The effort to Beautify Bingham Park, at 160 Coral Avenue in Clifton, will continue in 2014.  The volunteer events are scheduled for the 1st Saturday of every month, except for May & July which will be held on the 2nd Saturday.  2014 dates are February 1, March 1, April 5, May 10, June 7, July 12, August 2, September 6, October 4, November 1, and December 6.  The volunteer events usually take place from 10:00 am to Noon.  Gloves and tools will be provided but you are welcome to bring your own. Dress for weather and working outdoors.  Please note these dates are subject to cancellation due to weather.  For more information and to register, please call Sarah Wolff at 456-8125 or visit www.olmstedparks.org/events

With the goal of becoming nationally certified as a sustainable community, Louisville has been selected to be mentored through the non-profit, Sustainability Tools for Assessing & Rating (STAR) Communities.  Louisville is one of 19 cities to be given the honor. The city’s Office of Sustainability is partnering with the Louisville Sustainability Council, which will play a vital role in the STAR data collection and management process. Communities with certification receive national recognition and are seen as leaders in city sustainability.  Sustain Louisville, the city’s environmental plan, identified STAR as the primary benchmarking tool that would provide a new way to measure Louisville’s sustainability strengths and needs. STAR will help collect information that will provide the basis for 44 sustainability metrics, such as green market development, community water systems, and indoor air quality.  STAR is the nation’s first standardized framework for evaluating the sustainability of cities. Its comprehensive set of local environmental, economic and social metrics was developed by more than 200 technical experts in order to drive competition and continuous improvement in city sustainability results and practices.  Louisville received a $10,125 scholarship, and Louisville Sustainability Council is contributing $1,875 for the city to participate in the program.

TARC real-time bus arrival information for all stops is now available online through Google Maps and TARC’s own trip planner, making public transit an easier and more efficient travel option.  The real-time information is now best viewed on desktops through Google Maps and TARC’s trip planner at www.ridetarc.org. Efforts are underway to make the technology easily available across all platforms.  When searching directions on Google for transit trips, TARC passengers are already provided route options, step-by-step directions, estimated travel times and scheduled bus arrival times.  Both the Google Live Transit Update and the TARC real-time trip planner rely on the same datafeed with bus location information. The datafeed automatically updates bus location information every minute including adjustments for traffic and service delays.  In addition to bus arrival times, TARC’s trip planner includes route specific maps showing locations and movements of buses.  The new technology is part of TARC’s eTran - Enhanced Transit - initiative to modernize its service over the next few years.   Other eTran projects slated for later in 2014 include all-electric, zero-emissions buses to circulate downtown and electronic fare collection with “tap and go” smartcard technology. For more information visit www.ridetarc.org.

Come and learn from associates, government agency representatives, educators and experts to share ideas and build synergy around protecting the incredible bio diverse treasure – Kentucky’s Green River. Who should attend: Organizations and their representatives, agencies, interested individuals with a stake in the health of the Green River and the media are welcome to attend.  Reservations are limited.  When: Feb. 20-21, 2014. Organizers: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, The Nature Conservancy, and Kentucky Waterways Alliance.

In the winter, your car’s tires can deflate more quickly, so it is important to check for proper inflation on a regular basis.  According to fueleconomy.gov you can improve gas mileage by up to 3.3% by properly inflating your tires.  To inflate your tires to the correct level, look at the sticker on your driver’s side door jamb or in your car’s owner’s manual; do not go by the maximum pressure printed on your tire’s sidewall.  It is best to check your tire pressure when your tires are cold, or have not been driven on.  If you need to drive to fill up, it is recommended to drive less than one mile.

KAIRE (Kentuckiana Air Education) reminds you that “if you’re going to be sitting for more than 10 seconds in the school pickup lane or waiting at a drive through, turn off your vehicle.  If you’re worried about this being hard on your car, there’s more information on our Myths and Facts page, but basically, modern cars don’t need to warm up more than a few seconds and are robust enough to handle frequent restarting.”  By going by the ten second rule, you’ll save gas and make our air cleaner.