Nafis O’Neil (photo from Twitter).

Funeral services for Nafis O’Neal, the 14-year-old who died after being stabbed by a schoolmate on Jan. 16, are scheduled for Saturday. Nafis has been remembered this week by family, friends and neighbors as a respectful young man who was eager to help other people.

A freshman at West Philadelphia High School, Nafis was raised by his grandmother on the 3800 block of Haverford Avenue. Friends and family gathered on Monday evening for a vigil on the block near 46th and Market where he died when a 16-year-old student stabbed him once in the chest in what appears to be the continuation of a fight that started earlier in the day at the West Philly High cafeteria.

Police say they found a knife and bloody clothing at the suspect’s home on the 3800 block of Haverford Avenue. The 16-year-old was arrested within hours of the stabbing and was charged with homicide and related charges earlier this week. We are not releasing his name because of his age. It is unclear whether he will be tried as an adult.

Morgan Zalot of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote a nice tribute to Nafis here, including words from his aunt.

Nafis was riding his bike when he was killed. He spent a lot of time at Neighborhood Bike Works, the West Philly-based non-profit that helps kids develop leadership skills and responsibility through repairing and riding bikes. The organization tweeted photos of Nafis yesterday:

Nafis will be missed by all of us here at NBW who were fortunate enough to have worked with him.

— NeighbrhoodBikeWorks (@NeighBikeWorks) January 21, 2015

Nafis was a leader among his peers & impressed us with his repertoire of self-taught mechanics, positive humor, and drive to help others.

— NeighbrhoodBikeWorks (@NeighBikeWorks) January 21, 2015

The viewing for Nafis will be held at St. Jude Baptist Church at 632 N. 38th Street on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Arrangements are being made through Mitchum-Wilson Funeral Home.

– Mike Lyons

Tax season is here, and here’s some useful information for those who didn’t make a lot of money last year and need help filing their taxes. Starting Monday, Jan. 26, and through April 15, 2015, 20 free tax sites managed by the Campaign for Working Families will be open throughout Philadelphia. The sites will be offering free tax preparation and e-filing services to families who earned less than $53,000 in 2014 and to individuals with an income under $20,000.

Here are the locations of free community tax sites in West and Southwest Philadelphia:

West Philadelphia

Drexel University Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships, 3509 Spring Garden (wheelchair accessible)
Monday & Wednesday 2:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Friday 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.  Continue Reading

The Frank Furness-designed church buildings at 47th and Kingsessing were days away from demolition but are now undergoing renovation. (Photos by Mike Lyons / West Philly Local)

Renovation has begun on the 114-year-old Frank Furness-designed church at 47th and Kingsessing to convert it to commercial space that will likely house schools and save it from demolition.

The church building had fallen into such a state of disrepair that neighbors feared it may collapse. The City agreed and condemned the building, erected a chain-link fence and “cleaned” and “sealed” the building last June. Demolition seemed days away, but a local landlord, a historic preservationist and former Mayor Wilson Goode Sr. joined forces to convince the city to allow it to be sold and renovated.

After attempts to persuade the Department of Licenses and Inspections to remove the demolition decree didn’t work, Guy Laren, who owns several properties in West Philadelphia, and Penn historic preservation professor Aaron Wunsch asked for some help from Goode, who is chair of Partners for Sacred Spaces.

“What ultimately saved the church was Aaron’s unwillingness to give up,” said Laren by e-mail, who bought the main church building and the adjacent parish building.

The “Parish House” building adjacent to the main church building.

Laren said Wunsch boarded up windows to keep scrappers out and then courted Goode, who helped usher the purchase through the Department of Licenses and Inspections.

“The skies suddenly cleared,” said Laren.

They now have time to do the necessary repairs to shore up the church and hopefully satisfy L and I. Laren said he attracted two tenants, both schools, to occupy the space.

“I have two excellent potential tenants for most of the space inside the church,” he said. “Hopefully their tenancies will allow me to pay to renovate and restore the church.”

“If everything works out as I hope, there will be some additional space in the sanctuary that I can try to build out as either residential apartments or some other commercial use.”

The church’s latest tenant was the small congregation of St. Peter’s Church of Christ, which had occupied the church since 1979 and was reluctant to consider leasing the space to help pay for renovations.

– Mike Lyons

UPDATE (1/24/2015): A week later…

The state of the Spruce Street sinkhole. pic.twitter.com/JoHR9kZJ8B

— West Philly Local (@WestPhillyLocal) January 24, 2015

(1/19/2015): As of 8:25 p.m. on Monday, the sinkhole is still there. The cars that had been caught in it have been pulled out. We didn’t see any Streets Department crews working there when we stopped by on Monday night. Although the hole, which is on the eastbound lane, hasn’t been fixed, the block reopened to traffic (you have to get in the westbound lane to go around it). What makes it even more dangerous is that the hole is very close to the 46th and Spruce intersection. Please be careful when driving or biking on that block.

A large sinkhole opened up on the 4600 block of Spruce Street on Sunday under two cars parked on the block. A reader, Phil Gentry, tweeted this photo at around 4 p.m.

Photo by Phil Gentry.

The street surface there had problems over the weekend, and the Streets Department crews continued working on the block. A water main break closed the block to traffic on Saturday, and there was no water supply to nearby homes for several hours.

A police tow truck began pulling two cars off the edge of the hole at about 8:30 p.m.. The block is closed to all traffic and the Route 42 bus is on detour until 12 p.m. on Monday.

Photos by Mike Lyons / West Philly Local.

A 29-year-old woman was robbed at gunpoint by two or three males on the 4900 block of Spruce Street Friday night, according to police. The robbery happened at around 8:15 p.m. The men took the woman’s phone, according to police. The woman was not injured. Police say that later they arrested two suspects near 50th and Larchwood and recovered the stolen items and a BB gun.

UPDATE (Saturday, 12:18 p.m.): Police say both youths are from near 38th Street and Haverford Avenue. The alleged assailant now faces a homicide charge. Police are not releasing any names because both are juveniles. It is likely, however, that the alleged assailant will be charged in adult court and his name will be released later.

UPDATE (9:42 p.m.): Several media outlets are reporting that the 14-year-old boy died. 6ABC reported that the boy died at 8:55 p.m. at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

UPDATE (7:40 p.m.): Police say a 16-year-old boy, also a West Philly High student, has been arrested and faces aggravated assault and related charges. A confrontation between the two boys reportedly began earlier in the school day in the high school’s cafeteria.

6:24 p.m.: A 14-year-old West Philadelphia High School student was stabbed this afternoon three blocks from the school, according to police. The student was reportedly stabbed in the chest and is listed in critical condition this evening. The stabbing occurred near 46th and Market at around 3:25 p.m. Police are searching for another student, who reportedly ran up behind the victim while he was riding his bike and stabbed him.