PhillyNow Calendar: Civic Events, April 15-20
It’s the third week of the month—already!—and neighborhood associations seem to enjoy dedicating that time to general meetings. And there are many of them this week. Also, be sure to check out City Council’s budget hearings and a rally for Mumia Abu Jamal’s birthday, if you’re into that sort of thing. As usual, email us at civics@philadelphiaweekly.com...
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Grieving While Gay: There’s a Tax on That
When Roxborough resident Jim Smith’s partner was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last May, both knew there would be a series of legal and health hoops to jump through. But what followed was an insult-to-injury moment that’s only possible because of Pennsylvania’s stone-age laws. He did chemotherapy for a few months, but we did go to an attorney just to...
Continue ReadingHow to Make Some Sense of “Accidental Racist”: Ask a Southerner
You must’ve heard the Brad Paisley/LL Cool J song “Accidental Racist” by now, right? Sure you have! Like some of the stranger attempts at racial dialogue we’ve seen lately (*cough* Philadelphia mag *cough*), it’s been called an “epic fail,” actually racist, and just plain bad. Take a listen: I don’t personally agree with all the criticism....
Continue ReadingCity Council Fails to Override Nutter’s Paid Sick Leave Veto
Councilman Bill Greenlee, the prime sponsor of the paid sick leave legislation in City Council, did not bring up a vote to override Mayor Nutter’s veto this morning—and apologized to the city for failing on the issue. “I will not be calling for an override of Mayor Nutter’s veto concerning the paid sick leave bill because we are one vote short...
Continue ReadingLa Salle Takes Four Days to Notify Students of Off-Campus Gang Rape
Around 10 p.m. on Easter Sunday, four men reportedly kidnapped and gang-raped a 20-year-old La Salle University student who was walking along 10th and W. Louden streets, approximately a mile and a half from campus. Police say the assailants pulled the student into a black van and drove her to a second location, where they “subjected her to a series of brutal...
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Poll Finds 77 Percent of Philly Supports Paid Sick Days
Supporter Janet Filante of Childspace Daycare City Council has until Thursday to find the 12th vote which would override Mayor Michael Nutter’s veto of the latest paid sick days bill, which passed through City Council by a vote of 11-6. In light of that, supporters held a rally in front of City Hall yesterday afternoon urging at least one of the six City Council...
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Dead Milkmen Frontman Rodney Anonymous Wins PW’s Mayor Madness 2013!
That’s right, people. Thousands of you voted and came to one obvious conclusion: Never doubt the aging punk rocker demographic. Dead Milkmen frontman, music critic and notorious tweeter Rodney Anonymous has won our first-ever Mayor Madness elimination tournament! Sorry, Bill Cosby. We still love you! But not as much as we love this dude! Anon’s official...
Continue ReadingVIDEO: Mayor Nutter Urges Sen. Toomey to Support Background Checks
Because the world is a mysterious place, the stars have aligned so that conservative, tea-party backed Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, he of the “A” rating by the NRA just may be “gun control’s unlikely savior.” From the Washington Post this morning: Toomey, as The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent reported last week, is currently in talks with West Virginia...
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Have You Seen Any “Stop Rape” Signs Around Town?
Photo by Tim “Shots Fired” Blackwell Some sick-of-it anti-rape radical went and got themselves a roll of stickers with the word “Rape” on it, and have been busy slapping them on the lower half of Stop signs in a rush of old-school guerilla media activism. How delightful! This one here was spotted down Souf at 7th and Reed. Have you seen...
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PhillyNow Calendar: Civic Events, April 8-12
It’s a quiet week unless you’re really passionate one way or another about casinos. There will be two chances for casino input at the Pennsylvania convention center, beginning on Thursday and going into Friday. As usual, let me know if I missed anything by hitting up civics@philadelphiaweekly.com or tweeting me: @RandyLoBasso Monday, April 8 Safety...
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