Penn Museum (3260 South St.) is celebrating the 125th anniversary of their founding on Thursday, Dec. 6 with a 12-hour free Community Open House. The Open House runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., with opportunities for behind the scenes tours, talks, informal meetings with the museum curators and collections staff, and more.

Full details of tomorrow’s activities are available here. And here‘s a story about Penn Museum in today’s The New York Times.

A temporary “no parking” sign near 49th and Larchwood.

Here’s the good news: Crews will be filming part of an episode of a new NBC drama in West Philly tomorrow. Kind of cool. The bad news is that if you live within a few blocks of 49th and Larchwood, there’s a good chance that you will need to find a new place to park until Friday. And if you live a few more blocks away, your favorite spot might be gone by the time you read this.

The filming of Do No Harm, a modern-day “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” focusing on a neurosurgeon with a secret, starts filming on Thursday morning. But a ban on parking on streets near 49th and Larchwood begins this evening (Wednesday) at 6 p.m. and ends Friday morning at 1 a.m.

The streets reportedly run from 47th to 50th and Larchwood to as far south as Catharine. Neighbors on the impacted blocks (about seven blocks in all) should have received a flyer notifying them of the parking prohibitions (a reader named Renee tipped us off to this whole thing) and it looks like the streets have been posted. The production company has the proper permits from the City.

If you have any questions about the filming, call the production company’s local office at 215-977-2897 (see the flyer below).

In case you are wondering, Do No Harm premiers on Jan. 31, 2013 after the finale of 30 Rock.

The flyer sent to residents. Thanks to reader Renee.

Police are still searching for the driver of the silver Chevrolet Trailblazer involved in Monday night’s deadly hit-and-run accident at 48th and Chester. A 52-year-old woman was run over and killed while crossing the street. Police have not released the name of the victim, but various media outlets have identified her as Deanna Teal.

The heavily damaged SUV with New York license plates that police believe was involved in the crash was found abandoned a few blocks away from the accident scene.

6 ABC reports that Ms. Teal left behind a daughter and six grandchildren and was engaged to get married soon. She was reportedly walking home when she was struck. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family and friends.

After an intense investigation by the Homicide Unit, Amin Gibbs, a 33-year-old male from the 6800 Block of Dicks Avenue was arrested and charged with murder in the November 17 death of 22-year-old student Zykia Sanders. She was shot in the back outside of West Park Apartments near 45th and Market streets and later died in the hospital. Police offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspect.

Gibbs was arrested near 7th and Race Street in Center City.

Zykia Sanders.

Elsa.

Elsa and Emily are lovely, petite tuxedo kittens (about 10-12 months old), rescued this past summer near Penn’s campus. Elsa is the cutest grey & white girl, with a white triangle outlining her little grey nose. She was a bit shy at first, but has become quite the cuddle bug and is very receptive to hugs and kisses from her foster mom & dad. Elsa has an irresistible raspy chirp (much like a lion cub’s), is quite chatty, and purrs whenever you’re nearby.

Lovely Emily is the black & white babe. She adores belly and chin rubs. She’s got a streak of tomboy in her; loves to chase and wrestle with our big tabby guy! They’re just the sweetest and gentlest of girls. Both are fine with being held, and will be happy to sit on your lap and be combed and fussed over. Neither is over demanding of attention. Elsa and Em’ have become companion kitties since their respective rescues, so we would love for them to be adopted as a pair.

Emily.

Kitty FACTS: The girls have been fully vetted (tested, spayed, vaccinated, microchipped) and are disease free. Paperwork from their vetting will be included, along with a few of their favorite things. Indoor only. Kitties must keep their claws! They eat a primarily canned food diet. Excellent litterbox manners. Okay with gentle dogs. Appropriate screening and a willingness to contribute towards their vetting (or donation to a local rescue group) shouldn’t be a problem for potential adopters. Feel free to email with any questions about the girls or to arrange a meeting. Including a brief history of your experience with kitties, description of current home situation, and the name of your vet would be most helpful.

For more information contact Linda at lml3@verizon.net.

Despite the recent run of warm weather, leaves are still falling across West Philly. The City’s curbside bagged leaf collection program continues for another two weeks, wrapping up on December 14.

If you have some leaves you want to get rid of, here’s some advice from the Streets Department:

• Leaves will only be collected in biodegradable paper bags. These bags can be processed for recycling along with the leaves. This reduces contamination in the recycling process, and allows crews to work more efficiently and more easily identify your bags as leaves. Leaves set out in other bags or containers may be collected as trash.

• Set leaf bags curbside next to trash and recycling on your trash day.

• Leaves placed in plastic bags will be collected as trash, not recycling.

• Do not mix trash or other recyclable materials with bagged leaves. This contaminates leaves and makes them unfit for recycling purposes.

• The Streets Department does not provide biodegradable bags. Residents may purchase them at their local home improvement stores. Monarch Hardware at 45th and Walnut, for example, sells them in packs of five for $3.59.

• Bagged leaves may also be taken to any of the three Sanitation Convenience Centers:

3033 S. 63rd Street (63rd & Passyunk Ave.)
Domino Lane and Umbria Street
State Road and Ashburner Street