[Photos by JUSTIN ROMAN] BY JEFF DEENEY The small pile of stuffed animals on Berks Street, north of 31st, looks neglected even though it’s only been there about three weeks. Some of the dolls are scattered, resting in the garbage-strewn grass plot across the street from the tiny Pleasant Oak Missionary Church. It’s impossible to know whether this memorial, marking a murder that happened back in February, was kicked over or was simply blown askew by a strong wind. These dolls aren’t covered in loving messages from friends and family members like I’ve seen at other sites, and there […]
RIP: Puzzles, Beloved Local Giraffe, Dead At 27
BY SAM WOOD OF THE INQUIRER Puzzles, 27, had been suffering from failing health due to her advanced age. The female reticulated giraffe [NOT pictured] was one of the oldest living in the United States. Puzzles was born in 1981 at a Children’s Zoo in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Three years later, she joined the Philadelphia Zoo. She was the mother of seven calves, all of which were adopted by zoos across the country.Puzzles is survived by giraffes Stella, 7, and Twigga, 28, her enclosure mates in the Zoo’s “African Plains” exhibit. Zoo staff have been closely monitoring Twigga, who […]
THE EARLY WORD: Phreaknick
OKAYPLAYER: Another Friday closer to the release of The Roots – Rising Down (April 29th) is here. Keeping with our promise to unleash something new, this week’s entry does not pertain precisely to the album but instead to the Legendary’s first annual Roots Picnic festival in Philadelphia on June 7th. The band has been talking for years of curating their own all day event featuring their friends and favorite groups from across all genres and we are pleased to officially announce the line up of The Roots, Gnarls Barkley, Sharon Jones + The Dap Kings, Deerhoof, Santogold, J*Davey, Diplo, and […]
What’s Good For The Silly Gooses Of Wall Street Is Good For The Soon-To-Be Foreclosed Ganders Of Main St.
Hillary Clinton delivers economic policy address this morning at Penn [NICK POWELL] BY NICK POWELL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Flanked by a Pennsylvania Dream Team of Governor Ed Rendell, Mayor Michael Nutter, and Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, Senator Hillary Clinton attacked the Bush administration, spared Barack Obama, and outlined her new four-point plan to save the country’s reeling economy this morning at the University of Pennsylvania. Clinton began today’s press conference by praising both Rendell and Nutter for their “visionary leadership” and for their efforts to fix “an issue critical not only for Pennsylvania but for our country.” Clinton also made a brief […]
KILLADELPHIA: 6 Shot, 4 Dead In Easter Massacre
DAILY NEWS: Easter weekend in the city was nothing to celebrate. Four men were shot to death and two others were riddled with bullets but somehow managed to survive. The latest murder victim was a 22-year-old man shot multiple times on 11th Street near Diamond, North Philadelphia, at about 6 p.m. yesterday. He was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital. A 24-year-old man was shot to death shortly after 2:30 a.m. yesterday in the Phuong Phanh Coffee Shop, a Vietnamese restaurant on 5th Street near Duncannon Avenue in Logan, police said. He was killed with a single gunshot inside the […]
DIGITAL DIVIDE: Municipal Wireless A Bridge Too Far
NEW YORK TIMES: It was hailed as Internet for the masses when Philadelphia officials announced plans in 2005 to erect the largest municipal Wi-Fi grid in the country, stretching wireless access over 135 square miles with the hope of bringing free or low-cost service to all residents, especially the poor. Municipal officials in Chicago, Houston, San Francisco and 10 other major cities, as well as dozens of smaller towns, quickly said they would match Philadelphia’s plans. But the excited momentum has sputtered to a standstill, tripped up by unrealistic ambitions and technological glitches. The conclusion that such ventures would not […]
DAN GROSS: Wake Up White People!
This ran on PhillyGossip yesterday: We thought we heard this, but we wanted to go back and listen to the clip of Sen. Barack Obama on 610 WIP this morning to be sure. 610 WIP host Angelo Cataldi asked Obama about his Tuesday morning speech on race at the National Constitution Center in which he referenced his own white grandmother and her prejudice. Obama told Cataldi that “The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity, but that she is a typical white person. If she sees somebody on the street that she doesn’t know […]
I, POLLSTER: Phawker’s Hilariously Un-Scientific Pennsyltucky Primary Keystoned Cell Phone Poll
BY JONATHAN VALANIA A long time ago, in a Clinton campaign far, far away, James Carville famously declared that Pennsylvania is Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and Alabama in between. Aw, yeah: Pennsyltucky. We know thee well. It’s sort of like watching the Dukes Of Hazzard after smoking too much kielbasa. Like sweat socks with a Sunday suit. Like the Deer Hunter costumed by Wal-Mart. It’s the long dark Chicken Dance of the national soul. Lord help us all. Anyway, with the national press are already converging on the Keystone state to get some local color on their laptops, we feel an […]
JUST IN: Flaming Lips To Headline ‘Jam On The River’
[Photo by JONATHAN VALANIA] INQUIRER: This year, The Jam is presenting two days of psychedelic sounds on the Delaware River with three nights of after-party concerts at area venues. Flaming Lips — the nation’s reigning weirdy-beardies — top the May 24 lineup at the Great Plaza on the waterfront. Also on the Saturday billet are Josh Ritter, RJD2 and Bassnectar. Disco Biscuits — Philadelphia’s celebrated noodles-with-jam band — top the May 25 music menu, which also includes Deadmau5, Avett Brothers, Lotus, and American Babies. MORE
MEDIA: Kia Gregory Is Movin’ On Up!
INQUIRER: We’re very pleased to announce that Kia Gregory, a columnist and reporter for the Philadelphia Weekly, will be joining The Inquirer as a City Desk reporter on April 4. Kia grew up in Philadelphia, graduated from Dobbins Vocational Technical High School, at 22nd and Lehigh, and worked for seven years as an accountant before the journalism addiction got her as a night student at Temple University. There, Kia’s gift for writing and her dedication to the craft became immediately apparent to all who came in contact with her. One of her professors, our own Howie Shapiro, remembers giving Kia […]
TODAY I SAW: The Tao Of BB
[Photo by JUSTIN ROMAN] BY JEFF DEENEY On the corner of 57th and Arch, there’s a stuffed Tweety bird lashed to a tree. Large, black letters, “RIP BB,” are written in marker across the the bird’s oversized yellow forehead. Across the street is a dumpy Chinese takeout joint with a crew of corner boys posted up in front of it. It’s a warm, sunny late winter day and there’s a lot of foot traffic on the block. When the camera comes out and we start to shoot the curbside memorial the corner boys point at us, waving to each other […]
NEWS CLUES: ‘So Local It Hurts’ Edition
WANTED: 1,000 Cheese Steak-Chomping Fat Guys To Say Dumb Shit On Camera Stephen Colbert is headed back out on the campaign trail. No, he assured viewers of “The Colbert Report” last night, he is not reviving his presidential campaign. That was snuffed out last fall when Democratic officials in South Carolina voted him off the state’s primary ballot (and just before the television writers went on strike). Mr. Colbert said he is going to Philadelphia to report on the Pennsylvania primary for a few days in mid-April before the April 22 vote. He’ll be broadcasting his nightly comedy show from […]