by Maryclaire Dale

PHILADELPHIA (AP)—A bank has foreclosed on a $615,000 condominium owned by the head of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, who earned $350,000 last year leading the nation’s fourth-largest public-housing agency.

Carl R. Greene, PHA’s executive director, bought the three-bedroom, 2,100-square-foot condo in the upscale Naval Square development in 2007. He put down $215,000 in cash and took out a $400,000 mortgage, city records show.

LOCKED IN DISPUTE WITH WELLS FARGO—In this Feb. 29, 2008 photo, Philadelphia Housing Authority Director Carl Greene poses in front of a housing development in Philadelphia.

Greene, 53, stopped making payments on or around April 1, and three months later owed more than $7,500 in missed payments and late fees, according to the bank’s July 27 lawsuit.

As the Midget League football game at Willie Stargell Field drew to a close Aug. 15, 20 gunshots rang out within hearing range. The shots were so close in fact, they injured three bystanders as they made their way around the corner from the game.

In response to the shootings, Pittsburgh Police Chief Nathan Harper addressed the nearby residents of Homewood at the very same field the next day. He came with a show of force of close to 30 officers and a threat to shutdown the Allegheny County Midget Football League unless someone in the community came forward with information regarding the perpetrators.

SWIFT JUSTICE—Chief Nate Harper addresses the community at Willie Stargell Field, Aug. 16.

“As you see with kids playing here, we can’t tolerate this kind of violence,” said Harper, motioning to children swimming in the park’s public swimming pool. “We don’t have the names of the perpetrators. If we don’t have the names by the end of the day we expect to cancel the football league. We plan on making arrests immediately. We’re tired of always reacting to the same kind of events.”

Shawn Hopson, Charles Carter and Warren Wilson formed the group called Club Duo to bring the community together with a sophisticated and classy event called Smooth Jazz Fridays. This event is held each first Friday of the month at the Holiday Inn in Oakland.

Line dancing, a deejay and a live band make up the itinerary for this event. The live bands range from jazz to hip-hop and R&B music. Fifteen years ago Shawn Hopson and his partners decided to do a First Friday’s event at the Braddock Hills Holiday Inn. In the beginning it was a deejay and a jazz band. The deejay played on one floor while the jazz band was on another floor. It was a nice flow because it gave people options to hear jazz, hip-hop or R&B.

SERENADING THE LADIES—R&B/soul singer Danny Boy, formerly of Death Row Records, performs at Smooth Jazz Fridays.

After threats by Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper to shutdown the Allegheny County Midget Football League in response to a Homewood shooting Aug. 15, leaders of the league and team coaches banded together to find a solution.

“I understand that justice has to be served, but the kids are not the problem. I understand the chief has to take a stand somewhere. I can see his viewpoint, but a lot of these people in these organizations volunteer 30 hours a week,” said Jose Regus, league president. “It’s not like this was the only incident. It’s just the only incident that was by the youth.”

FATHER FIGURES—From left: Coaches Monte Robinson and Ayodeji Young respond to the shooting that occurred during their team’s game.

By 8 p.m., following a meeting with the football league and anonymous information from members of the community, Harper decided to stand down.