June 2009 - test-neighbhorhood@test.highlandparkpa.com

[Highland Park] Theft/Vandalism on Tuesday night
by adamvalerie＠gmail.com 24 Jun '09

24 Jun '09

Just wanted to let the neighborhood know - on Tuesday night around midnight, a group of teenagers (five, I believe) were seen on Farragut Ave. between Jackson and Wellesley around midnight, smashing planters and going through unlocked cars. Luckily, a neighbor heard them and contacted the police, who arrived promptly, searched the block, and filed a report. The police woke us to tell us that our car was one of the ones the teens went through - I'm generally quite obsessive about locking the car, but of course, I was distracted this evening and I forgot. Our GPS unit was taken from within the center console. So, let this serve as yet another reminder to lock your cars - I'm one of those people who would have brushed off that warning, because I always lock my car - but apparently, it's still easy to forget once in a while.

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[Highland Park] Community building
by David Passmore 24 Jun '09

24 Jun '09

Hi Ellen, you make some nice suggestions about positive neighborhood inclinations. My family and I often engage not only our neighbors on North Euclid ave, but passers through our neighborhood. As a matter of fact, I often sit out in my front yard for the purpose of courteously engaging with the people who are on the street (and exercising our new puppy!). I can't speak for others, but I find that in the areas of our neighborhood that are more heavily trafficked, you will have a variety of experiences. I think a good neighbor has to be prepared to deal with each of them, because all sorts of things can happen at any time. For example yesterday evening, my wife was leaving our garage in the car when a young man suddenly appeared running through our side yard as if pursued and then scaled our back fence and tore off down the alley. There was no time to confront this person, certainly no time to exchange neighborhood pleasantries. Last week, a young woman who was a visitor to our home in the afternoon took a walk from our house to the coffee shop. Since she was not familiar with the area, she walked the wrong way on Highland and ended up near Peabody. She attracted the notice of a group of young men who began to follow her. A kind man was able to assist, and he escorted her to the coffee shop. When she emerged after a while, she again was pursued by the group, and they ended up striking her and stealing a few of the valuables she had on her. My purpose is not to detail every single incident, but rather to illustrate that there have been different types of situations that we have recently experienced with both negative and positive outcomes. I fully agree that positive engagement and a neighborly inclination are handy items in the toolbox, but there definitely are other sorts of approaches that one finds to be necessary in our neighborhood. It is important to be aware that in some situations, we're not dealing with neighbors at all, but rather with folks who are in the vicinity specifically to look for targets, opportunities, etc. If you haven't experienced much of this, I think you're fortunate...but there is no doubt that there are daily occurrences of this sort in Highland Park. It is crucial to be an active participant in community building - which means that we have to be prepared for almost anything in the areas of our neighborhood that people all over the city use to move through. I agree this preparation can be assisted by dialogue among neighbors, by being actively engaged, and by listening to and trying to understand what others are experiencing - and sharing what strategies they are employing.

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[Highland Park] Call for Children's Committee volunteers!
by Jana Finder 24 Jun '09

24 Jun '09

Dear Neighbors, We are looking for a few good volunteers for the Highland Park Children's Committee!! If you are interested in helping us run this summer's activities--next week's July 4th bike decorating & parade and the August Reservoir of Jazz kids' activities, please come to a meeting at 5541 Beverly Place (off Negley) tomorrow evening (Thursday) on the front porch. We'll meet at 7 p.m. for 1 hour. Glass of wine & a snack... If your kids have enjoyed the activities we've put on for the past year or so, it's time to step up and help out!! (Plus we are fun people). Questions, call 412.370-3778. Jana Finder & Nevena Staresinic

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[Highland Park] still have buff/orangy cat found Sun
by Daniel Curtin 24 Jun '09

24 Jun '09

Sun AM found hungry orangy male long -haired cat, about 2 years old, under bushes in 1200 block of Sheridan. This has to be somebody's lost pet. Very friendly and gentle. Soft quiet purrs. Companion cat...wants to be held, follows you around and lies on floor watching you work in kitchen, read, fold laundry, etc. Meows to greet you when it comes into room. Clean, litter-trained. Goes out on porch with us, sits on lap or stretches out nearby. Afraid of busses. Animal Rescue League says no one from Highland Park has reported a missing cat of this description. We have had no response to earlier posting or to posters at Tazza D'Oro or on telephone poles. We can't keep the cat. If the owner doesn't respond, we will be taking it to Animal Friends. If anyone is interested in adopting the cat from us, please respond to this email or call 412-363-2474.

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[Highland Park] Walk in the Woods
by Rudolph T. Maceyko 23 Jun '09

23 Jun '09

Neighbors, Please join me for a Walk in the Woods (the park) on Wednesday evening, June 24, 2009 at 6:30pm. We start at the fountain, walk in the woods as much as we can, and end back at the fountain about an hour later. The walk is fun for everyone but keep in mind that paths and steps in the park can be uneven. For the full schedule (including walks in the other parks) see the Pittsburgh Parks web site: http://www.pittsburghparks.org/walks-in-the-woods Or print a poster and hang it somewhere as a reminder! :) http://www.flickr.com/photos/werejellyfish/3578461387/ Rudy

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[Highland Park] Free Wood and Beveled Glass Table
by Teresa Bedo 23 Jun '09

23 Jun '09

48" solid wood and beveled glass octagonal table. Has one 22" wood and beveled glass extension leaf. Brass finish pedestal base. Wood needs to be refinished, but very sturdy and certainly in good enough condition to be used as is. See attached photos. Free. Teresa Bedo tbedo(a)gmx.com

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[Highland Park] Neighborhood Safety Article
by boardwalk_2000＠yahoo.com 23 Jun '09

