PHILLY DEALS: Sunoco Inc., the Philadelphia-based oil company, says it’s paying EquaTerra Inc., a Houston consulting firm, to recommend whether Sunoco should “outsource” information technology, accounting, personnel, and procurement jobs from its Center City headquarters, home to 750 of Sunoco’s 10,000 employees. “We have hired EquaTerra to advise us as we explore potentially outsourcing some functions,” Sunoco spokesman Thomas Golembeski told me yesterday. Workers learned Friday of the possible job moves. EquaTerra didn’t return calls for comment late yesterday. Sunoco expects EquaTerra to report later this year on which jobs could be profitably outsourced to cheap labor markets in Asia […]
BRING IT ON: Let Philly Host ‘Trial Of The Century’
INQUIRER: Taken aback by the intense criticism from political opponents and local officials of President Obama’s decision to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed in a civilian courtroom in New York, the City of Brotherly Love just may be the perfect location to transfer the trial of one of the masterminds behind the 9/11 attacks. Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, take note. Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell may be historical, but they’re old news. A terrorist trial, that’s history in the making and would deliver the biggest financial payoff since William Penn made the deal with the Lenape tribe. All Mayor […]
POTUS Makes Health Care Housecall At Arcadia U
President Barack Obama drumming up support for his health care reform legislation at Arcadia University WHITE HOUSE PRESS OFFICE: Leslie Banks introduced the President [at Arcadia University earlier today]. On February 11th, Leslie wrote the President an e-mail expressing her frustration with the cost of health insurance. Leslie is a self-employed, single mother with type 2 diabetes, whose daughter is a sophomore in college at Temple University. In January 2010, Leslie received a notice from her health insurance provider that her plan was being dropped. To keep the same benefits, the premiums for her and her daughter would more than […]
POTUS To Make Monday Housecall At Arcadia Univ.
On the morning of Monday, March 8, 2010 President Obama will visit the Philadelphia area and deliver remarks on health insurance reform at Arcadia University. This event is free and open to the public, however, tickets are required. Tickets will be distributed on a first come, first served basis on Saturday, March 6 at 3:30 PM in the Hospitality Room of the Kuch Recreation and Athletic Center at Arcadia University. EXHUMING MCCARTHY: Lynn Cheney’s Farenheit 9/11 HUFFINGTON POST: Back in January 2007, Ted Olson — then a lawyer in private practice but previously a lead counsel in Bush v. Gore […]
THE NEWEST DEAL: Nutter Proposes Soda Tax And $300 Garbage Collection Fee To Cover Budget Gap
KYW: Saying “nothing worth having in life is free,” Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter on Thursday morning delivered a nearly $4-billion budget to City Council. And he asked for the lawmakers’ support for two firsts: a tax on soda and a fee for trash collection. Nutter proposed a flat $300 per year, per property trash fee (see previous story) and a two-cents-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks (see related story). He said these will bring in an extra $184 million per year to save city services. MORE RELATED: William Dietz of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and CDC chief Thomas Frieden […]
THIS JUST IN: Pavement At The Mann Sept. 17th
After years of speculation, the most important American band of the Nineties is returning to the stage with the lineup of Mark Ibold, Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg, Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich and Steve West reuniting for dates around the world in 2010. Please be advised this tour is not a prelude to additional jaunts and/or a permanent reunion. Described in their own Wikipedia entry as having experienced “moderate commercial success,” Pavement’s catalog for the Matador, Domino, Drag City and Treble Kicker imprints has come to define in the eyes of many the blueprint for independent rock over the past generation. […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Flogging Molly At The E-Factory
BY JAMIE DAVIS Flogging molly have been around for a while, so they know how to put on a show. Their shows are like a worship service to Ireland, drinking, and punk rock, and the crowd are there exactly for that. You have never known happiness unless you have cheered on the girl who just took a break from moshing to stand in the middle of a circle and do a jig. Friday night at the way sold-out Electric Factory, Flogging Moly played an epic two hour long set, that covered everything from songs they wrote back in the early […]
GAMBLOR: Steve Wynn To Takeover Foxwoods Fail
INQUIRER: Wynn Resorts confirmed Tuesday that it had signed a letter of intent to take control of developing and running the struggling Foxwoods Casino project. But the deal is contingent on approval from Pennsylvania gaming regulators. The Foxwoods project is at risk of losing its license for repeated delays since winning one of the city’s two slots licenses in 2006. He only offered a general idea of what he had in mind, saying it would be a one-story casino with two or three levels of parking on either side. Asked how much Wynn Resorts would spend on the waterfront site, […]
NO JOKING: Philly Airport TSA Worker Fired For Planting White Powder On College Student
ASSOCIATED PRESS: A college student returning to school after the winter break fell victim to a prank at Philadelphia’s airport by a Transportation Security Administration worker who pretended to plant a plastic bag of white powder in her carryon luggage. The worker is no longer employed by the TSA after the incident this month, a spokeswoman said. Rebecca Solomon, 22, a University of Michigan student, wrote in a column for her campus newspaper that she was having her bags screened on Jan. 5 before her flight to Detroit when the employee stopped her, reached into her laptop computer bag and […]
HAITI: Give Locally, Act Globally
[photo by Gerald Herbert/AP via THE BIG PICTURE] HAITIAN PROFESSIONALS OF PHILADELPHIA: Many of us are still in a state of shock but we have hope that we can assist Haiti’s relief. As an organization that prides itself in keeping the rich culture of Haiti alive in Philadelphia, the Haitian Professionals of Philadelphia (HPP) send our deepest and most sincere condolences to our Haitian family in our area and around the world. From the generous donation of Blue Star Jets, we have secured a private jumbo jet to transport medical professionals and supplies to Haiti. We are in need of DOCTORS, NURSES […]
DO THE MATH: One Billion In 215-Targeted Stimulus Dollars Has Created Just 3,500 Jobs In Philadelphia
[Illustration by ALEX FINE] DAILY NEWS: Federal records show that more than a billion dollars from President Obama’s $787 billion economic-stimulus program has been targeted for Philadelphia. But the typical job created here is just as likely to require a lab coat as a hard hat, as much of the money has gone for university research projects. Meanwhile, city government, which has been financially ravaged by the recession, has gotten relatively little help from the stimulus program, and then mostly in indirect ways, like payments to citizens that bump tax revenues, or money to accelerate already-planned capital projects. In the […]
Ex-Khyber Barkeep Charged in Mumbai Attacks
GUARDIAN: Federal prosecutors accused David Coleman Headley, 49, who lives in Chicago, of conspiracy to bomb public places in India, to murder and maim people, and to provide material support to a foreign terrorist group. The charges come after Headley, also known as Daood Gilani, was accused of involvement in a plot to kill the editor of the Danish paper, Jyllands-Posten, who published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in 2005 which provoked an angry backlash in the Muslim world. Headley is accused of scouting the three locations in Mumbai – the luxury Taj hotel, a railway station and the Jewish […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Top 5 Things You Should Know About Josh Ritter At The TLA Last Night
1) No one has ever been happier about playing in his own band. From the moment he literally bounces onstage, Josh Ritter is positively ebullient, grinning ear to ear like he can’t believe he stumbled into this group of musicians. He prances around the stage, his odd brown ’fro and unbuttoned collared shirt looking slightly familiar, though you can’t quite place why or where. 2) Sure, he digs into his catalog, but it’s mostly a night for new songs. Ritter just finished recording his latest album, due sometime around April, so he presents them mostly in their young form. “These […]