Sympathy for the Devil: the Police are Scared!
Let's show some compassion. Bullets fly around Mt. Hope. Mt. Hope and Chad Brown idiots carry guns and are stupid enough to use them.
The Police are scared.
That is one reason why they act the way they do.
The Providence Police Department has its share of cowards, like any community, like Mt. Hope.
They have their share of incompetents, fools, individuals who can charitably be characterized as semi-literate.
So let's cut them some slack. They signed on for a difficult job, and many of them simply want to reach retirement alive.
They are caught between a political rock and a political hard place courtesy of pandering politicians like Mayor David Cicilline and Councilman Kevin Jackson.
Be aware. Be active. The police will not rescue you or Mt. Hope.
Posted at 11:31 PM | Community | Comments (0)
Receipe for Stopping Gentrification
I don't need to attend the MHNA Gentrification Workshop to know how to block more uppity white folks from moving into Mt. Hope.
Here's how to stop further gentrification:
-- Continue to tie the police's hands in fighting crime.
-- Continue to allow open air drug markets throughout the neighborhood
-- Continue to litter the streets, sidewalks and private property.
-- Continue to spread graffiti.
-- Continue to reelect Kevin Jackson.
If this simple recipe is followed.you can bet that any sane, affluent person who has done a minimum of homework will not be buying property in Mt. Hope.
Peter C.
Posted at 04:16 PM | Community | Comments (1)
D.A.R.E. to Gentrify! ! !
Gentrify This!
This house on Camp Street, which sat unsold on the market for over one year, is undergoing renovation: new paint, new appliances, new cherry kitchen floor, granite and tile in the kitchen and baths, a perfectly clean basement, upgraded electrical in order to make it perfect for some new home owner (most likely a first time buyer) to move into and enjoy without ever lifting a finger.
I suppose that is a bad thing.
Or so D.A.R.E. would have you believe.
Here is the message that D.A.R.E. left yesterday:
Sarah called from D.A.R.E. and she invited me to a workshop about gentrification organized by D.A.R.E. and MHNA tomorrow, August 30, at 6:00 P.M. at the MHNA, at 199 Camp Street.Sarah said, "We will be looking into what it is, how it has happened that communities have been displaced in the past, how we can work together to prevent that from continuing to happen especially since housing prices have been going up so much”.
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Let's Take a Look and Shine a Bright Light
It's time we took a good look at D.A.R.E. Who are they? What are the principal's backgrounds? How are they funded? What other organizations are they connected to.
Start by visiting their website: D.A.R.E. Then look at the URL: that tells you something.
Sounds like some rich, academic know it all outsiders (most likely from upper-middle class suburban backgrounds) coming into our neighborhood to tell us poor ignorant Mt. Hopers how to improve our neighborhood and to tell us what we are doing wrong. At least according to some academic theory that they just learned from some book written by a guy who never lived in an inner-city neighborhood.
Anyway, the meeting is at 6:00 pm this evening, so hurry home from work and learn how to stop EVIL GENTRIFICATION from spreading in Mt. Hope.
Posted at 12:10 PM | Community | Comments (2)
Gentrification Solicitation
Last evening I received as call from a member of the D.A.R.E. association which, as far as I am aware of, is an affiliate of the 199 Camp St Neighborhood Association. I was invited to attend a meeting scheduled for Thursday at 6:00PM at 199 Camp Street.
This is the first time that I have been directly contacted by any member of this association. Post work I returned the call for more details. The phone was answered by a young woman – first name: Sara. She confirmed that she was the individual whom had left me the message. I asked her to speak of the meeting agenda. She proceeded to tell me that a meeting was in place to speak of the “History of gentrification” from the 1920’a to current, the history of Fox Point and its urban changes and the learning’s we should take from that movement and the obstacles facing our Mt Hope community and the “gentrification” which is occurring.
I was silent on the phone; initially from shock. When I responded I proceeded to tell her that first, a 6:00PM meeting based on feedback from many of my neighbors who had hoped to join previous meetings scheduled early weekdays does not suit the availability of most of the working professionals in the neighborhood. Despite consistent recommendations regarding meeting times to this association, I questioned her again in regards to this issue. I received no answer. I mentioned that meetings that are scheduled early are only going to attract a demographic who work non-traditional hours which will severely limit the participation rate in the aforementioned meetings.
Secondly, I told this woman that perhaps I was not the best “participant” for this meeting as I am very happy with the improvements that our neighborhood has made in recent years (Thank you Lt. S.) and I welcome all individuals and families alike who are moving to Mt Hope, investing in real estate, improving and maintaining their homes, landscaping, sweeping their curbs, planting flowers and over all making this neighborhood a beautiful and safe place to reside and asked her to either agree or disagree with me.
If you think this so called “gentrification”– is the sole cause of rent increases and property value increases I challenge you to research the economics of our society. The cost of living is increasing all around us, no matter who you are! I am empathetic to anyone who may be “forced” out of their home due to raising rents, but I am enraged that many think the sole cause of this is from the Caucasian or Non-African American population.
