Watchdog reporting from Kensington, Philadelphia. We dig into how government agencies, elected officials and local institutions spend money and serve the neighborhood.
City Council unanimously advanced the seven-bill package after a five-hour hearing. All three councilmembers representing parts of Kensington voted yes.
Accountability
After a four-day trial in federal court, a jury found the city violated Louis Jung Jr.’s constitutional right to medical care while incarcerated and awarded the family $1.67 million in damages.
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The decision to spare the two schools from proposed closures comes after nearly a month of intense community pushback against the district’s sweeping facilities plan.
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The final vote on the closure plan will come from the school board but City Council members said Tuesday they want their input to be considered.
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A Philadelphia school district official admitted the district has neglected Stetson’s building for decades. Students and educators questioned the district’s data and scoring of the school’s capacity.
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Concerns grow that Philadelphia’s school closure plan disadvantages some already vulnerable neighborhoods.
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Despite declining enrollment, parents and City Council member Quetcy Lozada describe Conwell and Stetson as community anchors and resource hubs.
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Kensington Voice collected and verified data on 87 people who were arrested during the first months of the program and tracked their journeys through the court. Most ended up with Wellness Court bench warrants after the city lost contact with them.
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Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker’s administration plans to allocate more to Riverview than to all other opioid settlement money initiatives combined.
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An ordinance that expands a business curfew currently in effect in a section of Kensington will be enforced in much of North Philadelphia and more of Kensington in 60 days.
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A new overnight curfew ordinance could take effect on September 11. It would expand a similar curfew enacted in Kensington in March 2024.
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The Philadelphia Board of Health unanimously approved a regulation relating to Councilmember Quetcy Lozada’s mobile services ban in Kensington. The health department will now oversee a permitting process for all mobile medical providers in the city.
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Mayor Cherelle Parker’s sweeping $2 billion housing plan—the Housing Opportunities Made Easy (H.O.M.E.) initiative aims to preserve and create 30,000 housing units over four years in response to the city’s housing crisis.
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The Philadelphia Board of Health postponed a vote on Councilmember Quetcy Lozada’s mobile service regulations, citing legal, policy and equity concerns about a district-specific law affecting Kensington.
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After seeing the redesign plans for McPherson Square Park and Library, residents asked for more shade, and requested the library stay open during construction.
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A new batch of organizations will receive $2.2 million in grants from the city’s 2025 Opioid Prevention and Community Healing Fund (OPCH), after what some groups called delayed and unclear communication.
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Council member Quetcy Lozada’s bill that bans mobile service units from most of Kensington’s 7th District will not take effect on the expected date — Sunday, July 27.
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Three months after the Parker Administration announced the end of the Overdose Prevention and Community Healing Fund, community organizations share their concerns about what comes next.
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Funding is allocated to expand the administration’s Kensington Wellness Court pilot from one to five days a week.
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The bill imposes strict permitting, time, and location limits on medical providers offering wound care and addiction treatment as well as any organization offering basic necessities like food, water, and clothes.
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El oficial del Departamento de Policía de Filadelfia, Mark Dial, quien disparó y mató a Eddie Irizarry, de 27 años,
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Philadelphia Police Department officer Mark Dial, who shot and killed 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry during a traffic stop in Kensington in
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The bill would authorize police and crisis lines to initiate a 302 — an involuntary psychiatric hold of up to 120 hours for people considered a danger to themselves or others.
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Students from Gloria Casarez Elementary School in Kensington lined up to testify in support of the legislation, carrying handmade signs that read: “No needles,” “Don’t sell drugs,” “I just want to be a kid,” “We want to be able to play outside,” and “I want to feel safe.”
