The Solstice arrives this week, at about 8 p.m. on Friday, our longest day of the year. The weather forecast is looking pretty good, so it should be nice to get outside and enjoy some sunshine.

But in advance of that moment, you can toast the new celestial season at the Hot Club, with the eclectic Green Drinks crowd. A diverse group of eco-interested people from around the state gather each month for this open-to-all event. Drop in anytime from 5 to 8 and say hello.

Saturday is Rivers Day, and there are several events happening this weekend to celebrate. You can join free one-hour guided tours of the Blackstone River, into the Valley Falls Pond and wetlands complex, all day Saturday. Also on Saturday, the Scituate Conservation Commission leads a late-afternoon paddle on the beautiful upper Pawtuxet River, from Hope Pond up to the Gainer Dam and back.  Bring a picnic dinner and enjoy the sunset after the paddle. Or explore Buckeye Brook in Warwick, or the Kickemuit in Bristol. On Sunday, there's a two-hour trip on the Narrow River, kayak rentals are available.  Check NNN's Community Calendar for all the details and contact info on these events, and more.

If rivers are not for you, Saturday is also the awesome RI Wild Plant Society garden tour. If you have a yard or garden and would like to be inspired to use more native plants and other eco-friendly techniques, here is your chance to get lots of ideas. Click here for all the info. 

Sunday, the folks at Ladd Observatory host a Solstice celebration, from 1 to 4 in the afternoon, weather permitting. The front lawn is offered for picnic-ing, the historic Ladd Observatory will be open for tours, and you can safely view the Sun through their new H-alpha telescope. If it's cloudy or raining, the event will be rescheduled.

You can find plenty more events for the whole family, from farmers markets to hikes and bike rides, to art shows, workshops, and more, at our NNN Community Calendar, ably provided for us by What Grows On in R.I.

Strawberry season arrives just once a year, and now is that time! We've had great weather so far for our local farms, a bit short on rain, but not too short; warm and sunny but not too warm; no major problems, so a great crop is expected.

Click here to find your local Farmers Market -- there are more and more every year --  or go straight to the farm and pick your own, or buy from a farm stand. The folks at Farm Fresh have made it amazingly easy to find whatever you want, any time, from their phenomenal Web site.

It's never over till it's over, but the lawmaking process for this year is grinding toward its end. The House has approved its final version of the state budget, and the proposal now goes to the Senate, which is expected to discuss it today and vote on Friday.

The House version cuts the issuance of $35 million bonds for open space and $15 million for water pollution reduction efforts. If this doesn't please you, let your Senators know NOW! Click here to find contact info. 

Click on "More..." for more info.

via Clean Water Action:

State Needs a Plan ASAP For E-waste Disposal

Providence, RI—Computers and televisions will be banned from the landfill starting July 1, but the state won’t have a plan for what to do with them unless the General Assembly takes action before the legislative session ends this week. If the general assembly doesn’t take action this year, the state will be facing significant increased costs for recycling.

Click on "More..." for more details.

From the Rhode Island Land Trust Council:

Call and Email your representative NOW, ask them to please vote in support of Floor Amendments to restore the Farmland & Open Space Bond Referendum to the FY 2009 Budget!

Click on "More..." for the details and a link to your local representatives.

Many of us in Rhode Island take our bay for granted. There it is, a long gray smudge beneath the bridge. Or we glimpse it from the freeway, crowded in by storage tanks and container ships. But if we slow down for a moment, if we divert our attention from our plugged-in, hectic world, we can find that our bay is a world in itself, a sprawling, alive place, filled with waves and winds and smells and sounds, where our neighbors are digging clams for dinner, or flying kites on the bay breeze, or sitting on a rock to soak in the sound of the crashing waves, or paddling in kayaks, or casting a line to catch the elusive striper, or trying not to screw up their very first tack and jibe in a sailing class.

I spent a day last weekend aboard Aletta Morris, Save The Bay's fast little education vessel, exploring the lighthouses up and down the bay. We traveled down one side of the bay and up the other side, poking into nooks and crannies where we found lighthouses big and small, freshly restored or long abandoned, perched on a rock or safely on shore. A few of the folks on board were lighthouse aficionados, collectors of a sort, who feel drawn to the stories about ships and the sea, danger and loneliness, that are the provenance of every lighthouse. But most of us were just happy to be out on a boat, exploring the bay.

