UNIVERSITY CITY REVIEW Digital Edition 7/9/21

Saint Joseph’s and USciences expand opportunities for students with historic merger

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aint Joseph’s University and University of the Sciences (USciences) announced a historic merger agreement to integrate into one University, ready for the future of everything.

By offering a liberal arts core and degrees, along with comprehensive in-demand professional programs, the combined University will

prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s world.

“Today [June 9] is a historic day for Saint Joseph’s, USciences, and the thousands of students from across the country who will choose our combined University for their education,” said Mark C. Reed, Ed.D., President of Saint Joseph’s. “This merger agreement will join together

two iconic universities with a combined 370 years of tradition, legacy and service to students. But we will now move forward as one more comprehensive University, continuing our mission of providing an accessible, rigorous, student-centered educational experience in the most sought-after career fields.”

USciences and Saint Jo-

SERVING THE WEST PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITY JULY 07, 2021

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How to create equity for more people without chasing away housing development a certain number of new units

as affordable housing or otherwise make a payment into the Housing Trust Fund.

Advocates for mixed-income he city of Philadelphia neighborhoods have grown has long struggled to frustrated with the current incentivize developers mixed-income-housing bonus. to build affordable housing They noted that a large majorand ward off gentrification. ity of participating developers But with the affordable-housopted to make the housinging stock continuing to shrink trust payments in lieu of buildin neighborhoods like Uniing on-site affordable housing versity City, some city counin gentrifying neighborhoods, Maria D. Quiñones Sánchez District 7. Photo Philadelphia City Council. cilmembers are pushing for a with the program failing to more aggressive policy in their prevent displacement and release sent to the University Median Income, or AMI – districts – mandatory mixedCity Review and Philadelphia which is about $725 per month socio-economic segregation. income housing.

City Council has since tried Free Press. for a one-room apartment. The Third District City Counto discourage the use of the Property owners can opt maximum affordable price for cilmember Jamie Gauthier in-lieu payments. In May, out of the off-site portion of owner-occupied properties is and Seventh District City Gauthier and Quiñones Sánthe requirement by making a 60% of AMI. Councilmember Maria Quichez introduced another bill The bill was ultimately ñones Sánchez introduced the payment to the Philadelphia that would increase the size Housing Trust Fund – an tabled at the June 24 council Mixed-Income Neighborhood of the in-lieu, housing-trust agency that subsidizes the meeting, which was the last Overlay bill on June 24. The payments. That bill would also construction of affordable one until September. In the bill creates a new overlay for housing, helps low-income intervening months, Gauthier limit when developers can certain tracts in the third and make in-lieu trust payments, Philadelphians pay for their and Quiñones Sánchez said seventh councilmanic districts meaning that they would rents, mortgages, and home rethey would meet with local that imposes new affordability eventually have to build afrequirements on new residen- pairs, and operates homeless- community groups, activists, fordable housing on site in prevention programs. New and industry representatives tial developments with more order to qualify for the updevelopers will also be entitled to get their input on the bill. than 10 units. It mandates that zoning bonus. to up-zone their property, eiGauthier specifically will hold at least one-fifth of units be set Second District Councilther increasing the height of different neighborhood events aside as affordable housing, member Kenyetta Johnson projects or decreasing parking to see what residents want with at least half of those aftook an even more drastic requirements. to see from affordable housfordable units located on site.

The specific tracts targeted ing reform in what she calls a measure. In March, Johnson The remaining affordable units successfully pushed for a by this new inclusionary“Summer of Engagement.” must be located within a half zoning program are University The bill proposed by Gauth- zoning-code amendment that of a mile of the new developforbids the use of the in-lieu City and several neighborier and Quiñones Sánchez ment. trust payments for any prophoods in North Philadelbuilds upon a 2018 law that “Mandatory inclusionary erty throughout the entire phia – areas in Gauthier and created the mixed-incomezoning is a big piece of the Quiñones Sánchez’s districts housing bonus. This program 19146 zip code – an area which puzzle when we talk about includes parts of Graduate that have been rocked by grants property owners the equitable development and Hospital, Greys Ferry, and gentrification and the erosion right to construct buildings giving Philadelphians equal of affordable housing. The that are taller and denser than Point Breeze. access to amenity-rich neighThe Philadelphia Associathe current zoning than the borhoods — both of which are maximum rent set by the bill tion of Community Developfor affordable leased housing tract would allow – if, in excore components of my agenis 40% of Philadelphia’s Area change, developers designate da,” Gauthier said in a press continued on page 4

By Christopher Doyle Contributing Writer

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seph’s announced to their communities in February that they were exploring the benefits of a potential combination. At that time, both Universities’ Boards authorized a letter of intent, launching a period of due diligence, which allowed for exclusive discussions. Today’s announcement confirms Saint Joseph’s and USciences’ mutual commitment and allows for extensive integration planning to complete the merger in approximately one year, pending regulatory and accreditor approvals.

“This bold merger agreement creates new opportunities for our students and strengthens USciences’ commitment to build on our 200-year legacy of excellence in healthcare and science education,” said Paul Katz, MD, USciences President.

“Saint Joseph’s is the ideal partner for USciences and our AQUARIUM community. No other instituPirates are provide the same tion could back in Philacomplementarity and fit. This delphia after will be to the benefit of cura 300 year abrent and future students who sence. will have the well-rounded ... education needed to become the next generation of leaders Page 5 in their fields.”

The combined University SPORTS will provide students with 17-year-old access to academic programs Coco Gauff in health and the sciences will join forces with top-in-the-nation returns with 40-yearon investment; Philadelphia old Venus College of Pharmacy’s 200Williams... year legacy as the first college continued on page 4

ZOO

Spring has officially sprung at the Zoo, with the explosion of animal births...

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POLITICS.....................................3 NOTES ON MUSIC..........................7 CRIME.......................................10 CLASSIFIEDS..............................11

2 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • JULY 07, 2021

City Council approves Philly’s 2022 budget

By Christopher Doyle Contributing Writer

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ith the COVID-19 pandemic receding, the budget deal struck between Mayor Jim Kenney and City Council signals that city leaders are now prioritizing efforts to stem Philadelphia’s epidemic gun violence.

City Council voted 16-1 on June 24 to approve a $5.27 billion city operating budget for fiscal year 2022 – ending months of negotiations over how the city would spend annual tax revenues and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid. The budget vote came after Kenney and the council reached a preliminary agreement on a final budget the week before. The sole vote against the budget was cast by Councilmemberat-large David Oh, one of two Republicans on City Council.

Compared to the mayor’s April proposal, the final budget increases

funding allotted to anti-violence programs.

Focused on solving root causes of violence, the spending satisfies the demands of concerned councilmembers who have seen shooting and homicide rates accelerate relentlessly in their districts and throughout the city. Gone, however, is the mayor’s proposed cut to the businessincome tax, which had drawn the ire of progressive councilmembers.

The proposed cut to the city wage tax, meanwhile, stood somewhat reduced.

In a statement released on June 18, the day after a preliminary budget agreement was reached, Kenney said he appreciated the opportunity to work closely with the council, despite ongoing pandemic complications.

“I am proud of the collaboration during an abbreviated and unconventional budget season that got us to this point,” Kenney said. “This budget makes meaningful investments to ensure

the long-term safety, health and well-being of Philadelphia and our residents.”

Kenney said that the budget features $68 million in new spending to prevent violence, for a total of $155 million in anti-violence spending.

These figures, while superficially much greater than the $35.5 million total and $18.7 million increase that the mayor had originally proposed, are largely artifacts of new accounting and reclassification. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, much of the change between versions of the budget is the result of the city now counting funds for some additional educational and economic programs as anti-violence ones.

When only looking at newly inserted spending, the actual increase in anti-violence funding over the mayor’s original proposal is $25.6 million.

(The final budget overall is about $90 million larger than the mayor’s initial, $5.18 billion bud-

get proposal.)

Of the $155 million in spending for programs labeled as anti-violence, $20 million is being sent as grants to local community organizations that focus on “healing, prevention, safe havens and community empowerment initiatives.”

Another $28 million is being spent on summer school and similar programs, and $7.1 million is being spent on workforce development programs.

The hope of councilmembers is that these initiatives will provide young Philadelphians with meaningful educational and economic opportunities and turn them away from the city’s destructive cycle of gun violence.

The anti-violence spending also includes several programs designed to help the city better respond to emergency mental health incidents. There is $6 million to fund the city’s incipient triage and coresponder model, which would have mental health professionals accompany police officers when responding to certain emergency calls; and $7.2 million for new behavioral health units and crisis hotline workers. These spending programs on mental health come in response to the October death of Walther Wallace Jr., a 27-year-old Black man in West Philadelphia who was shot and killed by police during a mental health crisis.

The general budget for the Philadelphia Police Department itself remained steady from FY 2021 to FY 2022 at $727 million. The council did vote, however, to send the department an additional $14 million to equip all officers with Tasers over the next five years. Voted on separately from the budget overall, the Taserfunding bill was passed 14-3. The three votes in opposition were cast by Councilmembers-at-large Kendra Brooks, Helen Gym, and Isaiah Thomas, all of whom have spoken out against increasing funding for police.

There will be another $2.1 million spent to create a Citizens Police Oversight Commission

City Councilmember Allan Domb

that will monitor the police department. Supporters of an oversight commission say it is an innovation that could help hold the department accountable for alleged police brutality and racist policing practices.

“The city has prioritized police reform; and we are adequately funding the first phase of the Citizens Police Oversight Commission,” Fourth District Councilmember Curtis Jones said in a June 17 City Council press release about the budget. “Governments expose various positions, but appropriate their true intentions.”

Police funding was a focus of last summer’s racial justice protests and has since become a contentious issue nationwide. Left-wing activists have mobilized around the rallying cry “Defund the Police,” demanding that funds be diverted from police departments to be spent on social services that address the root causes of crime, such as poverty, unemployment, and systemic racism. Conservatives and moderates have raised concerns that reducing police funding could diminish law-enforcement response capacity at a time when violent crime is on the rise.

Philadelphia, like cities across the country, experienced a surge in shootings and murders over the past year. The total of 499 homicides that Philadelphia saw in 2020 was just one shy of the highest annual murder toll in city history – and the 273 homicides recorded thus far in 2021 puts the city on pace this year to exceed its 2020 homicide total by 35%.

