A West Philly resident, Nati Passow, was bitten by a dog last night while he was biking down Larchwood Avenue between 44th and 45th Streets. He is looking for the dog’s owner to see if the dog was up to date on all of his shots, in order to avoid a series of rabies shots. Here’s what Nati wrote us in an email:

On Saturday night around 9:45 I was biking down Larchwood between 45th and 44th. A woman was walking her dog and the dog ran at me. She called after him (that’s how I know the name), but Clyde proceeded to bite my leg. It’s not too bad of a bite, but it broke skin, so I went to HUP, and because I didn’t know the dog, they started me on the rabies vaccine. I’d really prefer not to have to get the remaining 3 doses, and they said that if I track down the owners and learn that Clyde has gotten all of his shots, I’m good to go.

If you know someone in the area with a dog named Clyde, please put them in touch with me. It was a very quick interaction, but I believe Clyde was a big dog, slender build, with a lighter colored coat.

If you know anyone in the neighborhood who has a dog named Clyde that fits the provided description, please email Nati as soon as possible at npassow@gmail.com, as he will need to return to HUP in three days for the next dose.

Greene Street Consignment had a Grand Opening on Valentine’s Day.

Greene Street Consignment has opened a location in the University City area, at 3734 Spruce Street. The shop had a Grand Opening last week, on Valentine’s Day. This is the 9th location for the boutique-style shop that offers women’s and men’s recycled and new clothing, shoes and accessories (the 10th location will open in Soho, NYC in March).

A Greene Street representative said that the new shop is primarily aimed at students, faculty, tourists and parents in University City. According to Lynne Mastrilli, the owner, “there’s something about the perfect storm of everything about the college experience that works well with our business.”

Mariposa‘s Food Justice and Anti-Racism Working Group (FJAR) is building a library and seeking donations of books, zines and articles relating to food justice, organizing, pedagogy, gentrification, racism, and anti-oppression. Donations of cookbooks and primers about the food system and nutrition for both youth and adults are also welcome.

If you have books you’d like to donate, please drop them off in the store (4824 Baltimore Ave) or contact Mariposa for a pick-up by emailing: mariposa.fjar.library@gmail.com.

The library is expected to open this spring and materials will be available (during designated times) for borrowing by both staff and members.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has recently opened a new, state-of-the-art pediatric care center (Karabots Primary Care Center) at the corner of 48th and Market. The center held its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday. The 52,000-square-foot center will offer pediatric care and community programs to West Philly children and families (the centers at 39th and Chestnut Sts. and 3550 Market St. are moving to the Karabots Center).

The Karabots Center was established with a $7.5 million gift from Nicholas and Athena Karabots and the Karabots Foundation of Fort Washington, Pa. The two-story building contains 56 child-friendly examination rooms, rooms for radiology, hearing and vision testing, and a lab. The facility also houses community programs offered by Children’s Hospital, such as Early Head Start, Community Asthma Prevention Program, domestic violence education, and the Homeless Health Initiative. The Center plans to accommodate over 64,000 outpatient visits annually.

A screenshot from CaptnFog’s Youtube channel.

A highly entertaining Saturday tradition at Clark Park will be put on hold indefinitely. The weekly Capture the Flag game at the park, which has delighted and puzzled park visitors for a decade, has been suspended.

The company that runs the game and supplies foam swords, knives and bow and arrows –  Epic Adventurez – will host the game at other locations in the city. The company has used the Clark Park gathering to help recruit participants for its larger events, annual summer camps and to keep its community of players active in the fall and winter months. But participation has been declining and the company is losing money on the swords and other weapons it supplies to players for a $5 donation, said Epic Adventurez Robert Bedford in an e-mail.

The game drew as many as 80 people in its early years, but Bedford said the game hasn’t drawn that many players in “quite some time.”

Bedford said he hopes Capture the Flag (CTF) will return this spring. He writes: “We do not think this will be the end of Clark Park CTF, we hope we can reorganize, and eventually resupply in order to provide the equipment necessary to encourage the level of play we desire.”

For those in the neighborhood who can’t go a weekend without it, there will be Capture the Flag games at Allens Lane Art Center in Mt. Airy on Sundays from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Bedford said he’s also looking to establish a game on Saturdays in Morris Park, near 66th and Sherwood, in the Overbrook neighborhood.

CommunityCam maps public and private security cameras in the city.

Using surveillance videos in solving a crime has become a common practice for law enforcement officials since many businesses, organizations and individuals now install security cameras as a safety measure. But what about simple folks who need this information but don’t have access to it? In an effort to help residents prevent and solve crime, VideoSurveillance.com has recently rolled out the CommunityCam program that maps public and private security cameras throughout Philadelphia. The program is first launching in our city, with a goal to eventually expand nationwide.

Anyone can use the map either for locating cameras that may have captured a criminal activity or for choosing a safer walking route. The map is crowdsourced so any resident, business owner, neighborhood group, or government organization can add locations of surveillance cameras to help their neighbors.

“Unfortunately, information about security cameras has not been made available to the public so someone who has been hurt, wronged, or worse does not have access to all the resources that could help make things right. With this effort, we hope that neighbors will start working together to help each other and to make all cities and towns safe,” said Josh Daniels, President of VideoSurveillance.com.

A neighbor, Stephanie, said that the program is interesting, too, because it’s crowdsourced – so neighbors and residents can help each other out. “As a young(ish) single woman, new to Philadelphia, this makes me feel more secure,” said Stephanie.

Here’s how you can use CommunityCam:

– Visit http://www.videosurveillance.com/communitycam

– Navigate the map using the directional arrows

– Click the blue balloons to see addresses for and types of cameras

– If you have an outdoor surveillance camera, you’re encouraged to add it to the map.