Your Comments Needed Today for Our Right To Breathe #FossilFreePhilly

There is fight over air quality in Philadelphia that needs your attention. Are you aware that Septa is planning to bring fossil fuels to our communities. Communities that currently have high asthma rates are being targeted to host Septa's natural gas plants. These plants would like to pipeline fracked gas from up state Pennsylvania into our city and this is not acceptable to many residents of Philadelphia and the surrounding area. Because this natural gas plant pollutes our air with harmful micro-particles.

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) – NOx contributes to the formation of ground -level ozone, also called smog. Ozone is linked to a range of respiratory illnesses including to the development of childhood asthma.

Particulate Matter – Contribute to or exacerbate asthma and heart disease. There is strong evidence linking particulates to dementia, impaired cognitive development in children, premature births, and other problems. The World Health Organization says there is no safe level of exposure.

Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) – Can cause eye, nose and throat irritation, shortness of breath, headaches, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, and skin problems. Higher concentrations may cause irritation of the lungs, as well as damage to the liver, kidney, or central nervous system.

Ultrafine Particulates – These particles are not yet regulated by the EPA, but many studies suggest that they are especially harmful to human health and that they are emitted in large quantities by natural gas power plants.

There is an Air Management Services public hearing on June 27th that is need of your public comment by June 24th. SEPTA’s plan to build a natural gas powered plant in the Midvale Complex has not been approved.  Any affected neighbor or citizen should submit written comments to express their objections or concerns about the SEPTA power plants. Written comments can be submitted to Ed Weiner of Air Management Services at 321 University Ave. The due date for comments in June 24, 2017. The focus of comments should be specifically about Air Quality issues.

How Did We Get To This Point?

City Council's budget hearing in May 2016: http://phlcouncil.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wh051016.pdf.

COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: Okay. In your testimony, Page 3 of your testimony states the fleet enhancement are a key component of SEPTA's capital program. Bottom line, you're going to purchase a number of vehicles. So you probably may or may not be aware that there's this push because of the potential of the diversification of PGW, which is our company, the City of Philadelphia, and we support the region, and our ability to have additional fleets that use CNG will help the company significantly, particularly in this group and the expansion of our LNG plant. And I see here you want to purchase 525 hybrid electric buses, and it's kind of hard to argue against electric buses, hybrids, because they do -- is there an opportunity -- and I don't know how the vehicles are built -- that instead of using regular gas, that in a hybrid 6 vehicle you can use CNG? 

MR. KNUEPPEL: I don't believe without retrofitting the vehicle. SEPTA has investigated having our buses be CNG, and a couple years ago we did a study on that, and what it showed was that we had to do a significant amount of improvements at our garages where we store them, and we really in many cases are in very tight neighborhoods. If you think about our Allegheny bus garage, homes on three sides and school on a fourth, there's really not a lot of room to expand our footprint and be able to provide the facilities, additional facilities, we'd need for CNG. What we have looked more so is other ways to use gas, and we've converted most of our maintenance facilities and larger facilities all over to gas, and then now we have a very interesting project where what we are -- we're in the investment grade audit stage now. It's a GESA, Guaranteed Energy Savings Act, project. But we're looking to run a significant portion of the regional rail network off of gas and have a combined heat and power project up at our Wayne Junction area. That's the equivalent of over 300 buses, the amount of gas that that facility would use. So SEPTA is using gas. For us right now it's made more sense to utilize it for running regional rail, and that's what we're working on. Also in many ways for SEPTA, you heard that we just received money to start purchasing pure electric buses with batteries, and that has been something that if that technology really pans out, that will really help us and really seems to be that we'll jump over CNG and head to electric buses.

COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE:  All right.  And this is an interesting  conversation, because when I talk to people representing PGW, they reference the fact that obviously electric is a cleaner-burning fuel source, but the origin of the electricity, I'm told those facilities are not as environmentally sound as the CNG-related activities.

