Councilmember Jamie Gauthier’s path to re-election got a lot easier this week when Jabari K. Jones, widely seen as a viable competitor to her 3rd District seat, dropped out of the race.

Jones, the 28-year-old head of the West Philadelphia Corridor Collaborative, positioned himself to the right of Gauthier on issues like development and crime, but withdrew from the race on Monday ahead of a hearing on legal challenges to his nominating petitions. He was one of about a two dozen candidates for City Council who faced challenges to their paperwork this week. The challenges are a longstanding tradition in Philly politics.

Lodged by three 3rd District voters and committeepeople, the legal challenges alleged that many of the people who signed Jones’ nominating petitions did not live in the District or were not registered Democrats. City Council candidates are required to submit 750 signatures to be nominated.

The 3rd District race was setting up to be one of the more competitive races in this year’s municipal primaries. There is no Republican challenger to Gauthier’s seat. All 17 City Council seats will be on May 16 primary ballots.

Apple Studios has been filming scenes for the upcoming season of their television show, Catamount (a limited-run crime drama) in the Spruce Hill neighborhood since February. Filming is mostly taking place in the area of 44th/45th and Spruce and on 46th Street between Pine and Spruce, but more areas may be affected as well.

As the scenes involve the production crew working with equipment on the street, there are intermittent road closures and parking restrictions in the areas of filming. Residents are asked to move their vehicles prior to the crew’s arrival. Any vehicles not moved will be relocated to another street in the neighborhood by the Philadelphia Police Department.

Here are the dates and times of the no parking zones for the neighborhood from Sunday, March 19 through Friday, March 24. Continue Reading

State Rep. Rick Krajewski (188th Legislative District) today announced three projects in his district that were awarded a combined $1.75 million in state funding from the Commonwealth Financing Authority.

The projects awarded this funding include:

• $1 million to PIDC Financing Corporation on behalf of the Public Health Management Corporation to upgrade the Public Health Campus on Cedar’s parking garage.

• $500,000 to the city of Philadelphia for the construction of a synthetic sports field at the corner of Kingsessing Avenue and South 49th Street.

• $250,000 to PIDC Financing Corporation on behalf of The Woodlands Cemetery Company of Philadelphia for renovating a historic building at The Woodlands.

“I am proud of the $1.75 million in state grant funding that will be coming to our district and excited for how these funds will contribute to West and Southwest Philly being a place where people are cared for and can thrive,” Krajewski said in a statement. Continue Reading

Here’s some great news for shaved ice fans. Ice Cave, the popular Baltimore Avenue Taiwanese dessert shop, reopened earlier this month under new ownership. We reported a month ago that the former owners, Po Chang and Jessica Wang, had decided to close their store after more than six years in business due to family matters. However, less than two weeks later, a new family took over the space at 4520 Baltimore Ave, continuing the old tradition.

The new owners haven’t updated the business social media pages yet, and the website is offline. We’ll let you know more details as soon as we have them.

The hours of operation are: 2 p.m. – 7 p.m. on weekdays (closed on Thursday), and 2 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. on Saturday & Sunday.

Some of the 13 women honored with a City Council resolution on March 8, International Women’s Day. Photo courtesy of the Office of Councilmember Jamie Gauthier.

In honor of International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8, City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier introduced and passed a City Council resolution honoring 13 West and Southwest Philadelphia women working to make their communities joyful and safe places to live.

The list included:

Tanja Carter – A community activist in Mill Creek, a block captain, and the founder of It Takes a Village of Helping Hands, a community organization which improves and empowers neighbors by hosting events, beautifying alleys, city streets, and parks, and more.

Callalily Cousar – The President of the East Parkside Residence Assistance (ERPA). In this role, she has established a playground, created a food cupboard, hosted block parties, health fairs, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, and tax and resume workshops.

Constance Harris Crews – The President of the Kingsessing Recreation Center Advisory Council, a block captain, a committeeperson, the co-commissioner of the Jayhawks Basketball Program, and the Program Liaison for the Jayhawks 1975 Youth Association. Continue Reading

The 50-year-old McDonald’s building at 40th and Walnut has been demolished to make room for a new six-story office building, which will host a new McDonald’s restaurant on the ground floor (see rendering below). The project is part of the University of Pennsylvania’s plan to invest in the 40th Street Corridor, which began more than 20 years ago. Penn purchased the land from McDonald’s last year and will lease space to it in the new building.

The construction of the new building, which will house Penn offices on the floors 2 through 6, is expected to begin shortly. The building is anticipated to open for operation next summer or fall. Continue Reading