The unique lowdown on Philadelphia elections, part 1

It’s April 2 and getting extremely difficult to work so hard, and still remember what I did three weeks ago, in the PGN March 15 issue. I’m going to make finding the time to update a priority.

Who knows when I’ll want to look back at these stories — especially the first in an unusual election situation for anyplace else but Philadelphia?

The top story was the same as the previous week: allegations against The Attic Youth Center. There really wasn’t much new, but the article hadn’t been published on paper, so a shorter, updated version ran.

But only readers on this blog site get to see me in a rare selfie and definitely not happy going there and getting kicked out on a freezing night after a long day. Of course, I had to see for myself if anything was happening. Of course, nothing was.

On the next page, I wrote about two special elections that took place the previous Tuesday for seats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Here in Philadelphia, the candidate elected in November was unable to serve because she’d been convicted of bribery, the month before. Nah, that won’t stop voters! In the May 21 primary, the City Council District 6 incumbent will be unopposed and probably win in November, even though he faces federal corruption charges. You read it here first.

Also notice the order of the results: 1) Democrat, 2) Amen Brown Party (with Amen Brown running), 3) the Working Families Party, and 4) Republican last. That’s Philadelphia and why it’s important to register as a Democrat (notice I didn’t say support) if you live here and want your vote to count. The exception is choosing candidates in U.S. Senate and presidential primary elections, but you can switch your registration back and forth.

Up in the Scranton area, the incumbent died Oct. 16, less than a month before the general election. He was a Democrat running unopposed, but a special election was called, and a Republican ran against a different Democrat and lost. Just shows how things run in Harrisburg.

I also learned Lackawanna County election results are not updated online. They only post certified results, which could take days.

The day before, I drove up to Mount Airy where Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services and the group Philadelphia Family Pride (not to mention the provider agencies that license foster parents) are trying to get more LGBT-affirming people to become foster parents. It was part of a series of informational sessions. The city has thousands of children and teenagers who need places to stay, and the type of foster parent could play a role in their success.

The online article has links if you’re interested.

I took several pictures that never made it to the paper or PGN online, so here are two:

And then there was Street Talk — but there’s not always Street Talk, at least for me. I haven’t had the pleasure for the past two weeks. I’ll get to the reason soon, when I continue writing and get to a Street Talk I didn’t do!

Click here to return to the PGN, 2019: Reporter, Copy Editor, Social Media Specialist page.