Mt. Hope· Providence, Rhode Island

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Posted at 01:18 AM | Website | Comments (0)

Crime Stats Redux: You Read it here First!

From ProJo:

An investigative report last month by ABC6 News, citing dozens of unnamed police officers as sources, alleged that police administrators and subordinates classified and reclassified crimes in such a way as to understate the crime rate.

In a post of July 21, 2005, The Big Lie of Crime Stats I called into question the Crime Stats of the Providence Police Department under Col. Esserman.

Now it seems that the chickens have come how to roost. Even the FOB, The Fraternal Order of Police, the police union, is calling into question Col Esserman's handling of the crime stats for the City of Providence. Claims have been made that the Chief has ordered the stats fudged in order to make them look better than they are, because he is a political animal and he is in cahoots with the mayor, a politically ambitious animal, who will never get another vote from me, btw.

Read the Projo article for more info:

Providence police union seeks probe of crime data
01:00 AM EDT on Friday, April 4, 2008

By Gregory Smith

Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — Mayor David N. Cicilline and Police Chief Dean M. Esserman have been boasting for years of a dramatic decline in the crime rate. Crime is at a 30-year low, they claim.

But are the figures trustworthy? For quite a while members of the Police Department have been tussling privately over that issue, disagreeing whether some crime reports are unjustifiably dismissed or reclassified to make the crime rate look better.

Two years ago some members of the City Council said they were concerned that the crime decline was exaggerated, but an investigation never materialized.

Now the police labor union, the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge No. 3, is calling for an independent inquiry to settle the matter.

Esserman, who champions the use of data to improve police performance and accountability, publicly said yesterday that he supports the call. He has insisted that the department’s published crime statistics are reliable.

The FOP two weeks ago sent a letter to Tammie M. Gregg, deputy chief of the Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, asking what her department knows about Providence police crime statistics.

The FOP also asked, as an extension of the Justice Department’s recently closed civil-rights review of the police force, to look into the integrity of Providence’s statistical reporting of crime.

A recent televised investigative report by ABC6 News prompted FOP members to ask for an independent inquiry and for the FOP executive board, in turn, to ask the Justice Department for help, according to the letter. ABC6 News, citing dozens of unnamed police officers as sources, alleged that police administrators and subordinates reclassified crimes as lesser crimes, allowing the department to report an artificially rosy picture of crime in Providence.

Lt. Kenneth M. Cohen, FOP president, yesterday acknowledged that the letter was sent. He said he would not mind if the Justice Department delegates to the Federal Bureau of Investigation the task of auditing the crime statistics. Police departments by law are required to report their crime experience to the FBI in an FBI-mandated format.

Cohen said the FOP’s action was prompted by a member who brought it up at a membership meeting.

“It was one of the members who was indirectly accused of, for lack of a better term, fudging the numbers,” Cohen said. “[He] felt that his reputation and his integrity was being impugned by [the ABC6 report], and that the only way to get out from under it” would be an independent inquiry.

gsmith@projo.com

Posted at 02:49 AM | Website | Comments (0)

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Posted at 04:54 AM | Website | Comments (0)

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In the meantime use the alternative links posted above.

Posted at 02:45 PM | Website | Comments (0)

Links

Here I list several websites that carry links to the Mt. Hope Community Website and feature some interesting related content.

The first is RIFuture.org, a liberal, leftwing website hosted by a young, pro-union organizer that has a nice interactive feature for readers to participate in the site in the form of Dairies.

The second is a site called Outside.In that is trying to go nationwide by culling local blogs and news of interest locally. You can click on Providence or any of the neighborhoods of Providence including Mt. Hope.

Posted at 11:33 PM | Website | Comments (0)

Searching' thru April

Search term use to to access the site in April.

daniel sciotti drugs rhode island
mount hope providence
mount hope neighborhood association providence
amritanandamayi
andrew ortiz gets shot new r.i
history hope providence
ellen baver

mount hope community eastside ri
mount hope court apartments
graf wall
biography of rhode island councilman kevin jackson
camp street concerned citizens providence
mount hope neighborhood association 2
mount hope court apartments providence
gentrification camp street providence
site www.mthope-eastside.com daniel sciotti drugs rhode island
noise ordinances for providence r.i.
gangs of eastside providence
raymond watson providence
camp street providence crime
what is worth of bukowski crucifix in a death hand
alix ogden providence rhode island phone number
shay twomey
east providence ri local ordinance disturbing the peace
mount hope community center ri
maurice methot
brave soul nocd
lifespan hospital sustainability rhode island
kevin kazlauskas
tonea a. nutt sims
crimewatch eye
summit neighborhood of providence ri
210 pleasant st providence rhode island 02906 usa
andrew velasquez iii
mt. hope neighborhood association ri
mt. hope association
via cypress condo providence
providence high school football champ
neighborhood crime watch ri providence
jen bakios
raymond watson mt hope
deer storking
mount hope community providence
east side
kennedy plaza providence is scary
greater camp concerned citizens
city of providence noise ordinance
alix ogden ri phone number
mt hope providence
east side gang providence rhode island
jessica klein
ri providence crime watch
irish song mother mcree
gccc zoning regulations
mt hope neighborhood association
providence ri crime neighborhoods
seamus twomey
mayor ciccline of providence
massage parlors in east providence ri
mt. hope neighborhood news
police log yorkshire street
irene chew rhode island
alix ogden
naama gidron
danny lopes and rhode island
providence journal article by colonel dean esserman
mayor ciccline
eastside monthly
football player who is renovating housing for poor
kathryn laferte
lopes im fox point rhode island
patrick k butler providence ri rant
mount hope neighborhood association rhode island
woodbine st. providence ri
brustin & young v. providence
shots fired south providence april 29 1
mt hope neighborhood association ri 1
shots fired providence ri april 29 2007
oriana diaz providence
lucille clifton i was born with twelve fingers
summit neighborhood association founded

Posted at 07:12 PM | Website | Comments (0)

Deer Storking & Other Search Queries

Below find the list of search terms used to access the Mt. Hope Community Website in the month of March, 2007, listed by frequency.

Blimey Limey, I'd like some Brit to tell me what is Deer Storking? What are those crazy English and their bad teeth up to now!

Anyroad, behold the list( the most interesting or unusual appear in bold):

maurice methot
mount hope court apartments in
mt. hope neighborhood association ri
mount hope providence
alix ogden
sergeant to1nya king harris 1
camp street crime providence
daniel sciotti
kevin kazlauskas
kevin lanni
library providence rochembeau
deer storking

mount hope police department in providence ri
tonea sims pawtucket times
mt. hope murder providence
laura pisaturo
david schiavulli
mt. hope blog providence
proud thin dying bukowski grape supermarket
camp street providence crime
helen walker raleigh
mt. hope neighborhood association providence ri
east side monthly providence letters
beth patrone
mt hope neighborhood providence children under 6 poverty
brave soul nocd
washing park little league providence rhode island
providence rhode island police major tommy
east side of
providence policeman who served time
crime rate in college hill providence ri
providence ri camp street crime
locations of fallout shelters in rhode island
mount hope association blog
ciccline
providence ri mount hope photos
john twomey providence
history of mt hope ri
woodbine street in providence is ghetto
mount hope neighborhood association providence ri
men of shame in rhode island
mt hope providence
bonnard s nudes poem raymond carver
graffiti in providence east side
availability in r.i housing section
mount hope neighborhood association in providence
mt. hope condo association providence ri
salve regina university gay marriage
tyrone way boston
amritanandamayi marlborough 2006 schedule
providence graffiti ordinance
mt hope neighborhood association providence
blog providence mt hope
kathryn laferte
david pontarelli
she mounts her lion among men
raymond watson ri
24 camp street at doyle east providence
ted johnson jackie macmullen i dont want anyone
mt hope methot
gang names and rhode island
john nickelson providence
providence east side south side gangs
midori spa landlord
james lassiter providence ri
mt hope rhode island

Posted at 10:17 PM | Website | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Trend Lines

Dramatic increase in the Mt. Hope community website usage in the last three months.

Month - - - - - - Jan 2007 - Feb 2007 - Mar 2007
Unique visitors - - - 58 - - - 134 - - - - - 214
Number of visits - - 110 - - - 225 - - - - - 751
Pages - - - - - - - - - - 255 - - - 751 - - - - 1552
Hits - - - - - - - - - - - 694 - - - 3401 - - - - 8093

Since Janurary visits to our website have tripled!

If anyone wishes to contribute a post to the website click on this link, Blog Entry, and submit your entry.

The comments tab is always open: don't be afraid.

Posted at 11:35 PM | Website | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

X marks the Spot -- Search Hits

Recently some interesting searches were used to access this website, and they are listed below.

The most common search engine used seems to be, of course, Google followed by Msn and Yahoo. Other refering sites include our neighboring community websites www.wbna.org/ the West Broadway Neighborhood Association, and the SNA, the Summit Neighborhood Association.

Connections from the Providence Journal (ProJo) and the East Side Monthly also occur.

We've had visitors recently from Saudi Arabia, the Russian Federation, Japan, the Ukraine, Israel, China, Germany, and Great Britan, among others.

