Update: We are getting conflicting reports about the man’s university affiliation, so we have removed that detail until we can clarify.

Police say a recently dismissed professor jumped from the 4th floor of a brownstone apartment building at 4114 Spruce Street in an apparent suicide this morning. Police say the 44-year-old man lived on the 4th floor. He was pronounced dead at 6:49 a.m.

Update (08/06): A three-story residential building at 4238 Chestnut Street was on fire, the Fire Commissioner’s Office confirms. The fire was reported about 4:10 p.m. on Sunday and extinguished by 4:50 p.m. No injuries were reported.

A reader, Mike, reported a fire on Sunday at about 4:00 p.m. on the 4200 Block of Chestnut Street. Mike said that over a dozen fire trucks responded to the fire: “I saw the fire and tried to break in before the fire Dept. arrived. Smoke detectors were sounding and large flames were pouring from the side windows at the rear. But I could not open the door pounding on it with a large piece of lumber (about a  4′ piece of 4×10″). Fire department was on scene within moments and took over.”

It’s not known if anybody was injured in the fire. Stop back for more information.

Photo by Mike Lynch.

Do you live or own a business in Cedar Park? If so, your feedback is needed to help shape the future of this quickly changing neighborhood. The Cedar Park Neighbors community association has developed “The Future of Cedar Park” survey which will help them gather useful information as the Philadelphia City Planning Commission had asked community organizations to provide input on its new plan for Southwest Philadelphia and University City.

Although, it’s an exciting time for the neighborhood, with many new residents moving to Cedar Park and new businesses opening, there are also issues generated by this change, including affordability, land use, education, parking and others. This survey will help CPN figure out how to “best represent the interests of all neighbors.”

The survey can be found here. In addition to the online survey, a print version is being distributed through block captains, so feel free to pass this information along to your neighbors who do not have internet access.

As a reminder, here are the Cedar Park boundaries: Larchwood Avenue to Kingsessing Avenue and 46th Street to 52nd Street (see map below). For more information, visit www.cedarparkneighbors.org.

Seventeen row homes were evacuated last night as a result of a three-alarm fire that started in a garage at 52nd and Pentridge, NBC reports (see video below). The fire began around 11 p.m. and quickly moved through.

Nearly 70 residents were displaced, 23 of them were transported to a Red Cross station set up at Ann H. Shaw Middle School on Warrington Avenue. No injuries were reported and no homes were seriously damaged.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Neighbors said that kids were setting off fireworks nearby before the fire broke out, according to NBC.

 
After nine years near the Penn campus on 40th Street, The Marvelous, a music and musician supply store, is moving into the location formerly occupied by Wake Up Yoga (4916 Baltimore Ave.).

Milan Marvelous, the owner, said that they’re planning to open the doors on Baltimore Avenue on July 12. “We’re totally stoked, because the new space is simply luscious … We’re looking forward to our new neighbors – Dock St, Firehouse Bikes, Elena’s, Satellite Cafe, Vix, Mariposa, etc.,” said Milan.

This week, the store is throwing a big “moving away” sale (July 2 – July 7), with everything marked down up to 50% off. The store’s last day at 208 S. 40th St. will be Saturday July 7.

Visit The Marvelous Facebook page for more information.

You know that bike that has been locked to street sign near your house for what seems like years? The City wants to know about it.

On July 23 the City is planning a “clean sweep” of abandoned bikes.

Here’s a notice from the Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities:

The Mayor’s Office of Transportation and Utilities (MOTU) and the Philadelphia Streets Department need your help to identify all of the abandoned bikes in the city in preparation for an Abandoned Bike Clean-Up project.  On July 23^rd,the Streets department will be conducting a clean sweep of abandoned bicycles. 

Removing abandoned bicycles from city streets helps bicyclists by making bicycle parking easier to find and it helps non-bicyclists by clearing-out scarce sidewalk space.  Abandoned bikes are those that have missing or damaged parts, are in un-useable condition, and have been locked in the same location for one month or more.  These bikes will be tagged with notification for removal by the city one week before the scheduled removal.  All of the bicycles that are removed during the sweep will be donated to local charities for refurbishment.

You can report an abandoned bike by calling the City’s 311 hotline. You will need to know the location of the bicycle, what the bike is locked to and any distinguishing features including color, broken or missing parts or any “unique identifiers.”