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The NSCNA Board of Directors will hold a board meeting this Monday evening. We will be receiving a report from the Budget Committee. We are expecting to review and approve the association budget for 2010.
NSCNA Board of Directors Meeting
Date: Monday, February 8, 2010
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: North Village Branch Library, 2505 Steck Ave.1. Call to Order, Adoption of Agenda
2. Approve Minutes – January 20 Board Meeting
3. OFFICER REPORTS
3.1. President Report
3.2. Treasurer Report
4. OLD BUSINESS
4.1. Meeting Schedule for 2010
5. NEW BUSINESS
(none)
6. COMMITTEE REPORTS
6.1. Budget Committee Report
6.2. Media Committee Report
7. Items for Upcoming Meetings
8. Adjournment
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The following message was distributed at the Feb. 2 Commander’s Forum. It is from Officer Rolando Gutierrez, the APD District Representative for Baker Three, the district that contains our neighborhood.
The area of Central West known as District 3. If you see any suspicious activity I ask that you call 911 at the time the activity is occurring. District 3 continues to see residential burglaries as its number one problem. The items which are commonly stolen are large flat-screen televisions, desktop and laptop computers, gaming consoles with games, mobile phones and iPods. Electronics seem to be the most popular item.
Most burglars are entering by kicking in the front or back door. The homes are being watched and are being burglarized once the resident has left the home.
While there have been arrests made in some residential burglaries in nearby sectors which seem to have ties to our area, the burglaries continue. This has to be due to multiple suspects who more than likely are not even related to one another and not working together.
Solid suspect information linking individuals to residential burglaries in District 3 has been almost non-existent, making it very difficult for the police to track down and locate these criminals. So, with this being said, I ask for you the citizens to please take the necessary precautions to safeguard yourselves and your property. If you see any suspicious activity I ask that you call 911 at the time the activity is occurring, and have officers respond to investigate.
Keep a watchful eye out in your neighborhood and look out for one another. Get to know your neighbors and communicate with each other. Only together can we succeed.
— SPO Rolando Gutierrez
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One of 25 surviving copies of a rare broadside of the U.S. Declaration of Independence will be on display at Anderson High School. On Friday, Feb. 5, from 5 to 7 pm, you can view this historic document for free at the high school. Fifth graders from Pillow Elementary have also been invited to attend a viewing.A broadside is large piece of paper printed on only one side. The broadside being displayed is one of about 200 printed copies of the then-newly drafted Declaration of Independence. It was printed in the Philadelphia printing shop of a young Irish immigrant named John Dunlap on July 4, 1776. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were reportedly close at hand to supervise the printing and distribution of the documents. After the Dunlap broadsides were made, they were rushed across the 13 colonies over the next two days, including to George Washington, who instructed the document be read aloud to the troops.
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The APD Central West District Commander’s Forum happened tonight (Feb. 2) at McCallum High School. The school cafeteria was crowded with neighbors from all around Austin, attending to hear about local crime news.Commander John Romoser (pictured at right) indicated that burglary of residences continues to be a general problem for the area in 2010. We are currently at 51 burglaries so far this year for the “Baker Sector” district, as compared to 43 last year. Note that Baker Sector is huge — running from The University of Texas to 183, and from I-35 to far out west — so those 51 burglaries are spread over a large area.
So far, APD has been unable to identify patterns to the crimes or locations. What they do know is that most occur during the daylight hours, while people are at work, and often involve kicking in a front or back door.
Some Good News
There is a bit of good news in all this. After the forum, I talked with our district representative Officer Rolando Gutierrez. He mentioned that while burglaries are up overall in the district, we’ve actually seen a drop-off in North Shoal Creek this past month. So please do keep alert, and coordinate with your neighbors.
APD requested that if you see any suspicious people or vehicles in the neighborhood, please go ahead and call 911. When you do observe suspicious activity, it will be important that you provide the best description you can of the people and the vehicles.
It was great to see so many NSC residents at the event, including Mary Arnett, Tom Byrne, Tomas Rodriguez and Roger Wines. (Please email president@nscna.org if I missed anybody.)
— Chip Rosenthal, NSCNA President
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Candy Ellard, a longtime resident of North Shoal Creek, was honored Jan. 6 at the White House with a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Ms. Ellard teaches math and science at Pillow Elementary. She was named Teacher of the Year in 2008, an award given annually to the best pre-college-level science and math teachers from across the country. (You can see her receiving her award in the photo at right.) One of 87 teachers honored, Ms. Ellard received a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation and was invited to Washington, D.C. to meet President Obama.The Austin American-Statesman interviewed Ms. Ellard recently about her success and thoughts on teaching. You can read the full article here.
[Photo credit: “Candy Ellard, 2009 Outstanding Texas Educator” by Lynn McCutchen. Found on Flickr, used with permission.]
