The Rest of America Is Sending It’s Occupy Protesters to Philadelphia
By Mike Bertha 2/22/2012
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Occupiers are going to occupy Philadelphia for the Fourth of July. An official announcement today warns that Occupy delegates from all 50 states, Washington D.C., and U.S. territories will be elected to attend a “general assembly” in Philadelphia for the holiday. The event calls for 876 delegates to be elected in early June and descend on Philly for the week of July 2nd with a planned protest outside of Independence Hall on the Fourth. Yay. [NBC Philadelphia]
Temple Headed to the Big East for All Sports?
By Mike Bertha 2/22/2012
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The Big East is expected to have made a final decision on Temple's fate by the end of the month. The conference is discussing adding Temple for all sports. Currently, Temple is in the MAC or A-10 for sports. Temple would take the place of West Virginia, which left the Big East for the Big 12 in football. [New York Times]
Collection Jar for Victim’s Family Stolen in Tacony
By Mike Bertha 2/22/2012
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You've got to be happy with this. A collection jar was put in a corner store to help the family of the man murdered last week in a dispute over dog feces. When a neighbor went to collect the jar on the family's behalf, the store owner told him that someone had already stopped by to retrieve the donations. Not only was this guy killed in an argument over dog crap, but someone's stealing donations meant for his family. Stay classy, Philadelphia. [Daily News]
Tim Tebow’s Mother Will Speak at Pro-Life Function in Cherry Hill
By Mike Bertha 2/22/2012
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Tim Tebow's Mother Pam will be the keynote speaker at an Options for Women fundraiser in Cherry Hill next month. The organization is made up of "prayer warriors" who hope to help pregnant women "Choose Life!" The fundraiser is scheduled for March 20th at Cherry Hill's Crowne Plaza. [Daily News]
Comcast Presents its Netflix Competitor “Xfinity Streampix”
By Mike Bertha 2/22/2012
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Yeah, that's a lot of "x"'s. But at least there isn't an "!" in the name. Xfinity Streampix is Comcast's streaming video service. It'll cost $4.99 a month, be bundled with certain cable packages, and expected to directly compete with Netflix. Now you can have Xfinity Cable, Xfinity TV and Xfinity Streampix. Soon enough Comcast will be like Acme in the Looney Tunes—they'll have a product for everything regardless of it's effectiveness. [FOX 29]
Jackass Star Bam Margera Arrested at Mardi Gras
By Mike Bertha 2/22/2012
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Bam Margera Arrested at Mardi Gras. Bam Margera was essentially arrested for being Bam Margera in the French Quarter on Monday. The Jackass "star" was allegedly swimming in a pool with all of his clothes on before police arrested him and cuffed him at the scene. [TMZ]
Jagr in Overtime! If you didn't watch the Flyers last night, you messed up. Wayne Simmonds found the back of the net to tie things up with nine seconds left in regulation. Jagr scored his 16th career overtime goal to lift the good guys past the Jets 5-4. [The 700 Level]
Philly Missing Out on $42 Million in New State Budget. Governor Tom Corbett's new budget has Philly losing out on $42 million. Additionally, the elimination of a grant program will cost the Philadelphia School District at least $14 million. Which is fine, since the PSD is so flush right now. [Inquirer]
Lower Merion Underage Drinkers Caught on Camera. Ah, to be young in the YouTube generation. Lower Merion School District caught wind of YouTube videos that featured some of the district's students underage drinking and partaking in recreational drug use. They pointed the police in the right direction and, today, all the mommies and daddies will find out if their shining stars were knocking a few back. [6 ABC]
The Sixers Woes Continue. They're without Spencer Hawes and Elton Brand, but that doesn't make the loss to the Grizzlies any prettier. The Sixers have now lost six-of-eight and four straight. Uh oh. [Yahoo!]