MR. KNUEPPEL:  When we move to and we have this electric bus pilot, we're actually looking at having the charging station be fueled by natural gas.  So that is a conversation we've had with PGW and certainly with -

COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: Instead of coal and all the other things.

MR. KNUEPPEL:  Right.  And even with our regional rail project, getting away from PECO is going to provide a benefit to the region in terms of air quality and cleanliness.

COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE:  All right.  You sound like you came prepared for that question.  I would like to follow up with you.  Can you just give  me -- because it may be helpful to what we're trying to do.  I don't know if the analysis that you did with respect to electric versus CNG -

MR. KNUEPPEL:  Okay. Certainly.

COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: if it was documented, could you get that to us, please.

MR. KNUEPPEL:  Yes. Absolutely.

COUNCIL PRESIDENT CLARKE: Because we have to make some decisions. We'll be making a determination on the expansion of PGW's plant and
diversification plan.  So that will be helpful to us.  Thank you.  Thank you very much.

Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA)

Notice of Application for Plan Approval at the Midvale Bus Facility

Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) has applied for approval of plans to install a Combined Head and Power Plant (CHP) at its Midvale Bus Facility located at 4130 Wissahickon Avenue, part of its Roberts Complex (SEPTA-Roberts). The CHP will consist of two 6113 horsepower (HP) natural gas-fired generators that will provide steam and electricity to the facility and supplemental electricity to SEPTA’s regional railcars. Each generator will be equipped with a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) and Oxidation Catalyst (OC) System. The SCR reduces Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions and the OC reduces Carbon Monoxide (CO), Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) and Formaldehyde (CH2O) emissions.

Estimated Emissions Impact of New Permit

The table below lists the potential increase in emissions (pollutants released into the air) associated with this project, expressed in tons per year:

Pollutant	Potential Emissions (tons/yr)
Nitrogen Oxides (NOx)	21.8
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)	16.4
Particulate Matter Less Than 10 Microns (PM10)	0.08
Carbon Monoxide (CO)	27.2
Sulfur Oxides (SOx)	0.09
Lead (Pb)	0.00

• Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) are gases made up of nitrogen and oxygen that are released during the burning of fuel.  In 2015, SEPTA-Roberts released 2.6 tons of NOx into the air. Under Federal regulations, a facility in Philadelphia is a major source of NOx if it has the potential to emit 25 tons in a year.   

• Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) is a colorless, irritating gas that is created when fuel containing sulfur is burned.  In 2015, SEPTA-Roberts released 0.9 tons of SOx into the air. Under Federal regulations, a facility in Philadelphia is a major source of SOx if it has the potential to emit 100 tons in a year.  

• Carbon Monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless gas that is formed when carbon in fuel is burned.  In 2015, SEPTA-Roberts released 3.0 tons of CO into the air. Under Federal regulations, a facility in Philadelphia is a major source of CO if it has the potential to emit 25 tons in a year.  

• Volatile Organic compounds (VOC) are chemicals that evaporate at room temperature.  In 2015, SEPTA-Roberts released 1.6 tons of VOC into the air. Under Federal regulations, a facility in Philadelphia is a major source of VOC if it has the potential to emit 25 tons in a year.  

• Particulate Matter Less Than 10 Microns (PM10) are very small substances, such as dust, dirt, soot, smoke, or drops of liquid, that are released into the air during the burning of fuel.  In 2015, SEPTA-Roberts released 2.3 tons of PM10 into the air. Under Federal regulations, a facility in Philadelphia is a major source of PM10 if it has the potential to emit 100 tons in a year.  

• Lead is a metal that can be released into the air during the burning of fuel.  In 2015, SEPTA-Roberts released a negligible amount of led into the air.

Permit Requirements

SEPTA–Roberts has a facility-wide Synthetic Minor operating permit which limits the total facility emissions below levels defined as major under Federal regulations. SEPTA-Roberts will maintain its Synthetic Minor operating permit and facility emission limits after the installation of the CHP. Since the facility will remain a minor facility, this plan approval application is not applicable to New Source Review (NSR) or Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) requirements, regulations that only apply to major facilities.

