St. Hubert's grad Rachael Fleming (L) with sisters Rebecca, a junior; and Elizabeth (R), a freshman.

Jan.6 2012, the moment I had dreaded since I had first heard the rumors, was here. The phone rang and hearing the message brought tears to my eyes. The high school that I had graduated from three years prior and the one that my sisters now go to was going to close.

The Blue Ribbon commission had recommended Saint Hubert Catholic High School for Girls for closure, along with West Catholic, Conwell-Egan, and Bonner-Prendie. I know how upsetting it was to hear that my school was going to close, and I could only imagine how the families involved in the other schools were feeling. It was heartbreaking to see the looks on the students’ faces and know that they had to think about where they would want to go to school next year. Juniors – like my sister – who were supposed to be looking at colleges, had to start looking at other high schools.
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A minivan sustained front-end damage in a crash with the Route 59 SEPTA bus. Photo by Simon Skymba.

Reader Simon Skymba shared some photos with us from yesterday afternoons crash at Tyson and Castor Avenues involving the Route 59 SEPTA bus and a minivan. continue reading »

Photo by Anna Berezowska

Reader Anna Berezowska sent us this photo last night 6 p.m. The Philadelphia Water Department was hard at work on the 6600-block of Lynford Street in Castor Gardens.

Westboro Baptist protests in NE Philly
“An everyday Christian’s point of view”

When I learned that the “good ‘ol righteous folks” from Westboro Baptist Church were going to hold protests at two Philadelphia Catholic High Schools it forced a group of people I was aware of from the back of my mind all the way to the forefront.  When you think of wolves in sheep’s clothing this is the pure example of that saying.   Their hatred for just about everything and everyone is on the news every now and then but to learn that they are going to be on our home turf in Northeast Philly really got me fired up.

How dare they!?!?! What right do they have!?!?!?!

Well as far as rights they do have them.  They have the right to peacefully gather and they have the right to their point of view. BUT, what they do not have the right to is total lack of common sense.   continue reading »

Photo courtesy of 8th PDAC.

The 8th Police District community went outside and greeted neighbors on Tuesday as they and the district officers let criminals know their community was organized and watchful on this 27th annual National Night Out.

National Night Out was started in 1984 as a high- profile way to get communities involved in preventing crime, according to the organization’s website. It started with 400 participating communities in 23 states, and by last year had grown to 35.4 million participants in 11,310 communities in all 50 states. continue reading »

Parents and kids came together to help raise money with a car wash for the Lawncrest Youth Athletic Association baseball team.

While the City of Philadelphia fights flash mobs, parents and adults in Lawncrest came out to support a group of children who hosted a car wash Saturday, April 3. These parents have reached into their own pockets to buy equipment for the members of their first three baseball teams.

More information about the teams and the car wash will be available at the next Lawncrest Community Association meeting on April 20 at St Williams School Hall.

-Phil Cunningham. Lawncrest