Linden Park Commons Site Plan

Here is the current conceptual site plan for the Linden Park Commons project at the corner of North Bend Road and Hamilton Avenue in College Hill. The land acquisition approved by City Council in November, 2005, consists only of the highlighted properties north of North Bend Road.

Dorothy Harris and Amos Robinson Earn Awards for CPOP Participation

This is the documentation of the contribution that earned Dorothy and Amos the 2005 CPOP awards.

Community: College Hill

Problem: Youth/young adults dealing drugs, police arresting but legal system releasing them to College Hill streets within hours. No one was being held accountable.

Date: August 29, 2005

Submitted by: Phyllis Schoenberger, CPOP member, Secretary, College Hill Business Association, Active Citizen on Patrol, Chair of the College Hill Forum Health & Safety Quality of Life Committee

A. Scanning:

Since the inception of the College Hill CPOP team in May 2003, the arrests of those dealing drugs and causing disorder in our community has increased. The problem was that the legal system returned the criminal to the streets within hours with minimal if any safeguards for the community. These young men taunted the Citizens on Patrol (COP)volunteers, making comments that “no way you gonna get me, see, here I am”. The CPOP Team, COP volunteers, and College Hill Neighborhood Officer, Herb Noble, identified this frustrating problem.

B. Analysis:

Residents of the streets to which these drug dealers returned, sometimes with guns, attended the CPOP meeting asking for something to be done. These criminals are identifiable. The Team knew where they lived and where they hung out and dealt drugs. CPOP had input from business owners about them hanging and selling in the business district. We recognized that many of these youth had not finished high school, had no job, and no authority figure in their lives. CPOP invited experts to our meetings in order to educate us, to verify our facts, and to help us be creative in our approach to deal with the problem. These experts included prosecutors, probation officers, and judges.

C. Response:

It seemed clear to the CPOP team after analyzing the problem and especially after talking with those in the legal system, that our community needed to try something that had not been tried before, i.e. to effect change within the legal system. Two members of the CPOP Team volunteered to attend hearings for any one arrested who we knew to be a drug dealer or drug player in College Hill. Dorothy Harris, CPOP Facilitator, and Amos Robinson, CPOP member and active COP volunteer, began the now very effective “court watch” team. This effort was aided by working with Terry Cosgrove in learning the workings of the legal system, accessing computerized criminal records, and ascertaining court dates.

Since then, they are involved for a minimum of twenty hours a week in attending hearings. That does not speak to the time spent using the computer for the pertinent information in following the cases.

Even more important than their focus and dedication to attend hearings is the trust and respect they have earned with judges and prosecutors. They are asked by the judges to give community input and that input is taken seriously in sentencing. Ms. Harris and Mr. Robinson do not always ask for the harshest possible sentencing, knowing that in some cases, prison is not the answer. They recommend that the perpetrator receive community control with stipulations that the youth or young adult is welcome to our community if they take this time to obtain a GED or return to school. Many times they ask that the defendant get a job to support his children. Obviously, the probationer is expected to stop any criminal behavior.

Ms. Harris and Mr. Robinson then inform the community as to the community control stipulations. If the probationer is seen breaking those stipulations, they are reported and they serve their sentence in jail. There are so many reasons to commend these two citizens, but one thing is outstanding and that is the personal risk they take by being in court, highly identifiable, and subject to retaliation.

D. Assessment:

Since the initiation of this “court watch team” the following has happened:

• Judges, with few exceptions, seek them out at trial, asking for their community input regarding the defendant.


• Sentencing has been consistently more in keeping with the merits of the case, what is best for the defendant and what is a more effective safeguard for the community.


• In many cases, Dorothy and Amos make contact with the families who are attending the hearing. Ms. Harris takes every opportunity to talk with the mothers of these young men.


• Criminals who have gotten away with crime, who thought they would never be held accountable, have been arrested and are spending time in jail or on community control. Over the past year at least eight have been convicted because of the presence and input of Dorothy and Amos. Other known drug dealers are no longer in our community because they can more easily work elsewhere.


• Because of their work in the legal system, Mr. Robinson is now leading an effort for College Hill to have its own Probation Officer in order to make community control stipulations more workable. Any breaking of the stipulations can be dealt with more swiftly.


• The involvement of these two College Hill residents has brought hope to our community. It has brought support to the many fine police officers in District 5 who work our streets. It provides proof that the community is behind their hard work in making arrests to rid our business district and residential areas of those who cause fear and disorder.


• At the November 2004 meeting of the College Hill Forum, our community council, Dorothy Harris and Amos Robinson were recognized by the community of College Hill for their “initiative and dedication in working for a safe community”. They were commended for their “invaluable work in combating crime and in creating a working relationship with the Court system that fosters a healthy and vibrant community”.

