When neighbors start heating up over a topic through Front Porch Forum, our local traditional media often picks up on it and writes a story. Some issues are of larger public concern, e.g., violence, multi-million-dollar development projects, etc., while others are more modest. Take today’s story by Suzanne Podhaizer in Seven Days: Right to Bite: New pizzeria offends some sensitive South Enders. I can attest… it’s been a firey back and forth.
And on the subject of media coverage of FPF, I just looked back at Mike Ives’ well-written 7D piece about neighbors using FPF to combat vandalism in Burlington. Here’s the traffic rank on the Seven Days website for the past week…
Makes sense… same thing happened with the last FPF story on that site. Topics that organically sprout up from the grassroots on Front Porch Forum are likely to appeal to a broad audience when developed into a full story by traditional media.
I love the stories that people share with their neighbors on Front Porch Forum. Here’s one just in from an FPF subscriber…
Today, Monday September 8th, 2008, I witnessed an amazing act of heroism. I live on Claire Pointe Road in the New North End of Burlington. This morning I received a signal from my husband who had been walking our dog, when he pointed with a hurried walk I saw a skunk with a yogurt container stuck on its head. So stuck that this skunk could not see where it was going, just walking and bumping into the cement of the walkways that just jammed the container onto its head even more. When I left the condo and drove out of our garage, this skunk had made its way down the driveway. Still bumping the side cement walls and jamming the container even tighter onto its head. I had to stop and turn my car off because the skunk was coming so close to the car. At this time a wonderfully brave woman, a neighbor who’s name I do not know walked down the driveway, we both discussed for a second what to do and in a terrific fearless act she went quietly to the skunk and with amazing heroism (and if she is reading this now she will know what i mean ) and a bit of scary comedy she freed the skunk from it’s smothering , blinding jail. She did not get sprayed and the two of us ran like the wind once it was over. This woman, my neighbor is a hero. What bravery, I have always lived in a city, we do not know from skunks except picture in animal magazines. Brava to this wonderful woman who will forever have the most wonderful and odd story to tell!!!!
Posted by Officer Mike Hemond of the Burlington Police Dept. on Front Porch Forum tonight (Sept. 6, 2008)…
Hello everybody – I just wanted to make sure people saw that an arrest was made in the graffiti case that started on the 15th on Hayward Street. Officer Belleville, Mr Derbes, and I worked together to generate some good information for the case, and with the help of Front Porch Forum, the cooperation of the media and the community at large, the suspect was identified, and an arrest was made. With that being said, I do need people to let me know if they have a “VENSR” tag on their property that hasn’t been reported. All the ones on Hayward and Marble Ave have been taken care of, but if you’ve got other “VENSR”s out there, please let me know. The “PH” tag is part of this case as well, but I have all the ones of that that we need.
Without the help of the neighborhood awareness that we share, and the willingness of members of the community to take action addressing problems in their area, this case would not have been possible. Thanks again for all your help and support as we worked through this, and your patience for the 3 weeks it took to put this together.
See you on the sidewalks,
Mike
Oof dah… the Bridge Street bridge in Richmond, VT, was closed late Thursday… from an already tedious one lane down to zero. The good people of Richmond (and surrounding towns, such as Huntington, should be grateful for Selectman Erik Filkorn. He turned immediate to Front Porch Forum and got the news into hundreds of local households’ inboxes as people were preparing to commute home. The local traditional media have now picked up on the story too.
From Erik’s most recent FPF posting…
Hi Everybody – I am amazed at what great feedback I’m getting from folks about communicating through the forum. Thank you Michael Wood-Lewis for creating this. Yesterday could have been much worse. I rode my bike to the village expecting to see a big line of cars, but most folks seem to have gotten the message.
I know this is a gigantic hassle for everyone and we are working with our contractors and the State to get this bridge opened as soon as possible. We are also trying to find the resources to do a little extra work on the roads which are taking the additional traffic. Fire, rescue, police, the highway department, everyone has really stepped up. We’re lucky to have such good people working for us.
While as commuters, we are being compelled to bypass Richmond until this is fixed, as residents, now more than ever, we must support the businesses downtown. Thomas Hark pointed out in one of the forums that business is way off. The bakery was down 75% for the day and the cafe was similarly hit. Unless we ALL make an extra effort to shop and dine in town this week, some of the businesses we rely on may not be here next week. It IS that serious.
