FRESH AIR As manager of President Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, David Plouffe stayed behind the scenes. Now, 10 months after Obama took office, Plouffe has written a memoir about the campaign, detailing the victory and the ways it changed the concept of campaigning. From the indecision surrounding Obama’s choice to run, to the Iowa caucus win, and through the final stages of the general election campaign against John McCain, Plouffe helped guide the campaign to a historic victory. His book offers an insider’s tale of a campaign that managed to harness — perhaps for the first time — the expansive […]
TONITE: Ryan’s Hope
[Illustration by JAY BEVENOUR] DAILY NEWS: The Most Valuable Player of the National League Championship Series is batting .158 in the World Series. He’s already struck out 12 times, a whiff-a-thon that has already tied the all-time record. So, Charlie Manuel, can your Phillies come back and win the World Series if Ryan Howard doesn’t find himself? “Yes, we can,” the manager said with conviction late yesterday afternoon at Yankees Stadium. Pause. “We can win it easier if he hits, though.” The Phillies trail the best-of-seven series, three games to two, despite getting little production from their cleanup hitter. And […]
SEPTA STRIKE: The R-5 Down In Flames
[Photo by PRISCILLA COLAN] INQUIRER: A fire broke out on a SEPTA R5 Paoli train packed with passengers in West Philadelphia this morning, adding to the transportation chaos triggered by the city mass transit workers’ strike. The smoky fire on the first car broke out about 7 a.m. and was contained within 40 minutes. Passengers evacuated safely and there were no reports of serious injuries. “I can tell you there is absolutely no indication it is strike related,” said SEPTA spokeswoman Jerri Williams. She said at the scene the fire was electrical in nature and started either in a heater […]
1 STEP FORWARD 2 STEPS BACK: NJ Elects Karl Rove Stooge Guv; Philly Elects First Black District Attorney
INQUIRER: Christopher J. Christie, campaigning as an agent of change, overwhelmed a powerful Democratic advantage Tuesday to defeat Gov. Corzine and become New Jersey’s first Republican governor-elect in a dozen years. Portrayed by Corzine as a referendum on President Obama’s agenda, the campaign drew national scrutiny — and three visits from the president to support the incumbent. But Christie fought aggressively, campaigning in cities and other Democratic strongholds. Christie, 47, a former U.S. attorney from the North Jersey town of Mendham, turned back both Corzine and a vigorous campaign from independent Chris Daggett. Although New Jersey is a reliably blue […]
COMMERCE: An Apple Store Grows In Center City
PC WORLD: The Metro reports that on Wednesday, Apple will be presenting design plans for a proposed store at 1607 Walnut Street to the city Art Commission. An Apple Store will be a marked improvement for 1607 Walnut, especially since it is an empty storefront at the moment (flanked by an American Apparel and a hair salon called Bubbles Salon). This store would be the seventh Apple Store in Pennsylvania. Considering Apple’s trend of opening stores in upscale areas, Walnut Street fits the bill nicely. However, while the store might be amongst fellow upscale retailers like Tiffany & Co. and Burberry […]
Man Shot Himself In The Head At The Fire Sat. Nite
DAILY NEWS: A man who tried to commit suicide inside a Northern Liberties bar early Sunday remained on life support yesterday in critical condition, according to police. The 34-year-old man, whom police did not identify, shot himself about 1:45 a.m. at The Fire, the music venue inside the Philadelphia Bar and Grille, on Girard Avenue near 4th Street, police said. The bar, which has hosted such acts as My Chemical Romance, John Legend and Maroon 5, hosted five bands Halloween night into Sunday morning, including Cowmuddy, Hunter’s Cannon and iNFiNiEN, according to its Web site. It wasn’t immediately clear if […]
DEENEY: Damning Facts Continue To Trickle Out
BY JEFF DEENEY The slow trickling out of information regarding the chain of events preceding the death of Charlenni Ferreira continues to reveal details that do not look good for DHS, or for the School District. New reports tell how the school nurse at Feltonville Intermediate urged Charlenni’s parents to take her to a doctor because she had a pronounced limp caused by the broken hip her abusive parents inflicted on her. Today’s Inquirer report, titled just that, “School nurse urged exam of Charlenni’s limp,” seems to imply that there was an effective attempt at advocacy on the child’s behalf […]
ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA: Charlie Dancin’
Charlie Shows His Dance Moves – watch more funny videos
BREAKING: SEPTA Goes On Strike In Two Minutes!
[via PHILA READYNOTIFYPA] SEPTA Service Interruption Is In Effect as of Tuesday, November 3, 2009 @ 3:00 a.m. Transport Workers Union, Local 234 has announced a work stoppage as of 3:00 a.m. this morning. SEPTA is prepared with an alternate service plan for customers, but asks for patience and understanding as some of services become unavailable and others that are running may experience heavier than usual customer use. The following important service information contains useful travel tips to assist riders as Bus, Subway, and Trolley service is discontinued. The following services will not run: Broad Street Line and Broad-Ridge Spur […]
SEPTA GIRL: Feets Don’t Fail Me Now
BY PHILLY GRRL Oh, SEPTA! What a day. This morning started out so well. [9:23 AM ] While on my way to Walnut and 12th to catch the 42 Bus, I saw an elderly black man wearing a black fedora and a dark maroon coat running to the bus stop in front of the Reading Terminal. As the bus came closer to 11th and Arch, his cane caught a crack in the sidewalk and he lurched forward, his senior citizen card falling from his hand. Before I could get to him, the bus driver pulled to a screeching halt and […]
WORLD SERIES: Phils Pound Back Yanks 8-6 To Stay Alive; Chutley Beats On The Brats With A Baseball Bat
Phillies 8 Yankees 5 FINAL RELATED: In a quick and touching reaction, Major League Baseball paid tribute during Monday night’s World Series game to Michael Goldsmith, the law professor who died Sunday of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Goldsmith had been honored in Yankee Stadium on July 4 on the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s classic speech. After the condition, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, was diagnosed, Goldsmith wrote a guest column in Newsweek, calling on Major League Baseball to do more to fight the disease that killed Gehrig on June 2, 1941. In response, Major League Baseball held ceremonies in […]
KILLADELPHIA: The Guns And The Damage Done
EDITOR’S NOTE: In today’s edition of the Daily News, Dana DiFilippo takes an in-depth look at the shadowy world of illegal gun-trading, how weapons get in the hands of the young and the reckless and the damage done. One of the names that figures in the story is Nazir Gary, aka ‘Nazzy,’ who was gunned down in 2007 and subsequently became one of the subjects of Jeff Deeney’s VALLEY OF THE SHADOW series on Phawker. The following is an excerpt from DiFilippo’s must-read story and the installment of VOS that ran back in 2007. DAILY NEWS: In the life of […]
REVIEW: Curio Theater Company’s The Weir
[Photo by KYLE CASSIDY] BY AARON STELLA Dictionary.com defines a “Weir” as: A low dam built across a river to raise the level of water upstream, typically to power a millrace. Fair enough. “A drink precedes a story” (Irish Proverb). Ah, now we’re getting somewhere. In either case, water the humble or water the enthraller runs in grooves carved by forces interacting, much like the vague exchanges that occur in conversation. Now imagine an unadorned Irish pub in the small town of Carrick, where a loyal few frequent, and each comes with a weighty pocket’s worth of stories. The jovial […]