FREE MARTIALARTS DEMONSTRATION in your neighborhood! Saturday January21st, 2012 from 10:30 AM to -11:30 AM

We are Kuk Sool Won of San Francisco and are located in the Dance Studio in theRussian Center, 2450 Sutter St between Divisadero St & Broderick St.

Ringthe doorbell labeled Kuk Sool Won for building access and walk straight back.

Please also see our website at www.kuksoolwonsf.com for more information.

Briefly, Kuk Sool Won is a Korean martial art that is very comprehensive.  What we do ranges from cardio building kicking & punching to empty hand forms to self defense techniques using joint locks & pressure points to beautiful & powerful weaponsforms.  It is an excellent way for children and adults to get into and maintain great mental and physical condition.  See our website for class hours.

See you soon!

On January 16, 2012 we celebrate the 26th anniversary of the holiday recognizing one of America’s greatest heroes-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. At the Inauguration of President Barack Obama in January 2009, he reminded us all that in 1994, Congress declared Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday a “National Day of Service.” The President has urged US citizens to join or start a service event every year to honor Dr. King’s legacy and the spirit of coming together to make a difference in our communities.

This is why the African American Art & Culture Complex is partnering with Mo’ Magic, Organizing for American, the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services and Citizen Hope to host the 2nd Annual MLK National Day of Service at 762 Fulton Street in San Francisco on January 16th, 2012. Last year was a huge success because of transportation provided by SFMTA and volunteer opportunities provided by the Department of Public Works, San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, a few non-profit organizations and hundreds of committed volunteers.

Date: January 16, 2012

Time: 8:30am

Location: 762 Fulton Street

http://www.haighteration.com/2012/01/divisadero-group-hopes-to-save-the-harding-theater.html

For more information, contact hardingtheater@gmail.com

This year NOPNA (North Panhandle Neighborhood Association) is reaching out to our community to support two great organizations, Thrive House and Mercy Family Housing serving children and families right in our neighborhood. If you would like to support NOPNA with our gift drive, please read details below. We will be collecting gift certificates/gifts at NOPNA’s annual Holiday party on December 9th, (details coming soon) and dropping them to the organizations on Dec. 12th.

Thank you in advance to all NOPA neighbors who can participate. This community’s generosity is one of the reasons NOPA continues to be so unique and special!!

We are asking folks from the community to donate the following gifts:

• Movie Passes
• Family Museum passes (Exploratorium, Academy of Sciences, Creativity Museum, etc)
• Gift Certificates for popular stores (i.e. Best Buy, Target, Toys R Us)
• Gift Certificates for Grocery Stores (recommend $25 – 50)
• Books for Middle School Age Students

Please bring your gifts to the NOPNA holiday party:

December 9th, 2011

St Cyprian’s Church

2097 Turk Street (@ Lyon)

7pm – 11pm

To make alternate plans for returning your gift, please email jane.catherine@gmail.com

THRIVE HOUSE – LITERACY BOOKSHELF

Thrive House, located on Broderick and Eddy, is a beautiful home converted into a welcoming space providing numerous enrichment and support programs to youth in the Western Addition/Fillmore neighborhoods. The literacy bookshelf is a reading incentive that motivates students to read for pleasure and share book reviews with our community of readers. When Readers have read, reviewed and shared a certain number of books, they receive tickets to movies as a reward! We are asking NOPNA neighbors to support Literacy Bookshelf with gifts of movie passe, and/or books for middle school (ages 11-14) readers.

MERCY FAMILY HOUSING

Mercy Family Housing, located in the heart of NOPA on Hayes between Broderick and Baker provides transitional housing for families in need. Families also receive supports from job support to counseling to after school homework help for children. We are asking NOPNA neighbors to support Mercy Families with gifts of Museum Passes, Movie Passes, or gift certificates to popular stores or grocery stores.

Introduction

On November 17, 2011, NOPNA conducted a brainstorming session as to the traits and priorities of our next District 5 Supervisor. The motivation behind this was to understand what neighbors feel are the traits and priorities of the next D5 supervisor. This came about because our present supervisor, Ross Mirikarmi, will leave his term early to become Sheriff.

Brainstorm

Attending neighbors (about 25) were asked to list traits and priorities for the next D5 supervisor on sticky notes. These sticky notes were then organized to see the themes that emerged. A discussion of these traits and priorities then ensued.

Results

The following traits were collected (in no particular order):

• Vision
• Integrity
• Passion
• Good Listener
• Has a Spine
• Honest
• Consensus Builder
• Transparent
• Tenacious
• Courageous
• Collaborative
• Progressive
• Public service track record
• Community Oriented
• Accessible
• Understand the diversity and issues of D5 neighborhoods
• Bike friendly
• Board leader
• District 5 focus but also a broader SF vision

The following priorities were collected (in no particular order):

• Affordable housing for low/middle income and families
• Keep our neighborhood inclusive
• Tenants rights
• Mixed use development
• Public Transit
• Safer Streets (Bikes and Pedestrian)
• Sustainability
• Local Hire & local businesses development including job development
  • Seed funding for small business
• Community job development
• Promote Art
• Harding Theater
• Connecting the City (Bike Lanes)
• Hayes Valley Farm
• Gang Issues and public safety
• Infrastructure repair (streets, etc.)
• Look out for the 99%

This year saw a drastic change in the Bay to Breakers. Most neighbors (78% that were surveyed) felt that it was a lot better than last year and most had a great time. In order to quantify and capture these findings, the neighborhood task force on the 100th Bay to Breakers complied a lessons learned report along with conducting a survey. The report can be found here and the raw survey results here. A brief summary is also presented below:

What Worked

Overall, neighbors and survey respondents felt that these actions and policies helped make the 100th Bay to Breakers fun for everyone:

• Police Presence – Set the Tone

• Enforcement of Open Container Laws

• Course Barriers – Made the Race Flow

• More Port-o-Potties – Helped Everywhere

• Earlier Start – Allowed Streets to Open

• No Floats – Kept the Crowd Moving

• Neighbor Involvement – Created Ownership

• Clean Up Crews – Kept The Course Clean

• Outreach – Crystal Clear Message

• Amateur Radio – Reliable Communications

• Medical Staff – Prompt & Attentive

Of the 139 survey respondents, 78% felt that this year was better than last year. The report also shows dramatic improvements on all dimentions.

