The primary campaign for West Philly’s 188th House District between incumbent James Roebuck and newcomer Fatimah Muhammad has drawn attention around the city and even the state because of the influence of school voucher proponents – and their money – into the race.

West Philly residents will have a chance to hear the candidates tonight at the Kingsessing Rec Center (5100 Chester Ave. Enter on 50th Street) from 6-9 p.m. Roebuck and Muhammad have confirmed their attendance at tonight’s event.

Muhammad’s campaign has made a visible impact in West Philly, with signs and billboards featuring her portrait in a Photoshopped style that closely resembles posters featuring President Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign. Her campaign has also been linked to a series of postcards mailed to many West Philly residents that blame Roebuck, the ranking Democrat on the House Education Committee, for limiting school choice for students. One postcard even blames him for the cap at Penn Alexander School.

Many residents have spoken out against the postcards on several neighborhood listservs and message boards.One person even vowed to make a contribution to the Roebuck campaign for each postcard she received.

Roebuck is opposed to vouchers, which would provide tax dollars for students to attend private and parochial schools. The opponents of vouchers argue that they would undermine the funding and enrollment at public schools, while proponents, including Gov. Tom Corbett, say they would provide students with a better choice of schools.

Muhammad, a Penn alum who has been the associate director of Penn’s Greenfield Intercultural Center, will undoubtedly face questions this evening about her position on vouchers.

West Philly Runners are sponsoring and participating in the annual Cobbs Creek Park race on Saturday, April 21 (see flyer below). This is the official West Philly Runners race, but everyone is invited to join them. This event will also feature a 1 mile walk – a great opportunity for families to get out and explore the park. Click here to register.

Registration fee is $20 and all funds raised from this event will go to benefit kids’ recreational activities in the Cobbs Creek Park. But there’s more to it. Alon Abramson, who organizes West Philly Runners, sent us this information:

“Philly Parks and Rec, the Fairmount Park Conservancy and PA Environmental Council are putting on the ‘Run for the Kids of Cobbs 5K’ race for the 2nd year. The goal of the race is first and foremost to bring people back to the park and encourage some ownership of this shared space. Cobbs Creek sat forgotten and abandoned for years and the city is making a concerted effort to reverse this trend. If you’ve been to the park recently, you will be pleasantly surprised to find it well utilized by the community with picnic areas, and paved and unpaved recreational trails (it is absolutely beautiful). Proceeds from the race go towards outdoor recreational programs for kids in the area. Get people to come to the park and support kids programming…win-win, right?

I am the organizer for West Philly Runners, a local running group, now in our 2nd year. We have been growing alongside this initiative and we have been heavily involved in planning the event from the start. In fact, I created the race website this year (www.cobbscreek5k.com), I am working on promotion and I have been involved in trail work in preparation for the race, which is mostly a trail run. For us, it is THE race of West Philly and thus THE race of the West Philly Runners. I’d love to get the word out to the West Philly community so that runners (and walkers) take advantage of this opportunity to (re)discover this amazing park in our back yards.”

If you have questions about the race or West Philly Runners, you can email Alon at alon.abramson [at] gmail.com

This Friday night, allow yourself to be carried back in time to the days when the movie-going experience always included live music accompaniment. The silent film from 1920 features Douglas Fairbanks portraying the romantic, swashbuckling Zorro, but this special evening will feature an original and live score by West Philadelphia Orchestra member Brendan Cooney, who’s taken his blend of silent classic films and new exciting live music on the road under the name “Not-So-Silent Cinema.”

“I try to bring together players from different corners of the music scene who don’t usually play together to create unique musical collaborations,” says Cooney, who told Metro reporters that this project is a “faux Latin-flamenco-tango-mariachi ensemble.” “The film’s full of adventure, bravura and romance, so I wanted the music to capture that, but also be a little over the top.” Cooney’s band brings together several mainstays of the West Philadelphia music scene including Patrick Hughes, Alban Bailey (Octomonkey), Josh Machiz (TJ Kong & the Atomic Bomb), and Nezih Antakli.

Catch “The Mark of Zorro” this Friday, April 13, at 8 p.m. at The Rotunda (40th and Walnut). $10.

– Emma Eisenberg

Renovations have begun on the storefront at 4533 Baltimore Ave., which will be the location of a controversial Subway restaurant. Judging by the sign above, some people are still not happy about it.

Reader Oxana Miron wanted to make people smile in this cool rainy evening and asked us to post this beautiful photo she took on a very pretty and sunny day around 48th and Osage. Thanks Oxana.

Send your photo of the neighborhood to editor@westphillylocal.com.

Stephan Heuer submitted this photo of a rainy day in West Philly. The photo was taken between 47th and 48th Streets, next to Vietnam Cafe.

Send your photo of the neighborhood to editor@westphillylocal.com. Please don’t forget to include your name and photo’s title or caption.