Two things with regard to this post. 1. Sorry the post didn't go up last week. The author was out of town on business and flaked out and didn't get someone to cover the post. 2. We're abandoning the day-by-day format that we'd adopted for our first several recaps of the goings-on in the Nutter Administration, and will be doing a more streamlined list of the previous week's highlights. The change is mainly because it......

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......

Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know! In honor of kicking off our new sex column (write in!), I wanted to share my top 10 songs for your La Perla pleasure. A quick glance at this list might make you......

What's new and/or interesting in theaters this weekend. For the Bible Tells Me So - This is a documentary looking at Christianity and homosexuality, and whether the two can possibly get along. It includes interviews with people on both sides of the debate, and looks at whether the parts of the Bible that are supposedly anti-gay haven't perhaps been taken out of context and used to serve a political agenda. Sounds like a very interesting......

A Pennsylvania man named Michael Curtis Reynolds took the stand in his defense yesterday in a case where he is charged with "using the Internet to help al-Qaeda attempt to blow up portions of the U.S. gas and oil infrastructure." He claims that he was actually just trying to lure out al-Qaeda operators so they could be captured. The SugarHouse casino is trying to smooth its way into Fishtown by throwing cash around - for......

The Philadelphia Inquirer has some more details about the madness that went down at West Philly High on Monday, as well as fall-out over the removal of the school's principal last week. Meanwhile, West Philly High isn't the only Philadelphia school experiencing violence and insanity; the Abigail Vare Public School on Moyamensing Avenue and Morris Street in South Philly went into lockdown Monday afternoon after a shooting occurred at a basketball court across the street.......

Lane Savadove of EgoPo theatre ensemble...

What's new and/or interesting in Philly theaters this weekend. Miss Potter - A film dramatization of the life of children's author Beatrix Potter. Renee Zellweger plays the title character, Ewan McGregor plays her publisher (and forbidden lover!), and Emily Watson plays her friend and his sister. The trailer makes it look like a terribly sweet little movie, and apparently some of Potter's paintings are animated in order to simulate her imaginary world; we can't decide......

Let's look back at a week in which no site in the -ist network adopted anyone from Africa... -Austinist reveled in the dumb antics of some U.T. law students and posted some great audio from former New Orleans natives who've decided to stay in Austin. But the best news for Austinist? They were voted Best Local Entertainment Web Site by the local Austin alt-weekly. Congrats, Austinist. -DCist gloried in being told their musical tastes made......

Movie Monday Wednesday at The Troc: X-Men 3: The Last Stand. Doors open at 6, admission is $3 (applicable towards foodstuffs), and the Troc is located at 1003 Arch Street. When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts: Spike Lee's film about Hurricane Katrina and its after effects is being screened by Scribe Video Center at iHouse (3701 Chestnut Street). $10. 7PM Elcy's Open Mic Wednesdays: "Uncensored open mic for poetry, prose and......

Well, we tried. We were so close, too. Damn you, Miami, for preventing an all -ist reunion! Paris even came to the party. Sigh! Austinist: That's one -ist writer who wasn't at any Katrina fundraisers... Parisist: Franz Ferdinand had a show in Paris. Not a huge deal, but we haven't linked to our French friends in quite some time, so we just wanted to say "hi." Bostonist: A Chinatown bus had a problem? Seriously? SFist:......

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Robin Parry from Philly to New Orleans...

My but we had a great time last night. We only wish we could have shared it with our sister sites... Austinist: Austin is totally ripping Philly off. SFist: Happy birthday to our older sib, SFist, who turns two today. As we experienced last night, -ist birthdays are the best birthdays! Miamist: Were the real criminals as obsecene as Scarface, too? Bostonist: Now, why would anyone hate the British? Seattlest: As Seattle is one of......

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......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: Free Screening: Come to Lucy's Hat Shop (247 Market Street) at 6:30 PM for a screening of Finding Common Ground in New Orleans, a documentary about the Katrina disaster produced by local filmmakers. The screening will be followed by a Q & A. Puppet Karaoke: Watch puppets sing karaoke. Bring a puppet and make it perform karaoke. Heck, you can even make a puppet to perform once you......

by Jen A. Miller Marc Broussard is a young man with a deep voice, and he's bringing it to the TLA on Friday, December 2. Broussard (http://www.islandrecords.com/marcbroussard/site/home.las), who calls himself a "white boy singing soul music," brings a mix of influences to his music, from Stevie Wonder to Johnny Allen, and it shows. He's a Louisiana boy, and to help out his fellow southerners impacted by hurricanes Katrina and Rita, put out Bootleg to Benefit......

