WAIT, I CAN RECYCLE THAT TOO?
So you’re all ready to put the Christmas lights up on your house, but you run into an irreversible snag.  They don’t work!  Instead of using them as an alternative to bungee cords to strap things on your car, you can recycle them!  Celebrating America Recycles Day, Eau Claire County Recycling, in connection with the Recycling Association of Minnesota will take holiday lights off your hands.  Bring your strands to the County Courthouse starting November 15th and ending January 28th, for free no less.  You can stop on by between 7am and 3:30pm on weekdays from the 15th until December 2nd.  From the 3rd on, hours will change to 8am to 5pm.  Wanna know the best part?  Recycling your light strands employs over 200 individuals with disabilities at vocational centers in Minnesota.  Every part is dismantled and properly recycled by clients of the center. Sounds like an excellent plan to me!

PUT A STOP TO IT!
Citizens in two Eau Claire neighborhoods are hoping for an increase in stop signs, appealing to City Council to add stop signs at the intersection of Rust and Lincoln Streets in the Third Ward neighborhood and a general increase in the Oakwood Hills neighborhood. Those concerned cited an increase in traffic at both locations due to campus construction and new developments off Echo Valley Drive.

PEPIN ARTS CENTER TO CLOSE
In a sad hit to the area arts community, the Lake Pepin Art & Design Center in Pepin has announced it will be shutting its doors at the end of the year due to hard times financially. The center is a not-for-profit organization that hosts artists and encourages local art and art education. But while the location is closing, the arts in the area are not dead. There will be a closing party on Dec. 1 featuring music from The Seeger Boys.