Northwood Civic Association new 2012 board of directors, from L to R: President Joe Krause, member Gina Panchella, Vice President Frank Bennett, member Renee Hudson and member Lou Kubik. Not pictured: Treasurer Bill Rodebaugh.

New Northwood Civic Association board leadership was introduced Tuesday night, but a familiar voice took hold.

After a debate raged at last month’s meeting around the necessary quorum and other group charter rules surrounding the choosing of new board members, not a single vote was cast at the December meeting.

Instead, new civic president Joe Krause, formerly board vice president, said the board had largely remained the same, except for his promotion and a single new nomination. The group’s charter allows for board nominations to fill vacant seats, Krause said, so no vote was necessary.

Krause is replacing the outspoken and fiery Barry Howell, who retired from the board yet still grabbed the spotlight Tuesday, as he is known to do, by calling for an audit of the finances of the Historical Society of Frankford, something close to a neighborhood sacred cow.

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The Archdiocese has announced Father Judge High School will remain closed for an additional day after a skin and eye irritant was found in the building. High school administrators say the building has been deemed safe, but will remain closed Wednesday for additional environmental safety tests. continue reading »

The Frankford Y has a rightful owner that is seeking a buyer and the Northwood Civic Association can’t do much about it.

So says Frank Bennett, the civic member, private attorney, new resident and Castor Avenue home renovator, who offered last month to look into the embattled historic building.

His view, which came by way of a thick packet of paper handed out to 20 residents in attendance, was echoed by civic President Barry Howell, of the historic and currently abandoned former community center.

“Sooner or a later a decision needs to be made about the safety of the building,” said Howell, who was presiding over one of his last civic meetings as president. “For now, we wait until there’s a buyer and see if we should oppose or support it.”

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The historic Frankford Y should be forced into sale with civic approval and could be done so in orphans’ court, said an attorney and Northwood resident present at that neighborhood’s civic association meeting Tuesday night.

The 70-year-old Y, which closed in June 2009 and whose future has been uncertain since its controversial executive director died in January, was the subject of intense criticism from Northwood Civic Association President Barry Howell both at Tuesday’s meeting and last month, when the subject was revisited.

“We don’t know who really owns the thing and what’s going to happen, but I don’t believe we’re going to get the right buyer for that property because that right buyer doesn’t exist. They say the building is worth $1 million. I wouldn’t give them $100,000,” said Howell to a crowd of nearly 40 Tuesday night. “And while we wait for it to get figured out, I think someone is going to get raped, shot or killed in there.”

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Calling for a wave of young civic engagement in Philadelphia, state Rep. Kevin Boyle followed Mayor Michael Nutter in speaking at the State of Young Philly final showcase Friday night.

The close to the two week event series, organized by Young Involved Philadelphia, was held in the cavernous and ornate Gershman Y in Center City. Boyle, 31, was invited to represent a younger order in state representation.

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Image courtesy of 6ABC

A 34-year-old Summerdale man cut off his own arm Wednesday night, say rescuers.

First responders were called to the 800-block of Brill Street around 8:30 p.m. after reports of an ‘industrial accident,’ as reported by 6ABC.

The man was rushed to Albert Einstein Medical Center for treatment of his injuries and a psychiatric evaluation. The limb was not immediately found, having been cut again by the man.

Northwood Civic Association President Barry Howell discusses the Frankford Y at the Sept. 20, 2011 meeting.

If action isn’t made on the historic Frankford Y, “it needs to be leveled before something awful happens there,” said Northwood Civic Association President Barry Howell Tuesday night.

“It is becoming dilapidated, and kids are starting to hang out there doing drugs and causing trouble,” Howell said at the civic group’s monthly meeting at St. James Church on Castor Avenue. “It won’t be long until someone breaks into the door and bad things are going to happen.”

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If you had a bad experience in the past with the city’s once notorious Licenses and Inspections department, it’s time to give it another shot.

So went the address Thursday night from a representative of the city agency charged with enforcing its zoning code and related statutes.

“Let’s be real: things were bad,” said Maura Kennedy, the L&I director of strategic initiatives, of the agency before current Commissioner Fran Burns came on. “But we’ve worked very hard to get things in order in the past three years, and we want you to give us another try.”

Kennedy, who was speaking at the Frankford Civic Association meeting, outlined how her agency has changed and, along the way, took questions on a longstanding neighborhood beef with L&I over recovery homes.

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Click to visit a larger version of the photo, taken by Joe Kaczmarek.

We knew Hurricane Irene would have an impact on the Northeast, only now are we started to get a better sense of what that impact was.

Above, photographer Joe Kaczmarek takes a shot of Northeast resident Hugh Owens, who just had his truck crushed at Solly and Castor. Find all of his work here, including a flooded Roosevelt Boulevard during Saturday night.

Sadly, though Owens was uninjured, as we reported this morning, a few people weren’t as lucky.

If you have photos, send them to info [at] neastphilly [dot] com, or use our Facebook or Twitter pages.

Below, we share some reader submitted videos and photos of Irene’s path.

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Flood plain of 4905 Rhawn Street, as shown by DisasterMapper.com

Philadelphia has an official hurricane warning ahead of Hurricane Irene, and residents throughout the region are scrambling to get prepared.

But one of the biggest questions is how vulnerable are you in the Northeast? Fortunately, there is some help.

First, a group of local web developers created Disaster Mapper, which allows users to type in a Philadelphia address and find all nearby threats, like hazardous materials and, yes, flood plain information. Give it a try.

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