Yo, Philly in the News

• Mayor Street really is doing something about the violence problem in Philadelphia, he's just not doing a good job of publicizing what he's doing - which is probably a mistake.
• Still on the subject of Philly's violence problem: Mayor Street and top law enforcement officials said yesterday that the attitude in the city needs to change before the violence will stop - meaning, more witnesses have to find the courage to step forward. Probably true, but... well, that's easy for you to say.
• Thanks to a determined fight during the budget debates to keep money in a land protection fund, "a $1 million Keystone grant will be awarded today for the preservation of Erdenheim's Angus Tract," part of the 450-acre Erdenheim Farm in Whitemarsh Township.
• Saira Rao, former news producer, held a clerkship from 2002 to 2003 with Judge Sloviter, 75, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, and has just written a novel (Chambermaid) in which she lays down some pretty thinly veiled criticisms of Sloviter and of the Third Circuit in general.
• Philly's new budget has greatly decreased the amount of money going to programs that send troubled students to private disciplinary schools. Some say this is a "time-out" to find if the schools work, but others say it will leave troubled students in regular classes, and raise the already high level of violence in area schools.
• The political effects of the 2005 legislative pay-raise debacle are still being felt, even by people like Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Thomas Saylor, who is fighting to get a second 10-year term on the high court.

Image Credit: Flickr user msspider66