Yo, Philly in the News

• First, some updates on stories we linked to yesterday: the Inquirer has the unsettling details and about the shooting of a 5-year-old boy early yesterday morning, and how it connects with other recent incidents of violence in the city. As for the Turnpike shutdown, it lasted six hours, causing a ripple effect of traffic jams on adjacent roadways and stranding hundreds of motorists at the height of morning rush hour.
• The judge in the Fort Dix Six case will hold a hearing December 20th to consider whether the defendants should be released on bail so they can work effectively with their lawyers, something they say they cannot do at the moment given their current treatment in jail.
• Although some say it was in defiance of state law, yesterday the city gave SugarHouse Casino permission to build out onto the Delaware River at a site opposed by many neighborhood residents. Of course, there will be a legal fight.
• David Oh says he's found clear evidence of voter fraud in the November 6th election that cost him a City Council seat. He wants an investigation of the absentee ballots, as he says the safeguards of the absentee ballot system were not maintained.
• Mayor-elect Michael Nutter announced his chief of staff yesterday: top administrator at Temple University and former city treasurer Clarence "Clay" Armbrister.
• The Inquirer has two articles this morning on Project U-Turn, the project announced a year ago to address Philadelphia's school dropout problem. The general point seems to be that although the project has had some success, dropouts are still a big problem.

Image Credit: Flickr user Eric Strauss