Public Safety Director's Spotlight - Thank You!

This coming weekend is jam-packed with exciting, fun events for the whole family, but before I highlight several of them I want to first thank each and every one of you who voted in favor of retaining the city's earnings tax for the next five years. If you follow Mayor Slay's blog (http://mayorslay.com), you know that in the coming months his office will be working on a systematic review of government to seek out cost inefficiencies and quality-of-life issues. Also, he will soon begin a "listening tour" to hear residents' ideas for change in St. Louis. As Director of Public Safety, I will continue to scrutinize the budgets of the divisions under my authority for ways to improve operations to better serve you.

I also want to take this opportunity to encourage you to sign up to participate in the upcoming earthquake safety drill that will take place at 10:15 a.m. Thursday, April 28. More than 1.6 million people are expected to participate in the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut. The ShakeOut is an opportunity for us to prepare together, before a damaging earthquake strikes this region. Individuals, schools, businesses and other organizations may sign up at http://www.shakeout.org/centralus . 

You'll be seeing more about these two issues in the weeks and months ahead.

Listed below are just some of the events coming up in St. Louis. I encourage you to stop by and take advantage of all that our great City neighborhoods have to offer. Also, if you haven't visited the City's new website (http://stlouis-mo.gov), I encourage you to do so. On its home page you will find a link to the Calendar of Events. Please feel free to submit an event and to see what events are coming up. See you in the neighborhood!

GO! St. Louis Marathon & Family Fitness Weekend

The GO! St. Louis Marathon & Family Fitness Weekend is this Saturday and Sunday, April 9 and 10. This fun event features races and activities for people of all ages and fitness abilities. For a complete listing of all the activities, visit http://www.gostlouis.org/marathon-weekend.html

Dog Park Spring Fling

The Annual Benton Park West Dog Park Spring Fling is scheduled for this Saturday, April 9 from 10 a.m. to Noon at the Benton Park West Dog Park located at 3300 Nebraska (corner of Utah and Nebraska). Activities include adoption services, nail clipping, pictures with pets/owners and more. Membership is also available for residents in Benton Park, Fox Park, McKinley Heights, Marine Villa and Gravois Park.

Project Blitz 2011 Continues

Project Blitz, Operation Brightside's annual campaign to clean up city neighborhoods, continues this weekend in Region 2 North (bounded by Palm & Natural Bridge on the north, Mississippi River on the east, Hwy. 40 & Metrolink on the south, and Taylor on the west) and Region 2 South (bounded by Hwy. 40 on the north, Mississippi River on the east, Meramec on the south, and Grand on the west). Join your neighbors on Saturday, April 9 and Sunday, April 10 to clean up the streets, alleys and vacant lots in your neighborhood. The year 2011 marks the 30th year for this annual City-wide clean-up effort. For more information, visit http://www.operationbrightside.org or call (314) 772-4646.

Wall Ball 2011

Artwork by more than 60 artists will be on display at Wall Ball 2011 on Saturday, April 9. The event at Neo on Locust, 2801 Locust, will run from 7 to 11 p.m. There will be live performances, tasty appetizers, and plenty of fun activities. Tickets are $40 at the door. For more information, visit http://www.wallball2011.eventbrite.com .

A Tasteful Affair 23

The annual fundraiser for Food Outreach, A Tasteful Affair, will be held this Sunday, April 10 from 2 – 5 p.m. at the Chase Park Plaza in the Khorassan Ballroom. More than 40 restaurants and caterers will provide the tastings. There will be both a live and silent auction. Tickets are $65 at the door. Food Outreach provides nutritious meals for low-income persons living with HIV/AIDS or cancer. For more information, call (314) 652-3663 ext. 122 or visit http://www.foodoutreach.org .

NIXLE

The Department of Public Safety's City Emergency Management Agency (CEMA) provides free emergency alert service through Nixle (http://www.nixle.com/). When you register for the service, you will receive our informative and timely text messages on your cell phone and/or as e-mails on your computer. Visit the Nixle website and sign up for the free service today. If you have any comments about the service, please let me know.

Will you be having an event in your neighborhood that we can support? If so, you may email the information about it to me at brysonc@stlouiscity.com  or to Cathy Smentkowski at smentkowskic@stlouiscity.com for consideration of noting it in the Spotlight or you may post it on the City's Calendar of Events.

And remember, if you see something in the neighborhood that just doesn't look right, REPORT IT!

 

Charles Bryson

Director of Public Safety

City of St. Louis