Corruption in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A former supervisor in the Philadelphia Water Department was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for taking about $35,000 in a kickback scheme involving a contractor.

James Hughes, 45, of Philadelphia approved phony invoices submitted by an electrical contractor, prosecutors said. Hughes, the fifth of six people sentenced in the probe, received the longest sentence to date. He declined to comment before his sentencing by U.S. District William H. Yohn Jr.

Hughes was also ordered to pay restitution to the city of $106,063, the amount taxpayers were defrauded. He was told to report to prison April 6.

Hughes, along with the others sentenced, will forfeit his city pension contributions.

Prosecutors say the crimes cost taxpayers $2.1 million between 1993 and 1999.

LONDON (AP) - The information coming in from the Mars rovers is exciting for NASA, but it's ending some of the action for bookies in Britain.

The bookmaking firm Ladbrokes announced it's stopped taking bets on the question of whether there was ever life on Mars.

NASA scientists said yesterday that the rover Opportunity found strong evidence to suggest at least part of the Red Planet once had a wet enough environment to sustain life.

A Ladbrokes spokesman says the latest odds in favor of past life on Mars were 16-1. Back in the '70s, when the first bets were placed, the odds were 1,000-1.

He says he expects that scientists will find evidence of past life on Mars within the coming years.

Fed Up with Taxes, Vermont Town Wants to Secede

BOSTON (Reuters) - Residents of the popular ski town of Killington, Vermont, voted on Tuesday to resolve their property tax feud with the state by breaking away and joining neighboring New Hampshire.

Vermont's chief election official scoffed at the vote by the town's citizens and said both the governor and the legislature would likely prevent Killington from leaving.

Deborah Markowitz, secretary of state for Vermont, said about 20 percent of the voters in Killington showed up at a town meeting to decide whether to pursue the idea of seceding from the state. The vote was clearly in favor of the measure, she said.

The town's residents are angry over Vermont's education funding system, which they say has led to sharply higher property taxes since it was changed in 1997 under order from the state Supreme Court.

New Hampshire, which lies about 25 miles east of Killington, has no income tax or sales tax.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Veterans Stadium will cease to exist later this month.

The stadium, home to Philadelphia sports teams from 1971-2003, will be imploded at 7 a.m. on March 21, the city and the Phillies announced Wednesday. The process will take about 58 seconds. Over the past few months, much of the stadium has been dismantled. The Vet will be a "virtual concrete skeleton" by the time Brandenburg Industrial Service Co. and its implosion subcontractor, Demolition Dynamics Co., complete the work, officials said.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The South Korean consortium hoping to win a $236 million rail car contract agreed to pay the state Republican Party chairman a $10,000-a month, five-year lobbying fee, a newspaper reported.

A judge recently blocked a transit agency's vote on the contract amid a competitor's charge the bidding process was rigged to favor United Transit Systems of South Korea.

The Philadelphia Inquirer obtained a document from the consortium disclosing its fee contract with Alan Novak's lobbying firm. The release came after the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority declined to release the bidders' federal lobbying disclosure forms.

"Initial contact with SEPTA board members began in December 2002 and will continue through 2003," the United Transit form states.

Kawasaki Rail Car Inc., the Japanese firm which raised the rigging allegation, said Wednesday that it hired former SEPTA executive Robert G. Bickhart, who now runs a lobbying firm.

A Common Pleas Court judge set a March 15 hearing on Kawasaki's complaint.

Sources report that the Philadelphia Eagles have made the first big signing of the 2004 NFL free agent season by signing defensive end Jevon Kearse to an eight-year $66 million contract which includes a $16 million signing bonus.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (AP) — House Speaker John M. Perzel will reimburse taxpayers about $57,000, the cost of producing and mailing more than 22,000 DVDs he sent out last summer showing his April swearing-in ceremony.

Perzel, a Republican from Northeast Philadelphia, initially agreed to repay the state only the $35,000 cost of making the recordings.

But his campaign committee on Friday paid $21,930 to cover postage, even as an aide insisted the mailings were a legitimate legislative expense.

The DVDs went out to constituents, supporters and others.

"After much consideration, the speaker has decided the best all-around decision was to reimburse the state for the full amount," said Beth Williams, Perzel's spokeswoman.

Barry Kauffman, the executive director of Common Cause of Pennsylvania, a government watchdog group, hopes the controversy will lead to new rules limiting tax dollars for what he called clearly political purposes.

"We can hope for a silver lining from this," Kauffman said, "but I'm not going to hold my breath."

Philadelphia (PGN) Mayor John Street told reporters he would not issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples, saying he does not have the authority to do so.

He also dismissed President George W. Bush''s support for the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment as "political."

Street said he would not follow the lead of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who on Feb. 12 began allowing gays and lesbians to marry.

"I would not support gay marriage a la San Francisco," Street said, citing Pennsylvania state law that bans such unions.

He added he thinks what Newsom is doing is illegal: The state of California, through a ballot initiative, limits marriage to opposite-sex couples.

