Samuel Powel School (photo from greatphillyschools.org).

Great news for a small Powelton Village elementary school students, parents and staff. According to a recently released 2013-2014 Philadelphia school progress report, which measured school performance throughout the year across various dimensions, such as student progress, achievement and school climate, Samuel Powel is ranked the second best elementary school in the district. Anne Frank elementary located in Northeast Philadelphia is the leader among the city’s 61 K-4 schools. Powel School, which is located near 36th and Pearl streets and is led by principal Kimberly Ellerbee, enrolls about 260 students. Check out a recent piece about the school on Philly.com.

As concerns K-8 schools, here are the rankings of some West Philly schools (there are 126 K-8 schools in Philadelphia): Penn Alexander School (43rd and Locust) – 6th; Alain Locke (4550 Haverford Ave.) – 88th; Henry C. Lea (4700 Locust St.) – 70th; Samuel B. Huey (5200 Pine St.) – 97th. The city leader in this category is Folks Arts Cultural Treasures Charter School located at 1023 Callowhill St.

To download the reports, visit the Philadelphia School District website.

                   Jasmine Wright

The handyman accused of killing 27-year-old Jasmine Wright in her apartment near 50th and Locust has been held for trial.

James Harris, 56, faces murder and rape charges in the death of Wright, who had recently graduated from a Drexel University graduate program. She had been raped and strangled, according to police. Her body was found on July 15, about 24 hours after she was murdered.

Harris worked in the building but was fired about a week earlier, according to reports. Police say he still had a set of keys to the building, and his fingerprints and DNA were found on the scene.

Harris had 31 prior arrests, police said, including sexual assaults. He was also convicted in 1982 for the murder of his own father. He had been in custody since July 19, when he was detained on suspicion of robbery and trespassing for re-entering the building.

UPDATE: Police identified the victim as 50-year-old Tony Harris. Harris, who worked as an electronics repairman, recently posted on Facebook a photo of his wife holding bundles of cash that he claimed amounted to $60,000, according to reports. Police say it was done as a joke, but may have prompted the attempted robbery and shooting.

Police are looking for three suspects who shot in the head and killed a 50-year-old man, a married father of three young children, during a home invasion robbery near 54th and Warrington. Police say the home invasion took place shortly after 11 p.m. on Monday on the 1100 block of S. Ruby Street. The intruders, described as three teenagers wearing masks, entered the house through the unlocked front door. They found the man, his wife, ad three children ages 5, 2 and 10 months upstairs.

One of the men, armed with a black and silver handgun, took the woman to the kitchen where he put the gun to her head and demanded money, according to a police report. Then she heard another man yelling at her husband in the living room, asking: “Where’s the money?” She then heard a single gunshot. She found her husband lying on the floor suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. The woman called police. Police say they found a shotgun on the front porch when they arrived.  Continue Reading

Neighborhood Bike Works (NBW), a local non-profit that has been providing bike education and recreation opportunities to youth for nearly 20 years, has a new home. The organization has recently opened a new, larger community shop and bike education hub at 3939 Lancaster Ave. For many years West Philly’s NBW headquarters had been located in the basement of St. Mary’s Church on Locust Walk.

The new space’s grand opening celebration, which included community bike shop dedication, volunteer awards, and commemorative t-shirt screen printing, took place on Saturday:  Continue Reading

A large, old Malcolm X Park tree fell on power lines and knocked out power in the area around 51st and Osage during Friday evening’s storm. Residents reported that it happened right after the storm started around 5:30 p.m. on Friday. By Saturday, when the photo above was taken, the broken power lines were fixed and power restored. There is no word on injuries.

36th and Lancaster

The city’s Historical Commission today added a strip of Lancaster Avenue commercial and residential buildings dating to the 1870s to the Registry of Historic Places.

The designation of the south side of the 3600 block of Lancaster Avenue requires Historical Commission approval of building or renovation plans.

An attorney for the property’s owner, AP Construction, vowed to appeal the decision.

The Powelton Village Civic Association began to pursue the designation last spring when it learned of AP Construction’s plans to demolish the block and reportedly sell it for student housing. With street-level storefronts and apartments on upper floors, the block anchors the main commercial strip in the neighborhood.

About 25 residents of Powelton Village were on hand at the meeting and nearly all raised their hands when asked if they agreed with the historic designation proposal.  Continue Reading