HNA News: Post-Holiday Progressive Potluck Sun. 1/21, Disaster Prep, Crime Watch, LPO Referendum & More

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Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-Newsletter*

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1. Fabulous Post-Holiday Multi-Course Progressive Potluck, Sun., Jan. 21, 6-9 p.m.

2. Disaster Supply Cache Makes a Difference: Former Deakin Street Neighbor Helps Out

3. Article on Series of Earthquakes from the East Bay Daily News

4. Crime Watch Report: Bike Stolen from Back Yard on Prince Street

5.  Webster Street Neighbor Collecting Signatures for Referendum on Landmarks Ordinance

6.  Winter Safety Tips from the Office of Emergency Services

7. LeConte Neighborhood Association Meeting, Thurs., Jan. 18, 7:30-9:00 p.m.

8. Labyrinth Community Peace Walk, Sun., Dec. 17, 3 p.m., Willard Middle School

Happy New Year, all! I don't know about the rest of you, but the series of 3.7, 3.7, 2.8, and 3.5 earthquakes just over a mile away on the Hayward fault at the end of last year certainly got my attention -- especially when I reflected that a Big One on the Hayward fault would be around 1,000 times as strong! So I plan to do my part to carry out a new year's intention of improving both my own household's level of preparedness and our neighborhood's disaster prep organization.  In the event of a major earthquake, our neighborhood will largely be on its own (see Jesse Townley's remarks in the article excerpted in Item 3), with us neighbors as "first responders." I hope all of you will join me, one step at a time, in improving our level of preparedness. As you'll see from the letter to the editor excerpted in Item 2, our neighborhood' disaster supply cache can make a difference even in the case of less severe circumstances.

One of the fun ways we can be better equipped as a neighborhood to deal with disasters, crime, and other challenges is by getting to know one another through neighborhood events. HNA sponsors a variety of community-building social events and work parties during the course of the year. The first opportunity, and one of the most popular, is our annual multi-course, post-holiday progressive potluck, coming up on Sunday, Jan. 21. I hope to see you there!

-Nancy Carleton, HNA Co-Chair and E-Newsletter Editor

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1. Fabulous Post-Holiday Multi-Course Progressive Potluck, Sun., Jan. 21, 6-9 p.m.

Make sure your new year's gotten off to a good start by joining your neighbors for this fabulous post-holiday feast where we progress from house to house and sample a range of delicious courses. This is our most popular community potluck event of the year, so don't miss out! Feel free to join us for all four courses, or just for one or two (substitute a dish if your name doesn't match the course you're attending). And don't forget to bring something especially tasty to start the New Year right!

6:00-6:40 Appetizers at the Tory's, 3009 Wheeler

6:45-7:25 Salads at Bruce & Noriko's, 2311 Prince

7:30-8:15 Main Dishes at Susan's, 3044-A Halcyon

8:20-9:00 Desserts at John & Michelle's, 2329 Webster

Potluck suggestions:

* T-Z: Dessert *  N-S: Salad *  A-E:  Appetizer *  F-M Main Dish

Please bring a festive dish to share, and, if so inspired, a beverage to share as well (it really helps if enough folks bring beverages too). Children welcome! More info: 644-0172

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2. Disaster Supply Cache Makes a Difference: Former Deakin Street Neighbor Helps Out

Editor's Note: The following letter to the editor of the Berkeley Voice caught my eye. Long-time residents of our neighborhood will remember Allen King, who plays a role in the events described in the letter, as a former Deakin Street resident who was a Steering Committee member of Halcyon Neighborhood Association during the years when we were planning and then constructing Halcyon Commons Park. He now lives in North Berkeley and continues to play an active role in his new neighborhood. Our neighborhood also won a disaster supply cache that contains an emergency generator  --  stored in the shed at the end of the driveway at 3044 Halcyon.

Letter to the Editor: Miracle on Mendocino Avenue

Berkeley Voice, 12/29/2006  http://www.cityofberkeley.info/news/print.asp?id=19249

Editor:

The city of Berkeley just awarded our neighborhood a cache of emergency supplies, including a generator, because we are so well organized to combat natural disasters.

When I delivered our application for the cache to City Hall, I never suspected that one month later I would benefit personally from having an alternative power source on the block and neighbors willing and able to make it work.

