| N.J. to contribute to proposed Amtrak tunnel May 12th 2012, 08:03 The Christie administration, which killed a trans-Hudson rail tunnel because of fears of cost overruns, will pay its “fair share” of a proposed Amtrak tunnel project linking New Jersey and New York City, Christie’s transportation chief said Friday. | | JPMorgan loss sets off call for heavier regulation May 12th 2012, 07:58 WASHINGTON - A surprise $2 billion trading loss by a division of JPMorgan Chase triggered calls Friday for tougher regulation of banks three years after their near-death experience in the financial crisis. | | Stop-work order lifted at nonunion work site May 12th 2012, 07:54 CONSTRUCTION workers are expected to be back on the job at the Goldtex Building near Center City Monday, after the city lifted a “stop-work” order it placed at the site more than a week ago. Developers Matthew and Michael Pestronk met with the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections for nearly three hours Friday, Mike Pestronk said. | | Woodcrest Country Club future in doubt in Cherry Hill May 12th 2012, 06:19 With its towering pine trees and par-71 golf course, Woodcrest Country Club in Cherry Hill has served as an enclave for South Jersey’s elite going back almost a century. But the club’s future is now in doubt as a long-running dispute involving former members, a local bank, and millions in outstanding debt heads to bankruptcy court. The club filed for bankruptcy protection in U.S. District Court in Camden this week against debts owed to more than 100 creditors, including $10.7 million claimed by Sun National Bank in Vineland, N.J., according to court filings. | | Honoring a long-forgotten N.J. police officer killed on the job May 12th 2012, 06:00 Over the years, Lindenwold Patrolman Hugh A. Shannon's death on Christmas Eve in 1946, caused by a hit-and-run driver as he directed traffic on the White Horse Pike, was mostly forgotten. His daughter who witnessed the accident and died 20 years ago rarely spoke of it. With each passing generation, even family lore grew short on details. | | Shooting victim April Kauffman is remembered for activism in veterans’ affairs May 12th 2012, 05:19 MAYS LANDING, N.J. — Dan Danchak was supposed to meet April Kauffman at his American Legion post in Somers Point on Friday night to smoke a “victory cigar” with her. Instead, Danchak, a Vietnam veteran who had worked with Kauffman, and her husband, James, a prominent area physician, on veterans’ health care issues, was mourning her death. | | Immigrant’s granddaughter guides a new generation of arrivals May 12th 2012, 04:32 Every year, scores of students whose families are new immigrants to the United States enroll in the Upper Darby School District and Margie Tavakalian helps them adjust. The 55-year-old English Language Learners (ELL) teacher at Beverly Hills Middle School takes shy and scared youngsters who speak Punjabi, Thai, or Greek, and helps them communicate — and more. | | Bevilacqua left bulk of a $375,000 estate to the church May 12th 2012, 04:29 Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua left an estate worth about $375,000 when he died in January and bequeathed nearly all of it to two institutions central to the church he led for 15 years: St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Bevilacqua’s four-page will, filed in Montgomery County, shows he also left $25,000 to his nephew and executor, the Msgr. John Alesandro. | | A day to honor diversity and one who promoted it May 12th 2012, 04:23 Friday was the Springfield School District’s eighth Diversity Day — a chance for students in the Montgomery County community to learn about different cultures, interests, and ethnicities. But this one was different — and more heartfelt: It was a celebration of the life of James Taylor, a Diversity Day founder and Springfield High French teacher for 25 years, who died last summer of cancer at 52. | | Cousins guilty of raining gunshots on SEPTA bus May 12th 2012, 04:08 Last year at this time, cousins Karon and Raheen Patterson were out of school, living in North Philadelphia, and, as far as authorities were concerned, without prior contact with the city’s justice system. On Friday each left court to begin serving 15- to 30-year prison terms after pleading guilty to strafing a SEPTA bus last June in an assault captured by eight onboard video cameras and later viewed by millions on television and the Internet. | | A.G.: Dentist was dealing drugs May 12th 2012, 03:58 INSTEAD OF HANDING out toothbrushes and dental floss, a dentist in East Mount Airy was busted dishing out prescriptions for Percocet and Oxycodone — and may have treated patients while he was high on crack cocaine, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General. A monthlong investigation — which began with a tip from a confidential informant — ended Thursday with the arrest of Chandrakant Parekh, 62, who allegedly sold at least 14 prescriptions for Oxycodone and Percocet for between $30 and $40 each from his clinic on Germantown Avenue near Sharpnack Street. | | Resentencing ordered in 2001 Philadelphia double murder May 12th 2012, 03:25 Resentencing ordered in 2001 Philadelphia double murder Lester Fletcher, sentenced to die after his conviction for a 2001 double murder in Philadelphia, has won approval for a resentencing. A judge in the Eastern District of the state Supreme Court approved his request Friday. | | Students injured in bus accident after Dorney Park visit May 12th 2012, 03:25 Thirteen Pennridge High School students and one adult were injured when the bus they were riding in reportedly hit another car and a light post after leaving Dorney Park in Allentown on Friday evening. School Principal Thomas Creeden said none of the injuries was life-threatening. | | Trips, tickets, trinkets: Pa. officeholders disclose perks May 12th 2012, 03:25 HARRISBURG — There were still trips to faraway places and “comped” tickets to glitzy galas, ritzy receptions, and sold-out sporting events. But overall, 2011 proved to be a lean year for legislators and administration officials accepting gifts, according to annual statements of financial interest, due this month. | | Philadelphia SRC adds enrollment to three charters, approves new pacts for