The U.S. Congress proclaimed that Martin Luther King Junior Day should be a national Day of Service, and President Elect Barack Obama and General Colin Powell renew the call to service to make the Monday holiday “a day on” instead of a day off.

Visit USA Service to find a service event near you. In my area are a number of projects to clean up beaches, rivers and trails. Elsewhere around the nation I see food drives, blood drives, recycling events, even a barn raising!

Bike service projects listed nationwide

In Esko, Minnesota there’s a bicycle awareness program; Conway, Arkansas bike share organizers need help with repairs; AZ Bikes in Flagstaff, Arizona will offer free bike tune ups.

The Boise Bicycle Project in Idaho will fix up bikes for needy children; in Maryland, the Mount Rainier Bike Co-op plan a trail and shop cleanup day; the Community Cycling Project at the Tulsa [Oklahoma] Hub invites donations of new or used bikes, protective gear, office supplies, manpower and bike repair tools.

Residents of White Plains, NY mourn the horrific loss of a precious resource in their city. Learn more in this news video.

Mild Stallion in Albany has some bike haiku here. Enjoy!

The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee has been working on “The American Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act” stimulus spending package. In spite of fears that the stimulus bill would contain no policy changes with regard to current federal transportation spending — in which only 3% of federal transportation spending goes to transit — the proposed $275 billion spending bill contains $30 billion for highways and $10 billion for public transit. Greater Greater Washington has a very good breakdown of where spending would go in the proposed bill.

Local to me in California, the city of San Jose and the Valley Transportation Authority has lobbied for stimulus funding to pay for several ‘shovel ready’ projects consisting mostly of backlogged road maintenance projects but including significant transit projects such as the Eastridge Light Rail extension and the BART extension to San Jose. I’m told that bike projects — including some of the bike parking and access projects described in the Caltrain Bike Access report — are also in San Jose’s funding requests, though I don’t have the numbers right now.

New highways often come at the expense of poorer families as their homes are condemned then razed to make way for new right of way. In a guest editorial, Angela Glover Blackwell opines that public transit in the recovery package builds a foundation for the new economy and lifts up low-income families.

At a much smaller and local level, Andy proposes his own stimulus plan. Barack Obama’s proposed $1000 tax cut equates to about $60 per paycheck. He created Stimulus Bike as a resource for us to pledge to use this money towards bikes, which is a great way to improve the health of our economy, ourselves, our environment, and our wallets. Use your tax cut to buy, fix, repair or upgrade a bike.

I just linked to Bike Skirt yesterday, and then they have to go and post a haiku this morning. Remember, a good bike haiku is automatic link bait for Cyclelicious. Just ensure I can find the haiku by shooting an email to me or thumping me on the head.

I saw Anna’s eye-catching pink and yellow bike last night in Palo Alto. It’s so bright and happy!

What do you all think of this traveling bike lane? A laser is used to create a virtual, illuminated bike box behind the cyclist, perhaps giving the cyclist the confidence he needs to take the lane where necessary. It’s just an idea and it appears it would only work in the dark.

Humorous letter to the editor in Modesto, California, where the 2009 Amgen Tour of California Stage 3 will finish. You know we cyclists have tons of political clout.

I find it amazing that the city of Modesto can find the money to pave Kansas Avenue for a bicycle race that’s coming to town. I have traveled that street for more than 30 years and seen potholes as big as a Volkswagen. Nobody seemed to care. Maybe next year they will pick a new route and we can get another street fixed in Modesto.

What a dramatic rescue on the Hudson River, eh?

For those of you with a three day weekend, have a good one!