Four people were killed in the area over the Labor Day weekend, and this morning two more men were found slain in a second floor apartment over an electronics store in North Philadelphia. But good things also happened this Labor Day weekend, like a nice Labor Day parade, and Pennsylvania State Sen. Anthony H. Williams' annual street party in West Philadelphia where more than 2,500 people got free meals of hot dogs and turkey burgers.......

Sixteen men will receive fatherhood awards from the Father's Day Rally Committee at a reception in North Philadelphia tonight. 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......

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......

SEPTA is, for better or worse, a part of most of our city-dwelling lives. We still remember the headache that was the 2005 transit workers strike, and we just had to negotiate with the El; folks who depended on the buses were especially and exquisitely screwed. So although the union is different this time and the bosses are promising no disruption in service, the threat of a SEPTA strike this week has us a wee......

Photo by Cy Goldsbie Torontoist kept its readers in the know during a surprise transit strike—it was announced by the workers' union just after 11:00 p.m. on Friday night, and went into effect by midnight—with a continually-updated status post.Gothamist readers commented extensively on the not guilty verdict of three NYPD detectives who were on trial for fatally shooting Sean Bell, an unarmed man, on his wedding day in 2006.It was an accident-prone week at......

This is the part where we [try to] say something funny. But this is one hell of a Wednesday, so think of something funny in your head. Today, it's all about short and sweet. GRADUATE STUDENT MIXER WITH IRISH RED ALE SAMPLES Graduate students are cool because they're like, totally graduated, but, like, totally still in school. If you are one, go meet more. Drink. Rinse. Repeat. WHO: 21+ WHERE: Sláinte, 30th and Market......

Fun around town, for $10 or less: FRIDAY Mikronesia: GATE presents Mikronesia, Isabel, Alka, M.A.D., and Marge at the Rotunda (4014 Walnut), 8PM. Free Carbonaut: Carbonaut, Glorious Filaments, the Loose Roosters, and Cheers Elephant at The Underground (40th and Spruce), 9PM. $5 An Improv-ed X-mas: The N-Crowd X-mas special at the Actors Center (257 N. 3rd), 8PM. $10 SATURDAY Maybe the Last Chance You Have to Laugh: Comic Energy presents ''No Place Like Philly For......

The best of the internet, squirted out in flavorful neon globules, just for you. The big news today is, of course, the fact that Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema have mended fences and Jackson is going to direct not just one, but two movies based on The Hobbit. We don't remember the book being all that long, but hey, we'll give them our money twice. In slightly less exciting Peter Jackson-related news, Jackson and......

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! (Check out my most anticipated movies, too.) 10. The Day the Earth Stood Still So, you're needlessly remaking one of the most perfect science fiction films of all time, just to make a......

A sad week for LAist as they lose their trusted and amazing editor Tony Pierce to the LA Times, but what a blast his last week was. He shared his 25 Favorite CDs of 2007 and wrote a great review of just a good movie, No Country For Old Men. At UCLA, thousands of students celebrated the end of their quarter by running around campus in their undies (lots of photos in a two-part......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. LAist has more fun photos from the writers' strike, this time featuring fans and employees of Mutant Enemy Productions (Joss Whedon's production company), who all came together last Friday to support the strikers. Aw, look at Nicholas Brendon in his hat and glasses. And Summer Glau is so cute! Nintendo claims they are surprised by the Greenpeace report which we posted about earlier,......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. Amuse yourself at work this afternoon by reading the weirdest work stories of the year, and definitely let us know if you have a story you think belongs on the list. Maybe we could do a top ten weird Philly work stories? (Via Jill) We usually try to avoid linking to our -ist compatriots here at the Whiz,......

The best of the internet, chopped into tiny bits and grilled for your enjoyment. Filter has released their list of the overall Top Ten Albums of 2007, as well as a bunch of supplementary top 10 albums by their staff. Mostly unsurprising indie rock of the moment picks, but some interesting stuff. And hey these remind us of other lists we've seen lately... (Via Samantha) We couldn't care less about the upcoming reality show Clash......

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! 5. After kidnapping her two children, Britney Spears goes on the lam before being finally caught in Old City, Philadelphia, attempting to stuff her sons into the Liberty Bell. Seems she thought it......

The cold weather - and holiday festivities - descended upon Gothamist. The Rockefeller Christmas tree was lit, Broadway stagehand finally ended their strike, and NASCAR decided to run their victory lap through Times Square. There were disturbing photographs revealing the working conditions in which many city manholes are produced and ninjas were also a hot topic, either robbing homes or entering into alibis. But the city was really rocked by how Rudy Giuliani's visits......

A steaming hot pile of our favorite things from around the internets. MapQuest now has a function for mapping the best gas prices. And perhaps unsurprisingly, all the best prices in the Philadelphia area are in... New Jersey. (Via Allen) Supposedly the new Friday the 13th movie won't be a remake - instead, it'll be a story set between parts two and four (uh... wouldn't that be three?) that features "a leaner, meaner, faster Jason......