The generators are applicable to the Federal Standards of Performance for Stationary Spark Ignition Internal Combustion Engines found in 40 CFR Subpart JJJJ. The requirements in this regulation include emission limits for NOx, CO, and Non-Methane Non-Ethane Hydrocarbons (NMNEHC, similar to VOC) on a grams per brake horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr) basis. The draft plan approval includes emission limits for these pollutants that are significantly lower than the limits found in this regulation. The draft plan approval also includes emission limits for Formaldehyde and Ammonia.

Air Management Services (AMS) must ensure that the proposed target heater operation will comply with all applicable air quality requirements.  The final plan approval will include testing, monitoring, recordkeeping, and reporting requirements to ensure compliance.  These requirements will include initial emission tests for NOx, NMNEHC, CO, Formaldehyde, and Ammonia. SEPTA must conduct additional tests for NOx, NMNEHC CO, and Formaldehyde every 8,760 hours of operation or every 3 years, whichever comes first.

After a plan approval is issued and installation is complete, AMS will confirm by inspection that the units conform to the plan approval conditions and the information supplied in the permit application is accurate.  AMS will continue to monitor the units’ operation by reviewing facility reports and visually inspecting the facility on a regular basis.

Emissions Impact on Neighborhood:

AMS determined the project’s emission impact on the neighborhood using a computer model called AERSCREEN. The computer model projects the worst-case emission level in the area due to the project based on project characteristics such as the emission rate, exhaust stack details, and local geography. AMS ran the computer model for NOx emissions, the pollutant with the highest expected emissions due to the project.  AMS compared these results to the EPA standard for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), the main component of NOx. See Table 1 below for the results.

Table 1 – Project Emissions Impact in Parts Per Billion (ppb) NOx

Project	Background	Project + Background	EPA Standard
10.78 ppb	76 ppb	86.78 ppb	100 ppb

Project – This is the emission impact on the neighborhood due to the project. AMS input hourly NOx emissions (based on the emission limits in the draft plan approval); stack temperature, diameter, and height; and local geography into the model to determine the NOx emission concentration increase in the ambient air due to this project. The model determined the maximum 1-hour NOx concentration increase from the combined stack is 10.78 ppb.

Background – This is the existing pollution level in the area without the project. To be conservative, AMS used 76 ppb, the highest certified 1-hour level measured by AMS air monitors in Philadelphia since 2009, as the background level.

Project + Background – This is the maximum projected pollution level in the area after the project.

EPA Standard – This is the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) Primary Standard of 100 parts per billion (ppb) established by EPA for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2). NAAQS primary standards provide public health protection, including protecting the health of "sensitive" populations such as asthmatics, children, and the elderly. For more information on NAAQS standards, see https://www.epa.gov/criteria-air-pollutants/naaqs-table.

The results of the computer model show that the total ambient pollutant concentrations of this project are below the primary standard for NO2. AMS finds that the proposed project does not have the potential for significant health and environmental effects.

Permitting Process

After AMS completed its review of the application, AMS had a public notice published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, to alert community members of the proposed plan approval, the 30-day public comment period, and a public hearing scheduled on June 27, 2017, at 6 PM at the Panati Playground located at 3101 N. 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19132. AMS will address any comments received during the comment period or public hearing before taking final action on the plan approval. You can also comment online at https://actionnetwork.org/forms/submit-a-comment-to-air-management-services

During the public comment period, copies of the application will be available for public review at Air Management Services, 321 University Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19104.  The public will be able to arrange a visit by calling (215) 685-7572.  Copies will also be available at the Falls of Schuylkill Branch (3501 Midvale Avenue, 215-685-2093) and the Nicetown-Tioga Branch (3720 North Broad Street, 215-685

I Have A Problem With How Our Philadelphia Educators And Families Are Being Pulled

This is what divide and conquer looks like in stress unorganized communities and when i say unorganized i refer to the lack of connect ability in poorly resourced communities. The future of our public education dictates the future for most vulnerable members of our society. We should not be looked at as targets but as human beings with the right to professionally trained educators and support staff. We can defeat the dismantling of public education by Dr. Hites and his supporters when we learn the issues and build allies to correct the problem. 

