Here’s a chance to meet and hear from some candidates up for election in next month’s primaries. The 27th Ward Democratic Executive Committee is hosting a candidates forum on Thursday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Rosenberger Hall on the University of the Sciences campus (west side of the 600 block of S. 43rd St. – across from Clark Park).

The forum will feature candidates for the seat from the newly redrawn 3rd Congressional district. Incumbent Dwight Evans, a Democrat and former state representative from North Philly running for his second term, will join Democratic challenger Kevin Johnson, a pastor at the Dare to Imagine Church in East Mount Airy, at the event.

Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional district, which was unveiled earlier this year after the state Supreme Court ordered that it be redrawn, includes West and Northwest Philadelphia and Center City.  Continue Reading

Community members are invited this Thursday (April 12) to a Candidates’ Night for the Democratic candidates running for the 188th district seat. The event is hosted by the 27th Democratic Ward and will feature candidates Jeff Curry, Dianne Settles and the incumbent Jim Roebuck. As the primary election day is approaching fast (it will be held on May 15), this is a great opportunity to discuss current issues in Pennsylvania and ask the candidates what they would do in Harrisburg to bring about the policies you support.

The event will take place at the University of the Sciences, Rosenberger Hall (600 S. 43rd St.) beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Also a reminder that the last day for voter registration before the primary is Monday, April 16. For more information, visit the Committee of Seventy website.

Fair Districts PA, a nonpartisan group of Pennsylvania residents that strives to end gerrymandering, is holding a special West Philadelphia meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. at USciences (Rosenberger Hall, 600 S. 43rd St). Gerrymandering is the practice of legislators creating voting districts to give themselves an unfair advantage, and Pennsylvania is one of the most gerrymandered states in the country.

Newcomers are especially welcome at this meeting. You will learn how you can get involved right here in West Philly. Light refreshments will be provided, and there will also be Gerrymandering bingo with prizes.

More information is also available on Fair Districts PA’s Facebook page.

UPDATE (1:40 p.m.): Both meetings have been canceled due to freezing rain in the forecast for late Monday afternoon/evening. The Spruce Hill Zoning Committee meeting will be rescheduled at the earliest possible date, according to Zoning Committee chair Garry Grossbach. The Fair Districts PA meeting will be rescheduled for February. Stay tuned for more updates.

Residents are invited to get more information about development projects in Spruce Hill and how to get involved with nonpartisan group Fair Districts PA at two community meetings on Monday, Jan. 8.

4508-10 Walnut Street (Google Street View image).

A Spruce Hill Zoning Committee meeting will take place at the Spruce Hill Center (257 S. 45th St) and will inform neighborhood residents about two proposals: Conversion of three-unit building to five units at 424 S. 45th St. and conversion of nine existing apartments into 18 at 4508-10 Walnut St.

The 9,251 square feet building at 4508-10 Walnut Street is owned by Safdan Partners LLC. Eighteen units are proposed from partially on the first floor to the fourth floor of the building, which also houses two storefronts currently occupied by LULU Cafe and Hunter Gatherer Tattoo.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m.  Continue Reading

Lawyer and West Philadelphia resident Jeff Curry announced this week that he is running for state representative in Pennsylvania’s 188th district as a Democrat in the May 15 primary. The announcement was made on Jan. 1 at the University City Arts League, where he addressed the crowd of over one hundred and fifty supporters, according to a press release.

The seat has been held by State Rep. James Roebuck since 1985.

Curry has been a resident of this district for the last decade. He and his wife Angela first moved to the district in 2007 to start and raise a family in the community. A father of three young children, Curry is running for office because he feels “Harrisburg does not reflect his family’s values of hard work, respect others, and equality and fairness for all.”  Continue Reading

The race for district attorney in Philadelphia has been one of the most-talked-about local elections in the country, thanks mostly to the candidacy of Larry Krasner. But the DA’s seat is not the only one up for grabs tomorrow.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday, Nov. 7). Go here to find your polling place. Remember, you don’t need ID unless you are a first-time voter.

Krasner, the civil rights attorney who has promised major reforms, is running against Republican candidate Beth Grossman for the DA’s seat. That’s getting all the hubbub, of course, but here are offices to think about (click on each office for links to profiles at the non-partisan Committee of 70):  Continue Reading