The Philadelphia Recycling Office sends a reminder of importance of recycling this holiday season and urges residents to recycle their holiday gift packaging and party supplies. It is also an easy way to rack up more Philadelphia Recycling Rewards points that can be redeemed for holiday gifts and store discounts.

“The Philadelphia Streets Department and Recycling Office invites residents to recycle all of their holiday packaging this year and help divert more waste from our City’s landfills,” said Philadelphia Streets Commissioner Clarena I.W. Tolson.

A variety of holiday items or packaging can be recycled, including wrapping paper, paper and cardboard boxes, paper shopping bags and plastic packaging. Also, don’t forget to recycle year round items, such as cartons, glass bottles and aluminum cans. For a full list of recyclable materials, please visit www.philadelphiastreets.com/holidayrecycling.aspx.

The City of Philadelphia will also hold its Christmas Tree Recycling Program again this year, in which residents can drop off their trees for composting and mulching. The Streets Department will be accepting Christmas trees at sanitation convenience centers from Monday, January 7, 2013 through Saturday, January 19, 2013. Last year, nearly 22 tons of trees were collected through the program, which translates into 1,757 trees.

In addition to the Streets Department Christmas Tree Recycling Program, there are several other Christmas tree programs being offered by partner organizations. We’ll post more information about other ways to recycle your trees in West Philadelphia very soon.

Jam, a small black cat, has been missing since Tuesday, Dec. 18. She is around 9lb, with little splashes of white on her chest and tummy. She is wearing a black collar with red ladybugs on it, with a tag with her owners’ address and phone number. She is friendly but can be shy around strangers. If anyone has seen her, please contact Jessica at 267 897 1301.

Beginning this week, there will be an increased number of police and security officers on and near the University of Pennsylvania campus, according to an announcement by Provost Vincent Price and Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli. There have been a few armed robberies on and near campus in the past week, including a daytime gunpoint robbery at a food cart at 38th and Walnut on Tuesday.

“Numerous additional overtime shifts have been added and other patrols have been redeployed to higher risk areas to ensure a visible police presence that we hope will deter any criminal activity. In addition, undercover police will be monitoring any suspicious activity around campus.  We have also increased CCTV Virtual Video Patrols through our 120 Pan, Tilt, Zoom CCTV cameras on- and off-campus,” message reads.

In an effort to help schoolchildren affected by the Sandy Hook tragedy, neighbor Eva Jacobs and her daughter are collecting handmade snowflakes for the new school building where Sandy Hook kids will resume classes in January. Connecticut PTSA and parent volunteers are planning to create a winter wonderland at the school by decorating the whole building with as many unique snowflakes as possible (see announcement below). Eva is accepting snowflakes until January 3.

“[Let’s] see how many snowflakes we can get from West Philly… It’s the least we can do as a community,” says Eva. If you want to be part of this effort, please contact Eva at evamjacobs@gmail.com and she’ll let you know where to drop off your snowflakes.

Members of the St. Bernard Community Garden are rejoicing today after the City stepped in at the last second to save a piece of their garden.

The plot of land at 1010 S. Saint Bernard St. went up for Sheriff’s sale today, meaning a developer could have snatched up the plot and evicted the gardeners. Gardeners and their supporters have been frantically raising money to buy the land in case the City, which had pledged to help the gardeners if it could, was outbid. The City and the gardeners could not combine on a bid.

Auction bidding today on the property started at $10,000 and rose to $50,000, more than the gardeners could pay. No one from the City had bid, leading some to shout complaints. According to a report on the Saint Bernard Community Garden website, the bidding was put on hold. When it resumed the City bid $71,500 and the sale was closed.

The City’s purchase is the first in a number of steps that could ensure the long-term viability of the garden.

“Our goal is to see it eventually transferred to a land trust and remain a community green space and asset for decades to come,” the website reads.

Gardeners began turning soil at 1010 St. Bernard soon after burned-out buildings on the plot were removed in 1997, about the same time the plot’s owner stopped paying property taxes.

Though today’s bid was a victory for the gardeners, the story doesn’t end there. The garden is spread across two plots – 1010 and 1008 S. St. Bernard. Back taxes are also owed on 1008 and gardeners say will likely come up for sale next year. The money they have raised so far will be saved – and more will be raised – for that auction.

Police are investigating the origins of a package received at West Philadelphia High School this morning that contained racist materials and a news article about the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

A police spokeswoman would only say that the material in the package, which was delivered just before 9 a.m., was “not so good.” She did confirm that the materials were racist in nature. Philly.com is reporting that the package also contained a note that read “you are next.”

We’ll update with details when we get them.