Search Terms

rochambeau rhode island neighborhood organizations
greater camp concerned maurice methot
iola mabray
needs in mount hope providence
mount hope neighborhood association ri
problem with garbage in south providenc rhode island
jen bakios
mount hope police department providence ri
massage parlor ri branch ave

mount hope neighborhood association in providence rhode island
camp street providence
wjar 10 mt. hope
home safer from crime
crime east side providence
mount hope citizen list
mount hope neighborhood association providence website
crime rate olney street providence
east side thugs
south side grafitti
crime watch
camp street shootings providence
stabbings potters avenue providence
providence rhode island east side police substation
katie laferte
gang related pictures hope mini with is mount
cascais noise ordinance
camp street shooting providence
mt hope neighborhood association providence
ellen east side providence
kevin kazlauskas
crime watch eye
mt. hope east side providence ri
miriam hospital summer employment for mt. hope teens in providence rhode island
alix ogden providence
kicking and squirming mini skirt
mt hope neighborhood association ri
stop teenage loitering broken window scholarly article
mt hope methot
mt. hope rhode island school death
nada petrovic rhode island
william bombard
laferte s folly
mayor cicilline plan to knock down mount pleasant high school
mount hope neighborhood association providence oriana diaz
mount eerie bermuda
greater camp concerned citizens
mount hope neighborhood meeting rochambeau
college hill neighborhood association providence
providence graffitti
donald shein
nada petrovic providence
mount hope section of providence
mt.hope providence crime
providence \ mt.hope\ section
david pontarelli
councilman kevin jackson ri
east side monthly providence letters
mount hope neighborhood association-providence rhode island
south side boys gang in providence
mount hope neighborhood association ri
mount hope neighborhood in providence
district 8 providence schiavulli camp

Posted at 10:14 AM | Website | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Laferte's Folly

On Catch-23 Redoux and Katie Laferte's allegations

“Mount Hope doesn't need fifteen organizations fighting each other. We're talking about twenty blocks here.”

“ . . . rather than staking out territory and duking it out like the kids are doing in their ridiculous ‘gangs . . . ”

I’ve learned to have a sense of humor in dealing with Mt. Hope's unselfish, though ambitious and thoroughly ambivalent, citizen activists, because, well, a sense of humor is definitely needed in order to keep one's sanity -- otherwise one would roux the day they ever became active in neighborhood politics.

I think our illogical commenter, Ms Laferte, got caught a little bit off base in her mini-rant mini-skirt, about Mt. Hope neighborhood organizations, and here, she gets picked off base, to use a baseball metaphor.

I’ve been involved in community work in Mt. Hope and with GCCC for many years and have experienced no conflict with any other Mt. Hope organizations. The Mt. Hope organizations I know of have separate missions which do not overlap. For instance, the Ministries do community outreach to poor people using government funds, and the MHNA uses government funds to provide after school programs, while the GCCC uses only member dues to to their work, which focuses on quality of life issues.

Our Catch23 writer says that, “

“Mount Hope doesn't need fifteen organizations fighting each other. We're talking about twenty blocks here.”

And even earlier, in a related statement, she compares Mt. Hope organizations to teenage gangs fighting over turf.

“ . . . rather than staking out territory and duking it out like the kids are doing in their ridiculous ‘gangs’.”

Who are these 15 organizations, Ms. Laferte; which ones are duking it out; and what are they duking it out about? I, myself, want you to inform me as I’m a long time member and leader of one of the organizations (GCCC).

And I assure you, Katie, the "kids" don't in any way see their gangs as "ridiculous" -- they see them as deadly serious, as you should, too, as we all should. How many have died?

It seems to me that this commenter cemented herself concretely in an abyss of obese hyperbole, if you know what I mean. In other words, I think she’s got it all wrong.

Our Catch23 commenter asks that:

"The organizer of these meetings has told me she's contacted the GCCC leadership on a few occasions to extend an invitation to attend. I would like to pass on the information to a member who would like to get involved (not someone who would derail the process, but someone who would be willing to attend as a representative of the principles of the GCCC)".

My stance on meeting with other organizations at the request of CATCH is that that would be a waste of our time if they provided GCCC with no clear agenda. If CATCH had a concrete proposal for the GCCC organization asking GCCC to perform a certain function for them or aid them in a specific area or task we would have looked over the request carefully, put it to our members, and acted on it one way or the other. But we received no proposal, no phone call to discuss issues, just an e-mailed meeting announcement.

Since my wife, Irene, was battling cancer at that time, all such insignificant activities, we just put them on the back burner.

GCCC categorically rejects Ms. Laferte's allegation that a rift exists between any Mt. Hope organizations and challenges her to prouduce evidence of her unfounded manipulative, delusional, and paronoid accusations.

But we (you) can certainly create a rift if you so desire!

But we did ask a GCCC member to represent GCCC at a CATCH meeting; Ellen Baver; and Ms. Baver left that CATCH meeting in tears after being viciously attacked by the woman who works at the Learning Center, Ann Marie Ready, and from someone from the Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association, a Mr. Carvallho, and Ms. Devine all for Ms. Baver’s writing a letter to the editor of the Providence Journal and the East Side Monthly expressing her point of view as a Mt.Hope mother, parent, and resident who walks Camp Street on a regular basis.

See the July 7th post, Pro Jo Editorials = Two of a Kind -- Does Mayor Get It? : the comments made under that post, using names like Kangroo Communique, et al.

Ghastly behavior! I’m appalled at the gall of these people. To publicly attack and criticize someone for exercising their right to free speech, their right to voice their political opinion? To verbally attack her out of the blue in front of all the other people present at the meeting.

One person implied, (in what I consider a manipulative lie) that Ms. Baver's letter offended Mt. Hope's youth -- can you countenance such an outrageous accusation -- who did Ms. Baver's letter offend, the youthfull drug dealers on Camp Street?

Another person told Ms. Baver that she intervened to keep somone from burning down her, the Baver's, house! Can you imagine?

Ms. Ready, Mr. Carvhallo, Ms. Devine, write your own letter of dissent to the editor, for Christ’s sake--voice your disagreement in the public forum like Ms. Baver had the courage to do.

Cowards! Cowards all!

Ms. Baver reported to me that she was totally unprepared for such a vicious, personal attack and that it really shook her and her family up. She left their meeting in tears and was upset for days afterwards. Ms. Baver is one of the Mt. Hope residents and GCCC members who has worked the most courageously, and unselfishly, for positive change in Mt. Hope.

What way is that to treat someone whom you invited to participate in your meeting?

I wish I had been there --I really, really wish I had been there. Despicable behavior! Shame, shame, shame on all you who participated!

Since my wife, Irene, successfully beat her cancer (she’s cancer free, thanks, to all of you kind people who inquired) she has attended every meeting of CATCH. She has not yet heard of a proposal for GCCC from CATCH.

So what’s the deal, Ms. Laferte?

What have you and CATCH got for the GCCC?

What are you calling for?

You sat right next to Irene at the last CATCH meeting, and you had every opportunity to follow up on this Catch-23 post of yours, yet you were as quiet as a little mousey. Are you mousey by nature?

Here is another Laferte quote from the Catch-23 post:

“The much maligned CATCH program has held a series of meetings since the spring about "affordable housing." The fallout of these meetings is the idea that all Mount Hope organizations should get together and talk to one another, to develop trust and accountability and really try and deal with the various problems people perceive in the neighborhood rather than staking out territory and duking it out like the kids are doing in their ridiculous ‘gangs’.”

What do you mean, “The fallout of these meetings . . . “? Should we all be in our “fallout” shelters?

And by the way, Ms. Laferte, who told you Mt. Hope organizations don’t have “trust and accountability” -- or are you making that up?

CATCH, Ms. Laferte? Who? Empty rhetoric, Ms. Laferte: we await proof?

Has anyone observed anything like a gang war between Mt. Hope organizations?

I think Ms. Laferte needs to stick to organizing neighbors and community residents to clean up the empty land trust lot that blights the view from her house: she has organized at least two such clean-ups, calling them “Community Cleanups”, when in fact they only cleaned up the filthy part of the community that she could see from her front window: I participated in one of her so called “Community Clean-ups, and I felt used and dirty afterward. And I vowed, never again.

There are many kinds of community activists -- Ms. Laferte is one kind.

Some people are only involved in CATCH because they think they can have some minor input into the affordable housing that is going into Abbott Court, the Walkway off of Knowles Street where Ms. Laferte lives. CATCH should be aware of such motives.

As far as for CATCH, none of the three principal organizers lives in Mt. Hope, nor have they invested financially in Mt. Hope. Only their meeting moderator, Ms. Devine, is a Mt. Hope resident, with a financial commitment to Mt. Hope. She is a professional in social work for Miriam Hospital. She is the CATCH front person because she lives in Mt. Hope.