I told Sara of the meeting I attended about 1 month ago, where members of our community directly think that it is the Caucasian population and their “Lily white asses” causing this issue! I was and still am outraged at the reverse racism which exists within our community. I told Sara that if the community worked together they could pool resources and their efforts to ensure that the City was properly considering members of various households and ensuring proper housing options. Instead, members of the community are crying “gentrification” and would rather “not see the neighborhood change” and remain in harms way with crime.
Interesting enough many feel that the “crime does not affect them.” At current standing, why would the community want to promote more housing options with mentalities like that? I told her that if she were to review the police reports from this year alone she would notice that most of the illegal activities stem from residents residing in these housing options.
In the last many years of homeownership, all disturbing events near my home in which police were called to intervene, were due to excessive noise and gatherings of individuals residing or visiting tenants in the subsidized housing on my street – not the hard working homeowners and their families or tenants.
Why isn’t local government more actively involved in this? Where is our often disengaged Councilman? Our problems in this neighborhood have been previously diagnosed due to “intercommunity relationships”. Why are neighborhood tax dollars for these programs not being used to create better neighborhoods through relationship building efforts with neighbors, law enforcements and other city officials rather than meeting about “gentrification”?
C.Penardo
Posted at 10:28 AM | Community | Comments (0)
Incident Report Recap
To recap the previous lengthy post concerning Incident Reports and Incident Report Numbers.
What is an Incident Report?
An Incident Report documents an incident in which the police answered a citizen's call about an event in which the law was broken or was about to be broken or about suspicious activity that may be criminal.
What is an incident Report Number?
To get an Incident Report a citizen must ask a police officer for an Incident Report Number.
An officer calls in for an incident report number that he can give to you. He will then write and submit a report.
To get a written copy of that report you must go to the Police Station with the Incident Report Number and ask for a copy of the Incident Report. They are usually ready within 2 to 7 days, though sometimes it takes longer.
Why is it important to get Incident Reports and Incident Report Numbers?
It is important because it documents the incident or event for future reference. Without an incident report it’s almost as if the event never happened as far as the police are concerned. Incident Reports are compiled statistically by the police department.
How do I get an Incident Report Number?
Ask the officer who answered your call. If an incident occurred the officer is obligated to provide you with an Incident Report Number.
Remember when talking to a police officer to always look at the badge number on his chest and write it down. That is the only sure way you can identify the police officer for future reference.
If an officer refuses to provide you with an Incident Report Number you can do the following: 1) talk to his superior officer or call the Station and ask to speak to the shift commander, give the badge number and ask to have an officer sent to provide you with an Incident Report Number; or 2) you can ask a dispatcher to identify the officer who answered your call for service if you provide the time and date of your call, then ask to have the officer or another return to give you an incident report number.
All Calls for Service to the dispatchers in the Communications Department are recorded and documented. Usually the officer (or another) will be sent to provide you with an Incident Report Number.
Posted at 11:01 PM | Community | Comments (0)
Dealing with the Police
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Misunderstanding & Misbehavior
An unfortunate incident occurred last Thursday that brought home to me how fragile and how potentially rife with conflict is our relationship with our District 8 Police.
Without going into exquisite detail of the event, a misunderstanding occurred when a young neighbor of mine after enduring weeks of harassment and threats called the police to report the incident and obtain an incident report as I suggested would be the prudent course of action to document the call for service to the police and the incidents of threats and harassment.
She had to call several times because a police car did at first respond but told her he did not have time to take the report and drove off. After further calls, including one to the Desk Sergeant the Officer returned and had quite an attitude with her, seeming angry that he had been ordered back. She documented some of the things he said to her in a report. It seemed uncharacteristic of the District 8 officers we have now but eerily familiar with police behavior before Col. Esserman became Chief. Let’s just call this behavior intimidating, bullying, and unprofessional.
The event seemed to center around my neighbor asking for an Incident Report Number, which she claims the Officer tried several times to avoid giving.
The second part of this will discuss Incident Reports and Incident Report Numbers.
Incident Reports: How to get one.
When a police officer responds to your call and is in your presence if you are reporting an incident of any kind, including:
threats, vandalism, drug dealing, theft, blocking a public way, illegally parked cars blocking streets, sidewalks, trespassing etc. etc
you have the right to ask for an Incident Report Number, not an Incident Report.
To generate an Incident Report, the officer calls down to dispatch and they give him an incident report number, which he in turn should give to you. When the officer has the opportunity to write the report during his shift he writes it and turns it in. It will be available for you to pick up at the police station from the records department within a few days usually not less than a week. To get the written report you provide the Records Department with the Incident Report Number.
Do you now understand the importance of asking police who respond in person to your calls for an Incident Report Number. If you want documentation of what happened and that the police responded you must get it down in an Incident Report.
Documentation is the only way to establish the frequency and the pattern of incidents and the police response.
As far as the police are concerned, if it’s not in a report accessible to the public, it never happened. No incident report number -- no incident.
Why Do The Police Resist giving Incident Report Numbers?
