Here’s a summary of the week’s Northeast news we didn’t cover. See others here.

Friends Hospital updated on its recovery-oriented inpatient psychiatric care unit last night. The unit at the Northwood facility opened in January. Its goal is for each patient to leave with a new, self-written life plan. The life plan will be different than normal in that it will incorporate continued therapy with each individual’s interests, support systems, hobbies, strengths, community connections, and aspirations. It focuses on positive psychology based on hopes and dreams, not just symptoms, medication, and counseling appointments.

Keep reading for news on program cuts from Mayor Nutter, an advanced math class and more. continue reading »

We were unable to attend the May meeting of the Mayfair Civic Association, but you can view notes from the meeting on the organization’s website.

An excerpt: continue reading »

UPDATED (June 4, 2010 at 12:53 pm) –Maggie Zimmerman was found at the home of a friend around 2 a.m. this morning. Conflicting reports say Maggie was found in Center City and North Philadelphia. NEast Philly is awaiting confirmation on the location, but it appears Zimmerman and a friend left Hellerman Street without informing either child’s parents.

Police are looking for Maggie Zimmerman, a 10-year-old girl who disappeared Wednesday night.

Zimmerman was last seen around 7 p.m. while she was playing outside her home on the 1200-block of Hellerman Street. continue reading »

It’s rare that the Northeast makes it into the pages of Philadelphia magazine unless it’s a subtle insult. And while the feature story in the June issue of the publication get a few shots in against our reason, we’re more concerned about the level of editing.

As in, it needs some.

Writer Vicki Glembocki wrote about the September murder-suicide of a husband and wife in Pine Valley in her story “What Really Happened Inside 121 Greycourt Road?” continue reading »

With Pennypack Park’s summer concert series in full swing, Northeast native Mike LeCompt played week three last Wednesday. Check out our calendar for the upcoming shows.

Thanks to Mayfair resident Donny Smith for the photos. You can see them all in this slideshow.

We have no mercy for Philadelphia Weekly food critic Brian McManus, because this mistake is just downright stupid.

McManus recently reviewed Frankford’s Billy’s Chili Pot, and although his assessment of the place paints a pretty bleak pretty of Frankford, that’s not what we’re taking issue with.

To get to Billy’s Chili, McManus had to take the El. From Center City. That left him a solid 20 minutes to stare at the Market-Frankford Line map. The map with all the names of the stops.

And then, McManus got off the El at the Margaret-Orthodox stop. He must have heard the voice recording announce the name of the stop.

Or not. continue reading »

Q: My home in Castor Gardens is under agreement — finally — after five months. A home inspector has looked over the property with the buyers and now has a long list of items they would like repaired. Some of it I can understand, such as safety or electrical issues. But some of it, like a slow draining bathtub, just seems petty to me. It is not like they’re paying a million dollars. It’s a $100,000 house. Should I get it all fixed or just find new buyers?

A: Finding new buyers is easier said than done. Nevertheless you have a few of choices here. You can choose the way you would like to handle it, but you can’t predict your buyers’ reaction to your choice, so choose carefully. continue reading »

UPDATED — The St. Hubert Bambies won the District 12 Championship Thursday.

Congratulations to St. Hubert’s softball team! The girls defeated Lansdale Catholic to win the PIAA District 12 Catholic League Girls Softball Title.

They’ll face the District 12 Public League Champions at La Salle University, June 3, at 3 p.m.

What is it that motivates, or fails to motivate, an adolescent to learn? Both the Pennsylvania School Board and Abraham Lincoln High School, located on Ryan and Rowland avenues, opted to explore a possible answer to this question by completely restructuring the 60-year-old building.

According to project manager JCMS Inc., the renovation waves a price tag of $70 million on the recently finished construction of the new school building in September 2009.

continue reading »

As the wave of baby boomers quickly approaches retirement, many questions come to mind.  One of the primary questions should be: Do I have sufficient savings to cover my expenses in retirement?

Prior to the 1980s, most companies provided their workers a pension income that was guaranteed for their lifetime.  Increases in life expectancy, while good for medical science, significantly increased the cost of maintaining these plans.  Consequently, many companies opted to abandon the traditional defined benefit pension plan and instead offered a defined contribution plan (401k, 403b, etc.).  This change shifted the responsibility of providing for retirement from the company to the employee.

Participation in these company plans became optional and companies limited their commitment to a certain percentage of an employee’s salary.

Over the past 10 to 15 years, a number of firms have tried to provide estimates of what prospective retirees will need to save prior to their retirements to help ensure they will not run out of money.  continue reading »