Yesterday, the city was humming with national media and energetic supporters of Clinton and (mostly) Obama. Ten more photos after the jump.......

You may have noticed that another new writer has joined us! And we take it from all the recommends you've given his first post that you like him. We forgot to give him a proper introduction on that post, so we're making up for it now. Mark Downing works in video production, but also wrote at the sports desk of a New Jersey newspaper, and it's that experience, along with his love of the Philadelpha......

With Hillary Clinton's big primary wins in Texas and Ohio, it seems that the national eye has turned towards Pennsylvania and our primary on April 22. So much of the news about Michael this week was about his endorsement of Hillary Clinton. He says he's going to campaign hard for Clinton, who is no longer the presumptive nominee, as she was when Nutter gave his endorsement. Given that race may now be back in play......

Remember those makeshift stables in Strawberry Mansion that animal cruelty investigators raided yesterday? Well, the owners of about 40 of the horses living there removed their animals yesterday, as ordered. About 20 more horses were allowed to stay in three garages on Fletcher Street near 27th that had been made into stables while owners of those properties made repairs. The other structures will be bulldozed today. Yesterday, City Council gave final approval to a lease......

Animal cruelty investigators raided some rowhouse stables on Fletcher Street yesterday, giving the owners 24 hours to relocate the 60 horses on the site. The Daily News paints a pretty horrific picture of the conditions the animals were living in. Chelsea Clinton was at Penn yesterday, stumping for her Mom, and said we should expect to see her and her family a lot in the near future. Which sounds like a threat to us. Beware,......

D'oh! We up and forgot to celebrate Pennsylvania Day yesterday! While we were forgetting, Pennsylvania was earning the national average grade of B-minus in the Pew Center on the States scorecard on the effectiveness of state government, which just happened to get released yesterday. PA "was praised for creating a plan to respond to its alarming backlog of bridges in need of repairs and furnishing meaningful information about programs funded with state money." Meanwhile,......

Highway Patrol Officers were passing a house on Jefferson Street near 26th on Friday night when they spotted a man who matched the description of someone who had robbed and shot another man earlier that night. When they arrested him, they discovered that the house had a cache of drugs, money, and weapons, including seven loaded handguns, an AK-47 assault rifle, a shotgun, two Kevlar vests, $3,000 in cash, and $25,000 worth of cocaine. In......

You know how Michael rolls – green. And not green like dollar bills with 19" wheels and reverse-spinning rims. Green like he's going to be reducing his carbon footprint. The new Mayoral wheels are a Chevy Tahoe Hybrid. And he even saved the city some coin, as he paid for the Tahoe with his leftover campaign funds rather than taxpayer money. Of course, we think that if Michael was really serious about helping save the......

Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama exchanged blows in Ohio Tuesday leading up to next week’s primary in that state. 161 delegates are at stake. The exchange of criticism focused largely on Clinton’s position on the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. On free trade, there appears to be little difference in the candidates’ rhetoric and voting records. Clinton, however, faces a challenge on the issue that Obama does not. Obama claims that......

Teamsters plan to rally outside the Four Seasons Hotel at 18th Street and the Ben Franklin Parkway at 1:30PM today because AmerisourceBergen Corp.'s annual shareholder meeting is being held there at that time, and the teamsters are accusing the company of unfair labor practices. Remember how Rick's Steaks was fighting to stay in the Reading Terminal Market? Well, the fight continues. A recent court ruling dismissed most of Olivieri's claims against Reading Terminal, but Olivieri's......

Our very own state could actually be of key importance in the Democratic presidential primary, so the campaigns for both Clinton and Obama will be opening offices in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in the coming days, and expanding their staff by recruiting local pros. The Inquirer takes a look at the battle going on over a proposed state-wide ban on smoking in Pennsylvania. A woman leaped from her third-floor apartment window on South Street near 2nd......

The president and board chairman of the city-funded nonprofit Philadelphia Safe and Sound testified yesterday that they were forced by Mayor Street and his senior aides to spend an extra $21 million that they knew did not exist in the city budget. It's those expenditures that have forced Safe and Sound to cancel dozens of programs in recent weeks. You can find copies of Safe and Sound's testimony online here and here. Insiders say......

"A Philadelphia parents' group sharply criticized the city school district and the USDA yesterday for not acting earlier to recall possibly tainted beef served to children in school cafeterias." The latest poll in Pennsylvania shows Hillary Clinton's lead against Obama shrinking, and also suggests that regardless of which candidate wins the Democratic primary, he or she will have a close, tough fight against John McCain. Meanwhile, the Montgomery County Democratic Committee is meeting tonight to......

Most estimates put the number of illegal immigrants in this country at around 5 million. Some view this fact as evidence that illegal immigration is a struggle akin to the civil rights movement of the 1950s. That may sound a bit far-fetched, but in many ways the struggle is similar. We face a public that is in many parts of the nation exceptionally hostile to any illegal immigrants, regardless of their plight. Additionally, the federal......

A column about how we Philadelphians can start thinking about controlling consumption and protecting our world in small increments. One of the more frightening things heard recently -- more frightening than the prospect of another Clinton presidency -- is the fact that there is a vortex of trash twice the size of Texas swirling and growing in the Pacific Ocean. It sounds like something from a science fiction movie called When Trash Attacks!, but sadly,......

