The owner of San Francisco’s Kezar Pub is expecting to turn away 49ers fans ahead of the Sunday playoff game starring his city’s NFL team. Instead, the sports bar will be filled with fans of the Philadelphia Eagles. Philly fans have flocked to Cyril Hackett’s bar before every Eagles game this season, filling up seats before other teams’ supporters even start to arrive. Regardless of what else is playing on the Cole Valley pub’s 24 televisions, the Birds game will be on — with sound. During the Jan. 21 playoff game against the New York Giants, Hackett estimated around 350 Eagles fans showed up ..read more

More jobs and training coming with Beury Building development Plans are moving forward with Shift Capital’s redevelopment of the Beury Building, the long-vacant 14-story tower at Broad and Erie. Best known for years by the “boner4ever” graffiti along its sides, the building is slated to welcome a hotel and several restaurants, including one on the ground floor and one on the roof. With construction due to start in May, developers have committed to providing nearby residents with jobs and training, Jordan Levy reports. → What’s promised for the neighborhood ..read more

Philly is so dedicated to the color green right now that a non-football fan — or non-Philadelphian — might mistake it for St. Patrick’s Day. Folks across the city are getting hyped for the NFC Championships, with restaurants, breweries, bakeries, and cafes in the forefront. Themed food and drink is on offer this week and weekend in many forms. Whether you’re an Eagles lifer, a bandwagon fan (welcome!), or just a person who enjoys verdant food dye, here’s a selection of dishes, drinks, and treats you can consume in the spirit of postseason success. Spread Eagles Formation flavor by 1-900-ICE-CR ..read more

Every person running to be Philly’s next mayor talks about doing better to solve the city’s gun violence epidemic. Which of their plans make the most sense? To help voters answer that question, Billy Penn and WHYY are partnering with the CeaseFirePA Education Fund to host the “100th Mayor: Restoring Safety Forum” in early March. Public safety is a top concern for anyone who lives and works in the city, with good reason. Philadelphia experienced nearly 1,000 gun homicides over the last two years. And while the pandemic saw shootings spike in urban centers across the nation, Philly has yet to se ..read more

? Want this daily digest emailed to you? Sign up for the free Billy Penn newsletter and it’ll land in your inbox every morning. Another mayoral forum … and another mayoral candidate? Another mayoral forum happens tonight at St. Joe’s. The focus is gun violence, with 8 of 10 Dem candidates confirmed — everyone but Amen Brown and Warren Bloom. It streams live on 6abc.com from 6 to 8 p.m. Does the crowded field really need another candidate? Apparently Mike Stack — former lt. gov. and onetime standup comedian — thinks so. That’s what Democratic Party boss Bob Brady ..read more

Good news for lovers of movies and free entertainment: the Free Library of Philadelphia has brought back cardholder access to Kanopy. The library’s system-wide subscription to the movie and TV-streaming platform allows cardholders to stream from a collection of more than 3,000 titles from their homes with no limits, including documentaries, Oscar-winning movies, international films, and kid-focused entertainment. The service was back up and running as of Tuesday. “We are overjoyed to resume access to Kanopy,” Free Library Director Kelly Richards said in a press release. “It was a popular servi ..read more

With new reports highlighting potential health hazards of gas stoves, and the Port Richmond gas explosion earlier this year, many in Philadelphia are thinking more about the safety of gas utilities in their homes and communities. But when it comes to sustainability and safer utilities in the city, Philadelphia Gas Works is coming up short. As the largest municipally-owned gas utility in the country, PGW is a unique asset that could lead our city into a sustainable energy future. Cleaner air, cleaner neighborhoods, and innovative technologies could make Philadelphia an example, throughout the U ..read more

Sustained conversations about reparations for slavery in the United States have a tendency to bring forward a wide range of anxieties. Things get even stickier when the discussion includes the complicity of one’s faith tradition in slavery and anti-Blackness. About 100 members of various faith communities in Philly spent four days on exactly that topic last week, as part of an intensive course run by the Mayor’s Commission on Faith-based and Interfaith Affairs and The Truth Telling Project. The program is part of the commission’s ongoing “Rise Up for Reparations” campaign, which kicked off via ..read more

A week after Meek Mill received a gubernatorial pardon for the 15-year-old charge that famously landed him in jail after he popped a wheelie, pressure is mounting for the judge who put him behind bars to resign. Judge Genece Brinkley, who had sentenced the Philadelphia rapper born Robert Rihmeek Williams to 2 to 4 years in prison for minor probation violations, is currently embroiled in her own legal trouble. Brinkley is battling at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court with First Judicial District leadership, who last month stripped her of her criminal docket and reassigned her to civil court. “She ..read more

? Want this daily digest emailed to you? Sign up for the free Billy Penn newsletter and it’ll land in your inbox every morning. Mayoral candidates meet in North Philly at first major forum Democratic contenders participated Sunday in DiverseForce’s mayoral forum, which focused on Philly’s Black business community. A few takeaways: No candidate emerged a clear winner. (You can watch on YouTube.) Cherelle Parker touted her experience and jabbed at the “white privilege wealth” of Allan Domb and Jeff Brown, who stressed their self-made backgrounds and pledg ..read more