Morningside Initiative's Crime Prevention and Public Safety subcommittee will offer Neighborhood Watch updates and presentations from the Pittsfield Police Department on identifying drug and gang activity.

The meeting will be held Thursday, Dec. 17, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Morningside Community School cafeteria at 100 Burbank St., Pittsfield.

This meeting is for people who live, work or own property in the Morningside Initiative area and who want to participate in neighborhood watches and learn more about making our neighborhoods safer. Presentations will focus on identifying drug and gang activities. All area residents and business members are encouraged to attend.

The Morningside Initiative area includes East street from Park Square, up North Street to Springside ave, to Benedict Road, to Tyler Street Extension, to Woodlawn Avenue, Kellogg Street to Fourth Street around Silver Lake Boulevard, back to East Street and returning to Park Square.

For more information, call 413-329-4194.

We received this e-mail today from Donna Brown, who's helped the Jernstrom family search for their black cocker spaniel, Jake, for months:

Dear All,

It is with a sad heart that I tell you that Jake still has not been found. The last sighting was on 11/9/09 in Springside Park (Pittsfield) at the pond on the southern end of the park. Without any sightings, it is difficult to continue to coordinate a search effort. Please say a prayer for Jake that he has found peace wherever he may be.
 
Thank you for all your efforts. Of course, if you do see Jake, please notify us at once. Everyone on this mailing list and the citizens of Pittsfield have been exceptionally supportive of our search effort. Thank you all so much.

Gail, Priscilla and Donna on behalf of Julie and Erik Jernstrom

If you do see Jake, contact Julie at 413-537-5616.

We held our second Stamford/Clarksburg Crime Watch meeting. Clarksburg Police Chief Michael Williams addressed the group of 20 serious and committed residents. Great information was given out about the latest confirmed break-in/burglary on East Road in Clarksburg that occurred yesterday (Friday, Dec. 11).

Members are getting more organized and the next Community Watch meeting is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 16, at 1 p.m. at the Stamford, Vt.) School. We expect a big turnout at the next meeting, because attendees said they were committed to making their community aware and getting involved. Signs will be posted at Billmont's Country Store in Stamford and the Clarksburg Town Hall. All newspapers will be contacted as well as all the schools.

The meeting agenda included a review of key points raised at the first meeting; a handout on how to form a neighborhood watch; a request for volunteers; information on a reward related to a Clarksburg break-in and a handout on suspicious behavior and activity; and an update on the new Web site, www.TownCrimeWatch.com, from which 10 e-mail alerts have been sent since the first meeting.

Volunteers are needed to help set meeting dates/locations and attend, promote meetings and raise awareness, make and distribute fliers, sign-ups for email alerts, organize meetings and set the agenda, contribute to ideas for the group's success, type minutes and organize refreshments.

Neighborhood watch signs were available for $5.
 
To get on the e-mail alert list, contact stamfordcw@gmail.com or clarksburgcw@gmail.com.

To report information, leads and tips to police, contact the non-emergency numbers:

Vermont State Police: 802-442-5421

Clarksburg Police: 413-663-7795
 

Editor: Meeting attendees are welcome to share what they learned by posting below. We've also been told, unofficially, that a break-in occurred in the town of Florida two weeks ago. Thanks to the Crime Watch for helping us keep everyone updated.

The Massachusetts State Police Air Wing last night located a hunter who had gone missing in a forest in Savoy.

A state police helicopter crew found the hunter, a 62-year-old Savoy man, at 10:50 p.m. in a wooded area by using the aircraft's forward-looking infrared camera. The hunter was located about one-third of a mile from the point where he had entered the woods almost nine hours earlier.

The helicopter crew directed state police ground units to the hunter's location. Troopers on the ground and local firefighters determined that he had suffered potentially serious injuries but was conscious and appeared to be in stable condition. The helicopter crew illuminated the scene using a high-powered searchlight mounted under the nose of the aircraft while rescue personnel removed the hunter to an ambulance for transport to an area hospital.

State Police had begun searching for the hunter at 5:50 p.m., when his wife called the barracks in Cheshire to report him missing. She told troopers he had entered the woods at about 2 p.m. wearing fluorescent orange clothing and was usually home by dark. Troopers and state police dogs began a ground search. At approximately 10 p.m., the Air Wing unit was dispatched from its base in Westover and located the hunter less than an hour later.

State police are not releasing the hunter's name or the nature of his injuries at this time.

The Stamford/Clarksburg community crime watches will meet Saturday, Dec. 12, from 1 to 2:30 at the Stamford (Vt.) School.

Residents are encouraged to attend to find out what's happening in the neighborhood; a guest speaker
is expected to update us on the latest news about the recent break-ins.

Information will also be provided on a $1,000 reward posted by the Clarksburg Community Watch on the recent burglaries.

Informational hand-outs will be provided; $5 neighborhood watch signs will be for sale. Sign-up to get e-mail alerts from the Neighborhood Watch Group!

To report information, leads and tips contact the non-emergency numbers:

Vermont State Police: 802-442-5421
Clarksburg Police: 413-663-7795

Remember to call 911 IMMEDIATELY if you see anyone suspicious in your neighborhood!

For more information and updates visit your Stamford/Clarksburg volunteer group at: www.towncrimewatch.com.    

Be part of this volunteer group and help out your community. Find out what you can do to help.