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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Carrollton & Claiborne Burger King car burglary

From: NOLAReady <roamalert_nola_pub@nolaready.info>

We would like to bring to your attention the great work by of one Orleans Criminal Sheriff's Office deputy. Last night, Deputy Jerry Martin was working a detail at the Walgreens located at S. Claiborne and S. Carrollton Avenue when he heard the sound of glass breaking. He began to investigate this sound when he noticed Michael Bourgeois (B/M 10-01-1964) rummaging through the inside of a vehicle in the Burger King parking lot located at 2423 S. Carrollton Avenue. Bourgeois fled and Deputy Martin gave chase. Deputy Martin apprehended Bourgeois in the 8200 block of Nelson Street. Bourgeois was charged and booked with the auto burglary. Bourgeois also has a history of burglary and theft.
Sent by Brandon Singleton to 2nd District News & Info (e-mail accounts) through NOLAReady

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The sidewalk is NOT your driveway

We've asked the NOPD Quality of Life Officer
to please knock on the door of 2643 Dante
and have a chat with the folks about what sidewalks are for
and what STREETS are for.

It seems they would park on their front porch if they could.
And they have not responded to the flyers that have been placed on their windshields advising them of the actual parking rules... well they did for a little while but they seem to have forgotten.

When you park on the infrastructure (sidewalks, S&W) it BREAKS!!!!

Oh and people walking - you know the ones the sidewalks were intended for??? have to walk around. ... Not cool. 
See the op ed from the TP below.
Dante corner Belfast

New orleans sidewalks are difficult to navigate: A letter to the editor
Published: Tuesday, February 28, 2012
My wife and I recently returned from our first visit to New Orleans, an absolutely wonderful city with a glaring flaw: the condition of the sidewalks in the older parts of town, particularly the Garden District.
My wife uses a wheelchair, which makes it extremely difficult to get around when the sidewalks resemble tank traps. We tried to avoid some of the really bad spots by detouring to the streets, but they weren't much better.
I hope that New Orleans finds a way to repair its sidewalks -- and install wheelchair ramps at all street corners-- before we make our second visit. Perhaps a fee on property owners would provide the revenue. That's a system Sacramento has used to repair sidewalks in its older neighborhoods.
Steve Lawrence
Sacramento, Calif.

IMAG1111-1-1

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Filming in NorthWest Carrollton - Parking Restrictions

Monday January 27 - No Parking 6AM - 2PMIMAG1090-1
8200-8300 blocks of Pritchard Place
2800 block of Cambronne (downtown side)
2800 block of Dante St. (both sides) & 2900 block of Dante (uptown side)
1/2 8100 block Fig St. (lake side, Carrollton end)
2900 - 3000 blocks S. Carrollton Ave. (uptown side)
IMAG1093-1-1

8306 Pritchard Place
IMAG1089

Monday, February 20, 2012

Lost Bird

LOST BIRD
Flew away from 2242 DANTE ST (at Neron)

If found please call:
655-4107 my cell phone (Yume Jensen) or
862-7170 the home phone or
228-0787 my dad's cell phone (Kent Jensen)

Here are pictures of Fuji
He often does the wolf whistle

Monday, February 13, 2012

Trees restore health of city

Times Picayune Opinion

A Thornton Wilder quote best speaks of the reason that we should all be aware of the value of planting trees in our neighborhoods and public places: The planting of trees is the least self centered of all that we do.

The regional efforts of beautification and civic organizations have really helped restore some of the damage done by Katrina. However, unless homeowners and others make efforts to plant trees in their own neighborhoods, the effort will fall short.

Trees benefit the environment, as we all know, but they also help increase property values, slow traffic on suburban streets, help reduce heating and cooling costs and reduce storm water run-off. It is truly a green effort, with no noticeable downside.