I’ve experienced it and many other people have experienced it also, a Providence Police Officer refusing to provide an Incident Report Number when requested to do so and answering your call.
I can think of only several reasons why an officer would not respond to a legitimate request for an Incident Report Number:
1)
It’s a lot of work to write and submit a report and many officers do not like to do paperwork.
2)
Incident reports are included in police statistics and fewer incident reports of criminal behavior or disturbances result in more favorable statistics for the police department to report.
How to handle asking for an Incident Report.
I believe the police are obligated to provide citizens with Incident Report Numbers when answering their call.
I’ve trained myself to handle it this way: when the officer responds, first make note of his badge number, that way if you need to discuss this incident with anyone else you can identify the officer by badge number. It is not necessary to make a show of this. You should have a pen and paper on which to write down the requested Incident Report and you can note his badge number on this paper.
If the officer refuses to provide the incident report number, ask him why and make note of that reason. Now that you know his badge number and can identify him you can address his behavior with his superior officers. I would first approach the District 8 Commander, and see if he would follow up and get you the incident report number you requested. If that fails, follow your request up the chain of command by using the city’s web page.
You must be relentless in demanding service and accountability or you will get none.
John Twomey
Posted at 11:48 AM | Community | Comments (0)
Two Poems by Nadezhda Petrovic
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high noon on Camp Street
bang.
noonlight on the corner
buckled pavement, splintered fence
bang.
cars with shaded windows slow
to tango with do-ragged youth hanging
half-assed stumble strut
hands in pockets, holding
bang.
goods white goods white wealth
runners in sunlight blue
police heavy-bellied Big Macs
bang.
ass shot at brightnoon
on Camp Street, on the corner
next to the puked up French fries
and the syringe
under a cypress tree
in the red blue of a strolling siren
bang.
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Nadezhda Petrovic
2007
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low night on Camp Street
low in dark light
i am quiet
so small, a crumble
of thought, senses dusted
by the sax wail somewhere down the street
the ladies strut. their giggle wiggle
registers middle in my ear canal
input important not
night dance
smoky laughing mixed with
rats sniffing garbage
recycle
headlines and beer bottles
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Nadezhda Petrovic
2007
Posted at 07:58 PM | The Arts | Comments (2)
Another South Providence?
News of yet ANOTHER shooting on Pleasant Street and the unabated drug dealing at Tecumseh and Grandview (the subjects of the two latest posts) leads me to believe that Mt. Hope is turning into another South Providence.
I'm angry, frightened and depressed over the state of our neighborhood. I equate the hoodlums and thugs in our midst with terrorists. Do we have to call in the Department of Homeland Security to take care of these people, who are no better than wild animals?
Message to David Cicilline, Kevin Jackson and police: clean up the neighborhood NOW even if you have to declare martial law.
Peter C.
Posted at 10:47 AM | Community | Comments (2)
Trouble on Grand View?
Feeling skittish
Was it just hyper-active teenagers expending residual summer energy on the street at 9:00 p.m.? Perhaps. If it were not for this series of shootings in our neighbourhood; if it were not for the proliferation of open-air drug dealing on Grand View and Tecumseh, I would have simply opened my front door and asked the kids to tone it down, get out of the road, stop shouting and hollering, and racing mopeds up and down the street. But I did not know if I was dealing with over-the-edge teens or with crack heads...I was afraid. Not a great feeling. I called the police. I have no idea if they responded, but the noise did die down after a while. The whole episode left me feeling down-right sad and uneasy about the skittishness invading our neighbourhood.
I know my neighbours. The vast majority are good, responsible people. Now this new invasion. And I am more than a little uneasy. Are the police on the side of law? Or on the side of expedience? Just a question.
N.P.
Posted at 07:54 PM | Community | Comments (0)
Another Pleasant Street Shooting -- Mid-day! ! !
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Breaking News
This just in. 08/23/07
While working on a Locust Street property around 11:45 to Noon, I suddenly heard 8 or 9 loud gunshots ricocheting from the Pleasant Street area. Then several police cars zoomed past. Me & Jim Dawg hopped in his van and drove down there to see what the hell was going on. A guy got shot in the leg in a brazen mid-day drive-by shooting.
Watch your local media for updates.
This from MSNBC local affiliate Channel 10:Shooting Extends String of Violent Crimes
Saturday August 25
Someone just sent me this link to ProJo's coverage from Friday:
Providence police say man, targeted before, shot in leg
01:00 AM EDT on Friday, August 24, 2007
By Gregory Smith
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — A man who escaped being shot on Pleasant Street in Mount Hope about three weeks ago was shot there yesterday morning, the police said.
Eighteen-year-old James Goddard, of 2 Carver Court, who was outside munching a sandwich made by his mother, was wounded in the leg, but
escaped serious injury when someone in a passing car cut loose with a handgun, according to a police report. A witness said about eight shots were fired.
“Mom, I got shot in my leg,” Goddard called out as he ran back into his apartment. A relative drove Goddard to the emergency room of Miriam Hospital, where, Maj. Paul C. Fitzgerald said, he was treated for a single gunshot wound.