Here's what happened:

Right after we won the cache, I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and now depend on a feeding tube for all my nutrition. I worried when I heard on the radio that a storm was coming in with high winds that might cause power outages in Berkeley.

My husband and daughter e-mailed Mark Burger, the keeper of our block's supplies, and told him about the problem. Within an hour, Mark and another neighbor, Allen King, and his son Arik, began hooking up the generator expertly and unobtrusively. Allen worked for several more hours until a deep, reassuring roar came from the guts of the machine.

These heroes put our worries to rest and also moved our block a step closer to being ready to deal with the Big One.

We discovered, once again, what a great blessing it is to live in a neighborhood that is truly a community, always ready to celebrate and mourn together, and to do whatever is needed for one another.

If you are not yet connected to your neighbors, please do it now! It may save your life when an earthquake hits, or make it more worth living all the time -- in joy and in sorrow, in sickness and in health.

Marian Magid
Berkeley

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3. Article on Series of Earthquakes from the East Bay Daily News

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/news/print.asp?id=19240

Fearing The 'Big One;' Expert: String of Small Quakes Doesn't Mean Large Jolt Brewing

Doug Oakley, East Bay Daily News, 12/29/2006

Another small earthquake in Berkeley Thursday morning further strained the nerves of those waiting for the 'Big One,' but the temblors are neither relieving stress on the Hayward Fault nor are they a precursor to a larger one just around the corner, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quakes on the Hayward Fault have occurred about a mile southeast of the UC Berkeley Campus, near the Piedmont border, over the past eight days. On Dec. 20 and 22, there were magnitude 3.7 quakes followed by a 3.5 magnitude quake Dec. 23. A minor quake of magnitude 2.8 struck Thursday. . . .

John Bellini, a geophysicist with the USGS in Golden, Colo., said the recent quakes are "a normal everyday series of small earthquakes that are happening on the fault there."

"These are not going to stop the big ones from coming," Bellini said. "If you look at just California, in the last week there have been more than 230 quakes recorded and you see 230 to 280 every week."

Bellini said on rare occasions there are smaller quakes called "foreshocks" that come before a large earthquake, but it's not likely here.

"In California, who's to say because there are so many small ones every day," Bellini said. "And to let off stress for the proverbial Big One, you would need tens of thousands to make that happen. These are just part of the background seismicity and they are in a populated area where people are able to feel them."

The USGS predicts a 62 percent probability of at least one magnitude 6.7 or greater quake striking the San Francisco Bay Area before 2032. Seismologists at UC Berkeley predict a 27 percent probability of a magnitude 6.7 or greater quake before 2032 on the Hayward Fault.

The last big quake on the Hayward Fault was a magnitude 7.0 in 1868.

Jesse Townley, chairman of Berkeley's Disaster and Fire Safety Commission, said the recent quakes were more evidence that UC Berkeley's plan to rebuild its Memorial Stadium, which straddles the Hayward Fault, is a bad idea.

"Rebuilding the stadium on the Hayward Fault is probably criminally negligent," Townley said. "They know the fault is there. They know it's going to go in the next few years and yet they insist on putting 60,000 people at risk every time they have an event there."

UC Berkeley officials did not immediately return calls seeking comment Thursday.

Townley said Berkeley is in decent shape when it comes to earthquake preparedness, but residents will no doubt have to fend for themselves when the Big One hits.

"The only thing good to come out of Katrina is that people realized how much we have to rely on ourselves and our neighbors," Townley said.

"We know the feds won't be able to help us and the local government will be busy with the big ticket items like the hospital on fire, or the collapsed apartment building."

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4. Crime Watch Report: Bike Stolen from Back Yard on Prince Street

A Prince Street neighbor reports:

"On Jan, 3, 2007. someone stole a bike from a locked backyard on the 2100 block of Prince Street, by going over the back-yard fence from a  neighbor's yard, which was not locked.  This was not a crime of opportunity, as the bike was in a shed, covered with a tarp, so the thief was purposefully prowling for things to steal.  The fence was a four-foot wire fence, which the thief bent in taking the bike out. Perhaps this is a good reason to not reduce the permissible height of fences, as the replacement fence we will install will be the six-foot legal limit."

