Local market Appletree has become quite the fancy establishment as of late! There's a new, overpriced salad bar, and they've stopped renting VHS tapes. Plus, here's this latest element of the Great Appletree Makeover: the store has a brand new facade, which is a rather becoming shade of royal red.

Tipster Armin Rosen alerts Bwog to some tragic news. Dr. Phil, a night-shift employee at Appletree and the subject of this Blue and White profile has passed away. He was 56 years old.

Dr. Phil is responsible for beginning Appletree's movie rental program in 1992, but he may be most famous for his impressive vintage Columbia postcard collection, which he proudly displayed throughout the market, or perhaps for his preference for wearing a lab coat. However you knew him, he will be missed.

Spec is reporting that an employee at Appletree supermarket tipped off police to a man he believes to be the suspect in the recent Journalism School student rape. We don't know at this point if it was in fact the suspect himself [UPDATE: He's not], but police responded to the tip and searched the area this morning.

UPDATE: Barnard students received the following e-mail at 5:45 PM:

"This is a further updated advisory concerning the sexual assault of the Columbia graduate student in her West 141st Street apartment.

We have just been notified by the Manhattan Special Victims Squad (MSVS) that their analysis of the Apple Tree surveillance tape confirms that the person spotted in the store early this morning who resembled the police sketch of the suspect IS NOT in fact the person being sought in connection with this crime. We will continue to keep you apprised of important developments as they occur.

William Plackenmeyer
Director of Safety and Security"

Add quelling your worries about wandering rapists to the possible benefits of Barnard over Columbia.