PHILLY KILLZ

Soul's win a bit too dramatic

2008-07-29T13:00:00.001-04:00

NEW ORLEANS - When Soul owner Jon Bon Jovi left his seat Sunday to head down to his team's locker room and celebrate the franchise's first ArenaBowl title, it was before the San Jose SaberCats scored 14 points in 11 seconds to suddenly put the outcome of the game in doubt.
Once he got to field level at the New Orleans Arena, Bon Jovi was handed the commemorative hat and T-shirt that went to the winners of the game.

"It was heart-wrenching," Bon Jovi said after the Soul held on for a 59-56 victory. "I left that box confident. I said, 'OK, folks, let's go down and get us a trophy.' Suddenly, it's a three-point game, and I dropped the hat and shirt. I didn't want to touch them [again] until we earned it. These guys deserve a pat on the back today. This is their moment."

It wasn't until the Soul's Rod Davis recovered an onside kick with 15 seconds left that Bon Jovi and the players could begin to relax.

Soul quarterback Matt D'Orazio, who was presented with a yellow convertible Mitsubishi Eclipse after being named the game's most valuable player, took three deep drops and then threw the ball into the stands each time to run out the clock.

The team from Philadelphia was officially the champion.

"Let's just say that the [championship] ring is going to be tasteful, timeless and classy," said Bon Jovi, who said he will follow through on his pledge to give a free concert in Philadelphia if the Soul won the Arena Football League crown. "It's not going to be so ostentatious that it takes two knuckles to fit."

One player who will be especially happy to slip that ring on his finger is Soul wide receiver Chris Jackson, a nine-year veteran who has put together a career that has him among the AFL's all-time leaders in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns.

He set regular-season Soul team records in all three categories.

While D'Orazio completed 26 of 43 pass attempts for 302 yards and seven scores - he also ran for a touchdown - Jackson was named the ArenaBowl's offensive player of the game after hauling in 11 passes for 146 yards and three touchdowns.

Like D'Orazio, Jackson just finished his first season with the Soul. The acquisition of both players was orchestrated by Soul president and general manager Ron Jaworski, the former Eagles quarterback who started in Super Bowl XV in New Orleans.

"It meant everything to me being a part of this team they put together," said Jackson, who was named the AFL's offensive player of the year earlier this month.

"I didn't want it to be a year where you receive personal accolades, and then come this far and fall short. I know how hard it is to get here from that perspective. One little mistake, and it doesn't work in your favor."

Another Fatality At One Of Philly's Most Dangerous Intersections.

2008-06-29T21:33:00.010-04:00

Tire laying across the street

One side of the car on the opposite side of the street

An overturned vehicle

Poor guy laying under his vehicle

The tree that was struck

After 2hrs. they finally get him out

The worst intersection -- Flamingo Road and Pines Boulevard -- is in Pembroke Pines, Florida. The number of accidents at that intersection over the two-year period of the study was 357.

The second most dangerous is in the northeast section of Philadelphia at Red Lion Road and Roosevelt Boulevard. There were 331 accidents at that intersection. The third is a nearby intersection, Grant Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard, where 261 accidents occurred.

Former 76er arrested on gun violations

2008-06-23T20:40:00.002-04:00

For years, Aaron F. McKie was a charismatic success at every level of Philadelphia basketball, winning awards as a player for Simon Gratz High School, Temple University and the 2001 NBA Finals 76ers.
But yesterday morning, McKie ducked into a State Police barracks in Belmont and turned himself in for a felony arrest. Authorities charge that he lied when trying to buy two pistols in an Abington gun shop by concealing a restraining order that forbade the purchase.

Just days after attending the Sixers' predraft workouts for a possible return as a coach, McKie, 35, now faces imprisonment for denying the existence of the Delaware County court order he compliantly signed last September.

"There's no argument of lack of knowledge," said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, "because it's right there in black and white."

The reason for the restraining order is confidential under Pennsylvania law, and Ferman would not say who sought it against McKie.

In the criminal charge, he is accused of lying by answering "no" to the gun-purchase application's question about a restraining order to protect his "child or an intimate partner or child of such partner."

Signed Sept. 27, the order bars McKie from buying or possessing a gun for a year. Yet April 8, he allegedly walked into Abington Gun Sports in Upper Moreland Township to buy two pistols, a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson and a 9 mm Ruger. Ferman said McKie had not volunteered why he wanted the handguns.

After an arraignment in an Oreland courtroom, McKie was allowed to go free on a $50,000 bond and ordered to hand over his passport.

It remains unclear how the charges will affect his relationship with the 76ers, the hometown team McKie played for from 1997-2005.

