The view at Kenny and Elnora roads in Parkwood, submitted by a NEast Philly reader.

While we’ve been updating you on school and city closings,  our 7,000+ Facebook fans have been busy taking photos and sharing their snow stories.

We asked our fans how they’re spending their snow days, where they like to sledding and whether their streets have been plowed. Here’s just some of the activity happening over on FB: continue reading »

Happy holidays, everyone!

NEast Philly will return Monday with our usual reporting. Until then, have a safe, warm, joyus holiday. Start it off right with a snowy slideshow (the second of two)  from photographer Bill Achuff.

Bones, a 3-year-old Cockapoo, took his mistress Michelle for an early evening walk in Lawndale Sunday. Bones' legs are barely five inches, but he managed to pick his way along cleared paths with an occasional romp in the deeper stuff. He must like a cold belly, but he doesn't care much for cameras. Bones is a lucky dog; Michelle claimed him at a rescue shelter.

One of the biggest snowstorms in the history of the city blanketed the region over the weekend. Residents in the Northeast were left with the task of shoveling and salting, and now our streets are slushy, icy messes.

But let’s admit it: snow can be pretty. If you’ve already forgotten what a winter wonderland looks like, take a look at this slideshow – the first of two – with some happy holiday photos.

A nicely decorated home in Burholme

Earlier this week, we asked you to send us your Halloween photos – old, new, scary, silly – and we got way more photos than expected.

We have more than three dozen photos from all over the Northeast, featuring your funniest costumes, most creative jack-o-lanterns and over-the-top decorations. continue reading »

The Devon Theater in Mayfair has seen a renaissance. It reopens this Friday.

By Christopher Wink

The Devon hasn’t gotten this much attention in generations. Perhaps neither has Mayfair.

But now that the Frankford Avenue institution has made the long transition back to prominence, opening this weekend as the Devon Center for Performing Arts. It will mark another measure in the long transition from 1946 first-run movie theater to adult-film movieplex in the 1970s to second-run theater and to abandoned eyesore.

After a gala and private screening on Friday, with a possible appearance by Mayor Michael Nutter, the Devon opens on Saturday with a sold-out performance of Nunsense, a musical comedy.

“We’re in an Irish-Catholic neighborhood,” said Michael Pickering, the Devon’s artistic director. “Nunsense was a no-brainer.”

But don’t be fooled by the Devon’s location, far from the glitz of Center City’s Avenue of the Arts or the established arts scene of Old City. The Northeast is about to get its first professional performing arts center, by way of a decidedly working-class neighborhood.

The Devon is an all-union house, including its paid, professional actors, some from Philadelphia’s growing dramatic community. Still, its long-term strategy for success in the Northeast is heavy on community.

Read more, see video and other photos after the jump.

continue reading »