Yo, Philly in the News

• 75-year-old Maximo Jurado escaped from a New Jersey prison in 1979 and has been on the run ever since - until he was captured by police last night in Philadelphia at the home of an ex-girlfriend, who had known him for a over a year but had never discovered the truth about his past.
• The Daily News story we linked to the other day about the bloated Parking Authority pay roll has caused Ed Rendell to call for the organization to clean up its house fast, and for a state House member to demand that the board members be ousted.
• A couple of political notes: a recent poll shows Nutter's lead over Al Taubenberger to be so huge and lopsided that it has other Democrats worried voter turnout may be very low. Meanwhile, both candidates will be at the Vote for Homes! rally today at 1PM at City Hall. National candidates are visiting the area, too; Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney talked to reporters at Philadelphia International Airport yesterday before heading out to fund-raise in Center City and the Main Line. Right now Romney seems to be focused on pointing out how he's better than Giuliani.
• Yesterday was NanoDay@Penn 2007, an event designed to promote Penn's work in nanotechnology, as well as encourage the next generation of scientists. Students from PA and NJ showed off award-winning science projects, including two that involved nanotechnology.
• An investigation into a fatal fire at a South Philadelphia rowhouse revealed numerous fire hazards, including overloaded electrical cords and no working smoke alarms. Apparently firefighters had tried to install smoke detectors in the house for free in the past, but the family refused to let them in.
• An investigation has begun into the death of a Philadelphia International Airport employee, who was fatally injured while removing a tree.

Image Credit: Flickr user SnapsterMax