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Oscar and Leola Haynes are active participants in their neighborhood Block Watch program

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Printed Thursday, September 01, 2011

toledoBlade.com

ON THE LOOKOUT

Block Watch key to safe neighborhoods

By ROSE RUSSELL
BLADE STAFF WRITER

Anybody old enough to remember how safe neighborhoods felt several decades ago also will recall that it was because people looked out for one another and took action if they saw anything that wasn’t quite right.

These days, though, in such a highly mobile society where people constantly are coming and going, residents often know little to nothing about their neighbors. And sometimes younger generations need to be persuaded to look out for their neighbors and to watch for suspicious activity.

Keeping a watchful eye in the neighborhood is key to keeping crime rates low, neighborhoods safe, and to helping law enforcement agencies do their jobs, which is why Toledo Neighborhood Block Watch organizations unite areas and put criminals on notice.

“The key to Block Watch programs is that they are our link to the neighborhoods,” Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre said. “They provide that avenue … for us to communicate with the neighborhood. It’s so much more efficient to do that in a group setting.”

Neighborly nosiness applies to anyone who wants to stay informed and to maintain a safe living environment.

Toledo’s Block Watch President Leola Haynes knew nothing about the program when more than a decade ago she noticed gang activity in her Forest Avenue neighborhood. She wanted to learn about what others knew, and in the process, she aimed to raise awareness and combat the problem. That’s when Mrs. Haynes invited neighbors to her home to address the issue. That’s when she learned about Block Watch.

“It’s a beautiful area and I didn’t want to move,” she said about her central city neighborhood that’s just a few minutes from the Toledo Museum of Art and the YWCA in downtown Toledo. “I decided to get with the group to get our community back to where it was.”

Toledo Police Chief Mike Navarre says Block Watch programs are a link to the neighborhoods.

So the retired elementary school teacher and former nurse became involved with Block Watch, a program that is very much alive and thriving in the city. As a result of the recent crime spree that included fatal shootings, Mrs. Haynes said there is renewed interest in the program.

The city’s eight Block Watch sectors have 180 areas, and each sector’s leader oversees nine to 12 blocks, Mrs. Haynes said. Groups’ meeting times vary, from those that meet monthly to others that meet every other month.

Block Watch leaders know the right municipal department to contact when there are other problems in their neighborhoods, such as when yards need to be mowed and refuse containers in the parks overflow.

Mayor Mike Bell wants the police department to be 625 strong, the police chief said. Right now, though, there are only 552 police officers. That number makes the role Block Watch programs play that much more vital.

“We rely on people calling 911 and Block Watch leaders,” Chief Navarre said. “That’s the whole point, to get involved and look out for your neighbors. They do that every day. I can’t tell you that we categorize success stories, but we have a lot of success stories because people call 911, even though it’s hard to measure crimes that you prevent.”

This much is certain about anyone who becomes involved in Block Watch: a resident can’t help but learn about his or her surroundings.

“We found out by getting our flyers out that almost half the houses were empty,” Mrs. Haynes said. “People moved and died, and that invited a lot of squatters in and that’s what the gangs were using the neighborhood for, a place to sell drugs.”

Citizens, however, should not confront anyone suspected of criminal activity. Block Watch teaches that citizens are not to take the law into their own hands. They are only to make observations and to call 911.

“That’s safest for everyone. What we do is watch out for each other,” said Mrs. Haynes. “I believe in Block Watch.”

Contact Rose Russell at rrussell@theblade.com or 419-724-6178.

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The Toledo Times ®

AKAs host fourth annual business and health expo
by Journal Staff
The Toledo Journal
Originally posted 5/26/2011

Local businesses and health care providers, including the St. Vincent Mercy Health Partners, attended Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Zeta Alpha Omega Chapter’s fourth annual Business and Health Expo at the Stephenson- Roberts Fellowship Hall inside Indiana Missionary Baptist Church, 640 Indiana Ave.

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The purpose of the May 21 event was to introduce the community to local businesses, while simultaneously giving them exposure to the overall population, said Sherry Reed, chairperson of the expo.

Also, with the different health care agencies present, visitors had the opportunity to get free blood pressure, diabetes and health screenings, as well as information on health issues.

“This event is very important to the community because people get the opportunity to discover these businesses and their products that they didn’t know about,” stated Ms. Reed.

Business owner, Laverne Green- Cunningham, had two of her businesses at the expo.

“I think today was very beneficial to both my ventures,” she said. “I was able to get exposure and set up future meetings.” The event was an initiative that originated with the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Zeta Alpha Omega Chapter, over four years ago, Ms. Reed said. She said the intent behind the expo was to showcase black businesses and set up free health screenings for a population that traditionally avoids preventive health care.

Penelope Cruz, Johnny Depp and Ian McShane in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (Walt Disney Co.)

“Front Row Seat Movie Review”

I give “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” “Three Barbecue Bones”. I do not know where Disney was headed with this movie by tampering with the immortality of the pirates. Johnny Depp who played “Captain Jack Sparrow” was excellent in his role in spite of the movie. But I am somewhat confused when watching the show because of the poor quality of the special effects. The “Mermaids” added to the story. But there were times when the animation took away from the performance. I would mildly recommend seeing this movie. It is my feeling if you are a Pirates fan you would still enjoy following the episodes of “Captain Jack Sparrow”. But if you’re not a diehard “Pirates of the Caribbean” fan this movie is not for you.

