Media Mentions
Philly state lawmaker wants Pa. to recognize Jan. 6 as Democracy Observance Day
Two years after insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol while Congress members met to certify the electoral results for president, and as House members in the same chamber repeatedly failed over several days to vote on a speaker, a...
Pa. enacted 166 new laws last year, the most in 6 years. Here are the highlights, from deteriorating homes to property tax help
HARRISBURG — The 166 laws enacted in Pennsylvania in 2022 honed in on a staggering variety of problems — among them fentanyl, deteriorating homes, victims’ rights and tax rates — and each took its own path through Harrisburg’s lawmaking machine. The annual total of...
A new vision for Fishtown and Kensington businesses is coming into focus
State Rep. Mary Isaacson and state Sen. Nikil Saval joined forces to help secure a state grant for the Fishtown-Kensington Business Improvement District Vision Plan Initiative. The $72,750 award represents the final funding required to complete the initiative.
Want to gift a book? Let the best of Philly writers help.
Philadelphia is packed with literary talent. We chased after some of the city’s finest to ask what projects they’re working on, and got them to suggest what books (and tickets!) to gift this holiday season.
Readout of White House Meeting with State Legislative Leaders on Housing Affordability
Building on President Biden’s Housing Supply Action Plan, White House Officials from the National Economic Council, Domestic Policy Council, and Office of Intergovernmental Affairs convened a meeting on housing affordability with state legislative leaders from ten...
DCED opens application for Whole-Home Repairs Program. Here’s what to know
Applications for a $120 million home repair program officially opened for Pennsylvania counties this week. The Department of Community and Economic Development announced that Pennsylvania counties and eligible nonprofits can now apply for the Whole-Home Repairs...
Can Americans still change each other’s minds?
On Nov. 8, as polls began to close, I walked around a post-election celebration in Philadelphia with progressive activists and labor organizers, clutching a cocktail and chattering with friends, a well-excavated pit of dread in my gut beginning to deepen. Would the...
Paul Muschick: Respect for Marriage Act is a start. Now let’s really protect LGBTQ people by passing the Equality Act
The U.S. Senate’s passage of the Respect for Marriage Act this week is a big deal. But let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture. That law is merely a backup plan to protect gay marriages and, if it ever is needed, it would do only so much. LGBTQ people still can be...
Milton Street’s family uphold political legacy after Philly senator’s death
Late entrepreneur and former Philadelphia senator Thomas Milton Street Sr’s relatives continue to uphold their family’s political legacy after his death age 83. Milton Street passed away on Monday, November 28 after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Gov. Wolf Highlights $2.5 Million Capital Investment for Philadelphia LGBT Community Center Renovations
Governor Tom Wolf joined state and local leaders to highlight a $2.5 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant awarded to the William Way LGBT Community Center for phase two of its major renovation project. The funds, awarded last fall, will be...
William Way LGBT Community Center highlights plans after being awarded $2.5 million grant
During a press conference earlier today, it was announced that the William Way LGBT Community Center was awarded a $2.5 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant to complete the second phase of its major renovation project. Governor Tom Wolf, joined two...
Pennsylvania Counties Can Start Applying for Whole-Home Repairs Funds in Mid-December
$125M Pa. program to help fund home repairs will soon go to interested counties
Pennsylvania counties will soon be able to apply for a piece of a $125 million program to fund home repairs, adaptation and weatherization for low-income residents and small landlords. The Whole-Home Repairs program application process for counties will be open Dec....
New Program to Help Chester County Homeowners with Low, Moderate Incomes Repair Their Homes
Starting in December, Chester County will be able to apply for a portion of more than $120 million from the Whole-Home Repairs Program, a Pennsylvania initiative to make homes in the state safer, accessible to people with disabilities, and more energy efficient,...
New Home Repair Program Would Provide Up to $50,000 to Homeowners, Small Landlords
A new state program aims to help some Pennsylvanians make improvements to their homes - and will allocate millions of dollars to the Lehigh Valley. WDIY’s Sarit Laschinsky has more. The new Whole-Home Repairs program draws $125 million from federal COVID-19 relief...
Qualified Lehigh Valley homeowners could get up to $50,000 for home repairs under new Pa. program
County and state officials are preparing to roll out a program that will give income-qualified homeowners grants of up to $50,000 to repair homes, and also help landlords with limited numbers of properties. The “Whole Home Repairs” program, approved by state lawmakers...
Pennsylvania’s new home-repair program is one step closer to helping homeowners and landlords
Homeowners with low and moderate incomes in Montgomery County, one of the wealthiest counties in Pennsylvania, have to wait two to three years for assistance from the government-run program that helps struggling residents repair their homes. Limited funds and capacity...
Pa. homeowners to benefit from new program
Senators Pat Browne, R-Lehigh County, and Nikil Saval, D-Philadelphia, joined local elected officials and members of the Allentown community on Friday to announce the publication of the Whole-Home Repairs program guidelines.
Some homeowners, landlords to be eligible for ‘Whole Home Repair Program’
HARRISBURG, Pa. - There's a program on the way to help some homeowners and landlords fix up homes in Pennsylvania. Local officials and politicians talked about the Whole Home Repair Program Friday in Allentown. It will offer $125 million in grants and loans.
Senators Saval, Browne Announce Major Development for Pennsylvania’s Whole-Home Repairs Program
Allentown, PA (November 18, 2022)—Today Senators Nikil Saval (D–Philadelphia) and Pat Browne (R–Lehigh) joined local elected officials and members of the Allentown community to announce the publication of the Whole-Home Repairs program guidelines. “The Whole-Home...
