Wiretapped conversations being used as part of an investigation into organized crime in North Jersey could help federal authorities build their case against mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo and Elkins Park businessman Salvatore Pelullo in an unrelated financial fraud probe that stretches from Philadelphia to Texas. Jocelyn Kirsch is scheduled to plead guilty this morning in U.S. District Court. Four more murders took place in the city this past weekend. In honor of the fact......

For those of you who don't know, Larry Mendte used to do stand-up out in California. Now that he has some free time, maybe he'll pick up the mic again. Man, we hope so! Hey thanks everybody, it’s good to be here. Take my anchor chair, please! Seriously though what’s the deal with e-mail? Have you seen this thing? Apparently you can send letters and pictures over the internet. It’s true. Yeah, apparently you can......

Hello. I’m former Mayor of Philadelphia John F. Street for the new Apple 3G iPhone. The “3G” stands for “Gimmee, gimmee, gimmee!” Just a little joke. But there’s no joking about this incredible piece of technology. The new 3G iPhone has everything a former Mayor of Philadelphia needs. Take Push Email: now when my lawyer needs to reach me about a subpoena or schedule a hearing, I get his email instantly. And with Push Calendar,......

Have a nominee for Asshole of the Week? Send it to us! This week's winner was a no-brainer. How could we pick anybody but the man who grabbed pretty much all the headlines, Milton Street? Where could we even begin? The biggest news, of course, was Milton being convicted of tax evasion. But our favorite part of this whole ordeal was Milton's "defense," sort of like the one Wesley Snipes pulled out in connection with......

Another new writer today, folks. Please help us welcome Don Montrey, who is a comedian and a writer. He has no criminal record as far as you know. Milton Street is my hero! Not because he has somehow managed to stay somewhat relevant all these years, not because he so delightfully called his consulting company Notlim, and not because he does the best Rerun dance this side of the Ben Franklin Bridge. No, he is......

The Inquirer takes a close look at Mayor Nutter's first budget proposal. The subtitle of the article is: "The $3.98 billion plan seeks bonds for pensions and a kitty for unions." Awww, that's nice! He's getting a kitty for the unions! We hope it's a cute kitty. David C. Sicoli, a Philadelphia priest with "a long history of abusive and manipulative relationships with adolescents," according to a grand jury report, has finally been defrocked by......

The Inquirer takes a look at the future of local public transportation fare systems. SEPTA could be going with a smart card that's more like a new-generation Visa or MasterCard than it is like PATCO's recently introduced Freedom card. Next up in Milton Street's fraud trial: testimony today from a Vietnamese business owner that Milton supposedly cheated out of $80,000 for a share of a nonexistent airport subcontract. Child-care advocates and children will be......

Strange and amusing stories are already pouring out of Milton Street's trial. Yesterday Philadelphia Airport Services official Gregory Taylor testified that Milt's "financial problems and apparent affinity for debt had led Street to bounce three checks for $133,000 each - part of an alleged kickback - that he had written to PAS. And that Street had asked for personal loans and demanded that PAS hire a politically connected minister for a no-show job." Today,......

Yesterday the state Gaming Control Board appointed a retired university president as trustee of the Mount Airy Casino Resort, due to the fact that its owner, Louis DeNaples, was charged last week with lying during his application for a state gaming license. In the wake of Super Tuesday, the Daily News and the Inquirer both take a look at how the candidates fared and what voter turnout was like in the area. The Daily......

Rev. Joseph F. Sica of Scranton, a Catholic priest and longtime confidant of casino owner Louis A. DeNaples, was charged yesterday with lying to a grand jury about his relationship with a mob boss. At least one of those New Year's arrests that we posted about yesterday was a complete disaster. Not only was it police gunfire that injured a 9-year-old boy at the scene, the cops arrested the wrong man and let the......

One of the suspects in the planned attack on Fort Dix applied to be a Philadelphia police officer in April, but luckily he didn't get very far in the procedure, as he was ineligible for various reasons. Remember that story about some of the Penn State football players getting into a fight? Well, the law hasn't sorted out what exact punishments they'll receive yet, but Joe Pa has. Good old Joe Pa. (Via Jill,......

For those following the saga of Milton Street: his tax evasion trial has been pushed back from May to October 15, at the request of Street himself, after he got a new lawyer. The latest updates on the mayor's race for today: the Inquirer profiles Fattah, and his mission to defeat poverty in Philly through education. They also take a look at what it will mean if Sam Katz ends up entering the race, post-primary.......

Oh no! The Zoo's three African elephants are all of the sudden in limbo. The plan was to ship them to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, where they could frolic in the expanded elephant habitat there, but now it turns out the expansion won't be ready on schedule. Officials at the Philadelphia Zoo "are working with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to find another home for the animals." So, how about this mayoral......

Philly police have a lot of bulletproof vests made with Zylon, a material shown to degrade under exposure to moisture and sunlight, thus making the vests less effective. Luckily, the manufacturer agreed not only to replace the vests with non-Zylon versions, but to also pay the department $100 for each one. Nice! The Youth Study Center near 20th and Pennsylvania Avenue is outdated, overcrowded, and just overall in very poor condition. It's really the......

