Dock Street Cannery & Tasting Room will open on April 27 at 4 p.m. (Photos by Rana Fayez).

Starting Thursday, April 27, you’ll be able to buy some Dock Street Brewery beer, such as No Exit double IPA, Jip the Blood Berliner weisse and Golden IPA, in cans. Customers will be able to see the canning line in action at the new tasting room, which will be located right around the corner from the restaurant on 50th street.

Dock Street head brewer Mark Russell (right).

Why is this recent shift in product packaging? Head brewer Mark Russell says that’s where the beer industry is headed.

“Craft beer, in general, is heading towards cans. Lots of other breweries are also looking at cans, it’s something you can take outdoors. When you look at shipping costs, cans are a lot cheaper, too,” said Russell.

Russell went on to further advocate for beer in cans as a preferred format due to their ability to contain less air and allow less light in, two aspects that affect beer. Dock Street hopes to offer Summer in Berlin and Man Full of Trouble in cans soon as well.

The tasting room will be offering a curated selection of cocktails in addition to the beer. On the shelves, there will be a rotating selection of Pennsylvania liquors like Faber. However, if you’re trying to order one of the restaurant’s famous pizzas in the new space, you won’t be able to. The tasting room will stick to providing a seasonal snack menu from different vendors throughout the area.  Continue Reading

Chestnut Street is one of the busiest streets in West Philadelphia with three lanes of eastbound traffic with cars often zooming by at high speeds. This Wednesday evening (Apr. 19), the City is hosting an open house on a proposed Chestnut Street transportation project that will help protect bicyclists and pedestrians between 34th and 45th Streets.

The following safety-enhancing features are being proposed:

• Adding a parking protected bicycle lane to the north side of the street with flexible delineator posts
• Shortening the pedestrian crossing distance with painted pedestrian islands
• Calming vehicle speeds by reducing the number of through traffic lanes
• Adding right-turn lanes at appropriate locations

The open house will be held from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Enterprise Center (4548 Market St.).

The city’s Redevelopment Authority selected a local developer to rebuild the residential blocks destroyed in the 1985 MOVE bombing.

If approved by the authority’s board, Philadelphia-based builders AJR Endeavors LLC will rebuild the 36 homes hastily constructed after the bombing on the 6200 blocks of Osage Avenue and Pine Street in the Cobbs Creek section of West Philadelphia. The project will cost an estimated $3.2 million and AJR Endeavors’ bid was one of two received by the authority. The agreement will require construction to be completed within two years of its start.

The fire that destroyed more than 50 neighboring homes began after police dropped a small bomb from a helicopter on a home at 6221 Osage Ave. following a long standoff with members of the black liberation group MOVE who had barricaded themselves inside. Eleven people, including five children, were killed.  Continue Reading

Mt. Vernon Manor II, an affordable housing construction project, has recently been completed in the Mantua section of West Philadelphia, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place on Wednesday, April 19. The project includes 46 apartments (five one-bedroom, 36 two-bedroom, and five three-bedroom), all of which are Energy Star certified to ensure low utility and operating costs for the residents. In addition, each apartment has its own washer & dryer, central air conditioning, and video camera doorbell entry system.

The project is a continuation of the We Are Mantua! neighborhood plan created by the nonprofit organization Mt. Vernon Manor, Inc. and other community stakeholders to preserve affordable housing options in this rapidly changing neighborhood. It was funded by Philadelphia’s Division of Housing and Community Development and Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency preservation tax credits.  Continue Reading

In the current political climate and the rise of the alt-right movement, Islamophobia is growing more widespread. A number of public education efforts have surfaced, but there’s one particular effort that aims to nip Islamophobia in the bud while children are still in school. Meet Melanie Bartlett, a parent who heads the education committee at the West Philly Coalition Against Islamophobia (Facebook page). Bartlett is spearheading the “Kids Books That Fight Islamophobia” campaign, which has one simple mission: to get more books featuring Muslim kids into elementary school class libraries. Currently, the campaign is seeking out funding through their GoFundMe page and has already raised over $3,600 of its $5,000 goal.

Bartlett was driven by creating a better world for her daughter, who is being raised Muslim.  Continue Reading

The annual Cedar Park Neighbors’ general meeting and Board elections will take place tonight (April 17) at Calvary Center (48th and Baltimore). The meeting will also feature guest speakers who will talk about tenant and renter’s rights and tax relief programs for homeowners.

Board elections will begin at 6:30 p.m., with the general program beginning at 7:00 p.m. More information on board candidates is available in the CPN Spring Newsletter.

Here’s also some information on two upcoming community events in Cedar Park.  Continue Reading