Today’s dog is Tyson. He’s a sweet one-two year old terrier mix who was surrendered to the shelter because his owners could no longer afford to keep him.

Tyson appears to be in fantastic shape although he needs to put a little bit of weight on. He has a gorgeous caramel colored coat, sweet, soulful eyes, and jowls that are irresistibly squeezable!

He is very sad in his kennel (it seems as though he’s waiting and hoping that his owners are coming back for him), but he really comes out of his shell nicely when he gets to go outside and hang out with the volunteers.

Tyson’s a medium energy dog who loves to play but isn’t jumpy or mouthy. He walks very nicely on the leash, and will just trot happily by your side. He did great on his food test and his dog meets- he was tested with two females, and he was friendly and playful with both of them; he also seems to have no interest in cats, and could probably live with them.

Tyson loves people of all ages and sizes and is very gentle in his approach. Children of all ages seem to be drawn to this handsome boy with his big, “pet-able” head. Tyson loves the attention he gets from the little ones and rewards them with plenty of kisses.

Being that he is relatively skinny, Tyson loves treats and food of all sorts. In turn, this makes it extremely easy to train him. He knows “sit” and “down” already and is going to work on “no/leave it” and crate training next.

If you are interested in Tyson and have dogs of your own, please bring at least one of them to make sure there is no major personality clash. Please also bring proof that you are allowed to have dogs/cats at your home if you rent or be prepared that the adoption staff will call your landlord before approving your application. If you have children 10 and younger, they will be required to meet Tyson before adoption/foster care can be finalized. Don’t let this awesome dog go down for the count – bring Tyson home today!

For more information on how to adopt or foster Tyson please call 267-385-3800, email: ACCT [at] pspca.org or stop by the shelter (111 W. Hunting Park Ave) if you want to meet him.

A Port Richmond man is in custody after he carjacked a 73-year-old man’s vehicle near 52nd and Chestnut yesterday afternoon and was chased by witnesses who alerted police.

Police say 33-year-old Hadbin Austin of the 3100 block of Janney Street wielded a 10-inch knife and wrenched the man from his 2011 Kia at about 3 p.m. Police said the victim was eating food he purchased at the nearby McDonald’s.

Austin smashed into another car, flattening one tire on the Kia. Several witnesses observed the incident and called 911, police said. As many as three people pursued Austin until he abandoned the vehicle near 40th and Market. The pursuers alerted police to the car’s location and officers apprehended Austin after a brief struggle.

Austin has been charged with aggravated assault, robbery and related offenses. Police said the victim was not injured in the incident.

The Daily News reports that three people, two employees of Verizon and one SEPTA worker, pursued Austin and helped lead to his arrest.

As the new school year approaches, parents and community members concerned about the cap on new students in the lower grades of the Penn Alexander School (4209 Spruce St.) have started an online petition asking that all school-age children living in the school’s catchment area be admitted.

The petition follows a letter sent by the Spruce Hill Community Association to University of Pennsylvania officials last month asking the university, which manages the school in cooperation with the School District of Philadelphia, to address the cap. Options recommended for investigation include erecting temporary classrooms and moving students from the middle school grades, where classes are sometimes under-enrolled, to a different building.

The group circulating the petition, Advocates for Great Elementary Education Everywhere (AGREE) West Philly, asks Penn President Amy Gutmann, School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Arlene Ackerman and Penn Alexander Principal Sheila Sydnor to “work collaboratively, and in a timely manner, with concerned community members to find a viable solution to PAS’s overcrowding problem.”

School officials have said that the K-8 school, which since its opening has pledged to maintain a lower-than-required student-teacher ratio, is overflowing with students in the lower grades. New Penn Alexander students begin to register on Monday (August 15), which will be the first indication of how many will be affected by the cap.

Young people on the streets in a small section of West Philly after 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturday could be picked up by police under new curfew regulations aimed at deterring “flash mobs” in the downtown area.

