The Give-a-Shit List

By Carolyn Szczepanski in Out & About, Picket Lines

Mon., Feb. 16 2009 @ 7:17AM

This week: Make sure your tax dollars don't get swallowed in the endless abyss of discontent between the City Council and Mayor Mark Funkhouser, catch a ride with the ACLU to short-circuit the death penalty and get a personal performance from a local band to help out your friendly community radio station.

Kansas City residents can give their bickering leaders some much-needed direction at boring but important budget hearings this week. Show up at the following locations to tell councilmembers what to cut and what to keep, as the city stares down a crushing deficit.
Tuesday: 5:30-7:30 p.m., Lakeview Middle School, 6720 N.W. 64th St.
Thursday: 6-8 p.m., Hillcrest Community Center, 10401 Hillcrest Road
Saturday: 10 a.m. to noon, Southeast Community Center, 4201 E. 63rd St.

On Wednesday the ACLU is heading to Jefferson City to lobby legislators to impose a moratorium on the death penalty. The carpool leaves from Trinity Methodist Church at 6:30 a.m. so the group will arrive in time for a 10 a.m. rally at the capitol.

During its annual Band Auction Week, community radio station KKFI 90.1 raises funds by spotlighting local musical acts on the air and renting out their services to the highest, call-in bidder. Get a jump on the competition by attending the auction kick-off Thursday at Blayney's from 7 to 11 p.m.

Congressman Emanuel Cleaver will update residents on the "State of the Environment From Washington" from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Discovery Center. The former KC mayor will give an eco-analysis of the stimulus plan, explain what politicians are doing about global warming and take your questions. Get there early, though: There's only room for 250 people.

Support Safehome, the only domestic-violence shelter serving women in Johnson County, by grabbing brunch at Outback Steakhouse in Mission from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. For $25, ticket holders are entitled to a four-course meal; all proceeds go to the shelter.

They've been arguing the case for LGBT equality in Jeff City, but this weekend PROMO's got only "Words of Love." Missouri's gay and lesbian advocacy organization hosts its annual Valentine-themed fundraiser, with performances and personal stories, in the speak-easy setting of Firefly Lounge from 6 to 9 p.m. on Sunday.