Ideas We Should Steal

Fix the Damn Potholes … with AI

Vialytics is user-friendly software that quickly identifies and maps potholes, sinkholes and other roadway problems. Could the app fix Philly streets — or would our City simply run a pilot and then throw it away?

By Courtney DuChene
Citizen of the Week

Ken Weinstein, Ballot Corrector

The real estate developer — along with 600 other volunteers statewide — is working to help people “cure” their rejected mail-in ballots

By Courtney DuChene

PA’s Secret Weapon to Fight Climate Change

A bipartisan Philadelphia-based group is spreading the word about Pennsylvania’s Environmental Rights Amendment in the hopes the 53-year-old law can protect our endangered environment today

By Courtney DuChene

Trump v. Harris on the Economy

Most voters say the economy will play a major role in deciding their choice for president. So how do the records of both candidates stack up against each other?

By Courtney DuChene

A Jobs Program that Works

The West Philadelphia Skills Initiative helped nearly 2,000 Philadelphians find work. Now, with a large grant from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, the organization is expanding and rebranding to connect more Philadelphians with skills, jobs and career opportunities

By Courtney DuChene

How to Help Communities Affected by Hurricane Helene

Can you fly a plane? Decipher a home insurance policy? Donate a couple of bucks? Eight ways Philadelphians 600 miles away from storm-impacted North Carolina can offer effective aid

By Courtney DuChene
The Citizen Recommends

Attorney General Ultimate Job Interview … in Pittsburgh!

For the first time ever, The Citizen is crossing the Commonwealth to interview Eugene DePasquale, Dave Sunday and Eric Settle, candidates running to be “the people’s lawyer” of PA

By Courtney DuChene
The Citizen Recommends

The Kindred Podcast

It’s easy to forget that we humans are literal animals. Two Philadelphia-area sisters remind us, one audio episode at a time

By Courtney DuChene
Citizens of the Week

Penn Medicine Votes

A crew of civic-minded hospital professionals are making sure patients unexpectedly hospitalized on Election Day can cast ballots. The effort, they say, is healing in itself.

By Courtney DuChene
Ideas We Should Steal

Automatic Voter Registration for Returning Citizens

Local social justice advocates and a University City state rep want to follow Michigan’s lead and register people convicted of felonies upon release from incarceration. Such legislation could swing elections.

By Courtney DuChene