The plot at 4812 Baltimore Ave, the site of the proposed building (image from Google Street View).

Plans for a new apartment building at 4812 Baltimore Ave will be revealed tomorrow (Thursday, Jan. 17) at a community meeting that will be held at The Calvary Center (801 S. 48th St). The owners of the property, Diversified Realty Ventures, have submitted an application to the Philadelphia Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) and applied for a permit to build a new, 4-story structure with a roof deck. The building will have a small commercial store front on the 1st floor and five apartments above.

The lot where the building is currently proposed is home to a few garden plots, but is otherwise vacant. The builder needs a variance because of the proposed structure’s height. The building would house five apartments with a total of nine bedrooms.

At the meeting, the owners will present drawings of the proposed building and answer any questions the community may have.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Calvary Center’s basement (entrance through 48th street side door).

More table locations have been added for this year’s West Philly Girl Scout cookie sale, which begins this Thursday, Jan. 17 (see the list below). And if you can’t make it by a table, you can get a home or work delivery!

Here’s how you can help local Girl Scout troops by purchasing cookies (a message from Amy Kwasnicki, who is the cookie hub for three troops of girls, Kindergarten through 5th grade):

“Cookie sales make all of the Girl Scouts programs affordable, but also provide immediate funds for the troops to use. Our past community service projects, which have been funded by cookie sales, include clearing a vacant lot in Powelton, buying and planting trees for the lot, clearing invasive plants from a community garden in West Philly, planting a butterfly garden, and an earthworm and ladybug release in Clark Park. Cookie sales have also enabled the troops to spend the night at the Franklin Institute, purchase compasses for all of the Scouts, and, of course, go camping!”

Girl Scout Cookie Table Locations and Dates:

Fri. 01/18 Eastern Mountain Sports, 34th and Chestnut, 3:30pm-6:30pm
(check out the promo here)

Sat. 01/19 Clark Park “B” Park, 43rd and Chester, 10:00am-1:30pm

Tues. 01/22 SEPTA Suburban Station, table is located near stairs/elevator in Penn Square plaza, facing 16th Street, 6:00am!! – 6:00pm

Wed. 01/23 Locust Walk in front of St. Mary’s, 39th and Locust, 3:30pm-5:30pm

Sat. 01/26 Clark Park “B” Park, 43rd and Chester, 10:00am-1:30pm

Wed. 01/30 Locust Walk in front of St. Mary’s, 39th and Locust, 3:30pm-5:30pm

Fri. 02/01 Eastern Mountain Sports, 34th and Chestnut, 3:30pm-6:30pm

Sat. 02/02 Clark Park “B” Park, 43rd and Chester, 10:00am-1:30pm

Tues. 02/05 SEPTA Suburban Station, table is located near stairs/elevator in Penn Square plaza, facing 16th Street, 6:00am!! – 6:00pm

Wed. 02/06 Locust Walk in front of St. Mary’s, 39th and Locust, 3:30pm-5:30pm (though we may get an earlier start since schools are closed that day)

If you have questions or want a home/work delivery, email Amy at: kwaszilla@gmail.com

The five-year-old girl who was abducted by an unknown female from Bryant Elementary school (60th and Cedar) Monday morning was found partially clothed in an Upper Darby playground this morning, police said.

A passerby found the girl early this morning at a playground near 69th Street and Marshall Road. The girl, who was wearing only a t-shirt, was cold and crying and was taken to Children’s Hospital for evaluation. She was able to escape from her abductors, 6ABC reports.

The child’s ordeal began within minutes of her mother dropping her off at school. She was picked up at about 8:50 a.m. on Monday by an unidentified woman who police say was wearing black “Muslim style” clothes, including a niqab covering her face.

“She saw the teacher,” said Captain John Darby from the Special Victims Unit. “She indicated she was the child’s mother and that she was going to take the child to breakfast.”

The girl’s mother dresses similarly, which may have confused the youngster. Police said that the abduction was not random.

“The woman came into that school, knew where to go, who to see and asked for the child by name,” said Darby. “That child was targeted.”

Darby said that the woman was asked to sign a sheet to check the girl out of school, but added that the signature was illegible. School officials did not report the child missing until 3 p.m., when her day care provider arrived to pick her up, police said.

Philadelphia police have offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information should contact the Special Victims Unit at 215.685.3251/52/53.

Help is needed again at the “Chess Cadets” club that meets every Monday, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at the Walnut St. West Library (40th and Walnut). The club is in real need of volunteer coaches. You don’t have to be a Chess Master, just patient when working with kids.

If you would like to help please call Joe Clarke at 215-626-7332 or Susan Ben at 215-685-7671.

Recently, the Chess Cadets were invited to play chess at the Philadelphia Museum of Art as part of the Marcel Duchamp exhibition opening, where they played not only each other but museum visitors, children and adults alike. See more here.

Police are still searching for two armed men who robbed an apartment on the 200 block of S. 48th Street on Friday afternoon and injured a 15-year-old boy who was inside. The apartment invasion took place at about 3:40 p.m. when the boy opened the door. Police say one of the men pointed to the apartment next door and asked if the victim knew someone named “Darryl.” When the boy said that he didn’t know anyone by that name both men pulled out guns and demanded money, according to a police report.

Police said that the suspects walked the teenager to each room looking for money and one of them struck him in the back of the head with a gun. The robbers took approximately $2,000 and jewelry. The boy was then tied up with a belt and a telephone cord and the robbers fled the apartment.

Reportedly, the family living in the apartment are of Cambodian descent and own a nearby business. This was the fourth break-in they experienced in about two years, ABC6 reported.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Southwest Detectives Division at 215-686-3183/3184.

Screenshot from surveillance video on Philly Police Blog.

The woman seen in a surveillance video accompanying a man who police say slashed tires on nearly 60 cars early Monday morning in the Cedar Park neighborhood has turned herself in, a police source confirmed.

Police said the unnamed woman was accompanied by an attorney when she turned herself into Southwest Detectives on Friday. As of this morning, she has not been charged.

“This should be wrapped up shortly,” the police source said, adding that detectives had received a lot of tips about the incident.

The man seen in the video allegedly slashed tires on vehicles parked along the 4700-5000 block of Hazel Avenue and the 5300 block of Chancellor Avenue between 5:30 and 6:40 a.m on Monday. The police and the city have offered a total of $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the vandals.