The Streetscape—Mike Battoclette Looks Back on a Completed Project

The Streetscape has been in place almost long enough for us to begin to take it for granted. But we know that “The Avenue” didn’t always look this good. Here are CHCURC Streetscape committee chair Mike Battoclette’s observations about what was involved. Says Mike:

I congratulate our community and city leaders for all of their efforts to make the Streetscape improvements a reality. It took us over three years but we got it done.

This project for College Hill really started back in early 2001 with the completion of a College Hill Urban Design Plan funded with $30,000 from the City of Cincinnati’s Neighborhood Business District Improvement program (NBDIP). The Streetscape project was one of six keystone projects that College Hill identified in that plan back in 2001.

The first item of business to start the Streetscape project was to secure funding. Back in late 2001 our community was awarded $1,500,000 over three years to design and implement a new streetscape for our business district. These funds were awarded through the City’s NBDIP program. Everyone was very excited. There were many community individuals that worked on this effort to secure funding but the main point person and leader for this effort was Dave Schwartz.

With funding secured we put together a group of community individuals to help lay out and design the actual streetscape improvements. Our first meeting was Tuesday March 5th, 2002 and included: Peg St. Clair, Mary Kauffman, Barb Ramsey, Beth McClean, Kathy Strawser, Rick Strawser, Dave Schwartz, Gail Finke and Mike Battoclette.

As the designs were presented and documents were put together, we worked through issues with project phasing, public meetings, city approvals, lighting assessments, Cinergy gas line installation, main designer issues, and other things too involved to mention. Working with us through it all from that first meeting has been City of Cincinnati Architect Jack Martin. Jack has been involved in many of our community projects over the years and we thank him for his continued work and support of College Hill.

As we worked through the designs and met again and again, other key community people joined the fun in helping to make this Streetscape a reality. Those individuals included: the Reverend Todd O’Neal, Derrick Mayes, Karen Hartman, Tom Haid, Marty Weldishofer, Dolores Rowland and Phyllis Schoenberger.

We recognize especially Cincinnati Economic Development Director Tom Jackson for his attention, responsiveness and easy, calming work ethic in helping our community. He acted as our community point person throughout the project and was essential to getting all those documents completed for bidding, the lighting assessment approved through the business district and construction finally started.

Construction started at the end of last year with RA Miller as general contractor. They and their sub-contractors worked through all kinds of weather and dealt with some unforeseen conditions below ground, all the while keeping the federal highway that is Hamilton Ave open.

Now, at the end of all this, the streetscape looks great. The new street lights, the special lights for our crosswalks, the pavers on the sidewalks, the planter boxes with beautiful flowers, the new trees and the new sign and meter posts all make a great foundation and infrastructure for the continued success and attractiveness of College Hill.

The future is NOW for College Hill. People are starting to take notice. All of the community organizations are to be congratulated for their hard work to date and the FUN everyone is having along the way! We continue to build lasting relationships.

Thank you for allowing me to assist with this Streetscape project. I look forward to the future successes of College Hill. What a great neighborhood to live in within this fine City of Cincinnati!

Mike Battoclette

Biloxi Relief Trip by Tom Strothers

Biloxi Relief Trip by Tom Strothers
Shortly after Katrina hit Mississippi and Louisiana we spent a lot of time checking on our friends living in Mississippi and around New Orleans. Fortunately everyone had been accounted for. Like so many others, we sent a large donation to a relief group. It just wasn’t enough. During the week following Katrina’s onslaught we communicated with a close friend, Shannon, living near the Gulf in Biloxi. Her location is shown below:

What struck me in one letter from Shannon entitled “Tears for Katrina” was that her family and neighbors were pooling resources and helping each other without help from the outside. The only help being received was from the Salvation Army and from a Baptist relief center.

At the end of the first week after Katrina hit I talked with a friend in Park Forest, Illinois, about getting some supplies together and heading to Biloxi to help Shannon and her neighbors.

Preparation

My friend, David Lynch, and I talked to Shannon about the most urgent needs. At the end of the first week they were getting food and water. The Marine Corps came in via amphibious landing and quickly got the sewer system repaired. They had a generator running and were able to get gasoline. Shannon and her neighbors pooled resources and used Shannon’s house as a supply center. Miss Mel, Shannon’s neighbor did all the cooking. A church center was providing water, food and sporadic quantities of ice. What was really needed were items for personal hygiene and cleaning supplies.

David and I are both members of a dulcimer chat group called Everything Dulcimer. We asked for donations for our trip. Missy, David and I were also scheduled to be at the Harmony Harvest music festival in Lancaster, Ohio, on September 17. We decided that we would accept donations at Harmony Harvest then head to Biloxi on the 18th.

We began receiving financial contributions and boxes of supplies from Everything Dulcimer. On the 17th the organizers of Harmony Harvest took up a collection and went to a store to pick up various supplies including coloring books and crayons for children.

