UPDATE (10:50 a.m.): The Friends of Clark Park (FoCP) voted last night to recommend to the City’s Department of Parks and Recreation that limited hours be established when off-leash dogs are permitted at the Clark Park Bowl, the latest move in the park’s more than decade-long canine conundrum. The recommendation for permitted hours is daily from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., though, as in the past, enforcement of the new rule will be tricky.

The “fastest dog” competition during the 2011 Bark in the Park. (Photo West Philly Local).

The vote followed a discussion about off-leash dogs that included suggestions of stepped up enforcement by Parks and Recreation rangers or University City District’s bicycle patrol. FoCP board members agreed that a compromise was to post signs with hours for off-leash dogs, which are prohibited in public areas in Philadelphia but have been a fixture in Clark Park for years.

Tight enforcement risks alienating “a community that is one of the more dedicated to the park,” said resident Valerie Ross, who lives near the park. People who run their dogs in the Bowl often help clean up trash there, she said. And park events sometimes focus on dogs, including the annual Bark in the Park (24 years and counting) and even a corporate-sponsored, dog-friendly singles meet-up last year.

But complaints, including some at last night’s meeting, focused on off-leash dogs’ interactions with leashed dogs and children and adults who are afraid of dogs. Ross said the off-leash dogs are rarely a problem.  Continue Reading

There have been several reports of a light-colored long-haired dog with matted fur running loose in Spruce Hill. The first sighting was reported last night near 44th and Pine/Spruce, and there were more sightings tonight in the same area. The dog appears very scared and doesn’t let anybody come close enough to capture her. Here’s a photo of the dog taken by one of the area residents last night.

If you see this dog, please contact ACCT Philly (267-385-3800) and report the location and time of the sighting.

The Friends of Clark Park (FoCP) Membership meeting will take place on Monday, Oct. 19, starting at 7 p.m.

The agenda includes:

• Elections are scheduled for President, Vice President, Secretary, and half of the FoCP Board.

• A discussion is planned about trash removal in the park and associated problems.

• A discussion of various upcoming projects including folding chair replacement, new chess tables, and planning for next year’s events.

The meeting will be held at Griffith Hall Lecture Room A, 600 S. 43rd Street, on the University of the Sciences Campus. All are welcome.

A 19-year-old man was shot and killed near 52nd and Locust in the latest of a series of violent incidents in that area in the past few weeks.

Police say the unidentified man was shot at about 2:50 p.m. on Sunday afternoon and was taken to Penn Presbyterian Hospital, where he died at about 3:30 p.m.

No arrests have been made and no weapon was recovered, police said.

Two men were shot during separate shootouts near the same intersection three weeks ago. No arrests were made in those shootings.

                         Chaniece Benn

Police are searching for a 20-year-old woman, Chaniece Benn, who vanished after leaving Mercy Hospital, 501 S. 54th St., on early Saturday morning. A resident of the 3800 block of Aspen Street, Benn was last seen around 4 a.m. on Saturday exiting the hospital with an unknown black male. She has cerebral palsy and a diminished mental capacity, according to police.

Benn is five feet, one inch, 130 pounds with a medium build, has brown eyes, a light brown complexion, and straight, black, shoulder length hair. She was wearing a black hooded jacket, khaki pants, and a black shirt and black sneakers with a silver stripe. The man, who was seen leaving the hospital with her (pictured below), is described as five feet, five inches tall, with a medium build and medium complexion. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, and black shoes.

Anyone with information on this missing person is asked to call the Southwest Detective Division at 215-686-3183/3184 or dial 911.

The work begins in earnest at Lea School playground. (Photo courtesy of the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools.)

You may have noticed the work underway at the Henry Lea School playground (47th and Spruce) over the last couple of weeks. This work is part of the Greening Lea Project, a multi-year, multi-project transformation of the outdoor environment of the school. In a testament to what grassroots, collaborative community work can do, this amazing transformation of the Lea playground comes as school budgets plummet.

Dozens of Lea students, families and neighbors along with donor volunteers will meet at the playground tomorrow at 10 a.m. to start planting in the playground’s rain gardens. Volunteers from the Philadelphia Orchard Project will also be there to plant in the landscaping bed along Spruce Street, according to the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools.

The construction underway now will eventually include brick pavers, large shade trees and rain gardens. The basketball court will be rotated and repaved and new hoops will be installed.

Community contributions through the Greening Lea Naming Campaign and the Close the Gap Campaign have helped pay for about a quarter of the project, which will transform hundreds of square feet of asphalt into an important community gathering place.

Swing by tomorrow between 10:00 a.m. and 12 p.m. to have a look.