Those of us who are planting trees now are doing so for future generations and for the restored environmental health and beauty of the metropolitan region. Maybe more of you will join in the effort.
Mary Ann Terranova Joyner
Metairie

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Catch Basin Cleaning - Do what you can

On Monday Feb 6, 2012 Times Picayune in its Op Ed asked "New Orleanians to lend a hand and clean out the curb-level drainage grates on their streets."   And we should all listen to this request.  If you are physically able to use a shovel do what you can to ensure that the area around the catch basin and immediately in front of it is clear of debris.   When the catch basins are blocked our streets are more likely to flood.
BUT it is important that you do not try to lift or remove the large metal drain covers. It is the Department of Public Works responsibility to cleanout the inside of the drains.  As the Op Ed says:
"The city had planned to clean out 6,000 catch basins by the end of 2011, but in the first nine months of the year, they had not even cleared half that number."  So there we could have problems. IF you notice a drain in the neighborhood that is backing up please leave a comment on the blog or send an email to NWCarrollton@mindspring.com.  We will help inform the city and try to get one of the city's vacuum trucks into the area..
"Officials plan to ask several times a year -- February, June and November -- times when the combination of heavy rainfall and debris like leaves can cause problems." 

While the weather is still nice... take some time to do what you can to ensure water doesn't backup in our streets.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Trees on St. Charles Ave.

Large Oak Trees on St. Charles Good.

Large Oak Trees in your neighborhood.... fight for them.... they are equally good.

See the full article from the Times Picayune below.  And use it as a reference the next time you hear that large trees might not be a good idea.

http://blog.nola.com/new_orleans/2012/02/group_plants_close_to_300_tree.html

Although the oaks of St. Charles Avenue survived Hurricane Katrina almost unscathed, decades of development and neglect were another matter, leaving stretches of New Orleans’ iconic boulevard harsh and barren. Like so much else in the city, restoration of the avenue did not seem urgent before the 2005 storm.
tree3186.jpgView full sizeCody Schmidt, left, and Allen Rhea of Bayou Tree Services steady a large live oak sapling as heavy machinery moves it into place near the corner of St. Charles and Louisiana avenues.
 
But thanks to private donations and the partnership of the city’s Parks and Parkways department, the 353-member St. Charles Avenue Association has spent the past five years replanting the street with close to 300 young oaks, said Ted Le Clercq, association president. The last few trees are being planted this spring.
“This project really arose out of Katrina,” Le Clercq said. “Those of us who came back to New Orleans made a decision to stay here. After Katrina, it was important for everybody to look around and get involved. New Orleans had a different attitude after Katrina, frankly.”
Parks and Parkways provided technical expertise and made sure the group had permission to plant, said Ann MacDonald, department director.
“We do not have a lot of resources to replant trees in some cases,” MacDonald said. “St. Charles Avenue was not flooded as a result of Katrina,” so recovery money was not available, she said.
“It truly was a textbook private-public partnership, and, in this post-Katrina landscape, that’s the only way to get things done,” she said.
The St. Charles Avenue Association raised more than $325,000 from sources including a $1,000 grant from the New Orleans Saints, 31 major underwriters and hundreds of other donations, large and small, said Bret Clesi, a former president of the group.
“Every dollar raised for the trees was spent on the trees, not a penny for administrative expenses,” Clesi said. Other expenses include fertilizing the trees every year, checking their health and spraying for buckmoth caterpillars.
oak-tree-planting.jpgView full sizeWorkers with Bayou Tree Services wrestle a large live oak sapling into place.
 
