If your trash/recycling collection days are Monday or Tuesday, please hold on to your recyclables until next week. The Streets Department has been a few days behind with collections for the past three weeks and has suspended recycling collection for these two days to help them return to a normal schedule. Residents can place trash out on their normal trash collection day beginning Monday, July 27.

The delays in collections were due to a few factors, including shortage of staff who called in sick with COVID-19, the tropical storm that hit our area on July 10 and an overall increase in trash/recyclables amount this month due to the holidays.

Recycling continues to be delayed by several days as the Streets Department is focusing on trash collection to mitigate risks to health and public safety. The Department expects to return to a normal recycling schedule on Wednesday, July 29.

After a four-month closure, the Penn Museum is reopening its doors to visitors. The official reopening date is Tuesday, July 28 and the museum will have COVID-19 safety protocols in place, such as limited capacity in the galleries and advanced online ticket reservations for visitors.

Admission to the museum will be timed to help social distancing and floors will have special markings to guide visitors on a one-way route through the museum.  Continue Reading

Registration is now open for the School District of Philadelphia’s new “Digital Academy” for those Philadelphia public school students who would like to stay home while the COVID-19 epidemic continues. The digital academy allows families to opt in to a 100 percent virtual learning and instructional model for students enrolled in grades K-12.

Students registering for the Digital Academy must remain in that model throughout the first two terms of the academic year, and will only be able to transition out at the start of the third term.  Continue Reading

The popular local coffee shop located on S. 45th Street between Pine and Osage has changed its name a few times in its history – from Sam’s Place to Earth Cup to Coffee Market, then back to Earth Cup a couple of years ago. Now it has a new owner and new name: Knockbox Cafe.

The new owner, Heather DeGrands, lives just two blocks away from the shop and is very excited about this new endeavor. She closed the deal to buy the café on June 1.

“I have been living in West Philly for over 12 years so I am familiar with many of the neighbors and customer base,” DeGrands wrote in an email.  Continue Reading

The West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (WPCA), which promotes social change through the arts and curates the historic Paul Robeson House & Museum located at 4951 Walnut Street, is celebrating its 36th Anniversary today and has some great news to share with the community!

The organization was recently awarded a $135,000 grant by the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. The funding will be used to hire a new executive director, who will be the first paid leader in the organization’s history. The nonprofit WPCA has always relied on volunteers.

The new executive director will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the WPCA and the Robeson House & Museum, as well as ensure its sustainability.  Continue Reading

Due to a high volume of trash and recycling after the July 4th holiday, the tropical storm that hit our area on July 10 and the shortage of staff due to COVID-19, there have been lengthy delays in the collection, according to the Streets Department. The delays were up to four days last week, but the situation is expected to improve this week.

Over the weekend, the Streets Department brought in help from its Highways Division and other departments and has reduced the delays from 3 or 4 days to 1 or 2 days across the city, Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams said.

This week residents should still expect delays as crews continue to prioritize collecting materials not picked up from last week. Residents are asked to set their trash and recycling out one day later than their regularly scheduled day. Please note that recycling may take longer to collect as the city is prioritizing trash collection to mitigate public health risks.  Continue Reading