* * * * * * * * * * * *
Halcyon
Neighborhood Association E-Update 4/14/10
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Items appearing in the HNA E-Update
are deemed to be of general interest to neighbors but do not necessarily
reflect the views of Halcyon Neighborhood Association (HNA), its Steering
Committee, or the Editor. The EditorÕs introductory comments express her
personal viewpoint.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
a. Meeting This
Sunday, April 18, 4:30-6 p.m. to Plan May Disaster Prep Drill
b. City Council to Hear Public
Input on BRT, Tuesday, April 20
c. National Library
Week: Survey on Berkeley Public Library
d. Le Conte
Neighborhood Association Meeting, Thursday, April 15, 7:30 p.m.
EditorÕs Introductory Note:
While not everyone is able to
participate in ongoing neighborhood organizing, some of you have wondered how
you could help out in time-limited, focused ways. Participating in planning the
disaster preparedness drill schedule for May is one way to help out, and make
both your family and our neighborhood better prepared when the Big One strikes;
see item (a) for information about the planning meeting taking place this
Sunday. As before, please note that the HNA E-Update comes out in between
regular E-Newsletters and contains information that would be outdated for the
next regular edition (the next one will be the first week in May).
The April edition of the E-News
is still up online at http://www.HalcyonNeighborhood.org, and from now on prior
editions will be indexed there as well.
—Nancy Carleton, HNA
Co-Chair and E-News Editor, halcyon92@gmail.com
* * * * * * * * * * * *
a. Meeting This
Sunday, April 18, 4:30-6 p.m. to Plan May Disaster Prep Drill
HNA
Neighborhood Watch Coordinator Dawn Trygstad Rubin submitted the following
announcement:
Hello
Neighbors,
We need
your help to plan the Halcyon Neighborhood disaster drill on 5/23. A
neighborhood flyer to be distributed next week says:
Neighborhood
Disaster Prep Drill
Sunday,
May 23, 3–5 p.m.
Meet at
Halcyon Commons (Halcyon at Prince)
This
year weÕve all seen the devastation a major earthquake can cause. ItÕs
important to remember that in Halcyon Neighborhood we live almost on top of a
major fault. Scientists say there is an 80 percent chance of a major quake in
the next twenty years. WHEN (not if) we have an earthquake, we need to be
prepared to survive on our own for at least a week before outside help arrives.
Our neighborhood has a basic disaster preparedness plan and a supply cache on
Halcyon Court. Come out May 23rd for our annual drill as we practice setting up
an Incident Command Center in Halcyon Commons, using walkie-talkies, and more.
To help plan the drill, contact halcyon92@gmail.com.
I canÕt
prepare for or execute the drill alone. Ideally we need 10-12 people to help
plan it and make it happen. At the very least the drill will repeat what weÕve
done before: meet at the cache, open it, assign roles, test the walkie-talkies.
But it would be nice to do more. IÕve seen some good examples through the BDPNN
lately and would also like to include 2-3 patients to triage and a small
search/rescue operation. This
can't happen without YOU.
Please
attend a first planning meeting:
4:30-6:00
p.m. on Sunday, 4/18
Wheeler
Street
RSVP to FamilyRubin@comcast.net for address
510-843-3793
Thanks,
in advance, for your help!
Ciao,
Dawn
* * * * * * * * * * * *
b. City Council to Hear Public
Input on BRT Build Alternative options, Tuesday, April 20
EditorÕs note: The following
announcement was received from City staff. (Note that some community groups
have been requesting that the meeting be held in a larger venue to accommodate
the large crowd anticipated, so check before the meeting to make sure of the
location.)
The City Council will discuss BRT
Build Alternative options, to be used in an environmental study, at the next
meeting:
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
7:00 p.m.
City Council Chambers
2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
This meeting was continued from
the March 23rd City Council meeting. It will be the first item on the agenda
after the Consent Calendar; it is scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. No action
will be taken at this meeting.
The Build Alternative is not a
decision on BRT in Berkeley, but rather a decision on an option for study in AC
TransitÕs Final Environmental Impact Study/Report (FEIS/R) for the BRT project.
The staff report and attachments for this meeting are currently available on
the City ClerkÕs website under the March 23rd agenda: http://www.cityofberkeley.info/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=9868 (see the Regular Meeting agenda, Item 38). The
agenda for the meeting and any supplemental information will be available on
the City ClerkÕs website by Thursday, April 15th at 5:00 p.m.
