City Streets

Sharde Wood, 11, seeks relief with a mini-fan while waiting with her brother Benton, 5, on Germantown Avenue. Their partents were doing some banking. Yesterday, humidity and a high of 86 made for a steamy day. More of the same is in this weekend's forecast, along with a thunderstorm.

JERMAINE Alexander learned to ride a dirt bike before he could write or tie his shoes. "Maine" was 5, and he would ride his bicycle only if he smashed tin cans in the wheels to mimic the dirt-bike growl. So his uncle took him to the park to teach him to ride the real thing. When he was a teenager and would hear one roar by on the streets outside, he'd stampede to the window to see who was riding what. He became so adept at fixing them that he could transform scraps of junkers into bikes that, though not beautiful, still flew fast as fireworks.

ROOSEVELT Darby Jr. made it clear to Darren Daulton what it took to deal with the city's frustrating homeless problem. "It's an inside job," he said, tapping his chest. What it took, he was trying to say, was heart. And Darby had heart to spare. In 1994, Daulton, the Phillies' catcher, was touring the facilities of the Philadelphia Committee for the Homeless — to which he was a major contributor — at Broad and Brown streets. Daulton contributed $100 to PCH every time he knocked in a run. Darby, a peer counselor at the time and later deputy director of the committee, and other staff members took Daulton on a tour.

Riding the Schuylkill River Trail is like taking a trip by rail. Just add the sweat. Over its 23 miles (and growing), the paved bike path travels from woods to suburbia, town to city, meandering in and out of eyesight of the river that at one time symbolized great industrial power. The trail largely follows old rail lines, which themselves followed old canals dug to haul coal to port. Even when the river is hidden from view, that loading-dock feeling comes from cycling past a steel mill and sewage treatment plant, big construction projects and crumbling warehouses.

RIO DE JANEIRO - "Brazil is not for beginners," the late, great Brazilian composer Tom Jobim once quipped. Nowhere does the remark hold more true than for the country's pulsing, chaotic oceanfront metropolis, Rio de Janeiro. This is a city of contrasts, where vastly different worlds rub shoulders, and the unexpected lurks around every corner. Hang a right during a stroll through the chic beachside neighborhoods of Ipanema or Copacabana and you might bump into a lush tropical forest.

Blowing snow off your sidewalk may be no big deal, but blowing it off Broad or Lehigh? Now that's a big, wide deal. PennDOT, however, is itching to try with its one-of-a-kind city snow blower. But is it a techno-marvel or just another urban legend? The feared La Nina winter may tell us whether the new creation is up to throwing large amounts of snow off city streets. The contraption consists of a 70-foot snow blower with a 10-foot jaw topped by a conveyor that shoots the snow and ice onto a dump truck.

The city recorded its first death this week in the mini-motorcycle craze. Angel Boulogne, 18, died Tuesday in Temple University Hospital of injuries he received last week when the mini-cycle he was driving collided with a car at a Kensington intersection. Boulogne was driving the wrong way on a one-way street, police said. Based on the number of small, fast "pocket-rocket" cycles zipping around city streets - many operated by unlicensed and underage drivers - police had recently predicted it was only a matter of time until a fatal crash.

CAN someone explain why people in Philadelphia choose to throw trash whenever and wherever they can? It is atrocious how nasty the personal habits of a majority of Philadelphia's citizens are. They appear to think that the SEPTA Broad Street Line and any city street is their own personal trash can! I see dozens of people every day eating and then throwing their trash in the seats or on the floor while using SEPTA or on city streets. They are young, old and middle-aged people of all races and genders.

DESPITE losing another case in court over the state takeover of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, Mayor Street should continue the legal battle. Here the mayor is trying to protect an important principle - in addition to access to hundreds of patronage jobs. Tuesday, a Commonwealth Court panel, by a 5-2 ruling, turned aside Street's argument that the regulation of on-street parking is a municipal function. This follows a ruling last year from the state Supreme Court which OK'd Harrisburg legislators (aka House Leader John Perzel)

THE WORD "dignified" isn't often used to describe how the homeless sate their hunger in Philly. There is nothing dignified about fishing food scraps from the trash. Or begging outside Wawa for a sandwich. Or lining up with others on Logan Circle hoping that the soup being ladled by Good Samaritans won't run out before everyone's bowl is filled. The search for food is demoralizing and terrifying, as the homeless deal with the fallout of lives in which they belong nowhere and, often, to no one. So it's miraculous that, at least twice a week, hundreds of homeless men and women enjoy a dignified dining experience on South Broad Street, within steps of the gleaming Suzanne Roberts Theatre and the equally shiny Kimmel Center.