McKie spent part of last season with Sixers as a volunteer assistant coach, but left the team midseason when the Los Angeles Lakers - which retained contract rights to McKie as a player - signed him for a bit part to help a trade meet byzantine NBA salary regulations.

The arrangement sent star Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Lakers in exchange for McKie and other players, and McKie was paid $750,000 under a player's contract, though he did not play.

McKie's last NBA playing time was in 2007 with the Lakers. He had been attending recent 76ers predraft workouts, which provoked speculation he would rejoin the team as a coach this summer.

Sixers officials yesterday had no comment about the situation.

McKie, who lives in Narberth, is due back in court for a scheduled preliminary hearing July 3 on one felony count and one misdemeanor, both for how he filled out the gun-purchase application. Ferman said she did not yet know if her office would seek jail time if McKie is convicted.

4 hit by gunfire outside social club, including a girl, 6

2008-06-09T22:11:00.004-04:00

The West Oak Lane businessman said he's worked 11 years in the neighborhood, only daring to walk west of 21st Street and Chelten Avenue twice during that time.
"I'll drive, I don't walk," said the man, who did not want his name or that of his business to appear in print for fear of retaliation.

The block of Chelten between 21st and 22nd has been well-known for drug activity for about 25 years, the man said yesterday. "That area is the root of the problem. Cut that out and it'll be a good neighborhood."

It was there, at 21st and Chelten, that shots rang out Saturday night, injuring three adults and a 6-year-old girl in front of Klubb Acacia social club, police said.

People were ordering food in front of the club shortly before 9:30 p.m. when two men began firing into the crowd from across the street, police spokeswoman Officer Tanya Little said.

The businessman said he was waxing his car on a hot, balmy evening, "a regular night," when it began to "sound like the wild, wild West."

Some people started running, others began ducking. Still others believed that the bullets piercing the air were firecrackers, he said.

The four victims - whose names were withheld - were taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center by private vehicle, Little said.

The men were listed in critical condition. The girl was stabilized and then transported to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Little said. The girl, shot in her right thigh, was in critical but stable condition.

The motive for the shooting was unknown, and no arrests had been made, Little said.

The club is a tax-exempt nonprofit association, according to www.taxexempt world.com.

The sounds of gunfire are too common in the neighborhood, the businessman said.

"There are shootings here every other night, believe me," said the man.

The cops do their jobs and raid the drug houses, he said, but soon afterward the operations are back in business.

"The city has to keep them shut down," he said.

2 dead in small plane crash in Philadelphia

2008-05-24T23:09:00.003-04:00

A student pilot practicing takeoffs and landings for his flight test crashed a small plane into a warehouse parking lot Thursday, killing the pilot and an instructor.

The plane, a Grumman AA-1C, went down near Northeast Philadelphia Airport just before noon, first hitting the parking lot and then skidding under a row of trailers parked along the T.J. Maxx warehouse. No one on the ground was hurt and the fire was under control within 20 minutes, officials said.

The control tower had just told the student pilot to make a right turn, but he apparently made the turn to steep, said Herbert Hortman, the owner of Hortman Aviation Services Inc., a flight school and rental company that owns the plane.

The National Weather Service reported that the wind was blowing at around 10 mph at the time of the crash, but Hortman said it should not have been a factor.

The student was making final preparations for his flight test and the instructor was a veteran pilot, Hortman said. The plane was a few hundred feet off the ground at the time of the accident, Hortman said. There were no signs of mechanical failure or other problems before the crash.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate, said Holly Baker, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman in Atlantic City, N.J.

The names of the victims were not released.

Northeast Philadelphia Airport is the smaller of the city's two airports. Both it and Philadelphia International Airport, which is at the other end of the city, are owned and operated by the city government.

Airport spokeswoman Phyllis VanIstendal referred calls to Hortman Aviation.

Ex-cop, 2nd man charged in $1M insurance fraud

2008-05-24T22:26:00.004-04:00

The alleged mastermind of an insurance scam that involved a Philadelphia police officer was charged yesterday with defrauding 10 insurance companies of more than $1 million through an elaborate scheme of fake car accidents and fraudulent police reports.
The former officer, Deshane Riggins, 28, was charged in January in connection with writing a host of phony, accident reports.

The District Attorney's Office announced yesterday that authorities nabbed the alleged ringleader, Wallace Morris, Sr., known as "Pops," of Hatfield Street near 57th.

Morris was charged with 187 counts of insurance fraud, bribery, conspiracy, perjury, theft and related charges, District Attorney Lynne Abraham said.

Morris and Riggins worked in unison for more than two years to swindle at least 10 insurance companies through more than 187 phony claims, Abraham said.

