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The ongoing Fort Dix trial is relying heavily on recorded conversations captured by FBI informants wearing body wires. The defense is arguing that the recorded conversations were casual, speculative conversation, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Hammer said: "Even if it was just talk, it is powerful evidence of a conspiracy."
A private eye testified yesterday that Fumo hired him to snoop on Ed Rendell, a long string of political enemies, his own son, an ex-girlfriend, a former wife, and two topless dancers.
"The defense attorney for State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo subjected Fumo's estranged son-in-law to a lively and grueling cross-examination yesterday, repeatedly challenging his testimony as a prosecution witness." Meanwhile, there was more testimony from the informant in the Fort Dix case, and a former employee of an affiliate of ACORN testified in another case that the community group knew that most new voter registration forms it had gathered were fraudulent.
Voter-rights advocates and election officials argued yesterday in federal court over how to keep lines moving if Pennsylvania voting machines break down on Election Day. The Inquirer takes a look at how the Obama and McCain campaigns faired in the bad weather; Obama went ahead with an outdoor rally in Chester, despite the rain and wind. The latest Franklin & Marshall/Daily News poll shows Obama winning in Pennsylvania by 13 points. Meanwhile, traditionally Republican Chester County could go blue.
John McCain, Barack Obama, and Sarah Palin will all be campaigning in Pennsylvania today. It's all part of a last push for votes. Meanwhile, the Inquirer has coverage of local races.
Police were investigating two homicides and at least two shootings in the city over the weekend.
Lots of local trial news this morning: federal prosecutors opened their case against Vince Fumo yesterday by painting a harsh portrait of the man as someone driven by "greed, power, and a profound sense of entitlement." Jurors at the Fort Dix terrorism trial are watching some pretty disturbing videos. The local funeral directors found guilty in that body parts scam were each sentenced to 8 to 20 years in prison yesterday. 20-year-old Malik Collins was convicted of murder yesterday, for the second time in as many months. A 28-year-old North Philadelphia man convicted of murder gave up his right to an appeal yesterday as part of a deal to avoid the death penalty and get life in prison instead. Christian Squillaciotti, the South Philadelphia man accused in that road rage shooting on the Schuylkill Expressway, has been deemed mentally competent to face a preliminary hearing. And finally, two former charter school administrators pleaded guilty yesterday to charges of conspiracy and altering documents in 2006 to cover up their use of more than $14,000 in taxpayer money for personal expenses, including restaurants, gasoline, travel and alcohol.
On November 4th, voters will be asked to abolish the Fairmount Park Commission and merge it with the city Recreation Department, placing the whole under the mayor as a standard city department. The Inquirer looks at some of the arguments for and against.
Oh boy, the Fumo corruption trial is finally going to start this week! The Daily News lists some of the key players so you can follow along at home, while the DA praises the defendant for his work on gun laws. That's not the only big trial getting started this week, either; there's also the Fort Dix terrorism trial, and a civil trial that could cost the financially struggling Diocese of Pennsylvania millions of dollars.
This weekend a number of political superstars will be coming to the region, including Sarah Palin, who'll be dropping the first puck at the Flyers' regular-season opener at the Wachovia Center.
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 probably already be talking by the time you read this post.
Yesterday, a municipal court judge reduced the charges and bail of 17-year-old Zahir Boddy-Johnson of North Philadelphia, who is accused of shooting a Philadelphia Housing Authority police officer last month. The victim of the shooting, his wife, and colleagues were outraged by the decision, and the District Attorney's Office said that it planned to re-arrest Boddy-Johnson on the attempted charges.
Mayor Nutter, along with the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, Philadelphia Youth Network, and WorkReady, have begun a campaign to lobby companies to fund at least 2,000 summer jobs this year. Nutter is set to start calling businesses today to pitch them the idea of hiring students for summer jobs, and says the city will increase the number of city government summer jobs by 100 this year.
Another wrinkle in the federal investigation into the activities of City Councilman Jack Kelly and his staff: the estranged wife of his chief of staff is providing information to authorities in the case.
You can catch a film profile of Allen Iverson by rapper Nelly tonight at 10:30PM on IFC. The Inquirer has a short interview with A.I. about the project.
"The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will announce this afternoon how much Philadelphia and other cities will get in grants to help the homeless." The grants are awarded on a competitive basis, and last year Philly saw its funding slashed because HUD felt the city's projects were weighted too much toward services. "This year, the city is asking for $27.9 million to finance 82 projects, including plans for a facility in Center City that would house street people with drug or alcohol addictions."
A dude in Elk County, PA thinks he shot some photos of Bigfoot in the Allegheny National Forest, and the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization agrees; they say it's probably a juvenile sasquatch. But they're asking that the guy not reveal the exact location where he took the pictures, for fear that people will destroy the animal's habitat. Park rangers, btw, say it's probably just a skinny, mangy bear. (Via Jen)
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.
A Scranton woman has been cited for disorderly conduct for shouting profanities at her overflowing toilet. Apparently she was yelling near an open window, and her neighbor (an off-duty police officer) overheard and asked her to stop. When she didn't, the neighbor called the cops. We can't help but feel sympathetic for the woman screaming at her toilet in this story, but then again, we don't live next to her; maybe she was getting a little out of hand.
This is a pretty clever idea: primary-care clinics in retail stores. They're called MinuteClinics, and four will be opening today in CVS stores in Northeast Philadelphia, Lansdale and Rosemont. Clinics like these are apparently a hot new trend and have been popping up all over the country in the last few years. They typically "treat minor problems, take no appointments, and are staffed by nurse practitioners."
The still theoretical Philadelphia Major League Soccer franchise already has a fan club: the Sons of Ben, or SoBs.
Early yesterday morning, a man driving a stolen BMW crashed into a Honda at Susquehanna Avenue and 18th Street in North Philadelphia. The driver of the Honda is in critical condition, and the passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the BMW has been arrested. Unconfirmed media reports say the crash was the result of a police chase.
U. Penn's Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital may have been the first to give a snake high-energy radiation therapy yesterday when they treated a 61/2-foot anaconda's tumor. The snake, btw, is Sir Mix-A-Lot from Wilmington's Brandywine Zoo.
Neighbors of the Barnes Foundation, who were once all for it moving out of their neighborhood, are now joining county commissioners and Lower Merion Township in their efforts to stop it. Yet another lawsuit may soon be filed in a last ditch attempt to keep the Foundation where it is.
The Inquirer's got the coverage of last night's presentation of the 86th annual Philadelphia Award to Leonore Annenberg.
In vaguely similar news, the Silk City diner reopened last night.
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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...
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First, some updates on stories we linked to yesterday: the Inquirer has the unsettling details and about the shooting of a 5-year-old boy early yesterday morning, and how it connects with other recent incidents of violence in the city. As for the Turnpike shutdown, it lasted six hours, causing a ripple effect of traffic jams on adjacent roadways and stranding hundreds of motorists at the height of morning rush hour. The judge in the...
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The Pennsylvania Turnpike has been closed in both directions between the Philadelphia and Willow Grove interchanges, and is likely to stay closed most of the morning, due to a fiery five-car accident earlier today involving a tractor trailer and a pickup truck. Thankfully, as of this writing, no fatalities have been reported. The Fort Dix suspects are asking to be moved Special Housing Unit at the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia due to the fact...
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