ROOSEVELT Darby Jr. made it clear to Darren Daulton what it took to deal with the city's frustrating homeless problem. "It's an inside job," he said, tapping his chest. What it took, he was trying to say, was heart. And Darby had heart to spare. In 1994, Daulton, the Phillies' catcher, was touring the facilities of the Philadelphia Committee for the Homeless — to which he was a major contributor — at Broad and Brown streets. Daulton contributed $100 to PCH every time he knocked in a run. Darby, a peer counselor at the time and later deputy director of the committee, and other staff members took Daulton on a tour.

Forget about driving on the 1600 block of Walnut Street from dawn to dark on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Monday. From 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day, it's going to be used in the making of a mob movie, "Dead Man Down," which began shooting around the city a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps star Colin Farrell, Terrence Howard and Noomi Rapace (of Sweden's original "Dragon Tattoo" movies) will be seen outside Urban Outfitters, Alma de Cuba or the Apple Store. Occasionally, nearby 17th Street and Walnut from 17th to 18th may also be off-limits.

JERMAINE Alexander learned to ride a dirt bike before he could write or tie his shoes. "Maine" was 5, and he would ride his bicycle only if he smashed tin cans in the wheels to mimic the dirt-bike growl. So his uncle took him to the park to teach him to ride the real thing. When he was a teenager and would hear one roar by on the streets outside, he'd stampede to the window to see who was riding what. He became so adept at fixing them that he could transform scraps of junkers into bikes that, though not beautiful, still flew fast as fireworks.

RIO DE JANEIRO - "Brazil is not for beginners," the late, great Brazilian composer Tom Jobim once quipped. Nowhere does the remark hold more true than for the country's pulsing, chaotic oceanfront metropolis, Rio de Janeiro. This is a city of contrasts, where vastly different worlds rub shoulders, and the unexpected lurks around every corner. Hang a right during a stroll through the chic beachside neighborhoods of Ipanema or Copacabana and you might bump into a lush tropical forest.

Animal welfare officials are trying to determine how a dead miniature horse ended up on a street in Philadelphia's Feltonville section. The horse was found Tuesday on the 4500 block of Howard Street, the Pennsylvania SPCA said. George Bengal, director of humane law enforcement at the Pennsylvania SPCA, said there were "no obvious signs of trauma. " Preliminary results of a necropsy showed that the animal had no broken bones and provided no indications as to how it died, the SPCA said.

THE WORD "dignified" isn't often used to describe how the homeless sate their hunger in Philly. There is nothing dignified about fishing food scraps from the trash. Or begging outside Wawa for a sandwich. Or lining up with others on Logan Circle hoping that the soup being ladled by Good Samaritans won't run out before everyone's bowl is filled. The search for food is demoralizing and terrifying, as the homeless deal with the fallout of lives in which they belong nowhere and, often, to no one. So it's miraculous that, at least twice a week, hundreds of homeless men and women enjoy a dignified dining experience on South Broad Street, within steps of the gleaming Suzanne Roberts Theatre and the equally shiny Kimmel Center.

Larry Kane Journalist "We have hundreds of municipalities in three states. We have governors of states, township executive directors, county managers - and we have horrible purchasing options in this area. We need to get a conference immediately somewhere in this area, called by the governors, county executives and the mayor of Philadelphia to form an organization called A.P.A.: Area Purchasing Agency. "We've got millions of dollars of waste in government all through the area through antiquated purchasing procedures.

By Gustave Scheerbaum Getting from one place to another safely and efficiently is a fundamental part of life. Philadelphia is fortunate in that a good portion of the population lives relatively close to the heart of the city, permitting many to get around by foot and bicycle. So how much should we value making transportation safer and more efficient, including walking and biking, and how should we balance that against our romance with cars? The South of South Neighborhood Association tackled this question through a project called Better Blocks Philly, part of last month's DesignPhiladelphia festival.

Michael Carroll is a freelance writer in Philadelphia Walking city streets can be serious business. It's not always easy to figure out the rules and the players. I am not even talking about tough neighborhoods where a wrong move can be seen as weakness or disrespect and can get you hurt. I am talking about neutral turf, Center City. Everybody from every neighborhood owns it and has a right to be there. There is no official playbook, no Marquess of Queensberry rules, but there are unwritten rules that govern expectations and regulate intended and unintended messages sent and received.

Mark Twain worked here. No, really. For a few months in 1853 and '54, the young Samuel Clemens (then 17 or 18) was a part-time typesetter at the young (then 24) Philadelphia Inquirer. In those days, the paper was holed up on Third Street just south of Chestnut. Wednesday is the 100th anniversary of Twain's death. As it happens, 2010 also includes the 175th anniversary of his birth (Nov. 30) and the 125th anniversary of the publication of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.