Quick reads

Anti-war events set at R-J offices, Bellagio

On March 19, the second anniversary of the U.S. occupation of Iraq, two anti-war protests are planned in Las Vegas. Peace Now is organizing a 9 a.m. gathering in front of the Review-Journal offices on Bonanza Road to "wake up the press to a day of protest." Participants are urged to "bring musical instruments or anything that makes noise."

Unfortunately, a noisy rally at 9 a.m. on a Saturday isn't going to wake up many members of the press, as almost everyone who works for the newspaper will be at home asleep.

A 5 p.m. march along the Strip is likely to get more attention. The protesters are set to meet at the southwest corner of Sahara Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard, then march to the Bellagio for a peace vigil.

For more information, call 499-8387 or 378-5376.

--Geoff Schumacher

Free trees...if you like that sort of thing

Those who join the National Arbor Day Foundation this month will get more than peace of mind. New members in March will receive 10 free trees of either a flowering or oak variety.

Apparently, more than one kind of membership has its privileges. (Or maybe the nonprofit is out to get helpless allergy sufferers.) It's all part of the organization's goal of turning America into one big tree-happy nation, otherwise known as its Trees for America campaign.

The Arbor Day Foundation began as a single event in Nebraska in the late 1800s and has evolved into a nationwide organization and holiday (of sorts). The free trees will be shipped during the spring and come free of shipping charges. A donation of $10 is encouraged. Those interested in more information can go to www.arborday.org.

--Emmily Bristol

The libraries want their books back

You might not care that National Library Week is April 10-16. But if you still have your grubby little hands on that copy of The Anarchist's Cookbook for fear of merciless fines, now's your chance to unload it free of charges (up to $25).

The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District will be offering your lazy ass amnesty during National Library Week. That means fines and charges for overdue, lost or damaged materials will be waived. In addition, lost library cards will be replaced for free.

The district has 24 branches. For more information, call 734-7323 or go to www.lvccld.org.--EB