#GunCrisis #Philly - Teen killed on basketball court

Posted: 27 Aug 2014 05:09 AM PDT Loved ones and neighbors look on as police investigate the scene where a teenager was shot to deathTuesday night in the Hartranft section of Philadelphia. Photographs for the Gun Crisis Reporting Project by Joseph Kaczmarek. Click to view slideshow. Medics pronounced a 17-year-old dead at the scene after he was shot multiple times around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday on a basketball court at the John F. Hartranft School, on West Cumberland Street near North 8th Street. Loved ones identified the victim as Robert Reid, according to a report from NBC10. Police said he had been shot multiple times in the upper torso, according to CBS3. Police said that officers on patrol responded to the scene after hearing gunshots, according to thePhiladelphia Daily News. Witnesses told police that as many as 100 people were attending a cookout in the area at the time of the shooting, according to a report from Fox29. Police told 6ABC that the suspect fired at least ten shots but no other injuries were reported.

#GunCrisis Philadelphia homicides back on pace with last year

Posted: 26 Aug 2014 09:25 AM PDT Above: Neighbors look on as police remove a body form the scene after two women were shot to death  last weekend in the Holmesburg section of Philadelphia. Photograph for the Gun Crisis Reporting Project  by Joseph Kaczmarek. After running behind last year’s homicide rate through much of this summer, the total number  of victims is back on pace with 2013, according to the latest daily update from the Philadelphia Police Department. One month ago, police data indicated that nine fewer homicides had been reported during 2014 than  by the same date last year, representing a decline from 143 to 134 total victims — or a six percent  improvement. But on Tuesday morning, the Crime Maps and Stats page at phillypolice.com counted 160 homicide victims in the city this year, identical to the year-to-date total for 2013. Above: After several fluctuations, Philadelphia’s 2014 homicide rate was close to last year’s pace  through the first 32 weeks of each year, according to data taken from Philadelphia Police Weekly Reports. After leaping nearly 30 percent ahead of last year’s rate through the first few months of 2014, this year’s  pace then fell behind and pulled nearly even again through the first 20 weeks of 2014, before the latest  fluctuations. During 2013, a total of 247 people were murdered in Philadelphia, down from 331 victims in reported  2012, representing an historic reduction of 25.4 percent, as we previously reported. More than 80 percent of last year’s homicide victims were killed with guns. Posted by Jim MacMillan.

Growing Old Gracefully.....

In a world where time can’t be controlled should there be mandatory classes for those who hit the 40 something mark on how to grow old gracefully?  Desperation hits a person who sees time flying by without accomplishing the goals they once set for themselves. For some, it’s even guilt of the life changing mistakes they have made. The question remains, Am I where I should be in my existence with my career, relationship, family goals and personal life?

As time goes on, you start experiencing issues of growing old. In talking too many of my peers, health issues are beyond one’s control. Arthritis, weight gain, high blood pressure, diabetes, menopause and for some, experiencing anxiety and depression becomes symptoms that make them more aware of life’s most precious moments.

I was never taught how to grow old gracefully. It just wasn't a topic of conversation that you wanted to hear about when you are younger. I now look at people who are older and respect those who age with grace and tranquility. Those who do not stop living because their age is a higher number but whom still set life’s short term and long term goals.

I now understand the meaning of a legacy and want to continue to build mines on my life work and dreams. A legacy that my children and their children be proud of and remember. So, yes there should be classes of how to grow old gracefully for men and women.  With mid-life crisis or the more correct term “transitional period in life” being inevitable for all of us, one must go through a period of self-reflection.  A time in life when reality sets in and you start comparing yourself to others and start feeling gradually regretful and self-conscious.  

For most it begins when you start to have more questions than answers such as what is my purpose or who am I really? You have a few people who want to rehash their younger years by talking or acting hip. While others miss the way they use to look. For the majority the heightened sense of nutrition and well-being take precedence. So regretfully, we cannot stop the hands of time but we can all learn how to gracefully accept the change in times. 

Have We Squash MLK Dream?

HAVE WE SQUASH M.L.K. DREAM?

I never realized how many grandmothers were incarcerated for various crimes until I attended the Social Service Fair at the Riverside Prison last month. In an era where children are lost and misguided, young black men are going to prison at an alarming rate, others are losing their lives from senseless violence and criminal acts and single moms are not focus on marriage, we now have the matriarch of black families showing generations after them the example of what NOT to be like.

I often wonder how we became so lost. When our ancestors had a plan, a vision of equality and a better life for future generations did we squash Martin Luther King Dream. In his dream did he ever consider that children and grandchildren would be incarcerated with their parents and grandparents? And is it too late for us to get back on track?

Can we blame it on the Jim Crow laws from old to new? Can we blame it on the lack of family values and education? Or do we blame it on lack of cultural inheritance and ignorance?

In talking to these women who are grandmothers they clearly know right from wrong. But while behind the walls they show embarrassment and guilt. Only for those feelings to fad once they are released.

Think about it for a moment. We have individuals in their 50’s who are not due retirement benefits because they choose retail theft instead of a retail job. Senior Citizens who are not eligible for social security because many lack lifetime earnings?  And let’s not forget about the grandparents who now say yes, to drug and alcohol abuse and even a life of crime.

How do we lead the younger generations to meaningful futures; a life of hope when they clearly see societal ills all around them every day? How do we teach them not to become victims of circumstances when incarceration, death, crime and violence have become part of the norm in their everyday life?

