We continue publishing breakfast and lunch menus served at schools in the School District of Philadelphia. Here’s the menu for Monday, Dec. 15 through Friday, Dec. 19. If your school uses a Satellite menu, click here.

BREAKFAST (K-12)

A variety of three cereals will be offered daily and served with a yogurt parfait or a mini loaf.

Monday

Choose 1: Mini Waffles or Bake Crafter Cereal Bar & Yogurt
Choose 1: Pineapple Juice or Fresh Pear
Variety of Milk

Tuesday

Choose 1: Steak, Egg & Cheese on a Bagel or Benefit Bar
Choose 1: Strawberry Cup or Fresh Apple
Variety of Milk

Wednesday

Choose 1: French Toast Sticks w/Syrup & Sausage link (1) or Homestyle Breads
Choose 1: Grape Juice or Fresh Banana
Variety of Milk  Continue Reading

There will be a bunch of festive events this Saturday and Sunday, including some great local holiday shopping opportunities and Christmas caroling at Clark Park. Plus Santa will make a stop at a local bar, so bring your camera! For more upcoming events, visit our Events Calendar.

Go West! Holiday Craft Fest at The Rotunda (40th and Walnut)

Over 50 local craftspeople will present their work at this year’s holiday edition of the popular Go West! Craft Fest. The event will be held on Sunday, Dec. 14, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Rotunda (40th and Walnut). Stop by to check out beautiful handmade items like jewelry, ceramics, warm knitted accessories, prints, stationery, soap, candles, home accents, children’s items, and more (here is the full list of the vendors). If the weather is clear, vendors will be indoors and out. There will also be sweet treats by West Philly’s Weckerly’s Ice Cream and the Lil’ Pop Shop.

UPDATE: The fest organizers sent a note that Walnut street will be closed to traffic on Sunday due to construction work across the street from The Rotunda. The street will be open to pedestrians, but no cars will be allowed on Walnut between 40th and 41st streets between 6:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

40th Street AIR Holiday Art Sale (4007 Chestnut St)

Work by West Philly artists in the 2014-2015 40th Street Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program – Althea Baird, TenBroeck Cripps, Brujo de La Mancha, Aislinn Pentecost-Farren and Lorna Williams – will be featured at this weekend’s 40th Street AIR Holiday Sale. The sale will take place on Saturday and Sunday, from 12 – 6 p.m. at the AIRSPACE Gallery at 4007 Chestnut Street (1st floor). Many guest artists will also take part in the event, including AIR alumni.  Continue Reading

Great news for West Philly artist James Dupree and his supporters: After two years of fighting the authorities to save his 8,646-square-foot art studio near 36th and Haverford from being destroyed to build a supermarket, the artist announced victory yesterday.

We won. We are getting the deed back. Thank you to everyone who supported us. #JamesDupree will have a public comment coming soon. Victory!

— dupree studios (@SaveDupree) December 11, 2014

James Dupree (Photos from SaveDupreeStudios.org)

Dupree purchased an auto repair shop at 3617-21 Haverford Ave in 2005 and turned it into a sprawling art space, known as Dupree Studios, but the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority seized and condemned the property along with other properties in a two-block area in December 2012 as part of efforts to revitalize the Mantua neighborhood. Since then 64-year-old Dupree has been fighting the plans of turning the lot into a grocery store with a parking lot through legal appeals and public campaigns. The PRA has finally ended the proceedings to condemn the property, which includes art studios, classrooms, and even three “quirky” apartments.

Police say a 55-year-old man has confessed to robbing and assaulting a 38-year-old woman near 41st and Pine Streets Thursday evening. The man was apprehended around 6:40 p.m. by plainclothes officers. Police say he approached the victim from behind while she was walking alone, struck her in the back of the head with a bicycle U-lock and demanded her bag. He then started dragging the woman down the street and took her bag and cell phone, when two plainclothes police officers who were nearby observed the assault and arrested the attacker. Police were on a high alert in the last few days due to the recent attacks.

Police say he is also a suspect in other assaults on women in the area over the last five days, including an attempted robbery near 41st and Sansom on Saturday and two indecent assaults on female students late Thursday morning near Drexel’s campus. Police are also checking if this person is linked to a sexual assault and robbery of a 23-year-old female, which took place on Monday night near 47th and Chestnut.

The victim of the Thursday evening attack sustained lacerations to the back of her head and was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where she received stitches.

Police say the man they apprehended has 25 prior arrests.

The suspect does not appear to be linked to the rape of a Drexel University student, which took place early Wednesday morning in her off-campus apartment near 34th and Spring Garden Streets. The investigation continues.

A police-DUI driver car pursuit that started in Southwest Philadelphia ended in a foot chase and arrest near 47th and Warrington Wednesday night, according to police.

Several residents reported higher police presence last night in the area around 8-8:30 p.m:

@WestPhillyLocal Tons of police activity on 47th & Warrington over the past couple hours. Any idea what’s happening?

— Kelly Phillips (@kellypcomics) December 11, 2014

An unidentified driver was pulled over in Southwest Philly but took off. Police first pursued him by car, but then he exited and tried to run away on foot. He was apprehended and faces DUI and other charges.

UPDATE (12/11/2014): Unfortunately, there was another report this week of a sexual assault in West Philadelphia. A 21-year-old woman, a Drexel University student, was raped in her off-campus apartment on the 3400 block of Spring Garden street. The assault happened early Wednesday morning, around 4:15 a.m. An unidentified man broke into the student’s apartment and threatened her with a meat cleaver prior to the assault, according to reports. The man fled the apartment after the assault. The description of the attacker is not available. The apartment was dark, and the victim could not describe the man who assaulted her, but this assault and Monday’s assault near 47th and Chestnut (see below) “do not appear to be related at this time,” according to PPD spokesperson Tanya Little. Drexel police and the Special Victims Unit of the Philadelphia Police Department are investigating.

(12/10/2014): A 23-year-old woman was sexually assaulted and robbed on Monday evening near 47th and Chestnut, according to police.

The woman was walking in the 100 block of S. 47th Street at around 8:30 p.m., when an unidentified male approached and grabbed her from behind. He then forced the victim to the ground and physically and sexually assaulted her before taking her purse and fleeing on foot, according to a police report. The attacker is described as a black male between 30 and 35 years of age, approximately 6 feet tall, heavy build, with short hair, close-trimmed beard and mustache. He was wearing a blue jacket, a black knit hat and gloves and had a backpack on. The extent of the victim’s injuries are currently unknown.  Continue Reading