Violet (Nina Bloomgarden), in 2007, just before a hurricane destroyed the resort where they were staying. Noah doesnt exactly share his wifes eagerness to spend their vacation searching for two strangers whove probably been dead for 15 years, but he throws himself into it in the hope that some amateur sleuthing will revitalize their marriage. People do all sorts of dumb sh-t for love, he explains at one point. I mean, look at me.

As he and Emma start digging, flashbacks flesh out Sam and Violets story. On the plane to Mexico for a family vacation, Sam sneaks a look at his napping girlfriends (Debby Ryan) text messages and discovers shes sleeping with a professor. Violet and her father (Nick Offerman, a study in sad masculinity), meanwhile, have come to mark the first anniversary of her moms untimely death. A chance meeting that begins with a skateboarding Sam slamming his head into a palm tree and Violet administering questionable first aid soon escalates into a romance. In the context of Emma and Noahs story, they become avatars for the lustful intensity of young love.

Skyler Gisondo and Debby Ryan in 'The Resort'

Abey CharronPeacock

The season unfolds as a series of plot twists, tempered by apparent digressions into more philosophical territory. (An episode that positions resorts as intentional communities built around the manufacturing of memories could double as a backdoor pilot for a series in the Lodge 49 vein.) Our heroes sift through the ruins of Sam and Violets resort. They get mixed up with a fearsome dynasty of tailors. A mysterious local author seeds the script with leftfield musings on time. High Maintenance creator and star Ben Sinclair, also an executive producer and director of The Resort, surfaces as a skateboarding Santaand his role only gets stranger from there. Siara keeps adding genres to the mix: comedy, suspense, romance, action-adventure, sci-fi.

At times, the storys incomplete foundation creaks under the weight of so much activity and so many concepts. Questions that seem important go unanswered. Long-awaited insight into characters pasts too often comes across as generic groundwork for a trauma plot, which takes away from the overall emotional impact. And the show can be a bit too meta for its own good. This isnt the end, a character declares in episode 4. The second half is a heartbreaker.

Nina Bloomgarden and Nick Offerman in 'The Resort'

Luis VidalPeacock

Yet its hard to fault Siara, Sinclair, and a creative team that also includes, among its executive producers, Mr. Robot and Homecoming mastermind Sam Esmail too much for touching too lightly on too many ideas, when so much TV has nothing at all to say. Amid all the spectacle, the show does, finally, strike a thoughtful contrast between puppy love and the more mature variety, which it doesnt make the mistake of overstating. But mostly its defined by small pleasures, from the likability of the main players and the casting of real-life character-actor couple Dylan and Becky Ann Baker as Sams parents to its loving homage to Latin American literature and the L.A. punk Easter egg of Alice Bag and Kid Congo Powers cameo as a lounge act. Like any good vacation, The Resort flies by. You can tell you had fun because its over way too soon.

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'The Resort' Is a Twisty Summer Vacation Thriller - TIME

The State of Illinois saw a massive 50 percent increase in total tax reported from adult-use cannabis over the past year.

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Specifically, tax revenue went from $297.7 million in fiscal year 2021 to $445.3 million in fiscal year 2022. Overall, total adult-use cannabis sales also rose 50 percent, increasing from $1 billion in 2021 to $1.5 billion in 2022. In addition, cannabis tax disbursements to local governments jumped 77 percent, from $82.8 million in fiscal year 2021 to $146.2 million in fiscal year 2022.

Illinois has done more to put justice and equity at the forefront of this industry than any other state in the nation and has worked to ensure that communities hurt by the war on drugs have had the opportunity to participate, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said. The $1.5 billion in sales of adult-use cannabis in Illinois translates into significant tax revenue with a portion of every dollar spent being reinvested in communities that have suffered for decades.

Illinois law mandates that 25 percent of tax revenue generated by adult-use cannabis sales must support communities that are economically distressed, experience high rates of violence, and have been disproportionately impacted by drug criminalization.

Legalizing cannabis for adults has been a wise investment for the Illinois economy, and sales have continued to rise, leading to additional revenue for the state, State Senate Majority Leader Kimberly Lightford said. Consistent cash flow from the cannabis industry assists the state with funding essential services such as violence prevention, mental health, and local government.

The state has awarded $113.5 million in grants to date from funds generated from taxes on adult-use cannabis sales. The money is used to invest in underserved communities through Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authoritys Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) Program.

