We're sure you've heard by now, but as we haven't had a chance to mention it here yet: on Monday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided that "City Council's longstanding failure to vote on SugarHouse's zoning and land-use requests" constituted "deliberate inaction" and therefore "cleared the way for construction to begin on the $550 million SugarHouse casino in Fishtown and Northern Liberties." SugarHouse officials say they expect to start construction in a matter of weeks. The......

Two separate laws aimed at making most government records public by default are making their way through the state legislature. The House bill, which was approved by a committee yesterday, is stronger than the bill that was passed by the Senate yesterday, 48-1. Another day, another shooting in Philadelphia. Two officers responding to a call about a man causing a disturbance in West Philadelphia early yesterday morning chased the man into an alley, where he......

I'm not going to lie: I text a lot. I got into the habit in high school - it was a means for inter-class note passing. Sure, we weren't supposed to have our phones on campus, but our teachers very rarely seemed to notice or care. But even back then, as a cellphone-obsessed teenager, I tried to keep things polite. Not, admittedly, for my teachers (seriously, text messaging in AP statistics is decidedly impolite), but......

If you were one of the dozens of people scrambling for a ticket to the extremely sold out The Hold Steady show at North Star Bar last year who got shut out, listen up: the Brooklyn-based rockers are playing the Fillmore at the TLA tonight, and tickets are available. A year ago, as the band rode a wave of popular and critical acclaim, the thought was it would be playing to packed theaters by now;......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. The Big Bang Theory (Mon, 8:30PM-9PM, CBS) - It's the debut episode of a new show about a couple of nerdy genius physicists (played by Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons) who share an apartment and whose lives are disrupted when they meet their beautiful new neighbor (Kaley Cuoco). One of them inevitably falls in love with her on sight and subsequently - gasp! - entertains an illogical......

Seattlest watches as a S.L.U.T. is born and Seattle Flickr users go nuts over a local art installation. A restaurant critic demands a Diner's Bill of Rights over a gnat next to her drink, and, in lieu of a Portlandist, Seattlest debates with itself over the identity of the Northwest's crown jewel. Seattlest also joins the guys from Fantagraphics for an ill-fated gun party in the woods. Bostonist got a crash course in what not......

(This review contains spoilers; although if you think the movie can be spoiled I admire your optimism.) The Brave One is about Erica (Jodie Foster), a middle-aged New York City native who wanders the streets of the city for work (she records the sounds of the city for her NPR-style radio show). She manages to go for four decades or so without being the victim of any violent encounter to speak of, before one fateful......

Mayor Street and the man most likely to be our next mayor (Democratic mayoral candidate Michael Nutter) are disagreeing over the location of a new Family Court. Street wants to move "the court from its current location on Vine Street near 18th to a site at 15th and Arch streets where a parking lot now stands," while Nutter wants "the new court building as close as possible to a new Youth Study Center. He......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law the video game will be coming out for Wii, as well as PS2 and PSP, on November 13. Your Guitar Hero updates for today: according to Billboard magazine, Aerosmith is working closely with the makers of Guitar Hero IV, and the game just might be all Aerosmith music. We don't mind a little Aerosmith now and......

Judging by the, as of this writing, abysmal freshness rating of 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, a lot of people don't agree with me, but I thought The Invasion was a pretty good movie. It's apparently the fourth film adaptation of a story originally told in a Collier's magazine serial (and which was later turned into a novel), but the only other movie version I've ever seen was the first one - 1956's Invasion of the......

What's new and/or interesting on television this week. Victoria Beckham: Coming to America (Mon, 8PM-9PM, NBC10) - It's the British invasion all over again in this reality show-type special which follows Posh Spice as she moves from London to LA. Secret Life Of... (Mon, 8:30PM-9PM, Food Network) - This time they're taking a look at superstitions surrounding foods - so, stuff about New Year's Day foods, spinach, garlic, and carrots. Cities of the Underworld (Mon,......

A new transportation package being considered in the state Senate would add $150 million to SEPTA's operating funds for the coming fiscal year, thus eliminating the need for the threatened fare hikes and service cuts. Even better, the measure would set up a Public Transportation Trust Fund that would hopefully mean the end of SEPTA's annual budget crises. A man who was convicted in 1993 in a 1991 Nicetown rape and murder case is hoping......

...Moves: Scary news, folks: Wacko Jacko might be moving significantly closer to Philly. Do you know where your children are? (Via The Reliable Source.) ...Homewreckers: Sorry... Criss Angel? Sex appeal? Seriously? (Via The Superficial.) ...Pregnancy: Is it bad that we're predicting a C-Section? (Via What Would Tyler Durden Do?) ...Cinematic Achievement: This... is not surprising. (Via Gatecrasher.) ...Changes of Heart: Tom Cruise can make his movie in Germany. Apparently. (Via ABC News.) ...Oops: Remember that......

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,......

Highway and transit funds are currently the subject of much debate in this state and others around the nation. Rendell has given up on his idea of increasing PA's sales tax because, he says, the economy is doing better than expected, and it won't be necessary. Better get practising, folks, because American Idol is coming to town. The reality show will be holding auditions, with Simon, Paula, and the whole crew, at the Wachovia Center......