We went and returned to Lancaster on the 17th then spent most of Sunday, the 18th, sorting through our supplies and boxing them.



The Trip
We left Cincinnati at about 6pm Sunday figuring a 14 hour drive. We were really loaded and didn’t figure on making good time but Dave’s van did quite well. We had no problem getting to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, as the sun came up. We were already starting to see the effects of Katrina – fallen trees, twisted road signs and piles of debris. We missed our turn off toward Rt. 49 that would take us toward Biloxi. Apparently the sign was blown away. We ended up and a back road. It was a narrow paved road. The smell of dying pine trees was everywhere. It smelled like shopping for a cut tree for Christmas.

We finally made it to I-10 north of Biloxi. Shannon told us that there were three routes to her house from I-10. We planned on taking I-110 into Biloxi and we found that exit with no problem. However, traffic was bumper to bumper and there was a sign “Emergency Vehicles and Residents Only.” We were tired and figured that we would be in line for a long time so we did a U turn and headed back to I-10. This was two weeks after Katrina and debris was barely pushed aside from both sides of the roadway: clothes, bedding, shattered lumber, roofing, sheets of metal and so forth. This was the first real sign of the devastation. (We found out later that the area from I-110 south to the Gulf shore was one of the hardest hit areas.)

We made it back to I-10 and I called Shannon on our cell phone. She directed us to a Kangaroo gas station and said she would meet us there. Dave walked into the service station and mentioned that we were down to help some friends and told them where we were headed. They told him that nothing was left “South of the Track.” It took Shannon about 45 minutes to drive the 7 miles to where we were waiting. At this time I had been up over 24 hours but one look at Shannon and hearing her hack and cough and seeing that she was physically drained, my sleepiness disappeared and I realized we had some work to do.

The drive across Pass Road to Shannon’s neighborhood was slow. Most of the traffic lights were still out. There were National Guard personnel directing traffic at major intersections. We passed small and large businesses that were boarded up. One grocery store had large sheets of plywood across shattered store front openings that were hand painted words “We’re Open” crossed out. We a McDonald’s sign that was twisted but still partially lit. The restaurant roof was a foot off the ground. There was a small “Mom and Pop” hardware store with a panel van that had been blown through the back of the shop. Only a few iron beams held the roof in place. The walls were gone. We saw slabs of concrete partially covered with floor tile but no building.

Then we headed south across the railroad track. I was actually surprised to see anything standing but most of the houses were in tack though each house had a pile of debris at curbside. I noticed that the elementary school across the road from Shannon’s looked as though it had been untouched by Katrina. Nonetheless, we had arrived.

Monday

Shannon lives in a neighborhood close to Keesler Air Force Base south of the railroad track that runs parallel with the Gulf shore. The area is appropriately called “South of the Track.”

Shannon’s husband, Kit, is a Biloxi police officer. He had no choice but to stay in Biloxi during Katrina. Shannon and her two sons, Logan and Mike, also stayed. They had survived Camille and figured they could withstand this one. Besides, by the time that the path and intensity of Katrina was established, there was no time to leave.

Katrina came ashore between Gulf Port and New Orleans. The most dangerous part of Katrina, the northeast quadrant was right over Biloxi. Reports were that the storm surge was 25 feet but there were clear signs that it was much higher. Nonetheless, Shannon’s neighborhood was a bit higher in elevation than others that ended up under water. The map below shows approximately where the storm surge was in relationship to Shannon’s house.



After arriving, exchanging greetings and grabbing a cup of coffee, we began unloading the van. Kit was in bed as was working a 12-hour shift from 6pm to 6am. Shannon’s house already looked like a warehouse with boxes of various food and water. They had already removed the soaked carpet from the front room. The musty smell of mold was prevalent. We stacked and shoved our supplies sorting out some special gifts for Shannon – like chocolates and special bathroom goodies.

Two elderly ladies stopped over in the early afternoon asking about the electricity guy. Another friend of ours wanted to join us. He is a certified electrician and they wanted him to restore their power. The ladies lived a few houses toward the Gulf from Shannon. Though Shannon’s block had power, they did not. Unfortunately our friend’s boss wouldn’t let him take the time off. I’m not sure he could have done anything anyway. The utility companies were restoring power where it was safe to do so.

Dave decided to lay down for a while. I was on second wind and decided to chat with Shannon and take a walk down the street toward the Gulf. The picture below is typical of what I first saw.


On the way back from our walk I saw another scene typical of life in Biloxi near the Gulf. Nothing was left but the concrete slab where a house used to stand. A camping trailer is now being used for the residents and a sign identifying the address and owner placed outside. I’m not sure if this trailer was provide by FEMA or by someone else.

While Dave and Kit were still sleeping, I looked around at the damage in Shannon’s house and tried to think about where to start. They had a tarp partially placed over the roof to cover the damage. Since Katrina had hit the weather had been typical hot, muggy days but sunny. However, the tarp wasn’t enough to handle any significant rain.