President Joe Biden announced on June 23 that Philadelphia would be one of 16 cities and counties to be included in the Community Violence Intervention Collaborative

– a federal taskforce designed to help municipal governments share best practices and implement community-based, antiviolence intervention programs.

Biden also announced that he was urging municipal governments to use federal relief funds to increase police budgets. The White House recommended that police departments receive additional funding to hire more police officers, while improving police training and oversight.

City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier said at the council meeting that the crux of preventing further violence in the long-term would be making permanent investments to build up historically marginalized communities.

The increased spending on anti-violence programs over the mayor’s original proposal was partially paid for by the reduction of the mayor’s proposed tax cuts. On Thursday, council reduced the residential wage tax from 3.8712% to 3.8398%, as the mayor had initially proposed; but only cut the nonresidential wage tax from 3.5019% to 3.4481%, rather than to the mayor’s proposed rate of 3.4201%.

These new wage tax cuts are estimated to cost the city about $10.6 million and $12.4 million over the next year, respectively, according to The Inquirer.

Advocates for commercial growth have long argued that the wage tax puts an undue burden on Philadelphia businesses, which are theoretically forced to raise wages to offset the tax and attract potential employees. A report from the office of City Controller Rebecca Rhynhart further warned that an over-reliance on wage taxes – the revenues from which are vulnerable to economic continued on page 6

JULY 07, 2021 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • 3

Free Library Friends Statement on the Free Library’s budget for Fiscal Year 2022 Review nce again, the nounced that they ery from the pandemic.

Forensic election audit initiated in Pennsylvania; AG vows to strike back

A bicyclist passes a Count Our Votes sign near the Allegheny County Election Division Warehouse on Pittsburgh’s Northside where votes continue to be counted, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020. Gene J. Puskar / AP photo

By Christen Smith The Center Square

A

Republican senator in Pennsylvania initiated the first steps this week of a forensic election audit, even as the state’s top law enforcement official promised intervention should the effort continue.

Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Gettysburg, said in an editorial Wednesday he’s requested information and materials from three counties needed for a “forensic investigation” into both the 2020 general election and the 2021 primary election completed in May. He said the effort is “necessary” because millions of residents harbor serious doubts about the accuracy of the results, citing a January poll from Muhlenberg University that showed 40% of respondents “are not confident” that the outcome “accurately reflected how Pennsylvanians voted.”

“Discounting or mocking their concerns is neither an answer nor proper in this constitutional republic,” he said.

In the editorial, Mastriano said the counties – comprised of a mix of geographical, demographic and partisan features – must respond

by July 31 with a plan to comply.

“A full forensic investigation is critically necessary for our Com-

monwealth for the sake of transparency and accountability,” he said.

“There is nothing to fear if there is nothing to hide.”

Attorney General Josh Shapiro fired back against Mastriano’s editorial, telling the counties to ignore the “fishing expedition” that’s more than a continued effort “to pay homage to former President [Donald] Trump and further spread misinformation about our elections.”

“This ‘audit’ could risk decertifying the counties’ voting machines, costing county taxpayers’ millions of dollars,” he said.

“Right now this information is being requested voluntarily but should subpoenas be issued, you can expect our office to do everything to protect the Commonwealth, its voters and the free, fair election that was held in Pennsylvania.”

Officials in Tioga, York and Philadelphia counties confirmed to The Associated Press that they’d received letters from Mastriano requesting the information.

Mastriano, an ardent Trump supporter, faced national scrutiny after organizing a bus trip to the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington D.C. He was photographed near Capitol Hill, but said he left before rioters stormed the building.

“This investigation is not about overturn-

O

Free Library of Philadelphia is not receiving the full funding needed to serve the city we love.

In 2020, facing the pandemic, the Mayor and City council cut funding for many services. The Free Library lost over $6 million. These devastating cuts meant laying off necessary workers.

For the 2022 budget, despite a promise to restore library funding to pre-pandemic levels, the Mayor proposed a budget increase restoring only about 40% of what was cut.

City Council an-

UNIVERSITY

would be further increasing funding as part of their anti-violence plan. However, the library’s budget was only increased by about $175,000, which is shamefully less than 0.1% of the previous year’s devastating cut.

For decades our elected leaders have not allocated enough funds to maintain or improve city services. Now, we, the citizens, are forced to live with decaying buildings, outdated equipment and faulty systems. Each day, we face deteriorating services, record gun violence, along with recov-

All of these disruptions put our lives and health at stake. It’s time to invest in the Free Library and other city services.

City Council needs to undo decades of eroding public budgets. It needs to make consistent investment in the city’s services, buildings, and equipment.

The Friends of the Free Library of Philadelphia call on [Philadelphia] City Council and the Mayor to provide robust, sustainable funding to the library and all vital public services, so we can build the city that we truly deserve.

Nurse Licensure Compact bill passed by House to give nurses licensure in multiple states

By Natalie Kapustik The Center Square

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he Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed legislation sponsored by Sen. Lisa Boscola that would make it easier for nurses to be licensed in Pennsylvania.

Senate Bill 115 would qualify more nurses for licensure in Pennsylvania by authorizing the Commonwealth to join the Nurse Licensure Compact.

The Nurse Licensure Compact allows nurses to have one multistate license with the ability to practice in all compact states, via telemedicine or in person. There are 35 other states in the compact.

With Pennsylvania part ing the results of either election,” he said Wednesday. “The goals are to restore faith in the integrity of our system, confirm the effectiveness of existing legislation on the governance of elections, and identify areas for legislative reform.”

The development comes after Mastriano and two other Republican lawmakers visited the forensic audit site in Phoenix where a team recounted more than 2.1 million ballots cast

House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, at podium, speaks on the state House floor at the Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Monday, March 22, 2021.

Matt Rourke / AP photo

of the Nurse Licensure Compact, more nursing students will be attracted to living and working in the state.

“As I have stated previously along the journey in getting this important bill enacted, joining the Nurse Licensure Compact is essential to this Commonwealth and House passage today with bi-partisan support

is another step forward,” Boscola said. “The need for the Commonwealth to become a member of this compact is critical – it’s critical yes for pandemics and disasters – but it’s critical in the long run for our state’s residents. It’s critical to maintain the growing demand of nurses now and in the long term.”

The bill was sent to Governor Tom Wolf.

in Maricopa County last year. President Joe Biden clenched the state by roughly 10,000 votes – the first time a Democratic candidate carried Arizona since 1996.

Trump called the three men “great patriots” in a statement released that same week that urged both Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Bellefonte, and State Government Committee Chairman Dave Argall, R-Pottsville, to use their “full powers” to do the

same in Pennsylvania.

Argall later told media outlets he sees no “damage in doing it one more time to try to answer the concerns that people have.”

“Do I have 100% confidence … that everything was perfect? No, I’d really like us to take a detailed review of that,” he said. “That’s why we’re looking at changing pieces of the election legislation and it’s also why I think it wouldn’t hurt at all to go back, do

CITY

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that audit, and say, ‘How exactly did that work out?’”

Biden won Pennsylvania by fewer than 81,000 votes in November. The Trump campaign fired off a series of lawsuits alleging mail-in voter fraud that were later dismissed for lack of evidence. Several Republican lawmakers supported the effort, Mastriano chief among them.

But it was Gov. Tom Wolf’s decision to veto House Bill 1300 – an election reform proposal that tightened voter I.D. rules and signature verification for mail-in ballots and placed population

continued on page 9

4 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • JULY 07, 2021

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remain central to its mission and core to the continued from page 1 educational experience provided to students, of pharmacy in North while welcoming and America; Philadelphia’s celebrating all faith traonly Jesuit University; ditions. nearly 200 programs of When the merger is study; exceptional stufinalized, Saint Joseph’s dent life; and 20 Division University will be I athletics programs. among the top 10 largWith this agreement, est Universities in the USciences will merge Philadelphia region with with and into Saint Joan enrollment of more seph’s University, main- than 9,000 students, 444 taining newly accepted faculty members, nearly and incumbent student 1,500 employees, $505 tuition schedules and million endowment, $1.2 academic programs billion in assets and an for the remainder of operating budget that the students’ course of tops $300 million. With study, regardless of the suburban and urban student’s legacy univer- campuses, the combined sity. A combined Saint University will cover 161 Joseph’s will expand acres and comprise 103 the best-of-both city buildings. and suburban locations This merger is expectas well as an enhanced ed to be completed in campus experience for 2022, pending regulatory students with stateand accrediting agency of-the-art laboratories approvals. and more educational For more information, programs. The Univerplease visit sju.edu/ sity’s Jesuit identity will usciences.

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EQUITY continued from page 1

ment Corporations is an affordable-housing advocacy group and helped pass the 2018 law that created the mixedincome-housing bonus.

Rick Sauer, the PACDC executive director, said that Gauthier and Quiñones Sánchez’s new bills are improvements over the original, 2018 program. He said that the need to create more affordable housing in the city is a pressing issue and necessitated making their construction in gentrifying neighborhoods mandatory.

“We think the time was right for [mandatory mixed-income housing] even back then [in 2018],” Sauer said. “We want to make sure that as that new investment happens that we’re making it in affordability, so longer-term residents can remain in the communities where they’ve grown up in and lived in and our other lower-income residents will have opportunities to live in neighborhoods with rich amenities throughout the city.”

Sauer cautioned that the bill might decrease the number of payments made to the Housing Trust Fund – but said that those losses would be partially recouped by the proposal to increase the required in-lieu payments. He also noted

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that City Council recently passed a law that would require the city to make regular, mandatory payments into the housing trust beginning next year.

“Those two policies work very well together to make sure there are still dollars going to the Housing Trust Fund to address a broader range of needs and serving even lower-income folks, mashed with a mixedincome housing policy that actually gets more units built on site in higher-amenity, so that low-income residents can continue to live in those communities,” Sauer said.

Developers have not been as receptive to the new bill. Mo Rushdy, the treasurer of the Building Industry Association of Philadelphia (BIA) and managing partner of the Riverwards Group, said that the requirement to build mixed-income housing would place a crushing burden on developers. He said that the bill would preclude some property owners from generating sufficiently high return on investment, making the projected net profits of some planned developments too low to even finance.

Rushdy argued that the bill would ultimately drive development out of neighborhoods like University City and work to diminish their already meager affordable-housing supply.

