Demolition of the one-story building at the southeast corner of 46th and Spruce Streets, which began early last week, is nearly complete. The building, which served as a social services building, Transition To Independent Living Center, was gutted by a fire in 2011 and remained vacant since then.  Continue Reading

Mariposa, the cooperative grocery store at 49th and Baltimore, has implemented two initiatives aimed at making a positive contribution to the neighborhood: On September 20, it announced a 10 percent discount program for qualifying low-income shoppers, and back in August it raised its minimum salary from $10.75 to $13 per hour.

The 10 percent discount emerged from a sense among Mariposa’s leadership that many of the store’s products aren’t accessible to all its neighbors. Hillary Wickline, Mariposa’s marketing coordinator, said the organization knows that even with government assistance, healthy food can be out of reach.

“We just want to make sure that we’re creating a welcoming space within this environment and not serving just a group of people with a steady income of, like, $50,000 a year or something like that,” Wickline said.  Continue Reading

Two local schools, Penn Alexander School and Independence Charter School West, are holding drives this week to help those in need after the recent devastating hurricanes, “Harvey,” “Irma,” and “Maria.”

Independence Charter School West, located at 5600 Chester Ave., is collecting first-aid items for the areas affected by the hurricanes. The following donations are being accepted through Friday, Sept. 29: bandages, anti-bacterial ointment, flash lights, batteries, soap, antiseptic and alcohol wipes; or any other item you believe will be of use for those affected by the recent natural disasters.

Donations can also be dropped off at Independence Charter School in Center City (1600 Lombard St.).  Continue Reading

Science Leadership Academy (SLA), the highly successful magnet high school, is starting a middle school at its Beeber campus near 59th and Malvern.

The school is now recruiting students for its first fifth grade class, which will start in the 2018-2019 school year. The middle school – 5th through 8th grade – will be housed in the former Beeber Middle School, a building it will share with the SLA high school there. SLA also has a high school in Center City and another new middle school near Drexel in the Powelton Village neighborhood.

Like its other schools, admission to the new middle school will require an application and an interview. Once admitted, though, students can automatically move on to the SLA Beeber High School, one of the more selective high schools in the city.  Continue Reading

Due to rainy weather in August, some movie screenings in Clark Park were postponed, so this Friday (Sept. 22), the “Movies in Clark” series will return for one last time with a rescheduled screening of Hidden Figures. This Oscar-nominated film tells the story of three brilliant African American women working for NASA who served as the brains behind the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit during the 1960s.

The film screening will begin at 8 p.m., but all are invited to come early to a presentation of a “Life in Space” program by The Franklin Institute staff (starting at 6:15), plus enjoy food and desserts from some local food trucks, such as Humpty’s Dumplings, Pink’s Cold Treats, and more.  Continue Reading

Public response was generally favorable during a Cedar Park Neighbors zoning committee meeting on Tuesday toward a proposed three-unit building with ground floor commercial space on a vacant lot on the 5000 of Baltimore Avenue.

The building, which would occupy a vacant lot at 5047 Baltimore Ave., requires approval from the Zoning Board of Adjustment because it will exceed the two apartments allowed under the zoning code. One of those apartments will include basement bedrooms, which allowed the developer to keep the building within the zoning code’s height requirements. The other two units would include two and three bedrooms each.  Continue Reading