Think Twice Before Walking Your Dogs and Children Through Rittenhouse Square

Philadelphia, Pa. --- After being bombarded with calls from Rittenhouse Square parkgoers distraught after watching a large number of squirrels convulse and bleed to death in front of them, PETA faxed an urgent letter today to Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street, urging him to immediately stop using poison to kill rats in Rittenhouse Square Park.

City workers have been putting out anticoagulant poisons aimed at the park’s rats, but since the poisons are indiscriminate, any animals who ingest them—including dogs, cats, and squirrels, as well as children—can suffer slow, agonizing deaths.

PETA points out that using poison is not only cruel, but also a short-term "solution," because if the area remains attractive and accessible to these animals, more rats will simply move in from surrounding areas, resulting in a cruel and expensive killing cycle that will do nothing to solve any perceived problem with the city’s rat population. PETA is urging the city to adopt a long-term strategy by getting to the root of the problem and cleaning up the trash that attracts rats.

"A park littered with the bodies of dead and dying animals hardly seems like the ideal solution to a rat problem," says PETA Wildlife Biologist Stephanie Boyles. "The city needs to clean up its act, literally, instead of waging war on wildlife."

Philadelphia Homeowners Race to Keep Homes
Postponement of foreclosure sales ends next week

Philadelphia resident Rita Richardson, 62, bought her first house five years ago and kept up with the mortgage payments by working two jobs.

After the hours of one of those jobs were cut in half, Richardson eventually fell behind in her payments. She turned to a bankruptcy lawyer for help, but that just racked up legal bills.

Her "2 1/2" bedroom home was slated to be sold at a sheriff's foreclosure sale in March.

Philadelphia Sheriff John Green spared Richardson and 558 other homeowners from having their houses sold, but only for a month. Green postponed the March sale of owner-occupied houses until April to give those homeowners more time to work out a solution. The move was part of a larger community attempt to stem the rising number of foreclosures.

That temporary reprieve is quickly coming to an end as the April 13 sale date looms. Richardson doesn't yet know whether her house will be up for sale next week, but she and local groups are busy working with her lender and a state homeowner assistance program.

"I just need one more chance to be able to start paying," said Richardson, adding that she now can afford to make her monthly payments. "I'm 62, I really wouldn't have any other place to go."

Huge Local Cocaine Ring Busted

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — Police believe they have dismantled a large drug ring based in the West Chester area that sold more than $500,000 worth of cocaine each month.

Police have arrested 23 suspects in the past two weeks, nearly half of the 48 they were seeking, they said.

They believe the group — dubbed "340" after the street address where it was based — controlled about 60 percent of the local cocaine trade.

"That has a huge impact on neighborhoods and certainly all of the related crime," West Chester Police Chief Scott L. Bohn said Wednesday.

The ring operated in Wilmington, Philadelphia and New York City, but most of the suspects have lived in West Chester, Caln, East Goshen and West Whiteland townships.

More Budget Concerns for Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (AP) A state agency that oversees city budgets vowed to veto Philadelphia's fiscal plan unless City Council makes substantial spending cuts, officials said.

Joseph C. Vignola, executive director of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority, said Wednesday he did not expect his agency to endorse the five-year plan submitted.

"I believe that the revenues are not there to cover the expenditures, and I would urge Council before submitting anything to the mayor for his signature or by way of resolution to reduce expenses," Vignola said.

Joyce Wilkerson, the mayor's chief of staff, said the administration would provide a back-up plan if the city does not get some of the funding.

Vignola has voiced doubt on whether the city will really get $18 million due from the troubled Philadelphia Gas Works and $24 million dependent upon state and federal legislation.

Push For Tax Reform On Tax Day!

How best to celebrate Tax Day?
By pushing for tax reform in Philadelphia.
April 15th at 8:00 am — Dilworth Plaza
(NW corner of City Hall at 15th Street and JFK Boulevard)

City Controller Jonathan A. Saidel and other local notables are scheduled to address the crowd as we hand out "checks" to taxpayers detailing how much they would save if we enact the tax reform plan drafted by the city's Tax Reform Commission.
We will then proceed upstairs to address the City Council caucus in room 401 City Hall to tell our elected officials that it is time for real tax reform — right now! Tax reform will not happen unless our elected officials believe that we think it is a priority — so join us as we make that statement loud and clear.