One of the pleasant side-effects of the closure is that the village has never been more pedestrian-friendly. Many people parked at the Round Church for the Farmer’s Market yesterday, and the absence of cars (mostly) on Bridge Street makes it even nicer to walk around. For anyone who hasn’t been yet, VT Green Grocer has most everything you need to cook dinner on the South Side of the River and the Corner Market has just about everything you need on the North. Walking to the hardware store over the bridge when you’re just picking up a few things is good for you and you run into more friends that way. Take a walk to Film Buzz to make up for the fact that you’re going to end up on the couch.
Please, please, make an extra effort to support local business through this crisis. You may even find that you like shopping in Richmond better than spending $10 on gas to drive to Williston and the time you would have spent on the Interstate could be spent talking to friends in town.
So it goes,
Erik
I like CraigsList and am in awe of its unfathomunable scale (estimated value: $9 billion). And occasionally people will draw comparisons to our comparatively tiny start-up, Front Porch Forum.
So it was interesting today when someone pointed out that the local versions of both services are in the news this week here in Burlington… but with different spins…
CraigsList for being used to commit crimes (alleged prostitution) and…
Front Porch Forum for being used to fight crimes (vandalism, theft, speeding).
New subscribers to Front Porch Forum often ask if a posting they have in mind to write will be “allowed.” Of course (within reason!)… the whole point of this free service is to get neighbors talking… you pick your subjects. Here are some of the message headlines from the past week, sampled from all 130 FPF neighborhood forums covering our pilot area of Chittenden County, VT.
• Another Neighbor Joins Forum
• Party Appreciation
• Juno the Loomis Street Cat
• YARD SALE Aug. 29
• Babysitter Available
• Found: Combination Bike Lock
• New to ‘hood, ready to help better it!
• Burlington HOUSING AVAILABLE SEPT. 1
• Reminder to lock car doors at night
• Project at Ethan Allen Park Pinnacle
• Heating contractor, tank removal recommendations
• New Fall Classes at Cool Moon Yoga
• HOUSING AVAILABLE SEPT. 1 IN OLD NORTH END
• Invitation to meet Suzi Wizowaty Aug. 29
• Suspicious character reported
• UVM Theatre Costume Sale Aug. 30
• Seeking veterinarian recommendations
• Parallel Justice Question
• Yard Sale Aug. 30
• 18-Hole Disk Golf Development in Leddy Park forest
• HOUSING AVAILABLE SEPT. 1 IN OLD NORTH END
• Tagging Incident
• Global Justice Ecology Project Anniversary Party Sept. 5
• MOPC News
• Free Rain Garden Workshop Aug. 27
• Heating Contractor Recommended
• Another attempted break-in
• Become an Assistant Election Worker!
• New Member joins today
• party on, Eastwoods!
• Looking for Saw Horses to Borrow
• Leddy Beach, Itchy Dog
• Media and Campaign Issues – Public Forum Sept. 3
• Seeking Wallpaperer and Plumber Recommendations
• Looking for post-surgery Cold Therapy unit
• Still Seeking Housing…
• Sherman Hollow Road Conservation Efforts
• Audition for Lyric’s A Chorus Line Start Aug. 25
• Seeking local B-and-B recommendation
• New Vandalism in Old North End
• Free Public Tour at Teal Farm Sept 13
• Driveway maintenance suggestion
• Found Black Cat
• Laughter Yoga Training Aug. 31
• Seeking Roofer Recommendations
• Regarding HEATING SYSTEM CONTRACTOR Request
• Babysitter Needed – Ongoing
• Heating contractor recommended
• guitar for sale?
• Vandalism at Monitor Barn – Update
• Babysitter Available
• Donovan for State Representative
• Stolen Bike Report
• Dance Classes
• Piano and Voice lessons offered
• Dance Classes
• Running Route
• Seeking Firewood recommendations
• City Council Investigation
• Concerns about City Hall
• Beach Picnic Lost and Found
• House rental available
• AC Vandal Update
• CITY COUNCIL RETREAT REPORT
• 18-HOLE DISK GOLF DEVELOPMENT IN LEDDY PARK FOREST
• Apologies for negative comment
• Seeking renovation help
• howdy neighbors! have extra lamps or chairs?
