Supreme Court Rules Against Foxwoods, Casino Construction Delayed Indefinitely Back in May, Philadelphia City Council voted to overturn a Mayor Street veto of its anti-casino bill. The bill would reverse the zoning status of the proposed Foxwoods site, delaying the beginning of construction indefinitely. In June, Foxwoods filed an emergency petition with the PA Supreme Court. In Count I of the petition, Foxwoods asked the state’s highest court to overturn the anti-casino bill on the grounds that it is somehow “unconstitutional.” Today the high court ruled against Foxwoods, calling the matter “not ripe for adjudication” and dismissed the casino’s request […]
UPDATE: Tierney, Drexel Mum On Sale
We’ve had a request for comment into Drexel’s media relations office since last night, and a follow-up phone call this morning asking for confirmation or denial of the rumors floating around that Drexel has bought or is about to buy the Inquirer Building at 400 North Broad. And as of this writing: Nothing. Given the pace of the modern news cycle, you might be tempted to say that Drexel’s communication’s office is utterly incompetent — I mean, c’mon these rumors are floating on the Internet for going on 24 hours and to date the Drexel communications office has communicated nothing […]
KILLADELPHIA: Fiddling While Rome Burns
HARRISBURG — Despite an impassioned personal plea by Gov. Rendell to do more, a state House panel this morning endorsed one bill aimed at curbing gun violence but rejected two others and tabled action on a fourth.In a 27-2 vote, Judiciary Committee members approved a bill sponsored by Speaker Dennis O’Brien (R., Phila.) to create a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 20 year for anyone who fires a weapon at a police officer. Also by wide margins, the committee rejected bills that would limit the number of handguns a person can buy to one a month and allow cities to […]
PARTY FOUL: Naked Drunk Causes Mayhem on I-95
Delaware State Police have arrested a Chester, Pa. man who they say was running naked and drunk on Interstate 95 and caused three accidents. Police say 26-year-old Ardonas Gilbert [NOT pictured, left] was running along the southbound lanes near Marsh Road about 10pm Monday. He is charged with two counts of assault and a single count of being drunk on the highway. Two citizens tried to help Gilbert, but police say he began to assault them. Then police say he ran back into traffic and caused three accidents when cars tried to avoid hitting him. No one was seriously hurt. […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
PHILLY WI-FI NO-GO: Earthlink Cries ‘Uncle,’ Says Internet Just Too Damn Hard With municipal Wi-Fi networks fizzling across the nation, EarthLink will stop making major investments in such systems and is considering “strategic alternatives” for its municipal wireless business. That suggests that the company is open to selling the municipal unit, which is responsible for the pacesetting Wi-Fi deployment in Philadelphia and systems in other cities. At the same time, Philadelphia City Councilman Frank Rizzo is reported to have called for a hearing to discuss difficulties with the Wi-Fi rollout. The Philadelphia Wi-Fi deployment is EarthLink’s largest and, like many […]
KILLADELPHIA: 16 Year Old Boy Shot In The Head
INQUIRER: A 16-year-old male was shot to death late yesterday in the Connell Park area of Southwest Philadelphia, authorities said. The victim, whose name was not released, was shot in the head, chest and back about 7 p.m. in the 6500 block of Wheeler Street, police said. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, investigators said. An alleged gunman, described as about 5-foot-7 and wearing a skull cap, was seen fleeing the area on foot. No arrests were made. MORE UPDATE: A 16-year-old male was shot to death yesterday evening in the Connell […]
RUMOR & SIGH: Inquirer Building Sold To Drexel?
UPDATE: This just in from Philly.com Drexel University real estate people are among the potential buyers who have made repeat visits to the Inquirer and Daily News building at 400 North Broad Street and the parking garage and lot behind it on 15th Street in recent weeks. Agents for Drexel’s Center City medical campus, which includes the dorms, bookstore and classrooms surrounding Hahnemann University Hospital, have also been talking to property owners in the 300 block of North 15th Street, just south of the papers’ back door, according to real estate sources. No word on whether Drexel would share space […]
THE WAY WE WERE: Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign
The City of Philadelphia’s photo archive contains over 2 million images that date back as far as the late 1800s, i.e. the last time a Republican won in this town. In all seriousness, this is an INCREDIBLE visual record of the city’s evolution and a relatively new web site, PhillyHistory.org, is making it available for online consumption and purchase. To date, some 27,000 BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of images have been digitally scanned, at a rate of roughly 2,000 images a month. So, if you’ve been wondering why the line at Kinko’s is so goddamned SLOW, well, now you know. Phawker […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
STUDY: Kind Bud Is Even Kinder To Cancer Patients Very interesting research from the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. It’s work that’s been going on for several years, and according to researchers there, they believe a compound called CBD — that’s cannabidiol — could be the first non-toxic agent that could show possible help in treating metastatic forms of cancer. Metastasis is when cancer starts to spread throughout the body. Now, what’s interesting about this is that CBD is an ingredient found in marijuana. However, it has no psychoactive properties. The bottom line here is that it should […]
Hyski O’Rooney McVoutie O’Zoot Has Left The Building
Hy Lit, 73, one of Philadelphia’s pioneer disc jockeys, died yesterday at Paoli Memorial Hospital of what his son termed “bizarre complications” after a knee injury. Mr. Lit was on hand for much rock-and-roll history as it played out in Philadelphia. He played Rolling Stones music early on and accompanied the Beatles to the city in 1964. A dashing figure with a face for television, he also hosted dance shows on WKBS in Philadelphia and a New York station. Another longtime fixture in local radio, disc jockey Jerry Blavat, last night called Mr. Lit’s death “the end of the era […]
KILLADELPHIA: 4 Dead Since U Went To Bed
A deadly night across the city as four people were shot and killed. Four people died in three separate shootings that happened around 2am as bars were closing. Homicide detectives say those two shootings appeared to have started with arguments in bars or clubs. Two people were shot in a parking lot near Front and Chestnut Streets around 2am. A 23-year-old man died from a gunshot wound to the head, another man suffered non-life threatening injuries. At about the same time, several people were shot at Broad and Sommerset Streets where two men died; a 37-year-old and a 25-year-old. At […]
WE KNOW IT’S ONLY ROCK N’ ROLL BUT WE LIKE IT
STRIPED WHITE JETS: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Starlight Ballroom, Last Night BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER First, a bite of crow: in the interest of full disclosure, I must confess to being among the few critics that did not clap my hands or say ‘Yeah’ when CYHSY first blazed across the night sky of the blogosphere two years ago, leaving behind of phosphorous tail of spent Pitchfork hype and Brooklyn hipster cachet. But it would seem that either they have changed or I have, or perhaps a little of both. Judging from CYHSY’s taut, expansive and altogether persuasive […]
WORTH REPEATING: How To Sell The City
Just stumbled upon this on UWISHUNU, which, it is no secret, is “created and fully moderated by the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation.” When the city’s marketers are using MIA as tourist-bait, truly a “new day” has dawned in Philadelphia. Update: The VIP package is SOLD OUT! ***You can still purchase MIA tickets from Live Nation. You should also check out Philly Like a Local for another cool way to stay in Philadelphia. Sri Lankan-British rapper/singer/songwriter Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, better known as MIA, is coming to Philadelphia’s Electric Factory on Saturday, December 1 to support her new album, Kala. It’s […]