In a front page article Saturday on attorney Richard Sprague’s efforts to quash a grand jury investigation of his client, Louis DeNaples, we inexcusably forgot to mention that Sprague and his children own a little more than 13 percent of SugarHouse Casino. SugarHouse plans a $550 million casino on Delaware Avenue straddling the Fishtown/Northern Liberties border. DeNaples, a prodigious campaign contributor from Scranton, hopes in the coming weeks to reopen the once-famous Mt. Airy Lodge in the Poconos as the state’s first standalone slots parlor.Until recently, Sprague also represented the chief architect of the 2004 law that legalized slots in Pennsylvania, […]
KILLADELPHIA: Cops Kill 15-Year-Old With Iron
INQUIRER: A 15-year-old who reportedly lunged at police with a clothing iron was fatally shot this afternoon by an officer who responded to an emergency call for help from the teen’s mother in their Crescentville home, police said. Vanore said that at about 1:30 p.m., police responded to a 911 call for help on a domestic disturbance at a residence in the 600 block of Brill Street. Shortly after arriving, there was a confrontation with the teen, who “had an object in his hand that he was using as a weapon,” Vanore said. A police source said the object was […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
AWOL G.I. BUSTED IN GREAT PUMPKIN HEIST BENTLEYVILLE, Pa. — A soldier accused of deserting the Army and two other men tried to steal a 200-pound pumpkin from a grocery store, state police said. A trooper on patrol early Thursday saw a pickup truck driving fast out of the store parking lot with two men drinking beer in the truck bed next to the giant gourd, police said. One of the three men, Jordan Ivill, was arrested on a warrant accusing him of leaving the base at Fort Benning, Ga., without leave, police said. Summons charging the two other men […]
VOX POPULI: People Are Strange
From Philly.com a few minutes ago: Hard to say what is more shocking and appalling: That 1502 people actually took the time to vote on such an issue or that 789 people actually want to duly deputize the underpants police. What’s next? Bad breath? Problem hair? Is this what you people want?
WORTH REPEATING: Dead Letter Office
BY DAN RUBIN INQUIRER COLUMNIST What happened to the mailboxes? That’s what Republican committeeman Jim Finnegan wanted to know this summer as he made his twice-a-week rounds through the narrow streets around Kensington and Allegheny. “There used to be three in front of the 7-Eleven at Kensington and Ontario,” Finnegan says. “Then one at Jasper and Ontario, one at Frankford and Ontario, and then one at Jasper and Westmoreland.” That was a few months ago. Now they’re gone. All told, he says, a dozen mailboxes from his division have disappeared. The U.S. Postal Service says it’s aware of the situation. […]
KILLADELPHIA: 4 More Dead Since U Went 2 Bed
INQUIRER: Early this morning, a man was shot dead on the 3900 block of Aspen Street in the city’s Mantua section, police said. The homicide was the fourth in the city since Friday. Early Saturday morning, a boy and a man were killed outside a North Philadelphia nightclub, and last night a man was arrested for fatally stabbing his brother yesterday. This morning’s victim was Theodore Jenkins, 36, who lived on the 3900 block of Reno Street, a few blocks north of Aspen. He was found at about 1:47 a.m., shot several times in the torso, and was pronounced dead […]
INSTA-REVIEW: 5 Things You Should Know About Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band At The Wachovia Center Last Night
1. I’m not going to say that the Boss and his legions are getting old, but tonight’s audience could have been the world’s largest focus group for Boniva and his and hers Cialis. Bada-BING! 2. You can tell it’s early in the tour, as the set list is still in flux and the sound mix had a few creaky moments. And in case you were wondering, Bruce is the only man alive who can still get away with the Rock Vest. It’s forever amazing that there’s one guy in the house who can get an even bigger crowd response than […]
EARLY WORD: Dear Prudence…
Won’t You Come Out To Play?
TODAY I SAW. . .
BY JEFF DEENEY TODAY I SAW the crowd of defendants gathered outside the 4th floor courtroom in the Criminal Justice Center at 13th and Filbert, waiting for the judge to call them. The head court clerk was an older black man wearing a brass-colored Kangol, a tan Guayabera and brown leather loafers with dangling tassels; he waded smoothly through the crowd asking to see subpoenas. He filtered out friends and family members, who were made to wait outside. At the judge’s order, the crowd filed into court. A broad-shouldered white girl with a puffy, bloated face stood out from the […]
GROSS: The Ritz Bullying Indie Cinema Outta The 215?
The Ritz at the Bourse pulled “In the Valley of Elah” from its screen Tuesday, telling callers to the box office that the decision had been made “for legal reasons” and referring would-be moviegoers to the Roxy Theatre (2023 Sansom). Roxy owner Bernard Nearey [NOT pictured] says Landmark Theatres, which bought the three Center City Ritz theaters in March, is trying to muscle him out of showing first-run movies. Sources say Landmark told Warner Independent, the film’s distributor, that it pulled the film to protest the Tommy Lee Jones‘ movie being booked at the Roxy, too. “It’s an example of […]
JUST WONDERING: What Is Jannie Blackwell Hiding?
“I don’t believe we should have so many laws we don’t know when we’re breaking them.” — Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, In Today’s Inquirer. RELATED: The ethics reforms were derailed last month, when a resolution enabling legislation to change Philadelphia’s Home Rule Charter failed. The resolution would have let voters decide by a ballot question on the May primary whether charter amendments should be permitted to empower City Council to enact ethics reforms….Jannie Blackwell voted against the resolution, which required two-thirds of City’s Council’s votes to pass. [via PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL] * RELATED: Blackwell noted her lone opposition to the ethics-reform […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For Your Eyeballs
D.A. DESCRIBES HOUSE OF HORROR FUNERAL PARLORS, ILLEGAL SKIN TRADE District Attorney Lynne Abraham said the men operated funeral homes and a crematorium in which body parts were taken and sold to various tissue banks, which, in turn, sold the parts to hospitals in Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York for tissue transplants. The tissue was used in operations in which patients required connective tissue replacements for arteries, joints, and dental work. The parts — bones, cartilage, and skin — were taken from 244 people in the Philadelphia area, she said. She said the bodies were “sometimes stacked in the […]