Cars and Robbers

I've received a some reports in the past few weeks of some late-night attempts to remove items from parked cars.  Generally the attempts were unsuccessful because the cars were locked, someone observed the nefarious activities and called the police, or because there was nothing of value to steal.  There have been some small, portable items (like iPods and portable GPS devices) taken.

There seems to be a pattern to these attempted robberies.  The vandals work individually or in small groups.  They walk along a row of cars searching for unlocked doors.  When they find a car with an unlocked door they make a quick search for small, portable valuables to grab.  They run away when someone notices them and yells or calls the police.

I have not had any reports of these robbers trying to force the locks of locked cars.  I suppose the time it takes and noise it makes to break into a car makes it more likely that the potential robbers will be spotted and the police called. 

To thwart these potential robbers some obvious steps should be taken.  Please lock all car doors when leaving your vehicle.  Even if you think you might be returning to your car shortly, lock the doors.  Often plans change and the car is left unlocked overnight.   Also, don't leave small, valuable, electronic devices or other obviously valuable items in plain sight in your car.  Hide them out of sight or even better, bring them inside.

As always, your comments are welcome.  Please click on the word "comment(s)" below.


Harvey Levine
Inverness Today Blog
iftblog@gmail.com

Help Us Clean Up the Woods

Don Vicars, the volunteer in charge of the maintenance of our trees and the woods, is organizing a cleanup of the woods this weekend.  Don writes the following:

The woods are an important asset to our community.   But like a garden, they require maintenance to stay healthy and look natural.  Each year, we have our tree vendor cut down dead trees and branches that are dangerous.   Other things fall on their own.   And homeowners put branches and shrubs in the woods.   It all adds up to wood on the ground.   A little wood scattered in the forest is healthy and looks natural.   Too much becomes a problem.

There are problem spots in the IFA forest that would benefit from a cleanup.  We are seeking volunteers this Sat, 6/19 to help cleanup large branches and small fallen trees that have accumulated over the years.  If you are interested in helping, please leave your name and number and someone will contact you.

Don has asked me to compile a list of volunteers and their phone numbers.  He will phone the volunteers and make arrangements for this Saturday's cleanup.  If you are interested in helping the community with this cleanup, please email me your name and phone number and I'll pass that information to Don.  My email address is at the bottom.

Thanks,

Harvey Levine
Inverness Today Blog
iftblog@gmail.com

Raccoon Attack

Last night a raccoon attacked a dog walker along Deborah Drive.  The animal’s aggressive behavior left open the possibility that the raccoon might be rabid.  In addition another resident, also walking his dog, witnessed the incident.

Igor Kleyner described his encounter with the raccoon in an email to me as follows:

I had a very unpleasant incident this evening (May 24 - HL).  About 8:30 pm, as I was walking with [my dog] Doctor on Deborah Drive, we were attacked by a raccoon.  Here is a "play-by-play"...

- we are walking toward South on the pool side of Deborah, approaching Kirkwall

- a raccoon comes out from the woods between 107XX houses and Deborah, crosses Deborah about 50 feet in front of us, as we stop and pause, and climbs a tree in the front yard of the house on the north-west corner of Deborah and Kirkwall.

- we walk past the raccoon and cross Kirkwall

- as we reach the southwest corner of Deborah and Kirkwall, the beast starts making barking sounds while looking at us, then climbs down from the tree and charges us

- I yell at it with no apparent effect, then run across Deborah to our side of the road, dragging Doctor along

- the coon pauses, then charges again, this time more aggressively; instinctively, I kick the damn beast in its face, grab Doctor and run across Deborah again back to the side where it all started

- the coon does not chase us anymore - it goes into the woods,  ...

- I called MC animal control emergency number when I got home - they were surprisingly uninterested and told me that since I can't tell them where the coon is right now, they will not do anything.  ... I am going to call their non-emergency number tomorrow morning, hoping for a more intelligent and receptive person on the other end of the line.

Carolyn Hayes, whose husband witnessed the raccoon attack, emailed me the following description:

Hi Harvey,

I just wanted to communicate an experience my husband had last night while walking one of our dogs.  The only reason this raccoon may not have been rabid was because the incident happened after dark-when racoons are out normally in nature.

He said he heard a man scream, and he went to the location where he heard it.  It was in the center "island" area between our houses.  [The man] who has a small black dog, had to kick a hissing raccoon that got too close to him and his pet.  The animal then ran back into the woods.  I don’t know if they got to close to the wooded area at that time of night and was too close to where the raccoon was for comfort, but it was worth me emailing you about so that other residents can be aware.  I would hate to see someone's pet or child have an accident with one.

Carolyn

So, please be alert when you are walking your dog after dark.  I think I’ll look for a small stick to carry.


Please see Igor's and Carolyn's comments below (If they are not visible, click on the word "comments"). 

Harvey,

Harvey Levine
iftblog@gmail.com

Rebecca Adler Book Talk on Saturday 4/24

Inverness Forest resident Rebecca Adler will give a talk at the Potomac Library this Saturday morning. Here are the details:

You are invited to attend a Book talk by Rebecca Adler, author of " Keep Me Safe at Home and in My Community" (A handbook on safety for young children and their families)

This book is unique in that it covers six areas of safety: Homes , Strangers, Cars, Streets, Playgrounds, and Swimming Pools. The book is colorful, easy for children to read, multi-cultural, and includes many pets.


Date: Saturday, April 24, 2010

Place: Potomac Library
10101 Glenolden (Corner of Falls Rd.)
Potomac, Md. 20854
240-777-0690

Time: 10:00 To 11:00 A.M.

Contractor List Revisited

I received the following email from Inverness resident Valen Brown:

Do you know if anyone in Inverness Village has had a good experience with oak floor refinishers? I'm considering doing the kitchen floor--

Thanks Valen

This reminded me that we have a "Contractor Recommendation Form" that lets Inverness residents enter information on specific contractors and describe their experience. The contractor information is automatically entered on the "Contract List" for everyone to see.

The sidebar (on the right) contains links to both the Contractor Recommendation Form and the Contractor List. There are currently 13 entries on the list. Although all the contractors listed by residents are highly praised, it would be equally helpful to learn about contractors that have not met your expectations or have been downright terrible. Even if a contractor you've used is already on the list, it would still be helpful to have additional opinions on that contractor

Thanks to those of you who have previously provided information on contractors that they have used. If you would like to share information about a contractor with the Inverness community, please fill out the Contractor Form by clicking on the link in the sidebar.

If you have a recommendation for Valen, please fill out the Contractor Recommendation Form.

Thanks

Harvey,

Harvey Levine
iftblog@gmail.com