Police have issued a crime alert in the Cedar Park area following a string of robberies and attempted robberies over the weekend. In all three cases reported below, a sawed off shotgun or imitation of a gun was used.

The first incident happened on the 800 block of S. 48th Street, around 11:20 p.m. on Saturday, when a 28-year-old man was approached on the street by a young male, who pointed a sawed off shotgun at the victim and demanded money. The victim told police that he did not believe the gun was real and started screaming, according to a police report. The attacker didn’t take anything and fled on foot toward Baltimore Avenue.

The other two incidents took place on Sunday. A 26-year-old man was robbed and pistol-whipped near 47th and Hazel around 8:15 p.m. by two males, one of whom pressed a sawed off firearm into the victim’s chest, according to police. The males took the victim’s iPhone and wallet. The man was also hit in the head with the firearm after he said he didn’t have anything else and sustained a cut to his ear.  Continue Reading

Neighborhood Time Exchange focuses on the area around Lancaster Ave. (Map image via www.neighborhoodtime.exchange)

Here’s a new program in West Philly that supports emerging artists! Neighborhood Time Exchange: West Philadelphia Artist Residency was recently launched at 4017 Lancaster Avenue thanks to collaboration of three organizations – Broken City Lab, the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, and the People’s Emergency Center. The program will provide studio space to up to 12 artists (six of the spots are reserved for local artists) where they can work on their personal projects. In exchange, the resident artists are expected to give back to the community: for every hour they spend working in the studio they are expected to spend an hour on community-centered work and service. The goal of the program, according to its organizers, is to lay the ground for civic and economic renewal of the area, to be a platform for social change.

If you’re an emerging artist in Philadelphia and need help spearheading your career and if you’re interested in this program, read on.

Currently, Neighborhood Time Exchange is seeking artists for their inaugural round of residencies, which begins in January 2015. Artists residing in the neighborhoods around Lancaster Avenue, such as Mantua, Belmont, West Powelton, Saunders Park and Mill Creek, are encouraged to apply. Application deadline is Friday, Oct. 24. To download an application form and for more information, visit the Neighborhood Time Exchange website. If you have questions, email: info@neighborhoodtime.exchange

We continue publishing breakfast and lunch menus served at schools in the School District of Philadelphia. Here’s the menu for Monday, Oct 20 through Friday, Oct 24. If your school uses a Satellite menu, click here. Come back every Sunday evening for the coming week’s menu.

BREAKFAST (K-12)

A variety of three cereals will be offered daily and served with a yogurt parfait or a bake-crafter bar.

Monday

Mini Pancakes
Bake Crafter Cereal Bar & Yogurt
Choose 1: Pineapple Juice or Fresh Pear
Variety of Milk

Tuesday

Steak, Egg & Cheese on a Bagel
Benefit Bar
Choose 1: Mixed Fruit Cup or Fresh Orange
Variety of Milk Continue Reading

An important discussion about incarceration has gained traction nationally in recent years and an important facilitator in that discussion locally is the organization Books Though Bars.

The group’s primary mission is to obtain, pack and ship books to inmates in the region, a volunteer-heavy activity they have been doing in West Philly for more than 20 years. There is a chance this Saturday to be part of this ongoing conversation, meet people from Books Through Bars and other organizations engaged in incarceration issues and raise a little money to keep their work going.

Books Through Bars is hosting a fundraiser tomorrow (Oct 18) at the LAVA Space at 4134 Lancaster Ave, beginning at 2 p.m. The event will feature free workshops and speakers (2 to 6 p.m.) from the following organizations: Decarcerate PA, Hearts on a Wire, The Center for Returning Citizens, HRC, Books Through Bars Address This!, and DreamActivist PA. After that there will be a rockers show (6-10 p.m.) hosted by MMGZ.

Please bring $5-8 to donate at the event. Also, Books Through Bars’ Business, Science and Math shelves are pretty empty right now, so if you have any books that you don’t need please bring them to tomorrow’s event or to the A-Space where the organization is located (4722 Baltimore Ave).

For more information, check out the Books Through Bars Facebook page.

Violinist Zebadiah plays with The Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and now attends Central High School.

This weekend, the annual Philadelphia Film Festival kicks off and we learned that students attending a local parochial school will be featured in one of the festival premieres.

Ilene Miller of Play On, Philly!, a tuition-free after school music program that has been operating for a few years at the St. Francis de Sales School near 47th and Springfield, sent us some more details about the film and the West Philly kids featured in it:

“Play On, Philly! (POP), the innovative tuition-free after school music program in communities with little access to music education, was founded in 2011 at St. Francis de Sales School. The program, as well as two students, will be featured in the premiere of Crescendo! The Power of Music, at the Philadelphia Film Festival on October 20 and 25 (see a trailer here).

Filmmakers Jamie Bernstein (daughter of famed conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein) and Elizabeth Kling have been following Play On, Philly! at St. Francis de Sales since day one for their documentary about kids participating in two youth orchestra programs – POP and the Harmony Program in Harlem.

Raven started POP in 4th grade and now plays with Musicopia String Orchestra and Philadelphia Sinfonia. She wants to be a professional violinist.

You will be truly moved at the experiences of students Raven and Zebadiah – their struggles, heartbreak and joy – as they discover themselves through the mysterious power of music in the Play On, Philly! program.

Raven is a violin natural with a rambunctious spirit. Quiet, quirky Zebadiah overcomes his shyness and gains confidence through the viola.

Zebadiah is now in 11h grade at Central High School. He returns to St. Francis every week to mentor younger students as a POP Ambassador… Raven, now in 9th grade at String Theory Charter School, studies with a member of The Philadelphia Orchestra, plays in Philadelphia Sinfonia and Musicopia String Orchestra, and wants to be a professional violinist.”

Crescendo! The Power of Music will be shown on October 20 at 3:00 p.m. at The Ritz Bourse Theater and again on October 25 at 3:15 p.m. at The Prince Music Theater (including a performance by POP students and a discussion with Jamie Bernstein).

For tickets visit www.filmadelphia.org/tickets or call 267-607-3385.

(Photos by Steven Krull/Play On, Philly!)