The Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) is conducting a tap water lead testing program and is seeking participants.

The program will run from July to December 2016, in advance of PWD’s regular water testing for lead under EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule, which is scheduled for 2017.

The 2016 lead testing program will check a minimum of 50 homes from what is categorized as Tier 1 (homes considered more likely to have lead in the plumbing). PWD is making efforts to increase the number of sampling sites to provide more data for assessment under this program, and residents interested in learning more about PWD’s programs should go to www.phila.gov/water/lead for additional information.  Continue Reading

The first excessive heat warning of the summer has been issued as the temperatures are expected to reach 94 degrees (with the humidity it will feel like 107!). Philadelphia Health Commissioner Thomas Farley has issued a heat warning for Wednesday, July 6, through Friday, July 8 in conjunction with the National Weather Service’s excessive heat warning for the area.

The warning has activated the city’s special summer heat programs, including home visits by special field teams, the monitoring of the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging’s ‘Heatline’, enhanced daytime outreach for the homeless, and the City’s effort to encourage the public to look in on older friends, relatives, and neighbors.

The ‘Heatline’ (215-765-9040) will be open from 9 a.m. until midnight, on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

“We strongly urge the public to visit older friends, relatives and neighbors to ensure that air conditioners or fans are working and homes are adequately ventilated. In a heat wave, the majority of the victims are older people and those with pre-existing medical conditions,” Health Commissioner Farley said in a statement.  Continue Reading

The university’s Board of Trustees has named a new president, 18 months after the previous University of the Sciences president, Helen Giles-Gee, stepped down.

Dr. Paul Katz will serve as the university’s 25th president, according to an announcement by Board Chairman Marvin Samson. Katz, who has served as founding dean of Cooper Medical School of Rowan University (CMSRU), will begin his presidency on September 1, 2016.

“Over the course of more than 40 years in healthcare and higher education, Dr. Paul Katz has gained invaluable experience and has demonstrated skilled and visionary leadership, which will be a tremendous benefit to University of the Sciences,” Samson said in a statement.

Katz has been the chief architect, executive, and academic leader of CMSRU since 2010 and has held a variety of other executive leadership positions within medical schools and health systems, including senior vice president and chief medical officer at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, chairman of medicine and physician-in-chief at Georgetown University Hospital, and chief operating officer at Georgetown University Medical Center.  Continue Reading

Project MEOW, a West Philly-based, all-volunteer run feline rescue organization, is seeking temporary foster homes for cats and kittens from West Philadelphia neighborhoods. See the flier below for more information or email: projectmeowfosters@gmail.com

The organization is also asking for donations:

“Spring and summer are peak season for kittens, and we’ve got ’em! Help us out by visiting the Donate page to send money via PayPal, snail mail, or just buy us something from our Amazon Wish List.”

Click to enlarge.

A viewing for Akyra Murray, the 18-year-old West Philadelphia woman killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fl. on June 12, will take place Friday, June 24, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Monumental Baptist Church located at 50th and Locust Streets. The funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. at the church and burial will be at Mount Peace Cemetery.

Akyra is the youngest victim of the mass shooting, in which 49 people were shot and killed. She graduated from West Catholic Preparatory High School earlier this month and was visiting Florida with her family. She went to the club with her cousin, Tiara Parker, and friend Patience Carter, also from West Philadelphia. Both Parker and Carter survived the shooting.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Akyra’s family.

The University City Historical Society (UCHS) is waging a legal battle to stop the demolition of the buildings at 4046-48 Chestnut Street and the construction of an apartment building in its place. These properties, along with the rest of the block date to the 1870s and are currently nominated to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places. Due to their nomination, the validity of the demolition permits are in question.

“We currently have a stay on them,” writes Kelly Wiles, a UCHS Board member, and tomorrow (Thursday, June 23) at 11 a.m., a hearing is scheduled in Room 232 of City Hall to determine their fate. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

“We welcome community support and involvement by those who are interested in maintaining the character and preservation of West Philadelphia’s built environment as well as those who are concerned with the changing patterns of large-scale development, poorly-constructed  and out of place building stock, zoning issues, the displacement of non-student residents,” writes Wiles.  Continue Reading