Costs of Corbett’s General Assistance cuts | Public School closure vote tonight | Philly decaf hub | AM traffic and trash | fake flowers and barbed wire

If Governor Corbett eliminates General Assistance (GA) payments thousands of recovering addicts (and other vulnerable populations) could be forced out onto the city’s streets. In today’s City Paper Daniel Denvir takes a closer look at the consequences of eliminating the $87.5 million General Assistance funding for Philadelphia’s neediest and the critical network of recovery houses that support recovering addicts in neighborhoods like Kensington and Frankford. Without the GA funds many folks said they would be on the streets or in jail, which costs much more than the GA payments.

Tonight the School Reform Commission will decide the future of nine public schools slated for closure, and the meeting is going to be a doozy with more than 80 speakers scheduled to testify. The Inquirer reports that each school will be voted on individually, and the outcomes for Southwest Center City’s Stanton and West Kensington’s Sheppard are ones to watch. The meeting is at 440 N. Broad Street at 5:30pm. PlanPhilly will be on hand with partners the Public School Notebook.

Will Philadelphia become America’s decaf hub? Eater Philly breaks down La Colombe’s plans to build America’s first decaffeination plant – using the “Philadelphia Water Process” no less – and their recent purchase of a warehouse in Port Richmond. In time, La Colombe’s Todd Carmichael thinks Philadelphia could become a major coffee port. He said, “When domestic roasters realize we’re the only decaffeination plant around, they’ll start sending product to us. It’s good for the city, and good for the coffee culture.”

Early this morning a tractor-trailer overturned, spilling trash all over a ramp connecting I-95 South and westbound Vine Street Expressway and Callowhill Street below, reports MyFoxPhilly. Emergency workers have removed the truck, but parts of the highways and Callowhill Street were closed and debris strewn during rush hour. The truck was carrying about 80,000 lbs of trash.

Even if your fake flowers are tied down with barbed wire, they can still get stolen, the Daily News reports. Ronald Addes says his fake flowers have been stolen for years, and according to his surveillance footage, it’s always a woman. Addes has taken the quality of life crime to the cops.

 

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