It was a year full of interesting happenings around the neighborhood.
The year started off with a bang (fortunately not literally) when I helped catch a burglar as he was breaking into a neighbor’s car. Unlike other suspects I’d seen who were up to no good, I got no subpoena for this incident because a police officer witnessed it, too. If only an officer was always just around the corner whenever a crime occurred it would make things so much easier.
A few months later I was surprised to see a number of police cars entering my neighborhood. My neighbors became the victim of a mid-day breakin, with the thieves having enough time to neatly stack their booty behind the home before the cops rolled up. Fortunately for everyone but the hapless crooks, the cops blocked the getaway car in the driveway, which provided not only a wealth of fingerprints but a curious parade of passersby, all unusually interested in a crime that hadn’t been publicized. The perps were caught a few weeks later, their getaway car having belonged to someone they knew.
Further down the scale of seriousness, my complaints about people making off with giant bags of aluminum cans from recycling bins prompted the city to make it a misdemeanor to raid the bins. The teams of pickups I’d seen roving the streets soon disappeared, though I did later spot one Cadillac with a trunk so full of cans that it couldn’t be closed. To my knowledge, none of the homeless people in the area have been hauled off to jail for pilfering cans, either.
I was in the news a few times this year as the noise issue between the neighborhood church and the rest of the neighborhood flared up. Fortunately the neighborhood and the CAC are working together to raise money for building upgrades. Sadly, it’s taking longer than anyone expected. That’s the price of depending on donated labor and materials.
I was very active on the city’s SeeClickFix site again this year, reporting problems all over the city and having them promptly fixed. I rose to become the fourth most active SeeClickFix member in Raleigh, something that I’m very proud of.
And, finally, many months of apparent activity at the Weatherford property near our home turned into news that KB Home would be building a 39-home subdivision there. The days of living on a dead-end street will soon come to an end for us. What remains to be seen is whether the barred owls, hawks, foxes, deer, raccoons, and feral cats who live in that 10 acre patch of woods will still find a place to live. My kids are excited about the possibility of new kids in the neighborhood, so I’m optimistic about things. At any rate, the developer will meet with neighbors at the upcoming East CAC meeting on January 28th.