Contributed by the Kent Police Department

Are you interested in starting a neighborhood blockwatch?

The Kent Police Department is hosting a city wide informational meeting on the benefits of starting and maintaining a neighborhood block watch.

Neighborhood Block Watch 101
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Kent City Hall Council Chambers

Why Attend?

• interested in starting a neighborhood block watch
• interested in re-starting an already formed block watch
• needing a refresher on maintaining a neighborhood block watch
• interested in hearing from other block watch captains and what has worked and what hasn’t
• interested in hearing about Kent crime trends and what residents can do to help prevent crime in their neighborhoods

What You Can Do Ahead of Time:

• find a neighbor or two to attend with you
• notify neighbors that you will be attending and bringing back information
• start mapping the neighborhood and forming a phone tree for each block watch (a block watch is 10-20 homes)

Please RSVP by April 8th to your Neighborhood Sector contact:

East Hill/Panther Lake Area: Stacy Judd at (253) 856-5883

Valley Area/West Hill: Sara Wood at (253) 856-5851

*This format is replacing individual neighborhood meetings. However, public education specialists will continue to visit block watches when crime trend concerns occur.

Kent businesses and employees, the Kent Police Department has identified a new trend to gain entry to businesses for unlawful purposes. Here is the information provided by Sara Wood, Public Education Specialist, for the Kent PD.

“Kent Police have identified a trend targeting businesses. Suspects are gaining access through the peep holes of doors and are drilling a hole in the door and using some type of device to pull the “push bar” and open the door. The suspects are targeting businesses and accessing rear doors that have no exterior handles, meaning the interior of the door is a push bar style.

One attempted burglary occurred on the East Hill last night. The suspects were unsuccessful gaining access to the door due to it being secured from the inside with an additional lock.

If you have a business with a door that has no exterior handles but a push bar on the inside, please consider utilizing a secondary locking device, ie. padlock, door frame lock, dowels, etc. Also, if you have an alarm system on your doors, make sure they are activated. If you have a surveillance system, be sure it is working properly and recording.”

Please share it with anyone you know who might be affected. Thank you!

Post updated August 8, 2010 –

A group of Kent residents and dog owners are pitching in to create a dog park on the East Hill between Morrill Meadows Park and East Hill Park on 248th. Though volunteers have helped to clear the blackberry bushes to get the park dog-ready, there is much more work to be done. Funding is also needed. You can help make this dream a reality. Here’s how you can help:

• Purchase and donate fencing at Home Depot ($45 a roll; volunteers can pick it up, if needed).
• Purchase a plaque on behalf of your dog for $102. Half pays for the plaque; the other half goes toward the dog park.
• Buy a bench for $500 (4 are needed).
• Purchase a garbage can for $350 (2 are needed).
• Monetary donations are always helpful.

For more information or to make a donation, call volunteer Michelle McDowell at 253-639-0124 or visit DogPark online.

In kind donations such as fencing and other items needed for the park can also be donated. Contact Brian Levenhagen, parks planning and development manager to see if the materials you want to donate meet city standards.

From the City of Kent:

Thousands are expected to attend Kent’s annual 4^th of July Splash and evening fireworks celebration at Lake Meridian Park.  But other parks get heavy use over the holiday weekend, too. The result is debris from unauthorized fireworks littering the parking lots and grounds.

So, neighbors, families, scouts and other volunteers are invited to donate an hour or two between 9:00-11:00 a.m. on Monday, July 5^th, to help clean up one of the hardest-hit parks.  The select parks are West Hill Park and West Fenwick Park on the west hill and Morrill Meadows Park and North Meridian Park on the east hill.

“We encourage volunteers to work together to ‘be green’ and keep recycling separate from trash,” said Parks Director Jeff Watling.  Trash bags will be dropped off at each park site for volunteers to use and maintenance staff will pick up full bags afterwards.  A Parks staff member will travel to each site, beginning on the west hill from 9-10 and moving to the other parks for the last hour.

Registration forms are available at www.KentWAParks.com, click on Volunteer, or call 253-856-5110.  Registration is encouraged by July 1 to give staff an idea of community interest.

From Linda Thielke at the King County Department of Transportation:

Kent East Hill ‘In Motion’ program rewards healthy travel choices

King County Metro Transit is launching an “In Motion” program on Kent’s East Hill to entice residents to get around by walking, cycling, riding the bus or train, and sharing rides. Program participants receive detailed travel information and earn rewards when they reduce their driving over a period of time.

During the first week of June, about 3,500 households on the East Hill are receiving an In Motion mailer with information about local travel options that emphasize the health, cost-savings and community benefits of driving less. The mailing features a neighborhood map showing bus routes throughout the East Hill area, and destinations near Southeast 240^th Street and 104^th Ave Southeast that are reachable by a short bike ride or walk.

Residents are invited to register as participants to receive more information and free ride tickets for Metro and Sound Transit. If they pledge to drive less, they can earn rewards that continue through September. Rewards include a shopping tote bag, pre-loaded ORCA transit cards, and gift cards from local businesses. Kent merchants benefit, too, from the increased emphasis on shopping locally. Several businesses have donated items for three prize drawings, including a Diamondback mountain bike and $100 gift cards to Kent Station.

Two organizations involved in the Kent community will help with outreach. The Lucy Lopez Center will offer information to Spanish-speaking participants, and ReWA (Refugee Women’s Alliance) will help Russian speakers. Metro’s other partners in the effort are the City of Kent’s Kent4Health program and the Kent Chamber of Commerce’s East Hill Partnership.

Over the past six years, Metro’s grant-funded In Motion program has reached residents in more than 20 King County neighborhoods. Metro estimates the popular programs have reduced more than 1.3 million miles of driving, 66,000 gallons of gas, and 674 tons of CO₂ emissions.

Information is available online at www.kingcounty.gov/inmotion or by calling the In Motion hotline at 206-296-3455

The City of Kent and a community group of dog owners are working to create an off-leash dog park on the East Hill. Currently, many dog owners are taking their dogs to Clark Lake Park between 248th and 240th which does not have an off-leash area. The new area will be on 248th street between 104th, directly between Morrill Meadows Park and East Hill Park. The off-leash dog park will consist of approximately three acres of land and provide space for both large and small dogs.

Work parties are needed to help raise funds for the work and to clear invasive plants which have gotten out of control in the area. The first work party is scheduled for Saturday, March 27 from 9 am to noon. If you’d like to help, call 253-856-5110 or email B. J. Levenhagen with the city.