DPNC MONTHLY NEWSLETTER When: Monday, April 20th 2009 Time: 6:30 p.m. Place: Deer Park Baptist Church Fellowship Hall Speaker: Mr. Bill Gore-Dept. of Planning & Management, Director THE ANTLERS’ SPREAD The Voice of the United Estates of Deer Park Official Publication of the Deer Park Neighborhood Council Vol. 15; No. 50 April 2009 PRESIDENT'S CORNER by Julia Long At our meeting this month, Mr. Bill Gore, who probably knows more about planning and zoning than any other single person in the city, will be with us. We're hoping to hear more about the new tree ordinance and the ordinance that allows neighborhoods to put electrical lines underground, plus other recent changes. This is our opportunity to ask about the city's comprehensive development ten-year plan, and just what it includes for Deer Park. We invite our neighbors from The Lakes and Northwood Estates to take advantage of this opportunity to discuss our own neighborhood concerns with Mr. Gore. This year, the civic club will not sponsor a Saturday activity in the City's April Clean Sweep, as we are focusing all year on the enormous task of putting together a Deer Park history. Our history attachment to this newsletter is a list of the families we are so far including. Please, please, point out to me all the other families who should be listed; I’m sure there are many. FOCUS ON CRIME Each year, CQ Press analyzes 500 categories of crime to rank states according to overall crime rate. This year, Nevada has the highest rate, Louisiana is # 2, and South Carolina is # 3. Fortunately, here in Deer Park, we suffer less from crime than many other areas do. However we do have some problems. Below are three recent messages that you may be interested in. Don’t let them frighten you, but let them encourage you to stay alert and report any suspicious activity to the police, our Councilman, and the civic club. From Deer Park: "Hi, yesterday (Fri. [March 28]) I was gone from 9:45am to 6 pm & did not notice that back door chain was dangling (Exterior door was shut). But, on Sat. morning, I noticed that someone had tried to break in, but did not succeed due to my dead bolt lock. Nothing was taken from the house. I have reported it to the N. Charleston city police. . . . " From Northwood Estates: "I wanted to let everyone know what happened yesterday [Tuesday, April 7]. . . . [My husband] had come home from a call about 8:10 am in the morning. I left 8:20 am to go to work. . . . our daughter went to run an errand for me at 8:30 am. Remember . . . [my husband] is in the house. [My daughter] returns 30 minutes later to find . . . [my husband's] truck door wide open. Nothing seemed to be missing. We called NCPD out. They took finger prints. Last night . . . [my husband] got home after we had gone out to eat. I came in about ten minutes later. We were sitting watching TV. Our daughter was working on the computer when she heard something. We looked out only to see that we had been hit again. Mind you that we had only been inside the house for maybe 15 minutes. We have a sensor light; it had come on. He had been smart enough to be still till it went back out. We even know that when we came out he bolted across the street through our neighbor's yard over her fence. This made us check with her. She started checking her back door. Guess what. Her back door had been unlocked at some point but because she keeps a board up under the door knob he couldn't gain access. She said that hadn't been the 1st time that she had discovered the door had been unlocked. In checking with another neighbor their building had been gone into and some yard tools removed. I also learned they [the criminals] attempted to hit one of our NCPD officers' home at 11am yesterday [Tuesday] morning, but was scared off. 1) Please keep your windows shut and locked. 2) Please remove your car key codes, extra keys, and door codes from your car. 3) Do not keep valuables in your car. 4) Call police if you see anything suspicious. 5) Do not keep your garage door open unless you are standing right there. 