Tag: Northeast Times

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Knights of Pythias Greenwood Cemetery/Benjamin Rush House

greenwood-front-entrance

The Northeast Times reports on the meeting about the future of the Benjamin Rush house:

About a dozen community stakeholders offered cemetery officials their thoughts on what the future should look like for the Knights of Pythias Greenwood Cemetery/Benjamin Rush house rehabilitation project last week in a conference room at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America.

In 2005, CTCA moved into the old Parkview Hospital campus, adjacent to the 44-acre cemetery, at 930 Adams Ave., in Northwood.

Greenwood Holdings, a company affiliated with the hospital, and minority shareholder Friends of Greenwood acquired the cemetery and its historic yet ramshackle buildings last year.

That includes the circa 1782 Benjamin Rush House, where Doctor and Mrs. Rush are said to have served tea to George Washington and Annis Boudinot Stockton (who lived at Morven in Princeton).

Greenwood Holdings, working with consulting engineers and preservation architects, plan to restore the house, which was used as the cemetery office for many years, and transform it into the centerpiece for the cemetery.

Philadelphia Graveyards and Cemeteries author Tom Keels, who also guides tours through Laurel Hill Cemetery in East Falls, acted as a facilitator for the meeting, holding off answering questions from attendees, instead asking for their “out-of-the-box” ideas.

Joe Menkevich, former Northwood Civic Association president and amateur historian, suggested that CTCA, which has several hospitals located across the country, might consider naming this particular location the Benjamin Rush campus, noting that Rush himself worked on a treatment for cancer during his lifetime.

Read the entire story here.

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Romain House Update

Romain HouseThe Northeast Times, a few weeks ago had an update on the Romain House for veterans.

Romain House, so named because it is located at 4245 Romain St., has been helping veterans in transition since 1994. The twin home is owned by the Pennsylvania American Legion Housing for Homeless Veterans Corp.

I went by there today to see how it looked.  Very nice and spiffed up with a new flag pole out front.  Watch for the show to air on Veterans day in November.   You can click on the image for a better view.romain after1 small

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15th Police District

There was a good story this week in the Northeast Times about crime in the 15th district.  We’ve noted the decline in certain types of crime this year compared to 2008.  The article by William Kenny gets into the details of what is going on here.

According to official police statistics released earlier this year, the 15th district had 145,000 calls for police service in 2008, some 1,300 more than the next-busiest district, the 25th, which serves portions of North Philly, Kensington and Feltonville.

The final tally allowed the 15th – which covers a broad geographic area including Frankford, Wissinoming, Tacony, Mayfair and Holmesburg – to retain the dubious distinction that it has held throughout recent memory.

But painting the neighborhoods that comprise the 15th as crime-infested wastelands does not provide an accurate or fair picture of the territory, according to the police district’s commanding officer, Capt. Frank Bachmayer.

Many factors, chiefly geography and population, dictate its statistical deviation from other districts, Bachmayer says. Meanwhile, even with its high volume of police calls and crime, the 15th as a whole is actually safer than many other districts in terms of frequency of violence.

“It’s one of the biggest districts and it’s the most populated district in the city,” said Bachmayer, who next month will mark his third anniversary in command of the 15th.

When the 15th was named as one of the high priority crime districts, my first reaction was – well isn’t that great.  Nice reputation to have.  I’ve had time to rethink that position though.    Now we have more attention from the police and we are starting to see less crime.  The fact is that the crime is perpetrated by the criminals.  Ignoring them just gives them a license to go on as they have before.  Thank the cops and let’s see more of the same.

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Northwood Civic Association

At their meeting last week the Northwood Civic Association voted to approve a new car wash in the Juniata Plaza shopping center on Castor Avenue reports the Northeast Times in this weeks edition.  Read all about that and the other issues they are working on now in the Northeast Times.

car wash

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Northeast Times

crime graphicThe Northeast Times editorial last week came to the defense of the New Frankford Community Y while insulting the Frankford Community.

Say what you want about Frankford – it’s no longer the quaint neighborhood of historic homes, it’s too dangerous to visit day or night, it’s the murder capital of Northeast Philadelphia, etc. – but one thing it had (until last week) that most Northeast neighborhoods don’t have was its very own community center.

Thanks for the help Times but with friends like you, who needs enemies.  Now maybe you should do some research before you write. The crime rate is going down in Frankford.  You would know that if you read the crime reports you publish every other week.

The Times has a history of printing just about any stupid editorial to incite irate letter writers to give them some cheap content. Saves the cost of paying the reporters to fill the newspaper. So I am not going to honor their ignorance with a letter to their editor.