Several residents who live near 50th and Springfield are taking their complaints about the African Cultural Center (Facebook page), a banquet hall that hosts everything from baby showers to raucous late night dance parties, to police tonight.

Residents say they have been complaining to police, the Liquor Control Board and the District Attorney’s office for several months about problems of noise and public urination at the center, which sits between residential homes and the train bridge that crosses Springfield Avenue. The Center includes an 8,000-square-foot banquet hall, with a stage and sound system, and a 1,700-square-foot reception hall with bar, both of which are frequently rented out for large events. These events include biweekly parties that run from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m., require a $10 admission and include “tight security,” according to advertisements. Many of the large gatherings are organized by promoters who are not directly connected with the African Cultural Center.

Tonight some of these residents plan to take their complaints to a public forum at the Philadelphia Police Department’s 12th District headquarters at 6448 Woodland Ave. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.

Phone calls to the Center’s owner, Murphy Orji, were not returned.

A Girl Scouts information and registration meeting will be held tonight from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the St. Mary’s Nursery School, 3916 Locust Walk (near 40th and Locust on the Penn campus).

Girls entering 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grades are eligible. If you can’t make tonight’s meeting but want more info, write:

Janine Van Patten (2nd and 3rd graders) – janinevanp919@yahoo.com

Amy Kwasnicki (3rd and 4th graders) – kwaszilla@gmail.com

The School District of Philadelphia has announced early dismissal today due to excessive heat. All public schools will close at 1:30 p.m.

The early closure includes early childhood programs. Routine transportation will be in place at the 1:30 p.m. dismissal time. All after-school programs are also canceled. Staff will remain in the buildings until all students are picked up. For more information visit the District’s website at www.philasd.com or call the Information Hotline at 215-400-INFO (4636).
 

 
We’ve seen more and more of these little calls for an art-free world popping up around the neighborhood for a while. We have noticed retorts on a lot of them. Have you seen any?

People hanging out in the new Sister Cities Park near Logan Circle at 18th and Benjamin Franklin Parkway can now get a little taste of West Philly.

Milk and Honey Market opened a satellite cafe at the revamped park in a building that also includes a welcome center. West Philly resident Jules Dingle designed the single-story building, which includes walls of windows, a green roof and an inviting outdoor space. Those who know design have noted that the building’s low-slung, limestone design makes an interesting transition from the nearby high rises to the small parks around Logan Circle.

Sister Cities Park, which officially opened yesterday, also includes a children’s garden where kids can splash in a small pond and climb rocks. Plan Philly has a nice rundown on the park’s design and construction here.

Torin Myer of the 3900 block of Baring Street was apprehended early yesterday near 34th and Hamilton, a few blocks from the Drexel University campus. Police said he is not a student.

Police say Myer was exiting a convenience store and getting on a bicycle near 34th and Hamilton when Drexel University police Captain Fred Carbonara apprehended him. Myer had a BB gun, a knife, gloves and ski mask in his possession. Carbonara recognized Myer from the surveillance video made public last week.

“We had the area saturated yesterday,” said Detective Joe Murray from the Southwest Detectives.  “There was no way he was going to be able to walk around without getting caught. Just wish we had him sooner.”

Murray said Myer confessed to all four robberies.

Myer lived about four blocks from the Green Line Cafe at 3649 Lancaster Ave., which police say he robbed on April 30 and again on May 4. He is charged with robbery, assault and weapons charges in connection to those two robberies, one on April 26 at the Green Line Cafe near 45th and Locust and the May 6 robbery at the Chipotle Mexican Grill at 3925 Walnut St.

Police say Myer suffered from a “drug problem,” which in part explained his motives in the robberies.

He is scheduled to be arraigned later today.