Prisoner Re-entry Program

Thanks to our friends at Hallwatch.org, who are watching those folks down at City Hall, the text of a bill recently introduced and sponsored by the entire City Council is available online. It proposes to give tax credits to employers who hire prisoners released from Philadelphia prisons. This is the link thanks to Ed Goppelt. We would hope it would give some incentive to some of our Frankford citizens who have serve time to stay out of jail.

Next week in Frankford

• At Mozaic on Saturday night, September 29th, The Dylan Taylor Trio. The trio features the incomparable pianist Tom Lawton on the Baby, drummer Jim Miller, and bassist Dylan Taylor.
• At Mozaic on Wednesday October 3rd, starting at 6PM it's Gallery night. Meet the artist, open mike, have your cards read and enjoy the wine and cheese buffet. 6PM - 9PM
• Thursday October 4th is the East Frankford Civic Meeting at 7PM at Frankford Hospital

Check the community calendar for more details.

Frankford Chargers

I admit to browsing through YouTube on occasion. This one popped up and since I liked it better than "You can't get to heaven on the Frankford El" here it is:

Northwood Civic Association Meeting

This is a link to the Northeast Times story on the meeting. Let's hope for the best.

Shooting on Saul Street

I just found this one on Philly.com about a shooting on Friday the 19th

Shortly before 10 a.m. Friday, a 25-year-old man was shot once in the right temple on Saul Street near Oxford in the Frankford section. He remained in critical condition at Hahnemann University Hospital.

And here is a link to the more recent story at the Northeast Times.

Poll of the month

A new poll has been posted over to the right. Who do you want to be the next mayor of Philadelphia. Feel free to weigh in with your opinion.

Last month's poll "Will the sale of the Third Federal building to NET be good for Frankford?" has been retired. For the record the results were:

• Yes - 50%
• No - 24%
• Will make no difference - 26%

Eagles 56, Lions 21

While everybody tries to find an explanation for the Eagles turn around, let's not forget they played for the first time in Frankford colors.

Home of the week

Walking down Cheltenham Avenue a few weeks ago I found this very neat and clean row house. What attracted my attention was that the lawn and greenery were so well kept.

The thing that is the bane of a homeowners existence in Frankford is street trash. It does not belong to you. You did not buy that candy at the 7-11 or the cigar either but somehow the papers from them end up on your sidewalk. This conscientious homeowner cleans up the trash in front of his house and probably goes up and down a few doors just to make sure it all looks good.

Next week in Frankford

On Saturday, September 22nd, see the Butch Ballard Trio at Mozaic from 7-11 PM.

Overington House

I was reminded about Overington House this afternoon as I passed Lehigh Avenue at Sedgely and saw this billboard. It is the only Frankford business that I have seen advertising this prominently outside of Frankford. It has to be a hefty bill to use a billboard of that size.

Click on the picture to get a better view.

Frankford Business and Professional Association

Liz McCollum-Nazario, chief of staff to City Councilman Dan Savage (D-7th dist.), has been elected to lead the association. Read the details here in the Northeast Times.

East Frankford Civic Meeting with NET

"Representatives from NorthEast Treatment Centers faced a packed room of opposition at the East Frankford Civic Association last week." This is the report from the Northeast Times.

While our less than scientific poll indicates only about 23% of our readers think this will definitely have a negative impact on life in Frankford, it certainly has a significant political impact that may be more important for our future. It has had a unifying effect that has brought a diverse group of people together to voice their anger at the lack of community consultation related to this transaction. Could this be the line drawn in the sand? Do not cross this line, Frankford has had enough.

[where:4625 Frankford Avenue, Phila, PA 19124]

Fatal Motor Vehicle Accident

On Sunday morning September 19th as reported on philly.com:

At 2:24 a.m. in the city's Frankford section, on Margaret Street near Tackawanna, a 33-year-old man driving a 2005 Hyundai Elantra in the wrong direction on Margaret slammed into a telephone pole, said Sgt. Larry Ritchie, of the police Accident Investigation Division.

A 20-year-old man riding in the car was pronounced dead at the scene. A 31-year-old female passenger was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital with a broken leg, a broken hip and facial lacerations. She was in stable condition, said Yolanda Dawkins, a police spokeswoman.

Read the entire story here or here in the Northeast Times.

Home of the week

Over on the 1300 block of Church Street we had to stop and get a picture of this beautiful garden spot. The owner told us we had missed the butterfly and hummingbird season but this home is truly an oasis on this September afternoon.

Tonight at Mozaic

The Vince Lardear Trio will be performing tonight at mozaic from 7PM til 11PM.

