Yo, Philly in the News

• Well, at least one representative of Philadelphia is doing well in sports - that being a guy named Tom Smith, who goes by the name Vertical Paper when competing in his sport of choice: Rock Paper Scissors. The International World Championships went down this past weekend in Toronto, and Smith won the bronze medal. He's one of only five Americans to ever place in the top 3 during the five-year history of the event, and he's already off to Japan in January to train for five months for the next championship. Said our city's league commissioner, C. Urbanus, "The rest of the country and world continue to dread going up against players from the City of Brotherly Love, and for good reason." Word. Go Philly! (Via Shawn Ring)
• Hey, Sidney Poitier was in town Tuesday night to receive the Marian Anderson award at the Kimmel Center! The award "honors artists who are also humanitarians," and is named after a famous opera singer from South Philly.
• Despite all the controversy and complaints about those legislative pay raises, top leaders in the state House who had supported the raises were all reelected by the Pennsylvania House in Harrisburg on Tuesday.
• A Goya took a walk on its way through Pennsylvania, and the FBI need your help tracking it down. The painting in question is Children with a Cart from 1778, and there's a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to its recovery. Call your FBI division of choice if you think you've got such information; the Philly division's number is 215-418-4000.
• SEPTA's ongoing construction of the Market-Frankford El has hurt small West Philly businesses quite a bit - so much so, in fact, that they're getting a $500,000 grant from the state Senate.
• Pennsylvania's first slots casino opened Tuesday at Pocono Downs just outside Wilkes-Barre, and business is already pretty good.
• U.S. Rep. Chakah Fattah is expected to finally officially throw his hat in the ring for the Philly Mayoral race this Saturday.
• Consider not getting sick in the area any time soon, as both Temple University Hospital and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania were near the top of a just-released list of most hospital-acquired infections.
• A Kensington man - who was a suspected drug dealer and was recently shot to death - went to his grave in style last week, his casket packed with "marijuana, PCP, alcohol, condoms, Playboys, bullets, gun magazines and an obligatory copy of High Times."
• Philly has a lot of open space, but no plan for how to use it. So GreenPlan Philadelphia would like to know what you think we should do with it all.

Image Credit: Flickr user Aaron G. Stock