Like so many other organizations that attended the fair at Riverside, we offered our services and a helping hand to those women who truly want to change but feel stuck in the present. After visiting our table they now know that there is help available at no cost to them. 

Now all we can do is wait for them to walk through our door. 

Success Through Stillness- A Must Read

Success Through Stillness ~Gotham  (160)

Outstanding Resource for Ex-offender Program in Philadelphia,May 29, 2014 By Paythia Jenkins Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: Success Through Stillness: Meditation Made Simple (Hardcover) Success Through Stillness will help NSF Project Build Up address the side effects of incarceration with our clients in Philadelphia and assists us in unlocking the shackles from their mind, body and soul! Love it! Paythia CEO

See your review on the site

#CEASEFIRE PA- Oppose HB2011

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Dear Friend, First, a huge thank you to all who donated to our Beat Back the Bullies Fund. In just a few days, we more than met our challenge grant.  We appreciate your support and vote of confidence. Second, in a few days, Harrisburg is ending its holiday break. It seems the folks up there need a reminder that they work for us, the people who elected them. As we reported a couple weeks ago, the gun lobby continues to try to finagle a deal to get their legislation to the floor and avoid the normal amendment process. We can’t let that happen. We need the House leadership to know that we’re watching and won’t let them cut special deals with the gun lobby.  A few weeks ago, your calls to the Republican Speaker and Majority Leader got noticed.  Please take a few minutes now to call the two Democratic House leaders: Democratic Leader Frank Dermody- (724) 274-4770 Democratic Whip Mike Hanna- (570) 748-5480 Tell them that you oppose HB 2011, the bill that punishes towns by allowing gun owners to sue about ordinances that don’t even affect them.  Let them know that bill should not run, but if it does, there should be a full debate on the amendments that have been proposed to it. And let them know that HB 1243, which strengthens the background check system, is a good bill that you support, including the Santarsiero Amendment. Tell them to run this bill. Most of all, let them know you’re watching what happens in Harrisburg and counting on them to represent the people. Thanks, Shira Goodman

#GunCrisis: Philadelphia, regional and national updates

Breaking Monday:

Weapons and drugs on display at news conference announcing Main Line drug bust.pic.twitter.com/FIGv92AV1a
— Philly Inquirer (@PhillyInquirer) April 21, 2014

The Philadelphia Inquirer posted this photo on Twitter, after a Montgomery County, Pa., press conference where authorities said Monday that they recovered these weapons during a suburban drug ring bust. The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Morning Call, CBs3, 6ABC,NBC10 and Fox29 have reports.

Philadelphia incidents:

A man was found shot to death inside a van Sunday morning on North 18th Street near West Ontario Street in the Tioga section of Philadelphia. 6ABC reported that neighbors reported hearing gunshots around 2 a.m.

Police say the unidentified man, who appeared to be in his early 30′s, had been shot once in the head, according to CBS3. NBC1o reported that at least six bullet holes were found in the van’s windshield.

Police rushed a 28-year-old man to Temple University Hospital after he suffered a wrist wound in a shooting just before 7:30 p.m. Sundayon North 34th Street near West Clearfield Street in North Philadelphia.

Three men were shot in separate incidents Friday night and earlySaturday in Philadelphia, as we previously reported.

A large amount of money was taken during the robbery of a Target store Saturday night in Northeast Philadelphia, according to reports from CBS3 and the Philadelphia Daily News.

Philadelphia Police have released a surveillance video, asking for help from the public to identify the suspect wanted for the recent robbery of a 20-year-old woman in Wynnefield Heights.

New Jersey news:

Police have identified a 29-year-old man who was slain in his apartment in Gloucester Township, NJ, early Sunday as Kareem Coleman, according to courierpostonline.com. CBS3, NBC10 and theAssociated Press also had reports.

A 31-year-old Trenton man was shot four times with a .40-caliber handgun early Sunday in Trenton, NJ, according to NJ.com, whichpreviously reported that detectives in Trenton were already investigating three shootings on Friday and Saturday that left one person dead and three others wounded.

Police in Pleasantville, NJ, were investigating a shooting incident that may have sent one man to the hospital, according to pressofatlanticcity.com.

Pennsylvania headlines:

Officials said that a suspect with a gun in his hand was killed by police early Monday in western Pennsylvania, according to the Associated Press. Another AP report indicated that jury selection was scheduled to start Monday for the trial of a northwestern Pennsylvania woman charged in the shooting death of her boyfriend last summer.

In Chicago:

Six children were shot Sunday night in Chicago, capping a violent weekend which left at least nine people dead and at least 36 wounded since Friday, according to The Chicago Tribune, which also reportedthat four men and two women were shot early Sunday morning at an Easter party at a house in west suburban Montgomery, Illinois.

U.S. weekend headlines:

Alabama: Highway Patrol officer shot Saturday eveningArkansas: Three shot in home on Easter morningFlorida: Three hospitalized after apartment shootingMinnesota: Shooting leaves one dead, three wounded, three arrestedMissouri: Boy, 4, wounds brother, 3, in accidental shootingMissouri: Man charged in highway shootingsTexas: Shooter wounds three-year-oldTexas: Officer shot, suspect captured after chaseWashington, DC: Three men shot Sunday in Southeast D.C.

ShotSpotter:

The Baltimore Sun and Chicago Sun-Times have reports on a news release from SST, Inc., the maker of ShotSpotter, indicating that gunfire in some American cities is vastly underreported, among other findings.

Posted by Jim MacMillan.