Neighbors, join Halcyon Neighborhood Association’s Facebook group!

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-News May 2016

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

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 Editor’s introductory comments express her personal viewpoint.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Contents

1. HNA Steering Committee Meeting, Tues., 5/10, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

2. Work Party in Halcyon Commons, Sat. 6/4, 9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

3. Free E-Waste Event at Whole Foods Market This Saturday, 4/30, 10-4

4. Berkeley Emergency Prep This Saturday, April 30, 10-2

5. Crime-Watch Update

6. Free Disaster First Aid Workshop, Thurs. 5/26/16, 6-7:30 p.m., South Berkeley Library

7. Request from Neighborhood Beekeeper

8. Whole Foods Market News: Next Drop-in Progress Meeting Fri., 5/13, 8:15-9:00 a.m.

9. Halcyon Neighborhood Association’s Guiding Principles

 

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

1. HNA Steering Committee Meeting, Tues., 5/10, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

 

Editor’s note: This is the HNA Steering Committee’s mid-year meeting to follow up on plans for neighborhood activities during the remainder of 2016, including work parties to maintain Halcyon Commons, disaster preparedness drills, crime-watch meetings, and social events, such as our popular neighborhood potlucks, celebrations in the park, Halloween parade, and more. This year we’re also working on the installation of our halcyon bird sculpture project (permit recently received from the city) as well as doing some 20th anniversary spiffing up in the park and larger neighborhood. So much is possible in our neighborhood, but we depend on new neighbors getting involved to help keep us keep moving forward. The HNA Steering Committee uses a Yahoo listserv group for most of its planning to spare us from too many meetings in our already commitment-full lives (we’ll likely have just two in all of 2016). We would very much welcome your participation!

 

Please email halcyon92@gmail.com if you want more information. All neighbors willing to work in the spirit of HNA’s Guiding Principles (see item 9 below) are welcome to join the Steering Committee. We’re very much open to new projects (for example, a couple of neighbors came forward to organize play dates for neighborhood children; another organized a neighborhood singalong some years back, etc.). So if you have an aspect of the neighborhood you’d like to see addressed, please step up! And if you have a special interest in crime watch or disaster preparedness, we especially need your help. For a modest investment of time, you can make a big difference right here where you live.

 

HNA Steering Committee Meeting
Tuesday, May 10, 7:00-9:00 p.m.

Meeting will take place at a home on Webster Street. Email halcyon92@gmail.com for details.

 

This meeting is open to Steering Committee members plus interested members of our Crime Watch and Disaster Preparedness groups, those interested in helping with our 20th anniversary projects, and all who are willing to work together in the spirit of HNA’s Guiding Principles.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

2. Work Party in Halcyon Commons, Sat. 6/4, 9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

 

Location: Halcyon Commons (Halcyon at Prince) RAIN OR SHINE!

Time Frame: Come anytime between 9:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Sat. 6/4 (even twenty minutes helps!)

Goals: Weed in the park and nearby planted areas; enjoy the company of neighbors

Fuel: Refreshments & lunch courtesy of Whole Foods Market

 

This work party relies on neighbors (no student volunteers for this one, alas!). If you can help, just show up at Halcyon Commons. Bring your own weeding tools, or we’ll loan you some. Children welcome!

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

3. Free E-Waste Event at Whole Foods Market This Saturday, 4/30, 10-4

 

Editor’s note: Announcement received from Telegraph Whole Foods Market Team Leader Melody Mestemacher.

 

We’re excited to announce our first E-waste electronics collection event at Whole Foods Market @ Telegraph Ave in partnership with Civicorps!

 

On Saturday, April 30th from 10 a.m. – 4  p.m., you can drive into the event held at Whole Foods Market, Berkeley @ 3000 Telegraph Ave and drop off your Ewaste free of charge! Please read the list of accepted items below.

 

Accepted items:

*TVs and CRT monitors

*Flat screen/LCD panels and Plasma Screens

*Rear projection TVs

*Laptops

*PC/CPUs

*Cell phones, smartphones

*Tablets and e-reader

*Telephonic equipment and walkie-talkies

*Digital cameras, video cameras, projectors

*Printers, Scanners, digital adding machines and calculators

*Networking/Servers equipment

*Mixed Electronic waste (keyboards, mice, network cables, power cables, chargers, peripherals, digital clocks etc)

*Stereo equipment, radios, tape and CD players/recorders, phonographs – no standalone speakers)

*Small home or office appliances (no refrigerators or air conditioners)

 

NOT ACCEPTED:

*Lightbulbs of any type

*Batteries (except laptop or cell phone batteries installed in the device)

*Large appliances of any type like refrigerators and air conditioners

*Techno trash like CDs, VHS tapes or DVDs

*Standalone speakers

 

Please note that as a state-certified E-waste collector, Civicorps is required to verify your ID as the owner of certain items sent to recycle.

