"A weekend Philadelphia police clash with partygoers at a Latina girl's 'Sweet 15' celebration ended with at least 20 people alleging they were beaten by officers, prompting the first major internal investigation of officer misconduct under new Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey." A woman 28 weeks pregnant was killed with a single shotgun blast to the back shortly after 1AM this morning on the 4600 block of Griscomb Street. She was found by police......

The Daily News analyzes Paris Hilton's visit to the area yesterday, and comes to the rather surprising conclusion that she's a nice lady and her only real fault is that she's not punctual. The Philadelphia Museum of Art's exhibition of American artist Bruce Nauman has been selected to appear in the US Pavilion of the the 53rd Venice Biennale, "one of the most important art gatherings in the world." Mayor Nutter revoked a license given......

PATCO and SEPTA are thinking about working together to extend PATCO's service along Columbus Boulevard and perhaps to City Hall. The project would involve "reopening the long-closed Franklin Square station beneath Sixth and Race Streets to serve as the hub of the expanded service." This new service, however, would cost at least $1 billion, would thus require financial help, and would take eight to ten years to complete. Another wrinkle in the federal investigation into......

We learned yesterday that City Councilman Jack Kelly and his staff are being investigated by the FBI. Two sources close to the investigation told the Inquirer that what's being looked at are contributions to the councilman by Northeast Philadelphia's largest property owners, and the relationship between them and Kelly's chief of staff. The Delaware River Port Authority plans on spending $25 million on inspections and paint jobs on its bridges between Philadelphia and South......

How did last night's debut of American Idol treat Philadelphia? The Inquirer has the analysis - and a horrifying picture. Two West Philadelphia High students were slashed during an argument on Monday, so a heavy police presence blanketed the area yesterday as students were dismissed for the day. A suspect on the city's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list, described as a "one-man army," and who had eluded authorities for over two years while running a......

The Attorney General's Office has accused Former State Rep. Frank LaGrotta of giving his relatives fake jobs in order to pay them thousands in taxpayer dollars. A cheval-de-frise (an iron-tipped log that's placed in a riverbed along with many others in order to gore the hulls of enemy warships) was recently found at the bottom of the Delaware River at the Sunoco Logistics pier in South Philadelphia. It's a relic from the mid-1770s, and......

As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice......

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......

The City Council's hearings on Mayor Street's budget opened Tuesday with Street's chief of staff painting a bleak portrait of the city's fiscal future: "a weak tax base, high tax burden, escalating costs, high service responsibilities and low state financial support." Healthcare costs, prison costs, the homeless, and tax cuts are all contributing to the problem, which may lead to the city's surplus slowly shrinking over the next five years. The snow led to......

Local officials are saying that Bush's proposed budget is bad news for Philly, as it would mean decreased funding for community-development block grants, local law enforcement, housing, and healthcare. Two Philly Dems, State Reps. Dwight Evans and James R. Roebuck Jr., are proposing a $14 million initiative to get teachers into urban and rural districts in PA and keep them there. Well, if there was favoritism being shown to Andy Reid's kids it seems to......

- Accidents on Roosevelt Boulevard have been a long-time problem - and it seems that previously installed red light cameras may have exacerbated, rather than aided, the problem. Currently, there is discussion to add radar enforcement to the speed deterrents. City Councilman Brian O'Neil has said, "The mayor should just shut down the middle six lanes until there is a solid plan in place -- or forget the middle lanes are there and green......

Last week, the city of Philadelphia announced that it had a budget surplus of -- everyone put your pinkies to your lips -- $200 million dollars. When the news was announced, City Councilman Jim Kenney said the money should be put aside for a "rainy day fund" and not spent right away, which Mayor Street agreed with. KYW's Larry Kane, reflecting on the news in his blog, came up with a couple other good ideas......

Look out, local gourmands! You might have to go elsewhere for your foie gras in the future. City Councilman Jack Kelly has proposed a ban on it, on the grounds that to create it, geese and ducks are force-fed until their livers are many times their normal size, a procedure which is cruel and torturous. Huh. Well, we guess that's a good reason. We wouldn't be the first place to ban foie gras production,......

Desperate for constant updates on the minutiae of the federal corruption trial of City Councilman Rick Mariano? Well, first of all, you're weird. But second of all, The Philadelphia Inquirer got what you need, man: they're blogging live from the courtroom. As of this writing, the most exciting thing that's happened is that one of the potential jurors walked in wearing a kilt. Weird crime time (which is starting to look like it's going to......

In our times of the Vice President's (now former) Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, being indicted for obstruction of justice and perjury, (now former) House Majority Leader Tom DeLay being indicted for conspiracy and money laundering, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist being investigated by the FEC, and Philadelphia City Councilman Rick Mariano being indicted for several counts of corruption, it hardly seems possible that there are any decent and ethical politicians left in this......

City Councilman Rick Mariano, a local politician who has had federal indictment rumors swirling about him recently, climbed onto a ledge and City Hall tonight and threatened to commit suicide. He was talked down from the ledge by Mayor John Street and Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson. Mariano was then taken to a hospital, where he presumably is now. Mariano was at City Hall's observation deck, which stands approximately 500 feet above street level. We don't......

Pat Croce has given up his quest to open a casino in Philadelphia, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Croce wanted to build his casino at the location of the old Adam's Mark Hotel, but pressure from City Councilman Mike Nutter, and local residents, helped him decide that he didn't want to build a casino that would receive such fierce opposition. Croce, former 76ers president who also has a penchant for pirates, writing books and yelling......