The Minor Threats at the PA State Scholastic Chess Championships in March.

Members of the Minor Threats, a chess club comprised of 2nd-6th graders from four West Philly schools, have just returned from the SuperNationals that took place this past weekend in Nashville, Tenn., and have some good news: the team won two trophies! Mitchell Elementary finished 28th place in the team K-5 U900 division. A team member, Tahvon Hughes, finished 35th among individuals. There were 393 kids playing in the division.

The Philadelphia Chess Society returned from SuperNationals, a tournament that only happens once every four years, with a total of nine trophies and it’s great to know that the Minor Threats, the team that so many of our readers supported with financial contributions and words of encouragement, contributed to this success (read our first story about the club and its fundraising efforts here).

Jason Bui, the Minor Threats coach, has sent us an email thanking everyone who supported his club and the Philadelphia Chess Society:

“It was truly an awesome and adventurous experience for us. On behalf of all the participating PCS clubs, students, parents and guests, THANK YOU!”
 

Penn Museum is organizing two great family events this month and inviting West Philly kids and their families to attend.

Philadelphia READS! community night (free):
On Wednesday, Apr 10, Penn Museum celebrates literacy with a free community night and kickoff to a month-long book drive, from 5 to 8 p.m. The event, co-hosted by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s Groundswell Initiative, will include storytelling in the galleries, dance performances, a poetry workshop, and a hieroglyph-writing workshop. Guests are asked to bring a new or gently used children’s book to contribute to Philadelphia READS, a program that provides books to educators in the city.

For more information go here.

Rome’s Birthday:
On Sunday, April 21, “All roads lead to Rome,” as the museum celebrates the founding of Rome (753 BCE) with an afternoon of gladiatorial bouts, toga wrapping, ancient hairdressing, arts and crafts, a pasta demo, pop-up poetry readings in the galleries, and a talk about Rome. This event will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. and is free with Museum admission.

For more information visit this page.

The final public meeting on the University Southwest District Plan is tonight at Quorum in the University City Science Center (3711 Market St.). The meeting is an open house and community members are invited to attend any time between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m.

At the meeting, the City Planning Commission will present the draft of the plan including recommendations for zoning changes in the area. You can also learn about the feedback the planning commission received from the Philadelphia2035 online game. The game developers will be there to share results and hear from you about your gaming experience. Most importantly, they will award $500 prizes to the top three local causes supported by participants. The following causes were presented in the game: Greening Lea initiative, Neighborhood Bike Works, the Kingsessing Recreation Center and the University City Arts League. More than 900 people signed up to play the game.

For more information, please contact Andrew Meloney, 215-683-4656, Andrew.Meloney@phila.gov.

Police are still trying to identify a body found in a burning car in the Kingsessing neighborhood on early Saturday morning, according to reports. The cause of the fire is also being investigated. The body was found around 4:30 a.m. in a burning 2013 Toyota on the 5300 block of Glenmore Avenue in front of houses. This is a relatively secluded block, according to residents who live there and who witnessed the fire.

Neighbors reported waking up to loud popping sounds, followed by an acrid burning smell and then witnessing a dozen police cars, fire crews and an ambulance at the scene.

A woman and a child were hit by a U-Haul van at 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue this morning at about 11:45 a.m. Both were taken to the hospital, according to reports from witnesses. Many neighbors witnessed the accident, which happened while many people were shopping at Clark Park’s Farmers’ Market and hanging out at the Green Line Cafe.

Witnesses said that a young woman was driving the van and she remained at the scene to talk to police. The victims’ condition is unknown at this time, but some witnesses said that both the woman and the child were conscious after the accident.

Here’s another great event for the whole family happening this weekend in the neighborhood. The University City Arts League (4226 Spruce St) invites friends and neighbors to their 4th annual Chili Bowl event that will be held on Sunday, Apr. 7, from 1 – 5 p.m.

As always, the UCAL staff will fill up bowls made in their pottery studio with different versions of delicious warm chili, veggie and meat, provided by nine local restaurants: Atiya Ola, Distrito, Gold Standard Café, Green Line Café, Guacamole Mex Grill, Harvest, Honest Tom’s, Milk and Honey, and Powelton Pizza. Once again, Greg Salisbury, head of SOOP catering, will be creating meat and vegan chili and Yards Brewing will be supplying beverages.

The annual Chili Bowl event raises funds for the University City Arts League’s Pottery Studio. (Photo courtesy UCAL).

Sounds great, right? All you have to do is to buy a beautiful hand-crafted chili bowl and you can eat all the free chili you want. And if you bring your kids, they all will eat free when their parents purchase a bowl! After you try all the chili you can vote for the best chili-maker in the neighborhood.

“This is a really fun event,” says Noreen Shanfelter, Arts League executive director. “It’s great for the whole family. We’ll have music and face painting for the children to enjoy.”

This event benefits the UCAL Pottery Studio. It will help cover the expenses of a new, third kiln that was recently added to increase capacity at the studio and new lighting.

Pottery is the most popular of all courses at the Arts League and is available for children, aged 5 to 12 after school Monday to Friday, and for adults on the weekends and on several weeknights.

For more information contact the Arts League at 215 382 7811 or visit www.ucartsleague.org.