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Community solutions bubble up to stop gun violence

People in Philly neighborhoods that deal with intense gun violence are often the ones driving solutions.

  • Spurred by personal tragedies, residents are holding meetings and forming nonprofits to calm the violence. (A downside: shootings may decrease where they live, only to increase a few blocks away.)

“It’s important,” one woman told Beatrice Forman, “to see that not everyone in these communities are dying, doing the killing, or letting their fear stop them.”

Ready-to-drink cans of Fishtown Iced Tea coming this spring

A legendary Philly cocktail will soon be available in cans, and the 12-ouncers will pack an appropriate punch.

  • Canned, ready-to-drink Fishtown Iced Tea is slated to roll out this spring, thanks to an offshoot of the bar where the four-liquor cocktail in an Arctic Splash carton was invented, Interstate Drafthouse.

Reverse engineering the formula to be shelf stable wasn’t easy, the partners told Billy Penn — but the new recipe tastes just like the original.

RECAP: What else happened?

$ = paywalled 

  • Two state troopers and one civilian were hit by a driver and killed on I-95 in South Philly in the early hours of Monday morning. Officials have launched a drunk driving investigation. [Billy Penn]
  • The American Community Survey released new data from 2016-2020 about who lives in Philly. Some takeaways: 65% of Philadelphians were born in Pa., a relatively high in-state population. Also, immigrants overall make up a smaller share (14%) vs. to other big U.S. cities, but there are more people from Africa here than in any of the other top 10. [census.gov/Inquirer$/@billy_penn]
  • The city is in settlement talks with some residents who sued over the inaccessibility of Philly sidewalks. The plaintiffs aren’t asking for money, but for a plan to make sidewalks ADA-compliant. [WHYY’s PlanPhilly]
  • Local daycare centers are struggling to compete for staffing as wages rise elsewhere. The average yearly salary for a Philly-area childcare worker in May 2020 was $25,410. [Axios]
  • Resolve Philly’s Equal Info Text Line, started during the pandemic, is getting national recognition. It allows people — many without internet access — to find out about “living and thriving in Philly.” [Nieman Lab]
  • Rittenhouse has a new 150-seat restaurant, somehow tucked away in a renovated townhome-plus-carriage house. It’s a venture from chef Brett Naylor, formerly of Mission Taqueria, and his wife Nicol Barrick. [Biz Journal$/Wooder Ice]

MAYOR WATCH

Nada on Mayor Kenney’s public schedule today. Yesterday he wished “Naw-Rúz” — or “Happy New Year” in Persian — to the city’s Baháʼí communities.

ON THE CALENDAR

? Billy Penn event: Join us for news and history trivia about the city you love! Our monthly Philly Quizzo night is back at Jose Pistola’s in Center City. Free RSVP, happy hour specials, win a $50 gift card if you get the top score. Don’t miss the bonus music trivia round. (6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 23)

? Port Richmond celebrates its 175th anniversary with a local Monopoly tournament and Easter egg hunt. Free Stock’s pound cake for the first 300 people. (2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 26)

? Billy Penn partner event: Deputy editor Beatrice Forman helps moderate “Shift the Narrative: A Media Panel on Community-Centered Gun Violence Reporting,” presented by PCGVR, PABJ, Young Chances Foundation, and Philly Truce. (1 to 2 p.m. Friday, April 1)