Update: Mufasa has been found.

This came from our neighbors who live at 41st and Spruce:

One of our cats escaped last night or this morning through a broken window screen at 41st and Spruce. His name is Mufasa and is a skinny orange tabby. He’s a little flighty, so if you think you may have seen him, please call Chelsea 215-880-6868, Jess 410-916-7260, or Erin 717-818-6078.

We’re very worried about our little Mufasa. If you’re in the W
Philly area, please be on the lookout!

Music that traces its history to a wrecked slave ship near what is now St. Vincent centuries ago is coming to West Philly tomorrow.

Umalali (the Garifuna word for “voice”), a musical ensemble consisting of Garifuna women from the countries of Belize, Honduras and Guatemala, is visiting West Philly this Wednesday, May 4, with two performances at Crossroads Music (801 S. 48th Street). The first show is for children and their parents, and starts at 6 p.m. Children’s tickets are only $5 and the accompanying adults go for free! The main performance begins at 7:30 p.m. All tickets can be purchased here.

The Garifuna culture traces back to 1635 when a ship carrying people from present-day Nigeria to be sold into slavery wrecked off the coast of St. Vincent in the eastern Caribbean. The people who survived the wreck were absorbed into the indigenous Carib population and created their own unique culture. Four centuries later the Garifuna culture was recognized by UNESCO as a “Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” It’s mostly Garifuna women who should take credit for this recognition, because they carried on the teaching of the language and passed on songs from generation to generation.

The tour that stops in West Philly is the result of a 14-year process of recording Garifuna songs – first in their original setting – and then in a studio. Belizean musician and producer has led the project, which has become like a Buena Vista Social Club for the Garifuna music and culture. The resulting album, “Umalali: The Garifuna Women’s Project,” was recorded in a studio set up in a thatched-roof hut in the village of Hopkins, Belize.

Here’s a video preview of Umalali: The Garifuna Women’s Project.

Police are searching for three men involved in a shooting at 48th and Kingsessing last night that left two victims in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds.

Police say the shooting took place after a red coupe-style vehicle – possibly a Mustang or Toyota – approached two men standing on the northwest corner of 48th and Kingsessing at about 10:45 p.m. The driver exited the car and began arguing with the two men. Two passengers then emerged from the vehicle and opened fire, according to police.

One victim, a 25-year-old male, was shot multiple times in the lower back and was listed in critical condition at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP). A second victim, an unidentified male, was shot three times in the lower abdomen and once in the leg. He is also listed in critical condition at HUP.

Police spokeswoman Christine O’Brien said the driver was a black male, mid 30s to early 40s, approximately 6-foot-1 and wearing a white t-shirt with a yellow triangle on the upper left. The other two suspects were described as black males, mid 20s, wearing black t-shirts with white t-shirts underneath and dark pants.

The vehicle fled westbound on Kingsessing following the shooting.

 

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Correction: The Saturday meeting is 10 a.m. to Noon.

The Mariposa Food Co-op is hosting two community meetings this week to allow residents in West Philly to get a look at its new location on Baltimore Avenue and hear more about the progress of its expansion plans.

The first meeting is Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the soon-to-be Mariposa location at 4824 Baltimore Ave. Residents will have the chance to tour the new building, which is a five-fold increase in size over the old space, and talk to Mariposa staff and members about expansion plans. The new building is scheduled to open in October and rennovations will begin in earnest this summer.

Another open house will be held on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.10 a.m. to Noon and follow a similar format. State Rep. James R. Roebuck Jr. is scheduled to attend this open house as well to talk about the expansion.

Mariposa continues to seek support for the expansion and there are a couple of ways you can help out. A membership drive is currently under way for the new store. A loan campaign is also ongoing and donations are always accepted.

Penn’s Institute of Urban Research has released a report that confirms what everyone who has been house shopping in West Philadelphia already knows –  home prices in the Penn Alexander School catchment area have quadrupled since 1998.

The average home sale price in the catchment, which roughly runs from 40th Street to 47th and Sansom Street to Chester Avenue and parts of Woodland Avenue, has risen to about $430,000, a 211 percent increase since 1998. Home prices in the PAS catchment far outpace prices in the rest of the city. Home prices during the same period elsewhere in West Philadelphia and in University City have roughly doubled. Prices in Center City have risen 87 percent.

Average home prices in the Penn Alexander catchment are now roughly on par with properties in Center City.

Home prices have outpaced rent increases as well, which “suggests that the households in University City has shifted in composition from renters to owners,” according to the report.

The report credits the creation of the University City District, Penn’s mortgage program for employees and the Penn Alexander School with the rise in home prices.

Don’t forget about the Parent Infant Center plant sale today from… well, now until 3 p.m. If you ordered ahead of time, you can pick up your plants. If you didn’t order ahead, browsing possibilities still exist.

The sale is at the church at 42nd and Spruce.