WBNA E-news 3.18.2010

Events:

Roll the Dice: Our 7^th Annual Membership Kick-off Party at Julian’s, 318 Broadway, is on Tuesday March 30, from 5:30pm – 7:00pm.  Meet, Mix and Mingle with neighbors and friends. We will be welcoming Lt. San. Lucas back from Military Duty and thanking Capt. Sauro for doing a great job filling in for San Lucas!  Roll the Dice to determine your cover charge, snake eyes are free!  Free food and cash bar.  Carnival games and prizes.  Join the WBNA and receive the all-new WBNA member card that gives you discounts at many local businesses, plus a free bumper sticker!

Other Important Area News:

Hearings & Meetings: On Monday March 22 @ 1:00pm in the Board of License hearing room, 1^st floor, City Hall, there will be a Board of Licensing Hearing of A&P Auto, 334 Carpenter Street. This auto business has been on a 90 day probationary period due to certain violations.  Public comment will be taken.

Crime Watch Meeting: Neighbors helping Neighbors! Get involved. Tuesday, March 23, at the WBNA Headquarters from 6:30pm –8:00pm. Please note that is a very informative Google group. If you wish to become a member of this group, please email wbna@wbna.org with subject line “Crime Watch Group”, and your email will be forwarded to the moderator of the group.

Neighborhood-wide Spring Clean-up: Saturday April 17. We are looking for Street Captains to volunteer to lead the clean-up on your street.  It is easy and fun and gets you an invitation to the supercool street captain party.  Contact wbna@wbna.org if you would like to be a spring clean-up street captain. 

US Census –  You should have received your Census Form in the mail. Please make sure to  “Take 10 Minutes” to complete and mail back their 2010 Census Forms. For More Information visit  http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/. Also US Census Jobs, the Dept. of Census is still continuing to recruit for full-time and part-time census workers. They offer great pay at $12.25 per hour, flexible hours, paid training, reimbursement for work-related expenses http://2010.census.gov/2010censusjobs/application-material/

Bank Façade on Weybosset Street: The Providence Business News poll this week concerns the fate of the Bank Façade on Weybosset Street. They ask three questions: Should it be torn down immediately?; Should it be preserved?; Should it be considered at public hearing? Please visit http://www.pbn.com/, and cast your vote (at the bottom of the PBN page).

WBNA Enews 3.11.2010

Upcoming Events & Meetings -

Urban Greens - Rhode Island's premiere cooperative grocery store is so close to opening we can almost taste it! They are having a Spring 2010 membership drive launch Party at www.loiefullers.com/. For more information visit www.urbangreens.com

1577 Westminster Street – Construction is moving along, the foundation has been poured! Feel free to stop by the site and observe another accomplishment of the WBNA in progress. Making our neighborhood a better place!

Westminster Street Improvement Program – Is finally ‘Out-to-Bid”! WBNA applied for the funds for this project in 1999 to install decorative lighting along the length of Westminster Street from the I-95 service road through Olneyville Square.  It had gotten stuck in years of city, state, federal bureaucracy and cost increases, but is finally moving forward.

Luongo Square Improvement Program – Thank You Councilman John Lombardi. Kari had a very productive meeting with the Councilman who has kindly offered to allocate funds to help with the completion of design plans for this project. Construction is tentatively scheduled for Spring of 2011.

West Side Public Schools – WBNA, WSPEC, and NOMADs are working with the School Department on the Future of West Side Public Schools. A series of meetings is being planned on this very important issue. The schedule of meeting will be posted on our site as soon as it becomes available.

Grove Street School – Yesterday, the Providence Building Board of Review upheld an order by the City of Providence requiring the property owner to secure and board up the property for public safety and to counteract demolition by neglect.  This order was issued last summer but the owners appealed the order.  They now have 30 days to secure the property.

Neighborhood-wide Spring Clean-up – Saturday April 17. Mark your calendar. Details & Information to follow in the coming weeks!

