Here’s a chance to learn a lot about the quality soil – especially if you plan to grow something in it. The Soil Kitchen will be open in Clark Park this Saturday and Sunday, from noon to 5 p.m. Urban soil is often full of contaminants like mercury, cadmium and lead, so if you want to have it tested and see if it’s safe to use, bring a plastic bag of dried and homogenized soil (with as few stones as possible). The University of Pennsylvania Department of Earth and Environmental Science’s mobile lab will be on site to do the soil testing. The results will be provided for free and can be location-anonymous. You can also learn strategies for dealing with gardening on contaminated soil at this event.

NOTE: if it rains tomorrow, the event will be held at the lobby of Hill College House at the University of Pennsylvania (3333 Walnut St).

For more information visit the Soil Kitchen 2013 website. And here are soil sampling instructions… in comic strip form:

Hundreds of tools will be available at the 5th annual tool drive and sale. (Photo courtesy West Philly Tool Library).

On Saturday, March 16, the West Philly Tool Library, a community-based tool lending library, invites neighbors to its 5th annual tool sale and tool drive. The event will be held from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 1314 S. 47th Street (between Woodland and Grays Ferry Avenues).

This is a great opportunity to pick up tools at super low prices (starting at just $1) and to support the Tool Library. A large selection of tools will be available, including circular saws, screwdrivers, hammers, gas-powered lawn care tools, wrenches, pliers, and many more.

Also, if you have tools you don’t need, bring them to this event and Tool Library will put them into productive community service. All donations are tax deductible and Tool Library staff members will be on hand to process your donations and provide receipts for tax purposes.

Coffee and light refreshments will be served.

For more information visit westphillytools.org or email: Peter@WestPhillyTools.org

Spruce Hill residents are invited to attend a second meeting to guide future development decisions in their community. This Action Planning Workshop will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at the Wilson Student Center on the campus of the University of the Sciences (42nd & Woodland).

The session will again be led by Jennifer Hurley, a professional planner hired by the Spruce Hill Community Trust. Residents will be asked to confirm their community vision, brainstorm about ways to make it a reality, and plan next steps.

This meeting follows up on one in December that drew an unexpected turnout of about 90 people who were asked to indicate their likes and dislikes about directions that development could take in Spruce Hill. Hurley has taken that material and pulled it together in a presentation that may be viewed on the Spruce Hill Community Association’s website.

The Spruce Hill neighborhood boundaries run from Market Street to Woodland Avenue, 38th Street to 46th Street.

For more information about the planning workshop, contact Barry Grossbach, chair of the trust, at b.grossbach@gmail.com or at 215-349-7825.

About 90 people participated in the first meeting about the future development of the Spruce Hill neighborhood. (Photo from Spruce Hill Community Association’s Facebook page).

In addition to the Little Baby’s Ice Cream zoning meeting, there will be two more important neighborhood development and safety meetings this Thursday, Feb. 21.

– Garden Court Community Association invites residents and business owners to join them at 6:30 p.m. at 4725 Chestnut Street for a meeting and potluck dinner. Small business and economic development within Garden Court (45th St. to 52nd St. and Locust St. to Cedar Ave.) will be discussed at this meeting. Here are some of the topics:

• Do you want information on starting a business?
• What kind of services and retail do you want to see in the Garden Court neighborhood?
• Are you interested in what community members can do together to improve business districts within neighborhoods?
• Are you a neighborhood entrepreneur interested in resources to help your business?
• What would you like to see in the neighborhood business districts (48th & Spruce and 52nd Street)?

The panel includes the following speakers: Angela Dowd-Burton (Executive Director, Office of Economic Opportunity, City of Philadelphia Commerce Department), Rojer Kern (Neighborhood Markets Manager, City of Philadelphia Commerce Department), Iola Harper (Senior Director of the Business Acceleration Group), and Mahari Baily, Esq. (Love Real Estate Group).

You can also hear updates on GCCA membership, planning, and education activities and more. For more information, please contact Kate Mills, Corresponding Secretary, at katewmills@gmail.com.

– A monthly community meeting with police will be held at Calvary Center for Culture and Community (48th & Baltimore), beginning at 6 p.m. Bring your questions and concerns and discuss crime and other neighborhood issues with Lt. Brian McBride and Sgt. Ron Washington of the University City Division of the Philadelphia 18th Police District.

In response to community member requests following last week’s fire that left a neighbor seriously injured, the Philadelphia Fire Department is offering a free fire safety and prevention workshop on Wednesday, Feb. 6. The workshop will be held in the chapel of Calvary Center (48th and Baltimore) from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. and will be led by Deputy Fire Chief Derrick Sawyer.

The following issues will be covered at the workshop:

– reviewing the fire-prevention checklist for your residence;
– how to plan for the worst;
– what is a good escape route if front and back doors are not available;
– how to escape with a young child or the elderly resident from the 2nd or 3rd floor;
– what kind of equipment might a family reasonably have on hand (and where) in case of a fire emergency.

Chief Sawyer will also answer your questions.
 

CommunityCam maps public and private security cameras in the city.

Using surveillance videos in solving a crime has become a common practice for law enforcement officials since many businesses, organizations and individuals now install security cameras as a safety measure. But what about simple folks who need this information but don’t have access to it? In an effort to help residents prevent and solve crime, VideoSurveillance.com has recently rolled out the CommunityCam program that maps public and private security cameras throughout Philadelphia. The program is first launching in our city, with a goal to eventually expand nationwide.

Anyone can use the map either for locating cameras that may have captured a criminal activity or for choosing a safer walking route. The map is crowdsourced so any resident, business owner, neighborhood group, or government organization can add locations of surveillance cameras to help their neighbors.

“Unfortunately, information about security cameras has not been made available to the public so someone who has been hurt, wronged, or worse does not have access to all the resources that could help make things right. With this effort, we hope that neighbors will start working together to help each other and to make all cities and towns safe,” said Josh Daniels, President of VideoSurveillance.com.

A neighbor, Stephanie, said that the program is interesting, too, because it’s crowdsourced – so neighbors and residents can help each other out. “As a young(ish) single woman, new to Philadelphia, this makes me feel more secure,” said Stephanie.

Here’s how you can use CommunityCam:

– Visit http://www.videosurveillance.com/communitycam

– Navigate the map using the directional arrows

– Click the blue balloons to see addresses for and types of cameras

– If you have an outdoor surveillance camera, you’re encouraged to add it to the map.