UPDATE (Monday, Jan. 28, 2019): Darryl Thomas stepped down over the weekend. Democratic leaders appointed Movita Johnson-Harrell as the nominee for the March 12 special election.

Democratic ward leaders have selected Darryl Thomas, a Howard University graduate and the owner of Philly Cuts barbershop on Chestnut near 44th, to stand in a special election in March to fill the 190th state House District seat left vacant when former Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown resigned in December.

Thomas has long been vocal on community issues, including zoning, and ran in the Democratic primary for the seat in 2016, losing to Brown.

“I’m not a politician, even though I’m running for office. I’m a social activist,” Thomas, a West Philly native, told West Philly Local during the campaign. Continue Reading

Joe Clark volunteered for many years at the Walnut Street West Library Chess Club.

A well-known member of the community, Joe Clarke, 64, passed away on October 6th after a long courageous battle with cancer. Although he was struggling with cancer for years he was still out and about in the community until just a few weeks ago.

Joe was remarkable in his lifework of being a friend and mentor to many. He was on a spiritual journey that embodied religious and philosophical ideas always being spun through human relations and a great love of music and the arts. He was sometimes affectionately called “The Mayor of West Philadelphia.” This nickname came about because of how well known he was. A common complaint by his friends was that if you were sitting with him for a cup of coffee there would be constant interruptions as he seemed to know about every third person walking down the block.  Continue Reading

The Ed Bradley mural at 949 Belmont Ave. (Photo by Steve Weinik for Mural Arts Philadelphia).

UPDATE: The event has been postponed until Saturday, June 16 due to the weather.

Mural Arts Philadelphia will unveil a new piece honoring journalist and West Philly native Ed Bradley on Saturday, May 19 June 16 at noon at the intersection of Belmont and Wyalusing Streets (949 Belmont St.).

Bradley was best known as a reporter for some 26 years on 60 Minutes. He was the first Black television correspondent to cover the White House and won dozens of awards during his career. That career in journalism began at Philadelphia radio station WDAS. Bradley had also been a public school teacher in Philadelphia, soon after he graduated from Cheyney University.

Bradley died in 2006 at age 65 of complications from lymphocytic leukemia.  Continue Reading

The 2018 primary election results are in, and there are no surprises this year for West Philly Democratic candidates.

Incumbent Jim Roebuck beat his opponents, lawyer Jeff Curry and the president of the Kingsessing Area Civic Association Diane Settles, for the State House of Representatives District 188 seat, which includes parts of Spruce Hill, Squirrel Hill, Walnut Hill, Spruce Hill, Garden Court, Beige Block and University City. Roebuck received 56.17 percent of total votes, according to Philly Election Results, the website reporting unofficial election results.

Vanessa Lowery Brown, the incumbent seeking her fifth term in the State House of Representatives, District 190, which includes parts of Cobbs Creek, Belmont, Carroll Park, Cathedral Park, Mill Creek, Haddington, East Parkside, West Powelton, Allegheny West and Lehigh West, beat her opponents Raymond H. Bailey and Wanda Logan. Brown received 64.92 percent of total votes, according to Philly Election Results.

Candidates Joanna McClinton (District 191) and Morgan Cephas (District 192) were running unopposed.

For more election results, including the results by ward and division, go here.

A new reading series is launching this Thursday (March 15) at the Dock Street Cannery + Lounge (705 S. 50th St), and this is a great chance to meet some talented Philadelphia-based writers.

The event is hosted by West Philly authors Matt Jakubowski and Christine Kendall and showcases writers Ru Freeman, Emma Copley Eisenberg and Marc Anthony Richardson who will be reading from their work. Doors will open at 5 p.m. for drinks and snacks; the readings start at 7 p.m. Come early to secure a seat! Books will be available for sale during the event, provided by Bindlestiff Books.

Here’s some more information about the writers from the event organizers:

Ru Freeman is the author of the novels A Disobedient Girl and On Sal Mal Lane, a New York Times Editor’s Choice Book. She is the editor of the ground-breaking anthology, Extraordinary Rendition: American Writers on Palestine. Her writing appears internationally in the UK Guardian, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe. She blogs for The Huffington Post on literature and politics, is a contributing editorial board member of the Asian American Literary Review, and is the recipient of many fellowships including from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, and the Lannan Foundation. Ru teaches creative writing at Columbia University.  Continue Reading

Mark Wagenveld photographed in Clark Park in 2011 (Photo from Spruce Hill Community Association Facebook page).

UPDATE (2/1/2018): A memorial service for Mark Wagenveld will be held on Saturday, Feb. 17 at Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church at 412 Pine St. Visitation will be from 9:45-10:45 a.m., with a service to follow at 11 a.m.

Longtime Spruce Hill community leader and retired Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Mark Wagenveld passed away on Saturday at the age of 73.

We got to know Mark in his role as president of the Spruce Hill Community Association and a mentor of sorts who took an interest in West Philly Local soon after we began publishing in 2010. He always had solid news tips and words of encouragement for us.

We also know him as the driving force behind the May Fair in Clark Park and the Halloween Parade. Mark became active in community work soon after his retirement from the Inquirer in 2005, according to Barry Grossbach, his friend and colleague in the Spruce Hill Community Association.

“Sometimes we don’t fully appreciate a person’s contribution or importance while they are around,” Grossbach wrote. “Not so with Mark. Everyone knew what he did and what he meant to our community. And everyone will be the poorer for his absence.”  Continue Reading