The second annual "Lock Arms for Christ" peace march will take place Saturday morning along Lincoln Highway. From my story in Friday's paper:

Saturday morning’s peace rally in the city will take the form of an old-fashioned funeral march with a hearse leading the procession along East Lincoln Highway trailed by a crowd of mourners on foot.

Despite its sober appearances, the Rev. Francine V. Walker-Selby, one of the organizers of the event, insists there is cause for celebration — it’s been more than a year since the last murder in Coatesville.

That statistic is the answer to the prayers of Walker-Selby and other organizers of the second annual Lock Arms for Christ march, Bernadette J. Campbell and Peggy Vaughn Bryant. They are all part of a group called Virtuous Sisters for Christ.

“We pray all the time for the city that God will continue to do what he has already done,” Walker-Selby said. “And that is that no more brothers will be killed in the city.”

The last homicide victim in Coatesville was Jonas “Sonny” Suber, who was killed inside his home in October 2006.

Penguin Real Estate Investors -- the development company owned by city-resident Robert McNeil -- is no longer in the running to buy the Flats.

McNeil sent a letter to RDA president Joe DiSciullo on Monday officially notifying the authority Penguin was no longer pursuing the property. Read a copy of the letter here.

The letter also had been e-mailed to Council President Karen Jorgenson and City Manager Harry Walker. Walker unexpectedly had to leave work Monday and did not attend the council meeting, and at the meeting Jorgenson said she had yet read Penguin's letter.

Council's session was uncharacteristically short last night and there was no discussion about the Flats or the latest offer from developer Iacobucci Homes, although council members apparently have received copies of the company's proposal. Several several council members were seen leaving the meeting with green folders marked with gold lettering that read "Baker," as in Baker Homes the parent company of Iacobucci.