The owners of an orange tabby cat, Francis, is making a plea with the community to help them find their pet after he escaped the deadly fire on the 4700 block of Hazel Avenue on May 7. The cat was reportedly spotted outside of the building after the fire, but is now lost. If you find the cat please call Rechelle at 620.719.0816 or Sean at 316.993.0695. Here’s a flier with more information:

It’s this time of year again when Penn students are leaving their dorms in a big two-day move-out event, which prompts the closure of a large section of Spruce Street to all traffic except for emergency vehicles. Here’s a traffic advisory for this Tuesday and Wednesday from Penn’s Public Safety Division:

“Spruce Street will be closed between 34th and 40th Streets on Tuesday, May 10th and Wednesday, May 11th between 7 a.m.-8 p.m. for student move-out.

No taxi cabs will be permitted access. Vendors will be permitted access to enter the street prior to the 7 a.m. street closure. Bikes will need to be walked on Spruce Street while the streets are closed to traffic. Septa Route 42 will be re-routed. Emergency vehicles and hospital patient transport vehicles will be permitted access. Access will be provided to the Ryan Vet Hospital.

During this street closure: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Wistar Institute and Ryan Vet Hospital deliveries will be allowed to enter Spruce Street at 38th Street. Garage 14 will be open and accessible throughout move-out.”

UPDATE (May 8, 2016): Police say 59-year-old Calvin White died in the fire. Our deepest condolences to Mr. White’s family and friends. 

One person died and one person was injured after a morning fire on the 4700 block of Hazel Avenue. The blaze broke out at about 7:35 a.m. on the first floor of the three-story twin building at 4714 Hazel Ave.

Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer told 6ABC that a man died trying to put out the fire, reportedly with a fire extinguisher.

Eight people escaped the blaze thanks to a fire alarm in the building. One of them, a 64-year-old man, was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with injuries and was listed in stable condition.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. The fire marshal noted no suspicious circumstances, according to a police report.

@WestPhillyLocal Woke to this😥💓 pic.twitter.com/6UmzMrc34p

— Spyral Storm (@juliemurphyarts) May 7, 2016

Montrose building at 47th and Baltimore (Photo West Philly Local)

Many people have been wondering what business is coming to the vacant storefront in the Montrose apartment building at the northeast corner of 47th Street and Baltimore Avenue. It was revealed last week (Michael Klein of Philly.com’s The Insider broke the news) that a Fishtown-based L.A.-style taco bar, Loco Pez, is branching out to West Philly and chose this location. No further details were revealed, including the timeline for the opening, and we couldn’t get more info from the restaurant folks either at this time.

One of our readers asked about vegetarian options at the restaurant, and there are quite a few at their Fishtown location, which offers brunch, lunch, dinner and happy hour. What’s interesting is that they only accept cash. Check out their website for more info and the menu. And we’ll keep you posted on this new location.

And here’s a little bit of history of the old Montrose building, which has housed many businesses in its four ground-floor retail spaces over the years. The beloved Carrot Cake Man, Vernon Wilkins, used to have a store in the building for 17 years until 1996.

Photo courtesy of the Bicycle Coalition

UPDATE: Ride for Reading has been postponed until Thursday, May 12 due to rain in the forecast for Tuesday.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia is hosting a variety of events for Bike Month this month. On Tuesday, May 10 Thursday, May 12 they are hosting their fourth annual Ride for Reading, which will support Andrew Hamilton Elementary School in West Philadelphia.

Currently, the Bicycle Coalition is recruiting volunteers who can help transport books to the school located at 56th and Spruce. Volunteers will gather at Rittenhouse Square at 7:45 a.m. The ride will be followed by a short presentation about healthy minds and healthy bodies at 9 a.m., and then the volunteers will distribute the books to children. Every child will take home at least one book.

The mission of Ride for Reading is to promote literacy and healthy living by donating books via bicycle to schools. Check out this link for more info and to sign up.

West Philly Local readers are reporting that several “bandit signs” were recently nailed onto trees and utility poles on the 4800 block of Larchwood and, possibly, on other blocks. Here’s what someone who lives on the block wrote us:

“I walked outside this morning and saw this poster nailed into a tree [see photo; we have blurred the phone number on the sign]. Looking down the block there was one on every tree and pole down both sides of the street. We can’t get them out as they are reinforced with nails made by God… Do you know if there is anything we can do about it except for call and tell this electrician off?”

Yes, signs like this one are illegal in Philadelphia, and you can report them to the Streets Department or call 311 (or tweet to @philly311). The signs on the 4800 block of Larchwood have already been reported, and the Streets Department said they’re investigating. One way that the city has dealt with illegal signs has been using a robo-call system.  Continue Reading