The lower Garden District needed the most oaks, but trees were planted everywhere that property owners agreed to have them along the avenue, and along a portion of South Carrollton Avenue in the Riverbend.
“There are almost 1,000 live oaks on St. Charles Avenue,” Le Clercq said. “How old are the oldest ones? Nobody knows exactly. We think that many of them were planted in the late 1800s. That’s why we call the project the Once Every 100 Years project. Somebody did this for us 100 years ago, and that’s why we get to enjoy the beauty of the avenue today.”
“These trees were 45-gallon trees, roughly 8 to 10 feet tall,” said Bobby Hassinger, another former president. “They’re doing tremendously. If you look down the first part of the project, between Lee Circle and Jackson, you see a lot of the traditional green of the avenue.”
Live oaks can live 200 to 300 years, although they often die younger in an urban environment, said John Benton, whose Bayou Tree Service was hired by the St. Charles Avenue Association to plant the trees. The species is indigenous to coastal areas. “They’re designed to tolerate hurricanes and floods. That’s what they do,” Benton said.
Hassinger lives on the avenue, in a home that has been in his family more than 100 years. Growing up, he watched Carnival parades roll beneath the oaks. “It’s a wonderful cohesive force, the streetscape,” he said. “It feels like a great community.”
However, members of the St. Charles Avenue Association do not have to live on the street; in fact, some live out of state. The only requirements to join are dues of $20 a year and a devotion to the city’s signature thoroughfare.
Now that the tree-planting project is almost finished, the association is focusing on having the St. Charles Avenue streetcar declared a national historic landmark. The group also monitors zoning and development, works with property owners to maintain the historic beauty of the avenue and maintains an information page on Facebook.
“We are city of neighborhoods. Everybody says so,” Clesi said. “In a way, St. Charles is kind of the city’s neighborhood. You take your kids to ride on the streetcar, to the park.”
Le Clercq agreed. “It’s where we go to celebrate Carnival, it’s where we celebrate football championships. It’s where we send our visitors. Imagine the avenue without the oaks, without the streetcar. It’s unimaginable.”
••••••••
The St. Charles Avenue Association spends about $20,000 a year to maintain the nearly 1,000 live oaks along the avenue. Tax-deductible contributions can be sent to the 501(c)(3) “Save the Oaks Inc.,” P.O. Box 15833, New Orleans, La. 70175.
•••••••
Annette Sisco is community news editor. She can be reached at asisco@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3310.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Prison Yard Lighting

Rock N Bowl & Ye Olde College Inn have installed "Lighting" along Dublin and Fig. While the neighborhood respects the property owners desire to provide "safe" lighting, this lighting creates a "Prison Yard" feel in the neighborhood. We would like CPC and Code Enforcement and Safety & Permits to look in what can be done to have the owner create more appropriate, less stark lighting options for the business and to determine if the lighting is compliant with city code.

This photo below was taken from Pritchard Place looking toward Fig Street.
The distance between the light and the camera is a city block.
Rock N Bowl Prison Yard Lighting

The photo below was taken from Dublin looking across to Fig Street. It appears the property owner is using lighting attached to utility poles to light property owned across Fig Street. 
Rock N Bowl Prison Yard Lighting

The photo below shows the same Fig @ Dublin Corner as above from Dublin
looking across Fig to Earhart.
Rock N Bowl Prison Yard

The photo below was taken on Dublin of the parking lot behind Rock N Bowl.
Rock N Bowl Prison Yard Lighting

Abandoned Truck 8100 Block of Pritchard Place

Please see the photos below for the truck that is abandoned in the 8100 Block of Pritchard Place. The LA License number is X049071 The wheels are now gone so we are pretty confident that no one is coming back for it. 8100 Block of Pritchard 2012 8100 Block of Pritchard

Monday, February 6, 2012

Urban Tree Canopy



Today an article was published in the Times Picayune about how New Orleans has/is restoring the Urban Tree Canopy that was lost in Katrina.

NorthWest Carrollton has worked with Hike for Katrina to plant a little over a 100 trees in our 5 x 7 block neighborhood.   With the drought of the past year we've lost some of those trees. And because of the drought we did not arrange to plant trees this season.   We will plant trees again BUT only
- if the homeowner or tenant participates in the planting and shows on the day of the planting the capacity to consistently water the tree.
or
- if the neighborhood sponsors a tree in a specific location.

Watering is critical to successful tree planting AND most importantly in NOT loosing a tree once it is planted or established.

Any property owner or tenant inside the boundaries of Earhart-Carrollton-Claiborne-Leonidas can leave a comment on this post and contact information or address and someone from the neighborhood organization will be in touch.

We are working to set a planting date with Hike for KaTREEna for the first weekend in December 2012.