Last Friday & the weekend: Michael probably doesn't know it, but he got a shout-out from Hot Hot Heat frontman Michael Bays at last week's FREEZEtival before the band played "Bandages." What the connection between the song and our mayor is, we have no idea. And in real news, Michael named his appointees to the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority board. Monday: Michael joined a record-setting number of volunteers at this year's MLK Day of Service,......

Philly sure can attract the celebrity. Yesterday Senator Hillary Clinton graced our fair walks to secure support from Governor Rendell and Mayor Nutter for her presidential bid. But her appearance pales in importance against the paragon of womanhood who is visiting us today. Yes, folks, that’s right: Paris Hilton is in town. Again. This time she’s not shilling perfume, but rather her new film The Hottie and the Nottie. Although it doesn’t get an official......

The PA Guv is meeting up with New York Senator and 2008 Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at City Hall. The Inquirer reports that the 1:15pm meeting was added to her schedule late last night. Phillyist suspects a last-minute cheese steak craving may have been the motivating factor behind the visit, but it may have something to do with Governor Rendell's endorsement of the candidate-formerly-known-as 'first lady', which he will make official at the meeting today.......

Heath Ledger died yesterday afternoon in a NYC apartment, and early indications are it was from an overdose, but an autopsy will be performed today to determine the facts. Gothamist has a detailed, much-updated post on the topic. Both the Inquirer and the Daily News are taking a look this morning at the three finalists for the job of chief executive officer of the School District of Philadelphia, and the Inquirer also has a look......

The presidential race will be coming to the area tomorrow when Bill Clinton travels to Cherry Hill, New Jersey to campaign for his wife. 23-year-old Chante Wright, as part of a deal to cut her boyfriend's jail sentence, agreed to testify in a murder case. It was a dangerous move, and her testimony was crucial, so "she became the first state witness in Philadelphia to enter the federal witness-protection program." She was given a......

We learned yesterday that City Councilman Jack Kelly and his staff are being investigated by the FBI. Two sources close to the investigation told the Inquirer that what's being looked at are contributions to the councilman by Northeast Philadelphia's largest property owners, and the relationship between them and Kelly's chief of staff. The Delaware River Port Authority plans on spending $25 million on inspections and paint jobs on its bridges between Philadelphia and South......

Pennsylvania ranks very low amongst other states in requiring breakfast to be served in its schools to the children of low income families. A new memorial design for the President's House, which "would allow visitors to peer down through a glass shed and view archaeological remnants of an 18th-century house once occupied by presidents and slaves," will be unveiled tomorrow night at Freedom Theatre. "The DRPA, whose board meets today to adopt its annual budget,......

Nutter's got an ad on TV again, this one designed to reintroduce himself to voters, and to hopefully increase what is threatening to be a very low voter turnout. Meanwhile, Delaware County Republicans have their own election problems, which include W., declining party registration, and the real chance that a Democrat might win a council seat for the first time in nearly 30 years. It's Fumo time! The good news for Fumo: his corruption trial......

Warning: Possible spoiler alert. Rendition is the kind of movie that has Conservatives in Washington screaming about Liberal Hollywood. It takes its name from the policy of extraordinary rendition, or torture by proxy, as many critics refer to it. In short, and in no uncertain terms (at least according to the film), extraordinary rendition is bad, bad, bad – but just to prevent from pissing too many Conservatives off, the film is sure to......

Police have charged Duane Jackson, 45, with attempted murder and attempted rape in the case of a woman who was stabbed and sexually assaulted in her home near Center City in July. Authorities suspect Jackson may be responsible for other attacks in the city and are looking into that now, so more charges are probably on the way. An appeals court panel has upheld the 81/2-to-17-year prison sentence given to a computer consultant for......

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too – two of them in -Ist cities. Sampaist was shocked when a passenger jet crashed into the center of Sao Paulo, killing at least 200 people. The airplane, an Airbus A320, skidded off the runway at the......

The latest on the Rick's Steaks controversy: the Reading Terminal Market Merchants Association has declared Saturday "Save Rick's, Save The Market Day," and will be holding a news conference at 10AM at Rick's Steaks. "T-shirts, hats and buttons will be sold to raise funds for Olivieri's legal defense." Marjorie Rendell (that's Governor Rendell's wife) was being driven in an SUV by a state trooper Tuesday night at 8th and Pine when a luxury car......

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we'll be posting events that are going on sale during the current week. This Tuesday post only collects the early announcements, so definitely check back on Thursday for the latest ticket news. Patti Labelle Robin Hood Dell Mon, 7/9/07, 8PM $14-$24 On sale: Today, 10AM, Ticketmaster Freddie Jackson Robin Hood Dell Mon, 7/16/07, 8PM $14-$24 On sale: Today, 10AM, Ticketmaster George Clinton Robin Hood Dell Mon, 7/23/07, 7PM $14-$24 On sale:......

As we're sure you already read somewhere (whether here, or elsewhere on the internet), Mayor Street sat in line for a while waiting for an iPhone, before he finally couldn't deal with the criticism anymore and had an aide stand in him for him while he went back to work. What you may not know, however, is that there's a video of him in line, getting some of that criticism firsthand, on YouTube (which,......