Mayor Jim Kenney announced the nine members of the Philadelphia Board of Education, which will govern the city’s schools after 17 years of state control. The board will officially begin work on July 1.

The new nine-member board, which includes six women and three men, was chosen from dozens of candidates. Check out the full profiles of all the members here. Social worker and administrator Julia Danzy will chair the board. The board also includes two members – Joyce Wilkerson and Chris McGinley – of the School Reform Commission, which was appointed by the state to run the school district. SRC members voted to dissolve the commission in November 2017. It will cease to exist on June 30.

The new board will embark on a “listening tour” around the city later this month. Members will be at the Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library at 52nd and Sansom on May 10 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

If you still buy tokens for your traveling this is a good time to switch to the SEPTA Key card. SEPTA will end token sales at all Authority-operated locations on April 30. SEPTA will continue to accept purchased tokens for the foreseeable future, but customers are reminded that tokens can be loaded onto SEPTA Key cards with the full value added to the Travel Wallet.

Tokens will continue to be sold in bulk to social service agencies beyond April 30, and third-party retailers will also continue to sell tokens to the general public for now.

SEPTA has been gradually phasing out sales of tokens since January, but will continue to accept purchased tokens for the foreseeable future.

For more information on SEPTA Key Card, go here.

A rendering of the proposed five-unit apartment building for the vacant lot at 4829 Baltimore Ave. The Cedar Park Neighbors zoning committee asked the developers to reduce the number of units and the scale of the building.

The Cedar Park Neighbors zoning committee on Thursday evening convinced developers proposing a four-story, five-unit apartment building for a long empty lot on the 4800 block of Baltimore Ave. to slim down the project and introduce it again at a later date.

The plan requires variances from the city because the lot is zoned for a single-family home and the proposed building would cover more than 50 percent of the lot, which is between a building fronted by a nail salon on one side and a residential building on the other side. It includes five units ranging from 620 square feet to 1,400 square feet.

“I don’t think anyone is saying that Baltimore Avenue (on that lot) needs to be a single-family home, but five units is a big ask,” said zoning committee chair Shawn Markovich. “It’s overbuilt.”  Continue Reading

Cedar Park Neighbors is holding a pubic zoning meeting this Thursday (March 29) that will focus on two development proposals on Baltimore Avenue:

• The event space Petite Féte has requested a use certificate for a banquet hall for up to 49 people on the first floor at 5042 Baltimore Ave. This site is currently zoned CMX-2 (Commercial use) and also has two residential units above (on the second and third floor). The proposed use, “Assembly and Entertainment,” requires a special exception approval in this zoning district.  Continue Reading

Dominique Oglesby (Photo via LinkedIn)

A candlelight vigil for Dominique Oglesby will take place this Friday at 6 p.m. at 52nd and Market Streets. Police are still looking for the male suspect who shot and killed Dominique, a 23-year-old West Philly resident and Penn State senior on Sunday afternoon outside of Galaxy West Bar & Grill at 52nd and Market.

The unidentified shooter and another female were reportedly involved in an altercation with Dominique inside the bar and started shooting while running away when her father and grandfather showed up after the altercation escalated. Her father and grandfather were also shot, but will recover from their injuries.

Dominique was shot once in the back and transported to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 4:42 p.m. on Sunday. Her father was shot in a foot and her grandfather was shot in an arm, according to police.  Continue Reading

The city of Philadelphia is preparing for heavy snow through tomorrow evening. The Philadelphia School District has announced that all public schools will be closed Wednesday. All parochial elementary and high schools will also be closed.

The City has declared a Snow Emergency beginning at 9 a.m on Wednesday, which means all vehicles parked along snow emergency routes must be moved to another location to allow plowing. Snow Emergency information and a map of Snow Emergency routes can be found here. Cars left on Snow Emergency routes will be moved to other parking spots. If your car is moved, call 215-686-SNOW to find it. Please do not call 911.  Continue Reading