🌁 Philly bridges need major safety assessment

🍺 This Philly Brewery’s All About Community & Second Chances

Now that we’re done hibernating, it’s the perfect time of year to crack open a cold one at a tailgate or spend some time at a beer garden. But one local brewery isn’t just providing drinks for springtime hangouts; it’s providing job opportunities. Triple Bottom Brewing’s apprenticeship program is helping formerly homeless and incarcerated folks get a fresh start, one brew at a time. [🎧 City Cast Philly]

🌉 Philly Bridges in Need of Risk Assessment

After the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore due to a vessel strike last year, the National Transportation Safety Board released a report of 68 bridges in need of assessment in order to prevent such an incident from happening again. The Walt Whitman, Benjamin Franklin, and the Delaware River bridges are all listed as having “critical/essential risk,” while the Betsy Ross Bridge is labeled as “typical” risk. [NTSB]

❤️‍🩹 Is Kensington Turning the Tide on Gun Violence?

Early numbers appear to suggest so. Following the implementation of a community plan with the partnership of neighborhood organizations and city departments, crime rates have fallen. Kensington’s homicide rate in 2024 was down 45%, nonfatal shootings down 57%, and all violent crimes down 17%. [The Trace]

🛞 4,000 Tires Dumped in Philly Park

You read that number correctly. About 4,000 tires are estimated to have been illegally dumped in Tacony Creek Park, which stretches along several Philly neighborhoods including Olney, Lawncrest, and Feltonville. The Tookany/Tacony Frankford Watershed Partnership is organizing a cleanup with volunteers and city workers on April 5 to clear the mess. It’s the largest dumping the park steward has ever seen. [🔒The Inquirer]