What’s wrong with Philadelphia’s taxes?

We tax more than other cities
We tax what other cities do not
We tax unfairly

How Does Philadelphia Compare?

Other cities are growing, but Philadelphia is still in decline.
The Greater Philadelphia Region is growing, but the City of Philadelphia continues to lose jobs and neighbors.
The typical city resident’s tax burden is more than 50% higher than the tax burden for a suburban resident at a similar income level.


Thanks to "Philadelphia Forward" for holding this event

Good News for North Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A once drug-infested corner of North Philadelphia now boasts a $13.5 million learning center, a haven for children during both school and after-school hours.

The Honickman Learning Center and Comcast Technology Labs, which officially opens today, will serve children in kindergarten through high school.

The center has 255 computers digital music and video stations, and a computerized auditorium, built with a $1 million donation from the Wilt Chamberlain Memorial Fund.

Philadelphia to trim 400 vehicles from its fleet

Philadelphia will trim its municipal fleet by roughly 400 vehicles and will rely instead on a local car-share service for some on-the-job transportation.

The city has announced a partnership with PhillyCarShare, which offers access to shared cars leased by the hour. The city will pay $3.90 an hour plus 39 cents a mile, said Tanya Seaman, PhillyCarShare executive director. The switch is part of the cash-strapped city's effort to save $650,000.

The city also hopes to make some money by auctioning vehicles from its fleet and it will save on fuel and maintenance costs.

PhillyCarShare's gas-electric hybrid cars are stored at 17 sites in Center City and University City. Customers - including the city - reserve them via phone or Internet and have 24-hour access to them.

Cleveland Indians left fielder Matt Lawton reported the theft of $117,000 in jewelry and other items from his downtown hotel room over the weekend, when the Indians were in town to play the Philadelphia Phillies in an exhibition game.

Lawton called police Sunday morning after returning from a trip to Atlantic City, N.J., to report the theft of jewelry and other personal items from his room at the Ritz-Carlton.

Reported missing was a Gucci bag containing a diamond Rolex watch, a diamond bracelet, a platinum necklace and an MP3 player and speakers, Philadelphia police Inspector William Colarulo said Monday.

"Only me, man. It would only happen to me," Lawton said Monday night in Minneapolis. "It lets you know you're never safe. You think your stuff should be pretty secure. But you've got to keep your guard up all the time, whether that means putting stuff in the hotel safe or whatever."

Detectives are checking hotel surveillance video and questioning employees, police said. A hotel spokeswoman declined comment.


Matt Lawton

Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice suits go back where they belong, new statistics show lawyers filed lawsuits in Philadelphia purposely to take advantage of liberal juries

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) The number of medical malpractice lawsuits dropped in half in Philadelphia; but more than tripled in Montgomery County; between 2000 and 2003, according to state Supreme Court records.

New rules that require lawyers in Pennsylvania to file malpractice claims where the acts allegedly occurred probably explain the numbers, observers said. Lawyers used to try to file medical malpractice suits in Philadelphia, where juries are seen as more sympathetic to plaintiffs.

State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-12th District, who supports venue laws, had not expected so many of the Philadelphia cases to end up in Montgomery County.

"That increase is not likely to continue," said

Twenty-four medical malpractice cases were filed in Montgomery County in 2000 and 151 last year, according to statistics released last month by Supreme Court Justice Ralph J. Cappy.

Some quick odds on our Philadelphia Phillies

Odds are: 12-1 to win the World Series; 5-1 to win the NLCS; 4-5 to win the NL East.

US Airways faces cost showdown in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- In the no-holds-barred world of airline competition, Philadelphia is different things to different companies: a land of opportunity for low-fare king Southwest Airlines, but a hard-fought last stand for struggling mainstream carrier US Airways.

Just a year after cutting costs dramatically and emerging from bankruptcy, US Airways is again looking for ways to make deep reductions in what still are the highest operating costs of any U.S. airline, on the basis of seats available and miles flown.

That's what it will take to survive when Southwest, with the lowest costs among U.S. airlines, starts Philadelphia service on May 9, according to David Siegel, US Airway's president and chief executive officer.

