Philly Cuts owner Darryl Thomas (center) and his employees and supporters in front of his barbershop at 44th and Chestnut (Darryl Thomas Facebook photo)

The barbershop on 44th and Chestnut Streets in West Philadelphia seems to have only two floors: the ground floor for men’s haircuts, and the second floor for women’s haircuts. But there’s also third floor, a room plastered with maps and signs, with people taking calls and typing messages: A campaign office.

Philly Cuts has been in operation for 18 years, and this year its 43-year-old owner Darryl Thomas is running for political office for the first time. Thomas, a Democrat, is running for State Representative of the 190th District in the primary election on Tuesday, April 26th. This legislative district includes Belmont, Carroll Park, Cathedral Park, Mill Creek, Haddington, East Parkside,West Powelton, Strawberry Mansion, Allegheny West and Lehigh West. This is the district that Thomas grew up in and left for college—but eventually came back to.

Thomas said the barbershop is like a “watering hole”— a natural place for the community to come together, and a good place to reach them. Over the years, that barbershop has morphed into a community crossroads, a place where people can come for one service — a haircut — and find information and access to other services, like healthcare, education, and job opportunities.  Continue Reading

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will hold rallies in the city, the day before the Pennsylvania primary election on Tuesday, April 26.

Sanders will hold a rally on Monday with actors Susan Sarandon and Kendrick Sampson at the Daskalakis Athletic Center at Drexel University, 3301 Market St. Doors open at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public and no tickets are required, but RSVPS are strongly encouraged since admission is first come, first served.

Clinton’s rally will take place at the City Hall Courtyard, 1401 John F Kennedy Blvd. Doors open at 5:15 p.m., and RSVP is also recommended.

The Republican frontrunner Donald Trump will be at West Chester University, 700 S High Street West Chester, PA, for a 4 p.m. rally on Monday. Doors open at 1 p.m. and tickets are available here.

It’s hard to imagine West Philly’s Clark Park without Uhuru Flea Markets. After a six-month break the popular event is returning on Sunday, April 24 (postponed from Saturday, Apr 23 due to rain). The Uhuru Health Festival & Flea Market will kick off the 2016 Flea Market season, with the powerful theme of Black Health Matters. The festival will feature local health practitioners, fitness workshops, free health screenings, live entertainment, and two important keynote speakers: APEDF President Ona Zene Yeshitela, and John Thomas, Manager of the Tyron Lewis Community Gym.

The Uhuru Health Festival & Flea Market is an economic development project of the African People’s Education and Defense Fund (APEDF). As a national non-profit organization, APEDF is dedicated to raising resources and developing programming to overturn the grave disparities in health, education, and economic development within the African community. The Health Festival is only one part of the important work to carry out APEDF’s mission of developing self-determination for Africans and all oppressed peoples.

Little Marrakesh Bazaar will be there, too! (Facebook photo)

The festival will also feature free health resources and information from a large number of local health and wellness organizations, including Philadelphia FIGHT, Refugee Health Partners, music by Coco Sol & the Chillettes, and much more.

The festival will be held from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. at 43rd and Chester.

This year, Uhuru Flea Markets are scheduled for April 23 (Facebook page), May 21, June 18, Aug. 20, Sept. 24 (Book Fair), and Oct. 22. Visit uhuruhealthfest.blogspot.com for more information.

UPDATE (Fri, Apr. 22): Beginning Friday, Apr. 22 at 11:00 p.m., Routes 10, 11, 13, 34, and 36 Trolleys will operate on a temporary diversion to allow for repairs and inspection to the Trolley Tunnel. Regularly scheduled trolley service will resume at the start of the service day Monday, Apr. 25, 2016.

Many people were wondering why trolleys were running above ground over Spruce to 40th Street today (Thursday). It turns out SEPTA had to divert Routes 11, 13, 34 and 36 to 40th and Market Streets due to continuous repairs of overhead wires in the tunnel. Wire repair work in the tunnel will continue overnight and possibly on Friday. Here’s more information from SEPTA:

“Service disruptions on the Trolley network (Routes 10, 11, 13, 34 and 36) have been occurring with increasing frequency in recent weeks. Despite the best efforts of our maintenance forces in the limited work windows afforded to them, overhead wire conditions in the Trolley Tunnel continue to worsen and have created this reliability issue.  Continue Reading

Soil Kitchen will be at The Dirt Factory on Saturday, Apr. 23 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., which means you can bring some of the soil from your garden to be tested for lead and other poisonous elements. While there, you can also pick up some high-quality organic compost. The Dirt Factory will be distributing up to 10 gallons per person of screened compost produced from University City’s fallen leaves and food scraps.

All this is part of the Dirt Day activities to be held at The Dirt Factory. All participants will receive a consultation on their test results, and free soup! See the infographic below on how to prepare a soil sample for testing.

The Dirt Factory is located at 4308 Market Street. For more information about the site, click here. And here is the event’s Facebook page (please RSVP if you’re planning to attend).

Philadelphia Science Festival at Clark Park (Photo via  www.philasciencefestival.org)

The annual Philadelphia Science Festival returns on April 22 – 30. A lot of cool and FREE events will be happening in West and Southwest Philadelphia, from Astronomy Night for families to a discussion of the brewing process and beer sampling for adults. Here are some of them (for more events, visit: www.philasciencefestival.org):

Saturday, April 23

Astronomy Night (rescheduled from Friday, Apr. 22)

7:30 – 10:30 p.m.

Join local astronomers for some stargazing and participate in other cool projects. Several locations will be hosting this event, so pick one: Drexel University’s Dornsife Center (3509 Spring Garden St.), The African Episcopal Church of Saint Thomas (6361 Lancaster Ave), CHOP Karabots Pediatric Care Center (4865 Market St.), Schuylkill Banks (Schuylkill Banks Trail at Walnut St.), USFWS John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum (8601 Lindbergh Blvd.).  Continue Reading