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More information on Daniel Giddings, the accused killer of Philadelphia police officer Patrick McDonald. There's also more on McDonald himself and the area where he was killed, and details on his public viewing. "Service on SEPTA's R6 commuter rail line has been suspended in both directions after a person crossing the tracks this morning was struck by a train." With the presidential election fast approaching, and the key battleground state of Pennsylvania still up......

"A two-alarm fire tore through an eastern Pennsylvania home late Saturday, killing three children only hours after a birthday celebration." Lane closures and traffic restrictions. "A Philadelphia Common Pleas Court jury this morning begins hearing testimony in the murder trial of Hakim Bey, an alleged member of a violent South Philadelphia drug gang." Four men were hospitalized—three in critical condition—after several shootings across the city last night. Contract negotiations are getting testy between the......

SEPTA is getting pretty popular, with rail ridership up 12 percent from a year ago, to its highest point in 25 years of rail operations, but the popularity has brought with it its own problems: crowded trains and parking lots. 43-year-old Tarriq Ali, sentenced to a life term in Delaware, was being transported from California back to Delaware by a private prisoner transportation service when he escaped at Philadelphia International Airport. He is still at......

On the anniversary of 9/11, the Inquirer considers the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville (John McCain will speak there today), and takes a look at how schools in the area observe the date. Pennsylvania's smoking ban goes into effect today. A 74-year-old grandmother of six was struck by a SEPTA bus Monday at Broad and Oregon. She died yesterday of her injuries. Only hours before her death, a man in a wheelchair was struck......

We're starting off with a very weird and disturbing story this morning. Shortly after midnight on Thursday, on the SEPTA subway near the Fairmount Avenue stop, a bearded, stocky, 5-foot-9, thirty-something black man in a yellow shirt and black pants, accompanied by a three- or four-year-old child, took out a hammer and, with no provocation whatsoever, began using it to viciously beat a 20-year-old man who was dozing off in his seat nearby. Surveillance......

Philebrity takes us back in time and into God-knows-where! The 700 Level is taking on the freakin' Eagles haters just in time for the season opener this Sunday! The Lunch Counter thought SarPal's speech was pretty terrific. Attytood did not. Speaking of SarPal, Philadelphia Will Do had some issues with Broad Street Reviews' article on Bristol Palin's (aka BritPal) unborn child. SEPTA Watch has some good news: SEPTA is actually making improvements! We just hope......

A planned merger between Wolf Block of Philadelphia and a Florida law firm has been called off due to the risks presented by the struggling economy. Meteorologists warn that Tropical Storm Hanna could hit the Philadelphia region with high winds and pounding rain tomorrow night and Saturday. A 62-year-old white electrician working at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia hung a noose in a black electrician's locker on August 11th. He says it was just a dumb......

Dorrell Shaw, 26, who was wanted for questioning in the recent series of sexual assaults in Frankford, turned himself in to police yesterday. But authorities warn the case is by no means closed; Shaw was in prison during the first of the assaults, and it's quite possible he was not responsible for any of them. The rebuilding of the Market-Frankford El, a project that is now $300 million over budget and two years behind schedule,......

The SEPTA R8 Fox Chase commuter train was on its last run of the day at 10:15 last night when it struck and killed a teenage girl just south of the Lawndale station. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will be in Philadelphia today for a private meeting at a Center City law firm to say thank you to some of her major supporters. A 16-year-old Delaware County girl on her way to a slumber party......

Some updates on local criminal cases: the Bucks County mother accused of turning a sleepover into a sex party was ordered to stand trial yesterday. Andy Reid's son Garrett Reid was sentenced to two years in a relatively new state corrections program that combines incarceration and intensive drug treatment. Mumia Abu-Jamal lost his latest appeal for a new trial on Monday. Perhaps not surprisingly, the DRPA got an earful from angry commuters yesterday at......

Poor Philly. We've been named the city with the most unattractive people, the fattest, and the most miserable. But, finally we've caught a break. Walkscore.com—an online tool to help people find great neighborhoods to live in—named Philadelphia the fifth most walkable city in the country. San Francisco was number one on the list, with New York and Boston coming in second and third, respectively. Although, one has to wonder how San Francisco is so walkable......

Oh boy, just look at all the articles about the Larry Mendte case. Apparently Mendte hacked into the email of Alycia Lane 537 times in 146 days, and did so wherever he was around the clock, from home, his desk at work, his Shore home in Ocean City, and even the Union League. He then passed on the information he obtained to a Philadelphia Daily News gossip columnist, in order to undermine Lane's ongoing......

Former Rep. Mike Veon, the No. 2 Democrat in the state House, 10 former and current legislative aides, and one sitting lawmaker were all charged, in varying degrees, with theft and conflict of interest for running a massive political campaign machine out of government offices. According to prosecutors, they were paying staffers, with taxpayers' dollars, to work on political campaigns while on the government clock. More charges are expected. In one particular case, Michael......

Penn now has a building named after a former editor of The New York Post Page Six gossip column. (Via Jill) Expect backups late tonight into early tomorrow morning on the westbound Schuylkill. Click through for details. Also expect upcoming delays with SEPTA as it makes another push to finally complete its overdue, overbudget reconstruction of the Market-Frankford El. When a 46-year-old Upper Darby meter maid tried to write a ticket for a Yeadon......

