Operation Porchlight

Project Porchlight is coming to – Millville Rescue Squad
600 Cedar Street, Millville NJ 08332
Saturday, August 1, (10am – 2pm)

Project Porchlight is an award-winning energy efficiency initiative from One Change; sponsored in New Jersey by New Jersey Clean Energy Program and the BPU. Our program partners with communities throughout the U.S., relaying the message that simple actions make a big difference when it comes to saving energy and helping our environment. We are currently in the middle of a campaign in New Jersey where we are handing out over a 1,000,000 free CFL (compact fluorescent light) bulbs to residents.

We'd be delighted if you could give us a hand! We need volunteers to hand out free compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs to households in Millville on Saturday, August 1st Door-to-door delivery is fun and easy, and not a big time commitment (1-2 hours). The whole family can get involved!

We are also looking to community leaders like you, to assist us in finding volunteers to distribute light bulbs throughout their neighborhoods. The way you can help is simple. If you are planning or attending a community gathering, you can help by handing out bulbs to the group and by relaying our message that

 CFL bulbs use up to 75% less electricity than old fashioned incandescent bulbs.
 One bulb saves up to $30.00 on their yearly electric bill
 Less coal is burned, thus pollution is reduced. Talk about a win-win situation!

Once all these energy-efficient bulbs have been distributed, New Jersey residents can anticipate a combined savings of nearly $30,000,000.00 over the lifetime of the bulbs that you’ ve helped deliver.

Please contact our Volunteer Outreach Coordinator – Suzy Sherbine at susan.sherbine@porchlight.org or call (856)768-2700. She can provide you with information on how you can get involved.

Thanks for your support and remember Simple Action Matters!

Sincerely,
Charisse E. Tyus
Communications Coordinator

Graffiti observed

Any residents living in the area of Howard street just south of Main may have noticed the initials "LTG" spray painted on a few fences, garages or walls the past several months. LTG has a possible meaning of Lower Town Gangsters, which is a gang that falls under the People's Nation, commonly associated with larger gangs such as the Crips, and represented by six pointed stars in drawings, and the color blue in clothing attire.

I've also noticed "LTG" tagged on the landscape retaining wall at the intersection of Brandriff and Main. Residents living in this area should pay attention to teens moving about in the neighborhood, and how their own children may be dressing. Dominant blue colored clothing being worn, or items such as hats, bandannas or belts to the left side could be an indicator of gang activity in the neighborhood that parents or law enforcement may find helpful.

The graffiti may only be a young wannabe simply causing mischief, however often times minor things left unchecked can grow into a much larger problem for the community, due to juveniles being easily led into what they perceive to be cool behavior.

Millville Noise Ordinance

ARTICLE X
§ 52-39 Prohibitions.
A. General prohibition. It shall be unlawful for any person to make or cause to be made any unnecessary noise disturbance within the City between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. without regard to the specific decibel level established herein, if said noise materially interferes with the comfort or general well-being of any of the City's inhabitants.

k. Radios, televisions and similar devices. It shall be unlawful for any person to play or cause to be played any radio, television, tape player, or similar device, whether freestanding, handheld or in motor vehicles, which produces or reproduces sound in such a manner as to cause a noise disturbance within the City (Editor's Note: there is no time restriction on this 0. If the device is played during a party, Subsection J will control.

Illegal Retail

The residents at 424 Mulberry Street have been nabbed once already for running an illegal retail store from their house, according to our sources.

However, we still frequently see monetary transactions at the front door, despite the fact that they removed the signs advertising products and pricing.

We admit that there are worse things they could be selling other than cans of soda and snacks, the fact is this house is not zoned as a retail establishment, and we sincerely doubt they are paying sales taxes to the state.

Nuisance Corner Alert

The NE corner of 4th and Sassafras Streets is once again becoming a drug corner. This corner is an attractive hangout as their are no tenants in either the AHOME property or the house on the other corner, and there are no windows on the concrete tenement directly across.

I don't believe most of the tenants would care even if there were windows. I believe they are hiding stash in the aloe-like succulents in the front lawn.