“It is a misguided approach, it does not work,” Rushdy said.

“Why does it not work?

It does not work, because especially in the neighborhoods [included in the overlay], you are in such financially thin deals.”

Rushdy said that the BIA of Philadelphia wants to see the city instead accelerate the disposition of vacant, public property to private developers under agreements that subsidized affordable-rate rents.

The sales of vacant public land to private developers via institutions such as the Philadelphia Land Bank has proceeded at a glacial pace over the last few years – and this is despite a 2019 city law which simplifies the Land Bank disposition process, as long as prospective developers agree to designate at least 51% of their residential units as affordable housing. Rushdy said that if the city worked to better implement that 2019 law, which he called “groundbreaking,” public-to-private dispositions could close the city’s affordable-housing shortage.

“You are sitting on gold, and you are sitting on a resource, yet you have an issue with affordable housing,” Rushdy said. “Why would you then go and implement inclusionary zoning, when you are sitting on so much

public land with so many applications to build affordable housing in your neighborhoods?”

“This is how the affordable-home crisis is going to be fixed, it’s going to be fixed by enabling the private sector to unleash its muscles and forces to build affordable housing,” Rushdy added. “How do you do that? You do that on public land, which the city has an abundance of, and implement existing policies.”

Sauer said that he understood cost concerns from developers but believed they would be sufficiently offset by the bill’s up-zoning bonuses.

“Development is already costly in Philadelphia, there’s no doubt about that,” Sauer said.

“But that’s the whole idea of providing incentives to offset what the cost is and so by providing a density, or a height, or a floor-area-ratio bonus, you’re enabling developers to build more units on the same site so that they can add extra market-rate units in to help cover that gap or cover that increased cost.”

Some developer concerns are shared by urbanists groups, which want to promote transit use and high-density development. Ben She, a member of the urbanist PAC 5th Square, said that the potential loss in

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JULY 07, 2021 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • 5

At Hank Gathers Recreation Center, Elite 8 Women Basketball League completes its Championship Season

By Napoleon F. Kingcade women league after the Sports reporter pandemic wiped out his college basketball season.

Despite not coaching he celwomen basketball at ebration Community College of was Philadelphia, McKinney short and decided to run his own sweet. Players basketball league. His from the Lynx league gives older female women’s players a chance to disbasketball team held up play their basketball taltheir championship troent and skills. phies. They celebrated So back in May, McKa 64-46 victory over the inney ran a basketball Dream Team. This was draft which allowed the a great championship team captains to pick victory. In the game, their teams. He ran the Tanesha Sutton scored 24 draft at Hank Gathers points and ripped down Recreation Center. From 16 rebounds. The Lynx that draft, 45 players guard was named the were picked and five game’s Most Valuable teams were formed. All Player. Meantime, her five teams were named teammate, Taylor Brown, after WNBA teams. To also played a spectacular make the league more game. Taylor knocked exciting, McKinney has three treys and recorded no coaches running the five assists. Taylor finteams. ished the championship “I didn’t want the game with 16 points. league be like a regular This season, Taylor was league,” said McKinney. the youngest player in “I wanted it to be more the Elite 8 Women’s Bas- balanced. I wanted the ketball League. Taylor league to be a playerBrown is only in seventh based league. I wanted grade. But this season, this league to be a place Taylor was named the where women build league’s Rookie of the sisterhood among each Year. This season, Taylor other. I didn’t want any Brown and Tanesha Sut- coaches. I wanted players ton were great play mak- to be more accountable ers in the Elite 8 Women on the basketball court.”

Basketball League.

McKinney said he For many years around built the league for playthe city, Philadelphia has ers to show up and play been the home for many basketball. This year, he women’s basketball liked the way the players teams. But due to a histo- have responded to his ry of low attendance, the league. city has failed to main“Right now, I want to tain a large fan base in be the best commissioner women’s basketball. And I can be,” said McKinbecause of this problem, ney. “If God’s willing, I WNBA officials have hope I can keep this gorefused to grant Philadel- ing. I know I have to stay phia a WNBA team. focused and keep my Despite the fight to eyes on what’s going on keep women players right now. With a major on the basketball court, sponsor, I would love to this year one man who expand the league.” has provided a place for Even though McKinolder female basketball ney has no sponsors, players to come and he hopes his league display their basketball can extract corporate skills. His name is Kesponsorship. This year, nyatta McKinney and McKinney had the playhe has started his own ers pitching in for jerseys 18-and-older women and paying money for basketball league. He the referees. This year, calls his league “The everything ran smoothly Elite 8 Women Basketball for the Elite 8 Women’s League”. This year, he Basketball League. ran his league at Hank On June 25, the Elite Gathers Recreation Cen- 8 Women Basketball ter, located at 25th and League kicked off its Diamond Street in North championship game.

Philadelphia.

People came out and McKinney started his watched two great teams

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battle on the basketball court. McKinney said the reason he picked the North Philadelphia recreation center to run the league, is that’s where he played basketball as an inspired young baller.

“I grew up playing at Hank Gathers Recreation Center,” said McKinney.

“I thought the location was a perfect spot to run the league. So far, the fans have been giving us great support. But once again, I still need a major sponsor. With a major sponsor, I can do more things for the league.”

During the season, there was great action on the court. Here are some of the big stars that played this season for the Elite 8 Women Basketball League: League M.V.P Tanesha Sutton, who plays for the Lynx, averaged 19.2 points and 10 rebounds per game.

Sutton scored 29 points and grabbed 20 rebounds in last week’s playoff game. Taylor Blunt, who also plays for the Lynx, scored 11 points while her teammate, Taylor Brown, scored 15 points and picked up 5 assists as they led their team to a 60-55 victory over the Sparks in last week’s semi-final game. Meantime, former Temple Lady Owls guard Deja Reynolds plays for the Storm. Reynolds helps runs the offense. She’s a very explosive player.

She can score points at a drop of a dime. Also, this season, Shayla Claiborne made big plays for the Lynx team. Last week, Claiborne knocked down a last-second buzzerbeater in overtime to help push her team into the playoffs. Claiborne’s team advanced in the playoffs and won Friday’s championship game.

Next year, Kenyatta McKinney can’t wait to run his women league again. Next year, he will be looking for more women to play basketball in his league. To contact Kenyatta McKinney about his Elite 8 Women Basketball League, you can email him @ improvedshot24hrs@gmail. com

Elite 8 Championship celebration. Photo: NFK.

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6 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • JULY 07, 2021

EQUITY

have developments right outside the overlay be continued from page 4 affected as a result.”

The members of 5th developer profits could Square generally want decrease the multi-family to liberalize the houshousing supply, making ing market. The group housing even less afadvocates doing away fordable in the overlay with the city’s patchwork neighborhoods. Neighof neighborhood zoning borhoods just outside restrictions and allow the overlay, meanwhile, developers to build taller, could see a concentrated denser properties – thus influx of high-end hous- increasing the housing complexes being ing supply and driving built by developers down rents. To that end, looking to escape mixed- She said that he wanted income restrictions. to see amendments to “I think that we have the bill that will allow to understand that defor further up-zoning velopers will always and fewer parking have an escape valve minimums. While She basically, if they think said that he was willing that the restrictions on to support mandatory multi-family housing are mixed-income housing, too onerous, or are just he wanted to make sure way too restrictive, then that the bill laid out spethe solution is going to cific, concrete goals for be just build more single- affordable housing profamily townhouses and duction. rowhouses that we’ve “[The bill] has to be seen in other parts of the more refined and fleshed city,” She said. “While out as to how it can maxthis [bill] is a response imize affordable-housing to more demand in the production, and not be specific overlay, the kneecapped by the arbioverall effect could be trary zoning restrictions that we could see less that still exist or will exoverall units being built ist with downzoning,” within the overlay itself, She said. “Overall, [the and having a boarder bill needs] specific goals effect where you could quantitively for housing

production.”

She added that if the city grows its housing industry by relaxing zoning restrictions, the resultant tax revenues could go towards agencies that provide aid to lowincome renters, like the Housing Trust Fund.

“We need to make sure that demand can be sated but also that we really leverage the money that’s being made there and redistribute it directly back towards lower-income renters,” She said. “The stronger housing market you have, the more construction you have, the more money that’s flowing in from private capital, the more we can redistribute in the public space as well, directly to renters.”

“It really can be for mutual benefit and a positive cycle if we really leverage it in that sense.”

Past neighborhood overlays established by council have tended to limit construction, making the housing market less liberal and tightening zoning regulations.

In October 2020, City Council overrode Mayor Jim Kenney’s veto to create an overlay that limits

the height of new developments in Society Hill.

In December 2020, City Council President Darrell Clarke led the charge in passing an overlay that creates new buildingcode regulations in Strawberry Mansion, where Clarke grew up.

And at the June 24 council meeting, City Council passed a law creating an overlay limiting development along Girard Avenue. These overlays preclude the construction of large, private developments that some people feel break with the character of their neighborhood – and that progressive activists in particular assail as drivers of gentrification.

The mixed-income overlay proposed by Gauthier and Quiñones Sánchez, conversely, up-zones target neighborhoods as part of its efforts to offset the costs of including affordable housing. It tries to incentivize the construction of the tall, dense apartment complexes that urbanist organizations like 5th Square support – but that neighborhoodpreservation groups and progressive activists have adamantly opposed.

Sauer, from PACDC, said he empathized with residents’ concerns about up-zoning, gentrification, and neighborhood character. He said that he hoped that added affordability could help allay some community anxieties about denser developments.

“I understand in some more rowhouse neighborhoods, how [up-zoning] could be a legitimate concern,” Sauer said.

“I think [when] people actually see the benefit of the inclusion of the affordable units on site that will benefit that immediate community, that will make a difference.”

The Mixed-Income Neighborhood Overlay bill is just the latest in a series of legislation designed to promote affordable housing and strengthen tenants’ rights. In the new city budget passed on June 24, City Council created a $400 million Neighborhood Preservation Initiative to subsidize affordable housing and home repairs. The council also recently passed a package of laws called the Renters’ Access Act, which restricts how land-

BUDGET

relle Parker, was rejected as well – with Parker’s continued from page 2 failure to secure a commitment from lot owners downturns that increase to raise wages prompting unemployment – may be insurmountable liberal one reason why Philadel- opposition to the meaphia’s city government sure, according to the has fared the pandemic’s Inquirer. financial repercussions so A cut to the businesspoorly relative to other profit tax, which was cities. (The city’s general proposed by Councilbudget deficit, measured member-at-large Allan as a fraction of its exDomb, was likewise votpenditures, is the second ed down in the June 17 highest of the ten largest committee meeting due cities in the country at to liberal opposition.

