July 24, 2010 by stephen.

As the creator of the PNA meeting notice distributed the past few days, I flat out goofed.  Although the headline correctly stated, the meeting is on July 20th.  But in the first sentence, for some strange reason, I typed ‘August 20th.’   Please be aware that the correct date is July 20th.

 Would you please be so kind as to mention this correction to your friends and neighbors in the area.

Regards,

Mel Cyrak

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April 9, 2009 by stephen.

(from just across the pond) 

From: Golbeck, Vincent <vincent.golbeck@dpd.ci.dallas.tx.us>

Subject: Recent Individual Robbery Incidents

Date: Wednesday, April 8, 2009, 5:53 PM

Hello all,

I know there is a lot of concern regarding the recent individual robberies that have occurred in and/around your neighborhoods. This is an update to the bulletin I sent at 4:00 pm. I want to clarify some misinformation that is being distributed through private individuals’ email networks that I’ve received since so please share the following with them:

A carjacking incident involving a wf/35 occurred today approximately 1:25 p.m. in the 6300 block of Martel Avenue .  There were no other robberies today in this area.  The driver had her 7 y/o daughter and 9 y/o son in the vehicle when she was backing out of her driveway into the rear alley.  She exited vehicle to move a trash container when the suspect approached her and was wearing an orange/yellow reflective work type vest over dark blue sweatshirt.  Suspect had a toy chrome handgun that we recovered at the location after the complainant struggled with the suspect since he was driving away with her children in the vehicle.  The suspect did allow the children to exit the vehicle. There were no injuries.  Suspect fled in complainant’s vehicle – 2005 Green Ford Expedition.  He matches the description of eight previous incidents since February 5^th that have occurred in Central, Northeast, Southwest, and one possibly out of town.  Several of the vehicles have been recovered in South Central Division.

There was information being distributed that there was another offense today and that it occurred at Stonewall Jackson Elementary and that is not the case.  There were concerns of the elementary school being in lockdown but the principal can make that decision for student safety reasons, however, the incident did not occur near the school. 

Further Suspect description is:  Black Male, 35-50, 5’8” – 6’2”, 160-180 pounds.  Suspect may be unshaven with a little gray and have missing or gaps in teeth.  Also please confirm any additional information with the Dallas Police Department before distribution and we’ll keep you posted on any updates.

We had added additional patrols in the neighborhoods, which will continue, and intel has been distributed Departmental wide.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Vince

Deputy Chief Vincent Golbeck

Central Patrol Division

Dallas Police Department

214-670-5059

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December 19, 2008 by stephen.

At 11:31 pm on Friday, Dec. 19. I heard 6-7 gunshots in rapid succession coming from somewhere between (and/or including) the tennis courts and the bath house. My wife heard a “larger” car speed away. I called the police, but… Anybody else hear it?  Anybody know any more details?

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November 29, 2008 by stephen.

ANNUAL MEETING RE-ELECTS ALL OFFICERS, ALLOCATES TASTE OF WHITE ROCK FUNDS

By Mel Cyrak

The Annual Meeting of the Peninsula Neighborhood Association was held on October 22^nd at the Bath House Cultural Center.  Approximately 40 members attended.

Our four officers serve one-year terms and are up for re-election at each Annual Meeting.  All four officers agreed to serve another term and were elected by unanimous vote.  The new/old officers are: President, Joe Gillum, Vice President, Ben Davis, Secretary, Chris Winter, and Treasurer, Madeline Cyrak.

The majority of the meeting was taken up by a report on the completion of the 2008 Taste Of White Rock Dinner Club book and the allocation of the $5,000 the PNA book organizers pledged to the non-profits at the lake.  After much discussion and a vote, the allocation is as follows:

Bath House Cultural Center                                                          $1,500

WRL Conservancy – Security Cameras                                      $1,500

Save Dixon Branch                                                                            $500

For The Love Of The Lake                                                                $500

WRL Foundation                                                                                $500

WRL Volunteers In Patrol                                                                 $500

            Total                                                                                       $5,000

The meeting also included two guest speakers.  One was Gary Griffith,  the former city council member for our area who is the new Chairman of the new White Rock Lake Conservancy.  As Gary explained, the Conservancy was formed at the request of the Dallas Park & Rec. Dept. to serve as the major fund-raising organization for private donations to White Rock Lake Park.  WRL Park was the only signature park in Dallas that did not have a major fund-raising group.  Signature parks are those parks that are used by the entire area population rather than just as a neighborhood park.  The other four signature parks are the Zoo, the Arboretum, Fair Park and the Katy Trail/Turtle Creek Courridor.  Those parks all have staffed non-profits raising millions of dollars per year.   The first two projects that the Conservancy will be embarking on are raising funds to purchase security cameras in the park and funding the rebuilding of the Dreyfuss Club.  The PNA was the first neighborhood association to make a donation to each of those projects.

The second speaker was from the Dallas Code Enforcement Dept.  She explained what we need to do to report code violations and how the city works to improve neighborhoods by working with property owners to upgrade their properties.

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November 29, 2008 by stephen.

PNA QUARTERLY MEETING (AKA HOLIDAY PARTY) TO BE HELD DECEMBER 11^TH FROM 6:00 PM TO 8:30 PM AT THE BATHHOUSE

SALE OF THE 2009 TASTE OF WHITE ROCK DINNER CLUB BOOKS WILL BE KICKED OFF

(Asst. Editor’s note: The Bath House Cultural Center does not generally allow the facility to be used for ‘parties.’  So our gathering on the 11^th is called a quarterly meeting.  But it sure will look like a holiday party.)

