Phila. Roofs Are Sprouting Greenery

When Esta Schwartz moved into her sixth-floor condominium at the Philadelphian, the view was not its best selling point.

The condos in the front of the building look out onto the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the Art Museum, but her balcony, at the back, offered views of a black roof studded with large air-conditioning units.

Not anymore. Last week, workers began spreading dirt atop the roof, then planting it with sedum and other greenery that will be pink in June, ocher come November. Tall grasses will hide the air handlers.

“In some ways, it’s like a view out of a suburban window,” she said. Perhaps a third of the building’s condos now overlook, in effect, a huge lawn.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/science/20150422_Phila__roofs_are_sprouting_greenery.html#HmDdVpIU2KkOq5jx.99

First King Of Prussia Restaurant Week, dineKOP, Runs March 2 Through 8

UPPER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA – For seven straight days King of Prussia will be overflowing with enough asparagus bisque, Kona Crusted Sirloin, Chili Glazed Salmon and crème brulee to dazzle even the most jaded celebrity chef.

All those dishes and many more will be showcased by the town’s top restaurants during the inaugural King of Prussia Restaurant Week, also known as the snappily honed-down “dineKOP.”

Not surprisingly the brains and heart behind dineKOP, which runs March 2 through 8, is King of Prussia District (KOP-BID), producers of the annual Beerfest Royale.

Read more:

http://www.timesherald.com/lifestyle/20150227/first-king-of-prussia-restaurant-week-dinekop-runs-march-2-through-8

Man Arrested In Shooting Of Child In Pottstown

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Chester County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A suspect has been arrested in connection with a shooting that wounded an 8-year-old boy in Pottstown Friday evening.

Wayne Snowden, 55, apparently fired off a random gunshot that struck the child shortly before 5 p.m. as he rode his bicycle near West Main Street and Coyne Alley, officials said. The boy was shot in the left thigh and flown by helicopter to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“I want to reassure the community that the victim in this case was not specifically targeted,” North Coventry Township Police Chief Bob Schurr said in a statement praising investigators for the speedy arrest. “This was a case of irresponsible gun handling in its most tragic form.”

Just before the gunfire broke out, Snowden was standing on the porch of his home at 301 S. Hanover St., which faces the area where the boy was shot, according to a criminal complaint.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Man_arrested_in_shooting_of_child_in_Pottstown.html#5meyQ3j42F82SgOh.99

Boy Airlifted After Shooting In North Coventry

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Chester County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NORTH COVENTRY TOWNSHIP, PA— Two bicycles were left abandoned on the sidewalk of West Main Street in the South Pottstown section of the township Friday evening while emergency responders treated a child who suffered a gunshot wound.

The 8-year-old boy, according to witnesses, was riding his bicycle past the Pottstown Dance Studio near Coyne Alley when the incident happened.

An arch of blood that started near the bikes showed the path the victim took after the shooting. The crimson spots stopped in the grassy driveway next to the dance studio at 72 W. Main Street.

The child was not a student of the school, a dance studio official told The Mercury.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140509/boy-airlifted-after-shooting-in-north-coventry-video

Changing Skyline: Parking Garages Threaten To Wall Off Schuylkill’s East Bank

English: This is my own work, Public Domain Photograph, not copyrighted Ed Yakovich http://www.flickr.com/photos/10396190@N04 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Philadelphia spent the last decade working out a single, knotty planning problem: How should the old industrial spaces on the Delaware waterfront evolve? The consensus was that vacant land would be developed to resemble the rest of the city, with walkable streets, a mix of uses, and lively ground floors. No one was naive enough to think such projects could be realized without parking garages, but the expectation was that the structures would not dominate the river.

It’s a shame the conversation was never extended to the city’s other riverfront, the Schuylkill, which has come alive since a trail park pushed into Center City.

Like the Delaware, the Schuylkill is dotted with tracts of empty land crying out for housing, offices, and retail. But while little new has been built on the city’s big river – save for the suburban-style SugarHouse Casino – the Schuylkill is now sizzling with likely projects.

Predictably, each of the three proposals would front the river with a large, unsightly garage. They range from One Riverside’s modest, one-story garage at Locust Street to NP International’s multilevel, mega-development at Cherry Street. If built as designed, they would turn the bustling Schuylkill waterfront into Philadelphia’s own Great Wall of Parking.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/home/20140328_Changing_Skyline__Parking_garages_threaten_to_wall_off_Schuylkill_s_east_bank.html#FYw7GIe2AssxRvpe.99

Children’s Gets $5 Million Gift From Giant Food

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia announced Friday a $5 million gift from Giant Food Stores L.L.C. toward the $425 million Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care under construction at the hospital’s University City campus.

The hospital in June received a $50 million donation toward the outpatient center scheduled to open next year from hospital trustee Reid Buerger and his family, which owns a Fort Washington financial services firm.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140125_Children_s_gets__5M_gift_from_Giant_Food.html#DrEDWrbc1bDE3vto.99

Children’s Hospital Of Philadelphia Gets $50 Million Gift For Advanced Care Center

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia will announce on Tuesday its biggest gift ever: $50 million toward the $425 million cost of an outpatient center rising on the institution’s University City campus.

The Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care, named for a family that owns a Fort Washington financial-services firm, will become the hub for complex outpatient care in the hospital’s network in Southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

The donation is part of a $100 million capital campaign to help pay for the facility, expected to open in 2015. Remaining costs will be paid through additional philanthropy and money from operations.

Spearheading the family’s gift was Reid Buerger, who said his view of Children’s, frequently ranked among the best of its kind nationally, took on deeper significance when he was looking forward to fatherhood several years ago.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20130625_Children_s_Hospital_gets__50_million_gift_for_center.html#d5XYbYJiCEFCdIaI.99

CHOP To Build New Facility In King Of Prussia

Location of Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

UPPER MERION TOWNSHIP – Realen Properties’ master plan for a multifaceted center in King of Prussia is back in full swing.

With residential construction imminent, those who may not necessarily be calling the Village at Valley Forge home will ultimately find it to be a premier destination for working, shopping, dining and, now, medical care.

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia will break ground by the end of summer for a Specialty Care Center on the roughly nine acres it now owns at the corner of North Gulph Road and South Goddard Boulevard.

CHOP at the Village at Valley Forge, expected to be completed by December, 2014, will replace an existing location the hospital has leased on Mall Boulevard since 1997.

Read more:  http://business-news.thestreet.com/the-mercury/story/chop-build-new-facility-king-prussia-0/1

CHOP Doctor Murder Suspect Described As Helpful Family Man ‘Just Snapped’

If there is something in the makeup of Jason Smith that might have presaged the slaying to which police say he has confessed, nothing was immediately apparent Thursday.

Neighbors in the Crescent Lane section of Levittown, Bucks County – where the 36-year-old exterminator lived with his girlfriend, their young daughter, his girlfriend’s mother, and other relatives – described him as helpful, a family man who took his boxer, Tyson, out for frequent walks.

They said he showed no signs of a violent temper.

Yet Philadelphia police officials, at a news conference Thursday, said an explosive argument between Smith and Melissa Ketunuti apparently triggered a murderous rage.

Read more:  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20130124_Suspect_in_doctors_death_described_as_helpful_family_man.html