14.7%, ranking only beDuring the June 24 hind Detroit.) council meeting, Domb Progressive councilcautioned his colleagues members nevertheless that a failure to cut busiderided the tax cuts ness taxes would drive as wasteful, saying away jobs and hurt the that the revenues becity’s long-term economing used to finance the ic health. tax cuts should instead “For the past two be transferred directly months I have said that to Philadelphians in [funds from the federal need. This progressive American Rescue Plan] discontent ultimately presented a moment in forced the rollback of the time, an opportunity, non-residential wage tax to change the trajectory cut that the mayor had of our city, a moment proposed. And a cut to to show the world that the business-income tax Philadelphia was open proposed by the mayor for business and would was voted down outright deliver on this promise in a June 17 Committee by making our business of the Whole meeting and wage taxes competidue to similar concerns tive with cities regionfrom progressives. ally and across the U.S,” A potential cut to the Domb said. “We cannot parking tax, which was and should not stand and proposed by City Council Majority Leader Checontinued on page 9 lords can use eviction records when finding new tenants. And in response to the COVID-19 economic shutdown, City Council enacted the Emergency Housing Protection Act – legislation that afforded renters key protections against eviction at the height of the pandemic and mandated that landlords and tenants attend evictiondiversion mediation.

These renter protections come at a time when affordable housing remains scarce across the city, and especially so in West Philadelphia. According to a September 2020 Pew study, twofifths of Philadelphian households were cost burdened by housing costs in 2018, meaning they spent 30% or more of their income on housing. And according to a November 2020 study commissioned by Gauthier’s office, 43% of third-district households are cost burdened by housing costs, while only 35% of third-district rental households can afford to pay a rent of $750

per month.

The situation could soon grow worse for renters. On July 31, the federal eviction moratorium imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has forestalled thousands of evictions in Philadelphia over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, is finally set to expire.

She, of 5th Square, said he and his colleagues were encouraged by some councilmembers’ openness to exploring different solutions to the short and long-term challenges presented by the housing crisis.

“We are hopeful that the “Summer of Engagement” as Gauthier says, and [conversations] with Quiñones Sánchez will be fruitful,” She said.

“We are definitely encouraged by this process that’s been announced, I think that there’s going to be a lot of great conclusions.”

“Making sure that there’s a place for everyone here is really what we want.”

JULY 07, 2021 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • 7

O

utdoor activities fill the larger portion of our calendar in the days ahead. most of them free and all of them of great appeal. Here’s a sampling: Spruce St. Harbor Park grows bigger and better with each passing summer and by now has reached a niche as a top attraction at 301 S. Columbus Blvd. where the amenities fit the pocketbooks and wish lists of all the family with foods and beverages, comfy and colorful swaying hammocks, a floating barge bar, acres of green lawns, arcade games, river views and breezes, and more. Easily reached via SEPTA bus #12. www.delawareriverwaterfront.com.  Yoga outdoors is a refreshing treat. Each Wednesday through July 28, Violet Vine leads in-person masked groups in her own yoga formulas from 7 to 8 p.m. in Bridesburg at 4601 Richmond St. Preregistration is required at eventbrite.com Race St. Pier is also a magnet for yoga enthusiasts where free yoga classes take place on most Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays, conducted by Three Queens Yoga Studio.

through Sept. 26. Breezes are guaranteed at Race St. and N. Columbus Blvd. www.delawareriverwaterfront.com.  Phillypumptrack is a novelty for bike riders and suitable for family outings with helmets and bikes available for borrowing.Closed-toe shoes are required and for riders under 18 signed waivers are mandatory.

Special days for tots under 5 are in the planning stages. Noon to 5 p.m.

Tuesdays and Saturdays through Oct. 30. www. phillypumptrack.org.  If you missed the many free fireworks displays of the past July 4 weekend, fear not. A drive to Wildwood, NJ on Fridays through Sept.

3 will give you ample memories of this glorious nighttime aerial tradition available up and down the Wildwood Boardwalk. www.wildwoodsnj.com.  The Philadelphia Orchestra is on their ticketed Digital Stage on July 8 at 8 p.m. with Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducting his forces in a refreshing program of French music: Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin” and his “Mother Goose Suite”, plus Bizet’s Symphony No. 1. Avail-

The exquisite garden at Stoneleigh mansion in Villanova (above) serves as a natural bucolic setting for the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia’s final summer outdoor program with Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 in all its musical grandeur, July 11 at 7:30 p.m.

able on demand through 11 p.m. on July 15.

215-893-1999 or www. philorch.org.  There’s no cooler place than Bartram’s Garden so their weekly special events are of keen interest during these outdoor days. On July 9, they offer a Nightime Pollinating Observation event, followed on July 10 with a guided tour of the Bartram Meadow. 5400 Lindbergh Blvd. Timings and other information at 215-729-5281 or www. https://www.bartramsgarden.org. Nice to know

that you can get there via car, SEPTA and boat!  The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia’s sweet summer series of Orchestra in the Garden comes to an end on July 11 at 7:30 p.m. under the baton of Maestro Dirk Brosse in Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 in a stunning outdoor setting in the natural garden at Stoneleigh mansion in Villanova, PA. Fresh air in a bucolic vista surrounded by great music. Details at 215-5455451 and https://chamberorchestra.org/. Rain

date is July 18.  A short ride to Wilmington on July 15 will get you to another of Opera Delaware’s outdoor Pop-Up Operas.

This 7 p.m. free community performance opens with Sinatra-style crooner Sean Reilly followed after intermission by operatic selections from the company’s corps of youthful voices. Tubman-Garrett Riverfront Park. Details at 302-4427807 https://www.operade.org/.  The remarkable Amici Opera Co. has loaded

its July presentations to seven performances of four operas, two of them infrequently performed powerhouses, and two total rarities, the latter two figuring in our current cultural calendar. Gomes’s “Maria Tudor” is set for July 10 at 4 p.m., followed by Ponchielli’s “I Lituani” on July 11 at 3 p.m., July 17 at 4 p.m. sung by young operatic hopefuls with piano accompaniment.

Information and tickets at 215-224-0257. 

Pass Over: A Promised Land Illusion

their dreams (thus, Moses’ nightmare) and even taint their relationship.

Playwright Nwandu he first of the took this fraught situafour questions tion and proceeded to asked early in the shape it into an engagPassover seder is “Why ing piece of theatre. The is this night different narrative, such as it is, is from all other nights?” propelled by raw energy.

The two central charWhat gives the work a acters of Antoninette unique quality is that Nwandu’s play Pass Nwandu borrowed from Over would be more two famous literary apt to ask, “Why is this models as templates: the damned night not much (L to R) Jared Chichester (Moses), David Pica (Mister) and Devon Johnson (Kitch).

Biblical Book of Exodus different from all the 2017.) If Trayvon Marand Samuel Beckett’s other nights?” first line: “Kill me now.” tin’s killing was senseAs the play rolls into That opening signals the less, the killings our two Waiting For Godot. She action, we meet those direction the play will be protagonists discuss are then incorporated her two young men and two characters at the moving in. largely intentional, the center, Moses and Kitch, Nwandu wrote Pass acts of local brutal cops. their life experiences on “a ghetto street” Over as a reaction to They’re the killings they into the Biblical and during a typical tense the senseless killing of themselves fear becom- Beckettian templates.

The Book of Exodus night. Moses wakes Trayvon Martin back in ing victims of. These from a nightmare and, 2012. (The play’s first fears propel their activi- laid the groundwork still in the thralls of that run was at Chicago’s ties on the streets, lurk in here. Like the ancient nightmare, blurts out his Steppenwolf Theatre in continued on page 8

By Richard Lord Contributing writer

T

(215) 382-1330

8 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • JULY 07, 2021

Philadelphia Zoo sees a baby boom

S

pring has officially sprung at the Zoo, with the explosion of animal births including a critically endangered Mongoose Lemur, two endangered Francois Langur’s, an endangered White-handed gibbon, a Hoffman two-toed sloth and a Humboldt penguin chick, considered Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). All of the infants are doing well and are on exhibit at the Zoo. Must-see additions include, a François Langur, born in April to first-time mom, Ling and dad, Chester.

Named Lei “lay”, which means “flower bud” in Mandarin, the infant, shares an exhibit in the Rare Animal Conservation Center (RACC) with dad, mom, aunt Mei Mei and half-sister Quý Báu, just born in December.

The second of this species ever born at the Zoo, both Quý Báu and Lei are important to the François Langur population and are listed as endangered in the wild by the IUCN. Guests can see the Langur family exploring their home exhibit or venturing out into Treetop Trail.

Also, in April, a newly -hatched Humboldt Penguin chick joined the colony at Penguin Point.

Named Juice, the chick is being raised by foster parents, since its biological father takes daily medication. The foster parents also incubated the egg, and continue to raise the chick, alternating turns caring for it.

Born in the early hours of May 21st, an adorable White-handed Gibbon, is now on exhibit at PECO Primate Reserve. Born to mom Phoenice and

dad Mercury, the infant has been seen holding on tightly to mom, who is protective of her new baby Phoenice is doing great job caring for the couples fifth offspring, and the family including mom, dad, brother Polaris, and the new addition can be seen enjoying the weather outdoors or swinging in their indoor exhibit area.

May came to a close, but the baby boom continued with the arrival of a Mongoose Lemur.

Born to mom Natasha and dad Ernesto, this small primate, native to Madagascar, ushered in the Memorial Day weekend. The parents along with siblings Bert, Oscar, and Zoe and the newborn, are share an exhibit at PECO Primate Reserve. They are listed as critically endangered by the IUCN. Last but not least, on May 27th a Hoffman two-toed Sloth baby arrived, while on exhibit, at the Small Mammal House. The building, not open to the public, was quiet and mom Latte had a private and successful birth. As a first-time mom, Latte is doing well, and is currently caring for the baby herself, as dad Jabba recently moved to a different exhibit. Keepers continue to monitor Latte, using a night vision trail camera to capture their interactions in the evening. Noted for their slow movement, these arboreal animals spend most of their lives hanging upside down in the trees of the tropical rainforests of South America and Central America. They are considered to be most closely related to anteaters.

