River Bend Neighborhood

Millie Carr, above, has opened up a new restaurant, Something Good Restaurant and Catering, in the River Bend Neighborhood. Located at 1610 Sixth Avenue, the restaurant serves up traditional Southern-style home cooking.

Here’s what she’s serving up:

Mmmmm!

Hours:

• Tuesday-Friday: Lunch is served 11am-2pm. Dinner is served 5-8:30pm
• Saturday & Sunday: Noon – 5pm

Images: Holly McQueen/Des Moines Register

The Des Moines Register is calling for a controversial downtown homeless shelter to be moved away from a proposed proposed $160 million development to a new location by a northside neighborhood and park.

According to the Register:

A task force, which included elected officials, business leaders and a police chief, worked for several months exploring ideas related to a new shelter and services for homeless people. The task force discussed programming, funding and location. Public meetings were held. It looked at other shelters, including one in Davenport, to help determine best practices.

The River Bend Neighborhood Association has opposed moving the shelter, because:

• The city has not solicited true citizen input on the issue. For example, at a recent public meeting at the downtown library, City Manager Rick Clark did not allow any time for the hundreds of concerned citizens that attended to provided input, he refused input on the agenda for the meeting and he refused to answer questions;
• The people of Des Moines are not asking for new shelters, or for existing shelters to be moved;
• Existing shelters can meet the needs of the current homeless population;
• The Churches United Shelter accepts drug addicts, alcoholics and sex offenders. The current location of the Churches United shelter is a good one for this population, away from children, parks and homes;
• The city is putting the interests of developers ahead of citizens and the homeless in considering the move;
• If the city has more money available for helping the homeless, it should consider helping other shelters than Churches United, which City Councilwoman Christine Hensley has described as having a history of problems, and which is well-known to city police because of the tremendous number of calls it generates.

If the City of Des Moines has a real interest in the needs of the homeless, it should not spend millions on moving shelters to meet the needs of developers, it should spend the money on helping the needy through the existing shelters.

River Bend Neighborhood residents gathered Tuesday evening at Bates Park to celebrate National Night Out, a program designed to heighten awareness of crime prevention.

Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie dropped by the event, and presented a proclamation commending River Bend’s participation in the nationwide event. Local officials and law enforcement officers were also on hand and had shared a summer supper of hot dogs and watermelon.

National Night Out against crime enlists an estimated 10,000 neighborhoods and communities throughout the United States in an attempt to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness; generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime programs; strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and send a message to criminals letting them know that “neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.”

In addition to the large-group events (barbecques, picnics, rallies and marches), NNO organizers encourage homeowners to illuminate their porch lights today as a symbolic act of crime prevention.

Here are some photos of the event, which was cut short by a sudden summer thunderstorm:

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Tenants of a Des Moines low-income apartment building where at least nine children have tested positive for elevated blood-lead levels accuse building managers of ignoring their repeated complaints until county officials stepped in. Meanwhile, the executive director of Anawim Housing counters that no problem was brought to her attention until now.

Officials with Anawim Housing, the Polk County Health Department and the Polk County attorney’s office met Thursday evening with tenants of the building at 1635 Sixth Ave. to discuss the high lead levels, which have resulted in the hospitalization of a 1-year-old girl, while the rest of her family is left searching for a new home.

The building is operated by Anawim Housing, led by executive director Stella Neill. Fourteen children live in the 18-unit complex. Tenants received cleaning supplies to rid their homes of lead dust, and each of the units will be professionally cleaned. Tenants argue that their moving expenses and doctor bills for sick children should be paid by Anawim.

The health department said that they have not previously seen such a cluster of cases in one apartment complex. All children under the age of 6 who live in the complex will be tested next week to determine whether remaining cases exist, while the complex playground is roped off, said Terri Henkels, director of the Polk County Health Department.

While Neill acknowledges there is a problem in the complex – discovered when she was notified this week by health officials of the test results in several children – she said it can be remedied by cleaning the building.

Neill said that when the historic building was renovated in 1997, it was not tested for lead-based paint, but she said there was no reason to believe it existed.

In 1996, the Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Regulation was enacted. It requires owners of pre-1978 housing to disclose to potential buyers or renters all known information about the presence of lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards in the property. It requires that the potential buyer or tenant be given the lead information pamphlet, “Protect Your Family from Lead in Your Home,” or other EPA-approved pamphlet as well as a specific disclosure statement.

via the DM Register