In fact, most of the people involved in CATCH and the Mt. Hope Empowerment Network are what I refer to as Professional Liberals. They draw their paychecks either from the government or from organizations that draw funds from the government for social services. It is important for their careers, for their resumes, to be involved in something like CATCH. I call it resume building. Although these people all have an ulterior motive, I believe that all these people strongly, honestly believe that they are doing good. They just cannot tolerate anyone who disagrees with them. I do. I personally disagree with them. Believe me, liberals are less tolerant than conservatives, and I am in no way a conservative, but believe me, you, Professional Liberals are the least tolerant of all, as evidenced by their attack on Ms. Baver for voicing her opinion.

I consider the leader of CATCH to be Dr. Peter Simon, of the Health Department, and I wish he had the courage of his convictions to confront his associates for their viscious and unconsionable attack on GCCC's Ms. Baver.

I think CATCH or now, The Empowerment Network, can do some good and bring some needed services to people who need them. I hope they can bring some of their ideas to fruition.

GCCC remains ready and willing to work with CATCH: we simply await a written proposal explaining what CATCH is all about and what role they wish GCCC to play in their plans. I strongly believe that GCCC should be operated in a professional, legal, business-like manner. CATCH should approach GCCC with these principals in mind.

I respectfully ask CATCH if they have plans that include GCCC, please forward them in writing to us, or simply call us up on the phone, or e-mail us, and fill us in on the details. GCCC is open to considering any projects that will benefit the entire Mt. Hope community, as expressed in our Mission Statement.

GCCC also remains willing to reach out to the Mt. Hope learning Center’s Ms. Ready and to the MHNA’s, Mr. Carvhallo and to CATCH to work toward common goals benefiting Mt. Hope: but we strongly believe that the individuals who attacked Ms. Baver owe her an apology for their vicious and unconscionable, personal, ad hominem attack on her at the winter, 2005, CATCH meeting.

Yeah, one must have a “mind of winter” to behold “the nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.” To quote Wallace Stevens.

And, oh yeah, one must have a mind with a sense of humor, otherwise, well . . .

Drug dealers still operate freely right around the Crossrroads, Camp & Cypress, within sight of the Police Department's District 8 Substation -- it takes both a "mind of winter" and a "sense of humor" to tolerate that!

John Twomey

Posted at 04:11 AM | Website | Comments (0)

Laferte's Folly

On Catch-23 Redoux and Katie Laferte's allegations

“Mount Hope doesn't need fifteen organizations fighting each other. We're talking about twenty blocks here.”

“ . . . rather than staking out territory and duking it out like the kids are doing in their ridiculous ‘gangs . . . ”

I’ve learned to have a sense of humor in dealing with Mt. Hope's unselfish, though ambitious and thoroughly ambivalent, citizen activists, because, well, a sense of humor is definitely needed in order to keep one's sanity -- otherwise one would roux the day they ever became active in neighborhood politics.

I think our illogical commenter, Ms Laferte, got caught a little bit off base in her mini-rant mini-skirt, about Mt. Hope neighborhood organizations, and here, she gets picked off base, to use a baseball metaphor.

I’ve been involved in community work in Mt. Hope and with GCCC for many years and have experienced no conflict with any other Mt. Hope organizations. The Mt. Hope organizations I know of have separate missions which do not overlap. For instance, the Ministries do community outreach to poor people using government funds, and the MHNA uses government funds to provide after school programs, while the GCCC uses only member dues to to their work, which focuses on quality of life issues.

Our Catch23 writer says that, “

“Mount Hope doesn't need fifteen organizations fighting each other. We're talking about twenty blocks here.”

And even earlier, in a related statement, she compares Mt. Hope organizations to teenage gangs fighting over turf.

“ . . . rather than staking out territory and duking it out like the kids are doing in their ridiculous ‘gangs’.”

Who are these 15 organizations, Ms. Laferte; which ones are duking it out; and what are they duking it out about? I, myself, want you to inform me as I’m a long time member and leader of one of the organizations (GCCC).

And I assure you, Katie, the "kids" don't in any way see their gangs as "ridiculous" -- they see them as deadly serious, as you should, too, as we all should. How many have died?

It seems to me that this commenter cemented herself concretely in an abyss of obese hyperbole, if you know what I mean. In other words, I think she’s got it all wrong.

Our Catch23 commenter asks that:

"The organizer of these meetings has told me she's contacted the GCCC leadership on a few occasions to extend an invitation to attend. I would like to pass on the information to a member who would like to get involved (not someone who would derail the process, but someone who would be willing to attend as a representative of the principles of the GCCC)".

My stance on meeting with other organizations at the request of CATCH is that that would be a waste of our time if they provided GCCC with no clear agenda. If CATCH had a concrete proposal for the GCCC organization asking GCCC to perform a certain function for them or aid them in a specific area or task we would have looked over the request carefully, put it to our members, and acted on it one way or the other. But we received no proposal, no phone call to discuss issues, just an e-mailed meeting announcement.

Since my wife, Irene, was battling cancer at that time, all such insignificant activities, we just put them on the back burner.

GCCC categorically rejects Ms. Laferte's allegation that a rift exists between any Mt. Hope organizations and challenges her to prouduce evidence of her unfounded manipulative, delusional, and paronoid accusations.

But we (you) can certainly create a rift if you so desire!

But we did ask a GCCC member to represent GCCC at a CATCH meeting; Ellen Baver; and Ms. Baver left that CATCH meeting in tears after being viciously attacked by the woman who works at the Learning Center, Ann Marie Ready, and from someone from the Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association, a Mr. Carvallho, and Ms. Devine all for Ms. Baver’s writing a letter to the editor of the Providence Journal and the East Side Monthly expressing her point of view as a Mt.Hope mother, parent, and resident who walks Camp Street on a regular basis.

See the July 7th post, Pro Jo Editorials = Two of a Kind -- Does Mayor Get It? : the comments made under that post, using names like Kangroo Communique, et al.

Ghastly behavior! I’m appalled at the gall of these people. To publicly attack and criticize someone for exercising their right to free speech, their right to voice their political opinion? To verbally attack her out of the blue in front of all the other people present at the meeting.

One person implied, (in what I consider a manipulative lie) that Ms. Baver's letter offended Mt. Hope's youth -- can you countenance such an outrageous accusation -- who did Ms. Baver's letter offend, the youthfull drug dealers on Camp Street?

Another person told Ms. Baver that she intervened to keep somone from burning down her, the Baver's, house! Can you imagine?

Ms. Ready, Mr. Carvhallo, Ms. Devine, write your own letter of dissent to the editor, for Christ’s sake--voice your disagreement in the public forum like Ms. Baver had the courage to do.

Cowards! Cowards all!

Ms. Baver reported to me that she was totally unprepared for such a vicious, personal attack and that it really shook her and her family up. She left their meeting in tears and was upset for days afterwards. Ms. Baver is one of the Mt. Hope residents and GCCC members who has worked the most courageously, and unselfishly, for positive change in Mt. Hope.

What way is that to treat someone whom you invited to participate in your meeting?

I wish I had been there --I really, really wish I had been there. Despicable behavior! Shame, shame, shame on all you who participated!

Since my wife, Irene, successfully beat her cancer (she’s cancer free, thanks, to all of you kind people who inquired) she has attended every meeting of CATCH. She has not yet heard of a proposal for GCCC from CATCH.

So what’s the deal, Ms. Laferte?

What have you and CATCH got for the GCCC?

What are you calling for?

You sat right next to Irene at the last CATCH meeting, and you had every opportunity to follow up on this Catch-23 post of yours, yet you were as quiet as a little mousey. Are you mousey by nature?

Here is another Laferte quote from the Catch-23 post:

“The much maligned CATCH program has held a series of meetings since the spring about "affordable housing." The fallout of these meetings is the idea that all Mount Hope organizations should get together and talk to one another, to develop trust and accountability and really try and deal with the various problems people perceive in the neighborhood rather than staking out territory and duking it out like the kids are doing in their ridiculous ‘gangs’.”

What do you mean, “The fallout of these meetings . . . “? Should we all be in our “fallout” shelters?

And by the way, Ms. Laferte, who told you Mt. Hope organizations don’t have “trust and accountability” -- or are you making that up?

CATCH, Ms. Laferte? Who? Empty rhetoric, Ms. Laferte: we await proof?

Has anyone observed anything like a gang war between Mt. Hope organizations?

I think Ms. Laferte needs to stick to organizing neighbors and community residents to clean up the empty land trust lot that blights the view from her house: she has organized at least two such clean-ups, calling them “Community Cleanups”, when in fact they only cleaned up the filthy part of the community that she could see from her front window: I participated in one of her so called “Community Clean-ups, and I felt used and dirty afterward. And I vowed, never again.

There are many kinds of community activists -- Ms. Laferte is one kind.

Some people are only involved in CATCH because they think they can have some minor input into the affordable housing that is going into Abbott Court, the Walkway off of Knowles Street where Ms. Laferte lives. CATCH should be aware of such motives.

As far as for CATCH, none of the three principal organizers lives in Mt. Hope, nor have they invested financially in Mt. Hope. Only their meeting moderator, Ms. Devine, is a Mt. Hope resident, with a financial commitment to Mt. Hope. She is a professional in social work for Miriam Hospital. She is the CATCH front person because she lives in Mt. Hope.

