Weavers Way gets $1.5M for Montco location
Philadelphia-based Weavers Way Co-op is one step closer to opening a new Montgomery County location, and its third overall, after receiving $1.5 million through a loan campaign — nearly double the original goal.
Weavers Way Co-op — which was established in the West Mount Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia, and in 2010 opened a second location in Chestnut Hill — has plans to open a third grocery store in Ambler in April 2017. Read more.
Meet the 16-year-old activist organizing a big equality march in Philly
Almost 104 years ago, a day before the inauguration of known-racist and sexist Woodrow Wilson, activist Alice Paul led a march for women’s rights down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.
Next month, a day before the inauguration of known-racist and sexist Donald Trump, 16-year-old activist Anna Holemans will lead a march for women’s rights in Philadelphia, from City Hall to Eakins Oval. Read more.
Why Austin's Wheatsville Food Co-op is raising wages, despite delay in federal overtime law
Right before Thanksgiving, as the overtime exemption for salaried wages was about to increase to a minimum annual threshold of $47,476, a federal judge in Texas blocked the changes to the Department of Labor’s Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA.
This move preserved the FLSA’s current rules and rates until there could be more discussion. However, many businesses decided to move forward with the new regulations. Read more.
When Residents Take Ownership, A Mobile Home Community Thrives
If you had strolled one Saturday afternoon through the Park Plaza neighborhood in Fridley, Minn., you might have thought you were at just another block party. The residents were milling around a picnic buffet on folding tables on the street in front of their houses and the American flag. Kids were tossing beanbags and shouting. Neighbors were delivering Jell-O and marshmallow salad, and a pot of pork, cilantro and beans.
But this was not an ordinary picnic. Residents were celebrating the fifth anniversary of a major achievement that could inspire similar communities across the country: The day they began to take more control of their lives. Read more.
He seeks more black men to teach in Philly and beyond
Sharif El-Mekki vividly recalls every black male teacher who ever taught him: two in elementary school, two in high school.
"They were transformative figures in my life," said El-Mekki, a veteran Philadelphia educator.
For 2017, El-Mekki has a goal to organize 1,000 black men to show up for the first day of school, encouraging city youths to be their best.
By 2025, his goal is much loftier: to nearly triple the number of black men teaching in the city. To that end, he has launched the Fellowship: Black Male Educators for Social Justice. Read more.