Northeast : In The News

Teva, the Israeli pharmaceutical company, is nixing plans to build a proposed $300 million distribution center in Northeast Philadelphia. The company was to set to receive $4.7 million in grants and tax credits to aid construction.

Earlier this month, Teva, which is based in Israel and has its North American headquarters in North Wales, Pa., said it is reassessing its global network footprint as part of a plan to reduce costs by $1.5 billion to $2 billion over the next three-to-five years.Teva broke ground on the distribution project, which called for the construction of three buildings that would have employed more than 200 workers, in September 2011.

Original source: Philadelphia Business Journal
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Eulogy, Memphis Taproom, Monk's, Grey Lodge and Standard Tap made Draft Magazine's list of America's 100 best beer bars. They really love Monk's:

Monk's Café’s place in the upper echelon of watering holes is well-deserved. Its Beer Bible, which covers style guidelines, brewing 101 and an intoxicating list of more than 300 beers, acts as a visitor’s guide for patrons packed into the venue’s two intimate bars. The selection makes ordering tough; have a pint of the house brew Monk’s Café Flemish Sour Red and a pot of award-winning mussels while you sift through the list.

Original source: Draft Magazine
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Voice of America reports on Philadelphia plans to open 48 computer centers in homeless shelters, recreation centers and libraries in order to give more people access to the Internet.

The United Nations recently declared Internet access to be a human right. But in the United States, as in many other countries, millions of people do not have access to the wealth of information found online. In Philadelphia, communities are responding to narrow the digital divide.

Source: Voice of America
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Walk Score ranks Philadelphia fifth in its listing of the most walkable cities in America.

Philadelphia's most walkable neighborhoods are Center City West, Center City East, University City. Philadelphia's least walkable neighborhoods are Byberry, Torresdale, Fox Chase.

Source: Walk Score
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Bio IT delves into the partnership between Fox Chase Cancer Center, Ignite Institute and Life Technologies that has formed the Cancer Genome Institute.

Following the widely publicized demise of plans to locate the Ignite Institute for Individualized Health in northern Virginia, the institute has found a new home as part of a three-way partnership at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. Only it won't be called Ignite anymore.

Ignite has been rolled into pre-existing plans at Fox Chase to build a center for personalized medicine, says Jeff Boyd, senior vice president of Molecular Medicine. "The Ignite Institute and Fox Chase are working together with Life Technologies to launch what is now the Cancer Genome Institute at Fox Chase," says Boyd. Ignite's founder, Dietrich Stephan, serves as consulting chief scientific officer of the new institute.

Source: Bio IT World
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Philadelphia born author David Sirota returns home to talk about his new book, Back to Our Future: How the 1980s Explain the World We Live in Now, according to USA Today.

PHILADELPHIA � David Sirota is tooling around his hometown, giving what he calls "his '80s tour." He points out a billboard for the Philadelphia 76ers that boasts the basketball team's logo. One recycled from the 1980s.

He then swings by the steps in front of the city's famed art institute.

"There's '80s synergy right there," he says, nodding to the 1980 statue of boxer Rocky Balboa of Rocky fame.

Source: USA Today
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The Scientist takes a quick look at the historic discovery of the genetic underpinnings of cancer, courtesy of Philly's finest some 50 years ago.

In 1956, Peter Nowell joined the University of Pennsylvania faculty and began what he calls "poorly defined studies of leukemia." By rinsing blood cells with tap water before staining and mounting them on a microscope slide, Nowell inadvertently caused the cells to swell and flatten, and most importantly, disrupted their mitotic spindle�allowing him to visualize their chromosomes more easily.

Nowell teamed up with David Hungerford, a PhD student at the nearby Fox Chase Cancer Center, and together they detected that a chunk seemed to be missing from chromosome 22 in the leukocytes of CML patients. They published their findings in 1960, and the shortened chromosome was named after the city where it was discovered. But their suggestion that the aberration itself was causing the cells to proliferate abnormally met with a less-than-enthusiastic reception, recalls Nowell. One reviewer even said that the observation probably had no relevance to the clinical disease.

Original source: The Scientist
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Temple University junior engineering student Hasan Malik, founder of Northeast Tree Tenders, is helping restore tree cover in his native Northeast Philadelphia, reports Temple University News.

Once every spring and fall, Malik and his loyal crew of trained volunteers--including a core group of fellow Temple students--dig holes (removing concrete, if necessary) and plant trees along streets and in yards at the request of homeowners throughout Northeast Philadelphia. The group's first planting was 23 trees. Now, groups of about 60 volunteers plant 50 to 70 trees at a time. Since 2007, the group has planted a total of 270 trees, offering hope for a greener, shadier and healthier future in the Northeast.

"There's too much concrete and not enough greenery in the city," Malik said. "Rather than complain about it, let's do something about it."

