Fabulously awful, with love from TOMMY ZANE. Happy Pride, y’all.
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 […]
THIS JUST IN: Mayor Third In Line For iPhone
KYW is reporting that Mayor John Street is third in line at the AT&T store on 16th just south of Market. He has been waiting on line since 3:30 a.m., despite heavy downpours, and will remain so until 6 p.m. when the Dave Matthews tickets heavily-hyped iPhone finally becomes available for purchase. His aides will be bringing all paperwork to him to sign in line, he says. He has a few events today, he says, and somebody will be holding his place in line while he attends. And then it’s back in line. “Mr. Mayor, with all due respect,” says […]
CENSUS: We’re Number Six! We’re Number Six!
New Census figures show Philadelphia has dropped to the sixth-largest city in America. It’s official: “Philadelphia is now the sixth-largest city in the US. It declined by about 8,000 people from 2005 to 2006.” Census Bureau Demographer Greg Harper says after measuring births and deaths and people moving in and out, Phoenix has moved to the number-five city with 1.5 million residents ahead of Philadelphia’s 1.4 million. What’s it all mean? Not much, says Temple University geography professor David Bartelt, who says people don’t judge a city by how big it is: “That’s not really the telling concern. Most people […]
PAPERBOY: American Apparel Ad Envy, Much?
BY AMY Z. QUINN Uhh, remember what I said last week in this space about how the summer doldrums would be setting into the weekly newsrooms aaaaany second now? Well, faster than you can say “Buy me some peanuts and Crackerjack,” both weeklies launch a soft parade of warm fuzzy this week. Inside and out, they’re well-stocked with feel-good features (some of which taste good, too), but let’s start, as always, by judging the alt-weeklies by their covers: OUT FRONT Over at Philadelphia Weekly, my bud DMac not only gets the cover with a piece on the Phils’ inexorable march […]
JUST ANNOUNCED: Beastie Boys At Festival Pier
August 9th.
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 […]
MELROSE SHOCKER: New Owner After 70 Years
After more than seven decades, the Melrose Diner got a new owner on Wednesday as Richard Kubach Jr. handed the keys over to Michael Petrogiannis. Derrick Rice was heading for lunch at the Melrose Diner, 15th and Snyder Avenue in South Philadelphia, when he heard the news: “I’ve been coming here since I was a little kid. It’s a shocker right now.” He says he hopes the new owner doesn’t tinker with anything — especially in the kitchen. There are some who hope to see changes, perhaps some new items on the menu and more food on the plate. KYW: […]
How Privileged White Suburban Assholes Get Made
BY MONICA YANT KINNEY INQUIRER COLUMNIST Imagine having your house ravaged by hard-drinking teenagers who doused your clothes with urine, pooped on your piano, and played catch with 10 pounds of homemade meatballs while you were away for the day. Imagine watching the kids who got caught get off without so much as an hour of community service, a mandatory essay, or an AA meeting. Not one of the 10 Haddonfield teens who struck plea deals last week apologized in court unprompted. Only after being nudged by a judge did two boys and one parent say, uh, sorry. If juvenile […]
EXIT INTERVIEW: Steve Volk Kicks Ass
BY JONATHAN VALANIA As we reported earlier this week, PW Senior Writer Steve Volk — obsessive Bowie-phile, tireless chronicler of all things Beanie, daring dissector of the unholy marriage of crime and justice in this city, intrepid shiner of the Fourth Estate’s disinfecting sunshine upon the dark places where gay meets meth — is leaving the alt-weekly to take a staff writer gig at Philadelphia Magazine. We’ve known Steve a long time and aside from his impressive paper trail and his storage locker full of journo awards — hey, look at this, Steve Volk just took Second Place in the […]
HOT DOCUMENT: The Day The Music Died
Philadelphia, PA — June 22, 2007 — WXPN, the nationally-recognized leader in Triple A music and a noncommercial radio service of the University of Pennsylvania, today announced that it wlll join other Internet radio providers in a “Day of Silence” to protest higher royalty rates expected to go into effect on or after July 15th. Silence is what Internet radio may sound like after that date because of a royalty rate hike scheduled to go into effect. The new rates will also be retroactive for 17 months and payment will become due to the SoundExchange collection organization under the terms of […]
State Senate Moves To Undermine Philly Smoking Ban
HARRISBURG – The state Senate wrote loopholes into a proposed statewide smoking ban last night and approved language that would strike down Philadelphia’s more restrictive rules against lighting up in public places. All of the action came in a sweeping amendment, which passed, 29-21, after two hours of debate over the balance between public health and individual liberties. The amendment — which exempts casinos, private clubs, cigar bars and some taverns from the proposed ban — also bars municipalities from enacting any smoking ban tougher than the state’s. INQUIRER: Smoking In The Boys’ Room Still Allowed
DNA: Cops Say There’s Now TWO Toe Suckers
(CBS) PHILADELPHIA Police are searching for two suspects in connection to a series of attacks on woman in which their toes are fondled, sources have said. The sources have told CBS Philadelphia that DNA tests now reveal not just one, but two separate predators are targeting women. Beginning last November through January, seven women were victimized by an attacker who sexually assaulted the women and fondled their toes. In the latest attack, a woman in her 20s was walking in the 1700 block of Panama Street at about 2:45 a.m. when she was attacked by an unknown male armed with […]