54-year-old Anthony Dent was arrested in connection with two recent burglaries, including the burglary at City Tap House, according to police. Both burglaries were captured by surveillance cameras. On January 18, at 7:30 a.m., Dent apparently entered the City Tap House building located at 3925 Walnut Street, took a laptop computer from an office, then stole assorted meats from the freezer and fled through the back emergency exit door.

On January 26 around 5:30 a.m. Dent entered a building located on the 3800 block of Chestnut Street by prying the side door open with a large screwdriver, took some items, including assorted power tools, and placed them in a parked vehicle. He then returned to the building several times for more items, according to police. The suspect was captured on surveillance video on 39th Street where he placed the tools into a parked silver Volvo XC90 and fled.

Dent was arrested on the 1600 block of 62nd Street and charged with burglary, theft and other related offenses.

(Source: Philly Police Blog).

Pssst. Hey, West Philly meat eaters! This Saturday, March 2, there’s a great opportunity to try meat from local farms and help neighborhood schools. Philly CowShare, a West Philly-based company that  sells “shares” of locally-raised, grass-fed beef and pastured pork, is hosting a one-day meat sale at the Calvary Center at 48th & Baltimore, from 2 – 6 p.m. A portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools and Penn Alexander School’s HSA.

The sale offers a one-stop shop where you can learn about participating farms, buy a package of beef or pork to cook at home and even get some recipes! The following items will be available for purchase: steaks, roasts, ground beef, no-nitrate bacon, sausage, pork chops, and sampler packs (pre-orders for sampler bundles are available online). All meat is individually packaged, labeled, and USDA certified.

Philly CowShare helps connect “communities of responsible farmers and butchers with urban communities who simply want to eat well.” The company sells bundles of beef called CowShares and bundles of pork called PigShares that are available to purchase individually and as a group. Philly CowShare challenges the consumer to eat healthy meat and to eat meat more mindfully and wants to make sure that “the farmer and butcher are paid fairly and the animals are raised in accordance with their nature and in harmony with the land.”

To learn more about how Philly CowShare operates, visit their website or Facebook page.

Mount Zion Baptist Church (50th & Woodland) and the pastor, Reverend Cedric Jones, are hosting a forum on school closings in Southwest Philly tonight, from 6 – 8 p.m.  The following schools in the School District of Philadelphia’s Southwest Planning Area are slated for closure: Wilson Elementary, Pepper and Shaw middle schools, and University City High School.

You can find more information on the proposed closings and other changes in the Southwest Planning Area here (PDF file).

Here’s a list of kindergarten open houses scheduled in West Philadelphia in March compiled by the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools and co-sponsored by Cedar Park Neighbors, Garden Court Community Association, Spruce Hill Community Association, and Walnut Hill Community Association.

A. D. Harrington School
5300-34 Baltimore Ave., 19143
(215) 471 – 2914
www.philasd.org/schools/harrington
Open House: 3/5, 9:09-9:45 a.m.

Alain Locke School
4550 Haverford Ave., 19139
(215) 823 – 8202
http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/l/locke
Open House: 3/5, call school for time

Alexander Wilson School
1300 S. 46th St., 19143
(215) 823 – 8206
www.philasd.org/schools/alexanderwilson
Open House: 3/5, Starts 9:00 a.m.

B. B. Comegys School
5100 Greenway Ave., 19143
(215) 727 – 2162
Open House: 3/5, 9:00-11:00 a.m.

Henry C. Lea School
4700 Locust St., 19139
(215) 471 – 2915
http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/l/lea
Open House: 3/5, 9:15 – 10:15 a.m.

Martha Washington Academics
766 N. 44th St., 19104
(215) 823 – 8203
www.philasd.org/schools/marthawashington
Open House: Not having Open House in March
Will have Open House on 5/17, 12:30-1:15 p.m.

Morton McMichael School
3543 Fairmount Ave., 19104
(215) 823-8272
http://webgui.phila.k12.pa.us/schools/m/mcmichael
Open House: 3/5, 1:30-2:15 p.m.

Penn Alexander School
4209 Spruce St., 19104
(215) 823 – 5465
www.philasd.org/schools/pennalexander
Open House: 3/5, 9:30-10:30 a.m.

Samuel B. Huey School
5200 Pine St., 19143
(215) 471 – 2901
Open House: 3/5, 10:00-11:00 a.m.

Samuel Powel School
301 N. 36th St., 19104
(215) 823 – 8201
www.philasd.org/schools/powel
Open House: 3/5, 8:30-10:00 a.m.

Spruce Hill residents are invited to attend a second meeting to guide future development decisions in their community. This Action Planning Workshop will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at the Wilson Student Center on the campus of the University of the Sciences (42nd & Woodland).

The session will again be led by Jennifer Hurley, a professional planner hired by the Spruce Hill Community Trust. Residents will be asked to confirm their community vision, brainstorm about ways to make it a reality, and plan next steps.

This meeting follows up on one in December that drew an unexpected turnout of about 90 people who were asked to indicate their likes and dislikes about directions that development could take in Spruce Hill. Hurley has taken that material and pulled it together in a presentation that may be viewed on the Spruce Hill Community Association’s website.

The Spruce Hill neighborhood boundaries run from Market Street to Woodland Avenue, 38th Street to 46th Street.

For more information about the planning workshop, contact Barry Grossbach, chair of the trust, at b.grossbach@gmail.com or at 215-349-7825.

About 90 people participated in the first meeting about the future development of the Spruce Hill neighborhood. (Photo from Spruce Hill Community Association’s Facebook page).

A man died on the second floor of the rowhome at 1257 S. 46th St. overnight.

A neighbor was killed and two others were injured in a house fire overnight on the 1200 block of S. 46th Street. The fire broke out around midnight and was put out about 20 minutes later. The victim, a man in his 30s, was found on the second floor and was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other men who were at the house when the fire started were able to escape.

We spoke to a next-door neighbor this morning who said that the attached row home at 1257 S. 46th is a boarding house that includes five units. The woman said she had some damage in her ceiling where firemen broke through to ensure the fire didn’t spread to adjacent buildings.

Apparently, the house was in pretty bad condition, with portable oil and electric heaters in use and no working smoke alarms, Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers told NBC10.