• Seeking Dog Sitter
• seeking missing kitty
• Power Tool Noise Suggestions
• Valley Stage
• Vet Recommended
• Children’s Theatre Program seeks lumber donations
• Update on Speeding Meeting?
• TAGGING INCIDENT
• Tagging and Graffiti Update
• Seeking pit-bull-friendly housing
• Driveway Need Attention?
• Block Party Appreciation, Follow-up
• childcare needed
• found white panels – siding from vandalism?
• Driving and Sidewalk Caution: School Starts Aug. 27
• Neighborhood Garage Sale?
• Garage Sale Aug. 30
• Looking for Child Care
• NEW VANDALISM IN OLD NORTH END
• House Rental Clarification
• City finances again
• Heating Contractor Recommended
• FREE YARD TOOLS
• Free Bicycle Clinic Aug. 30
• Found Cat – Yours?
• Wedesday’s Wonders!
• Milton Community Activities Fair Sept. 9
• Growing Up Digital Conference Sept. 26
• Itchy dog – poison ivy?
• Nanny available part-time
• labor day parade
• car windows smashed…
• games, kayak for sale
• Free Cat Carrier
• House for Rent – In Vergennes
• seeking piano teacher
• audio cassette tape duplication?
• Compost Bins for Sale
• PH Vandalism Investigation
• Special Music Program Aug. 31
• Kid Furniture for sale
• Radar training, stop sign update
• Rescue Heroes Aircraft Carrier – free!
• Free Moving boxes
• Food Shelf Update
• Many thanks to our neighbors
• Neighbor’s Concerts
• Monitor Barn Vandalism
• Farmers’ Market Thursday
• Showing film ‘After the Fog’ Sept. 10
• wood available
• Thanks for gas heating recommendations
• CVAA AmeriCorps Recruitment
• Seeking pop-up camper
• Short-term house-sit/rental needed this fall
• Seeking used car
• Childcare Available
• EXPERIENCED NANNY FOR HIRE
• Seeking Your Support – Keogh for State Rep.
• Home Daycare Openings
• Free Bike
• Seeking house cleaner recommendations
• small-frame bike needed
• CVAA Americorps Recruitment – corrected posting
• Car windows smashed
• Project in Leddy Park
• retreat Comment
• Aikido in Richmond?
• Seeking lawn care
• The African Children’s Choir Performs Aug. 29
• Neighborhood Garage Sale Aug. 29- Sept. 1
• Seeking Art Supplies for Boys and Girls Club
• Concert Tickets for Sale
• seeking kid chairs
• Labor Day Parade; CVAA Americorps Recruitment; Recent Vandalism
• Yard Sale Aug. 30
• Seeking Missing Kitty
• Free Fair Ticket
• Bike found – yours?
• Vet Recommended
• Emails, retreats, et al
• Wanted: Life vests
• Entertainment at Farmers Market Aug. 28
• Seeking time-share of local utility trailer
• Cub Scouts launch fall recruitment Sept. 5
• Seeking toddler table
• Party appreciation and recipe
• Yard Sale Aug. 30
• Busy Bee’s Daycare has openings!
• Vet recommended
• Parallel Justice Program
• High School Work Crew available for Yard Work
• Leddy Park Disc Golf Concerns
• seeking driveway repair advice
• Thieves! Ugh.
• Shoes needed for refugee children
• Laura’s March Sept. 6 – Walk to End Violence Against Women
• Great Painter/Carpenter available
• wasp nest relocation hopes
• Creating Connections Mentoring Program
• Meet Suzi Wizowaty Aug. 28th
• seeking bed
• Rice HS Fundraiser Aug. 29-30
• GROWING UP DIGITAL Conference Sept. 26
• CVAA AMERICORPS RECRUITMENT
• seeking homeschoolers
• Speeding and Radar Concerns
• seeking Carpet Installer Recommendations
• Seeking Childcare
• Vet Recommended
• Kid video collection available
• Huge yard sale Aug. 30
• Seeking temporary housing
• Crime in Old North End
• 17th Annual Cystic Fibrosis Walk Sept. 21
• Yoga at the Gorge!
• CAT CARE WANTED
• Name of New Pizza Joint Offensive
• Daniel Pearl World Music Days
• City Update on Disc Golf Course Pending
• City Retreat Comment
• Bike Race in Huntington Aug. 30
• Please Observe Crosswalks
• Brownell Library Wins Love and Forgiveness Grant
• Baby Girl Items needed
• Retreat
• design and illustration work
• Picket Fence Blues
• Parking on Rose Street?
