NEWS
September 5, 1992 | by Sheila Simmons, Daily News Staff Writer
Steven Small, 33, wanted to be in politics so badly, they say he tried for spots in several City Council offices . . . in his own way. Police yesterday arrested Small, of Media Avenue near 55th Street, as he allegedly hawked food stamps on the corner of 54th and Master in his West Philadelphia neighborhood. At the time, Small was posing as Lester Brown, administrative assistant for Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell's office, police said. After the arrest, a quick call to Blackwell's office disclosed that the Lester Brown who worked there was in the office, working.
NEWS
November 19, 2009
THANKS for your edit on the alarming number of children who've received food stamps at some point. Many people don't realize just how vital that safety-net program is. Without it, we'd have much higher rates of hunger in this country. In Pennsylvania, the number of children in the program has risen 37 percent in the last five years. Considering your readership likely encompasses more than Pennsylvanians, it would be prudent to point out that the eligibility requirements of the program (now the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance)
NEWS
June 26, 1991 | By Wanda Motley, Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau
Welfare recipients will be able to get supplemental food stamps next month if the General Assembly has not adopted a state budget by Monday's deadline, a state welfare official said yesterday. Yvette Jackson, the Department of Public Welfare's acting deputy secretary for income maintenance, said federal officials had given the department tentative approval to award extra food stamps in the event the Casey administration cannot issue welfare checks next month. Under state law, the government loses the authority to spend money - including payments to welfare recipients, funding for schools and payroll for state employees - if the legislature has not approved a new budget by the start of the 1992 fiscal year.
NEWS
July 10, 1998 | by Rob Nelson, Daily News Staff Writer
A major fraud ring in the city has been stamped out. Thirteen people have been arrested after a yearlong undercover investigation into illegal trafficking of food stamps at six local take-out restaurants, District Attorney Lynne Abraham said yesterday. Employees of the following eateries were arrested: Number 1 Kitchen, at 5th Street near Cumberland; Eddie's Chinese Restaurant, on Allegheny Avenue near Lee Street; Kitchen Express, on 2nd Street near Dauphin Street; Yung Hinh Inn on 52nd Street near Irving Street; Antai Kitchen on Chew Avenue near Woodlawn Avenue; and another Number 1 Kitchen, on Washington Lane near Stenton Avenue.
NEWS
July 16, 2012 | Daily News Editorial
OF ALL THE distortions and downright lies about the food-stamp program that have been trotted out in recent weeks, perhaps the biggest howler is the one advanced by the Wall Street Journal editorial page. It said the program is "becoming the latest middle-class entitlement. " The actual fact is that no one within shouting distance of middle class is eligible for food stamps: According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, 85 percent of recipients have incomes below the poverty line — $18,500 for a family of three — with the rest barely above it. Last week, the House Agricultural Committee passed a five-year reauthorization of the farm bill that cuts $16 billion in food stamps while keeping several subsidies for corporate farmers intact.
NEWS
March 8, 1990 | By Jim Smith, Daily News Staff Writer
Federal agents yesterday arrested four city residents and were seeking two others on charges of trafficking in food stamps, a widespread problem in Philadelphia, prosecutors say. In each case, the defendants were accused of purchasing food stamps for roughly half their face value near locations where food-stamp recipients pick up their coupons each month. One defendant on one occasion allegedly traded $1,000 cash and a Batman T- Shirt for $2,180 in food stamps, authorities said.
NEWS
March 12, 1998
Immigrants from scores of countries are changing the face of this city, as the Daily News reported Tuesday in a special section, "The New Philadelphians. " But some of those immigrants are hungry, victims of the shortsighted - not to mention cruel - cutoff of food stamps in the 1996 welfare reform act. Around the state, food banks are reporting a surge in hungry people, some of them immigrants, including children. Other legal immigrants are disabled or elderly - not able to become citizens, which would re-qualify them for food assistance.
NEWS
November 18, 1996
When it comes to making laws that affect poor people, legislators everywhere in the country are generous at serving up rhetoric. Apparently, few are hungry for firsthand knowledge. Only about a dozen state legislators in Pennsylvania have taken the challenge to "walk a mile" in the shoes of welfare recipients and the working poor this month. As part of a program sponsored here by the Community Action Association of Pennsylvania, the legislators will live on typical food-stamp allotments for their county.
NEWS
April 18, 2012 | ASSOCIATED PRESS
LINCOLN PARK, Mich. - A Michigan lottery winner was charged with fraud Tuesday for collecting food stamps and public health insurance despite having pocketed a $735,000 jackpot. Amanda Clayton, 25, was silent during a brief court hearing after spending a night in jail. A not-guilty plea was entered, and her lawyer vowed to fight the charges. Clayton is the second person in Michigan caught with food stamps despite newly minted wealth. Gov. Rick Snyder last week signed a law requiring the lottery to notify the Human Services Department when someone wins at least $1,000.
NEWS
May 11, 2012 | By Meghann Myers, MEDILL NEWS SERVICE
WASHINGTON - Farmers markets are a popular source of reasonably priced fresh produce, but across the country many accept only cash or checks - a big problem for low-income shoppers using food stamps. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is trying to change that. Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan this week announced a $4 million grant for states to help implement wireless technology that will allow more farmers markets to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, or food stamps.