Philadelphia’s City Council members will be in Northeast Philadelphia next week for a public hearing on the city’s budget.

The doors of St. William’s parish hall, 6234 Rising Sun Ave., will be open to the public, and residents are encouraged to give their public testimony.

“Please come and show your interest,” Tasco encouraged attendees of the March Lawncrest Community Association meeting. LCA meetings typically draw 80 to 100 impassioned residents, many of whom Tasco has been working with on specific neighborhood improvement projects. The meeting will be open to the general public and starts at 6 p.m. continue reading »

Friends of Pennypack Park volunteers targeted Holmehust Avenue in Winchester Park as one of the hotspots for the Earth Day clean-up. File photo/Shannon McDonald

If you didn’t get out with us on April 28, then you didn’t get a snazzy Earth Day button with this year’s bird, the Osprey, faithfully drawn by Friends of Pennypack Park member Roland Williams.

You also missed hanging out with your fantastic 45 friends and neighbors (123.5 hours) and CLIP. The volunteers picked up 44 bags of trash and CLIP got 56 bags of curb-hugging trash (the stuff organic and non-organic that seems to settle in the street against curbs).

Working together on Lexington Avenue from Solly to Rhawn including curbs, street, and dirt path; on Lexington Avenue from Rhawn to Ryan, that dirt path and into Little City; the entrances to the park from Holmehurst; and the upper and lower parking lots at Little City, Pennypack Park now looks a lot better than before our Earth Day crew came out and did battle with that most devastating of insects – the litter bug. continue reading »

St. Hubert's High School students were honored Thursday in City Council. NewsWorks Photo/Micah Mahjoubian

There were two reasons why City Council honored Saint Hubert Catholic High School for Girls at a Thursday session attended by students, teachers, officials and supporters.

For one, the Torresdale Avenue mainstay is celebrating its 70th anniversary of educating students.  The other: How it fought to be able to celebrate a 71st.

Sixth District Councilman Bobby Henon, who sponsored the resolution, noted that the Archdiocese had slated the school for closing in early January.

It took a 51-day fundraising-and-rallying push to raise the $1.3 million and unquantifiable spirit needed to stave off padlocks.

Read the rest of this story from our partners at NewsWorks.

St. Hubert's High School students were honored Thursday in City Council. NewsWorks Photo/Micah Mahjoubian

There were two reasons why City Council honored Saint Hubert Catholic High School for Girls at a Thursday session attended by students, teachers, officials and supporters.

For one, the Torresdale Avenue mainstay is celebrating its 70th anniversary of educating students.  The other: How it fought to be able to celebrate a 71st.

Sixth District Councilman Bobby Henon, who sponsored the resolution, noted that the Archdiocese had slated the school for closing in early January.

It took a 51-day fundraising-and-rallying push to raise the $1.3 million and unquantifiable spirit needed to stave off padlocks.

Read the rest of this story from our partners at NewsWorks.

From Left: Instructor Chandi Queen from the People's Emergency Center's digital inclusion program, student Frank Cutler, State Rep. Tony Payton, Rasheem Jennings, William Brown and front row, Ethel Dawson and Karen Lee. Photo/Technically Philly

From basic computer skills to social networking and Internet usage, five Frankford residents got a crash course last week during the Frankford CDC’s three-day computer literacy certification program.

Hosted with the help of Pa. Rep. Tony Payton, D-179th, the event was one of about 80 organized for the annual Philly Tech Week. Residents were invited to sign up for the free workshop and use the CDC’s new computer lab to enhance their computer skills. It was the only Northeast Philadelphia event part of Philly Tech Week. continue reading »

From Left: Instructor Chandi Queen from the People's Emergency Center's digital inclusion program, student Frank Cutler, State Rep. Tony Payton, Rasheem Jennings, William Brown and front row, Ethel Dawson and Karen Lee. Photo/Technically Philly

From basic computer skills to social networking and Internet usage, five Frankford residents got a crash course last week during the Frankford CDC’s three-day computer literacy certification program.

Hosted with the help of Pa. Rep. Tony Payton, D-179th, the event was one of about 80 organized for the annual Philly Tech Week. Residents were invited to sign up for the free workshop and use the CDC’s new computer lab to enhance their computer skills. It was the only Northeast Philadelphia event part of Philly Tech Week. continue reading »

ABCOASTER competition winner Angela Radesky and RetroFitness staff member Michael Ritter at the gym's gran reopening Saturday, April 28. Photo/Michelle Alton

Greg Sweeney spent Saturday showing off what his newly renovated gym has to offer.

Sweeney has just finished an overhaul of the RetroFitness at 2524 Welsh Rd., and invited the public to grand re-opening ceremony to check out some new features and participate in the Ab Coaster Challenge for a chance to win a six-month membership. Challenger Angela Radesky took the prize.

See photos below in our slideshow by Michelle Alton.

continue reading »

There are more than 80 events on the calendar for Philly Tech Week 2012, and the Northeast is taking part with a computer training series.

The Frankford Community Development Corporation,  the People’s Emergency Center and Pa. Rep. Tony Payton, D-179, will sponsor a free computer training class April 24, 25 and 26. continue reading »

A mural at Max Myers Rec Center gets a fresh coat of paint during Philly Spring Cleanup. Photo/Michelle Alton

Thousands of people participated in Saturday’s Philly Spring Cleanup, the city’s annual clean-up event that supplies equipment to volunteers looking to spruce up their blocks or their neighborhoods’ litter hot spots.

More than 20 clean-ups were held around the Northeast, from Frankford to Somerton and everywhere in between. Residents got to work filling trash bags, freshening up murals and chatting over snack breaks.

Below, see more than 30 photos from some of the Northeast’s clean-ups. continue reading »

Marita McNichol accepts an American flag on behalf of her father, a Fox Chase native and Navy vet, at a ceremony with Pa. Rep. Kevin Boyle (right) Thursday. Photo/Matthew Flowers

Marita McNichol was awarded with the American flag Thursday in honor of her father who died after serving in World War II.

Francis P. McNichol of Fox Chase, who served in the Navy during World War II, passed away 33 years ago and was overlooked for receiving an American flag at his funeral. During military funerasl for members who died while in service or veterans of any branch of the military, it’s customary to have the American flag draped over the casket as a symbol of remembrance. The flag is then presented to the next of kin, by an honor guard representing on of the five branches of the military.

“I’ve been waiting years to get a flag for my dad’s coffin and I didn’t feel right for him not to receive one for the years he gave to the military,” McNichol said. Francis McNichol did not have to go to war, due to being the last of the bloodline in his family, but decided to volunteer and serve the country during a time of need for soldiers. “He thought it was the duty to his country,” McNichol said. “He loved being in the Navy, and when he died and wasn’t recognized, it just hurt my heart. This man who worked so hard for his country, who had eight children, dropped dead at 60 and didn’t get a thing for it.” continue reading »