The high-speed car chase and wreck on Roosevelt Boulevard that led to the death of a 17-year-old boy appears to have come out of a dispute over a 14-month-old baby—a baby who died early yesterday morning from injuries sustained in the crash. Philadelphia photographer, founder of phillyskyline.com, and friend of Phillyist Brad Maule has sued The Colbert Report, and the Philadelphia Daily News and Inquirer for using his photographs without permission. He is seeking......

Sixteen men will receive fatherhood awards from the Father's Day Rally Committee at a reception in North Philadelphia tonight. In case you were wondering, no, SEPTA transit police did not strike yesterday. About an hour before the 2PM deadline, negotiations began at SEPTA headquarters in Center City, and continued until about 10 before ending for the night. Nothing has been resolved, but they were scheduled to meet again at 9 this morning, which means they'll......

Philadelphia police were questioning Leroy Townsend, 53, about possible narcotics violations on May 18 when an officer noticed red dye on his pants and then recognized him (from wanted photos broadcast on television) as a serial bank robber believed to be responsible for five Center City heists. He was, of course, arrested. A group calling itself the Keystone State Skinheads has taken credit for a series of racist posters put up in Port Richmond......

Around 2:46PM yesterday afternoon, in the underground SEPTA concourse at 13th and Market streets near the City Hall station, four teens shouted at a 36-year-old Starbucks employee named Sean Patrick Conroy, then surrounded him and attacked him as he crouched defensively. The victim lost consciousness on the concourse and was taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:09PM. There appeared to be no prior connection between Conroy and his......

Eerie Legends Ghost stories appeal to us all, but there's nothing like a delve into the more sinister side of apparitions and legends rather than your rather run-of-the-mill hauntings, and here are a few for you which'll have you looking over your shoulder for a while. First stop is the bizarre spook said to be of a large white humanoid, often seen holding a baby in the vicinity of Fishtown's Palmer Cemetery. Considering the several......

Around 2AM yesterday, Joseph Kelly Sr. was driving along the Vine Street Expressway when he saw a homeless man in a wheelchair marooned on the median. He pulled over and crossed three lanes on foot to try to help the man across the street. As one car slowed down to let them pass, another struck that vehicle and then ran into Kelly and the other man, killing them both. A 17-year-old male knocked on the......

The Daily News takes a closer look at one of the programs that Philadelphia Safe and Sound will have to shut down, thanks to Nutter's budget cuts: the anti-truancy program. Meanwhile, the Inquirer takes a closer look at a federal lawsuit filed by the Philadelphia Housing Authority, implicating Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson, a Bush cabinet member. A profile of Phyllis Beck and Alice Beck Dubow, the first mother-daughter judges in the......

The Inquirer takes a close look at Mayor Nutter's first budget proposal. The subtitle of the article is: "The $3.98 billion plan seeks bonds for pensions and a kitty for unions." Awww, that's nice! He's getting a kitty for the unions! We hope it's a cute kitty. David C. Sicoli, a Philadelphia priest with "a long history of abusive and manipulative relationships with adolescents," according to a grand jury report, has finally been defrocked by......

First of all, we hope you had a merry Christmas! This morning, we have plenty of articles about what happened in town yesterday, not all of them merry. First off, Philly's violence problem didn't stop for Christmas; a man was found shot to death in the 400 block of North 60th Street near Haverford Avenue last night. On the other hand, the Inquirer also has a story about a baby being born on a Philly......

The Inquirer takes another look at the troubling recent increase, both locally and nationally, in the shooting of police. Mayor Nutter, in his first speech outside the city since the election, as the keynote speaker at the Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry's annual dinner, got a standing ovation before and after, and urged Southeastern Pennsylvania to come together and work as one to achieve greatness. Police are still investigating gunshots fired shortly before......

Tuesday The Academy of Vocal Arts opens its season with Mozart's witty and timeless Così fan tutte. Academy of Vocal Arts (19th and Spruce); 7:30 PM; $48 Yo-Yo Ma comes to the Kimmel Center with Kathryn Stott, piano for an evening of Schubert, Shostakovich, Piazzola, Gismonti and Franck. Verizon Hall (Kimmel Cetner); 8 PM; $38-$94 Thursday Temple University faculty members Lawrence Wagner, clarinet, Jeffrey Solow, cello, and Charles Abramovic, piano give a concert of......

UPDATE: A water main broke at about 5AM in front of the University of Pennsylvania's new Life Science Building, flooding the streets in three-foot deep rapids. The flow was stopped and the water has since subsided, but as of 7:30AM, University Avenue between 38th Street and Grays Ferry Avenue was closed while repair continued on the broken water main. Woodland Avenue is an alternate route. Ramps on and off I-76 at University Ave. were......

The Daily News discusses the biggest appointment the next Mayor will have to make: the police commissioner. Nominations are being accepted now for the Citadel Heart of Learning Awards, which honor the best educators in Chester County. Anyone can submit a nomination online at www.citadelheartoflearning.com between October 1st and December 31st. There was a fire Tuesday night at a Northeast Philadelphia warehouse where a Mummers group stored its props, and Fire Department investigators ruled yesterday......