After Kit and Dave got up we discussed what could be done during the time we were there. Kit had been remodeling the house on his time off but working mostly by himself and only between shifts. It was slow going. Kit had had only one day off in 28. However, he was scheduled to have Tuesday through Thursday off.

Shannon’s father and stepfather from Caldwell, Ohio, had delivered roofing supplies and plywood the previous week. It looked like enough to replace the roof. Our first thought was to go ahead and replace the roof thinking that it would not make sense to repair the front room if there was a chance of the roof leaking. Kit figured we would not have time to do this and that there was a chance of rain toward the end of the week. Also, State Farm Insurance had told them not to touch the roof until an adjustor could assess the damage. It was not clear when this would happen. Kit had checked with FEMA and they said that they did not qualify for assistance. Therefore, we decided to work on re-covering the roof, remove the ceiling and walls in the front room and to put up new ceiling and walls.

We spent the next three hours or so removing the old tarp that was there to cover more of the front roof where most of damage was. Dave and I had brought a couple tarps so we used that to cover the front porch and the rest of the roof. We then piled new shingle bundles on the tarp to keep it from blowing away.

Shannon decided that they couldn’t use all the supplies we brought but that her neighbors would need some of the stuff. She also had boxes of stuff everywhere. We decided it would be best to sort through everything and set aside what they could use and get rid of the other stuff. We spent the next couple hours doing this. Her neighbors came over and went through the extra supplies taking only what they absolutely needed. That left quite a few boxes of first aid, cleaning and personal hygiene supplies.

Miss Mel stopped by and said that her husband was going to grill up some burgers. She invited us to dinner and to drink some beer and watch the New Orleans Saints on Monday night football. We took her up on this but left at half time. I had been up some 40 hours or so and was feeling it.

Tuesday

First thing Tuesday morning, we made a list of list of materials needed for the living room. Kit and Dave headed to Lowe’s while Shannon and I cleared the north side of the room. There was heavy furniture in the room so we decided to do move the furniture to one side of the room, do two-thirds then move the furniture and finish the other part. We sealed off the rest of the house with heavy plastic and ran a plastic barrier across the room to seal off the larger area since we would be removing material coated with black mold.

After Dave and Kit returned we began tearing off paneling, rain soaked dry wall and removing insulation. Respirators were definitely required.




Around 11:30am the Salvation Army drove by handing out hot meals. It wasn’t much – ravioli, vegetables and sliced peaches – but it was good.

During our work period Kit mentioned that the Biloxi police department had lost 20 cars due to Katrina that have yet to be replaced. They were getting help from several police departments. His partner is an Indiana State Police officer who will be there for a few more weeks.

Shannon described how the Marine Corps had done an amphibious landing in order to get the sewage system working. She said it seemed like something from a war movie. I asked about the elementary school on the opposite corner where she lived. The lot and outside of the building seemed untouched. Shannon said that the week before we arrived that the Army Corps of Engineers were assigned to get all the schools up and running. This particular school can’t be opened yet due to some problems with their sewers. The city water system is running but they are still advising that people first boil the water before drinking. We were strictly using bottled water for cooking and drinking.

While we were eating the mail man showed up. The week before he showed up twice and that was welcomed. The week we were there the mail was delivered daily – a small sign that some semblance of routine was returning.

By four o’clock we had pretty much removed all the old material from the room and piled it up curbside. Normal garbage service was set up to run two to three times weekly. Once a week front end loaders and dump trucks were scheduled to pick up all debris piled up curbside. No matter where we traveled large piles of debris were in front of most residences and businesses. Most of the debris was hauled to designated burn sites.



After getting all the old material removed we vacuumed all the dust and years of inner wall stuff then sprayed everything with a mixture of bleach and water. After this dried we hand painted the exterior walls and ceiling with a mold retardant. Finally we installed new insulation on the walls and ceiling and covered this with heavy plastic.

After cleaning up, we decided to load up all the extra supplies and head to Shannon’s friends Dennis and Suzie who lived north of the track. They took a few things that they needed. Suzie showed me a dulcimer that Dave had built for her. Wow, did it have a good sound. Suzie had just started playing recently. I played around with it a bit when Dennis asked if I knew the song “Ashokan Farewell.” I had come up with a dulcimer arrangement and played it. Dennis literally had goose bumps on his arms while I was playing.

We left Suzie and Dennis and headed to find a place to drop off the rest of our supplies. We saw a relief center being run by a Baptist group. They had placed pylons across the entrance as it was about 6:30pm. Nonetheless, we pulled up to a fellow at the entrance and told him we had supplies. He said that they were closed. Then he said that they don’t need clothing or water. He glanced at the full pickup load and asked what we had. We told him cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items. After yelling to someone about what we had another fellow came running up and directed us to another entrance. They were thrilled to receive our supplies.

