HNA News: Disaster Supply Cache meeting Tomorrow Sunday 3/4, 4 p.m.; Home Invasion Robbery on Prince, etc.

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

Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-Newsletter*

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

Items appearing in the HNA E-Newsletter 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 own personal viewpoint.

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

Items in This E-Newsletter

1. Disaster Preparedness Supply Cache Meeting, This Sunday, March 4, 4:00-5:15 p.m.

2. HNA Steering Committee Meeting, This Sunday, March 4, 5:20-6:00 p.m.

3. Neighborhood-Watch Community Meeting, Sunday, April 15, 4-6 p.m., Chochmat HaLev (Prince at Fulton)

4. Crime Watch Alert: Home Invasion Robbery on Prince between Shattuck and Tremont

5. Reminders about Other HNA Dates: Work Party 3/17 and Potluck 3/25

6. Berkeley School Volunteers: Drop Everything and Read Day Tuesday, March 13, 9:30 a.m.

7. Berkeley Fire Fighters Association Announces Council's Vote to End Rotating Fire Station Closures

8. Useful Links for Disaster Preparedness Tips

Editor's Introductory Note:

We're certainly receiving plenty of  vivid reminders about the importance of disaster preparedness! If you didn't feel the earlier earthquakes in Claremont Canyon, it's likely you felt Thursday evening's 4.2 with an epicenter in Lafayette. There are practical steps we can take as individuals and as a neighborhood to get prepared for a big quake, when we're likely to be on our own for up to a week. If you're interested in the neighborhood-wide dimensions of preparedness, please come to tomorrow's Disaster Supply Cache meeting (see item 1);  this cache provides a center around which we can build an effective neighborhood response in the face of disaster. At tomorrow's meeting, we'll also be planning the disaster preparedness dimensions of the April 15 Neighborhood Watch meeting (see item 3), which will cover crime watch as well as household disaster preparedness (this Sunday's meeting has a focus on neighborhood disaster readiness; if your interest is more narrowly focused on your household's preparedness, wait for the April 15 meeting, but start gathering your own preparedness supplies now).

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

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

1. Disaster Preparedness Supply Cache Meeting, Sunday, March 4, 4:00-5:15 p.m.

Halcyon Neighborhood Association won a Disaster Supply Cache from the City of Berkeley last November, containing items to help our neighborhood set up a command center in the event of disaster. But to use it to the fullest, we need to supplement the supplies and get better organized. Please join us for a brief meeting that can help us take the next step to get our neighborhood ready for the BIG ONE!

Sunday, March 4, 4:00-5:15 p.m.

3044-B Halcyon Court (back unit at end of driveway to south of house where supply cache is located)

This meeting is open to anyone in the territory covered by HNA (bounded by Ashby, Telegraph, Woolsey, and Adeline) who is interested in helping the neighborhood become better organized in the face of an earthquake or other major disaster. While folks who have taken the City's emergency classes are encouraged to attend, you do not have to have received prior training - just be willing to pitch in!

* We'll review what's in the Disaster Supply Cache (located at the end of the driveway at 3044 Halcyon, where we're meeting), and discuss the best ways to get the cache fully operational (i.e., obtaining batteries and gas for the generator; scheduling drill; identifying additional useful supplies).

*  We'll discuss an outline of a bare-bones emergency response plan for the larger neighborhood and consider ways to flesh it out. This will include information on how to organize an effective Incident Command System (a flexible and expandable organizational structure that will enable us to respond with maximum efficiency in the event of a disaster).

* We'll plan the disaster prep part of the agenda for the Sunday, April 15, neighborhood watch meeting (see item 3).

For more information, contact HNA Co-Chair Nancy Carleton <ngc2@mindspring.com>.

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

2. HNA Steering Committee Meeting, Sunday, March 4, 5:20-6:00 p.m.

Sunday, March 4, 5:20-6:00 p.m.

3044-B Halcyon Court (back unit at end of driveway to south of house)

Immediately following the Disaster Supply Cache meeting on Sunday, March 4, HNA's Steering Committee will meet briefly to flesh out the calendar for the year (community-wide neighborhood watch meeting(s), work parties in the park, quarterly potlucks, National Night Out Against Crime, Steering Committee meetings, etc.) and to plan the Neighborhood Watch meeting scheduled for April 15 (see item 3). If you're interested in joining the Steering Committee (prime ingredient: willingness to work some, not just talk! - meetings are infrequent, with other business conducted by email in between meetings), please contact HNA Co-Chairs Nancy Carleton (644-0172) or John Steere (849-1969), or email<ngc2@mindspring.com>.