What Didn’t Work

Several actions and polices fell short this year. Those include:

• Lockdown on Fell – Crossing was Challenging

• Barriers – Prevented Some Port-o-John Access

• Private Security – Mixed Reviews

• Hot Spots – Some Were Missed

• House Party Enforcement

• Off Course Monitoring / Clean-up

• After Race Crowd Needs a Focus

The issue surrounding hot spots seemed to be focused off the race course and in the main corridors. The report presents a graphic of reported hots spots that need attention next year.

What We Should Do Different

It’s clear that this years effort was successful because all of the stakeholders needs were basically met. For next year and years to come, we need to work on streamlining the baseline resources and focus on the following areas:

• Port-o-Johns Access – Rethink Deployment

• Access Across the Course – Pedestrian Bridges

• Volunteer Training – Formalize

• After Tear Down – More Hot Spot Monitoring

• In Park Hydration – “Participants” Need Water

• Redeploy/Retrain Private Security

• Host an Event People Can Go To

If we all continue to work together, we can make the next 100 years of bay to breakers what it should be — Fun for Everyone with Zero Neighborhood Impact.

Listed below are several maps that detail the coverage area and location of race services.

Neighborhood Ambassador Coverage Map

PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED PARKING & TRAFFIC CHANGES

Pursuant to SFMTA Order No. 3906 adopted April 21, 2011, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will hold a public hearing to solicit public input on the following proposed changes. The hearing will be held as follows:

Date/Time: Friday, May 13, 2011, at 10:00 am Location: Room 416 (Hearing Room 4), City Hall, San Francisco

(located on Van Ness Avenue between McAllister and Grove Streets)

The proposals below are the result of a planning study conducted by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Planning Department and Department of Public Works to make street design improvements on Masonic Avenue between Geary Boulevard and Fell Street. Three community meetings were held in the community in the summer and fall of 2010 to develop and gather input on design alternatives for the corridor. The SFMTA is holding a public hearing on the preferred “boulevard” alternative. The final “Masonic Avenue Street Redesign” report is available on SFMTA website at www.sfmta.com/masonic. For more information please contact Javad Mirabdal at 701-4421 or e-mail at javad.mirabdal@sfmta.com .

See masonic_Post 5-13-11 for the full details. We hope you can make it and share your thoughts on Masonic

Volunteer to be a Neighborhood Ambassador on May 15th and get a free t-shirt!

This year, in conjunction with eight other neighborhood groups, NOPNA is looking for volunteers for the Neighborhood Ambassador program for the 100th Running of the Bay to Breakers.

This volunteer program is meant to help participants and spectators with the following information and help:

• Locations of restrooms
• Locations of trash collection areas
• Location of EMS services
• General event information
• General directions related to the neighborhood and course
• Provide the hotline number for neighbors and participants
• Assist with clean-up efforts * Assist with identification of problematic situations or areas

Volunteers will by no means police or enforce any laws. Rather, they will observe, report and have a great time.

There are two teams of Neighborhood Ambassadors: Team Alamo and Team Panhandle. The shifts are in 2 hour increments.

If you are interested in signing up, visit the following link: http://zazzlebaytobreakers.com/index.php?page=volunteer-for-neighborhood-ambassador

Space is limited because of the limited number of t-shirts and volunteer coordinators. So, hurry up and be part of history!

By being a Neighborhood Ambassador, you not only get a one of a kind retro shirt, you will be a part of history and a big part of making the 100th Bay to Breakers Fun for Everyone Again!

B2B is a great San Francisco tradition. As recently as 2004, the neighbors along the route looked forward to and often participated in the event. However, in the last few years, B2B’s impact on the host neighborhoods has been significant.

Neighbors have had to deal with urination on their homes, mounds of trash and outright bullying. Last year, Hayes street between Divisadero and Stanyan, became a parallel event with participates disrespecting and destroying both public and private property. I think we can agree this type of behavior is not desirable and not in the spirit of Bay to Breakers.

After last year’s B2B, nine neighborhood groups along the route (from Hayes Valley to Inner Park Sunset) formed the Neighborhood Task Force on the 100th Bay to Breakers. Working with AEG, city officials, and SFPD, the task forces aim was to address past planning and resource deficiencies, improve participant behavior, and hopefully help preserve the event we used to enjoy hosting. I believe we have succeeded on the resource and planning front. Here are some of the changes:

• A 30% increase in bathroom capacity including over 30 six-man urinals in and around Alamo Square and the Panhandle

• Bathrooms on both sides of the course

• Clean up crews presence during the entire event and well after

• Strategic placement of barriers and fencing

Our efforts these past months have not been to sterilize Bay to Breakers, rather to make it fun for everyone. So have fun, but in so doing, please be respectful of the host neighborhoods. If that happens, I’m confident we can preserve B2B for years to come.

Jarie Bolander, President of NOPNA and spokesmen for the task force