In fact, most of the people involved in CATCH and the Mt. Hope Empowerment Network are what I refer to as Professional Liberals. They draw their paychecks either from the government or from organizations that draw funds from the government for social services. It is important for their careers, for their resumes, to be involved in something like CATCH. I call it resume building. Although these people all have an ulterior motive, I believe that all these people strongly, honestly believe that they are doing good. They just cannot tolerate anyone who disagrees with them. I do. I personally disagree with them. Believe me, liberals are less tolerant than conservatives, and I am in no way a conservative, but believe me, you, Professional Liberals are the least tolerant of all, as evidenced by their attack on Ms. Baver for voicing her opinion.

I consider the leader of CATCH to be Dr. Peter Simon, of the Health Department, and I wish he had the courage of his convictions to confront his associates for their viscious and unconsionable attack on GCCC's Ms. Baver.

I think CATCH or now, The Empowerment Network, can do some good and bring some needed services to people who need them. I hope they can bring some of their ideas to fruition.

GCCC remains ready and willing to work with CATCH: we simply await a written proposal explaining what CATCH is all about and what role they wish GCCC to play in their plans. I strongly believe that GCCC should be operated in a professional, legal, business-like manner. CATCH should approach GCCC with these principals in mind.

I respectfully ask CATCH if they have plans that include GCCC, please forward them in writing to us, or simply call us up on the phone, or e-mail us, and fill us in on the details. GCCC is open to considering any projects that will benefit the entire Mt. Hope community, as expressed in our Mission Statement.

GCCC also remains willing to reach out to the Mt. Hope learning Center’s Ms. Ready and to the MHNA’s, Mr. Carvhallo and to CATCH to work toward common goals benefiting Mt. Hope: but we strongly believe that the individuals who attacked Ms. Baver owe her an apology for their vicious and unconscionable, personal, ad hominem attack on her at the winter, 2005, CATCH meeting.

Yeah, one must have a “mind of winter” to behold “the nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.” To quote Wallace Stevens.

And, oh yeah, one must have a mind with a sense of humor, otherwise, well . . .

Drug dealers still operate freely right around the Crossrroads, Camp & Cypress, within sight of the Police Department's District 8 Substation -- it takes both a "mind of winter" and a "sense of humor" to tolerate that!

John Twomey

Posted at 04:13 AM | Website | Comments (0)

A Cleaner Camp!

Camp Street has been renovated!

The developers eyes; her eyes were the color of gentrification: her vinyl siding crawled with invisible dollar signs, all over, in stripes, vertical and horizontal, that only a few insightfull individuals could see. But look! Look! See it, see it! It’s pretty: pretty tacky some of it! Some cheap, investor renovations. But also some fine, quality restorations done at great expense. Still, cheap or expensive, look at the change that has come over Camp Street! It is so much better than the decrepit, deteriorating, neglected housing that was along the newly un-ghettoized Camp Street.

Camp Street has been renovated!

Thank you, Ms. Baver. Thank you for your letters to Pro Jo and the East Side Monthly this last summer of 2005. You turned Camp Street around. I know you know it, but you should hear it publicly -- thank you.

And thank you Providence Journal and East Side Monthly for providing a forum for citizens like Ms Baver to express their concerns.

And thank you, Mayor Cicilline, and the City of Providence, for listening to your citizen's concerns -- I remember your walk down Camp Street with Councilman Jackson and your entourage in tow (see post, 7-1-05, Mayor's Entourage Walks Camp Street in response to Ms. Baver’s letter to the Providence Journal.

What a long way Camp Street has come since then, eh, Mayor Cicilline?

Thank you Camp Street Ministries for renovating your exterior facade and for keeping the trash and donated materials off of Camp Street, as mentioned in Ms. Baver’s letter.

Thank you for the closing the corrupt Men’s Pride facility, mentioned in Ms. Baver’s letter, on Camp Street: it had been entrusted to the wrong individual who abused grtoup's vision.

Thank you, Mt. Hope Neighborhood Association, for painting over the peeling mural that defaced your building for so many years. It looks great. The Look fits better, now, with all the great renovations going on.

And thank you, all you private investors who invested in Camp Street. I think you made a good investment.

Remember the nay-sayers? The anonymous snipers like the Laefertes, (the Kangaroo Communique, July 1st, Pro Jo Editorials = Two of a Kind -- Does Mayor Get It?) -- the ones who castigated Ms. Baver because they perceived her letter as negative? The ones who predicted that her letter would prevent people from investing in Mt. Hope? How much more wrong could they have been? 180 degrees? How much crow can they eat?

Thank you Ms. Baver for expressing what so many people felt: that Camp Street was a dump, rife with junkies and with organizations that expressed a junky mentality. Your letter opened up a lot of eyes, and Camp Street is the better for it, as is all of Mt. Hope, as Camp Street is the main thoroughfare through our neighborhood.

Now if you could just write a letter asking the Police Department to stop allowing drug dealers from operating freely around the Crossroads, whithin sight of the substation, (especially from 2 to 5) and if it was as effective as your last letter, then I would really thank you.

And so would many other residents who don’t have the courage to speak up, allegedly because of the drug dealers.

John Twomey

Posted at 05:01 PM | Website | Comments (0)

Got Good News . . .?

Seeking GoodNews Reporter

In a November 1st post, I asked for a GCCC member to step up and be our Good News Contributor: someone who would canvass Mt. Hope for good news, positive things that we can feature on our webSite.

Be they announcements of events in Mt. Hope, to book and movie reviews. From taking note of a Boy Scout helping an elderly person, to rhapsodizing about how our Mt. Hope instutitions such as the Learning Center contrubute to the community. Or how the Camp Street Ministeries brings aid to our needy, or about Mt. Hope youths excelling in sports or academics.

Neighbors helping neighbors. That's news. Profiles of our artists, our professionals, and our medical specialists. Residents with special talents or anything of interest to our community.

GCCC has 70 paid members: Shirely, one of you can take the job. ( : > )

I'm sure a lot of good, excellent, and, positive things happen in Mt. Hope on a daily basis, and this website wishes to feature and focus on these good things just as much as as we feel the need to focus on quality of life issues.

People say they want to hear and read good news, positive news, but it won't happen unless you contribute good news for all to read.

If you have Good News or want to be the Good News Reporter for the WebSite contact: GoodNews Report

This is the second call for good news contributions. It's all up to you!

Posted at 08:10 PM | Website | Comments (0)

November Stats & Factoids

November WebSite Stats & Factoids

Some interesting trends in website usage in November. Usage rose sharply reaching a new high for the year and almost doubling the October stats in some categories. For instance, Hits went from 54,368 in October to 95,314 in November, the largest category increase. Visits, also rose sharply in November from 1829 to 2291 and Pages viewed rose from 6190 to 8993; increasing as well were the the number of visitors, which also nearly doubled.

We welcomed a number of new countries from which visitors logged on, and I’m pasting their flag logos here and in the archive entry of 8/24/05 Scope Internationale.

Brazil

Cambodia

New Zealand

Sudan

Some of the countries without flag insignias available from which visitors logged on include the following: Peru, Malaysia, Belgium, India, Seychelles, Poland, and Lithuania.

We now have received visits from 47 different countries.

This month approximately 200 different Key Phrases were used in search engines leading to the website. There are a few laughs as usual in these search terms. Have fun.

PS. Would someone please tell me, what "deer storking" is? Must be something the English do! I'm sure that repeated search comes from the UK. Do they have "cow tipping" too?

Keyphrases used on search engines

Different Keyphrases

greater camp concerned citizens
c-24-91-15-176.hsd1.ma.comcast.net
mt-hope blog
poem explication of elizabeth bishop poem art of losing
mt. hope blog camp street ministries rhode island
laura pisaturo
eastside providence
kennedy plaza riot
providencepolice
street gangs in providence rhode island
knowles mt.hope
channel 12 news address providence ri
wayne montague in providence
royal proclamation & acadians & december 9th 2003
melissa dubois rhode
trooper ramirez ri
south side graffiti
gypsy tailwind
improve camp street neighborhood providence
gang graffiti in providence
pornography providence rhode island providence rhode island
homicides in providence ri / 2005
death of lucy may daniels in providence ri

rhode island graffiti
mt hope - east side
mt. hope abbott st
neighbors dog barks incessently
homicides in providence ri 2005
kevin kazlauskas
naming of parts villanelle
mount hope photos rhode island
acadian driftwood
jen bakios
mthope-eastside
rhode island murder
nada petrovic
roger mowry house providence 2 0.
temperature november 14th providence rhode island 12 30 pm 2 0.
russian imigrants
south side riots

