trymahjong

--- Nextdoor to Elro

Hope that "third ward bar at Emancipation and Wheeler" gets a little of the laser focus Chief Finner has started along Emancipation Blvd. I spent years taking up time at the South Central PIP pleading for extra patrols. That corner seems a lightening Rod for noise and trouble.

I drove by

I'm thinking a shaded waiting area with swings ( like the car wash at Montrose and Dallas) might be nice😃 Maybe a way to clean, vacuum, windex out my car🧐 uhmmmm WiFi maybe, with plug ins to recharge my phone😍 ooooow one of those fancy Japanese (or Swedish) food and drink machines?😁 a tiny free little library up on a pole?🥳

That blue backdrop seems the perfect place for a new Mural!

Gotcha i have that same problem with the pro- trees =>anti 10 ft sidewalk posters of the Montrose Blvd proposal. Geez, like counting hens teeth to try and present facts to them-- lots of knee jerk snipe shots my way as I seem to be in their cross hairs-- just because, I came to a different conclusion after I read all they had to post but just didn't agree with them. It didn't seem to take much for those Nextdoor discussion threads to turn dark.

Neartown brought in three "knowledgeable" people from Metro to explain what could be expected on their Westheimer (610 to Man street)upgrade. Attendees really only interested in Shepherd to Bagby. First off, as far as I could tell, the Mayor demanded, his view on changes be incorporated in ; Metro complied. It is mostly, just a "redo" of street surfaces around ( scraped down then spread)18" deep- this might be fine but if unearth concrete is cracked, this won't work so well- double down that it might not work at all if underlying brick street is uncovered from Montrose to Bagby. New curbs cut in driveways- commercial driveways 8"----private driveways 6". LED lights within bus shelters, but no "green" nor artificial shade for bus stops without shelters. Buses on route 82 will remain same width (wider than current lane width) and same weight ( the weight that has torn up that part of lower Westheimer in first place) A little something interesting-- the original research and plan of the lower Westheimer approvements, weren't viewed or reviewed by Metro--- just the Mayor saying "Do this now!" Yes there will be sidewalks tweaks, more handicapped cuts at curbs and distance between bus stops will be increased slightly so improve "speed" that is currently around 18 miles per hour. There was no mention of moving current bus stops that are located just before an intersection to beyond the intersection; that would allow traffic to right turn behind buses so traffic flows more efficiently. Don't really have a crystal ball, but think after this " lick and a promise" is completed" any chance at meaningful improvements for lower Westheimer will be gone forever. sigh

Walking shoulder to shoulder? For the most part, I find myself walking hand in hand with grandkids on either side who are probably yammering to hold the hand of someone on the other side or the leash of the dog or the handle bars of trainingwheeled bike etc etc etc- you get the idea 10' sidewalks solve a lot of potential walking configurations.

4,017 - Total of sex crime reports reviewed. 399 - Number of forensic interviews scheduled with survivors. 1,767 - Officer visits to last known address of victims. 91,824 reviewed of 264,000 - Department-wide incident reports reviewed. 1/3 - Reports that have been reviewed within eight weeks. 3,462 - cases that have been cleared, suspended or inactivated, mostly due to no additional leads. “The remaining reports are being investigated. Any incident will be reopened should a complainant contact us and provide additional information or evidence,” Finner said. That very last thing made my stomach sink.....what would it take out of a person, who had suffered the trauma of enduring rape, realizing HPD had shelved that complaint, understood that after " investigation" HPD had closed it, then finally knowing it would would be up to the victim to get it up and going again.

Yup! Side by Side is a concept that people escorting preschool bike riders know the importance of.

I have a 3 wheeled electric bike - one of the grandkids has tiny pedal bike with train8ng wheels, but you can't forget the double wide stroller that usually comes along to sort of act as guard on the other side for pedal bike........if we all go side by side we take up more than 6 feet wide-- at 10 feet wide, there is possibility of someone else either going in our direction or the opposite direction can also use sidewalk. This seems to be a hard concept for people to understand.

I think I still have a lot of questions CitizensNet Newsletter: PUBLIC SAFETY & HOMELAND SECURITY | 04-19-2024 Police Chief Finner Provides Latest Update on Suspended Incident Reports Review I have said from the beginning that we will keep our community updated throughout this extensive process of reviewing 4,017 adult sexual assault incident reports and 264,000 department-wide incident reports suspended with a code of “lack of personnel” dating back to 2016. Effective today, our investigators and officers have reviewed all 4,017 incident reports with an adult sex crime nexus. Of those, 3,462 have been cleared, suspended or inactivated, mostly due to no additional leads. The remaining reports are being investigated. Any incident will be reopened should a complainant contact us and provide additional information or evidence. In our last update, we announced we learned there were 95 incident reports located with DNA profiles collected that resulted in profile matches (hits) with individuals in the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Following a review of those 95 incidents, it was learned one of the incidents did not involve a CODIS hit. This was verified by the Houston Forensic Science Center. Investigators are actively following up on the now updated 94 reports. We have determined that 14 of those hits match profiles of 14 suspects currently incarcerated for separate crimes. Our follow-up investigations are underway on those individuals. CODIS profile matches are evidence, but not necessarily proof an individual committed a crime. Most important, we remain laser-focused on providing trauma-informed services to any sexual assault survivors and are prioritizing family violence and crimes against persons reports. All 807 incident reports initially located with a family violence nexus have been reviewed, with 551 of them found to fit criteria for being cleared, inactivated or suspended. We are following up on the other 250 incidents to determine how many require follow-up investigations. In the first eight weeks of our review of the 264,000 incident reports, nearly 92,000 have been reviewed, more than 1/3 of all reports. Of those 92,000, we have determined about 1/3 of them (30,000) were properly suspended, but should have used a code other than the lack of personnel. That means one of every three reports we are reviewing was correctly suspended, but with the wrong code. Through this review, investigators have had a total of 34 charges filed on 27 suspects. Some are for violent crimes such as aggravated assault, while most are charged with misdemeanors. This is what progress looks like. We are learning from any past mistakes in our case management and review protocols and making corrections as this review process continues. Our communications with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and the Houston Forensic Science Center have improved, with frequent meetings being held to discuss best avenues in seeking justice for any survivors and complainants. Through the efforts of personnel on-duty and on extra shifts, working seven days a week, we are reviewing about 10,000 reports per week. As I’ve said, HPD will be a better police department when this review process and follow-up investigations are completed. We cannot rush the review process, but our community should know we are making steady progress.

Wow so many typos- sometimes my rants affect my typing-- apologies. but a few hours have calmed me a bit to understand that going to those silly council meetings might be my new best step forward- sigh😶