Sorry, duck count now 5

Sorry to report another down. At the corner by Shady Grove, probably around 1pm Monday. Tuesday morning I called Animal Control to please, please come move them. I think the 4 big ones are drakes and I doubt they would find their way back here. I'm afraid they will cause an accident. I've already requested "Duck Crossing" signs for the area (last week) and it sounded like they would act on the request, but who knows how long it could take.

Budget and Tax Rate Hearings

Two public hearings are required before the City Council can finally approve the 2005/2006 Budget and tax rate. You can speak at the first two meetings. Let them know your opinion! All meetings are at Bedford City Hall (Council Chambers) at 7pm.

Tuesday, Aug. 30th -- 1st Reading & 1st Public Hearing

Tuesday, Sept. 6th -- 2nd Public Hearing

Tuesday, Sept. 13th -- 2nd & Final Reading - Council will vote and set the rate

Mexican petunias

My ruellia "Little Katie" Mexican petunias only bloom in August, my bet is they require more sun than they get in our planter. A wonderful perennial plant in this area, great for the lazy gardener.

Momma Duck

Thought you'd enjoy this cute shot of our star momma duck. The current count is 6. The link area will take you to more duck pictures.

Mayoral candidates

I thought we had only 5 mayoral candidates. There are 8! I hear (unconfirmed though) that the city has budgeted for a runoff election because the person who is elected must win by a majority and with 8 candidates, that is unlikely to happen on September 10th. Here are the names (alphabetical order) and the websites I am aware of.

Todd Burgart www.toddburgart.com
Meg Gould
French Haralson
Philip Hatfield
Bill Lea
Herb Miner, Jr.
Jim Story www.bedfordtogether.com
Roy Turner www.royturner.com

OK, this is a complete list now and they were all present at the forum on the 25th. Please be sure to study the candidates and vote.

Candidate Forum Thurs. Aug. 25. 7pm

Notice from the city website:
League of Women Voters Candidates’ Forum

The League of Women Voters will have a candidates' forum for the Special Election to fill the Mayor's vacancy, August 25 at the Bedford-Hurst Senior Center at 7:00 p.m.

If you cannot attend the Forum, it will be re-broadcasted on Comcast Cable channel 15, on the following days:

• Monday, August 29 at 6:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, August 31 at 6:00 p.m.

Note, the League of Women Voters website does not yet include any statements from the candidates for this election.

Early voting starts

Early voting starts on Wednesday, August 24th at the Library

We will be electing a new mayor to serve until May 2006 and also will vote on allowing sale of wine in city grocery stores. You can't complain if you don't vote. Please vote.

Do you know this cat?

Last night I heard by phone that this is JoJo and she belongs to a family that feeds her and gives her shots. The people they got her from told them she had been spayed. She is a friendly cat other than occasionally grabbing at you, and she likes to hang out on the diving boards of two neighbors on the east side of Shady Brook Drive. Since I forgot to ask for a name and number of the man who called, I hope to confirm this information in person.

Do you know this cat?

Welcome To Shady Brook!

I thought I would start this online newsletter to gather information relevant to the residents of the area at the southern end of Shady Brook. Please contact me if you want to share anything -- see the link in the column at the right. I would prefer to keep us somewhat anonymous, not using full names or addresses for privacy, since we should all be able to figure out who we are!

Duck update

Today we lost 5 of our duck family. By my count we should now have 7, but I have only spotted the mom and 4 youngsters. Two seem to be sticking with the mom and two are being more reclusive. To see more on the history of the ducks during the summer of 2005, see the web page http://miscfrommp.blogspot.com/