September, 2008

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Greetings! 

We will be holding our next meeting on Thursday, Sept 25th from 7-8 pm at the Houston Brethren Church as scheduled. Topics will be starting a COP (Citizens on Patrol) and NNO.  Click here for map   

Sunset Heights neighbors really pulled together after hurricane Ike sharing power and water and spending time outside in their front yards talking with each other offering moral support and sharing stories.  Have you seen the orange extension cords running from one side of the street to the other and neighbors out helping other neighbors drag limbs from their yards?  This is a great community.  The percentage of homes without power is still staggering but it's getting better every day. The City of Houston has been frequently updating their site with Ike information for example the curfew, volunteer line, debris updates, and more.

http://www.houstontx.gov/

If you would like to contribute news or stories for the newsletter then please send a note to . Feel free to forward this newsletter to your neighbors.

                                                                               
The City of Houston asks that you separate the tree waste from other debris for example shingles from houses and fences. This is so that tree waste can be recycled separately.  See link for more info.

We thank  The Backyard Gardener for their generous sponsorship of YOM. 
YOM will resume next month. 

Crime stats have not been published for August yet because of the hurricane.  Also the PIP meeting for Sept 24th has been canceled. We have seen an increased police presence during these dark days without power.  

After the armed robbery at the Block Buster, several people in the neighborhood expressed their desire to hire additional patrols.  This topic has come up before and the result of multiple inquiries into paid patrols shows that such services are very expensive and the logistics of money collection/payment are an issue.  To add to that, the county has suspended adding new paid neighborhood patrols until after the program has been reviewed. 13 Undercover did spot on this topic.

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/13_undercover&id=6253398
So even if the organization had the money, we could not do it at this time. 

However, HPD has started a new citizens on patrol program, COP.  This is a feasible and economical choice for our neighborhood.  We just need 20 volunteers that can donate 2 hours a month of their time plus attend a training session held by HPD.  Volunteers will patrol the neighborhood and report sucipious activity directly to the police.  Here are all the details on the program.   http://www.houstontx.gov/police/vip/vip_citzpatrol.htm
Send an email to  to sign up as a volunteer.

Height's Storefront:
910 N. Durham #D
Houston, TX 77008                                     Click here for 77008 crime stats

(713) 803-1151                                           Click here for Information on PIP
Hours: 8am-4pm (Mon-Fri)                         

http://www.west11thstreetpark.org/directions.htm

This is the park that many of us donated money to secure and bit our nails over its existence.  It's a story of the community and local government really coming together to keep Houston green.

http://www.west11thstreetpark.org/CurrentStatus.htm

Civic club volunteers will still do trash pickup and weeding and trimming at Halbert Park that month.  Just remember that the free coffee and educational and fun birdwatching will be at West 11th Street Park on October 11th.

It was a scary feeling when our alarm system's backup battery finally squacked it's last warning and went out.  If you unplugged any smoke detectors or other warning devices to stop the beeping of failing batteries remember to plug those back in and get fresh batteries.

Lessons learned -

  You need more water than you think because you really get thirsty when you are hauling around debris.

  Turn the fridge and feezer to max coldness before the power goes out so that things stay colder longer.  Also if you have the room in your freezer, keep a stash of plastic baggies filled with ice in there.

  Unplug everything except what you absolutely need and are currently using so that lightening and power surges during and after the storm do not fry them.

  The day before the storm is not a good day to find out that the plug in the tub and sink leak.

  You cannot have too many trash bags or tarps and long outdoor extension cords are great.

Current information for huricanne Ike can be found at http://www.houstontx.gov/ 
 

Want to know what's happening in the gulf? Local TV stations have hurricane trackers.

http://www.khou.com/weather/hurricanecentral/
http://www.click2houston.com/hurricanetracker/index.html
http://ktrh.com/pages/stormwatch_hurricane.html

The map at this link below shows the evacuation areas.    

http://www.houstontx.gov/oem/evac.html