UPDATE: Police identified the victim as 50-year-old Tony Harris. Harris, who worked as an electronics repairman, recently posted on Facebook a photo of his wife holding bundles of cash that he claimed amounted to $60,000, according to reports. Police say it was done as a joke, but may have prompted the attempted robbery and shooting.

Police are looking for three suspects who shot in the head and killed a 50-year-old man, a married father of three young children, during a home invasion robbery near 54th and Warrington. Police say the home invasion took place shortly after 11 p.m. on Monday on the 1100 block of S. Ruby Street. The intruders, described as three teenagers wearing masks, entered the house through the unlocked front door. They found the man, his wife, ad three children ages 5, 2 and 10 months upstairs.

One of the men, armed with a black and silver handgun, took the woman to the kitchen where he put the gun to her head and demanded money, according to a police report. Then she heard another man yelling at her husband in the living room, asking: “Where’s the money?” She then heard a single gunshot. She found her husband lying on the floor suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. The woman called police. Police say they found a shotgun on the front porch when they arrived.  Continue Reading

Neighborhood Bike Works (NBW), a local non-profit that has been providing bike education and recreation opportunities to youth for nearly 20 years, has a new home. The organization has recently opened a new, larger community shop and bike education hub at 3939 Lancaster Ave. For many years West Philly’s NBW headquarters had been located in the basement of St. Mary’s Church on Locust Walk.

The new space’s grand opening celebration, which included community bike shop dedication, volunteer awards, and commemorative t-shirt screen printing, took place on Saturday:  Continue Reading

A large, old Malcolm X Park tree fell on power lines and knocked out power in the area around 51st and Osage during Friday evening’s storm. Residents reported that it happened right after the storm started around 5:30 p.m. on Friday. By Saturday, when the photo above was taken, the broken power lines were fixed and power restored. There is no word on injuries.

36th and Lancaster

The city’s Historical Commission today added a strip of Lancaster Avenue commercial and residential buildings dating to the 1870s to the Registry of Historic Places.

The designation of the south side of the 3600 block of Lancaster Avenue requires Historical Commission approval of building or renovation plans.

An attorney for the property’s owner, AP Construction, vowed to appeal the decision.

The Powelton Village Civic Association began to pursue the designation last spring when it learned of AP Construction’s plans to demolish the block and reportedly sell it for student housing. With street-level storefronts and apartments on upper floors, the block anchors the main commercial strip in the neighborhood.

About 25 residents of Powelton Village were on hand at the meeting and nearly all raised their hands when asked if they agreed with the historic designation proposal.  Continue Reading

This is a follow up to some of our recent and not so recent restaurant news.

• The new owners for Gold Standard Cafe, a popular establishment at 48th and Baltimore, have finally been revealed. In July, we reported that the business was up for sale when the old owners, veteran restaurateurs Roger Harman and Vince Whittacre, decided to retire. The new owners, Joseph Oh and Alice Park, previously operated a Japanese fusion restaurant in North Philly, but as they told the local weekly University City Review, their plan regarding The Gold Standard is to keep everything the same, with some minor tweaks to the menu. “They said they might put one Korean dinner on the menu at some point but otherwise keep the same general theme,” Harman told the Review regarding the new owners’ plans.  Continue Reading

Police released information on a gunpoint robbery that took place on Sunday night on the 4400 block of Osage Ave. A 29-year-old man was talking on his cell phone outside of his residence at approximately 7:45 p.m. when an unknown male approached him from behind and pointed a black pistol at his face, according to a police report. He then told the victim to turn around, lie down and empty his pockets. The robber fled with the victim’s cash (approximately $15), according to police.

The suspect is described as a black male, around 30 years old, 5’9″ to 6″, thin to medium build. He was dressed in a dark hoodie (with the hood up) and dark pants.  Continue Reading