Click on "More..." for the rest of this story, more pictures from the trip, and info for you to plan your own day on the bay.

by Stu Nunnery, director of the Rhode Island Center for Agricultural Promotion & Education
 
State business leaders like to point to our quality of life as a pillar of economic development. They understand that part of what will attract the high paying jobs and cutting edge industries they covet are those natural and historic assets that make us who we are.

Remember that.

The Rhode Island House Finance Committee has killed an important bond issue and we are about to run out of money to preserve farmland and open space. The budget deficit will be blamed but simply, some members of the assembly no longer believe that agriculture’s contribution to the State is enough to merit the investment.

Not enough?

Click on "More..." for the rest of Stu's analysis on this important topic.

Kim Botelho, a local nature photographer, recently won Honorable Mention in an international contest run by National Geographic. "I’m so thrilled I want to jump out of my skin," said Kim, who is a youth program coordinator for Groundwork Providence.

"When I returned to school to study photography, I kept saying, National Geographic here I come! but I never imagined I would ever really see one of my images below the National Geographic banner. Dreams do come true!"

Kim took the picture of a baby gibbon and its mother at Roger Williams Park Zoo, where she used to volunteer as a docent. She has worked as an environmental educator in R.I. for 10 years, and recently completed a photography program at Boston University. Over 148,000 pictures were entered in the National Geographic contest, so she is entitled to be thrilled.

Click here to see more of the National Geographic contest winners (Kim's picture is the last one in this series), or click here for a collection of Kim's images from Roger Williams Park, or click here to visit the Web site of Kim's new company, EarthStart Photography.

Congratulations to Kim!

Sure, there might be a few stray clouds in the forecast, but with lots of bright sun and cool breezes, this is looking to be one A-plus summer weekend. And there are plenty of eclectic and interesting events to keep you busy! Here is just a sample:

Friday the 13th, don't miss a unique artistic event to raise funds for the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council. Held at the Pell-Chafee Performing Center on Empire Street downtown (next to AS220), featured artists will include Brian Kane, a founding member of the Emergency Broadcast System, whose videos were featured in the U2 Zoo Tour; Benton-C Bainbridge, a video artist; Steve Nalepa, an LA artist titled Flavorpill's "beat guru"; Richard Devine, sound designer; Duncan Laurie, an artist, scientist, and thinker; and Aerostatic, collaborators Michele Darling and Terry Golob. There must be something in there to intrigue just about anyone!  

Two great events are coming up on Saturday... and well, probably many more, too, but here are two of our favorites. Save The Bay launches the first of its all-day summer lighthouse tours, which run from 9 to 4 and visit a dozen lighthouses. And People's Power & Light hosts its annual Turbine Festival at Portsmouth Abbey, from noon to 3, where visitors can learn about wind power, hang out in a beautiful spot overlooking woods and fields and the Bay, enjoy live music from the awesome Gnomes, and try some local food and coffee.

Also on Saturday, you can check out an arts & crafts fair at Sakonnet Vineyards, with a focus on art created from recycled materials. And try some local wine, too! Other local art shows to check out -- Audubon hosts a bird-intensive show at their site in Bristol, and Save The Bay is showing art inspired by the ocean at their Bay Center, but you need to catch that Monday to Friday. 

Sunday, of course, is Fathers Day. You could do the same-old barbecue thing, or you can take Dad paddling on the Ten Mile River. On this two-hour down-river trip, which is good for all levels of experience, you can explore the surprising urban wilderness of Pawtucket. Refreshments and a shuttleback to your car at the end. Sponsored by the Ten Mile River Watershed Council.  Contact Keith Gonsalves 401.474.3813 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for more info. 

And of course there is lots more -- farmers markets, hikes, bike rides, river cruises, and more, all to be found at our NNN Community Calendar, built by What Grows On in RI.

Our pal Peter Lord, the projo's environmental reporter, had this story in today's news about the situation at the State House.

Bonds for water, open space cut from state budget

PROVIDENCE — Whenever clean water and open space bond issues go before Rhode Island voters, they generally pass by wide margins. But voters probably won’t get an opportunity to express their opinion on some $35 million in bonds proposed by Governor Carcieri this year, because the House Finance Committee revealed yesterday it cut the bonds from the state budget.

The cuts will cause the loss of millions more dollars for clean water and open space because the state bonds are used to attract funding from the federal government and other sources. The impact will probably be felt most at the municipal level because much of the money was targeted for local pollution-reduction efforts.

Environmental leaders reacted with anger and disappointment, mixed with some appreciation of the state’s financial woes....

Click here to go straight to Peter's story.