providence tree cover
providnece univers 1 0.3 %
mt hope east side gccc 1 0.3 %
good samaritan law music festival rhode island court case 1 0.3 %
homicide 2005 providence ri 1 0.3 %
graffiti artist injured pawtucket 1 0.3 %
ri donation chad brown 1 0.3 %
mthope-eastside.org 1 0.3 %
grafitti 1 0.3 %
hope ri ripta 1 0.3 %
rhode island crime rates 2005 1 0.3 %
summit news mount hope providence 1 0.3 %
you are so beautiful to me you re everything i hoped for you re everything i need 1 0.3 %
the last shooting in providence on the eastside 1 0.3 %
brown sex party tape 1 0.3 %
edward woodward 1 0.3 %
pro jo 1 0.3 %
childern poems of 4 to 5 stanzas 1 0.3 %
louise gluck poem appearances explication 1 0.3 %
stephan crane in the desert 1 0.3 %
female bank robber 1 0.3 %
east side robber providence 1 0.3 %
planning permission camp street providence ri 1 0.3 %
deer storking photo 1 0.3 %
sintra portugal mansions for sale 1 0.3 %
pictures of historic places at rhode island 1 0.3 %
mt hope fence 1 0.3 %
riot and loot events in hurricane rita 1 0.3 %
messengers by louise gluck 1 0.3 %
providence murders 2005 1 0.3 %
providence police department marrocco 1 0.3 %
mt hope providence blog 1 0.3 %
quiet neighborhoods increase home values 1 0.3 %
mt. hope greater camp concerned citizens 1 0.3 %
donald shein 1 0.3 %
explain how children take part during an activity and will contributed to the develpoment 1 0.3 %
marroco radio mp3 1 0.3 %
safest area of providence 1 0.3 %
mount hope camp street 1 0.3 %
little john eastside boys music 1 0.3 %
partially clad 1 0.3 %
how to deal with street crime 1 0.3 %
purges of 1930 s 1 0.3 %
interseting facts about providence ri 1 0.3 %
shooting death providence ri june 28 2005 $10 1 0.3 %
mount hope concrete plant 1 0.3 %
fishmonger huron village 1 0.3 %
ellen providence blog 1 0.3 %
crack user 1 0.3 %
rhode island graffiti forums 1 0.3 %
auto body shop undercover stings 1 0.3 %
1918 ward map of providence rhode island 1 0.3 %
99 1/2 won t do 1 0.3 %
dominican neighborhoods providence rhode island 1 0.3 %
ri tavern fireplace 1 0.3 %
project peach ave providence 1 0.3 %
driftwood band in rhode island 1 0.3 %
providence ri police log 1 0.3 %
refusal to mourn the death 1 0.3 %
councilwoman carol a. romano 1 0.3 %
david cicciline mayor of providence ri 1 0.3 %
nada petrovic providence 1 0.3 %
masse vs dubois ri 1 0.3 %
mount hope lancaster 1 0.3 %
police arrest hope high school providence 1 0.3 %
drug dealing games 1 0.3 %
desolation row explained 1 0.3 %
a refusal to mourn the death by fire of a child in london 1 0.3 %
summit neighborhood association providence rhode island 1 0.3 %
providence mount hope neighborhood 1 0.3 %
crime cameras 1 0.3 %
greed drug dealing ghetto violence 1 0.3 %
privacy right abortion texas 1 0.3 %
providence police cars 1 0.3 %
riot in providence 1 0.3 %
oriana diaz providence 1 0.3 %
rosa parks funeral sevices in detroit 1 0.3 %
providence rhode island off-duty weapon carry lawsuit 1 0.3 %
poor pitifull me. com 1 0.3 %
south side in providence 1 0.3 %
desolation row reflection 1 0.3 %
rhode island girl gets shot 1 0.3 %
providence naama gidron 1 0.3 %
brown sex party video 1 0.3 %
eastside thugs 1 0.3 %
desolation row 1 0.3 %
mount hope providence path 1 0.3 %
best pawn shop in rhode island 1 0.3 %
kids thanksgiving letter 1 0.3 %
hope high school on the east side 1 0.3 %
needle buttocks ouch cried 1 0.3 %
shabnam hashemi 1 0.3 %
providence attempt break olney st. 1 0.3 %
single action and double action pull station for rhode island code 1 0.3 %
providence safest neighborhood 1 0.3 %
mt hope blog 1 0.3 %
map providnece rhode island 1 0.3 %
uri baver 1 0.3 %
brave soul nocd 1 0.3 %
abbott-action 1 0.3 %
providence bad neighborhoods 1 0.3 %
bad neighborhoods of providence 1 0.3 %
summit neighborhood association providence 1 0.3 %
where did rochambeau live 1 0.3 %
shab providence 1 0.3 %
southside gangs 1 0.3 %
police department 1 0.3 %
old houses of north providence 1 0.3 %
random shooting 1 0.3 %
greater camp street concerned citizens mt. hope 1 0.3 %
cat or kitten rescue story 1 0.3 %
old providence island col. 1 0.3 %
hope street renovated across from cypress 1 0.3 %
shooting in roxbury on woodbine street 1 0.3 %
thanksgiving letter 1 0.3 %
voting record for kevin jackson of ward 3 in rhode island 1 0.3 %
what are they doing in there noise mp3 1 0.3 %
grafitti writing on wall 1 0.3 %
providence police department officers killed in the line of duty 1 0.3 %
south side thugs 1 0.3 %
mount hope rhode island 1 0.3 %
gretchen ertl 1 0.3 %
fence in rhode island 1 0.3 %
stephan crane bitter heart 1 0.3 %
effective of t.v on childern 1 0.3 %
www.mthope-eastside.org 1 0.3 %
c-24-91-15-176.hsd1.ma.comcast.net mt. hope ri 1 0.3 %
providence police prignano 1 0.3 %
providence rhode island pizza 1 0.3 %
rita murphy providence ri 1 0.3 %
cameras prevent crime in chicago 1 0.3 %
murders fidas restaurant 1 0.3 %
providence rhode island street gangs 1 0.3 %
greetings for welcome of organization 1 0.3 %
brown sex party 1 0.3 %
rhode island mount hope high school november 2005 passed away 1 0.3 %
alix ogden 1 0.3 %
henry reed. naming of parts review 1 0.3 %
wealthy neighborhoods in rhode island 1 0.3 %
mowry tavern ri 1 0.3 %
providence ri police department fax 1 0.3 %
fishmonger huron 1 0.3 %
east side vs. south providence street gangs 1 0.3 %
mount hope court apartments - providence 1 0.3 %
hope neighborhood providence 1 0.3 %
rhode island estimated heating costs 1 0.3 %
roger williams grave apple body 1 0.3 %
dean esserman 1 0.3 %
neighborhood services harass grandview 1 0.3 %
mt. hope providence 1 0.3 %
images of chad brown projects in providence 1 0.3 %
prevent teen loitering deter crime in neighborhood 1 0.3 %
kevin jackson councilman providence ri 1 0.3 %
providence shooting in 2005 1 0.3 %
gang grafitti 1 0.3 %
providence arrests 1 0.3 %
bill oreilly brown sex party 1 0.3 %
2005 rhode island lead paint legislation 1 0.3 %
southside providence street gangs 1 0.3 %
essays on reasons for pursuring educational leadership certification 1 0.3 %
abbott court providence 1 0.3 %
providence oldest house 1 0.3 %
providence gang brawl 1 0.3 %
mount hope blog 1 0.3 %
deer storking games 1 0.3 %
po chui 1 0.3 %
shot buttocks ouch 1 0.3 %
providence graffitti

Posted at 08:03 PM | Website | Comments (0)

Too Cute for Words

Butt to Buttsky

Molly & Ulysses

Posted at 11:50 PM | Website | Comments (0)

Re2: Getting out the Word

I think we should get the word out.

When I first began attending GCCC meetings in Mt. Hope many people told me that they were afraid to speak up at the open community meetings that were held at that time because criminals and drug dealers attended the meetings to see who was saying what, and people were afraid of recriminations if they spoke up. People also told me that they were afraid to call the police because the police would tell the criminals, who was calling about them, and that the police were in cahoots with the criminals and drug dealers. I thought at that time that that was a bunch of BULLSHIT. I still think so today. There may have been a time, where, maybe, once, it happened, but this notion has since taken on the aura of “Urban Myth” and Mt. Hope needs no urban myths at this point in its development. There is also an element of neighborhood paranoia at work in these myths.

In her October 27th post, Jen advocates not publicizing the website widely in Mt. Hope via posters, handouts, and fliers, because she fears recriminations from criminals who may read the blog if they knew about the site.

Jen writes, “A major focus of this blog is highlighting the crime that goes on here in Mt Hope, whether we like it or not, and I would not feel comfortable posting in the manner that I do now if I knew there was a potential for those who are committing the crimes to be reading it.”

I find several logical problems with this argument and one of them is the clause “…, whether we like it or not, . . .” in reference to the blog “. . . highlighting the crime that goes on here in Mt. Hope, . . .”. I suppose that “, whether we like it or not, ” refers to the fact that the blog highlights Mt. Hope crime, rather than that there is substantial crime in Mt. Hope.

Are we to take it that Jen does not like the blog highlighting the crime in Mt. Hope? Perhaps she is one who believes that people who post to the blog should only post positive things about the neighborhood. That is another argument altogether, and again, I reiterate, that if more people participated in submitting entries to the blog, positive things, like reviews, news, opinions, etc., as I have often called for, it would not seem like the blog was slanted towards highlighting crime.

