THE DEATH OF PRINT: Why Pigs Can’t Fly

PHILLY MAG: According to a report released today by Standard & Poor’s, the owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News has received a forbearance agreement from its creditors that will run through September 10th. Philadelphia Media Holdings, the investor group put together by publisher Brian P. Tierney to acquire the papers and philly.com in 2006, will face a serious financial penalty — interest on its debt will climb a full percentage point — in exchange for being allowed to skip payments during that period. PMH has also offered to surrender $15 million from its revolving line of credit, reducing […]

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NEWS CLUES: Like A Montauk Monster Mash Of Truth

WHY SO SERIOUS? Olsen Twin Refuses To Speak To DEA Without Immunity NEW YORK — Federal investigators want to question Mary-Kate Olsen about how Heath Ledger got two powerful painkillers that contributed to his accidental overdose death, but she’s refusing to talk without immunity, a law enforcement official said Monday. Olsen’s lawyer has twice refused requests for her to speak with investigators, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing. The lawyer, Michael C. Miller, said the “Full House” actress has nothing to do with the drugs, and has already told the government everything […]

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PET CEMETERY: Man Finds Three Decapitated Chickens, One Dead Dog & One Dead Kitten In City Park

INQUIRER: A pedestrian walking through a city park made a grisly discovery this morning in the Juniata section of Philadelphia. Three beheaded chickens, one dead kitten, another cat close to death, and the skeletal remains of a dog were scattered throughout a small area of the Tacony Creek Park. The carnage was found just off a concrete service road leading into the park near Ramona and I Streets. Investigators were puzzled and shocked as they scoured the site this afternoon. “This is a little different from anything I’ve ever seen,” said George Bengal, the director of law enforcement for the […]

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HEAR YE: Sparklehorse It’s A Wonderful Life

NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO! BY JONATHAN VALANIA HE WAS DEAD ONCE. FOR TWO BREATHLESS MINUTES in 1996, Mark Linkous, the auteur behind Sparklehorse, lay dead on the floor of a London hotel room while paramedics rushed to revive him. Fourteen hours earlier he’d stepped off a plane at Heathrow Airport to begin a European tour supporting Radiohead. After swallowing an ill-advised cocktail of Valium, liquor and prescription antidepressants, Linkous collapsed on his hotel-room floor, where he would lie on his back for the next 14 hours in a kneeling position that cut off the circulation to his legs. When […]

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RIP: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Dead At 89

NEW YORK TIMES: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whose stubborn, lonely and combative literary struggles gained the force of prophecy as he revealed the heavy afflictions of Soviet Communism in some of the most powerful works of the 20th century, died late on Sunday at the age of 89 in Moscow. His son Yermolai said the cause was a heart ailment. Mr. Solzhenitsyn outlived by nearly 17 years the Soviet state and system he had battled through years of imprisonment, ostracism and exile. Mr. Solzhenitsyn had been an obscure, middle-aged, unpublished high school science teacher in a provincial Russian town when he burst […]

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We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It

HEAD BANGER’S BALL: Man Man, Download Fest, Susquehanna Center, Yesterday BY DAVE ALLEN The Download Festival came to the Susquehanna Bank Center on Saturday and boy are my ears tired. Louis XIV, a punkish quartet with the elemental stab of AC/DC, played to a sparse, disinterested crowd in the mid-afternoon. Lead singer Jason Hill brought some swagger and reverse windmills on guitar, and the set took on an arena-friendly sheen when guitarist Brian Karscig moved over to keyboard on “Finding Out True Love is Blind.” The setup for Philly homeboys Man Man promised something different: keyboard and drum kit facing […]

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GAYDAR: There’s A Sex Dwarf Party In My Pants

BY AARON STELLA Sex Dwarf, DJ Robert Drake’s monthly gay bash, just turned five, and to honor such a joyous occasion, the Dumpsta Players — Phawker’s favorite wild wig-headed trash-glitz drag troup — put on a lip-sync dance tribute to New Wave Saturday night at Fluid. In the words of Miss Lisa Lisa, host of the longest-running drag show in the city at Bob and Barbara’s, “they bring the glamour with the clamor.” Drake channels his passion of New Wave 80’s dance music through the festivities of Sex Dwarf, as fans of New Wave — and of Drake — flocked […]

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Disgruntled Worker Kills 2 At Bristol Book Warehouse

MSNBC: Diamond told authorities he drove around for an hour before arriving at the warehouse and shooting Angel Guadalupe, whom he did not know, as the temporary worker was leaving the site, Henry said. Guadalupe, 46, fell out of his vehicle and collapsed on the ground, at which point Diamond stood over him and kept firing, he told police. He then spotted forklift operator Reginald Woodson, 52, running toward the building and started firing, Henry said. Woodson, a 20-year employee and father of four, was shot in the back, she said. Diamond told authorities he had been harassed by co-workers […]

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RAWK TALK: Q&A With The Whigs

BY MICHAEL DONOVAN The Whigs — currently the pride of Athens, GA — play the Download Festival tomorrow in Camden in support of their rocktastic second album, Mission Control, released earlier in the year. We managed to catch up with Parker Gisper, just back from the Whigs whirlwind tour of Japan, and currently stuck in traffic somewhere on 95… PHAWKER: First and foremost: Download’s tomorrow — how’s it feel to be going on stage with Iggy Pop and The Killers? PARKER: It’s pretty exciting! We’re huge Iggy Pop fans, and I’ve never seen him live, so hopefully we’ll get done […]

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HOT DOC: Indie Mall Bomb Scare Affidavit

AFFIDAVIT This affidavit is in support of a criminal complaint charging LOUIS C. BOUMPANI and KATHY BOUMPANI as follows: In Count One, LOUIS BOUMPANI is charged with transporting a firearm in interstate commerce, while under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. LOUIS BOUMPANI and KATHY are each charged in Counts Two and Three with possession of a dangerous weapon in a federal court facility, and a federal facility, respectively, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 930(a), (e)(1). This affidavit is based upon this affiant’s investigation as well as information supplied […]

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