In a case of bad aim or mistaken identity on Aug. 1, Kevelin Davis, 29, of 19 Pleasant Court, was shot five times in the vicinity of 61 Pleasant St., in a drive-by shooting like yesterday’s. Goddard, who was standing near Davis that night, is believed to have been the shooter’s intended target, Fitzgerald said yesterday.
Police officers marveled at the fact that Davis survived his wounds, because he had been shot with a 45-caliber handgun. He was hit once in the arm and four times in the back, the police said at the time.
When he was taken for treatment, a hospital employee found that Davis had bags of crack hidden between his buttocks. Davis was charged with drug possession, and after he was released from the hospital, he was turned over to federal authorities because he was in violation of his probation on a federal firearms charge, according to the police.
As for Goddard, he was on the sidewalk, across the street from McCann Place, shortly before 11:30 a.m. when a dark-colored vehicle with a broken headlight drove down Pleasant. He told the police that “the vehicle looked shady,” and he began to run away. As he ran, the shots were fired, he said.
His mother, Jeanne Wilson, 50, of 10 Pine Grove St., Pawtucket, told the police that she had made a sandwich for her son and that he ran back into the apartment within seconds of having left.
The police determined that the car that carried the drive-by shooter yesterday was apparently stolen on June Street, Wanskuck.
gsmith@projo.com
Posted at 03:19 PM | Community | Comments (4)
Summit Checks In! Thanks Jim. First Time!
Posted as a comment to Peter's post, Community Meeting, August 20, MHNA.
Thank You for your excellent and timely re-cap. I copied it and posted it to the Summit Neighborhood Association ListServ since Summit has a broad definition and we are all part of this great(er) community.
Jim Kelly
PS. Thanks, Jim, and I'm not being facetious. This is the first time I have felt even an inkling of sincerity from anyone from the Summit Neighborhood Association.
John Twomey
Posted at 12:48 AM | Community | Comments (0)
Upcoming Events in Billy Taylor Park
Announcing an upcoming event in Billy Taylor Park, August 25, Billy Taylor Day, Sponsored by the MHNA and the Browns and Kevin Jackson.
Announcing the Hector Event in Billy Taylor Park, September 22, sponsored by the Hector Family and Kevin Jackson.
Posted at 11:46 PM | Community | Comments (0)
The Mr. Bigs: The Kingpin Drug Dealers of Mt. Hope
Would it surprise you if the biggest drug dealers in Mt. Hope, the Kingpins who are supplying all the petty drug dealers in Mt. Hope, are so called pillars of the community, big time drug dealers masquerading as community activists?
Would it surprise you?
Would it surprise you if political corruption was involved in the drug trade in Mt. Hope?
Payoffs?
How do you think it has survived for thirty years?
Does it appear to be protected now?
Listen to the rhetoric.
But follow the money.
Follow the events in BTP.
Posted at 11:28 PM | Community | Comments (0)
Community Meeting, August 20, MHNA
Taxes & Property Re-evaluations
Despite a 4.5 percent increase, Mt. Hope homeowners should receive slightly lower property tax bills later this month, City Councilman Kevin Jackson said at the monthly Community Police Forum at the Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association August 20.
Jackson said 80 percent of East Side property owners will have lower 2007 tax bills than in 2006. The only ones who won't are College Hill property owners, who likely will get bigger bills. Other Providence neighborhoods, such as Washington Park, also will be hit by property tax increases.
The councilman mentioned the good news during his report on the budget, which the council approved in time for the new fiscal year that began August 1.
This year's property revaluation, which under state law are required every three years, have resulted in assessments that will be taxed at a lower rate than in previous years. So even with the 4.5 percent increase Mayor Cicilline was forced to implement because the Rhode Island Legislature did not increase aid to schools, taxes in Mt. Hope will be lower, Jackson reported.
Police Activity Report
On another topic, much of the discussion following a report by Lt. David Schiavulli, commander of the District 8 police substation, and Maj. Paul Fitzgerald, commander of the Providence Police Uniform Division, centered on Pleasant Street problems. The police reported that they continue to investigate the shootings that occurred in the vicinity of 61 Pleasant St., but thus far have not been able to identify the gunmen. Fitzgerald said the victims and witnesses have not been cooperative. Schiavulli said patrols have been increased on the street. Also sitting in on the meeting were the sergeant responsible for the third shift and three police officers.
Code Enforcement
Several residents also asked what the city is doing about several boarded-up properties on the street, which have been in a state if disrepair for several years. Jackson and the police officials said they would contact city inspectors to see if they have cited the property owners for violations. Jackson mentioned that proceedings in the City Housing Court are lengthy, cumbersome and inefficient, and that the City Council had recommended combining it with the City Municipal Court, but the mayor did not approve it.
Park Event
MHNA Executive Director Ray Watson, meeting facilitator, reported that the annual Billy Taylor Day event will be held in Billy Taylor Park from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, August 25. The event is held for neighborhood children and will feature a cookout and entertainment.
