Police are investigating an armed robbery that took place on Sunday, Feb. 8 at approximately 7:50 p.m. on the 4100 block of Pine Street. The victim, a 23-year-old woman, told police that she was walking east on Pine Street when she heard a vehicle stop. She then felt a push from behind, and an unknown young male demanded that she empty her pockets. The woman told police that the man was armed with a small black revolver which he pointed at her head. She gave him her cell phone, and the man got back into his car, a dark colored vehicle, and fled.

No injuries were reported in this incident.

There was another robbery on the 4100 block of Pine less than two weeks ago, on January 31, at approximately 2:30 p.m. There was no weapon involved in that robbery, according to police. More details are currently not available.

UPDATE (9:55 p.m.): NBC Philadelphia is reporting that one person was hurt in the fire on the 4700 block of Cedar. His or her condition is currently unknown.

UPDATE (8:29 p.m.): The fire is under control. It appears that the fire heavily damaged the home’s interior. Neighbors say an elderly man lives alone in the home. He reportedly wasn’t home when the fire began. We’ll keep you updated.

8:05 p.m.: Fire crews are battling a fire at 4729 Cedar Avenue, a twin home. The fire broke out at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Photo by David Poplar.

The City of Philadelphia has found a sponsor to help lighten the cost of the bike share program set to begin this Spring. Independence Blue Cross will contribute $1.7 million a year for five years. For that they get to name the program – it’s called “Indego” – written on the chunky blue bikes and at the 60 docking stations across the city.

The stations are located from 2nd and Walnut west to 44th and Walnut and Temple University south to the Tasker. It looks like 13 of them will be on this side of the Schuylkill, including one at Clark Park. The stations will house about 600 bikes total. Built by Trek, the bikes have step-through frames, pedal-powered front and rear lights, baskets, three speeds, and adjustable seats.

There are a bunch of different ways to pay, including by-the-trip or a membership. Prices will be announced in March, according to the Indego website. There’s an FAQ here that addresses some other questions.

We’re still waiting on an exact launch date. We’ll keep you posted.

Here’s what the bikes look like:

Philly’s IndeGo bike share bike: pic.twitter.com/hgnMOmsRUF

— Bike Coalition Phila (@bcgp) February 11, 2015

Members of the Minor Threats Chess Club.

The Minor Threats chess club whose members are West Philly schoolkids in grades 3 through 8, is preparing again this year for a series of important competitions. Coach Jason Bui is planning to take his pupils, about 15 kids, to the following events happening in the next few of months: PA State Scholastic Chess Championships in Lancaster, Pa., the High School National Championships in Columbus, Ohio, the Junior High National Championships in Louisville, and the Elementary National Championships in Nashville.

“These trips make a huge difference in these kids lives. They experience so many “firsts” in life through chess. They learn so much about themselves and the world though chess,” Jason says.

This year, Minor Threats will be partnering with the Paul Robeson Chess Club and probably a few other teams on these trips. “We hope to take about 30/40 kids to each tournament. I’m trying to take more kids to more tournaments than ever before,” Jason said. However, most of the families Jason works with can not afford the cost of attending these trips. “Without the help of the community we will not be able to go,” he said.

Thanks to community support, in 2013 Jason was able to take 10 kids to the State Championships and eight kids to SuperNationals in Nashville, TN. In 2014, 14 kids were able to travel to the State Championships, 10 kids went to Junior High Nationals in Atlanta, GA, and six kids went to Elementary Nationals in Dallas, TX.

If you would like to help these young chess players again, please follow this link to the club’s fundraising page on GoFundMe.com.

Well-known Philadelphia actor Steve Wright is playing the title character in Curio’s Othello. (Photo by Kyle Cassidy)

Yes, the Curio Theatre Company is staging William Shakespeare’s Othello. But this is billed as an “intimate and in-your-face” version of the tale of one of the most famous Moors of them all.

“This version of Othello will be raw,” according to correspondences from Curio leading up to Friday, Feb. 20’s opening night. Dan Hodge, the co-founding director of The Philadelphia Artists’ Collective, will direct. Well-known Philadelphia actor Steve Wright will play the title character.

“Doing Othello in a smaller space is a gift, because it allows us to strip away the sense of grandeur that can distance us from the play and we can engage with the characters as people,” Hodge said. “This is Shakespeare’s most domestic tragedy, and it is a true pleasure to invest in the subtle human elements that make it resonate with us today.”

And those humans are pretty delicious, including the enchanting Desdemona (Isa St. Clair) and the dastardly Iago (Brian McCann). Othello is about power and love and suspicion – the grist of any good drama. The cast also includes Steve Carpenter, Rachel Gluck, Colleen Hughes, Paul Kuhn, Eric Scotolati and Bob Weick.

The show runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from Feb. 20 through March 14 on Curio’s Corner Stage. There are previews on Feb. 12, 13, 14 and 19. Ticket information is available here.

– Mike Lyons

If you have passion for active modes of transportation that you want to share with other community members and if you have good communication and problem-solving skills, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia would like to hear from you.

Philly’s first bike share program is launching this spring, and the Bicycle Coalition is currently hiring Bike Share station ambassadors to work with communities in the following West Philly neighborhoods: Mantua, Powelton Village, West Powelton, Saunders Park, and Spruce Hill. This is a part-time (approximately 5 hours/week) and seasonal (until October 2015) position and comes with a $1,000 stipend.

Bike Share Ambassadors will work primarily from home and at community events and will need to complete a two-week training.

A Bike Share Ambassador’s duties and responsibilities include:  Continue Reading