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Parkwood resident Marge Philippi collects bandit signs from poles. Since 2006, she said at last night’s civic association meeting, she’s collected 8,000 of the illegal signs that say things like, we buy houses.

Fox Chase Town Watch does the same.

But do the two neighborhoods — a world away and a Boulevard apart — know about each others’ efforts? Could they work together.

The city hopes its new social network, Change By Us, can help bring residents from all over Philadelphia together by uniting them through similar issues and common causes. continue reading »

Philadelphia’s recycling rate was just 4 percent three years ago. It’s now up to 20 percent, but representatives from RecyleNow say we could be doing better — like San Francisco’s 70 percent.

“Philly is a real together place, but we all it differently,” Maurice Sampson said of how the city works. Sampson is the chairman of RecycleNow, which has partnered with RecycleBank to help residents in the Northeast spread the word about recycling rewards. continue reading »

(L to R) State Rep. Brendan Boyle, State Rep. Dennis O'Brien, State Sen. Mike Stack, Temple University Director of Commonwealth and Federal Affairs George Kenney and Gov. Rendell's Chief of Staff Steve Crawford discuss plans for the state park. Photo supplied by Sen. Stack's office.

State Sen. Mike Stack today joined elected officials, the Rendell administration, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Parkwood Civic Association to announce significant state funding to make improvements to Benjamin Rush State Park.

The $2.7 million in capital budget funding will go toward refurbishing the 275-acre undeveloped park, which has had no major renovations since its creation in 1975.

Plans include a new entrance drive and sign on Southampton Road, a park gate, new parking spaces for the gardens,walking and biking trails, a water and sewer system and a comfort station. continue reading »

The rain kept many folks away from last night’s monthly meeting of the Parkwood Civic Association, which now meets at Community College of Philadelphia.

With no highlighted speaker, the group got right to new business, which included quality-of-life issues like litter. The bulk of the discussion revolved around two topics: unhitched tractor trailers parked on the street and Junod playground. continue reading »

We were unable to attend Tuesday night’s meeting of the Parkwood Civic Association, but the board provided the following update: continue reading »

The final meeting of the season for the Parkwood Civic Association offered new beginnings to residents in the form of tax amnesty and recycling rewards.

With little new business on the agenda, the presentations got underway almost immediately, resulting in just a 60-minute meeting. continue reading »

The city is in for more snow, in addition to the 20+ inches seen here in the December 2009 storm. Photo by Bill Achuff.

As of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, the following weather announcements have been made:

-Tonight’s Holmesburg Civic Association meeting is canceled.

-All public and parochial schools will be closed Wednesday, Feb. 10. KYW has school closings by code.

-All city employees not required to help with snow removal are encouraged to stay home from work tomorrow, and all city offices will be closed to the public.

-Tomorrow’s meeting of the Parkwood Civic Association is canceled.

-Phone calls to the  Somerton Civic Association have not been returned, but we’re assuming tonight’s meeting canceled, as well.

Parkwood Civic Association members gathered in St. Anselm’s school hall last night, but they didn’t have a meeting. Instead, the board hosted a holiday party for the neighborhood, complete with an impromptu performance by a bell choir (with appearances from several legislative assistants, civic board members and NEast Philly’s very own editor), free hoodies and a full spread of sandwiches, salads, drinks and desserts.

Among festive table cloths, paper snowflakes and other holiday decorations, residents sat down to enjoy their food, talk about the neighborhood and wish each other a happy holiday.

And with that, Parkwood Civic Association closed out 2009, to reconvene in February.

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The Parkwood Civic Association held its monthly meeting last night to address current and ongoing issues in the neighborhood. In the meeting, which lasted just about 30 minutes, residents reviewed the following topics:

• sponsoring a membership drive for the civic
• raising money to help fund a Christmas party
• leaf collections around the city
• an Election Night fight at Academy and Torrey roads, involving racial issues

Incumbent Democratic candidate for city controller addresses the Parkwod Civic Association.

Parkwood Civic Association President Mike Hatala got right down to business at last night’s meeting, leading with the Pledge of Allegiance, then calling up the group’s guest: incumbent Democratic city controller candidate Alan Butkovitz.

Butkovitz will face off against Republican candidate Al Schmidt in the Nov. 3 election. The Democrat first addressed what he said have been  the three focal points of his past year as city controller:

• spending time looking at failures in service
• emphasizing money and viability as an important role in the city’s collection of funds
• being an independent voice in analyzing Mayor Nutter’s budget and financial plans

Continue reading for a recap of the rest of meeting, more from Butkovitz and a numerical break down of the city’s finances. continue reading »