The insurance companies - Progressive, State Farm, AIG, Allstate, Cambridge, Erie, GEICO, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide and American Independent - paid out more than $1 million to the claimants and numerous doctors and lawyers allegedly involved.

The plot involved hundreds of people, including friends and family members, along with a wide array of doctors and lawyers, Abraham said.

Morris and Riggins allegedly conspired to create fake accidents, explaining that if somebody had some damage to their car, they "agreed with Morris to get a corrupt agreement together to make a few illegal bucks from claiming insurance," Abraham said.

The scheme worked like this: There were two cars with two passengers in each, making a total of six people altogether who could file.

Riggins, with prior knowledge of the faked accidents, wrote the fraudulent police report to strengthen the insurance claims, Abraham said. Morris then steered the claimants to doctors and lawyers who were also in on the scheme.

Morris got money from both ends of the shady deal, Abraham said. He allegedly received a fee from each doctor or lawyer he sent to them, and also wanted a piece of the insurance payout that the claimants received from the insurance companies.

The plan unraveled, Abraham said, when investigators from Progressive questioned one of the claimants, who then admitted the accident was faked. Progressive then tipped off the D.A.'s office, which led to the arrest of Riggins and Morris.

Riggins, a seven-year veteran of the force, was assigned to the 14th District when he was placed on administrative duties and later fired in February.

Riggins was charged with 19 counts each of insurance fraud, tampering with public records, bribery and criminal conspiracy.

Abraham said that Morris and Riggins raked in up to $100,000 in the scheme.

Riggins, facing "a lengthy prison term," has been cooperative with investigators, Abraham said, and her office will soon arrest the lawyers and doctors involved in the plot, once their complicity is established.

"These cases simply cannot exist unless there is an agreement, a conspiracy, between doctors, lawyers, police officers in this case and a mastermind," Abraham said. "And in this case, Morris appears to be the mastermind." *

45,000 Race for a Cure in Philly.

2008-05-11T22:16:00.003-04:00

With a pink baseball cap on her head and three grandchildren in tow, Patricia Stewart was at Eakin's Oval at 6:25 this morning.
A little over an hour later Stewart would join more than 6,000 other breast cancer survivors for the "Parade in Pink" down the art museum steps to kick off the 18th annual Susan G. Komen Philadelphia Race for the Cure.

On this brisk, bright Mother's Day morning 45,000 people ran, jogged and walked the 3.1 mile course to raise money and awareness for breast cancer.

"I'm on a mission to touch the life of every woman who has had this illness," Stewart said who is a 25-year breast cancer survivor.

In Pennsylvania and New Jersey an estimated 15,720 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year and nearly 3,600 will die of the disorder, according to the American Cancer Society.

Nationally the disease is the second leading cause of cancer death among women behind lung cancer. The cancer society estimates that 182,460 women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with the disease this year and nearly 40,500 will die of it.

The Race for the Cure has become a Philadelphia tradition since 1991 when 1,893 people took part in the first race here.

"Our message to everyone who is fighting this disease is simple: we can win this battle," said Elaine I. Grobman, executive director of the Philadelphia affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure who has led the effort for 18 years.

Today, the race course was jammed with men and women, young and old, black and white supporting survivors, honoring the memories of those who died, and hoping to help prevent the spread of breast cancer.

Margarett Zuccott, a breast cancer survivor, won the 3.1 mile race in the survivor category.

"I think it is important to be out to support all the other survivors and their families," said Stewart, 66. "Also it is a reminder of how blessed I am to have survived."

3rd cop killed in just 2 years

2008-05-05T14:34:00.002-04:00

Thursday will be the anniversary of the killing of Police Officer Gary Skerski, who was shot to death May 8, 2006, when he responded to a holdup at a bar in Northeast Philadelphia.
There may be a certain irony in the fact that Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski was shot to death Saturday, five days before that date, while responding to the robbery of a bank.

Liczbinski became the third Philadelphia police officer shot to death in the line of duty in the last two years.

The other was Chuck Cassidy, who was shot and killed on Oct. 31 when he interrupted the robbery of a Dunkin' Donuts store on Broad Street near 66th Avenue, West Oak Lane.

Skerski's murder was the first in the city since Officer Lauretha Vaird, 43, the mother of two, was shot to death Jan. 2, 1996, when she responded to a burglar alarm at the PNC Bank in Feltonville.

Skerski, 46, a 16-year veteran cop who was highly regarded in the Northeast community he patrolled, was working overtime when he and a partner interrupted a holdup at Pat's Cafe, Castor Avenue and Arrott Street. He was hit in the neck with a shotgun blast and died a day later.

