Looks like the Wawa store at Sharp and Main Street may have been robbed again during the overnight hours last night.
The suspect allegedly got away with a few hundred dollars and some cigarettes. Hardly enough to risk going to prison for a long time!
Monday, October 25, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Hearts and Holly
One of these groups that I was somehow dragged into was a steering committee under the auspices of AHOME. We have very big news, and I will fill you in on the back story after November 4.
If you are a Center City resident, you are invited to our Hearts and Holly celebration on November 4. This event is only an hour and a half, but we are packing quite a bit into that time.
We will have face painting, apple cider, prize give-aways (we have at least four IPods that will be given away as door-prizes) and a very important announcement that will directly benefit our neighborhood for the next three to five years.
So I urge you to join us November 4, from 2:20 to 4PM at the First United Methodist Church parking lot for this event. That is a Thursday afternoon (kids are off school that day). See our plans for the float for the Millville Holiday Parade. Volunteer. Or just come for the free stuff. Whatever your reason, we need you to get involved. And you will be the first to hear the news - and it is big!
Drive by Shooting
There was a shooting incident around 11:30 this morning in the area of Mcneil and North Street, involving one or more vehicles. I don't believe any people were injured.
No other details are available just yet.
No other details are available just yet.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Bank Robbed
NJ.com has reported the TDbank on north 2nd street (near Walgreens) may have been robbed last night at around closing time (8pm). So far, no known suspects have been caught.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Consolidation of Dispatch Services - some thoughts
A while back I mentioned a move by the county to consolidate emergency dispatch services into a centralized location. My position is pretty clear - I am leery of such a move for several reasons:
- I don't believe the savings will be as much as claimed
- The move merely moves costs from city to county
- The county is corrupt, and I doubt that politics will not play a role in this move
- I am concerned with the level of service, delays, and inefficiency on the county level
However, I am dismayed that our commissioner of public safety, Dave Vanaman, has decided against this move without even hearing the other side of the story. I haven't heard both sides, and if my fears could be assuaged, I would definitely entertain supporting a move that would save taxpayers money.
Dave has adamantly refused to even attend any meeting to discuss such a proposal, or to listen to what others have to say. It troubles me when a man in charge of public safety is so pig-headed that he won't even participate in an open dialog.
However, this comes as little surprise, as Dave only does what his handlers from a special interest group tell him he is allowed to do.
Markese Childers arrested
Millvilel police figured out the so-called victim was lying. They figured out quickly who the perp was. He was arrested in Vineland, and in what is almost utterly incomprehensible it appears he still had the suspected weapon.
Weed and Seed allows these sorts of incidents that occur within the W&S area to be elevated to more than just a local investigation, bringing in federal law enforcement, and allowing for stricter sentencing.
A man wanted for allegedly shooting his baby and girlfriend earlier this week in Millville was arrested Thursday morning outside an apartment on Pear Street in Vineland.
Markese Childers, 27, was taken to the Cumberland County Jail and held on $750,000 bail. He was arrested by officers with the United States Marshals's New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Force, State Police and Millville Police Department.
Police said he faces weapons charges as well as charges of endangering the welfare of a child and two counts each of aggravated assault and endangering an injured victim.It should be noted that this arrest was successful and that MPD had the assistance of the State Police and US Marshall's Service. The Millville Weed and Seed designation plays a key role with law enforcement in encouraging these sorts of cooperative efforts.
Weed and Seed allows these sorts of incidents that occur within the W&S area to be elevated to more than just a local investigation, bringing in federal law enforcement, and allowing for stricter sentencing.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Idiot shoots woman, child in Millville
Police said a warrant with $75,000 bail was issued for Markese Childers, 27, charging him with two counts apiece of aggravated assault and endangering an injured victim. Police also said he faces endangering the welfare of a child and several weapons charges.I know I have seen him around town. The amazing thing is, actually not quite so amazing, he is a repeat offender.