Why plant trees? Malik cites increased property values, reduced incidence of asthma and childhood obesity among residents, shelter from the sun and wind, a reduction of greenhouse gases, more homes for wildlife and the absorption of storm water runoff.

Original source: Temple University News
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The travel section at Ireland's Herald.ie is high on Philadelphia for a variety of reasons, imploring the Irish to visit for our safe downtown, good eats and arts and culture.

It's puzzling why Philly isn't on most Irish people's radar. It's more historic than Boston, as Irish as Chicago, 30pc cheaper to live in than New York and has a food culture to match San Francisco.

The city centre proper, (known as Center City) is thriving, unlike many US urban areas. Sections of 15th Street are hubs of restaurants and nightlife, while the area's aptly titled Avenue of the Arts is the local equivalent of London's West End or New York's Broadway theatre districts. The best bit? It feels perfectly safe to walk around, by day or night (don't try this at home, kids).

Original source: Herald.ie
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The St. Louis Post-Dispatch travel section mentions booing Santa Claus but quickly moves on, digging deeper than most national media last week to reveal the insider's view of Philadelphia.

Once you get beyond the fighting fa�ade, Philadelphia is a city of tiny secret gardens, a diverse art and theater scene, a crazy diverse food/pub scene and a thousand walkable historical monuments and museums. Also, it's cheap as can be. You've got to work to spend $15 on a martini.

I moved here six years ago from St. Louis. The things I loved about St. Louis are the same things I love about Philadelphia--people are friendly, the streets have the same names (you copycats!) and there's no need to go to any chain restaurant ever.

Original source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Wildly successful entrepreneur Jassi Chadha has brought his expertise to TiE-NJ/Philadelphia, a newer chapter of the global entrepreneurship organization, reports SiliconIndia.

TiE NJ-Philly is an offshoot of TiE Tristate. New Jersey and Philadephia had quite a lot of entrepreneurs who would often find it difficult to make it to New York for various events of the Tristate. Hence the need for a chapter in this geographic area became a necessity. Today under the leadership of Chadha, the TiE-NJ-Philly Chapter is helping the budding entrepreneurs in this geography to realize their goals and dreams by conducting various events, providing mentoring, and networking opportunities.

"There are aspects of entrepreneurship like optimism, excitement, energy, and a sense of adventure that is inspiring to read and get excited. It also drives people to do more and pursue big dreams. However, the path of entrepreneurship is often lonely, hard, and the journey hectic with challenges of different sorts. That's why entrepreneurs need to be supported and find the right support in programs that TiE offers," says Chadha.

Original source: SiliconIndia.
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Members of the Norfolk Arts Commission visited Philadelphia last week to get a close-up look at some of the thousands of works of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Programs, reports The Hour.

"I was blown away by how these community murals in Philadelphia brightened the neighborhoods. It's inspiring to hear the stories of how these murals got made, and how it brought the community together," Becker said. "This is how to revitalize neighborhoods and instill a sense of pride, something I see Norwalk needs help with."

Launched in 1984 to combat graffiti, the city of Philadelphia Mural Arts Programs now bills itself as the largest public art program in the United States.

Original source: The Hour
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The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on two online news publications that have launched recently, including yours truly.

As the market for news fragments, new models for journalism are emerging. Two of those experiments, Flying Kite and Patch, launched in Philadelphia last month.

"This is a fresh way to get fresh content about all the innovative things happening in our city," said Danielle Cohn, (Philadelphia Convention and Visitors) bureau spokeswoman.

Original source: The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Grasso Holdings has proposed converting a Richmond Street industrial building in Fishtown into a live music venue and museum for Philadelphia's rock and roll stars, reports the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The project would be housed in roughly 34,000 square feet of a 75,000-square-foot building at 2055 Richmond St. Grasso Holdings has the property under agreement and is in the early stages of the project in terms of financing, design and seeking neighborhood support and zoning approvals.

The facility would be able to accommodate about 2,600 people and would incorporate high-tech features that would create an interactive experience for concert-goers. The facility is being designed with the fans' experience as the focal point, said one person with intimate knowledge of the project and that starts from the moment a ticket is purchased.

Original source: Philadelphia Business Journal
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Environmental publication Grist takes a look at Philly's urban farming scene, including the historic Manatawna Farm and Glenwood Green Acres.

The city is also host to two multi-acre farms, one at the Schuylkill Center, a nature preserve that operates a farm stand and a CSA in a surprisingly verdant area in the northwest part of the city. The other is managed by the member-owned Weavers Way Co-op grocery stores (more on that below, and full disclosure -- I'm a Weavers Way member, and the co-op hosts my Beyond Green blog).

Mayor Michael Nutter has issued a series of food-focused proposals and initiatives, including creating a food policy council and releasing the Philadelphia Food Charter, which puts ag front and center. Even the city's "Greenworks" initiative, designed to turn Philly into "the greenest city in America," sets the goal of increasing commercial agriculture within city limits.

Original source: Grist
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