Category: Miscellaneous

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Summer Jobs Now Hiring

If your son or daughter needs a job for the Summer, this could be it.  Take a look.

Apply now to become a Philadelphia Parks & Recreation lifeguard for this summer! The starting salary is $13.65 an hour.  Applicants must be 16 years or older, pass the lifeguard screening, and  complete 21.5 hours of Lifeguard Training, First Aid and CPR. Appointments are NOT necessary for the screening and it is free.

Simpson Pool is ready – just add water and lifeguards

To learn more, visit your local recreation center, go to www.phila.gov/lifeguards or call our Aquatics office at 215-683-3663. The screening sites and times are as follows:

Pickett Swimming Pool
Mastery Campus
Wayne & Chelten Avenue
Monday – Friday
4:30 – 8:30 PM

Lincoln Swimming Pool
Lincoln High School
Rowland & Shelmire Street
Monday – Thursday
7:30 – 8:30 PM

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Veterans of the Month for February 2018

100 years ago, the United States was at war.  It became official on April 6th of 1917 and in June of that year, young men all over America and Frankford, began registering for the draft.  The war in Europe had been going on since 1914 and was at a stalemate.  It would take the entry of the United States to bring it to an end.

American troops began arriving in France in June of 1917 and the first combat death was in November.  While the American participation in the war was ramping up, another  killer was emerging.  The first cases of the great flu pandemic were reported at Fort Riley, Kansas in March of 1918.  It would eventually kill 550,000 Americans, including many soldiers.

Frankford sent over 2,000 into battle in 1918.  Their names are listed on the Frankford War Memorial at Frankford Stadium.  21 on those young men died in service and it is those young men who we honor this month.

 

Warren John Decker – killed in action on July 16, 1918 – 30 years old

Jesse Vandergrift – died in France on August 3, 1918 – 24 years old

William Johnson – died in France on September 7, 1918

Thomas William Astbury Jr. – killed in action on September 18, 1918 – 31 years old

Benneville Wellington Bertolet – killed in action on September 24, 1918 – 27 years old

Amos Raymond Taylor – killed in action on September 26, 1918 – 21 years old

Charles Harold Redman – killed in action on September 27, 1918 – 27 years old

Howard B. Cantelly – died of influenza in October of 1918 – 21 years old

Chares Francis Elliott – died of influenza in France on October 1, 1918 – 27 years old

Joseph T. McClurg – died of influenza on October 1, 1918 – 27 years old

Elmer J. Needham – died of disease on October 10, 1918 – 32 years old

William Charles Peel – died of influenza October 13, 1918 – 26 years old

Horace Givens – died of influenza on October 14, 1918 – 24 years old

William Wilkinson Neumann – died of influenza on October 19, 1918 – 21 years old

Joseph Alexander Coyle – died of influenza on October 28, 1918 – 25 years old

Louis Redding – killed in action in November of 1918 –

George H. Cassels – died of influenza on November 1, 1918 – 21 years old

Edward Nelis – died of wounds in battle on November 4, 1918 – 32 years old

Charles J. Coyle – killed in action on November 5th, 1918 – 23 years old

Walter Carroll Brinton – died December 8, 1918 – 23 years old

Admiral Johnson – died of influenza on May 20, 1919 – 24 years old

 

More about these young men can be found in our book, Frankford Heroes at this link.

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Price of Children’s Lives

NEAR AND FAR

We must ride the tide for Humanity, dig deep for sanity.
No longer can we not face reality, when the nature of life is not a fantasy.
When children are dying in buildings that they call sanctuaries.
Politicians should hear the call of parent’s near and far.
When children are dying not on the battlefield, but on school room floors,
Someone should pick up the call, with children going to school to learn-not to hide.
Where are our leaders?  Why can’t they hear the mother’s cry?

“Our kids don’t go to school to hide.”

Lenny Jaynes

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Op-Ed from State Representative Jason Dawkins

At age 13, I lost my older brother to homicide. A few years later, my younger brother made a bad decision that resulted in a murder conviction. My story is not unique. I have been a witness to both sides of the criminal justice equation, and I have experienced tragedy that is far too familiar to families and individuals across our nation. But this tragedy has not defined me. I believe in redemption. Our Constitution was founded on such a principle, and I believe that the people of Pennsylvania deserve that same chance at redemption – they deserve our support and they deserve our advocacy.

I know I am not alone in my beliefs. I have
attended rallies and protests across this nation
in favor of criminal justice reform, and I have
witnessed crowds of thousands marching and calling for real, genuine change. High-profile cases, such as the recent trial and imprisonment of Meek Mill, have cast light upon the often unseen and unheard plight of so many throughout the Commonwealth. Meek Mill, like so many others, was caught in a trap of probation that led to an extremely harsh sentence for a minor violation. The time is right for change. I believe we have a unique opportunity to shine a light on Pennsylvania’s shocking and costly parole-to-prison pipeline that traps many of our fellow citizens.

The criminal justice system in Pennsylvania is composed of nearly 60 percent minorities. One in every 46 Pennsylvanians lives under court supervision, costing taxpayers and making a successful reentry into society all the more difficult. Everyone deserves the chance to make a fruitful and fulfilling life for themselves post-incarceration, and yet the parole system in Pennsylvania makes this close to impossible. Men and women who have been convicted for various crimes are put on probation or parole for obscene amounts of time, often after having already served their time in prison.

Pennsylvania has approximately 183,000 men and women on probation. Our state ranks 12th per capita, at 1,814 per 100,000 residents, well above the U.S. average of 1,522. About one-third of the state’s 50,000 prisoners are parolees or probationers sent back to prison.

There are many challenges that come with reentering society while on parole or probation. Obtaining affordable housing and finding steady employment can be incredibly difficult, and things like obtaining a state I.D. and navigating the child welfare system can be major hurdles. In addition to these obstacles, multiple studies have shown that the prison pipeline targets children with already-incarcerated parents. Children with parents who are incarcerated or on parole are five times more likely than their peers to commit crimes and end up in jail themselves. Children with incarcerated parents often have difficulty connecting to others and growing with their peers as they are missing the essential relationship with their parents that is so important to childhood development.

Parole and probation programs in Pennsylvania are not structured to help, nurture and support those returning to society. Instead, those under court supervision must fight to regain their freedom. Men and women on parole and probation are re-incarcerated at staggering rates for minor errors in program compliance like missing required treatment programs that are far from where they live and reporting incorrect information because offenders are sometimes illiterate or do not have the necessary skills to accurately fill out paperwork and completed forms.

So many citizens in Pennsylvania and throughout the United States confront the tragedy of this criminal justice system each day. These individuals, who so often try to stay on the right path by working hard, giving back to their communities, and addressing personal issues by receiving needed therapies and treatments for substance use disorders and other personal struggles, do not deserve to be caught in the system for the majority of their adult lives.

The story of Meek Mill further demonstrates the failure of this system: Meek held an annual turkey giveaway for families in need during Thanksgiving, all from prison – just days before the judge in his case proclaimed him to be a “danger to the community.” It is clear that there is no real danger to Pennsylvania, other than the destructive probation and parole practices experienced by young men and women who have entered the criminal justice system. By keeping members of our community in the throes of probation and parole, we are actually harming the health of our society. It is time for real criminal justice reform, starting with untangling those on probation and parole from the tendrils of an unjust system before and after they’ve served their time.

Jason Dawkins is the Representative for the 179th Legislative District of Pennsylvania.