Lori McCole is afraid that her daughter could get run over on the way to school by a gambler who has been up all night drinking. Samantha Pakech worries about traffic jams and property values falling. Christopher Tucker asks if some kid will repeat his own childhood and end up sleeping in a car outside a casino while a parent blows the rent or mortgage money inside. Go to the sections of the city where a casino could rise and you will hear a litany of reasons that the negatives may outweigh any benefits that slots parlors can bring to […]
SMELLS LIKE JOURNALISM: Inky Rakes Pooper Scooper Thru Gaming Control Board’s Litterbox And Digs Up Some Good Shit
HARRISBURG — Former State Rep. Mark McNaughton, a longtime critic of gambling just appointed as a member of the state’s Gaming Control Board, has won thousands of dollars at casinos in recent years, according to tax returns obtained by The Inquirer. McNaughton, other records indicate, also took several trips to an Atlantic City casino with a lobbyist who represents Boyd Gaming Corp., which until September was vying for one of Pennsylvania’s coveted slots licenses. McNaughton, a five-term conservative Republican from Harrisburg, disclosed his winnings — about $15,500 between 2003 and last year — on federal income taxes but not on […]
SMELLS LIKE DEMOCRACY: DiCicco Calls For Six Month Hold ‘Em On Slots, Wants To Re-Shuffle Deck And Deal Public Into The Game
PENNSYLVANIA ? As reported by the Philadelphia Daily News: “With four of the potential casino locations in his district, Councilman Frank DiCicco yesterday urged the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to postpone for six months the selection next Wednesday of the two winning applicants. “Though DiCicco had hoped for plenty of support from the city’s legislative delegation to Harrisburg, he got only incoming freshman state Rep. Michael O’Brien and Councilman Darrell Clarke to stand with him in South Philadelphia near the proposed Foxwoods Casino. “?With a six-month delay, the board could gather more public input on the casino operators’ evolving plans, […]
SMOKE ‘EM IF YOU GOT ‘EM: Mayor Lifts Smoking Ban For Three Weeks, Marlboro Man and Camel Joe Spotted On Edge Of Town
Mayor John Street signed a revised bill into law on Thursday, allowing smaller bars to apply for permanent exemptions. That ban goes into effect January 8th, and overrides the current one. So, until then, smoking is allowed, although it is expected that most restaurants will continue to enforce the ban. Under the new law, outdoor cafes and taverns which make no more than 10-percent of sales off food can apply for exemptions. 6ABC: Quitters Never Win, Plus It Makes You Look Cool And More Grown-Up
SHITBEAST RISING: Dem Senator Rushed To Hospital; Could Give Control Of US Senate Back To THE BASTARDS, With CHENEY As THE DECIDER
Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) underwent emergency surgery overnight to repair bleeding inside his brain and was “recovering without complication” this morning, according to the U.S. Capitol physician. Johnson, 59, who is in the critical care unit at George Washington University Hospital, fell ill at the Capitol yesterday, introducing a note of uncertainty over control of the Senate just weeks before Democrats are to take over with a one-vote margin. Johnson “was found to have had an intracerebral bleed caused by a congenital arteriovenous malformation,” Adm. John Eisold, attending physician of the U.S. Capitol, said in a statement issued by the […]
SHAMEFUL: Rendell Doles Out Cushy LCB CEO Post As Golden Parachute To Retiring Harrisburg Hack
HARRISBURG – Out of a job for only two weeks, former State Sen. Joe Conti today will be named chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, a newly created $150,000-a-year post with the nation’s largest buyer of wine and spirits. The Rendell administration pushed the appointment of the Bucks County Republican, calling him perfect for the job. Yet the news was immediately met with outrage by the LCB chairman.”This is not transparency in public government,” said Jonathan Newman, adding that he learned of Conti’s hiring when Rendell’s office gave him a job description for the new position at […]
GAMBLOR: Sunlight Still The Best Disinfectant And TOTALLY Worth Going To Jail For
Anti-casino rally in Harrisburg; 14 arrested Fourteen anti-casino protestors were arrested today at the Gaming Control Board offices in Harrisburg when they demanded to see documents about proposed casinos that they say are being withheld from the public. The group was among 50 demonstrators who travelled in two buses from Philadelphia in a bid to delay the scheduled announcement of two casino sites in the city on Dec. 20. The protestors rallied in a park outside the Statehouse before marching to the Gaming Control Offices in a building located across the street. Those arrested included two women in wheelchairs. Police […]
