Inside the defunct New Palladium nightclub, on Allegheny Avenue in Kensington, a political insurgency is brewing. A set of card tables on the old dance floor is the unlikely war room for the upstart Latino Empowerment Alliance of Delaware Valley…

Neal Santos In Pennsylvania, almost anyone can start their own psychiatric clinic, be they a doctor, an experienced hospital administrator, or even a ward leader, like Carlos Matos. Matos says he is the co-founder of the Juniata Community Mental Health…

Mark Stehle UN-LITTER THIS: Retired environmental engineer Kelly O’Day at Tacony Creek, where litter from nearby streets washes into storm drains and, eventually, the creek itself. On a recent Wednesday morning, the rugged, trash-strewn blocks of East Baltimore saw something…

Einhorn greeting Earth Day crowds in 1970. Courtesy of Temple’s Urban Archives. Okay, so maybe “started” is a strong word. And technically Ira Einhorn didn’t murder anyone until 1977, seven years after the above photo, taken during the first Earth Day celebration…

For years, getting caught cracking open a beer on the streets of Philadelphia was an arrestable offense. In fact, it was the only place in Pennsylvania where police officers were required by law to detain those who had committed very…

Some corner stores are unincorporated businesses and are counted in self-employment statistics Colonial Philadelphia was regarded as a city of artisans — most businesses were owned by self-employed craftsmen who lived above their workshops. Now, many struggling, post-industrial cities are…

Mark Stehle NOT MY LOT: A developer abandoned plans to build an apartment complex on this crowded municipal parking lot in Passyunk Square after neighbors protested. Newcomers to Philadelphia often marvel at the line of cars parked, bumper-to-bumper, right down…

Neal Santos CRUMBLED: A rowhome in the 2600 block of North Myrtlewood Street in Strawberry Mansion collapsed on March 10. When the wall of a building in Old City came tumbling down last week, raining bricks onto the sidewalk and…

City Council is considering expanding the Philadelphia Activities Fund, a loosely run city grant program that appears to have been abused by Jerry Mondesire, the troubled head of the local NAACP chapter. Mondesire was blasted yesterday by former colleagues in…