Isn’t the alleged, percieved problem, that of the blog's slant toward crime, grounded in the fact that not enough people participate in submitting entries to the blog: in other words, the problem lies not in the content submitted by the people who do take the time to contribute to the blog, but by the lack of contributions by people who wish to highlight other aspects of the community. Surely Jen is not asking me and others who contribute to censor ourselves and post only the type of entries she approves.

The other logical problem I have with Jen’s statement is that there should be no potential for recriminations by criminals for anything anyone posts. There is no reason to identify yourself or your location when posting about crime. That is why we have a Crime Watch.

For instance, look at the post Pleasant Street Drug Dealing on October 27th, the only name on that post is mine, yet it identifies several addresses on Pleasant Street where alleged drug dealing is ongoing. The member reporting that activity contacted me through the Crime Watch and passed me the information which I in turn passed on to the police and posted on the website.

No recriminations yet. (knock on wood.) ( ;>)

Jen also writes, “Unless we are going to lift the policy on posting anonymously,. . .”

And I must remind everyone that there is no policy on posting anonymously, just a request I made because of a few cowardly people who began using the blog to snipe without having the courage to state their names (i.e. the July 7th post, Pro Jo Editorials = Two of a Kind -- Does Mayor Get It? : the comments made under that post), using names like Kangroo Communique, et al.

I suggested that people not write/post anything on the blog that they would not say aloud to another person’s face -- write nothing that they would not sign their name to -- and, I think that is a good policy.

It has always been understood that anyone requesting anonymity for safety’s sake would, of course, have that request honored, and I can cite several examples where it was honored and several where my judgment dictated that anonymity was in order despite it not being requested.

I reject the "anonymity" argument out of hand. Anyone who thinks they have a reason for anonymity has needed only to request it.

Another point I wish to make is that I know of no incidents of retaliation by criminals for anything posted on the blog, and since I post most often and have often posted my name, address, phone number, and e-mail address, I guess that I would be the one most likely to be retaliated against. I’m not worried about it.

Both the Blog and the Crime Watch are designed, partly, to function as a deterrent to crime and aberrant behavior by letting the criminal element know that they are being observed, watched, and reported on and that there are honest citizens participating on every block .

To keep the Crime Watch and the Blog secret partly defeats their purpose.

I don’t like to live in fear, and I believe a judicious person can proceed in using the Crime Watch and the Blog the way they were meant to be used and not fear recriminations.

I think we should widely publicize both the Crime Watch and the Blog on every street in Mt. Hope using every means available.

Get the word out, let the criminals live in fear, not the honest citizens.

John Twomey

Write your blog entry here: BlogEntry

Posted at 08:43 PM | Website | Comments (3)

Scope Internationale II

The list keeps growing & growing.

Amid an hectic flurry of international activity in November, GCCC welcomes visitors originating in the countries of Spain, Saudi Arabia, Italy, South Korea, Kuwait, Columbia, and Algeria.

You can go to the blog entry of August 24th, Scope Internationale to check out the complete list of countries from which our visitors have logged on to the website.

Funny, I don't see Portugal on that list. does that mean that our own Shab did not log on to this site while she was on vacation in Portugal. Shocking, indeed! (;>)

Keep your eye out for more flags. I don't know why so much international activity this month, but barely a week is gone by, and we've added 7 countries.

Stay tuned.

Columbia
com

Algeria

Spain

Italy

South Korea

Kuwait

Saudi Arabia

John Twomey

Posted at 08:45 PM | Website | Comments (2)

Website Stats & Factoids

The last time I updated website stats was August 18th and August 24th. The last time I reported on Hits and Visitors the Mt. Hope Community Website had received 173,451 Hits and 8,103 Visits: Website Statistics, August 18th.

Today, those numbers stand at 300,940 Hits and 12,178 Visits.

We have nearly doubled our traffic since late August!

In July, we recorded 42,942 Hits and 1,651 Visits.

In September, 66,505 Hits and 1799 Visits.

In addition, just in October, we have added a number of new international sites of origination for visitors:

Hong Kong,

South Africa,

and

Taiwan.

In October, we welcomed visitors from at least 9 different countries.

For the complete list of countries, visit our archives, August 24th, Scope Internationale: I add the flag symbols and country names as they visit. To date we have received visits from over 18 countries. Who are these people?

On the August 25th post, Funny, Ha, Ha, I documented some of the humorous search terms that were used to access our website. If you click on the continuation of this post you will find all the search terms so far for October: hmmn, interesting.

SEARCH TERMS USED IN OCTOBER 2005

ellen baver 4 3.5 %
crime stories in providence rhode island 3 2.6 %
community impact statement - crime 3 2.6 %
mount hope fence 2 1.7 %
kevin kazlauskas 2 1.7 %
acadian driftwood gypsy tailwind 2 1.7 %
behavoir of delinquency in to a young boy and a young woman? 2 1.7 %
oriana diaz providence
c-24-91-15-176.hsd1.ma.comcast.net

mount hope community providence 2 1.7 %
mthope-eastside 2 1.7 %
mount hope rhode island 2 1.7 %
www.mthope-eastside.org 2 1.7 %
eastside of providence photos 2 1.7 %
mount hope weblog 2 1.7 %
mount hope wine 2 1.7 %
william fowler crime ri 2 1.7 %
brian laferte 2 1.7 %
david n. cicilline lead paint 2 1.7 %
cypress street condos ri 1 0.8 %
rhode island gang websites 1 0.8 %
did people enjoy neighbors by raymond carver 1 0.8 %
mthope-eastside.org 1 0.8 %
nechama baver 1 0.8 %
hugger amma stabbed 1 0.8 %
illegal drug crime in providence rhode island 1 0.8 %
lenny mt. hope 1 0.8 %
william fowler providence crime 1 0.8 %
crack user and faces 1 0.8 %
rhode island free spaying & shots 1 0.8 %
helping animals fact sheets rhode island 1 0.8 %
mthope-eastside yahoo group 1 0.8 %
mount hope providence crime 1 0.8 %
gangs in providence rhode island 1 0.8 %
thomas refusal to mourn 1 0.8 %
saint kevin s school rhode island 1 0.8 %
booster crime rate music on mine 1 0.8 %
rhode island ecco depot 1 0.8 %
address for ripta stop kennedy plaza providence 1 0.8 %
providencepolice 1 0.8 %
dir 1 0.8 %
mt. hope providence neighborhood nada 1 0.8 %
providence shooting 1 0.8 %
providence murder 1 0.8 %
eastside gangs 13 1 0.8 %
basement wall construction in providence 1 0.8 %
stephen paine rhode island 1 0.8 %
teaching childern basketball 1 0.8 %
acadian driftwood 1 0.8 %
community dental providence rhode island 1 0.8 %
condominiums and mount hope and providence ri 1 0.8 %
deer storking 1 0.8 %
the roger mowry house 1653 1 0.8 %
nada petrovic california 1 0.8 %
providence ri news hope high 1 0.8 %
camp street providence marginalized 1 0.8 %
rhode island animal noise ordinance 1 0.8 %
shabnam 1 0.8 %
mount hope section of providence rhode island 1 0.8 %
substation beatings providence 1 0.8 %
could i measure up? sisters seattle charity providence 1 0.8 %
rhode island bank robbery statistics 1 0.8 %
firemen in ri 1 0.8 %
rhode island water fire city scape jpg 1 0.8 %
mentally challenged schools in rhode island 1 0.8 %
organizational proportions regarding at risk youth in rhode island 1 0.8 %
shootings in providence ri on october 13 2005 1 0.8 %
alix ogden 1 0.8 %
providence rhode island housing bubble 1 0.8 %
rhode island graffiti forums 1 0.8 %
tuesday s providence journal 1 0.8 %
north-burial-ground providence 1 0.8 %
laura pisaturo 1 0.8 %
rebbies jackson s daughter 1 0.8 %
rhode island pocketbooks 1 0.8 %
rhode island 1937 photo 1 0.8 %
projo letters august 29 2005 invisible people in the sky 1 0.8 %
gccc mount hope 1 0.8 %
how far to newport rhode island from providence rhode island 1 0.8 %
player photos providence rhode island mount pleasant high school 2004 1 0.8 %
mt hope ri 1 0.8 %
guy shot in providence for stealing purse 1 0.8 %
houses sold in providence rhode island 1 0.8 %
how was the life of the childern in the colony rhode island 1 0.8 %
louise gluck formaggio 1 0.8 %
cicilline lies 1 0.8 %
crimes committed in the 15th century 1 0.8 %
gypsy tailwind canadian 1 0.8 %
whipple house providence 1 0.8 %
readers digest amritanandamayi 1 0.8 %
shootings at mambo nightclub in providence ri. 1 0.8 %
al buco providence 1 0.8 %
david n cicilline homosexual

Posted at 10:59 PM | Website | Comments (0)

Re: Getting Out the Word

I agree but disagree

Okay, maybe I'll be the dissenting voice here. While I agree that word needs to get out, I personally don't like the idea of it being widely publicized with fliers. While obviously this is a public forum, I feel fairly comfortable that I know who my audience is.

