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Newsletter for Wednesday, Oct. 22
MALALA IN PHILLY
Malala Yousafzai with her Liberty Medal at the National Constitution Center on Tuesday evening. Via Instagram user @orbuch
TEEN NOBEL PRIZE WINNER MALALA INSPIRES LITERALLY EVERYONE
Malala Yousafzai, the 17-year-old Pakistani woman who spent her birthday in Nigeria fighting for education, was in Philly Tuesday accepting the the National Constitution Center’s Liberty Medal and speaking at Forbes’ 30 under 30 event. The Liberty Award comes just a week after the teen-spiration won a slightly better-known effort: The Nobel Peace Prize. Malala’s become internationally recognized for speaking out against the Taliban. In front of a crowd of 1,400, Malala said the Islamic extremist group made “a big mistake” when they shot her in a school bus — the shooting only amplified her voice. In addition to guests like Ed Rendell, Michael Nutter and Mo’Ne Davis, Malala was joined by speaker Minnijean Brown Trickey of the Little Rock Nine, who equated Malala’s fight for education to the civil rights movement. Malala said during her talk Tuesday that she’s using the Liberty Award’s $100K cash prize to help educate children in Pakistan.
SEPTA STRIKE MIGHT HAPPEN MONDAY
If you take a bus, trolley or the Broad Street or Market Frankford lines, you could be looking for alternate transportation Monday. SEPTA’s largest union, TWU Local 234, sent a memo to members alerting them to a strike authorization meeting for Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Philly Mag has the memo, and the most recent offer from SEPTA.
PHILLY’S HATE CRIME BILL ADVANCES PAST COUNCIL HURDLE
A City Council committee passed a bill Tuesday that would add hate crimes to the city code. The new bill would add 90 days to the sentence of anyone convicted of a hate crime in Philly. The bill — suggested after the Center City attack of a gay couple — didn’t really face any opposition, just a minor legal concern from police. And as usual, City Council is moving faster than Harrisburg.
CORBETT SIGNS ‘MUMIA BILL’ INTO LAW
Less than a month after Mumia Abu-Jamal Skyped a graduation speech in to Goddard College in Vermont, governor Tom Corbett has signed into law a bill that would let victims and prosecutors sue to keep convicts from public speaking gigs. Corbett signed the bill in Philadelphia, near where city police officer Daniel Faulkner was killed in 1981. Abu-Jamal was convicted of Faulkner’s murder. Several protesters attended the signing, claiming the law violates free speech.
TO DO: SHAKESPEARE IN GERMANTOWN
WHAT: As You Like It, The Bard’s classic comedy.
WHERE: The Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Avenue
WHEN: 7 PM
HOW MUCH: $27 / $15 for youth tix
DETAILS HERE
BILLY PENN LIKES
THE STORY BEHIND SOCIETY HILL’S WALL OF HEADSTONES
In the spirit of Halloween, it’s only fitting that Hidden City took a look at the 30 memorable graveyard markers embedded in a wall in Society Hill. The 200-year-old headstones had been moved several times before finally finding a home at Fifth and Lombard streets. The gravestones were used to mark the passing of members of the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, and they currently face tombstones on a new lawn, “uniting the history of three Philadelphia congregations with one piece of hallowed city ground.”
AIRPORT RESTAURANT WEEK: THE RESTAURANT WEEK YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU NEEDED
We can’t believe you almost let this week go by without taking advantage of PHL Restaurant Week. Yeah, that’s right: It’s Airport Restaurant Week. Now through Oct. 27, PHL restaurants like Chickie’s & Pete’s are serving $20 prix fixe menus. Look, that’s pretty reasonable for airport food. And this is the fourth annual AWR, so it must be fairly popular.
