Thursday night was a busy night for police in West Philly, who responded to a report of a shooting near 50th and Osage and also apprehended a person in connection with a theft from a vehicle in the area. Here are the details.

A young man was shot twice in the leg at about 7:30 p.m. near 50th and Osage. The victim, a 23-year-old male, was walking on 50th Street heading toward Osage Avenue when he suddenly noticed he was being followed by three males, according to a police report. One of the males said to him “Yo, I got that weed”. When the victim turned around he noticed one of the males was armed with a black handgun. The victim then started to run when he heard multiple gunshots. As he was running he felt a pain in his right calf and noticed he was bleeding. He continued running until he noticed the police at 49th & Spruce Street. He was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania by fire rescue.

The suspects, described as young black males, two wearing all black clothing and the third wearing a sky blue hoody, ran South on 50th Street toward a grayish colored four-door Pontiac or Oldsmobile that was parked along the 400 block of S. 50th Street. The vehicle then fled North on 50th Street from Osage Avenue, according to police. A similarly described vehicle was involved in a robbery on March 12 on the 4600 block of Hazel Avenue.

West Philly Local readers reported that they heard at least eight gunshots last night. Police recovered nine 9mm fired cartridge casings and two bullet fragments at the scene.

Also on Thursday, at around 10:30 p.m.,18th District undercover police officers caught a man breaking into an unlocked car at 49th and Larchwood, arrested him and recovered the stolen belongings, according to a tweet by Joe Murray of Southwest Police Detectives.

The car he got into was unlocked and started trying doors around 45/Osage. Remember to lock your car. Nice job by the cops.

— Joseph Murray (@PPDJoeMurray) March 21, 2014

Photo courtesy University City District.

The spring has officially begun today and the University City District has announced an exciting spring program for The Porch, a cool public space near 30th Street Station. The spring programming will begin April 1 and will include a variety of FREE events and activities, featuring music, food, fitness, and fun. Here are some more details on what to expect at The Porch next month.

FOOD

Gourmet Food Trucks – Mon, Wed, Fri (11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.); Tue & Thu  (7:30 a.m.-2 p.m.)

MUSIC

WXPN Local Wednesdays
Noon on the first Wednesday of the month
Live music from Philly’s rising stars.

Ginger Coyle: April 2

You hear Ginger Coyle’s vintage vocals grace your ears, you undoubtedly feel as if you’ve encountered an old soul. The South Jersey singer-songwriter-pianist-guitarist first caught XPN’s attention with the bluesy “Silver Lining” from her 2012 EP Homeward Bound and is currently working on her full length to be released in 2014.

Lunchtime Accordion Serenade

Tuesdays, Noon – 1 p.m.

Enjoy live accordion music while you relax and have lunch or take a break from the daily grind.

FITNESS 

Put your lunch break to work for you with fitness programming from BodyRock Boot Camp.

Thursdays, 6 p.m.

Zumba: April 3 & 24

Bokwa: April 10

Bootcamp: April 17  Continue Reading

West Philly artist Nile Livingston with some works from the “Baltimore Avenue Series” (Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local)

Nile Livingston’s presence is calming.

We’re seated at the back corner table in Green Line Café on Baltimore Avenue. Livingston is sitting across from me, every once in a while dodging the sunlight coming through the window. As she answers my questions about her art, she’s composed and soft-spoken—her responses brief, but with a relaxed kindness.

Which is completely opposite of her work. As West Philly Local wrote about nearly two years ago, Livingston is the visual artist behind the “Baltimore Avenue Series,” which chronicles life on the corridor through colorful line drawings. (The series was displayed in Gold Standard Café’s dining room in 2012.) For the series, Livingston took scenes of everyday Baltimore Avenue life and put them down on stark white paper, first creating contour lines and then adding vibrant dabs and streaks of color Sharpie paint markers to bring them to life.

