Police Still Searching For Brutal Kensington Rapist The level of violence in the Kensington attacks was the driving force behind the decision to flood the area with police, Green said yesterday. At least four women have been attacked since October by a man who encountered them walking near Kensington Avenue at night. In each case, the attacker beat the victim with his fists, causing facial fractures and in one case breaking a victim’s jaw. One woman was so badly injured, police have been unable to interview her. Police are not sure whether the same person is responsible for all the […]
SCRAPPLE TV NEWS: With Your Host, A.P. Ticker
[Video: AP Ticker’s SCRAPPLE NEWS 12.9.2009]
Kensington Prostitution Sting Nabs 76 Unfuckables
INQUIRER: Police have wrapped up a prostitution sting in Kensington, authorities announced today, an operation aimed at finding the man or men responsible for the brutal rapes and beatings of four women in recent months. Though police have not found the men accused in those particular assaults, they arrested 102 people over the course of the 12-day operation, most of whom were charged with solicitation. Female undercover officers posed as prostitutes around Kensington Avenue, where the victims were picked up before they were attacked, and arrested 76 men who offered money or drugs for sex. Some of the arrested men […]
TOUGH NUT TO CRACK: Harshbarger Report Clears ACORN Of Illegality In ‘Pimp & Hooker’ Gotcha Videos
SEIU: Today, former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger released his report on the Association of Community Organizations for Reform (ACORN) following an independent and aggressive review of the organization. Mr. Harshbarger deserves thanks for not only having the ability to see past the sensationalized headlines, but for recognizing and reporting on the steps that ACORN had already taken to address management weaknesses it had identified earlier. It is striking that despite the news coverage, Mr. Harshbarger found no pattern of illegal conduct by the staff of ACORN targeted in the ‘sting’ operation, even in cases that looked clear cut from […]
Ex-Khyber Barkeep Charged in Mumbai Attacks
GUARDIAN: Federal prosecutors accused David Coleman Headley, 49, who lives in Chicago, of conspiracy to bomb public places in India, to murder and maim people, and to provide material support to a foreign terrorist group. The charges come after Headley, also known as Daood Gilani, was accused of involvement in a plot to kill the editor of the Danish paper, Jyllands-Posten, who published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in 2005 which provoked an angry backlash in the Muslim world. Headley is accused of scouting the three locations in Mumbai – the luxury Taj hotel, a railway station and the Jewish […]
Asian Students Boycott School Over Ethnic Violence
INQUIRER: According to students, fights between African American and Asian students started this week on the streets and spilled over Thursday into the 900-student building on South Broad Street. Ten students were suspended, and criminal charges are being investigated, according to reports. The breakdown of school enrollment is 70 percent African American, 18 percent Asian, about 6 percent white, and 5 percent Latino. MORE WHYY: South Philadelphia High School senior Duong Ly says some African American students just don’t like Asian kids. Ly says he was punched and pushed within a month of enrolling in the school two years ago. […]
Weezer Cancels Philly Date After Tour Bus Crash
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: “The bus contained Rivers, his wife and daughter, their nanny, and Rivers’ assistant Sarah,” writes Koch. “Both Sarah and Rivers’ wife were pitched out of their upper level bunks onto the floor 5 feet below. Somehow Rivers’ wife was uninjured, but Sarah sustained 2 fractured ribs and a fractured lower vertebrae. The baby daughter was in her crib unit and was fine, as was the nanny who was sleeping near the floor in her bunk at the time. However in the back lounge, Rivers was tossed around violently, waking up as he landed back on his mattress.” Koch […]
RIP: Jack Rose, Kensington Bluesman, Dead At 38
SPINNER: Jack Rose, a renowned Philadelphia-based acoustic guitarist, has died of a heart attack at 38, the Philadelphia Daily News reports. Rose was considered instrumental in bringing ragtime into the modern era and transforming it into something that was both referential and original. But as a self-taught player proficient on the guitar, including the 6-string, 12-string and lap steel, he brought a wide range of influences to his music. Explaining his process in a 2007 interview, Rose said his favorite music was “anything that’s pre 1942; Cajun, Country, Blues, Jazz all that stuff… that’s my favorite kind of music.” Rose […]
STYLE COUNCIL: Sidewalking
Brieanna Fuller, 24, Visual MIT, Free People King of Prussia Favorite Shops: Free People, various boutiques in Philly, Super Thrift, Circle Thrift Her Style: “Runway inspired, but definitely a rocker-chic edge to it. I love all different types of fashion so I incorporate them all into a cohesive look.” Favorite Accessories: Rings, gift from sister from Vienna and from her favorite salon in Harrisburg scarf: Urban Outfitters Current Look: Rocker accents. Prim and yet effortless. Mixing different textures with cut off Levi’s jean shorts, fun tights, bohemian/rocker inspired jewelry, and always a definitive apparel item like an ‘awesome scarf’ or […]
RAW FOOTAGE: Allen Iverson’s Trail Of Tears
He’s back, baby!
TONIGHT: No Sleep ‘Til Stonehenge
Back in 2002, Greg Weeks, a recent transplant folker from New York and a dead ringer for Woody Allen in Sleeper, together with Brooke Sietinsons, Ophelia-voiced Meg Baird and a revolving cast of red-eyed weird beards, formed the Espers, a strummy collective of whispery acid-folk that evokes sugar-plum visions of woodland fairies doing the maypole dance around Stonehenge. Last month the Espers released their third album, the aptly-titled III. As ever, the band’s warm wigwam of sound evokes blood-sugar-sex-magik rituals celebrated by the hangman’s lovely daughters on misty moonlit moors. In other words, this is what flowery noontides sound like […]
THAT’S COMCASTIC: Cable Giant Buys NBC Universal
[Photo by Vincent J. Brown] NEW YORK TIMES: After nearly nine months of negotiations, Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, finally reached an agreement on Thursday to acquire NBC Universal from the General Electric Company. The deal valued NBC Universal at about $30 billion. The agreement will create a joint venture, with Comcast owning 51 percent and G.E. owning 49 percent. Comcast will contribute to the joint venture its stable of cable channels, which includes Versus, the Golf Channel and E Entertainment, worth about $7.25 billion, and will pay G.E. about $6.5 billion in cash, for a total of $13.75 […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Top 5 Things You Should Know About Josh Ritter At The TLA Last Night
1) No one has ever been happier about playing in his own band. From the moment he literally bounces onstage, Josh Ritter is positively ebullient, grinning ear to ear like he can’t believe he stumbled into this group of musicians. He prances around the stage, his odd brown ’fro and unbuttoned collared shirt looking slightly familiar, though you can’t quite place why or where. 2) Sure, he digs into his catalog, but it’s mostly a night for new songs. Ritter just finished recording his latest album, due sometime around April, so he presents them mostly in their young form. “These […]