You can see the vandalism that was done at this flickr photo set

A team of local citizens will review surveys and other research.
Neighborhood Associations will arrange the forums, which will be held
throughout Huntington in the coming months. The work is being coached
by representatives from the West Virginia Center for Civic Life and
Everyday Democracy through a grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum
Foundation. The hope is that community conversations about the issue
will lead to effective action that makes communities safer and deters
crime in Huntington.

More information will be available at www.createhuntington.com in the
coming weeks.

Faith in Action is an interfaith, volunteer organization that provides vital, non-medical assistance to the elderly and adults with disabilities free of charge.  Volunteer care givers take seniors to appointments, assist with grocery shopping or paperwork, make friendly visits, and provide daily telephone reassurance calls among many other services.  The personal connection between volunteer and care receiver is one reason the organization has been active in the region since 1996.  The services provided help seniors remain in their own homes and improve the quality of their lives.  Faith in Action serves the elderly and adults with disabilities in Cabell and northern Wayne Counties in WV and Lawrence County, Ohio.

The public is invited to stop by the office on the 21^st to learn more about Faith in Action and volunteer opportunities; to enjoy light refreshments; and to thank the volunteers who make it all possible.  Anyone with questions may call the Faith in Action office at (304) 697-1274 or (toll free) 877-367-1271.  Office hours are Monday-Thursday, 8:30 am-4:30 pm.

1. Install lights on your garage or outbuilding that lies along an alley way. By lighting the area you will automatically make that alley less inviting to a passing vandal.
2. Remove Graffiti as soon as you can. By removing it the vandal will grow discouraged that their work keeps getting removed. Sure, at first, they might hit again out of frustration but eventually they will realize you won’t back down (and you shouldn’t!)
3. If you see vandalism occurring – report it to the police! If you remain silent when the crime is occurring how can you complain about it happening? We need to work together with law enforcement to reduce the crimes in our communities!

Those steps alone will make a huge impact. If you are the neighbor to someone who gets vandalized encourage them to clean it up and offte to help them. If they won’t and you can then just do it yourself otherwise you’re just inviting the vandals to return and the next time they will probably be on your property.

If you’d like more information on why fixing vandalism quickly can help prevent future vandalism you should check out the book “Fixing Broken Windows: Restoring Order And Reducing Crime In Our Communities” by George Kellilng and Catherine Coles.

Finally, we could come together as a community and provide a better opportunity and outlet for the people who want to create grafitti. Perhaps we could organize a mural project along the floodwall downtown.

Brandi Jacobs-Jones, City of Huntington Director of Administration and Finance, states, “This is going to be an exceptionally busy year for tourism, and we want to make sure we showcase Huntington for our visitors. It is our goal to once again make the Jewel City sparkle, and we encourage everyone to join us in this first annual event.”

Volunteers are needed for the downtown cleanup on Saturday, April 25 and Saturday, May 2. Civic groups, church groups, student organizations, businesses, and concerned citizens are encouraged to participate and “Adopt-A-Block” by painting over graffiti, pulling weeds, picking up trash, etc.

Community residents are urged to contact their Neighborhood Association for week-long cleanup activities in their areas. The City of Huntington will have commercial dumpsters positioned throughout the neighborhoods to assist in the cleanup effort.

Businesses wishing to donate supplies for the event should contact Cathy Snoddy, at 304-697-7550 or csnoddy@huntingtonjuniorcollege.edu.

For further information concerning the Huntington Clean Sweep contact Brandi Jacobs Jones at 304-696-5540 or bjacobs-jones@cityofhuntington.com

Calling All Volunteers, We Need You:
Bring gloves, hoes, shovels, spades, trash bags, and whatever else you can think of, especially friends or family that could lend a hand Our next meeting is this Saturday at 2pm at the Barnett Facilities building, located at 1524 10th Avenue across from White Way. We need lots of volunteers to help work in the garden area, doing things like marking the beds with twine, cleaning and clearing the surface, turning the soil, weeding, etc. Also, on Tuesday next week, I need volunteers to help clean-up and prepare the Webb’s donated gardening area, especially clearing out their old burn-pile. We’ll meet at the Ace Hardware parking lot on 5th St Road at 1pm.

Confirmation Email:
Email us at our communitygardenshunt@gmail.com account to confirm that you are Volunteering. In that email, we will need your full name, which days you can Volunteer, and the best way to reach you by phone if there is a last-minute change of plans. This will be especially necessary when working on privately donated garden spaces, such as the Webb’s property, so that property owners know in advance who will be visiting at what times and for what purposes.

Weather:
The weather looks GREAT for Friday-Wednesday, so keep your fingers crossed!
See You Saturday and Tuesday!

You can learn more about the local Red Cross at http://www.cwv-redcross.org/index.php?nav=home

The voice of the public was heard loud and clear Monday night in City Council chambers regarding a proposed user fee hike…
After the finance committee received the public’s input Monday, its members made a decision to support the user fee and send it back to council for a vote. –WSAZ

It sounds like, in general, the residents of Huntington are in support of the fee increase and are happy to be getting 7 new police officers!

Please feel free to stop by and help or to take advantage of this great service (it’s free!)

Huntington is a great city but far too many people feel comfortable throwing trash on the ground, a citywide cleanup can only bring about a positive change. Heck, why wait for the project to begin – if you see a piece of trash on the ground pick it up and put it in a trash can. You can even do this while downtown as the main streets (3rd, 4th, and 5th) all have plenty of permanent receptacles.

I’ll update this post as I learn more about the cleanup project.