West Philly High is getting new laptops today thanks to the hip hop cop.
Daily News Celebrities and Gossip columnist Jenice Armstrong has a great piece today on Charlie Mack Alston, who became well known as the security guard for West Philly natives Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff, and his efforts to replace computers stolen last month from West Philadelphia High School. Two teens, one a student at the school, have pleaded guilty to the theft. Thirty computers, valued at about $1,000 each, were never recovered.
Alston’s plan began soon after he saw reports that the laptops had been stolen.
“It was just on my heart that I wanted to do something,” he told Armstrong.
So he called up his friend Will Smith and together they bought 30 new computers.
Alston will present the computers to the school today.
The Charles Dickens statue is back in place at Centennial Park in Sydney (Photo from The Telegraph website).
If you have reveled in telling everyone who cared that the Charles Dickens statue in Clark Park was the only one in the world, these might be the worst of times.
A second Dickens statue, which disappeared some 40 years ago, has been fixed up and placed in Centennial Park in Sydney.
The author famously told his family that he wanted no public commemorations or testimonials. No statues. No buildings named for him. The Little Nell statue, commissioned in the late 19th century garnered accolades in public exhibits until settling into Clark Park in 1901 and there it remains, despite several attempts to move it to more prominent spots in the city.
The Sydney statue shows a contemplative Dickens holding a quill and scroll. The Telegraph newspaper reported last month that the statue was also commissioned in the late 19th century, but was removed in 1972 because of vandalism. Somewhere in transit the head was damaged and the statue was placed into storage until the company housing it went bankrupt.
Dickens and Little Nell in Clark Park in 1910.
The statue went missing until Sandra Faulkner, the president of the New South Wales Charles Dickens Society, began a public search for the statue in 2006.
“I received about three calls over the course of a few days from people who didn’t want to give their names but who knew the statue and knew where it was,” she told The Telegraph.
The statue turned up a year later in a private garden about an hour outside of Sydney.
Stonemasons spent the last four years making a new head, quill, scroll and finger for the statue.
The statue was replaced last month just in time for the novelist’s 199th birthday.
A fire early this morning at a transformer at the SEPTA sub-station at 33rd and Market Streets disrupted rush hour El and trolley service. As of 9:30 a.m. service on the Market-Frankford Line had been restored, but shuttle buses are still carrying passengers on several trolley lines.
The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported that one SEPTA worker sustained a “non life-threatening” injury.
About 40 young chess players gathered at the Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library (152 S. 52nd St.) on Saturday to compete in a three-round tournament and to raise interest in the library’s chess club.
The library and After School Activities Partnership (ASAP) sponsored the tournament. Players from the Blackwell Library club and others from the club at the Walnut Street West Library took part. The Blackwell club meets every Saturday from 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. and youth players K-12 are invited to join.
Click on the slideshow below for more photos.
Signs of Spring on 44th Street between Spruce and Pine.
Things are looking up. Spring is near. We can taste it. Here are a few things going down this weekend. Let us know if we missed something especially important to you. Write editor — at — westphillylocal.com.
Saturday, March 12
• Chess Tournament• 1 p.m. • Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library (125 S. 52nd St.) • Free
Join chess players from around West Philly for this free chess tournament. Adults and children are welcome, though they will compete separately. See more information here.
Good music and snacks from Jay Sands for kids 0-8 years. This thing fills up quick so you might want to RSVP. Call Jay at 215-913-2679.
• Javaflix Movie Discussion Night • 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. • VCC Office and Cultural Center (4523 Springfield Ave.) • Free
The Javaflix discussion group will watch and discuss Gasland, the Oscar-nominated documentary about the effects of natural gas drilling (a process called “fracking”). The film is particularly pertinent for Philadelphia residents because of the drilling upstream in northeastern and northcentral Pennsylvania. Here’s a trailer for Gasland.
World Cafe Live’s “Kids Rock for Kids” rock concert series benefits children’s medical charities in the Philadelphia area several times throughout the year. Concerts feature teenage rock bands from Music Training Centers’ Rock 101 program in a family-friendly atmosphere.This event will benefit LiveConnections.org, which creates innovative music education programs for children and special needs populations.
On January 9, 2011, a fire hit the building housing the Global Leadership Academy in West Philly. We’re joining the fundraising effort, as GLA prepares to open a new building next school year! The Cat’s Pajamas makes very cool music for kids, bringing a musical-comedy twist to high-octane kid-rock. All the proceeds go directly to the GLA’s Fire Relief fund! For more info on Cat’s Pajama’s go here.
The two high school students arrested last month for the theft of 60 laptops from West Philadelphia High School pleaded guilty today.
6ABC is reporting that Jonathon Carter and Dadisi Williams both entered guilty pleas and that sentencing is scheduled for later this month.
Carter, a student at West Philadelphia High School, and Dadisi, a University City High student, were charged on March 1 after police arrested them in a sting operation. Police received information soon after the Feb. 21 heist that computers that fit the description of those taken from West Philly High were for sale on Craigslist. Police posed as potential buyers and lured Carter to 52nd and Market Streets, where they took him into custody. A search of Carter’s home uncovered 28 more laptops. Further investigation led police to Dadisi.
West Philly High is getting new laptops today thanks to the hip hop cop.
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