Mark Reynolds [of Wilkes-Barre] was arrested by the FBI at a snow-covered highway rest stop in Idaho on Dec. 5, 2005, according to the federal government, after going to the spot to pick up $40,000 he believed was payment from al-Qaeda. Reynolds has maintained that he is not a terrorist but rather was pretending to be one online to capture jihadists determined to attack America. In October 2005, Reynolds first caught the attention of Shannen Rossmiller, a former Montana judge who hunts and ensnares extremists on the Internet. Rossmiller testified Monday that Reynolds had solicited help from al-Qaeda on the […]
TODAY I SAW…
BY JEFF DEENEY “Today I saw…” is a series of nonfiction shorts based on my experiences as a caseworker serving formerly homeless families now living in North and West Philadelphia. I decided not long after starting the job that I was seeing so many fascinating and disturbing things in the city’s poorest neighborhoods that I needed to start cataloging them. I hope this bi-weekly column serves as a record of a side of the city that many Philadelphians don’t come in contact with on a daily basis. […]
NEWS CLUES: It’s Like Adderall For ADD Newshounds
WORST HARVEY WALLBANGER EVER The trial of a 57-year-old Burlington County, NJ woman charged with murdering her brother-in-law by serving him a concoction of fruit juice laced with antifreeze is underway in Mt. Holly. The Shamong Township woman is charged with preparing a fatal cocktail of fruit juice and antifreeze that resulted in the death, three years ago this week, of 58-year-old Jonathan Neabor of Old Bridge, NJ. During one of two of her taped confessions, she told a state trooper that she wanted only to sicken Jonathan so he would come and live with the family to provide financial […]
KILLADELPHIA: Cops Euthanize Gunman 85 Times
Seven police officers fired up to 85 rounds at a “deranged” man who was killed while pacing with a gun on a South Philadelphia street corner, authorities said yesterday. Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson said police shot the man, who was speaking incoherently, after he did not respond to repeated orders to drop the weapon Sunday evening and pointed it at the officers. Steven Miller, 30, of the 1600 block of South Taney Street, had a fully loaded pistol but did not fire, officials said. Two officers required treatment for friendly-fire graze wounds from ricocheting bullet fragments or debris. Johnson, […]
We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It
SHOCK OF THE NEU: Fujiya & Miyagi, Johnny Brenda’s, Last Night BY JONATHAN VALANIA FOR THE INQUIRER Melody, lyrics, chord patterns — these building blocks of pop music composition are constantly being updated, re-invented or re-contextualized. Great leaps forward in rhythm, however, are fewer and farther between. The Bo Diddly beat and, say, the collected R&B works of James Brown, and for that matter, the entire genre of hip-hop, are prime examples of giant steps in rhythmic innovation. In the early ’70s a group of experimental German musicians, the so-called “Kraut-rockers,” which includes the bands Neu and Kraftwerk, moved beat […]
Fugitive Shooter Of NY Cult Leader Nabbed In W. Philly
BY ANDY NEWMAN OF THE NEW YORK TIMES A former fugitive wanted in the shooting of a Staten Island commune leader was ordered held without bail yesterday after she was brought back to Staten Island to face attempted murder charges. Rebekah Johnson, 44, was escorted from the 120th Precinct station house on Staten Island to a hearing Friday in State Supreme Court. At her arraignment, prosecutors said that the woman, Rebekah Johnson, had four driver’s licenses under three names and 11 license plates in her apartment when she was arrested last month in Philadelphia. Ms. Johnson, 44, is a former […]
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With The Mooney Suzuki Tonight At The Khyber
GAMBLOR: ‘I Don’t Know Whether To Cry Or Shit Spit’
Pennsylvania state senate Republicans are raising the stakes in their standoff with Rendell administration officials who are refusing to testify about the possible closing of casinos if the budget stalemate drags on (see previous stories). Republican state senator Jane Earll chairs a committee that has issued subpoenas to two Rendell administration officials to testify about the possible casino closures. Despite the subpoenas, those officials were no-shows at a Friday morning hearing. Earll says the committee will now explore its legal options. She declined to say what those options are, but a lawyer for Senate Republicans has said the arrest of […]
CLOSE CALL: Terror Docs Made Local Inquiries
BY JOHN SHIFFMAN AND GEORGE ANASTASIA INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS Two of the seven doctors arrested in Britain after last week’s failed bomb attacks had explored the possibility of coming to the United States, making inquiries to a Philadelphia-based organization, sources said. After the Glasgow airport bombing attempt, FBI agents visited the Philadelphia headquarters of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. The nonprofit organization is a national clearinghouse that certifies the qualifications of foreign-trained doctors to work as medical residents in the United States. Agents found records there on two of the British suspects. One of them, sources said, is […]
iMAYOR: Much Ado About Doing Nothing
Even on a superficial level — what about appearances? What about the lack of dignity of the city’s chief executive wearing workout clothes and sitting in a lawnchair near a Dumpster? Sure, Ed Rendell made himself look ridiculous on occasion. But when he was photographed in a swimsuit doing a cannonball dive, it was to publicize that his administration opened the public pools on time. When he was photographed on his hands and knees, scrubbing a bathroom floor, it was to promote the fact that his administration was literally cleaning up City Hall. It wasn’t about getting himself a new […]
PAPERBOY: Read All About It!
BY AMY Z QUINN Look, this whole midweek holiday thing is messing me up. PW came out a day early this week, who knew, and besides, the Philly alt-weeklies are tough to come by down in Cape May. Oh right, you can read them online. Sssshhh, don’t tell the Boss. Anyway, I would have loved a nice light read this week, fortunately/unfortunately both weeklies’ cover stories are thick and juicy like that yardbird you chowed down on at your cousin’s barbecue. OUT FRONT Philadelphia Weekly: Steven Wells has the cover with a feature on a powerhouse girl’s soccer team, the […]
TODAY I SAW…
BY JEFF DEENEY “Today I saw…” is a series of nonfiction shorts based on my experiences as a caseworker serving formerly homeless families now living in North and West Philadelphia. I decided not long after starting the job that I was seeing so many fascinating and disturbing things in the city’s poorest neighborhoods that I needed to start cataloging them. I hope this bi-weekly column serves as a record of a side of the city that many Philadelphians don’t come in contact with on a daily basis. I want to capture moments not frequently covered by the local media, which […]
Obama In Town, Minus Knife-Wielding Stalker
DES MOINES, Iowa – A man with a large knife was arrested Wednesday outside presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s hotel in southeast Iowa, police said. Davit Zakaryan, 24, was searched and apprehended after Obama’s security crew allegedly saw him loitering outside a Fairfield Inn in Ottumwa before the Illinois senator was about to leave for a busy day of campaigning. Zakaryan was arrested after 8:30 a.m. and charged with possessing an illegal weapon and driving without a license. Police said the knife was longer than 8 inches, which exceeds the state limit. Zakaryan was being held Wednesday night at the Wapello […]