Help! Lost iPod

Deborah needs your help, kind citizen:

I left my house today on Cesar Chavez around 10:30 or so and as usual could hear the J about halfway down the block. So, as usual, I started to run. I made the J and when I sat down say the headphones of my ipod dangled from my bag - but no ipod. Somewhere along my sprint from Cesar Chavez past Chloes's to the stop in front of Fattoush on Church my ipod was lost. Realizing this, I got off the J at 24th and walked back down retracing my steps. No ipod. I want to believe that some good person in the neighborhood picked it up and if only they knew how to reach me, they would return my ipod.

More on Craigslist.

Update: J-Church Repairs

Eileen Bermingham of Upper Noe Neighbors sent minutes from last night's meeting with Muni:

Hi—Thought you might be interested in the details of our meeting on the Muni track replacement project. Muni is completing this project because the affected track sections haven’t been addressed in 30 years. These sections can no longer adequately handle the volume/weight of the train cars.

Muni project manager Ha Nguyen presented an overview of what will be happening during the three J Church track replacements. The work will be done from 8PM on Friday to 4AM Monday, as per the following schedule:

Church & 18th St
San Jose & 30th St
March 12

San Jose & 30th St
March 19 and March 26

Church & 20th
Three weekends in September

Along with track replacement, the crew will be replacing the pavement, installing new water pipes, striping, and addressing noise/vibration issues. They’ll also install new overhead poles and curb ramps.

Buses will help shuttle riders in the areas where the crew is doing the work. Traffic will be rerouted around the affected track sections.

Muni has completed similar work in the Sunset, and we’re told all went well in terms of safety and traffic control.

Meeting attendees expressed concern about concrete jackhammering during the night (which will kick off at 9PM on a Friday for a given location), as well as loss of parking for a temporary period. However, it’s the general consensus that Muni needs to do the work at some point in a seven-day week, and weekends/nights provide the least disruption in train service.

Some neighbors raised other concerns about Muni in general, primarily involving loud screeching and noise due to fast driver speeds.

If you’d like to express your own concerns or have any questions, please contact SFMTA Community Relations head Jay Lu at 415.701.4387/jay.lu@sfmta.com

Dog Pooh Files: Do Your Part

The folks at Noe Valley Pet Co. caught on to the recent brouhaha about dog poop and have a plea worth broadcasting:

Fellow dog owners
Let's do our part to take care of our city

We all know what it's like to step in dog poop...
We all know what it's like to watch dog owners walk away without cleaning up after their dogs...
We all know how gross our streets and parks have become...

So, let's do something about it! Clean up after our dogs and encourage others to do the same.
- Bring an extra bag to share with a fellow dog owner who might have forgotten one
- Thank dog owners who clean up after their dogs
- Gently encourage dog owners to clean up after their dogs when they fail to do so

Times are tough. Let's do
what we can to take care of each other and our beautiful city!!

[NVSF: Reader Rant: Dogs Need Places To Poo, Too]

UNN Meeting: MUNI Track Repair

Join the Upper Noe Neighbors and representatives from MUNI this Thursday at the Upper Noe Rec Center. Neighbors will get a chance to voice frustration with noise and speed, of course, but the main focus of the meeting is to discuss upcoming repairs to the J-Church tracks. Some details from Jay Lu, PR Officer for the SFFMTA:

As part of the SFMTA Rail Improvement Project, we have tentatively scheduled to replace the rails at the following locations on these weekends:

J Church Rail Replacement on weekends only (from 6 p.m. Friday continuously to 5 a.m. Monday)
Church Street & 18th Street
San Jose Avenue & 30th Street
Tentatively scheduled for the weekends of March 5, 12, and 19, 2010

J Church Rail Replacement on weekends only (from 6 p.m. Friday continuously to 5 a.m. Monday)
Church Street & 30th Street
Tentatively scheduled for three weekends in September 2010

What: Upper Noe Neighbors Monthly Meeting
When: Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 7:30pm
Where: Upper Noe Rec Center, Day at Sanchez Streets

[SFMTA: Rail Improvement Project]

Views from the Edge: Dolores Park Renovation

The local blogosphere blew up this week with word that Dolores Park will close for at least a year for renovations. PBR-drinking fixie riders were in an uproar. Nevermind all those who loved the park long before the others decided it was their holy land. And so it was up to Dolores Park Works to set the story straight - the park will remain accessible:

The renovations will be done in phases. The whole park will not be closed or fenced off for the duration of the renovations. ... [The playground remodel phase] is scheduled to start in October 2010 and end in April 2011. [Phase 2 will start after that]. The goal is to limit the impact on the community while ensuring that the work is done efficiently and safely.

