Here’s a great program hosted by The Free Library of Philadelphia that aims to help unemployed workers and new job seekers. Starting Tuesday, Sept. 26, the Free Library will offer career exploration workshops, as a part of the larger Philly Career Launch series, an initiative that aims to help unemployed individuals to qualify for occupations that are accessible to workers without a bachelor’s degree.

The day-long workshops will be held at several neighborhood library locations, including three West Philadelphia-based branches, over the course of four weeks through October 20. The workshops will highlight occupations in four industries: construction and trades, health care, information technology, and manufacturing. In the workshops, participants will have the opportunity to explore careers that build on their strengths and get hands-on experience with online resources.

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UPDATE (9/27/2023): Milkcrate Café is now expected to open at 45th and Baltimore on Thursday, Sept. 28. The new location will be selling new and used records as well and available for event rental.

After several months, the vacant commercial space at 45th and Baltimore, previously occupied by Vagrant Café and Milk & Honey Market before that, will have a new tenant soon. Fishtown-based Milkcrate Café has announced its opening a West Philly location “sometime” this week (the sign below was posted on Sept. 13).

Milkcrate is not only known for its coffee (from La Colombe Roasters), and simple breakfast and brunch offerings, it is also a vinyl record boutique. It has a few thousand vintage and new soul, rock and jazz vinyl records for sale. You can check their online record collection here. The store also sells new and used turntables and audio equipment. You can also buy or trade in records or Hi-Fi audio gear at Milkcrate.

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Here’s some exciting news for many local residents in West and Southwest Philadelphia. Rebuild Philadelphia, the City program that invests hundreds of millions of dollars in improving public spaces and community facilities, is expected to break ground on renovation projects at three recreation centers with over $60 million in investments. Public groundbreakings with the participation of local officials and community members, are scheduled to take place from Sept. 19-22 at Kingsessing Recreation Center, F.J. Myers Recreation Center, and Johnny Sample (Cobbs Creek) Recreation Center.

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The Walnut Street repaving project is currently underway between 33rd and 63rd Streets, which will include traffic calming measures and safety improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists. Here’s a chance for community members to weigh in on safety concerns along two other busy West Philly streets where improvements are long overdue.

Thanks to local advocacy, 47th Street between Chestnut and Paschal Avenue and 48th Street between Market and Kingsessing Ave. are being considered for safety improvements. The City’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability (OTIS) and Councilmember Jamie Gauthier are hosting two community open house meetings to discuss different safety infrastructure options for the corridor (see the infographic below).

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After a break, SEPTA is set to resume public hearings on Bus Revolution, the comprehensive redesign of its entire bus network. The first hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, Sept. 12 at SEPTA headquarters (1234 Market St.), beginning at 5 p.m.. Then, two virtual hearings are scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 13 – from 12-2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. Registration is required for these hearings.

SEPTA will hold more in-person hearings in Philadelphia and other counties in its service area throughout this month. For more details, see the image below. To register for the virtual hearings on Wednesday, visit: https://iseptaphilly.com/blog/busrevpublichearings.

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             Cleo Bagels Instagram photo.

UPDATE (9/12/23): Cleo Bagels officially opened its first brick-and-mortar location at 5013 Baltimore on Saturday, Sept. 9.

Formerly known as Dodo Bagels, Cleo Bagels offers mostly traditional fresh baked bagels, bialys, apple muffins (“applethings”), creatively made sandwiches and more, according to the business’ social media posts.

The store hours are from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. or until sold out on Saturday and Sunday through Sept. 17. After that, the store will be open on Friday-Sunday through the end of the month (hours on Friday will be 8 a.m.-2 p.m.), then Thursday-Sunday in October. The goal is to “slowly build their weekday service,” according to the owners.

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