 

Hope to see you here!

Melody Mestemacher, Store Team Leader at WFM Berkeley @ Telegraph Ave.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

4. Berkeley Emergency Prep This Saturday, April 30, 10-2

 

Kids growing up in earthquake country need a disaster-prepared household. Pet owners need to know how to keep pets safe in a disaster. At a free community-wide event on April 30, people of all levels of experience can improve emergency readiness for their whole family. 

You'll find family-friendly activities, tips and information, on-site training, and interactive demonstrations of safety resources. There will be pet-preparedness demonstrations, hands-on first aid instruction, a showcase of emergency vehicles, games, prizes, kids activities, and more. 

Join families, kids, pets, schools, community organizations and businesses, and people of all ages to have fun, celebrate our community's resilience and protect those you love by getting ready together! 

"We all need to be ready with the skills, plans, and supplies for all the members of our households - including children and animals - to survive and thrive in our next emergency," said Fire Chief Gil Dong. 

Location: Civic Center Park-2151 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley, CA 
Date: April 30, 2016 
Time: 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. 

To see hyperlinks and view more of this release, visit http://cityofberkeley.info/City_Manager/Press_Releases/2016/2016-04-21_Berkeley_Emergency_Prep_Fair.aspx

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

5. Crime-Watch Update

 

Editor’s note: Our HNA Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=292160762499 often shares breaking crime reports in between E-News editions (your home and email addresses plus phone are required to participate so we can be sure the group is kept safe for neighbors, and we require this information prior to accepting your request to join). Remember, we rely on neighbors to fill in the details of crimes in our neighborhood, so, in addition to filing a police report (which can now be done online through the City of Berkeley website for some kinds of crimes: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/onlinereport/), please email halcyon92@gmail.com to pass the word on to your neighbors, or share it on our Facebook page, so we can all stay aware and vigilant. We don’t want to engage in profiling, so if you include a description, please make it as detailed as possible and avoid generalities.

 

From HNA Steering Committee member Mikel Delgado:

 

It’s been a LONG time since I posted a “local crime” update! My apologies. Here are the area crimes since January to early March. There have also been a smattering of non-larceny thefts and a few assaults (including domestic violence) in the neighborhood, but for simplicity’s sake, I’m focusing on burglaries, robberies, weapons and vehicle break-in/thefts. You can always go to crimemapping.com to get a full report on crimes near any address! 

 

1/13 Brandishing weapon Wheeler & Ashby 

1/17 Robbery Ashby & Telegraph 

1/25 Robbery Ashby & Shattuck 

1/30 Burglary Woolsey & Shattuck 

2/3 Robbery Ashby & Shattuck 

2/10 Burglary Woolsey & Dana 

2/16 Robbery Ashby & Telegraph 

2/17 Burglary Prince & Shattuck 

2/20 Brandishing weapon Prince & Fulton 

2/26 Vehicle stolen Ashby & Colby 

2/28 Vehicle Break-in Ashby & Telegraph 

3/2 Burglary Prince & Shattuck

 

Berkeleyside article on Berkeley crime stats:

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2016/04/05/berkeley-neighbors-police-vow-new-push-on-crime-prevention/

 

Article on arrests following shooting on Tremont:

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2016/04/25/boyfriend-charged-with-attempted-murder-after-double-shooting-in-berkeley/

 

A Prince Street neighbor reported to our HNA Facebook group on April 24:

“Hi everyone: FYI I had a package stolen from my porch yesterday morning. I saw it when I was leaving and I didn't have time to grab it and when I got back a few hours later it was gone. It was a small box labeled Sightglass. Pretty bummed that this happened.”

 

An incident on the western edge of our neighborhood:

http://www.berkeleyside.com/2016/04/17/man-assaulted-with-metal-bat-in-south-berkeley/

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

6. Free Disaster First Aid Workshop, Thurs. 5/26/16, 6-7:30 p.m., South Berkeley Library

 

Editor’s note: Maryann Sargent of Deakin Street Neighbors sent along this invitation to an upcoming workshop.

 

Thursday May 26th from 6 to 7:30

Disaster First Aid

Learn how to perform basic first aid that may be necessary after a disaster or emergency.

South Berkeley Branch Library Community Room

1901 Russell Street, Berkeley, CA 94703

 

Offered by the City of Berkeley’s Community Preparedness and Engagement Program of the Berkeley Public Health Division. The presenter will be Lincoln Casimere, Program Manager.

