Hey, we made it to the top of another good list, Philadelphia! Zagat says the citizens of our fine city are the most generous tippers in the nation. The Daily News talks to two Philadelphia area men about their experiences after being arrested and thrown into a Chinese prison. In an effort to cut costs and avoid layoffs, the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia voted last night to postpone until next August a $25-a-week......

Michael must be running out of John Street appointees to remove from posts, because now he's doing it to his own staff. Ronald Cuie, whom Michael appointed as head of the Office for the Re-Entry of Ex-Offenders, has been removed from that position and will now be a "special assistant" to the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety. So much for being the good government guy who won't piss away our tax dollars on b.s. Michael......

Philly.com is breaking news that, following a meeting between representatives of Foxwoods and Mayor Nutter and Governor Rendell, Foxwoods is considering looking at a different location to set up shop if and when they finally get around to building their casino in Philadelphia. It has to be emphasized that Foxwoods is considering an alternative location to their proposed site in South Philadelphia/Pennsport. This is by no means a definite, but it is the first sign......

We're so proud: one of the Eagles cheerleaders (Janelle Stangl) has been named by Maxim as one of the NFL's four "most gorgeous" cheerleaders in the magazine's September issue, which hits newsstands today. Click through for a pic. The Daily News describes a climate of fear and anger in Frankford, with residents on the lookout for a serial rapist. "Anticrime activists passed out flyers in the neighborhood yesterday while police—in a massive manhunt—took the unusual......

A look at how locals are faring in the Olympics. Police are still searching for the rapist or rapists who have been terrorizing the Frankford section of Philadelphia. A man was arrested Saturday in a kidnapping and sex assault, but police don't believe he's connected to the other incidents. The Inquirer takes a look at the crowded and sometimes dangerous conditions on the Kelly Drive bike path at Boathouse Row. The Daily News lists......

The big story is the huge fire that started early last night at the Riverwalk at Millennium apartment complex in Conshohocken. The fire destroyed three buildings and left three others damaged. Residents of the apartments are trying to cope with the loss of their homes and, in some cases, pets. This morning, fire trucks were still on the scene and firefighters were napping on the sidewalk as embers from the buildings smoldered. In the wake......

The parents of Danieal Kelly have filed a lawsuit against their criminal co-defendants, blaming them for the girl's demise. Leonard P. Luchko, a top computer technician for State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo pleaded guilty yesterday and told a federal judge that he followed Fumo's orders to erase e-mails being sought by federal agents investigating the powerful Philadelphia Democrat. Apparently he failed to erase incriminating e-mails from his own devices, however. Police responded to reports......

The top news of the day is bridges, bridges, bridges. With 44% of Philadelphia's bridges determined to be structurally deficient, it seems the only safe option is to work from home today. But in good news, you get to hide out in a nice home, as Forbes justed named Philadelphia the fourth best city in the country to buy a house. You may not have a job to do, though, according to this magazine, which......

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......

The Philadelphia area is under an excessive heat watch through Sunday. In response, the Philadelphia Senior Center, in conjunction with Comcast-Spectacor, will give away 300 fans on a first-come, first-served basis this morning. The Daily News examines how an alleged DUI killer's outrageous MySpace page is not exactly helping his case. (What a freaking idiot.) The city's Board of Revision of Taxes meets at 10AM today to vote on the Actual Value Initiative, a plan......

Your traffic restriction updates for today: the northbound I-95 ramp to Broad Street is closed from 8AM to 4PM for structural steel repairs. There will also be lane closures this week on I-95, the Vine Street Expressway, and the Schuylkill Expressway. Due to the recent loss of $1.4 million in federal funding, and accreditation problems, the Berean Institute, a North Philadelphia landmark that has provided vocational and business education to African-Americans for 109 years, could......

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......

Penn now has a building named after a former editor of The New York Post Page Six gossip column. (Via Jill) Expect backups late tonight into early tomorrow morning on the westbound Schuylkill. Click through for details. Also expect upcoming delays with SEPTA as it makes another push to finally complete its overdue, overbudget reconstruction of the Market-Frankford El. When a 46-year-old Upper Darby meter maid tried to write a ticket for a Yeadon......

Recently a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld Mumia Abu-Jamal's conviction in the killing of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner, but said a new jury should decide whether he deserved life in prison or the death sentence for the crime. But Abu-Jamal is asking the federal appeals court to reconsider, and is still seeking a new trial. Despite a threat from Senator Fumo that their tax breaks......

For the first time in almost ten years, fewer people in the Philadelphia area are predicted to travel 50 miles or more this Fourth of July weekend than did the previous year. The change is believed to be due to high gas prices, increases in the price of food, and other expenses. And it's probably just as well, because cops are hiding out there on the roads in PennDOT trucks, ready to tip off other......

