Philly News Briefs: 01/04/17
1.) It’s a fresh semester of the 2016-2017 school year, and young children across Philadelphia are starting it off strong with the expansion of the city’s pre-K program. The program, designed for 3- and 4-year-olds, is meant to give small kids the foundations they need for a lifetime of learning. Thanks to Mayor Jim Kenney’s “soda tax,” two thousand pre-K seats have opened up, tuition-free, for regular school hours. The city is paying $8,500 for each pre-K student enrolled. CBS3 quoted a local mother, Lisa Martin, who was dropping her 3-year-old off at school for the first time: “They say kindergarten is the new first grade, so we need all the kids to be prepared. We don’t want anyone to go into kindergarten not knowing everything that they need to know, that they could have learned had they had access to a pre-K program.”
Philadelphia made a move towards universal pre-K this week as 2,000 tuition-free seats opened up for young children.
2.) Members of a Philly-based unit of the National Guard will be performing at President Trump’s inauguration. The First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry has been present at four presidential inaugurations, starting with Ulysses S. Grant and most lately, with the first George Bush. The Cavalry is best known for its elaborate ceremonial uniforms, which were designed in 1825 by the Marquis DeLafayette. The mounted unit (its horses are stabled at Valley Forge Military Academy) will be serving double duty on Inauguration Day: We’re going to be operating both as a Pennsylvania National Guard Unit operating a tactical center that is the quick response force for actual problems at the inauguration if they occur,” said Andre Stephano, troop spokesman. This is in addition to providing ceremonial flair.
3.) The soda tax has hit Philadelphia, filling consumers with outrage and despair over the prices of sweetened drinks. The tax started January 1st. News emerged over the weekend, however, that at least one Philadelphia grocery chain had raised the prices of their drinks early. Was it because of the timeliness of advertising (since sales start on Friday and run the whole week, which was the official explanation), or simply because the Acme chain wanted to take advantage of the New Year’s Eve rush? Only the company knows for certain.
