RENDELL SWORN IN BY PUNXSUTAWNEY PHIL

“I believe that we have put Pennsylvania firmly on the road to enduring progress. But today is not the time to rest on our laurels. There is much yet to be done,” said Rendell, bracing against a stiff January wind and wearing only a navy-blue suit.[…] Rendell said he would try to build on the achievements of his first term, highlighting his efforts to reduce government spending while investing in education and economic-development programs. His 10-minute speech was interrupted by applause about a dozen times by a smaller-than-expected crowd of about 1,500 people, including federal and state lawmakers and well-wishers.The […]

GUNCRAZY: Cops Bag Third Trophy Kill Of The Year

By Joseph A. Gambardello INQUIRER STAFF WRITER A robbery suspect was fatally wounded after a running gun battle with police this morning in Port Richmond. Police were investigating the possibility that the man shot himself in the head about the same time as a police officer fired one round into the man’s shoulder area. During the gunbattle, the man fired about 10 shots at police, including three bullets into the side of a patrol car. […] “He was determined not to get caught,” said Capt. Ben Naish, a police department spokesman. Police said they recovered a bag with money next […]

GUILD: Layoffs Disproportionately Targeted Minorites, Leaving Behind A Newsroom Of Dead, White Men To Cover A City Where Minorities ARE The Majority

Dear Guild Member, Today several of our members, with the support of National Association of Black Journalists, met with top executives of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News. Attached is a summary of their talking points, passed on with their permission: THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER DIVERSITY OBSERVATIONS January 16, 2007 African American (11.3 percent), Asian American (4.7 percent) and Hispanic American (2.1 percent) journalists are the minorities represented on The Inquirer?s newsroom staff, according to the latest survey of the American Society of Newspaper editors. African American (16) and Asian American (5) journalists represent a disproportionate share (28 percent) of the […]

SAME AS IT EVER WAS: Neil Stein Spotted Walking Towards Rittenhouse Square & Looking FABULOUS!

Stein, 65, said that he wanted to create a high-end, boutique hotel called Wow with computers and flat-screen televisions in every room, with a bistro, rooftop club, limo service, Philadelphia’s best spa, and – in place of a check-in desk – a concierge service to escort guests to their rooms. Or he’d try franchising Rouge, the bistro he created on Rittenhouse Square, perhaps opening versions in Miami Beach or the Georgetown section of Washington. Or develop a rehab center for alcohol and drug addicts in Center City; he’s a recovering addict. He said he had even given some thought to […]

HALLWATCH Launches Letter Campaign To Spur City Council To Sue Pants & Underpants Off Gaming Board

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board chose the two worst sites for Casinos in Philadelphia. Councilman DiCicco has offered to file a law suit to challenge the Gaming Board’s decisions, but law suits are expensive, very expensive. In order to proceed, he needs to convince City Council to fund the lawsuit. They will be voting on this budget before the end of January. Please write in to City Council ASAP. They need to hear from us that we need this funding. Sample Letter: Dear Council Member, Please fund Councilman DiCicco?s effort to file a lawsuit with the PGCB. Thank you, YOUR […]

NOW HIRING: High-Profile Local Defense Attorney Needs High-Profile Local Defense Attorney

A well-known Philadelphia lawyer has been arrested and charged with numerous offenses. Police say he was discovered naked, in a private lounge area of the Criminal Justice Center, with a 14-year-old girl. Defense attorney Larry Charles has been charged with sexual assault, corrupting the morals of a minor, and several other crimes. Police say Charles and the girl went into the CJC on Monday. Courts were not in session because of the Martin Luther King holiday, but Charles said the girl wanted to post bail for someone. After the pair was not seen for a while, and CJC guards could […]

2nd City Hall Break-In, Intruders Rifle Thru Supreme Court Files, Leave Behind Inspirational Messages, Smiley Faces, “i”s Dotted With Little Hearts, Etc.

For the second time in less than a week, an apparent break-in has been discovered at Philadelphia City Hall. On Sunday, the glass pane of an office door leading to the fourth-floor office of the City Council president was found smashed (see related story). Then, on Tuesday morning, workers found that an exterior window in the offices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in City Hall had been smashed and the offices left in disarray. There is scaffolding outside the south side of City Hall reaching up to the fourth floor, and officials think someone got access to that scaffolding by […]

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: 9/11 Mysteries

The day after 9/11 we went to the Khyber where an acquaintance assured us over beers that it was an ‘inside job.’ We told him that we were no stranger to conspiracy theories — that the official explanations of assassinations of JFK, MLK and RFK are riddled with black holes of impossibility and trapdoors of doubt that lead to the sub-basements of the Dark Side of the American psyche — but to say that our own government had a hand in the wholesale slaughter of thousands of its own citizens is cheap insult to the dead. Now, we’re not so […]

GUNCRAZY: Suicide By Cop Done ‘By The Book,’ Say Experts

Police say officers twice tried to tame the man in Center City with shots from a Taser electronic stun gun before he lunged at them with the knife, yelling, “Kill me! Kill me!” The five officers shot him down in a fusillade. He was the second man killed by police gunfire this year. Police yesterday disclosed few new details about the 2 a.m. confrontation, which was captured by surveillance cameras outside the Robert N.C. Nix Federal Building on Market Street near Ninth. The assailant, said to be in his 30s, has not been identified. Experts say police, in their account […]

EMERGENCY: When 911 Is A Joke That Writes Itself

A 68-year-old man fell from an ambulance onto the busy Interstate 295 in Mount Laurel early yesterday morning while he was being transported to a hospital. Lawrence Byrne, whose address was not known, was in critical condition at Cooper University Hospital in Camden after the incident, which happened around 6:30 a.m., said State Police Sgt. Jeanne Hengemuhle. It was not immediately clear why Byrne was being transported by ambulance, Hengemuhle said. The incident occurred in the northbound lane at milepost 36.2. An investigation was continuing. DAILY NEWS: Where’s Flava Flav When You REALLY Need Him?