Leona Heights Neighborhood News

by Gordon Laverty

What a beautiful neighborhood we have. Like the rest of the world though, we wrestle with the proliferation of junk. There's so much junk and garbage in the world that getting rid of it is a big problem, even with our great recycling campaign. An increasing number of people think the best thing to do with their junk is to take it up into our Leona Heights neighborhood and chuck it alongside the road. Mountain Blvd., Mountain View Ave., and Leona St. have all been targeted by illegal dumpers on a regular basis in recent years. You've seen it… couches, TVs, cars, bags of dirty diapers, stolen mail…it's out of hand… too many waste dumpers!

If you witness illegal dumpers doing their thing, call 777-3333. For pickup of dumped materials by the City of Oakland, call 434-5101. It's important that the City of Oakland and the Oakland Police Department keep Leona Heights in mind as they go about their daily jobs. For this reason, it's important that each of us reports anything illegal that we see. Reporting is especially important if we're the victims of some type of crime, no matter how petty. Attention to our neighborhood, especially by the Oakland Police Department, is allocated based on the number of incidents they have on record. We're helping pay their salaries, so why not put them to work for us?'

And finally, for this month, if you're a regular walker on the streets of Leona Heights, you've likely been treated in recent months to sightings of the two wild turkeys, several deer, skunks, opossums, and raccoons. We may be living within the city limits of a major urban area, but it's almost like a park here too. Hope you're enjoying the last weeks of summer.

Gordon Laverty can be reached at lavertyhillmob2\@sbcglobal.net.