Discount Pet Adoptions Today

Last week Newman Park said goodbye to their oldest neighbor: Willie Kucera. Willie passed on just weeks after he celebrated his 107^th birthday. Read the El Paso Times story about this remarkable Newmanisto; also his obituary. Willie will be buried alongside his wife in Ennis, Texas.

The City of El Paso Environmental Services Department and the Humane Society of El Paso will be offering discounted pet adoptions today (Labor Day).  Dogs and cats, four months of age or older, will be available for adoption for $60 on Monday, September 3rd. The fee includes spay/neuter services, microchip with registration, age-appropriate vaccinations and rabies certificate. Pet adoptions on the Labor Day holiday can be made the city’s Animal Shelter, 5001 Fred Wilson, and the Humane Society of El Paso, 4991 Fred Wilson. C all the Humane Society at 532-6971 for their adoption hours.

Labor Day adoption hours for the City’s animal shelter will be from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. The shelter will only be open for adoptions on Labor Day. All other services will resume on Tuesday, September 4. Animal services field crews will be available on the holiday to respond to animal-related emergencies.

This Thursday, September 6, 2012, Representative Susie Byrd will host a community meeting at 7:30am at Tierra Del Sol Restaurant (4201 Alabama). Her guest speaker will be El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar.  The County Judge will be speaking about the county budget and the proposed 5 cent property tax increase.  As a reminder, Rep. Susie Byrd holds her community meetings the first Thursday of the month at 7:30am at the Tierra Del Sol Restaurant.  For more information, contact  Judy Gutierrez  Administrative Assistant at 915.541.4416 or gutierrezmj@elpasotexas.gov.

There’s a growing national effort to make books more available in an easy, community oriented way in order to foster reading and literacy throughout the country: Little Free Library.  Local school librarian, Lisa Lopez, has already begun a little free library at Zavala Elementary.  The program works like this: wooden boxes are placed in parks or schools or homes. People bring books that they want to share to the box. They take one, leave one.  Ms. Lopez has had great success in placing these at schools and homes but would like to try a couple in parks. The parks department is a little resistant but said they might consider if they had an active neighborhood association who was willing to watch over the Little Free Library in the park. They are concerned that people might slip dirty books in the box and they are worried about vandalism.  An active neighborhood association who was willing to monitor might put them at ease.  What say you, Newman Park Neighborhood Association?

The El Paso Police Department’s Traffic Safety unit will offer its free motorcycle safety course on Saturday, September 15, 2012.  The class runs from 10:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.  The class will be held at Edge Kawasaki located at 10310 Montana.  Sign up is going on now.  To sign up for the class, call the El Paso Police Department’s Traffic Safety Coordinator, Margaret Petrozza at 915.564.7352 or Edge Kawasaki at 915.593.1024.

Finally, if you are on Facebook and want to get your creative sparks flying, check out and like Different Solutions.

Vaya con Dios!

¡Hola Vecinos!© is an emailed newsletter for the people and businesses in the Newman Park neighborhood of El Paso, their friends and other interested persons. It is written and published by Jim Tolbert who takes sole responsibility for the content of the letter. To subscribe or unsubscribe, just reply to this letter or email jimhtolbert@elp.rr.com.

Please visit www.newmanpark.blogspot.com and www.elpasonaturally.blogspot.com.

The mission of the Newman Park Neighborhood Association is to improve the quality of life in the Newman Park neighborhood through care and attention to the park and surrounding areas, and to build a community network of care, watchfulness and concern for each other and our beautiful desert environment.

This is Volume 7 and Number 26 published on September 3 , 2012

Recycle Leftover Cooking Oil, Grease

Click to enlarge image of press release.

20% Discount for Garbage Services for Seniors and the Disabled

Here's an important press release from our City's Environmental Services Department:

Senior/Disabled Garbage Discount Program

Deadline to Renew Applications is Dec. 15

El Paso, Texas – Senior and disabled citizens interested in continuing to participate in a discount program for solid waste fees must file a new application by December 15, 2011, the City of El Paso Environmental Services announced today.

The program offers a 20 percent discounted fee to people 65 years of age or older and to those who meet the program’s 100 percent disability requirement. Annual re-enrollment is required. Customers currently receiving a senior/disabled discount, who do not renew their applications by the deadline will be dropped from the program.