These much-needed resources for communities impacted by the drug war are the exact reason why policymakers who understand the pain and trauma being experienced by community is vital, State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Chicago) said. This isnt just happening. These directed resources were the result of intentional policy decisions to begin repairing harm. But this is just the beginning. I am eager to see newly licensed Black businesses get a slice of the pie.

Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) Director David Harris said the cannabis industry continues to have a positive impact on the states economy.

It has created hundreds of jobs at cultivation centers and dispensaries throughout the state, and tax revenue generated continues to flow to local governments, help with drug programs and treatments, and is also being reinvested back into the communities that need it the most, Harris said.

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Illinois sees spike in tax revenue from sales of adult-use cannabis in fiscal 2022 - Financial Regulation News - Financial Regulation News

Monday, July 25, 2022 by Willow Higgins

For the past several years, a moratorium has prevented the installment of any new public artworks in the vicinity of Austins hike-and-bike trail and Lady Bird Lake. With the expiration of that moratorium, the Trail Foundation, which has taken over management of the area, is making plans to incorporate more public art into the citys crown jewel.

The Trail Foundation has launched a formal arts and cultural programming project, and hopes to have a robust plan for the initiative by the end of this year. The basis for that plan and any future projects will stem from its first initiative, which was in the works for over a year and was completed this spring. The project, calledCommon Waters, was a total hit.Representatives from the Trail Foundation and the artist who led the project spoke to the Arts Commission this week about their early success and what is yet to come.

Local artists Rejina Thomas, Ruben Esquivel and Taylor Davis were tasked with creating a floating wetland to glide along the surface of Lady Bird Lake. The floating wetland is topped with a sculptural piece resembling a nest. The nest is home to a small ecosystem of plants, which grow down into the water, out of view.

Those roots create surfaces for microbes and fish, and thats all going to clean contaminants and excess nutrients out of the lake, said Charlotte Tonsor, the project manager. She explained that the installation explores the intersection of art, activism, environment and community while highlighting the beauty and demonstrating the importance of Lady Bird Lake, our citys lifeline.

Common Waters is rich with symbolism. The sculpture uses dried, invasive bamboo, a rapidly growing plant, which was intended to emulate Austins rapid growth as a city, alongside seven native species. Nests are symbols of safety, home and protection, the project description reads. This nest serves as the ephemeral shelter for a floating wetland of native plants that are designed to filter and clean toxins from the lake. Similarly, when we protect the native Brown and Black communities of Austin, who have been the backbone of cultural creation for generations, we can also begin to clean the toxins of our citys ancestral trauma.

The project was launched in the form of a celebration in May of this year, with the planting and installation completed via a community effort. To be installed, the wetland was pulled on a barge by a team from the Watershed Protection Department, who were all smiles through the whole thing, Tonsor recalled.Musician Ephraim Owens played on the boat while the project team kayaked alongside it. There was a blessing of the sculpture before it was eventually pulled off the barge and set free in the water.

Davis, one of the project artists who spoke at the Arts Commission meeting, said, I think this whole program was very enriching and I look forward to an iteration that is even longer and more intentional. It could easily be six months to a year of us really diving into the fabric of the community that were working in and having really intentional conversations about what these artistic metaphors are meaning.

Common Waters is just one piece of what the Trail Foundation has in mind for the hike-and-bike trail. The project functioned as a catalyst to find out what Austinites are interested in seeing and making. The project team is currently analyzing data from surveys before they begin creating their arts and culture programming this August and plan to host another community engagement event this fall.

We do have a belief that through arts and culture programming and public art, we can encourage new faces to come to visit the hike-and-bike trail and expose people (to art),Heidi Anderson, Trail Foundation CEO, said.

The Austin Monitors work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.

We're a nonprofit news organization, and we put our service to you above all else. That will never change. But public-service journalism requires community support from readers like you. Will you join your friends and neighbors to support our work and mission?

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More public art is headed to the hike-and-bike trail - Austin Monitor

Last Tuesdays Corvallis Advocate CitySpeak took a deeper look at Indigenous land acknowledgments, with a particular emphasis on discussing what meaningful actions people in Corvallis can take individually and collectively to go beyond acknowledgment and actively support local Tribes and Indigenous communities.

For one of the questions, panelists Luhui Whitebear, Lara Jacobs, Chanti Manon-Ferguson, and Rachel Black Elk were asked for their thoughts on activist groups/circles in Corvallis that have been sharing land acknowledgements within their organizing work.

