Q&A: Philly Resident and Veteran Chris Marvin Talks His Role in ‘National Conversations on American Unity’
Philadelphia resident Chris Marvin Chris Marvin spent four years recovering from wounds he suffered as a U.S. Army officer and Blackhawk helicopter pilot in Afghanistan. During that time, he began volunteering as an advocate for other wounded veterans and would eventually begin the “Got Your 6” campaign, dedicated to raising awareness between the military-civilian...
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Q&A: Marianne Bellesorte of Pathways PA on Paid Sick Leave
Advocates for paid sick leave in Philadelphia went door-to-door through City Hall on Valentine’s Day, hitting the offices of freshman City Councilmen Bobby Henon, Denny O’Brien and Mark Squilla as part of a community lobbying effort for voters to “show their love for sick days.” They delivered more than 500 hand-written letters from voters, calling...
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Q&A: Philly Guerrilla Artist Huggie on Mayor Nutter AVI Art
This spring, the city is expected to overhaul our property tax system. Instead of tax rates that are based on property assessments from 2004 and, in some cases, the 1980s, each city property has been re-assessed and likely taxed at around 1.25 percent (though the final number is still unknown). What that means, in layman’s terms: your taxes are probably...
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PA Republicans Ripped for Hosting Virginia Governor at Lincoln Dinner
Virginia governor Bob McDonnell was in Pennsylvania on Friday to speak with the local Republican Party for their Lincoln Dinner and plenty of opposition party members had reason to question why that was the case. For one, McDonnell had instituted something in his home state in 2010 called “Confederate History Month,” meant to “understand the sacrifices...
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BACKGROUNDER: Rep. Allyson Schwartz’s Likely Run for Governor
A recent Democratic Governors’ Association poll found that U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz could be in striking distance to take the governor’s mansion in 2014. And that’s got some Harrisburg politicos ready to support her potential candidacy, should it come to fruition. According to PoliticsPA, the DGA found Schwartz leading Gov. Tom Corbett—who’s...
Continue ReadingWhy You Should Worry About Corbett’s Medicaid Rejection
After months of dodging questions with regard to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion — which would add about 500,000 Pennsylvanians onto the state Medicaid health care program for the poor — Gov. Corbett finally announced his decision in his 2013-2014 budget address yesterday. The answer: a big, fat no. “Washington needs...
Continue ReadingMark Bowden Talks Drones & Torture With Ret. Gen. Stanley McChrystal
Black Hawk Down and The Finish author Mark Bowden interviewed retired General Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of U.S. armed forces in Afghanistan, at the Free Library of Philadelphia to a packed basement crowd last Thursday, coinciding with the release of McCrystal’s new memoir, My Share of the Task. Bowden and McChrystal talked about the efforts against...
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Brian Sims Touts Bipartisanship in Anti-Bullying Bill: “No Longer a Wedge Issue”
Rep. Sims speaks in favor of the PASS Act Last week, it was reported that state Rep. Brian Sims (D-Philadelphia), the first openly-gay-elected member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, had been urging his fellow House members to support House Bill 156, anti-bullying legislation known as the Pennsylvania Safe Schools (PASS) Act. “As many of you can...
Continue ReadingWith Paid Sick Leave on Tap in Council, Restaurant Workers Get Free Flu Shots at Jefferson
Calvin Okunoye has worked in the restaurant industry for the last 12 years and says he’s had every sort of job in the business he can think of. Most recently, after studying classical French culinary arts, he’s worked as a sous chef, executive chef and pastry chef. About a year ago, he got sick with a stomach virus just as he was beginning a new job. He was...
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Q&A: Michael Shelton’s ‘Family Pride,’ a New Book on LGBT Families
With today’s re-inauguration of the first president ever to endorse gay marriage, the cultural winds seem unmistakeable: America will continue along the path toward full equal rights for LGBT citizens. With that in mind, Michael Shelton, director of sexual minority treatment services at Equilibria Psychological Consultants in Philadelphia, wrote the new...
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