This is pretty hilarious: State Representatives were pulling prints from 1838 and 1850 off the walls of the Independence Seaport Museum yesterday to prove that the Foxwoods Casino site used to be under the water of the Delaware River, which would mean that the land would be under the state's control today, and that transferring the "riparian rights" to said land would require the approval of the General Assembly - a General Assembly which has......

Remember to pack your bottled water and bug spray. Most of the concerts this week are outdoors. Thursday Pack a picnic dinner and hear the Lukens Band, Chester County's oldest continuous concert band featuring patriotic songs, show tunes, and marches. Myrick Conservation Center; 7:30 PM; FREE Friday The Byers Choice Family Concert Series presents an evening of Classical Music in its beautiful Byers' Choice gardens. Byers' Choice Gardens; 6:30 PM; FREE Saturday Want another garden......

Wednesday The Chester County Concert Band will delight audiences with a program of patriotic, Broadway, and classical tunes. Rose Tree Park (Media); 7:30 PM; $8 Thursday Bring a lawn chair and a flashlight and head to the Delaware Valley Opera Company's Summer Festival performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute. Paul D. Osimo Outdoor Theater in back of the Hermitage Mansion (Fairmount Park); 7:30 PM; $20 Friday The Atlantic Coast Opera Festival presents "It's a......

We're going to make this week's Suburban Fun column quick and to the point. This weekend is The Blobfest at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville. The annual event celebrates the filming of The Blob right here in Chester County. (True story: We didn't know this until we made a joke about the diner looking just like the Downingtown Diner and our friends looked at us like we had sprouted a second head, Zaphod Beeblebrox-style. Occasionally,......

We've always wondered what the protocol is for celebrating a holiday weekend if the actual holiday falls squarely in the middle of the week. Should we be celebrating Independence Day this weekend? Or next weekend? Or should we just celebrate both weekends and spend two weekends in a row gorging ourselves on various grilled meats and icy-cold Coronas and margaritas? (This Phillyist votes the latter.) Fortunately, Nottingham Park in Chester County is offering their Independence......

By now we're sure you've all heard about the terrible mass murder at Virginia Tech. Here's the Inquirer's article on the subject, and here's DCist's. The consensus on our recent storm? It could have been worse! The flooding wasn't as bad as feared. A Mount Airy firefighter who happens to also be a rapper said he wanted to "turn pigs into bacon bits" in one of his songs. The Fraternal Order of Police asked him......

Hey, how about this lovely weather we're having lately? We've got a nor'easter in the area, today supplying us with flooding, high-speed winds, and snow and rain at the same time. Is it really Springtime, or is it the end of the world? You decide! A U. Penn researcher is using Science!TM to try to disprove a fascinating story about maidens ritually killing themselves in a Mesopotamian tomb 4,600 years ago. The guy who......

This suburban Phillyist used to work in the city, and commuted daily into Center City via SEPTA from Paoli. Imagine our surprise one day when, blearily staring out the window as the suburban landscape rushed by, we saw a tiny cemetery and historical marker mere feet away from the train tracks. Not quite convinced that we'd hallucinated the stone fence-enclosed minuscule graveyard, we made it our mission over the next few weeks to figure out......

The last of the Amish schoolgirls still in the hospital after the shooting in October was able to return this week to enjoy her classmates' annual Christmas party, and she should be released from the hospital today. After the shooting, she was only able to speak in the Pennsylvania German dialect, and has only gradually regained the ability to speak English. One of the folks who won a casino license on Wednesday was so pleased......

Don’t say I didn’t warn you - holiday concerts begin this week. But if you’re already sick of Christmas carols blaring at your nearby mall, there are other options for you as well. Tuesday The Philadelphia Orchestra continues with the Mahler 4 and Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23, with conductor Christoph Eschenbach at the piano. Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center; 8 PM; $28-$113 Wednesday The UPenn American Avant Garde Series presents “Dr. Guy's MusiQologY.” What is......

Student Opera Edition: This week both Temple and Curtis put on their fall operas. Why these two music schools put on their operas the same weekend is anyone’s guess. Regardless, both are sure to feature young opera singers headed for great careers. Tuesday As part of the Music and Conversation Series, Temple University’s Dr. David Butler Cannata, in his lecture "Granados Reads Goya," will discuss aspects of the relationship between Goya and Granados in......

We've got a couple of dog-related stories for you today. First of all, as you may have heard, an unlicensed kennel was shut down in Lower Oxford a while back and its owner and two workers pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges. 333 purebred dogs were seized from the kennel, and this morning starting at 11AM about 85 of them (60 Cavalier King Charles spaniels and 25 papillons) go up for adoption at the Chester......

A Philly area horse has won the Kentucky Derby again! This time it was Barbaro, beating the closest horse by almost seven lengths. Barbaro is owned by a couple from West Grove, Chester County, and trained by Michael Matz from Collegeville. Matz survived the crash of United Flight 232 in 1989, saving the lives of three children, who were in the stands to see his horse's victory on Saturday. To quote About.com, "The Philadelphia......