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5.  Webster Street Neighbor Collecting Signatures for Referendum on Landmarks Ordinance

Webster Street neighbor Chris Lien is collecting signatures to put a referendum on the ballot concerning the revised Landmarks Preservation Ordinance recently passed by Berkeley's City Council. If you're interested in signing the petition so the voters can decide on the Council's revisions, please contact Chris at <nonpost@post.com> by Wednesday evening 1/17 (or by noon on Thursday 1/18 at the very latest). The petitions are being submitted Thursday afternoon.

Editor's Note: Halcyon Neighborhood Association does not have a position on the revised LPO or on the referendum (as a nonpartisan group, we rarely take positions on citywide issues, and then only when there is near unanimity among neighbors). As E-Newsletter editor, I am happy to pass on announcements concerning neighbors' interests and efforts, and to encourage neighbors to stay informed on issues that may affect us. For those who want background on the referendum, here are a few links:

http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?issue=01-09-07&storyID=26045

http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?issue=01-09-07&storyID=26065 (commentary by Gale Garcia in favor of the referendum)

http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?archiveDate=01-05-07&storyID=26013

http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?archiveDate=12-19-06&storyID=25910 (commentary by Alan Tobey against the referendum)

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6.  Winter Safety Tips from the Office of Emergency Services

Dear Disaster Supply Cache Recipients,

Thanks to you all for your commitment to preparing your neighborhoods, and to making Berkeley safer.

Now that we're dealing with winter weather, here are a few safety tips to pass along to you neighbors:

* Make sure you have a working smoke detector on every level of your home.

* Floor furnaces can be very dangerous when used improperly. Keep anything that can catch on fire away from the heating grate. Never put items on top of a heater. It is dangerous to use your heater to dry clothing or other flammable material.

* Never use kerosene heaters or charcoal grills indoors.

* Never use your gas stove or oven to heat your home.

* Keep portable heaters at least 3' away from walls and combustible materials. Make sure these heaters have "tip switches," which automatically turn off if the heaters tip over.

* Make sure wood stoves are properly installed, have adequate ventilation, and are at least 3 feet away from flammable material.

* Use a glass or metal screen in front of your fireplace.

* Turn off your heater before going to bed.

Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday!

Dory Ehrlich, Berkeley Fire/Office of Emergency Services

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7. LeConte Neighborhood Association Meeting, Thurs., Jan. 18, 7:30-9:00 p.m.

The first meeting of LNA in 2007 will take place Thursday, 1/18, from 7:30 to 9:00 at LeConte School.

[Editor's Note: The southern reaches of LNA's traditional territory includes the area also covered by Halcyon Neighborhood Association, and our groups have a history of working together.]

 

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8. Labyrinth Community Peace Walk, Sun., Jan. 21, 3 p.m., Willard Middle School

Community Labyrinth Peace Walk at 3 p.m., Sun., Jan. 21, Willard Middle School (Telegraph Ave. between Derby & Stuart, Berkeley). Everyone welcome. Wheelchair accessible. Rain cancels. Contact  info@eastbaylabyrinthproject.org, 526-7377.

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The Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-Newsletter:  The HNA E-Newsletter forwards occasional crime watch notices as well as announcements about events of interest to neighbors in the Ashby/Telegraph/Woolsey/Adeline area of south Berkeley, including community-building potlucks, greening projects, disaster preparedness meetings, and work parties in Halcyon Commons Park. If you're receiving this email, either you signed up at a neighborhood event or a neighbor may have forwarded it to you. Please note that to prevent spam, HNA always uses bcc and does not share your email address with third parties. If you wish to be removed from this list, please reply to HNA Co-Chair Nancy Carleton/Halcyon Neighborhood Association <ngc2@mindspring.com>. Please feel free to pass the HNA E-Newsletter on to other neighbors you think might be interested.

HNA Listserve:  If you would like to receive messages (and participate in discussions) on the HNA Listserve, please reply to Halcyon Neighborhood Association <ngc2@mindspring.com> indicating your interest, and you will receive an invitation to join.

HNA Blog:  If you would like to view previous newsletters online (and comment via a blog format), please visit http://halcyoncourt.blogspot.com/

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