In preparation for the 19th annual Philadelphia Marathon, city officials have issued a traffic and parking advisory for many parts of the city. Delays are expected and motorists are advised to avoid these areas. Some portions of West Philly will be affected too.

Some of the major areas impacted include:

– The inner lanes of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Friday, November 16 through Sunday, November 18.
– Citywide along the 26.2-mile route of the Philadelphia Marathon on Sunday, November 18

The following streets will be closed at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 18, and will reopen, as runners pass through the race course. All race routes will remain closed until 4 p.m.

– 21st Street, from Spring Garden to Arch streets
– 22nd Street, from Spring Garden to Arch streets
– Benjamin Franklin Parkway, from 22nd to 16th streets
– Arch Street between 16th to 4th streets
– 4th Street Arch to Vine streets
– Race Street, from 4th Street to Columbus Boulevard
– Columbus Boulevard (Southbound lanes), Vine Street to Washington Avenue
– Southbound off-ramp, from I-95 at Washington Avenue
– Washington Avenue, from Columbus Boulevard to Front Street
– Front Street, from Washington Avenue to South Street
– South Street, Front to 6th streets
– 6th Street, Bainbridge to Market streets
– Chestnut Street, 6th to 34th streets
– 34th Street, Chestnut Street to Girard Avenue
– Lansdowne Drive, Girard Avenue to South Concourse Drive
– South Concourse Drive, Lansdowne Drive to West Memorial Hall Drive
– West Memorial Hall Drive, South Concourse to Avenue of the Republic
– Avenue of the Republic, West Memorial Hall Drive to Centennial Circle
– Old Lansdowne Drive to the Sweetbriar Loop
– Black Road
– Martin Luther King Drive
– Kelly Drive
– The Falls Bridge
– Ridge Avenue, Schoolhouse Lane to Manayunk Avenue
– Main Street, Ridge Avenue to Green Lane.

Update: Here’s a link to a map showing the streets closed during the marathon.

Source: Philly Police Blog

Four more years. pic.twitter.com/bAJE6Vom

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) November 7, 2012

The 2012 presidential election is over and president Barack Obama has been re-elected for the 2nd term. Being a strong democratic base, there are no surprises about how West Philly residents voted in this election. Here are some results by wards (click on the links to see ward maps):

Ward 27 (91.30 % precincts completed):

Ward 24 (100% precincts completed):

Ward 46 (100% precincts completed):

Ward 51 (100% precincts completed):

Ward 60 (95.65% precincts completed):

Ward 6 (100% precincts completed):

Ward 44 (100% completed):

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:

@WestPhillyLocal @Committeeof70 FYI I was required to show ID because “new voters to a district are required to show ID”

— Abhi (@AbsorbingStates) November 6, 2012

@WestPhillyLocal 36th and Locust opened 37 minutes late because the judge of elections didn't get here on time.

— Jonathan Tannenwald (@jtannenwald) November 6, 2012

https://twitter.com/mabege/status/265808077478035456

@WestPhillyLocal only had to wait about 10 minutes to vote at Kingsessing library. Crowd started to pick up when I left.

— Dan Whang (@called_out) November 6, 2012

@joeldeg @WestPhillyLocal Only polling materials should be inside. Partisan materials must be 10 feet away from polling place door.

— Leah Pillsbury (@maybeleah) November 6, 2012

@WestPhillyLocal voting at the 46/18 meth church around 1130am was smooth and painless

— Ben (suidroot@infosec.exchange) (@suidroot) November 6, 2012

Voting was ezpz! @WestPhillyLocal

— Lauren Foster (@laurenfoste) November 6, 2012

@WestPhillyLocal Waited for exactly 0 minutes at SCHA an hour or so ago.

— Preston Hull (@preston_hull) November 6, 2012

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

Cedar Park residents are invited to a special fall membership meeting this Thursday, Nov. 8, that will be held at the Calvary Center for Culture & Community at 48th and Baltimore, beginning at 7 p.m.

The preliminary results of the survey conducted by the Cedar Park Neighbors (CPN) community association will be released at the meeting. This fall, the Philadelphia City Planning Commission is creating a new plan for the neighborhood and over the past few months CPN has surveyed over 500 community members to find out what’s important about living in Cedar Park.

Representatives from several new shops and restaurants in the area have also been invited to talk about their businesses at the meeting.

You don’t have to be a member of Cedar Park Neighbors to attend, but there will be an opportunity to join.

For more information, email: contact@cedarparkneighbors.org or call 267-531-4147.

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.

The intersection of Melville St and Baltimore Ave.

All in all it appears that most of West Philly fared pretty well during Hurricane Sandy. There have been reports of pockets of power outages due mostly to downed trees. For example, a fallen tree near the intersection of Melville Street and Baltimore Avenue has left about half-dozen residents there without power.

Most businesses are going back to their regular hours and SEPTA was scheduled to reopen subway, El, trolley and 80 percent of city bus routes and 60 percent of suburban bus routes at Noon on Tuesday. However, there will be no regional rail routes. Check www.septa.org for specific bus route info.

Flights are expected to resume at the Philadelphia International Airport this afternoon.

Schools, city offices and courts remained closed Tuesday, but will reopen on Wednesday, Oct. 31.

A large branch dropped near the corner of 46th and Pine last night.