The City Council will consider,
and possibly take action on, a Build Alternative for study in AC TransitÕs
FEIS/R at a future Council meeting.
Information on that meeting will be sent in a separate email.
Please contact me if you have any
questions.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Ruess Greene, AICP
Senior Planner
City of Berkeley
Phone - 510-981-7484
Fax - 510-981-7490
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c. National Library
Week: Survey on Berkeley Public Library
EditorÕs note: The following
information was received from City staff.
Celebrating National Library Week
April 11-17, 2010
National Library Week is an annual
celebration of the contributions of our nationÕs libraries and librarians. All
types of libraries — school, public, academic and special —
participate. The theme for 2010 is ÒCommunities thrive @ your library,Ó and
libraries across the nation look for ways to raise awareness about libraries
and library services during this week. This theme is especially appropriate
this year, reflecting how many citizens are turning to their public libraries
for assistance and solace during these times of economic distress.
Please Fill Out our Survey! We
Need Your Input!
Each April, the staff of the
Berkeley Public Library devotes activities and programs in honor of this
important recognition of how libraries everywhere play a vital role in
supporting the quality of life in their communities. This year, Library staff
is launching the first of a planned annual patron satisfaction survey, to
monitor what the LibraryÕs users think of the library services they receive,
and to receive feedback on potential areas of improvement. Please fill out our
Berkeley Public Library Customer Satisfaction survey available at any Information
or Reference Desk or http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JYBDVWC
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d. Le Conte
Neighborhood Association Meeting, Thursday, April 15, 7:30 p.m.
EditorÕs note: Received from Karl
Reeh, President of Le Conte Neighborhood Association, whose boundaries overlap
with part of the Halcyon Neighborhood.
The Le Conte Neighborhood Assn.
will be meeting this Thursday, April 15th at 7:30 p.m. at the ART HOUSE,
2905 Shattuck Ave. (three doors south of Russell Street). A large sign will be
posted.
THE AGENDA WILL INCLUDE:
A. The Laundromat proposed for
3095 Telegraph.
B. An Update on local crime
reports.
C. Public heating on ÒParker PlaceÓ
Development (Toyota Showroom/Shop)
D. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
E. Nominations for LNA Board
(Election May 20th)
F. Survey of
local Disaster Preparation Groups
G. The Berkeley Sunshine
Ordinance.
We will be considering other items
for the May meeting such as sharing information concerning bond and tax issues
in the June election.
Cheers, Karl Reeh, President
510-843-2602
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Halcyon
Neighborhood Association E-News 4/5/10
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Items appearing in the HNA E-News are deemed to be of
general interest to neighbors but do not necessarily reflect the views of
Halcyon Neighborhood Association (HNA), its Steering Committee, or the Editor.
The EditorÕs introductory comments express her personal viewpoint.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Contents
1. New HalcyonNeighborhood.org website
2. Input Sought for Meeting with Whole Foods, This
Thursday, April 8
3 World Tai Chi and QiGong
Day, Saturday, April 24, 2010, 10-11 a.m., Halcyon Commons
4. Crime Watch Focus: Request for Alternates to Attend
SNCPC
5. Crime Watch Update: Assault on Telegraph at Prince;
Catalytic Converter Stolen, Essex at Wheeler
6. ChancellorÕs Community Partnership Fund Grant Workshop,
Wednesday, April 7, 5:30–7:30 p.m.
7. Disaster Prep ÒDo Something Day,Ó Saturday, April 24
8. HNA Planning Disaster Prep Drill on Sunday, May 23,
3–5 p.m.: Can You Help?
9. New Yellow Emperor Community Acupuncture Clinic on
Shattuck between Prince & Woolsey
10. South Berkeley Planning Process Underway
11. The 2010 Census: Berkeley Sites for Forms in Various
Languages
12. AC Transit Route Changes: Links
13. Laundromat Permit Update: Link
EditorÕs Introductory Note:
This
edition of the E-News eliminates the placeholders found at the end past
editions, including For Your Calendar, HNAÕs Disaster
prep Supply Cache Wish List; City of Berkeley Useful Contact Information; and HNAÕs Guiding Principles. This information will still be
available, stored on our new HalcyonNeighborhood.org website, thanks to
neighbor Bruce Wicinas (see item 1). Keeping this
ongoing information stored on the website will allow me to streamline the
E-News and keep it focused on new material. Thank you, Bruce!
And
donÕt forget to join our Halcyon Neighborhood Association (HNA) group on Facebook if you havenÕt yet. ItÕs a great way to get to
know your neighbors better!