As the Times Picayune article below states, Trees are one of the things that makes New Orleans unique. And in NorthWest Carrollton we know the contribute to quality of life.

Green canopy returning to N.O. Streets.
February 6, 2012

"From the majestic oaks that line St. Charles Avenue to the crape myrtles that envelop the city’s neutral grounds in fuchsia and lavender, New Orleans has long been known for it majestic urban canopy. But the city’s lush landscape suffered a severe blow during Hurricane Katrina, when more than 100,000 trees were blown over or died from sitting in salty floodwaters.


Six years later, both public and private groups have made significant progress in replanting the trees that were lost, restoring roughly half of what was lost. This week, one of the main players in the re-greening effort — Parkway Partners — planted its 10,000th tree since the storm.
“We’re going to be Tree City, U.S.A., again,” said Executive Director Jean Fahr, as the lucky tree, a 15-gallon elm, was planted on Desire Street near St. Claude Avenue.
Its hard to estimate precisely how much of the tree canopy was lost in the storm and flood, but the loss was massive, said Ann Macdonald, director of the city’s Parks and Parkways department. To restore New Orleans’ natural charm, the city has created several programs, including a $750,000 grant project that resulted in nearly 3,000 new trees being planted throughout the city, Macdonald said. The department is also about to re-landscape Poydras Street from Claiborne Avenue to the river.
In addition, Macdonald said the city has collaborated with local organizations to plant another 4,000 to 5,000 trees. These trees vary in type, from live oaks to Chinese fringe trees, and have been planted in all parts of the city.
“We are constantly working with community groups,” she said. “Partnerships have been the answer for Parks and Parkways’ survival post-Katrina.”
One of those community groups is Hike for KaTREEna, which has planted close to 13,000 trees since 2007, according to director Connie Uddo.
“Our goal is to hit 15,000 this year,” she said
The organization, founded in 2006, was created by longtime resident Monique Pilie, who decided to hike the Appalachian Trail — from Georgia to Maine — to raise awareness and collect pledges. She vowed to plant one tree for every mile she hiked.
“She hiked 2,000 miles,” Uddo said. “But she planted more.”
Hike for KaTREEna’s roughly $40,000 planting season runs from October to May, and the group plants mainly crape myrtle and magnolia trees, which are all purchased locally, she said. The group has worked in more than 50 neighborhoods and on several neutral grounds, schools and parks, she said.
“The trees are coming in now, they are filling out and taking shape,” Uddo said. “I drive down the street, and I think, ‘Wow, our footprints are all over the place.’”
St. Paul’s Homecoming Center and Lakeview Civic Improvement Association, among others, have also contributed, Uddo said, noting an initiative in Lakeview that planted 10 miles’ worth of green space, or 3,000 trees, she said.
On a smaller scale, individual efforts by residents have helped speed along the restoration.
Local lawyer Ted Le Clercq began planting oaks along St. Charles Avenue in 2006 as a way to give back to the community.
Le Clercq has planted 300 live oaks to date, ranging in size from 30 to 200 gallons, bringing the avenue’s oak count to nearly 1,000. The $350,000 project raked in money from around the city and the nation, with contributors as far away as Chicago and Los Angeles, he said.
“I, like many people, think St. Charles holds a special place in the city,” he said. “People feel strongly about it because of what it means to New Orleans.”
Residents replanting trees in their yards has also helped. John Benton, president of Bayou Tree Service, said his company has planted about 3,000 trees since the hurricane, including all of Le Clercq’s oaks.
Other major replanting efforts have taken shape within the city’s parks.
John Hopper, chief development officer at City Park, said City Park lost 2,000 of its 12,000 trees after Katrina. Since then, officials have replanted 4,000 trees, with more than 50 species represented.
It will take time for the canopy to flourish, Hopper said. But it will be worth the wait.
“We have to start small,” he said. “We also need to think that even if we can’t enjoy them, our grandchildren can.”
By Sydni Dunn, staff writer"

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Count and awareness in January 2012

Jarvis Deberry a favorite Op Ed writer. He is insightful and *real*. The reality he presents is what surrounds us in our neighborhoods. It is sad. It is especially sad because there is so little that so many of us can do to change what is. Sometimes awareness is all we have. 
As we end the month of January with 25 murders, take the time to read or re-read Jarvis' Op Ed below and understand that IF it looks or feels like an argument could escalte:
1) Get out of the way,
2) Get help.