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

3.  Neighborhood-Watch Community Meeting, Sunday, April 15, 4-6 p.m., Chochmat HaLev (Prince at Fulton)

* Note to those who wait until the last minute to file your taxes: Tax Day this year falls on Tuesday, April 17, due to April 15 falling on a Sunday and April 16 being Emancipation Day, a holiday in D.C.

What:   Focus on strengthening household and neighborhood Disaster Preparedness and Crime Watch

When:   Sunday, April 15, 4-4:30, arrive early to chat informally;  formal meeting, 4:30-6:00 p.m. (starts & ends promptly)

Where:   Chochmat HaLev (Prince at Fulton)

Who:   Neighbors who live in the Ashby-Telegraph-Woolsey-Adeline quadrant are welcome. We'll be inviting representatives from the city to present various parts of the program.

Agenda:  Details to come (to help plan the agenda, attend one or both of the meetings on March 4 (see items 1 & 2)

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

4. Crime Watch Alert: Home Invasion Robbery on Prince between Shattuck and Tremont

A Prince Street neighbor reports:

re crime: we had a "home invasion" last week [in the 2000 block of Prince].  A small man came to the door and asked if "Mark lived here?" - and then pushed my wife in and threatened her with what appeared to be a gun in his jacket pocket.  We gave him money and he left.  Moral: Don't open your door to anyone who is in the least bit suspicious.

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

5. Reminders about Other HNA Dates: Work Party 3/17 and Potluck 3/25

Saturday, March 17, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Work Party in Halcyon Commons Park

Volunteer Mulching & Neighborhood Cleanup with Help from Cal Students with the Berkeley Project

HNA Community Potluck, Sunday, March 25, 6-8 p.m.

Edwin & Nora's, 2125 Essex

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

6. Berkeley School Volunteers: Drop Everything and Read Day Tuesday, March 13, 9:30 a.m.

The Berkeley Public Education Foundation is sending around the following announcement:

DEAR DAY is coming!
Tuesday, March 13th, 2007  9:30 am
Drop Everything And Read!

Please join us for a morning of reading in Berkeley's elementary and preschools! We recruit volunteers to go into all of our elementary and preschool classrooms to read to students (the event happens simultaneously at 9:30 a.m. across the district). Basically, volunteers agree to give about 1 hour to this one-time event. We would really appreciate your help in publicizing this event.

To sign up please contact:
BERKELEY PUBLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION
Berkeley School Volunteers
1835 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94703

Telephone: (510)644-8833

 bsv@berkeley.k12.ca.us

www.bpef-online.org/volunteers.html

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

7. Berkeley Fire Fighters Association Announces Council's Vote to End Rotating Fire Station Closures

The Berkeley Fire Fighters Association forwarded the following announcement:

http://www.iafflocal1227.org/index.cfm?Section=1&PageNum=1

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

8. Useful Links for Disaster Preparedness Tips

"Earthquake Drills Dos and Don'ts"

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/earthquakes/archive/quakedrill.dtl

"Are You Prepared?"

http://www.72hours.org/

City's Office of Emergency Services page

(contains link to pdf of "Five Critical Steps to Take to Prepare for an Earthquake" and other useful information)

http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us//fire/oes.html

"Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country: Your Handbook for the San Francisco Bay Region"

 (32-page downloadable handbook from the USGS)

http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/2005/15/

Alpha Geek, a blogger posting at Daily Kos, put together a very thorough five-part series on disaster preparedness (much wider ranging than just preparedness for earthquake country); there are links for all five parts at the following:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/20/51253/3712

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

The Halcyon Neighborhood Association E-Newsletter:  The HNA E-Newsletter forwards occasional crime-watch notices as well as items of general interest to neighbors in the Ashby/Telegraph/Woolsey/Adeline area of south Berkeley (HNA's borders), including announcements about community-building potlucks, greening projects, disaster preparedness meetings, and work parties in Halcyon Commons Park. If you're receiving this email, you probably either signed up at a neighborhood event or a neighbor 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>. Feel free to pass the HNA E-Newsletter on to other neighbors you think might be interested.

To submit items for the newsletter:   Email unformatted content or links (no graphics or attachments) to HNA E-Newsletter Editor Nancy Carleton <ngc2@mindspring.com>. Crime-watch reports and news about neighbors is especially welcome. Please note that due to the volunteer nature of the endeavor, the E-Newsletter does not typically include "letters to the editor" or "commentary," but will gladly include links to such items written by neighbors in the Ashby/Telegraph/Woolsey/Adeline area and published elsewhere (the Berkeley Daily Planet has a large section devoted to opinion).

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. [The HNA Listserve is currently inactive but can be revived if enough neighbors show interest.]

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

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