KILLADELPHIA: Cop Shot In Face, Given Last Rites, Schools On Lockdown, Shooter Still On The Loose UPDATE: Philadelphia Police Officer Chuck Cassidy has died from the wounds he suffered in a shooting during a robbery Wednesday at a Dunkin’ Donuts in West Oak Lane. Cassidy was pronounced dead at 9:40 a.m. this morning at Albert Einstein Medical Center. RELATED: Police believe the body pulled from the Schuylkill River Wednesday morning is the man wanted in a shooting Tuesday night that left four people — including a Philadelphia cop — wounded. The body was identified as 29-year-old Jerome Whitaker of the […]
MAILBAG: A House Is Not A Hotel
DEAR PHAWKER, Anne Dicker couldn’t qualify for a mortgage to buy fumo’s house because she’s never held a job. That’s why she’s running for state senate. She finally want sto work after being in Philadlephia for 4 years. And why is she making a stink about Fumo’s property taxes? How much does Anne pay in property taxes? Wait, do you mean to tell me she has never paid the city wage tax and bnever paid the property tax here and STILL she thinks she is qualified to be a state senator? She actually thinks she knows what people who WORK […]
CINEMA: She’s Lost Control Again
CONTROL (2007, directed by Anton Corbijn, 121 minutes, U.K.) BY DAN BUSKIRK FILM CRITIC An ultimate music geek movie Control allows Joy Division über fan, their one-time photographer Anton Corbijn, to reconstruct the dreary world of mid-seventies Manchester for this new biopic of band singer/lyricist Ian Curtis [pictured, right]. It’s a dazzling resurrection, in overblown black & whiteCorbijn gets every detail right in his obsession to summon the stark landscape that gave birth to Joy Division desolate vision. Once we get used to Control‘s austere beauty, we find a film hung up by the same problems that have always afflicted […]
SEASONS GREETINGS: It’s Halloween!
“Why even Dracula will be there!” — The Shaggs, “It’s Halloween”
LIVE & DIRECT: The Democratic Presidential Debate
MONSTER M*A*S*H: Demonstrators act up at 34th & Chestnut, 7:55 PM BY JONATHAN VALANIA PHILADELPHIA — We are live and direct from the press filing room of the Democratic Presidential Debate at Drexel. All media poohbahs great and small are here: CNN, Philly Gay News, Newsweek, Phawker. I just saw the Daily News’ Dan Gross being led away by security yelling something about “Don’t Tase me, bro” — whatever that means. Maybe I should help. Fuck it. I’m sure he’ll be fine. Besides, I don’t wanna lose my spot in line for the snack table. They have pretzels. I like […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
ZOGBY POLL: Slim Majority Of Americans Say ‘Bomb Iran’ Despite President Bush’s perpetually abysmal approval ratings, it appears his increasingly hostile rhetoric against Iran has drummed up enough fear of a “nuclear holocaust” or a World War III that a majority of Americans are in favor of a US strike against the country aimed a curtailing its apparent nuclear ambitions, a new poll shows. The Zogby International survey shows 52 percent of Americans would support a strike on Iran, while 53 percent expect President Bush to launch such an attack before the end of his second term. Democratic candidate Hillary […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Comedian Jerry Seinfeld last sat down with Fresh Air in September 1987, before his TV series made him an international celebrity. Now he’s back, and in a big way: Bee Movie, the animated comedy he’s written and produced for DreamWorks, opens this Friday. (Watch clips.) It’s about Barry B. Benson, a bee who learns about life outside the hive — and eventually sues humanity for stealing honey. Seinfeld begins his conversation with Fresh Air guest host Dave Davies with an observation on the difference between writing a screenplay and doing stand-up comedy. “The trouble with it is, you […]
SERVE THE SERVANTS: Dicker Bids On Hotel Fumo
Tuesday, October 30, 2007, Philadelphia, PA — Today, Pennsylvania State Senate candidate Anne Dicker put in an offer to buy Senator Vincent Fumo’s 2220 Green Street Mansion. The offer was for $250,001, which is $1 more than the value assessed by Philadelphia’s Board of Revision and Taxes (BRT). If successful, Anne Dicker has pledged to turn around and sell the house for upwards of $1.25 million, and to donate the profits from the sale to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. [via HEARD IN THE HALL] PREVIOUSLY: Welcome To The Hotel Vincent Fumo, You Can Check Out Any Time You Like, But […]
TODAY I SAW…
BY JEFF DEENEY TODAY I SAW a mountain of garbage stacked on the flat landing outside the front doors to Mantua Hall. There were bags filled with rotting garbage and piles of discarded clothes. There were bed mattresses tossed at angles on top of all the bags. There was busted up furniture pushed to the edges of the pile and left to soak in the rain. It was impossible to tell if the trash heap was a sign of progress or regress; these could be things discarded by families moving to new Section 8 housing in advance of the […]