Applications for returning customers and for new applicants are available online at: www.elpasotexas.gov/environmental_services/senior_disabled.asp. Applications are also available at the following locations:

· Municipal Service Center, 7968 San Paulo. Hours: from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

· El Paso Water Utilities Customer Service Center, 6400 Boeing. Hours: 8 a.m.to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

· City of El Paso Senior Citizen Centers. Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

*Sacramento Center, 1800 Byron

*Eastside, 3200 Fierro

*Fr. Martinez Center, 9311 Alameda

*Polly Harris, 650 Wallenberg

*Sacramento, 3134 Jefferson

*San Juan Center, 700 N. Glenwood

*South El Paso, 600 S. Ochoa

*Washington Park, 4203 Paisano

*Wellington Chew, 4430 Maxwell

• City of El Paso Libraries. Library branch hours vary.

*Armijo, 620 E. Seventh

*Clardy Fox, 5515 Robert Alva

*Dorris Van Doren, 551 Redd

*Esperanza Acosta Moreno, 12480 Pebble Hills

*Irving Schwartz, 1865 Dean Martin

*Jenna Welch and Laura Bush Community, 6701 S. Desert

*Judge Marquez, 610 N. Yarbrough

*José Cisneros Cielo Vista, 1300 Hawkins

*Main (Downtown), 501 N. Oregon

*Memorial Park, 3200 Copper

*Richard Burges, 9600 Dyer

*Westside, 125 Belvidere

*Ysleta, 9321 Alameda

Applications and supporting documentation may be returned to the Environmental Services Department in-person, via fax at 621-6711 or by mail at:

City of El Paso Environmental Services Department

Attn: Senior Discount Applications

7968 San Paulo

El Paso, TX 79907

For more information, please call (915) 621-6700.

No Pet Food Bags

Click on image to enlarge.

This goes double for food bags for Chihuahuas!

Recycling Electronics the Right Way

Click to enlarge and click again to magnify.

Recycling Cardboard Boxes

Click on image to enlarge.

Ellen Smyth: Portrait of Caring and Service

Ellen Smyth speaks at Rep. Susie Byrd's monthly breakfast.

Ellen Smyth listens and takes notes. She doesn't get defensive when someone mentions a concern nor does she try to explain away a problem. She takes notes. Literally. That's what she was doing at the most recent breakfast meeting hosted by Rep. Susie Byrd. As Director of the City's Environmental Services, she didn't just come to tell about the new jobs her department was taking on. She came to listen.

Beginning this month, Environmental Services adds Animal Services to its existing divisions which include air monitoring, recycling, sustainability, landfills, code enforcement, building inspections and more. Environmental Services does everything from vector control to tattoo parlor inspections to monitoring air for biochemicals and other potentially lethal hazards as part of the City's responsibilities to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Ms. Smyth handed out the brochure Know What to Throw and discussed the City's recycling program. Although glass and grass are not yet recyclable, Environmental Services will be taking the first steps toward composting by purchasing a chipper. She hailed the success of the curbside recycling program. Prior to the program only about 10% of the City's trash was diverted to recycling - now it is 18% and growing. Attendees of the breakfast asked questions about flow control which has been postponed until 2014. Ellen mentioned that Ft. Bliss wants City trash as part of its goal to have all of its power come from renewable resources.

People voiced some concerns and mentioned some problems. Ms. Smyth took notes and wrote down locations. She's a problem-solver not a justifier - a breath of fresh air when too often some in governmental services can't be bothered by the people they serve.

For more information, visit www.recycleelpaso.org and the Environmental Services web page.

Recycling in El Paso

The Environmental Services Department recently released a press release on recycling phone books and other paper products and information about the curbside recycling program.

Here is the press release about recycling phone books:

Phone Book Recycling in El Paso

Here is more information about the curbside recycling program:

Curb Side Recycling Program Background

Also check out Terri Bennett's Do Your Part: Stumped on a Recycling Solution? about everything from recycling copy toner to old clothes and batteries.

Harrison Avenue Collection Site

Looks like Central El Pasoans including all of us in the Newman Park neighborhood will be able to keep our conveniently located Harrison Avenue Collection Site. (It is located just off of Alabama a half block toward the mountain.) The site is owned by Cemex. Previously, Jobe owned it and leased the land to the City. Cemex has requested the City to comply to their environmental standards which the City has done. The new lease was approved at today's City Council meeting.

The collection site (and not our blue or gray bins) is the place for such things as used oil, oil filters, tires, paint, solvents, degreasers, batteries, tree limbs and branches, etc. For a full list, go here.