DAILY GRINDER: SEPTA Violated Federal Lobbying Regulations?
Good job: Federal officials say SEPTA has “repeatedly” violated lobbying regulations with regard to its paying Washington lobbyists over the past five years and could face fines of up to $100,000—“for each instance.” Smell that? A four-alarm fire killed a vacant warehouse at Front and Girard early this morning. The El is down and one firefighter was...
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DAILY GRINDER: Homeless Feeding Ban Hearings Today
Federal court hearings begin today over the homeless feeding ban in Philadelphia. The ACLU and the law offices of Kairys, Rudovsky, Messing & Feinberg LLP are representing several religious groups who say feeding the poor is their religious right. The law technically went into effect on June 1st though the city hadn’t yet fulfilled its obligation to...
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DAILY GRINDER: Nutter Calls Shooter ‘Asshole’—Again
Mayor Nutter is again calling a shooter—specifically, the 16-year-old kid who opened fire during the July 4th festivities in Center City—an “asshole” and is once again correct. As it was put by the mayor: “I’m not going to let a 16-year old asshole who’s got a beef with somebody from a month ago in Germantown, to negatively impact the image...
Continue ReadingDAILY GRINDER: 9.2 Percent of PA Voters Lack ID
New figures of those lacking valid voter ID in Pennsylvania: 758,000, or, about 9.2 percent of the state’s voters, which is much higher than the Corbett Administration’s original estimates of 1 percent. The new numbers are based on a comparison of voter registration rolls with PennDOT databases. There simply aren’t enough electronic monitoring ankle...
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DAILY GRINDER: Another Barnes Museum Fight?
Image: BarnesFoundation.org The citizens’ group that’s fought to keep the Barnes in Lower Merion is apparently still fighting that fight. They filed court papers on Monday claiming the move was illegitimate because the former CEO said the foundation actually wasn’t on the verge of bankruptcy when they filed a petition to move. Their evidence? A blog post...
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DAILY GRINDER: City Passes Budget; State Getting There
Philadelphia City Council passed the city’s budget yesterday. It’s $3.6 billion, raises property taxes 3.6 percent and gives the school district $40 million in new cash. The number falls way short of the $94 million Mayor Michael Nutter had hoped to funnel to the district and even shorter or the $218 million gap they face. Average property taxes are going...
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DAILY GRINDER: City Still Wants Swap Money Back—If They Can Get It
We. Are. The 99 Percent! Right, guys? Councilman Jim Kenney wants to be able to file a lawsuit against the big banks that took a ton of the city’s money through the swap deals you’ve been hearing so much about lately. At a press conference yesterday, alongside the Transit Workers Union Local 234 and Fight for Philly, he said, “we’re hoping that the...
Continue ReadingDAILY GRINDER: Philly Police Spokesman in Shore Barfight
Philadelphia Police Lt. and spokesman Ray Evers was allegedly in a barfight in Avalon, New Jersey. He claims he was “assaulted by several people” early on June 17 and taken to a hospital. He says it’s no big deal, but he made a report and police are looking into it. A Northeast Philly man has been arrested for allegedly starving his elderly father to death....
Continue ReadingDAILY GRINDER: House Leadership In National News for Voter ID Truth Blunder
Congrats, House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, you made the big time. Salon.com has a quick profile up about the Pennsylvania legislator, who has become the center of lots of conversation over the past few years with his, like, leadership skills and stuff. Nah, just kidding. The article is about how he openly admitted that Pennsylvania’s voter ID law isn’t...
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DAILY GRINDER: $1.6 Million Settlement in Contaminated Water Fracking Case
So you're saying this isn't Perrier? Coulda fooled me. Three northeastern Pennsylvania families have reached a $1.6 million settlement with Oklahoma-based Chesapeake Energy over contaminating their water wells and forcing them to go somewhere else. It’s a good chunk of change, but one of the families say it’s not much considering they have to leave...
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