Last Fair Deal Gone Down.

I seldom visit Next Door, but here and there it's an informative resource, as when a well-attended thread began under the title of "Drag Strip on Elm Street."

The last time I recall this topic being raised by elected and appointed officials was in late June, when city council discussed speeding and other examples of forever escalating driver mayhem in New Albany.

The council's discussion was followed by a revealing intervention by the Board of Public Works and Safety's appointed chairman Warren Nash, who hastened to remind elected public officials that there was no need to discuss problems that don't exist.

But don't take my word for it. After all, I don't attend meetings any longer, in an act of self-censorship explained in depth here: ON THE AVENUES: Surrender.

Rather, believe Daniel Suddeath of the News and Tribune, who quoted Nash on June 23.

NEW ALBANY — Last week, the New Albany City Council kicked around a few ideas for traffic calming, though the only decision reached was to convene a committee to further explore the issue.

On Tuesday, Warren Nash, president of the New Albany Board of Public Works and Safety, urged the committee and council to be cautious in its approach due to a major improvement project slated to begin next year on the Sherman Minton Bridge.

“I hope your committee will take into account the Sherman Minton Bridge construction during the next two years and not do anything too drastic during that time,” Nash said to Councilman Jason Applegate, chair of the traffic committee that was scheduled to meet Tuesday evening for the first time since the pandemic.

Applegate regularly attends the board of works meetings, which will resume being held in-person likely on July 7, and explained that the committee’s intent isn’t to propose massive projects or to attempt to overstep its bounds.

The board of works oversees city streets as part of its domain while the council is primarily in charge of funding and managing municipal budgets.

Applegate said the committee would like to see a process streamlined “that gets information in kind of a systematic way where maybe there’s a liaison between the council and the board of works on these types of issues.”

The board of works is a three-person body and its members are appointed by the mayor.

Nash referred to the council’s discussion Thursday about speeding and traffic calming. He said he heard several issues raised regarding streets that the board already has projects planned for or where upgrades are in process.

He mentioned some traffic-calming measures and upgrades for Grant Line Road, Mount Tabor Road, McDonald Lane and Slate Run Road, among others.

“We’ve done traffic calming and slowed traffic down on all of those streets, so I think we’ve done a considerable amount of slowing traffic down,” Nash said.

If I've misinterpreted Suddeath's quote, I'm open and eager to be corrected.

The next community crime watch meeting is Wed., Nov. 13, 7:00 p.m. at the Floyd County Library's auditorium.

First the meeting notification, courtesy of my friend Diane Williamson's page at Facebook.

New Albany friends and neighbors, there's another community watch meeting this Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at the Floyd County Library in the Auditorium. I'm not organizing these meetings, but I attended the last one in September and there are a lot of good people coming together to make our neighborhoods and streets safer. Nothing wrong with that, now is there?

Floyd County Deputy Prosecutor Chris Lane will be in attendance (he's the guy who filed FELONY charges against our would-be home invader a couple of months ago, so he's my kinda guy) along with some newly-elected officials and some law enforcement folks to discuss how we can all come together to make our beautiful little hometown a little safer.

It's a good cause and I'm going to attend. Hope to see you all there, too!

The would-be home invasion episode of which Diane speaks was reported in the local chain newspaper on September 30.

New Albany residents unite to help stop crime, by Aprile Rickert (Hanson's Folly)

Many met through Next Door social media app

NEW ALBANY — A group of New Albany residents are forming partnerships to help make their neighborhoods safer.

More than 20 people gathered Thursday at a meeting at the New Albany Floyd County Public Library, to discuss concerns and share ideas about policing their corners of the city for criminal or suspicious behavior.

Many of those in attendance had met through the Next Door app, a national social media platform that allows residents in a particular area to share information on crime and other general topics. Several of those in attendance also said they've had things happen that have made them feel unsafe.

New Albany resident Diane Williamson said she's already seen what the network can do, after an incident that happened at her house about a month ago.

"In the middle of the night somebody yanked open our storm door and began to try to kick in our front door," she said. Her boyfriend, who also lives there, put his weight against the door to hold it closed.

"In the moment when you're faced with that situation, you just react," Williamson said. "You think 'let's keep whoever out.'"

The suspect eventually left, walking away, but the incident was caught on the couple's security camera. Williamson shared the video the following day on the Next Door app, and a neighbor later found out a nearby restaurant had also been damaged, a brick thrown through the window around the same time.

"That's how we put it together because of a neighbor paying attention, being snoopy, which is good, and sharing that information with me," she said.

The suspect was arrested and is facing misdemeanor charges at this time.

Williamson said what she hoped would come from this first meeting was more of the same — "More connection, more interaction among neighbors, more people signing up for Next Door," she said. "More people realizing that we are not powerless..."

Other residents shared during the meeting things they've seen; those who already are part of neighborhood watch groups talked about how they operate ...