Parkland School District Approves Bus Ads. But they're not on the outside of the buses. They're inside. The ads will earn the school district a cool $150,000 in the first year and be age appropriate. [Philly.com]
Winter on Pace to Be One of the Five Warmest Ever
By Mike Bertha 2/21/2012
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If you didn't believe us when we started freaking out about the warmer weather we're experiencing in Philly, prepare to eat your words. This winter is on pace to be one of the five warmest in the history of the city. There's a good chance it'll end up in the top three. Twenty years from now we'll be heading down the Shore between Labor Day and Memorial Day, instead of the other way around. [Inquirer]
Philly Traffic Tickets Down 35 Percent Over Five Years
By Mike Bertha 2/21/2012
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The Philadelphia Police Department has seen a decrease in issued traffic tickets over the past five years. A police spokesperson indicated that he didn't think Philly drivers were more obedient, though. More likely, they believe it's an enforcement issue. Either way, the number of registered cars in Philly has been pretty stagnant over the last five years, but traffic violations are down 35 percent. [Inquirer]
Comcast Announces New Channels From Diddy and Magic Johnson
By Mike Bertha 2/21/2012
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When Comcast cut a deal with the FCC to take over NBC Universal, part of the agreement was that the cable giant would take on at least 10 new channels. The new channels would be independently owned and predominantly backed by minorities. The first two such channels have been announced. Everybody prepare yourselves for a world in which Diddy and Magic Johnson each have a television channel. Ladies and gentlemen, Comcast gives you "Revolt" and "Aspire." [Gawker]
Allen Iverson Gets Indoor Soccer Contract Offer
By Mike Bertha 2/21/2012
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What's better than playing basketball in Puerto Rico? Playing indoor soccer in Rochester. The Answer received a contract offer from the Rochester Lancers to play in two indoor soccer games. Iverson would earn $20,000 per game with bonuses for goals scored, wins and merchandising. [The 700 Level]
Would You Pay $92 To See Axl Rose’s Guns N’ Roses at Philadelphia’s Electric Factory?
By Victor Fiorillo 2/21/2012
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In case you don't have any plans for next Monday, you should probably know that Guns N' Roses have announced a last minute show at the 2,500-plus capacity Electric Factory. This should not be confused with this Friday's sold out show at Atlantic City's House of Blues or with the Guns N' Roses performance at Susquehanna Bank Center in Camden last November, a show that I attended and reviewed here (long story short: Axl Rose was much better than he could have been, though he's held up by some great tunes from the glory days of Guns N' Roses) and one where a good chunk of the crowd got free tickets thanks to lousy sales.
It seems that the current Guns N' Roses might have hit its stride on this newest leg of the tour, for which they're opting for (or, perhaps, forced into) club dates over spaces they can't fill, and Rolling Stone certainly has plenty of nice things to say about the band's "epic" New York kickoff earlier this month. Tickets for the Monday show are $92.15 with fees and go on sale to the general public on Wednesday at noon. Whether there are 2,500 Philadelphians who aren't still following Pierre Robert's fatwa of GNR and who have that kind of bread to throw around before tax returns even come in remains to be seen.
Someone Must Have Waterboarded Ed Rendell
By Mike Bertha 2/21/2012
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Someone Must Have Waterboarded Ed Rendell. The former guv had announced that he was done speaking to the media about his potential deal to purchase the Inquirer and Daily News with a group of investors. On Saturday, he told the Daily News that he would have to be waterboarded to say anything else. Then, yesterday, he went on 1210 AM's "The Michael Smerconish Show" to speak with guest-host Buzz Bissinger about the potential deal. [Daily News]
Hamels Hopes to Stay in Philly? The 28-year-old ace issued his first comments on his contract situation in Clearwater yesterday. Cole Hamels is entering a contract year and had plenty of positive things to say about the Phillies organization. [Inquirer]
Villanova Nixes Workshop by Gay Performance Artist. Tim Miller—a gay performance artist who has spoken and taught at many universities—was recently informed that his scheduled residency at Villanova University had been canceled. Nova released a statement indicating that the residency was canceled because school officials were worried that the workshops, "were not in keeping with our Catholic and Augustinian values and mission." [Inquirer]
Ilya Bryzgalov Thinks We Care Too Much. Bryz was less than stellar, again, on Saturday as Lavy pulled him in the middle of the Flyers loss to the Pens. The following day, at the Flyers Wives Carnival, Bryz is said to have indicated that he thinks that Philly fans care too much. [Crossing Broad]
Plumbers Find Remains of Fetus in Pipes of a Kensington Home. Two plumbers working at a residential site in Harrowgate alerted authorities when they found the remains of a human fetus inside the home's piping. [Inquirer]
Police Make Arrest in Bucks County Hit-And-Run. A 23-year-old Bristol Township man has been arrested in connection with the fatal hit-and-run in Bucks County early Sunday morning. [NBC Philadelphia]
Jury Selection Starts in Msg. William Lynn Trial. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia sexual-abuse scandal takes another step forward as jury selection is slated to begin today in the case against Monsignor William Lynn. Monsignor Lynn is charged with allowing priests accused of sexual-abuse to continue to work around children. [Philly.com]
Dismembered Dogs Found in Chester County. Police found the remains of numerous dismembered dogs, along with research on witchcraft and the occult, knives, and a gun, inside a Coatesville home yesterday. [FOX 29]
Happy Presidents Day, Philadelphia!