The race for low fares will become even more intense two weeks later when Frontier Airlines begins service from Philadelphia to Denver and Los Angeles on May 23.

The low-cost carriers -- LCCs in industry jargon -- see a gold mine. "All the LCCs have lots of room to grow in Philadelphia, which is a very rich market," said Raymond Neidl, an analyst with Blaylock & Partners LP in New York.

That means a do-or-die struggle for US Airways. "Philadelphia was its last great fortress of non-competition," said Michael Dyment, an expert in low-cost operations at the aviation consulting group Simat, Helliesen & Eichner Inc. in Arlington, Va.

"We can't run from Philadelphia. We're not going to run. It's going to be a battle for our lives," Siegel said in a March 24 Webcast to employees.

Mexican Officials Nabbed for Alien Smuggling

On March 23 the Mexican government announced it had arrested 44 people -- including 32 current and former officials of Mexico's immigration authority and 10 current and former border policemen -- for alleged involvement in smuggling aliens into the United States.

High-ranking Mexican officials said the crackdown netted the largest number of Mexican government employees arrested so far for alien smuggling.

"The government's position is clear: The traffic of human beings is shameful and intolerable," said Mexican Atty. Gen. Rafael Macedo de la Concha at a March 23 Mexico City press conference. The arrested officials, he said, had aided smugglers by giving "information about police raids," releasing "captured migrants," and accepting "falsified documents." The officials arrested were from 12 Mexican states and included seven immigration officials in Juarez. Twenty-six of those arrested were current officials of the National Immigration Institute, Mexico's border enforcement agency. Another six of those arrested were former officials of this agency. Warrants were also issued for 15 additional suspects.

Miguel Monterrubio, press secretary for the Mexican embassy in Washington, D.C., said last week he could not add anything that was not presented at the March 23 press conference. "I don't have any information on anything new that's happened since then," he said.

Mexico has asked the U.S. government to examine whether U.S. officials were working with the corrupt Mexican officials. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesman Garrison Courtney said he could not provide any information about any such investigation.

The Mexican anti-corruption effort comes as the United States is implementing new border control initiatives, particularly in Arizona, which has received a flood of illegal border crossers since the U.S. Border Patrol tightened enforcement in California and Texas. Another plan to be launched this month by the Administration for Children and Families of the Health and Human Services Department will focus on the plight of smuggled immigrants kept in slavery-like conditions in Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Phoenix.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), said the Mexican crackdown is not unusual and won't amount to much given the extent of corruption in Mexico. "This happens all the time," he said of the arrests. "We're never going to be able to rely on the Mexican government in limiting illegal immigration into the United States."

These arrests did not seem to be aimed at stopping Mexican nationals themselves from illegally entering the United States. In fact, Mexican officials said March 23 that most of the people smuggled by those arrested were "Central Americans," "Asians," and other non-Mexicans.

But, Krikorian said, controlling the flow of illegal aliens into the United States is "not their job, it's our job." He also noted that corruption in Mexico could affect Bush's plan to allow the unlimited importation of guest workers. "The last time we had this kind of a plan, workers had to bribe Mexican officials to get on the list to come here," he said.

Opera Company of Philadelphia Appoints a New Music Director, Corrado Rovaris

The Opera Company of Philadelphia has hired a music director who will live in Philadelphia and take over the company's musical side. Italian conductor Corrado Rovaris will be the first music director in the company's history when he begins a three-year contract next season.

Rovaris, 38, will be responsible for repertoire, hiring singers, and overseeing the opera company's orchestra, producing artistic director Robert B. Driver said. He will also, for the next two years, conduct three of the opera company's four productions each season.

March Against Violence in Philadelphia Rescheduled

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A march to protest the violent deaths of 23 Philadelphia school children has been rescheduled for Saturday, after heavy rain Sunday caused a postponement.

The March to Save the Children had been expected to attract thousands of participants to the North Philadelphia neighborhood where 10-year Faheem Thomas-Childs was killed outside his school on Feb. 11, caught in the crossfire between feuding groups of men.

The event is set to start at 3 p.m.

"We put so much effort into the march, but by waiting until next week, we are expecting an even bigger turnout," said Richard Dukes, president of the Lehigh Avenue Business Association.

City schools chief executive Paul Vallas and Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson, among other civic leaders, have helped promote the march.