weeklypress.com • ucreview.com • december 5 • 2012 3


The UC Review and Weekly Press newspapers compile polit- ical news that affects voters each week on the city and state level to keep readers more abreast of local politics. If there’s an issue you would like included in this column, please email it to newsdesk@pressreview.net by the Monday, noontime deadline!


C


ity Council on Thurs- day voted unani- mously to restore


more than $7.1 million in funding toward domestic violence shelters, children with special needs, parks and recreation centers, and neighborhood improvement programs. The funding res- torations


For the fiscal year 2013 bud- get are made possible by a higher-than-anticipated year-end fund balance for fiscal year 2012.


“I am pleased City Coun- cil approved much-needed funding for worthy pro- grams that keep our streets and parks safe and protect vulnerable Philadelphians such as abuse victims and those born with disabili- ties,” said Council President Darrell L. Clarke (5th Dis- trict). “My colleagues fought passionately for these causes during the toughest budget debate I’ve ever wit- nessed.”


Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown intro- duced the Hospitality Pro- motion Bill, which would generate additional revenue


to support the promotion of the Philadelphia tourism economy. In 2008, the Com- monwealth of Pennsylvania enabled the City of Phila- delphia to levy a tax of up to 1.5% of the booking of hotel room(s). At the time, the City opted to set the rate at 1.2%. The Hospitality Promotion Bill will increase the rate to 1.5%. The remain- ing 0.3% will be divided evenly between the Greater PhiladelphiaTourism Mar- keting Corporation (GPT- MC) and the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB), yielding an estimated $1 million per year for each organization to help bring additional visitors to Philadelphia. The increase will help offset a dramatic decline in funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (see attached). Together, the organizations (GPTMC/PCVB) have lost approximately $10 million annually from previous lev- els, threatening Philadelphia ability to compete for valu- able tourist dollars. The bill would add .50 cents to the price of an overnight hotel


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The St. Francis de Sales choir will present a concert of songs and readings for the Advent season on Tuesday, December 11 at 7:30 pm in the church, 47th


& Springfield Ave. y


Please join us for this special event as we prepare our hearts and minds for the Lord’s coming.


n A free-will donation will be taken to benefit the organ maintenance fund. PURPOSE: Encourage Citizen Participation • Details at www.sustain101.wordpress.org


WAR & Peace DEC. 7


Free Library of Philadelphia 1901 Vine Street, 2pm – 5:40pm


DEC. 8 DEC. 9


Northwest Regional Library 68 West Chelten Ave. 2pm – 4:15pm


Northeast Regional Library 2228 Cottman Ave. 1:30 – 5pm


stay but will not affect Phil- adelphia place ranking of effective tax rates among the nation 25 largest hotel mar- kets. The new hotel tax rate would be 15.5%, still lower than New York (16.03%), Los Angeles (15.57%), Chi- cago (16.39%) and Houston (17.0%).


If passed, the bill would


take effect July 1, 2013. Congressman Chaka Fat- tah, the senior Democratic Appropriator for federal science agencies and a Con- gressional champion for neuroscience, announces that two universities in Philadelphia will receive $939,854 in grants for neu- roscience research projects from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The University of Penn- sylvania will receive $601,885 from the National Institute of Mental Health to study a link between olfac- tory neuro-imaging and the risk of schizophrenia, Fattah said. He also announced that Drexel University would receive $337,969 from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for clinical research on neurological disorders. “Our great research insti- tutions in University City are respected nationwide as pace-setters in neurosci- ence,” Fattah said. “These federal research dollars help Penn and Drexel maintain their leadership.” Fattah, a senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, is the author of the Fattah Neuroscience Initiative. The initiative, ap-


proved by Congress, has led to establishment of the Interagency Working Group on Neuroscience at the White House to ex- plore and coordinate the current state of federally funded neuroscience re- search.


State Representative-Elect Brian Sims (announced two key staff appoint- ments - Mason Lane as Chief of Staff and Anna Aagenes as District Office Director. Lane, in his new- ly appointed role as Chief of Staff, will develop and implement legislative ini- tiatives, advise on policy matters, and oversee office operations. Currently a third-year law student at Temple University’s Bea- sley School of Law Lane has simultaneously been serving as Sims’ Transition Director since the April 24 primary victory over long- time incumbent Repre- sentative Babette Josephs. Lane previously served as the Eastern Pennsylvania Field Organizer and Policy Coordinator for Equal- ity Pennsylvania www. equalitypa.org, the Com- monwealth’s LGBT politi- cal advocacy organization. A 2007 graduate of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, Lane was born and raised in Center City, Philadelphia.


Aagenes (Aw-guh-Nez) will manage the Philadel- phia district office as Sims’ District Office Director in addition to overseeing con- stituent services, fostering and building organizational relationships, and direct- ing community outreach and engagement. Prior to her newly appointed posi- tion, Aagenes worked at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia with the Ado- lescent Initiative’s clinical research team, serving HIV positive youth. Aagenes graduated from the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania in 2010 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, where, as Captain of the Women’s Track and Field Team, she became a NCAA Division I. Regional qualifier and a school re- cord holder in three events. A native Pennsylvanian, Aagenes hails from Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Both Lane and Aagenes


reside in Center City, Phila- delphia. Lane is currently finishing his coursework at Temple Law and is set to graduate in May of 2013. Aagenes continues to ad- vocate for young athletes as the Executive Director of GO! (Generation Out) Ath- letes’ www.goathletes.org, the nation’s first organiza- tion created to educate and empower LGBT student- athletes.


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Sales Claudia Christian


The most points scored by a single player in an NBA basketball game is 100, by Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors, on March 2, 1962.


Advent concert


TUES. DEC. 11, 2012 @ 7:30 PM St. Francis de Sales Church


SOIL-FOOD-HEALTH FORUM presents


Champé Simmons Warren Starkus Hope Davidson


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