In the News
Sharing with students the love of reading
WPVI GERMANTOWN (WPVI) -- In Philadelphia's Germantown section, 100 men spent their morning talking to children about reading. The event happened Wednesday at Mastery Charter School, Pastorius-Richardson elementary, on Sprague street. 100 black men from the community...
La Salle University Officially Opens Learning Commons at the Connelly Library
(Philadelphia) April 4, 2019 – La Salle University (“La Salle” or the “University”) today held a ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open its new Learning Commons at the Connelly Library, capping off an extensive renovation process to update the existing Connelly...
Democratic senators commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. by turning attention to Pa. poverty
Three days after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech to more than 10,000 gathered at the corner of 40th and Lancaster Avenues on Aug. 3, 1965, the civil rights legend signed the historic Voting Rights Act. On Thursday, 51 years after King was assassinated in...
Haywood Lauds State Treasurer Torsella’s Retirement Security Report
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, March 28 -- The Pennsylvania Senate Democrats issued the following news release on behalf of Pennsylvania State Sen. Art Haywood, D-Montgomery/Philadelphia: State Sen. Art Haywood (D-Montgomery/Philadelphia) yesterday applauded the findings...
Pa. needs auto-IRA plans to boost retirement savings: Treasurer Torsella
Pennsylvania may be the next state to propose automatic-savings plans for workers, according to the treasurer, Joseph Torsella. Large numbers of Pennsylvanians are unprepared for retirement, and insufficient savings will affect their own lives and the state budget,...
New women’s pro basketball team to play in Chestnut Hill
By Brendan Sample With the introduction of the Philadelphia Reign of the Women’s Basketball Development Association, the City of Philadelphia will welcome its first professional women’s basketball team in more than 20 years. The team was officially introduced at a...
Package of bills co-sponsored by Sen. Judy Schwank aims to help farmers markets
HARRISBURG, PA — Senate Democrats are sponsoring a three-bill legislative package designed to provide additional tax credits to farmers, encourage the use of locally sourced food and expand farmers markets. The prime sponsors of the package are state Sen. Judy Schwank...
Senate Democrats push three-part bill to aid farmers
Senate Democrats have announced that they are sponsoring a three-bill legislative package designed to provide additional tax credits to farmers, encourage the use of locally sourced food and expand farmers’ markets. State Sen. Vincent J. Hughes...
First blood tests in Bucks, Montco show above-average contamination after tainted water
By Laura McCrystal and Justine McDaniel
Residents in Bucks and Montgomery Counties who participated in a blood-testing program because their drinking water was contaminated by chemicals on nearby military bases have a dramatically higher presence of some chemicals in their blood than the general U.S. population — in the case of one chemical, five times more than the typical American.
Haywood Calls for Raising the Minimum Wage
Stacy M. Brown | Tribune Harrisburg Correspondent
Raising the minimum wage in Pennsylvania would go a long way in the fight against poverty, particularly in Philadelphia where the poverty rate is the highest of any big city in the United States, state Sen. Art Haywood said Tuesday during a news conference at the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg.
Let’s reduce poverty in Philadelphia
The Philadelphia Tribune
The first step toward a solution is admitting there is a problem.
We have a serious problem with poverty in our city.
New office buildings and gentrified neighborhoods tell only part of the story of what is happening in our city.
Raising minimum wage will cut poverty
By Senator Art Haywood | The Philadelphia Tribune
I read the “Broke in Philly” feature in the Sunday Philadelphia Tribune. I agree that fair funding of Philadelphia schools is a priority for lawmakers. We are aware that about 275,000 adults in Philadelphia have incomes below the poverty level. About 136,000 hardworking Philadelphians work in poverty-pay jobs earning less than $10.10 per hour, according to the Keystone Research Center.
Danger at the faucet
The Blade | Editorials
As 50,000 students returned to Detroit Public Schools earlier this month, they found themselves without running water. Tests had found elevated levels of lead in the schools’ drinking water.
“I am turning off all drinking water in our schools until a deeper and broad analysis can be conducted to determine the long-term solutions,” Superintendent Nikolai Vitti told the Detroit community.
Legislative Report for September 10, 2018
Have you “friended” a pocket park lately?
September 7, 2018 | By Philadelphia Sun Staff
The Mt. Airy Business Improvement District is proud to announce a third pocket park was installed recently on Germantown Avenue — at the intersection of Pelham and Germantown avenues, transforming yet another vacant corner into an asset that draws people to the commercial corridor to shop, do business, and dine.
