Quickies: Not tasty at all

• The Tasty Baking Company is offering a $10,000 reward in the hunt for two teenagers who were callous enough to shoot and rob a Tastykake driver. Bastards. [CBS 3]

• The woman who alleged she had been raped by a member of the Philadelphia Soul has requested the charged be dropped. [KYW 1060]

• The jury is deliberating in the Rick Mariano trial. And by “deliberating,” I mean they’re watching the footage of him being hit by that gate and laughing over and over and over again. [Mariano v. USA]

• Hey, Gavin Floyd pitched well yesterday! Could things actually be falling in place for the Phillies? [Daily News]

Not quite Iraq, but close

I apologize for not posting recently about the Rick Mariano trial. But when the defense just brings out person after person who says that, no, wow, Rick really does a good job — none of whom have much, if anything, to do with the case — there’s not really much to say.

But kudos to Mariano’s lawyer, Nino Tinari, for going all out: Today he had a disabled veteran and a homeless shelter operator telling the jury with a good job he’s done. Coming soon, Tinari’s going to bring out a bunch of puppies who will bark lovingly at Mariano and lick his face for about an hour.

The good sports over at the Inquirer have continued blogging the trial, and today they learned what I face every day, the dangers of being a blogger:

Mariano is apparently in good spirits this morning. Moments ago, he jokingly tried to yank the wireless adapter out of our laptop. But nothing can stop your Mariano trial blog team.

It gets worse, fellas. Better put on those flak jackets, fellas. I wear mine every day.

Attempted Wire Fraud? [USA v. Mariano]

Leftovers: Pictures of you

• That man sitting on the far left learning about the Daily News‘ fate? One Drew McQuade, who I hear has a very handsome, talented son. I think. [DN]

• An FBI agent couldn’t remember if a letter had been sent or not, so Ricky gets off on the mail fraud charge! Whoo! One down, lots and lots of charges to go! [USA v. Mariano]

• I’m invoking the “Americans have bad taste. It doesn’t matter.” clause of the Constitution to rationalize Desperate Housewives‘ thrashing of Sopranos in the ratings. Oh, and the whole network TV vs. premium cable thing. [Hollywood Reporter via Defamer]

• New day, same story. Yesterday, we saw the sixth witness in the Faheem Thomas-Childs murder trial claim that, “No, the cops made me sign that statement. I don’t remember anything.” You think there’s some kind of pattern here? Hmm. [DN]

• Speaking of same old, same old, lawmakers in Harrisburg are continuing to amend the slots legislation, with a whopping 140+ amendments proposed. Clearly the slots law is more effed up than the U.S. Constitution. [Bucks County Courier Times]

• Two Ryan Adams fans who leaked his album are now facing 11 years in prison for doing so. The music blog virtuosos behind Badminton Stamps remain on the lam. [Pitchfork Media]

The Mariano trial resumes (with profanity!)

The Rick Mariano trial resumed Friday with two witnesses saying Mariano laundered checks and another changing her story on the stand, albiet not in a “Stop Snitchin’” kind of way.

The trial’s expected to last about two or three more days, and if the early morning testimony is any indicator, we’re going to have the best two final trial days ever. From the Inky’s Mariano Trial blog:

Anna Davila has just started testifying. She’s recounting how Louis Chartock was yelling at her on the phone over some L&I paperwork when she was an aide in Mariano’s office. She’s using bad words. The F word, the B word, the S word. “The same words, over and over again,” Davilla said.

Then, she testifies, the councilman berated her about her efforts to help Lou Chartock.

She said the councilman told her, “He is a good friend of mine. He has done for me. I owe him. If you can’t get this fucking shit done, get the fuck out.”

Later, she says, he called her “an incompetent bitch.”

As opposed to Rick Mariano, master of competence, except in walking past gates without being injured.

Weather and weathering the boss [USA v. Mariano]
Mariano accuser changes story on stand [DN]
2 witnesses testify Mariano laundered checks [Inky]

‘Run! The media’s out there!’

On a day when the trial was postponed, Rick Mariano still managed to make news. In fact, he managed to make his biggest news since getting hit by a gate as he walked out of City Hall.

It concerned the gate incident, though. (Gategate, as Urban Warrior dubbed it.) Rick Mariano has been assigned a police detail to protect him from the press when he enters City Council.

I’ll say that again: Rick Mariano has been assigned a police detail. To protect him from the press. As a member of the press, I’d like to say that we are the least threatening people on the planet. Seriously. And in a city where people won’t testify for fear of retaliation, it just seems a little odd to give Rick Mariano a police detail just because it’ll make him look more like a victim.

Oh, wait, but Council president Anna Verna has a reason!

“I strongly felt that we should have somebody to escort him upstairs if he came in today,” Verna said. “If that were you, wouldn’t you be expecting me to try to maintain some order?”

Yes, the press, always breaking up City Council meetings and yelling at random times and injuring people’s knees and taking bribes… er, wait, scratch that last one. That’s another profession.

March 3: Here’s a video of Rick Mariano getting injured as he walks out of City Council yesterday
Archives: Stop snitchin’