Lea Principal Jennifer Duffy helps a student cut the ribbon that officially opens the new Henry Lea Elementary School playground at 47th and Spruce (Photo by West Philly Local).

A handful of Henry C. Lea Elementary students cut the ribbon this morning on a project that has transformed the school’s playground at 47th and Spruce from a barren swathe of asphalt into an inviting space complete with trees and dedicated bricks.

The “Greening Lea” project has moved through several stages that culminated with today’s ribbon cutting for a playground that now includes several garden areas, several newly planted trees and a renovated basketball court.  Continue Reading

Projects like this one at 35th and Haverford, a block from where last week’s meeting to talk about rezoning took place, has many Mantua residents worried about displacement and gentrification (Photo by West Philly Local).

As Drexel University’s residential footprint continues to creep north, Mantua residents are turning to rezoning to keep their neighborhood diverse.

Roughly bound by Spring Garden Street to the south, Mantua Avenue to the north and 31st Street and 40th Street to the east and west respectively, Mantua has become a focal point for developers looking to cash in on the relatively cheap stock of rowhomes and vacant lots. Most of the building is aimed at students pushing north from pricier Powelton Village.

About 100 Mantua residents met last week at the Grace Lutheran Church to talk about a plan to rezone the neighborhood as primarily single family housing and make it more difficult for developers to build multi-unit student housing.  Continue Reading

The School Reform Commission last night approved the conversion of the three more public schools to charters, including the Samuel B. Huey School at 52nd and Pine.

The Global Leadership Academy Charter School, which currently operates a school at 4601 W. Girard Ave., will take over Huey beginning in the fall. The SRC also voted to convert Cooke (Logan) and Wister (Germantown) Elementary Schools into charters. The charters are tasked with turning around the “chronically under-performing” schools, often against the wishes of parents. Huey has an enrollment of about 550 students.

Meanwhile Councilwoman Helen Gym, who was elected last fall in part for her dedication to public schools, called for a moratorium on charter conversions.

Photo via www.thepennrelays.com

The oldest annual track and field event in the nation, The Penn Relays, kicks off this week at Franklin Field (233 S. 33rd Street), and that means there will be a lot of additional traffic on the east end of Penn’s campus.

The 122nd edition of The Penn Relays starts Thursday and runs through Saturday. If you have the scratch, the events are worth attending (information on tickets is here). Some 15,000 athletes participate, some of whom you will likely see at this summer’s Olympic Games in Brazil.

Otherwise, it’s a part of town to avoid for a couple of days if you’re trying to get somewhere else. Expect heavy delays around the stadium all day Thursday through Saturday. On Saturday, 33rd Street from South Street to Walnut Street will be closed from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

If you make the trip to Franklin Field, here’s some info on what you can take in with you.

Pennsylvania’s primary is this Tuesday (Apr. 26) and, along with the well-hyped presidential races, there are a few local primaries on the ballot as well. Follow the links below to the Committee of 70 website for details on candidates for each seat.

The entire Pennsylvania House of Representatives (203 seats) and half the state Senate (50 seats, including Districts 1, 3, 5 and 7 in Philadelphia) are on the ballot. Republicans currently have a 119-84 majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Primaries will also be held for state Attorney General, Auditor General and Treasurer.

Vincent Hughes is running unopposed on the primary ballot for the Pennsylvania Senate seat in District 7.  Continue Reading

UPDATE: Police are now saying that the 20-year-old woman who was abducted and sexually assaulted in an 11-hour ordeal on Saturday, knew her attacker. No other details are available at this time.

Police are looking for a man who they believe abducted and sexually assaulted a young woman early Saturday morning and held her 11 hours before she escaped near 57th and Larchwood.

The 20-year-old woman was forced into a black vehicle at gunpoint at about 4 a.m. near 49th and Lancaster. The vehicle had tinted windows and a garbage bag over the driver’s side rear window, she told police. She escaped from the vehicle at about 3 p.m. on Saturday near 57th and Larchwood, police said.

Her abductor was described as a black male, about 23 years old, with dreadlocks and a long beard.