Some of these groups acknowledgments identify the violent acts and ideologies of settler-colonialism as both ongoing and at the root of systemic issues like the climate crisis; houselessness; rape culture; and attacks on queer, trans, and gender-diverse identities. What has sometimes been neglected from these statements, however, are recognitions of the continued existence and unique struggles of local Tribes and Indigenous peoples, and/or commitments to supporting them. Panelists explained the harms this can cause, and why its imperative to center Indigenous people in activist work.

One remedy that Ive been working on with people is that you build trust and you get feedback from people that are going to be fiercely honest and fiercely loving of their communities to share with you, and to really receive the feedback, said Black Elk. Im all for people naming outright settler-colonialism; its important because theres so much erasure, and thats part of what settler-colonialism banked on the erasure and eradication of our people And so calling those things out are really important, but to really remain diligent of how you center a community that is very personal work for each activist that I hope continues to happen for them as they navigate what they share and what relational accountability means to them.

I think asking the question of whether or not theyre doing anything to engage or help Indigenous people who are impacted by those frameworks that they have within their statement [is important], and also looking into what efforts the organization is making to be really intentional either for learning or teaching or holding space for Indigenous people and for local Native communities, said Manon-Ferguson. I think [theres] also looking really critically internally to see what frameworks or systems are within their organization that are upholding settler-colonialism, and looking to see how historically or currently their organization might be intentionally or not still upholding colonial systems, and then trying really to dismantle and address those to not create further harm within their own organizations.

One thing Ive noticed more recently within activist circles and community organizing is that sometimes people think Indigenous people only belong in certain contexts, and so we get boxed into, Is this about [insert Native issue]? said Whitebear. And thats when Indigenous people arent invited to even speak or be involved with organizing or planning or coming up with goals for the work, when in fact were involved in many things, and if people are truly committed to that understanding that settler-colonialism and imperialism which are hand in hand are the root cause of all of our issues, then they would understand that Indigenous people have a place among everything Like what Chanti was bringing up, are you replicating settler ideologies and systems by boxing us into these little categories and [by] using us as an accessory [to sound more inclusive]?

I work in conservation recreation ecology is my field and a lot of the activism Im involved with is geared more towards climate change, and I think that why its important to center Indigenous knowledge in certain contexts is because our voices have been missing from the science, been missing from the field, been missing from the activism ever since Europeans came to these lands, said Jacobs. Its only very recently in history that our voices are being included, and our different types of knowledges which are very distinct from Judeo-Christian European-based knowledges are even being accepted as a different form of science, even though our sciences like our traditional ecological knowledges can be 10,000 years old or even more depending on how old our communities are. And when were looking at ecosystemcrises and global crises, if were not looking at relying on the knowledges of the people who have been here the longest, the people who have sustained these lands since time immemorial before colonization without all of the harms that we seetoday, then what are we doing? Why wouldnt we want those voices in the mix?

To listen to the full CitySpeak recording, click here.

Help Unhoused Neighbors Beat the Heat: Its a hot week in Corvallis the hottest its been so far this summer and for many in the area who dont have quick or easy access to drinking water, shade, indoor spaces, and/or supplies to help stay protected from the heat, conditions can be dangerous, and even deadly.

Two local mutual aid groups, the Corvallis Really Really Free Market (RRFM) and Stop the Sweeps Corvallis, are working together to gather and distribute hot weather resources to unhoused folks throughout the city, and are looking for more donations and organizers to assist with these efforts.

Items that are currently being sought include water bottles, sunscreen, Gatorade and other electrolyte drinks, battery-powered handheld misters or fans, cool rags, ice, ice packs, snacks, and coolers. They can be dropped off at the RRFMs Free Store, located in room M252 of the Benton Hall Plaza on 408 SW Monroe Ave, on Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday between 12:00 and 6:00 p.m. Alternatively, those who would like to supply any of these items but are unable to bring them to the store can either send a DM [direct message] to the Corvallis RRFM Instagram or the Stop the Sweeps Corvallis Instagram, or send an email to stopthesweepscorvallis@protonmail.com and ask for items to be picked up.

At the store, these items will be picked up for distribution by organizers with Stop the Sweeps, who have dropped off water and supply stations at Pioneer Park, the Eric Scott McKinley Skate Park, and the BMX Track thus far, which are locations where groups of unhoused folks are currently staying. Supply stations currently include cold water, electrolyte drink powders, ice, baby wipes, simple first aid kits, and sunscreen. Organizers will be checking on and restocking these supply stations three times a day morning, afternoon, and evening each day this week.

