Check out this story, by my colleague Morgan Zalot and myself, on the Fox Chase Town Watch in Northeast Philly!
My story on the effort to bring back a playground in Mayfair in the Northeast, on NEastPhilly.com, which I am working for through a collaboration with Philadelphia Neighborhoods.
Check out my first project for my capstone class at Temple, Philadelphia Neighborhoods, which sends students out into areas of the city under-served by traditional media.
http://sct.temple.edu/blogs/murl/2010/02/07/mayfair-a-neighborhoods-hope-for-its-children/
Just don’t let the Belschnickel get you.
LaborPHL
I’m officially announcing my project focusing on labor in Philadelphia, LaborPHL. I’ve been working on aggregating news from around the region, as well as researching stats about labor, unions and the workforce, and exactly what the numbers mean for Philadelphia laborers. LaborPHL will cover anything and everything related to the workforce, unions and management/labor relations in Philadelphia.
Check it out each Sunday for Sunday Numbers, which highlights an interesting or unseen side of labor statistics. Follow it on Twitter, too, for up-to-the-minute updates and fun factoids.
The basics
www.laborphl.com
Twitter.com/laborphl
This is from a while ago, in Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park. All the hills make Pittsburgh seem rather majestic, especially in fall.
In order to consolidate my Web sites a little better, I’m moving a blog I maintained for a special project in the spring, Cecil B. to Lehigh, to stephenzook.com. The project involved working with a Hispanic family in North Philadelphia, and producing some kind of introspective journalistic work from my experience. The posts are below. Enjoy!
From Cecil B. to Lehigh, posted May 8.
On one of my visits to Michelle, I stopped at the gas station down the block from her house. I had only a dollar on me, but spent 50 cents on a Little Debbie snack.
As I was waiting in line, I noticed some people were buying scratch-off lottery tickets. A young woman at the counter asked for another ticket, and told a man next to her it was her last for the day.
I’ve never been much for the lottery. Winning millions of dollars is appealing, sure, but I’d usually rather buy a candy bar (I have a terrible sweet tooth) and know I will enjoy myself for five minutes than buy a one-in-millions chance that I might walk out a rich man.
That being said, I’ve always been fascinated by the lottery.
I had a friend in high school who was fond of saying that all you need in life is cigarettes and hope. read more…
From Cecil B. to Lehigh, posted April 20.
During one of my visits to see Michelle, she asked me where I was from. I told her Lancaster, a county about an hour’s drive west of Philadelphia.
Michelle said she had been there when she was younger. I asked her where in Lancaster she went, and she said it was an amusement park, with rides for children, but that she couldn’t remember the name.
There are only two real amusement parks in Lancaster. One is Hershey Park, and I thought she would know the name of that. The other is Dutch Wonderland, a child-friendly park in the middle of the tourist area of Lancaster. I asked if that was the one she had been to, and she recognized the name.
A little background: I have been to Dutch Wonderland several times, mostly as a child. For pre-teens and children, it’s quite a thrill. It’s lack of character and non-existent Lancaster connection make it grow old pretty fast, though (A common snarky observation in Lancaster is that Dutch Wonderland is neither Dutch nor a Wonderland). read more…
From Cecil B. to Lehigh, posted April 3.
In a previous post, I mentioned that Michelle is fond of saying “respect for respect.” I thought it was a refreshing take on authority. In my own experience, I’ve always chafed at people who demand respect be bestowed upon them. It’s like insisting someone tell you you’re a lady, in a way. You can make someone pay you lip service, but it doesn’t make you a lady, or respected.
The more I talk to Michelle, though, her mantra makes more sense. read more…