I try, on the whole, to steer Monday Manners away from conventional, old-fashioned etiquette lessons. Sure, I've tackled opening doors, paying for dates, standing for the ladies, things not to talk about in "polite" company, and appropriate sidewalk behavior for ladies and gents, but for the most part, I tend to keep away from the "which fork do I use when?" etiquette lessons that you'd expect of a traditional manners column. (I like to mix......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. For the 24 fans, and 24 haters, out there, a list of the 10 Most Ludicrous Moments in the History of 24. (Via) How about another list? Nerd World has for us the Top 10 Science Fiction/Fantasy Novels That Really Need to Get Made into Movies. Um, you forgot Song of Ice and Fire!!! And we're sorry, but Snow Crash just isn't that......

527 groups, "nicknamed for the section of the tax code that authorizes them.... can raise as much as they want as long as they do not coordinate their efforts with a candidate." However, two such groups - Working People for Truth and the Economic Justice Coalition for Truth - have sprung up which seem to have been created for no other reason than to attack Tom Knox. One of them has strong connections to......

The latest in local politics: it looks like Brady is going to get a bunch of union endorsements. But it could be TV ads that decide the race. Meanwhile, Tom Knox is partnering with Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell to create a "reform ticket" - even though, as the Inquirer points out, Blackwell was the only Council member to vote against reform. Speaking of campaigns and the City Council, the nastiest campaign this election season is......

A Penn State football player and his girlfriend got into "an altercation" with some guys on the street, and then later called up his other football-playing buddies and they all went and broke into the apartment building where the guys lived, where "a melee ensued." All of this is allegedly, of course. Anyway, half a dozen Penn State football players are facing charges ranging from criminal trespass to burglary. (Via reader Ross) A senior......

A 13-year-old girl from Pennsylvania won the US Texting Championship in New York on Saturday. We're so proud. (Via Editor Jill) All kinds of ugly little details are still coming out about NJ Governor Corzine's car crash a couple weeks ago. Now it sounds like the trooper driving the car may have been distracted by an email he received on his mobile phone confronting him about a two-year affair he'd been having with another police......

With all that went down this week, we thought we'd cheer everyone up by giving everyone a double dose of dogs. It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions this week at DCist. Like the rest of country, we were floored by the news of so many dead coming out of Virginia Tech, and with so many of the victims and their relatives from the D.C. area, we felt it important to pay tribute to those......

An anonymous, private donor has a challenge for the Philadelphia Free Library: if they can match every dollar with a dollar raised from another source, they'll get $15 million toward refurbishment and expansion of the Central Library on Logan Circle. Governor Corzine's car was doing 91 in a 65 MPH zone on the night of his recent accident, and although it slowed to 30 before the crash, the trooper driving now admits that his......

As we mentioned a while back, King Tut is coming to town this weekend! Well, okay, maybe not the King himself, but a bunch of his coolest stuff will be on display at The Franklin Institute. Now that it's become clear that Tom Knox is doing exceedingly well, and has a great deal of money, a bill has been introduced to temporarily cancel the campaign contribution limits in order to even things out a......

Dear Philadelphia: Never have I been so happy to be here, safely nestled in my unforgivably messy little one bedroom apartment in the Gayborhood. You see, for a while there, it didn’t look like I’d make it back. I was back home in El Paso, Texas visiting my family for the holidays, which was nice. What wasn’t nice is what happened when I tried to leave. I was running late, mostly because I couldn’t......

Sean Lennon likes hats. When he stepped out onto the stage of the TLA on Friday night, he looked like a bespectacled carnival barker. The lapels of his dark suit were bordered by white piping, offsetting the perfect circles that were his glasses. The ensemble was topped off with a tall black hat. The entire band was dapper, sporting suits or top hats, sometimes both. Lennon told the audience he'd read that civilization ended when......

As our parent site, Gothamist, reported yesterday in a detailed and oft-updated news post, former Phillies pitcher (and more recently, Yankee player) Cory Lidle crashed his single-engine private plane into the 30th floor of a high-rise on East 72nd Street in New York yesterday afternoon. Lidle and his passenger - apparently flying instructor Tyler Stanger - both died in the crash. Thankfully the only other injuries - sustained by firefighters and some people within......

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. COMEDY Lewis Black: Red, White and Screwed 2006 Community Arts Center, Williamsport, PA Thu, 11/9/06, 8PM $39.50 On sale: Mon, 10AM, Live Nation MUSIC Steve Lippia Atlantic City Hilton Fri, 10/6/06, 9PM $25 On sale: Today, 10AM, TicketMaster Freestyle......

Well, for good or ill, whether it's art or not, it's done now, Philly. Rocky has been safely returned to the Art Museum - though now at the bottom of the steps rather than at the top. Our own Charles Barkley was inducted into the NBA hall of fame Friday night. And he didn't even have to kill anybody before he got there. Darryl A. "Cornbread" McCray, famous Philly graffiti artist, is finally getting his......

- A car chase ended in violence yesterday: a police officer was injured, and the suspect killed. - Germantown's Anthony Reid, who shot an officer following a car chase last year, has received the maximum sentence for his crime. - Philly-based Comcast has found its installers in the news again. The complaint this time? One of their installers was a little lovestruck by a customer. At least he didn't try to crash on her......