If you would like to get involved or help pay for gas, coolers, etc., send a DM to either groups Instagram account.

Hiring to Displace: The City of Corvallis Parks and Recreation Department is currently accepting applications for a temporary/seasonal position that specifically entails carrying out sweeps of houseless encampments throughout the city.

The job title is Parks Worker II Camp Cleanup. According to the position summary, the two primary tasks include cleaning litter in city parks and natural areas, and cleaning up abandoned camp sites or camp sites that have been posted a process which often involves taking the resources and possessions of unhoused folks who are being displaced, and taking little care to ensure that theyre still in a usable state after camps have been cleared.

The job description doesnt mention anything about de-escalation training, pointing unhoused people towards helpful resources, or providing other means of direct assistance or care. According to local advocates like Maddie Bean, the Street Outreach and Response Team (SORT) Coordinator for the Corvallis Daytime Drop-In Center (CDDC), this is frequently evident in the departments overall approach to camps.

I communicate with a couple of people on Parks and Rec, and for the most part they dont do outreach work, and theyve even told me that theyre not really trained in de-escalation or trauma-informed care, said Bean So theyre coming into this situation, in my opinion, underprepared and undertrained. Its less the fault of an individual and more the fault of the city and these organizations that are sending their employees to these traumatic events that they dont really know how to deal with.

Its absolutely not a trauma-informed process at all, said Bonnie Whindam, a local activist who has given public testimony at past city council meetings in opposition to the sweeps. People forget that just being homeless is chronically traumatizing, and then they come in with loaders and tractors and just scoop everything that people cannot carry on their backs up tents, belongings, photographs, medications.

bodyland: Koa A. Tom, a local photographer, artist, activist, and owner of Light Rider Studios, has a new interactive exhibit up at the Joan Truckenbrod Gallery in downtown Corvallis that explores the connections between human bodies and land in particular, how both are subject to the violence of ownership, control, and conquest.

Titled bodyland, the exhibit consists of giclee prints on wood panels depicting melded images of people and places. The panels can be touched and moved around, evoking one of the pieces main themes: consent.

The purpose [is] to connect with ones own hand to issues of consent when it comes to lands and bodies, mediated safely through art objects, said Tom.

Through this mediation, viewers are given explicit consent are invited to engage with the piece through touch, and to reflect on how, like lands and bodies, the images will change as a result of these tactile interactions.

My intention in connecting land and bodies is to reveal the similarities in how they are treated, contrasting that with how art objects are typically revered, said Tom. When invited, however, touch can become play; you are invited to play with bodyland.

Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration: Next Thursday, Aug. 4, at 6:30 p.m., the Veterans for Peace (VFP) Linus Pauling Chapter will be hosting the 2022 Corvallis Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration at the Riverfront Park on 1st and Madison.

The annual event invites community members to come together in honor of the victims and survivors of the cataclysmic atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, as well as nuclear frontline communities whose bodies, lands, waters, and lifeways have been harmed by radiation exposure through nuclear tests, waste disposals, and uranium mining carried out by the U.S.

Community members are encouraged to attend not solely for commemoration, but to become motivated and empowered to join a growing united front to abolish nuclear weapons and to divest from war and U.S. militarism. More information and resources on actions to take are available on the VFPs website.

The 2021 Corvallis Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration was covered by The Advocate and can be read about here.

By Emilie Ratcliff

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Corvallis Social Justice: Land Acknowledgements in Activist Circles, Helping Unhoused Neighbors Beat the Heat, Bodyland - The Corvallis Advocate

The Musiic Matters Summer Day of Service The Musiic Matters Summer Day of Service, July 25, 2022 | LA Mission

Maverick City Music joined The Musiic Matters Summer Day of Service for an outdoor fellowship hosted by the Los Angeles Mission to help uplift people facing homelessness, and the group reportedly ushered the presence of God into the Skid Row community.

Musiic is an acronym for "Maintaining Universal Strategic Investments In Community" and was founded by LA Mission as a way to provide food and essential supplies to Skid Row residents. The mission recruited Grammy Award-winning gospel group Maverick City Music to offer up a free performance.

On Sunday, the gospel group performed to a sold-out audience at the Crypto.com Arena with Kirk Franklin. Franklin, a gospel music legend, also attended the special event with the group on Monday.

