trymahjong

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😶

I think Montrose /Neartown is Superneighborhood 24 i think it predates the label "Superneighborhood" I am getting the notion that Mayor Whitmire has fallen victim to the myth of Montrose-- what that preconceived notion is that Montrose has plenty of stuff of 🥵 doesn't need to improve upon any of its other stuff😡 so why bother approving any CIP projects. I don't mean to be naive nut there are streets that don't have usable side2als @nd places where there ar3 no sidewalks, plus the open ditch draining and th3 crater pot holes yadayada when Harvey came through there was flooding--- surely my family wasn't the only one experiencing 5hat. I have se3n flooding at Fairview and Montrose, Montrose and Westheimer, Westheimer and Stanford...... those are own observations because that is our usual path to walk.....when I post that experience on other sites-- people yell at me "I'm Crazy" in all caps😣 Im really trying to post what I know....... Here's my latest conundrum since May Whitmire took over ( my own first hand observation) when trying to raise awareness of a problem, I think is worthy for COH to take a look at: long time knowledgeable COH department heads seem to have retired and been replaced with younger, enthusiastic but not very knowledgeable campaign supporters. Those nice young people cheerfully look me straight in the eye after pointed out they are the doorkeeper of that problem I've described and explainer--- they cheerfully acknowledge they will have to get back to me after that problem has been researched and questions on there side must be answered and solved.......... then....THEN With great good humor.....invite me to speak in front of city council meetings as that is Mayor's favorite public discourse in these situations. so I'm trasported back in time to when I had to go to city hall hours before (hopefully get parking space) to stand in line to sign up to speak so I might get to be number 21 or 22nd to speak and not number 56 or 57 to speak wait my time (hopefully get a seat so I don't have to stand the whole time) then I get my three ( sometimes only 1 minute) minutes, to explain, then reexplain, who I am and how COH can address this problem--- only (most times anyway) to have a newly elected COH person or newly appointed aide to Mayor over talk me pointing out I need to contact ( inserts name of the original person, I just established contact with) speak to that person instead of discussing at current council meeting.😩 so okay-- Mayor Whitmire likes to side with the little guy? I guess I know what my Tuesday will be folding into.😥

T he federal $ for second phase went away- I'm fairly sure the Mayor can't "reuse" the TIRZ $ for something else- why exactly did the Mayor choose to side with saving compromised 60 year trees ( historic?) that are constantly v cut, root bound and never watered?

I wonder what % of HPD officers engage in non beat cop/ patrol cop duties? Could a different set of people do those jobs? A different set, vetted, set; that was trained for that sort of duty....routing calls? Answering telephone, filing, directing parking lots exits? Monitoring continuous public TIRZ meetings? We've all seen those officers. ....could that new set of people perhaps with a salary, compared to new teacher position, or just 30% of a new officer....is that something that might work? So from someone from the outside looking in-- my quasi qualified opinion came up with.... 🧐 A 3 able bodies for the price of one officer.......maybe money found thru grants or even corporations.....does any of that sort of pie-in-the-sky/outside-of-the-box sort of thinking ever take place? Does any brain storming to find a useful solution ever go on over at COH and HPD? All that talk from Mayor Whitmire of finding extra men to assist HPD sounded plausible; is that suggestion viable? Is there a certain specific position at COH/HPD dedicated to actual intelligent thought to finding a solution to so few officers in such a big city? Just wondering.........