SCREWDRIVER MAN Joins TOESUCKER In Holiday Pageant Of FEAR, LOATHING & Media-Stoked Hysteria

Screwdriver-wielding man sought in eight holdups Philadelphia police are searching for the man they believe is responsible for eight armed robberies — committed with a screwdriver — in University City this month. All of the victims were college-age women who were approached by a screwdriver-armed man. The robber may also have a dark, four-door Oldsmobile or Buick in the area. The attacks occurred at night, the earliest at 8:10 p.m. and the latest at 6:40 a.m. Seven attacks occurred west of 37th Street and south of Sansom Street. One attack occurred in the 3400 block of Baring Street. Officers have […]

STOP THE PRESSES: Not Yet

HOLCOMB: NO NEWSPAPER STRIKE TONIGHT “We’re not going to finish tonight,” said Local President Henry Holcomb at 9:42 p.m., during a break in negotiations. “We will keep talking as long as we are making progress, and we are.” For that reason, a strike will not be called tonight. Negotiators for both sides will continue talking until the federal mediator sends them home for the night. They will return tomorrow to resume talks. This is not an “extension,” Holcomb said. Even though the contract expires at midnight, it will remain in effect. “We will keep talking and keep making progress,” Holcomb […]

STOP THE PRESSES: And Fire Up The Internets, There’s A New Paper In Town And You Can’t Read It On The Can

From Sgt. Byko’s Lips To Our Ears: Guild And The Company are in FINAL bargaining meeting, could last an hour, could last 48 hours, but if THE STRIKE comes: Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News staffers to launch competing online paper if workers strike By Associated Press Wednesday, November 29, 2006 – Updated: 08:14 AM EST PHILADELPHIA – The largest union at Philadelphia’s two biggest daily newspapers is planning to launch\ an online newspaper to compete with the company Web site if workers go on strike after midnight on Thursday. Employees from The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News would contribute local […]

Mom, Dad, Ladies And Gentlemen Of the Jury, We Give You 174 Newspaper Stories That All Start With The Words BROTHER OF PHILADELPHIA MAYOR INDICTED, You Must Be So Proud

Philadelphia mayor’s brother indicted PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 28 (UPI) — Philadelphia Mayor John Street’s brother has been charged with fraud and tax evasion for allegedly selling his presumed influence to an airport contractor. Milton Street and two employees of Philadelphia Airport Services were charged in a lengthy federal indictment. The company was a joint venture formed to bid on a maintenance contract at Philadelphia International Airport and Northeast Philadelphia Airport. U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan said that the company hired Street in 2002, paying him $30,000 a month, because executives believed he would help the company keep its contract, NBC10 reported. “Milton […]

HOT DOCUMENT: Inky/DN Guild Memo

FROM THE DESK OF SGT. BYKO: TAKE PERSONAL STUFF HOME Please remove personal items that you use or value from the workplace before expires at midnight Thursday, November 30. If a strike becomes necessary, you will not be allowed to enter the building to retrieve your belongings. Your bargaining committee is working hard to avert a strike. If one becomes necessary it will be because the new owners are being too aggressive in seeking to force us to help pay for their purchase of our newspapers. Keep working until you hear from your union officers that a strike has been […]

Cover Wars: Whose Artfag Kung-Fu Is Stronger?

This week it’s kind of a no-brainer and besides after last week’s Moby Dick-sized Cover Warz tell-all we’re gonna keep this one short but sweet — for the winner that is. The loser, of course, will spend a week munching the cold and bitter turkey sandwich of shame, doubt and self-recrimination. But please, don’t take it too hard. Remember, this is only a game. And so, onto the commentary: CP laid this bizarre egg of a cover image that looks, best we can tell, like a bird-on-man gang rape to illustrate their WHY PHILLY ACTUALLY SUX self-haterade. Remember City Paper, […]

STOP THE PRESSES: Uncle Sgt. Byko Says Grace

“As we prepare for Thanksgiving Day, we imagine the new owners of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and philly.com sitting down in their more-than-comfortable homes for an elaborate meal with their families. They have a lot for which to be thankful. They have great wealth. They are smart, they have worked hard, and they have earned it. They enjoy secure jobs, they enjoy secure income, they enjoy secure retirement plans, they enjoy the peace of mind of knowing their families will never do without. Why would they deny some of the same peace of mind to their employees, who also […]

THE BLOGS ARE COMING, THE BLOGS ARE COMING, RUN! Media Criticism Doesn’t HAVE To Be This Clueless

Or compromised. Unless your name is Ted Beitchman, and you are still — STILL, after four years — trying to punch a hole in the Philly mediascape with that glossy money-pit/inept score-settler/high-priced coupon flyer known as REALPHILLY — and getting about as far as a renegade spermatazoan trying to break on thru a Trojan Extra Thick. Hat tip to reader Philly Guy for the heads up. He reads it so we don’t have to. But check this sad swing at wannabe 215 Murdoch-ism. We just happen to speak Beitchman, so let us translate: Pay no mind to that moonbat slander […]

NPR FOR THE DEAF: We Hear It Even When You Can’t

Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane Wednesday, November 22nd Hour 1 Aside from Thomas Eakins’ painting “The Gross Clinic” at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, what other important works are in hospitals, schools, and non-museum institutions in Philadelphia? We talk with MICHAEL LEJA, Professor of American Art at the University of Pennsylvania and PENNY BALKIN BACH, Executive Director of the Fairmount Park Art Association. Hour 2 Being on your best behavior during the holidays. We talk manners with Johns Hopkins professor PM FORNI, author of “Choosing Civility: The 25 Rules of Considerate Conduct.” Then, New York Times ethicist RANDY COHEN helps us […]

TRIBUTE: Nobody Will Love You Like Robert Altman Loved You

BY DAN BUSKIRK Last year I was teaching a summer film appreciation class to a bunch of middle-schoolers. You know what it\’s like if you?’re trying to pick out a film for any group, it’s impossible to come up with anything that somebody in the crowd isn’t going to roll their eyes at, but I’ve been doing this for a few years and I’ve come up with a batch of movies that really seem to work with kids. Still, I always want to try out something I haven’t shown before so last summer I decided to try out Robert Altman’s […]