Vince, a native of Wilmington, Delaware is a former member of The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra under the direction of Buddy Morrow. He played lead alto saxophone with The Illinois Jaquet Big Band until the legendary saxophonist's death in July, 2004. Highlights include the release of a CD featuring many of Vince's compositions performed along with the Marty Nau Quartet and perennial jazz poll winner Phil Woods. Just close your eyes and it's as if you're listening to Charlie Parker.

mozaic is pleased to announce that Butch Ballad has agreed to a ten year gig.

A joyful shout-out to all of the friends of mozaic, PhillyBlog friends, musicians, staff, and family for making the 1st. Anniversary of mozaic such an enormous success. At the risk of repeating myself, without all of the support, encouragement, and generosity you all have been so kind to offer, these good-times wouldn't be happening. It is my privlege to know and love you all. Thanks for letting an old girl realize a dream. Few people get to experience this. I am indeed blessed. Thank you all.

Peace,
Joan Oliveto

[where:4524 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19124]

The Row House

I grew up reading the Evening Bulletin along with the Inquirer and the Daily News. The old Evening Bulletin is gone but the online Bulletin covers Philadelphia issues from a different perspective. Here is an interesting piece on the venerable row house and how it is now gaining the respect that it truly deserves.

Next week in Frankford

• Saturday September 15th at Mozaic - The Vince Lardear Trio
• Tuesday September 18th - Northwood civic Association meeting
• Wednesday September 19th - Concert in Womrath Park - R&B group - Sparrow
  

[where:19124]

G.A.R. Museum

Saturday, September 22. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
13th Annual Association of Mid-Atlantic Civil War Round
Tables (AMART) Symposium

"History of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps - Shock Troops of
the Union"

Ritter Hall - Walk Auditorium, Main Campus, Temple
University. 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Followed by an Honor Ceremony at Laurel Hill Cemetery for
PVRC commanders buried there at 5 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m.
Distinguished speakers, book displays, artifacts, living
history.

Cost: $60. Includes: registration, breakfast, lunch, dinner
at Cemetery

Students free with ID.

Make check payable to "G.A.R. Civil War Museum”
Mail to G.A.R. Civil War Museum & Library
4278 Griscom St.
Philadelphia, PA 19124

Directions: http://www.temple.edu/maps/directions/main.htm
Ample parking at open lot 11th & Cecil B. Moore Ave.
For information;
215 - 289 - 6484 or garmuslib@verizon.net or see
www.garmuslib.org

Harding Junior High

This story featured Harding yesterday on Philly.com:

HER CLASSROOM MORE resembles a living room - with its green curtains and electric torch lamps .

But Victoria Monacelli yesterday nevertheless laid down the law like the seventh-grade English teacher that she is.

"You have a responsibility to push yourself and keep trying - and ask questions if you don't understand something. I'm here at lunch every day. I'm here after school," she told her students on the first day of classes at Warren Harding Middle School, in the city's Frankford section.

Read the entire story here

What are Frankford's boundaries?

That is a good question that I raised a while ago. For the lack of a better authority, I have decided to go along with the Cartographic Laboratory of the University of Pennsylvania who has created a very nifty web presence for neighborhoods called the Neighborhood Information System (NIS).

Contained in the NIS is a piece called the neighborhoodBase. Browse around there and have a look at what is available if you have not been there before. In their quest to provide useful information they have taken up the task of deciding where each neighborhood begins and ends. I don't entirely agree with how they have arrived at Frankford but it is close enough for my purposes.

This is a link to the interactive map of Philadelphia that will let you display a map of each neighborhood in the city defined by Penn. Take a look and see if you agree with them.

Philly.com

Every morning I check the news feeds for Frankford news. You can imagine my surprise yesterday when I read on Philly.com that there had been another murder in Frankford. The location was near Castor Avenue and Benner Street.

Further compounding my surprise was that once again some reporter had incorrectly identified the neighborhood as Frankford when it was not. Why is this such an issue? Well most importantly these news reports on the internet become history once they are out there. And now the history is wrong. We have enough crime problems without taking credit for what is happening in Oxford Circle.

So I promptly emailed the reporter who wrote the story and the editor and so far no reply. I want the report, that was posted on the web, corrected.

This is the link to the original story for the record.

Feel free to send an email of admonishment too. Maybe we can get some justice.

Art Holiday Poll

It's time to take down the Art Holiday poll so I wanted to recap the results. Will you miss the Art Holiday? 6 people said yes and 17 said no. I heard an interesting rumor circulating down at that end of the town that the Art Holiday is going to become a condominium community. Doesn't seem likely but then we will see.

