I live very close to Steven. I've got pix and videos various black bears on my driveway. I actually came close to bumping into one a few years ago. He was on my driveway in the middle of the day, behind my car. When I got to my car door there he was, about 10 feet away. I backed away and took some pix. He didn't run from the sight of me.
My kids (when they were younger) called me at work one day. Actually it was my 13 y/o son who called. He said the bear was on the driveway. I told him not to leave the house. My daughter 11 y/o was scheduled to get home 45 minutes later on the school bus. I called the cops. Small town is nice

They came to the house and turned on their sirens, honked the horn, etc. The bear wasn't leaving. They waited for my daughter and escorted her into the house. The bear eventually left on its own accord.
Bottom line is, the authorities up here are so used to bear sightings that they don't send the DEC at the first sighting of a bear. It really isn't a big deal, to them, around here.
I keep my garbage in the garage all year until the night before pickup. Then I bring it to the curb.
My biggest fear is when I grill. It's very important in our area to burn the grill after cooking to get rid of the fats and smell......especially when we grill salmon.
swimmer