Solomon Montgomery, 26, pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

Cassidy, 54, a 25-year veteran and father of three, was shot when he entered the doughnut store. The killer picked up Cassidy's service revolver and ran off.

The suspect, John "Jordan" Lewis, 21, fled to Miami, where he was arrested on Nov. 6. He is awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges. Also injured in the last two years were:

Nov. 28, 2007: Officer Sandra Van Hinkle was shot and wounded in the right leg when she and other police officers tried to disperse a crowd outside a nightclub in University City.

Oct. 30, 2007: Mariano Santiago, 44, was shot in the shoulder in Center City while pursuing an alleged gunman.

Sept. 24, 2007: Richard Decoatsworth, 21, a rookie, was hit in the face with birdshot after a routine traffic stop in West Philadelphia. *

Couple shot dead in W. Phila.

2008-05-05T14:02:00.003-04:00

Investigators this morning are probing a double shooting in West Philadelphia that left two dead and riddled with bullets, police said.
Officers were called at 12:38 a.m. to the 300 block of N. 62nd St. They found a 19-year-old woman shot twice in the chest and a 19-year-old man shot in the head and buttocks, police said.

The woman was rushed to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania where she was pronounced at 1:20 a.m.; the man was taken to HUP where doctors declared him dead at 1:05 a.m.

Police have no suspects or motive.

Police on I-95 Make Major Drug Bust During Routine Traffic Stop

2008-05-03T20:15:00.004-04:00

Four men are in Pennsylvania State Police custody and 50-kilograms of cocaine have been seized after a routine traffic stop on I-95 Thursday afternoon. Police are now working with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Association in Camden, and hope to identify the men soon.

Shortly after 1pm, a state trooper patrolling I-95 north noticed a black Suburban on the highway. State Police Captain David Young:

"It was showing signs of aggressive driving, that's following closely, it would come up on the bumper of one vehicle, those vehicles would move over then he would quickly move up on the next vehicle, so basically he was being an aggressive driver, which is something we are targeting at this time on I-95."

The suburban was pulled over and the trooper gave the driver a written warning, then asked for consent to search the vehicle. The driver agreed, and the trooper discovered luggage in the storage area filled with cocaine. Young says the street value of the 50-kilos of cocaine is approximately $5,000,0

NFL star's gun linked to N. Philly shooting

2008-05-03T19:42:00.004-04:00

MARVIN Harrison's life story was once the kind of tale fathers whisper to their sons at bedtime - a local guy who worked hard and achieved impossible dreams.
Harrison started turning heads almost 20 years ago as a two-sport wonder at Roman Catholic High School.

The skinny kid from North Philly went on to Syracuse University, where he starred as a wide receiver alongside future Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb.

Harrison has since found fame and fortune in the NFL, where he breaks receiving records seemingly at will. He even won a Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts in 2007. But now those close to Harrison are wondering if the quiet, widely respected star has fumbled away his Hall of Fame-caliber career with an alleged senseless act of street violence.

Philadelphia police acknowledged yesterday that Harrison, 35, is under investigation for allegedly being involved in a shooting earlier this week in his old North Philadelphia neighborhood.

The shooting occurred about 5 p.m. Tuesday up the block from a garage and car detail shop that Harrison owns at 25th and Thompson streets, police said.

Six shots were fired in all during the incident. An unidentified 32-year-old man - who had just been involved in a fistfight with Harrison - took a bullet to the hand. A 2-year-old boy suffered a cut under his eye from shards of glass that showered the area when an errant bullet exploded through a car windshield, police said.

From there, the story gets complicated.

The gunshot victim was dropped off at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood. Initially, the man told investigators that he had been wounded while driving on 61st Street in West Philly, police sources said.

Eventually, though, he acknowledged that he had been shot in North Philly. The man refused, however, to identify the person who wounded him.

Investigators later learned that the gunshot victim had been kicked out of Harrison's bar, Playmakers, on 28th Street near Cambridge, two weeks earlier, and had bickered with Harrison ever since, sources said.

On Wednesday, detectives visited Harrison's garage and detail shop, which he purchased in 2006 for $200,000, according to tax records.

Sources said that Harrison had a Belgian firearm, an FN5.7, in his garage. Harrison handed the high-powered weapon - which fires armor-piercing rounds - over to investigators.

He then spent about four hours at Central Detectives, accompanied by his attorney, Jerome Brown.

Neither Brown nor Harrison's agent, Tom Condon, could be reached for comment last night.

During a lengthy interview, Harrison acknowledged owning the gun and being involved in a fistfight on Tuesday, but said he had nothing to do with the shooting, sources told the Daily News.

