Month: June 2010

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Northwood Academy Charter School

From the Northood Civic:

IMPORTANT NOTICE!

Northwood Academy Charter School proposes to construct a new building on the grounds of the school. There will be a public information meeting on Monday, June 28, 2010, 6:00 PM. Enter through the double red doors on the Adams Avenue side of the building.

Please attend – and bring your neighbors!

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Orthodox and Paul Streets

I happened to by by the corner of Paul and Orthodox yesterday.  I noticed the work being done on the corner property a few weeks ago.  It really stands out for a quality job.  Have a look at the before from Google maps:


View Larger Map

And this is how it looks now. Some rehabs in Frankford looks worse than they did after they are finished. This one is very nice. Not sure who owns it or what it will be used for. Maybe one of our informants has the scoop on it.

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Coming Up in Frankford

  • Frankford/Northwood Spring Resource Fair
    When – Sat, June 19, 10am – 1pm
    Where – 4600 block of Paul Street, Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)
    Description – Come join us for a day of fun, free food, activities and prizes. Sponsored by the Northeast Epic Stakeholders Group, Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez and State Representative Tony Payton.
  • Town Hall Meeting
    When – Tue, June 22, 6pm – 8pm
    Where – Sankofa Freedom Academy, 4256 Paul St., Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)
    Description – Town Hall Meeting on drug rehabilitation facilities and housing for recovering addicts. Drug rehabilitation and recovery have been of particular concern to Frankford residents, who have complained to city officials, including councilwoman Sanchez, about the large number of these facilities in Frankford.
  • BUSINESS CARD EXCHANGE
    When – Thu, June 24, 12pm – 2pm
    Where – Agape Restaurant, 4524-26 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)
    Description – The Frankford Business and Professional Association is hosting a Business Card Exchange for all local businesses, and organizations. Opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs and promote your business. Please join us for the Annual Business Card Exchange. This is a great opportunity to come meet other local merchants, share ideas, network, and promote your business. You can also learn about the other programs FBPA is working on such as commercial corridor block captions, UnLitter Us in Frankford, Frankford Avenue promotions and much more. Lunch will be served, please RSVP so we know how many to expect.
  • Northeast Philadelphia EPIC Stakeholders Group
    When – Thu, June 24, 5:30pm – 7:30pm
    Where – Edmunds School, 1197 Haworth St. Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)
    Description – The ultimate goal is to create a process that enhances the community’s ability to solve issues surrounding truancy, domestic violence, child safety and substance abuse.
  • Mayor Nutter Walks Frankford Avenie
    When – Sat, June 26, 9am – 12pm
    Where – Frankford Avenue Business District (map)
    Description – Details to be announced
  • Frankford Civic Association Meeting
    When – Thu, July 8, 7pm – 8pm
    Where2nd floor conference room, Aria Health, 4900 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)
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Seth Williams at the Northwood Civic Association

Seth Williams, Philadelphia District attorney, made an appearance at the Northwood Civic Association meeting Thursday night to explain the changes he is making in the operations of the District Attorney’s office.  Our friend, Chris Wink posted this report on NEastPhilly.com and it covers the talk much better than I would, so please read it there.

That frees me up to toss out an opinion.  Seth Williams is talking about crime in the context of real life.  There was no get tough on crime BS.  We’ve heard that all before. Looking at the incarceration rates, all it did was fill the prisons.

We have a 50% of students who start high school in Philadelphia dropping  out before they graduate.  If you think that does not have a significant effect on crime, think about it again.  What are those kids going to be and where are they going to go.  It’s not a pretty picture.

I know some people will blame the parents and others will blame the schools.  That’s fine, blame anyone you want but it still does not solve that problem.   We are creating a vast potential criminal resource pool by letting this continue.

Williams notes the low rate of conviction for crimes and the slow rate at which justice moves in this city.  As he said “Its not the severity of the punishment but the certainty of the punishment” that will make a difference in the choices people make.  Seems to ring true.  Read more about his program here at his web site.

It’s time somebody stopped doing all the things that got us into this mess and gets busy solving these problems.  This may be the guy.

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Daniel Tobin Wins Volunteerism Award

Twelve-year-old Daniel Tobin was presented with the Chairman’s Award for Youth Involvement at Pennsylvania Downtown Center’s (PDC) annual Townie Awards gala, yesterday evening, June 15. Tobin was selected for the prestigious award based on Frankford Main Street’s endorsement of his efforts, which illustrated his unwavering efforts to help better the Frankford Main Street community.

The Townie Awards are a festive and venerable element of PDC’s annual conference, and are designed to recognize the commonwealth’s core communities for creation and implementation of programming and events that exemplify the goals of PDC’s community revitalization mission. Pennsylvania Downtown Center’s nearly 300 member organizations are eligible for the Townies, making the awards an annually anticipated event.

“It is rare to see someone Daniel’s age who possesses such ardent dedication to his community and exhibits an interest in helping his fellow residents,” said Bill Fontana, PDC’s executive director. “PDC views Daniel’s laudable efforts as a benchmark for his fellow Frankford residents and we look forward to seeing where his dedication to the Frankford community will take him.”

PDC’s statewide conference is held in a different commonwealth community each year in order to highlight the respective city or town’s accomplishments in downtown and neighborhood revitalization. The 2010 conference, held in downtown Lancaster, was attended by more than 400 individuals, including borough and municipal officials, experts in community planning and landscape architecture, and dozens of Main Street and Elm Street managers. Highlights of the conference included nationally-recognized speakers, more than two dozen educational sessions, walking tours in the downtown and mobile workshops to Mount Joy, Manheim, Elizabethtown, Lititz and Ephrata.

For information about Frankford Main Street or Daniel Tobin, contact Main Street coordinator, Theresa Hanas at (215) 743-6580 or mainstreetcoordinator@yahoo.com. For information pertaining to Pennsylvania Downtown Center, contact Norah Griffiths Johnson at (717) 233-4675 or norahgriffiths@padowntown.org.