Your calls, emails and tweets are working! 

The Latest:  Today's Notebook article exposes the hypocrisy, double-talk and lack of professionalism behind the District's divide-and-conquer strategy. Hite is playing both ends to the middle and pitting principals against their staffs by refusing to take a clear public stand on whether the District will take retaliatory punitive measures against educators who took a personal day to participate in the "May Day of Advocacy for Philly public schools."

Summary of Events:  After approving all requests for personal days on May 1 AND stating publicly in the press on May 1 that there would be no repercussions for employees, the district emailed administrators on May 11 (10 days later) instructing them to re-code personal days to “Unauthorized Leave without Pay” which would include disciplinary documentation placed in an employee’s file. On May 12 after reading about the district’s aboutface in theInquirer, thousands of PFT members and allies began calling, emailing and tweeting at both Superintendent Hite and Mayor Kenney to ask that they reconsider the retaliatory move.

Hite's convoluted double-talk: “There has not yet been a decision to dock the pay of those who took personal leave on May 1st.  We do however plan to support principals who denied leave beforehand because such leave created a hardship at their school.  Not until we have all of the information do I plan to decide on whether or not we will take action on any employees.”

Kenney’s supportive response: “Please know that I hope Hite ultimately decides not to dock the pay of these teachers. As they used personal time that they earned to take off that day, I don’t believe it is appropriate for them to be penalized for exercising their 1^st amendment rights.”

Our Next Move:  We focus on Hite.

Please reach out to Superintendent Hite once again (by phone 215-400-4100, email hite@philasd.org & twitter @SDPHite) and use the hashtags#PFTContractNow #MayDay4Philly:

Dear Dr. Hite,

Please respect the rights of District employees for self-expression -- like you did in Nov 2014 and March 2017. The district set a precedent when it allowed thousands of PFT members to take personal days on election day in Nov 2014, as well as on ‘A Day without a Woman’ earlier this year. That precedent should be followed for the employees who took a personal day to participate in the "May Day of Advocacy."  Please issue a public directive that is clear, non-negotiable and consistently enforced at all schools throughout the district upholding this precedent for self-expression.

Please share the responses you receive from Hite so we can gauge our progress. (Email responses to kelleycollings@gmail.com)

Thank you for your commitment and work on behalf of Philly public schools!

Jessica Way, PFT Building Representative at Franklin Learning Center

Kelley Collings, PFT Building Committee member at FSAS and Co-Chair of the Caucus of Working Educators

Free Fun Family Science Event Saturday April 29th 1501 N. Broad Street #PTW17

The 6th Annual Pyramid STEM/STEAM Showcase will take place Saturday, April 29th at the Leon Sullivan Progress Plaza Office Building, 11am - 4pm. Deborah Gary Founder of the annual showcase is a retired veteran continuing to serve her country by offering various STEM/STEAM opportunities to youth interested in learning science and math skills. 

The showcase connects those in attendance to careers most never heard of, like studying neurology as a profession, coding, engineering and more.......   

