Abandoned property at 5237 Baltimore Ave. (Photo by Larissa Mogano)

A losing battle to get an absentee owner to clean up their property on the 5200 block of Baltimore Avenue has left nearby residents desperate for help.

“It stinks, it’s crawling with bugs and rodents and as we recently found out (the hard way) there’s now poison sumac growing there too,” said Cedar Park Cobbs Creek resident Larissa Mogano who lives next door to the abandoned home at 5237 Baltimore. “We’ve had more pests than ever: cats, mice, possums, skunks.”

The property has a long list of violations, according to a Department of Licenses and Inspections search, dating back to 2011. These include housing code violations for garbage and weeds. Most of the earlier violations have been marked “complied.” But a whole new list of violations, some issued as recently as August 4, have not.

Another neighbor, Pamela Gray, who lives in the other half of the brick double structure, spent $500 to replace a fence that was destroyed by a branch from an overgrown mulberry tree in the back yard. This same tree took out another neighbor’s back door awning last year. In the front, the porch roof has a gaping hole that invites squirrels to run around in the rafters at night.

Gray, who has lived in her house since 1972, said she once knew the owners as very nice people who kept the property in great shape. However, since they moved out over seven years ago, the property has fallen into disrepair. When contacted, the owners have repeatedly promised to clean things up, but these promises have remained mostly unfulfilled. Mogano has called Philly311, and posted to several websites including the Cedar Park Neighbors Facebook page, Publicstuff.com and SeeClickFix. Gray has called the Licenses and Inspections department of the City of Philadelphia several times and has contacted her city councilwoman, Jannie Blackwell.

The city has made cracking down on absentee property owners a priority in recent years and Mogano, Gray and others hope 5237 Baltimore will get some more attention soon.

“I just want the homeowners to clean it up so me and the other neighbors can appreciate our own back yards,” said Mogano. “I understand people wanting to hang onto their properties, and I hope they’re able to do that, but it’s disrespectful to the rest of us who live here not to maintain it in the meantime.”

– Selah Lynch

The Sloppy Film Fest, a West Philly-based one-day festival of short DIY films, is returning on September 6 and film submissions are currently accepted. If you have recently made a short film or video and would like it to be screened at the festival, submit it through August 25. You can either send a link to your uploaded video, or send a copy of the video file.

Here are the guidelines:

• Your film can be about anything
• No film is too short or too sloppy
• Start something new, or finish an old project
• Experimental. Quick and dirty. Fast and loose
• Aim for 5 minutes long/10 minutes max

To register your film follow this link. The event’s Facebook page is here.

Acceptees will be notified by email if their film has been selected for the Fest screening. The organizers say that it’s possible that they won’t be able to show every film that is submitted, but they hope they can. Please email sloppyfilmfest [at] gmail.com with any questions.

The festival, which is basically an evening of short films made by you, will be held at the Beaumont Warehouse (50th and Beaumont), starting at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6. There will be free admission, but donations will be collected at the screening to cover the cost of the space and equipment.

So, are you ready to become a local film star? Go ahead and submit your creation. Who knows, maybe your submission will win the coveted Palme D’Slop?

The Taney Dragons following their 8-0 win over Newark , Del. to win the Mid-Atlantic Championship on Sunday. (Photo from Taneybaseball.com)

So have you caught Taney Dragon fever yet? Whether you are a baseball fan or not it’s hard not to root for that group of 12- and 13-year-old Philly Little Leaguers led by fireballer Mo’Ne Davis (a girl in case you hadn’t heard), who will begin play at the Little League World Series on Friday.

Taney kicks off double-elimination group play in the World Series on Friday at 3 p.m. against the team from Nashville, Tenn.. That game will be on ESPN. If they win, they play again on Sunday at 7 p.m. If they lose, they are still alive and will play Saturday at 6 p.m.

The team, which is made up of kids from around the city including one who attends Penn Alexander school, was featured on ABC news last night. We’re talking “World News,” not Channel 6.  Here’s a story on Davis and the team in The Washington Post. She will be just the 18th girl to play in the Little League World Series since they began allowing girls in 1974 and the first American girl since 2004.

Taney secured the Mid-Atlantic Championship on Sunday behind a Davis’ six strikeouts to shutout the team from Newark, Del. 8-0 That win earned them a coveted spot in Williamsport, the first team from Philadelphia ever to make it.

Also, if you want to throw a few bucks their way to help defray costs of getting the team and their families to Williamsport, go here.

We’ll leave it there for now and keep our fingers crossed. Go Dragons!

Photo by Tug Haines / The Food Trust.

We are happy to report that after a few years away Night Market Philadelphia, a roving street food festival organized by The Food Trust, is coming back to West Philadelphia. The 15th installment of the festival will take place on Thursday, Aug. 14 on Lancaster Ave between 35th and 39th Streets. Last time West Philly hosted the event was in the summer of 2011.

Night Market on Lancaster Ave @ 35th will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. and admission is free. This is a great opportunity to try food from Philly’s best ethnic and regional restaurants and food trucks. Also, there will be live music and entertainment. West Philly hip-hop artist Chill Moody will perform along with a slate of other performing and visual artists.

Night Market’s mission is to spotlight a unique, diverse, vibrant and up-and-coming neighborhood in Philadelphia that some folks might not have explored. Lower Lancaster Avenue is the central hub of an area that includes lots of smaller communities, including Mantua (recently deemed a Promise Zone by President Obama) and Powelton Village.

“…We’re thrilled to be back in West Philadelphia for Night Market number 15,” The Food Trust Executive Director Yael Lehmann said in a press statement. “The Lancaster Avenue corridor is the central hub of one of our most vibrant, diverse and up-and-coming communities, making it the perfect example of why we choose the neighborhoods we do.”

The event is co-hosted by the People’s Emergency Center (PEC), one of the key neighborhood organizations in the area, which are raving about the chance to add Night Market to their calendar of activities along the Lancaster Avenue corridor and to show off their neighborhood to the festival goers. Over 15,000 people are expected to attend the event.

“…I hope that some visitors will also discover that it’s a great place to live and maybe even open up their next retail shop or restaurant,” said PEC President and CEO Farah Jimenez.

This pit bull puppy was found Friday night, around 11 p.m., near Warrington and Saint Bernard. The puppy looks to be about 4 months old and appears to be a red nose pit. The person who found him took him to the PAWS clinic and he got all his shots and dewormed. The puppy is getting along with a dog and a cat that live in the house where he’s currently staying. He’s already being potty trained and learning to walk on the leash.

The puppy doesn’t have a microchip.

If the puppy’s owner is not found he will need a new home. He can only be fostered at his current location until the owner or a new home is found. If you have any information about the owner or would like to adopt the puppy please email: avery.carter [at] gmail.com.

Click to enlarge.

Children in grades K-6 are invited to be Curious Scientific Investigators at the 2nd Community Science Festival being held this Saturday, Aug. 9, 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., at the White Rock Baptist Church (5240 Chestnut St). Children will assist Penn graduate students, Arcadia University students and Post-doctoral fellows with scientific experiments. The festival is organized by the Science Education Academy, a community partnership between the White Rock Baptist Church and the Ernest E Just Biomedical Society at the University of Pennsylvania.

This is an exciting event for both children and parents. Children will learn about microbes, how to make batteries with potatoes, how planes fly and how to solve mysteries using chemistry! For parents, there will be a workshop on how to help your children with science fair projects as well as research presentations from Penn graduate students. The event is free and open to the public.