Investigators informed him that ballistics tests confirmed that five of the six shell casings found at the shooting scene came from his gun, the sources said.

Last night, detectives were searching for another man who contacted them and claimed that he had been shot by Harrison, although that report remains unconfirmed, sources said.

Harrison, meanwhile, has not been charged with any wrong-doing.

"No one has actually come in here and said that he shot them, and we don't have any witnesses," one investigator noted.

But reports of the investigation, which quickly became national news, stunned those who knew Harrison, who maintained an impeccable image even after he became a wealthy NFL star.

"His nature was so calm. He literally never caused me any trouble at all," said Dennis Seddon, the head coach of Roman Catholic's basketball team.

Harrison was named the Catholic League Southern Division MVP while he was on Roman's basketball team during his senior year.

"He carried himself in a business-like manner even then, and he carried that over to his professional career," Seddon said.

"Knowing Marvin's character . . . it's beyond belief that he could be involved in something like this."

There wasn't much of a crowd at Playmakers, last night. Two people hovered near the bar, while another tended to a lonely pool table.

"Don't nobody believe none of this s- - -!" bellowed a bouncer who puffed on a cigarette outside the bar.

The bouncer, who didn't give his name, said Harrison is at his bar "from time to time" and "looks out for everybody."

Indeed, Harrison seemed devoted to giving back after he achieved stardom.

According to the Colts' Web site, Harrison has raised money for the March of Dimes, underprivileged children in Syracuse, N.Y., and also sponsors one Philadelphia high school student to attend Syracuse University every summer.

McNabb, his old Syracuse teammate, was being inducted to his high school hall of fame last night and wasn't available to comment, said McNabb's spokesman, Rich Burg. In a brief e-mail, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said: "We are aware of the report and we are looking into it." *

Phila. police officer shot to death

2008-05-03T19:32:00.004-04:00

A Philadelphia police officer was shot and killed with a military assault rifle late this morning when he confronted at least two robbers who had just held up a Bank of America branch at a Shoprite supermarket in Port Richmond.

Another officer, responding to a “flash” that had been broadcast on police radio, ran into the robbers at Schiller and Almond streets and shot one of them dead, officials said.

One, perhaps two, of the robbers remained at large late this afternoon as hundreds of police officers searched a wide swath of the city looking for bandits and their getaway car.

“This is a tragedy for the entire City of Philadelphia,” Mayor Nutter told a reporter outside of Temple University Hospital, where the slain officer was taken.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey identified the slain officer as Stephen Liczbinski, 40, a 12-year police veteran assigned to the 24th District in Port Richmond who recently had been promoted to sergeant.
Liczbinski’s wife, Michelle, and their three children — Matt, Steven and Amber — were escorted into the hospital by police officials.

At 11:26 a.m., police received a report of a robbery at the American Bank at 3547 Aramingo Avenue. There was no immediate word on the details of the robbery.

Police weren’t certain if there were two robbers or three.

Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman, described one as a man wearing “Muslim garb” and carrying a shoulder bag.

He said that a second, who might have been a woman, was wearing “light brown Muslim garb.”

A third possible robber, a man, was described as having worn a “dreadlock wig” and a “construction mask.” He had on blue jeans and a flannel shirt.

Liczbinski ran into the robbers sometime after they fled the bank. Officials said the weapon used to kill him may have been an AK-47 style assault rifle, used by numerous armies and insurgent groups around the world.

A short distance from the bank, at Schiller and Almond streets, a canine-unit officer encountered the getway vehicle. Shots were fired, and one of the robbers was fatally wounded. Police officers no immediate details on what happened.

Flyers take 3-1 lead over Canadiens in Eastern Conference semifinals

2008-05-01T21:50:00.004-04:00

The series: Flyers lead the Eastern Conference semifinal, 3-1.
Turning point: One of Montreal's many misfires spun all the way around to the opposing point, initiating an odd-man rush that resulted in R.J. Umberger's goal to make it 1-0 at 7:47 of the second period. It was the fourth straight game the Flyers have scored the first goal.

Did you notice?: Jaroslav Halak, inserted in place of Carey Price in goal, allowed as many goals in Game 4 as Price did in Games 1 and 3.

Hit of the game: Sami Kapanen, heading to the bench with his stick broken, laid out Tomas Plekanec as he tried to maneuver in the neutral zone with the puck in the second period.

Key number: Umberger, bounced around on lines throughout the playoffs, scored his sixth and seventh playoff goals last night, including the fifth and sixth of this series. Umberger has scored the first goal in three of the four games.