6) Clickers are not always the safest way to lock your vehicle. Sometimes it’s just better to use the button. . . If you have the touch pad on your [car] door, it can't be replaced. The dealership can tell you how to add other codes but the original one will still work. So once the thief has it he can return at any time. So the two choices you have are to disconnect the touch pad or sell the vehicle. . . ." And for those of you who missed the March meeting, here is a short version of a message read there: ". . . my house on Bentwood Dr. was broken into on Tuesday [March 10} during the day time and that evening the thieves came back and stole my wife's green Toyota Avalon from the driveway. . . . They got the spare keys in the dresser drawer that we completely forgot about and therefore did not check to see if they were even missing. They took jewelry, a rifle, a pellet gun, paint ball gun and associated paintball gear, loose change, rolled change, SLR cameras, lenses, even a microwave, and other miscellaneous items but you get the idea. Computers, TVs, liquor, tools and so forth were not taken. . . . they cut the screen to gain entrance through the screen porch. Then they removed the door sill on the outside of the movable portion of the sliding glass doors. But since I had a bar in place preventing that door from being opened they opened the side that is supposedly not able to be opened even though I had a clamp holding that door panel against the frame. The clamp is made for this purpose. All screws were 4-inches long in the door frame. The sill screws were less and there were only two. I believe they rocked the fixed panel walking it along the channel while applying muscle that pushed /pulled it along the track. Then they were in. The lesson learned here is take a look at your sliding glass door and see if you can rock it. I mean grab the top and pull down and towards you. . . . I put some U-shape channel in the top area to eliminate the gap. The channel is just narrow enough to allow the sliding panel to slide and the permanent panel can no longer be rocked. The screws on the sill are accessible so use 4-inch screws with different type heads and then destroy the screwdriver slot so it can not be turned. . . . I also beefed up the sill. . . . The police cannot be everywhere so they need so extra eyes and ears . . . . So look around for strangers, strange cars or trucks, and when in doubt call the police. They told me they want to know. Let's make this place safer. " It’s new!! It’s Here!! Check it out!! Our Neighborhood Website: www.OurDeerPark.net Garbage Pick-up Schedule Garbage: Every Wednesday Leaves/Grass: Every Wednesday Large Trash: Every Wednesday (Please note that Thursday will be pick-up day when City Holiday falls on Mon., Tues., Wed.) Recyclables: every other Thursday - April 30th, May 14th, 28th Key Personnel City Council District 3: Robert Jameson 824-1500 County Council Rep: Elliott Summey 200-4244 Neighborhood Crime Watch Representative: Volunteer Needed!! N. Chas. Dispatcher: 745-1015 Housing Director: Darbis Briggmann 740-2560 SPEED Team Rep.: Jimmy Wagner 745-1069 Code Enforcement: William Holley 740-2681 CAC Representative Membership: Linda Brinson 553-8832 Board of Directors President: Julia Long 797-0893 Vice President: Dennis Isgitt 797-2455 Secretary: Chandler Schwede 437-4736 Treasurer: Linda Brinson 553-8832 Board Mbr. Apptd: Beth Evans 437-4140 Board Mbr. Elected: Susanne Azevedo 572-2321 Board Mbr. Elected: Audrey Carpenter 553-7768 Board Mbr. Apptd: Mary Hutson 553-4451 Newsletter Distribution: Jimmy Mitchum 553-0665 Jim Driver 553-0768 Bill Lusk 553-1348 Newsletter: Susanne Azevedo 572-2321 Disaster/ Preparation: James Brown 553-4329 Sick & Sunshine: Susanne Azevedo 572-2321 Voter Registration: Douglas Azevedo 572-2321 AN AFTERNOON WITH HELEN Helen McPheeters Burgess and her family had been living in Deer Park several years when I moved here in 1957. Recently, Helen took me for a drive around the neighborhood while she pointed out where various families had once lived. I was amazed at the large number of families that she suggested for our history book. Thank you so much, Helen! What a huge contribution you are making! Below are the families whose names have so far been submitted to me by someone. Almost all of them have or do live in what we today consider to be Deer Park, but there are a few who live nearby and have influenced our history in some way. Have you submitted your family name or the names of other families who should be remembered? If not, do it now!
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