We pulled into a bee hive of activity. They directed us around a forklift that had run out of gas and passed a semi-truck they were unloading by hand. Several people helped us unload and asked if we needed anything. Ice. One guy yelled over to have someone bring us ice. “How much do you need?” he asked. We told him four bags would work. He asked if we could take ten. We thought of Suzie and Dennis and took ten.

While they were unloading us and loading the ice I chatted with the driver of the semi-truck. He had donated his rig and diesel fuel to bring supplies down from North Carolina. He asked who we were with thinking that we were with some larger group. We just told him that we were friends of Shannon and simply trying to help in a small way.

One of the directors asked where we lived and that they would deliver ice to us. When we told him “South of the Track” he looked in surprise and said that he didn’t think anything was left “South of the Track.” Ice was indeed delivered the next day.

Shannon fixed a nice dinner that evening. This was the first I had a chance to meet her son, Mike. Shannon brought out her dulcimers and Mike his mandolin. We swapped tunes while Dave restrung one of Shannon’s dulcimers.

Mike, an ex-marine, was working at a bar as a bouncer. That’s also where he spent two nights during and after Katrina. Shannon’s younger son, Logan, was spending the night with a friend a few blocks away when Katrina hit. Well into the storm the roof where Logan was staying began collapsing. He left the house and ran through the heavy rain and wind to Shannon’s house where they spent the next endless hours listening to the living oak outside knocking to get in. Shannon’s biggest fear was to have one of the three trees in their yard come crashing down. Her fears were warranted as the pignut hickory at the front corner had come nearly out of the ground. The surface roots were obviously separated from the soil and a portion of the sidewalk over the root base had lifted and was cracked. The tree should come down but it will have to be at their own expense. Neither FEMA nor the insurance company will do anything. Logan had left the previous week to start 8th grade in Caldwell, Ohio, where Shannon’s dad lives. Gary, another son of Shannon, was staying in an apartment a bit closer to the Gulf. Gary left the apartment as the storm surge flooded the first floor. He waded through chest deep water to get to Shannon’s place.




I guess we stayed up until about 1am chatting and listening to some of the various stories about Katrina. Just so many lives were touched. Somehow no one that they knew had lost their lives though many were living in various stages of destruction.

During the day on Tuesday we first started paying attention to Hurricane Rita. With the Gulf being above 90 degrees surface temperature we figured it would develop into a cat 5.

Wednesday

It didn’t take us long Wednesday morning to finish up the cleanup that we were doing.

Just before lunch two FBI guys came up asking for Kit. Relatives of one of the neighbors had not heard from her and they had filed an inquiry. Kit pointed out where she lived and thought that she had left for Mobile. They were looking at me strange having long hair and beard. Kit told them that I was wanted in Ohio. We joked around with them for a while then went back to work.

At lunch time the Red Cross came by with hot food. As much as had been said about the Red Cross not being there for anyone, the food was pretty good. It was a tomato-beef mixture with lots of ground beef and very filling.

The Baptist group also showed up with additional ice that we distributed to the neighbors.

We spent the rest of the day putting up the plywood sheeting. Shannon had commented on how much better she breathed after us sealing off the area. Shannon has to use an inhaler due to burned lungs from ammonia vapors. She was going through two inhalers daily just before we got there. By Wednesday she was down to less than one.

It seemed like we were ahead of the game and would easily finish what we were doing before we had to leave.

Hurricane Rita had built to a Cat 5 but the track seemed headed toward Texas and probably wouldn’t affect us other than rain. We were pretty sure that we could handle rain.

Thursday
We tore down the plastic barrier in the room Thursday morning and moved the furniture to the finished area then sealed this area off to avoid spreading mold to the furniture and new paneling. Then we began tearing down the remaining walls and ceiling.

By afternoon the winds had picked up and the temperature dropped from the muggy 90’s to comfortable lower 80’s. The wind was advanced warning of Hurricane Rita that was close to being directly south of us.

Gary drove over his Jeep Cherokee that had been under water from the storm surge. He was having trouble with the electrical system and had bought a new wiring harness for it. Gary’s children were in the Houston area and with Rita heading that way wanted to drive over to get them. While he was working on the Jeep we were ripping out moldy dry wall and fiberglass insulation.

We had one light shower that forced us to scramble and cover all our building material.

The Salvation Army delivered hot food around noon. Ravioli again but it was welcomed.

By late afternoon we had the remaining part of the room stripped, chemically cleaned and painted with the mold retardant. We then installed the insulation and covered the room in plastic. It was beginning to look good and smell clean. We removed the plastic barrier again opening the house and getting the now fresh breeze throughout the lower floor. We figured that all we had to do on Friday was to put up the remaining paneling and hang the new ceiling fans that Kit had bought.