"On the last day of the fiscal year, Gov. Rendell and legislative leaders struck a deal on a $28.2 billion state budget, averting a repeat of last year's employee furlough and partial government shutdown." The Inquirer examines what it meant (for the players and their families) for a team from Camden's Cramer Hill neighborhood to play T-ball on the White House lawn yesterday. A Daily News reporter gets a few minutes with John McCain.......

In the wake of last month's devastating earthquake in China, a group of Widener University professors is using video-conferencing to train faculty at East China Normal University in Shanghai to teach psychological first aid. State Rep. Darryl Metcalfe refused to apologize for the comments he made on the floor of the House on Wednesday, wherein he suggested that he was opposing recognizing a Muslim religious organization's convention because "Muslims do not recognize Jesus Christ as......

City Controller Alan Butkovitz will release an audit of the city's recreation centers and playgrounds in an 11:30AM press conference today. Charter schools in the city of Chester seem to be successful, but the school district is having a hard time coping with the drain they put on available resources. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission will hold the first of two scheduled public hearings today on the proposed closing of two troubled city......

The day after the April 22nd primaries left us, like many other Pennsylvanians, feeling like cast off one-night-stands, watching the news vans drive off and the reporters cast their collective gaze to the hotter contest down the Appalachian chain. But never fear! Those of you, who like us, are itching with the desire to return to the political spotlight can rejoice: with Barack Obama veepstakes fever flushing across the country, Pennsylvania returns to the spotlight......

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......

Well, Jocelyn Kirsch isn't going to jail, but she has been placed under house arrest, where she's to be under the custody of her parents or grandmother at all times. She'll also continue to wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, and her bond has been increased from $50,000 to $100,000. Click through for some of the strange and goofy details of her various crimes in California. Two women were sitting in a van parked......

As promised, yesterday Mayor Nutter announced his plan to combat homelessness. Click through for the details. The 14-year-old Lansdowne boy accused of stabbing his older brother to death over a video game has admitted to voluntary manslaughter. The judge will determine his sentence at a hearing on June 5th; he faces a maximum of seven years of supervision until he reaches age 21. The polo team from the acclaimed equestrian program on Chamounix Drive in......

Hey, Greensgrow, a North Philly urban farm, got profiled in a New York Times article! Go them! (Via Dexter) A plan made public yesterday reveals the city prisons commissioner's strategies to reduce prison overcrowding, fight recidivism, and improve prison-staff morale. Meanwhile, an as yet unreleased study of the Philadelphia prison system reveals that recidivism has less to do with prison overcrowding than first-time offenders. "A member of the Eagles Pep Band will be walking 90......

Yesterday Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey fired four police officers and disciplined four others for taking part in the infamous videotaped beating of three shooting suspects. "Students from four Philadelphia-area high schools are meeting at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia today, with other students videoconferencing from as far away as Louisiana, to discuss issues in the presidential election and create a student agenda for the candidates." As promised, Governor Rendell announced the highest......

The Daily News points out that while the Philadelphia School District is looking for ways to balance its budget, the organization might want to consider cutting the abnormally high salaries of its legal counsel. "Jury selection is expected to begin today in the 19-year-old murder of a North Philadelphia black man in what has been labeled a 'racial killing.'" "The Esherick House, a rare private residence designed by revered 20th-century architect Louis Kahn and tucked......

The Inquirer takes a look at local folks and aid organizations trying to send help to China in the wake of the earthquake. All U.S. and Pennsylvania flags at state facilities will be flown at half-staff today for Peace Officers Memorial Day. And since it was Governor Rendell who gave the order there shouldn't be any complaints... "The Philadelphia Orchestra leaves Monday for a three-week tour of China, Japan and Korea." Eric DeShawn Floyd......

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.......

Philadelphia Safe and Sound, a local non-profit focused on improving the health, safety, and well-being of children, sent out a press release yesterday revealing that the board of directors had voted to cease all operations as of June 30, 2008. The press release doesn't go into a lot of detail as to why PSS is shutting down, but it seems pretty clear it has to do with recent budget cuts. You can read PSS's letter......

The big news today is obviously yesterday's primary. First off, Hillary won, but six of the 26 Pennsylvania superdelegates remain undecided. Also, Obama kept it close enough that it was still kind of win for him, and after all, he's still in the lead overall. Assuming Obama does become the nominee, what will that mean for Rendell and Nutter, who have supported Clinton all along? The Daily News says they'll come out of it......

Usually I can muster a good chuckle at the tendency of the mainstream media to trumpet shock over substance in its campaign coverage, but last night's debate only made me angry. Here's why: watching them with me was a bona-fide undecided voter, the likes of which I haven't seen in a long time. As most people I know (myself included) foam at the mouth in rabid support of whatever candidate won their endorsement long ago,......