DAILY GRINDER: Lawyer Blames Attorney General for Joe Paterno’s Death
We love accused child torturer Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer, Karl Rominger. And not in a good way: He just has that umph! you only see in the slimiest, greasiest of defense attorneys. Now, he’s blaming the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and grand jury report about the investigation into his client, for murdering former Penn State football coach Joe...
Continue ReadingDAILY GRINDER: Pennsylvania Salaries…SOPA News…Did Santorum Win Iowa?
Ever wonder why Pennsyltucky hates Philly so much and is slowly—but surely!—tightening the cash faucet with each drying, dying day? It’s because of things like this: The top four public employee earners in the state, according to a recently-released study (there have been a lot of them, lately) notes Arlene Ackerman has made the most in a year, at $348,140;...
Continue ReadingDAILY GRINDER: GOTV or STFU
It’s Election Day, everyone! Hopefully you have some idea as to who you’re going to vote for and/or where your polling place is and/or the other W’s. Here’s PW’s rundown of the elections. And here’s the Committee of Seventy’s map to find your polling place. Seriously, you have the right to vote. And the right to complain. But you want to complain...
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Anonymous Ackerman Donors Back Out
We were wondering the other day how the former Superintendent Arlene Ackerman buyout situation could get worse. We got our answer: The effort to raise $405,000 in private donations to help buy out former Superintendent Arlene C. Ackerman’s contract has unraveled, leaving the Philadelphia School District on the hook for nearly $1 million. “The public...
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Parents Blast SRC for Ackerman Buyout
OK, so here’s the thing: the school year is right around the corner. Superintendent Arlene Ackerman is out. And parents are livid about it. Basically, the idea of a cordial relationship existing between parents and the SRC is out the window. Yesterday’s SRC action meeting validates that much. Restless parents pack into the room, waiting to ostracize the...
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Daily Grinder: PA Favors Mitt Romney Over Obama, LCB Chief Says Liquor Prices To Rise & MORE!
50 percent of New Jersey’s registered voters now approve of the job of NJ Governor Chris Christie, NewsWorks reports, which is a huge increase from a few months ago. But the GOP-boy-craze doesn’t stop there. A separate poll by Quinnipiac University shows “Pennsylvania voters now favor GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney over Obama 44 to 42...
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State Sen. Anthony H. Williams Suggests SRC is ‘Marginalizing’ Ackerman
Where is Superintendent Arlene Ackerman? That’s the question that was being asked by parents and state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams at yesterday’s School Reform Commission planning meeting. From the early stages of the 2 p.m. meeting, it was quite clear that the SRC anticipates inquiries into SRC-Ackerman relations when Chairman Robert Archie opened by saying,...
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DAILY GRINDER: Mayor Nutter & Philly.com Have Got Some ‘Splainin To Do!
Mayor Nutter & Philly.com are caught in the middle of a love triangle. The third corner of it may or may not be Heather Steinmiller, “an attorney and 2007 Nutter campaign adviser who was appointed by the mayor to the Pennsylvania Convention Center board,” according to Philly.com. But the fun begins–and ends–from the story’s unanswered...
Continue ReadingSchool District Forced to Scale Back Summer School
Two weeks ago, Philadelphia School District Superintendent Arlene Ackerman urged City Council to give $21 million to the school district’s Summer Learning And More (SLAM) program, a summer school for failing students that doubles as a summer camp for kids interested in art, music or sports. But last week, when Council voted on how much the district would get...
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School Chief Ackerman Defends District’s Budget Cuts, Convinces Few
Ackerman getting angry over taking blame for state's budget cuts. Yesterday’s School Reform Commission meeting generated condescending responses from community members, who are upset at the school district’s mounting deficit coupled with a significant loss of its budget from state funding that may force the district to scrap 1,260 teachers, cut school...
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