Dave and I figured we had done all we could and would head back to Ohio on Saturday. We had a few beers and a late supper then went to bed early feeling pretty good.

Friday
I woke up at around 5am with the sound of an explosion and bright flash followed by another smaller more distant explosion. The power went out.

Kit hooked up the generator and plugged in the refrigerator and coffee pot. Thank goodness for that. It was raining pretty hard and we scrambled around making sure all the wood outside was covered well.

We found out that at least five transformers had blown. One of them outside of Mel’s house had exploded and had set a debris pile on fire. Her and a neighbor were hosing it off trying to keep the fire from expanding. It eventually went out when a utility truck arrived. There was several trucks with lift buckets roaming the neighborhood looking for frayed wires and blown transformers. Power finally came on around 4pm.

Kit had to work that evening so laid down to get a bit of sleep. That’s when we saw it. There was a drip of water above the plastic we had put on the ceiling. It wasn’t much more than a teaspoon full but, nonetheless, there was a leak. Our hearts sunk. We hoped it was just a small leak that we could fix easily since it wasn’t all that much water. Dave, not knowing the extent of the leak had laid down to take a nap until the power came back on. We decided that we shouldn’t continue further until we got enough rain to make sure this wasn’t the only leak.

Then it began to rain very heavy outside and the wind got strong. We saw more water on the ceiling in a different spot. Shannon went to the attic and said that water was coming in everywhere. Shannon was losing it. I was losing it.

After pulling it together we grabbed anything that would hold water and headed to the attic. We took a roll of plastic sheeting and began spreading that above the new fiberglass hoping to keep it dry. I saw a hole in the roof about 2 inches wide by about six inches long. I looked up and it looked as though the tarp covering the hole was no thicker than cellophane. Chances are the rain was coming through tears in this thin tarp. I shoved a towel in this hole and placed a bucket beneath the towel. Shannon and Mike were spreading buckets and containers wherever they could. We then went back downstairs to assess the damage. It actually seemed like we had reached a stalemate with the rain. There was water from before but it wasn’t getting worse.

Dave got up and I explained the situation to him. We both felt like our efforts all week long were in vain. The feeling we both had was indescribable. We tried to rationalize that we had made an impact, that we had brought needed supplies and brightened up life for Shannon. Yet, we were about to leave with a leaky roof and uncertain future for her house.

Kit got up and wouldn’t talk to anyone. He wouldn’t listen to anyone. We each kind of went to separate places in the house and in the front yard. It was time to gather our thoughts and try to figure out what made sense.

We all concluded that the problem was the original tarp. Shannon’s dad had delivered several rolls of tar paper. We figured that we could lay this on top of the tarp in real roofing style. Dave recalled that Mel had a large roll of heavy-duty tarp. Enough to cover the roof.

Mike and Kit began to layout the tar paper and stapled it down. The wind was so strong that the tar paper was just tearing as they laid it down. Finally they used roofing nails with large plastic washers. This seemed to hold. Shannon and I headed out to Lowe’s to get additional roofing nails and a dozen lengths of furring strips.

Kit had to go to work shortly after we got back from Lowe’s. Dave was too heavy to go up on the roof. Mike had to go to work. Shannon and I climbed up onto the roof to lay down the new tarp. Dave stayed below to hand us the furring strips and to guide us in getting the tarp aligned. In strong wind Shannon and I managed to get one end of the tarp down and secured it with a furring strip. Dave handed up a bundle of six, 8-foot strips. We laid those down on the tarp only to see the wind pick up the tarp and strips. We managed to get the strips down and secure them with long screws. We were very glad to get off the roof.

The next ring of feeder bands poured more rain on us. We checked the attic and didn’t see any leaks other than residual water that had already penetrated the old tarp. We finally felt that we had the roof sealed.

Saturday
The next morning the rain had let up. Kit came home from work and said that it had rained very hard during the night. We didn’t see any new leaks and the ceiling had dried from the previous leaks. Whew. I think we were ready to leave.

Kit had promised us a tour of Biloxi and some areas not open to the public. As soon as we drove onto Rt. 90 along the Gulf a MP stopped us since we weren’t supposed to be there. He accepted Kit’s police ID and left us alone.

We spent the next hour or so driving around areas of Biloxi. On one occasion Kit go disoriented though he had been working the area as a police officer for eight years. The destruction was widespread and complete. Houses had either blown apart or had floated as far as 100 yards before breaking apart. Many frame houses were stacked against one another like so many wooden blocks. Cars were tossed around like hot wheels without regard to weight or model. Clothing and other debris still hung in the trees 15 to 20 feet above ground. Water marks could be seen in areas that were not supposed to be under water. Sections of Rt 90 across Back Bay of Biloxi were stacked like dominoes. Pictures of this tour and other pictures taken are displayed at www.strothers.com/Biloxi.htm .

