Philly News Briefs: 2/29/16
1.) Philadelphia has ranked in the national top ten for public transportation use, says a Smart Asset study. The study, entitled “The Best Cities for Public Transportation,” examined commute times, the amount of people using public transportation, and the average annual income of the people using it. The City of Brotherly Love ranked ninth on the listing of America’s top cities for public transportation. Around 171,000 workers use Philadelphia’s system of buses, trolleys, trains, and subways to commute to work, a number that is the 4th-largest in the nation. The trains account for an average of 290,000 rides on a typical weekday, while buses and trolley buses move about 490,000. Washington, D.C. came out tops in the study. Other cities that led Philly included Jersey City, New Jersey, and Pittsburgh. The study also found that the average Philadelphian takes 27 minutes to commute by car and 44 minutes to commute by public transit.
Holly Harrar is the new Miss Philadelphia.
2.) There’s a new princess in town. On Saturday night, 22-year-old Holly Harrar was crowned the new Miss Philadelphia. Harrar, a senior communications and journalism major who attends Shippensburg University, took the prize over 17 other contestants at the Miss Philadelphia pageant, which was held at Drexel University. In June, Harrar will try her luck against dozens of other city queens for the title of Miss Pennsylvania, the winner of whom will go on to the Miss America pageant. Harrar won $10,000 in scholarships along with a fantastic crown. The focus of her reign will be on disability-rights issues, a pet cause of hers. Harrar hopes to become either a disabilities-rights advocate or a broadcast journalist – preferably right here in Philadelphia.
3.) Thousands of young gymnasts flipped, spun, and twirled in the name of breast cancer this past weekend at the 8th annual Pink Invitational, an event that raises money and awareness for breast cancer research and treatments. The invitational consisted of some 3,500 gymnasts from 87 gyms and 5 colleges from across the country, most of whom were clad in pink leotards or sported pink accessories. The event was held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The event benefited Unite For Her, a nonprofit that pays for wellness treatments, like massage and yoga classes for 1,000 women a year. The group received 100% of the proceeds from the event.
