Yo, Philly in the News

• Hey, we made it to the top of another good list, Philadelphia! Zagat says the citizens of our fine city are the most generous tippers in the nation.
• The Daily News talks to two Philadelphia area men about their experiences after being arrested and thrown into a Chinese prison.
• In an effort to cut costs and avoid layoffs, the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia voted last night to postpone until next August a $25-a-week raise that had been scheduled to begin Monday.
• "A southeastern Pennsylvania man who fired a shot at another car while his 8-year-old son was riding in his car faces one to two years in jail, and may serve part of the time in a psychiatric clinic." He's also barred from drinking, driving, or owning a weapon.
• Hit-and-run deaths in Philadelphia are on track to be higher this year than last year; the eight so far already equal the number for all of 2007. In more bad news, experts predict that the next U.S. census will show an increase in poverty in the Philadelphia area.
• "Federal prosecutors asked a judge late yesterday to throw out defense subpoenas for law school application records of State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo's son-in-law, saying it was an 'improper fishing expedition' to get personal records of a government witness."
• There's confusion, anger, and even fear among residents about the state's plans for spraying for mosquitoes. The announcement that spraying would begin came late for many, and it wasn't entirely clear whether the pesticide being used was completely safe.
• The state Department of Health is applying for roughly $1.7 million in federal money, which will be disbursed to organizations and schools for abstinence-only sex education. Abstinence-only sex education restricts teachers from discussing birth control methods except to say that they fail. The Rendell administration has not requested money for such programs in the past, and indeed studies show that abstinence-only programs are ineffective, and many say they're also discriminatory, and that they present biased and even medically inaccurate information. But the Health Department says it's just trying to be fair and doesn't want to stand in the way of community groups or schools that want to focus on abstinence-only.

Image Credit: Flickr user James Jordan