Short Takes Short Takes (October 05, 2005)

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance

Sometimes, the Almanac's police reporter can't help but comment on some of the more off-beat 911 calls. His asides are in parenthesis.

"An Atherton resident recently reported seeing a man, 6 feet, 2 inches tall and wearing cut-off jeans, riding a bicycle on El Camino Real near Watkins Avenue on a Sunday. The resident said the man was doing nothing illegal, but seemed 'shady.' (This kind of report concerning a guy on ECR near Watkins sets a new standard in neighborhood watching, in my opinion.)"

"A resident of Encinal Avenue reported a 4-foot tanish-gray bird in her yard. Per K7 (don't know who that is), it's a peacock known to be a troublemaker and known to charge and bite. (If it charged me, I'd call its bluff and charge it. I think we'd find out pretty quickly who the chicken was.)"
Where in the world are you?

If you call 911 to report an accident at Four Corners, will 911 dispatchers know where you are? What about CTETA? Or Searsville Lake?

Rick Lombardo, a battalion chief with the Woodside fire district, is working on a database matching the common names of places with their correct addresses and emergency information, so that county dispatchers won't have any trouble knowing where to send help.

He's asking for local residents to help by calling or sending in suggestions. Contact him at Woodside Fire Protection District, 3111 Woodside Road, Woodside, CA 94062, or call 851-1594.
Get with the times

Watching Menlo Park City Council meetings at home on your TV is so last year. These days, it's all about the webcast, baby.

Community access cable channels 26 and 27 are now broadcast over the Internet, the Midpeninsula Community Media Center announced recently. Go to communitymediacenter.net and click on "Check out council webcast."

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