A major focus of this blog is highlighting the crime that goes on here in Mt Hope, whether we like it or not, and I would not feel comfortable posting in the manner that I do now if I knew there was a potential for those who are committing the crimes to be reading it.

I feel like the fliers would invite those this blog is aimed to bring down (the thiefs, the drug dealers, the thugs) to find us. And yes, personally, I would fear retribution.

The argument has been made that the petty criminals in Mt Hope are not sophisticated enough, if that is the right word, to find or use something like this blog to their advantage. I don't agree. When Josh had his computer and briefcase stolen, the suspect was on a computer (not Josh's) within two hours trying to use his credit card number. I think they may be more sophisticated than we give them credit. There are definitely some criminals who have or have access to a computer.

Unless we are going to lift the policy on posting anonymously, I would prefer to see the blog advertised by word of mouth, much like the GCCC. That's how I found it, and I have encouraged many of my likeminded neighbors to discover and use it. It may not be as effective as a flier campaign, and may require more work on the part of the regular blog users, but I think it would preserve the essence of the blog that we enjoy now.

Anyone else feel the same?

-Jen

Posted at 11:21 AM | Website | Comments (0)

Getting the Word Out

Posters & Fliers to get more posters (the people kind)

One possible reason why we do not have more people participating in the weblog may be that many of our neighbors do not know about it. I only found out about it by accident during a web search.

GCCC might put together a flyer that we can post on phone poles and trees in the neighborhood alerting residents to the GCCC and its web site. Blogs usually are very popular on the Internet, so that might increase awareness of and interest in our organization and the web site.

Peter C.

Posted at 01:16 PM | Website | Comments (1)

I agree with you.

I agree with you. I remember when I first found the blog this winter and was reading some old posts about the "Open Air Drug Market" and was terrified. I wondered what I had done by moving here and pondered selling my condo before summer. Now that I've spent my first summer here, I can say that it was not bad at all (despite the intense heat and humidity!), and certainly not what I expected based on reading those posts. Has the neighborhood changed that much in a year? Perhaps. Most likely, the description of the drug trade in Mt. Hope caught my attention for the way it was described, and maybe exaggerated a bit, for we all know it does exist here.

It's a difficult issue, chronicling the crime that occurs here in Mt. Hope on the blog. It does serve a purpose, it highlights the fact crime still goes on all day, every day and there are people who live here that are not going to tolerate it. The blog gives them a voice, a way to participate, to fight back against the criminals. On the other hand, it may serve to deter people from moving here. It was an issue that came up surrounding Ellen's letter to ProJo. Is it better to shed light on the crime here, the everyday struggles we all face, or should we shut up and hope the real estate market turns the neighborhood around?

I'm certain everyone has their views on this. Personally, I would move into this neighborhood knowing there was petty crime here (which, I should note, I did not), but also knowing there were people here who are devoted to getting rid of it. That was the one thing that kept me going after my "Open Air Drug Market" discovery, knowing that I wasn't the only one here who wanted to see an end to it. I agree, we need like minded neighbors to move into this area, but we also need to look out for the ones that are already here.

That being said, I think the blog does have a slant toward highlighting crime and it would be great to see it more balanced. The key is to have people contribute in a positive manner as well, not just as a place to come to complain when they've been broken into.

-Jen

Posted at 01:31 PM | Website | Comments (1)

Food for thought...

As I was reading the recent postings to the blog regarding crime, I tried to put myself in the shoes of someone who is visiting our website for the first time. And I felt that our postings would not make that person feel good about our neighborhood!

From those postings it is obvious how frustrated each of us are about the certain undesirable actions in our community and the safety of our homes. Yet there have been good things happening! Can we talk about it more?

There has been too little communication about the progress that has been made. Most of it is the result of the GCCC community members' actions by contacting the local authorities and by being vigilant against the crime.

I can't help but think that if we shifted our focus to the more positive aspects of living in Mt. Hope, and the good things that are being accomplished, then the desired positive outcomes will be attained faster. I also feel that by doing that, we would attract more like-minded people to our community,caring people who have foresight, vision and courage and would carry our efforts forward. At the moment, I can't imagine anyone wanting to move here if they read the blog before they make their decision.

I also would like to thank John and Irene for all they have done for the community and hope they will be willing to serve as mentors in the future and share their experience and knowledge with the rest of us who are new in this work.

Shab

Posted at 02:57 PM | Website | Comments (1)

Welcome New GCCC Members, Blog Readers: Anyone for a Round of Introductions?

I have been thinking about the participation on the blog recently
and wondering what we could do to encourage people to become more involved. I was wondering if part of the problem could stem from there being so many new members in such a short time; it's hard to know just who is out there in cyberspace, and that may be intimidating to some. I thought it might be helpful (and fun!) for us to introduce ourselves. I'll start:

My name is Jen. I moved to Mt. Hope in November with my daughter, who just turned six, and my Jack Russell Terror. Any terrier owners will get the joke ;>) I came here from just over the border in Attleboro. I've moved around a lot: RI, MA, CT, and most notably PA, where I spent much of my youth.

I am a graduate student at Rhode Island College in a MAT program for elementary education. Currently, I am taking my last two classes before student teaching in the spring. When I graduate, I hope to teach the wonderful children of Providence. In a former life, I worked in research for a biopharmaceutical company in Cambridge, MA trying (alas, in vain) to come up with a vaccine for gastric ulcers.

Outside of going to school, teaching, being a mom, and studying, I love to rollerblade on the Boulevard (you can recognize me 'cause I usually have the crazy terrior in tow!) and spending time near the ocean, often in Stonington, CT. I also love alternative music and am a card-carrying member of Red Sox Nation.

I hope that by getting to know a little bit about each other, maybe some of you will feel more comfortable posting here.

-Jen Bakios

Posted at 08:30 PM | Website | Comments (2)

99 & 1/2 Just Won't Do

I busked down in New Orleans as a young musician playing blues and old time country, songs like Are You From Dixie, Got My Mojo Working, Frankie & Johnnie and I used to stop ( Was it Rampart Street) and listen to Blind Marie and her two sisters -- all in quaint rags and in their sixties, but with their black, weathered faces shining with youth and with soul -- and every time it was an old gospel tune that sounded like blues to me, 99 & 1/2 Just Won’t Do: just one chord and that was played on an old box guitar that had never been in tune. And two tambourines. But the eerie, dissonant harmonies they sang and drawled, shouted, chimed, and chanted, in their strange, powerful rendition of that number never failed to send chills down my spine. I’m lucky I been to New Orleans when New Orleans was still New Orleans.

99 ½ % of the entries to this blog have been made by one person and that was never the intent of this website. This is a community blog and it will take a community effort to keep it going.

Over 80 paid-in-full members belong to GCCC, and most have internet access. Somewhere between 60 to 90 people visit the website daily.

We have as readers and members, doctors, laborers, artists, carpenters, electricians, teachers, students, scholars, landscapers, retirees, yogis, rebbies, etc., etc, in other words we have quite an extensive talent pool on which to draw.

I don’t think we are ready for 80 contributors to the blog, but what if we had just 5 to 10 members, besides myself, who would contribute to the blog on a weekly basis?

5 to 10 contributors. If each one contributed one blog entry and one comment on another’s entry, 5 members would give us 10 contributions per week, and 10 would give us twenty different blog contributions.

If readers and members need to learn how to use the blog, I have a few suggestions.

Some people ask, “What can I write about?

Anything. That is the answer. Mt. Hope is part of the global village and everything is interconnected. A butterfly flaps its wings in China and a hurricane hits the Gulf Coast. Chaos theory. The tipping point. Everything matters. Everything affects us.

Do you have some news of the neighborhood?

A comment on a local news article?

Do you have an opinion you’d like to share.

Have you read something you’d like to comment on?

Have you heard some music you’d like to recommend or review?

Do you wish to comment on politics?

On sociology? Psychology? Philosophy?

Have you read a book you could review?

Seen a movie you liked and would recommend?

Have you written a poem you’d like to share?

Could you write a profile of a neighbor?

Could you interview someone you know with some knowledge that would interest us?

Do you have a digital camera and photos to share?

Do you travel,and could you share your travels with us in a travellogue, written or visual?

All is grist for the Mt. Hope Mill.

Don’t be shy, don’t be lazy, be confidant, take the time.

Any questions?

99 ½ Just Won’t Do

John Twomey

Posted at 11:29 PM | Website | Comments (0)

Funny, Ha, Ha.

Some interesting search terms

The third in a series chroncling some interesting aspects our website statistics reveal about the use of, and the users of GCCC’s Mt. Hope Community Website and Blog (one and two appeared on 8/18 and 8/24): today’s post lists some fascinating and some humorous search terms and search strings people used -- in search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN, to name just a few -- to arrive at the Mt. Hope Community Website. Some searched looking for us, some found us by accident.