In addition to visiting the new babies, guests

can check out BIG TIME, a new immersive multisensory experience featuring 24-life-size, animatronic dinosaurs that transports guests back to when these giants roamed the Earth.

Through evocative landscapes, realistic settings, immersive sounds and life-like giants, BIG TIME takes guests through the Age of Dinosaurs through to present day, showing what life was like when these goliaths walked the planet.

Guests can reserve tickets at www.PhiladelphiaZoo.org. General Admission $24 for ages 12+ and $19 for ages 2-11, children under 2 are free. Entrance for BIG TIME is $6 (adults and children ages 2+).

Members enjoy free admission to the Zoo with advance reservation and save on BIG TIME tickets.

Animals are on the move like never before at Philadelphia Zoo with Zoo360, a firstin-the-world system of see-through trails passing through treetops, crossing over pathways and connecting habitats, giving animals like amazing big cats, majestic primates and marvelous meerkats the opportunities to travel and explore. Visit young western lowland gorillas, giraffes, hippos, white rhino, zebras, red pandas, Amur tigers and more at America’s first Zoo. Check out social platforms at Facebook: PhiladelphiaZoo; Instagram: @philadelphiazoo; Twitter: @phillyzoo.

PASSOVER

Seen here: a baby sloth, a Francois Langur Lei and a penguin chick. Photos: Courtesy of the Philadelphia zoo.

hotels and place extravagant orders with room continued from page 7 service while enjoying wonderful relationships Israelites, our two prowith the women of their tagonists are hoping to dreams. (They’re both escape bondage. But in fully unattached at this this Pass Over, the bond- point.) Fittingly, it’s Moage is emotional, with ses who plans to lead the 4424 Market · 386-3293 4424 Market Street ·Street 215-386-3293 some financial bondage two of them out of bondalso wedged in. The two age and to that promised refer to the area they’re In West Philly Since 1970 land. control control programs. programs. trapped in as “the block” Nwandu borrowed Healthy & Sick Pet Visits and sometimes as “the many elements from Going onPrevention vacation?

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present locale while never being able to do so.

Both of these elements are major parts of the symbiotic relationship that serves as the core of the play.

As in Godot, many of the young men’s discussions turn into playful banter and extended role playing. But these tension-reducing reveries are interrupted by gunshots not too far off as the playwright yanks them back to the harsh reality of their ’hood.

The narrative, such as it is, is propelled by raw

energy.

Also, as in Godot, the interaction of the two is interrupted a few times by the sudden appearance of outsiders. In this case, the outsiders are two white guys – one an apparent innocent who got lost on his to his mother’s place and the other, a ruthless white cop. (As described in the script, the white cop is “not from around here, but always around”.)

The way the two central characters react and relate to these intruders continued on page 9

BUDGET continued from page 6

watch jobs go outside of Philadelphia when the decisions we make here could change that story.”

“I whole-heartedly believe that a job opportunity is the best program we can fund to turn this city around, it’s the one investment that can make a real difference in the lives of our residents,” Domb added.

The final tax package, which included the wage-tax cuts, was voted on separately from the overall budget and was ultimately passed 13-4.

Those casting nay votes were Brooks, Gauthier, Gym, and Seventh District Councilmember Maria Quiñones Sánchez.

Although it eschews large tax cuts, the budget does issue city bonds for

AUDIT

continued from page 3

limits on drop boxes – that drove Mastriano to initiate the audit.

“The damage to our election process will not be undone with the passing of time,” he said. “I believe the only way to restore confidence in our Commonwealth’s election process is to undertake a forensic investigation. By doing this, faith in our election system will be restored.”

The administration points to two stateconducted audits that showed no widespread voter fraud or other anomalies as more proof of Mastriano’s true intentions.

Wolf even slammed Arizona’s audit as a “sham” organized by fringe politicians bent on perpetuating skepticism about the outcome of last year’s presidential race – and he vowed to discourage “the same chaos and dysfunction” from occurring in Pennsylvania.

“It is wrong to pass laws that take away someone’s freedom to vote for your own political gain,” he said. “Lies and disinformation about fair elections drove our nation to the brink of disaster on January 6, and now the same people who spread those lies, who encouraged the mob that attacked our nation’s leaders, are attacking the freedom to vote.”

a $400 million Neighborhood Preservation Initiative (NPI), with commitments to housing and business relief that go slightly beyond those in the mayor’s original proposal. The NPI specifically provides funding for the construction of new affordable housing and home repairs; subsidizes home purchases; and transfers $6.5 million to the Philadelphia Land Bank, by which the city purchases and sells undeveloped property.

Another $3 million is being sent under the NPI to the Eviction Prevention Program – a partnership between the city and tenant-rights organizations, such as Community Legal Services, to help renters stay in their homes.

The NPI further invests in the community by promoting equitable economic growth. The program lends aid to Black and brown business in Philadelphia and encourages the building trades to create a more racially inclusive workforce.

“In addition to our work to address gun violence, we want to ensure that Black and brown communities and small businesses do not get left behind in the recovery, as we emerge from the devastating impacts of the pandemic,” Councilmember-at-large Derek Green said in the June 17 press release. “It is incumbent upon us not to squander the opportunity we’ve been given to meet this pivotal moment of racial reckoning and give those who have been historically marginalized by systemic racism an equitable start.”

The budget also contains $7 million to support hospitality industries, tourism, and the arts – a sign of the city’s planned reopening after a long pandemic lockdown.

The city operating budget is being buoyed by federal aid from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP), which was shepherded by the Biden administration through Congress in March. Philadelphia is set to receive $1.4 billion from the ARP over four years and will spend around $575 million from the ARP in FY 2022 alone. The Philadelphia School District is set to receive $1.3 billion in funds that are meant to help the district establish

PASSOVER

JULY 07, 2021 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • 9

from the stockroom of sadistic cops. This man continued from page 8 of the law would have served the play much sharpens our sense of better had he been more their relationship with calculating in how he each other. displayed his nasty beAntoinette Nwandu’s havior. After all, Pozzo writing skills are most in Waiting For Godot is fully on display in the himself a mentally dedialogue. The language ranged sadist, but he’s of the two central also a rather complex characters cascades in figure. rich flows of inner-city Even if the language idiom. There’s a lyriisn’t spare, the set values cal quality to their exof this production cerchanges that seems to tainly are. The outdoors temporarily lift the two venue is South Philly’s out of the social morass Hawthorne Park. I they find themselves suspect the venue was in. By the way, if you’re chosen out of an abuneasily offended by harsh dance of caution as we language, you might be move slowly out of the best advised to put your pandemic restrictions, headphones under your but it doesn’t serve the seat. The show offers a play as well as an indoor deluge of N-words and staging with a well-deF-words that might even signed set would have. cause David Mamet to Playing in a public park blush. carries its own restricThe weakness in tions, especially on sumNwandu’s play is in mer evenings when the her portrayal of the temperatures are set for two White characters. discomfort.

The first to appear is More, the acoustics in a cartoonish figure, a the park are not optimal bumpkin given to saying for a theatrical perforthings like “Gosh golly mance where language gee…” when surprised is a major part of the or shocked. play’s power. The proTo be fair, the carducers wisely elected toonish aspects of this to provide audiences character are not a seri- with headphones that ous flaw, as the play is allowed them to hear the hardly of the Realistic dialogue more clearly, as school, and Mister (his well as adding advantadesignation in the script) geous sound effects. (For adds to the Absurdist instance, at well-placed texture of the play. intervals, we hear siBut the White policerens, evidently police man (dubbed “Ossifer”) sirens, through the headwas too easily drawn phones.)

COVID-19 testing regimens and other sanitation initiatives.

The FY 2022 budget is ultimately reflective of councilmembers and a mayor who are ready to try to move beyond the coronavirus pandemic that has dominated life in the United States over the past 15 months.

In his June 18 statement, Kenney said he believed that the budget would pave a path towards recovery and help make Philadelphia a healthier and more equitable city. “[The budget] focuses on providing—and in some cases expanding—core services while maintaining our longterm fiscal health, reducing racial disparities among Philadelphians, and advancing equitable outcomes for all Philadelphians,” Kenney said.

“Ultimately, I believe it will help Philadelphians in every neighborhood benefit from a strong recovery from the pandemic.”

Brooks, who first took office in 2020 as a member of the progressive Working Families Party, and voted against the budget for FY 2021, said she was disappointed in budget for FY 2022.

“And while I may be disappointed with aspects of [the budget], I want to make a goodfaith effort in engaging with my colleagues and continue to work towards transformative, long-lasting solutions to the numerous crises facing our city today.”

The mayor signed the budget into law at the end of June. It went into effect on July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.

This rendition of Pass Over is a co-production of Theatre Exile and Theater in the X, a West Philly-based company known for its gripping outdoor productions.

The director is Ozzie Jones, a theatre veteran with a long roster of credits.

In the role of Moses, Jared Chichester spins out a high-energy, often gruff performance.

Chichester too often punches out his lines, which defines his character as the bullying alpha male. But in doing this, he loses some of the subtext of pain and selfdoubt that could make this Moses a more complex creation.

Davon Johnson gives a more nuanced performance as Kitch. The script actually seems to call for more nuances in this character, and Johnson was clearly able to deliver. As a result of Johnson’s more deft handling of his character, there was a shift in the power balance between the two. In this production, Kitch is not quite as deferential to Moses as in the Steppenwolf version. In fact, at times he seems to be more in control of the situation than Moses.

David Pica doubles as Mister, the weird White dude, and as the White cop. (In the original Steppenwolf

Theatre production, the two were played by different actors.) This was a good strategy by director Ozzie Jones, as it suggests a psychological connection between the two that ultimately works well as the play reaches its climax.

On the other hand, Pica’s performance plays into the cartoonish aspects of the characters rather than against them. Any nuances are neutered. His two characters are therefore less interesting than they could have been, and the interaction between the White characters and the two central figures proves less interesting.

