Anticipating the next public workshop for the Comprehensive Land Use Plan update, the League of Women Voters will play host for two public screenings of the award-winning film, "Save Our Land, Save Our Towns." In the one-hour documentary, small-town newsman, and Pulitzer Prize winner, Tom Hylton, taps into a growing concern about urban sprawl among ordinary citizens.

The film will be shown 2:00 - 4:30 p.m., Sunday, February 17, and will be repeated 7:00-9:30 p.m., Tuesday, February 19. Both screenings will be at the Fire Station Headquarters Lecture Hall at the corner of Denison & Kimball Avenues. Robert Wilson, Community Planner from the Office of Local Government, K-State Research and Extension, will lead the discussion following the screenings.

A recent Pew Center for Civic Journalism poll found that sprawl ranks with crime, taxes and education as a top concern of citizens across the country. Traffic congestion, loss of open space, declining cities-all effects of sprawl-have had a direct effect on opinions and lifestyles.

"We’re showing the video in order to help members of our community understand the hazards of unplanned growth," said League President Debbie Nuss. "The views expressed in the film are consistent with the league’s growth, planning, and development position which says that community development should encourage in-fill and growth within the present service structure in order to avoid sprawl."

The screenings are the latest in a series of league-sponsored public forums to educate the community on public policy issues.