The Walnut Hill Community Association wants to transform a  city-owned property near 49th and Chancellor Streets, a vacant lot frequented by drug dealers, into a community garden. Sounds great, right? Well, they aren’t making much progress and they need your help.

The association is asking community members to petition Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell to ask that the city sell it the property. The catch is that the sale of the property to another buyer is pending. The WHCA did not disclose the potential buyer, but its members and many nearby residents say that if the sale goes through there would be more criminal activity on the lot.

That’s where you come in. The WHCA needs help convincing Blackwell to reexamine the sale.

WHCA would purchase the property using funds from a Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia “Vital Neighborhoods” grant it received this year.

Association members are already working on transforming lots at 208 and 214 S. 50th Street into gardens and hope to do the same with this one. Several nearby residents have been complaining to police about criminal activity on the property for months.

Here’s how you can help:

• Print out the letter below, add your name and address to the header, sign it and mail to Jannie Blackwell. Her address is on the letter. 

Or

• Come to the association’s Community Day this Saturday at 50th and Locust and sign the petition there.

Walnut Hill Community Association letter template (click on the image to enlarge and print):

This year Walnut Hill Community Association (WHCA) turns 50 and its annual Community Day will be a great way to mark the anniversary. All neighbors are invited to join the celebrations this Saturday, July 16, from 11:00 a.m. to 7 p.m., at 50th and Locust Streets. There will be live music, free food, moon bounce, raffles, and other fun stuff. See the poster for more details.

Have you had anything stolen in the last year or so? Maybe a camera? Or an I-pod? There is a chance it might be sitting at the police department’s 18th District headquarters right now.

Southwest Detectives discovered a massive cache of what they say are fenced items in a clothing store near 52nd and Chestnut. The items recovered include hundreds of cameras, cell phones, I-pods, flat screen TVs, gaming systems, jewelry and GPS devices. Police are asking that victims of robberies, burglaries and break-ins come to the 18th District headquarters at 55th and Pine Streets after 4 p.m. today to claim an item.

The tricky part of this, of course, is identifying and proving what is yours. Police say they will work with people, but that a police report filed when the item was taken would be extremely helpful.

Police believe most of the items were stolen from West, Southwest and South Philadelphia and Upper Darby.

Three-year-old Jaquinn Brewton, the boy who was hospitalized after his caregiver said he fell down a flight of stairs late last month, died Tuesday within minutes of being taken off life support. After an autopsy last night revealed that his injuries were due to “blunt force trauma,” his death was ruled a homicide.

Police say no charges have been filed yet.

Brewton’s caregiver, who has been described as a “family friend,” told police that she found him unconscious on the steps of an apartment building on the 4700 block of Chestnut Street on June 29. She told police he had fallen down the stairs.

Brewton’s mother, who was staying in a homeless shelter at the time, has alleged that Brewton was abused. She has said that doctors told her that the boy had been burned on various parts of his body.

A reader Lori emailed with this information:

This older female tabby showed up on my steps today (500 block of Melville). She has no collar and I’ve never seen her before. She is in good health and very friendly. Please call me at 215-662-0749 if you know where she lives.

Police are still searching for a male in his early 20s who stabbed and robbed a woman near 45th and Pine Streets on Monday night.

The victim, who police described as an 18-year-old Asian woman, was stabbed in the back three times and robbed of her cell phone. Police say the suspect was black male in his early 20s wearing a white t-shirt.

The robbery took place at about 11:30 p.m. The victim was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and was in stable condition.