—Nancy
Carleton, HNA Co-Chair and E-News Editor, halcyon92@gmail.com
* * * * * * * * * * * *
1. New HalcyonNeighborhood.org website
Prince Street neighbor Bruce Wicinas — one of the founders of HNA and a key
organizer behind the creation of Halcyon Commons — has started a new
website for the neighborhood, which can be found at www.HalcyonNeighborhood.org.
Still in its infancy, the website will evolve as we see what works best and
what kind of information weÕd like to store. If you have feedback or historical
material to offer, please email halcyon92@gmail.com.
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2. Input Sought for Meeting with Whole Foods,
This Thursday, April 8
Several Halcyon neighbors and HNA
Steering Committee members have been meeting every few months with team leaders
from Whole Foods Market to address issues of mutual concern and strengthen our
relationship in taking care of our shared neighborhood. Ongoing issues weÕve
been addressing include parking issues, crime watch, graffiti removal, litter
pickup, watering of street trees, reducing smoking on the Webster Street
approach, traffic management, and more. Please email halcyon92@gmail.com by Wednesday, April
7, if you have an issue or concern youÕd like us to pass on in our regular
meeting this Thursday morning, April 8. (Please indicate whether you wish your
comment to remain confidential or if itÕs okay to pass on your contact
information.)
* * * * * * * * * * *
3. World Tai Chi and QiGong Day, Saturday, April 24, 2010, 10-11 a.m., Halcyon
Commons
Instead of the regular tai chi chih practice on fourth Sundays, this month weÕll be
holding our free monthly tai chi chih practice on
Saturday, April 24, at 10 a.m., joining a wave of tai chi and qigong
practitioners and healers around the world. Prince Street neighbor Judith
Schwartz will once again be facilitating, and she invites those who want to
practice tai chi chih as well as others who wish to
share their healing or energy work (without charge) to join us in the park to
be part of this worldwide wave of healing energy and chi. (Regular fourth
Sunday tai chi chih practice in the park will resume
May 23 at 11 a.m.)
World Tai Chi and QiGong Day,
Sat. 4/24, 10–11 a.m.
Note: Rain cancels.
Halcyon Commons (Halcyon at
Prince)
Facilitated by Prince Street
neighbor Judith Schwartz, 510-843-2062
www.judithschwartz.com[EditorÕs Note:
Judith also offers ongoing classes to teach the Tai Chi forms in her Prince
Street gardens; you can contact her for more information.]
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4. Crime Watch Focus: Request for Alternates
to Attend SNCPC
HNA Neighborhood Watch Coordinator
Dawn Trygstad Rubin submitted the following update
and request regarding the SNCPC:
Many of you know that Halcyon
Neighborhood participates as the unofficial Òsector 8Ó with the Shattuck
Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council (SNCPC) in Oakland just south of us. Dawn
Trygstad Rubin, HNA Neighborhood Watch Coordinator,
attends monthly meetings with elected resident and business representatives
from Oakland's Police Beat 11 and their PSO (problem-solving officer from the
police department) and their neighborhood services liaison (from the MayorÕs
office). She reports that it is
consistently the most productive meeting she attends anywhere, with excellent
cooperation between residents, business owners, police, and city staff working
together to produce real results. The SNCPC has done proactive work with the
Recreation Center at Bushrod Park, funded kids going
to summer camps, closed drug houses, addressed nuisance issues, solved crimes,
and more.
Twice each year the SNCPC hosts
public meetings where they invite all residents and business owners/employees
to gather. That means US TOO in the Halcyon Neighborhood. Last year there was
an excellent meeting focused on the (still-ongoing) war between gangs in
Oakland, Berkeley, and Richmond over drug issues. Last
month the first semiannual meeting focused on issues related to marijuana
— both legal for medical purposes and illegal. Later this year in October
(date TBD), the second semiannual meeting of the SNCPC will serve as the HNA
annual crime watch meeting; look for the announcement in this E-News as the
time approaches.