• Two beautiful instruments for sale
• cat back home
• Kitty Back Home
• City organizational change
• Buy local
• House Cleaners Available
• Vet Recommended
• Flatbed Bike?
• Disk Golf Course Concerns
• Seeking Fall Sublet
• More on Vandalism at Monitor Barn
• Leddy Park Disc Golf Course Explained
• Clothes rack needed
• Williston Farmers’ Market – Buy local and Eat Fresh!!!
• Bicycle Riders to/from ADL
• NPA COOKOUT FEEDS NEIGHBORHOOD PRIDE
• Art Hop – Volunteers Needed
• Free Deck/Patio Furniture
• Seeking Winter Parking Space
• Posting Tip
• More on Barn Vandalism
• Red Brick Meeting House Rummage Sale Aug. 30
• packing materials available
• Deborah Rawson Library News!
• seeking dresser
• Volunteers Needed for Spirits of the Tower Event Oct. 18
• City Retreats
• MORE ON DISC GOLF CAPER
• ONE Magnet Schools and Bond Initiative
• seeking chimmney sweep, wood stove installer recommendations
• City Finances
• after school childcare available
• Landscaping Rocks
• Seeking Lawn Mowing Help
• Lost Cat? – Yours?
• strawberry plants available
• Aikido: Intro Class, Art Hop Demos
• Election Workers Needed in Ward 2
• Public forum on Racial Profiling Sept. 11
• Yard Sale Aug. 30
• Group Yard Sale Aug. 30
• NEW VANDALISM IN OLD NORTH END
• TOWN CENTER COMMITTEE (TCC) PROJECT UPDATE
• House Party for Suzi Wizowaty Aug. 29
• Creating Connections Mentoring Program
• Disc Golf Comments
• Neighbor in need of Double Stroller
• old north end yoga classes
• Group Study Exchange Scholarship
• Free Window Shades
• recycling question
• WESTFORD PHOTO CONTEST!
• Paddington Bears for Sale
• Disc Golf Injunction Suggestion
• Leddy Park Disc Golf Course
• Lost Dog Looking for Owner
• Pizza Place’s Name
• Empty 2 liter bottles needed
• City Hall Drama
• Criticism of Pizza Place Name criticism
• More on Pizza Place
• vets recommended
• More thoughts on pizza shop name
• Golf for Good Sept. 12
• RECYCLE PACKING MATERIALS
• Jersey calf available and rescued dog looking for home
• Housing Needed
• Bottle Drive for Eagle Scout Project
• Help Needed for BBQ
• Pizza Place Name
• South End Art Hop needs Volunteers
• South End Art Hop needs Volunteers
• Disc Golf Public Meeting Sept. 3
• Save Your Shoreline workshops
• Looking for architect recommendations
• Pizza Place Comment
• Seeking Lost Keys…
• Girls Bicycle Found – Yours?
• Calculator For Sale
• In Desperate Need of Jar Lifter/Tongs/Forceps for Canning
• More on Disk Golf Course
• Sept. 9 Bond Vote Postponed
• Job Opening: Water-Wastewater Operator
• Speeding and Radar
• Concern – BFP Carrier
• Radar Checks by citizens
• Our Schools: Our Future
• Seeking travel agent recommendations
• More on Pizza Place
• Spear Family Property – garage and creemee stand…
• 9/11 Candlelight vigil
• election PRIMARY Sept. 9 for our area!
• PLEASE HELP US FIND JACK THE CAT!
• NPA Neighborhood Appreciation Night
• More Neighbors Join Forum
• More on Speed and Radar
• Disc Golf Concerns
• Yard Sale Aug. 30
• need tailor recommendation
• Seeking Driveway paving and pest control Recommendations
• Dogs in quarry
• More Thoughts on ‘Pizza Place’
• Teen available for childcare and odd jobs
• House Party with State Reps. Sept. 3
• Last Night School Board Decision
• Garden shed raising Aug. 30 – we need your help!
• Update on ‘PH’ Vandal Case
• MORE ON NAME OF PIZZA JOINT
• PROPERTY MAINTENANCE RECOMMENDED
• Camera found – yours?
