INQUIRER: Mayor Nutter will announce drastic new steps today to close a $1 billion gap in the city’s five-year budget, including the closure of 11 of 54 branch libraries and dozens of city pools, a freeze on tax reductions, reduced hours or programs at more than a dozen recreation centers, and fewer engines at some firehouses, according to sources familiar with his plans. Until now, Nutter had estimated the budget gap at up to $850 million. “At $850 million, it continues to grow,” he said last night. To address the even bigger figure, scheduled city-funded cuts in the business and wage taxes will be frozen until fiscal 2015, although wage-tax relief from state casino revenue will be unaffected, said sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because Nutter “embargoed” the information until today. Layoffs are anticipated. All city departments will be hit, and some, including the Free Library, the Department of Recreation, and the Fairmount Park Commission, are in line for 20 percent budget reductions, the sources said. Mechanical pickup of leaves will end, forcing homeowners to bag leaves, but that change is not expected immediately. Free bulk-trash pickup, including refrigerators and other appliances, will end. Many side streets will go unplowed unless at least 12 inches of snow is on the ground. MORE
KILLADELPHIA: One Dead Since You Went To Bed
INQUIRER: A West Philadelphia man was shot and killed last night in the city’s Mill Creek section, police said. Bruce Holloman, 21, of the 4000 block of Brown Street, was shot multiple times shortly after 8 p.m. Police found him fatally wounded, struck in the neck and chest, on the 4200 block of Parrish Street. Holloman was pronounced dead at 8:35 p.m. at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Police have no suspects or motive in the slaying. MORE