While gun violence and other incidents involving youth remain a serious problem in Philadelphia, the nonprofit Philly Truce is bringing back its Peace Patrol to city neighborhoods, including West Philly. Beginning at 2 p.m. this Thursday, Philly Truce will deploy its first patrol of the season from Charles Durham Library at the corner 34th & Haverford Avenue in Mantua. The launch coincides with the 84th birthday of the late Herman Wrice, a community organizer who resided and worked for decades in the same section of West Philly.

Philly Truce and partner Life Outside the Streets have unveiled its community outreach and visible deterrence schedule for what they are calling Safe City Summer. It’s robust. Beginning on Thursday the group will tour 10 neighborhoods using Free Library branches as bases. Three days per week they will hold space for communities across the city to be trained and join a peace patrol on the spot.

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SEPTA Trolley Tunnel, which connects West Philadelphia with Center City, will be closed for the annual maintenance from July 7 through July 24 for the annual “Trolley Tunnel Blitz.”

The tunnel closure will impact trolley routes 10, 11, 13, 34 and 36, all of which will temporarily divert to 40th and Market, where riders can transfer to/from the Market-Frankford Line to continue their travel.

A temporary shelter will be set up for riders switching to/from the Market-Frankford Line. The trolley diversion map is available here.

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The Drexel Business Inclusion Center (BIC), which develops strategies and assists businesses in building a diverse and inclusive workforce, is hosting an Aramark hiring event on Tuesday, June 27 for individuals on the autism spectrum and with other disabilities. The event will take place at Drexel’s Handschumacher Dining Center (3210 Chestnut St) between 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Candidates will be interviewed for a variety of positions and receive on-the-spot job offers for positions, many starting in August and September 2023.

Job seekers who arrive before 2 p.m. will be guaranteed an interview and have access to:

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Starting today, Philadelphia Parks and Rec will begin opening outdoor public pools on a rolling schedule. All of Parks & Rec’s 61 pools will open this summer. Pool schedules will vary based on available staffing. The first pool will open today in West Philly’s Mill Creek neighborhood – an official pool opening ceremony, coinciding with Tiffany Fletcher Recreation Center (former Mill Creek) renaming ceremony, will take place at noon at 4700 Brown Street.

Here’s the opening schedules for other West Philly pools:

Friday, June 16:

Kelly Pool — 4231 Lansdowne Dr., 19131

Wednesday, June 21:

Johnny Sample (Cobbs Creek) Pool — 280 Cobbs Creek Pkwy., 19139

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The area that will be covered by the “Spruce Hill Historic District.”

UPDATE: The meeting was postponed from June 7 to June 27 due to the smoke pollution in Philadelphia caused by the Canadian wildfires. 

Community members are invited to learn more about the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) proposal to make a large part of its neighborhood, from roughly Ludlow Street in the north to Woodland Avenue in the south and 46th Street in the west to 40th in the east, a historic district recognized by the city. A panel discussion and Q and A will take place on Tuesday, June 27 starting at 7 p.m. at Resurrection Church (42nd and Pine).

The “Spruce Hill Historic District” would provide an added layer of protection of historic structures amid a building boom in the area. Designation could also regulate exterior changes to existing buildings like masonry and window replacement.

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UPDATE (6/13/2023, 2:23 p.m.): The Boil Water Advisory, issued for parts of West Philadelphia on Sunday, has been lifted. No harmful bacteria were found in the water samples tested by the Philadelphia Water Department.

6/12/2023: A Boil Water advisory issued last night by the Philadelphia Water Department for upper West Philadelphia neighborhoods is still in effect until further notice. Customers in the affected area, which includes Wynnefield Heights, Wynnefield, Overbrook Farms, Green Hill Farms, Overbrook, Overbrook Park, Morris Park, and parts of Carrol Park, Haddington, West Parkside, and West Fairmount Park (see full map here), should not drink the water without boiling it first for at least one minute. This concerns water used for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and preparing formula.

The advisory was issued on Sunday evening, following a collapse of a pumping station serving a section of upper West Philadelphia and a temporary loss of pressure in the system, which happened between approximately 3:45 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. on June 11. While the pressure was restored later on Sunday, testing in the area, which began last night, is still taking place this morning and afternoon. This is because a lack of pressure can create a vacuum that could pull disease-causing organisms such as bacteria into water pipes. If the results of the testing from Sunday and Monday meet quality standards, PWD will inform customers that they no longer need to boil water. Continue Reading