-- City of Mobile Implements Connect-CTY Alert Notification System
-- Head Downtown for the Christmas and Holiday Parade
-- Council News: Meeting at America's Oldest City Hall
-- Fire Department Seeks Qualified Applicants
-- Recycle Your Old Cell Phones…
-- ...And Recycle Your Christmas Tree, Too
-- Police Auction Tomorrow
Greetings!
An Amber Alert. An approaching hurricane. A road
closure. A community meeting. All of these things,
while at different levels of urgency, require notification
to the public. Now, the City of Mobile has teamed up
with Mobile County Commission, and Mobile County
EMA for an alert notification system that can get a
message out in minutes. And it can go to one street
or the entire county. Read on to learn more about the
Connect-CTY program and how you can become
more connected when you need to be alerted.
Sincerely,
Samuel L. Jones Mayor
City of Mobile Implements Connect-CTY Alert Notification System
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The City of Mobile, Mobile County Commission, in
conjunction with the Emergency Management Agency,
announced Friday it has selected the mass
communication service Connect-
CTY®.
"Mobile is one of America's
greatest port cities. Though great, our strategic
location on the Gulf of Mexico sometimes exposes us
to weather-related disasters. Therefore, it is important
that we implement a communication system that
allows us to communicate effectively with all citizens,"
said Mobile Mayor Sam Jones. "The Connect-CTY
service provides us that opportunity. It is the best
technological mass communication tool to alert our
citizens and businesses in an efficient and timely
manner. We are looking forward to utilizing this tool in
communicating vital city news."
Connect-CTY,
a state of the art alert notification system will give local
officials the ability to communicate with all residents
regarding time-sensitive and public safety matters,
such as unforeseen events or emergencies. The
service allows officials to record, send and track
personalized voice messages to thousands of
residents, businesses, and local agencies in just
minutes, through a single phone call. The service
requires no additional hardware; it can be used from
any computer with Internet access or just a telephone,
ensuring that officials can send vital messages from
wherever they are located. Approved officials also can
track phone numbers that were reached using a report
on the results of outgoing messages.
Primary residential and business phones in Mobile
County will automatically be included in the system.
However, residents can opt-in to provide their
complete information (up to three phone numbers and
two e-mail addresses) and indicate if they have a
TTY/TDD device by visiting the City of Mobile web site
and clicking on the link that says "SIGN UP NOW -
SERVICES BY CONNECT-CTY" to enter their
information into the secure database.
Those
residents living in the City of Mobile who are without
Internet access can have their information added into
the system by calling (251) 405-6424. Residents with
call blocking services can make sure to receive the
county's time-sensitive calls by adding (251) 405-
6443 to their approved number list. Also, Walt
Dickerson, EMA director for Mobile County, states that
this system will provide great service in emergency
situations, such as hazardous materials incidents,
hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.
The City will send out a sample message tonight
(December 14) at 4:30 p.m. for businesses and 6:30
p.m. for residences.
Head Downtown for the Christmas and Holiday Parade
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mobile's Christmas & Holiday Parade, presented by
McDonald's, is scheduled to roll through the streets of
downtown on Saturday, December 15th at 1:30 p.m.
Ronald McDonald and Santa will kick off the holiday
season with a number of floats, marching bands,
giant helium balloons and other participants.
The parade will follow its annual route beginning at
the Civic Center, traveling north on Claiborne St. to
Government St., turning left on Royal St., left on
Dauphin St., and left on Claiborne to finish at the Civic
Center. The streets will be blocked off one hour prior
to the parade and all cars parked on the street along
the route should be removed 2 hours prior to the
parade.
We will also have kids' activities in Bienville Square
including face painting, balloon clowns and hands-on-
art. The kids' activities will begin at 12:30 pm and end
at 3:00 p.m.
We expect up to 30,000 people to
line the streets to watch this parade. We welcome
them to our downtown and hope many will come early
for breakfast or lunch and then stay late to shop.
Council News: Meeting at America's Oldest City Hall
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Mobile City Council will uphold a tradition of
maintaining America's oldest City Hall. Their meeting
on Tuesday, December 18, 2007 will be held at the old
city hall, currently the home of the Museum of Mobile.
At the meeting, Mayor Sam Jones, on behalf of the City
of Mobile, will give the late Mr. Caldwell Delaney the
title of "Director Emeritus." Mr. Delaney served as
Director and advocate for the Museum and preserved
the rich history of Mobile for generations to come.
Fire Department Seeks Qualified Applicants
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mobile Fire-Rescue is seeking qualified and motivated
individuals to become firefighters and be a part of the
fire-rescue family. The last day to submit an
application for firefighter is Friday, December 14, 2007.
Applications can be obtained and submitted to the
Mobile County Personnel Department located at 1809
Government Street. Applicants must have graduated
from a standard senior high school or a combination
of education and experience equivalent to these
requirements and possess a valid driver's license
from the state of residency. Applicants will receive a
written examination study booklet and candidate
physical ability test preparation guide upon receipt of
application.
Applications for Firemedic are also being accepted.
There is no closing date for those applications.
Applicants for Firemedic must possess a valid license
as a credentialed Paramedic from the State of
Alabama Division of Emergency Medical Services and
must have current Board Certification from the
National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians.
Keep America Beautiful is conducting a national
program to Wipe Out Wireless Waste (WOWW) all
over the United States. Keep Mobile Beautiful has
been participating in this program by providing
postage paid envelopes to anyone wishing to properly
dispose of their old cellular telephone.
At this time, Keep Mobile Beautiful is only 200 cell
phones away from taking first place in the nation in
this program. Here's where you come in. If you have
an old cellular phone that you do not want anymore,
please contact Keep Mobile Beautiful at 208-6029 or
208-6028 and we will come and pick up your phone.
We will send all of the phones to the WOWW program
where they will be 100% recycled, thus keeping this
type of equipment from ending up in the landfill.
...And Recycle Your Christmas Tree, Too
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For those of you who still buy "formerly-alive"
Christmas trees, please remember to recycle your
tree this year. Keep Mobile Beautiful will be collecting
Christmas trees at the following sites from December
26, 2007-January 6, 2008. All you have to do is drop
off your tree at one of these locations. And please
remember to remove lights, ornaments and stands.
Parkway Plaza - 2655 Dauphin Island Parkway
Food World - 2501 Government Street
Wildwood Place Food World - 4055 Cottage Hill
Road
Azalea Center - Airport and Azalea Rd
Regency Center Bruno's - Airport and University
Westwood Plaza - Airport and Schillinger Park
Forest Center - Moffett at Forest Hill Drive Clover
Leaf Plaza - Tillman's Corner Sears Essentials -
951 US Highway 43, Saraland
Christmas trees will be ground into mulch, which KMB
will give away on January 12, 2008 at the Greater Gulf
States Fairgrounds.
Police Auction Tomorrow
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Mobile Police Department will hold a public
auction of unclaimed property at 9 a.m. Saturday,
December 15 in the rear, lower parking lot of Police
Headquarters, 2460 Government Blvd. Registration
opens at 8 a.m. with a 9 a.m. start for bidding.
Police will be offering found or unclaimed personal
items that will include dozens of bicycles and assorted
electronics, appliances, hardware, lawn equipment
and furniture. The property will be sold "as is" to the
highest bidders. Only cash is accepted for payment.
By state law, the department must hold all property for
a minimum of 90 days, during which time it may be
reclaimed by its owners. The property for auction is
among the hundreds of items taken into custody by
the department's Property Unit every month. The
auction area is located on the back side of the
headquarters building, which is accessed off Pinehill
Road, between Government Street and Airport
Boulevard.