• Gravity visualization - TutorDelphia
• Computer-based educational applications - Aaron Walter & Nathan Walter
• 6 Simple Machines - Reese Street Kids
• Neural Knitworks - Red Hen Productions
• Health exhibit - Nat’l Black Leadership Initiative on Cancer
• Science Pops - Gisele Quarterman
• App demonstrations - B-Mor Technologies
• Make A Great Flying Machine
• Brain Freeze – Test Your Skills
• Your Weight Is Out of This World!
• Zion Baptist Church Tech Ministry
• Computer Lab – Hour of code training - Called to Serve CDC
• African American Inventions Exhibit
• National Museum of African American History & Culture Exhibit
• Investment Info - Math Visual - Forestors

Entertainers:

• Steve Crum – Famous Scientist re-enactment – 2:00 PM

Vendors:

DHEx/Color Book Gallery – Books and Brainteasers 

Troop 303 Scouts - Food/Snacks

I'm hosting Neural Knitworks 11 - 1 then break for famous scientist re-enactment by Mr Steve Crum and back to building our brains with the neurons created that day knitting or weaving. Neural Knitworks was created in Australia and is built on the science that when we knit neurons and listen to a conversation about neurons our neurons get excited and become stronger. The completed brain at the end of the event will be donated to University of Pennsylvania Neurology Department volunteers and a brain hat will be given to Chris Deussing as thank you for their partnership in building healthy brains. 

11am

"Neural Knitworks: Insights from the Aging Brain"

Prerana Vaddi
Imaging Research Specialist
Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center
University of Pennsylvania
Web: http://ftd.med.upenn.edu/

And

Katerina Placek

Graduate Student

Penn Frontotemporal Degeneration Center

University of Pennsylvania

Web: http://ftd.med.upenn.edu/

11:30am

"Neurodiversity & Cultural Competency: Overcoming Mental Health Stigma."

Mental health in people with Autism and other mental challenges

Christopher Deussing

Mental Health Professional

Noon

Yuliis Bell and Assistant

Outreach Coordinator at Penn’s Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders

https://www.pennmedicine.org/for-patients-and-visitors/patient-information/conditions-treated-a-to-z/parkinsons-disease

https://www.pennmedicine.org/for-patients-and-visitors/find-a-program-or-service/neurology/movement-disorders

http://www.med.upenn.edu/cndr/?_ga=1.62012396.157723571.1408562507

1pm

Ashley R. Winslow, PhD

Senior Director, Translational Research

Orphan Disease Center at the University of Pennsylvania

Office: +1-215-573-9365 | Mobile: +1-772-485-4943

Email: awinslow@upenn.edu

ODC website: http://www.med.upenn.edu/orphandisease/

Hope to see you there!! 

Philly Farm & Food Fest (& Fiber) April 8th 2017 #pf3 #SupportLocal

What does great advocacy look like? #PhillyFarmAndFoodFest where the theme of the event is to introduce attendees to local food growers and distributors with hopes that we will connect and support the local producers. Family, community and environment focused were the presenters who were happy to share their healthy habits and traditional diets. No hay rides, but there were tractors to take photos on, apple cider to sample and plenty of hay to remind us of the farm and land cultures.

Learned how High Tunnels is a favorite for organic farmers because they can control pest and the irrigation for the plants. This allows farmers to get several crops versus depending on our environment for annual crops. We were just planting at our gardens in Blackberry Mansion and talking how we only get one crop from our plantings. Now i know of a way to produce more than that one crop. Look at that beautiful Swiss Chard, i plan to plant some in my garden but would love to have Swiss Chard today that looks like the Swiss Chard in this photo.

Whole Foods Market introduced me to a vegan, yes i said vegan cheez no steak sandwich. So delicious i had to go back for seconds.  Whole Foods buys their mushroom locally from Mother Earth Organic Mushrooms, located in Landenberg, Pennsylvania aka "The Mushroom Capital." Whole Foods produce is grown within 100 miles of their markets!! Here's the recipe:

Cheez Sauce:
2 cups raw unsalted cashews, soaked over night
1/2 cup nutritional yeast (this gives you cheese taste)
1/4 cup of H2O
1/4 cup of Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Filing:
1 cup each of organic sliced cremini mushrooms, white mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
1tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon vegetarian Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of butter
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 green pepper thinly sliced
1 clove garlic minced
salt & pepper to taste

Make Cheez Sauce: soak cashews overnight in water, drain water and blend until smooth. add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

Prepare the Filing: preheat oven to 425, combine mushrooms, olive oil, soy sauce and worcestershire sauce, season with salt and pepper. roast on a baking sheet for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until mushrooms are tender and browned. Saute onions, peppers and garlic.

