Rocky's 'freedom forums' ready to begin

Freedom is the theme of two events scheduled next week at the new City Library downtown.

The first event — the city's inaugural "freedom forum" — will be a two-hour town hall style meeting on preventing gun violence, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday in the library's auditorium.

Six more meetings between December and May will focus on seven freedoms Mayor Rocky Anderson described at a July press conference:

• Adoption issues, Dec. 12, 2004

• Family planning and reproductive issues, Jan. 27, 2004

• Living wages, Feb. 24, 2005

• Alcohol issues, March 24, 2005

• Clean air, April 28, 2005

• Health care, May 26, 2005.

On Oct. 1, Anderson, in conjunction with KRCL, will host the Freedom of Expression Festival from 3 to 7 p.m. The festival, according to KRCL, will fuse "music, activism and political action" and will include an actual soap box where citizens and politicians can share their views.