The trip home to Ohio was uneventful other than some heavy rain near the Alabama-Mississippi border. It is good to be back home. I will forever be impacted by this trip and I will not hesitate to offer direct assistance to hurricane victims. The recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita will take a long time. I really don’t know the most effective way to help but for Missy and me this will be a part of our monthly budget.

Tears of Katrina

From Shannon in Biloxi, September 7, 2005

Just when I think I have no more they come again. Just wanted to let everyone know I'm OK.

We got power back last night but that doesn't mean it will stay. They have blown twice as many transformers as they have replaced. Every street without power and road access to the block has two or three power trucks on it working in shifts day and night. They are all working so hard--the power crews, the relief volunteers, supply lines from churches and other organizations, search and rescue teams and law enforcement from here and everywhere. This city and the people in it appreciate them more than we could ever express.

I'm not too sure I have a lot to say, you all have more information than we down here are getting. But it's bad. So much is gone, so many people are gone and missing. I didn't realize the true extent till yesterday, and I really don’t think I comprehend it all. There’s too much I can’t understand and not enough answers. With the power cames the TV--not a good idea for a shell-shocked population. I didn't leave the neighborhood much and only when I had to.

The one and only ice truck came through here the day Bush was here (was it just for show?), brought in by a state narcotics team from somewhere. A fire truck with bottled water came in yesterday. We've had to run across town to distribution sites and by the time we got there they were usually out. In the middle of the night Wed or Thurs came Kit and two other units, with ice and water. I woke up Logan and we went door to door with the ice that I couldn’t hold in the freezer for the others and passed it out telling them we had water and to come get it.

The Salvation Army was up Tuesday morning serving hot meals to people on the east end as they crawled out of the rubble in shock. They have been feeding people over there till the Red Cross came in Saturday with a National Guard escort. They wouldn't come in without protection and our guard units are in Iraq. Didn't bother the Salvation Army to be unprotected.

They’re having a power struggle on the east end in a way. The Red Cross is trying to run them off the locations they are set up in and the Salvation Army isn't budging, they have been here since Tuesday morning. They said if they wanted these certain locations, on the main streets, they should have been here to get them. The SA was just trying to be convenient to the people, the RC has TV crews……. It's all so .......... it's too much to take in. This is no place for a power struggle. I've lost a lot of respect for the RC at this point.

A little church down the street at the Methodist retirement center has opened a food bank in the neighborhood with food and water as long they have supplies coming in.

According to the RC and FEMA we are basically on our own. We don't exist down here. I told that little FEMA man my address, and exactly where I lived four times yesterday and the blank look never left his face. Kit had to find a big blue tarp for the roof. FEMA showed up Saturday, but no one could find them till yesterday and there are only a handful of them. FEMA isn't the same organization they use to be before they went Homeland Security after 9/11. And I still don't understand the connection between FEMA and the Red Cross. There is one. I just haven't figured it out. Is the RC a government organization? They haven't been making a move with out FEMA approval.

Anyway we have each other, food and water, phones and now power. I don't have to freeze ice for everyone with the generator, but I still have the freezer full just in case the power goes out again. I’m freezing the bottled water. I can get 16 gallon jugs in my freezer.

Miss Mel down the street has been cooking for about a week now, we take her food and her relatives gave her the stuff in their freezers, which was kept frozen with power from generators and is making sure the neighborhood has a hot meal in the evening.

A neighbor who had cancer and was evacuated--called her family in Florida and told them to take care of her neighbors, so they’ve been coming in with a load of supplies about every three days and unloading at Miss Mel’s. They all know if I don’t have what they need, Miss Mel does. By the way, Mel or Melanie is in her twenties. Her hubby walks the block with flashlights at night keeping an eye on us all.

Food still isn't coming in from outside to the stores that made it through the storm. With Homeland Security power, FEMA has been commandeering what they think is necessary or want, from food & water to generators & gas tankers everything is running short. I'm not sure where they are taking it, probably to NO, the trucks aren't coming into the city. I don't understand that either.

The Church organizations that are bringing supplies in aren't leaving the city empty, they are also getting people out. One family per trailer usually pulled behind a pick-up, and housing people till arrangements can be made to get family or friends to come get them. There isn't a rental truck to be had for a few hundred miles in any direction.

I finally got Jill and Ron out of here. They left yesterday evening with what would fit in the trailer and the rest is in my garage, my parents will drop it off to them in Huntsville AL, on their way back from picking up Logan. He'll be going to school in Ohio and staying with Grandma for a while. I won’t leave Kit.

Ron's son got a way out to Texas Saturday or Sunday. His stuff which he gave to Gary (my former foster son)--they couldn't take anything more than they could carry--is in my garage too.

Gary lost his apartment. He got to the stair well as the building collapsed. He dove from the stairwell before it went, into the water and pulled himself to higher ground with a downed power line and walked here, two miles away, in the storm.

