A fire early this morning at a transformer at the SEPTA sub-station at 33rd and Market Streets disrupted rush hour El and trolley service. As of 9:30 a.m. service on the Market-Frankford Line had been restored, but shuttle buses are still carrying passengers on several trolley lines.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported that one SEPTA worker sustained a “non life-threatening” injury.

About 40 young chess players gathered at the Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library (152 S. 52nd St.) on Saturday to compete in a three-round tournament and to raise interest in the library’s chess club.

The library and After School Activities Partnership (ASAP) sponsored the tournament. Players from the Blackwell Library club and others from the club at the Walnut Street West Library took part. The Blackwell club meets every Saturday from 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. and youth players K-12 are invited to join.
Click on the slideshow below for more photos.
 

Things are looking up. Spring is near. We can taste it. Here are a few things going down this weekend. Let us know if we missed something especially important to you. Write editor — at — westphillylocal.com.

Saturday, March 12

• Chess Tournament • 1 p.m. • Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library (125 S. 52nd St.) • Free

Join chess players from around West Philly for this free chess tournament. Adults and children are welcome, though they will compete separately.  See more information here.

• Tool Library Yard Sale • 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. • West Philly Tool Library (4620 Woodland Ave.)

The West Philly Tool Library is celebrating its third anniversary with its annual yard sale. Four Worlds Bakery will provide treats.

• All Around This World musical snack time • 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. • Milk and Honey Market (4425 Baltimore Ave.) • Free

Good music and snacks from Jay Sands for kids 0-8 years. This thing fills up quick so you might want to RSVP. Call Jay at 215-913-2679.

• Javaflix Movie Discussion Night • 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. • VCC Office and Cultural Center (4523 Springfield Ave.) • Free

The Javaflix discussion group will watch and discuss Gasland, the Oscar-nominated documentary about the effects of natural gas drilling (a process called “fracking”). The film is particularly pertinent for Philadelphia residents because of the drilling upstream in northeastern and northcentral Pennsylvania. Here’s a trailer for Gasland.

Sunday, March 13

• Kids Rock for Kids benefit Concert • 11:30 a.m. • World Cafe Live (3025 Walnut St.) •Tickets: $7

World Cafe Live’s “Kids Rock for Kids” rock concert series benefits children’s medical charities in the Philadelphia area several times throughout the year. Concerts feature teenage rock bands from Music Training Centers’ Rock 101 program in a family-friendly atmosphere.This event will benefit LiveConnections.org, which creates innovative music education programs for children and special needs populations.

• Cat’s Pajamas Kids Music Fundraiser for the Global Leadership Academy • 5 p.m. • Green Line Cafe (45th and Locust) • Tickets: $5-$15 for kids and adults on a sliding scale.

On January 9, 2011, a fire hit the building housing the Global Leadership Academy in West Philly. We’re joining the fundraising effort, as GLA prepares to open a new building next school year! The Cat’s Pajamas makes very cool music for kids, bringing a musical-comedy twist to high-octane kid-rock. All the proceeds go directly to the GLA’s Fire Relief fund! For more info on Cat’s Pajama’s go here.

The two high school students arrested last month for the theft of 60 laptops from West Philadelphia High School pleaded guilty today.

6ABC is reporting that Jonathon Carter and Dadisi Williams both entered guilty pleas and that sentencing is scheduled for later this month.

Carter, a student at West Philadelphia High School, and Dadisi, a University City High student, were charged on March 1 after police arrested them in a sting operation. Police received information soon after the Feb. 21 heist that computers that fit the description of those taken from West Philly High were for sale on Craigslist. Police posed as potential buyers and lured Carter to 52nd and Market Streets, where they took him into custody. A search of Carter’s home uncovered 28 more laptops. Further investigation led police to Dadisi.

The sledding was awesome. The snowball fights were grand. But now it’s time to pay for those snow days. The School District of Philadelphia just announced that it will add two days to this year’s calendar to make up for classes missed during the winter.

The last day for students is now Tuesday, June 21 and the last day for teachers and staff is June 22.

Philadelphia schools were closed January 12th, 27th, 28th, and February 22nd because of snow.

Attention young chess players. The Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library is hosting a chess tournament on Saturday to help bolster interest in chess among West Philly youths.

The three-round unrated tournament is open to anyone, youths and adults alike (although they will compete in separate tournaments). The event will also include an introduction to tournament play, refreshments and prizes. Organizers hope that they will garner enough interest to start a chess club at the library.

Here is the tournament schedule:

Registration: 1:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Introduction to tournament play: 1:30 – 2:00 p.m.
Competition: 2:00 – 4:30 p.m.

Players from the chess club at the Walnut Street West Library will likely be on hand for the tournament, according to their coach Joe Clarke. Speaking of the Walnut Street West club, several of its members competed last month in the Fourth Annual Checkmate Violence 24-Hour Chess Marathon at Temple University. The tournament took place Feb. 5-6. Club members George Cao, Saleh Ibrahim and Carter Davis, all 9, 10-year-old Sherwin Hosseinpour and 7-year-old Risa Azim all took home medals (see photo below).

About 200 players take part in the event, which includes a series of tournaments and activities, and about 100 play all 24 hours.