Childers has a previous criminal record. He was in state prison from May 2006 to June 2007 on charges of burglary, heroin possession and driving with a suspended license, according to the state Department of Corrections website.When are the courts going to figure out a way to seriously reprimand criminals and stop this revolving door madness that allows miscreants like this to get free meals and medical care, and then sets them loose on society to wreck more havoc.
The other perp in this case is the mother of the child. She is not a victim, even though she was shot. She lied to police to protect this idiot, even though he came close to killing her child. DYFS needs to be in that household immediately and to assess whether or not (my guess is not) this woman is fit to have custody of that child.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Another Idea for Neighborhood Pride
One of the things that is quite apparent when one walks through Center City is that people just do not care. Dirty streets, slum rentals, broken dangerous sidewalks, ugly wooden fire escapes from attic that slumlords have converted to bedrooms to eke a few more dollar to sate their greed - these all scream that the people that live here, and those that are planning on retiring from the proceeds of others misery just do not care.
How can rental tenants take pride int heir neighborhood when the slumlord they rent from skirts the law by not registering the property? How can they have a sense of pride when their house is dilapidated? Being poor is not a crime.
For instance, I have neighbors that I will use as an example. The owner of their house has refused to register it with the city. With city cutbacks in manpower, nobody apparently is going after these landlords, and forcing them to bring their rentals up to code.
These tenants are neat, clean, and do their best to maintain their house. the landlord, on the other hand, had to be forced to repair a leaky roof, and even then did not do the job properly. The carpet in the house is worn through to the bare floor. The house needs to be painted, and it needs new windows. The windows do not even have screens, as required by code. I understand bedrooms do not have doors, as required.
The city needs to clamp down on landlords - to search out unregistered rentals and immediately come down on these scofflaws. The fine for not registering a rental needs to be punitive - $1,000 for the first offense seems like a good place to start.
They need to then be forced to bring the apartment up to code in 30 days, and if the apartment is uninhabitable, they need to be forced to pay for the relocation of their tenants into suitable units at the same rent.
Sidewalks are the responsibility of the landlord - make these landlords bring sidewalks up to code. If the paint on the aluminum siding is faded, it is time for a fresh coat of paint.
No more allowing attics to be converted into sleeping quarters, unless the landlord can do it with a sprinkler system. These ugly fire escapes have to go.
When the streets and the neighborhood like nice and presentable, landlords will only benefit by attracting a higher class of renters.
How can rental tenants take pride int heir neighborhood when the slumlord they rent from skirts the law by not registering the property? How can they have a sense of pride when their house is dilapidated? Being poor is not a crime.
For instance, I have neighbors that I will use as an example. The owner of their house has refused to register it with the city. With city cutbacks in manpower, nobody apparently is going after these landlords, and forcing them to bring their rentals up to code.
These tenants are neat, clean, and do their best to maintain their house. the landlord, on the other hand, had to be forced to repair a leaky roof, and even then did not do the job properly. The carpet in the house is worn through to the bare floor. The house needs to be painted, and it needs new windows. The windows do not even have screens, as required by code. I understand bedrooms do not have doors, as required.
The city needs to clamp down on landlords - to search out unregistered rentals and immediately come down on these scofflaws. The fine for not registering a rental needs to be punitive - $1,000 for the first offense seems like a good place to start.
They need to then be forced to bring the apartment up to code in 30 days, and if the apartment is uninhabitable, they need to be forced to pay for the relocation of their tenants into suitable units at the same rent.
Sidewalks are the responsibility of the landlord - make these landlords bring sidewalks up to code. If the paint on the aluminum siding is faded, it is time for a fresh coat of paint.
No more allowing attics to be converted into sleeping quarters, unless the landlord can do it with a sprinkler system. These ugly fire escapes have to go.
When the streets and the neighborhood like nice and presentable, landlords will only benefit by attracting a higher class of renters.
Center City Cleanup Day
Center City Cleanup Day
Mark your calendars - Saturday October 16, 2010
8AM - 12 Noon
Place items on curbside for pick-up - appliances, old furniture, yard brush are accepted. There will also be dumpsters provides at the corner of N. 3rd and Vine Streets. Regular household trash is NOT accepted. Please, no paint cans or hazardous materials.
