Inside a Philly criminal record expungement clinic: ‘Freedom is not just freedom’
Volunteers and lawyers help residents clear their records for a shot at better jobs and housing.
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How an Overbrook High grad went from jail time to a career in engineering
Paul Johnson knows that it’s hard for people from the outside looking in to understand his story and his struggles. His life, he said, was never straightforward. Johnson, 26, attended and graduated from Overbrook high school and took a few college courses at the Community College of Philadelphia before dropping out. He soon took a…
Like Skype for prisons: How tech is used in PA for virtual inmate visitation
Myra Gaskins’ life changed in 1989. Her son, LaFaye Gaskins, had been arrested for murder. Myra still insists her son is innocent, but a jury found him guilty in May 1990 of killing Albert Dodson, a drug dealer. LaFaye is currently serving a life sentence at the State Correctional Institution at Mahanoy in Schuylkill County….
A Game of Thrones-style swordplay class happens Sundays in West Philly
Meet Graham Meyer, founder of the Philadelphia Common Fencers Guild.
This new giving circle funds struggling Philly schools
It was about a year and a half ago when Andy Toy read an article about a school in Germantown that was struggling with funds. The principal, Toy recalled, had only $34 and couldn’t afford to purchase many amenities for his students. However, within a few days of the article being published, the school received thousands of…
Struggling to understand
I must have watched the video of Alton Sterling’s son cry on the internet five times when it first appeared on my Twitter feed. I could not help but watch it over again, and try to understand what just happened and why. To see Cameron Sterling become the man of the house so suddenly, and…
The Rooms Project: Recovery doesn’t have to be a struggle
On a humid Tuesday morning in Bucks County, in the surrounding neighborhood, a cul-de-sac setting, the only noise that can be heard is a water fountain from across the street. A backpack slung over her shoulder and a folding chair in one hand, Jillian Bauer, creator of The Rooms Project, walks up the stairs of…
Looking forward to better days
The last image that I saw of my dad, was when he was laying in his casket. He looked so peaceful and it was at that moment that I realized I would never hear from him again.
Uber PA’s general manager calls PPA ‘a broken system’
Raymond Reyes signed up to join Uber, the popular ridesharing service, and everything seemed to be going well, he said, until one day in Center City he received a trick request.
A Conversation with Black Hood’s Duane Swierczynski
The Black Hood is Philly’s answer to the comic book vigilante problem that we currently do not have. Although we have been visited by some of the more famous of super heroes, Superman did stop here in Philly for a “Cheese Steak sandwich” at one point. The Punisher stopped by once as well, and Thomas Elliot (Hush from Batman) resided in Philly for a time.