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HomeAuthorsKira Runk

Articles by Kira Runk

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Neighborhoods

Nicetown: Activists Continue To Fight Against SEPTA’s Gas Plant

January 21, 2019Kira Runk

For the past three years, environmental groups from across the city have actively opposed the construction of a new SEPTA gas plant (pictured above) planned for North Philadelphia. They have protested outside the Mayor Jim

Germantown

Germantown: One Refugee Family’s Experience Avoiding Deportation

December 20, 2018Kira Runk and

This past August, Oneita and Clive Thompson (pictured above) received a phone call telling them something they never could have imagined: they were being deported. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer left Clive Thompson

Immigration

Germantown: One Refugee Family’s Experience Avoiding Deportation

December 20, 2018Kira Runk and

This past August, Oneita and Clive Thompson (pictured above) received a phone call telling them something they never could have imagined: they were being deported. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer left Clive Thompson

Germantown

Germantown: Church Welcomes First Generation Haitian-American Youth Ministries Director

December 13, 2018Kira Runk and

The First United Methodist Church of Germantown (FUMCOG) has sat on the corner of East High Street and Germantown Avenue since 1796. In September, the congregation welcomed 33-year-old Jeanna Murat (pictured above). Murat is first

Business

Germantown: Andrew Trackman Talks Bettering Businesses And The Community

October 25, 2018Kira Runk and

In 2014, Andrew Trackman (pictured above) became the Executive Director of Germantown United Community Development Corporation (GUCDC), located at 5320 Germantown Ave. He has been with the organization since it was created in 2012. He grew

Crime

Germantown: Engaged Citizens Spend Another Evening With The Captain

October 17, 2018Elizabeth Leer and

Police Capt. Anthony Ginaldi (pictured above) and Officer Joseph Lukaitis hosted the 39th Police District monthly Captain’s Meeting and Community Town Watch Meeting on Sept. 24 at Mercy Neighborhood Ministries of Philadelphia, a few blocks

Arts and Entertainment

Germantown: Local Artists Gather To Promote Their Scene

October 16, 2018Elizabeth Leer and

The Germantown Artists Roundtable held their monthly meeting Oct. 3 at the iMPerFeCT Gallery on Germantown Avenue. Germantown artists and art lovers are invited to attend this meeting to meet other local artists, share their

Recent Posts

  • People stand on a sidewalk beneath a pale gray sky. The street behind them is between two tan stone buildings with floor-to-ceiling glass windows on their ground levels, and the multicolored glass exterior of a parking garage shines further down the street, next to some taller red brick buildings. Glass windows are visible behind the people on the sidewalk. Some of them wear raincoats or windbreakers, and some of them hold umbrellas of various colors. Two men in the right half of the image, one southeast Asian and one white, wear clerical collars. They are all waving wooden rods with thick red ribbons tied to the ends of them in the air. Most of the people present appear to be white and/or over the age of 50. One bearded, middle-aged man in a gray and black windbreaker and black pants points a camera towards the bottom right corner of the image, where a blue banner reads “GOD STANDS WITH THE OPPRESSED.” To the banner’s left, a canvas with a monarch butterfly painted on it is draped over a concrete sidewalk barrier. A blue bicycle is parked behind the man with the camera, and a black car in the street drives past the group of people.
    ‘These are our people’: Weekly vigils unite faiths on ICE’s doorstep
    July 7, 2026
  • “To Be Here” weaves a web of Philadelphia experiences, told by and for the community
    July 3, 2026
  • The crowd during a performance by The DOJD, Claire Brown's band, in a West Philadelphia basement. (Image-Jacob Magaldi)
    How Philadelphia’s DIY music scene is helping fund gender-affirming care
    June 7, 2026
  • Video Style Guide: Pictures-Video-Photography
    May 27, 2026
  • Inspired by ACT UP, this queer Philly collective is throwing mutual aid parties 
    May 4, 2026
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