Wolf urges legislature to support workplace protections against sexual harassment and discrimination
TheProgressNews.com | September 6, 2018 HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday renewed his call for passage of a package of reforms he announced in April that will strengthen protections against sexual harassment and discrimination for employees, provide new legal...
Haywood: New Law Prompts Testing for Lead in Drinking Water in Schools
WLRI
On July 18, 2018 Sen. Art Haywood (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) said that provisions in the recently enacted School Code will prompt school districts to test for lead in drinking water in Pennsylvania schools.
“A 2014 study by the state Department of Health found that 18 communities across Pennsylvania have children who have tested positive for increased levels of lead,” Haywood said. “We must do what we can to reduce exposure to lead and ensure that school facilities do not have lead in drinking water.”
Starting this year, Pa. schools must test lead in drinking water, or explain why not
WHHY | BY SARA HOOVER
Many thought lead in drinking water was a problem of the past — until the water contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan, a few years back.
And then a U.S. Government Accountability Office survey polled school districts across the country on testing for lead in drinking water in 2017. Fewer than half of those surveyed did testing; of those that did, more than a third found elevated levels.
Madre hispana y sus seis niños temen quedar sin techo
“Él me daba todos los días, enfrente de mis hijos… a veces. Y no podía vivir así”, dijo. Huyendo de este tipo de vida, buscó refugio en uno de los hogares pertenecientes a esta organización, pero en los últimos meses su situación se complicó.
Katie Muth on “Two Broads Talking Politics” podcast
I grew up in Western PA, outside the suburbs of Pittsburgh. My mom’s family was from there. My dad’s family is from Latrobe nearby. I grew up with humble means but I had great parents so we didn’t know any better. Unfortunately, I lost my mom when I was...
York County schools might test for lead in drinking water with new law
By Lindsay C. VanAsdalan | York Dispatch
York County schools — along with all other schools statewide — will now be required to test for lead in their drinking water, or at least discuss the issue in public. Legislation that passed with the 2018-19 state budget amended the school code so that all facilities where children attend school — including charters, cyber schools and intermediate units — must be tested, or the school entity must inform the community about lead issues at a public meeting.
Senator urges testing lead in schools’ drinking water
The Philadelphia Tribune
Sen. Art Haywood, (Philadelphia/Montgomery) said on Wednesday that provisions in the recently enacted School Code will prompt school districts to test for lead in drinking water in Pennsylvania schools.
“A 2014 study by the state Department of Health found that 18 communities across Pennsylvania have children who have tested positive for increased levels of lead,” he said. “We must do what we can to reduce exposure to lead and ensure that school facilities do not have lead in drinking water.”
Racist Club That Called Cops On Black Golfers Urged By State To Change?
By Clarissa Hamlin | Newsone
The five Black women golfers at the center of an attention-grabbing racial profiling case may motivate a Pennsylvania commission to recommend policy reforms at a local golf course. A third hearing was held with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission Wednesday over the April 21 incident in which activist Sandra Thompson and four other women were removed from the Grandview Golf Club in York.
Read to Succeed program back for a sixth year
By Sam Haut | Philadelphia Public School Notebook
The aim is to increase children’s reading. But the problem is simple math.
State Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia, said that young students who don’t keep up their reading skills during the summer lose an average of three months of the skills and knowledge they gained in school – the so-called “summer slide.” Then that time has to be made up.
Senator leads call to impeach Trump
By Stacy M. Brown | The Philadelphia Tribune
Despite President Donald Trump’s executive order to reverse his own policy of separating immigrant children from their parents, state Sen. Art Haywood has introduced a resolution asking his colleagues to call on Congress to draft and adopt articles of impeachment for the president.
Bartolotta’s domestic violence bill advances in House
By J.D. Prose | Beaver County Times
A bill co-sponsored by state Sen. Camera Bartolotta that would help domestic and sexual violence victims who live in public housing unanimously passed a House committee Tuesday.
Senate Bill 919, introduced by Bartolotta, R-46, Carroll Township, Washington County, and Democratic state Sens. Judith Schwank of Berks County and Art Haywood of Montgomery County in October, was approved by the House Urban Affairs Committee and sent to the floor for consideration.
State agency schedules hearings on Grandview discrimination complaint
By David Weissman | York Dispatch
The state’s Human Relations Commission has scheduled hearings to investigate the alleged racial discrimination that occurred at Grandview Golf Club in April.
