Just in time for summer, a new state-of-the-art nature-themed playground has opened in Cobbs Creek near 63rd and Spruce. A ribbon-cutting ceremony, attended by state and city officials, as well as students from Add B. Anderson Middle School and community members, took place on Wednesday afternoon.

The new Cobbs Creek Nature Playground combines modern and unique features to create a “nature-themed play oasis.” All play equipment was made from refurbished solid wood and the playground was designed around the existing trees. The playground itself has been designed to cultivate imaginative play with ample swinging and climbing structures.

“I’m grateful to see the vision for this site come to fruition just in time for summer,’ said Mayor Jim Kenney. “Cobbs Creek Playground has been an integral part of the West Philadelphia community, and now it’s a space where the community can safely play and proudly call their own.”

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Councilmember Jamie Gauthier (center) displays a facsimile sign along with Vernoca L. Michael (left), former executive director of the West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance/Paul Robeson House and Museum; Janice Sykes-Ross (right), executive director, and former Councilmember Jannie Blackwell (far right).

The draping came down on a new street sign at the corner of 50th and Walnut Streets Friday morning as the 4900 block of Walnut Street became “Paul L. Robeson Way.”

Dozens of local officials, including Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton, neighbors and supporters of the Paul Robeson House and Museum were on hand for the street-renaming ceremony near 4951 Walnut, where Robeson lived with his sister Marian Forsythe for the last 10 years of his life. He died in 1976.

“Paul Robeson became one of the most devoted fighters at home and abroad,” said Councilwoman Jamie Gauthier, who introduced resolutions in City Council renaming the block and designating April 9 as “Paul Robeson Day.” “He did this during a time when racists regularly lynched people who looked like him for speaking out against injustice.” Continue Reading

MCAP Fall 2021 alumni / Photo from Drexel.edu.

The Manufacturing Career Accelerator Program (MCAP) at Drexel University is recruiting participants for a 6-week bootcamp on Drexel’s main campus. This tuition-free program, which first launched in Spring 2021, is designed to “help participants become their professional best while learning about the manufacturing industry and preparing to begin a rewarding career in a dynamic industry.”

The program is specifically interested in recruiting West Philadelphia residents. In MCAP, participants work with program instructors and staff to develop even more professional skills and learn how to apply them in the workplace.

The program helps professionals who have recently become unemployed or are working part-time with low wages and seeking a new career opportunity. Program participants receive a monetary stipend. They will also have an opportunity to connect with local employers with immediate job openings.

The third iteration of the program starts May 1, 2023 and runs for six weeks, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-12 p.m.

For more information and to apply, go here. Also, check out this flyer for additional details.

In an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses in school, reduce absenteeism and prioritize in-person learning after the winter break, the School District of Philadelphia will reinstate mandatory masking for students and employees for 10 days following the winter break – from January 3 through January 13, 2023.

This implementation is part of the District’s general COVID-19 protocol for the 2022-2023 school year that was shared in August.

District employees, students and families can pick up free at-home COVID-19 test kits at five school-based testing locations while supplies last. SDP testing locations will be closed on December 26 and January 2 in observance of the federal holidays.

Testing locations, the most updated COVID-19 data and more information can be found on the District’s COVID-19 Information Hub.

Rendering of improved Woodland Avenue looking east towards the 40th Street Trolley Portal and entrance to The Woodlands.

Long-needed safety improvements are coming soon to Woodland Avenue.

Woodland Avenue, and especially the portion between 41st Street and VA Medical Center driveway, is one of the most dangerous roads in the city. Between 2017 and 2021, 13 crashes involving 49 people were reported in that part of the road, with 27 people injured.

Pedestrians and cyclists trying to cross near SEPTA’s 40th Street Trolley Portal and enter The Woodlands currently have to dash across Woodland Avenue and hope for the best. Same goes for the awkward intersection of Chester Ave and Woodland Avenue.

In fact, it can be so treacherous at times along Woodland that the City added the street to the High Injury Network of Vision Zero, the program to eliminate traffic-related deaths by 2030. Continue Reading

Fresh, locally grown strawberries at Overbrook Farmers Market (Facebook photo).

The Food Trust, the non-profit organization providing access to healthy and delicious food for local communities, is holding several farmers markets in various West Philadelphia neighborhoods. Some of the markets, like Clark Park Farmers Market, operate year-round, while others are open for the spring-summer season.

Here is the updated list of the markets:

Saturdays:

Clark Park Saturday Farmers Market (open all year)
43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue
Saturday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
More info

Overbrook Farmers Market
Lancaster and City Avenues
Saturday, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
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