I found this little guy at the entrance to Debs Park on Bushnell Way. He has a collar on, but no tag identification. This drives my wife crazy, but what can you do? When we find a stray dog without a collar we take them to the Pasadena Humane Society on Raymond Ave in Pasadena. There, they’ll scan him for a microchip, and if none is found they’ll put him up for adoption, a better alternative then the N.E. Animal Shelter on Lacy.

This seems to happen about once a month to us and we got thinking, Hermon needs a dog census. Wouldn’t it be great if you could see a map of Hermon’s dogs? That way, when your pooch goes missing, you can update the maps with your dog’s lost status? Or vice versa, if you found a lost dog you could post it along with comments online for the community to view. If anyone is interested in helping organizing this, please email adam(hermon.org)

In the meantime, if anyone needs a place to post lost & found pics, please email me and I’ll post online.

*** Clean Team! It’s this Saturday, May 3, from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. beside Monterey Donuts at the Monterey Plaza (Avenue 60 side). After munching some donuts, we’ll put on our gloves, grab our bags, and clean the main parkways and curbs of town. The more people that show up, the more we can do. So come on out, get your aerobics in, and make Hermon sparkle. It’s a two-fer.

*** Next Thursday, May 8, is the next meeting of our city-certified Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council’s (ASNC) Hermon Local Issues committee, 7 p.m. at the Monterey Adult Day Health Care Center, 5926 Monterey Road. If you’re a stakeholder — you live, work, own property, or have a student at a school in Hermon — then this meeting is for you. It’s a great place to find out what’s going on in Hermon and help make it an even better place.

The agenda’s still being put together, but so far we expect: 1) to be hearing about how the state’s budget cuts could negatively affect our own Monterey Adult Day Health Care Center’s support for seniors all around our area (and how we might be able to speak against that); 2) to look into what can be done about the stalled townhome building project (on the dangerous Monterey Road curve north of Avenue 60) taking up so much of the sidewalk, curb, and street area; 3) more discussion about our 20-year community plan; and more items as they surface (please e-mail any of your own suggestions to JosephR@mindspring.com). And, come with your own issues and concerns for future agendas.

Also, special thanks to the many of you that came out to this week’s full ASNC board meeting held in Hermon to support your neighbors as they were sworn in as community representatives. For the second year in a row, about half of the 50+ stakeholders required to be present in order to pass the bylaws amendments on the agenda were our own sturdy Hermonites. Yay!

*** Last week’s Hermon Safety Committee meeting was jam-packed with great information. New Hollenbeck Captain Tina Nieto was introduced and took questions. Then Karen with the American Red Cross spoke and demonstrated many first aid situations, then CPR. Finally, LAPD Senior Lead Officer John Pedroza told us that Toyotas and Hondas are being targeted and suggested owners of those autos, especially, should get the “Club” as a deterrent. Her took questions, and here are just a few of those Q&As.

Q. What do we do about loud neighboring parties?
A. Call the non-emergency number 1-877-ASK-LAPD. You can call several times and if it becomes habitual, call SLO Pedroza at 213-793-0748 and he’ll go knock on their door.

Q. What do we do about people going through our blue recycling bins (on the street)?
A. Get their license number (if they’re using a vehicle), call SLO Pedroza and he’ll go door-knocking.

Q. Why, when several people in Hermon have called Hollenbeck recently, have they been incorrectly told we’re assigned to Northeast Division of LAPD? (In fact we’re listed on Northeast’s Website, in one place, and not on Hollenbeck’s).
A. Tell the person answering phones at Hollenbeck that we’re in “RD401, Hollenbeck Basic Car 4A3.” This should not only amaze them (that you know those details), but get you the help you need.

*** This week was the first of seven weeks of CERT (Community Emergency Response Training) here. Thirty hearty souls signed up for the 2-1/2 hour classes at the Hermon Community Church Fellowship Center. The time flew by as we learned about earthquake preparedness. Next week we get to learn how to use fire exteinguishers by putting out an actual real-life fire. Oh boy!

Just a few of the good things we learned: always keep your gas tank one-half or more filled; put lightsticks between your mattress and box springs, to grab if the electricity goes out at night; have one gallon of water on hand — per person, per day (figure 4-5 days); ask your doctor for samples of medicines for your emergency kits; have two fire extinguishers in your home; and if you must leave your car (and a downed power line might be on it) “hop” out, rather than just stepping out, so your body doesn’t arc the electricity — electrocuting you.

*** Several types of burglaries are happening and being attempted recently in our area of L.A. Last weekend in the heat, what police are calling “hot prowl” burglaries took place — three committed by the same suspect. He entered through open windows in the middle of the night and confronted sleeping victims (no rapes). So please remember, even when the weather heats up, to lock those windows and doors.

The other, possibly a “distraction” burglary, was attempted by a man asking for water samples from inside the house of a senior citizen because (he claimed) the water was contaminated from construction going on at Debs Park. Fortunately she did not let him in and, before he left, he asked about her neighbors. When she did not give much information, he left.

*** There’ll be a Youth Job Fair open to all young people — ages 16 to 24 who are L.A. City residents (you must show school ID or a driver’s license) — on Saturday, May 10, from 10 a.m to 1 p.m. at the Glassell Park Community & Senior Center, 3750 N. Verdugo Road, L.A. 90065. Come dressed for success for possible on-site interviews with local companies. Bring at least 20 copies of your resume. There will be applications to complete for seasonal summer jobs and permanent positions. On-site interview and job application assistance will be provided, including resume writing and interviewing techniques. Admission is FREE. For more info, please call the Office of the L.A. City Attorney at 213-847-8045.

It’s all good — in and around Hermon. . .
Where quirky works,
Families return,
And dogs smile all night long

Wendi

The Hermon Emergency Preparedness Committee is please to announce that our Hermon Emergency Preparedness Plan is now on-line! Please see the links on the left-hand sign of this page! Many pages are still in development — we expect to be completed by mid 2008.

In the meantime check out our new Hermon Neighborhood Zone Map and see what zone you live in. Or check out the Hermon Seismic Map to see if your home lies in a liquefaction or landslide zone.

Please direct any questions to Mark at 323.823.3046 or mark@legassie.com.

Hermon.org was cracked by spammers a few months ago and as a working bloke, I didn’t get around to resolving the whole mess until now. Stay tuned, a lot of neat things are happening in Hermon. If you have ideas for columns, news about the neighborhood, real estate for sale, safety concerns, etc., please contact me at adam at hermon dot org.