Some bad news for the Philly Diner pancake fans – the restaurant closed Sunday after 10 years of operation. The reason? The owner decided not to renew the lease, the Penn student newspaper The Daily Pennsylvanian reports.

The restaurant has faced some tough times like a 2009 shooting that prompted switch from a 24-hour service to more limited hours.

It’s not clear who the diner’s owner is, but it seems that this person has other restaurants in the area. If you go to the diner’s homepage (www.phillydiner.com) it redirects to Ed’s Buffalo Wings & Pizza, a family-owned restaurant also located in University City (35th and Lancaster).

According to a sign on the diner, its restaurant and kitchen equipment will be auctioned off online at this website Thursday and Friday. The equipment is available for inspection on Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
 

US Vice President Joe Biden is going to make a stop this afternoon (around 2:30 p.m.) at the University of Pennsylvania’s Houston Hall (3417 Spruce Street). So don’t be surprised to see some chaotic traffic patterns and delays. Biden will be here for a roundtable discussion with Mayor Michael Nutter and Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey on budget cuts and how they affect public safety.
 

Congratulations to the West Philly Hybrid X Team, a group of 15 West Philadelphia High School students who received the “Next Generation Award” yesterday at the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Awards. The awards honor innovators in many fields, from medicine to automotive design to space exploration, “whose work will transform the world in years to come.” Other award recipients included James Cameron who was honored for one of 3D camera rigs he created to film Avatar.

The Huffington Post has a nice piece on West Philly Hybrid X and how they came up with the idea of building this “badass hybrid” car. Here is a Popular Mechanics article dedicated to the team.
 

We’ve received information from a Calvary Center for Culture and Community board member that the Center’s boiler has broken down as cold weather fast approaches.

The new boiler is going to cost about $50,000 to install. The board of the Calvary Center, a key community asset, is scrambling to piece together the funding to cover the expense and will be looking to raise funds to help. At this point they set up a donations page at: http://www.calvary-center.org/support-calvary/ways-to-support/donate/. We’ll keep you posted about other fundraising projects when information about them becomes available.

The Calvary Center for Culture and Community occupies the Calvary Methodist Church building which was built in 1906. The building hosts a large variety of community arts, educational and religious programs, including Cedar Park Neighbors, Crossroads Music, Curio Theatre Company, Calvary United Methodist Church, West Philadelphia Mennonite Fellowship, Kol Tzedek Synagogue, and Children’s Community School.

A 47-year-old woman was killed early this morning in a vehicle accident at the intersection of 51st and Locust streets, according to reports.

The accident occurred at about 2:15 a.m. and involved two cars. The unidentified woman was the passenger in a minivan that struck another car, an SUV. The male driver of the minivan and a man and a woman in the SUV were seriously injured in the accident, according to ABC News and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The minivan reportedly struck the SUV first and the impact was so great that the SUV flipped on the roof of a third, parked car. Rescue crews had to pry open the vehicles to extract all the passengers.

Both cars reportedly ran stop signs at the 4-way-stop at 51st and Locust.

The US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Philadelphia office will move from its Center City location at 16th and Callowhill to West Philly by the end of 2012.

The new office will be located in 2.0 University Place, a new University Place Associates LLC’s five-story building at 30 N. 41st St. where it will occupy the first three floors (53,000 of the 97,000 square-foot space). The 15-year, $26 million lease was negotiated by building leasing and the US General Services Administration reps. The building is currently under construction.

University Place Associates founder Tom Leonard told The Philadelphia Inquirer, “they looked at what was available in Center City, didn’t like it, and broadened their (search) to West Philadelphia.”

“This will be a much nicer facility,” he added.

Located at the foot of the University City Science Center, the building will feature an extensive green roof with a 20,000-sf rooftop park, high-efficiency HVAC systems, open floor plans with 90 percent natural daylight, ‘gray water’ recycling systems that utilize rainwater to operate restrooms, onsite bicycle racks, changing rooms, and car sharing facilities among other things.