Dawn is looking for HNA residents
to be alternates for our Òsector 8Ó to attend the monthly meetings with her
from time to time and to be alternates for the few times each year she is
unable to attend. Please contact
her at familyrubin@comcast.net or
510-843-3793 for more information.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
5. Crime Watch Update: Assault on Telegraph
at Prince; Catalytic Converter Stolen, Essex at Wheeler
HNA Crime Watch Coordinator Dawn Trygstad Rubin, who attended the recent Bateman
Neighborhood Association crime watch meeting, passed on the following
information:
ÒThere was a disturbing report. A
lady was assaulted Friday [March 19]. She was outside the church (Prince and
Telegraph), and a man was screaming obscenities. She asked him to stop and he
attacked her pretty violently. A man walking on the other side of the street
came to her rescue and the attacker fled. I didnÕt get a good description
— I think she said he was Caucasian and probably in his late twenties.Ó
An Essex Street neighbor submitted
the following report:
ÒCatalytic converter sawed off and
stolen from my 4runner overnight Monday, March 22, on Essex at Wheeler Street. . . . At RonÕs Berkeley Muffler they told us someone
called in 15 minutes later from around the corner with the same problem. They
said it takes two guys about two minutes to do the damage. Some people are in
for $1,000 damage. It ÔonlyÕ cost us $425.Ó
* * * * * * * * * * * *
6. ChancellorÕs Community Partnership Fund
Grant Workshop, Wednesday, April 7, 5:30–7:30 p.m.
New collaborations sought for
Chancellor's Community Partnership Fund
Grant Workshop on Wednesday, April
7, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the
North Berkeley Senior Center (1901
Hearst Avenue at Martin Luther King Jr. Way)
The Chancellor's Community
Partnership Fund at the University of California, Berkeley, is now accepting
grant applications for its 2010-11 grant cycle. The
fund will distribute $225,000 in grants this year to support projects and
programs that link UC Berkeley faculty, staff, and students with residents and
community-based organizations to improve the quality of life in Berkeley. The
fund will host a workshop for interested applicants as well as potential
community or university partners on April 7th.
ChancellorÕs Community Partnership
Fund
UC Berkeley Office of Local
Government and Community Relations
510-643-5299
calpartnershipfund@berkeley.edu
communityrelations.berkeley.edu
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7. Disaster Prep ÒDo Something Day,Ó
Saturday, April 24
The Berkeley Disaster Prep
Neighborhoods Network (Òthe NetworkÓ) is sponsoring Saturday, April 24, as a day
for each family and individual to take at least one small step in increasing their level of disaster preparedness. See Berkeleydailyplanet.com.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
8. HNA Planning Disaster Prep Drill on
Sunday, May 23, 3–5 p.m.: Can You Help?
HNA is planning a disaster
preparedness drill on Sunday, May 23rd, with all interested neighbors
encouraged to attend! In order to make the drill as useful as possible,
Neighborhood Watch Coordinator Dawn Trygstad Rubin
would appreciate some assistance with the planning and preparation for the
drill. Please email halcyon92@gmail.com
if youÕd be willing to help.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
9. Yellow Emperor Community Acupuncture
Clinic Opens on Shattuck between Prince & Woolsey
[EditorÕs note: IÕm always glad to
pass on the word about new businesses in the neighborhood. This one recently
held an open house and several neighbors passed on the word.]
Yellow Emperor Community
Acupuncture Clinic
3111 Shattuck Ave. (between Prince & Woolsey)
Berkeley 94705
510-227-4028
Hours: Tuesday–Friday: 3- 7
p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Sunday: 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Regular treatments $20-40 sliding
scale
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10. South Berkeley Planning Process Underway
EditorÕs note: While HNAÕs Guiding Principles preclude us from getting involved
in lobbying on potentially controversially topics, we do our best to let
neighbors know about City planning that may affect our neighborhood. Neighbors
interested in current planning taking place over the coming months (Òthe South
Berkeley Community ProjectÓ) may wish to consult www.cityofberkeley.info/uploadedFiles
* * * * * * * * * * * *
11. The 2010 Census: Berkeley Sites for Forms
in Various Languages
EditorÕs note: ItÕs Census time,
and for our city and county to receive the full federal funding to which weÕre
entitled, everyone needs to be counted! If you misplaced your census form or
need one in a language other than English, here are some places with blank
questionnaires.
Be Counted Only Sites in Berkeley
(no questionnaire assistance but can pick up blank questionnaires in English,
Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Russian):
Berkeley Public Library-West
Branch, 1125 University
Berkeley Free Clinic, 2339 Durant
Downtown Berkeley Library, 2090
Kittredge
City of Berkeley - Customer
Service Center, 1947 Center St.
Mi Tierra, 2082 San Pablo
Berkeley Public Library-South
Branch, 1901 Russell St.
Over 60/Lifelong, 3260 Sacramento
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12. AC Transit Route Changes: Links
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13. Laundromat Permit Update: Link
EditorÕs note: A link for those of
you whoÕve been following the laundromat permitting
issue.