All posts by Kirk Hall

The BEAR is back!

Interesting Things, Neighborhood Security

I just received this e-mail from one of our neighbors, Pat Petty. She even sent a picture and a link to a YouTube video on how to identify Bear scat. Pat lives over 400 yards from the drop off to the valley, right in the middle of a lot of other houses. So the bear is roaming places where it could run into people.

Thanks Pat!

– I think this is the bear. While trimming daisies in our upper garden, I found the scat today. No damage done, except for deer eating our fruit tree branches.-

https://youtu.be/TeLR4_RYddo

I just received a note from Chuck Corbin.  Here is what he has to say:

Howdy Kirk,

Lynn and I found Black Bear Droppings in our yard yesterday. We live in Shawnee Ridge at 13804 108th St. Ct. E.

http://icwdm.org/inspection/BlackBrownDroppings.aspx

 

Bear Scat

WARNING – FBI SCAM – WARNING

Neighborhood Security

Just a few minutes ago I received a call from 607-233-4558. The Caller ID said Ithaca, NY. The woman on the other end a (something) Gray said that I had committed a serious Federal Crime and I was to call 607-233-4558 immediately. This was my second and last warning and if I did not comply there would be serious consequences.

It was an obvious scam and I promptly reported it to the FBI (WWW.IC3.GOV), the Pierce County Sheriff, and NOMOROBO (https://www.nomorobo.com/). If you haven’t got the NOMOROBR service, get it, it’s free and works like a charm for numbers which have been reported.

Please be aware that the scammers are targeting people in all walks of life. If someone calls you with something like this, just hang up. Legitimate government agencies don’t work this way.

Surveillance Catches Suspect Trying To Kick In Homeowner’s Door

Neighborhood Events

Recently King 5 News ran a clip of a suspect attempting to kick in a homeowner’s door. The resulting pictures of the suspect should guarantee his capture and conviction.

This is a great point for why CCTV systems help keep you and your neighbors safe.

Please watch this great video:

http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/seattle/2016/03/10/surveillance-catches-suspect-kicking-homeowners-door/81626128/

 

Smash and Grab

Neighborhood Events

On Thursday (10 March 2016) at approximately 0430hrs someone broke into cars parked at 11809 136th Ave E.  When the homeowners were looking at the damage they found mail from their neighbors in their driveway, indicating that someone may have been stealing mail. If anyone has further information on this break-in they can e-mail kahalljr@comcast.net and also call 253-840-0411 if it is urgent.

Break IN

Neighborhood Events

Last Monday (3 March 2016) sometime between 0730 – 1200hrs. , a burglar used a crowbar to get into the front door of 12310 133rd Ave E. in the Timber Ridge complex which is on the west side of 133rd Ave E. Jewelry and other items were stolen.  A blue pickup was reported spotted in the area when the break-in occurred. If anyone has further information on this break-in they can e-mail kahalljr@comcast.net and also call 253-840-0411 if it is urgent.

Woman Seen Prancing Away After Stealing Package With Birthday Gift In South Bay

Neighborhood Events

Below is a link to a story of a package theft in the San Francisco area. It shows the thief strolling up to the door of a house and stealing a package, then happily prancing (there is no other word that more accurately describes it) away.  Then she is seen crossing the street to steal yet another package from a neighbor. The prancing thief’s haul from the first house was a birthday gift for a 4 year old girl.

The thief’s picture is fairly clear, but if the homeowner had better cameras it would have been easier to identify her.  Additionally, it appears that she might be putting the stolen packages in a car parked at the curb.  If neighbors also had high quality video cameras, it is quite possible that the woman’s license plate would have been captured.

These days the police depend more and more on video captured by nearby cameras to solve crimes. We hope the package thief in the video gets a knock on the door and a nice shiny set of handcuffs to go with her outfit. Neighbors are sharing the video on social media in hopes that someone recognizes the suspect.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/01/12/woman-seen-prancing-away-after-stealing-package-with-birthday-gift-in-south-bay/

——Tis the Season——

Neighborhood Security 
One of our neighbors sent this in for the Blog.

Tis the Season

to have your packages stolen

Nowadays almost everyone gets packages from shopping online.  Costco, Amazon.com, Sears, Walmart; it seems like almost every retailer has an online presence. More frequently during the Holiday Season there are shoppers out there who are shopping for packages left at your front door.

This season let's make it harder for the bad guys and girls. When you order things, try to keep up with the tracking numbers and know when to expect them.  If you are not going to be home, ask a neighbor to keep a lookout for your package.  If the item is particularly valuable, ask for the driver to obtain a signature before leaving it.

I have cameras which record my visitors,and my deliveries.  If you don't have a camera system at your home, perhaps you might consider purchasing a wildlife camera just to record the coming and going of delivery men during the Holiday Season.  Wildlife or train cameras, as some people call them, can be purchased for prices between $50 and $200.

If you do purchase a wildlife camera, be sure to place it in a place where it will not be noticed.  Otherwise you might be missing your package and your wildlife camera.

 

 

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Know Your Neighbor – and make certain you know their e-mail

Neighborhood Activity, Neighborhood Security

Over the last several years our Neighborhood has seen many changes.  Recently a number of the homes have changed hands, something which did not happen very frequently in past years.

Now we face a quandary – how many of the new people know about our Blog – how many know about the Sunrise Terrace Directory and have submitted their information?  If you have a new neighbor could you take a moment to go over, say hello and make certain they know about these things?  If they don’t have the information, perhaps you could give them my phone number (253) 840-0411 or have them drop me a line at kahall@hotmail.com.

A Bear’s Tale

Neighborhood Events

As most of you know we sent out a Neighborhood Alert because of bear sightings on the north end of 136th Ave. E. and just above us in Heather Hills.  No pictures of the bear yet.

Valarie Okazaki wrote to say that because of the bear sightings in the Neighborhood she is hesitant about going on her morning walk. She did some research and found this:  http://www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/black-bear/bears-a-humans/119-how-dangerous-are-black-bears.html