In case you haven’t already heard … tonight is the Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll in West Philly. This thing (as the lines at participating shops and restaurants last month showed) has gotten big. People are coming from around the city.  Our insider advice? Get there early. It starts at 5:30 p.m.

Here’s a story from 6ABC last night:

The West Philly Tool Library is hiring a paid Tool Coordinator. The job hours are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Here are the job responsibilities:

• Maintaining and basic repair of tools

• Keeping the Tool Library organized and clean

• Accepting tool donations

• Checking tools in and out to members of the community and performing simple bookkeeping

• Maintaining computer database that tracks tool use and member information

• Collecting late fees

• Maintaining a culture within the Tool Library aligned with its mission and goals

• Promoting the Tool Library and recruiting volunteers

• Communicating with the Steering Committee about areas for improvements.

The requirements are:

• Commitment to promoting community in West and Southwest Philly

• Basic knowledge of tools with a desire to learn more (strong knowledge of tools and basic home repair preferred)

• High level of organization

• Attention to detail

• Excellent communication skills

• Familiarity with computers and databases (experience with Google docs and WordPress a plus.)

This position is for eight hours per week and pays $12.00 per hour. They are looking for someone who is committed to the project and reliable about running the Tool Library independently and promoting its membership within the community. They want to hire for this position as soon as possible. Please send your cover letter and resume to the attention of Benjamin White at: benjamin [at] westphillytools.org.

For more information, please stop by the Tool Library (1314 S. 47th St.) or visit their website at: www.westphillytools.org. Women and people of color are encouraged to apply.

Police are investigating injuries to a 3-year-old boy sustained in an apartment building on the 4700 block of Chestnut St. yesterday. Detectives are interviewing the child’s caregiver, who originally reported that the boy fell down stairs and was unconscious.

The child was taken to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia after the incident yesterday. He was listed in critical condition today, police said.

Here is video from 6ABC:

Drexel University has purchased a long, thin 3.6 acre lot along JFK Boulevard west of 30th Street Station that will become the “gateway” for its main campus and could include a mix of uses, including retail.

Drexel paid $21.8 million for the land, which is currently a parking lot sandwiched between JFK Blvd. and train tracks to the north (see the map below).

“The prime location of this site will significantly enhance Drexel’s capacity to be a powerful engine for regional economic growth,” said Drexel President John Fry in a written statement. “It provides various options not only for the development of the space for classrooms, research and other academic facilities, but also for sources of revenue for Drexel through potential residential and retail opportunities.”

Fry, who oversaw community development projects while a vice president at the University of Pennsylvania, has said that extending Drexel’s reach into its surrounding West Philadelphia community is a priority.

 

View Drexel land purchase in a larger map

Great news for the Community Education Center (CEC) in West Philly! Thanks to very active voting by its supporters, including many West Philly residents, the center finished in the top five in Maxwell House’s Drops of Good online voting campaign and is eligible for the $50,000 grant.

The grant will go toward center renovation expenses. Renovations will be handled by the Philadelphia affiliate of Rebuilding Together®. This non-profit organization opened its location in West Philly in 1988 and has helped many low-income homeowners and other community projects.

If you would like to volunteer for this or other projects visit this page.
 

There is a dangerous sinkhole on the 4800 block of Baltimore Avenue. A reader Joe described it as about two feet deep and stretching at least a couple feet in either direction. It is in the middle of the bike lane on the north side of the 4800 block, in front of 4827/29.

“Don’t let its demure appearance fool you. It wants to eat you and your bike,” Joe warns.