Port Richmond

In a game-changing move for both the Port of Wilmington and the state of Delaware, officials are pursuing a partnership with a private company or investment group to operate the publicly owned terminal and to expand the port by constructing ship berths on the Delaware River that could cost as much as $500 million. The state-owned Wilmington port touts itself as the largest handler of imported perishable cargo, fruits and vegetables in the United States and as the largest banana port in North America, second only to Antwerp, Belgium, in volume of bananas in the world.

A two-alarm blaze erupted at a refrigerated warehouse in the city's Port Richmond section Friday night, fire officials said. Building material on the roof of the the sprawling one-story warehouse at 3201 N. Delaware Ave. caught fire shortly before 9:30 p.m. There were no reported injuries and no hazardous material on site. At 10:35 p.m., the fire was declared under control.    -Robert Moran

A 7-week-old infant was knocked out of her stroller by a car turning on a red light Wednesday afternoon in the city's Port Richmond section, police said. The incident occurred at 2:35 p.m. when at least one of the parents of the baby girl was pushing her stroller on Westmoreland Street and attempting to cross Aramingo Avenue when the stroller was hit by a blue 2010 Honda, police said. The girl was transported to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children with head injuries and was reported in stable condition.

A woman was shot and killed at 3 a.m. Monday in the 2000 block of East Atlantic Street in the city's Port Richmond section, police said. Aiesha Holloway, 19, of the 2100 block of East Ontario Street, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Holloway's body was found in a white Chevrolet Cavalier, although police could not say if she had been the driver or a passenger. "We don't have a motive or a suspect at the time," a police spokeswoman said. - Michael Vitez

A 28-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to the head was among three people shot Wednesday afternoon in the city's Port Richmond section, police said. Police were called at 3:52 p.m. to the area of Weikel and Ann Streets where gunfire was reported. Police found the woman and transported her to Temple University Hospital. She was initially reported in critical condition, but later was upgraded to stable condition. A 19-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his left calf was dropped off by a private automobile to Episcopal Hospital and was reported in stable condition.

About 30 residents of the city's Port Richmond section were evacuated from their homes early today, a day after a small amount of a foul-smelling chemical accidentally spilled at a chemical-plastics company. A 3,000-gallon holding tank was being cleaned yesterday when one to three gallons of the chemical, ethyl acrylate, spilled from the bottom of the tank and onto the floor at the Walsh Chemical Corp., according to a company executive. Although the spill occurred yesterday, the odor intensified this morning, prompting the evacuation.

Water ice, soft-serve, and pierogis? It's a Port Richmond thing. When Stanley and Lisa Kopertowski reopened the Aramingo Avenue food stand Hank's, they drafted chef Stan Pliszka (Hinge Cafe), who has a solid handle on the Polish foods he grew up on. Most of his food, from kielbasa to beef, is sourced to the neighborhood. You have to try his pierogi - homemade farmer's cheese, sauerkraut, and dough, which his mother, Kathy, and fiancee, Cheryl Guy, come in to prep. Pierogis ($10 a dozen)

In a game-changing move for both the Port of Wilmington and the state of Delaware, officials are pursuing a partnership with a private company or investment group to operate the publicly owned terminal and to expand the port by constructing ship berths on the Delaware River that could cost as much as $500 million. The state-owned Wilmington port touts itself as the largest handler of imported perishable cargo, fruits and vegetables in the United States and as the largest banana port in North America, second only to Antwerp, Belgium, in volume of bananas in the world.

RUSH-HOUR TRAFFIC on Aramingo Avenue came to a crawl in Port Richmond Wednesday as drivers paused to watch police place yellow evidence markers on a Jiffy Lube driveway where bullet casings landed after a shooting that left a 40-year-old employee dead. The unidentified victim was moving a Ford Focus into the service bay at the shop on Aramingo Avenue near Venango about 5:30 p.m. when a man approached him and the two got into a heated argument, police said. Chief Inspector Scott Small said the gunman fired at least six shots at the victim and fled the scene on foot.

