From Detective Joe Murray’s Twitter feed – @PPDJoeMurray.

Detective Joe Murray, the social media savvy cop who entertained and informed followers with pithy tweets about everything from police policy to top-shelf donuts and Wrestlemania, is moving on after 11 years in West and Southwest Philly.

He announced in a March 7 tweet (natch) that he had been transferred to the PPD’s Homicide Division, a much-deserved promotion. Murray won the Richardson Dilworth Award for Innovation and Government in 2015 and didn’t shy away from calling out the highest levels of the PPD. His story made it to NPR in 2012 after the PPD’s top brass figured all his tweeting was a good idea. They did make him professionalize his Twitter handle, though, so he gave up his trademark moniker “The Fuzz” to the more official “@PPDJoeMurray.”

For 11+ years I’ve had the pleasure of working for the people of West/Southwest Philly. Yesterday I was transferred to the Homicide Division

— Joseph Murray (@PPDJoeMurray) March 7, 2017

We recently asked Murray a few questions about his time on the West side.  Continue Reading

After working as a server in Philadelphia for many years, Guo ‘Sunni’ Tang was done. “As a server, you work 12 hours a day and don’t make much money,” she explained. “I want to make more money to improve life for my parents.”

Driven by a goal of supporting her aging parents and the desire to provide a wider selection of food for the University of the Sciences student population and the area surrounding it, Tang decided to open a dumpling and bubble tea spot. Curry Bird, a new Cantonese and Thai takeout restaurant, is at 4604 Woodland Ave. (where New China Gourmet used to be), adjacent to Noah’s Pizza.

The shop had its soft opening on Saturday, where chicken curry and veggie dumplings samples were given away to neighbors at no charge. News spread via word of mouth.

The interior has been completely redesigned with wooden panels and wooden floors. Another thing you’ll notice is that there are no servers, but just a takeout restaurant with minimal seating.  Continue Reading

Cedar Park residents and all interested individuals are invited to a community meeting on Tuesday, March 21 to hear a proposal of a pop-up (temporary) beer garden on the 5100 block of Pentridge Street. The meeting is organized by Cedar Park Neighbors.

The beer garden is being proposed at 5112-5120 Pentridge St. (see map), the area that currently includes a few empty lots. A search of the BRT database revealed the owner of the property as Fatty Tuna LLC. The meeting is an opportunity to meet with the owner, see the plans of what they would like to do and voice your opinion on this issue.

The meeting will be held at the Calvary Center (4740 Baltimore Ave.), beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Those who would like to comment but cannot attend the meeting are welcome to send their comments to CPN: zoning@cedarparkneighbors.org.

SEPTA is proposing price increases on pretty much everything except transfers. Cash fares will go from $2.25 to $2.50 and discounted fares (with a token or Key card) will increase to $2 from $1.80. If approved the new fares would take effect on July 1, 2017.

This increase was supposed to be proposed last year as part of the plan to raise fares every three years, but was postponed for the rollout of the new SEPTA Key program.

Here are the changes in other SEPTA products:

• Weekly TransPass increases $1.50 to $25.50
• Monthly TransPasses increase from $90 to $96
• Disabled fare increases 25 cents to $1.25
• A Convenience Pass goes up a buck to $9 as do Independence Passes, which go from $12 to $13 for an individual and $20 to $30 for a family.

SEPTA will hold public hearings on its proposed 2018 budget (including the proposed fare increases) in April. The one in Philadelphia (others are in Bucks, Delaware, Montgomery and Chester Counties) is scheduled for Monday, April 24 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at SEPTA headquarters, 1234 Market St. Comments can be e-mailed to operatingbudget@septa.org

Philadelphia Parks and Recreation (PPR) has begun its competitive lifeguard recruitment process for the summer. PPR hires 400 lifeguards annually to staff its 70 outdoor and four indoor pools (read our earlier post here).

This is a great summer job for young people because it pays between $12.33 and $14.60 an hour and most people are able to work in their own neighborhood. PPR staff can even assist interested candidates that may not be the strong swimmers, if they start the process early.

The first step for interested candidates is to attend a screening at one of PPR’s three indoor training facilities during the following screening days and times from now until June:  Continue Reading

The Power Smoothie from Inspire on Vimeo.

It’s time you changed the power status quo

Do you think about where your power is coming from when you flip a switch? While the source of power going to your neighborhood may be far away, its effects hit very close to home. Unless you generate it yourself, your home uses the power supplied through a municipal grid. It gets energy from a variety of sources, both clean and dirty. In Pennsylvania, the grid is dirty since its main source of energy is comprised of coal.

Guess what? It doesn’t have to be that way. You have the power to switch up the source of power in the grid, simply by paying your monthly electricity bill.  Continue Reading