Along with thousands of others, I have no job, but Kit has more overtime than he can handle so I'm not real concerned at this moment. I'll worry about when I need too.

All the worst case scenarios were based on Hurricane Camille. No one ever expected something worse. No one expected this storm to get so big so quick. When these areas were proclaimed a disaster area before the storm hit, it was still expected to go up the mouth of the Mississippi. Not far enough west to save us here in Biloxi, but those areas in NO, in the quarter that were actually a few feet above sea level that didn’t get much damage, would have been about 25 to 30 feet under. Between the wind and the water, the people in the convention center and the dome would have died.

I don’t really blame anyone for the slow responses to the gulf coast. I truly believe that when evacuations were going on in NO and no plans were being made before hand to have supplies on the ready to go in there, that at that point, before the storm started curving, they didn’t expect to have anyone left alive in that city. So much has gone wrong and we all can see that.

Will it be fixed for the next disaster? For the people involved, I hope so. I don’t believe natural disasters and homeland security mix. FEMA needs to have to branches. I believe the Red Cross has become too commercialized. I believe the Gov of LA needed to do something to help the Mayor get people out of NO. I believe more of NO should have been evacuated to the west so the rest of the gulf coast could get out.

I wake up 3 and 4 times a night and walk around the house, making sure I’m not dreaming this whole thing. Sometimes during the day I’m not sure if I’m dreaming. I have done so little and am so tired. I hear the wind when there isn’t any. Time had stood still for a week now, and I have no idea what day it is when I wake up, I just know it's tomorrow. I’ve lost three friends and coworkers that I know of, more have lost everything. I pray every night that I wake up and everything is right again, but it never will be. I wake up in the morning pacing the floor afraid Kit isn’t going to make it home. Logan disappears for 5 minutes and I’m in a panic. And I feel very very guilty because I have so much to be thankful for.

Shannon

New College Hill Community Logo

On August 2, 2005, the College Hill Urban Redevelopment Corporation (CHCURC) unveiled a new College Hill Logo to the community.

This logo was designed to create a vibrant, active, recognizable image reflecting the community's rich history, its natural and architectural surroundings and its diversity.

The two halves of the logo represent College Hill's nature and architecture . The curve in the middle represents Hamilton Avenue as it comes up the hill and shows that College Hill is progressive and moving towards the future. The leaves breaking out of greenery imply that the community is expansive and inviting new growth. The architectural elements represent the character and history of College Hill. The two halves merging on a common path represent the community working together and shows openness to change. The tag line reinforces the most-loved positives of College Hill, that it is a "Diverse" and "Neighborly" community.

The logo was developed by CHCURC's Identity Committee led by Don Cluxton. To learn what College Hill means to its residents and business owners and what they like most about their community, the committee distributed surveys and conducted focus groups throughout the community. They then worked with Cincinnati's graphic design department to create the final design, which was unanimously embraced by the CHCURC Board.

CHCURC's goal is for this unique logo to appear on all public notices, way finding signage and public structures, as well as community web sites, newsletters and letterheads. A Standards Guide for the College Hill Logo and Identity System is available from CHCURC.

About the College Hill eNewsletter

The mission of the College Hill eNewsletter is to make College Hill an even better place to live and do business by telling the story of our vital, diverse, involved community. The intended audience is all residents of College Hill as well as non-residents who are interested in keeping up on what's happening in College Hill.

• It is timely--approximately weekly, depending on circumstances.
• Its contents represent a broad spectrum of things about and of interest to our diverse community, but are biassed towards stories of College Hill people working together to improve our community.
• It is short & sweet, with links to lengthy explainations appearing on the various community web sites or in the College Hill eNewsletter Blogspace.
• It is sent only to people who want to see it; subscribers add or remove themselves from the distribution list.
• It is a work in progress, and changes as we learn together how to best serve the community.

New Business Association Mission, Vision, Goals to be Presented June 21

The new Mission, Vision and Goals to be presented at the June meeting of the College Hill Business Association were developed over the past several months by a volunteer group of business and community representatives. They soon discovered that they had many things in common, among them a desire to improve the economy of College Hill and a commitment to find ways for the Business Association to help all College Hill businesses participate in the economic growth of College Hill. You can hear the results of their work at 8:00 am Tuesday, June 21 in the Twin Towers Gulden Center. It's likely you'll be moved to participate in the mission.

CHBA President Gayla Price says, "I think that the Mission, Vision and Goals will help people recognize that we are an active organization. I also want people to know that:

1. We are the oldest organization in College Hill, dating back to the late 1940's.
2. We strongly support the other community organizations in College Hill.
3. We are looking for new and ACTIVE members.
4. We are looking to constantly better our organization so that we may serve College Hill Businesses better.

You can contact Gayla at 513-733-8837 or gayla.price@pnc.com.