Photo from Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll 2012/West Philly Local.

This year’s only Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll – after the first Stroll scheduled in June was rained out – will be Thursday, Sept. 12. This popular annual event draws huge crowds from West Philly and other parts of the city, who come to enjoy $1 deals, from food, sweets and beer to arts & crafts items to music and yoga class vouchers to theater tickets.

University City District (UCD), which organizes the event, says that established neighborhood businesses, like Milk & Honey, Dock Street Brewery and Firehouse Bikes, will participate in the Stroll along with newcomers that include Little Baby’s Ice Cream and The Green Tambourine. See the complete list of participating businesses here.

Radio station WXPN favorite The Fleeting Ends will perform live at the 46th Street Triangle, along with other artists and street performers. Free face painting and balloon artists will be on hand to entertain the little neighbors. Food trucks, including Jimmies Cupcake Co., Sunflower Truck Stop, The Tot Cart, and Lil Dan’s Food Truck ,will also be selling $1 items along the avenue.

Finally, stop by Clark Park (43rd & Baltimore) at 6:30 p.m. to take part in The Mp3 Experiment, a public, flash mob kind of event created by Improv Everywhere, where participants carry out coordinated instructions delivered to their headphones (instructions are available here).

As usual, the Dollar Stroll will take place from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. along Baltimore Avenue between 43rd and 51st Streets. As we always recommend, make sure to get there early if you don’t want to miss out on best deals from over 30 local businesses.

Those of you who like to knock one back now and again will be happy to learn that premium wine and liquor store at 43rd and Chestnut that has been discussed for what seems like a few years will open – on Tuesday!

The free booze will be flowing at the Premium Wine and Spirits Shop – if you are 21 and prove it of course – beginning at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. The store has been in the works for a long time and was approved by the city, despite some protests from neighbors. It replaced an adult video store and check cashing joint. The store’s “premium” label means that no pints will be for sale. Read the whole saga behind the opening starting here.

The store’s opening will likely take much of the customer pressure off the store near 49th and Baltimore, which absorbed much of the traffic after the liquor store closed near 41st and Market in January 2012.

Here is the tasting schedule, according to Philly.com:

11 a.m. – 1 p.m.:

• Grand Marnier Raspberry Peach
• Hennessy VS Cognac
• Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut
• Chandon Napa Brut

4 p.m.– 6 p.m.:

• Barefoot Cellars Pinot Grigio
• Barefoot Cellars Malbec
• Barefoot Cellars Red Moscato
• Barefoot Bubbly Moscato Spumante

The store hours are: Mon-Sat 9 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Sun noon – 5 p.m.

The cease and desist order at the Watusi Lounge at 4600 Walnut St.

Editor’s Note: We are aware that the sign on the establishment at 46th and Walnut says “Watutsi.” However, the business in all its public dealings (its filings, licenses and even its Facebook page) refers to itself as “Watusi,” so that’s what we have always gone with. Both words, of course, refer to the Tutsi people of East Africa.

The Watusi Lounge at 46th and Walnut has been closed for not having a proper food license, according to the city’s Office of Licenses and Inspections.

A cease operations notice was put on the door of the bar and night club on Sept. 6. The Watusi Lounge has received complaints from neighbors for late-night noise including alcohol-fueled fights. Police are still investigating a triple shooting earlier on Aug. 30 allegedly connected to the bar.

The lounge will not be permitted to open until a food license is issued. The notice is the latest in a list of violations the city has issued to Watusi.

In other Watusi-related news, the Watusi II at 45th and Locust, which has also received complaints, got a new paint job over the last few days. Local businessman Noel Karasanyi runs the Watusi Lounge, Watusi II and the Third World Lounge at 49th and Baltimore. The Watusi II was the subject of a community meeting in August, where some community members complained about noise and open drug use. But other members of the community have defended the businesses, saying they are among the few black-owned establishments remaining in the neighborhood.

