Vol. II No. 156 (316)
Keeping You Posted With The Politics Of Philadelphia
October 7, 2011
Philadelphia Daily Record
Frack On
STATE REPUBLICAN PARTY hailed Gov. Tom Corbett’s plan for development and regulation of Marcellus Shale natural-gas deposits, which it says is a boost to state’s economy. Story page 3.
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Oct. 6State Sen. Anthony Williams & State Rep. Ron Waters host Town Hall on Crime at KIPP Phila. Sch., 5900 Baltimore Ave. For info Don Cave (215) 492-2980. Oct. 6Iron Workers Local 401 hosts Mayoral Town Hall Meeting at Bridgeman’s Hall, 11600 Norcom Rd., 5 p.m. Roofers’ James Donnelly to moderate. General public invited. Oct. 6- State Rep. Kevin Boyle hosts Senior Fair at Mayfair Community Ctr., 2990 St. Vincent St., 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Health screenings and more. Oct. 6Passing The Torch, honoring next generation of entrepreneurial leaders, at The Enterprise Ctr., 4548 Market St., 5:30 p.m. Tickets $125. For info Carissa Jones (215) 895-4016. Oct. 6Karen Brown For Mayor Fundraiser at Finnigan’s Wake, 3rd & Spring Garden Sts., 6-9 p.m. $25. Call (215) 2797210. Oct. 7S.W. Phila. District Services hosts Candidates Forum at Kingsessing Rec Ctr., 50th & Kingsessing Ave., 6-9 p.m. For info Louis Wilson (215) 2758296. Oct. 7Mayfair Civic Ass’n hosts Autistic Endeavors Beef & Beer at Cannstatter Volksfest Verein, 9130 Academy Rd, 7 p.m.-12 a.m. $30. For info Barbara (215) 360-1569. Oct. 8State Sen. Shirley Kitchen and Phila. Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network present voter registration drive at 1701 W. Lehigh Ave., 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in rear parking lot. Make a difference. Have your voice heard. Must bring photo identification. Free food, music, giveaways, special appearance by Power 99. For info Kentia (215) 227-6161.
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Oct. 8Wine & Cheese Reception for Municipal Court candidate Joyce Eubanks at Campbell Fdn., 5946 Vine St., 3-6 p.m. Contribution $50. For info Marion Whitlock (267) 240-5967. Oct. 9Columbus Day Parade and Italian Gala at Marconi Plaza. Parade starts at Broad & Washington and heads south to Oregon Ave. & Marconi Plaza. Food court and entertainment follows on Plaza. Oct. 9World Premier of modern opera “Adea” by Pennsylvania composer Cynthia Cozette at Lutheran Ch. of the Holy Communion, 2110 Chestnut St., 3 p.m., followed by reception. Freewill offering will be collected. For info (215) 567-3668. Oct. 10Fundraiser for Council candidate Bill Rubin at Del Frisco’s Restaurant, 1426 Chestnut St., 5:30-7:30 p.m. Sponsors $1,000, Supporters $500. Oct. 11Lunch with Karen Brown For Mayor at Vesper Club, 1 p.m. Guest of Honor Eagles’ Curtis March. $250-$500. RSVP by Oct. 7 (215) 279-7210. Oct. 11Prevent A Child From Abuse fundraiser art at Tavern On Broad at Bellevue, Broad & Walnut Sts., 5:308:30 p.m. Sponsored by Joseph Pultrone. Tickets $50. For info, tickets, and other details Joe (267) 977-3776. Oct. 12Reception for Chairman House Dem. Campaign Committee State Rep. Brendan F. Boyle and special guest Minority Leader State Rep. Frank Dermody at PFCU, 1600 Locust St., 5:30-7:30 p.m. Gold $5,000, Silver $2500 and Bronze $1,000. Checks payable to Friends of Brendan Boyle. RSVP Nicole Simmons, (717) 2381998, nsimmons@pahdccc.com.
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Temple’s New International House Is Launched By Beech
MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER and Congressman Chaka Fattah were among VIPs launching opening of Beech International Complex at Temple University, 1500 block of Cecil B. Moore Avenue. New complex will house international students, research facilities, and social and recreational amenities adding to Temple Campus. $20-million complex is a major step forward in revitalization plans for Temple University’s growing campus.
