Leftovers: Don’t Call Rendell Stupid

• A member of the Lehigh Valley International Airport board was reprimanded for calling Ed Rendell’s turnpike privatization plan “stupid.” He was forced to amend his remarks to calling Rendell a “big stupid doo-doo head” instead. [Allentown Morning Call]

• Apparently, there are post offices inside delis in certain more rural parts of the state. And by “more rural,” I mean “Tullytown.” So maybe it’s more “stuck in 1959″ than anything else. [Bucks County Courier Times]

• Ken Rosenthal asks: Does it matter all that much that Pat Burrell is batting behind Ryan Howard? Some say “yes”, others say “no”; both sides say “The other side is stupid.” Ahh, America. [Fox Sports]

• The Pennsylvania LCB wants grocery stores to be able to sell beer. This will happen sometime when the state’s liquor laws are relaxed, or approximately 2056. [KYW 1060]

$660K For Pigeon Shootings

A jury in New Jersey awarded William Lakes $660,000 from the city of Brigantine after Lakes says he was harassed for reporting worker safety violations at the Department of Public Works.

The violation Lakes reported? Oh, just a little matter of DPW employees shooting pigeons for sport on the grounds of the Department of Public Works.

The story goes like this: Lakes reported the pigeon shooting to OSHA, and then a radio station reported it. I’ll let the Press of Atlantic City’s Shawn Hardie explain what happened next:

The suit said that Lakes’ supervisors organized a meeting offering a one-hour amnesty window to any employee who could share information about the pigeon shootings, which would be turned over to police. When Lakes told supervisor John Doring what he knew after the meeting, he immediately became the subject of threats of physical violence, as well as being labeled as a “rat” and shunned by co-workers.

Since the pigeons are the rats of the avian world, I suppose it’s an apt comparison.

Brigantine told to pay $600G. in harassment [Press of AC]

Evans Throws Down Awesome Photo Op Gauntlet

Chinese New Year [Flickr]
Chinese New Year With Dwight Evans [Evans for Mayor]

Mayor’s Race Roundup: Milton-Free Edition

With all the Milton Street news going around, sometimes it’s easy to forget there are other candidates running for mayor. Yes! That’s right! I didn’t know either, but I looked it up, and apparently there are, like, five other Democrats running! So let’s do a little round-up in what could become a daily feature for a whole week before I forget about it.

• Bob Brady not only picked up the endorsement of the FOP but also that of Lynne Abraham. He’s looking to complete the law-and-order trifecta by getting the crucial endorsement of ADA Jack McCoy. [Fight For Room 215; 6 ABC]

• But at least three of the other candidates were able to address the FOP in an attempt to get their endorsement. The FOP didn’t even want to hear Chaka Fattah because he failed to vote “Yes” — by, indeed, voting “No” — on a bill in the House of Representatives bashing a town in France for naming a street after Mumia Abu-Jamal. (Also he wants a new trial for the man convicted of the 1981 murder of Daniel Faulkner.) So, yes, it’s a street in France is playing a role in this year’s mayor’s race. [Metro]

• Speaking of Fattah, PW’s own Kia Gregory has a nice Chaka Fattah cover story today about how Fattah once competed in the Wing Bowl. Okay, so it’s actually about his career in politics and why he wants to be mayor and all that jazz. But I do believe if El Wingador ran for mayor, he’d win. [Philadelphia Weekly]

• And here’s Fattah’s technology plan and Michael Nutter’s emergency plan. The city currently doesn’t really have a, how you say, ” a real good plan” to deal with emergencies in the case of an attack or hurricane or whatever. [The Next Mayor]

• Oh, and Metro Anthony DiMeo beat reporter Josh Cornfeld Brian X. McCrone — the ‘X’ is for “Malcolm” — asked Sam Katz what he felt about the mayor’s race. And Sam Katz, of course, played the race card. This mayor’s race is a play, and everyone involved in it is just an actor. That has to be it. [Fight For Room 215]

‘Metro’ Wishes Danielynn Had Never Been Born

Geeze. A little harsh, don’t you think?

Anna Nicole and the importance of Plan B [Metro]
Related: Plan B

Phillies Merchandising Dept. Ruins Popular Character

Hey, Philadelphia Phillies! You have a mascot beloved by all people, young and old, man and woman, Phillies fan and non-Phillies fan. Here’s an idea: How about you not ruin the Phillie Phanatic by making a giant creepy foam head!

It’s a bad business decision, too. This thing looks like, if you put it on your head, you’d immediately suffocate. Not just bad PR for the Phillies, but, once you’re dead, you can’t buy any more Phillies merchandise. (Okay, maybe an officially licensed Phillies casket.)