By Mike Bertha 2/20/2012
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George Washington was born on February 22, 1732. So, it makes total sense that we don't have to go to work on February 20th, 2012. We're taking a much-needed day off from scouring the Internet for breaking news and listicles from out-of-town publications that cast Philly in a negative light. Please know that while we may not be in the office today, we are out on a mission to better ourselves and make meaningful contributions to society. Who am I kidding? We're all watching Netflix and emailing each other links to YouTube videos of cats doing stupid and adorable things—which is exactly what America's forefathers would have wanted. Happy Presidents Day, everybody.
Inky, Daily News and Philly.com Journalists Circulate Anti-Censorship Petition
By Mike Bertha 2/17/2012
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A petition began circulating last night amongst journalists at the Philadelphia Media Network denouncing censorship. The move comes in the wake of management decisions that led to the removal of a blog post and the subsequent pieces like the ones at JimRomenesko.com and in the New York Times and comes with news of the company's plans to eliminate 37 editorial and art positions by the end of March. [City Paper]
Comcast Says Basically Everthing Sprint Does Violates Comcast’s Patents
By Victor Fiorillo 2/17/2012
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Philadelphia-based Comcast Cable Communications has filed a federal lawsuit against Sprint Nextel and some of its subsidiaries alleging that the Kansas-headquartered corporation has infringed upon four of Comcast's patents, including one as simple as a 2005 patent it holds entitled "Transferring Of A Message". In the suit, Comcast claims that Sprint's methods for many wireless voice and data services, the company's Connectivity Solutions, text messaging, Sprint Mobile Email, and 3G Mobile Broadband Connection, among other products, violate Comcast's patent rights. If true, that would seem to be most of the services that Sprint offers. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, though we're pretty sure they're talking about some ridiculous amount of money. Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas declined to comment on the case, while a Sprint Nextel spokesperson was not immediately available.
Whitney Houston’s Family Tells Sixers Not to Honor Her
By Mike Bertha 2/17/2012
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The Sixers apparently reached out to the Houston family to see if they would mind if the team honored the late singer by playing her rendition of the National Anthem. The family responded and asked that the team not pay tribute to Whitney. [Crossing Broad]
The Washington Nationals Are Trying So Hard to Get Phillies Fans to Hate Them
By Mike Bertha 2/17/2012
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Remember the "Take Back the Park" campaign to try to get people in Washington to show up to Nats Park and watch the home team get bludgeoned by the Phils? Yeah, well, the Nats instituted that policy after accepting a deposit for group tickets by a local company. After dodging calls and emails for two weeks, the Nats finally reached out to tell the company they were S.O.L. They're trying so hard to get us to hate them. It's precious, really. [CBS 3]
Here’s the 19-Year-Old Cuban Outfielder the Phillies Might Spend $20 Million On
By Mike Bertha 2/17/2012
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While the Cubbies are the favorites to land a 19-year-old, Cuban, corner-outfielding prospect named Jorge Soler, the Phillies organization has expressed interest in the kid. Soler hasn't faced much legitimate pitching, but reportedly packs some power in his swing. If the Phils are ready to drop $20 million on the guy, let's hope they do their research and don't let him pull a Danny Almonte. [Crossing Broad]
Archbishop Chaput Approves 18 of 24 Elementary School Appeals
By Mike Bertha 2/17/2012
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Archbishop Charles Chaput has announced the approval of 18 0f 24 appeals filed by Catholic elementary schools recommended for closing by the Blue Ribbon Commission. Archdiocese of Philadelphia have declined to comment on the rumor that private donors came forward with an offer of $10 million to save all of the high schools after postponing their ruling on Bonner-Prendie and the others. It was also announced that 14 inner city schools will be designated as independent "mission schools" that will receive outside funding. [Inquirer]
Occupy Philly Member Running for Congress
By Mike Bertha 2/17/2012
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Nate Kleinman—29-year-old member of the Occupy Philly movement—has shaved his beard and declared he's running in the Democratic primary for the House of Representatives in Pennsylvania’s 13th district. Kleinman has also said that he will only accept campaign contributions from individuals. The primary for the nomination will pit Kleinman against incumbent Representative Allyson Schwartz. [The Daily Pennsylvanian]
