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February 8, 2008 - City News |
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Mayor's
Message |
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Dear Friend,
In celebrating black history month we honor the
hard work and perseverance of African Americans
who fought for equality and human rights. During
this special month we reflect on the many ways
African Americans have shaped our City’s
history.
In Orlando, there
are streets, City facilities and schools named in honor of
local and national African American leaders who
have made a positive difference in our
community, including Ravenall Avenue, Dr. I.
Sylvester Hankins Park, L. Claudia Allen Senior
Center and Nap Ford Community School.
On Monday,
February 18, the City will host a celebration in
recognition of Black History Month. The event will include African dance,
dramatic reading and a Gospel choir. In
addition, CityofOrlando.net will feature
individuals who have made invaluable
contributions to our country, our culture, and
our community.
I encourage you to take part in this and other
festivities as our City celebrates
Black History Month.
Sincerely,
Buddy Dyer
Mayor
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This section of
City News provides public safety updates on new and ongoing City
initiatives and opportunities for citizens to become engaged in their
neighborhoods.
V.O.I.C.E. collects over 600 Cell Phones for
Seniors
Mayor Dyer and the
Volunteer Organization of Involved City of Orlando Employees (V.O.I.C.E.),
in partnership with CBS Radio collected more than 600 old cell phones
during the month of January. The cell phones will be reconditioned for
911 service and distributed by the City of Orlando’s SeniorLinks program
to seniors in our community who are needy, homebound or isolated. Mayor
Dyer and all the program partners greatly appreciate your support.
Operation Armor All
On Wednesday, February
6, the Orlando Police Department launched phase 2 of Operation Armor
All. OPD and the faith-based communities will lead a one-hour prayer and
praise session for 40 days at 40 different churches throughout the City.
Graffiti Hotline
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The City of Orlando has an information
clearinghouse and a dedicated graffiti hotline through
Keep Orlando Beautiful to streamline the process for
graffiti removal. Keep Orlando Beautiful is the central
point of contact for residents and businesses to report
graffiti. This group works in tandem with City
departments and the OPD Gang Enforcement team to
aggressively locate and remove graffiti. Citizens can
call in and report graffiti at 407-254-GRAF (4723) or an
online form is available. |
Hazardous Weather Awareness Week
Florida’s 2008 Hazardous Weather Awareness week takes place February
2-9, 2008, and is an opportunity for all citizens and emergency
management representatives to learn about the frequent weather hazards
impacting our state. Locally, the City of Orlando Office of Emergency
Management commemorated this week by reviewing its internal policies and
technologies to better serve and prepare our citizens for hazardous
weather.
The City of Orlando held a tornado tabletop exercise in which key
emergency representatives, including Mayor Buddy Dyer, worked together
to practice emergency response operations in the event of a tornado.
This realistic approach allows emergency management representatives to
better address ongoing changes in the city’s needs.
Florida’s Hazardous Weather Awareness Week continues on-going city
efforts to promote citizen preparedness. All citizens are encouraged to
participate by visiting local and state emergency management websites
and reviewing personal disaster preparedness plans for all potential
forms of hazardous weather.
To receive more information about Florida’s Hazardous Weather Awareness
Week and the City of Orlando’s efforts to commemorate this important
event, please contact the Office of Emergency Management for the City of
Orlando at (321) 235–5437 or visit
CityofOrlando.net/emergency.
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City Council Runoff for District 2
A runoff election
will be held on Tuesday, February 26, 2008,
for the District 2 City Commission seat.
Please note that
the polling place for the runoff election may
be different than the location where you voted for
the primary election.
Please consult
your sample ballot, which will be mailed to you,
for the specific location of your polling place
and additional election information.
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Orlando Wetlands Festival
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Enjoy the Ninth Annual
Orlando Wetlands Park Festival on Saturday, February 23,
from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will include guided
birding and wilderness hikes, bus tours, live wild
animals, Talako Indian dancers, entertainment, a bounce
house, face painting and more.