But if the Philliesa re going to make a suffocating giant foam head, couldn’t they at least make it not tremendously scary and ruinous to everyone’s memories of the giant green whatever-he-is that makes the fans cheer?

Of course, that’s not your only option for Phillies-related purchasing. First off, the Police reunion tour plays Citizens Bank Park on July 19 (and Hersheypark Stadium on July 20). Tickets are $9,000 each.

And, if you’re looking for a gift for a youngster — not that youngsters can’t like the Police, but, well — there’s always this Phillies-themed Memory game, which the Phils’ website helpfully notes is non-violent. I don’t know, I’ve played some games of Memory that turned pretty bloody.

Philadelphia Phillies Phanatic Foamhead [Phillies.com Shop]
Non-Violent Toys Philadelphia Phillies Mix Match [Phillies.com Shop]
The Police make long-awaited return to the Philadelphia area [Phillies.com]

Tomorrow: Milton Man March

Yesterday, 94 WYSP’s Kidd Chris pretty much blew open the whole “let’s interview wacky ol’ Milton Street” genre of local TV news by having Milton on for an entire hour to talk about his campaign, his indictment and — most importantly — his rally at City Hall tomorrow. Chris (or someone on his show) also came up with the tremendous, why-didn’t-I-think-of-that title for tomorrow’s rally, the Milton Man March. So thanks to Kidd Chris for putting the “Milton Man March” ball in play; I hope he doesn’t mind if I run with it.

And, yes, I am excited. Tomorrow at noon, Milton Street expects 5,000 people to show up at his rally in Dilworth Plaza — or, “Dilsworth Plaza,” as he calls it — in the northwest corner. And — get this — Milton says there’s going to be a reggae band at the rally. He says if you come down “you won’t miss it.” (He also said on this other awesome interview on KYW 1060, “We’re up to 59 killings. I didn’t read today’s paper, it might be up to 65 — we went through another night.”)

Milton says you shouldn’t miss it. And, of course, I won’t miss it. And, if you want this hilarity to continue, I don’t think you should miss it, either. I love this city. Run, Milt, run!

The Kidd Chris Show Podcasts [94.1 FreeFM]
Interview - Milton Street [KYW 1060]

Keystone Cops: Piracy Funds Terrorism

Keystone Cops is a daily look at crime, police, public safety and drug news. Homicide totals are unofficial.

• Warren Greene, of Spinsters Records in New Hope, has been charged with violating federal copyright laws. He allegedly had 5,000 bootleg/pirated/etc. CDs. RIAA agents worked with federal investigators — not quite sure how that works, but whatevs — blah blah blah you know how these things work. Fight the man, Warren! [Bucks County Courier Times]

• Jon Corzine is looking to start a new bear patrol to keep the bear from scaring away New Jersey’s salmon. Also, people should remove their bird feeders as to not attract those lovable black bears. Obligatory Simpsons reference: “We’re here! We’re queer! We don’t want any more bears!” [AP/CBS 3]

• Philly: Murder Capital of the Big Cities. Well that’s not a very good nickname at all. However, indoor murders are up the most, possibly due to the recent cold spell. Oh. [Daily News]

• 26-year-old Kareem Hutt was charged with one of the 18 splash-and-grab robberies. Hutt has been charged in connection with a robbery at a Voorhees Wawa, but not any of the others. [Inquirer]

The Phillies Are Totally Going To Lose To Florida State

Yes! The Phillies spring training season officially begins tonight, as the Phillies play their first game after a few weeks of practice. Although the regulars won’t play much, it’ll be nice to hear that Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and the gang were hustling out there in something where score is kept, and… oh, what’s that? They’re playing Florida State? (At right: Florida State golf balls.) Oh, that can’t be good.

It’s not uncommon for good college teams to play major league clubs in exhibition games before the season starts. But with pretty much everyone jacked up about the local nine this season, it’d be just like the Phillies — or, really, any Philadelphia team — to drop the first exhibition game to a college team. Dammit. They’re totally going to do that. They’re totally going to lose to this stupid college team and everyone’s going to be deflated immediately, even though it doesn’t matter.

Erhm. I mean: Go Phils. Lose and we’re through with you. Hey, I know it’s early, but we ain’t going to take losing to a college team. Especially since the Flyers and Sixers would probably lose to a couple of ‘em.

Phillies ready to tackle Seminoles [Daily News]

‘Daily News’ Clarifies Most Imp’t Mayoral Issue

A correction in today’s paper:

A story in yesterday’s paper about several mayoral candidates’ visit to Central High School misstated their cheese-steak preferences. Chaka Fattah, Tom Knox and Michael Nutter all favor Pat’s; Al Taubenberger and Bob Brady prefer Geno’s.

Phew. I’m glad we cleared this up.

Correction 02.28 [DN]