Similarly, Pennsylvania lesbians and gays are ineligible for marriage under the commonwealth''s anti-gay marriage law.

Pic of the Day



No these are'nt post-op shemales, It's Philadelphia mayor John Street and Pa Gov. Ed Rendell singing Over the Rainbow at this years Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Gala

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Water once drenched parts of the planet Mars and conditions may have existed for life as we know it, the US space agency announced today, developing........

“Talking Tech with CompuData” will Air March 10 as Part of “The Paul Kircher Show” with Pa.’s 44th Gov. Mark Schweiker as the First Guest

Philadelphia, Pa.,– CompuData, Inc., the premier total solutions provider specializing in business software, including SAP Business One and Best Software’s MAS 90, MAS 200, MAS 500 and SalesLogix, today announced that its CEO, Steve Ciarciello, will be co-hosting a monthly technology segment on “The Paul Kircher Show” on MoneyTalk Radio, WWDB 860 AM.

The first show will air on Wednesday, March 10 from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. On the second Wednesday of each month, Ciarciello will join Kircher and noted guests to lead discussions on current news and events in the world of technology.

Mark Schweiker, Pennsylvania’s 44th Governor and now president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, will be the first guest on Paul Kircher’s “Talking Tech with CompuData.” The show will be a roundtable discussion regarding timely technology issues and trends of interest to local Philadelphia area business professionals.

“I am thrilled to have Steve as the technology co-host on my show,” said Kircher, host of “The Paul Kircher Show.” “He has been in the industry for more than 30 years solving the technology needs of the types of professionals who listen to the show. His expertise and outgoing personality will help drive the lively discussions that make this show so interesting for our listening audience.”

“This is a great opportunity for CompuData to be affiliated with MoneyTalk Radio and ‘The Paul Kircher Show’. Paul has a laundry list of well-known industry and government leaders and experts as past guests on the show,” said Ciarciello. “As a life-time resident of the Philadelphia area, and a long-time technology proponent, I am looking forward to being a part of Paul’s show and discussing the world of technology with other Philadelphia business professionals.”

Todays guests are New York Times best selling author Joel Rosenberg, Philadelphia Sheriff John Green and two experts on North Korea, David Kang and Victor Cha

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — More than 100 superintendents from across Pennsylvania are expected to rally Monday afternoon to seek changes to the federal education law known as the No Child Left Behind Act. The event, set for 1 p.m. at Norristown Area High School, could draw nearly 140 superintendents from 14 eastern and southern counties, including Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery.

Members of the group, representing more than one-quarter of all districts in the state, believe the law is critically flawed, citing as examples its rules for special-education students and students with limited English.

The school administrators complain that Congress never fully funded the requirements of the act.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia rapper facing drug charges said federal authorities have made at least three attempts to turn him into a cooperating witness as part of their ongoing City Hall corruption probe.

Tommy Hill, whose career was launched by convicted Philadelphia mob boss Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, said he rejected all three offers. The latest came Monday before a preliminary hearing in Common Pleas Court, where Hill faces cocaine-dealing charges.

"I'm not a rat," Hill told The Philadelphia Inquirer in an interview at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility. The interview appeared in Sunday editions.

After his latest rebuff, federal authorities lodged federal drug charges against Hill, 28, the lead singer of RAM Squad, a now-defunct hip-hop group from North Philadelphia.

Hill said investigators wanted him to provide information about Shamsud-din Ali, an influential Muslim cleric and political ally of Philadelphia Mayor John Street whose business dealings have been at the center of an FBI public corruption probe.

Defense lawyer A. Charles Peruto Jr. said a federal investigator asked Hill to waive his preliminary hearing, enter federal custody and become a witness. The same investigator visited Hill in prison several weeks earlier in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade him to provide information, Hill said.

"I don't know what they want, I don't know anything about the man," Hill said of Ali. Hill said his only tie to Ali is that he used to date Ali's stepdaughter.

Ali, whose office and home were raided by federal authorities the day after an FBI listening device was found in Street's office in October, told the Inquirer he doesn't know Hill.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan has refused to say what the FBI probe is about or how long it has been under way.

Federal investigators have also tracked Hill's role in RAM Squad and alleged ties to drugs and organized crime.

One of the RAM Squad's early backers, Merlino, is serving time for racketeering. According to a promotional video released by the band, Merlino helped Hill form an association with music promoter Stephen Epstein, who in turn helped the fledgling group get a contract with Universal Music Group. The label has since cut ties to the group.

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(PHILADELPHIA, PA) According to the The Philadelphia City Planning Commission (PCPC), Philadelphia is one step closer to having a skateboard park.

In 2001, the city administration moved to enforce an existing but unenforced ban on skateboarding in several popular Philadelphia public locations. The legislation severely limited riders, who were already restricted from areas like John F. Kennedy Plaza -- known to skateboarders worldwide as the famous LOVE Park.

The skatepark is planned to be a colossal 2.5 acres (109,000 square feet, or about 10,000 square meters) and located in Fairmount Park, along the eastern side of the Schuylkill River, near the Philadelphia Museum of Art.