Photograph of one of the man-made waterfalls under the Brooklyn Bridge by Jake Dobkin Gothamist enjoyed watching New York City's latest big public art project--four multi-story man-made waterfalls--rise up in East River and the debate about whether it's art or folly (but they sure look pretty at night).Londonist handed out advice on how to queue for Wimbledon tickets, then embarked on a gruelling fact-finding tour of drinking-holes at the capital's main terminus rail stations.Seattlest......

"Two bills aimed at cleaning up commercial breeding kennels in Pennsylvania are slated for committee votes in Harrisburg today." A new veterans cemetery to be known as Washington Crossing National Cemetery is scheduled to start construction in Bucks County next year, with the first burials starting toward the end of the year. The plans for the new cemetery will be available for review tonight during a public briefing by the Department of Veterans Affairs at......

The Inquirer profiles a Germantown clinic whose services are described as indispensable, but which may shut down soon due to a lack of funds. Suspended Episcopal Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. testified yesterday in his ecclesiastical trial, trying to explain why he had not told anyone that his brother was sexually abusing a high-school student in the 1970s. A preliminary hearing was held yesterday for the five North Philadelphia teens arrested in the beating and......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. Friend and famous local tech dude Tom Boutell has unveiled the public beta of his alternative to iSEPTA. It provides scheduling data on SEPTA trains, subways, trolleys, and buses, and supports not just the iPhone, but pretty much any web-enabled phone. It's called septime. Check it out. (Via) Enjoy a hilarious video critique of the worst DVD ever. If you have seen the......

"Five men were indicted in New Jersey yesterday on charges of illegally selling guns bought in Bucks County sporting goods stores to buyers in Trenton." Philadelphia Police Officers Sheldon Fitzgerald and Howard Hill III, both five-year veterans who worked in the 25th District in North Philadelphia, were charged with aggravated assault and other offenses for allegedly beating up a graffiti prankster in August 2007. Now police authorities have reopened another Internal Affairs investigation into......

Soaring gas prices are leading to increased ridership on local public transportation services like SEPTA, which just passed a $1.1 billion budget for 2009 that includes major upgrades to handle all those new riders. Because of course, fuel costs are increasing for SEPTA, too. The Philadelphia chapter of the Boy Scouts sued the city in federal court late Friday to prevent being evicted from its city-owned headquarters or being charged $200,000 a year in rent.......

If you're like us, you have an iPhone. This means two things: 1.) You are very cool, and B.) You can now use your iPhone to access SEPTA Regional Rail schedules via iSepta! iSepta is an application that lets iPhone users check train schedules, plan their trips, and perform a few other sundry SEPTA tasks, all via their iPhone. (Geek alert! Actually it's a "web application" or "web app," in that it is not a......

We bring you the buzz in the 215 blogs this week. Phawker is running a "Question the Parking Authority" contest. It's really not so much a contest as a challenge—a dare, if you will. Regardless, we like the idea and the prize. The Philadelphia Turkey took a look at the new slogan on the former "Trenton Makes" bridge. We know a guy who has that bridge tattooed across his back. Time for a touch......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. We think we've mentioned the Turn Around America video contest here before, but things have changed a bit since then: now in addition to a national winner, a Philadelphia winner will also be chosen. Also, the deadline has been extended to June 10th. (Via Rachele) Beware! The LOLCat meme is leaking into the real world! Yay! The First Avenger: Captain America is going......

The fourth annual commuter competition sponsored by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia started this morning at 8AM. Three commuters race from 45th and Spruce to City Hall, one on a bike, one in a car, and one in a bus. The BCGP is obviously expecting the cyclist to win, thus proving that two wheels are better than four. Philly's own Bonnie and Clyde are the "poster children for identity theft," according to Federal authorities.......

SEPTA will give away free rides to passengers of the Route 100 Norristown High Speed Line from 11AM through 4PM tomorrow, as part of a celebration of the 100th anniversary of service on the route. SEPTA is also celebrating the 100th anniversary of service to and from the 69th Street Terminal, so there will be a reception there and a series of related activities and events. In other SEPTA news, the agency will be providing......

In reaction to that AP series last month revealing that Philadelphia ranked first among 24 metropolitan areas reporting traces of an assortment of drugs in its water supply, today the City Council's committees on health and human services and the environment will examine the Water Department's data on the subject. Hopefully you're already aware that tomorrow is Tax Day. If not, you'd better get to work! Regardless, a warning: "According to a recent study......

Mayor Nutter will join Hillary Clinton at two events today. The first is a talk about public safety at 10AM at the West Philadelphia YMCA—a talk which, ironically enough, is not open to the public. The next is at 5PM at Drexel University. At the public safety talk, Clinton will unveil a crime-fighting plan that she claims will halve homicide rates in cities over five years. Meanwhile, the Inquirer takes a look at how and......

Disturbing news on the commuting front: a man jumped in front of a PATCO train this morning at the Broadway station in an apparent suicide attempt. The man did survive, although DRPA officials confirmed that he had to have one leg partially amputated to get him out from under the train. He’s at Cooper, but his condition is not listed. This happened at around 9:15, and the service was shut down for 15 minutes; it......

Mantua Hall at 35th and Fairmount, one of the original 40 high-rise public housing towers built as part of the city's urban-renewal era, was imploded this weekend. It was the 21st such tower that the Philadelphia Housing Authority has imploded since 1995. The end of the building is considered a new beginning for Mantua. But the scandal involving the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Philadelphia Housing Authority could lead to the flow......