Vermin again

I was coming up Wakeling street last night at about 6PM and was stopped at Torresdale avenue by the wail of police sirens. Torresdale was blocked off and Fox news and KYW were both shooting video down Torresdale toward Margaret Street. Still I couldn't see much of anything and thought it was a lot of fuss over a fender bender.

This morning I read that some low life hit two kids, stopped to take a look and then sped off. These boys are lucky to be alive. We don't know the circumstances of the accident. All we know is that the guy driving the vehicle didn't stop and own up to it.

Message to the vermin: stand up and be a man.

Frankford home of the week

This week the spotlight falls on these properties on the 4500 block of Griscom street. They are neat and well maintained and on this sunny afternoon a pleasure to behold.

Frankford Drug Treatment Facilities

There has been an ongoing discussion over on phillyblog about the prevalence of drug treatment facilities in Frankford. Does Frankford have a lot of these facilities compared to other areas of the city? Do the facilities exist to treat Frankford residents or do the drug users move to Frankford because of the existence of the facilities.

One poster took the time to compile a list of these facilities and I have mapped them to Google maps to let everyone see where they are. As we update the list I'll adjust the map.


View Larger Map

Mozaic Saturday night

mozaic is celebrating its 1st. Birthday this Saturday night, September 9th.

Appearing at mozaic - 7PM - 11PM

The Butch Ballard Trio Salute to Max Roach

Butch Ballard, drums; Sam Dockery on the Baby; Dylan Taylor, bass.

Mr. Ballard will be performing a very special drum solo to honor the recent passing of his dear friend Max Roach.

[where: 4524 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19124]

Next week in Frankford

Tuesday September 11th at 7:30 PM the Historical Society of Frankford presents "Mrs. Benjamin Franklin - the good wife"

Poll of the month

There are only 3 more days left to vote on the poll this month. The question was "Will the sale of the Third Federal building to NET be good for Frankford?"

As of this morning 31 readers responded and only 8 expressed a definite opinion that it will have a negative impact on Frankford. 14 said it would be positive and 9 said it would make no difference at all.

This issue is complicated by the fact that none of us has a crystal ball. The mission of NET is a necessary one in the society we live in today and because of the demographics it is more needed in Frankford than some other locations.

But the big question for me: does the presence of service providers like NET in our neighborhood bring more people to Frankford to use the services than would have otherwise resided here in the natural course of events. I do not know the answer.

If NET is as well run as it could be then this can actually be a plus for Frankford avenue. To the public the NET presence will not be apparanent. The bank will continue to use the Avenue side of the building. NET clients will use the entrance in the rear of the building where the parking lot provides great access.

The building will be improved and add some value for future use and at some time if a more valuable use becomes available NET will be able to cash out and relocate.

We will see but there is not harm in taking the optimistic side in the debate.

From Philly.com

Two recent reports of Frankford residents arrested for crimes in the news:

Police said yesterday they could not release the name of the victim of a fatal accident at G and Luzerne streets in Juniata at 5 a.m. Sunday.
The driver in that accident, Sylvester White, 32, of Frankford, was charged with driving under the influence, involuntary manslaughter, homicide by vehicle and related offenses, police said.

And also reported was:

A former Navy seaman from the city's Frankford section was held for trial yesterday on murder and weapons charges in last year's shooting death of 5-year-old Cashae Rivers.
Noel "Pablo" Garcia, 23, was the second man to be charged in the murder of Cashae, who was riding in the back seat of a white Oldsmobile in Strawberry Mansion when she was shot

Concert in the Park

Legendary Drummer Butch Ballard & His Trio performed to an appreciative crowd tonight in Frankford's Womrath park. This event was made possible by the Friends of Womrath Park, the Philadelphia Department of Recreation and a host of other people.

Only steps from the now idled Art Holiday theater, this was the first concert in a series of two. The next is scheduled for Wednesday September 19th at 6:30 PM. That concert will by a performance by the R&B group - Sparrow.

Frankford Home of the week

The spotlight this week falls on this pair of twins in the 4700 block of Penn Street. Clean sidewalk, neat and uncluttered porch, hanging baskets and a beautiful mini garden make this one stand out.

The Frankford Creek Greenway Master Plan

We are adding a link to the draft report on the Frankford Creek Greenway to the links list over to the right. Take a look at the potential future of Frankford as proposed by Greenways Inc. It is a very large pdf file that takes some time to load but it is well worth the wait. Take a look: http://www.greenways.com/pages/FrankfordDraft.html

NTI demolitions continue

This building, at 4726 Griscom Street, is being demolished this week with NTI funding.