DATE: Friday, June 20, 1997                 TAG: 9706180171

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 03   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   37 lines

IN PARK VIEW, OFFICIALS AND RESIDENTS MARK $200,000 GRANT AWARD THE CITY IS ONE OF 5 IN THE STATE GETTING ``WEED AND SEED'' FUNDS.

An old Park View porch served as the platform for state and city officials taking part in the June 11 kickoff presentation of a $200,000 neighborhood-boosting grant.

Their audience - a mixture of city officials, police officers and residents of Park View, West Park View and Shea Terrace - stood on a tree-lined street.

The one thing hard to miss was that many of them already knew each other.

It took a lot of good old-fashioned civic spirit and a nationally recognized community policing program to bring about that camaraderie.

But the results of the partnership helped to catch the state's eye when it went looking for test sites for its new ``Weed and Seed'' program.

Portsmouth was one of five cities in the state chosen for the award, which must be used in targeted neighborhoods.

``It goes to communities already helping themselves,'' said Officer John Donahue, one of two community policing officers serving the three neighborhoods.

``It's kind of a reward, is what it is,'' he said, as he stood talking to a couple of residents after the ceremony.

The ``weed'' portion of the grant will go toward crime-fighting efforts, ranging from drug enforcement to truancy and curfew patrols.

The ``seed'' money is geared toward prevention and intervention programs, such as youth services and social programs.

It will allow the city to fill four positions - a social worker, a probation and parole technician, a student resource counselor to address truancy problems, and a juvenile intake officer to address curfew problems.

The house at 905 Ann St. where the kickoff celebration was held is now the office of the Neighborhood Impact Officers. It was provided to the police department by the Pines Treatment Center.

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