Let me walk that back slightly: Pica’s strongest appearance comes in the closing moments of the play. I won’t drop any spoilers here, but his pinpoint performance in those moments produces a suitably chilling effect which was a perfect ending to the show.

Pass Over has finished its run at Hawthorne Park. Theatre Exile’s next production – The Ever Present – will also be performed outdoors and opens in September. The Ever Present is a new work developed with locally based playwright and humorist R. Eric Thomas. Consult the Theatre Exile website for more info and tickets for this upcoming show.

The fabric of Philadelphia: Without your patronage, businesses, restaurants, theaters and institutions do not survive.

We all value the fabric of our city.

It is what makes Philadelphia a great city.

Please support local business.

Review UNIVERSITY CITY

10 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • JULY 07, 2021

Crime Blotter The Following Crimes Occurred Between Friday, June 25th and Thursday, July 1st.

Editor’s Note: A change in the PPD’s data reporting means that this week’s Crime Blotter is recording arrests from entire districts, rather than just the Papers’ circulation areas.

3rd DISTRICT: To report a crime in the 3rd District, please call 215-686-3030.

Homicide: 1700 S 5th St. Assault: 900 Cantrell St, 0 Citizens Bank Way, 500 E Passyunk Av, 800 Jackson St, 900 Jackson St, 1200 Johnston St, 1100 Mc Kean St (2 Incidents), 0 Mifflin St, 100 Morris St, 1700 S 4th St, 2100 S 7th St, 2200 S 7th St, 1500 S 9th St, 1100 S 12th St, 1900 S Christopher Columbus Blvd, 2400 S Marshall St, 0 Snyder Av, 500 South St, 1100 Tree St, 1000 Wolf St. Burglary: 900 Cantrell St, 1700 E Passyunk Av, 600 S 4th St, 1400 S Howard St, 2500 S Philip St. Robbery: 600 S 4th St, 2200 S 7th St, 500 S 12th St, 2500 S American St. Theft: 700 Annin St (2 Incidents), 700 Dudley St, 700 E Passyunk Av (2 Incidents), 1400 E Passyunk Av, 1000 Emily St, 100 Fitzgerald St, Ikea @ 2206 S Christopher Columbus Blvd, 1000 Lombard St, 100 Mercy St, 700 Montrose St, 0 Oregon Av, 300 Oregon Av, 500 Oregon Av, 700 Pemberton St, 200 Pierce St, 0 Reed St, 600 Reed St, 1300 Reed St, 1300 Ritner St, 1600 S 2nd St, 1100 S 5th St, 1400 S 7th St, 1900 S 8th St, 1200 S 11th St, 800 S Broad St, 1100 S Broad St, 1600 S Christopher Columbus Blvd, 1800 S Christopher Columbus Blvd (2 Incidents), 1900 S Christopher Columbus Blvd, 2100 S Christopher Columbus Blvd, 2200 S Christopher Columbus Blvd, 2500 S Franklin St, 900 S Front St, 2100 S Front St, 2700 S Marshall St, 1000 South St (2 Incidents), 1100 South St, 200 Tree St, 300 Tree St, 300 Washington Av. Vandalism/Criminal Mischief: 800 Cantrell St, 400 Catharine St (2 Incidents), 1000 Pattison Av, 700 Ritner St, 1800 S 2nd St, 2700 S 3rd St, 2400 S Marshall St, 500 Sigel St. Other Offenses (Any incident that does not fit into other definitions, and may include public drunkenness, runaways, loitering, weapons offense or missing person): 500 Christian St, 1000 Christian St, 500 Mifflin St, 500 Moore St, 1800 S 5th St, 1800 S 6th St, 1200 S 8th St, 500 S 10th St, 900 S 10th St, 800 S American St, 2500 S Camac St, 1400 S Clarion St, 2500 S Fairhill St, 2600 S Howard St, 2400 S Orkney St, South Phila Hs @ 1300 Snyder Av, 100 South St, 500 South St (2 Incidents), 1000 South St, 100 Tasker St, 1100 Tasker St, 300 Tree St, 1100 Watkins St. 6th DISTRICT: To report a crime in the 6th District, please call 215-686-3060.

Rape: 1200 Race St. Assault: 0 Brown St, 1200 Chancellor St, 400 Chestnut St, 100 Cuthbert St, 700 Lombard St, 300 Market St, 1100 Market St, N 10th St & Market St, N 13th St & Filbert St, 700 N Broad St, 200 S 13th St, S 13th St & Walnut St, S Broad St & Walnut St, 100 S Juniper St (2 Incidents), 300 Spring Garden St, 1300 Spring Garden St, 1000 Wallace St (2 Incidents), 500 Walnut St (2 Incidents), 1300 Walnut St. Burglary: 200 Chestnut St, 400 N 3rd St, 600 N Front St, 800 N Lawrence St, 300 S Christopher Columbus Blvd (2 Incidents), 300 Spring Garden St. Robbery: 100 Fairmount Av, 900 Race St, 200 S 9th St, 100 S 10th St.

Theft: 300 Brown St, 500 Brown St, 800 Chestnut St, 1100 Chestnut St (2 Incidents), 200 Delancey St, 1100 Locust St, 200 Market St, 900 Market St (3 Incidents), 1000 Market St (2 Incidents), 1100 Market St (2 Incidents), 1300 Market St, 100 N 2nd St, 0 N 3rd St, 800 N 6th St, 300 N 10th St, 800 N 10th St, N 10th St & Market St, 200 N 12th St, N 12th St & Vine St, 300 N 13th St, 600 N Bodine St, 100 N Christopher Columbus Blvd, 400 N Christopher Columbus Blvd (2 Incidents), 400 N Front St, 900 Pine St, 400 S 2nd St, S 2nd St & Lombard St, 200 S 4th St, S 5th St & Walnut St, 100 S 12th St, 200 S 12th St, 200 S 13th St (2 Incidents), 0 S Broad St, 200 S Broad St, 100 S Christopher Columbus Blvd, 100 S Front St, 100 Sansom St, 400 Spring Garden St, 1000 Vine St, 1200 Walnut St. Vandalism/Criminal Mischief: 1000 Brandywine St, 1100 Chestnut St, 100 N 10th St, 300 N Christopher Columbus Blvd, 1300 Ogden Ct, 200 S Christopher Columbus Blvd, 700 Spring Garden St. Other Offenses (Any incident that does not fit into other definitions, and may include public drunkenness, runaways, loitering, weapons offense or missing person): 1200 Arch St, 900 Brown St, 1200 Chestnut St (3 Incidents), 1300 Market St (2 Incidents), 100 N 2nd St, 600 N American St, 800 N Hancock St, 1300 Pine St, 100 S 2nd St, 200 S 12th St, 1300 Walnut St. 9th DISTRICT: To report a crime in the 9th District, please call 215-686-3090.

Assault: 1900 Arch St, 1800 Cuthbert St, 1500 Fairmount Av, 1600 John F Kennedy Blvd, 1500 Mount Vernon St, 1700 Mount Vernon St, 800 N 16th St, 400 N 21st St, 700 N 25th St, 1600 Pine St (2 Incidents), 2300 Race St. Burglary: 1700 Chestnut St, 700 N 19th St, 0 N 23rd St, 2900 Poplar St, 1500 Ridge Av. Theft: 1400 Arch St, 2000 Arch St, 1400 Chestnut St (3 Incidents), 1600 Chestnut St (5 Incidents), 1700 Chestnut St (2 Incidents), 1900 Chestnut St, 1900 Fairmount Av, 2000 Hamilton St, 1400 Locust St, 1500 Locust St, 1600 Locust St, 1500 Market St (2 Incidents), 1900 Market St, 2000 Market St, 700 N 16th St, N 16th St & Poplar St, 500 N 18th St, 700 N 19th St, N 22nd St & Market St, 600 N 23rd St, 300 N Broad St, 400 N Broad St (5 Incidents), 2300 Parrish St, 2000 Pennsylvania Av (3 Incidents), 2600 Pennsylvania Av, 2400 Perot St, 1800 Rittenhouse Sq, 200 S 15th St, S 15th St & Spruce St, 0 S 16th St, 100 S 16th St, S 16th St & Chancellor St, 100 S 18th St, 200 S 18th St, 0 S 20th St, 400 S 22nd St, 200 S 23rd St, 2500 Spring Garden St, 1400 Spruce St, 1500 Spruce St, 1700 Spruce St, 1500 Walnut St, 2200 Walnut St. Vandalism/Criminal Mischief: 1400 Chestnut St, 2100 Green St, 1700 Market St, 200 N 17th St, 800 N 19th St, 2600 Pennsylvania Av, 1600 Ridge Av, 2000 Spring Garden St, 1400 Spruce St, 1600 Vine St, 2200 Walnut St. Other Offenses (Any incident that does not fit into other definitions, and may include public drunkenness, runaways, loitering, weapons offense or missing person): 1700 Arch St, 1900 Arch St, 2200 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy, 1800 Cypress St, 2000 Fairmount Av, 1400 John F Kennedy Blvd, 1700 Locust St, 1400 Moravian St, 0 N 15th St, N 15th St & Ridge Av (6 Incidents), 0 N 19th St (3 Incidents), 100 N Broad St, 400 N Broad St, 800 N Carlisle St, 1500 Ranstead St, S 20th St & Chestnut St, S 22nd St & Walnut St, 2500 Spring Garden St (6 Incidents), 1500 Spruce St, 1400 Vine St (4 Incidents), 1500 Vine St.

12th DISTRICT: To report a crime in the 12th District, please call 215-6861320.

