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1 week ago | 
chestnuthilllocal.com | Tommy Tucker
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker visited Germantown on June 10 to celebrate Jumpstart Germantown’s 10th anniversary. Founded by local real estate developer Ken Weinstein in 2015, Jumpstart trains and mentors developers from within the community, connecting them to resources they may not have working alone. Since 2015, more than 1,600 people have graduated from Jumpstart. The program has provided more than $60 million in loans.
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1 week ago | 
chestnuthilllocal.com | Tommy Tucker
After over a year of bargaining, Chestnut Hill Hospital nurses and technicians voted June 11 to authorize a five-day strike beginning on July 4, if no agreement can be reached before Independence Day. Since joining the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals (PASNAP) union in December 2023, the nurses and technicians at Chestnut Hill Hospital have cited staffing and wage concerns in ongoing negotiations with Temple Health, the hospital’s majority owner.
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2 weeks ago | 
chestnuthilllocal.com | Tommy Tucker
Chestnut Hill Starbucks workers voted unanimously on May 30 to unionize, joining Starbucks Workers United. The vote makes the company’s Chestnut Hill location the 15th in the Philadelphia area to join the union and the 41st in Pennsylvania. In total, Starbucks Workers United represents over 11,000 baristas in more than 590 stores across the country.
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2 weeks ago | 
chestnuthilllocal.com | Tommy Tucker
Built in 1927 overlooking Lincoln Drive in East Falls, the historic Alden Park Apartments feature amenities such as an indoor pool, gym and tennis courts and glamorous former residents including Grace Kelly’s mother, Margaret. However, residents say safety concerns and slow maintenance response now cast a shadow over its storied past and luxury perks.
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3 weeks ago | 
chestnuthilllocal.com | Tommy Tucker
The Germantown Life Enrichment Center (GLEC) will soon launch its fundraising campaign to build toward what the organization calls a “desperately needed” renovation. Formerly a YMCA, GLEC left the national organization in 2011, taking on a new name. The YMCA began moving away from housing programs in the 1950s, with fewer and fewer locations offering rooms as the 20th century concluded. GLEC opted to maintain that tradition, offering transitional housing and support services in Germantown.
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3 weeks ago | 
chestnuthilllocal.com | Tommy Tucker
Posted 6/4/25Local real estate developer the Goldenberg Group presented its latest plans for the 4.4-acre property at 100-102 Mermaid Lane on May 27. A receptive crowd of near neighbors and locals filled the Chestnut Hill Friends Meetinghouse’s event room to view the project and ask questions. The meeting comes almost a year after the City Council vote that created the Chestnut Hill Lower East Neighborhood Conservation Overlay (NCO), which opposed the developers original plans for the property.
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1 month ago | 
chestnuthilllocal.com | Tommy Tucker
Posted 5/29/25Hikers in the Wissahickon’s Valley Green park noticed an unusual addition to the orange trail on May 19 – an abandoned blue Porsche. Michael Ewing saw the Porsche while walking in the park and sent the Local pictures of the car, wedged into a narrow path next to a steep drop-off. Ewing said, “It was a mind-boggling distance from the nearest path entrance. I’m genuinely amazed someone managed to make it that far.
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1 month ago | 
chestnuthilllocal.com | Tommy Tucker
Posted 5/28/25The Philly Book Bank has served students and teachers for over 20 years, operating out of Martin Luther King High School in Germantown. Now, officials of the nonprofit library resource feel they are being pushed out. The Book Bank’s move to MLK long preceded its current executive director Anne Keenan’s time there. She isn’t sure how the program came to be at MLK, but was told it sprouted initially from then Mayor Ed Rendell’s office.
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1 month ago | 
chestnuthilllocal.com | Tommy Tucker
Private school students are among the many groups that would be affected by the proposed upcoming SEPTA cuts. SEPTA’s vast network of Regional Rail lines, trolleys, buses and metro lines allow students around the Delaware Valley to reach schools within the city, including here in Northwest Philadelphia. At St. Joseph's Preparatory School in North Philadelphia, roughly 30% of the students use SEPTA to get to school, according to the school’s Director of Communications, Bill Avington.
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1 month ago | 
chestnuthilllocal.com | Tommy Tucker
Posted 5/22/25Sunday marked 25 years since Gail Ramsey lost her sister, DeAnn White, a Germantown native, in the Pier 34 collapse. The incident claimed the lives of three women, including White and her coworkers Monica Rodriguez and Jean Marie Ferraro. On May 18, 2000, the trio attended a nightclub on the pier to celebrate White’s 26th birthday. That evening, the pier collapsed, sending a large portion of the structure into the Delaware River.