The new regulations temporarily move the curfew for youths under 18 years of age from midnight to 9 p.m. on those days in Center City and a small section of West Philly. The new curfew is part of a plan announced yesterday by Mayor Michael Nutter that includes a bolstered police presence and longer hours for neighborhood recreation centers. The curfew for the rest of the city remains the same (midnight for youths 13-18 and 10 p.m. for children under 13).

The curfew will be enforced with additional police presence in West Philly from Market Street to Baltimore Avenue and 38th Street to 43rd Street.

Nutter’s announcement comes a little over a week after roving gangs of young people severely injured pedestrians in Center City on July 29 (see video below). Among those arrested was an 11-year-old boy. Those attacks happened in the afternoon.

Fines of up to $300 will be levied against young people who violate the curfew. Parents could also be fined and even jailed if their children repeatedly violate the curfew.

District Attorney Seth Williams, who stood side-by-side with Nutter during yesterday’s announcement, said:

“We will be prosecuting these young criminals to the fullest extent of the law. There is no excuse for what they did, and they have brought great shame upon themselves and their families. Let this be a message to any others who think that participating in flash mobs is acceptable or fun — don’t do it. We will apprehend you, prosecute you, and send you away. You will not damage the reputation of our great City. And I will be working with our State Legislature and City Council to enact laws to hold those parents who permit their children to engage in this type of criminal conduct criminally accountable.”

The new curfew will last through the remainder of the summer and will be re-evaluated at the beginning of the school year.

The city has also authorized some 20 rec centers to extend hours until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

Centers in West Philly with extended hours include:

Myers Recreation Center • 5800 Kingsessing Avenue
Christy Recreation Center • 728 S. 55th Street
Kingsessing Recreation Center • 5000 Chester Avenue
Shepard Recreation Center • 5700 Haverford Avenue

Here is surveillance video of one July 29 attack (originally posted on MyFoxPhilly). Some of the boys in the video are still wearing their school uniforms.

Video: Philadelphia Teen Mob Attack: MyFoxPHILLY.com

PhillyCarShare is ending its experiment as a nonprofit and has been sold to Enterprise Holdings, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Many neighbors are probably wondering what will happen to the PhillyCarShare membership and its fleet (26 locations in West Philly) once the sale is finalized. According to Enterprise officials, they are going to retain the PhillyCarShare name, its 25 employees and even expand the fleet, which has been shrinking since 2009.

There was no mention of whether this transaction will affect membership fees and other rates. Currently, a PhillyCarShare residential member pays $15/month ($125/year), $0.25/mile, and hourly rates begin at $4.45.

The Inky quotes PhillyCarShare executive director Gerald Furgione:

“Enterprise definitely saved us. The only thing we regret is that we will no longer be a nonprofit.”

A bill for $2.7 million in back taxes and penalties has apparently led to the sale.

The debate over whether car sharing firms should be treated the same as regular car rental firms, which pay an excise tax in most states for each car rented, has been heating up in recent years and may be behind the sale as well.

Today’s cat is Vanilla Bean. She is about one year old.

‘Nilla was abandoned when she was no longer a kitten. She tried to join up with a band of feral cats, but since she wasn’t feral, she kept dashing into the road. Luckily, she was found and now lives with a foster mom.

She is very playful, still a kitten, and she gets along with the two boys who live at her foster mom’s place, but they’re not kittens so they don’t want to play with her. She would love to go home with someone who will play with her.

“Nilla is not quite little kid proof yet (but learning!), so it’s better that any human kids in the home be about 8 or older. She doesn’t like to be held like a baby, but if you hold her right way up and give her head and chin scratches, she will love you forever.

What about her name? She’s not a Vanilla Bean, but that’s what foster mom’s human daughter called her and the name stuck. For now, you can call her ‘Nilla, but please don’t hesitate to change it.

Vanilla Bean is spayed, vaccinated, dewormed, housetrained, flea treated, and FIV/FeLV negative. Please email projectmeowadoptions [at] gmail​.com to meet her. Adoption application and adoption fee of $85 apply.