KENNETH SCOTT, president and CEO of Beech Cos., introduces guests at dedication ceremony. 7 OCTOBER, 2011
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Republicans Say Guv’s Marcellus Shale Plan Will ‘Propel Penna. Forward Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason commended Gov. Tom Corbett’s recent proposal to implement numerous recommendations of the Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission, including changes to enhance environmental standards and plans to help move Pennsylvania toward energy independence. “Natural gas drilling is an important engine of job creation and economic growth in our Commonwealth, and with his recent Marcellus Shale proposal, Governor Corbett has brought forth a plan to ensure the continued growth of the
industry while equipping community leaders with the authority to address impacts the industry might have on the most important level – the local level,” Gleason said. “The natural-gas industry has been a tremendous job creator, and Governor Corbett’s proposal ensures that these businesses can continue to provide high-quality, well-paying jobs to hardworking Pennsylvanians.” Gleason noted according to a June 2011 study by the Center for Workforce Information & Analy-
sis, “The average wage in the core gas industries was $73,150, which was about $27,400 greater than the average for all industries.” Areas with major Marcellus Shale drilling activity have seen sharp drops in unemployment. Marcellus shale drillers have been a boon for highway maintenance, Gleason added, having spent $411 million since 2008 to rebuild state and local roads. A Revenue Dept. analysis, indicates gas companies have paid more than $1 billion in taxes to the Commonwealth, Gleason stated.
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7 OCTOBER, 2011
Protestors Will Bus To Trenton To Fight Fracking In Delaware Basin
RESIDENTS of Susquehanna Co. in heart of gas drilling condemn Cabot Oil & Gas’ failure to rectify local drinkingwater wells polluted by its fracking activities. Philly-area protestors fear similar pollution will poison our drinking water. State Sen. LeAnna Washington (D-Northwest) has notified her constituents of a move to send busloads of fracking opponents to a Delaware River Basin
Commission special meeting about gas drilling in Trenton, N.J. on Friday, Oct. 21.
A clean-water lobbying group, Protecting Our Waters, is organizing buses which will leave at 6:30 a.m. from 30th Street Station. “We must get there early in order to fill the seats, as the industry is expected to send busloads,” said POW organizer Iris Marie Bloom. “Bus tickets may be purchased soon at protectingourwaters.com; until then send bus inquiries to abe@protectingourwaters.com.”
DRBC has called this special meeting to vote on regulations which are likely to open the Delaware River Watershed to fracking. Currently there is a moratorium on gas drilling in this watershed. Between December 2010 and April 2011, 69,800 people filed comments with the DRBC – a magnificent, unprecedented level of public participation. DRBC — a four-state entity composed of the governors of Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware along with the federal government, represented by the Army Corps of Engineers — appears to be ready to go ahead with fracking, however, despite several
lawsuit, including one byNew York, one of the States that comprise it. The meeting will run from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. “As usual, As usual, DRBC meetings are scheduled at times that are terrible for working people,” Bloom said. “So students, retired people, and those with flexible schedules please do all you can to fill in that gap and come.” The gas industry is expected to send busloads of drilling proponents as well. Some local residents are driving to this event. Contact Beverly Maisey if you want information about getting to the rally. bmaisey@gmail.com.
Poll Shows Cain Beating Obama Herman Cain has opened up a 20percentage-point lead among likely Republican primary voters in the race for the Presidential nomination, and also holds a narrow lead among all likely voters over President Barack Obama.
Cain’s share of the GOP primary has jumped 10 points since Sep. 26 and is now at 38%. Mitt Romney is second with 18%, followed by both Rick Perry and Ron Paul, at 12% each.
The Oct. 3-5 IBOPE Zogby interactive poll also matches Cain, Romney and Perry against Obama. Cain led Obama, 46%-44%, while Obama is one point ahead of Romney, 41%-40%, and leads Perry, 45%-40%.
Dems Pick Their Favorite Republicans In Council-At-Large Contest Next month’s municipal elections will be a sleeper for city Democrats. All Democrat candidates are expected to win handily. As a result, Democrat activists are turning their attention to the only races which matter – for seats reserved for Republicans. Five Republican candidates – all convincing and hard-working – are vying for the two City Council at-Large berths guaranteed the minority party. While they all want every Republican vote, analysts agree the two winners will be those who attract the most Democrat and Independent voters to stray from the Democrat straight-ticket lever. Making his preference known in a clear, if indirect, way yesterday was Mayor Michael Nutter, who appointed one of these candidates, Al Taubenberger, to the Philadelphia Jobs Commission. Taubenberger attributes his appointment to his 20 years of successful business advocacy as President of the Greater Northeast Philadelphia 6|
Chamber of Commerce, a private organization of 900 member businesses in the greater Philadelphia area. “I am truly excited to receive this appointment to the Philadelphia Jobs Commission,” Taubenberger said. “I know what needs to be done to bring jobs back to Philadelphia and I will make sure the Jobs Commission proposes the best, most comprehensive jobs creation plan to City Council.” The Philadelphia Jobs Commission was created in May of this year by an overwhelming vote of Philadelphians. The Commission, composed of 17 unpaid members, is tasked with creating a comprehensive report detailing steps required to spur job growth. The Commissioners are expected to examine regulatory practices, education, land policy, and all other issues that affect job growth. The Jobs Commission has also been unanimously supported by the members of City Council.
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Ironically Taubenberger opposed Nutter for the mayoralty in the 2007 general election. But the two got on famously together regardless, and they maintained regular contacts after Nutter was elected. Taubenberger has served as the President of both the Burholme Civic Association and the Burholme Town Watch. His base in the Northeast is important, because that’s where most of the city’s Republican voters live. Observers also believe Democrat and Independent voters in the Northeast are more likely to split the ticket for a Republican. Lining up behind another Northeast favorite son, State Rep. Denny O’Brien, in this race are two of his Democrat colleagues and neighbors. The brother team State Reps. Brendan and Kevin Boyle will endorse O’Brien at Poquessing Creek Park at Academy & Torrey Roads at 4:30 p.m. today. Brendan Boyle has emerged as a key player 7 OCTOBER, 2011
in the Democratic organization. O’Brien served one term as
Speaker of the House of Representatives in an unusual year, unseating fellow Northeast Republican
John Perzel with solid support from Democrats.
Mayor Raises LGBT Flag For History Month Mayor Michael A. Nutter, the Office of LGBT Affairs and the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations hosted the second annual Rainbow Flag Raising Ceremony yesterday at City Hall to kick off Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History Month. “The LGBT community has made innumerable contributions to the
City of Philadelphia,” said the Mayor Nutter. “Throughout the month of October, we will celebrate the heritage of the LGBT community and promote inclusion and diversity practices across the City.” For the second time in Philadelphia history, the rainbow flag will be flown alongside the United
States flag at any municipal building in the City. The flag will fly for the remainder of October in honor of LGBT History Month. Mayor Nutter was joined by Rue Landau of the PCHR the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus, LGBT advocates and community members in this annual pride celebration.’
Transportation & Utilities, CCD Will Test New Traffic Flow For JFK/Market St. This weekend, the Mayor’s Office of Transportation & Utilities and the Center City District will begin testing the concept for some exciting changes to JFK Boulevard and Market Street. The test project, to continue through Oct. 23, will temporarily remove the left-most lane of travel on these two roads, reducing the four-lane road to three lanes between 15th and 20th Streets. During the two-week test, Streets Dept. traffic engineers and CCD personnel will observe the capacity and overall environment of the streets to ensure that traffic functionality is maintained. On-street parking
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regulations will remain in effect and no parking spaces will be impacted. “We have a vision for a JFK Boulevard and Market Street that represents a truly complete street. The power of this vision is that every kind of travel, parking and loading zones are all accommodated in a way that is safe and convenient. Models tell us Market Street and JFK Boulevard will work as well with three lanes as four, but there is nothing like a real-world test. Over the course of these two weeks, we’ll have a chance to see if a three lane concept could work,” said Rina Cut-
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ler, Deputy Mayor for transportation and utilities. CCD president and CEO Paul Levy noted, “The CCD began working with property owners and building managers on both JFK Boulevard and Market Street in 2009 to identify potential improvements to the on-street environment. The stakeholders were clear in their desire to enhance these corridors with new planted medians as well as make the region’s core commercial district more competitive by improving accessibility for bicyclists while maintaining adequate traffic flow and loading operations.”
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A Way is Lit To Link Center City With The Delaware Last night, Mayor Michael A. Nutter and the Delaware River Waterfront Corp. officially lit the first phase of the Race Street Connector Project, a combination of design and art built to enhance the quality and the ease of access from Old City to the Race Street Pier and the riverfront. The enhancements include improving the pedestrian and bike experience, a major new public-art project – a live-feed LED screen attached to the I-95 overpass over Race Street, showing real-time abstracted images of the surface of the Delaware River and a dramatic light screen along the right-side wall of the three underpasses between 2nd & Race Streets and Columbus Boulevard.
dent of DRWC; Alan Greenberger, Deputy Mayor for economic development and Director of Commerce; Gary Steuer, chief cultural officer; Jeremy Nowak, president of the William Penn Foundation; James Corner of James Corner Field Operations; and Ryan Berley, president of Old City Civic Association.
The light screen, which is made of expanded metal with colorful lighting and bold signage, will unify the spaces under the three viaducts and lead people seamlessly through the underpasses, past the old historic pumping station that will soon be the home of Live Arts/Fringe Festival and from there to the Race Street Pier, Penn’’ Landing, and other destinations on the Central Delaware. Other improvements include a dedicated bike lane, signage, benches, nautical bollards, increased sidewalk widths, improved crosswalks and intensive landscape treatments along the entire south side of Race Street.
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society provided the funding for the design of these improvements and organized a vigorous civic engagement process with Old City residents that provided valuable input into the design of this project. Overall, the Race Street Connector was funded with $650,000 from the William Penn Foundation, an equal amount from DRWC’s City capital funds and $120,000 from PHS.
“The Race Street Pier is one of Philadelphia’s newest destinations and is helping to revive our waterfront,” said Nutter. “The Race Street Connector, with its innovative and artistic design, will bring walkers, runners and cyclists to the Delaware River in a way that dramatically connects the river with the rest of the city.” Other speakers at the event included Councilman Frank DiCicco; Tom Corcoran, presi8|
“The Race Street Connector is smart planning, linking an already vibrant neighborhood to new amenities on the waterfront. But more than that, it‘s smart economic development – a move that will help unlock the waterfront’s potential to spur business and job growth,” said Greenberger.
“World-class cities don’t spend years debating how to move an immovable object like I95. A world-class city puts a civic vision in place, replaces legacy governance structures with accountable management and leadership, and empowers an organization like the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation to find creative ways to deal with physical barriers,” said Nowak. DRWC is a nonprofit corporation organized in January 2009. Its fundamental purpose is to design, develop and manage the central Delaware River waterfront in Philadelphia between Oregon and Allegheny Avenues.
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7 OCTOBER, 2011
Wissahickon Creek’s Health Is Occasion Of Town Meeting The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association and Chestnut Hill College, with support from the Friends of the Wissahickon, are sponsoring a Town Meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 16 to inform the community about significant environmental challenges to the Wissahickon Creek. “A Creek in Crisis: A Town Meeting on the Health of the Wissahickon Creek” will examine the numerous threats to the Wissahickon, including diminishing water quantity, stormwater runoff, impaired water quality, and flooding that severely impact the health of the Wissahickon Creek and its tributaries. The impact of the Wissahickon Creek on the lives of those living in the Wissahickon Watershed is absolute. Though the Wissahickon Creek has a humble beginning in the parking lot at Montgomery Mall, it continues through nine municipalities to the confluence of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. It is a significant waterway, providing approximately 10% of the drinking water to Philadelphians as well as habitat for local wildlife and recreation and natural beauty for area residents. Moderated by Patrick Starr, VP Pennsylvania Environmental Council Southeast Regional Office, the town meeting will feature a panel of environmental experts who will examine the numerous threats to the Wissahickon. Panelists will be: Carol R. Collier, executive director of the Delaware River Basin Commission; 7 OCTOBER, 2011
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John K. Jackson, PhD, senior research scientist at the Stroud Water Research Center; and Chris Crockett, Deputy Commissioner at the Philadelphia Water Dept. A Creek in Crisis will be held on the campus of Chestnut Hill College at Sugarloaf, 9230 Germantown Avenue. The town meeting will begin at 7 p.m.; doors will open at 6:30 p.m. and light refreshments will be provided. To register or for more information, visit www.wvwa.org or www.fow.org. WVWA is a nonprofit land trust founded in 1957 to protect the quality and the beauty of the Wissahickon Creek. Chestnut Hill College is a coeducational Roman Catholic college. Its mission is to provide students with holistic education in an inclusive Catholic community marked by academic excellence, shared responsibility, personal and professional growth, service to one another and to the global community, and concern for the earth. For more information, visit: www.chc.edu. The Friends of the Wissahickon, founded in 1924, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the Wissahickon Valley. FOW works in partnership with Philadelphia Parks and Recreation to restore historical structures throughout the park, eliminate invasive plant species, monitor watershed management issues, and restore trails throughout the Wissahickon Valley Park with its Sustainable Trails Initiative. For more information, visit www.fow.org.
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S. Phila. Principal Is Hailed For Dedication To Arts Otis D. Hackney III, Principal of South Philadelphia HS, was honored on Monday at the Barrymore Awards at the Walnut Street Theatre. Hackney, accompanied by students from South Philadelphia who opened the awards show with an excerpt from We Write South Philly, accepted the Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Service Award for his collaboration with teaching artists from local theaters to create, produce, and perform the original piece of theater.
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The play, directed by teaching artist Tom Reing, was the product of three semester-long residencies during which more than 50 students from the high school studied acting and playwriting with the intention to foster creativity and rebuild school pride among students.
everything Principal Otis Hackney has accomplished at South Philly HS. He is an outstanding leader in both the arts and academics and has always been deeply committed to making Southern a great school – now he is taking it from excellence to eminence.”
Facilitated by Hackney’s faith and support in the project, the play became a great success, and students from South Philadelphia were given the opportunity to unveil their creation on the stage of the Wilma Theatre last June.
We Write South Philly was a collaborative effort with 1812 Productions, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, The South Philadelphia High School Alumni Association, the Asian Arts Initiative, and The Wilma Theater.
Acting Superintendent Dr. Nunery noted, “We are very proud of
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