23 Jun '09

Greetings neighbors - In the November article of the Highland Park Community Council's newsletter, I wrote an article regarding how we might, as a community, constructively engage on issues of public safety. The article received some favorable feedback, as well as a suggestion to pass it on the listserve. I apologize for allowing the craziness of my personal life to to delay me this long, but the article is below. One positive note that has developed since the time of the article is that a Highland Park resident has stepped forward to take on the role of Public Safety Chairperson for the HPCC. Her name is Lynn Burns and she welcomes any input the community might have regarding public safety concerns. She can be reached at lynn.burns(a)comcast.net. Residents are also welcome to contact me at boardwalk_2000(a)yahoo.com. Sincerely, Eric D. Randall, HPCC Vice President /////// In the summer of 2004, I got to participate in a research project conducted by Carnegie Mellon. The Virtual Agora project was an attempt to study ways in which average citizens could get engaged in affecting public policy. The study’s designers randomly selected several dozen residents from all over the city of Pittsburgh, gave them computers and access to an extensive library of information about several public policy issues, and moderated some forums (both face-to-face and virtual) where people could talk and debate. The study participants first focused on Pittsburgh public schools, later on a group of interesting issues (tax policy, economic development), and so on. The study’s participants survived pretty well through the first four or five rounds, but eventually, the study reached the point where we had to vote on the single most important issue (I think our group picked taxes), figure out what we thought the most plausible solution was, and start getting in touch with our elected officials to talk about it. And that is where the study – which had been going on for several months – died. Many of the study’s participants were happy to study the issues and talk about them in a group, but contacting elected officials went well beyond many people’s comfort zones – they really didn’t know what to do in order to effect meaningful change, or didn’t have the time. It was a painful reminder that there’s a very real difference between caring about an issue and doing something constructive about it. In some ways, our October HPCC meeting reminded me of this experience. The HPCC has seen many Highland Park residents express serious concern about instances of crime in our neighborhood, primarily through the e-mail list and occasionally – especially after a spike in e-mail or media-reported crimes – at HPCC meetings. It’s after such apparent spikes in crime that the meetings become relatively well-attended, and people take the opportunity to vent. Venting has its place; however, I believe we can and should engage on this issue in a more constructive manner. There are plenty of bright, caring, motivated people who live or work in Highland Park. Why shouldn’t we work on figuring out what to do? Our October meeting featured representatives from the police and from the mayor’s office. They brought with them some information (crime statistics plotted on a map of Highland Park and surrounding neighborhoods) and no shortage of tips about how to handle suspicious situations. They also expressed a clear willingness to work with us. This can be part of the foundation of a partnership and strategy to help address crime. I don’t have any magic answer to the crime issue, but there are a number of things I believe. First, we must move beyond ignoring the issue, beyond complaining about it, and beyond any notion that the issue is primarily the police’s responsibility to address. The police serve a vital role, and I in no way mean to understate the value of their efforts. But these are our homes, our businesses, our neighbors. And the police are strapped for resources to the point where they are typically responding to incidents after the fact. I think we should focus on figuring out ways to prevent crime – to strike at the root of why crime happens. As an example, one topic that was discussed in our October meeting was the presence of halfway houses in Highland Park where juveniles were sent to live in order to relieve overcrowding at the Shuman detention center. The police officer present at our meeting indicated that these juveniles sometimes attract out-of-neighborhood friends who commit crimes here in Highland Park. Assuming this all to be true, what might we do? I would argue that trying to drive the halfway houses out of Highland Park – while an understandable gut reaction – only deals with the surface of the issue, not its root. By itself, such a move would have the primary effect of shifting the burden to other neighborhoods. If other community groups took the same approach, we’d just be shifting the problem from one neighborhood to the next without ever solving anything. So what do we do? Again, I don’t have any magic answers. But I would like to see us begin a dialog about the possibilities. And I suspect that the mayor’s office and the police would be willing to both give and receive any reasonable assistance, especially if we are trying to address the issue collectively, as a community. Mike Nadler (HPCC President) and I would like to see the HPCC be a positive force for constructive community, and we want our meetings to move us in the direction of being a better and better neighborhood. Please contact us to let us know your thoughts, and please think about ways in which you can contribute to solution-focused conversations during our meetings and on-line. Eric Randall, HPCC Vice President

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[Highland Park] entertainment cover from yard sale
by Erik Schark 23 Jun '09

23 Jun '09

Hi, all - This is a very long shot, I know, but here goes: We sold a wooden entertainment/storage center at our yard sale on the Great Highland Park Yard Sale. We live on Callowhill Street, and the people who bought it took it apart and stuffed it in a small red car. We cleaned out our basement a week later and found a very nice cloth (linen) cover that goes with the entertainment center. We'd love to pass it along to the people who now own the entertainment center if at all possible. If you bought the entertainment center and read this, please e-mail me at erikschark(a)verizon.net so we can get it to you. Thanks! Erik

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[Highland Park] Humane raccoon removal
by Denise 23 Jun '09

23 Jun '09

My daughter has a raccoon infestation in her 3rd floor apartment? Does anyone have experience with this? Denise Petsitpgh(a)gmail.com Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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[Highland Park] Iron Fencing
by WEBER, BRANDEN 23 Jun '09

23 Jun '09

The Fencing has been spoken for. If anything changes I will contact the next person who called. Thanks Branden Weber PACE Manager NE Region Cell (412)-877-6183 Email (Branden001S.Weber(a)Safeco.com) P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. Note: The information contained in this message is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, do not distribute or copy this communication. If you have received this communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the sender. Thank you for your cooperation.

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