Poop...if you See Something Say Something!

We've got a problem with people letting their dogs poop, crap, whatever you call it and not picking it up.

Honestly, we walk with a bag to pick up puppy droppings should they have to relieve themselves so should others.

I've had words with a few people already letting their dogs poop in our yard and walk away.  If you see someone dog crap in a yard and leave it, SAY SOMETHING.  (The two I've exchanged words with weren't even residents of our street!)

If you know where they live, return the droppings on their stoop...

New Traffic Lights on Foothill coming soon

From the city managers weekly report this tidbit, lights coming to Foothill/California.  I wish they could come up with a solution to getting on and off our street during rush hours...but that's wishful thinking.

From the Report:

NEW TRAFFIC SIGNALS PROPOSED ON FOOTHILL BOULEVARD AT CALIFORNIA AVENUE AND SUNSET PLACE

During the past several months, staff has been working to execute the completion of a Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) grant project that involves the redesign and construction of three new pieces of traffic control infrastructure, including:

Installation of a new traffic signal at Huntington Drive and Fifth Avenue

Installation of a pedestrian crossing signal at Foothill Boulevard / Sunset Place

Installation of a pedestrian crossing signal at Foothill Boulevard / California Avenue

Initially, our plan was to replace the existing pedestrian light on Foothill Boulevard at California Avenue, while installing a new pedestrian crossing light on Foothill Boulevard at Sunset Place. However, as we have coordinated the engineering work for both locations, our team has surmised that installing two new traffic signals on Foothill Boulevard at Sunset Place and at California Avenue would be a preferred alternative. This updated recommendation has been developed based on concerns that a pedestrian crossing signal will not adequately manage cross-traffic situations at both locations,

Interested in Motion Detector Light project

Please click the poster to make it larger for all the details.  In short we need all interested parties in the motion light project to email me and get on the list so we can talk with an electrician and get a group discount bid to get the work done.

Neighborhood Watch Wrap up...what to look for in coming days

A few things came up in the Neighborhood Watch meeting last night.  People want more specifics of what happens on our street.  To that end feed me the factual information and I will publish it here.

Folks want more lights.  The most effective way to do this that is also cost effective is to add motion detectors to our homes.  To help make that happen and worthwhile for an electrician is to have several us do it at once.  Lauri Cohen will help me coordinate electricians and homeowners who want to have motion detectors lights put on their homes in the front and back.

3rd night in less than a week cars burglarized on street

For the third night in less than a week several cars were burglarized on the street.  Several of the victims admitted to leaving their cars unlocked.  Locking the cars seems to be the most effective deterrent to these "handle checkers" who walk the street late at night looking for unlocked cars.

IF YOU VALUE IT TAKE IT OUT OF THE CAR AND LOCK THE CAR.

The most alarming instance took place at 4:30AM.  Ron saw a neighbors car being burglarized, attempted to be opened with tools and called the police.  It took 20 minutes for the police to arrive.(Edit 6/8 according to MPD records it was 9-11 minutes from time of call to arrival on the scene).

June 16, 6:30PM is the next Neighborhood Watch Meeting.  Flyers to go out this week.  Please encourage those around you to attend.  In the meeting we want to make it clear we want routine patrols of the street at night to help minimize the "handle checkers" that come up here unimpeded.

Several Cars and 2 homes vandalized or burglarized on street

One of our neighbors in the 170ish area came up to alert me to the fact that we have had several cars broken into the last few nights on the street.  Hers was one where they busted down a window to get in.

Additionally she advised at least one home was broken into with "stuff taken" and one home vandalized in the last 2 days.

Its time for a Neighborhood Watch meeting again.  I'll contact the new officer in charge to set it up and share with you all the date.

Alert your neighbors to the problem we are having.  If you see something, report it to MPD and see me.

Theft from Vehicle 2 nights in a row last week on Poinsettia

In review of the weekly neighborhood watch report and an incident reported directly to me its a bit concerning that we have people prowling our street at night and stuff is getting stolen.

I'll call MPD and ask that they make a routine of patrolling our street after dark again.

Do we need another neighborhood watch meeting?  If so let me know in person or in the comments and I'll arrange.

Theft from parked truck on our street

Overnight someone stole some head lights out of the back of a trucked parked on the East side of the street.  No idea what time of the night it was.  It would have been between 11PM on Saturday night and 8AM Sunday morning.

Anyone see anything?  Anyone else hit?

Anyone think we need a Neighborhood Watch meeting to discuss what we can do about prowlers after we are in bed with the new Neighborhood Watch commander with MPD?

Prowler/Trespasser early morning hours June 17, 2015

Not only did we have a trespasser on the street.  Lee took the time to call MPD who responded and apprehended him.  She then took it a step further and posted the info on the Next Door website so neighbors in the area off our street were aware as well.

