We told you last week about an upcoming vote to increase the Delaware River bridge tolls and PATCO fares. As expected, the vote was approved today, and starting September 14, tolls will go up $1. PATCO fares will also rise by 10 percent. In September 2010, we can expect to see another $1 increase and an additional 10 percent for PATCO fares. This increase will affect the Commodore Barry, Walt Whitman, Ben Franklin, and Betsy......

It looks like it’s going to cost you more money to get to work, dinner, or a concert in Philly or New Jersey. The finance committee of the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) has approved changes to bridge toll and PATCO fare schedules, tentatively effective this September. The full board is expected to vote at an August 20 meeting. If approved, this is what would happen: BRIDGE TOLLS Going up a dollar: Tolls will be......

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......

Former Rep. Mike Veon, the No. 2 Democrat in the state House, 10 former and current legislative aides, and one sitting lawmaker were all charged, in varying degrees, with theft and conflict of interest for running a massive political campaign machine out of government offices. According to prosecutors, they were paying staffers, with taxpayers' dollars, to work on political campaigns while on the government clock. More charges are expected. In one particular case, Michael......

The Inquirer covers yesterday's early school closings due to heat, and points out that we'll see more of the same today. They also talk about the help and charity inspired by an article about a family struggling without air conditioning in the heat. A while back, state legislators increased pay for injured police officers and made it easier for them to resist returning to work. Now on any given day, roughly 250 Philadelphia police......

Today, from 9AM through 5PM, Media Mobilizing Project and local broadband activists are urging Philadelphians to call Mayor Michael Nutter to demand that the city step in to save the Wireless Philadelphia network. If you want to give it a shot, the numbers are (215) 686-3000 or (215) 686-2250. The Delaware River Port Authority is conducting two public meetings about its planned efforts to ease congestion on the Philadelphia side of the Ben Franklin Bridge.......

Phillyist's favorite news item this morning is this one: twin 25-year-old internet hardcore gay porn stars Keyontyli and Taleon Goffney (apparently known as Keyon and Teyon in the biz), of New Jersey, have been arrested for a series of robberies in Philadelphia and New Jersey wherein they gained entry to businesses by cutting holes in the roofs using a handsaw and ax. In Nether Providence, they broke into Wawas, and Chief Richard Slifer of......

Philadelphia has one of the highest rates of police shootings in the country. The Daily News takes a look at what's being done about it, and is pretty underwhelmed. Apparently "many of the officers involved in these shootings are back to their regular street beats, even though most incidents are still being investigated without a determination that the officers were justified in firing their weapons." Due to the fact that local schools had received recalled......

An interesting entry by a blogger describing some conversations overheard on a train involving a local politician and Republican presidential candidate John McCain. (Via Sarah) Delaware River Port Authority officials announced yesterday that a $4 million network of cameras with "intelligent" software will be installed along the PATCO rail line and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge starting in April and scheduled to finish up by the end of the year. The cameras are designed to detect......

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......

Negotiations are over, and the Delaware River will now indeed be dredged and the channel deepened, which means the Delaware River Port Authority board can finally meet again after 17 months (Rendell had refused to call a meeting of the board until the dispute was settled). Philadelphia corrections officer Christopher Davidson has been arrested after going on a crazy rampage on an ATV in East Germantown on Tuesday evening. He drove all over a......