Two weeks ago, 67 volunteers painted over graffiti and cleaned-up sites on the East Side and in the South End.

According to Safe Streets, here are the results of the effort May 30:

* Area 1: 19 total sites, including 10 homes, one church, one retaining wall and seven utility poles.

* Area 2: 10 total sites, including six homes, two businesses and two utility boxes.

* Area 3: Nine total sites, including two homes, a pedestrian bridge and six utility poles.

* Area 4: 12 total sites, including eight homes, three concrete blocks

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The City of Tacoma is sponsoring a citywide clean-up Saturday.

“The clean sweep event is an opportunity for our community to come together and take pride in Tacoma’s neighborhoods through cleanups, graffiti removal and open space cleanups,” a press release states.

Officials selected five sites for cleanup. The locations were chosen based on crime, nuisance, overgrowth and graffiti data along with information about other clean ups this year.

The following will take place from 9 a.m. to noon:

Central District Neighborhood Cleanup (6th Avenue to South 12th Street, Sprague Street to Orchard Street).

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Safe Streets community mobilizer Darren Pen reports that a group of volunteers painted over 300 yards of graffiti this weekend.

The group concentrated along the railroad tracks and Highway 7/South 38th Street interchange.

“If you drive through today or tomorrow all over 300 yards of graffiti is gone for now,” Pen wrote in an e-mail.

(Photos provided by Darren Pen)

If you haven’t seen it already, here’s the link to Jason Hagey’s Sunday profile of Jeanie Peterson.

Jeanie is a well known, well respected and longtime Hilltop activist. She – others on the Hilltop – have had great success over the years in cleaning up their neighborhood and keeping it clean.

She’s got the ear of several city leaders because of her dedication, passion and ability to come to the table with researched ideas to problems. She’s also quite the character – she walks around barefoot and has no

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The East Side and South Tacoma areas have been selected as the next neighborhoods for the city’s Community-based Services program.

The city announced the selection this morning. Those areas include the Dometop, Ling LAWG(Lincoln Area Watch Group), Lincoln South and Whitman neighborhoods.

The area will get the dedicated attention of a code enforcement officer, a Tacoma police community liaison officer and a program development specialist. Other city services also will be ready to help.

The city team will look to partner with the community to reduce crime, eliminate blight and increase community education and involvement.

City

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Nearly 250 volunteers have signed to up to paint over gang-related graffiti in Tacoma, Lakewood and unincorporated Pierce County.

The men and women will be divided up into 50 teams. Each team will be sent out – with paint, brushes and sack lunches in hand – to attack the festering graffiti problem.

In Tacoma, volunteers will meet at 11:30 a.m. at the South End Neighborhood Center, 7802 S. L St. They’ll hit pre-identified areas on the East Side, South End, North End and downtown in Tacoma as well as Spanaway, Parkland, Midland and Bethel in Pierce County.

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Today (Monday, April 28) is the deadline to register for a countywide graffiti cleanup.

Volunteers armed with paint brushes and paint will be heading out to spots in Tacoma, Lakewood and unincorporated Pierce County on Saturday, May 3 for “Operation Graffiti Cover-Up.”

If you have a team together, register with Safe Streets (253-272-6824 or rkhlom@safest.org) by the end of the day. Other volunteers can wait for a team assignment on the day of the event.

Volunteers will get paint, brushes and a sack lunch.

Members of the Edison neighborhood will be out Saturday, cleaning up their streets.

Residents who live or own property or businesses between South 56th to 66th and South Oakes to Washington streets are invited to participate.

Volunteers will met at Edison Elementary School, 5830 S. Pine St., at 10 a.m. Saturday. The cleanup is scheduled to last until 2 p.m.

They’ll be looking for trash, televisions, yard waste, blackberry bushes, appliances, tires and metals.

LeMay Mobile Shredding will be on-site to shred documents. There’s a limit of up to three grocery bags full of said documents

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