Assemble: slice and toast rolls slightly, layer mushrooms, onions, peppers and cheez sauce, place back in oven for few minutes before serving!!

Long Lines means big demand right? #UDairyCreamery had the longest line and all those eating the ice cream were expressing how #UDairyCreamery is the best ice cream ever!! I waited for the line to go down and tried some bourbon pecan. So good!! and the best part, which made me a bit hesitant in the first place, my stomach didn't cramp as my stomach tends to do after eating milk base products!!

The UDairy Creamery has partnered with UD’s Horn Program in Entrepreneurship to bring you the Moo Mobile, a full-sized ice cream truck. The Moo Mobile serves up to 20 flavors to all of UD’s campuses. It also provides outreach opportunities for the UDairy Creamery, allowing participation in the Delaware State Fair and other community events, as well as visits to alumni gatherings and corporate events. The Moo Mobile provides a vehicle for entrepreneurial education. UD students who enroll in select Horn Program courses have the opportunity to participate in the operation of the truck; they learn about starting and running a business – from legal requirements and management to marketing and financial analysis. The Moo Mobile also serves as a cornerstone of the Horn Program’s youth entrepreneurship initiative.

The UDairy Creamery as well as the Moo Mobile is a non-profit entity of the University of Delaware and College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Like most nonprofit organizations we rely on donations to help support our academic mission; therefore, we choose not to compete with for-profit businesses or events that are unrelated to our mission.

We consider attending events only relating to:

• The University of Delaware and its Colleges
• Agriculture
• Ice Cream

If your event, group, or company is interested in booking the Moo Mobile for an event, contact us atmoomobile@udel.edu. Please describe your relationship as listed above.

Blue Hen Weddings

The Moo Mobile is available for wedding catering. However, keeping with the spirit of our mission, we do require either a bride, groom, or parent be a University of Delaware alum. Please contact us atmoomobile@udel.edu for more information;  we will require the name and graduation year of the alum prior to the event approval. 

http://canr.udel.edu/udairycreamery/moo-mobile/

I was able to purchase honey made in west philly from Philadelphia Bee Company www.philadelphiabee.com. Some nice plants from Lunaria Gardens https://squareup.com/store/lunaria?t=merchant-rc. Tasted a spicy mango pop from "Lil Pop Shop", really good, you can try some at www.lilpopshop.com. Learn indigo dip, starts with green dye that once the air hits the dye the dye turns blue. During the Indigo Fabric Dyeing with The Art Dept. www.artdeptphilly.com. Met Inventor of the 90 second cake, Ms. Marian Dossou www.90secondcake.com. So many women owned business in the house!! Marisa McClellan was sharing "Naturally Sweet Food In Jars" www.foodinjars.com. Also was given some free certified organic lettuce starters to grow in my sons window seal!!  Delware Valley University offers Organic Farming Certificate Program www.del/val.edu. Looking forward to next years Philly Farm And Food Fest (Fiber)!!

Hands down the best part of my exploration at the Philly Farm and Food Fest was recording Ms. Olga sharing how to make "Kombuchia." Never heard of Kombuchia, was all the attendees creating the standing room only space for Olga's presentation that made turn on the camera and press the record button. I've been drinking apple cider vinegar to improve my health. I have poor eating habits and need to put nutrients in my body that don't require alot of time to create. i heard about the benefits of Fermentation of soy beans on the Dr. Oz show. Ms. Olga shared the process of fermenting yeast, sugar and tea to create a healthy probiotic drink. www.fsproduce.com 

2017 District Attorney Candidate Civil Rights Attorney Larry Krasner In A Conversation With The Community

Very happy to be in attendance for a public conversation with Philadelphia District Attorney Candidate Civil Rights Attorney Larry Krasner. Never heard of Mr. Krasner until this race so was good to have the chance to see and hear what he had to say on his position as District Attorney of Philadelphia.

