Yo, Philly in the News

• The Daily News suggests strongly that if the city made use of private ambulances when Fire Department medic units are swamped with calls, it could make the difference between life and death for certain patients. Philadelphia doesn't use nonmunicipal ambulances because of legal issues.
• Also in the Daily News this morning is an article providing more details on the case of the three North Philadelphia teenagers killed in a car accident on Saturday.
• Last night in the South Philadelphia High School auditorium, Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey held the first of six sessions organized to gather public comment before the unveiling of his anticrime strategy on January 30th. A tense moment came when an activist described two recent deadly police shootings as murders. Ramsey responded by saying: "You're referring to two police shootings, those weren't murders. Those were fatal shootings that involved police, and we're investigating them right now, but to refer to them as murders is just flat-out wrong, and I don't accept that."
• "Hearings resume tonight before the Lower Providence Township Zoning Hearing Board on a challenge to plans by the American Revolution Center to build a museum, hotel, conference center and other commercial development on privately owned land within the boundaries of Valley Forge National Historical Park."
• Thomas Manion, a Republican and the father of a Bucks County Marine killed in Iraq last year, has invited reporters to his house today where he's expected to announce that he'll be running for the congressional seat held by Iraq war veteran Patrick Murphy.
• The latest Philadelphia School District report card reveals that the Philadelphia School Reform Commission failed to meet many of the ambitious goals it set in 2004 for the school district to meet by this year. "Though the district greatly expanded school-choice options, increased test scores, and boosted the number of certified teachers, it fell far short in several academic areas and lagged in safety and finances, results show."

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