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The Wetlands Park is a
great place to relax and enjoy nature. The most popular
activities are bird-watching, nature photography,
jogging and bicycling. Nature enthusiasts will be
greeted by 1,650 acres of hardwood hammocks, marshes and
lakes. The Orlando Easterly Wetlands represents the
world’s first large scale, constructed wetland treatment
system designed to polish nutrients from reclaimed
water. It is truly a “green” project, serving to protect
our communities’ vital water resources by reducing
potentially harmful nutrients in a safe, natural,
effective method. |
Directions: To
get to the Park, take S.R. 50 to Christmas,
Florida. Turn north onto 420, Ft. Christmas
Road, and travel 2.3 miles, then turn onto
Wheeler Road and travel 1.5 miles. The address
is 25155 Wheeler Road, Christmas, Florida 32709.
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Mayor in the
Community |
On Saturday, February 2, Mayor Buddy Dyer
attended the Second Annual Blues-B-Q, featuring
Blues musicians Koko Taylor and the Robert Cray
Band. 16,000 people were in attendance for
this event.
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Did You Know? |
Downtown Information Center
The City recently opened the
Downtown Orlando Information Center and
officially launched
the Ambassador Program. The Information Center
serves as a one-stop center on all of Downtown
Orlando’s amenities, as well as headquarters for
the Downtown Ambassadors and field office for
the Orlando Police Department Bike Patrol.
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Downtown Ambassadors offer information to
visitors and residents about places to eat, where to
park and things to do. And to make the Ambassadors
stand out and get around quickly, they ride Segways -
two-wheeled single person transportation mobiles that
can easily navigate our Downtown streets and sidewalks.
The Downtown Orlando Information
Center is located at 201 South Orange Avenue, Suite 102,
in the Regions Plaza.
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Faith Based and Community Grant Receives
Additional Funding
The City is pleased to announce
additional funding for the Mayor’s Faith Based
and Community Matching Grant (MFBCMG). These
youth crime prevention grants range from $1,000
to $10,000 for projects and programs that
provide adult-supervised, structured activities
for City of Orlando youth during non-school
hours. Projects and programs that focus on
character building, life skills training, career
development and other skill-building activities
are eligible for funding. Tax exempt 501(c)(3)
community and faith based organizations may
apply for the grant and must establish a
partnership with a City of Orlando neighborhood,
homeowner, condominium or resident organization.
Information about
grant guidelines, eligibility and application
can be found on-line at
www.cityoforlando.net/grants. An additional
required application workshop will be held on
February 19, 2008 at the Dr. James R. Smith
Neighborhood Center from 6 – 8 p.m. (call
407.246.3787 to reserve a seat at this
workshop). A minimum of one individual from the
nonprofit organization and two individuals from
the partnering neighborhood organization must
attend the application workshop to apply for
this grant. This workshop is not
required for applicants who attended a Mayor’s
Faith Based and Community Matching Grant
workshop in 2007.
Applications are
due on March 7, 2008. The grant cycle will begin
April 14, 2008 and end December 31, 2008.
Orange TV Changes Channels to 199
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If you enjoy Orlando 360,
Inside Orlando and the Orlando City Council
broadcasts, make sure that you tune into Orange
TV at its new number, Channel 199. Brighthouse
customers who subscribe to basic cable will not
be required to upgrade to the digital level of
service to see their government in action.
However, they will need to obtain a
simple-to-install box available from Brighthouse
for a fee of $1.00 per month per TV. For more
information on how to obtain a box, call
Brighthouse at 407-291-2500. |
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Upcoming
Events |
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Road Closure |
• For information on
road closures please visit:
our site.
• For up-to-date
information on I-4 lane and ramp closure please
visit:
trans4mation.org
• For the latest
East-West Expressway updates please visit:
http://www.oocea.com/constructionupdate/roadupdates.shtml |
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City Hall
400 South Orange Avenue
Orlando, FL 32801
Phone: 407.246.2221
Fax: 407.246.2842
Email:
buddy.dyer@cityoforlando.net |
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Florida has a very broad public records law.
As a result, any written communication created or received by City of
Orlando officials and employees will be made available to the public and
media, upon request, unless otherwise exempt. Under Florida law, email
addresses are public records. If you do not want your email address
released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic
mail to this office. Instead, contact our office by phone or in writing.
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