• Info on Cancer Survivor program Sept. 20
• Flynn Season Tickets Raffle
• Support Vermont Green Grocer in Richmond
• Agatha Christie at Burnham Library Sept. 7
• Try VT 211 for Answers
• Lawn Sale Aug. 30-31
• stuff to give and get
• Traffic and radar concerns
• winter lake house rental
• Pizza Place Name
• Seeking Food for Burmese Family
• HELP US STAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
• Snowblower attachment available
• Vote on Sept. 9 – support for Suzi Wizowaty
• Seeking Tires; Free Furniture
• School Proposal Feedback
• pizza place name
• School Bond Comment
• NPA Questions
• More on Pizza Name
• Art Hop Volunteers Needed; Vandalism Update
• Seeking lost stuffed elephant
• School Decisions On Magnet Schools and Bond Initiative
• Sustainably Green
• Magnet Schools and Bond Request Information
• Massive yard sale Aug. 31!
• Pizza Place Name
• Art Hop Volunteers Need; Vandalism Update
• Disc Golf course in Leddy
• Seeking companions for house-bound hubby
• South End Art Hop Volunteers Needed
• looking for used bike
• Travel Agent Recommended
• Missing BLACK cat FOUND
• couch wanted
• Stray Orange cat – yours?
• Regarding Dogs in Quarry
• School Proposal Feedback
• Lakewood Estates Neighborhood Picnic Sept. 7
• Bite Me
• Thanks for response; now looking for lawn games
• Bird Song
• Rain Garden Installation Part 2 – Volunteers Needed!
• Events at Your Library
• Free Deck Furniture
• Skids needed
• kitty available to good home
• SUPPORT VERMONT GREEN GROCER IN RICHMOND
• SEEKING MISSING CAT – 1 yr old BLK Female Med Hair
• Free Treadmill
• School Commissioners need reality check!
• clarification – seeking furniture to buy
• deadly nighshade spotted in neighbohood
• flatbed scanner – yours if you want it
• Rabies baits?
• Seeking Wood Chipper and Chainsaw Teacher
• Condo for Sale
• Neighborhood Time and Energy
• Magazine Salespeople
• Seeking housing
• Magnet Schools Support
• Free Press Delivery
• Pizza Place Name
• Need Perenials?
• our deficit and City Charter Section 17-5.16
• Free Press Delivery
• Free Press Delivery
• friday playgroup?
• Boxes, anyone?
• City Budget and Deficit
• ‘bite Me’ on Tshirts from Maine with mosquitoes
• Fresh Corn supports Kids Foundation
• Garage Sale Aug. 31 and Sept. 1
• FleaMarket Space available
• Support of Schools
• LARGE FLIGHT CAGE FOR SALE
• MORE ON SCHOOL BOND INITIATIVE
• Reply to dogmandonkey
• Jay Craven film ‘After the Fog’ Sept. 10
• Drop-off location for Kid shoes?
• now looking for lawn games
• Art Hop Volunteers Need; Vandalism Update
• Workers Labor Day Celebration Sept. 1
• Treadmill For Sale
• No Name Approval Required
• Disk Golf Facts
• Persian Cats looking for home
• Citizens Rights and Police Entry
• Seeking lawnmower to borrow
• Free pet carrier
• Seeking Local raw honey
• Chance to Meet Suzi Wizowaty before Sept. 9 Primary
• Looking for painting company recommendations
• Huntington Memory Walk Team
• SEEKING TWIN/SINGLE MATTRESS
• Business Opportunity
• Seeking wood floor finisher recommendations
• Looking for car mechanic specializing in imports
• School Board Meeting Televised
• South End Art Hop Needs Volunteers
• PIZZA MAN’S EXTERNAL BOUNDRIES
• School Proposal Feedback
• WOOD FLOOR REFINISHER RECOMMENDED
• Pizza Place Name – Talk To Owner
• For those who asked… NPA Explained
• Looking for Children’s Bike Seat
• In-Your-Own-Home Doggie Daycare available
• Open House, Art Exhibit and Demo at Aikido School
• Ransacked
• Women in Leadership Event Sept. 7
• Flight Cage for Sale – Corrected phone number
• FREE FLOOR LAMP
• Car Break-ins
• Aikido demo during Art Hop – for adults and kids
• Car rifling in North Street area
• ACRONYMS
• SEEKING PET/HOUSESITTER RECOMMENDATIONS
• Planet Huntington and Laptop Crash
• Regarding sustainably green article
• Aikido demonstration
• Sad Day – Loss of Pet
• found painting and dog reminder
• Wanted: Cast Iron Baseboard Radiators
• Would anyone like some primer?
