Yo, Philly in the News

• Irina Malinovskaya, a former University of Pennsylvania student, has already been on trial twice for the murder of the new girlfriend of her ex-boyfriend, but yesterday her third trial started because neither previous jury was able to come to a decision.
• A federal appeals court yesterday overturned a lower court's ruling and decided that Philadelphia police officers have immunity in the shooting of Jill Burella. Burella was shot by her husband, who then killed himself. She filed a suit back in 2000 claiming that "the Police Department knew her husband had a history of violence and mental problems but consistently failed to take action to protect her."
• In two incidents - one Wednesday afternoon and another early Thursday morning - young gunmen sprayed bullets wildly on Philadelphia streets, hitting only innocent bystanders. In both cases, neither the gunmen nor their intended victims were apprehended. In the Thursday incident in Olney, a passenger on a SEPTA bus, as well as the driver, were both struck, but the injured bus driver was still able to drive away, and is being hailed as a hero by police. No one was seriously hurt in either incident.
• Yesterday Philly utility regulators voted unanimously to give the Philadelphia Gas Works only a quarter of the rate hike they'd requested, which will still increase the average annual residential bill for PGW customers by about $57, or 3 percent. PGW is not happy with the decision, obviously; they say the original $100 million request was needed "to make sure the safety and reliability of the infrastructure was maintained."
• There was another deadly hit-and-run accident in Philadelphia early this morning when a 67-year-old man was struck and killed by a van while trying to cross Roosevelt Boulevard, and the driver left the scene of the accident.

Image Credit: Flickr user david55king