HIZZONER ’07: Shitastic Schools, Crushing Poverty and Spiralling Gun Violence All Take Backseat To Dreadlocked Man Rotting In Prison 300 Miles Away
U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Phila.) doesn’t think Mumia Abu-Jamal got a fair shake from the legal system that convicted him of killing Philadelphia policeman Daniel Faulkner. But Fattah, a mayoral candidate, voted Wednesday to condemn the French city of St. Denis for renaming a street after the celebrity inmate – a renaming that proponents said was intended to focus world attention on the same alleged injustice long criticized by Fattah. Fattah’s vote, on a purely symbolic resolution sponsored by outgoing U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R., Pa.), represented his latest effort to grapple with an issue that remains a political […]
IT’S ACADEMIC: Rendell IS Gamblor
FROM THE ALLENTOWN MORNING CALL: “The governor recently told the Lancaster New Era editorial board that for every one person addicted to gambling or who lost a pay check to gambling, he can show us 500 who go and have the time of their life. I wonder how these numbers were produced. They are far out of line with the best social science research in the state and the country about the numbers of people with gambling compulsions. Let us compare the governor’s numbers with those produced by national experts regarding the prevalence of gambling problems in the general adult […]
WHOOPSIE: How NOT To Bribe State Gaming Officials
HARRISBURG – A Blue Bell developer and his partners in the proposed Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia were fined a record $200,000 by regulators yesterday for making 21 political contributions in violation of the state gambling law. Peter DePaul, president of the DePaul Group, a horse-racing veteran and longtime Republican contributor, gave $31,750 to various political candidates and committees earlier this year when he was “unaware” the law prohibiting such gifts was in effect, said his lawyer, Paul Rosen. DePaul and Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners L.P. will pay $100,000 each, according to the state Gaming Control Board. INQUIRER: Unmarked Bills, Brown […]
HIZZONER ’07: Turns Out The Saidel ’07 Mayoral Campaign Nothing More Than CHINESE FIRE DRILL, Candidate Pulls Plug One Week After Announcing Candidacy; ‘What A Rush!’ Sez These Chix
This is a metaphor, people. HIZZONER 07: Maybe It’s The Snappy Name, But We Are Really Likin? This Jonathan Guy From YOUNG PHILLY POLITICS: Jonathan Saidel Makes Me Go, ?Hmmmm? During Bob Brady?s riffing, he started introducing other local politicians in the room, including ?future Mayoral candidate Jonathan Saidel. The reason I bring this up is that I had never seen Saidel speak in person, and frankly do not know a lot about him. But, I would have to say, his speech very much surprised and impressed me, mainly for the fire with which it was delivered. And then, when […]
HEADLINE OF THE WEEK: Supreme Court Takes ‘Bonghits 4 Jesus’ Case, After Telling NY TIMES They Don’t DO Press Freedom Cases; LORD HELP US!
Court takes ‘Bong Hits 4 Jesus’ case By MARK SHERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court stepped into a dispute over free speech Friday involving a suspended high school student and his banner that proclaimed “Bong Hits 4 Jesus.” The justices agreed to hear the appeal by the Juneau, Alaska, school board and principal Deborah Morse of a lower court ruling that allowed the student’s civil rights lawsuit to proceed. The school board hired former Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr to argue its case to the high court. Morse suspended Frederick after he displayed the banner, with its reference […]
HIZZONER ’07: MUMIA Shaping Up To Be Campaign Issue In Mayoral RACE Baiting, According To FOP
The Fraternal Order of Police is already preparing for battle with mayoral candidate U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, who has publicly said that Abu-Jamal deserves a new trial. “For that reason alone, we will not endorse this gentleman under any circumstances,” said FOP President Bobby Eddis. “I would go as far as to say we will work against his campaign.” Eddis said the FOP was also upset because Fattah did not support a resolution in the U.S. House earlier this year condemning the French town of Saint-Denis for naming a street after Abu-Jamal. Eddis said Fattah told him he wouldn’t back […]