Nafis O’Neil (photo from Twitter).

Funeral services for Nafis O’Neal, the 14-year-old who died after being stabbed by a schoolmate on Jan. 16, are scheduled for Saturday. Nafis has been remembered this week by family, friends and neighbors as a respectful young man who was eager to help other people.

A freshman at West Philadelphia High School, Nafis was raised by his grandmother on the 3800 block of Haverford Avenue. Friends and family gathered on Monday evening for a vigil on the block near 46th and Market where he died when a 16-year-old student stabbed him once in the chest in what appears to be the continuation of a fight that started earlier in the day at the West Philly High cafeteria.

Police say they found a knife and bloody clothing at the suspect’s home on the 3800 block of Haverford Avenue. The 16-year-old was arrested within hours of the stabbing and was charged with homicide and related charges earlier this week. We are not releasing his name because of his age. It is unclear whether he will be tried as an adult.

Morgan Zalot of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote a nice tribute to Nafis here, including words from his aunt.

Nafis was riding his bike when he was killed. He spent a lot of time at Neighborhood Bike Works, the West Philly-based non-profit that helps kids develop leadership skills and responsibility through repairing and riding bikes. The organization tweeted photos of Nafis yesterday:

Nafis will be missed by all of us here at NBW who were fortunate enough to have worked with him.

— NeighbrhoodBikeWorks (@NeighBikeWorks) January 21, 2015

Nafis was a leader among his peers & impressed us with his repertoire of self-taught mechanics, positive humor, and drive to help others.

— NeighbrhoodBikeWorks (@NeighBikeWorks) January 21, 2015

The viewing for Nafis will be held at St. Jude Baptist Church at 632 N. 38th Street on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Arrangements are being made through Mitchum-Wilson Funeral Home.

– Mike Lyons

The Frank Furness-designed church buildings at 47th and Kingsessing were days away from demolition but are now undergoing renovation. (Photos by Mike Lyons / West Philly Local)

Renovation has begun on the 114-year-old Frank Furness-designed church at 47th and Kingsessing to convert it to commercial space that will likely house schools and save it from demolition.

The church building had fallen into such a state of disrepair that neighbors feared it may collapse. The City agreed and condemned the building, erected a chain-link fence and “cleaned” and “sealed” the building last June. Demolition seemed days away, but a local landlord, a historic preservationist and former Mayor Wilson Goode Sr. joined forces to convince the city to allow it to be sold and renovated.

After attempts to persuade the Department of Licenses and Inspections to remove the demolition decree didn’t work, Guy Laren, who owns several properties in West Philadelphia, and Penn historic preservation professor Aaron Wunsch asked for some help from Goode, who is chair of Partners for Sacred Spaces.

“What ultimately saved the church was Aaron’s unwillingness to give up,” said Laren by e-mail, who bought the main church building and the adjacent parish building.

The “Parish House” building adjacent to the main church building.

Laren said Wunsch boarded up windows to keep scrappers out and then courted Goode, who helped usher the purchase through the Department of Licenses and Inspections.

“The skies suddenly cleared,” said Laren.

They now have time to do the necessary repairs to shore up the church and hopefully satisfy L and I. Laren said he attracted two tenants, both schools, to occupy the space.

“I have two excellent potential tenants for most of the space inside the church,” he said. “Hopefully their tenancies will allow me to pay to renovate and restore the church.”

“If everything works out as I hope, there will be some additional space in the sanctuary that I can try to build out as either residential apartments or some other commercial use.”

The church’s latest tenant was the small congregation of St. Peter’s Church of Christ, which had occupied the church since 1979 and was reluctant to consider leasing the space to help pay for renovations.

– Mike Lyons

A still from police video below.

Police are looking for a serial robber who targets Rite Aids and other commercial locations around West Philly.

Police say 49-year-old Cartel Wright (also known as “Kevin Jones”) of the 5900 block of Upland Street is a suspect in at least nine armed robberies dating back to September. Wright allegedly robbed the same Rite Aid on the 5000 block of City Avenue three times between late September and late December. He is also wanted for robbing another Rite Aid on the 5200 block of Baltimore Avenue in mid December and the McDonald’s at 52nd and Chestnut on Monday, Jan. 12.  Continue Reading

Paul Steinke (photo from Linked In)

West Philly resident Paul Steinke, the former general manager of the Reading Terminal Market, will officially announce tomorrow that he will run for City Council.

Steinke’s announcement that he will run for an at-large Democratic seat in the May 19 primary was expected after he stepped down as general manager at the Terminal Market in early December. The announcement is scheduled for Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Field House, a sports bar adjacent to the Market.

The former finance director of the Center City District and the first executive director of the University City District, Steinke, 49, has overseen a 30 percent increase in visitors and $4 million in renovation and expansion of the Market in the 13 years he has overseen operations there, according to a statement from his campaign. Steinke is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University.

Steinke hopes to be the first openly gay person elected to citywide office. He lives in the Spruce Hill neighborhood with David Ade, his partner of nearly 20 years.

All 17 City Council seats are up for election in November – 10 district seats and seven at-large seats.

– Mike Lyons

We have some good news and bad news. The good news is that “Death Bi Chocolate,” the terrific annual fundraiser/awareness raiser that includes awesome chocolate concoctions, is this Saturday, Jan. 10 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The bad news is that this is the last one.

The bisexual support group BiUnity is again hosting the event at the A-Space (4722 Baltimore Ave.). But this year it’s free, although donations can be made.

“We’ll still have an abundance of chocolate, hot drinks, board games, and socializing. People are welcome to stop by, join us, and leave with some chocolate,” said organizer Rachael Schechter, by e-mail.  “It’s just free this year.”

That’s because BiUnity is disbanding after the event. Donations are welcome and will be combined with the organizations leftover funds and donated to other organizations that have helped them in the past, including the A-Space and the William Way Center.

The School District of Philadelphia began considering applications for new charter schools this week. Two schools in particular have been the topic of discussion among some in the neighborhoods recently.

The district received over a dozen applications from charter schools interested in opening new schools in West Philly.

One of the proposed new charters is the Philadelphia Music and Dance Charter School, which has applied to open a school at the old West Philadelphia High School (48th and Walnut), has drawn attention from nearby community organizations. In the application, officials from the proposed school note that they spoke with many in the community, including community associations, about the school.  Continue Reading