A problem at a PECO substation in Holmesburg has left 20,000 people in the Northeast without power.

Smoke at the station near Rhawn Street and Torresdale Avenue is preventing crews from getting in to fix what could be a breaker failure.

The outage began before five this morning, and is affecting large portions of Mayfair, Holmesburg and Tacony as far west as Roosevelt Boulevard.

Photo by Flickr user ryanrules.

Bottom Dollar will open another Philadelphia store in the Northeast.

The 19,600-square-foot store will replace Ilona Keller’s Dugan Banquet Hall at Roosevelt Boulevard and Borbeck Avenue. The North Carolina-based company has a new location planned for Lansdowne, and opened its other Northeast store at 9303 Krewstown Rd. earlier this month.

Maybe it’s because Lawncrest is really two separate neighborhoods. Or maybe it’s because our local TV news reporters have never actually been to Lawncrest (except when there were some dog fighting arrests).

Whatever the case, the Lawncrest, Summerdale and Oxford Circle neighborhoods seem to present a real problem for Philadelphia’s mainstream media — geography-wise, that is. continue reading »

Police have arrested two suspects for an early Thursday morning shooting around Roosevelt Boulevard and Bridge Street.

Authorities discovered a man around 1:30 a.m. who’s been shot multiple times with a rifle, and the victim was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center in critical condition.

A short time later, SWAT members arrested two men on the 1200-block of Cheltenham Avenue.

Thursday – Two teenagers were shot late Thursday night in a Castor Gardens incident at Unruh Avenue and Kindred Street. The shooting left 18-year-old Tyree Branch of the 6500-block of Horrocks Street dead from a wound to his back. The other teenager, 17, was treated at Jeanes Hospital for a wound in the arm. continue reading »

Click here for the audio slideshow that accompanies this article.

Burglaries have recently been a hot topic for residents in the Northeast. But what exactly constitutes a burglary? Many confuse the term with theft or robbery.

Burglaries fall under an entirely different category. The term is defined as the act of entering a building with the intent to commit a crime without a weapon.

Last year, there were 2,432 burglaries that took place in the Northeast. The 2nd, 7th, 8th and 15th Police Districts have been making appearances at local civic group meetings to address residents’ concerns.

Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey was present at the Lawncrest Community Association’s meeting last week, where burglaries was just one of many topics he discussed with residents.

“We’re [the City of Philadelphia] up in burglaries.” he said “A lot of it is residential. There’s some commercial burglaries, so some areas are seeing an upward trend in that. Burglary across the country is not an easy crime to solve. Usually there are no witnesses. Usually there is very little, if any forensic evidence that you can gather at the scene.”

The Philadelphia Police Department’s new interactive Crime Mapping application was created as part of its Incident Transmittal System and gives the public free access to criminal data that is recorded in their neighborhoods. continue reading »

Police are investigating break-in attempts at five businesses in one night. Businesses along the Roosevelt Boulevard and Red Lion Road corridor were targeted between late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. continue reading »

Residents are advised to avoid the area of the Pennypack Creek between Roosevelt Boulvard and Bustleton Avenue after a Fairmount Park ranger captured a rabid beaver there.

The beaver, suspected of three attacks between Wednesday and Thursday, will be taken to the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center in Chester County and tested for rabies. continue reading »

A pedestrian was killed this morning after being struck on Roosevelt Boulevard near Welsh Road. Police closed the inner northbound lanes to traffic while the scene was cleared. continue reading »

Several people were hospitalized yesterday following a multi-vehicle crash around Roosevelt Boulevard and Strahle Street. The three-car crash happened just before noon Tuesday.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the accident. The injuries sustained were non-life threatening.