Harold Windisch of PennDOT talks about the Holme Avenue Bridge.

John Buckley’s construction company has had $60,000 worth of small tools stolen in the last six weeks from its site on the Holme Avenue Bridge.

It’s one of many complaints coming out of the two-year project on the bridge, which PennDOT engineer Harold Windisch talked about at last night’s Holme Circle Civic Association meeting.

Buckley and his family are offering a $5,000 reward for tips leading to the return of the tools — a problem he says he’s never had in any other neighborhood.

Residents living near the bridge, who’ve come to see Buckley as an ally during the construction project, are outraged on his behalf, and at the traffic preventing them from safely accessing their homes. continue reading »

Friday -- The Philadelphia Fire Department has determined the cause of the deadly explosion in Tacony back in January. As PGW crews tried to fix a high pressure gas leak Jan. 18, a furnace inside a chiropractic office ignited the blaze. The explosion killed 19-year-old PGW employee Mark Keeley. continue reading »

John Buckley of Buckley Construction (L) talks with Holme Circle Civic President Joe Razler (R) about the work being done on the Holme Avenue bridge.

About 25 people attended last night’s meeting of the Holme Circle Civic Association, where John Buckley of Buckley Construction gave residents an update about construction on the Holme Avenue bridge.

The PennDOT-funded repairs will make the bridge structurally stable. “In my opinion, it should be closed,” Buckley said of the current state of the bridge.

Instead, traffic patterns will shift over the next year and a half to allow for the bridge to remain open. But as Buckley explains in the video below, homeowners in the stretch of the avenue between the Circle and Longford Street will take the brunt of the traffic and noise. continue reading »

Holme Circle residents should prepare themselves for some commuting delays.

The Holme Avenue bridge between Lewin Place and Longford Street will be repaired beginning today — and won’t be completed until July 2012. continue reading »

Photo courtesy of Elsie Stevens.

Scores of Holme Circle residents participated in two protests on Oct. 17 at 9 a.m. and Oct. 27 at 4:30 p.m. at the Engine 18 firehouse at Pennypack Circle to voice their concern of the Fire Department’s new “brown out” policy. continue reading »

Photo submitted by Elsie Stevens.

I’m seeing red these days as I learn more about the Fire Department’s brown outs.  Did you know that three firehouses in northeast Philadelphia are among those on the citywide list:  Engine 18 Pennypack Circle, Engine 71 Cottman and Loretto, and Engine 64 Rising Sun and Magee?

With past cuts in fire personnel and equipment and now rotating closures of neighborhood firehouses, how can the Mayor and Fire Department’s administrative personnel justify that they have our public safety in their best interest?  Is it not the core responsibility of our city government to provide adequate fire protection to its citizens?   continue reading »

RecycleBank's Carla Castillo encourages Holme Circle residents to sign up for the citywide program and earn rewards for reducing waste.

The hour-long meeting last night of the Holme Circle Civic Association drew about 20 people. And while most came out for an update on the Stokes property, many took interest in the city’s Recycling Rewards Program. continue reading »

If you’re looking for something to do any time, any place in Philadelphia, you can find it on uwishunu.

But since the site is sponsored by the city’s tourism board, and tourists don’t typically visit the Northeast, don’t rely on uwishunu for neighborhood information from our region. continue reading »

Last night’s Holme Circle Civic Association meeting began with an announcement that came as no surprise to most of those in attendance.

President Sean McAleer announced his resignation from the group, which coincides with his out-of-town move. McAleer’s faced a long commute to work everyday, and will be moving closer to the workplace with his family — a decision he said happened in just a few short weeks.

It’s unclear who will take the lead now that McAleer has stepped down,  though such a position usually falls to an existing board member should no one else express interest. continue reading »

Back in October, we featured a Right NEast/Wrong NEast calling out Action News for misreporting a neighborhood. The break, which happened on the 2800-block of Willits Road near Holme Circle, reportedly happened in Torresdale.

Though Right NEast/Wrong NEast is a popular feature on NEast Philly, we don’t pretend the big news outlets read every word we write. As if we needed confirmation of that, Action News has made the error once again. continue reading »