Friday — The man police believe is responsible for several 7-Eleven robberies since Sept. 2009 made an appearance Friday at a Tacony 7-Eleven. But instead of robbing it again, he offered the clerk a wad of cash and apologized for taking the money in the past. The suspect (between 21 and 25 with short dark hair and a medium build), fled after the clerk told him to leave and pushed the police button. The suspect appeared to have track marks on his arm. continue reading »

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.

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Mayfair resident Mike Ennis designed the logo for the Second Annual 5k Fall Heroes Run, which will honor a firefighter John Redmond.

From the Mayfair Business Association:

The Mayfair Business Association is excited to announce its Third Annual May Fair festival along Frankford Avenue and its Second Annual Mayfair Fallen Heroes Run.

MBA President Mike “Scoats” Scotese, owner of the Grey Lodge, is excited to announce a new wrinkle to this year’s May Fair with the incorporation of the 15th Police District’s Advisory Council’s Community Day at the triangle at Cottman and Frankford avenues, as well as the addition of multiple live bands and acoustic acts along the Avenue.

Scotese said: “I am proud that the PDAC has joined our efforts and we will have an abundance going on at the triangle, as well as along Frankford Avenue.  The Fallen Heroes Run has become our lead-off event and we are excited to have the strong cooperation of Fire Fighters Union Local 22.  This May Fair Day is increasingly becoming the premier family fun day in Mayfair” continue reading »

The Fallen Heroes Run (design seen here, by resident Mike Ennis) was one of many topics reviewed at the March Mayfair Civic meeting.

The cold, rain and wind kept many from attending last night’s Mayfair Civic Association, but President Joe DeFelice powered through the agenda nonetheless, keeping the meeting to a brief 40 minutes. Below are the highlights:

“Mayfair Memorial Playground is the No. 1 issue,” DeFelice said, who assured residents that progress on the playground is beginning to move quicker than it had been. With a goal of $50,000, the organization has raised $3,000 thus far, though is in the process of securing grants.

And tomorrow, DeFelice said, Beatrice Seybold, the former financial secretary of the 1950s-based Mayfair Improvement Association will sign a letter to be notarized and sent to Sen. Specter, which will reassign a $500 bond to the MIA to the Mayfair Civic Association. continue reading »

The logo for the Fallen Heroes Run, as designed by Mike Ennis. The 5K one among many topics at last night's Mayfair Civic Association meeting.

Members of the Mayfair Civic Association came together last night to update residents on pressing topics, like plans to rebuild Mayfair Memorial Playground, the Fallen Heroes Run and four recent zoning issues.

With little more than four months until the annual Fallen Heroes Run, Civic Association President Joe De Felice is pushing for funding to rebuild the playground off of Rowland Avenue at Lincoln High School, which is currently set for groundbreaking following the run. continue reading »

The land the Mayfair Civic Association is selling to neighbors. See more detailed plans below.

Mayfair residents got wind of some big changes coming to their neighborhood at last night’s Mayfair Civic Association meeting.

The first order of business came from Acting President Joe DeFelice, who announced that former president Scott Cummings has stepped down from his position to attend to personal issues. From there, DeFelice said, the civic association will be dissolved, all assets liquidated and all grants closed. This will all likely happen by the end of the year, he said, and then the civic association will start fresh. continue reading »

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

Tony Danza started his English-teaching gig at Northeast High on Tuesday. He’s filming Teach, an A&E reality show, at the school. Danza is not certified to teach, but does have a degree in history education. You can hear about his experience on his blog.

Keep reading for a new AT&T High Tech Store, new high school buildings, and more. continue reading »

Pennsylvania recently released its list of Persistently Dangerous Schools for the 2009-2010 school year, and the top 25 are all in Philadelphia. Of those 25, five are in the Northeast.

A school is defined as persistently dangerous if it meets any of the following criteria for this year and one of the two previous years: at least five dangerous incidents in a school with enrollment of 250 or less; dangerous incidents representing 2 percent of a school’s enrollment for schools with 251 to 1,000 students; 20 or more dangerous incidents in schools with enrollments exceeding 1,000. continue reading »

Courtesy of Action News

By Shannon McDonald

Fifteen people were injured yesterday morning when a driver’s truck hit the back of a SEPTA bus.

The accident happened on Roosevelt Boulevard near Ryan Avenue near Lexington Park, along SEPTA’s 14 route. All of the injuries were minor, and it is still unclear how many passengers were on the bus and if anyone riding in the truck was injured.

That was only one of two SEPTA accidents yesterday. A bus in Chester was struck by a vehicle whose driver ran a red light, leaving 13 people injured.