Here are two opportunities for community members to meet candidates in the May 21 primary election.

The 27th Ward democrats are inviting friends and neighbors for a Spring Shindig at Clarkville (43rd and Baltimore), which will take place Monday, March 18, from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. This is an opportunity to meet and mingle with local Democratic candidates running for office, including Congressman Dwight Evans, who will be a special guest at the event.

This is also a fundraising event supporting the 27th Ward democrats. Tickets are $20 in advance, or sliding scale at the door (no one will be turned away).  Continue Reading

Photo by Shepard Ritzen.

The mystery of the lifestyle art sculptures that recently appeared on an empty lot on the 4700 block of Market Street has been (somewhat) solved. The statues are by well-known New Jersey-based artist Seward Johnson, and the lot, owned by the Daniel Veloric Foundation, is a future site for a museum with some public meeting space, according to a recent report by Philly.com.

It’s not clear yet when the construction will begin, but reportedly “soon.” The Veloric Foundation, whose owner Daniel Veloric is 91 years old and lives in the suburbs, purchased the entire block in 2017. Some demolition work on the site has already been done, according to the report. The organization has reportedly allocated $1.3 million for the project.  Continue Reading

Democratic nominee Movita Johnson-Harrell easily won Tuesday’s special election for the 190th House District seat.

Johnson-Harrell, who was most recently the head of the victim service unit in the District Attorney’s Office, won with about two-thirds of votes cast. She replaces Vanessa Lowery Brown, who was forced to resign in December after being convicted of bribery charges.

Amen Brown, a Democrat who was running as an independent, finished second, according to reports. Pamela K. Williams, a pastor from West Philly running in the Working Families Party, finished third and Republican Michael Harvey finished fourth.  Continue Reading

The 190th House district.

A special election will be held tomorrow, March 12, to fill the state 190th House district seat left vacant after Vanessa Lowery Brown was forced to resign. This is the only race on the ballot.

The 190th district includes some neighborhoods around Malcolm X. Park and west of 52nd Street as well as Belmont, Carroll Park, Cathedral Park, Mill Creek, Haddington, East Parkside, West Powelton, Allegheny West and Lehigh West.

Go here to find your polling place and to figure out if you live in the 190th. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.  Continue Reading

UPDATE (3/11/2019): Here is a recap of Sunday’s meeting from The Philadelphia Tribune.

A “community debrief and discussion” will be held on Sunday, March 10, from 3 – 5 p.m. at the Ethiopian Community Center (4400 Chestnut St.) to discuss the police shooting of Kaleb Belay, a 25-year-old Temple University graduate student, on March 6th on the 4900 block of Hazel Avenue.

Residents may also be interested in attending the monthly 18th Police District’s “Captain’s townhall meeting,” which will be held March 19th at the 18th District headquarters at 5510 Pine St. The meeting begins at 6 p.m.  Continue Reading

Vision Driven Consulting (VDC), an organization supporting artists through consulting and training, has been running free professional development workshop series at The Rotunda for three years. Recently, they presented a Tax for Artists workshop and have more free workshops coming up at the historic venue at 40th and Walnut.

Intermediate Grant Writing & Funder Panel, which will feature funders from the Knight Foundation, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and Leeway Foundation, will take place on Monday, March 11, from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. More information is available on the Facebook event page.  Continue Reading