In New Orleans, petty conflicts leads to tragic endings: Jarvis DeBerry
Article below and in link published in Times Picayune January 24, 2012
A friend tells the story about hanging out with her college boyfriend at Joe Brown Park on a weekend long ago. He told her they should probably go ahead and leave the eastern New Orleans park, she said, because, as he assessed it, "They're about to start shooting."

She looked around -- all the way around -- and didn't see any reason for alarm. She was still telling him that he was crazy, laughing at his apparent paranoia when the first shots rang out.
That's when everybody bolted for their cars and my friend and her prophetic boyfriend got trapped in the crush of panicked drivers he'd have avoided if she had only listened to him.

You're probably wondering the same thing she was wondering as she sat in the passenger's seat of the car: If he didn't see any guns, if he didn't see anybody fighting, how could he have known with such certainty that the forecast called for bullets?

Pretty easily, to hear him tell it. He could hear two men arguing. But the mere fact of their argument wasn't as disturbing to him as the realization that they were arguing about something that amounted to nothing. It had been this man's experience that the likelihood of violence is directly proportional to the pettiness of the dispute.

If we are to accept that statement as truth, we'd also have to accept the corollary that disputes over more significant matters end peacefully. I'm not so sure that's the case. But it doesn't really matter. Suffice to say that there's a history here of arguments ending with guns drawn. It's not a new phenomenon.

The U.S. Department of Justice may have finally written about the role arguments play in homicides last year, but it's been that way for a while. "In reading the narratives of the offenses," the report says, "one is struck by their ordinariness -- arguments and disputes that escalate into homicide." To which Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas says, "See! I told you." But the report has not had the mitigating effect Serpas has wished it would. Why not? If I had to guess I'd say it's because the report was old news. We've long known that we've had people killed for the most trifling of reasons. Serpas took this job knowing that.

Friday in Lakeview the grandfather of a little girl reportedly killed the girl's father after the two men argued. Farrell Sampier, 44, was booked Friday night with the second-degree murder of 21-year-old Antonio Miller. Both Miller and Sampier worked at Mondo restaurant. Chef Susan Spicer said management was aware that the two men were arguing about family matters, but added, "They both appeared to be reasonable, rational, nice, normal human beings."

On Jan. 7, 36-year-old Sabrina Elliott lost her 17-year-old son Joseph Elliot and his 41-year-old father, Joseph Evans, after, she said, she argued with her downstairs neighbor. The dispute began, Elliot said, when her children heard a commotion and ran to the window. The woman downstairs looked up and called them "whores." Elliot said she told the woman "not to disrespect my kids" and then they traded a few more harsh words "about nothing."
Police say the woman's fiance, 25-year-old Tabari Butler, and Butler's friend, 20-year-old Joseph Tate, later opened fire outside Elliot's front door, killing her son and his father.

Lisa Fitzpatrick, head of the APEX Community Center, said Joseph Elliot was known as "the reconciler" because of his peacemaking ways. He had started a Sunday-night worship group for teens and helped everybody he could, Fitzpatrick said. The mother of the teenager's newborn son was on the phone with him when he was killed and heard him trying to diffuse the tension. She heard him say, "You're neighbors." Then the phone went dead.
"Why did they shoot?" Sabrina Elliot asked a reporter, still trying to make sense of that which doesn't make any. Why they shot is unknown, but that they did after an argument about nothing shouldn't strike any of us as a surprise.

Jarvis DeBerry can be reached at jdeberry@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3355. Follow him at http://connect.nola.com.user/jdeberry/index.html and at twitter.com/jarvisdeberrytp.