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have been making enough Philadelphia appearances to prove that local product and lead singer Alec Ounsworth is correct when he says that they're not a New York band. (They're a sixth borough band, duh.) The band, whose self-titled debut is easily one of the year's best albums, will play another show tonight, this one at the TLA. The show is a benefit concert for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, with......

Last week Mayor John Street announced a ten year, $10 million plan to eradicate homelessness in the City of Brotherly Love. The $10 million for the project is already accounted for, having been earmarked from city, state and federal funds. There's a plan, devised by city officials meeting with homeless advocates and other experts. It's a huge undertaking, but one that Phillyist feels is incredibly important for the future of our city. But can it......

The Roots brought down the house at the Kimmel Center on Friday night, bringing a rather stagnant crowd to its feet for a two-and-a-half hour set that spanned the entire Roots discography. As fans of all ages and dress entered the Kimmel, they sat on their hands for most of the show, which included solid if unspectacular sets from Deerhoof and TV on the Radio. The Roots, however, amazed the sell-out crowd from the......

Wandering down Locust Walk at Penn tonight like you always do on a Friday night? Stop by Van Pelt Library for an outdoor performance of Love's Labour's Lost, a play from William Shakespeare that may possibly be popular and well-known. We don't know, we're not the literary types, unless literature includes flipping through Philadelphia magazine. The play is directed by our very own Jill Ivey, who does the weekly theatre listings. Well, except for this......

Will Smith probably earns the title of "Most Popular Philadelphian Recording Artist." But when it comes to the title of "Most Popular Philadelphia Recording Artist We're Proud To Admit Is Our Own," well, The Roots own that title. Tonight, The Roots bring their amazing live show to the beautiful Kimmel Center, in a night that promises to be a great fish out of water experience. You know, sort of like Splash but with a concert......

This weekend, artists in the City of Brotherly Love will begin a series of benefit events for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The Fringe Festival Cabaret will host the first event, a FREE show featuring Fringe favorites the Brothers Suggarillo with Dito van Reigersberg, Dirty Diamond, Rich Wexler, BINGO, Lidia Kaminska, and more. Wait, wait – free? Fundraiser? Yup. And get this – one of the ways this fundraiser will raise money is by getting......

It looks like the big push for volunteers and donations for Philly's expected share of Hurricane Katrina survivors was premature. While Mayor Street is still committed to hosting up to 5,000 survivors from the affected region if needed, 38 people and one dog arrived yesterday, but no more are expected. Governor Ed Rendell told the Daily News:"They don't want to go a long way from home. They certainly don't want to go into cold weather.......

Living up to its moniker of the City of Brother Love, Philadelphia welcomes Hurricane Katrina survivors today. City officials expect 600 survivors to arrive later today. Philadelphia's newest residents will go to two buildings converted to shelters -- one located at 1701 N. 11th St. in North Philadelphia and other at the Palumbo building at 11th and Catharine Streets in South Philadelphia. Governor Ed Rendell has ordered school districts in Pennsylvania to waive residency and......

While some might consider Johnny Knoxville playing water football with a kid to be breaking news, we're not that kind of publication. Nope, we were merely pumped up to see Knoxville sporting a Wawa tatoo on his left shoulder, goose and all. There was this one time that we saw Pat Ciarrocchi in a Wawa getting coffee, but I think that Knoxville sporting the Wawa tat totally overshadows that in terms of Wawa-related celebrity bullshit.......

Dan Buskirk of WPRB 103.3 FM, based in Princeton, will be hosting a New Orleans jazz program today from 11 am to 1 pm. Plain Parade's Maria T. Sciarrino writes, "As a friend aptly pointed out yesterday, in between the loss of life and physical destruction that is happening in New Orleans, another kind of death is occurring -- one of the south's major cultural capitals." Buskirk's program will honor the great jazz music to......

Local raving lunatic Michael Marcavage of Repent America (headquartered in Lansdowne, Delaware County) is once again bringing honor and prestige to our area by blaming the Southern gay community and those in New Orleans who put up with that kind of "wickedness" for the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. Apparently, being one of the few extremist religious nutjobs in the Philadelphia region means out-crazying the big boys. According to Marcavage:"Southern Decadence" has a history of filling......