Center City Cleanup Day is sponsored by the City of Millville, the Center City Neighborhood Group, and Silver Run School. Center City Volunteers, and Silver Run Students and Staff clean up the litter in the streets. Afterward, we enjoy soda and pizza.
We request that concerned Center City residents volunteer to police the trash on their own streets.Clean Streets are as important as Safe Streets.
Mark your calendars - Saturday October 16, 2010
8AM - 12 Noon
Place items on curbside for pick-up - appliances, old furniture, yard brush are accepted. There will also be dumpsters provides at the corner of N. 3rd and Vine Streets. Regular household trash is NOT accepted. Please, no paint cans or hazardous materials.
Center City Cleanup Day is sponsored by the City of Millville, the Center City Neighborhood Group, and Silver Run School. Center City Volunteers, and Silver Run Students and Staff clean up the litter in the streets. Afterward, we enjoy soda and pizza.
We request that concerned Center City residents volunteer to police the trash on their own streets.Clean Streets are as important as Safe Streets.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Ideas for a better neighborhood
There is much more to a crime and nuisance free neighborhood than increasing police patrols and throwing people in jail - though law enforcement does play the key role.
But just as critical is a neighborhood's appearance. If the properties are well kept, if people care enough to pick up the litter in front of their homes and better yet, don't toss it in the street in the first place, a message is sent that the tenants and homeowners care about their neighborhood. A lot of the nuisance activity will move off that block. It may only move a block away, but the point is, it moves.
Another benefit is that rentals, necessary for a well-rounded community, will be able to attract a higher quality of tenant if the neighborhood is clean, and the house or apartment is neat, clean and respectable.
Adopt-a-Street
I am trying to garner support for several projects towards this end. One is an adopt-a-street program for Center City. I would like the churches in center city, and there are plenty of them, to step up to the plate and adopt a one-block section of street.
I have city commissioner Dale Finch's word that he will work with me on this project, and it appears that Ed Eihnaus of AHOME, coordinator of the Heart of Millville Project, will assume responsibility and a leadership role, also.
The idea is that we get a group of volunteers to attack a block. We have neighborhood children picking up the trash. We have adults with weed whackers and edgers cutting the grass along the sidewalks, edging the sidewalks, and removing the grass from between the sidewalk cracks and curbs.
Now we will give that section to the adopting group, the church of whatever, or a boyscout troop, or a social club - I don't care who. They will then pledge to walk that section at least once a week and clean, cut, edge - whatever they have to, to maintain it.
But just as critical is a neighborhood's appearance. If the properties are well kept, if people care enough to pick up the litter in front of their homes and better yet, don't toss it in the street in the first place, a message is sent that the tenants and homeowners care about their neighborhood. A lot of the nuisance activity will move off that block. It may only move a block away, but the point is, it moves.
Another benefit is that rentals, necessary for a well-rounded community, will be able to attract a higher quality of tenant if the neighborhood is clean, and the house or apartment is neat, clean and respectable.
Adopt-a-Street
I am trying to garner support for several projects towards this end. One is an adopt-a-street program for Center City. I would like the churches in center city, and there are plenty of them, to step up to the plate and adopt a one-block section of street.
I have city commissioner Dale Finch's word that he will work with me on this project, and it appears that Ed Eihnaus of AHOME, coordinator of the Heart of Millville Project, will assume responsibility and a leadership role, also.
The idea is that we get a group of volunteers to attack a block. We have neighborhood children picking up the trash. We have adults with weed whackers and edgers cutting the grass along the sidewalks, edging the sidewalks, and removing the grass from between the sidewalk cracks and curbs.
Now we will give that section to the adopting group, the church of whatever, or a boyscout troop, or a social club - I don't care who. They will then pledge to walk that section at least once a week and clean, cut, edge - whatever they have to, to maintain it.
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