Gentrification Workshop
He also reported that a Gentrification Workshop will be held at the MHNA at 6 p.m. August 30 and East Side Neighborhood Planning Charettes will be held September 24- 28. The charettes are being held in conjunction with the city's long-range plans for rezoning.
Attendance & Schedule
The meeting was well attended, with a good representation by white and African-American community members. Several are residents of the Grandview-Tecumseh section of the neighborhood, which has been the site of drug dealing and other criminal activity. For the first time, the audience included several youths, which Watson and others said was an encouraging sign.
The next monthly community meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Monday, September 17.
I left the August 20 meeting before the community discussion on "What elements make up a good community?" I encourage other attendees to comment on that discussion and/or other aspects of the meeting.
Peter C.
Posted at 10:03 AM | Community | Comments (3)
I hear fear - anger - stress - hate and desire.
Submitted as a comment on the post: .45-Caliber Shells Fired - 61 Pleasant Street, Mt. Hope: Victim Had Drugs Up His Ass
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I hear fear...anger....stress....hate and desire. Desire to have order in the community...desire for the legal penalties to be enforced...Desire for "these people" lives to change...but I do not hear anything that involves positively impacting the society of the people you're speaking out against. Do you not see that something is missing that's key to living in this world? Do you not have the knowledge of these life skills yourself, thus you cannot foster a constructive network or platform to remedy the situation..therefore your only option is for the City to do it for you?
I know there's more substance in the minds of the people within this blog. This blog is the first stepping stone...but it's not all...there more that can be done!
We all work...Blue collar and/or White collar. At our jobs we have to speak to people we don't really have 1. Much in common with, 2. A personal reason not to like them, and 3. An understanding of who they are. However, through emails, errors and meetings you get to form FACTUAL & PERSONAL based opinions and feelings toward that person. I challenge those that read this to engage those who live in and around Mt. Hope whom you don't know, in dialogue about school, community, sports, entertainment ...anything!
We already see that the communication barrier internally in the community is one-sided and the same with the City Offices set up to protect our rights a residents.
Majority of what I've read on the site is GREAT material and some heartbreaking....heartbreaking that someone even took the time to process a ridiculous thought that frankly, is filled with racial hatred/tension. It's humoring to a (jack-ass) degree but in this day and age no matter how many (*) you use or how cautiously you preface things, racial divide and inequalities are more visible/prominent beyond any other issue in the USA. Face it. You live with it....you deal with it...you cannot fix it. You CAN grow to understand it!
...Understand points of view you just weren't faced with dealing with as a child/teen. Understand what makes someone think they own a side-walk or community. Understand what innocence has been lost in the kids of our community. With the opportunity you can then educate, relate and rebuild relationships.....and most importantly the Community.
Don't let fear feed your human tendency to stereo-type or place judgment....it only clutters the minds purpose in finding meaningful and peaceful solutions to the problems we face everyday as Citizens of the United States of America.
-A.Non
Posted at 01:39 PM | Community | Comments (2)
To Use or Lose: Dream On
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Many people want change in Mt. Hope, for instance the many passive readers of this blog who never contribute their voice. They want change, they just want someone else to do all the heavy lifting. I view that attitude as an overt act of cowardice, the weakest impulse to passive aggressive behavior.
I commend all the people who have contributed to the discussion lately, Lisa, Dennis, Adam, James, Peter, Anonymous. All voices are welcome. But I want all you Mt. Hope residents of IP addresses known and unknown who read and then cluck, cluck, cluck and talk the talk but are unwilling to walk the walk, that you might as well move out of Mt. Hope, for you will not effect change by being passive, and you are nothing but dead weight for those of us who are willing to fight for what we believe is right: the right to live in peace in our homes, the right to drive and walk down our streets without being harassed by drug dealers, without living in fear of drive by shootings related to punk-ass rivalries by rival drug dealing welfare recipients, the right to live in a clean, law abiding urban environment.
Last Thursday, a person from the most crime ridden area of Mt. Hope, the Grand View, Tecumseh area had the courage and the commitment to organize a meeting to address the issues in this area and in Mt. Hope in general, and he got the police to commit to the meeting and thought that the people most affected would show the gumption and commitment to attend and to show their support and commitment. 15 to 20 people from the area were expected for the meeting: 4 showed up. Shameful.
Talk is cheap: action speaks louder than words.
The internecine back-biting, the petty jealousies and resentments, and the egos are the Achilles heel of those who see themselves as the intelligent and the well educated.
Divide and conquer: it has worked for centuries, why shouldn't it work in Mt. Hope?
But if anyone wishes to contribute their thoughts to this discussion, read on.
I know the blog entry box on the site has been down for some time so it is necessary to use a Blog Entry Link for submitting entries.
Of course one could always use the comments tab below any post and designate it as an entry or post.
But if you have an essay or comment of length, a book or movie review, announcements, or a photo essay, maybe of your garden, your hobby, or of your pets, poetry or artwork, or some miscellaneous whatever, use the underlined Blog Entry link above or below to submit your contribution.
