The Baltimore Avenue Business Association (BABA) is inviting neighbors to Dock Street Brewery (50th and Baltimore) tonight, from 6 to 8 p.m. for a meet and greet with local business owners. The event will include food (pizza and snacks), beer, fun, networking, and door prizes (see flier below).

BABA is a member organization that promotes and supports businesses along the Baltimore Avenue corridor. Check its website (babawestphilly.org) for more information.

Independence Charter School West was one of five new charter schools approved last night amid a raucous School Reform Commission meeting.

Under its newly granted charter, the school will open in 2016 to K-4 students and will be located in the 19142 zip code in Southwest Philly. The school “will recruit 50 percent of its students from within zip codes 19143 [which includes Cedar Park and Kingsessing] and 19139 [including Walnut Hill], and 50 percent from other parts of the city,” according to its application filed with the district. Another revision to the application caps the total number of students at 300 in the school’s first year.

Independence, like the other charter operators approved on Wednesday, already runs at least one school in the city. The others approved include schools proposed by Mastery, KIPP, Freire and MaST.  Continue Reading

People gathered to take pictures throughout the day on Tuesday of the building burned in a fire early Monday morning at 52nd and Locust. Fearing that the building may collapse, police closed nearby streets.

Streets around the burned out building at 52nd and Locust have been closed out of fear that the building, which is sheathed in a thick layer of ice, may collapse.

Police have blocked 52nd Street between Spruce and Walnut, Locust Street near the building and some smaller side streets. The building has become somewhat of a local attraction with people filing by on the closed streets to take photos of structure and television news crews posting nearby on Tuesday.

The School Reform Commission is set to make decisions on 39 charter school applications during a special meeting scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

This is the final step in an application process that included public testimony and comment. This is the first time in seven years that the School District of Philadelphia has considered adding charter schools to go along with the 86 brick-and-mortar charters already operating.

The proposed schools would add some 15,000 charter school seats and cost the district hundreds of millions of dollars.

Charter school opponents like the Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools argue that the district should invest money in existing public schools.

The Philadelphia School Partnerships, a pro-charter philanthropic group that includes Drexel University president John Fry on its board, offered $25 million to the district earlier this month to help offset the costs of adding new charters and another $10 million to improve existing district schools.

Republican legislators are also pushing for new charters in the city, The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting.

A list of the proposed schools along with detailed applications are available on the district website. A dozen schools are proposed around West Philadelphia. Charter application evaluation reports are available here.

Wednesday’s meeting will likely be live streamed here.

– Mike Lyons

Philippe Holland

The 20-year-old pizza deliveryman who was shot several times last April by plain-clothes cops who thought he was trying to run them over near 51st and Willows in the Cedar Park neighborhood is suing the city.

The officers reportedly approached Philippe Holland, who had just finished a delivery, on the sidewalk with their guns drawn. They were searching for a suspect in an earlier shooting. Holland contends that 18th District officers Mitchell Farrell and Kevin Hanvey approached him as he was getting into his car and that he thought they were robbers. Farrell and Hanvey opened fire as he tried to drive away. Holland was struck in the head, neck and leg.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey apologized to Holland soon after the shooting. West Philly residents raised money for Holland’s medical expenses and more than 100 signed a petition asking that the results of the investigation be made public. It was hoped that the shooting might prompt more transparency in police shootings, which spiked in 2012 and prompted Ramsey to request a federal review of the department.

One result has been the posting of some information from officer-involved shootings online.

Here is what the posting on that site says about the Holland case:

PS#14-15

04/22/14 On Tuesday, April 22, 2014, at approximately 9:56 P.M., two on-duty officers in an unmarked vehicle and in civilian attire heard gunshots in the area of 51st street and Baltimore Avenue. While surveying the area, the officers observed a male walking south on 51st street toward Willows Avenue, with his hands inside his pockets. The officers identified themselves as police officers and ordered the male to stop. The offender opened and entered the front passenger door of a Ford Taurus that was parked in the 5100 block of Willows Avenue. The offender positioned himself in the driver’s seat and drove the vehicle initially in reverse, and then forward toward the officers. In response, both officers discharged their firearms, striking the offender. The offender was transported to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania for treatment. There were no other injuries as a result of this incident. No weapon was recovered.

– Mike Lyons

The City of Philadelphia has found a sponsor to help lighten the cost of the bike share program set to begin this Spring. Independence Blue Cross will contribute $1.7 million a year for five years. For that they get to name the program – it’s called “Indego” – written on the chunky blue bikes and at the 60 docking stations across the city.

The stations are located from 2nd and Walnut west to 44th and Walnut and Temple University south to the Tasker. It looks like 13 of them will be on this side of the Schuylkill, including one at Clark Park. The stations will house about 600 bikes total. Built by Trek, the bikes have step-through frames, pedal-powered front and rear lights, baskets, three speeds, and adjustable seats.

There are a bunch of different ways to pay, including by-the-trip or a membership. Prices will be announced in March, according to the Indego website. There’s an FAQ here that addresses some other questions.

We’re still waiting on an exact launch date. We’ll keep you posted.

Here’s what the bikes look like:

Philly’s IndeGo bike share bike: pic.twitter.com/hgnMOmsRUF

— Bike Coalition Phila (@bcgp) February 11, 2015