The “Baltimore Avenue Series” was inspired by “the day-to-day pedestrian archetype” she’d often see after moving back to West Philly following her graduation from Kutztown University, where she earned a B.F.A in large metal fabrication and sculpture. As she notes on her website, the series “captures the fleeting moods” of the community as “it’s transformed by the influx of growing businesses, new residents, petty crimes, and trope characters.”

And all of the characters that compose the new West Philly are there: the jogger, the coffee shop writer, the dog walker, the artist, the neighborhood kids, and the parents with their children. Her favorite image from the series, titled “The Museum of Momma Art: Affordable Gifts for Mother,” is of a woman pushing a stroller down the street.

The final images, she said, are based both on observation and imagination.

“I tried to take these archetypes and leave it open to a story,” said Livingston, 26, who also designed the Cecil B. Moore playground mural at 22^nd Street and Lehigh Avenue. “I don’t know what their lives are about, so I draw people that are kind of similar to them. These aren’t people I know necessarily. These are all strangers.” Continue Reading

Click to enlarge

Starting next Thursday, Philly Queer Media will host its month-long Media Activism Series, showcasing politically charged and profound works by queer media artists throughout the city, including West Philly.

Philly Queer Media’s annual spring series, which runs from March 20th to April 22nd, will feature pieces from local creatives that cross the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, disability and class. From inspired documentaries to dance performances and book readings, the public and mostly-free events aim to raise the profiles of transgender and queer artists—much of which is Philly Queer Media’s mission—while also fostering dialogue, building communities, and sparking social change.

West Philly’s all-female circus arts collective, Tangle Movement Arts, is among the artists to be featured during the month-long festival. They’ll perform their new show, “Timelines,” from Thursday, April 3rd to Saturday, April 5th at the Christ Church Neighborhood House (20 N. American Street). Performances start at 8 p.m. each day, with a 3 p.m. matinee added on Saturday.

The festival will also end in West Philly, with the closing event, “Queering the Digital Humanities,” taking place on Tuesday, April 22nd on the sixth floor of the University of Pennsylvania’s Kislak Center for Special Collections (3420 Walnut Street). The three-person panel will discuss the crossroads of social justice activism, digital humanities, and queer media. The free, all ages event starts at 12 p.m.

For a list of other Media Activism Series performances, visit Philly Queer Media’s website.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the start day as Friday. It is Thursday. We regret the error.

– Annamarya Scaccia

A large tree snapped and fell into the middle of the 4300 block of Spruce at about 5:45 p.m., damaging two cars waiting for a red light.

High winds no doubt played a part in the down tree. No injuries were reported.

“The wind has been blowing and this tree has been dead for a long time and the city hasn’t done anything about it,” said the driver of one car. “This is what you get.”

As of 6 p.m. the both lanes of the 4300 block of Spruce are closed.

Despite the recent arrest of a teenager who tried rob an undercover cop earlier this week, police are reporting that another gunpoint robbery took place last night. This time a 23-year-old man was robbed at about 10 p.m. along the 4600 block of Hazel Avenue by a man with a silver handgun who police believe escaped in a grey sedan.

Police say the victim was walking down 46th Street and had just made the turn onto Hazel when he noticed a grey car parked and idling. As he continued along Hazel, he also noticed a man walking slowly in front of him. As he passed, the man pointed a small silver handgun at him, made him sit down on the front steps of a nearby home and demanded his wallet and cell phone, according to a police report.

As he was being robbed, the victim noticed the grey sedan slowly approaching. The robber told the man to run toward 47th Street. When the victim looked back the car and the man were both gone.

The victim was not injured.

The suspect is described as a black male, about 6-feet-two-inches tall with a thin build, about 20 years old wearing a grey hoodie and black sweat pants.

This is the latest in a string of robberies in the area round Baltimore Avenue from 46th to 49th Streets. Police arrested a teenager earlier this week who tried to rob an undercover police officer who they say confessed to other recent robberies.

Police are asking those with information to call 215-686-TIPS or text short code PPDTIP. You can also submit anonymously here.