Philadelphia Pennsylvania News as its happening

Category — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Verdict against DEP employees’ actions stirs fears

A federal jury’s verdict that four Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection employees are liable for $6.5 million in damages stemming from a series of disputed enforcement actions has triggered shock waves in Harrisburg, where officials are voicing concern that they will be held personally liable for efforts to uphold environmental laws.

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Report: City saved $4.2 million fighting corruption

The city saved $4.2 million last year by rooting out corrupt employees, according to a report to be issued today by Philadelphia’s Office of Inspector General.

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3 young women visit with a message of peace

Three young women who have grown up amid violence in the Middle East came thousands of miles to deliver a message that didn’t seem foreign to 40 high school girls from Philadelphia.

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Afghan, Phila. students in joint photo project

Fatema Jafari, 15, of Afghanistan , had never walked around the streets of Philadelphia before this week, but she feels as though she has.

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Ex-Council Rock teacher sentenced for sex with teen

A former Bucks County high school teacher who had a five-month sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student - with the apparent knowledge of his peers - was sent to prison yesterday.

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Phila. principal defended; cartoon denounced

In strong terms, a broad coalition of supporters publicly championed controversial South Philadelphia High School principal LaGreta Brown yesterday. Brown also spoke out for the first time, defending her leadership.

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Found skull believed to be that of a woman

Officials believe a skull found in woods behind a motel in the far Northeast belongs to a woman.

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Moorestown dealer hopes to renew ties with GM

GM told Classic Chevrolet it was no longer wanted during the worst of the auto crisis. This week, owner Classic Chevrolet owner Tom Hessert finally got some good news from the Detroit automaker.

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U.S. hikers held in Iran make calls home

For the first time since their arrest seven months ago, the three American hikers imprisoned in Iran for entering the country illegally were permitted brief phone calls to their families.

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N.J. bill mandates public employees live in state

If New Jersey taxpayers fund your paychecks, you ought to live in the Garden State, too.That’s the thinking behind a bill proposed in the Legislature this week, which already has drawn bipartisan support from Gov. Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester), among other political leaders. It also has attracted loud criticism from public employees.

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Teens in Camden deaths could be tried as adults

The four juveniles charged in the torture deaths of a Burlington County couple found buried in Camden should be prosecuted as adults, authorities said yesterday.

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GOP vows tools to cut expenses, tighter tax caps

As Gov. Christie prepares for a budget debate likely to focus heavily on property taxes, he and fellow Republicans are devising steps to control the local levies with a combination of help and force.

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Kevin Riordan: Loving hands reach across the sea

The “ugly call” came before 8 that morning, and by early afternoon Kevin Bailey and his wife, Bonnie, were flying to Australia, where their youngest child was fighting to live.

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N.J. raids yield $10 million marijuana operation

A patrol officer with a sensitive nose was credited yesterday with uprooting what authorities called the biggest marijuana-growing operation in New Jersey history.

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Police search for fugitive wanted on child porn charges

Police were searching Wednesday for an Upper Darby resident wanted on child-pornography charges.

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Maisha W. Johnson, 61, executive

Maisha Williams Johnson, 61, of Springfield, Delaware County, a retired marketing executive and author, died of cancer March 2 at home.

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Lobbyists lining up against Nutter’s soda tax

The food and beverage industry is mobilizing against Mayor Nutter’s proposed tax on sweet drinks, with a rush of activity that has City Hall bracing for a “madhouse.”

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Upper Darby man sought on child-porn charges

Police were searching yesterday for an Upper Darby resident wanted on child-pornography charges.Jose Oyarzun, 40, is accused of possessing and distributing the illicit material after police discovered more than 74 images on his computer, said detective Lisa Carroll of the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Task Force.

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Smell of pot from chimney leads to record bust

A patrol cop with a sensitive schnoz was credited today with uprooting what authorities say is the biggest marijuana-growing operation in New Jersey’s history.

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Man robbed and shot picking up car

A Philadelphia Water Department employee was shot coming out of a North Philadelphia auto mechanic’s shop this afternoon.

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2 undercover Phila. officers injured

Two undercover officers were injured this afternoon when a suspect hit them with his car in the parking lot of a Kensington Applebee’s, police said.

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Phila. counting on census to increase federal funding

Hot rhythms pour from a sidewalk speaker at Centro Musical, a compact-disc shop near Fifth Street and Lehigh Avenue in a heavily Latino part of North Philadelphia. Largely Puerto Rican, the enclave called El Centro de Oro, or Golden Center, has swelled in the last decade with Dominicans, Colombians, Venezuelans, and other Hispanic immigrants.

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Trial that parked a plane at City Hall quietly settled

The civil trial arising from the 2005 crash of a Cessna airplane has come and gone as quietly as the full-scale Cessna P210 - a trial exhibit - that last week drew gawkers to City Hall’s northwest plaza.

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Torture murder teens could be prosecuted as adults

The four juveniles charged in the torture murders of a Burlington County couple found buried in Camden should be prosecuted as adults, authorities said today.

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Fumo friend charged with obstruction

Mitchell Rubin, fired a year ago as chairman of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, was charged today with obstructing a federal investigation into his longtime friend, former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo.

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N.J. bill: Taxpayer-funded workers must live in state

If New Jersey taxpayers fund your paychecks, you ought to live in the Garden State, too.

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Defense rests in Bonusgate trial

HARRISBURG - After calling two dozen witnesses over three days, the defense in the corruption trial of former State Rep. Mike Veon rested today without Veon or his three codefendants taking the stand.

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Defense in Veon trial could conclude today

HARRISBURG - The defense in the corruption trial of former State Rep. Mike Veon could rest later today, depending on whether the judge allows the jury to hear certain testimony and evidence, said Joel Sansone, one of Veon’s lawyers.

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Goodbye, snow. Hello, hurricanes?

The snow is still melting, but Accu-Weather’s annual hurricane forecast says it is going to be an eventful season - and perhaps then some.

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Hafer withdraws from race for Murtha seat

A day after filing nomination petitions in a quest to succeed the late Rep. John Murtha , former state Treasurer Barbara Hafer announced this morning that she is withdrawing from the primary race.

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