A Million Stories

[ a million stories ]

It's been two months since the departure of former Director of Sustainability Mark Alan Hughes. During that time, sustainability advocates held their breath: Would the position continue to be cabinet-level? Would the new director be as much of a trusted confidante as Hughes was, so that the sustainable agenda isn't marginalized? Would there even be a new director?

On Friday, they breathed a sigh of relief: Yes, there would be a new director; the position will be in the cabinet; and the appointee, Katherine Gajewski, has a record with Nutter going back to crafting anti-smoking legislation when the mayor was still a councilman.

"I was sort of nervous about the amount of time that's lapsed, but she's actually a really good choice," says Christine Knapp, outreach director of the environmental group Penn Future. When Nutter introduced Gajewski, Knapp says, "He was almost getting a little choked up. He was really proud of her."

A 9-year-old named Jibril is on assignment, reporting on homelessness. An experience with a panhandler spurred the investigation.

"One time, my mom gave a homeless man $2," he says. "But when we got in the car, I could see he had all this money in his pockets." Using a computer at Mighty Writers, a new South Philly tutoring center, he scours Project H.O.M.E.'s Web site for information.

Jibril is in a workshop called "Talking to Strangers," designed to introduce kids under 13 to journalism. It's one of several literacy-focused classes at the center, located at 15th and Christian. All the classes, intended for people ages 7 to 18, are free.

While Jibril works, other students prepare for interviews about jazz, graffiti and stray cats. If they hit their deadline of Aug. 14, Mighty Writers hopes to circulate 2,000 papers featuring the stories.

The founders of Mighty Writers are Rachel Loeper, a veteran nonprofiteer, and Tim Whitaker, former editor of Philadelphia Weekly. The center opened just a few weeks ago, on the strength of donations, grants and several dozen volunteers. It now boasts about 70 students.

"It's moving much faster than we ever anticipated," says Whitaker. Readers interested in entering a child into a workshop or volunteering should contact the office at 267-239-0899.

—Tom Dreisbach

Last week, the mayor held a press conference announcing that the city would be late paying many of its bills. A budget stalemate in Harrisburg was preventing the state from providing expected funds.

In discussing the situation, though, Nutter kept grouping the delayed payments with two other measures he's relying on state lawmakers to take: allowing Philadelphia to raise its sales tax and restructure its pension payments. The city needs state approval on these matters if it's going to weather the downturn without huge cuts.

The delayed payments are just that — delayed. The other two measures are very much up in the air. After Nutter seemed to treat them as inevitabilities, Catherine Lucey of the Daily News pointed out to the mayor that Harrisburg's response to his request has been "mixed." Is the money really coming?

"I do not speak for the General Assembly," Nutter replied, but, "there has been a tremendous reception to the issues and challenges facing the city." We think this is political-speak for "I'm keeping my fingers crossed."