Look at a few of my favorites (search queries in bold):

providence rhode island pizza arrest august

(You hear about the Pizza that got busted down on Pleasant? He threw his pepperoni in the bushes.)

bad speller graffiti photo

(Since when did graffiti artists or bloggers have to know how to spell?)

school stabbings pictures at the seen of a crime

(Haven’t scene any, you?)

harry potter school providence rhode island

(Did you know the Wizard kid had a school in Providence?)

mr. rodger's neighborhood theme song

(Oh, yeah, we’ll put that up on an MP3 clip)

pothole flat hire massachusetts claim

(Our potholes are not for hire.)

street trucks concept

(I’d like to know this concept.)

rhode island abandonded boats

(We gotta do something about the abandonded boat problem in Mt. Hope!)

horrible accident

(You must mean the one on Knowles and Abbott? Who's asking?)

job descritpion for teachers

(Don’t go there!)

the potholes rhode island

(written by the same guy who wrote “the Hours” ?)

easiest driving route from baltimore to providence

(ever heard of a map? How about mapquest?)

fence rhode island

(yeah, fence it in and keep out Baltimorons who can’t find it anyway)

loitering in providence

(Why would they?)

why rhode island settled purpose

(because it was built on a bog?)

2005 e-mail address of companies in easter island
(why ask us?)

We do receive many normal, appropriate, even scholarly searches and queries by people looking for certain posts or information about Mt. Hope and Providence. I just listed some of the wackier ones that gave me pause and a laugh.

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By the Way, our Mt. Hope Community Website is closing in on our 200,000 Hit and our 10,000 Visitor.

Posted at 11:37 AM | Website | Comments (0)

Scope Internationale

GCCC becomes International Phenomenon!

If you think I'm making up tabloid headlines, think again.

It's a big old world out there, and we are welcoming visitors from all over the global village.

The following list of countries, with their flag symbols, comprise the current countries from which vistors have logged on to the Mt. Hope Community Website.

We recently added Bermuda. Welcome aboard, Bermuda.

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We welcome our first Asian country: welcome aboard, China.

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Mt. Hope welcomes Canada!

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Welcome Japan and Viet Nam, and now Singapore!

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Untied States

Sweden

Great Britain

Germany

France

Denmark

Nederlands

European Union

Australia

Bermuda

China

Canada

Japan

Viet Nam

Singapore

October: Welcome South Africa, Taiwan, and Hong Kong!

South Africa

Taiwan

Hong Kong

Columbia

Algeria

Spain

Italy

South Korea

Kuwait

Saudi Arabia

Send us your pictures when you visit from beyond our borders, you international visitors, we would love to know more about you.

John Twomey

Posted at 08:24 PM | Website | Comments (4)

Web Site Statistics

FYI

The Mt. Hope Community website passed many statistical milestones recently, and I think it bears mentioning here on the website so our users can see how the website has grown in usage.

At one time I wished to announce our one hundred and fifty-thousandth “hit”, but it came and went without me noticing. We’re way beyond that now!

To create perspective, in February, 2005, when the website launched, we received visits from 24 people for a total of 178 visits and 2,482 hits.

In July, 2005, we hosted 1,651 visits totaling 42,942 hits.

February

Visits – 178
Hits – 2,482

July

Visits – 1,651
Hits – 42,942

To date, the Mt. Hope Community Website has hosted 8,103 visits for a total of 173,451 hits.

Yes, 173,451 hits!

Keep up the good work Mt. Hope.

There's more at the door.

More people visit our website every day.

Posted at 01:48 PM | Website | Comments (0)

How to Use the Blog, #1

One way I envisioned the blog helping people help the community is to have blog entries serve as prompts, leading to blog readers taking action based on the prompt in the entry.

A means to action that requires little effort.

In other words, you could be active and effective in your community without leaving your chair, if you read the blog and follow the prompts.

For instance I posted an entry in February about the pothole situation. No one responded except Roy.

That was a prompt, and if blog readers had responded to that prompt we might have had all our potholes in Mt. Hope fixed by now.

I should have explained this concept at the outset of the blog, and I meant to include it in the FAQ, but there are only so many hours in the day. Sorry.

Anyway, we can try it again, we still have the potholes, and we can begin by listing potholes and the actions we took in the comments box to this post.

Identify a pothole's exact location, call it in, log in the information in the comments box of this entry. Then we monitor the data and the progress of our efforts by the ongoing comments to this entry. Fun. Fun. Fun.

Link to DPW: DPW phone to report potholes 467-7950

Thanks. Here is the original February 26th, Entry.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Name That Pothole! Fix 'em!

Tired of your car incurring damage from potholes the City of Providence has failed to fix in a timely manner? So is City Council President John J. Lombardi, and he has asked the Department of Public Works (DPW) to deal with the “plague of potholes” as he is quoted in ProJo’s Feb. 23rd , Metro Edition.

Click on our Media Websites for ProJo.com or Government Website. for the City of Providence and the DPW.

Let’s list the all the worse potholes in Mt. Hope and get the DPW to fix them before anymore of our front end tie-rods and tires are damaged.

Click on the comments tab below this entry, or use the entry box on the right side of the Mt. Hope Blog/Forum to create a new entry, and we will compile a list of potholes needing the city’s attention.

You can also contact the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services by clicking the link on our Home/Navigation page.

Or you can e-mail or call Ward 3 City Councilor Kevin Jackson: click on Vital City Links then click on Kevin Jackson.

John Twomey

Posted at 11:40 AM | Website | Comments (1)

It's Great

Its Great to See It Back.

I missed it so much. One does not know what one has until it is gone. Thanks for keeping it up.

Posted by Uri

Posted at 11:13 PM | Website | Comments (0)

Open for Business

We are still open for business.

The site remains up and the blog/forum is waiting for your entry.

Roy, Irene, and myself will not be posting anything for a while to give members a chance to get accustomed to fully participating in the blog, if they so desire.

Do not try to use this blog/forum to pick a fight, criticize our organization, or attack any of our officers or members. Anyone who has a bone to pick with me, or with GCCC, can simply give me a call at 640-8077 or e-mail me. Please, be a big boy or girl and use your real name. But do not use this blog/forum for that purpose. I think we've all seen and heard enough from the anonymous cowards who like to lurk in cyberspace.

I would prefer that, at this point, people posting use their real names. If you are not comfortable using your real name, then you probably should not be posting that material. Be sure to read the disclaimer beneath the entry box.

If you have digital pictures you'd like to post, attach them in an e-mail to me at john@mthope-eastside.org, and I will try to get them posted after photo-shopping them. Patience, please, with the pics.

You may also submit your entries through e-mail or through the entry box. I do suggest you use MS Word or some other word-processor to type your entry, using the Verdana font, spell-check it, then copy and paste it into the entry box or e-mail. That has proven to be the most efficient way to post for me. I find that I often make horrenedous spelling errors and typos whenever I type directly into an entry box, and of course, they have no spell-check. I remain a terrible speller.

If you are unsure of your writing (or simply in a rush) and wish me to edit and spell-check your entry for you, advise me of that, and I will do that for you, though it will take a bit longer to appear on the blog.

Anyone who has any unique excuses for not participating in the blog let me know what they are, and I will try to address those as well.

As long as we have a forum, let's all use the opportunity. Use it or lose it.

John Twomey

Posted at 05:00 PM | Website | Comments (4)

WELCOME

Welcome to the Mt. Hope Community Website.

If you're just joining us feel free to browse around and check out our features. A nice photo-essay just went up under Mt. Hope.

If you'd like to use the Blog/Forum to write something you will find clear instruction in the FAQ.

If you wish to comment on an existing entry click on the Comments tab below that entry.

Welcome.

Posted at 01:42 PM | Website | Comments (0)

This just in: Photo Essay on North Burial Ground

GCCC member Gordon Dowsett submitted the first member contribution to our Mt. Hope page, a brief history on the North Burial Ground in Mt. Hope.

Mt. Hope

Enjoy it.

We're looking for more contributors.

Got ideas? Contact us.

Posted at 01:21 PM | Website | Comments (0)

WELCOME TO OUR WORLD . . .

Welcome all GCCC Members and Mt. Hope Residents to the Mt. Hope Community Website..

Of course, we apologize for the inconvenience, for we're still under construction.

However, our basic architecture is stout, strong, and structurally sound and should provide a firm foundation for a good time to come.

Of primary interest, please, our Mt. Hope Weblog/Forum.

Communication is key. Post early and often by using the white box on the right side of the blog, and feel free to comment on existing posts by clicking on the comment tab below each posting.

Also, avail yourself of our Vital City Links to contact the appropriate government agency of your choice, and please avail yourself of our Media Links to local print and broadcast media outlets.

Still under construction are the Site Map (all links) and the FAQ, both of which we hope will be completed soon.

Comming soon, Mt. Hope History, including Photo Essays on the Old North Burial Ground and on Mt. Hope Architecture and pages devoted to community input, including pages devoted to photos of. . . Your Pets, Your Kids, Your House, and pages for Community Arts, Visual Arts and Local Literature, as well as a page devoted to Local Business Talent.

Special thanks to Doc in training and GCCC member Roy Kao, our resident web-developer (a former pro), to Oriana Diaz, member, technical assistant and professional web-developer, and to John Bazik of Summit Neighborhood Association for putting us on the right track.

Remember the words of that great Speaker of the House, T.I. P. O'Neil:

All politics is local.

Posted at 01:16 PM | Website | Comments (0)