Naked City

If you're looking for holiday gifts that aren't produced by Chinese children for 12 cents an hour, visit the Fair Trade Holiday Bazaar, Saturday, Nov. 22 at First English Lutheran Church, 3001 Whitis. Colores del Pueblo and the Hebron Embroidery Project offer handcrafted items from Latin American and Palestinian artisans who were paid fairly for their work. The sale is sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee.

A coalition of key Central Texas leaders and agencies formed to discuss the status of children's health insurance will hold its first meeting Nov. 21, 2-4pm at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 1206 E. Ninth. Speakers include Travis Co. Judge Sam Biscoe, state Rep. Elliott Naishtat, and others. For more info, call 324-CHIP.

If you've been scratching your head over runaway growth in the unincorporated hinterlands around here, you might find useful an upcoming workshop sponsored by the Hill Country Roundtable, Dec. 5, 9am-12:30pm at the state Capitol. The session will explain how 2001 legislation gives counties more authority over growth management and water quality in the Hill Country. Most Texas counties are still figuring out how to implement the legislation. Call the Texas office of Environmental Defense at 478-5161 for more details. And a planned "regional summit" on the Edwards Aquifer, co-sponsored by Council Member Daryl Slusher and Hays Co. Judge Jim Powers, is scheduled for the following day, Dec. 6. More next week.