SEPTA, Amtrak Trains Hit By Projectiles Minutes Before Fatal Crash

Just before Tuesday’s deadly Amtrak derailment, both a SEPTA commuter train and another Amtrak train in the same corridor were hit by projectiles, one which crashed through the engineer’s window.

An Amtrak spokesman could not be reached regarding Amtrak Acela Train 2173, which passengers said was struck at about 9:05 p.m. A SEPTA train was struck by a projectile at about 9:10 p.m., according to a SEPTA spokeswoman, who said there is no indication the incident is connected to the derailment, which happened at about 9:30 p.m.

Mayor Nutter, at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, reiterated that the incident with the SEPTA train had “nothing to do” with the derailment.

Amtrak’s Acela 2173 was traveling southbound when it was hit on the left side between 9:05 and 9:10 p.m., about five minutes before it entered 30th Street Station, according to 29-year-old passenger Madison Calvert.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150514_SEPTA_train_hit_by_projectile_before_Amtrak_crash.html#kXmYL8tAOGVUFPJS.99

Police Probe 2 Overnight Killings In North Philadelphia

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Philadelphia police are investigating two overnight killings that happened less than a mile apart in North Philadelphia.

The first happened shortly after 11 p.m., when a 53-year-old was beaten in the head with a blunt object outside a home on the 2800 block of North Fairhill Street, police said.

The exact weapon used wasn’t known, but police at the scene told reporters that witnesses reported seeing a man running from the scene carrying some type of metal object.

Police this morning identified the victim as Miguel Aguilar and said he lived on the block where he was killed.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Police_probe_2_overnight_killings_in_North_Philadelphia.html#ACJ6RB92h5orJZkM.99

Philadelphia Owed A Half-Billion Dollars In ‘Nuisance Liens’ – Maybe

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Triumph Baptist Church wanted to grow. It bought an old suit factory in North Philadelphia in 1998, hoping to tear it down and build a house of worship.

But over time, Triumph changed its plans. The vacant factory became an eyesore and hazard, leaving the city little choice but to demolish it in 2011 at a cost of $794,191 to taxpayers.

The owners were supposed to reimburse the city for the work. Three years later, they haven’t.

Thus did 1801 W. Courtland Ave. join the list of 39,391 properties with “nuisance liens” – unpaid bills for sealing, cleaning, or demolition done at taxpayer expense by the Department of Licenses and Inspections. Work that building owners were supposed to pay for but didn’t.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/city/20140428_Philadelphia_owed_a_half-billion_in__nuisance_liens__-_maybe.html#IOycmdpuHCt3lXeF.99

North Philadelphia Meeting Addresses Gentrification

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PEOPLE FROM all over Philadelphia came together Saturday to tell their stories about gentrification at the Church of the Advocate in North Philadelphia.

Organizers had issued fliers calling for an “emergency town hall” to confront a “crisis facing black Philadelphia: the demise of our neighborhoods.”

In gentrification, some neighborhoods are targeted for revitalization – but the new development leads to huge rent or property-tax increases that often force longtime residents out.

Sister Empress Phile, one of the organizers, said the group will host more town halls and ask for more public meetings, including congressional hearings.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140303_North_Philadelphia_meeting_addresses_gentrification.html#AU1SM36tmtUWDA0U.99

Mormons To Build 32-Story Tower Near Center City

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The Mormon Church plans to build a 32-story apartment tower and a public meetinghouse on a vacant lot next to the Vine Street Expressway, filling in a key piece of the no-man’s-land that has long separated Center City and North Philadelphia’s rebounding neighborhoods.

The private development by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints calls for 258 apartments, 13 townhouses, and retail shops at 16th and Vine Streets.

The meetinghouse will have a chapel, courtyard, multipurpose space, and a center to research genealogy, said Michael Marcheschi, senior real estate manager for the church’s national special projects department.