The app screen shot you are looking is for Next Door.com  which the city set us up on.  Its an interesting site where all sorts of information takes place with lots of discussions.  Most of it is insipid drivel, but there are good tidbits like this that redeem it.

Great Neighborhood Watch Meeting

Thanks to all who came last night.  It was a good meeting, always interesting to see what's going on around town and learn about crime trends.  Of course, its always great to spend a little time with each other.

Sergeant Patty Newton was awesome.  She's a great resource for us.  If you need to contact her for concerns please do so directly via email  pnewton@monrovia.laclen.org  .  If you'd cc me frazgo@MSN.com that would keep me in the loop as well.

Later today I'll scan and route the sign in sheet around so we know each other a little better and can more easily reach should we have an immediate problem.

Neighborhood Watch Block Meeting April 7, 6:30PM

 Block the date and be ready to bring your lawn chair.  April 7, 2015 at 6:30PM will be the next Neighborhood Watch Meeting.  The meeting will be presented by Sergeant Patty Newton.  My house...details on the flyer to be distributed to the event.

This meeting is being set up after a rash of burglaries reported on  NextDoor in the area.  There was an unfortunate attempted break in in one of the homes at the top of the street a few weeks ago.

Awareness doesn't hurt.  Knowing all our neighbors will make a world of difference.

Get the word out.  I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Be Aware, Auto Burglary up in our area of town

Just a quick note to ya'll that we need to remain diligent with keeping our cars and homes locked if we want to keep our stuff.

An alert was sent out and the SGV News posted it on their Crime Scene Blog.  In short there has been a rash of car burglary's North of Foothill, that us.  All the cars that had stuff taken from them were UNLOCKED.  Full blog post HERE.

One last quick note, if you haven' joined NEXTDOOR yet, you should.  We are in the Grand Avenue neighborhood.  That site is full of neighbors sharing information, good, bad and indifferent.  NEXTDOOR is supported and promoted by the Monrovia Area Partnership to help build stronger neighborhoods.  If you are iPhone enabled...there is even the NEXTDOOR app that allows you to get alerts sent directly to your phone no matter where you are.

fraz

Highlighted Activity for the Weekdays of April 22-24, 2013

Residential Burglary

April 22 at 10:21 p.m., a residential burglary was reported in the 200 block of Poinsettia.  The victim left for work at about 8:00 a.m.  When she returned home at 10:00 p.m., she found a rear window open.  She went to the police station and reported it.  Officers were dispatched to the location and cleared the home.  No suspects were located.  Unknown suspect(s) entered the home and took jewelry and other miscellaneous property.  Investigation continuing.

Warrant – Suspect Arrested

April 23 at 1:07 p.m., an officer on patrol stopped a subject on a bicycle in the 400 block of West Duarte Road for a vehicle code violation.  A computer check on the subject revealed the he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.  The subject was arrested and taken into custody.

Vehicle Burglary

April 23 at 2:05 p.m., a vehicle burglary was reported at a hotel in the 900 block of West Huntington.  The vehicle was broken into between 8:00 p.m. the previous night and 8:00 a.m. that morning.  The third row seat was stolen from the vehicle.  There was no sign of forced entry on the locked vehicle.  The investigation is continuing.

Burglary

April 24 at 4:53 p.m., police were dispatched to the 700 block of Anita regarding a burglary that had just occurred.  The victim walked outside and saw a 30-year-old, male Hispanic subject inside his vehicle.  The vehicle was parked inside his attached garage and was unlocked.  The victim yelled at the suspect, who ran from the house.  The home owner chased the suspect as the police were called, but he lost sight of him.  Police apprehended the suspect at Mayflower and Diamond.  The suspect was positively identified by the victim and was arrested for burglary.  The suspect had an outstanding no-bail warrant for drugs and burglary.

Tip of the Week

Stay Alive! Don’t Text and Drive – The Month of April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month

During the Month of April, the Monrovia Police Department and more than 300 local law enforcement agencies throughout California will crack down on drivers text messaging and talking on their hand-held cell phones behind the wheel.

Monrovia officers will enforce a “zero tolerance” policy.  The first two years of this effort have had a tremendous affect in heightening public awareness of the dangers of distracted driving.  The intention of this continued enforcement effort is to turn that awareness into a behavior change to save lives. 

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

Note the first entry is our street.  Does anyone have any information on what happened?  If so give it to the PD. Do we need a Neighborhood Watch meeting? If so sound of in the comments and I will organize it with MPD.

Thursday 3AM house window broken

Just an FYI. We had either a vandal, burglar or general prowler on the street late Wednesday night into early Thanksgiving morning.

At 3AM Chris in 208 heard breaking glass.  He got up and looked around with a flash light on.  He didn't see anything in his general inspection of his home.  It wasn't until daylight when they went into one of the bathrooms that they found a window broken out.

Please remember to call MPD immediately whenever you see someone somewhere on the street that doesn't belong here.  Its unclear if this incident has anything to do with the rash of home burglary's in our area the last  couple of weeks but it pays to be vigilant.