In Los Angeles, LAist most definitely celebrated Thanksgiving like no other. After all, one has to keep up all the energy to keep on walking the line at the Writers Strike and fighting the unfortunate return of the wildfires in Malibu, which single handedly destroyed over fifty homes within the first 24 hours. National outlets may be covering the fires, but CNN also found it is easier to buy a gun than fruit and......

SFist witnessed a new apartment building tszuj the skyline with spectacular, gaudy turquoise aplomb, the (informal) renaming of the Mission/SOMA neighborhood border, the return of the Maltese Falcon, the Mayor Gavin Newsom mea culpa-ing over his Hawaiian getaway during the oil spill, and double-decker buses hitting the streets of San Francisco. Oh, and some baseball player named Barry Bonds is a liar whose pants, it seems, are totally on fire. LAist continues to cover the......

To the Writers Guild of America: It's not that I don't support your fight. I do. I've signed your petition. I'm a writer myself, and I'd hate it if I wasn't profiting from my own work. (If I was working in TV or film, that is – bloggers don't exactly earn residuals...) But here's the thing: as I write this, I'm watching a month-old episode of Journeyman. My DVR is 95% full. I've just discovered......

The shapeless dough of the internet, formed into tasty pellets and baked to perfection, just for you. The only true history of lolcats. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want to has a cheezburger. (Via) Oh woe unto the entertainment industry, for the writers strike has begun! Cinematical has pics from the picket lines in NYC, while Kung Fu Monkey offers us an explanation of the strike from a writer's perspective. At the urging of fans,......

Londonist got the big scoop of the week with what may be the first images of notorious street artist Banksy in action. They also got on a runaway train without an operator provoking a response from the transport authorities. Elsewhere, London's answer to Central Station is about to open for business, and Londonist got a sneak preview. Meanwhile, spooky goings-on beneath London Bridge, where a cache of skeletons provided an apt story for Hallowe'en.......

A tall, icy glass of our favorite internet junk, just for you. Feeling a bit sick? Maybe from eating all that candy last night? Don't worry: Basic Instructions will tell you what to do. And speaking of Halloween candy, how about a quiz on the trivia of that very subject? We got only one answer right, so we think we should spend the rest of the day eating candy. You know, to study up. (Via......

"A former lawmaker has returned $79,000 he was paid to serve as litigator for House Republicans." But the state Ethics Commission still has to decide whether his contract violated Pennsylvania law, in which case he might have to pay fines equal to three times that amount. The 90-year-old woman who was beaten and robbed outside her Port Richmond home last month has now died from her injuries. The police are asking for help in......

Laurel Hill Cemetery is haunted - according to South Jersey Paranormal Research, anyway. 2,350 unionized janitors and maintenance workers who clean Center City buildings could strike at midnight tonight when their contracts expire, unless they come to an agreement with management before then. Talks are continuing, so we'll see what happens... Around 12:50AM Saturday morning in Springfield Township, Delaware County, an 18-year-old recent Springfield High School graduate driving a 2004 Ford Mustang Cobra struck......

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford begins with the last train robbery Jesse and Frank James did together, and already you can tell the lengths to which writer/director Andrew Dominik and his DP Roger Deakins have gone to create a new cinematic language for the Western. The night is pitch-black, and the light of the train shines through a late-autumn forest as if God himself were onboard. The inside of the......

There was very little else for Londonist to be concerned with when the threat of a Tube strike became a very unpleasant reality. The inconvenience was extreme: there aren't many alternatives to the Tube in London despite the best efforts of the Londonist team to get everyone from A to B. Brighter news came in the form of the first ever female Yeoman Warder, or Beefeater as the position is more commonly known, and......

Plan Philly has an article about that roundtable discussion amongst bloggers, reporters, and academics about the future of Philadelphia. Our own Jill Ivey was there to offer her insights. Go Phillyist! An 18-year-old former Philadelphian has admitted guilt in two armed bank robberies in April in South Jersey, as well as an attempted carjacking and a home invasion following the second robbery. The Tut exhibit at the Franklin Institute is on track "to break......

Sometimes, it's hard to resist the hate. You may not be having an especially bad day – you may in fact be in a good mood. But sometimes the snark comes so naturally that you have to marinate in it. Like it's Lawry's. Today is one of those days for two Phillyists who found themselves in an e-mail conversation about Tori Amos, lactating, and people we'd like to have killed. This may be in poor......

Ross Currie contributed to this piece. Admittedly, when we were contacted by Fair to Midland's publicist, we agreed to cover tonight's show at the TLA (yeah, yeah, the Fillmore) without having ever heard a Fair to Midland song, owing solely to the fact that we liked the band's name. (We're big fans of "clever.") Also to the fact that we tend to be supportive of anything non-political that comes out of Texas. So we requested......

Philadelphia Theatre Company recently received a $3,000,000 grant from the City of Philadelphia's Cultural Corridors Fund, and are now 2/3 of the way to the $30,000,000 they need for their new home on the Avenue of the Arts: the Suzanne Roberts Theatre. Four Democratic candidates for president visited our city yesterday, courting the National Education Association, who are holding their national representative assembly here at the moment, and the Association of Community Organizations for......