One of the two men who died during the Philadelphia Marathon on Sunday was a University of Pennsylvania senior.

Jeff Lee, 21, of Cerritos Calif., died soon after crossing the finish line of the half marathon, which preceded the full marathon race. Lee was a nursing and business major.

G. Chris Gleason, 40, of Clifton Park, NY died about a quarter of a mile before the finish of the full marathon on Sunday. Gleason was an experienced triathlete and marathon runner. Philly.com has a story about him here.

Penn students gathered to remember Lee on campus yesterday. The Daily Pennsylvanian has a report here. The Channel 6 report is below.

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.
 

Penn Park, the rejuvenated 24-acre strip of land along the train tracks between Walnut and South streets, officially opens on Thursday.

The park occupies former parking lots and vacant land in a once fairly desolate area that was a parking area for postal trucks. It is now part of the University of Pennsylvania campus.

So what can your typical West Philly resident get out of the new park? Some of its facilities will be open to the public on a regular basis. Those include about two acres of grassy open areas, including a “picnic grove,” with a good view of the Center City skyline in and around newly constructed athletic facilities. The area also includes 548 new trees.

“Penn Park marks the first time that the University has, by design, developed open space for the use of the Penn community and beyond,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann.

Those athletics facilities include a spiffy 12-court tennis center, a 470-seat multi-purpose stadium and two athletic fields with synthetic surfaces. A parking lot for 210 cars sits along Walnut Street near the Class of 1923 Ice Rink. In case you had any notion of getting your Nadal on and playing tennis on those new courts (we did), Penn has said that they will only be open to the public on special occasions.

Still, the park provides a nice place to relax, enjoy the skyline and maybe take in a field hockey game.

The park is accessible by Walnut Street to the north, a walkway near the picnic grove to the west and another entrance near the South Street bridge. Here is a map of the park: Penn Park map

The park cost $46 million, but not a dime of public money went into it, according to Penn officials.

Tomorrow’s ceremony begins at 5 p.m. and will include a ribbon-cutting, recreational activities and a fireworks display at 7:30 p.m.

Update 2: Tonya Dixon, the mother accused of abducting her 2-day-old baby from HUP yesterday, has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child recklessly endangering another person.

Update: Police found the child and his mother at about 5 p.m. on the 6000 block of Kingsessing Avenue. The mother is currently in police custody. No charges have been filed yet. The baby will be returned to HUP.

Police are searching for a 39-year-old woman who abducted her 2-day-old boy at about noon today from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The child is a black male who, police say, needs medical attention and had been in the custody of the Department of Human Services.

The child was wearing a diaper and a one-piece outfit and an alarm censor was attached to the child’s umbilical cord. Police say the child was taken by 39-year-old Tonya Dixon, who is described as a black female last seen wearing cream-colored pants, a yellow shirt, black jacket and a long black wig. Police say Dixon left with the child in a silver Dodge four-door sedan that was driven by an unidentified person. A police source said the mother is “extremely unfit” to care for the child but did not elaborate.

Anyone with information about the abduction is urged to call 911.

Police are investigating reports of multiple gunshots near 41st and Pine Streets early this morning. A Penn Division of Public Safety official told The Daily Pennsylvanian at about 2 a.m. that “No weapons were found, no suspects were found [and] no injuries were reported.” Residents near the area reported about four or five shots fired at about 1 a.m.

Penn’s student newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian, has a story today on the McDonald’s at 40th and Walnut Street, which Penn officials characterize as a scourge in the neighborhood around campus.

The article’s author, Rachel Baye, writes:

Those involved with past and present development of the corner say McDonald’s is a hot spot for crime and a source of malnutrition. Getting rid of it, they say, will bring economic growth and make the neighborhood safer.

Baye quotes many Penn officials as saying that they would love to oust McDonald’s and add more upscale housing and shops. McDonald’s, apparently, is not interested in moving. The Daily Pennsylvanian included an article last week on the problems with public transportation near campus as well. Race and class, of course, are at the heart of the conversation in both stories.