CITYWIDE TOWN MEETING

Managing Stormwater: Our Escalating Challenge
Rain is a precious resource

UNLESS WE GET TOO MUCH AND…
- it floods streets,
- invades our homes,
- or washes pollutants into our rivers, bays and ocean.

The stormwater management system is only as good as its critical parts, and water quality is only as good as our ability to treat stormwater before it flows into our waterways.

The Virginia Beach City Council invites residents to gather and talk about the
stormwater management system. Bring your ideas!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008
7 to 9 p.m.
Virginia Beach Convention Center
1000 19th Street, Suite 1

Pre-registration is required; space is limited. To register call 385-3111. (Please do not call the Convention Center.)

HEALTH/SAFETY ALERT

At least 82 youths have died playing “the choking game” since 1995, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed in its first study on this game.

The game involves self-strangulation or strangulation by another to achieve a brief euphoric state caused when blood rushes into an oxygen-depleted brain. Other names that the game goes by includes “space monkey,” “the scarf game” and “the pass-out or blackout game.”

“The choking game involves intentionally trying to choke oneself or someone else with one’s hand or a noose to attain a brief euphoric state or high. If the strangulation is prolonged, which is something that can happen very quickly, death or a serious injury can result,” explains Robin Toblin, PhD, MPH, of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

The CDC started the study after receiving a letter last year from a doctor in Tacoma , Washington , who said her 13-year old son died from playing the game in 2005. She found him in the corner of his bedroom with a belt around his neck and the first thought was that he had committed suicide. Later she learned that he had talked to a friend about the choking game.

The CDC found 82 media reports of choking-game deaths in the U.S. from 1995 to 2007. The kids who died were 13 years old, on average, and 87 percent were boys. The CDC did not include deaths in which it was unclear if the death was from the choking game or if it was a suicide. Nearly none of their parents was aware of the choking game before their child died.

Three of fewer deaths were reported from 1995 through 2004. They increased to 22 in 2005, 35 in 2006, and at least 9 in 2007. Investigators are not sure what drove the increase in recent years.

However, the number of choking-game fatalities is probably underreported and there is no way to get an accurate national total since they are not regularly reported to the government or listed on death certificates, Toblin said.

Similar games have been probably been played for generation, Toblin said. “What is new is that youth are playing alone and using ligatures which are risk factors that make them more likely to die from this activity.”

The CDC urges parents, teachers, and health care workers to learn the possible warning signs of the choking game. Sings include discussion of the game, bloodshot eyes, marks eyes, marks of the neck, severe headaches, disorientation after spending time alone, ropes, scarves, and belts tied to bedroom furniture or doorknobs of found knotted on the floor, and the unexplained presence of dog leashes, choke collars, and bungee cords.

“Because most parents in the study had not heard of the choking game, we hope to raise awareness of the choking game among parents, health-care providers, and educators, so they can recognize warning signs of the activity. This is especially important because children themselves may not appreciate the dangers of this activity,” said Toblin.

The findings appear in the February 15 edition of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

VOLUNTEERS WANTED

WE NEED HELP DISTRIBUTING OUR NEWSLETTER - so we can use the money saved to make life better for our neighbors. Email the league today if you or your teen would like help share our message. In payment of helping us deliver the newsletters door-to-door, we will offer a employeer/college valued volunteer recognition letter from the league.

Neighborhood Meeting Tonight

· What is your vision for our CAF Neighborhood park?
· Crime problems in the park... what we are doing.
· Do you know of a neighbor in need, or are you
able to help one?
· What affects will the LIGHT RAIL have on our
neighborhood and daily commute this fall?

Come to league meetings and you could win gift certificates to some local restaurants and businesses. It’s our way of saying thanks for participating in your neighborhood.

YAHOO GROUPS

YOU WILL NO LONGER RECEIVE MEETING REMINDERS

UNLESS YOU SIGN UP FOR YAHOO GROUPS - PLEASE DO SO TODAY

Since we have experienced such significant growth in the neighborhood league MEMBERSHIP and NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH, YAHOO MAIL can not support the mass number of meeting reminder or crime watch emails we need to send out each month. Therefore, we have decided to set up YAHOO GROUPS for our neighbors benefit.

