Yo, Philly in the News

• A 21-year-old rookie Philadelphia police officer saw a motorist driving a Buick suspiciously in West Philly yesterday morning and approached the vehicle. Three teenage passengers (who turned out to be University City High School students) got out of the car. When he ordered them back to the car, the driver got on the hood of the car and shot the officer in the face with a sawed-off shotgun loaded with birdshot. The officer then chased the shooter on foot for several blocks before collapsing and radioing for assistance. After reconstructive surgery, he's now in stable condition. The shooter and one of the students were arrested, and the two other students later turned themselves in. None of the teenagers will be charged if the investigation shows they were just passengers in the vehicle.
• Only a few miles away and only a few hours after the incident described above, an 18-month-old boy was struck in the elbow and the foot by stray bullets during an altercation at Tustin Playground at 60th Street and Lancaster Avenue. The toddler is in stable condition. The intended target of the shooting was also struck and is in critical condition. Meanwhile, two other babies were found dead in the Philadelphia area yesterday - one at a day care center in Wilmington, and the other in a trash bin in Lancaster.
• A new study suggests that the planned expansion of the Pennsylvania Convention Center won't necessarily be a bad investment, but also won't be as amazingly good for business as some are claiming.
• Rendell tried to sell his sweeping, but embattled, alternative-energy plan to the legislature yesterday by making it an issue of national security and basic economic health, and by referencing the war in Iraq as a war for oil. Whether his listeners agreed with him or not, it looks like he's in for a tough battle, as everyone in Harrisburg has his own plan on how to promote clean energy.
• Police have made an arrest in the case of the Delaware State University shootings: 18-year-old former high school quarterback Loyer Braden. He was arrested in his dorm room early yesterday, and he'll be arraigned on charges of attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment and firearms violations. As he was led past reporters in shackles, he said, "I'm sorry."
• State Rep. Daryl D. Metcalfe, along with Lou Barletta, the Mayor of Hazleton, held a news conference yesterday in Harrisburg calling for the passage of state laws to halt the "alien invasion." If that sounds ridiculous - it is! Follow the link and you'll even see a photo of a sensationalistic poster displayed at the conference that features a map of Pennsylvania with the words "Invasion PA" scrawled across it. Superior Court Justice Correale F. Stevens also made an appearance at the press conference (which, if you haven't realized yet, was about illegal immigration, not flying saucers), and many lawyers and court experts are saying just showing up was an ethically questionable act for a state appellate judge; in fact, at least one lawyer is so angry that he plans to file a complaint with the state Judicial Conduct Board.

Image Credit: Flickr user jimbowen0306