Arson: 5700 Chester Av. Assault: 6300 Allman St, 5500 Angora Ter, 5800 Baltimore Av, 6200 Dickens Av, 5400 Gibson Dr, 6100 Grays Av, 7000 Grays Av, 6000 Greenway Av, 8400 Lindbergh Blvd, 8000 Lyons Av, 2600 Massey St, 6300 Reedland St, 1300 S 51st St, 1000 S 53rd St, 1100 S 54th St, 1900 S 56th St, 2200 S 62nd St, 2200 S 63rd St, 2000 S 65th St, 2500 S 69th St, 1400 S Allison St, 2500 S Dewey St, 1700 S Edgewood St, 1000 S Frazier St, 1500 S Lindenwood St, 1300 S Wilton St, 9000 Tinicum Blvd, 6100 Upland St, 5700 Wheeler St, 5200 Woodland Av, 6400 Woodland Av, 6000 Yocum St. Burglary: 5500 Angora Ter, 8100 Buist Av, 6700 Grovers Av, 3000 S 70th St, 2400 S 71st St, 2500 S Dewey St, 1500 S Wilton St. Robbery: 5600 Belmar St, 5700 Grays Av, 3000 Island Av, 8400 Lindbergh Blvd, 9000 Tinicum Blvd, 5500 Whitby Av. Theft: 6000 Angora Ter, 4900 Baltimore Av, 5200 Beaumont St, 8000 Buist Av, 5900 Chester Av, 6000 Chester Av, 7400 Dicks Av, 1300 Divinity St, 6500 Essington Av, 5500 Florence Av, 6400 Glenmore Av, 5700 Grays Av, 6800 Guyer Av, 2900 Island Av, 4500 Island Av, 6000 Lindbergh Blvd (2 Incidents), 7600 Lindbergh Blvd, 6600 Norwitch Dr, 5500 Pentridge St, 5700 Pentridge St, 1300 S 54th St, 1600 S 55th St, 1200 S 56th St, 1500 S 58th St, 2000 S 68th St, S 80th St & Lyons Av, 2600 S Felton St (2 Incidents), 5400 Springfield Av, 5800 Trinity St, 5300 Woodland Av, 5400 Woodland Av, 6100 Woodland Av, 6700 Yocum St. Vandalism/Criminal Mischief: 5900 Chester Av, 6200 Dicks Av (2 Incidents), 6600 Dicks Av, 5600 Elliott St, 6000 Greenway Av, 2500 Holbrook St, Island And Bartram Av, 3600 Island Av, 7300 Longspur Pl, 900 S 50th St, 1700 S 53rd St, 1200 S 57th St, 2000 S 57th St, 2100 S 61st St, S 65th St & Dicks Av, 2000 S Salford St, 1400 S Vogdes St, 1100 S Wilton St, 1600 S Yewdall St, 2600 Shields St, 5200 Warrington Av, 5400 Warrington Av. Other Offenses (Any incident that does not fit into other definitions, and may include public drunkenness, runaways, loitering, weapons offense or missing person): 6500 Bobolink Pl, 5700 Chester Av, 6200 Dickens Av, 7000 Elmwood Av, 5200 Florence Av, 6000 Greenway Av, 7700 Island Av, 7700 Jason Pl, 5000 Pentridge St, 6500 Regent St, 1000 S 53rd St, S 53rd St & Springfield Av, 1600 S 54th St, 1700 S 55th St, S 57th St & Springfield Av, 1400 S 58th St, 2500 S 61st St, 2200 S 62nd St, 2300 S 63rd St, 2400 S 63rd St, 2600 S 70th St, 2500 S 75th St (2 Incidents), 2500 S Gross St, 1900 S Ithan St, 6000 Springfield Av, 7100 Theodore St, 9000 Tinicum Blvd, 6100 W Passyunk Av, 5400 Warrington Av, 5100 Willows Av, 5800 Willows Av, 6400 Woodland Av, 6600 Woodland Av, 6800 Woodland Av (2 Incidents).

16th DISTRICT: To report a crime in the 16th District, please call 215-6863160.

Arson: 4200 Filbert St, 700 N 40th St. Assault: 4900 Aspen St, 4200 Avenue Of The Republic, 5100 Brown St, 4900 Hoopes St, 3800 Lancaster Av, 4200 Lansdowne Dr, 700 N 38th St, N 39th St & Fairmount Av, 800 N 45th St, 100 N 50th St, 800 N Markoe St, 500 N Paxon St, 800 N Preston St, 4000 Parkside Av, 4600 Parrish St, 600 Union St, 4100 W Girard Av, 4200 W Stiles St, 4900 Westminster Av, 4900

Crime Incidents as reported by the Philadelphia Police Department via opendataphilly.org. Feedback and inquiries can be sent to Dorian@Pressreview.net. This crime report does not cover the entire boundaries of each police district. It reflects only incidents in or near our circulation areas.

Wyalusing Av. Robbery: 4000 Lancaster Av, 700 N 44th St. Theft: Baring St & N 32nd St, Belmont Plateau Lwr @ 4231 Montgomery Dr, 3700 Brown St, 3200 Chamounix Dr, 3700 Chamounix Dr, 3300 Fairmount Av (2 Incidents), 3800 Ford Rd, Greenland Dr & St, 3500 Lancaster Av, 3600 Lancaster Av, 4100 Lansdowne Dr, 4800 Market St, 2800 Martin Luther King Dr, Martin Luther King Dr & Falls Rd, 600 N 32nd St, 500 N 35th St, 300 N 40th St, 300 N 41st St, N 48th St & Aspen St, 700 N 49th St, 800 N 51st St, N 52nd St & Westminster Av, 800 N Markoe St, 5100 Race St, 500 Sloan St, 3800 W Girard Av, 4100 W Girard Av, 4900 W Girard Av, 4100 Warren St, 300 Wiota St. Vandalism/Criminal Mischief: Belmont Av & Montgomery Dr, 100 Farson St, 4300 Haverford Av, Montgomery Dr, 300 N 38th St, 900 N 42nd St, 700 N 43rd St, 800 N 45th St, 100 N 50th St, 800 N Holly St (2 Incidents), 700 Union St. Other Offenses (Any incident that does not fit into other definitions, and may include public drunkenness, runaways, loitering, weapons offense or missing person): 100 Dearborn St, 5100 Folsom St, 3900 Haverford Av, 4400 Holden St, 2900 Market St (2 Incidents), 600 Pallas St, Presbyterian Hosp @ 51 N 39th St, 4600 Westminster Av. 17th DISTRICT: To report a crime to the 17th District, please call 215-6863170.

Assault: 29th St&Morris St, 2100 Dickinson St, 1900 Kater St, 700 Martin St (2 Incidents), 2100 Morris St, 800 S 16th St (2 Incidents), S 23rd St & Dickinson St, S 24th St & Ellsworth St, 1600 S 27th St, 1500 S 28th St, 1600 S Newkirk St, 1700 Tasker St, 1700 Washington Av. Burglary: 1800 Mountain St, 500 S 27th St, 1300 S Woodstock St. Theft: 1400 Dickinson St, 2000 Kimball St, 1700 Lombard St, 3000 Reed St (2 Incidents), 1600 S 20th St, 1100 S 23rd St (2 Incidents), 1100 S 25th St, 1200 S 26th St, 1400 S 27th St, 1400 S 28th St, 800 S Broad St, 1000 S Broad St, 1300 S Colorado St, 2100 South St, 1700 Titan St, 1700 Washington Av. Vandalism/Criminal Mischief: 3100 Dickinson St, 1900 Pierce St, 1600 Point Breeze Av, 1600 S 22nd St, 1000 S 24th St, S 31st St & Tasker St, 2100 Saint Albans St. Other Offenses (Any incident that does not fit into other definitions, and may include public drunkenness, runaways, loitering, weapons offense or missing person): 500 Admirals Way, 100 Captains Way (2 Incidents), 2200 Greenwich St, 1700 Pierce St, 1400 S 26th St, 1400 S 29th St, 1700 S Cleveland St, 1600 S Newkirk St, 1400 Washington Av, 2900 Wilder St. 18th DISTRICT: To report a crime in the 18th District, please call 215-6863180.

Homicide: 4600 Walnut St, 6100 Webster St. Rape: N 52nd St & Market St, 5600 Walnut St. Arson: 5500 Sansom St, 5800 Spruce St. Assault: 5000 Chestnut St, 6200 Chestnut St (2 Incidents), 5700 Christian St, 400 Cobbs Creek Pkwy, 4700 Locust St, 6000 Locust St, 3900 Ludlow St, 6000 Market St, 5600 Montrose St, 5800 Montrose St, 700 S 55th St, 500 S 59th St, 0 S 60th St, 0 S Yewdall St, 3400 Spruce St, 3500 Spruce St, 3800 Spruce St, 4800 Walnut St, 5200

Walnut St (2 Incidents), 5600 Walnut St, 5800 Washington Av, 5300 Webster St. Burglary: 4100 Locust St, 3000 Market St, 4800 Regent St. Robbery: 5600 Locust St, 6100 Market St, 500 S 46th St, 5500 Webster St. Theft: 31st Lower Level St & Walnut Lower Level St, 5800 Alter St, 5700 Baltimore Av, 6000 Baltimore Av, 4600 Chester St, 3700 Chestnut St, 4000 Chestnut St, 4300 Chestnut St, 4600 Chestnut St (2 Incidents), 5600 Chestnut St, 5900 Delancey St, 5200 Irving St, 6200 Locust St, 5200 Pine St, 200 S 43rd St, 400 S 47th St, 900 S 47th St, 200 S 51st St, 400 S 51st St, 0 S 52nd St, S 52nd St & Irving St, S 52nd St & Pine St, 800 S 57th St, 0 S 59th St, 200 S 60th St, 4000 Sansom St, 5200 Sansom St, 6000 Sansom St, 4100 Spruce St, 4300 Spruce St, 4800 Spruce St, 4900 Spruce St, 5400 Spruce St, 3900 Walnut St (2 Incidents), 4600 Walnut St, 4700 Walnut St, 5700 Walnut St, 6100 Washington Av, 5100 Webster St, 5200 Webster St. Vandalism/Criminal Mischief: 5500 Baltimore Av, 3200 Chestnut St, 6100 Ludlow St, 200 S 41st St, S 52nd St & Larchwood Av, S 62nd St & Pine St, 200 S Cecil St, 3600 Walnut St (2 Incidents), 5400 Walnut St. Other Offenses (Any incident that does not fit into other definitions, and may include public drunkenness, runaways, loitering, weapons offense or missing person): 18th Dist @ 5510 Pine St, 4000 Chestnut St, Cobbs Creek Pkwy & Spruce St, 5900 Larchwood Av, 4000 Market St, 100 S 42nd St, 400 S 47th St, 1500 S 47th St, 100 S 52nd St, 100 S 60th St, S 60th St & Pine St (3 Incidents), 600 S Yewdall St, 6000 Walton Av (2 Incidents), 5400 Webster St. 19th DISTRICT: To report a crime in the 19th District, please call 215-6863190.