Following the outreach, Maverick City Music, which was officially launched in 2018 and consists of a number of members, including Chandler Moore, Brandon Lake, Dante Bowe and Naomi Raine, posted a video clip of their time on the streets of LA.

So honored to have partnered with @thelamission for the Music Matters event alongside our brother @kirkfranklin, they captioned the video. We had an incredible time serving and worshiping with so many yesterday on Skid Row.

Forever grateful to be able to bring the Kingdom and be a reflection of Gods love on this side of heaven, the group added.

LA Mission said in response to the Instagram video, This was the biggest event in the over 100-year history of Skid Row!

This was an unprecedented moment where walls were broken down in ways that are historic to this neighborhood!! the group added. When you think that we are less than 1 mile from the site of the Azusa Street Revival - Maverick City Music - you sparked a spirit led moment in the tradition of our community that helped people come home and know they are part of the Kingdom, seen, and most importantly loved!

LA Mission ended by saying the ministry was so filled and inspired by what went down yesterday - there is a [fire] in our soul!

The Musiic Matters Summer Day of Service'' provided 3,500 meals between seven food vendors. They offered free prayer, free on-site showers, essential supplies, giveaways, raffles and more services.

The following is an edited transcript of The Christian Post interview with the CEO of LA Mission, Rev. Troy Vaughn, who shared his heart behind launching the historic outreach.

The Christian Post: Can you share the vision behind Musiic Matters Summer Day of Service?

Vaughn: It is about using music as a backdrop to maintain universal strategic investments and community. In fact, that's what Musiic Matters stands for, and really its to get us to focus that we can launch something, but the most important thing is for us to maintain the thing that we've put in place and to be strategic about it.

Universally, we need to be engaged, meaning that all members of the community need to have a role in the transformative work that we do. No one should be left out of that the business community, the people that are impacted, the advocates, the government partners, the police department, fire department, community-based organizations, our healthcare partners and all of us that are members of the community need to be a part of the solution. When we do that, I think that we can get to the end result, which is bringing about the change that we can see.

CP: How effective are events like this for the community?

Vaughn: I think that by being visible and unapologetic about our faith in the space, but understanding that the warfare that we have now is really warfare that is happening behind the scenes for those that arent believers. We understand that we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities; powers that rule this present age are part of the darkness.

So our job is to be agents of light and to move forward in that light of love and to allow that transformative power of the Spirit to take place. We've got to be very intentional about doing that and partnering with other members of our community that align with that, to see that the greater humanity in all of us come to the surface and be either trained change agents that I believe our Creator meant us to be, to take over our areas of responsibility to be responsible for each other, to be our brother's keeper.

I'm grateful the opportunity started here on Skid Row.

CP: Can you share about wanting to have Maverick City Music join this event?

Vaughn: That partnership started through vision. We envisioned ourselves doing an outreach benefit concert, and it was from there that it evolved to what we see today, which is not just a concert, but more of a festival that is happening in Skid Row to allow us to really begin to bring about real, meaningful change to the members of our community.

I'm excited that we were able to reach out. Funny story is that I went to a concert of theirs two years ago and asked them to come down to Skid Row.

CP: Can you share a testimony about how you've seen God's hand in this event?

Vaughn: We came up with this idea to have this event, and two years later, here we are. I think it was by God's providence that it happened this way because I don't think none of us knew that it was being connected in that way. I released it in faith in God, took that seed of faith and grew it into what we have today.

CP: How important is it for people to unite and help each other with so much division there is in the world?

Vaughn: I mean, it's the paramount thing to do, right? The importance of it is unparalleled. I think that we don't realize how interdependent we are as human beings and that if there's something happening down the street to neighbors, eventually, it can impact us. We should have learned a lesson with COVID because homelessness, poverty, food insecurity and the healthcare reform, all these different things that are happening in our community are eventually impacting all of us.

So even though we may feel as though we're estranged from the process because it's not in our backyard, when it begins to emerge doesn't mean that it won't eventually get to us. For me, COVID has taught us the lesson that something can start in a different remote, obscure place but if we don't address it when it starts there, as being a part of the human race, it's only a matter of time before we're dealing with it in our own backyards.

CP: What was your hope going into this event?

Vaughn: My hope is that we plan to see the possibility of transformation and that it would ignite a flame in the hearts of every person that comes in contact with this event that they will know that there is an opportunity to be a part of that they can lend their gifts, their talents, their resources to be a part of meaningful change that we can control in our communities. My hope and desire is that it ignites a flame of hope in the heart of every person that participates.

