The Rotunda (4014 Walnut Street) is hosting a few awesome, free events for all ages this weekend.

On Saturday, Nov. 12, from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. young children and their parents/guardians are invited to celebrate the joy of reading at the Family Book Festival. Organized by the Parent Infant Center, the festival will feature arts and crafts for ages 7-under, read-aloud stories by WXPN’s Kathy O’Connell (host of Kids’ Corner), a concert by award-winning musical group The Cat’s Pajamas, and presentation by author/illustrator Brian Biggs who will introduce “Everything Goes: On Land,” the first in a series of books for youngsters who love trains, trucks and anything on wheels.

Kids will also have an opportunity to learn how to make a book and there also will be a book swap table. You can bring a slightly used children’s book to take home some new stories to share with your family.

On Sunday, starting at 12 p.m., the Philly Zine Fest 2011 will open its doors. This festival showcases local artists and small press publishers. This is a good chance to connect with local writers and get involved with creating new forms of accessible media. For the full line-up of the participating artists go here.

Finally, also on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. don’t miss an evening with Alash, a Tuvan throat-singing and traditional Tuvan music ensemble. Tuva is a small republic in southern Siberia and the ancient art of throat singing (khoomei) developed among the nomadic herdsmen of this region. Singing in this style gives the impression of wind swirling among rocks.

Here’s an opportunity to use your design skills and have your artwork displayed all along Baltimore Avenue (plus win a few prizes).

The University City District has announced an open call for participation in the Baltimore Avenue Banner Design competition. The winner’s work will ultimately be fabricated as a 24 x 36 inch banner and installed along Baltimore Avenue. The banners currently on display along Baltimore Avenue between 45th and 50th streets will be replaced next spring with new ones, possibly featuring your design.

Here are the details of the competition.

• The design competition is open to everyone.

• An individual can submit multiple concepts.

• There is a particular interest in work that is responsive to Baltimore Avenue and the neighborhood, but the sky is the limit!

• The winner will receive $200 in University City restaurant gift certificates and $300 in cash, and your artwork on over 70 banners.

• Submissions are due Friday, March 2. Late submissions will not be accepted.

If you are interested in submitting a design please email the following to Mark Christman at: mark[at]universitycity.org:

Name, Address, Email and telephone number, Proposed design (jpg or pdf), and one-two sentence description of proposed design(s).

A selection committee will be comprised of Baltimore Avenue and neighborhood business owners, artists and neighbors.

A small female beagle was lost at 4:15 p.m. She is possibly injured. She was attacked by an unleashed dog at 47th and Osage and took off down Osage. She is wearing a leash. If you’ve seen this dog please contact Maureen at: prewitt[at]aol.com

Note: This is not Mitsi, the beagle who’s been lost for three weeks now.

There are only three performances of Curio Theatre‘s Eurydice left. This Thursday, Friday and Saturday are your last three chances to see this fabulous, critically acclaimed play. Tickets are $15-20 and can be purchased here. All performances begin at 8 p.m.

Mariposa Food Co-op is expanding into a space five times bigger than its current location and needs more help. Currently, the store is hiring for part-time cashier positions and also looking for an intern starting this winter.

The cashiering position is hourly based and includes benefits. For more information and to apply please go to this page.

Mariposa Food Co-op is also looking for an energetic self-starter seeking professional experience in membership management and communications to help open their new food co-op. This position is unpaid, but includes some perks. For more information and to apply for this position please go here.

The following commentary is in response to a fatal shooting early Saturday morning near 49th and Springfield. The author, Renee Tapp, is concerned about the horrific crime and what she perceives as apathy among residents.

On Friday night I awoke to guns shots and by the time I looked out of my bedroom window, a crime scene had been established by the police. After reaching out to the community through West Philly Local about the constant violence occurring on the Springfield corridor, I was shocked by the lack of interest or response from the readership of this blog.

It is my concern that this neighborhood is only interested in crime that happens to members of the community. At this time, I understand there is only a limited amount of information to share, however I worry that the readership has been able to dismiss this crime because the victim wasn’t from our neighborhood. For me, it does not matter where the victim is from, but rather someone perceived our neighborhood as an acceptable place to commit murder.

A human being was killed outside my house on Friday. Either direction on Springfield Ave resonates with the aftermath of a tragedy. As November begins, I am forced to ask, how much has changed since the rape and robbery near Springfield in September? I do not feel more safe now than I did then.

I would hope that the problem solving that has been so prominent on the blog in the last few days addressing non-crime issues, such as dogs off leash, can extend to addressing the on-going crime in our community. Or perhaps, we should continue to ignore these persistent problems until it is one of us, and then feign shock at how this could possibly be.