[Photos by JEFF DEENEY] BY JEFF DEENEY For the next few weeks, the focus of Valley of the Shadow will shift to Chester, Delaware County. In 2008, Philadelphia experienced a significant reduction in homicides. That has not been the case in Chester. In fact, this month Chester saw six homicides in a single week, which for a city of only 35,000 is a staggering number. Before starting in on a series about Chester I sat down with someone acquainted with the city’s underworld, a former junkie and mid-level Delco drug runner called Cupcake. Cupcake spent the better part of 10 […]
JOHN MCCAIN: Is Having A Senior Moment
[Talking Points Memo TV (TPMtv) Daily Video Blog: Dazed and Confused] Again and again and again. Somebody please tell us why this election is even remotely close without using the word R-A-C-E — you can’t, can you?
NPR 4 THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t
FRESH AIR Though John McCain and Barack Obama agree that America’s health care system needs reform, the candidates differ markedly in their vision of the remedy. Political scientist Jonathan Oberlander offers an in-depth comparison of the Obama and McCain health proposals. Oberlander compared the candidates in his report, “The Partisan Divide — The McCain and Obama Plans for U.S. Health Care Reform,” which was published Aug. 21, 2008 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Oberlander is an associate professor of social medicine and health policy and administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. RADIO TIMES Lowering […]
MILE HIGH: Live And Direct From Denver
BY NICK POWELL CONVENTION CORRESPONDENT Yesterday was a good day. Inspired speeches, iconic moments, and wacky delegates make for quite an interesting first day at the Democratic Convention. Most of it was spent running various errands for reporters in my section, but I found time to do a little reporting of my own along the way. I was sent to a cocktail party for the Pennsylvania Delegation in downtown Denver, a spot called Osteria Panini. Unfortunately, I encountered the same problem I did with getting into the Pepsi Center. The hostess of the party informed me that there was no […]
THE LINCOLN BITE: Fine Dining For Around $5
[Photo by SWEETIE PIE PRESS] BY COLLEEN REESE Almost every time I pass a cafe, it’s like there’s a magnet in there and my pockets are full of heavy metal. Usually I’m curious about brewing methods or about whether or not they bake their own pastries. I look for things that are memorable and exclusive. Seldom do I walk away surprised or intrigued. Too often they settle for corporate mediocrity, offering Pepsi products at their independent businesses, re-evaluating their menus to better appeal to the same people who drink Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee with extra cream and sugar. When I […]
INSTA-REVIEW: Parsing Michelle’s Speech In IM
Our analysts tonight will be Amy Z. Quinn, recently converted Obama supporter/longtime Hillarycrat dead-ender, and Jonathan Valania, who was right about Obama, and most other things, all along. Please standby… 10:41 PM JV: ok here we go good stuff, family bio 10:42 PM hardscrabble life, humble beginnings, pulling up bootstraps translation: we are normal and Barack is just like us JV: we grew up like Hillary Amy: Her version of it taking a Village JV: but we still love Barack, and so can you Amy: Or, if you prefer, a Hundred and Ten Percenter http://www.mcclatchydc.com/234/story/30368.html 10:45 PM “my piece of […]
Denver Police Arrest 2 In Possible Assassination Plot
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS: Authorities are investigating a possible threat against presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Aurora police arrested a longtime drug user Sunday afternoon during a routine traffic stop where the man was seen “weaving,” sources said. Two possible other accomplices also were arrested, according to police. Police found four weapons, including two rifles and two handguns, in a rented pickup. That arrest then led authorities to a second man staying at the Cherry Creek Hotel at 600 South Colorado Blvd in Glendale. When authorities knocked on the man’s door, they say he jumped out of his sixth floor […]
MILE HIGH: Live And Direct From Denver
BY NICK POWELL CONVENTION CORRESPONDENT Greetings from the Democratic Convention in the Mile-High City, where the red tape has confined me to the icebox that is the Media Pavilion. It is pretty quiet down here, as it seems that most of the reporters in my section of the Pavilion have yet to be given a particular assignment. E-mails are being checked, coffee is streaming, and CNN is being broadcast on a continuous loop on a large flat screen. When talking with some reporters, they said that the security for this year’s convention is tighter than it has been in the […]
THEATER REVIEW: Romeo Void
BY AARON STELLA As enjoyable as modern reproductions of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” can be — especially those flush with glamorous nuances, such as Leonardo DiCaprio dueling in the streets of Verona with pistols instead of rapiers— these reproductions often evoke but a fleeting fondness. By comparison, Shakespeare’s R&J — which closed out an auspicious four-week run at the Adrienne Theater last night — is the stuff of true love, a remake unlike all the rest. Shakespeare’s R&J, prepared under the thespian expertise of Peter Reynolds, Director of the Mauckingbird Theater Company and of Temple University’s new musical theater program, […]
NPR FOR THE DEAF: With God On Our Side
FRESH AIR Both John McCain and Barack Obama are courting the religious vote, but whose campaign will be more effective? Journalist Dan Gilgoff, the politics editor for Beliefnet.com, discusses the candidates’ tactics. Gilgoff is a former political correspondent for U.S. News & World Report and the author of The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War. His blog, the God-O-Meter, measures the rate of God-talk among the candidates. ALSO, Journalist Ryan Lizza says it’s no accident that the Democrats picked Denver as the site of their National Convention. Lizza discusses […]
NRA WET DREAM: Ex-Cop Pizza Boy Snuffs Gunman
DAILY NEWS: A retired Philadelphia cop working as a pizza deliveryman fatally shot a 14-year-old boy who was pointing a gun at him during an attempted robbery yesterday morning in Frankford, police said. Shortly afterward, in an unrelated shooting, a police officer’s bullet fragment hit a 17-year-old robbery suspect in the face in Fairmount, police said. In the first incident, the 14-year-old and two other suspects were trying to rob the ex-officer at gunpoint while he was delivering a pizza about 1:15 a.m. on Lesher Street near Bridge, police spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore said. The boy pointed the gun at […]
EDITORIAL: The PUMAs Need To Get Back Or Get Out
BY JONATHAN VALANIA Let me first say I am reluctant to lend further credence to what I am certain is a small sliver of the spectrum of opinion among Democrats, but in a slow news week — and make no mistake, this will be a slow news week because if all goes according to plan, the Democratic Convention will be a show, not a news event — the PUMAs will surely be getting their share of face time from bored talking heads looking to stir the pot. What’s that you say? What is/who are the PUMAs, you ask? Well, for […]
MILE HIGH: Live & Direct From Denver
Astute readers will remember the precocious yeoman-like political coverage provided by intern-to-the-stars Nick Powell. The New York Times did and they asked him to go to Denver with his dad, who covers the presidential campaign for the Grey Lady (SEE BELOW). Basically they said, ‘How’d you like to go to Denver with your pop, work for us as a news assistant and during your down time you can post to your cute little blog thingee?’ And so he shall. All next week, Nick will be providing Phawker readers with Live & Direct dispatches from the Democratic National Convention. You lucky […]