• Wandering Trash Can
• Seeking house cleaner recommendations
• Use of Acronyms on Forum
• Police entry comment
• Camera Returned!
• More on Verizon
• Dufresne Dr. – Lock Your Cars
• Help find missing dog – Shelburne Pond neighbors
• Aikido of Champlain Valley Art Hop Demonstrations
• Stolen bicycle!
• NPA Response
• Explaining ‘Bite Me!’ to kids
• Labrador and Labradoodle Puppies for Sale
• child help needed
• Bite Me menu online
• WOODSPLITTER FOR SALE
• portable basketball hoop for sale
I like Joel Banner Baird’s opening in his Burlington Free Press article today…
Take notice, Burlington vandals, taggers and would-be thieves: Little Brother is watching you.
And he’s swapping notes with his (and her) neighbors — and the police — on Front Porch Forum, a community-based online network serving Chittenden County…
And he goes on to shed some light on the story we discussed here. And I just noted a comment left on the Free Press site by wordwhip99…
The po po do the best that they can. And just like every thing else, and everyone else, there’s room for improvement. There’s good cops, and crappy ones. There’s good folks around town, and lazy uncaring ones. Etc. But what it really boils down to is that Americans seem to always rely on someone else to take care of their problems.
It’s a community problem here and cannot rely on just the cops to reduce or solve, but ALL the community members. The parents. The (failing) education system. And so on. Stop looking the other way and speak up when someone throws a candy wrapper or bottle on the ground.
Well, I could go on… I know I speak up, and I applaud others that take some kind of action, as well as Front Porch Forum.
Have you done anything to help your community today?
Well… one moment it’s Burlington neighbors coming together through Front Porch Forum to share news of a rash of property damage (looks like the police may have caught the vandal due to this vigilance). And the next, it’s a lovely story from Huntington about neighbors rallying to help… well… read for yourself…
We just wanted to post a quick “thank you” to many old friends, neighbors, and quite a few new friends who were so incredibly generous during my sister’s unexpected visit with her three boys.
As a result of my request for car seats on the Front Porch Forum, we got an outpouring of support from so many people — in the form of car seats, play dates, toys, art camp, childcare referrals, loaner kids equipment, the use of a cabin, the use of guest rooms in other houses, babysitting, a borrowed car, and lots and lots of moral support.
My nephews (age 10, 7 and 7) all have new friends here in Vermont. They attended multiple birthday parties and even a few sleep-overs while they were here. Thank you! One of them, who is somewhat slow to make friends, said “Next summer, I want to spend 6 weeks in Vermont so I can play with all my friends.”
Once again, we feel truly fortunate to have landed in such an incredible community. Thank you!
Wow… an early morning confrontation of one of Burlington’s vandals/taggers… with photos! Front Porch Forum members sticking up for their neighborhoods in Burlington’s Hill and Old North End areas…
First from Jeff on the FPF ONE East Neighborhood Forum (posted August 25, 2008 – 1:31 pm)…
A new type of vandalism is now occurring in the Old North End. I awoke yesterday, Sunday August 24, to find deep purposeful destructive gouges in the soft evaporator coil fins of one of my air conditioners. The protective screen was removed and discarded on the lawn. This air conditioner is located deep onto my property, way down the driveway, by my back entrance. The perpetrator was trespassing while committing this crime. The air conditioner’s efficiency is severely affected by the blockage to air flow and the destruction is so severe it cannot be repaired. The damage was not there Friday evening.
What makes this worse is that the same damage was done to 4 other homes in the immediate neighborhood. While driving in the Old North End, I saw similar damage to 2 others near the intersection of North Street and North Winooski Ave.
I took photos yesterday and today. Though they won’t transfer to the forum, I can forward them to any who are interested. Some air conditioners are damaged with initials
(P.H.) gouged into the fins. Others are intentionally severely gouged, so as to render them useless, together with initials gouged into the fins (A.X. and SBK).This type of behavior is permanently destructive. These are expensive items which are damaged to varying degrees affecting their cooling function, and because of the manner
of the damage, in many cases, cannot be repaired.This is not graffiti, where a chemical can be used to remove the “tag”. I estimate that the damage caused to these 7 air conditioners is over $1,000. Does this rise to the level of a felony?
