The scene on the west side of 52nd Street near Hazel (Photo West Philly Local)

Twelve children were hospitalized after a day care van crashed into an building at 52nd and Hazel Friday morning. The incident was reported at around 9:30 a.m. Children and the driver of an unmarked van were taken to area hospitals for observation, according to reports. Police said the children were not hurt, and the driver was in stable condition.

Reportedly, the driver experienced problems with the brakes before the crash. The investigation continues. Detours are expected in the area.

Neighbors are reporting an early morning hit and run crash at 45th and Spruce that caused some heavy damage to cars parked along Spruce Street:

“I heard a huge crash at about 3:30 this am – it set off a car alarm across the street! I went to see what happened, and it looks like someone smashed up two cars with their own car/truck (possibly carrying sand or building materials, as there were lots of chunks of random sandy dirt in the intersection) and drove off.”

The photo above was taken shortly after 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning near the intersection of 45th and Spruce.

Check out this DNC Donkey at The Porch at 30th Street Station (Photo West Philly Local).

As Philadelphia is preparing for the 2016 Democratic National Convention (DNC), here’s some useful info for the locals. Approximately 50,000 participants among delegates, media, and other attendees, are expected at the event, which will be held at the Wells Fargo Center on July 25-28. By the way, many guests will be staying in University City hotels. Also, The Daily Show will be at the Annenberg Center (3680 Walnut St) from July 26-29 (in total, four episodes will be filmed there!). Unfortunately, general public tickets have already been sold out.

All city services are expected to operate as scheduled during the event, and Philadelphia Police, Fire and EMS services will not be impacted by the DNC. The City has created a special DNC web page with the Convention news and official information, city service updates and changes, and things to see and do.  Continue Reading

SEPTA’s Trolley Tunnel Blitz, the annual maintenance project in the trolley tunnel connecting West Philadelphia and Center City that had been scheduled to begin on Friday, July 8, has been postponed, according to SEPTA’s spokesperson Andrew Busch. “It is postponed due to the Regional Rail issue and the related increase in ridership on our other modes,” Busch wrote in an email.

The trolley routes 11, 13, 34 and 36 will continue normal operation through the tunnel until further announcement.

SEPTA lost a third of its regional rail fleet on July 3 when an issue had been detected with Silverliner V commuter rail passenger cars. 120 Silverliner V cars have been taken out of service, causing the remaining trains operate over capacity. Many trains today have been standing-room only.

SEPTA is planning to provide additional information on the Tunnel Blitz this Thursday. They don’t have a rescheduled date at this time.

Belmont Charter, a neighborhood K-8 school in Mantua, will open a high school in the fall 2017. The School Reform Commission (SRC) voted on Friday in support of the school’s application to create a 300-student Belmont Charter High School. Belmont has the choice of creating a new charter or amending the existing charter to create a K-12 school. The school can eventually enroll 500 across grades 9-12.

Currently, most Belmont graduates advance to the catchment area school, West Philadelphia High School. Admission to Belmont Charter High School would give preference to Belmont’s rising K-8 students, who would account for a projected 60 of the 125 grade level seats.

“Over the years, we have watched too many good students drop out or struggle immensely when they reach high school because they aren’t able to get the kinds of support they critically need,” Jennifer Faustman, Chief Executive Officer at Belmont Charter School, said in a statement in May. “Our community school model gives them positive out of school time and wraparound services which help them succeed. Too often once students graduate from Belmont, the reward for their success is being placed into a school that takes those resources away, and that’s not right.”  Continue Reading

UPDATE: (7/2/2016): Betty Jean Severe has been found and is back home with her family. Police say Ms. Severe was located at Hahnemann Hospital on Wednesday, June 29.

Police are asking for the public’s help locating Betty Jean Severe, a 62-year-old West Philly woman who has been missing since Friday, June 24. She was last seen at her residence on the 500 block of S. 52nd Street at approximately 5:30 p.m. on Friday.

Betty Jean suffers from the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, according to police. She is known to frequent the area of 49th Street and Baltimore Avenue, as well as McDonald’s located at 52nd and Markets Streets.

Betty Jean is five feet five inches tall, weighs 140lbs, with a thin build, brown eyes, dark brown complexion, and curly black/gray hair; unknown clothing description.

Anyone with information on Betty Jean’s whereabouts, please contact Southwest Detective Division at 215-686-3183 / 3184 or call 911.