Another conspiracy theory?: There seems to be a sentiment among those visiting for this series (and some who have been here all along) that the Flyers are pumping crowd noise through their sound system, or at least amplifying the existing cheers. Of particular suspicion is the swelling of noise at the precise same points of the Kate Smith/Lauren Hart "God Bless America" duet during Games 3 and 4.

Save of the game: Marty Biron had at least a half-dozen that fit this, but his multiple saves on Mark Streit's second-period power-play slapper preserved the 1-0 lead they had just attained.

What's next: Game 5 is at Montreal's Bell Centre Saturday night at 7.

Another Bloody Weekend In Philly

2008-04-30T19:19:00.003-04:00

Amid a busy weekend bustling with criminal activity, including four killings in about 12 hours, two stabbings and two shootings, police arrested two people accused of two of the crimes.
Nicole Wilson, 26, was arrested yesterday after police said she beat a 66-year-old man to death at a Sunoco gas station in Logan.

Police said Wilson beat the man after an argument over a cigarette about 4 a.m. on Broad Street near Windrim Avenue. The unidentified man was pronounced dead at Albert Einstein Medical Center at 5:23 a.m.

Derrick Whitfield, 23, was arrested yesterday. Police said he shot a man he followed out of the Last Call Bar, on Frankford Avenue near Vista Street, in Northeast Philadelphia, after an argument.

Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman, said Whitfield tracked the man to Decatur Street near Craig and shot him multiple times at about 2:25 a.m.

The victim led police to Whitfield's home on Aberdale Street near Tolbut, where he was arrested. Whitfield is charged with attempted murder, weapons charges and related offenses, Vanore said.

The rest of the weekend violence, according to police, included:

Saturday

11:08 p.m.: An unidentified 30-year-old man was stabbed once in the left shoulder near Margaret Street and Frankford Avenue, in Northeast Philadelphia. He was taken to Frankford Hospital-Frankford, where he was listed in stable condition.

11:51 p.m.: An unidentified 23-year-old man was shot once in the stomach near 7th Street and Allegheny Avenue, in North Philadelphia. He was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

Yesterday

1:16 a.m.: A 24-year-old man was stabbed once in the chest inside a home on Aramingo Avenue near Butler Street, in Port Richmond. Inside the same house, a 19-year-old man was stabbed once in the head. Both unidentified men were taken to Episcopal Hospital in stable condition.

1:45 a.m.: A 37-year-old man, identified as Marcus Davis, was shot once in the head inside Charlie B's Bar and Grill, on Broad Street near Louden, in Logan. He died at Albert Einstein Medical Center at 2:05 a.m.

A 28-year-old man was shot once in the back during the same incident, and was taken to Einstein in critical condition.

2 a.m.: Four unidentified men in their 20s were shot after leaving McDaniel's bar, on 2nd Street near Snyder Avenue. Two were treated for their injuries and released and two remained hospitalized at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in critical condition.

Police arrested David DiPrimo, 24, of 11th Street near Huntingdon, in connection with the shootings. (Story, Page 4.)

2:48 a.m.: Tyrone Miller, 44, was shot in the face, chest and shoulder on Limekiln Pike near Haines Street in West Oak Lane. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:55 a.m.

1:36 p.m.: An unidentified man in his 50s was found with a gunshot wound to the back in the lobby of a Philadelphia Housing Authority property on Busti Street near Holden, in University City. He died at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at 1:51 p.m.

5:49 p.m.: An unidentified 15- year-old male was shot once in the chest on Amber and Cambria streets, in Kensington. The teen died at Temple at 6:22 p.m.

An 18-year-old man was shot three times in the chest in the same incident. He remained at Temple in critical condition. *

No paroles for 3 MOVE members

2008-04-22T11:41:00.003-04:00

Three female MOVE members who have been behind bars since the 1978 shootout that killed Philadelphia Police Officer James Ramp and injured seven others were denied parole this morning, according to a spokesman for the state Board of Probation and Parole.

Debbie Sims Africa, Janet Hollaway Africa and Jeanene Phillips Africa were just informed of the decision and the reasons for the rejection, spokesman Leo Dunn said.

Dunn said each was informed they had minimized or denied the "nature and circumstances" of the offense, "refused to accept responsibility" and lacked remorse.

He said the fourth reason for the rejections was the "negative recommendation" by the prosecutor.

Decisions are still pending for four other MOVE members eligible for parole consideration this month. Five of nine votes would be required for parole to be granted.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office urged the board to require the defendants to serve the maximum of their 30- to 100-year prison terms.

The seven were among nine MOVE members convicted in a 19-week trial in 1980. An eighth defendant will be eligible for parole next year; a ninth died in prison.