If you become part of the CAFCL YAHOO GROUP, you will receive reminders and other information offered by the league and fellow neighbors such as:

• Meeting reminders
• Social event reminders
• Crime Watches
• Significant City reports affecting our neighborhood

On this website, we post things we know about. However (more times than not) neighbors are aware of issues days - if not weeks - before the league is made aware of them.

We want to have a free flowing line of communication between neighbors through the league. By using this tool often, neighbors can share concerns immedately so every neighbor will be "IN THE KNOW". With this, we will all be empowered.

SIGN UP TODAY!

Feel reassured, the security setting is set so the league must review any posts before it is released, so we can guanrantee no spam will be sent. Also, only neighbors, league members or neighborhood watch volunteers can be listed. So any information being shared will be from and to NEIGHBORS ONLY.

This is an option used by the BoyScouts of America where security is paramount. Additonally, it is voluntary to sign up and you may opt out and unsubscribe at any time.

From WAVY TV 10 news

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA (WAVY.com)

"They searched everybody's car! Everybody!!" Lonnie Simmons was standing nearby as police conducted an exhaustive search of Mayfair Apartments in Virginia Beach, looking for any evidence in a shooting early Thursday morning.
"They checked every house," he says. "Every house, even on the other side!"

Police say 26-year-old Sherrod Bailey, formerly of Virgina Beach, was found dead in a car around 4 a.m.. A bullet hole stood out on the driver's side window of a white Lexus in the apartment complex's parking lot. Police roped off the area, gathering any clues in the case.

"I came out on the porch, and the police, they wouldn't let you get out here," says Simmons. Simmons says, he's never seen anything like a shooting in the 19 years he's lived in Mayfair Apartments. He also says it's a quiet neighborhood and he doesn't worry.

But he may if he learned the following. Virginia Beach's online crime database reveals a history of different crimes last year in the parking lot alone, including fifteen charges of theft from vehicles and six charges of destruction of property.

In addition, there was one instance each of robbery, assault, hit and run, and a stolen car. These numbers account for nearly half of all crimes in the apartment complex last year. Now there's another to add to the list: a deadly shooting in the apartment complex.

Virginia Beach Police have not yet released any information on a suspect.

DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU WANT TO SELL or BUY?

Be sure to click on the CLASSIFIED button to the right.

WE'LL SEE YOU AT THE POLLS

To further inform our neighborhood about who we are and what we're all about, we will have volunteers outside of the polling station at Arrowhead Elementary handing out flyers. We will be informing everyone of our meeting, February 14th, as well as our ongoing CAF Neighborhood Park Poll.

Since our next meeting will fall on Valentines day, we will be offering some awesome door prizes as a thank you.

We'll see you at the polls. Please let our neighbors know they are appreciated with the offer of a smile, handshake, or a "that-a-boy" pat on the back. It's a wonderful gesture to let our volunteers know the giving of their time is valued. By you showing your thanks in the slightest way can bring a smile to their heart.

Charitable organization has need for volunteers

The Disabled American Veteran’s Transportation Network is seeking drivers for the Portsmouth , Suffolk , and CBOC (Community-Based Outpatient Clinic) in Virginia Beach . A request is also made for persons to drive from Norfolk , Virginia Beach, Chesapeake areas to the Hampton VAMC. The veterans are picked up from their residences and brought to the Hampton Medical Center or CBOC and returned to designated locations upon completion of appointments.

The perspective drivers must submit an application, driver’s license and have their own car insurance. Must not be diabetic, have heart problems and a physical will be given at the hospital.

Our volunteer drivers will receive a meal during the hour of pick-up which must be at least 4 hours.

We are requesting that those persons WHO STATE THEY ARE INTERESTED REMAIN A PART OF THE PROGRAM FOR AT LEAST 6 MONTHS. The abundance of paperwork is tremendous in getting IDs, finger prints, establishing personnel folder, compiling hours for awards, etc to have them drive one week and stop, An earnest effort to become a VOLUNTEER driver is an excellent opportunity for us to give back some to our VETERANS who have given so much.

Thank you again for your interest, concern and enthusiastic response to our call for help!


Ellen Stewart, Coordinator
DAV Transportation
728-3148
719-0649 (C)