Inside the Excel Academy South in Northwood, Executive Director Milton Alexander stands with Stephanie Buca and a select group of the interviewed honor students. Photo by Maria Konidaris.

Jamirca Delacruz dropped out of Frankford High School. Sarae White was struggling academically. Brandon Ausborne was simply not attending a high school at all.

All three chose to attend the newest Camelot School, Excel Academy South, which opened this year on the grounds of Friends Hospital at Roosevelt Boulevard and Adams Avenue.

“I didn’t want to stay home and not graduate and be a failure,” Ausborne said.

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The Fallen Heroes Run (design seen here, by resident Mike Ennis) was one of many topics reviewed at the March Mayfair Civic meeting.

The cold, rain and wind kept many from attending last night’s Mayfair Civic Association, but President Joe DeFelice powered through the agenda nonetheless, keeping the meeting to a brief 40 minutes. Below are the highlights:

“Mayfair Memorial Playground is the No. 1 issue,” DeFelice said, who assured residents that progress on the playground is beginning to move quicker than it had been. With a goal of $50,000, the organization has raised $3,000 thus far, though is in the process of securing grants.

And tomorrow, DeFelice said, Beatrice Seybold, the former financial secretary of the 1950s-based Mayfair Improvement Association will sign a letter to be notarized and sent to Sen. Specter, which will reassign a $500 bond to the MIA to the Mayfair Civic Association. continue reading »

Q: I recently sold my house. In this market you would think that would be a good thing, but now I can’t buy the house I wanted because I did not get approved for the next mortgage. And it turns out I have to rent. I am regretful, but how was I supposed to know that would happen?

A: You should have gotten preapproved before putting your home on the market. Then you would have known. I asked Stan Reinford from Bank of America Home Loans if he has run into this problem. continue reading »

An elderly man’s neighbors came to his rescue yesterday afternoon when he was attacked in his home.

The victim, a 95-year-old resident of Tacony’s 7200- block of Walker Street, was punched in the face repeatedly when an unidentified male entered his home around 4 p.m. continue reading »

Vincent Mickle, a former coach for Mayfair’s Holy Terrors girls soccer team was arrested Monday night for allegedly soliciting and sometimes having sex with underage females.

Police say Mickle, 42, posed as a teenager on MySpace, where he shared sexually explicit photos with about a half-dozen girls between the ages of 14 and 16. In some cases, Mickle reportedly sought these females out for sexual acts, and police say he did have sex with at least one of them.

Mickle is now in jail on $300,000 bail for behavior police say has been going on since 2007.

Video from Action News is below: continue reading »

Councilwoman Krajewski (l) reviews the wall of her fellow inductees for the inaugural Northeast Philadelphia Hall of Fame. Photo by Christopher Wink for NEast Philly.

The Northeast gets called a lot of things: suburban, Republican, behind-the-times — and those are just the subtle insults.

But what people in other parts of the city — and even people from the Northeast — don’t realize, is that our region is as important, historic and evolved as the rest of Philadelphia. And if you need proof, look no further than the Northeast Philadelphia Hall of Fame.

In the video below, City Councilwoman Joan Krawjewski, one of last year’s inductees, talks about the Northeast.

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NEast Philly reader Jennifer Malazita posted this photo (dated March 26) to our Facebook page.

We couldn’t get confirmation as to what exactly is happening here at Thornton and Comly roads just outside of Normandy, but something tells us the Water Department was busy that day.

Photo courtesy of the League of Women Voters.

The Northeast’s Kelly Green has been named executive director of Variety — the Children’s Charity of Greater Philadelphia — Monday.

Green assumed her position with the nonprofit, known as the Variety Club, last week Educated at Penn State and Temple universities, Green previously worked for Philadelphia-based Institute for the Study of Civic Values, and has served as the president of the board of directors for the League of Women Voters of Philadelphia for the last four years.

A woman was struck by a train near Lawndale Station this morning, police said

The woman, in her 20s,  was struck by a SEPTA train near the Newtown Road/Robbins Street intersection around 11:30 a.m. She was taken to Temple University Hospital while investigators remained at the scene to determine the cause.

You’ve already been to Rita’s, or stopped Mister Softee, at least once. You’ve displayed your embarrassingly pale legs in shorts. And you’ve taken a stroll through the nearest park.

But are you forgetting something? Oh, right — it’s yardsale season! continue reading »