November 8, 2012
The old West Philadelphia High School on Walnut between 47th and 48th.
The School District of Philadelphia will be asking for input on the sale of the old West Philadelphia High School (47th and Walnut) during a public meeting Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. at the new West Philadelphia High School (4901 Chestnut St.).
The District has received bids from private contractors interested in converting the building to apartments on the upper floors and mixed uses, including commercial operations on the ground floor, according to a recent report in the Philadelphia Public School Notebook.
District officials will not talk about bid specifics, but an official told The Notebook that several of the dozen recently shuttered District properties have received competitive bids. The bids have come from private developers and charter schools interested in the properties. The District has placed a $6.5 million price tag on the old West Philadelphia High School.
November 6, 2012
Voting seemed to have gotten off to a brisk start this morning, with many polling stations reporting long lines. While this is no reason to start wildly speculating about results in West Philly, it’s at least a good sign.
We will continually update this post throughout the day with bits and pieces of information and observations from around the neighborhoods. Please feel free to write us at editor@westphillylocal.com or tweet us at @westphillylocal with your observations while voting.
Here are some early tweets from this morning:
https://twitter.com/mabege/status/265808077478035456
https://twitter.com/estemonte/status/265883665144356865
Also – to lighten things up a little – we asked what might be the best way to work “jawn” into an Election Day tweet. @AdamButler got into this. His responses:
https://twitter.com/a_butler/status/265879399075831808
https://twitter.com/a_butler/status/265879508253569024
https://twitter.com/a_butler/status/265879508253569024
November 5, 2012
Here are a few things to keep in mind as you head to the polls on Tuesday:
• Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• An easy way to find your polling place is to go here and plug in your street address.
• Besides the race for President, voters tomorrow will also decide on a U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, Attorney General, Auditor General, State Treasurer, State Senator (odd districts only) and State Representative. You can find some information on the candidates here.
• There are several places to find out info on this year’s ballot questions. Philadelphia Magazine‘s blog, Philly Post, has some background on the ballot questions here. Philadelphia Weekly has its take on the questions here. The Committee of 70’s rendering of the ballot questions into plain English is here.
• If you observe some hijinks at your polling station, call 215-686-9641 to report it.
• The Voter ID law is NOT in place for this election. BUT those voting for the first time and those voting in a new polling place will have to show some form of ID (it doesn’t have to be photo ID). These include: driver’s license or state-issued photo ID, passport, armed forces ID, student ID, employee ID. Non-photo ID: voter registration card, gun permit, current utility bill, current bank statement, current paycheck (note: must have full name and current address.)
November 2, 2012
The West Philadelphia Cooperative School (4625 Baltimore Ave.) will be collecting donated items for victims of Hurricane Sandy after its open house tomorrow – from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Volunteers are specifically asking for clothing, linens and cleaning products, but all donations will be accepted. The donation drive begins after the school’s open house, which runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Donated items will be distributed to shelters on Staten Island.
November 2, 2012
A young woman who died on Monday night in Brooklyn when a tree fell on her during Hurricane Sandy had West Philly connections.
Jessie Streich-Kest, 24, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010 and spent many hours working with homeless families and tutoring neighborhood children. She was a member of Penn Haven, a campus group “dedicated to people suffering homelessness and economic injustice,” according to its website.
Streich-Kest, a Brooklyn native, was walking her dog with a friend, Jacob Vogelman, during the storm when a tree fell on them. Neighbors discovered the two several hours later, Ditmas Park Corner reported.
Friends and relatives have flocked to Ditmas Park Corner to post tributes to Streich-Kest and Vogelman, including Streich-Kest’s former classmates from Penn. Here’s what one of them wrote:
“Jessie Streich-Kest was an extraordinary person, and I am tremendously privileged to have been her friend. No one I have ever met has devoted more of her life to service, to social equity, and to her friends than Jessie. Whether it was tutoring students in West Philadelphia, working to help the homeless, or dropping everything to listen to your problems, Jessie always strove to leave a positive mark on the world.”
If you knew Jessie, feel free to leave a comment.
November 1, 2012
Ghosts, goblins and all sorts of ghoulish creatures were out in force last night. Luckily we were able to get a bunch of photos. Check out the costumes in the gallery below. There were some great ones, but we think the best may have been Gandalf the Grey and Gollum. We don’t have the precious, but we do have the pictures.
[wpsgallery]
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