West Philly small business owners, from corner grocery stores to hair salons, child care centers to cafés, are invited to a series of free workshops at Community College of Philadelphia. “Power Up Your Business” is a new initiative offering in-demand business development tools to small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs in the College’s effort to reinvigorate City neighborhoods.

Here are the upcoming three workshops to be held on Tuesdays at Community College of Philadelphia’s West Regional Center at 4725 Chestnut St. from 6 to 9 p.m.:

May 23: Capital and Credit for Growth
Learn the importance of personal and business credit to your business’ success.  Continue Reading

Due to bad weather, many local park cleanups scheduled for May 13 as part of the Love Your Park week had to be postponed. So, much to the delight of the Friends of Barkan Park, the organizer of the spring clean-up and planting event in this small park located at 50th and Spruce, a lot of volunteers showed up for the rescheduled event on Saturday, May 20.  Continue Reading

The 40th Street free summer concert series will return to the green space behind the Walnut Street West Library on Saturday, May 20 with a performance by the Sun Ra Arkestra. This marks the third time Sun Ra, which presents a unique combination of big band swing, outer-space jazz, Afro-pageantry, dancing, singing, and chanting, has performed on the Summer Series stage near 40th and Walnut. The opening act for Saturday’s concert will be RU Bhangra who will present traditional Bhangra dancing.

Earlier this week, the University City District, one of the organizers of this popular, family-friendly summer event, revealed more dates and performers for the series, which will be held once a month through September 16:  Continue Reading

After being closed for about 18 months for maintenance and renovations, the Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library is set to reopen this weekend. The grand opening celebration will take place on Saturday, May 20, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and will include a block party featuring fun learning activities, balloon art, face painting, giveaways, library card sign-ups, food, and more.

One of the area’s largest libraries, which serves the communities of Cobbs Creek, Cedar Park, Walnut Hill, Mill Creek, Dunlap, and West Park, the Blackwell library has been closed since the beginning of 2016, and its patrons were redirected to other neighborhood branches. The maintenance work at the library, which first opened in 1976 and was the second regional library in the city, included a complete replacement of the building’s heating and air-conditioning system and installation of new ceilings and a new electrical system.  Continue Reading

It wasn’t a very good start to the “Love Your Park” week on Saturday, May 13, with some of the events, like the annual Spruce Hill May Fair, being rained out. This week, there will be more chances to celebrate and help clean up your neighborhood park as the “Love Your Park” week, sponsored by Philadelphia Parks & Rec and local community groups, continues. On Friday and Saturday, festivities will be held at at least three West Philly parks – Clark Park, Cedar Park and Malcolm X Park. A couple of park cleanups have also been scheduled, and volunteers are needed. Here are more details:

Cedar Park (49th and Baltimore)

Picnic in Cedar Park: Friday, May 19, 6-8 p.m.

Residents are invited to bring their own picnic or pick up a dinner at one of the neighborhood’s great businesses and enjoy a beautiful spring evening with their friends and neighbors.

Service Workday: Saturday, May 20, 9:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

The service workday in Cedar Park has been rescheduled for Saturday, May 20 due to rain. Volunteers of all ages are welcome. Help is needed planting annuals and perennials, pruning, weeding, and doing general clean up. Tools and gloves will be provided. RSVP here.  Continue Reading

Police have released a flyer asking for the public’s assistance in identifying two individuals sought in the ongoing investigation of the murder of West Philly community activist Winnie Harris. Harris, 65, was found shot to death in her home on the 300 block of North Holly Street on Feb. 3, 2017. According to the flyer, Harris was killed in the early morning hours of Feb. 2.

The first person of interest is described as a black male, average height, muscular build, with bushy hair and a receding hairline. The second person of interest is described as a black male of average build. He possibly has facial hair on his chin. The flyer can be viewed and downloaded here.  Continue Reading