Public school students returned to understaffed buildings across the city today under a cloud of uneasiness that has hung over the School District of Philadelphia all summer. Many of the city’s 137,000 public school students are off to new schools after last year’s closure of 24 schools and nearly every school will be missing personnel as a result of mass layoffs.

Here are a few things that parents can do to help get through the first week:

• Parents United for Public Education has a thorough guide to filing official complaints about a child’s education experience. Complaints could be about anything from seriously overcrowded classrooms (35 students or more), to the need for a school counselor when none was available, to special needs students not receiving adequate services. The Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia will also help out with complaints.

Parents United stressed that these complaints are not meant to target specific teachers or principals. “The purpose of this effort is not to file complaints against principals or school staff but to focus on the mandates of the state constitution,” the organizations website reads. “It’s important to make clear this is not a lawsuit. These are administrative complaints that are intended to document and make public how terrible the impact is on young people across the city.”

• For students heading to new schools, the city has come up with “safe routes” that will be staffed by volunteers from 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. each day of the school year. You can access those here. Locally, that includes students who attended Alexander Wilson, which closed last spring, who have been assigned to Henry C. Lea. Parents are already questioning these.

• If you are on Twitter, follow the local public school movement at #phillyeducation. Also, include #Philly1stday, on tweets about your experience on the first day of school.

• Last but not least, thank a teacher, a principal, a security officer, a secretary. These are trying times.

The “safe routes” map from Alexander Wilson to Lea.

Photo by Annamarya Scaccia / West Philly Local

Last night, Curio Theatre opened its 2013-2014 season with its free production of Washington Irving’s classic 19th century short story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” at the “Bowl” in Clark Park on 43rd Street and Chester Avenue. A full crowd of mostly families hunkered down on the grass as they listened to the story of Ichabod Crane (played by company member Josh Hitchens, who adapted “Sleepy Hollow” for stage) and his fateful encounter with the headless horseman.

During the 45-minute show, Hitchens and his fellow actors, Rachel Gluck as Crane’s love interest Katrina Van Tassel and Chris Braak as his rival Brom Van Brunt, moved around the simplistic set with quiet intensity as several torches and a small crackling campfire illuminated the scene. Sound effects, provided by Eli Halpern (who played The Musician), filled the atmosphere as Crane’s story unfolded.

Make sure to catch “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” at Clark Park before it closes on September 8. The remaining shows are on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 7:30 p.m.

In July, we reported that the former MexiCali space was rumored to become a Korean restaurant. Turns out that rumor was true—U-Town, a Korean food and sushi joint, opened its doors last week at 110 S. 40^th Street.

When West Philly Local visited U-Town yesterday, the bustling new restaurant was nearly packed and the air was filled with eager chatter. Considering the decor, U-Town is far removed from the former Mexican joint. The walls are painted in a relaxing sea foam green bordered by a soft mustard yellow color, and the tables are made of a dark red wood. The bar/register area, stationed at the back of the small space, is made of stark, smooth white material, breaking up the pastel palette.

Scanning the takeout menu, U-Town’s cuisine promises to be an exciting blend of different styles. There are Korean staples like soon doo boo (a hot and spicy stew offered with beef, tofu, seafood or mushroom), dup bap (a steamed rice dish offered with seafood, shrimp or squid), bibim bap (a warm mixed rice dish topped with hot pepper paste and served with vegetables, seafood, poor, chicken or beef), and deok boki (a spicy stewed rice cake combination). U-Town also offers a variety of dumpling and tempura dishes and taco, fish and chicken combinations, and Asian style tacos in chicken, bulgogi and kimchi forms.

U-Town’s owner, who goes by the name of Ocean, was curt when asked for more information on his restaurant. According to the owner, it was a busy time of day (around 6 p.m.) for him and he didn’t have time to talk. He only offered that U-Town opened last week and seemed bothered when asked further questions, abruptly turning away without conclusion after receiving our business card.

What we do know, however, is that U-Town does not have a credit card processing machine, but it is working on installing one according to a note on the wall when you first walk in. As for hours, the restaurant is opened Monday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

–Annamarya Scaccia