Bridesburg

A 4-year-old boy drowned in a residential pool in the city's Bridesburg section Thursday night, police said. The accident was reported in the 4300 block of Edgemont Street at 8:17 p.m., police said. The boy was taken to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and pronounced dead at 9:02 p.m. - Robert Moran

RE TO THE "Tain't Bridesburg" letter: Neither the editor nor myself, the writer, were incorrect concerning the 5300 block of Eadom Street. Our ZIP code is the same as yours, 19137. Where we live seems to be the forgotten part of Bridesburg, though most of the crime does come from your area. Yes, there's a Frankford Valley and Wissinoming, but their ZIP is 19124. So agents and homeowners can be comfortable knowing 19137 is Bridesburg, even if some people refuse to acknowledge it. Maryann Zindell, Bridesburg

Animal-welfare officers were investigating the discovery Wednesday evening of a dead dog hanging from a tree in the Bridesburg section of Northeast Philadelphia. The dog was discovered with a stick shoved down its throat, the Pennsylvania SPCA said.  The dog was found by visitors to a park near 5601 Tacony Street, said Wendy A. Marano, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania SPCA.  It was not immediately known how long the dog had been dead and hanging from the tree, Marano said. - Robert Moran

Under the sweltering heat, with sweat beading on Mayor Nutter's forehead within minutes of its official 10 a.m. start, the Bridesburg Memorial Day Parade went off without a hitch Monday. That was no small feat, considering that only six months ago, the parade was on "the endangered list," according to its organizers, as a lack of money threatened to break the 32-year tradition. But by sheer will, Bridesburg celebrated in full grandeur Monday, as did the city, to honor the fallen who served this country.

Under the sweltering heat, with sweat beading on Mayor Nutter's forehead within minutes of its official 10 a.m. start, the Bridesburg Memorial Day Parade went off without a hitch Monday. That was no small feat, considering that only six months ago, the parade was on "the endangered list," according to its organizers, as a lack of funds threatened to break the 32-year tradition. But by sheer will, Bridesburg celebrated in full grandeur Monday, as did the city, to honor the fallen who served this country.

Philadelphia firefighters battled a three-alarm blaze Wednesday afternoon at a Bridesburg electronics-recycling plant. About 3:30 p.m., firefighters responded to the blaze in the scrapyard of Kuusakoski Recycling, 3150 Orthodox St., near the Betsy Ross Bridge, fire officials said. Plumes of black smoke could be seen for miles as flames spread through pallets of recycled household electronics and trash. A lack of hydrants in the area caused water-supply problems for firefighters, officials said.

On weekend nights, teenagers often congregate in the woods near the intersection of Orthodox and Garden Streets in Bridesburg to drink and ride dirt bikes. To some area residents, the illegal parties are a mild nuisance. To others, they are a constant aggravation. In the latter group, police said, is a 74-year-old man who allegedly became so incensed that he shot a 14-year-old boy there Saturday night. Joseph Deapreau has been charged with aggravated assault, firearms violations, and related offenses in the shooting of the teen, who was hit in the stomach.

A teen who was drinking in a vacant Bridesburg lot when an elderly local resident allegedly shot the teen's friend said the man tried to shoot two other people that night but ran out of bullets. Once they realized Joseph Deapreau, 74, was out of firepower, they surrounded him and beat him up, according to the 19-year-old, who asked not to be identified. According to residents, the large, vacant swath of land behind Garden Street along Orthodox that was once home to the Philadelphia Coke Co. runs about a mile back to the Delaware River and is a party spot for youths across the city.

An elderly man fed up with teenagers drinking in a large, vacant swath of land near his Bridesburg home confronted a group of the teens Saturday night and shot a 14-year-old boy who was among them, police said. The man, 74, man shot the teen once in the left side of the abdomen, according to police. The victim was able to run about a block to his house and identify his elderly shooter before he was rushed to surgery, police said. The teen, whose identity was not released, was listed in stable condition yesterday at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, according to police.

JOHN JANKOWSKI, a former Philadelphia police officer and Army veteran who operated a truck-spring business in Bridesburg for 35 years, died Dec. 29 of complications of diabetes. He was 76 and lived in Torresdale. John had four daughters and was famous in his family for his devotion to them and his five grandchildren, a duty he carried out with both love and wit. "He was very witty," said one of those daughters, Patricia Haeber. "He was fun to be around. " John was born in Philadelphia to John and Martha Jankowski.