Vehicle Alert:

Folks, there's a red chevrolet trailblazer type SUV around town. The windows are tinted all the way around, and it has custom chrome rims. NJ Reg. #WHU-___. This vehicle has been witnessed in several areas of town engaging in what appears to be drug dealing. It seems they coordinate via cell phone with buyers where to go, then they meet briefly to complete a transaction, and are on their way.

The vehicle is often seen parked in the 500 block of north second street near the nuisance rental properties. Possibly be the base of operations they work out of? Currently unknown...

The vehicle is often occupied by several male subjects, and while they may frequent other parts of the city, they've been seen regularly on all the streets between Main and Broad from 2nd up to 14th, on several occassions meeting up with other vehicles briefly to make "exchanges"

Please take note of this vehicle and notify the police department if any suspicious activity is observed. Take away their ability to blend into their surroundings, and you can take away their ability to conduct illegal business.

Suspicious Corner

The corner of 4th and Vine Streets is a haven of drug and nuisance activity. The home base is the slum property at 401 Vine Street owned by "Millionaires in Millville, LLC".

The landlord has adamantly refused to police his tenants, willingly taking city money for repairs, but refusing to make this corner safe for passers-by.

The corner is a 24-hour drug store. Illegal weapons have been seen in the possession of ex-cons. The element that hangs out on this corner blocks the sidewalk, hindering pedestrian traffic.

They have also threatened two different women that have dared to call the police or challenge the illegal activity.

Look beyond the obvious

As I move about town in my daily routine, I often see people mulling about in what would appear to be normal daily life. However, once I began taking closer note my surroundings, it was clear that illicit activity takes place frequently in plain view, with most people not even aware of what goes on beneath our nose! One such example is the car wash/laundrymat located near 7th and Main Streets. I will emphasize that the owner is a decent hard working man, and was very responsive to any information I passed along to him. He was very thankful and does not tolerate undesirable activity.

That being said, I began to notice over a period of time there was a certain transient element frequenting the car wash/laundry areas. On face value, it appeared to be a person simply using the restroom for a moment, or a driver stopping to vacuum out a vehicle. Upon closer observation I noticed often times people were never actually putting coins into the vacuum, but rather mulling about "pretending" to be busy. Within minutes another person or vehicle would show up briefly, a hand-to-hand exchange would take place and both parties would be on their way.

Inside the laundrymat, I would watch people walk in from the street, enter the restroom, then leave. A few minutes later a second person would drive up and walk in to use the restroom, making eye contact and perhaps a quick word with the last person to exit the restroom who was still loitering around. I would actually hear people hopping onto the toilet and removing the lone light fixture. Apparently it was being used as a money drop and drug pick up site!! This was confirmed one day when I overheard a buyer and dealer discuss whether "the money was in place." I began to wonder how many of these public sites exist all over town that people don't even pay attention to, but foster an element that contributes to the problems the town faces.

My point is for others to simply take an extra moment in your daily routine when moving about town to increase your awareness. You may be amazed to find how brazen (or stupid) the criminal element can be, and how easily you can gather and forward information to the appropriate people to address the problem.

Friends of Millville

If you like this website, please visit the Friends of Millville official website. Friends of Millville consists of a group of people intent on making Millville a better, safer place to live.

We have information for landlords, renters, and property owners on helping to create healthy neighborhoods.

Hello

I'm a new member to the site. I hope to bring a number of new people to the forums to network and share information about what we observe around town, so we can increase awareness and forward important items to the appropriate places.

I live east of 5th street, but travel the town frequently, and try to always be observant to positive change as well as illicit activities.

If anyone has information to share of suspicious activities, please share with everyone so we can all monitor in our respective areas!
Ray

Crime Log

Use this to post your crime watch information, and share it with our network of concerned citizens. Post information as a comment to our information sharing network so everyone can compare notes about suspicious activity, people or vehicles and locations in town.

If people share with others what they are observing and reporting, then people in other sections of town can look out for the same, and perhaps give the police a lot more information to combat the gangs and dealers.

Please, be careful about naming names unless you have solid proof that a criminal act has occurred.