What is happening to our city?
And also from a couple in the FPF South Union Neighborhood Forum area (posted Monday, August 25, 2008 – 9:17 am)…
I want to let everyone know that Sunday morning at 6 am my husband and I woke up to the sound of someone pushing our window a/c unit in. After we yelled at the person to get away, thinking our apt was being broken into, we realized we had been tagged. (the metal grating on the back of the a/c unit was pushed spelling out ‘PH’) Immediately [my husband] got into his truck and drove around the neighborhood to find the guy who did it, with his camera in hand, we managed to get a photograph of the guy. He is 18-22 years old, white, brown hair, carries a red backpack and uses the Tag PH. [My husband] confronted him and asked him if he was a “writer” (a term used by graffiti artists and taggers to identify each other) and the guy responded in a rather incriminating way saying “No, dude, I don’t wri.. I mean I don’t know what you are talking about…” The guy seemed really antsy and nervous and that is when [my husband] photographed him. We did call the police, and an officer took down all of the information. I noticed he also tagged the post office drop box by Bite Me. If any one has any information about this person or sees him… please contact the Burlington Police. This is vandalism and destruction of private property.
Oh… and one more… from Jill also on the FPF South Union Neighborhood Forum (posted August 25, 2008 – 10:09 am)…
Hi, On Sunday night at 2:30 there was an attempted break-in at my house. I had the front lights on, the back lights on dim and my car in the driveway, plus a few lights on downstairs (at least they are all compact fluorescents). They first tried the backdoor and propped the screen door open and the house was locked and then they started opening and cutting the side window screen. Moose (my now official guard dog) woke up and ran downstairs barking and I went downstairs and saw the motion lights were tripped and the window wedged open and screen cut. I called the cops and they were there in a matter of minutes.
Related to P.H. too?
Update: From Jeff on the FPF ONE East Neighborhood Forum (posted August 26, 2008 – 12:56 pm)…
A heads up on the progress in this case…
Together with the brave work of Clark, as described below, the Burlington Police Dept’s South End staff has joined with Lt. Jen Morrison from our North End area to identify the “PH” vandal and bring him to justice.
Officer Hemond, working with Officer Belleville from the South End, communicated with the Five Sisters FFP to apprise them of their progress. Seems 10 – 20 homes were similarly vandalized in that neighborhood.
Michael Wood-Lewis has been very helpful to me (and to the BPD) to coordinate, from the civilian side, forwarding of information between neighborhoods and BPD officers working on the case.
Gail Shampnois and Alicia Taylor from the UVM Office of Student & Community Relations are following this case and have indicated that if the offender is a UVM student then they will pass through the UVM justice system as well.
Rich Gordon writes today about his journalist-programmer program at Northwestern’s journalism school. He’s looking for a project idea…
For more than half a century, newspaper readership has been declining – and so have a variety of other indicators of civic and community engagement, such as participation in PTA’s, membership in bowling leagues and turnout on Election Day…
What I’ve been wondering about is whether new technologies can, in any way, help rebuild social capital among people who live in the same community. We know that online communities enable people with common interests to build powerful connections even if they are halfway around the world from one another. I’m intrigued by the possibility that we could apply these online community tools to strengthening local bonds.
It’s also hard to ignore that when conversations about the news occur on the Web, they often turn ugly — or, at best, fail to advance the discussion beyond ranting and raving…
Evidence that local media can play a role in fostering community conversation can be found in newspaper history. David Paul Nord’s fascinating book, “Communities of Journalism,” for instance, describes many instances in which newspapers served as community forums…
Cass Sunstein in his book Republic.com – [argues] that online communities can foster isolation and division by enabling people to connect only with those whose characteristics and attitudes are like theirs.
What I might challenge our students to do is come up with ways to improve online conversations about the news — to build social capital and raise the quality of these conversations.
Of course, this is what Front Porch Forum is all about!
Ghost of Midnight is an online journal about fostering community within neighborhoods, with a special focus on Front Porch Forum (FPF). My wife, Valerie, and I founded FPF in 2006... read more