Neighborhood-wide Yard Sale – Saturday May 22. Mark your calendar!  Now taking reservations to get on the yard sale map .

US Census - Census time is here! Questionnaires are being delivered this month and as a Census Partner WBNA would like to ask you to make sure to “Take 10 Minutes” to complete and mail back their 2010 Census Forms. For More Information visit http://2010.census.gov/2010census/take10map/

US Census Jobs: The Census is still continuing to recruit for full-time and part-time census workers. They offer great pay at $12.25 per hour, flexible hours, paid training, reimbursement for work-related expenses http://2010.census.gov/2010censusjobs/application-material/

WBNA Crime Watch Alert:

Over the past few months, several members of the Google Crime Group have reported a cell phone scam. Residents in our neighborhood have been caught off guard after being approached by “strangers” requesting the use of a cell phone.  Exercise caution and do not be caught off guard if you happen upon this situation.

Other Important Area News

Please visit the new website of The Head of the Bay Gateway http://makeshooterspublic.com. They have a new online petition at the site calling on city and state officials to create a "vibrant public destination". They need your help to reach a goal of 1,000 signatures, which will build their strength in this election year. To offer your support please click on the link below http://www.tihepetitionsite.com/1/make-shooters-public )

WBNA GENERAL MEETING                                                                                Tuesday, March 2, 2010 from 7-8:30PM @ WBNA, 1560 Westminster Street

WSPEC sponsored meeting to discuss the future of West Side neighborhood schools--You are invited to join the West Side Public Education Coalition (WSPEC) and Carleton Jones of the Providence School Department in the first of a series of community meetings to discuss the reopening of the West Broadway Elementary School building as well as middle school options in the neighborhood

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

West Broadway Neighborhood Association (WBNA) and West Side Public Education Coalition (WSPEC)

Contact: Kari Lang (WBNA), 401-301-3821, 401-831-9344 or kari@wbna.org 

Contact: Bryan Principe (WSPEC), 401-486-2488 or bryanprincipe@yahoo.com

West side groups answer call of Superintendent Brady

Community meets with school department to discuss direction of neighborhood schools 

Providence, Rhode Island – February 26, 2010 – Parents, community groups, and residents of Federal Hill and the West End are attending a neighborhood forum with school department officials next week in response to an initiative proposed by Superintendent Thomas Brady at a Providence School Board meeting earlier this week.

Brady recommends that the school department create a task force to help support and recommit to neighborhood schools, and to actively engage communities and stakeholders in the process. Several community organizations, including the West Broadway Neighborhood Association (WBNA) and the West Side Public Education Coalition (WSPEC) responded enthusiastically to the Superintendent’s call for greater collaboration between the community and Providence Schools.

“This forum is the first of what we hope to be a series of ongoing conversations about the future of our neighborhood schools,” said Kari Lang, Executive Director of the WBNA. “We look forward to working together with the school department to get community input and to find out what’s best for the neighborhood and for our children.”

The two community organizations, along with a group of parents with pre-school age children called New Moms and Dads for Schools (NoMADS), the Providence Preservation Society and state and city officials, advocated for over three years to reopen the West Broadway Elementary School building on Bainbridge Avenue after it was closed due to fire code violations. Earlier this week Superintendent Brady recommended renovating and reopening the West Broadway site, an action that has reinvigorated the community, according to west side education advocates.

“We are ready to go,” said Bryan Principe of WSPEC. “Our community has enormous potential for making our schools the highest performing in the city. West Side parents are passionate about quality education in our neighborhood schools. This is an incredibly exciting time for our community.”

The meeting will focus on the reopening of the West Broadway Elementary School building as well as middle school options in the neighborhood.

The forum will be held on Tuesday, March 2, at the West Broadway Neighborhood Association, 1560 Westminster Street, Providence. 

Community members and the press are welcome to attend.

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