V Stl Metro

Renewable Energy Fairs? We're finally having one in the STL this weekend.Grand Opening) MORE Energy Show, August 25th, 2007: 10 AM to 2 PM, 4728 Tennessee Ave, St. Louis, Missouri.
Hope to see you at both the Fair and the hearing.

Rice plans renewable energy center for Dutchtown site
By Jim Merkel
Tuesday, September 25, 2007 3:44 PM CDT

The Rev. Larry Rice, well known for his sometimes controversial ministry for the homeless, wants to come to a Dutchtown residential neighborhood to teach about renewable energy.

But Rice and other community leaders who support him emphasize no homeless people would stay at the site of the planned St. Louis Renewable Energy Center.

Rice was scheduled to appear at a hearing at City Hall last week to ask for a conditional use permit to allow his New Life Evangelistic Center to open an alternative energy center/teaching facility at 4728 Tennessee Ave.

But as the hearing started Thursday, Rice asked for a delay so the public could learn more. The rescheduled hearing will be 8:30 a.m. Oct. 18 in Room 208 of City Hall.

"We want to serve people and we believe a tremendous way is to help people save money on their utility bill," Rice said.

The New Life Evangelistic Center and the St. Louis Renewable Energy Center will offer one opportunity to learn more at a Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the 4728 Tennessee Ave. address.

Also, the Dutchtown South Community Corp. will hold a meeting at which people can learn more about the center and ask questions. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. Oct. 10 at the group's office at 4204 Virginia Ave.

The New Life Evangelistic Center is to include displays on various kinds of renewable energy and sustainable housing, a classroom area for presentations on renewable energy, and a demonstration area on such things as solar cookers, solar heating, solar water distillers, and hydroponics.

The building at 4728 Tennessee is "off grid" and powered by solar energy.

An older house, at 4722 Tennessee, will be restored and will show how energy was used 150 years ago. That structure was built in 1872.

Rice said this is an educational center for the community at large, but added that it's possible some of the students may have been previously homeless.

The NLEC already has renewable energy centers in New Bloomfield and Marshfield, Rice said. People interested in renewable energy are now driving to the centers from St. Louis, which is inefficient, he said.

Rice said his organization acquired the Tennessee Avenue property, a former florists' shop, but learned it had been vacant so long it had reverted to residential. Thus the need for the hearing.

About 90 residents and people from 44 businesses have signed petitions in favor, Rice said.

"If there has been opposition, it's been based on rumor," Rice said.

Brandon Higgins, 21, who works at a bar and grill, said he thought it would be a good thing, as long as it caused no trouble.

Sakeana Marshall, 29, a cashier, said she didn't understand what Rice is trying to do, but signed his petition anyway when he came by.

"I think that he's doing a good job because not everyone can afford a light and a gas bill," said Motesquaw Clayborn, 26, a student. "He does a lot for the homeless."

Alderman Dorothy Kirner, D-25th Ward, who represents the area of the center, also supports it.

"I think it could be an asset to the community, but the community has to understand that we will have conditions on this, such as no homeless shelter," Kirner said.

The restored home could be like a museum piece, Kirner said.

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We Like to Party (in the Park) !

The Annual Clifton Heights Party in the Park is just around the Corner!
Mark your calendars!!! The annual Clifton Heights Neighborhood Association "Party in the Park" will be held from 3:00 - 8:00pm on Saturday, September 29th in Clifton Park!!! The fun begins at 3:00 with food, children's games, a Silent Auction, a neighborhood history exhibit, and rides, bean-bag and ring tosses, a lucky ducky pond, and face-painting. Games for kids of all ages include the "Wheel of Fortune" (every spins a winner) and the neighborhood jail (for a small fee you can send someone to jail...just be sure to bring cash so you can buy your way out if you find yourself behind bars)! games cost $.50 to $1.00 and jail prices vary by the length of the "sentence".

New this year is the First Annual CHNA benefit Washers Tournament 9begining at 4:00pm)! Teams will compete in a single-elimination tournament, with a grand prize of $40, winner takes all! The entry fee is $10 per two-person team, and is due no latter than 3:45pm the day of the tournament. If interested, teams should e-mail Barry Marquart at tiffandbarry [at] yahoo.com.
The Silent Auction runs from 3:00-5:00pm and will include: Cardinal's baseball tickets, restaurant gift certificates, beauty and hair care products, tickets to local museums, and much more!!! Finish off the day with free live music by "The Dock Ellis Band" (folk/country/bluegrass with a humorous twist) from 6:00-8:00pm.
Food and drinks (hot dogs, bratwursts, and/or hamburgers; chips; desserts; sodas and water) will be on sale from 3:00-8:00pm. Restrooms will be available. Bring the whole family, because there's something fun for everyone!
Call Julie Grant at 646-1581, if you have questions. If you'd like to volunteer and help make this a great event, please call Josh Wiese at 910-8145.

