January 25: Maria Quiñones-Sánchez the insurgent | 12 state transpo reforms | Wissahickon Clean Water Partnership

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Holly Otterbein profiles hard-charging 7th District Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez, whose never-ending street fights with local ward leaders and the Democratic City Committee haven’t prevented her from piling up a big list of legislative accomplishments, including the Philly Land Bank, a key business tax reform bill, and more.

SEPTA service isn’t entirely back to normal yet after the blizzard, so check their website to see which buses and trains are still experiencing service disruptions. 

Seven Montgomery County municipalities have now signed onto the Wissahickon Clean Water Partnership to make water quality improvements to the Wissahickon, the source of 10% of Philadelphia’s drinking water, reports Dave Hess. 

OCF Realty’s Naked Philly checks in on the big Mural Lofts renovation on North Broad Street.

Corey Abramson on how West Philly activist Dave Brindley and Code for Philly have been working to revamp the adopt-a-block litter fighting strategy with the new Not in Philly campaign. 

Turnpike Commission chairman Sean Logan is bristling at U.S. PIRG’s inclusion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway extension on their list of the top 12 U.S. highway boondoggles. Logan, the former Mayor of Monroeville, maintains that the project is critical to the economic fortunes of Pittsburgh’s western suburbs, while the U.S. PIRG report argues that amendments to the plan removing the direct link to downtown Pittsburgh eliminates most of the purported economic benefits of the extension. The Mon-Fayette Expressway extension has been on the agenda for Western PA officials since the 1960’s, was put on ice during the Rendell administration, and later revived in 2015 after the passage of the Act 89 transportation funding bill. 

Angie Schmitt at Streetsblog reads Transportation for America’s new report recommending 12 state policy ideas to make transportation spending less politically-driven, and more results-oriented

The People for Bikes blog previews the protected bike lane recommendations in NACTO’s new transit guide. 

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