A young woman who died on Monday night in Brooklyn when a tree fell on her during Hurricane Sandy had West Philly connections.

Jessie Streich-Kest, 24, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010 and spent many hours working with homeless families and tutoring neighborhood children. She was a member of Penn Haven, a campus group “dedicated to people suffering homelessness and economic injustice,” according to its website.

Streich-Kest, a Brooklyn native, was walking her dog with a friend, Jacob Vogelman, during the storm when a tree fell on them. Neighbors discovered the two several hours later, Ditmas Park Corner reported.

Friends and relatives have flocked to Ditmas Park Corner to post tributes to Streich-Kest and Vogelman, including Streich-Kest’s former classmates from Penn. Here’s what one of them wrote:

“Jessie Streich-Kest was an extraordinary person, and I am tremendously privileged to have been her friend. No one I have ever met has devoted more of her life to service, to social equity, and to her friends than Jessie. Whether it was tutoring students in West Philadelphia, working to help the homeless, or dropping everything to listen to your problems, Jessie always strove to leave a positive mark on the world.”

If you knew Jessie, feel free to leave a comment.

In parts of West Philly we have big old trees with lots of dropped leaves. They are already clogging street gutters.

UPDATE (2:45 p.m.): Philadelphia public schools will be closed tomorrow, Superintendent William Hite announced. Also, SEPTA will reinspect tracks and routes after the storm. Service is canceled for Tuesday morning.

As of 2 p.m., there haven’t been any power outages reported in West Philly. Please check the PECO Power Outage map for updates. What appears to be a problem already is leaf-clogged street gutters. If you have one near your home, you might want to take a minute to clear it.

We included some storm prep tips in a post yesterday. You can find that here. At the end of this post we have some important phone numbers and an embedded #sandyinphilly Twitter feed, which many local media outlets are using to keep people updated.

Here are some other closures for Tuesday:

• Public schools are closed, Superintendent William Hite announced.

• No SEPTA service Tuesday morning.

• City offices closed.

• Courts closed.

• City trash pickup scheduled for Tuesday has been canceled. If Tuesday is your day, hold off until next Tuesday.

• Most Amtrak routes in the Northeast have been cancelled. They have good info on their Facebook page here.

If you need some last-minute supplies, here are some businesses that are open as of about 2 p.m.:

• Mariposa Food Coop is open and just got in a big produce and bread delivery from Four Worlds Bakery. (Update: Mariposa is closing at 5 p.m.)

• Milk and Honey Market is open at 45th and Baltimore.

• Supremo Shop n’ Bag on Walnut Street between 43rd and 44th plans to stay open until 3 p.m.

• For halal supplies, Makkah Market at 4249 Walnut St. is open.

• CVS at 43rd and Locust will be open indefinitely. The manager there said they will be open until the electricity goes out.

• Green Line Cafe and Earth Cup are open. (Update: Earth Cup has reportedly closed)

• The Gold Standard will be serving their weekend brunch today and tomorrow.

• Fu-Wah Market is open at 810 S. 47th St.

• The Dollar Store on 48th between Spruce and Pine is open and they have a pretty good selection of candles remaining and a bunch of flashlights.

If you know of some businesses that should be on the list, leave a comment below, tweet us at @westphillylocal or drop us an e-mail at: editor@westphillylocal.com.

If you see animals in need or find pets during/after Hurricane Sandy, please immediately contact:

PhillyPAWS
[tel: 215-238-9901/phillypaws.org]

PSPCA
[tel: (215) 426-6300/pspca.org]

ACCT
[tel: (267) 385-3800/acctphilly.org]
Some important numbers:

PECO Energy Customer Service: 1-800-494-400
PECO Energy Emergency Hotline: 1-800-841-4141
Philadelphia Water Department (PWD): 215-685-6300
Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW): 215-235-1212

Tweets about “#sandyinphilly”

The tables and chairs in Clark Park have been lashed down in preparation for Sandy.

As Hurricane Sandy approaches, we will keep up with closures and changes in city services. Also, West Philly has lots of big, old trees so power outages are typical during big storms. After the news briefs we have a hurricane prep list and emergency phone numbers. If you have any news to report or any additional safety tips, leave a comment below, let us know on Twitter at @westphillylocal or drop us an e-mail at editor@westphillylocal.com. Stay safe everyone.

Here are some Sandy-related news briefs.

• The Streets Department writes on their Facebook page:
“Due to high winds and severe rainfall that is expected, there will be no trash and recycling collections on Monday, October 29. Residents whose trash day is on Monday are urged to keep their collections indoors to prevent loose items from blowing throughout the streets. Monday collections will resume on Monday, November 5.” Continue Reading

Last spring, we wrote about door-to-door salesmen pressuring people into switching their energy providers. Here’s another, recent account of similar activity, this time by representatives of Commerce Energy, that left a neighbor, Sarah, upset and made her believe that it was a scam.

We should point out that Commerce Energy is a real company and a major player in electricity. The Inquirer includes them in a list of alternative suppliers here. But their sales tactics have angered many consumers. Sarah’s description of her encounter echoes the experience of many others.

“We have had two Commerce Energy representatives come to our door tonight saying that they wanted a copy of our PECO bill and wanted to sign us up to Commerce Energy whereby we can get lower rates. By way of protection do not sign up with them and do not hand over your PECO bill, as it is an absolute scam as they are basically trying to sign you up for a new energy company and lock you into a 5 year agreement… They are still walking around West Philly trying to sign up other people… They are also quite aggressive and harassing so just tell them to leave.”

Fire officials are still investigating the cause of an apartment building fire on Tuesday that killed a 4-year-old boy (a 5-year-old, according to some reports). The fire broke out at about 1:30 p.m. at the West Park Apartments, a 19-story public-housing building on Busti and Holden streets.

The child’s mother and 3-year-old brother were injured in the fire. The mother and a male resident of the building saved the younger child from the apartment engulfed with fire. Then the woman returned to the apartment and tried to rescue her older son but was badly hurt, Philly.com reports. The firefighters found the boy alive under a bed, but he later died in the hospital.

Fire officials said a burst main near 42nd and Market streets that required the evacuation of a fire station across the street from high-rise slowed response time.

Locust Moon Comics shop, which recently moved into a new, spacious location near 40th and Chestnut, is celebrating the release of its first book this week. Locust Moon Press has teamed up with Dark Horse Comics to release the 430 page science fiction fairy-tale anthology titled Once Upon A Time Machine. This is a long-awaited release – the book represents the culmination of three years of collaboration in Philadelphia and beyond.

The project began in the summer of 2009, when Locust Moon’s creative director Chris Stevens came up with the idea for a collection of futuristic stories based on classic myths and fairy tales. He began reaching out to local creators and established an online presence to make contact with artists and writers across the world. As an Internet buzz began to build about the book, an unexpected email came from Dark Horse Comics and the project which began with no money, artists, or scripts, became a major release from one of the biggest comic book companies in the world.

“Locust Moon is a place built on the passions of a lot of people,” says publisher and co-owner Josh O’Neill. “It’s living proof that with an open heart and open doors you can create something much bigger than the sum of its parts.”

The book release party is on Wednesday (Oct 10) at 7:30 p.m. where many of these parts will be on display. The party will feature a gallery show of original pages from the book, signings by dozens of the book’s authors, and a hell of a bash, in general.

Check out an animated book trailer: