Update: City Kitties got in contact with James and moved the rescued cat to The Cat Doctor where she will be taken care of for two weeks before hopefully getting placed.

According to City Kitties, the cat is microchipped. When they reached the owners at the number listed, they said they put the cat outside because he was “acting sick.” His body temperature was 90 and PCV only 8. He is currently receiving a blood transfusion. This cat would have died today, no thanks to his former “owners” and he still might. City Kitties will try to raise funds to cover the cost of his vet bills.

We’ll post the link where you can donate money as soon as we have it.

Reader James rescued a cat that he found lying in the gutter near Clark Park. She looked starved and didn’t have a collar. James is afraid that the cat may not survive, but will work on getting her healthy.

If anyone knows whose cat this may be or wants to adopt her please call 203-243-7607 or email James at: james.buckley[at]gmail.com. James is allergic to cats and cannot keep her.

Rehearsals are underway for the West Philly production of the school edition of RENT performed by local high school students. Project Theater Project has selected a group of really talented folks who are working hard to put together an unforgettable show.

There is a little over a month left in the fundraising campaign to help this project. They still need to raise about $2,400. To donate please go to the project’s Indie GoGo page.

Check out the video of the group’s first rehearsal here. They sound pretty good for never having sung together before.

We got West Philly’s annual Peoplehood parade on video. Unfortunately, we didn’t get much of the pageant, but we did get the final send-off. This thing is loaded with drummers, puppets, paraders of all ages. The Spiral Q Puppet Theater describes Peoplehood as “a celebration of our communities’ creativity, joy, can-do attitudes and courage to act on their convictions.” It’s pretty cool.

The 12th annual Peoplehood parade and pageant was today in West Philly. This annual showcase of arts and activism is put on by the Spiral Q Puppet Theater. If you couldn’t make it out, take a minute and check out the slideshow below.
 

West Philly is well-represented in Philadelphia Weekly‘s “Better than Best” issue, a sort of edgier version of the “Best of Philly” awards that businesses across the city covet so much. We must say that we are quite flattered to be named “Best Community News Blog” (that’s a testament to you all and your engagement with your community) and we’re proud to be named alongside many of our favorite West Philly spots.

Here’s the rundown:

• Best Coffeeshop to Find Your Next Collective Housemate – Satellite Coffee, 701 S. 50th St.

• Best Prototype Neighborhood – Garden Court

• Best Place to See Who (spent the night with) Whom in West Philly on Friday Night – Clark Park Farmer’s Market

• Best Bookstore – Penn Book Center (130 S. 34th St.)

• Venue With Most Squalor – Rathaus, 31st and Spring Garden

• Best Place to Ask Stupid Questions About Power Tools Without Being Judged – West Philly Tool Library (1314 S. 47th St.)

• Best Mechanic Who Will Treat You Like Family – Wayne’s Garage (4521 Springfield Ave.)

• Funniest Medical Research Team – Penn’s HIV/AIDS Research Prevention Division (3535 Market St.)

• Best Place to Eat Falafel in West Philly During Ramadan – Manakeesh Cafe and Bakery (4420 Chestnut St.)

• Best Southern Food in this Yankee Shithole – Roost (4529 Springfield Ave.)

• Best Place to Get a Hangover Destroying Gyro at 2 a.m. in West Philly – New York Gyro Place (4407 Chestnut St.)

• Best Place Place to Drink Good Whiskey and Not Go F**king Broke – Fiume (45th and Locust)

• Best Dance Party in a Cramped Room – Gojjo (4540 Baltimore Ave.)

• Best Community News Blog – West Philly Local

Blurbs about all of the above are available here.

OK, here’s your chance to read about our vaunted neighborhood Southwest Detective Joe Murray, aka @TheFuzz9143, in action.

Murray and his former partner in Southwest Philly, Sgt. John Hoyt, agreed to serve as doughnut testers for a Philadelphia Inquirer review of Federal Donuts, the “new, fancy-pants doughnut and fried chicken shop in Pennsport.”

Murray on Federal’s Key Lime doughnut:

“It wasn’t overly tart. I won’t eat doughnuts with filling in them – you eat it and it’s all over you. It’s too much, it’s gross,” Murray said. “But this was absolutely perfect – the concept and texture. You get the crust and crumbs from it. It even had the little crisps on it.”

Murray and Hoyt were up front about the stereotype they were playing into, but both said they are way more of coffee snobs than doughnut snobs.