Mr. Krasner has been fighting the good fight since entering law and presented the humanity i like to see in a district attorney. He didn't sugar coat anything on how he feels about law enforcement and his willingness to prosecute law enforcement officers who abuse the badge. There were questions on supporting lifers in getting parole and actually getting the parole. Our human rights are stripped from us in this pretend justice system and Mr. Krasner has a track record of fighting the pretenders in the justice system. Dirty Cops gotta go when Mr. Krasner is elected. Up to us the community to advocate for a law enforcement operation that works for us and not a cash rules everything around me SCREAM dolla DOLLAR DOLLAR BILL#$%^%$$%$#

Please view the video to hear Mr. Krasner speak and attend the candidates forum to get your issue

and concerns addressed. We have a responsibility to ourselves, family, community and global community. We have the ability to be the change we want to see, Mr Krasner is open to community oversight boards and partnerships with those in the community addressing the concerns. Mr. Krasner addressed my concern for mothers and children who may have issues that led to a killer opioid crisis and now thanks to new legislation by Republican Katherine Watson will be targeted by police and dhs pretending to help. Mr Krasner was in favor of more assistance in prevention services versus conviction, said he always felt that way and from his experience has seen how the conviction first then treatment for further prevention destroys peoples lives in an endless cycle of bureaucracy.

Civil Rights Attorney Larry Krasner also expressed that we have small units working on heavy case loads. The mental health unit he would consider making more resourceful. His willingness to spend several hours and address the various concerns made some of us comfortable enough to support Larry Krasner. Please attend a candidates forum soon, primary is Tuesday, May 16th. Important election dates 

#FossilFreeSepta The Mayor of Philadelphia Is Working With the Fracking Industry and Has Endorsed Septa Careless Plan for a Natural Gas Plant

Families who board buses at Hunting Park and Wissahickon would like to do so in clean air!! 3/22/17

The mayor of Philadelphia is working with the fracking industry and has endorsed Septa careless plan for a natural gas plant in the already highly polluted Nicetown section of Philadelphia. Mayor Kenney did not side with the public he sided with the industry. There are several environmental groups who have asked our city representatives to stop Septa’s plan to run gas pipelines from upstate Pennsylvania through our city. To no avail.

March 22, 2017 City Council held a hearing on our Environmental and Tourism concerns. Reported from the office of sustainability that the vision of “Greenworks” is that every Philadelphian lives in a home with a healthy environment and our outdoor air meets federal standards. Wish that read meets or exceeds federal standards which are being manipulated by the ugly fracking industry. “Greenworks” stated that air pollution from transportation and energy generation causes climate change and damages our natural environment, causing poor indoor air which can cause asthma and trigger attacks. “Greenworks” will focus efforts in areas of the city most burdened by poor air quality. page 19 Heat is not evenly distributed across the city, and some neighborhoods can be more than 22 degrees Fahrenheit hotter. Depending on global carbon pollution levels, Philadelphia will have between 17 and 52 days above 95 degrees fahrenheit a year by 2100, up from an average of four days per year from 1961 to 2000. As the temperature increases, we will focus interventions on vulnerable Philadelphians in our hottest neighborhoods.

We need every Philadelphian to pay attention to what is taking place with Septa and our city officials. If we want Philadelphia to have breathable air we must demand #Rezoning of Philadelphia now.

Riding past the planned gas plant 3/22/17

#CleanWaterAction speaking at City Council hearing on Environment and Tourism. Septa is already contributing to the high number of asthma related hospitalizations in Nicetown. Septa said they are not responsible for the health of the community. (this photo taken at city council hearing 3/21/17)