Results tagged “mayormichaelnutter”

Mayors Nutter and Bloomberg are using the World Series (have we mentioned the Phillies are playing the Yankees?) as an opportunity to draw attention to community service. Unlike a cheesecake/cheesesteak bet, this friendly wager will have the losing mayor (whom we can only assume will be Bloomberg) visiting the winning mayor's city to work on a mural on a children's recreational center. Phillyist looks forward to Mayor Bloomberg's visit after the series.

• Attention, bookies: "The Delaware Supreme Court has ruled that a law allowing sports betting does not conflict with the state constitution..." This would make Delaware the only eastern state to allow betting on team sporting events.
• This kidnapping hoax just keeps getting better. It now appears that Bonnie Sweeten, who lied about her and her daughter's kidnapping in order to take a trip to Disney World, may have stolen upwards of $300,000 from her ex-husband's relative.
• A number of SEPTA Regional Rail stations will be undergoing a $240 million upgrade. Some stations will be demolished and rebuilt; others will be drastically renovated. In related news, SEPTA approved its new budget yesterday with almost no drama.
• The Philadelphia Orchestra agreed yesterday to salary cuts of 4.8 percent in the coming years. These cuts come on the heels of other major budget cuts taken by the Orchestra to stay afloat.

Now, if we could all simply hand our garbage and recycling to Mayor Nutter, rather than indelicately tossing it on the street, all our problems would be solved!

The Philadelphia Business Journal is reporting that, because the ten-day timeline for a veto from Mayor Nutter has passed, the unanimously-approved City Council bill banning the use of handheld cell phones while operating a vehicle is now officially enforceable. The bill applies to cars, bicycles, skateboards, in-line skates and even scooters (but does "scooter" include Rascals?). Moreover, state legislation that has gone from the PA House to the Senate chimes in on the distracted drivers issue. Pennsylvania would consider distracted driving offenses like those regulated by Philly's law 'secondary', meaning that cops couldn't pull you over just because you're screaming into your handset while you're screaming down the highway. The state law also penalizes local governments for having their own take on it. In Philadelphia's case, that may mean over $250M in lost infrastructure funding over the next three years.

Part of the fallout in the switch from a feudal, agrarian economy to the modern (and currently extremely troubled one) was a fundamental change in the tax structure. Gone are the days of paying a local lord tribute for farming his lands in exchange for military might and the possible great honor of bearing his unwanted offspring through the rite of Prima Nocta (thanks Braveheart!). Enter the Industrial Revolution with electricity, mechanized production, trains, and other awesome stuff. The transition was a little creaky at first—disease, starvation, no sanitation, orphanariums…so taxes. Taxes to pay for sanitation, roads, schools, better orphanariums, telephone lines, internet connections, football stadiums, clean food and medicine. All things Philadelphia likes, and all things she’s currently having a little trouble paying for—in part because some people don’t want to pay their local taxes.

Say what you will about Mayor Michael Nutter, but his first year in office has been greener (think more eco-friendly) than mayors past. When he took office last year, he said he wanted to make Philly the greenest city in America. And, he's made significant strides. Last Spring, he organized the city's biggest clean up, collecting 2.5 million pounds of trash. Then, he created and filled the position of sustainability director. Then, this past summer, he brought Philadelphia into the 21st Century by introducing citywide single stream recycling, meaning you can put all of your recyclables in one bin. Now, the city has announced that you can put your recycling out each week the same day as your trash. That's right, folks. No more archaic green week, blue week business. No more spying on your neighbors to see if they are putting out their recycling so you should too.

Phillyist has always regarded the Ducks with a combination of annoyance (do they have to give everyone those damned whistles?) and fascination (it's a bus that goes in the water!), but mostly the former. But even at our most annoyed, we're not nearly as angry as Walt Sherman, creator of the new (and sometimes Proofreading Philly-worthy) Shut the Duck Up!, who writes on this new blog:

...so go make one happen. Want to speak out about the violence in your neighborhood? Have concerns about drug sales conducted in broad daylight? What else is on your mind? Take it out of your mind and put it in the lap of (in all likelihood) future Mayor Michael Nutter.