Senator-Elect Nick Miller Joins New Colleagues to Support Whole Home Repairs in Lehigh County
Allentown, PA – November 18, 2022 − Today, Senator-Elect Nick Miller (D-Lehigh/Northampton) joined Senator Nikil Saval (D-Philadelphia) and retiring Senator Pat Browne (R-Lehigh) to share new updates about the development of the Whole Home Repairs program.
Between Chaos and the Man
I first heard of anarchism around forty-five years ago, as a teenage member of the Science Fiction Book Club. One day the U.S. Postal Service delivered a novel by Ursula K. Le Guin called The Dispossessed, which I read as soon as it arrived and immediately declared my...
Philadelphia Museum of Art workers hope their strike victory can inspire others
On Oct. 14, unionized employees at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) achieved a monumental contract victory with museum management, ending a 19-day strike. The tentative agreement, which runs through June 30, 2025, raised the hourly minimum wage, reduced health...
What City Council Got Right on Housing
The newly released annual report from PHDC, the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation, offers an updated look at where Philadelphia is spending its Basic Systems Repair Program (BSRP) funds, and who the beneficiaries of that spending are. The Basic Systems...
Wolf signs hastily passed $2 billion tax package that encourages natural gas production in Pa.
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf has signed a $2 billion tax credit package for the hydrogen production, milk processing, and biomedical research industries into law, capping months of quiet negotiations between the Democrat and top Republicans in the General Assembly....
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Republican gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Doug Mastriano said on the campaign trail he wants Pennsylvania to be the “Florida of the north.” Many voters scoffed at the notion, but he wasn’t entirely wrong in one aspect. U.S. News & World Report’s newest list of...
Brutal Beauty
Born from the ruins of the second world war, few architectural styles are as polarising – or aptly named – as brutalism. But the famously stark concrete monoliths – long since associated with communist countries – are having a moment. The thing about brutalism: It’s...
‘People are scared’: Philly senators agree crime is bad, but say Krasner isn’t the problem
State senators representing Philadelphia County aren't impressed by the impeachment push against the city's district attorney, Larry Krasner, by House Republicans. "They consistently refuse to allow Philadelphia to pass restrictions on guns in the city. They're trying...
The 2022 Philly Power 100
Philadelphia has been a locus of power for as long as such a thing has existed on these shores. Even before there were states to unite, the city lured those with ambition – political, economic, religious and cultural – and throughout the ensuing centuries, the path to...
The 100 Most Influential Philadelphians Right Now
fter three years of tumult, we’re in a moment of assessment as a city. Big changes loom — in our leadership, in our infrastructure, in the way we live our lives. We’re all busy picking up the pieces, seeing how they fit back together. Maybe those pieces fall into the...
State money for after-school program
An after-school program provider that serves seven South Philly schools received a $200,000 state grant. The grant was secured by state Sen. Nikil Saval and state Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler and awarded to Sunrise of Philadelphia, a community-based out-of-school time and...
Pennsylvania House Moves to Impeach Philadelphia’s Progressive D.A.
Republicans in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives filed articles of impeachment on Wednesday against Larry Krasner, the unabashedly progressive district attorney of Philadelphia, charging that he had been “derelict in his obligations” to prosecute crimes in a...
Temple Hospital employees picket amid potential strike
Temple University Hospital employees, represented by the Pennsylvania Association of Staff and Allied Professionals and Temple Allied Professionals, picketed in front of the American Nurses Credentialing Center Magnet Conference at the Pennsylvania Convention Center...
Weekslong Philadelphia Museum of Art strike ends
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- On Monday at 8 a.m., employees entered the Philadelphia Museum of Art back on the job after the 19-day walkout. One worker raised a fist as he entered the museum doors. The deal was ratified on Sunday night by 99% of the union. "We feel very...
A Pennsylvania Program Will Provide Free Repairs – So Long As Landlords Don’t Hike Rents
In July, Pennsylvania’s legislature passed a law that could revitalize deteriorating homes across the state. The Whole Home Repair Act sets aside $125 million for grants to low and middle-income homeowners and forgivable loans for small landlords to repair or retrofit...
Hammering Democrats on crime, Pa. Republicans target a liberal prosecutor
PHILADELPHIA — Campaigning on crime and looking for boogeymen, Republicans in Pennsylvania have zeroed in on Philadelphia's progressive district attorney, a national leader on criminal justice reform who could be impeached just ahead of the November election. The...
What Socialist Politicians Can Do: An Interview with Nikil Saval
Nikil Saval was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate in 2020. Insofar as there is a typical path to American public office, Saval didn’t follow it. The New York Times called him the “n+1 candidate” (after the magazine he used to co-edit); he was a reporter and...
Krasner impeachment hearings kick off, with witnesses — many on videotape — also placing blame on mayor and police commissioner
The Pa. House panel deciding whether to impeach District Attorney Larry Krasner began public hearings Thursday at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Inside, state lawmakers on the recently-formed Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order heard testimony from Philadelphians...
Philadelphia Ballet breaks ground on new building, quadrupling its size
The Philadelphia Ballet has ceremoniously broken ground on a new building that will nearly quadruple the size of its home on North Broad Street. Construction of the new five-story building of glass and steel, which will contain a black-box performance space, rehearsal...
Workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art are on strike ‘until we get the contract we deserve’
Unionised workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) began a strike against the museum today (26 September). This is the latest action that the museum’s union has launched since contract negotiations began in the fall of 2020. Over 100 members of the union, which...