A former Port Richmond pastor is among the Catholic priests who will be permanently removed from ministry over child-sex abuse allegations, according to a lawyer for a man who said the cleric raped him. Archdiocese of Philadelphia officials notified the accuser on Thursday that Msgr. Francis J. Feret won't be reinstated, attorney Daniel Monahan said. Feret, 75, spent more than a decade as pastor of St. Adalbert in the city's Port Richmond section, and twice as long as a teacher and administrator at Cardinal Dougherty High School.

REGINA M. Donnelly, a kindhearted and caring woman who delighted in lavishing gifts upon her scores of nieces and nephews, died Sunday of natural causes. The Port Richmond native was 88. "She was everybody's Aunt Jeannie, even if you weren't related by blood or marriage," said a niece, Mary Lee Dougherty. "Aunt Jeannie made everybody she liked a niece or nephew. " And she liked most everybody she met. "A nice guy was called an 'Ace.' A nice gal was called a 'Doll.' She liked her Aces to be sharp dressers, and her Dolls smartly attired," said Dougherty.

A Port Richmond man found guilty of helping bartender John McLaughlin try to dispose of a body and then elude authorities was sentenced Friday to 11 1/2 to 23 months in prison by a Philadelphia judge. Before he was sentenced, Samuel E. Toy, 48, turned to the family and friends of victim Seamus O'Neill to "offer my deepest sympathy. . . . You are in my prayers. " Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey P. Minehart sentenced Toy to the prison term followed by two years of probation but allowed Toy to be immediately paroled as an inpatient to an alcohol treatment facility for evaluation of a drinking problem and the role it may have played in his conduct.

O THER firefighters who have died in the line of duty since 1991: * Tracey Champion, 49, collapsed from a heart attack at a West Philadelphia fire in January 2006. * Capt. John Taylor, 53, died of asphyxiation trying to rescue the fallen Rey Rubio, 42, from a Port Richmond basement-turned-marijuana-greenhouse in August 2004. * Lt. Derrick Harvey, 45, died at Temple University Hospital of burns he suffered after falling through the floor of a rowhouse in Olney, in January 2004.

  HOME-OPENER! The Phillies are back and so is Broad Street Billy, asking my fellow fans to send me your phanatic photos and stories of die-hard devotion - fervent families, geared-up babies and pets, and pinstriped pals! Send your stuff to: phillies@phillynews.com Broad Street Billy will feature your Phillies fan stories as he stands with you in the howling springtime winds of Ashburn Alley, sits with you in the howling autumn winds of the 400 level and sweats with you through the dog days in between, hoping to turn Broad Street into a Red Sea once again and party like it's 2008.

Edward S. "Spike" Danielczyk, 86, of Port Richmond, a former tavern owner and museum volunteer, died of heart failure, Wednesday, March 28, at Aria Frankford Hospital. In 1960, Mr. Danielczyk married Laura Blichasz, a widow with two small children. For the next 30 years, he and his wife operated Laura's in Port Richmond. The popular tavern was "just like Cheers ," Mr. Danielczyk's stepson, Michael Blichasz, said. As bartender, Mr. Danielczyk listened to everyone's stories, passed on messages from one patron to another and accepted deliveries for neighbors who weren't home.

TWO MEN WERE pulled from the Delaware River near Allegheny Avenue in Port Richmond about 7:50 p.m. Monday, police said. The men jumped into the river around 7:40 p.m. and were chest-deep when police marine units arrived to remove them. Police were unsure of why the men were in the water, but said neither man was injured.  

A 19-year-old man was in stable condition after he was hit by an NJ Transit train Wednesday evening in Port Richmond, police said. The man was hit about 6:30 p.m. on a railroad trestle above Aramingo Avenue near Wheatsheaf Lane, police said. He suffered cuts and a possible broken leg, and was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital in stable condition, police said. It was unclear why the man was near the train tracks. - Staff report