Philadelphia School District Adopts Balanced Budget

PHILADELPHIA (AP) The Philadelphia School District has adopted a balanced budget for the first time in seven years.

The School Reform Commission Wednesday approved a $1.85 billion spending plan that pumps millions of dollars more into classroom instruction, new disciplinary programs and the arts.

District officials believe they can keep the budget balanced at least through 2008.

Among the measures, the district erased a projected $13.6 million deficit by reducing health-insurance costs in recently negotiated labor contracts. Chief executive Paul Vallas says, "In government, if you have your financial health, you have everything, because everything becomes possible."

IRS raids Philadelphia mosque

Philadelphia(AP) -- Federal agents raided a mosque and two homes in Philadelphia on Thursday and took a Muslim cleric into custody on immigration charges, authorities and witnesses said.

IRS agents searched the Ansaar Allah Islamic Society and an adjacent home in the city's Bridesburg section, plus a third home in Northeast Philadelphia, according to IRS spokesman Skip Bedics.

Bedics would not say what IRS agents were looking for. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Philadelphia declined to discuss the raids.

FBI spokeswoman Jerri Williams would not disclose details of the case, but said it had "no direct connection to terrorism."

One man was detained for an alleged immigration violation, according to William Riley, a spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Riley would not identify the man detained, but a woman who identified herself as Meriem Moumen told KYW-AM that the man was her husband, Mohamed Ghorab, an Egyptian and the mosque's imam.

She told the radio station that agents accused the family of being involved in terrorism. Moumen said she and her husband are peaceful and have no ties to or sympathy for any terrorist groups.

"We're just a regular family," she said, sobbing.

FBI agents were also present for the search, but the bureau spokeswoman said they were only there to offer support, and were not directly involved in the investigation.

Philadelphia officials say they have plan to halt gridlock

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — City officials on Tuesday promised to crack down on traffic violations that often lead to rush-hour gridlock in downtown Philadelphia.

Drivers too often tie up traffic by double parking, parking too close to an intersection, going through a red light or blocking cross-traffic by getting stuck in the middle of an intersection when the light turns red, said city Managing Director Phil Goldsmith.

He promised the city now will have zero tolerance for such traffic violations.

The city's Parking Authority, Streets Department and Engineering Department also plan to do traffic studies to see if improvements can be made to alleviate gridlock, which is a daily problem at some intersections.

The crackdown will begin in the downtown business district but could expand to other neighborhoods, officials said.

Dozens Charged in Philly Cocaine Probe
Strange Link to City Corruption Probe

PHILADELPHIA(AP) - Federal prosecutors have charged 27 people in connection with a multimillion-dollar cocaine ring, the investigation of which helped lead to an ongoing probe of alleged corruption in city government.

FBI agents, while listening to wiretapped conversations among operatives in the alleged drug ring three years ago, picked up information that led to the corruption probe. But investigators stressed that the city officials being scrutinized are not thought to have been involved in drug dealing.

Agents arrested defendants throughout the city Thursday as prosecutors unsealed two indictments outlining the alleged North Philadelphia drug network, which allegedly purchased hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from suppliers in Norristown, New York and Florida and sold it throughout the city from 1999 to 2003.

While listening to wiretapped calls in the alleged drug ring, the FBI picked up conversations between drug dealers and Imam Shamsud-din Ali, individuals close to the investigations have told The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News.

Ali, 65, a leader of a West Philadelphia mosque, was not mentioned in Thursday's indictment. He has political relationships with Mayor John Street and Gov. Ed Rendell, and is under investigation in the corruption probe. Ali has insisted he has done nothing wrong.

No one has been indicted as a result of the corruption investigation, which became public in October with the discovery of an FBI listening device in the mayor's office.

Howard Dean In Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (KYW) Former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean is making a stop in Philadelphia Sunday in an effort to spread the word about progressive politics.

Dean, once the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, eventually fell behind John Kerry. Once a bitter rival, now Dean is throwing his support behind the Massachussetts senator.

Michael Carvalho, a member of the local political group Philly for Change, says Dean is trying to make sure that progressive candidates get elected at all levels.

He says those values call for education for every child, as well as focus on key issues such as health car and a fair tax system.