The development, announced Wednesday by Mayor Nutter and church officials, will stand next to the Mormon temple under construction on Vine Street and set for completion in 2016.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140213_Mormons_to_build_32-story_tower_in_Center_City.html#xda8G1b8kTLrO4VA.99

In North Philly, Community Policing Is At Heart Of Crime Reduction

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IT WAS ABOUT 8 o’clock Tuesday night, and the chilly, rain-soaked streets of North Philadelphia‘s 39th Police District were nearly empty as Officer Michael Levin’s Crown Vic crept across the blacktop.

But Levin, who usually works in bicycle patrol when weather and circumstances permit, was on the street anyway, keeping a watchful eye on the swaths of North Philadelphia, Nicetown, Germantown and East Falls that make up the district headquartered at 22nd Street and Hunting Park Avenue.

On this night, Levin, 28, a seven-year veteran who’s spent all those years in the 39th, reflected on community policing – a strategy favored by Capt. Michael Craighead, who took command of the district about a year ago.

“Bike patrol is really good for community relations. People come up and thank you. It’s a real good deterrent presence,” Levin said. “The community needs us and we need them.”

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20131201_In_North_Philly__community_policing_is_at_heart_of_crime_reduction.html#fFp8Qh2QAz94K1YC.99

Probe Into Suspended Philly Detective Yields Human Remains

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NORTH PHILADELPHIA Crime-scene investigators recovered human remains in a North Philadelphia ravine Friday as part of an investigation into suspended Homicide Detective Ron Dove, who is suspected of lying about three killings and a man’s disappearance, according to law enforcement sources.

Police have been digging in the area since last month, after they found information on the veteran detective’s iPad concerning Reynaldo Torres, a North Philadelphia man who has been missing for a year and a half.

Investigators believe Dove concealed information about Torres’ disappearance and the slaying of Torres’ friend Melanie Colon from other detectives.

Around 2:30 p.m., investigators found what is believed to be a human jawbone in the trash-strewn ravine near Fourth and Westmoreland Streets, the sources said. Medical examiners were trying to identify the remains Friday night.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20131116_Probe_into_suspended_detective_yields_human_remains.html#QCq7foKh6AtFLvlA.99

10 Homicides In Philadelphia Since Saturday

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Ten people have been killed in Philadelphia since Saturday, an unusually deadly four-day span in the city.

The killings, which have all involved gun violence, have been reported across the city and are not related.  Police have not announced arrests in any of the slayings.

The most recent two homicides occurred overnight.

Shortly after midnight, a 21-year-old man was found fatally shot in a car on the 900 block of North Marvine Street, police said.  The man, whose name has not been released, was shot once in the head, police said.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/10_homicides_in_Philadelphia_since_Saturday.html#2bZHPrTGEXqhhZIA.99

Cops: Nine People Shot In 24 Hours In Philly

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Nine people were shot in a 24-hour period in the city this weekend, including six people who were injured in two separate triple shootings, according to police.

The bloodshed began at 11:53 p.m. Friday, when an unknown person or persons opened fire on Parrish Street near 12th in North Philadelphia.  Injured in that hail of gunfire was an 18-year-old man who was shot once in the buttocks and taken to Hahnemann University Hospital in stable condition; a 17-year-old boy who was shot once in the left hip and once in the back and was taken to the same hospital in critical condition; and a 19-year-old man who was shot in the right leg and chest and taken to Hahnemann in stable condition, police said.

Cops did not release a motive or suspects in the shootings.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/Cops-Nine-people-shot-in-24-hours-in-Philly.html#i8LBbMZTWJWdkOzq.99

Study Confirms Poverty Hits The Suburbs, Too

Say poverty in the Philadelphia area, and it conjures images of North Philadelphia or Kensington, not the suburbs.

But the suburbs on both sides of the Delaware River are becoming steadily poorer, part of a national trend that confounds long-held beliefs that life is always better in greener pastures beyond urban limits.

“People have this cliched notion of poverty being based in the inner city,” said Adele LaTourette, director of the New Jersey Anti-Hunger Coalition, which has offices in Trenton and North Jersey.  “But it’s been moving into suburbia for some time.

“No one wants to think that their neighbors are becoming poor.”

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20130520_Study_confirms_poverty_hits_the_suburbs__too.html#jtGAhiCISV3muuo1.99