Yo, Philly in the News

• Yesterday, WHYY hired former Inquirer editorial page editor Chris Satullo to oversee the public radio, TV, and Internet news operations. The public radio station will announce Satullo’s title this week and he will be, according to William J. Marrazzo, “responsible for all [their] news and civic-engagement initiatives.” For his part, Satullo hopes to “strongly bolster WHYY’s Web operation and Web presence.”




• An Ocean County man who filed a discrimination suit against eHarmony saw justice yesterday. The Internet matchmaker reached a settlement agreement to provide same-sex matching services next year. The new service, Compatible Partners, will be marketed to gays and lesbians and be available through the eHarmony Web site and will debut March 31, 2009.
• Alycia Lane may not be the only person whose e-mail account Larry Mendte hacked at CBS3. He also tried to snoop on Doug Kammerer, sources close to the case told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Mendte is set to be sentenced on Monday and faces zero to six months according to the federal guidelines but will likely face no jail time as he has fully cooperated throughout the investigation.
• The prosecution in the corruption trial of State Sen. Vincent Fumo called Fumo loyalists to the stand yesterday amid hostility from their own witnesses. One Fumo aide responded with “I don’t remember” or a variant of that answer more than 30 times. Other witnesses admitted that they are very fond of Sen. Fumo. The Fumo saga continues today.
• Mayor Nutter’s proposals to freeze tax cuts and hike permit fees to offset a budget crisis cleared a City Council committee yesterday. Some Council members, though, asked for more data to justify the closings of libraries, pools, and fire companies. Six bills aimed at helping to fill the city’s $1 billion deficit in its five-year plan passed Council’s Committee of the Whole, with final passage possible by December 4.

Image Credit: Flickr user vic15