Mariposa Food Co-op celebrates its new store at 4824 Baltimore Avenue with a Grand Opening ceremony, and a day of food, special sales & sampling, and fun for the whole family this Saturday, April 21. The ceremony will feature Congressman Chaka Fattah and other special guests.

Mariposa has been open to the public for shopping in its new location at 4824 Baltimore Avenue since March 17, and the response has been great. “Since our initial opening, we’ve had 151 new members join, bringing our member count to over 1,300,” says Mariposa’s Marketing and Outreach Coordinator Chakka Reeves. “This event is our way of thanking the many people and organizations who made our expansion possible.”

During the ceremony, Fattah will talk about the National Cooperative Development Act, legislation that calls for increased support for cooperative businesses to encourage economic growth and job creation. Mariposa expansion, Reeves says, “has created eight new jobs and leveraged $2.5 million into the local economy.”

The Grand Opening ceremony will take place from 11-11:45 a.m. The special sales and samples will be throughout the day and there will also be an opportunity to sign up to become Mariposa Food Co-op members. For more information on how to join Mariposa, call 215-729-2121 or go to http://www.mariposa.coop/join.

A group of West Philly residents who patrol their neighborhood from 47th to 49th Streets between Baltimore and Kingsessing will receive a commendation tomorrow for their help in catching a phone thief recently.

Patty Bulack, Charles Hamilton and Bruce Dorpalen, who are active members in the 48th Street Neighborhood Town Watch, will receive commendatory letters from Penn’s Department of Public Safety. All three were crucial in the apprehension of a man wanted in connection with the April 8 knifepoint robbery of a Penn student at 42nd and Spruce. A cell phone was taken in the incident. An arrest warrant was issued for a man that the Town Watch group spotted the day before in their neighborhood. When they spotted him again the following night they alerted police.

Here is a description of their actions from an e-mail posted by Bulack on the group listserv:

Last night Bruce, Charles and I went out on our usual 9 to 10 pm walk through the neighborhood. During that walk, Officer Vallette texted me to tell me that there was a warrant out for the arrest of the young man that we had seen on Saturday because of an investigation involving details of the knife point robbery that pointed directly to him. As we were walking south on 49th St. between Windsor and Springfield, he passed us on the sidewalk going north and Charles knew it was him. After calling 911, we called Officers Olesik and Vallette, and Olesik came and picked up Charles to continue finding him. They did find him on 48th St at Larchwood, with the phone he had taken.

Soon after they apprehended the suspect, Hamilton’s wife went into labor and police drove him to the hospital, where his son was later born.

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Police say two men, ages 20-30, robbed another man at gunpoint near 45th and Pine Streets at around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday.

The victim was coming home from work and was standing outside his apartment building at 315 S 45th Street looking for his keys when he heard someone running up behind him. He turned to see what was going on and saw a man pointing a black semi-automatic handgun at him. The attacker said: “Give me all your stuff!” The victim handed his belongings (a cell phone, $200, a backpack and wallet containing his ID, credit cards and a Kindle) to the second attacker, according to police.

After taking his belongings both males ran off westbound on Pine Street. The victim was not injured. No arrests have been made.

A group of community members helped clean up and beautify Barkan Park at 50th and Spruce on Saturday. Mark Mendenhall of Garden Court Community Association sends word that the next clean up and Spring Planting at Barkan Park will be held on Saturday, May 19, from 2 to 4 p.m. For more information, call (215) 476-2983.

Four people, including two children, died in an early-morning fire that broke out in a rowhome at 5250 Chancellor Street. The children, 2 and 4 years old, died at Children’s Hospital where they were transported with severe burns. The other victims are the children’s mother, 23-year-old Rishya Jenkins and grandfather, Seneca McClendon, 75, a retired postal worker known as Mr. Chuck, Philly.com reports.

The fire was reported about 4:42 a.m. and declared under control at 5:23 a.m. Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said “firefighters found nothing to indicate there were working smoke detectors in the rowhouse.” The fire apparently broke out on the first floor and its cause is under investigation.
 

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