There are a few efforts in the area to help neighbors in need during the holidays. Recently, we wrote about the annual Cedar Park Holiday Food Drive. Here are two more opportunities to help out:

Holiday Drive at Local 44 (44th and Spruce)

Get into the Holiday Spirit by donating new and unwrapped toys or personal care items for the People’s Emergency Center, a West Philly shelter offering support services to women and children. Click here for a list of most wanted items. Drop off your donations in the Bottle Shop through Dec. 18.

Winter Coat and Book Drive at Renewal Presbyterian Church (47th and Cedar)

Winter coat and book drive benefits Cradles to Crayons, a local charity that serves communities in the Philadelphia area. With cold weather on the way, there is an urgent need for coats, socks, gloves, and PJs for children of all ages. Only new and gently used items are accepted. Donations can be dropped off between 8:30 a.m.- 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 19 at Renewal Presbyterian Church, located on the corner of 47th and Cedar Ave. You can also contact Jeannette Bennicelli (jbennice[at]mail.med.upenn.edu) and bring donations to her house (now until Dec. 20).

Rendering of 4610 Cedar Ave. Photo from www.rolaarchitects.com.

Here’s more information on the new three-story building under construction in the triangle between Cedar and Baltimore Avenues, the former location of the Philadelphia Credit Union. Construction of the mixed-use structure, which will include six residential units and a commercial space on the ground floor, began in the summer and is expected to be completed in late spring 2016, according to Philly Curbed.

As was reported earlier, the lot belongs to the Lai family, who own several businesses and other properties in the area. An appeal was filed against the Philadelphia Board of Licenses and Inspections earlier this year, on the grounds that they “did not consider the impact of adjacent property with regard to air, light and use impairment” when issuing the building permit. The affected property was not mentioned. The appeal was denied last month, and the construction at 4610 Cedar continues. Check out more renderings and photos on Curbed.

This week’s featured adoptable cat is Sundae, a young female domestic medium-hair.

Personality Types: 1. Private Investigator: Sundae’s curiosity knows no bounds. She is always finding the hidden nooks and corners of your home. 2. Professional Cuddler: she can be found on or near you at all times.

Sundae is a very curious cat. When you open your closet or the door to another room, you can rest assured she will be at your heels ready to explore this interesting new space. If you open your window, make sure it has a screen because she’ll jump right up to the windowsill to stare out at the streets and listen to the cars and people outside.

She’ll start off kind of shy but will quickly warm up to you. Sundae loves being pet and will jump on the table next to you if you’re concentrating on your coffee or computer and demand attention! She also enjoys climbing onto the back of the chair you’re sitting on and nuzzling you from behind.

Occasionally, she’ll go on to your lap. Of course, she’ll let you know when she’s had enough with petting or playing with a little swipe or nip.  Continue Reading

Clarkville in September 2015 (Photo West Philly Local).

(12/3/2015): Here’s the latest update:

Official word—”Not opening today.” We’ve got our fingers crossed for tomorrow—Stay tuned! A special growler reward for your patience awaits!

— Clarkville (@clarkvillephl) December 3, 2015

(12/2/2015): The opening of Clarkville bar and restaurant at 43rd and Baltimore is getting closer. According to its owner Leigh Maida, who we spoke to in the fall, the tentative opening date was Dec. 1, but it hasn’t opened yet. Clarkville’s opening was postponed a couple of times before, with the latest reason for delay being problems with electricity in the building. Maida and her business partners Brendan Kelly and Brendan Hartranft are renting the two-story, former Best House Pizza space at 43rd and Baltimore. But here’s some encouraging news. According to their latest tweet, the restaurant’s opening is very close. The executive chef has also been revealed on the Clarkville website. It’s Justin Bennett, who has been in charge of Local 44’s menu for the past three years. Earlier this year, Clarkville owners said that it would be “a little less beer forward and a little more food forward” than Local 44. Stay tuned for more information. 

Clarkville’s opening is so close we can (quite literally) taste it. Stay tuned for our opening announcement! pic.twitter.com/G7leBzAL9K — Clarkville (@clarkvillephl) November 28, 2015

From back row left to right: Aetna Gallagher, Ken Opdenaker, Maria Konstantinidis, Brandon Pierce, Rachel Gluck and CJ Keller (Photo by JR Blackwell)

The Curio Theatre Company will stage a play opening this Friday that should resonate deeply in our ever-connected, hyper-talkative social media saturated world, a place where everyone talks but few communicate.

The Bald Soprano, the first work by Romanian playwright Eugène Ionesco, makes us laugh at all of this absurd small talk run amok. Originally set in the London home of the fictional couple The Smiths, who are having their friends, The Martins, over for dinner, the play has been updated to include – through clever screen projections –  all of that online gibberish that we all know too well. The play’s script stays true to the original set in the 1950s, but works in modern takes on the non-sequitur.

“Every day we are trapped in the web (pardon the pun) and we argue, sell, cajole, entertain and most of all, cross our wires on the internet,” said director Charlotte Northeast. “This show has pieces of that layered in to illustrate that whether we are speaking in the 1950’s or today, we haven’t mastered this whole talking and REALLY communicating thing.”  Continue Reading

Two charter operators are interested in taking over the Samuel B. Huey School at 5200 Pine St., and a committee that includes parents of current students will spend the next month or so figuring out which one they think will work best.

Image source: Google Street View.

The School District of Philadelphia announced yesterday that the Global Leadership Academy Charter School and SABIS Educational Systems are interested in Huey, one of three public schools that will be converted into charters next year as part of the District’s “Renaissance Charter School Initiative.” The others are Jay Cooke Elementary and John Wister Elementary, both in North Philly. All three were designated as “low-performing” schools.

Global Leadership Academy currently operates a K-8 school at 4600 West Girard Ave. that includes about 700 students. SABIS is a Minnesota-based, for-profit company that operates 12 charter schools across the country.

An advisory committee for each school includes District employees, two external stakeholders and, for the first time, five parents or guardians of current students, which a District spokesman said will be “the foundation” of each committee. Their job is to “solicit feedback from other families about the strengths and weaknesses of current school programming as well as wants and needs from turnaround partners,” according to a District statement.  Continue Reading