A Clean Downtown, Crime Seems Up

It's TUESDAY, April 19, 2011. I hope by now everyone has had a chance to see the downtown in all its scrubbed and spotless glory. Thanks again to all those volunteers who came out Sunday morning and worked like crazy in the name of making our And to Barbara Kapsalis for organizing the event, and Main Street Martinez for sponsoring. This town will and does rise to the occasion.

In that spirit, let's proceed with the latest Five Things:

1. The last thing I want to do is be an alarmist, but if you read Sunday's , perhaps you noticed that things were a little more hard core than usual. Amid the usual silliness was a spate of stolen cars, a gang fight, and an assault on someone by five someone else's . These are the kinds of things that cannot be prevented by the police department, so no use blaming them. What you can do is keep a sharp eye out in your neighborhood, and around town. Call the police when something weird crops up, or doesn't seem quite right. And take advantage of the new program - find out who your neighborhood officer is, reach out to him or her, and make sure they know you. This is potentially a great program, but it will only work if you use it.
2. The City Council meets Wednesday, and is slated to approve a . It's a great mural, depicting lots of Martinez history, and it's going on a big grey wall that desperately needs a bit of color. Right now it looks a little like the Soviet Union down there. Watch this space for updates on the vote, but it's expected that the council will approve the very affordable $7,200 to get this mural on the wall.
3. If you didn't get enough bunny yesterday in Martinez, you and your kids (or hey, just you, if you like) can head over to and see the bunny over there. 
4. However, if you just didn't get enough of the Martinez Library yesterday, you can hop on over there today for . If you want to go alone, you may want to at least borrow a little kid to bring along. It looks better. 
5. Finally, if after all the bunnies and geese, you feel like a little adult entertainment, may I suggest The Station for this evening at 7 p.m. Bring your instrument and/or your ears, and get ready for a good time. No cover.