All nine were found guilty of third-degree murder in the shooting death of Ramp and the attempted murders of the others shot and injured that day, when police tried to evict 12 adults and 11 children from their headquarters at 33d and Pearl Streets in Poweltown Village.

The 1978 confrontation was a pivotal moment in the city's torturous history with the radical group and ultimately set the stage for another disaster - the May 1985 fire that killed 11 MOVE members, including five children, and destroyed 61 houses in West Philadelphia. The 11 were killed after police dropped a bomb on the MOVE headquarters and decided to let it burn.

Violence erupts over the weekend in Philly.

2008-04-14T21:59:00.004-04:00

The body count from violent crime continued to mount in the city over the weekend with a total of six murders.

_ FRIDAY

4:20 p.m. The body of Jocelyne DeSay, 64, was found wedged between a bed and a wall, wrapped in a sheet or blanket in her home on Hasbrook Avenue near Van Kirk Street in the Northeast. She had been beaten and stabbed, perhaps as long ago as a week, said Homicide Sgt. Frank Hayes.

Yesterday, police arrested Jerry Jean, a 20-year-old boarder at her home, and charged him with the murder of DeSay, who was his landlady, said police spokeswoman Officer Tania Little. Hayes said that Jean beat and stabbed DeSay multiple times in the neck after an argument. Little said DeSay's family members had reported her missing. Hayes said that Jean continued to live in the house with her body still inside.

_ SATURDAY

4:50 a.m.: Police found Robert Stone, 50, of 7th Street near Roosevelt Boulevard, Hunting Park, shot to death on Old York Road near Roosevelt Boulevard. He had been shot in the chest, head and stomach. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:09 a.m.

12:44 p.m.: Three men in a blue Lincoln Town Car are being sought in the fatal shooting of Kenneth Wiggins, 19, who was gunned down on Chew Avenue near Woodlawn Street, East Germantown, police said.

Wiggins, of Unruh Avenue near Frontenac Street, Oxford Circle, was shot once in the abdomen and taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 1:05 p.m.

Police said that the three men fled in the Town Car, but two of the three men exited the car while the third man, who was at the wheel, stayed inside.

6 p.m.: Two men, a 30-year-old and a 38-year-old, were shot in the legs in an Auto Zone parking lot on 17th Street near Washington Avenue in Center City, police said. The 30-year-old was taken to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and the other to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

6:05 p.m.: Two men were shot at 34th and Filbert streets, one fatally. A 20-year-old was shot in the chest and pronounced dead at 6:41 p.m. at Temple University Hospital.

The other man, shot multiple times, was admitted there in stable condition.

9:30 p.m.: A 23-year-old man was in guarded condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after being found shot multiple times at 6th and Wolf streets, South Philadelphia, in a gang-related incident, police said.

_ YESTERDAY

2:45 a.m.: Four men were shot at 59th Street and Girard Avenue, one fatally. He was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The three others were admitted to the hospital.

5:13 a.m.: An unidentified man was found shot in the left side and once in the right leg lying in front of an Islamic Mosque Jefferson Street near Germantown Avenue. He was pronounced dead at the scene. *

Great night for Ed Snider: Sixers and Flyers clinch playoff spots

2008-04-06T21:30:00.002-04:00

"Friday night was a great night for Comcast Chairman and owner of the Flyers and Sixers, Ed Snider. Both teams clinched a playoff spot on Friday. The Flyers defeated the New Jersey Devils while the Carolina Hurricanes lost to the Florida Panthers to secure a berth for the guys in orange and black. Meanwhile in Atlanta, the Sixers held off the Hawks to secure their first playoff berth in three years."

Cat serial killer in Philly

2008-04-04T11:55:00.004-04:00

My nervous cat.

Animal control officers said the scene they found in Kensington Tuesday ranks among the worst they've ever seen.

A concerned business owner in the Kensington section of Philadelphia alerted Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals agents that three dead cats -- two beaten to death and one impaled through its mouth with a stick -- were strewn on a city sidewalk, their blood still fresh.
Two of the cats were apparently beaten to death by blunt force trauma to the head, according to PSPCA. The third cat had been impaled through the mouth with a large wooden stick and had a plastic cord tied around its neck.

The animal victims were found at F and Tioga streets.
When authorities returned to the scene Tuesday, they found another cat there, dead from blunt force trauma to the head, investigators said.
The SPCA said a serial cat killer may be on the loose in Philadelphia and it is offering a big reward.

"It's sickening to think about how these cats were tortured," said PSPCA Director of Investigations George Bengal. "We need to apprehend the person or persons responsible for these heinous acts now, before more innocent animals are harmed."