Here’s your chance to meet and greet old and new neighborhood friends in a casual atmosphere right here in the neighborhood.  The Peninsula Neighborhood Association will hold its quarterly meeting at the Bath House Cultural Center.  For those who do not know where the Bath House is, it is the building in White Rock Lake Park at the bottom of Northcliff Drive.  Off course, there will be a very brief business meeting, but the majority of the evening will be devoted to food, good cheer and a chance to celebrate the holiday season.

And the meeting will be an opportunity to purchase one or more Taste Of White Rock Dinner Club Books.  Once again the books will include twelve or more locally owned restaurants, lead once again by PNA neighbor Jeannie Terilli’s Terilli’s Restaurant on Lower Greenville.  Of the 13 restaurants in the 2008 book, 12 are coming back once again (Kitchen 1924 is no longer in business).  In order to satisfy the objections of some of last year’s book buyers that the time limit of six months was too short, the 2009 books will be valid from January 2, until October 31, 2009.  The books cost twelve dollars and make great stocking stuffer gift for friends and family.

For those of you not familiar with the Taste Of White Rock, it is a dinner club program where one receives a free meal when purchasing another meal of equal or higher value.  There are some restrictions, but very few.   One restriction is the coupons are good for dine-in only.

The proceeds from the Taste Of White Rock books benefit the non-profits at the lake and the neighborhood groups selling the books.  In the first two years the books were sold, over $10,000 was given to the lake (see another article in this newsletter for the 2008 donation specifics).

We will need some volunteers to help with food and drink serving.  To help please call Janice Parson at 214-208-1801 or email her at janiceparson@ellenterry.com.

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May 6, 2008 by park.

A meeting will be held on May 22 beginning at 7:30PM at Winfrey Point to discuss the installation of street lights around White Rock Lake. Street lights already installed will be powered by a generator for viewing.

Pro: Security at night for people and vehicles.
Con: Light Pollution. Lights will deter from White Rock Lake’s reflective pool effect, natural setting & star gazing.

<more - this was originally posted under comments, but I moved it up for greater ummm visibility>

northrup says:
May 6, 2008 at 4:33 pm | edit

A Brief History:

Some years ago, the White Rock Lake Foundation (WRLF) proposed putting hundreds of streetlights around the lakefront. The WRLF website shows a rendering of the lights along a lakeside trail – during the day. http://www.whiterocklakefoundation.org/lighting.html

Obviously the park requires some lighting - at the entrance to parking lots, etc. The City did not want to pay for the project - neither the lights nor their electric bill. So WRLF took it upon themselves to raise the funds - $1,000,000 worth of streetlights to light up the lakeside - as quoted in the Advocate, February 2005:
http://www.advocatemag.com/uploads/pdf/ED_02_05.pdf?PHPSESSID=4ca1bc9ba447bbbdea7ee86fb05761b6

WRLF was unable to raise private funds for its project. So WRLF got Parks to find money in the spillway repair project and got an earmark in a bond issue. As reported in the Dallas Observer on May 1st (OVER)
http://news.dallasobserver.com/2008-05-01/news/white-rock-lake-neighbors-want-to-know-whose-bright-idea-it-was-to-install-lights/

Hossley Lighting Associates, a lighting vendor, was brought in as a “consultant” by WRLF and Parks http://www.hlalighting.com/

Hossley, WRLF, Parks (Willis Winters), and a DPD patrol officer did the lighting plan. Only Hossley knew anything about lighting - the WRLF are laymen, Willis Winters is an architect, and the DPD officer was a beat cop.

Parks approved the final plan with no input from the neighbors or neighborhoods.

The contractor started putting in light poles in parking lots on W. Lawther Drive - until the neighbors started to complain. Councilman Kadane suspended the project, and a called a meeting for May 22 at 7:30 at Winfrey Point.

The City’s cover story on this boondoggle is the need for “more security”. But from a security standpoint, the need for this much lakeside lighting has never been demonstrated.

Most crime in the park is burglary of motor vehicles (BMV) - during the day - approximately 8 BMVs per year on W. Lawther Drive. Lighting lake front lots won’t prevent daytime BMVs. Over-lighting would just enable burglars to see into parked cars and burglarize them at night.

Lakeside lighting would attract more people to the park after the midnight curfew. So on balance, over-lighting the lakeshore could make crime go up in the park - not down. Security cameras would be a better deterrent - they work day and night.

The real crime here is the amount of lighting proposed around the lake: a $500,000 contract to spoil the lakeside views every night for everyone.

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March 18, 2008 by park.

PNA Quarterly Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 19 March 2008 beginning 7PM at the Bath House Cultural Center.

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March 18, 2008 by park.

DALLAS – Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today continued his fight against identity theft by unveiling a new, consumer-friendly Web site. In an effort to help Texans prevent or minimize the damage from identity theft, Attorney General Abbott discussed the Web-based initiative today at the Regional Organized Crime Information Center’s ID Theft Conference in Dallas. Among the helpful tools offered on the site, , is the Identity Theft Victim’s Kit.

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February 28, 2008 by park.

The City of Dallas, Office of Emergency Management and the National Weather Service are collaborating to increase severe weather safety awareness and preparedness, and urging residents to review and practice personal safety measures. Residents are encouraged to prepare, update and review emergency plans for their families and businesses.

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February 25, 2008 by park.

A Burglary of a Motor Vehicle (BMV) occured between 5:30-8AM on Wednesday, 20 February at the 9300 Block of Biscayne.

This is the second BMV on this block this year. The last BMV at this location occured on 12 January.

Let’s see if we can get a Block Captain (preferably at home during the day) for this area that would not hesitate to call 911 and Crime Watch on all suspicious activity.

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