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Posted at 12:28 AM | Community | Comments (0)
The Sin of Sunflowers
This spring we got together with a bunch of our neighbors to take advantage of the city's "free tree" offer. Many thanks to our neighbors who took part in this event.
Well I have a neighbor who came running outside flipping out at the members of our community who were planting the trees, and she forbade us to plant a tree in front of her home. She claimed that she "owned" the sidewalk and that the tiny little tree would block all the morning light she receives (mind you she is in her 70's). Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't the city of Providence own all sidewalks?
Anyways, LONG story short I had a talk with my neighbor, and we agreed that I would plant sunflowers and other flowers in the hole that was dug for the tree, and my neighbor agreed to let me use her hose and water to care for the flowers. Today, my neighbor’s daughter cut down ALL of the beautiful sunflowers. Mind you not only did I buy all the flowers, fertilizers, etc, but I have also tended to them.
I just looked out my front door and am appalled by what I see! All the sun flowers GONE!. I spoke to my neighbor, who owns the house and she said "my daughter is driving my crazy." Great excuse.
I am disgusted at this moment. Adam, as previously mentioned occurrences of this nature makes you think "WHY BOTHER"..... I am disgusted to say the least!!!.
Does anyone know if I have any legal recourse regarding this situation? Obviously I do not want any problems with my neighbors but they (not even the homeowner, but her daughter) have crossed the line...... Anyone have any thoughts?
D. Cregg
Posted at 07:48 PM | Community | Comments (4)
Just Not Getting It . . . !
Adam, I feel your pain man! I pick up shit daily!!!! However you CANNOT give up.
If nothing else you are leading by example and that is great, and as an individual it is one of the few things you can do. Things have been getting better in Mt. Hope and will continue to improve as time goes on.
I completely agree with you that a reasonable and prudent person would see you cleaning, and all your hard work, and would thus respect it.
NOT SO MUCH, ey?
I have planted flowers in 4 tree rings on my street and I see individuals walking their dogs multiple times a week and the people let their dogs WALK ON the flowers and pee and poop on all of them and in the gardens: of course I politely tell them this is not acceptable. Unfortunately many look at me as if I am the crazy one!! As a dog owner and lover I deem this completely unacceptable! Unfortunately many people are ignorant and just DO NOT get it!!!!
Dennis Cregg
Posted at 02:26 PM | Community | Comments (0)
Every Urban Problem Under Heaven
A little respect, just a little bit . . .?
I had always read that if people see trash on the street, they're more likely themselves to litter their garbage on said street. When I moved onto Camp Street, our little front "yard" (no more than 5 feet by 12 feet) was littered with garbage, weeds and dog shit, as were the nice street trees just planted. So, one day me and my friend weeded the entire sidewalk in front of my building, sprayed vinegar down to kill all the roots, picked up all the garbage and put a nice little garden fence around the street trees with flowers. Then, just last week, a landscaper finally came and planted bushes and laid mulch down in the "yard." I thought this would send a message that we care for our property so don't mess with it. Sadly, it didn't. Daily I remove napkins, soda cans, blunt wraps, etc. from the garden and sidewalk. If people can't respect the hard work we have put into making our street a little cleaner, then I have no respect for them and will stop trying.
It's no trivial matter
It may sound trivial to some for us to be bitching about litter since it's not killing or hurting anyone, but it's just one more thing (like graffiti) that brings down the quality of life in the neighborhood. I have a great tolerance for urban living but it gets tiring sometimes having to deal with what seems to be EVERY urban problem (drugs, prostitution, littering, graffiti, violence) all in one hood.
Adam
Posted at 05:21 PM | Community | Comments (0)
Filthy Streets Indicative of Neighborhood Health
Just as a patient's fever is a sign of possibly serious illness, Mt. Hope's filthy streets and sidewalks are an indicator that city officials and residents have a lot of work to do to make it a safe, quiet and drug-free community.
I agree that Mt. Hope residents are not teaching their children to respect the neighborhood and dispose of trash properly. I constantly have to pick up bottles, cups, paper and other trash tossed in front of my property. Of course, it's not just the little ones who are doing it. So do older youth. Some of them even urinate on property near the "inconvenience" store, as I call it. There's an anti-littering law on the books, but apparently people are smart enough not to do it if there's a police officer around.
The trash problem was mentioned at the second community meeting, but I guess no one was listening.
Peter C.
Posted at 10:36 AM | Community | Comments (2)
Pigs On Mt. Hope Streets: Who is Mentoring these Childern?
McDonald's Cup
Walking back from the convenient store this evening I was behind a group of maybe 5 young African American girls around 12, 13 years of age who had just left the store as I was entering.
On the way back home I watched them as one discarded a McDonald's cup right on the sidewalk, just dropped it from her hand as she walked, as if that was perfectly normal behavior.
Sprite Can
A few steps later another girl dropped her empty sprite can right on the corner of Camp & Locust and a few steps farther another girl dropped another cup from Mcdonalds.
Another Mc Cup
I turned down my street toward home as these girls continued on their way.
Before I got to my door I heard the sounds of something breaking against a building so I turned and went back up to Camp Street.
