State Rep. Ronald G. Waters (D-W. Phila.) recently presented two scholarships on behalf of Graterford Prison inmates to needy students. The scholarships were funded by the inmates entirely from their salaries, which average 18 cents an hour. The offenders gave up their entire pay to put together two $500 scholarships for William Sanchez and Joshua […]
Continue reading …State Rep. Harold James has (D-S. Phila.) introduced legislation that would amend Pennsylvania law to grant juvenile offenders serving life sentences the possibility of parole after serving 25 years in prison. “The global rejection of life without parole for young offenders is overwhelming. Pennsylvania should not continue this exceptionally punitive punishment, but rather encourage these […]
Continue reading …State Rep. John Taylor (R-Kensington) has voted to join his House colleagues in supporting SB 100 to reform and cut costs for the Pennsylvania Dept. of Corrections. “Every department in the state must find ways to cut costs,†Taylor said. “But we must also reform our corrections system so the more-dangerous offenders are locked up. […]
Continue reading …Holy Family University, which has grown over the years into a major educational institution, has now become the developer for the former Liddonfield Homes site once the home of several thousand Philadelphia Housing Authority residents. The public-housing complex, founded beside Torresdale and Frankford Avenues in Northeast Philadelphia, opened in 1955. Over the years, it has […]
Continue reading …City Commissioner Al Schmidt believes running an investigation of voting irregularities after each election will eventually eliminate many of the sources creating those reports. Schmidt released a report on Tuesday afternoon, completing an investigation of primary reports of irregularities. “We identified hundreds of cases of voting irregularities that warrant further investigation,” Schmidt said. As our […]
Continue reading …BY RORY McGLASSON/ Try telling 3-year-old Aiden Chau he cannot ride his tricycle around Hawthorne Playground. There’s a large signpost clearly stating what is prohibited inside of the city’s newest greenspace at 12th &Catherine Street: No Bicycling. No Rollerblading. No Skateboarding. And so on and so forth. That did not stop Chau, though. The youngster was […]
Continue reading …BY MARIA MERLINO/ Most people are familiar with the Monday morning blues — the dreaded start of the working week. John DeRock loves his new day job, but dreads what he might find in his outdoor office at the start of the week. DeRock is the guy charged with cleaning up some of South Philadelphia’s […]
Continue reading …City Controller Alan Butkovitz reports his audit of the Revenue Dept. finds new owners of sheriff sale properties were billed for previous owners’ delinquent balances. New owners of 669 Sheriff Sale properties in Fiscal Year 2009 were billed for interest and penalty charges from the previous owners’ delinquent balances. This error occurred in 20% of […]
Continue reading …Mayor Michael A. Nutter is now the 70th President of the US Conference of Mayors. elected at the annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. last week. Here are excerpts from his inaugural address entitled “Moving America’s Cities Forwardâ€. “First, I’d like to thank Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for his leadership. He has been an advocate for America’s […]
Continue reading …