The name of my movie review is “Front Row Seat Movie Review”.

Clarification of my rating levels are as follows:

My rating system starts with the lowest level of:

¤ One Chicken Bone: Is the Lowest level “pretty bad!”

If a movie receives this rating you should avoid it during your lifetime! ‘You shouldn’t even see a “bootleg” copy of this movie!

¤ Poor: One Barbeque Bone

¤ Fair: Two Barbeque Bones

¤ OK: Three Barbeque Bones

¤ Good: Four Barbeque Bones

¤ Excellent: Five Barbeque Bones

¤ Outstanding: The upper level rating for a movie is “Five Barbeque Bones with Barbeque Sauce”. If a movie receives this rating, you need to stop whatever you are doing and go to see it now!

Jimmy Sr.

Movie Info

PG-13, 2 hr. 17 min.

Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy

Directed By: Rob Marshall

Written By: Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio

In Theaters: May 20, 2011 Wide

Box Office:$90.2M

Walt Disney Pictures

By Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times Film Critic

May 20, 2011

If not for Capt. Jack Sparrow there would be absolutely no fun to be found in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” the latest edition of Disney’s waterlogged franchise. But Johnny Depp, back again as the swashbuckling miscreant who favors guy-liner and gold, somehow manages to keep this ship of fools afloat. But just barely.

With Rob Marshall newly at the helm, the hope was for a significant course correction after the bloat and confusion of 2007’s “At World’s End.” Though just why the studio turned to a director who has been struggling since helping “Chicago” win a best picture Oscar nearly a decade ago, is stranger than the tides (To wit: “Memoirs of a Geisha” and “Nine.” I rest my case).

It seems his chief recommendations are that A) he’s a really nice guy, something not to be underestimated in Hollywood, which is not the nice-guy capital of the world, and B) he knows his way around sequins and show-stoppers. You can see how that might translate as “Pirates” has long favored flamboyance in all things.

Unfortunately, being fashion forward and light on your feet isn’t enough. Simply put: “On Stranger Tides” is still not seaworthy, nor Sparrow worthy for that matter. At least director Gore Verbinski, who launched the enchanting whimsy of the first “POTC: The Curse of the Black Pearl” in 2003 — only to be upended by the rough waters so often churned up by sequels and threequels — had the good sense to make an exit before completely running aground.

There are some amusements in “Tides,” which is ever so slightly better than its predecessor. Particularly grand is a whiz-bang early number that evokes that brief, shining moment when the franchise was first riding high. It involves Capt. Jack, a hanging offense, a double-cross, a pasty monarch with a pastry buffet (both abundant) and a king-sized dining hall filled with chandeliers and staircases just made for swordplay and foul play. It helps get things off to a fast start.

The newest shipmates include Penélope Cruz as Angelica, a former lover of Capt. Jack whose paterfamilias is none other than the villainous Blackbeard, Ian McShane doing his witty wicked thing. She’s a lethal beauty who has a winning way with a rapier but suffers far worse battles with the bad lighting, which can be the only explanation for the fact that Cruz looks more sullen than sultry most of the time.

The fresh fish come in the form of Astrid Berges-Frisbey as Syrena, an ethereal mermaid with a come-hither look and a nasty bite (she’s part of a mermaid coven with “Jaws”-ian/Jungian issues — so scary); and a soul-saving hunk of missionary love in Philip (promising Brit, Sam Claflin). The old hands are led by Sparrow’s nemesis, Geoffrey Rush once again embodying the hygiene-challenged Barbossa.

Depp, as I mentioned, is in top form, Capt. Jacking his way along, charming the socks off of everyone with those mischievous, ever shifting, slightly winking, always twinkling eyes; the ironic smile exposing a few gold teeth that somehow have always suited him. A cameo that puts Depp across from his inspiration for the character, the Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards, as lad and dad locked in a conspiratorial conversation is pure pleasure — at least for the 12 or so seconds it’s on screen.

Most of the film’s two-plus hours is taken up by the hunt for the legendary Fountain of Youth, a story “suggested” by the Tim Powers novel that gives the film the second half of its name and Blackbeard his zombie crew; the script is from Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, who have been there from the beginning.

Not surprisingly, everyone wants a piece of the action, so the seas are soon crowded with tall ships, some manned by the British with Barbossa carrying an old grudge. There’s Blackbeard’s boat with Angelica, Capt. Jack and the zombies, who frankly aren’t all that fearful, just a bit more motley than the average crew. Then to make things more complicated (one of the franchise’s fatal flaws), we have the Spanish, who show up early for everything and add another layer to the weird religious thread started by Philip and carried through the film.

Finding the fountain is just the start; its powers can only be unlocked by … again, it’s complicated, but if I remember correctly mermaid tears, silver chalices, unfiltered water and a mixology degree are involved.

Now if all that sounds like a promising place to work a lot of 3-D magic, then boy are you in for a major letdown. The Ds in this instance stand for dark and dismal and disastrously claustrophobic. The production design is strangely ancient, as if the actors stumbled onto a sound stage filled with old props. Even the Fountain of Youth, the object of everyone’s desire, looks as if it were carved out of gray Styrofoam. And that, mateys, is no way to steer a ship. Aargh.

betsy.sharkey@latimes.com