For further information about LA Mission, visit the website.

Jeannie Ortega Law is a reporter for The Christian Post. Reach her at: jeannie.law@christianpost.com She's also the author of the book, What Is Happening to Me? How to Defeat Your Unseen EnemyFollow her on Twitter: @jlawcpFacebook: JeannieOMusic

Originally posted here:

Maverick City Music performs the largest event in Skid Rows 100 year history: 'Spirit led' - The Christian Post

Skepticism remains nationally over diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in higher education.

The recent report Racial and Ethnic Equity in U.S. Higher Education indicates that since 2020 more than 130 research institutions have publicly shared plans or aspirations to diversify their student bodies and workforces, and build equitable and inclusive communities where people of color have access to the same resources as white students and feel like they belong.

But despite these good intentions, it has been difficult to move the needle as it relates to representation, and inequalities persist for underrepresented groups.

Although DEI work is difficult and progress can feel slow, leaders across the University of Michigan say they are steadfastly committed to DEI for the long term, and they point to academic excellence as the through-line for why it is so important.

We simply cannot fulfill the mission of the university without a commitment to DEI, said Sheri Notaro, DEI director for the Institute for Social Research. The promise for higher education really is access and opportunity for all.

In her work, Notaro oversees the implementation of the ISR DEI Strategic Plan, as well as the activities of four working groups that focus on specific components of the plan.

In 2016, U-M launched its first diversity, equity and inclusion five-year strategic plan and named Robert Sellers the universitys first chief diversity officer.

The plan represented the shared and overarching themes and strategies represented in 50 individual DEI plans created by the universitys 19 schools and colleges, Student Life, Athletics, Michigan Medicine and other administrative units across campus.

Since then, U-M has seen institutional success in the areas of DEI skill building, new policies and processes, new and expanded DEI community support, accessibility and affordability.

Before blindly committing to a new plan however, Sellers who will soon turn the CDO title over to Tabbye M. Chavous and Katrina Wade-Golden, deputy chief diversity officer and director of implementation for the campuswide DEI Strategic Plan, have been intentional about ensuring the universitys next plan is meaningful and its outcomes can be measured.

The past five years have yielded experience and data that allows us to sharpen our approach and act with increased precision and skill, Wade-Golden said. As we evaluate our initial plan, we are seeing positive results in a number of student, faculty and staff focused initiatives.

Following a year of evaluation and another year of community engagement, the university is set to launch DEI 2.0 in October 2023. An evaluation report, highlighting DEI successes and areas of opportunity, will be shared during this years Annual DEI Summit in October.

This summer, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion brought together university leadership teams including deans, executive officers and unit directors and DEI implementation leads representing the 50 planning units for a series of full-day retreats in which participants reflected on the outcomes of the previous plan and strategized for DEI 2.0.

The groups took inventory of existing initiatives and activities, assessed resources, identified areas for partnership and collaboration, and began to develop measurable strategic goals and priorities for the future.

The retreats also provided a space for colleagues to reconnect after nearly two years of working virtually, and to re-energize. Many of U-Ms DEI leaders are the first to respond when the campus community is grappling with societal racial tensions and the residual impacts of a global pandemic.

I heard from others that this work can be hard and lonely, said Tiffany Marra, the director of the Center for the Education of Women+ and who has worked at the university for 21 years. The retreat gave us a chance to discuss some of the challenges we were facing individually, but hearing others talk about their challenges gave me reassurance that I wasnt alone.

CEW+ provides immediate and ongoing services and the financial support needed to ensure educational success and degree completion. Women and underserved students are CEW+s primary constituency, but all students are welcome.

The universitys DEI journey has revealed that the pursuit of a diverse academic environment is challenging. And that within any diverse organization, there will be competing priorities and not everyone will agree.

But, while coming to a consensus about how this work should be carried might be difficult, committing to the work is without question.

It can feel like investing time, energy and resources into diversity, equity and inclusion takes those things away from other institutional priorities, said Jessica Garcia, DEI manager for LSA. But (DEI) is all of our responsibilities because it helps us achieve our mission of academic excellence.

We must demonstrate our commitment to learn, commitment to listen, commitment to resources, commitment in the face of resistance and competing priorities, and commitment to keep working at it because this work takes time. It is not a quick fix, and its never done.

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U-M remains committed to DEI through transition period | The University Record - The University Record