Yo, Philly in the News

• On Tuesday, cops and local FBI agents tracked down and eventually caught one of three suspects in a series of (heavily) armed robberies of fast food restaurants and convenience stores in Philadelphia, Yeadon, and Upper Darby - but not until after the guy ran from them across a series of rooftops in West Philly, occasionally jumping across gaps of 10 feet or more, just like in a movie! The cops followed a trail of blood and ultimately found the guy hiding in the basement of a house he'd broken into, drinking some beer. He had no weapon on him, and surrendered peacefully. The third suspect, however, is still at large, so if you have any info about him, call 215-686-3183.
• It sounds like the challenge to Bob Brady's candidacy will be handled from a judge outside of Philadelphia, which makes sense. Meanwhile, the two lesser known mayoral candidates (Jesus White and Queena Bass) will be facing challenges of their own, as will 30 other candidates trying to get on the May 15 ballot, including five City Council members and everybody's favorite Council at-large candidate, Milton Street.
• The state House unanimously approved their much ballyhooed set of new internal operating procedures, supposedly designed to make the legislative process more transparent and open. They also can no longer vote by proxy, but must actually be in the chamber to have their voices heard. In other news from Harrisburg, a bill has just been cleared by the state House committee that would give the city the right to impose campaign contribution limits or provide public financing for elections. It won't affect the legal challenge to the current campaign finance limits, but it will mean there won't be any basis for future challenges to such limits.
• Last Wednesday afternoon, during the snow storm, a thief walked into the I. Brewster gallery on the 1600 block of Walnut Street, walked right up to an $18,000 Keith Haring slikscreen, grabbed it, and took off. The store employees all ran after him, but he escaped on a bike. Luckily, he dropped an eBay receipt that has led detectives to a likely suspect. Still, if you know anything, call Det. Frank McClain at 215-686-3093.
• The folks in the Street administration admit they should be spending about $179 million per year reparing "deteriorating city buildings, streets, bridges and other aged possessions," but due to the fact that the city is almost at its debt limit under state law, they propose spending only $54 million, thus leaving pretty much everything undone. Great plan!
• Remember that runaway bus incident at Pennsbury High School back in January that injured 17 students, one critically? Well, police have finished their investigation, found no signs of mechanical failure, and have thus concluded that the driver must have hit the gas instead of the brake by mistake. They don't plan to charge him, since it was a mistake, but McCleary says that's definitely not what happened, and insists that the accelerator stuck and the brakes failed.

Photo of an unstolen (as far as we know) Keith Haring work by Flickr user massdistraction