Assault: 5200 Arlington St, 5400 Cherry St, 5700 Cherry St, 4100 City Av, 5000 City Av, 7600 City Av (2 Incidents), Conshohocken Av & Monument Rd, 5200 Diamond St, 5900 Haverford Av, 6000 Haverford Av, 7200 Haverford Av, 5500 Jefferson St, 5200 Kershaw St, 5600 Lancaster Av (2 Incidents), 5900 Lansdowne Av (3 Incidents), 5100 Lebanon Av, 5300 Market St, 5400 Media St (2 Incidents), 4300 Monument Rd, 2700 N 47th St, 0 N 52nd St, 100 N 52nd St, 500 N 52nd St, 1500 N 52nd St (2 Incidents), 1700 N 52nd St (2 Incidents), 1800 N 52nd St, 300 N 54th St, 400 N 57th St, 1400 N 57th St, 0 N 59th St, 300 N 59th St, 2100 N 59th St, 100 N 62nd St, 1700 N 62nd St, 500 N 67th St, 100 N Hobart St, 500 N Hobart St, 1400 N Hobart St, 200 N Vogdes St, 100 N Wanamaker

St, 200 N Wanamaker St, 100 N Wilton St, 200 N Wilton St, 300 N Wilton St, 600 N Yewdall St, 6400 Pearl St, 4000 Presidential Blvd, 5800 Race St, 5900 W Girard Av, 5000 W Nevada St, 5400 Westminster Av, 7700 Woodbine Av, 7600 Wyndale Av, 4900 Wynnefield Av, 5000 Wynnefield Av, 800 Wynnewood Rd (2 Incidents).

Burglary: 1700 N 55th St, 700 N 63rd St. Robbery: 5400 Gainor Rd. Theft: 5400 Arch St, 2100 Belmont Av, 7400 Brookhaven Rd, 3900 Conshohocken Av, 4400 Conshohocken Av, 5200 Euclid St, 5300 Gainor Rd, 2400 Golf Rd, 5500 Hunter St, 6100 Jefferson St, 5100 Master St, 6000 Master St, 4000 Monument Rd, 4100 Monument Rd, 1500 N 50th St (2 Incidents), 2200 N 51st St, 1500 N 52nd St (2 Incidents), 100 N 53rd St, 400 N 59th St, 0 N 60th St, 100 N 60th St, 300 N 61st St, 2000 N 61st St, 100 N 63rd St (4 Incidents), 600 N 63rd St, 900 N 63rd St, 1100 N 63rd St, 200 N 65th St, 1300 N 75th St, 0 N Conestoga St (2 Incidents), 200 N Wilton St, 6100 Noble St, 4900 Parkside Av. Vandalism/Criminal Mischief: 5000 City Av, 4000 Conshohocken Av, 5700 Dunlap St, 1700 Georges Ln, 5100 Harlan St, Haverford Av & N 52nd St, 5000 Lancaster Av, 6300 Lebanon Av, 5200 Master St, 500 N 52nd St, 1800 N 53rd St, 300 N 62nd St, 500 N 63rd St, 500 N 65th St, 100 N Salford St, 100 N Vogdes St, 5300 Ogden St, 5100 Parkside Av, 1300 Pennington Rd, 5400 Vine St, 6100 W Oxford St. Other Offenses (Any incident that does not fit into other definitions, and may include public drunkenness, runaways, loitering, weapons offense or missing person): 4000 Balwynne Park Rd, 2200 Bryn Mawr Av, 3900 Conshohocken Av, 5200 Diamond St, 6600 Haddington St, 6000 Haverford Av, 200 Horton St, 5200 Jefferson St, 5700 Lansdowne Av, 6100 Master St (2 Incidents), 1300 N 50th St, 600 N 52nd St, 1500 N 52nd St (2 Incidents), 1300 N 54th St, 500 N 56th St, 1500 N 57th St, 1800 N 59th St, N 59th St & Media St, 1400 N 61st St, 300 N 63rd St, 900 N 63rd St, 1100 N 63rd St, 300 N 65th St, 900 N 66th St, 1000 N 66th St, 1000 N 68th St, 1300 N Alden St (2 Incidents), 1600 N Allison St, 100 N Conestoga St, 300 N Felton St, 1200 N Redfield St, 5200 Poplar St, 5400 Upland Way, 2700 W Country Club Rd, 4600 W Girard Av, 6100 W Oxford St, 1400 West End Dr, 5600 Westminster Av, 5400 Wyalusing Av, 5200 Wynnefield Av. Crime Incidents as reported by the Philadelphia Police Department via opendataphilly.org. Feedback and inquiries can be sent to Dorian@Pressreview.net.

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12 • PHILLYFREEPRESS.COM • UCREVIEW.COM • JULY 07, 2021

Sci-fi for July 2021

By Henry L Lazarus

him when he has left the church to sell secrets For as long as I’ve been from the past. Recruited reading Fantasy and by the Brotherhood that Science Fiction, the dewants to return humanstruction of Civilization ity to its heights, he is was twenty years in the soon at the heart of the future. Maybe it seems war against the rest of closer now because of civilization devoted to the decadent culture we living in harmony with live in. the earth. The Brotherhood builds tanks from ancient blueprints, despite the pollution it causes and rapidly gains territory. Claire North has a thoughtful look at a rebuilding civilization that has echoes of the classic novel A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. I hope that this tale finds its way to many awards.

According to the church that grew up after civilization fell, the creatures known as Kakuy were responsible for the fires that wiped out most of humanity.

As a child, Ven saw one burning when his village was almost destroyed by a huge forest fire.

Working for the church, Ven learned to read the Notes from the Burning David Kobalt tells Age (paper from Orbit) of a near future where which were found on designers can create livold hard drives. We meet ing dragon eggs with a

specialized 3D printer.

Noah Parker got into genetic research because his brother has a genetic disease. He took the job with Reptilian Corporation, hoping to use their computers to help his brother. They need his help in Domesticating Dragons (hard from Baen) as a market to replace dogs who had gone extinct in a plague.

Before long he has his own pet mini- dragon that he designed, and a girl-friend he met geocatching. He also has found a deadly secret at the heart of the company.

Lots of fun.

out is to steal back the mech fighter. There’s a lot of this universe I’d like to see more of. The characters are fun and the action edge-of-yourseat. This is much better than I expected.

Tor). Gwenna Sharpe managed to lose the last of the giant kestrels trying to rescue some of her troop and is sent to the poisoned continent to get more eggs. The expedition is headed by an Admiral who quickly locks her in the brig, and things go worse from there. Ruk after literally been raised by blood thirsty local gods, has gone to the city of Dombâng and become a priest to a goddess of love. Unfortunately, his temple is destroyed and he is chosen for a gladiator forum celebrating the gods who raised him. Things get even worse. Akiil was a Shin monk whose temple was destroyed. Raised as a thief, he decides to con the Empress that he can teach her to enter the Kenta gates that kill most who try. Very exciting and I can’t wait for the tale to continue.

Mark A. Ciccone’s tale of Discarded (ebook from Unbound) golems.The tale reminded me a bit of Dark Angel, one of my favorite tv shows. There’s a nuke attack on Seatle that causes the golems to leave government service and go underground.

The turmoil that follows weakens government attempts to find them.

The drugs, they had been taking, removed their Larry Correiaa and memories of their creJohn D. Brown’s tale of a Gun Runner (hard from ation. Greg and Leah are sent to retrieve a hidden Baen) contains all the canister that may have cool excitement readers enjoy, like a planet filled information about the Golem formation and are with giant monsters, chased agents intent of mechanized warriors fighting it out toe to toe, killing them and retrieving the canister. Some of and an evil warlord.

There’s even a small fight the agents seem to be a more advance form of between two starships.

Jackson Rook had been a Golem and are nearly mech pilot and hero until impossible to kill. Cat and mouse attacks conthe enemy used illegal tinue until they reach the viral programs to turn radioactive Seatle area him against his friends. where secrets are finally Rescued by the Gun Runner ship Tar Heel, he revealed. Lots of action and fun. helps steel a top-of-theBrian Staveley starts line mech fighter to be a second trilogy foldelivered to Swindle, a world of giant monsters. lowing the fight for the The Warlord turns out to Empire in Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne. This be evil, the rebels plant Buc and Eld are back! starts in the time of The a bomb on jack’s spinal Empire’s Ruin (hard from They are on the board cord, and his only way of the Kanados Trading Company after successfully defeating the ghost pirate queen in the exciting The Sin in the Steel (paper). In the process Buc picked up a shard of a Goddess that gives her super powers and a being who wants to connect back to the goddess. Ostensibly hired by the Doga of Servenza to find out who is trying to assassinate her, the path leads to a woman trying to cause rebellion.

Quickly allies become enemies, and the young runners, the pair use to

JUST JUST

DON’ T TEXT DON’ T TEXT AND AND

aid their investigation, are frequently murdered.

Is there The Justice in Revenge (hard from Tor) Ryan Van Loan is asking. Everyone is trying to use the ancient enmity between the priests of the Dead Gods who use blood to change their shape, and the Sin eaters under direct control of their goddess. Very exciting and I can’t wait for the final book of the trilogy.

Aileen Erin continues her tale of Amihanna di Aetes. She has gone from a teenager on the run hiding her half-Aunare talents from a totalitarian Earth government, Space Tech, determined to destroy Anuria. She is now the future high queen determined to stay On Mission (ebook from Ink Monster, LLC) despite being poisoned by space tech and having to go to another world with her future husband, to get allies in the coming war with Space Tech. I’ve had fun with this tale and look forward to the final part.

Baen has reprinted in paper three tales of Pendric’s Progress, Patrick Chiles tale of a journey in the near future to the Frozen Orbit (paper) of Pluto, and an older David Weber tale of The Apocalypse Troll in trade, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Steven Barnes Starborn and Godsons, that concludes the Heorot series, in paper, and a collection of tales Straight Outtta Dodge City edited by David Boop.

Dr. Henry Lazarus is a retired Dentist and the author of A Cycle of Gods (Wolfsinger Publications) and Unnaturally Female (Smashwords).

Check out his unified field theory at henrylazarus.com/ utf.html that suggests fusion generation requires less energy because only one frequency is needed rather than a full spectrum. It also explains dark matter, the proliferation of subatomic particles, and the limit of light speed for matter.