I have called MPD and talked with them asking for more late night patrols on our street.  Based on this incident they are willing to have an officer check out our street the next few nights while on patrol.

As MPD has said in their Tips of the Week, if you want to keep it lock your doors and windows.  That goes for cars too, take stuff in that you want to keep and lock it when you park it.

I've asked recently and will ask again, do you feel the need for a Neighborhood Watch meeting?  IF so sound off in the comments and I will arrange.

Frank, 225

Home Burglary on our Street 4/27/2012 Noonish

First off sympathies to the Ward family who were the victims in this crime.

Briefly the facts are they were gone around noon.  Someone jumped the fences into their backyard and entered into the rear of the house.  During the course of the prowl they found money and a safe that was left open.  Undetermined amount of money and items were taken.

This took place in the NW corner of the street where people are coming and going all day long.  No one was around at the time this took place.  (I had left shortly before noon to run errands).

If anyone saw anything unusual around that time at the Wards home please contact MPD.

This is just part of the continuing home burglaries that we have been seeing in the area in the weekly Neighborhood Watch Reports.  IT was just a matter of time before we were hit again.  Should we have a Neighborhood Watch Block meeting again to re-energize the program to prevent further occurrences?  Sound off in the comments if you think so.

What to do when a city tree falls.

About 1:30 this afternoon a tree branch on the street cracked and fell onto a parked motorcycle. Fortunately it wasn't one of the kids or someone driving by when it happened.

Who do you call? Those trees along the curb belong to the city and they'll clean it up. Call the "Tree Service Hotline" if no one injured at (626) 932-5575. Of course if there are injuries call 911 for more immediate help.

Powerline Upgrades start today with new poles.

True to their word and warning the SCE Folks are on the street working on the cranes to get them leveled and the new poles put in place. Promise completion time is 5PM, though I was warned it may take longer because the rain is slowing them down. Should I get a definitive eta for completion will publish it here.

Street Closure to Traffic 10/6/10

Part of the ongoing power upgrade for the street SCE is going to be closing the street off to traffic on 10/6/10. They have posted the signs...threatening tow aways. Door hangings have been posted. A quick look down the street makes it look like most of Poinsettia will be affected by the parking ban.

The text from the door hanger:

Notice Road Closure

Wednesday 10/6/10 9AM-5PM

THIS NOTICE IS TO INFORM ALL RESIDENTS THAT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON WILL BE CLOSING YOUR STREET FOR A CRANE TO REPLACE A POWERPOLE AND/OR A TRANSFORMER. THE CONSTRUCTION ZONE WILL BE CLOSED OFF AND NO ACCESS IN OR OUT WILL BE PERMITTED. PLEASE REMOVE ANY VEHICLES OUT OF CONSTRUCTION ZONE PRIOR TO THE POSTED TIME LISTED ON THE "NO PARKING' SIGNS. THESE "NO PARKING" SIGNS ALSO DESIGNATE THE CONSTRUCTION ZONE.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 562-595-7575

New Power Poles Coming

I was one of the lucky ones who was woken up at 8AM Saturday by the guys from Henkels & McCoy to advise we are getting a new power pole.

The new poles are part of the upgraded electrical service work that SCE is doing on the street. Our feeder lines are being upgraded from 4K to 16K volts. The power poles will be increased from 45 feet to 50 feet as part of the upgrade.

H&M is currently digging new post holes for the power poles. The workers I spoke with couldn't give me an exact date to expect the new poles to be installed but opined it could be in the next week or so.

No date was given for the line upgrade but I was advised that power will be out for the duration of the change out of lines.

f

Police activity on the street

MPD has gone door to door in the neighborhood asking people in the NW corner about an incident that took place on Saturday evening.

In short police are treating what happened as a potential kidnapping to cover bases. Could be simple prowling or mistaken observation according to the MPD officer I spoke with, but they are investigating as if it were the worst case as a precaution.

What happened is there was a caterer at an event on the street. Around 10PM they started to pack up to leave. The caterer and her 11 yo daughter were bringing things to their truck parked in the street. As they approached the truck the daughter thought she saw someone in the back of the truck and screamed. The mother, had her back to the truck and was 10 feet from the daughter turned but saw nothing. The girl was very insistent that there was someone in the back of the truck.

The police were called at that time and questioned those at the party what happened. They then went around the street on Sunday evening to ask who heard the scream and if we saw anything. (We neither heard the scream nor saw anything).

What this does remind us is that there is always the potential for prowlers and we have had them on the street in the past going through our parked cars and trucks. It pays to keep things locked and not kept in vehicles. If you want it put it out of sight and lock it. Same goes for our homes, the street is usually pretty quiet but still lock it when you are going to be away. Never know when the next prowler will be on the lose.

Hat tip to MPD for being so thorough in spite of so little evidence.