HOT DOC: Inky Editorial Page Ed. Steps Down

Colleagues — In Sunday’s Currents section, the attached column announces my decision to step down as editorial page editor of the paper. I’ll be taking on a new role as a twice-weekly columnist and director of civic engagement, running the Citizen Voices program. I also plan to challenge Dick Polman for the title of Wordiest Blogger on Philly.com. Brian Tierney plans to look at internal and external candidates; I’ll leave the job formally when my replacement is named and settles in, but my hope in the coming weeks is to turn more and more of the decision-making over to the board’s […]

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 tends […]

KILLADELPHIA: One More Dead Since U Went 2 Bed

At 10:38 last night, police on patrol in the Northeast heard gunfire and found a young man lying on the ground with wounds to his chest and a hand. Rakeem Bailey, 19, of the 200 block of West Tioga Street in North Philadelphia, was taken to Einstein Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:24 p.m., according to Officer Beth DiDonato. The shooting — the 172d murder this year — took place in the 1000 block of Van Kirk Street, she said. As of this morning, police had no witnesses or suspects and knew of no motive. INQUIRER: 172 Dead […]

Tierney To Bid On Dow Jones — If There Is Bidding

The company that owns The Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and Philly.com, has expressed interest in joining with outside partners to buy Dow Jones & Co., the publisher of the storied Wall Street Journal. “If there was a formalized bidding process, it would be our intention to participate,” Brian Tierney, chief executive of the company, Philadelphia Media Holdings said this evening. “We would participate as Philadelphia Media Holdings along with other investors. We wouldn’t do it it alone.” Dow Jones has been the object of a $5 billion takeover bid from media baron Rupert Murdoch. Dow Jones has been under siege […]

GAMBLOR: Anti-Casino Appeal Craps Out In Court

Neighbors of the proposed Foxwoods Casino had no legal standing to challenge the state’s decision to build a slots-parlor near their homes, the state Supreme Court ruled yesterday. In a ruling that augurs ill for similar challenges by City Council, anti-casino activists and neighborhood groups, the Supreme Court yesterday dismissed an appeal from four civic associations opposed to the licensing of Foxwoods Casino on Christopher Columbus Boulevard in South Philadelphia. The Philadelphia casinos still face other legal and political obstacles, including four remaining appeals before the Supreme Court, and a casino-restrictive ordinance to be considered by Council next week. INQUIRER: No […]

Seal Stranded In The Delaware — Cute, Loveable, Bitey

A 7-foot gray seal eluded an attempt to net it and splashed back into the Delaware River, where sightings have been occurring since Saturday. Bob Schoelkopf, director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, in Brigantine, attempted to throw a net over the 300-pound male seal Tuesday in an area of woods and marshes in suburban Philadelphia, about 50 miles upriver from where the river becomes salty. Schoelkopf said he had to release the net before the seal dragged it and Schoelkopf into the river. He said the animal was “very strong,” with “not a very good disposition.” “He doesn’t like […]

KILLADELPHIA: 2 More Dead Since U Went 2 Bed

GERMANTOWN – June 5, 2007 – Philadelphia’s homicide total jumped by 2 again overnight. Police are investigating a pair of deadly shootings that happened within 15 minutes in Germantown. Around 2 a.m, police were called to the intersection of Broad and Lindley streets in Logan. A 52-year-old man was shot 3 times in the chest. He was taken to Einstein Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Then, about 15 minutes later, another person between 25 and 30 years old was killed in a shooting. The second one happened in Germantown near the intersection of Church Lane and Baynton Street. That […]

TODAY I SAW…

[Photo by JONATHAN VALANIA] 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 […]