Yo, Philly in the News

• A planned merger between Wolf Block of Philadelphia and a Florida law firm has been called off due to the risks presented by the struggling economy.
• Meteorologists warn that Tropical Storm Hanna could hit the Philadelphia region with high winds and pounding rain tomorrow night and Saturday.
• A 62-year-old white electrician working at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia hung a noose in a black electrician's locker on August 11th. He says it was just a dumb practical joke, but he was fired on the 15th and has now been charged with a federal hate crime. He was released yesterday on $50,000 bail on his own recognizance and a hearing was set for Monday.
• Beginning Saturday, PATCO will add trains during rush hours to cope with increasing ridership.
• Philadelphia public school students return to classrooms this morning. City officials met yesterday to discuss safety plans for the 2008-09 school year.
• Luis Dejesus was already incarcerated and awaiting sentencing for an attempted murder and rape case from January 2003 when he was linked by DNA evidence to a rape-murder from July 2003. He has now been charged in that case as well.
• A Philadelphia judge agreed yesterday to let the mother of Danieal Kelly have a preliminary hearing on the murder charges she faces in her daughter's death.
• The surviving members of the Grateful Dead are getting back together to play a benefit concert for Barack Obama on October 13th at the Bryce Jordan Center on the Penn State campus. The Allman Brothers Band is also on the bill. If the Dead's reunion performance goes well, a spring tour could be in the works.

Image Credit: Flickr user Otterman56