NATIVE PLANTS HELP CLEAN WATER, NATURALLY!

We are thrilled to have learned that we will be able to continue spreading that message with the aid of an Illinois Department of Natural Resources Coastal Management Mini-Grant! The grant will fund the development and production of outreach materials and one or more mobile workshops in summer of 2016.  We are extremely grateful for this opportunity!

Materials will be available for no cost to the local Leagues in the Illinois Coastal Zone, and to other LWVLMR member Leagues at cost.  We look forward to working again with local Leagues on this project.  More information about this project will be available early in 2016.

The LWVIL Education Fund will administer the grant.  This is the second coastal management grant LWVILEF and LWVLMR have received; the first funded the first phase of the Stormwater Education project through 2014.

The UMRR (pronounced "ummer") ILO had its very successful inaugural meeting over the weekend.  Almost 50 local Leagues in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois have joined. 

The group is so new, it doesn't have its own website or facebook page yet, but stay tuned, and we'll post an update when available.

Indiana Delegate and LWV LaPorte Area member Jeannette Neagu was announced as the winner of the 2015 Art Palleon Advocacy Award at the League of Women Voters Annual Meeting in Glenview, Illinois.  She was recognized for her decades of tireless work as an advocate for the environmental health and protection of Lake Michigan.
 
Jeanette’s stewardship of Lake Michigan began when she was a child growing up in Ogden Dunes where she attended her first League meeting with her mother. Eventually, Jeannette became a part of the Save the Dunes movement that began in the 1960's and her dedication to the area has never diminished.
 
Whether lobbying or testifying at hearings about policy matters related to Lake Michigan, writing, phoning, visiting elected officials in Michigan City, Indianapolis, and Washington, D.C., or traveling to the other Great Lakes states to give public presentations, Jeanette is action-oriented and tireless. She also works to educate community members by speaking on topics such as, “Introduction to Lake Michigan,” “Combined Sewer Overflows,” “Above-Ground Storage Tanks,” “Nutrient Impacts and Toxic Algae,” and more. Her eye-opening presentations have helped recruit many new members to LWV and to the cause of environmental stewardship.

Jeanette served for several terms as President of the League of Women Voters Lake Michigan Region and is currently League of Women Voters of Indiana’s Natural Resources chair.

The Art Palleon Advocacy Award was begun in memory of Wisconsin’s Art Palleon, a long-time member of the League of Women Voters Lake Michigan Region Board who always encouraged careful use of words and to take action when necessary.