Two men are arrested for running a fencing operation.

One lives at Pearson and Cottage. One lives at Magee and Jackson. The items they stole were recovered at Torresdale and Longshore.

The first address is in Torresdale; the others are in Tacony.

But when Ryan Shantz and Michael Mager were arrested, the Daily News took to its blog and reported the following: continue reading »

Ground broke Friday on Tacony's new Engine 38 Firehouse after the original was lost to I-95 reconstruction.

At the Intersection of Magee Avenue and Keystone Street in Tacony Friday morning, the first pinch of soil was cast from a silver shovel as Mayor Michael Nutter helped lead the way for the new Engine 38 Firehouse.

Due to the construction of the I-95 South ramp, the old Engine 38 Firehouse had to be demolished. Not only will the new firehouse bring back its original firefighters, but it will also serve as the city’s first entirely green municipal building.

“It has its green certifications,” said Commissioner Lloyd Ayers of the Philadelphia Fire Department. “It has a roof that is going to be a roof that is vegetated so that you can have control runoff and we can make the best of our rainwater.” continue reading »

The people of Philadelphia’s Tacony neighborhood have started a movement to honor “Goople.”

Joseph C. “Goople” McCloskey (1920-1990), was one of the original Philadelphia Police Athletic League officers, dating back to the formation of the organization in 1947, and ran PAL programs in that ancient neighborhood for 37 years. Thousands of youngsters benefited from his tutelage and many still talk fondly of “The Goop,” each with an illustrative story. His likeness is included in a mural at Tulip and Longshore Streets, along with Tacony’s best-known figure, industrialist Henry Disston. continue reading »

Assistant District Attorney Andrew Carobus of the office's Public Nuisance Task Force.

There’s a lot that goes into reporting a nuisance property in the City of Philadelphia, and a lot of things that can come from it. Assistant District Attorney Andrew Carobus reviewed the process at last night’s Holmesburg Civic Association meeting.

Carobus is part of the office’s Public Nuisance Task Force, with handles the acquisition and auction of problem properties.

“We can’t promise you something will be done overnight,” he explained to the more than 30 people at the meeting. But, he said, the more detailed a report on a property is, and the more often neighbors call, the better the memo the DA’s office can create to help address the problem. continue reading »

Photo courtesy of Elsie Stevens.

Scores of Holme Circle residents participated in two protests on Oct. 17 at 9 a.m. and Oct. 27 at 4:30 p.m. at the Engine 18 firehouse at Pennypack Circle to voice their concern of the Fire Department’s new “brown out” policy. continue reading »

Norman and Colleen Millan help to fill the pantry at the Klein JCC in Northeast Philadelphia. Photo by Tom Rowan Jr.

IN THE BASEMENT of a Jewish Community Center, in an office no larger than a college student’s dorm room, six adult women operate a pantry aiding the effort to feed Philadelphia’s seniors.

Meet Nina Cohen. She’s sitting in her angel-blue upholstered desk chair swiveling in the middle of the office, leaning across a round table to grab, unfold and then rotate back around to hold up the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer, with the top story addressing the city’s hunger epidemic.

“This is very real. This is not in some third-world country, this in the United States of America, this is in Philadelphia,” says Cohen, director of emergency food and home delivered meals at JCC Klein in Bustleton, referencing the newspaper’s report. “In this city, there are people who are not eating, so it’s very important to us to not only distribute food but try and educate people about poverty as well.”

The pantry operates a program called Kosher Meals on Wheels and provides supplemental foodstuffs to senior citizens’ doorsteps on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis, as needed. The pantry counts on volunteers to help prepare, package and deliver the more than 1,000 rations a week to residents of the Northeast, as well as parts of Lower Bucks County and Abington Township.

“You will find no age group that is hungrier than another,” Cohen says. “But, what you will find with many of the seniors is a difficulty to ask for assistance. Remember, this is a generation that survived the Holocaust, survived the Depression and survived World War II, and they never expected to live as long as they have, and are really starting to run out of resources now at this late age, and we try to help bridge this gap.” continue reading »

Photo submitted by Elsie Stevens.

I’m seeing red these days as I learn more about the Fire Department’s brown outs.  Did you know that three firehouses in northeast Philadelphia are among those on the citywide list:  Engine 18 Pennypack Circle, Engine 71 Cottman and Loretto, and Engine 64 Rising Sun and Magee?

With past cuts in fire personnel and equipment and now rotating closures of neighborhood firehouses, how can the Mayor and Fire Department’s administrative personnel justify that they have our public safety in their best interest?  Is it not the core responsibility of our city government to provide adequate fire protection to its citizens?   continue reading »

By Shannon McDonald

Two pedestrians were killed in as many days while crossing streets in separate parts of the Northeast.

A woman was struck by a vehicle Sunday night while crossing the intersection at Roosevelt Boulevard and Pratt Street. The accident happened aroun 8:45 p.m., and the driver stopped at the scene.

On Monday night, a man was killed after being struck by a car near Magee Avenue and (New) State Road at 11 p.m. He was pronounced dead at Aria’s Torresdale campus. That driver also stopped.

Both accidents are still being investigated.

By Shannon McDonald

Two paintball attacked occurred within four hours of each other between Friday night and Saturday morning.

At 11:30 p.m. Friday, a 17-year-old male was struck in the face at Castor and Magee when one of three suspects fired a paintball gun from the rear passenger window of a dark-colored minivan. Then, on early Saturday morning, another 17-year-old male was riding his bike at Frankford and Knorr when he noticed a similar looking vehicle. Though he saw nothing, he felt a sharp pain in his left eye as the van drove by, and saw green paint on his clothes. He was transported to Frankford Hospital.

The first victim received lacerations, swelling and bruising, but the second victim’s injuries are considered severe.  It is believed he will lose his left eye as a result of the injury.

The suspects have not been caught, and anyone with information is urged to call Northeast Detectives at 215-686-3153.