Looking down the street I saw a neighbor from the next corner standing in front of his apartment building looking flustered and upset.
Egg Shells
I walked down there an he told me that a group of girls just pelted his house with eggs, and while he was loading his car with his professional gear for a gig, one of the girls ran into his open front door and threw and smashed an egg onto his oriental carpet.
Egged On Window
I asked about the broken picket fence around his yard and he told me that it had been vandalized the night of the June 10 riot in the aftermath and that no one had gotten around to fixing it. He said that it had been vandalized once more since then.
Vandalized Fence
I can hardly wait for MHNA Board Member Ms. Taylor, of Pleasant Street, to give her take on this behavior. I hope it will be as interesting as her take on drug dealing and criminality in Mt. Hope. I'm sure it will have something to do with white people moving into Mt. Hope and causing all these problems.
What are the adults responsible for raising these kids teaching them: anything? Are they teaching them to respect other people and their property? Are they teaching them respect for their environment. Are they teaching them cleanliness? It doesn't look like it.
Kids will behave like kids, but adults who raise their kids in ignorance, passing their own ignorance on to a new generation, should be deeply ashamed of themselves.
John Twomey
Posted at 10:31 PM | Community | Comments (1)
OPEN AIR DRUG MARKET: COURTESY OF MAYOR DAVID CICCILINE
Attention: Come to Mt. Hope to buy your drugs, courtesy of Mayor David Cicciline.
The buck stops here!!!
Visit 61 Pleasant Street.
Visit 206 Camp Street.
Visit upper Grandview.
Visit 40 - 48 Techumseh Street.
We all know it, the police all know it, Councilman Jackson knows it, and of course Mayor Cicciline and Police Chief Col. Dean Esserman, who both live on the East Side (but not in Mt. Hope) know it, so let us all celebrate the OPEN AIR DRUG MARKET in Mt. Hope.
Drugs in Mt. Hope: Just a fact of life: We can't do anything about it!!!!
Them drug dealers and criminals, after all, are just trying to support their families the best they can, or so some would have you believe.
These people, who believe such myths, are the people who give liberals a bad name, who are responsible for the Democrats losing the last election, who have knee jerk reactions without putting their mind in gear before thinking and speaking.
Mt. Hope is Mt. Hope. It is not the nation. It is a small, corrupt neighborhood that has been manipulated by users who wish to maintain the status quo that they worked so hard to achieve (like the Patriarchal Brown Family dominating the Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association (MHNA) for generations, siphoning off Block Grant Money from Kevin Jackson for salaries to relatives and hangers on for alleged kickbacks): votes -- for the right to operate their drug trade with impunity.
Now, the jig is up.
No more tit for tat.
Let's call a spade a spade.
Under Rhode Island's (link) Access to Public Records Act, 38 - 2 - 3, anyone can request the financial records of the MHNA for the last 20 years and examine the way they have done business. You can examine whether they have abided by their non-profit charter. Under Rhode Island's General Laws 38 - 2 - 3, you can request all records of their financial dealings and all of the grants orchestrated by Councilman Kevin Jackson.
I requested the permit application that Kevin Jackson put in for the June 10 event in Billy Taylor Park (that resulted in the June 10 Riot) from the DPW and from Rita Murphy and both Bernard Levy (DPW) and Rita Murphy (MONS) refused to provide me with a copy of the requested application.
Yet today, I have a copy. (And I will provide it to anyone who asks.)
The DPW application, signed by Kevin Jackson, implicates Jackson and the Lewis family in the June 10 riot as the only parties responsible, except for the Providence Police Department, which refused to enforce the law when called upon to do so. Bear with me and legal proceedings will reveal the truth despite the City's efforts to sweep this matter under the rug and bury it.
I just won't go away as long as I am alive!
I hired a lawyer who obtained Jackson's DPW application for me through the above mentioned statue, Access to Public Records Act, 38 - 2 - 3. Just click that link to read the law.
Turns out I did not have to pay a lawyer for that, it was my right to get it under the law: Levy and Murphy broke the law in refusing me the records, and because they did I am entitled to recover my legal fees from them for their illegal refusal to provide the records.
It is a sad day when a citizen has to hire attorneys to get the city to do the right thing, like enforce the law in Mt. Hope. yet if that is what it takes, well, I have the means and I have the the will and I have the courage to go all the way.
I only hope that some other Mt. Hope residents have the courage to stand by my side and fight the good fight and set this neighborhood right.
CORRUPTION NO MORE!
GO ALONG TO GET ALONG?
NOT IN MT. HOPE!
John Twomey
Posted at 12:02 AM | Community | Comments (1)
Pleasant Street Shootings
Pleasant Street Shootings
The drug-related shooting at 61 Pleasant St. August 1 and another shooting 10 days earlier at the same spot require immediate action. Drug dealers need to be put on notice that they will not be tolerated any longer in Mt. Hope.
City Councilor Kevin Jackson needs to stop protecting the dealers, as has been reported, and cooperate with the police in identifying and arresting them. This isn't about racism. It's about making Mt. Hope safe for all of its residents.
