The Attorney General's Office has accused Former State Rep. Frank LaGrotta of giving his relatives fake jobs in order to pay them thousands in taxpayer dollars. A cheval-de-frise (an iron-tipped log that's placed in a riverbed along with many others in order to gore the hulls of enemy warships) was recently found at the bottom of the Delaware River at the Sunoco Logistics pier in South Philadelphia. It's a relic from the mid-1770s, and......

A 21-year-old rookie Philadelphia police officer saw a motorist driving a Buick suspiciously in West Philly yesterday morning and approached the vehicle. Three teenage passengers (who turned out to be University City High School students) got out of the car. When he ordered them back to the car, the driver got on the hood of the car and shot the officer in the face with a sawed-off shotgun loaded with birdshot. The officer then chased......

PA State Rep. Mark Cohen of Philadelphia has apparently been engaged in one of those most hated activities: billing taxpayers for frivolous expenses. He's been spent state money on an enormous numbers of books, and three society weekends in New York. The state Agriculture Department's restaurant inspection website, which used to just tell you whether each restaurant had passed inspection or not, now also provides complete inspection reports on all eateries. Check it out......

Councilman Frank DiCicco is declaring war on the casinos. In related news, some folks who had been charged with disorderly conduct after protesting the casinos outside the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board's offices last month have been acquitted. Are we heading toward tougher gun control laws in Philly? The Police Commissioner and various gun control advocates are calling for them, after the release of a report that highlights two dozen cases around the country, and......

Update: A few more sites have been added, and a few other fixes have been made. The -ists this week had politics on the brain. And what goes better with politics than partying? That's two great tastes in one. Oh, and Kevin Federline...can't forget about Kevin Federline. That's three great tastes in one. -Bostonist discussed two big state issues-- what sort of math constitutes a marriage and what kind of alcohol can be sold......

Philadelphians will go to the polls next Tuesday. Like any good, civic-minded resident, we're sure that you'll be there bright and early, clutching your voter registration card excitedly, ready to participate in democracy! So what's up for grabs next week? District Attorney, City Controller, and some judicial positions. Jonathan Saidel has decided not to run for reelection as City Controller as he prepares to run for mayor in 2007, leaving the position wide open. State......