Stay involved and get the full story by following the latest at Dolores Park Works.

Update: Details added to clarify timeline.

Benefit: Geeks In Bushes For The Alvarado School

Those nerdy kids with iPhones poking around your front yard this weekend? Not the usual clipboard brigade. They're likely part of a scavenger hunt designed for the 21st century. From the over-the-top chirpy PR email: "Get your geek on! ... Smart phone scavenger hunts are all the rage these days, but I’m not aware of any like this, and all the money raised goes directly to Alvarado." All four district 8 supervisor candidates are (of course) supporting the event, and competing against each other in an early test of their electability. Annoying, yes, but at least it's for a good cause.

It works like this:

Arrive early! At 6:00 pm sharp participants will leave Alvarado Elementary School’s auditorium and be given a map with some clues to decipher. Solving those clues will lead you to various locations in Noe Valley. When you arrive at the mystery location, you'll take a photo of the answer with their phone and email it back to an address provided at the beginning of the event. The first team to solve all clues is the winner. Simple, no?

Why: For fun, mostly. And for prizes (from Geeknet, EA Games, Bon Jovi tickets, and more). And also because all the money raised goes toward improving technology for students at Alvarado Elementary. That means ticket price is tax-deductible.

Cost: The fee is $50 for a team of up to 4 and $75 for a team of up to 6. A bargain for memories that will last a lifetime. All of the money raised from this event goes directly toward improving the quality of computers at the school.

Rules: All you need is a phone that can take a picture and send email. Be on time, or you’ll be behind your fellow competitors. Teams have to stick together and stay on foot. Bring a flashlight (or flashlight app). Charge up your phone batteries. Respect the neighborhood.

[Official Site: Tech Search Party]

Overheard: 24th St Survival Guide

"Next time I come to Noe Valley I'm bringing a paddle ball. Maybe then the stroller b******* will move over."

NVV: We Read It So You Don't Have To

The Noe Valley Voice is published ten times a year and has been a neighborhood fixture since 1977. Here are notable highlights from the latest issue. Links are to stories we've covered here on NVSF or outside sources as the Voice doesn't post stories until the middle of the month.

February 2010

Front Page: The city clears the way for more restaurants on 24^th Street; Officer Lorraine Lombardo on the beat for 20 years with SFPD; Whole Foods and La Boulange are boosting business on 24th Street; a lovebird is weaned.

Letters: If your kids were photographed with Santa, Fima Photography has your free 5x7 photo for you; an alert about car break-ins in Upper Noe; and a bike-to-Marin benefit for multiple sclerosis.

Feature: Circle Bank is opening this spring; Mike Gutierrez of Tuggey's is going for the world record for the largest rubber band ball.

Cost of Living in Noe: Home prices overall saw a 13.8% drop in 2009. Average cost of a home was… $1.3 milion. (Ed.-Translation: It's now 10 degrees cooler on the surface of the sun.) Rents? Still ouch.

Traveling Voice: Cuba, Guatemala, India, Vietnam.

Store Trek: Independent Nature, Old Republic Title Company

Rumors: The Noe Valley Stroller Menace (Oh Noes!); Cover to Cover gets grief for not carrying Sarah Palin's book Going Rogue; SF Gate is looking for a freelance Noe Valley blog after the last one abruptly disappeared; and the NVV mentions Everyblock, and also this blog as a source of information: "while somewhat snarky, it keeps the news coming and has a neighborhood posting wall;" NVV goes on to mention "an interesting item duped on NoeValleySF in January was a 'Reader Rant: Dogs Need Places to Poo Too.'" We're not sure what that means, but you can read the story here. And NVSF (that's this blog again) linked to the NY Times story for the top 10 NetFlix rentals in Noe. That led NVV to poll Video Wave for their top 10 (first was Burn After Reading – pick up an issue of NVV for the full list). Thanks for the shout out, NVV!

Finally, NVV counts 9 vacant spots on 24th Street; the owner of the Artsake building is renting that spot for $3,000 and has fielded calls from a nail salon (noooo!). The 2,500 sq. foot former Mi Lindo Yucatan space should be finished by June and ready to rent – the owner is hoping for a destination restaurant. Cardio-Tone opens; Bill Yenne has another book; farewell Helen Weinschenk, former owner of the Wooden Heel (the shoe repair shop) on 24^th Street.

[The Noe Valley Voice]