FIRE STATION BROWN OUTS BEGIN TODAY, ONLY YOU CAN STOP FIRES NOW
Starting Monday, Philadelphia residents might need to keep a bucket of water handy because who knows when the Fire Department will show up. At least that’s the spin from the firefighters union. Top city officials, however, say that residents will hardly notice that fire companies are being closed, based on a temporary rotation. The truth lies somewhere in between amid what has been a fierce city budget battle. Some response times will be slower, but the city won’t burn down. Mayor Nutter last month balanced the city budget by cutting $47 million in spending. The Fire Department was cut by $3.8 million, and officials have scheduled temporary closings – called “rolling brownouts” – to reduce overtime costs. Around the nation, cities that are struggling financially have resorted to brownouts, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and Sacramento. [via THE INQUIRER]
THUGS KIDNAP AND TORTURE BODEGA OWNER FOR $20,000
Police said the kidnappers took Valerio to 4622 Wilbrock St., where they bound and beat him and burned him with an iron. 
They ditched his Mercedes around the corner. The abductors poured gasoline on Valerio, promised to kill him, and said they were going to return to Oxford Circle to rape his girlfriend, the nephew said. The assailants believed that Valerio had recently acquired $20,000, perhaps through a business loan of some kind, police said. Neighbors speculated that Valerio may have been followed from his store at E and Clearfield streets. When the thugs left the Wilbrock Street torture house, Valerio managed to hobble away. A relative said Valerio was in the intensive-care unit at Temple University Hospital. Police said they had only a vague description of the kidnappers. [via THE DAILY NEWS]
BP CHIEF VOWS TO SERVE HIS FAMILY GULF SEAFOOD
BP’s chief operating officer says he would eat fish from the Gulf of Mexico and would let his family eat it, too. Doug Suttles took reporters on a boat tour of beaches and marshes Sunday about 25 miles south of Venice, La. Some nearby areas reopened to fishing late last week, and some observers have questioned whether it’s really safe. Suttles says “they wouldn’t open these waters … if it wasn’t safe to eat the fish.” He also says he would eat it and “would serve it to my family.” He says he believes Gulf Shore residents will still find oil and tar balls washing ashore into the winter. [via ASSOCIATED PRESS]