Pa. lawmakers pushing bill banning Down syndrome abortions
By Gillian McGoldrick | The Philadelphia Inquirer
HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Republican-controlled Senate came one step closer to considering a controversial bill — which had been thought to be stalled in committee — that would outlaw aborting fetuses based solely on a diagnosis of Down syndrome.
Pennsylvania lawmakers pushing bill banning Down syndrome abortions
HARRISBURG — The Republican-controlled Senate came one step closer to considering a controversial bill — which had been thought to be stalled in committee — that would outlaw aborting fetuses based solely on a diagnosis of Down syndrome.
VILLAGE VIEW: MSNBC special tackles racism
By Bonnie Squires | Mainline Times
It was not clairvoyance, but whoever books guests for MSNBC happened to have invited Valerie Jarrett to appear on the taped “Everyday Racism in America” special. The Prince Theatre in Philadelphia had been selected as the venue. And this was the week before the tweet from Roseanne Barr had hit the airwaves.
Women golfers who were forced to leave York County golf course are readying lawsuit
By Jan Murphy | Pennlive
Five black women who had the police called on them after being accused of taking too long to golf on a York County course came to the state Capitol on Tuesday to share their story with lawmakers.
Grandview Golf Club: Women sound off to state lawmakers
By Geoff Morrow | Lebanon Daily News
State Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia/Montgomery County, was among the first to reach out to the five black women who were asked to leave Grandview Golf Club in April.
A Republican with a #metoo problem provokes a bloody battle for control of Montgomery County’s GOP. It’s ugly
By Maria Panaritis | Philly News
It was a hell of an introduction to Tom Ellis, former Republican commissioner in Montgomery County with an alleged #metoo history. But then again, this is Montgomery County, where the GOP is so dysfunctional it’s good to have a giant stash of Advil handy before wading into its latest civil war.
Manor College in Abington graduates Class of 2018
ABINGTON >> As the sound of “Pomp and Circumstance” permeated the gymnasium of Manor College May 17, more than 100 students processed down the aisle of the auditorium, beaming and waving to their families and friends on their way to becoming graduates, earning an...
Manor College graduates Class of 2018
By Kelly Peiffer | Montoco.Today
As the sound of “Pomp and Circumstance” permeated the gymnasium of Manor College on Thursday, May 17, over 100 students processed down the aisle of the auditorium, beaming and waving to their families and friends on their way to becoming graduates, earning an Associate in Art and/or Science degree. Manor College welcomed Pennsylvania State Senator Art Haywood as the 2018 Commencement Speaker. Brenda Roselle, a Trustee member of the Manor College Board of Trustees served as the Master of Ceremonies, while Marta J. Penjalskyj, a graduating member of the Class of 2018, delivered an inspirational and heartfelt commencement oration.
Judge sees ‘mismanagement,’ ‘misappropriation’ in ex-guardian’s handling of elderly clients’ funds
By Julie Shaw | Philly News
A Delaware County woman removed as court-appointed guardian for about 100 elderly clients in the region was berated by a Philadelphia judge Monday for repeatedly failing to follow his orders, being nine months late in filing a report he requested, and failing to show up at two hearings last month.
Legislators, Parents, Youth, Educators, Advocates Will Come Together In Support of Afterschool and STEM Programming
HARRISBURG, Pa., May 1, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nearly 200 advocates including students, parents, educators, program providers, community leaders, policymakers, business and faith-based leaders and others from across Pennsylvania will come together in the...
Pa. state Sen. Art Haywood selected as Manor College 2018 commencement speaker
By Stan Huskey | Montco Today
JENKINTOWN — Manor College recently announced that Art Haywood, Pennsylvania state senator, will be the commencement speaker for the upcoming graduation on May 17, 2018.
Haywood has been an advocate for hard work and education, which stems from his upbringing and his mother who was a public-school teacher. Haywood attended Morehouse College, the London School of Economics and the University of Michigan Law School. His legal work comprises saving families from home foreclosure, aiding nonprofit organizations, representing organizations focused on community, education, and affordable housing.
Federal program may provide economic assistance to parts of Haywood’s district
New tools to spur investment in affordable housing, business start-ups and workforce redevelopment projects in North and Northwest Philadelphia may soon be available, according to state Sen. Art Haywood (D-Phila./Montgomery). Portions of Haywood’s district were...
She went to prison for fraud and bad checks. Then courts around Philly let her manage the finances for elderly residents
By Julie Shaw | Philly News
Relatives of Edmund and Margareta Berg were shocked to learn, a little more than a year ago, that the court-appointed guardian handling the Fox Chase couple’s finances had a record of fraud, bad checks, and forgery.