Main Library

Criminal Justice and Education Investment in Idaho: What’s the price of our priorities? with Lauren Necochea

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Over the last 25 years, Idaho K-12 school spending has grown by 87 percent and higher education by just 26 percent, adjusted for inflation. Prison spending has increased by over 200 percent. Even as the number of young Idahoans receiving post-secondary education is ticking up, progress is slow. Meanwhile, incarceration has skyrocketed, putting up barriers in education, employment, and housing for Idahoans returning to their communities. This talk will discuss these policy choices and their implications for long-term economic growth.

Lauren Necochea is the director of the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy and concurrently directs Idaho Voices for Children. Both are programs of Jannus, Inc. Lauren previously oversaw and evaluated programs addressing children’s safety and health hazards for the Baltimore City Health Department. Prior to that, she was a policy fellow with joint appointments at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Princeton University’s Center for Health and Wellbeing. She has evaluated anti-poverty programs internationally and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study microfinance in Peru. Lauren earned her Master in Public Affairs at Princeton University and holds a B.A. in Economics from Pomona College.

This presentation will be LIVE STREAMED and ARCHIVED for later viewing on our Live Stream page.

Panel Discussion on the Science of Sagebrush and Trout in Idaho

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Join us for a public presentation and discussion on the science of sagebrush and trout genetics, ecology, and habitat in Idaho. Researchers from the University of Idaho, Boise State University, and Idaho State University will discuss their own work and a new, statewide research project funded by the National Science Foundation. They will introduce the GEM3 project, its objectives and teams, then answer questions from the community on the science, important species, and their environments.

The institutions of higher learning in the state of Idaho have been awarded an Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) grant by the National Science Foundation, titled “Linking Genome to Phenome to Predict Adaptive Responses of Organisms to Changing Landscapes” (GEM3).

The aim of this project is to understand the impacts of environmental and social change on Idaho’s landscapes, wildlife, and people. The overall focus is on sagebrush ecosystems and trout habitat. The project also entails working with decision makers and communities to develop potential solutions to key issues.

A panel discussion will follow the brief research program presentations, and the event will be moderated by David Griffith from the Center for Resilient Communities at the University of Idaho.

The reading will be recorded and ARCHIVED for later viewing on our Live Stream page.

“Hammond Castle” Screenplay Reading

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Join The Community Library for a special script reading of the upcoming feature film, Hammond Castle (formerly titled Breathe In / Breathe Out).

The script, written by Naomi McDougall Jones, is  a magical realism story that explores themes of identity, legacy and gender through a modern-day, seven-months pregnant woman’s unexpected interaction with the brilliant, eccentric and deceased inventor John Hays Hammond Jr. The film is expected to begin production in November 2020.

Naomi and a cast of local actors, including Joel Vilinsky, Denise Simone,  Juliette Rollins,  Patsy Wygle, Melodie Taylor-Mauldin, Katrina Jankowski and Andrew Alburger, will read the script, followed by a Q&A session.

 

Naomi McDougall Jones is one of the current Hemingway Writers-in-Residence with The Community Library. Naomi is an award-winning actress, writer, producer, and women in film activist. She grew up in Aspen, Colorado and attended Cornell University before graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA). Following the success of Imagine I’m Beautiful (2014), Naomi’s second feature film, Bite Me (2019), premiered at Cinequest. The film is a subversive romantic comedy about a real-life vampire and the IRS agent who audits her.

Naomi has also appeared in 100 plays, films and TV shows, including HBO’s Boardwalk Empire and The Mire (Cherry Lane Theatre). Seven of her played have been produced in New York City and through the U.S. Her articles on the independent film scene and women’s role in it have appeared in IndieWire, MovieScope Mag and Cinema/Verite and is a contributing blogger for The Huffington Post. Naomi is currently at work on a book, The Wrong Kind of Woman: Dismantling the God of Hollywood, which will be published by Beacon Press in February 2020. She is also the host of the podcast Fear(ful)less: Filmmaking From the Edge, a monthly window into the successes, failures, and conversations of an independent filmmaker.

Mozart’s Divertimento in E-flat major (K. 563) with Stephen McDougall Graham

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**PLEASE NOTE** – This recital has been moved to Sunday, October 27th at 3:00 pm.

Join The Community Library for a special recital with Hemingway Writer-In-Residence Stephen McDougall Graham (Violin). Stephen will be joined by local musicians Rudolph Kremer (Viola) and Ellen Sanders (Cello) to present Mozart’s  Divertimento in E-flat major (K. 563) .

Composed in September 1788, Mozart’s Divertimento in E-flat major (K. 563) is celebrated as a pinnacle of chamber music. Written for the traditional Viennese string trio (violin, viola, ‘cello), it is Mozart’s only completed such work. This is remarkable, given the peri-contemporaneous popularity of trios of this instrumentation, proving its success as a genre. A Divertimento of this period is a piece written for festivals or parties, and are thus considered to be “occasional” works. However, it is not known for what occasion K. 563 was written. Scholars have speculated that Mozart wrote the work on commission for his friend Michael Puchberg, a fellow Freemason who frequently provided Mozart with small loans and commissions to help the composer during his later years’ increasingly desperate financial situation. 

