According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police there were 52 crime calls in Elizabeth in February. Exactly half, 26, involved automobiles:

Larceny from auto	10
Hit and run	7
Auto theft	5
Vandalism-vehicle	4

Last Wednesday night there were four reports of someone rummaging through cars on Laurel, Greenway, Fifth and Clement streets. At least three of those incidents apparently happened to unlocked cars.

Help the tour

The neighborhood's largest fundraiser is still the Homes Tour. Show off your home or volunteer to help make the 2006 tour as good or better than last year's. Email Terry Lett, Elizabeth Homes Tour coordinator, if you'd like to help.

Hunt eggs, parade hats

The ECA Mad Hatter Easter Egg Hunt will be Saturday, April 8 at 10:30 a.m. at upper Independence Park between the gazebos. Wear your most outrageous hat for the mad hat parade. Just remember there'll be people there with cameras. And if any of them send me a picture I'll post it right here so everyone can have a good laugh. In fact, I think I'll go and take my camera. So wear a funny hat and smile. See you at the petting zoo.  

Junior National Young Leaders Conference

Does anyone know anything about the Junior National Young Leaders Conference? By that I mean, does anyone know a kid who went? Looking for recommendations.

Big E road race

The 20th annual Big E road race and neighborhood celebration is Saturday, March 25 at 8 a.m. There'll be activities for kids after the 8K race and the 3K health walk/run. It was a bunch of fun last year, and the money goes toward planting trees in Elizabeth. If you have questions about the tree plan for our neighborhood, this is your chance to get some answeers.

Get on board

Three years from now you'll jump on a trolley in Elizabeth and ride downtown to the Blumenthal for a show. As you're tooling past CPCC, you may wish you'd had an opportunity to shape the streetcar route. You do. Attend the meeting Thursday and learn all about the proposed Center City Streetcar. On our side of downtown, the trolle will run up Elizabeth Avenue and down Hawthorne to Central. At least that's the plan now. It's in the Elizabeth's best interest to attend.

Have a tent?

Not just any tent. The Elizabeth Road Race (PDF) folks are looking to borrow three or four tents "10 by 10 size in the pop-up or sun shade style" for the race March 25 from 8 to noon. They can pick up the tents the Wednesday or Thursday before and return them the Tuesday after. If you can help call Rachel Eldridge, 704-258-6033.

Ads for trees

Careful Under the Water Tower readers will notice two new additions to your Elizabeth neighborhood blog: Ads by Google at the top and an ad placed by Altmedia101.com in the sidebar. Looking to supplement my income? Not really. If I get any money for these ads -- and I haven't yet -- I will give it directly to the Elizabeth Tree Plan (I wish I had something to link to for the tree plan. The best I can do is direct you to the ECA site, but there's not much there on it. If anybody has information to share on the tree plan for newcomers, let me know.) I doubt UtWT will generate enough traffic to hit the big time or even the tiny time, but if we get one tree out of the deal it will be worth it. You can help, of course. Maybe if we talk about local restaurants like Ethan's or Carpe Diem Google will place ads for places like AOL City Guide or Hello Metro. Or maybe if you click on the links the ads provide we'll earn a penny to put toward a sapling. Or maybe not. We'll have to learn how it works. One note: I have no control over the ads. I don't endorse them nor does the ECA. If you see an offensive ad, let me know.