Philadelphia Parks & Recreation has extended the application deadline for their Playstreets program to Monday, June 15. Playstreets is the City’s free summer feeding program for children and Parks & Rec is accepting applications from residents who want to volunteer as block captains for this program.

Each summer, 300 to 350 city streets are closed temporarily to vehicular traffic to give children a safe place to gather, play, and eat a free, nutritious meal. The program has been running for more than 50 years and takes place in every neighborhood of the city.  Continue Reading

UPDATE: Tonight’s curfew will begin at 8:30 p.m. to allow residents time to vote and return home after voting.

It’s Election Day across Pennsylvania. In West Philly, voters will cast primary ballots for competitive races for state House of Representatives and Auditor General, select delegates to this year’s party conventions and respond to two ballot questions related to Philadelphia.

Polling places around the city have been consolidated, so find your polling place here if you aim to vote in person. Polls are open until 8 p.m. If you are in line by then, you will be able to vote.

There are a couple of things you can do if you still have your mail-in ballot. You can still mail it in following Gov. Tom Wolf’s emergency declaration extending the mail-in ballot deadline a week to June 9. Or, you can drop off your ballot at one of the several drop-off points around the city, including the Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library at 125 S. 52nd St. (52nd and Sansom).  Continue Reading

Your favorite food trucks may be coming back soon as the city has started lifting some restrictions on business operations imposed at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in March. Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf announced on Friday that Philadelphia will move to the “yellow” re-opening phase on June 5 when many businesses can reopen (under state safety guidelines), including retail stores, childcare centers, and day camps.

While dine-in service at restaurants will still be prohibited, the City of Philadelphia has lifted restrictions on walk-up service in the yellow re-opening phase. Walk-up customers will be required to wear facial coverings and practice social distancing. Lines may not exceed 10 customers.  Continue Reading

The deadline to request a mail-in ballot for this year’s primary election is Tuesday, May 26. You can request a mail-in or absentee ballot here. Your request must be made before 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

If you have waited until now to request your ballot, the turnaround will be tight. The Board of Elections ballot must receive your mail-in ballot by 8 p.m. on June 2, the date of the primary. Postmarks are not honored. So, if you are applying now, get your ballot back in the mail as soon as possible after receiving it. Also, a ballot drop box has been recently installed at City Hall (see more info below).  Continue Reading

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe announced on Friday that Philadelphia will move from the “red” to the “yellow” coronavirus re-opening phase on June 5. The yellow phase is the first re-opening phase and most businesses can reopen under state safety guidelines. This includes:

• Childcare centers and day camps
• In-person retail (curbside pickup and delivery are encouraged)
• Pet groomers
• Manufacturers

Continue Reading

Pennsylvania’s primary election is just over two weeks away. Here are a few things to know.

Originally scheduled for April 28, the election was pushed to June 2 and now includes a mail-in ballot option. Polls will likely be open on June 2, but counties across the state have been given the authority to consolidate polling locations, so your usual place may not be open.

The registration deadline has been bumped up to May 18. You can register here and can check your registration status here.  Continue Reading