Gov. Corbett Implies Pennsylvania Unemployed Are Drug-Addicted
During a recent appearance on the Pennsylvania Matters radio show, Governor Tom Corbett attempted to explain away Pennsylvania’s dismal job numbers by suggesting the state’s unemployed are drug addicted and cannot pass a urine sample test required for employment. “The other area is, there are many employers that say we’re looking for people but...
Continue ReadingRight-Wing Media Freak Out Over Philly’s LGBT Equality Bill
As PW and every other local media source reported last week, Philadelphia City Council passed a historic bill that would provide for more transgender rights and tax incentives for companies that provide for domestic partners’ health care coverage. That information has gone through the usual Internet outrage cycle and has come out the other side: David Horowitz’s...
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Gov. Corbett Tweets About Liquor A Lot — But Can It Save His Career?
As Governor Tom Corbett’s approval ratings continue circling the drain, and Democrats circle their wagons around his job, there seems to be only one issue that anyone believes can save the dude’s 2014 chances: Liquor privatization. It’s his most popular issue with a majority of the state. Polls have consistently shown a large majority of Pennsylvanians...
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PhillyNow Calendar: Civic Events, April 29-May 3
The last week of April/first week of May 2013 is a relatively slow one in Philadelphia. There are several community and neighborhood meetings going on and, perhaps most of note, Philadelphia City Council will be traveling up to Northeast Philadelphia hear residents sound off on tax provisions at Abraham Lincoln High School. Oh, and the Pennsylvania House has...
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GunCrisis Reporting Project: One Year Later
It was this time last year that I first tagged along with Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Jim MacMillan and his colleague Joe “Kaz” Kaczmarek as they launched their new experiment: the GunCrisis Reporting Project, an open-source journalism initiative to explore Philadelphia’s gun-violence epidemic. I wrote about their efforts in PW; since then,...
Continue ReadingCorbett Has No Excuses Left on Medicaid Expansion
As if things couldn’t get worse for Pennsylvania’s governor, an independent report was released this week showing his administration’s stubborn rejection of Medicaid funds to lock the rings of Obamacare in place in the commonwealth is, probably, the wrong one. The report was released by the Republican-controlled state Legislature’s Fiscal Office. It noted...
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3 Councilmen Voted Against City LGBT Bill—Why?
Philadelphia City Council passed historic legislation this morning which gives incentives for private companies in the city to provide benefits to members of the LGBT community employed by said company and mandates the city government do more to avoid sexual discrimination. After a short debate and public comment, three councilmen—David Oh, Brian O’Neill...
Continue ReadingBryn Mawr Native Falsely Identified as Boston Bombing Suspect Found Dead
Bryn Mawr native Sunil Tripathi, a Brown University student on leave from the school, was recently found dead after having been identified by amateur Internet sleuths as the Boston Marathon bomber. Tripathi’s body was found in the Providence River in Rhode Island yesterday. He had most recently been living in Providence but went missing in March. Last week,...
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Cheri Honkala Helps Found ‘Green Shadow Cabinet’
Stein and Honkala (via Facebook) Coinciding with Earth Day, the Green Party—led by former presidential ticket Jill Stein and Philadelphia activist Cheri Honkala—have formed what they’re calling the “Green Shadow Cabinet” of the United States: a collection of about 100 people who plan to release statements and respond to goings-on in the U.S. government...
Continue Reading‘Good Neighbors’ Campaign Seeks Money From City Nonprofits
A number of local organizations led by Philadelphia Jobs with Justice launched a campaign earlier this week they say will help fund schools and other public services that’ve been cut in recent years. The campaign, which they’re calling “Good Neighbors,” calls on “mega-nonprofits” to pay taxes to the city, which will, in turn, go to public services. “There...
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