Yesterday morning, 20-year-old Community College of Philadelphia accounting student Fakhur Uddin was bound with duct tape and string, shot in the head, and left in the back room of the East Germantown gift and sundry store he was minding for his ailing father. Police believe he was killed during a robbery. Apparently one of the key witnesses against Vincent Fumo in his corruption trial will be his own son-in-law. In the hopes of keeping......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. The Olympics (All week, 8PM-12AM, NBC) Apparently this whole thing is still going on, even though Michael Phelps already won every single gold medal he possibly could have. Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein (Mon, 10PM-11PM, Discovery Channel) This is the opening episode of a new series which, as you might already have guessed, is hosted by Josh Bernstein. First up, Bernstein investigates the true story of......

At an emotional news conference yesterday, Mayor Nutter announced the suspension of seven more DHS workers in the starvation death of 14-year-old Danieal Kelly, saying, "I am fully, thoroughly, and completely pissed off." He went on to say, to the other employees of DHS: "If you are not prepared to take the action that needs to be taken, if you cannot keep up and stay on top of things, then you should leave this city......

The high-speed car chase and wreck on Roosevelt Boulevard that led to the death of a 17-year-old boy appears to have come out of a dispute over a 14-month-old baby—a baby who died early yesterday morning from injuries sustained in the crash. Philadelphia photographer, founder of phillyskyline.com, and friend of Phillyist Brad Maule has sued The Colbert Report, and the Philadelphia Daily News and Inquirer for using his photographs without permission. He is seeking......

A rear-end collision took place around 1AM this morning on southbound Roosevelt Boulevard near Adams Avenue. It tied up traffic for hours, killed a 17-year-old male, and critically injured at least two people, including an infant and a man. The crash apparently followed an argument and a chase, and is being investigated as a homicide. The Inquirer discusses the Dalai Lama's one-day visit to Philadelphia today. A City Planning Commission hearing was held yesterday on......

Eric DeShawn Floyd, the third suspect in the murder of police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, was arrested last night when he was found sleeping in a boarded up rowhouse in Southwest Philadelphia at 11:10PM. He was unarmed and offered no resistance. Philadelphia police thus met their goal of capturing Floyd before Liczbinski's funeral. Meanwhile, the leadership of the Germantown Masjid has refused to conduct funeral services for Howard Cain, the bank robber who actually killed Liczbinski.......

"Common Pleas Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan yesterday ordered the city to temporarily halt enforcement of five gun-control laws passed by City Council last week and signed by Mayor Nutter. The city must stop writing police rules for enforcing the laws and training officers about them." Meanwhile, Philadelphia police officers confiscated 113 firearms in two separate incidents this week. West Philadelphia High School's Automotive and Technology Academy has become the first program of its kind......

At least Clinton and Obama can agree on one thing: neither of them likes McCain. The Philadelphia Inquirer has coverage of Obama's appearance on sports-talk radio station WIP (610 AM) this morning, where he talked about his poor bowling; the fact that he'd rather be Dr. J than president; and the fact that he prefers the Eagles to the Steelers, but he'll always be a Bears fan first. Meanwhile, Hillary was criticizing Obama and......

Remember those makeshift stables in Strawberry Mansion that animal cruelty investigators raided yesterday? Well, the owners of about 40 of the horses living there removed their animals yesterday, as ordered. About 20 more horses were allowed to stay in three garages on Fletcher Street near 27th that had been made into stables while owners of those properties made repairs. The other structures will be bulldozed today. Yesterday, City Council gave final approval to a lease......

Animal cruelty investigators raided some rowhouse stables on Fletcher Street yesterday, giving the owners 24 hours to relocate the 60 horses on the site. The Daily News paints a pretty horrific picture of the conditions the animals were living in. Chelsea Clinton was at Penn yesterday, stumping for her Mom, and said we should expect to see her and her family a lot in the near future. Which sounds like a threat to us. Beware,......

Heath Ledger died yesterday afternoon in a NYC apartment, and early indications are it was from an overdose, but an autopsy will be performed today to determine the facts. Gothamist has a detailed, much-updated post on the topic. Both the Inquirer and the Daily News are taking a look this morning at the three finalists for the job of chief executive officer of the School District of Philadelphia, and the Inquirer also has a look......

The presidential race will be coming to the area tomorrow when Bill Clinton travels to Cherry Hill, New Jersey to campaign for his wife. 23-year-old Chante Wright, as part of a deal to cut her boyfriend's jail sentence, agreed to testify in a murder case. It was a dangerous move, and her testimony was crucial, so "she became the first state witness in Philadelphia to enter the federal witness-protection program." She was given a......

In honor of Ben Franklin’s birthday, lettuce-clothed PETA activists braved the cold yesterday afternoon to spread the word about animal cruelty. Dressed in nothing but iceberg lettuce, a bit of trim and a stretchy waistband, local Lettuce Lady Nicole Mathews passed out faux-turkey sandwiches, talked to tourists and answered bewildered Franklin Institute attendants in 30 degree cold. All, of course, prompting the perfectly reasonable question, “whaaaa?” It turns out our city’s great historical mascot (in......

The other day, a friend sent this Phillyist a link to Bill Maher's Dickheads of the Year blurb from Rolling Stone. (Maher's obvious liberal partisanship aside, it's pretty damn funny.) We're kind of ashamed that neither this Phillyist nor any of the other Phillyists with a sick sense of humor and a liking for this kind of thing—Bill Hayes? Bill Hayes? Bueller?—didn't do a Countdown to 2008 list of the top dickheads of 2007. So,......

An animal cruelty epidemic is sweeping the city, with dog fighting and pit bull abuse the most prominent activities. Seven Democratic presidential candidates will be coming to Drexel University tomorrow for a two-hour debate that will be televised on MSNBC. No public tickets are available. The Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucus is offering a sensitivity-training program (which made its debut on Thursday) to hotel employees so they can learn how to be sensitive to the......

We've got a couple of dog-related stories for you today. First of all, as you may have heard, an unlicensed kennel was shut down in Lower Oxford a while back and its owner and two workers pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges. 333 purebred dogs were seized from the kennel, and this morning starting at 11AM about 85 of them (60 Cavalier King Charles spaniels and 25 papillons) go up for adoption at the Chester......

It's a beautiful day! Why are you sitting inside reading this blog? Of course, if you're gonna read, you might as well know what our brothers and sisters of -ist are writing! DCist has some tips for users of public men's rooms. Austinist: It's spring, and you know what that means! Bridezillas! Houstonist: All right, we admit it: Phillyist is wont to get more worked up over animal cruelty than, well, person cruelty -- but......

Whether it's true or not, Phillyist has named today an official slow news day. Many of our -ist brethren seem to agree. SFist: Anybody else surprised Katie Holmes hasn't popped that baby out yet? Austinist: One of the occupational hazards of being a performance poet is, apparently, getting fired from Apple Computers. LAist: Only in California... Seattlest: Umm... Is that a urinal? Gothamist: Exactly how a coyote was able to travel from Westchester County to......

After an unusually mild winter, Phillyist has found that this second day of spring is, well, not very springtimey. But here's some -ist love to keep you warm! Londonist: We think this is intriguing. And kinda gross. And maybe a great idea. Torontoist: Oh, those Canadians! Gothamist: The Phillyist editorial staff is glad we're not the only -ist that gets hated on. That being said, if you want to send us really amusing hate......