Alfred Einstein, the best-known Mozart biographer, called the work one of the composer’s “noblest works… intended to offer… something special in the way of art, invention, and good spirits… every note is significant, every note is a contribution to spiritual and sensuous fulfillment in sound.”

 

Stephen McDougall Graham is one of the current Hemingway Writers-in-Residence with The Community Library. Stephen earned a BA in music and philosophy from Bucknell University, where he led the orchestra as concertmaster. He went on to earn a Master of Public Policy at Georgetown University, and worked for six years as a grant specialist at a leading global women’s health nonprofit. In 2013, Stephen decided to pursue his passion and began to transition into the professional music scene in New York. Since the 2014/15 season, he has performed regularly with The Chelsea Symphony, also serving on its board as Vice President and Director of Development. In May 2018, Stephen completed a Master of Music in classical violin performance at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. Stephen has performed at Merkin Hall, 92nd St YMCA, LeFrak Concert Hall, Shalin Liu Performance Center, and the Weis Center, among others.

Rudolph Kremer is the founder and artistic director of Valley Ensembles.  He has been a member of the Sun Valley Music Festival first violin section since 1996 and is currently the violin and viola teacher at the Sun Valley Music Festival School of Music.  He began his orchestral career with the San Francisco Symphony in 1995 and frequently plays with the Chicago Symphony, the  Minnesota Orchestra, and the Pittsburgh Symphony.  His wide and international professional experience includes work with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, the Florida orchestra, the International Orchestra of Italy, the Malaysian Philharmonic, and the Saigon Philharmonic.  He is also a visiting artist and professor at the Saigon conservatory and the Auftdart Academy in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Ellen Sanders has been a member of the Sun Valley Music Festival for 27 years, has been teaching in the Summer Music Workshop since 1998, and is now a full-time teacher in the Wood River Valley.  Ms. Sanders is a graduate of Oberlin College and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.  Prior to moving to Idaho, Ms. Sanders was principal cello of the Santa Cruz Symphony, assistant principal cello of Opera San Jose and a member of the San Jose Chamber Orchestra.  She has also performed frequently with the San Francisco Opera.  Ellen now divides her time between teaching in the Blaine County School District and the Sun Valley Symphony’s year-round School of Music classes.

Refresh Your Parenting, Grandparenting and Teaching Expertise with Dr. Alexandra Delis-Abrams

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Join Dr. Alexandra Delis-Abrams for an educational and light-hearted presentation on parenting, grandparenting and teaching. She’ll share hot tips, attitude adjustments and other free, useful materials.  

Alexandra Delis-Abrams, Ph.D., is the author of ABC Feelings, helping children (and parents) develop emotional literacy, through correlating feelings with the alphabet, as well as Attitudes, Beliefs and Choices. Her most recent award-winning book is Endangered Species Have Feelings Too.  She is a workshop presenter and speaker, Advanced Holistic Health Practitioner and Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher. She has had a counseling practice since 1994 with emphasis on Transpersonal Psychology.

Today’s China: Its Political Culture and Political Economy with William McCahill

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William McCahill, former Charge d’Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, will speak about the People’s Republic of China’s current leadership, the role of the Chinese Communist Party in governing the state and directing the economy, and how China now challenges American and other national interests.  Specific subjects that dominate American headlines — U.S.-China trade disputes, intellectual property theft, China’s military expansion and sharp-elbowed diplomacy, Chinese Communist influence operations in the U.S. and elsewhere — will also be discussed.

William McCahill is a Senior Resident Fellow with the National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR). He focuses on Chinese domestic politics and policies, and on how those affect foreign investors and businesses in China. His professional experience in China dates from 1976. Before joining NBR, Mr. McCahill had been senior advisor for China at Mirabaud & Cie., a Geneva-based Swiss private bank. Working from Hong Kong and Suzhou, he advised Mirabaud’s equities traders, capital markets and private banking teams, and their clients. From 2012 through 2014, Mr. McCahill had done similar work with the emerging markets investment bank Religare Capital Markets. He had previously co-founded and managed a China-focused equities and macroeconomic research firm, opened the Beijing office of a major U.S. law firm, and operated a business consultancy in China. A 25-year Foreign Service career preceded Mr. McCahill’s China business activities. He began his diplomatic service in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Beijing; subsequently held senior posts at U.S. missions in Western Europe, Scandinavia, and Canada; and in 2000 retired from his last posting as chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing.

Mr. McCahill’s visit to Idaho has been organized by the Boise Committee on Foreign Relations.

This program will be LIVESTREAMED and ARCHIVED for later viewing on our Live Stream page.

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