Call or email me (Maryann Sargent) to RSVP: msargent@lmi.net or 510-848-6737.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

7. Request from Neighborhood Beekeeper

 

Editor’s note: I received the following announcement from Prince Street beekeeper Bruce Wicinas.

 

April is bee-swarm month, and our neighborhood seems to lie on the flight path of swarms on the move. If you spot a bee swarm settling in a tree or bush in our neighborhood and notify a local beekeeper, it will be promptly collected unless it’s too high above the ground. Please call beekeeper Bruce Wicinas at 925-790-2312 M-F 10-6 or 510-848-1797 or other hours. Bruce has the numbers of other local beekeepers who may also be interested if he’s unable to respond. (If bees are already residing inside a wall or a roof, a specialist or an exterminator is required.)

 

When you see a bee swarm, you are witnessing bee propagation — the natural way, without the aid of humans. In the spring, a vigorous hive produces a new queen. She leaves and takes about half the worker bees with her, leaving the old queen with the existing hive. Assuming the form of a cloud of airborne bees called a swarm, queen and workers seek a new home, settling in the late afternoons and evenings in a temporary bee ball made up of thousands of bees. Swarming bees are typically under the control of powerful pheromones, and will not attack humans or others unless they threaten the queen.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

8. Whole Foods Market News: Next Drop-in Progress Meeting Fri., 5/13/16, 8:15-9:00 a.m.

 

Editor’s note: News from Whole Foods Market courtesy of Store Team Leader Melody Mestermacher.

 

Next Drop-in Progress Meeting, Friday, May 13, 8:15-9:00 a.m.

Whole Foods Market (check in at Customer Service)

 

These meetings are held at the Community Table at the front of the store, and the purpose is to share our plans for ongoing changes in the store, street litter control, and progress on any of the ongoing issues we discuss [with HNA reps and nearby neighbors]. The Store Team Leader is usually present, and anyone is welcome to join us. Of course there will be complimentary coffee or tea. Our goal is to follow up immediately on any issues that we hear about, and to hear how the store can be a better neighbor.

 

As always, if there are ever any urgent issues, please call the store at 510-649-1333 and ask for the shift manager on duty. We have new shift leaders being trained, so please send an email to the group below so we can follow up appropriately. Always feel free to swing by too, if you’d like to have a word with us.

Melody.Mestemacher@wholefoods.com

Carlisle.Crumley@wholefoods.com

Ross.Burgstead@wholefoods.com

Jack.Douglas@wholefoods.com

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

9. Halcyon Neighborhood Association’s Guiding Principles

 

Editor’s note: Given our upcoming Steering Committee meeting (see item 1), this E-News features HNA’s Guiding Principles (which can always be found on our website).

 

HNA is a community group dedicated to stewardship of the Halcyon Neighborhood in South Berkeley (bounded by Telegraph, Ashby, Adeline, and Woolsey). We encourage positive, proactive, partnership-oriented approaches to improving the well-being of our neighborhood, with an emphasis on the following goals:

* Community building (such as regular potlucks, special events in the park, mutual support among neighbors, and multiblock yard sales);

* Ongoing care of Halcyon Commons (a park conceived of and created by the neighbors who founded HNA) under the nonprofit umbrella provided by Berkeley Partners for Parks and in partnership with the City of Berkeley;

* Continued greening and care of the neighborhood (planting trees, cleaning litter off streets, graffiti removal, and helping maintain public landscaped features);

* Strengthening neighborhood watch (crime watch, community safety walks, emergency preparedness, and disaster supply cache);

* Networking with the larger Berkeley community (nearby neighborhood groups, neighborhood businesses, City staff, and elected officials);

* Sharing information and empowering residents to become proactive in addressing neighborhood needs and in expressing individual viewpoints regarding civic affairs (spreading news through meetings, flyers, and the HNA E-News, and providing contact information).

To fulfill these goals, HNA provides a sanctuary from partisan politics so that neighbors with diverse viewpoints feel welcome to participate. Thus, HNA only takes stands on larger issues when there is near-unanimity among neighbors. By focusing on immediate local concerns, we find we can have a greater impact and get better results from the time we invest. Guided by these principles, HNA invites neighbors who are willing to work together in a spirit of partnership to participate at whatever level makes sense for them. Opportunities for serving on our volunteer Steering Committee and project-oriented committees are available to neighbors who are willing to roll up their sleeves and work together in a nonpartisan spirit. Neighbors are invited to step forward into leadership positions defined by the work they do in accordance with HNA’s primary goals and guiding principles.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *