There was an excellent article in yesterday’s nytimes about Philadelphia youths who were given life sentences under cruel and aggressively punitive DA Lynne Abraham, and who have now had their sentences reduced under the more enlightened leadership of Larry Krasner. We’re talking about people who were clearly guilty of their crimes, not wrongly convicted, so … Continue reading A Quality of Mercy
Philadelphia
How’s the Smoke in Philly?
I initially thought the smoke drifting from our Canadian neighbors was not too big a deal. Yes, at times the smell was yucky and I kept my windows closed even when the temperature would otherwise have allowed me to open them, so my AC got more usage than usual, but I didn’t notice much more … Continue reading How’s the Smoke in Philly?
Barbara Gittings Way
On my walk back from Trader Joe’s yesterday I went past Barbara Gittings Way at 13th and Locust where they have newly laid out rainbow crosswalks. The city has painted rainbows on the crosswalks several times previously, but they’ve always faded quickly, so this time they used a different technique using thermoplastic that’s … Continue reading Barbara Gittings Way
And the Winner Is…
Former City Councilmember Cherelle Parker is the winner of the Democratic mayoral primary and unless hell freezes over the next mayor of Philadelphia.
The Primary
Today is the day of the Primary Election here in Philadelphia and it couldn’t have come a moment too soon. As I’ve previously mentioned, I voted for Helen Gym for mayor and I certainly hope she wins. But now that the Election Day is here, I should finally stop getting those infuriating text messages from … Continue reading The Primary
It’s Gym Time
I just dropped my ballot in the mail for Philadelphia’s primary election for mayor. Given that the city is overwhelmingly Democratic, the winner of the primary election for the Democratic slot for mayor is a certainty to win the general election. There are more candidates on the ballot than I can count on the fingers … Continue reading It’s Gym Time
Joey
I went to Trader Joe’s again yesterday morning right at 9:00AM when they opened. I was anticipating a line, and sure enough, there was one, stretching around the corner into the alley. It turned out that they had already opened and this was the overflow line, waiting to get in after some others came out. … Continue reading Joey
The Further Adventures of Carmella Jacquinto
Carmella Jacquinto On Tuesday Carmella Jacquinto was elected to the Court of Common Pleas along with six other Democrats. Carmella Jacquinto, you may recall, was the prosecuting attorney in a trial where I was a juror. I wrote about it in my blog post, The Trial, plus a few followup posts. If you don’t recall … Continue reading The Further Adventures of Carmella Jacquinto
Directions
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but I don’t think I’ve written it up on this blog.In November of 1994 when I moved into a condo in the Old City section of Philadelphia, my parents came to help me with the move, as was their wont. Toward the end of the afternoon, when … Continue reading Directions
Mark Reed
Mark Reed was apparently quite a character.He was my great uncle on my mother’s side, my grandmother Tillie (Reed) Zellers’ brother. View fullsize Philadelphia City Hall And here’s the thing. I don’t know if I remember him or not, as he died when I was not quite three years old. They used to tell me … Continue reading Mark Reed