Animal control officers at the SPCA's headquarters in Hunting Park showed the wooden stick, along with some plastic cord found around a cat's neck Tuesday afternoon.

Phillies come up big

2008-04-04T11:31:00.003-04:00

This was fingernails-on-the-cliff-edge baseball.
Down by 5-0 after an embarrassing first inning, and facing a season-opening sweep in their home ballpark, the Phillies did something remarkable yesterday. They created a desperate situation for themselves and then, without their usual weapons, chipped and chipped and chipped away until they had escaped.

There aren't any must-win baseball games in April. This wasn't going to make or break the Phillies' chances of repeating as National League East champions. But it was still the difference between being 1-2 and 0-3, between thoroughly dousing their fans' enthusiasm and giving the crowd something to cling to.

Philly's own Beanie Sigel behind bars

2008-03-30T22:53:00.007-04:00

"Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native Dwight Grant aka hip hop rap artist Beanie Sigel, finds himself behind bars again.
This past Friday, a federal judge in Philadelphia ruled the hip hop star had broken more probation rules by giving authorities false urine samples, and he was locked down in jail again for three months.

This comes about after the hip hop rapper was caught giving his probation officers fake urine samples.
Hip Hop star Sigel had been living in a halfway house for the last three months as part of his sentence following a second probation violation.

Officials also claimed the hip hop rapper Sigel, had failed five drug tests in March (08) alone, testing positive on all occasions for anxiety drug Xanax and pain reliever Percocet.
This latest legal problem for Sigel follows a succession of legal problems, which have seen him serve time for weapons and drug charges. He was acquitted of attempted murder charges in 2005."

Screech was among stranded motorists on Walt Whitman Bridge

2008-03-30T22:04:00.002-04:00

"Dustin Diamond, better known as Screech from “Saved by the Bell,” was among the hundreds of stranded motorists on the Walt Whitman Bridge Thursday due to a peacefully-resolved hostage situation. Paul Perrello from Metro Networks-Westwood One interviewed Diamond about his experience for The Big Talker 1210 WPHT Friday afternoon. Diamond told Perrello he was on his way from Philadelphia International Airport to his South Jersey hotel. He performs at the Broadway Theatre in Pitman, NJ tomorrow. Diamond, who’s currently seen on VH1’s “Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp,” told Perrello he has no interest in following in his former co-star Mario Lopez’s shoes on “Dancing with the Stars,” but he did enjoy when Paul McCartney’s ex Heather Mills, who wears a prosthetic leg, fell during the show."

Accidents Everywhere

2008-03-18T10:55:00.005-04:00

On this second accident the poor guy of this Hemi was just traveling down the street when some lady just pop out of a parking lot without looking and was met with the front end of this hemi.

This first accident was an older man who lost control of his vehicle and hit a telephone pole and cracked it electrical wires were down and caused an electrical fire.

Off Duty Police Officer Crashes Into A Truck

2008-03-09T19:08:00.005-04:00

Early Saturday morning about 6:00 AM. an off duty police officer driving irratically on her way to work lost control of her vehicle and ran into the front of a truck the passenger is in critical condition. check out the pics.

Tapped Out

2008-03-05T00:32:00.006-05:00

ATF agents and Philadelphia narcotics detectives had spent two years building a case against a rap music entrepreneur who they believed was running a $25 million drug ring - one of Philadelphia's largest. People connected to drug deals, shootings, and murders seemed to work for him, but investigators needed more evidence.

Shortly after 4 p.m. on Jan. 20, 2005, Joe Smith was found riddled with bullets in the backseat of an SUV at a Getty station in Southwest Philadelphia.

Smith, a barrel-chested, 30-year-old drug dealer, had been shot 20 times in the chest, abdomen, arms, legs, back and pelvis. Two shots perforated his right lung. Another shot, fired from a gun pressed against his back, sliced through his liver and right kidney.

Before he died, Smith named the man who had shot him.

The homicide, one of the first of 380 that year in Philadelphia, received scant attention - one paragraph in The Inquirer, no mention at all in the Philadelphia Daily News.

Philadelphia Inquirer

Snowball Fight Killer Has Been Identified

2008-02-27T21:41:00.006-05:00

The man charged with killing a 15-year-old in Feltonville after the teen accidentally threw a snowball in his face Sunday morning is now considered one of the city's most dangerous fugitives. Jose Mendez, 24, whose last known address was in the 3000 block of Waters Street, has been eluding police and likely planning to leave the area if he has not already fled, said Chief of Detectives Keith Sadler during a morning press conference. read more http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080227_Police_ID_suspect_in_snowball_slaying.html