Strip Mall

"Let these babies cool," I warn as a plate of shrimp Carambola lands before me, fresh from the fryer and deceptively hot. But my fingers are magnetized to these curious creations, these long and crispy cocoons of shredded phyllo dough with shrimp tails poking out the ends. My fingers gently prune the wildly wound nests to more edible proportions, and then they get a hot and sticky dunk, dipped in the sweetened spice of homemade marmalade and Dijon mustard. As I bite into this brittle tangle, it shatters in a phyllo explosion, falling to the plate, sticking to my lips, flying in every direction.

An early morning fire severely damaged a strip mall in Andorra and sent a fire fighter to Roxborough Hospital, according to the fire department. The fire fighter's injuries were minor, but the two-alarm blaze blaze ruined several stores on the 8900 block of Ridge Avenue. The blaze was reported around 3:30 a.m. and under control at 4:51 a.m. As of 9:30 a.m., Ridge Avenue was still closed between Spring Lane and Cathedral Road, according to traffic.com.   Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com .  

The once-popular Marketplace Mall on Chews Landing Road in Laurel Springs, which closed in the fall when the last indoor merchant moved out, will reopen at the end of the year as a remodeled strip mall. The interior section was boarded up in October when Hit or Miss left after 10 years. Two stores with outside entrances - a pizza parlor and a pharmacy - and the 32,000-square-foot Thriftway supermarket remain. The same company that made the mall successful in the early 1980s as a discount retail center has repurchased the 100,000-square-foot facility and is vowing to spend "millions of dollars" on renovations and improvements.

Despite protests from residents, the Township Committee last night took an early but important step in approving a project that would change the area's bucolic landscape. The committee voted unanimously to create a zoning district that would allow a strip mall and drive-through restaurant on a site near the Bridgeton Pike, where a developer has purchased the option to buy land. Many of those who spoke at last night's packed meeting were especially wary of lifting Harrison's longtime prohibition of drive-through restaurants, which has kept fast food out of the area.

NEIGHBORS NEAR the New World Shopping Plaza, at 6th Street and Washington Avenue in the Southwark section of South Philly, are fed up with trash from Dumpsters there spilling over into the parking lot and onto the sidewalks. A restaurant manager at the shopping center says he's just as upset about the situation - and has lent his own time, energy and money trying to fix it. Harry Tran, a manager at the Ba Le Restaurant and Bakery, said all the businesses in the shopping plaza use a common trash area behind his restaurant.

A fire early Monday severely damaged a strip mall in Upper Roxborough and sent a firefighter to Roxborough Memorial Hospital with minor injuries, according to the Fire Department. The two-alarm blaze ruined several stores on the 8900 block of Ridge Avenue, authorities said. The blaze was reported about 3:30 a.m. and was declared under control at 4:51 a.m. - Peter Mucha

Two deer were killed after going on a rampage in two businesses in a strip mall just south of Dover on Sunday afternoon. Passersby in the Rodney Square Shopping Center reported seeing four deer running inside the Furniture Universe store about 2:30 p.m., when it was closed, Delaware State Police reported. After they left a trail of damage at the shopping center on U.S. Route 13, one was struck fatally by a van, and another was shot by a police officer. Police said the deer, both believed to be females, had smashed their way into the furniture store through a plate-glass window.

In one strip mall after another along the Burlington County section of Route 130, motorists are pulling into parking lots to find pizza places and furniture stores shuttered, with lease signs posted on their windows. "The store next door has been vacant for three years," said Frank Vakil, owner of Harker's Flowers in Cinnaminson. "We used to have 700 to 800 cars coming into the center a day. Now maybe it's 200. " The entire retail sector has struggled since the recession began in 2007.

For Kishan Singh, life began in 1981, when he arrived in the United States from northern India and worked at Windows of the World, on the 107th floor of Manhattan's World Trade Center. As a busboy he was only on the first level of his chosen profession, but he liked the view. And it was apparent his supervisors liked what they saw, because it wasn't long before Singh became a waiter. And when he left Windows, in 1988, he had been promoted to captain. "I liked the business very much and then opened my first restaurant, in Albany.

After months of discussion and debate, the city's Redevelopment Authority has decided not to loan money to developer Mark Dambly for the construction of rowhouses and a strip mall on Chester's East Side. Dambly's Halliday Properties Inc., along with Pennrose Properties Inc. of Philadelphia, had asked the authority for a $350,000 loan to build 36 townhouse units and a 6,000-square-foot strip mall on the site of the former Jeffries Elementary School at Melrose and Morton Avenues.

