This week brought word that Sam Katz has dropped his GOP party affiliation, a move that opens the door to a possible run in the general election as an independent. Mayor Street believes an independent could be viable this year, just not Sam Katz: “I think he’s fooling himself if he thinks lots of Democrats are going to go flocking to him, running away from the Democratic nominee. I think that’s a little pie-in-the-skyish. It’s not going to happen.” The Mayor goes on to suggest that Katz should give up his dream of running City Hall: “Sam ran a couple […]
POP IN TAPE: Stop Snitchin’ Is A Slogan, Not A Solution
BY MICHAEL FICHMAN Last Sunday, when Cam’ron appeared on “60 Minutes” (videos here) and tried to explain how his credibility as an artist was subject to his obedience to the Code of the Streets, he neglected to acknowledge the consequences of an imperfect code. Furthermore, he didn’t rhyme the same word over and over again, nor did he suggest that he and Anderson Cooper should tip Cristal and run trains until Gawker or Bossip find out. But I digress. The “Stop Snitchin” credo is rooted in the distrust borne of centuries of systemic racism — much of it at the hands […]
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 […]
All Of This Happened While You Were Sleeping
SPACE LORD MOTHER: Acid Mothers Temple, First Unitarian, Last Night [Photo by ERICA CORBO]
FROM THE DEPT. OF WTF: Jilted Lover Mows Down Mother, Daughter and 5-Year-Old With Maxima
BY DANA DIFILIPPO OF THE DAILY NEWS Steaming and screaming, Wykia Townsend was fury incarnate, allegedly there to confront her romantic rival in a love triangle, investigators said. Before Charlese Burrows, her mother, Donna, and several children frolicking in the late-day sunshine on Germantown Avenue near Somerset Street, could react, Townsend stomped on the gas pedal. Her Nissan Maxima roared onto the sidewalk and into the family, hurling bodies into the air. When the engine quieted, Burrows, 33, her mother, Donna, 47, and her 5-year-old niece lay broken and bleeding near the battered car. Townsend and her passenger — whom […]
SOLOMON BURKE: Cry To Me
The viddy’s a little, well, YouTubish, but THIS SONG — ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, all the lawyers in glass towers, all the homies in the ‘hood (we know you’re readin’ this, don’t front) and all the ships at sea: Please rise and set your computer speakers to LOUD-ASS for King Solomon!
L&I Shuts Down Citywide Psychic Friends Network; Turns Out Fortune Telling Is Illegal In Pennsylvania
(CBS 3) PHILADELPHIA — A sweeping raid by Licenses and Inspections led to misfortune for Philadelphia fortune tellers as all psychic businesses were shut down due to a decades old city law. It turns out fortune telling in Pennsylvania has been illegal for more than 30 years. A 1971 law makes it a 3rd degree misdemeanor for “A person (who) pretends for gain or lucre to tell fortunes or predict future events by cards, tokens, the inspection of the head or hands of any person.” The seers, including five fortune tellers, were unable to foresee the issuance of cease operation […]
KILLADELPHIA: Feds Take Down 3 Gun Pushers
Three men suspected of funneling illegal guns to the streets of Philadelphia were arrested yesterday and charged. In announcing the indictment of the trio, U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan said investigators were trying to trace the weapons they sold to an undercover agent back to their legal origins to determine whether they had been stolen or purchased for black-market sale. The undercover agent purchased 22 guns – including 15 semiautomatic pistols – during the sting operation set up by a task force involving the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Philadelphia police, and the state police. INQUIRER: Smells Like […]
THE SECRET HISTORY OF AMERICAN BANDSTAND: The Fall Of Bob Horn And The Rise Of Dick — Drunk Driving, Statutory Rape, Geator The Bagman, And Mrs. Annenberg Is NOT Amused
Let us just say up front, we have no idea where the truth lies in all of this and merely offer this up for your consideration. In the last 10 years, a very different story about the rise of Bandstand has emerged that runs counter to the soft-focus squeaky-clean nostalgia we’ve all come to know and accept about the beginnings of the Philly-based Mecca of Sock-Hopdom. (The time-hook on this is a glowing notice in the Inquirer about Leonore Annenberg — widow of Walter Annenberg and noted philanthropist and a major 215 civic supporter in her own right — being […]
GUNCRAZY: Pennsyltucky Gun Nuts Call For Lynching Of State Rep. Cruz
[S]everal gun-rights proponents unfurled a banner saying that State Rep. Angel Cruz (D., Phila.) should be hanged for introducing legislation that would require people to register their guns and pay a $10 fee to the state police. “People want to hang me for doing my job,” Cruz said, adding that his bill was aimed at trying to reduce gun violence in his district. His bill outraged gun-owner groups that used its introduction this month to mobilize members for a rally yesterday at the Capitol. Rally organizers had hoped to promote bills to ease restrictions on gun purchases, but anger over […]
JOBS: Philly To Become Major-League Shipping Playa?
The Maritime Stakeholders Group (MSG) of Philadelphia yesterday presented proposals to Pennsylvania state legislators for a major port development on the site of the current port of Philadelphia. The MSG represents a cross-section of organizations involved in promoting the development of the US port of Philadelphia. The group told legislators that major terminal operators, shipping lines and investment firms had expressed interest in the new port development plan. The project aims to turn Philadelphia port into a major East Coast container facility, capable of handling over 3.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year. “With the congestion at West Coast […]
GAMBLOR: Foxwoods Already A Three Million Dollar Tax Deadbeat & Trying To Weasel Casino Property Value Down To Zero
Foxwoods paid $65 million to acquire the property at Reed and Columbus Blvd. in January, 2005, but hasn’t paid any taxes on the property since the [Philadelphia Board of Revision of Taxes] raised its market value for the property to $45 million in August 2005. According to the Philadelphia Revenue Dept., Foxwoods Philadelphia Casino now owes the City $2.8 million in back taxes for 2006 and 2007, making it the third largest corporate tax deadbeat after Amtrak and Septa according to the Top 100 list maintained by Hallwatch. An appraisal submitted by Foxwoods as part of its appeal suggests that […]
TALKIN’ TRASH: NOLA Mayor Sorry — As He Damn Well Should Be, But Deep Down You Know He’s Right
Referring to his remarks about Philadelphia’s problem with trash and litter, Nagin said in a statement issued yesterday that he was speaking to a New Orleans community group Saturday and, “in an effort to reassure the citizens of New Orleans of the progress being made in our recovery, I pointed to an area in which many American cities struggle but which we are achieving some success.” “I intended no disrespect to the city of Philadelphia,” Nagin’s statement said. “We are truly thankful for the generosity of our hosts and look forward to a long, positive working relationship between our cities.” […]