All PEV's welcome, there will be several Electric outlets available, look for our Tent.

Route 66 Tour rescheduled

Due to scheduling conflicts that could not be resolved, Editor-at-Large Bob Stevens has had to change his Route 66 Tour plans as announced in the October issue of Cars & Parts (Headlights, page 10). The tour has been moved ahead two weeks and will now leave the Los Angeles area around Sept. 30 or Oct. 1, finishing in or near Chicago on or about Oct. 7. We regret the change in plans. Check back here for further updates. He will be driving his '57 Chevy on as much of Route 66 as time and conditions permit. Before departing Los Angeles, he hopes to attend the Prowlers Car Show in Valley Center, CA on Sunday, Sept. 30, where they are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the 1932 Ford and the Ford flathead V-8, and also the 50th anniversary of the 1957 Chevy. Then, on Monday Oct. 1, he hopes to stop by the Classic Chevy International's Western National Meet at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, CA, where they will be featuring the '57 Chevy on the occasion of its 50th birthday. The Classic Chevy meet runs all week (Sept. 30-Oct. 4).

The trip will then follow Route 66 through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and into Missouri, winding up in St. Louis on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2007, where Stevens plans to attend the "Celebrate the Hill" Car Show at Don Brown Chevrolet, 2244 South Kingshighway, St. Louis, MO, where they will be also honoring the '57 Chevy. It runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the dealership.

The Hill

The Hill
Event Date: Event Name: Category:
2007-10-06
9:00pm - 3:00pm Celebrate the Hill Community Events
Event Description:
Car Show, Free Food from the famous Restaraunts on The Hill, benifits Ronald McDonald House Charities for every New and Used Vehicle Purchased $100.00 Doantion will be made.

at DON BROWN CHEVROLET ( AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE HILL) 2244 S KINGSHIGHWAY, ST. LOUIS MO 63110

Light-rail line could share city streets
By Ken Leiser
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Monday, Oct. 01 2007

St. Louis — Regional planners see a future where trains could share the road
with cars through St. Louis neighborhoods and the downtown business district.

They have drawn plans for a nearly 17-mile path where a light-rail MetroLink
line would run from Goodfellow Boulevard and Interstate 70 in the north to
Bayless Avenue in the south. It would wind through downtown St. Louis, reach
Interstate 55 and Jefferson Avenue and then follow the I-55 right of way to
Bayless.

But, local officials warn, the dream has a long way to go before it ever
becomes reality. The plan has a price tag approaching $1 billion — in 2007
dollars — and, as of now, no money.

It also comes at a time when the agency that runs MetroLink has warned that it
will need more money just to operate what it already has.

For the new 17-mile line, the region would first have to prepare environmental
studies, compete for federal money and raise a significant local share of the
cost.

Elected leaders sitting on the East-West Gateway Council of Governments later
this month will take up the idea.

"This could happen," St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said last week. "Funding is a
huge issue here. If we wait until the funding is available to start the
planning, we'll be left out. There is a lot of competition at the federal level
for funds for mass transit."

East-West Gateway hired HNTB Corp., a transportation consultant, to work on the
proposal. Kenneth Kinney, director of transit planning for HNTB, told the
council last week that the line was drawn up after public meetings and talks
with St. Louis political leaders and city staff.

Several corridors in the region are being eyed for future light-rail growth.
The 17-mile line through the city would have to jockey for position with other
local plans.

St. Louis County, for instance, is preparing to ask voters to increase the
county sales taxes up to a half-cent to help fund MetroLink expansion in the
county.

Metro, the agency that operates MetroLink, buses and paratransit services in
the area, opened an eight-mile line from Forest Park to Shrewsbury last year
and has warned that it needs additional money to continue its existing
operations.

In this latest proposal, the concept is for light-rail trains to run alongside
cars, Kinney said, "not in mixed traffic like the old street car, but in
separate rights of way on streets."

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