Jaquinn Brewton. Photo from ABC 6.

Jurors will begin deliberations today in the murder of 3-year-old Jaquinn Brewton, the toddler who died after his caretaker said he fell down the steps in the apartment building on the 4700 block of Chestnut Street where he lived. A horrific story of systematic abuse emerged during last week’s trial.

Jaquinn’s godmother and caretaker, 24-year-old Nadera Batson, was charged with murder after paramedics responded to the apartment on June 29, 2011 to find Jaquinn unconscious with several bruises and lacerations. He was placed on life support and died two weeks later. Batson said he had fallen down the steps. Jaquinn began living with Batson after his mother moved into a homeless shelter.

Batson’s boyfriend, 25-year-old Marcus King, pleaded guilty earlier to third degree murder charges. He testified that Batson repeatedly abused the child, who had speech and developmental delays.

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Mike Newell published a harrowing story yesterday that outlines the prosecution’s case. The story details routine abuse that included beatings and punishment involving a blowtorch.

If you have something to say about the latest public education crisis in Philadelphia, this meeting may be for you. Parents, educators and community residents are invited to “Tell it to the Children,” a citywide town hall meeting to address the budget crisis that could cost the district thousands of jobs and delay the opening of the school year.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Mother Bethel AME Church (419 S. 6th St., near 6th and Lombard). The interfaith social justice organization POWER is hosting the meeting and Rev. Kevin Johnson of the Bright Hope Baptist Church and Rabbi Laura Grabelle Herrmann of West Philly’s Kol Tzedek Synagogue will moderate.

Organizers say that one of the purposes of the meeting is also to discuss the District’s long-term funding issues.

Organizers say that the meeting will also be streamed live at  http://new.livestream.com/accounts/4917752/events/2315718.

School District of Philadelphia Superintendent William Hite announced last week that the start of the 2013-2014 school year could be delayed if the District does not receive $50 million in funding, which he said will just “get the doors open.” The District is maintaining a “school opening” website here to help parents and students navigate the beginning of the school year.

The community group Friends of Clark Park (FOCP) has come out in favor of the residential building proposed for an empty plot across from the park at 43rd and Baltimore Ave.

The project under consideration would include 108 units in a building with two connected sections (five floors near the park and nine floors further east on Baltimore Avenue), first-floor retail and some owner-occupied condo units.

The proposed building looking east near the corner of 43rd and Baltimore.

In a letter to the head of the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee Barry Grossbach, FOCP president Erin Engelstad wrote that the group approved the project with some stipulations. These include:

• The portion of the building facing the park should be low and inviting.

• The design of the building should include terracing and include as many green features as possible.

• The project must support the efforts of the existing Farmers’ Market. Retail should be limited to certain smaller, community-oriented retailers and should be encumbered as such to require this stipulation remain in the future.

• The Friends of Clark Park look with favor on the idea of building a proportion of coop units into the development, to support a desirable owner-renter balance in the community which in turn will support the park.

The plan, which was offered in a series of public meetings, is still only tentative. The owners of the property, Thylan Associates, are considering it. Thylan already has a conditional zoning permit to build a four-story, 92-unit building on the site with 6 parking spaces and no retail.

If the property owners give the go-ahead, the project will still need to go through a lengthy approval process that would include the Spruce Hill Community Association, the City Planning Commission and the Zoning Board of Adjustment. There will be further chances for public comment during the process.

Parents can register public school students for the upcoming school year this Friday, Aug.  9 at the Family and Education Reunion at the School of the Future, 4021 Parkside Ave.

The Reunion runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will include free backpacks, educational workshops, entertainment and food. Registration is required for students who moved to another neighborhood during the summer, those who are new to Philadelphia or transferring from private, parochial and charter schools, and kindergarten students who did not pre-register in the spring.

There are some exceptions to that though. Placement for specialized services, Renaissance Schools, overcrowded kindergarten classrooms or English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and arrangements for children who live with an adult other than their parent won’t be available.

Also, it is unclear whether registration for Penn Alexander School, which last year had its own registration date separate from the rest of the District, will be available on Friday. General registration at neighborhood schools is on Aug. 19. UPDATE (8/7/13): We have confirmed that parents who want to enroll their kids in Penn Alexander School will not be able to register them at Friday’s event. For more information about the enrollment at the school please call 215-823-5465.

Parents or guardians will need the following to register:

• Proof of identification, including current PA driver’s license or photo ID card; a valid municipal, state or federal employment identification or a passport.
• Proof of residency, including: PA driver’s license; current vehicle registration; lease with name of parent/guardian; recent property tax bill; voter registration ID; recent letter from government agency with parent/legal guardian’s name; recent pay stub, bank statement or credit card bill; change of address notice; deed; mortgage settlement sheet; wage and tax statements.
• Proof of child’s age, including: birth certificate (original or notarized copy); child’s valid passport; baptismal certificate; prior school records; notarized statement from parent.
• Immunization document that shows proof of vaccinations for diptheria, tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles, mumps, rubella, Hepatitis B and varicella (chicken pox). Valid proof includes child’s immunization record, written statement from former school district or medical office that required immunizations were administered; verbal assurances from former school district or medical office that required immunizations were completed with records to follow.

Transfer requests will not be accepted until later in the fall.

The first day of school is Sept. 9.

The tip of Cedar shot from Catherine Street looking east in 1955, a few years before the founding of Cedar Park Neighbors. Photo from Phillyhistory.org

Family, friends and neighbors are celebrating the life of Gerald McHugh Sr., the 80-year resident of Cedar Park and a co-founder, more than 50 years ago, of the civic association Cedar Park Neighbors, who died last week.

A viewing for McHugh, who was 92, will be held at Saint Francis de Sales (4625 Springfield Ave.) this evening at 6 p.m. and again tomorrow (Friday) at 10 a.m.

The son of Irish immigrants, McHugh lived in the Cedar Park neighborhood for the first 80 years of his life. He operated a real estate business for many years out of a storefront office at 48th and Baltimore (now the  Gold Standard Cafe).

McHugh founded Cedar Park Neighbors in 1960 in part to help foster racial diversity and harmony in the neighborhood. Many white residents in Cedar Park and across Philadelphia fled the city for the suburbs in the 1960s and 70s. Cedar Park Neighbors remains a vital force in the civic life of residents in that part of West Philadelphia.

McHugh passed away in his daughter’s home in Cedar Park.

Dear Readers,

Thanks to your efforts we raised $744 to help the family of Ja’Briel O’Connor, who died tragically on Saturday. Ja’Briel’s funeral will be held Friday at The Church of Christian Compassion (6121 Cedar Ave.). The viewing is from 9-11 a.m. and the service will begin at 11 a.m.

Your contributions went to help offset funeral costs and other expenses – things like clothes and food for the services –  Ja’Briel’s mother, Aisha Watson, incurred. Ja’Briel also has three brothers and sisters who range in age from 9 to 14. The youngest in the family, Ja’Briel was a first grader at the Henry C. Lea School and often helped neighbors on Melville take their garbage out and weed their gardens.

We would also like to thank Katie and Yasser from Café Renata, who lent us a table in their shop as we collected dollars from people ranging in age from 5 to 75. Katie and Yasser also donated Café Renata’s the money from their sales during the period that we were there.

If you want to contribute but haven’t had a chance to yet, there may be additional collections from folks connected to the Lea school. We will let you know.

 – Mike Lyons