Protestors took to the streets in the days following the devastating 2011 fire at Windermere Court Apartments. Photos by West Philly Local).

Five years after a catastrophic fire destroyed the Windermere Court Apartments at 48th and Walnut, building tenants who participated in a class-action lawsuit have received their share of a $4.75 million settlement.

The fire that broke out on Jan. 10, 2011 destroyed the 90-unit building and left its residents scrambling for housing. Many spent days protesting the building owner’s decision not to let them return to retrieve their belongings and pets that may have survived the blaze.

The cause of the fire is disputed. An expert determined on behalf of the tenants during a 2013 civil trial that the fire resulted from faulty smoke alarms and sprinklers. The building owners – David, Sam and Aron Ginsberg – settled the suit a few days into the 2014 trial for $4.75 million and the settlement was certified last January.

The tenants’ class-action attorney, Tom Marrone, said that the payouts were completed this week. Each tenant who signed onto the suit received an average of $25,000 after legal and other fees.

Neighbors have reported gunshots on the 5100 block of Webster St. at around 11 p.m. on Tuesday. Police responded to the report of gunshots and found nine shell casings and one projectile in the street in the middle of the block. No shooting victims were located at the scene or at area hospitals. Neighbors stated that they had heard gunshots but did not see anything. Police also checked the block for cameras, but none were found.

A 53-year-old man was attacked, beaten and robbed by a large group of teenagers on Monday evening near 45th and Chester, according to police.

The man was walking in the area around 6 p.m. when he observed a group of teens (10 to 12 boys) yelling and acting irate. The man tried to avoid the group and started walking in the street along the bike lane. The teens then pulled the man back on the pavement and started punching him until he fell to the ground, according to a police report. The teens continued punching and kicking the man while he was on the ground until a witness, who was driving by, noticed the beating and began honking her car horn until the teens walked away.

After the teens left the area, the man noticed that his house keys, cell phone and iPod had been taken.

The witness drove the man to Penn Presbyterian Hospital where he was treated for pains to his head and legs, according to police.  Continue Reading

Samuel B. Huey School (Google Street View image)

Global Leadership Academy Charter School may soon take over the Samuel B. Huey elementary school at 52nd and Pine. On Monday, the School District of Philadelphia announced Global Leadership Academy as a match recommendation for Huey, through the Renaissance Charter Schools initiative.

Global Leadership Academy currently operates a K-8 school at 4600 West Girard Ave.

Jay Cooke Elementary in North Philadelphia is also slated to become a charter school.

“The Renaissance Charter Schools initiative is one of our most successful interventions to improve student achievement at struggling schools,” superintendent Dr. William R. Hite said in a statement.

The next step in the school conversion process is consideration by The School Reform Commission (SRC), which will consider both schools in the Jan. 21 action meeting. If approved by the SRC, Global Leadership Academy would take over Huey this fall, in the 2016-17 school year. The charter operators will be invited to submit a Renaissance Charter School application subject to a vote at a future SRC action meeting.

Huey and Cooke parents protested the conversion last year.

Thanks to a stolen cell phone’s tracking app, police were able to track down and detain three young males suspected in a gunpoint robbery near 47th and Springfield on Thursday evening.

Police say that a 40-year-old man was walking in the area at about 6:40 p.m. when he was approached by three young males who put what he believed to be a handgun to the back of his head, told him to not look back and put his hands on top of his head. Then the males took the man’s iPhone, Mac Book Pro laptop, house keys, and a backpack, and told him to run and not look back, according to a police report. The victim ran home and was actively tracking his phone to the area of 51st Street between Pentridge and Florence before it was manually powered off, according to police.  Continue Reading

The School District of Philadelphia released on Thursday the 2014-2015 School Progress Report (SPR), which measured performance of both District and charter schools during the school year. According to the report, Penn Alexander School (PAS) is the best K-8 school in the district and is the only school to attain the highest performance ratings across all the domains – Achievement, Climate and Growth. In 2013-2014, PAS was ranked 6th among the district’s K-8 schools.

Samuel Powel Elementary, a small K-4 school in Powelton Village, is ranked 5th best elementary school in the district and is one of the three Peer Leaders (the school achieved the highest SPR scores among others with similar students). The school enrolled about 260 students in the 2014-2015 school year.

Paul Robeson High School for Human Services was honored for the highest four-year graduation rates among non-special admission schools.

To view the report, go to the School District website.