City Controller Alan Butkovitz will release an audit of the city's recreation centers and playgrounds in an 11:30AM press conference today. Charter schools in the city of Chester seem to be successful, but the school district is having a hard time coping with the drain they put on available resources. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission will hold the first of two scheduled public hearings today on the proposed closing of two troubled city......

The tiny Bucks County borough of Yardley is home to some of the most frequently flooded properties in the nation, thanks to the Delaware River's chronic deluges. Thus Yardley expects to receive $655,000 from a pilot grant program aimed at stemming federal flood claims in hard-hit towns. Apparently our new soccer club's anthem is "I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover." Well it's appropriate for today, anyway. "Handgun-control proponents in the State House are attempting......

Senators Arlen Specter and Robert Casey Jr. held a joint hearing on Mentoring and Community Based Solutions to Delinquency and Youth Violence in Philadelphia at the National Constitution Center on Monday. The Inquirer article talks about the hearing in general and how the community leaders there decided mentoring is indeed a good short-term solution for preventing crime. Meanwhile, the Daily News article focuses on what school district head Paul Vallas had to say at......

The popular Delaware Canal towpath, which runs parallel to the Delaware River from Easton to Bristol, has sustained an estimated $30 million worth of damage due to flooding in recent years, damage which has left large portions of the path impassable. Restoration of the path, funded mostly by federal and partially by state money, will begin in the summer, transforming it into a more flood-resistant path made of stone and seeded topsoil. WHYY's local radio......

NBC 10 election coverage Kudos to NBC 10 for airing a live election special Monday night dealing with the issues and candidates in the Delaware Valley. Steve Highsmith handles things like this very well, but co-anchor Tim Lake seemed like a lightweight sitting next to him. Among the highlights: conservative talk show host Michael Smerconish and Democratic analyst Rob McCord provided a nice right/left debate on some issues and tactics. WCAU really did their......

As we hope you've already noticed by now, we've been down most of the day. Yes, little gremlins got in our machines and had a party in there. But we think our friendly gremlin exterminators tech guys have taken care of all that now...maybe. So you may cease pining desperately for our snarky comments on local affairs - wasting away in an agony of boredom before your computer terminals, desperate for entertainment - and instead......

First things first: Never let it be said that The Cranky Cocktail doesn't pay attention to his readers' comments. Please see, immediately to the right, a little something for the ladies. You're welcome, Babs. Some of you may have been wondering where TCC has been lately, what with just one column in the last three weeks. Well, not that it's any of your damn business, but there was a flood at chez-TCC's a little......