For years, J&S Seafood, a fast-food place that sells the likes of fried shrimp, whitefish, and mozzarella sticks and which stays open after the bars close, has been a magnet for Chester's young night owls. And, according to police and people in the neighborhood, it has been a magnet for trouble. They say it is a big reason that the intersection of Ninth and Kerlin Streets in Delaware County's largest city has become a Hell's Corner - one of the region's most violent. "It's a hot spot," Police Capt.

For years, J&S Seafood, a fast-food place that sells the likes of fried shrimp, white fish, and mozzarella sticks and which stays open after the bars close, has been a magnet for Chester's young night owls. And, according to police and people in the neighborhood, it has been a magnet for trouble. They say it's a big reason that the intersection of Ninth and Kerlin Streets in Delaware County's largest city has become a Hell's Corner, one of the region's most violent. "It's a hot spot," Police Capt.

A fire early Monday severely damaged a strip mall in Upper Roxborough and sent a firefighter to Roxborough Memorial Hospital with minor injuries, according to the Fire Department. The two-alarm blaze ruined several stores on the 8900 block of Ridge Avenue, authorities said. The blaze was reported about 3:30 a.m. and was declared under control at 4:51 a.m. - Peter Mucha

PENNSYLVANIA Perzel to testify Former House Speaker John Perzel is scheduled to testify today in Pennsylvania's government-corruption trial in Harrisburg. Officials say the Philadelphia Republican is scheduled to be the leadoff witness in Dauphin County court. State prosecutors say he orchestrated a scheme in which millions of taxpayer dollars was illegally spent on computer technology to give GOP candidates an advantage in elections. Perzel pleaded guilty in August to two counts of conflict of interest, two counts of theft and four counts of conspiracy as part of an agreement that requires him to testify for the state.

An early morning fire severely damaged a strip mall in Andorra and sent a fire fighter to Roxborough Hospital, according to the fire department. The fire fighter's injuries were minor, but the two-alarm blaze blaze ruined several stores on the 8900 block of Ridge Avenue. The blaze was reported around 3:30 a.m. and under control at 4:51 a.m. As of 9:30 a.m., Ridge Avenue was still closed between Spring Lane and Cathedral Road, according to traffic.com.   Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com .  

NEIGHBORS NEAR the New World Shopping Plaza, at 6th Street and Washington Avenue in the Southwark section of South Philly, are fed up with trash from Dumpsters there spilling over into the parking lot and onto the sidewalks. A restaurant manager at the shopping center says he's just as upset about the situation - and has lent his own time, energy and money trying to fix it. Harry Tran, a manager at the Ba Le Restaurant and Bakery, said all the businesses in the shopping plaza use a common trash area behind his restaurant.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Drive five miles north on U.S. Route 19 from Bright House Field, and it's easy to pass an ordinary strip mall on the left. This particular one is half empty, with a Skyline Chili, AVE Car Stereo Warehouse, and a Scott Paint store its tenants. Then there's the Freaki Tiki, a bar that occupies an end of the strip mall. The owners built a makeshift tiki porch around the side of the building. It's the kind of place where old toilets on the porch serve as cigarette butt disposals, and with the purchase of a mug on Mondays, drafts are 25 cents all night.

In one strip mall after another along the Burlington County section of Route 130, motorists are pulling into parking lots to find pizza places and furniture stores shuttered, with lease signs posted on their windows. "The store next door has been vacant for three years," said Frank Vakil, owner of Harker's Flowers in Cinnaminson. "We used to have 700 to 800 cars coming into the center a day. Now maybe it's 200. " The entire retail sector has struggled since the recession began in 2007.

Keith Briscoe started his days with a Newport and a Pepsi. Three days a week, his mother gave him a pack and some cash, and Briscoe, who had schizophrenia, trudged to a Wawa store on Cross Keys Road in Berlin to buy a soda. Then, Briscoe, 36, would walk back to nearby Steininger Behavioral Care Services for treatment. It was his morning routine for the last three years. On Monday, Winslow Officer Sean Richards saw Briscoe loitering outside the Wawa before 8:30 a.m. and asked him to leave, but Briscoe refused, authorities said.

Police scoured the city Monday for a man who put a gun to the head of a city police officer, then shot him in the shoulder when the officer smacked the weapon away. Sgt. Robert Ralston, 46, was grazed by the shot and released Monday from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Ralston fired back at the suspect immediately after he was shot, said Deputy Commissioner Richard Ross, and believes he may have hit the man in the torso. "Obviously, this is a tragedy that was averted," Ross said.