This should be a major topic of discussion at the next community meeting.
Peter C.
Posted at 07:40 PM | Community | Comments (1)
.45-Caliber Shells Fired - 61 Pleasant Street, Mt. Hope: Victim Had Drugs Up His Ass
* Dem ain't no pussy shells, dems some serires lead, dem 45's, Bro.-Ah kain't wate for some a dem shells to go thru some kids winnow and kil em in deys sleep. or betta yet kil one a dem white motherfuckers whos driving us drug dealers outta Mt. Hope.
Us African American drug dealers gotta right to wheel & deal in Mt. Hope (lik we done for the last 30 years) courtesy of Kevin Jackson and Mayor ciccline and in da tradition of Budi Cianci who knew how ta go along to git along, because we rappers, we got bling, we gangstas, we doun got ta work, wes entitled, wes da victims, we knows how to play da system. Yeah, we playahs! Wellfare, SSI disability, young girls in da projects wit our babies, wes playahs!
An aferall, we owns Mt. hope!
Yes, surprise, surprise the shooting last night on Pleasant was drug related.
What will it take for the police to go down there and find that gun and take it off the streets. I sure hope they do not violate anyone's
civil rights in doing so. Maybe they should wait until an innocent person is killed by a stray bullet.
From Pro Jo:
Shooting victim faces drug charge
01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, August 2, 2007
By Gregory Smith
Journal Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE — A man was shot in the Mount Hope neighborhood early yesterday morning, the police said. And then he wound up facing a criminal charge when an employee of Rhode Island Hospital reported that the man had concealed illegal drugs in a body cavity. Kevelin Davis, 29, of 19 Pleasant Court, was found shot five times, four times in the back and once in the right arm, and lying on the floor of an apartment at 61 Pleasant St. at 12:50 a.m., according to the police. It was the second shooting in 10 days at or in the vicinity of 61 Pleasant St.
He told officers that he had been on the front steps of 61 Pleasant, talking to the residents there, when he saw a gold-colored car occupied by two men wearing dark-colored hoodies pull up. He and the residents turned to go inside — it was not clear why — and then gunshots were fired from the car, according to Davis.
He was shot and the car drove away, down Pleasant to North Main Street, he told the police. Detectives found seven .45-caliber shell casings, meaning that at least seven shots were fired.
Davis was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital, where he was admitted in serious condition initially. As he was being helped, a hospital employee found a clear plastic bag concealed between his buttocks that, according to the police, contained at least six pieces of crack cocaine.
Davis immediately was put under police guard, and later in the morning he was hand-delivered a District Court summons charging him with possession of cocaine.
Sgt. Paul Brousseau, commander of the police prosecutions unit, said Davis normally would have been brought to court to answer a criminal complaint, but due to his physical condition, he was given the order to appear Aug. 22. Davis’ condition is not life-threatening, according to the police.
The previous shooting occurred July 22, when Justin T. Potter, 26, of 226 Juniper St., East Providence, was grazed in the head by a bullet.
A sport-utility vehicle in which Potter was the driver or a passenger crashed into a parked car outside 61 Pleasant and then, a couple of minutes later, into the side of an office building at 747 North Main St., according to the police.
The Potter shooting remains under investigation.
gsmith@projo.com
* This is a poor attempt to use what is characterized as Ebonics (an African American dialect) to dramatize the ignorance of the drug dealers and the people who support them in Mt. Hope. In no way do I wish to impinge the intelligence of any random African American by generalizing that that is the way they speak or think: I only refer to the peculiar breed of African American drug dealers who live and ply their evil trade in Mt. Hope, Providence, RI. Any perceived condemnation by association is unintended and is in the mind of the beholder.
Still, If this disclosure of my intent is not sufficient to any particular individual, I will be glad to debate the ins and outs of what I intended, on this website or in person, face to face, with anyone who so wishes.
Simply leave a comment with your contact info and we can engage from there.
John Twomey
Posted at 01:04 AM | Community | Comments (3)
Man Shot at 61 Pleasant St. Mt. Hope 8/1/07
A tip just came over the wires about another shooting at 61 Pleasant in which a man was shot twice. This is the 2nd shooting in about a week at that address. Do ya think that someone around there might have a gun and might be dangerous. I hope our Police Department can do something.
This sounds like a job for the MHNA's Board Member, Ms. Taylor, who
claims that she doesn't mind such drug related criminal activity in her neighborhood. What can you say!
Man shot in Providence's Mount Hope neighborhood
PROVIDENCE – A man was shot early this morning at 61 Pleasant St. and taken to Rhode Island Hospital.
Emergency crews from the fire department responded to the 12:53 a.m. report of a man shot twice in the Mount Hope neighborhood, and they took the man to the hospital, according to James Taylor, chief of communications for the Providence Fire Department.
Police in the capital city cannot be reached for comment.
The man is believed to have been shot twice, Taylor said. His condition is unavailable at this time.
-- projo.com staff writer Kate Bramson
Posted at 08:51 AM | Community | Comments (0)
