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By Ken, June 19, 2009 9:00 am

If you think the swine flu scare is over, think again.  The next wave could hit as early as this fall, according to the head of San Mateo County’s public health services. And it could be worse than the first wave.

Speaking last night to a hushed group of elected officials from most of the county’s cities, Dr. Scott Morrow warned that a more severe strain of the worldwide pandemic could force authorities to issue mandatory quarantines that might confine people to their homes for a period ranging from “two weeks to two months.”

He urged every resident to stockpile enough food, water, essential prescription medicines, sanitary soaps and surgical masks to ride out the emergency.  While no schools were closed in the county during the initial outbreak in April, health officials might do that and more in order to curtail the spread of the disease, he said.

Continue reading 'County’s Health Official Warning on Swine Flu'»

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By Ken,

It turns out that the illicit trash collectors who are grabbing plastics and aluminum cans from our recycle bins are depriving our cash-strapped city of revenue, and in the process stealing tax dollars from every one of us.  They may also be keeping the city from meeting a state requirement to recycle at least 50 percent of our waste, since we’ve only managed to recycle 48 percent–just a smidgen short of the objective.

By now, most of us in White Oaks who diligently put out our recyclables for pickup by Allied Waste have come across the nightcrawlers who prowl the streets by bike, wagon or pickup truck to filch trash before the legal scavenger teams arrive the next morning. Sometimes they leave a mess.  Sometimes they boldly panhandle residents, as one did to me a few weeks ago.

The bottom line is that once the recycles are placed on the curb, they belong to Allied Waste, and therefore taking them is legally a theft.  Allied has a contract with San Carlos and 11 other cities on the Peninsula to pick up trash and manage the San Carlos collection center.  From the recyclables that are redeemed, San Carlos gets a share of the revenues.

Continue reading 'Rubbish Robbers Deprive City of Needed Revenue'»

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By Administrator, June 11, 2009 9:09 pm

It’s Thursday night, and at least 2 scavengers are making their way through a neighbors’ trash night now.

As the police department mentioned at our meeting last week, residents should be careful that nothing with personal identifying information is in their trash.  And to call the police when we see scavengers. (Done.)

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By Administrator, June 5, 2009 11:03 am

“More Here Than at the Council Meetings”*

White Oaks Meeting

Over 100 people turned out to the first White Oaks neighborhood meeting on June 2. It was very encouraging to see such a large group concerned about making our neighborhood even better.

Three officers from the San Carlos Police Department made presentations and answered questions. Thanks to them for their effort.

One important item stressed by the officers is that we know the neighborhood best.  Officers relayed stories of residents who often see unusual items but don’t call the police because they don’t want to bother them, or they think it’s silly. PLEASE CALL THE POLICE WITH ANY OBSERVATION OF UNUSUAL ACTIVITY.

In particular, police highlighted items to look for:

• someone screaming or shouting for help
• someone looking into windows and parked cars
• unusual noises
• property being taken from closed businesses or from houses where no one is home
• cars, vans, trucks moving slowly with no apparent destination
• anyone being forced into a vehicle
• stranger sitting in a parked car
• abandoned cars
• unusual activity

*overheard from a woman attending the meeting

House Safety

Residential burglaries (break-ins) usually occur during the daytime: between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Be sure to lock your doors whenever you leave your house. Burglaries tend to increase during summer months. There were 12 residential burglaries in White Oaks between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009.

A few items to help make you and your house safer:

• have a timer on front porch light
• have locks on gates
• have inside lights on timers
• don’t have your house look like you’re away
• have photos of everything, stored externally
• make an inventory of everything, including serial numbers, and store it externally

There were 52 acts of vandalism (26 in one incident) and 3 solicitors were in White Oaks between June 1, 2008 – May 31, 2009.

Continue reading 'Neighborhood Watch Meeting Has Large Turnout'»

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By Administrator, June 1, 2009 2:07 pm

San Carlos criminals, watch out!

Worried about crime and concerned about the limitations of a cash-strapped police department, the White Oaks neighborhood is forming the city’s first neighborhood watch group in decades.

Part social, part preventative, the group will offer extra sets of eyes and ears, said organizer Ken Castle.

San Carlos’ idyllic image is also its downfall when it comes to galvanizing residents into such an organization, Castle said.

“It’s a fairly laid-back community that still leaves cars unlocked and garage doors open but it’s time to look at reality and see what’s out there,” Castle said.

The reality in White Oaks, he said, is an incident roster including slashed tires on 44 vehicles, daytime burglaries, thefts from locked and unlocked vehicles, theft of unsecured mail and packages left on front porches and aggressive unlicensed door-to-door solicitors who have sometimes forced their way into people’s homes.

While the police department does a good job, he said, citywide financial challenges mean often just three patrol vehicles per shift are assigned to a city of 28,000 residents and nearly 80 miles of road.

A town hall meeting in April gave the police department an opportunity to explain the situation to residents and helped spur Castle to mimic the neighborhood groups commonplace in other neighborhood cities. Burlingame — his former home — is a particular role model, especially the Poppy Drive group spearheaded by Councilwoman Terry Nagel, he said.

San Carlos hasn’t had a neighborhood watch group since the 1990s, said Patrol Cmdr. John Read.

“There was never really a desire for them from the community before,” said Read, who is working with Castle on the White Oaks group.

Continue reading 'San Carlos Forms Neighborhood Watch'»