More than 20 people are displaced after an early morning fire gutted a building in Frankford Monday.

West Frankford Town Watch reported heavy smoke was sited on the second and third floors of an apartment building on the 4400-block of Paul Street around 2 a.m. Firefighters rescued three people from the building. continue reading »

Paul Deery, a spokesman for Urban Eco Electric at left, and three Frankford residents listen to state Rep. Tony Payton's Chief of Staff Jorge Santana introduce their discussion on solar energy opportunities, held Nov. 19, 2009 at the Sankofa School on Paul St. in Frankford.

Five years from now, the most meaningful state and federal solar energy incentive programs may likely be gone, a spokesman from a solar panel leasing company said at a community meeting in Frankford Thursday night.

“For the next three to five years, it makes sense to get out and talk to homeowners,” said Paul Deery from Urban Eco Electric, a solar panel leasing agent based in West Conshohocken, at an event hosted by state Rep. Tony Payton’s office. Deery was one-fifth of those present at the sparsely attended affair held in the meeting room of the Sankofa Freedom Academy at 4256 Paul St. in Frankford.

The attendance last night — four people at peak — was “unfortunately” a common representation of other similar solar meetings Payton’s office has hosted recently, said the representative’s chief of staff Jorge Santana.

Below, get the scoop on these programs and video of Deery pitching his organization.

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