The Philadelphia Police Southwest Detective Division is asking for community assistance in locating a missing endangered person.

A 65-year-old man, Darryl Smith, has been missing since yesterday. He left his home at 6216 Dickens St., which is in the 12th Police District, on Thursday, April 24, at approximately 2:15 p.m. Smith suffers from dementia, according to police.

If you have any information concerning this person’s whereabouts, please contact Detective Christopher Godfrey:

215-686-3183/3184

Det. Godfrey #863

christopher.godfrey@phila.gov

The Kingsessing Library is officially open after a major renovation. A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on Thursday afternoon and included City officials, Rebuild Philadelphia, The Free Library of Philadelphia, and community members.

The celebration marked the completion of the newly renovated library, an $8 million project made possible by the City’s Rebuild initiative, a historic investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in neighborhood parks, recreation centers, and libraries across Philadelphia.

The century-old Kingsessing Library has been updated with:

Continue Reading

The annual Penn Relays has kicked off at Franklin Field (200 South 33rd St) on the University of Pennsylvania campus. The event will be held through Saturday, April 26th and will affect traffic near the field and in the surrounding area. Motorists should expect heavy traffic volume and delays in the area all day every day through Saturday.

Also, there will be intermittent closures on 33rd Street from South Street to Walnut Street every day Thursday through Saturday. Motorists are advised to seek alternate routes on these days.

The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania. For additional information about the Penn Relays, including safety and security, please visit The Penn Relays website. The race schedule is available here.

Just in time for spring, the long-awaited grand opening of popular Black-owned plant shop Plant and People at its new location, 3952 Lancaster Ave., is tomorrow, April 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The new location of the mother-daughter-owned shop carries the familiar selection of houseplants and supplies, but now also includes a café.

Co-owners Cherron Perry-Thomas and her daughter Amma described their decision to combine two things they love at the new location on their website.

“Why combine a plant shop with a café? To us, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. Both plants and café culture invite a similar energy: they encourage you to pause, to slow down, to connect – with nature, with others, or simply with yourself.”

Tomorrow’s grand opening will feature a repotting workshop, DJ set, food samples from the new café and wine tasting with Mitchell and Mitchell Wines.

Also, check out their annual Big A** Plant Sale (B.A.P.S.) next Sunday, April 27, now at the new location.

The independent Philadelphia Water, Sewer, and Storm Water Rate Board announced four upcoming public input hearings to address a general rate increase requested by the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD), which filed a formal notice with the Rate Board on March 31.

Based on the PWD rate filing, beginning September 1, 2025, the monthly bill for the typical residential customer would increase by 11.7 percent. Beginning September 1, 2026, a typical customer would experience an additional 5.9 percent increase, which means that an average monthly bill would be approximately $96. The reason for the proposed two consecutive year rate increases is “rising costs in labor, materials, equipment, laboratory services, regulatory obligations, and capital costs.” As a reminder, PWD raised its rates twice in the past two years because of the same reason.

Continue Reading

The Kingsessing Library has a new teen and child reading area.

Here’s some great news for Southwest Philly residents. After being closed for a major renovation for more than two years, the Free Library of Philadelphia Kingsessing Branch, located at 1201 S. 51st St., has reopened this week and is welcoming visitors and patrons.

The century-old building (built in 1919) closed its doors in October 2022 to prepare for construction, which began the following winter.

Some of the upgrades and renovations at the library include:

• New teen and child reading area
• New roof, doors and windows which bring more light into the space
• Refurbished masonry
• New elevator
• New furniture, fixtures and finishes
• New lighting improvements on the exterior and interior
• HVAC improvements

Continue Reading