four others May 12th 2012, 03:25 The Philadelphia School Reform Commission on Friday authorized 2,031 additional seats in three charter schools over the next few years and approved new five-year operating agreements for four schools. Panelists on the five-member SRC said the expansions were part of their new effort to increase the number of spots for students in high-performing schools. One charter will be allowed to more than double its enrollment. | | ATF disputes fireworks claim by accused pipe-bomb maker May 12th 2012, 03:25 The Bucks County man arrested Thursday for possessing three pipe bombs told Warrington Township police the explosive device he left in his mother’s kitchen was intended for Fourth of July fireworks, but a federal investigator alleged in court papers Friday that if detonated, the device could have been deadly. “From my training and experience, I know that fireworks are typically housed in paper tubing, which will not cause dangerous shrapnel to be created when lit,” Agent Derek K. Valgora of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. | | Cop’s sentence on sex charge is delayed May 12th 2012, 02:00 E X-COP KEITH CORLEY will have to wait until next month to learn if he’ll be going to jail or remain free. His sentencing hearing Friday was moved to June 22 at the request of Assistant District Attorney Catharine Thurston, who said she needed more time to review his presentencing background reports. | | Officer arrested for allegedly assaulting wife May 12th 2012, 02:00 PHILADELPHIA Police Officer Ricardo Gonzalez is likely to lose his job after being arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife while he was off duty on March 11. Internal Affairs investigated the incident with the help of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, and Gonzalez, 33, was arrested on Friday, police said. | | Bucks County man will remain jailed in pipe-bomb case May 12th 2012, 02:00 JOHN GRZYMINSKI’s life has gone from bad to worse. Clad in a yellow prison jumpsuit, the 50-year-old appeared before a federal magistrate Friday, after being charged with knowingly possessing unauthorized destructive devices, just a few days after cops found three pipe bombs in his Warrington home. | | No decision on demolition of cathedral buildings May 11th 2012, 22:30 No decision on demolition of cathedral buildings The Philadelphia Historical Commission failed to reach a decision Friday on whether to allow the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral to demolish two historic buildings in the 3800 block of Chestnut Street and erect a 25-story apartment tower on the site. | | Eagles to try out anthem singers May 11th 2012, 22:10 So you think you can sing? Melodiously enough to please thousands of cantankerous Eagles fans? Starting at 9 a.m. Sunday — a little after the dawn’s early light — you could have your shot at becoming a National Anthem singer at a National Football League game at Lincoln Financial Field. The tryouts could last into early afternoon. | | Man found dead at library may have OD’d May 11th 2012, 18:05 A drug overdose may have caused the death of a homeless man found early this morning on the steps of the Norristown Public Library, according to Montgomery County officials. Norristown Police Chief Russell Bono said a security guard making rounds at 7 a.m. found the 46-year-old man on the rear steps of the library at Powell and Swede Streets. The body was surrounded by empty drug packets, Bono said. | | Philly opens its redesigned Sister Cities Park May 11th 2012, 17:15 Philadelphia unveiled its newly redesigned Sister Cities Park yesterday on Logan Square at 18th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, just across from the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul. Though the ribbon cutting to the 1.3-acre, $4.9 million park took place Thursday, the grand opening is Saturday. The park is part of a $20.9 million makeover of public spaces on the Parkway, coinciding with the opening of much-anticipated Barnes Foundation. | | 2 extra days to vote for ‘Best Mom on Wheels’ May 11th 2012, 17:00 An online contest titled “Best Mom on Wheels” has fittingly been extended through Sunday, Mother’s Day. That means more time to vote for a disabled Swarthmore grandmother, Edna Escher-Gaston, one of the 10 finalists in the contest, run by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, set up by the Superman star who became a quadriplegic and his devoted wife. | | Accused tire-slasher free on bail May 11th 2012, 16:05 After the judge refused to lower the bail Thursday, the wife of accused tire-slasher David Toledo posted bail, and he was released from county jail. Toledo, 44, faces more than 40 misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief for slashing tires on his own block of Aldine Street and in other parts of the city’s Holmesburg section. He also faces charges of making false accusations. | | Corbett cuts seen as wounding job seekers May 11th 2012, 15:46 THE STATE WANTS unemployed people to get jobs. But does it care if the jobs are dead-ends? For the past year, the Corbett administration has quietly cut funding for Pennsylvania’s jobs programs. It’s also been de-emphasizing training and education. Critics say this is not a recipe for success. | | Video: Man throws hot coffee on cashier May 11th 2012, 13:15 The customer said he paid. The doughnut lady said he owed a few bucks more. So in a display of temper more suited to a preschool playground than a Mantua doughnut shop, the customer chucked his scalding coffee at the doughnut lady as he stormed out, cursing at her and at a customer who dared to intervene. | | Philly teachers union protest over possible school closures May 11th 2012, 12:55 The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers union set up “informational picket lines” at city schools today before classes in protest of a plan that could close scores of schools. “The whole point is to start letting parents know their schools may be closed down, and we don’t know which ones,” said Barbara Goodman, a union spokeswoman, who was heading to the John B. Kelly Elementary School in Germantown early this morning. “It is informational picketing, and part of what we’re calling Fight Back Friday.” | |