On Tuesday, cops and local FBI agents tracked down and eventually caught one of three suspects in a series of (heavily) armed robberies of fast food restaurants and convenience stores in Philadelphia, Yeadon, and Upper Darby - but not until after the guy ran from them across a series of rooftops in West Philly, occasionally jumping across gaps of 10 feet or more, just like in a movie! The cops followed a trail of......

Ugh. Milton Street is more of a fiasco than a real candidate, something of a sideshow in the political circus. He may even sideline Brady's chances! Oh the shame! So, to hell with politics. It's freaking warm again, and that means another miserable failure of an Eagles season is behind us (along with Jeff Garcia), and we can finally get back to the true American pastime. Phillyist is giddy like so many schoolgirls over watching......

As we all know only too well, Pennsylvania has almost no say in presidential primaries due to the fact that we don't get to vote in them until late April, at which point the decision is already pretty much made. That's why this Tuesday, Governor Rendell's secretary of state is heading to a state Senate hearing to make the case for moving PA's primary to an earlier date. Rosie O'Donnell's gay-friendly travel company, R......

We're sad to report that Milton Street is no longer running for mayor, but happy to report that he is running for City Council-at-large—against his own nephew! Which means a lot of relatives of mayors and former mayors will be on the May 15 ballot (May 15 being, as the Daily News helpfully points out, the day after Milton is scheduled to stand trial on federal corruption charges). Besides Milton and his nephew Sharif, there'll......

In a disturbing article, the Philadelphia Inquirer points out that there are still serious problems inside the city's Department of Human Services, despite a big policy overhaul a few years ago. In case you were not aware, the Flower Show started this weekend. We'll be posting more about this later, but for now, enjoy the Inquirer's preview, which includes a short history of the show, and an explanation of its theme ("Legends of Ireland").......

Milton Street's court-appointed lawyer in his corruption trial (not his NJ traffic ticket trial; try to keep up!) couldn't come to an agreement with her client on how to handle his case, so she's withdrawing from the case. Street can't afford to hire his own lawyer (what's he been spending his money on? Not paying traffic tickets, that's for sure), so he's being appointed a new one, although the judge pointed out he probably......

As we reported yesterday, Milton Street got arrested! Will this deter him from continuing his run for mayor? We're betting not. Our favorite parts of this story are the details: the cops found him outside a 7-Eleven near his Moorestown, NJ home, arrested him because of two traffic tickets that led to contempt citations, and he ended up in jail because he couldn't pay the combined fine of $3,250. (Btw, non-imprisoned mayoral candidate Chaka......

Wanted: Candidate for mayor. Must live outside the city limits (in another state entirely, preferably), have experience facing federal indictment (million dollar tax frauds a plus) and ethics investigations (bonus if the investigations include family). Ideal candidate will be able to type 65 words per minute, possess the ability to sell processed meats to hungry people, and be arrested in New Jersey on warrants for two outstanding traffic violations. ...What's that? I'm sorry. We've......

We know we told you about this earlier today, but there's no such thing as too much coverage on a good, or entertaining, story. This promises to be both. Common logic dictates that if, mere months ago you were indicted for tax fraud, your chances of winning a mayoral race are slim. Same for if you don’t live in the city where you are seeking office. Or the same state in which that city is......

People, the Philly mayor's race just got a whole lot more awesome. Milton Street, our current Mayor Street's older brother - you know, the one who's been indicted for tax fraud and embezzling, and who lives in New Jersey - walked into City Hall today and laid his thing down. That's right, he's running for mayor. When reporters asked him about the charges facing him, he said: "I haven't been convicted of anything. What......

Casinos may be coming our way, but they won't have table games anytime soon, according to Governor Rendell. So if you want to play Blackjack, you'll still have to head out to AC. T. Milton Street has pleaded...not guilty to charges of corruption and tax-evasion, as did one of the two other men indicted along with him. Thousands of local parents received letters about their children's truancy...and possible fines the parents could face if......

NBC 10 managed to get an exclusive interview on Wednesday with Milton Street, the brother of Philadelphia mayor John Street. Milton Street was recently indicted with federal tax and fraud charges and this was his first interview with the media. The interview was handled by anchor Tim Lake. Street was cagey and evasive as he was denying the charges against him while Lake seemed a bit out of his league. Some highlights: Lake: You had......

Mayor Street's brother Milton and two officials with Philadelphia Airport Services were indicted this afternoon by a federal grand jury for corruption and tax fraud in relation to a contract at the Philadelphia International Airport. In January 2000, Milton Street "began hiring himself out as a highly paid consultant to area businesses who believed that Milton Street could help them obtain business with the city of Philadelphia." He also failed to report to the IRS......

Oops. After a talk with Rendell, Hoeffel's decided not to run for lieutenant governor after all. So...never mind! Even though 11 of Philadelphia's incumbents will face challengers in the May 16th primary (which is the most intraparty opposition since 1988), the general opinion is that Philly escaped the "anti-incumbent fervor" sweeping the rest of the state. For instance, none of the city's incumbent members of Congress, and only one of its senators, will face challengers.......

If you're a daily El rider, prepare for a change in routine. SEPTA announced that the Market-Frankford El will shut down this Friday at 8 pm for nine days from the 52nd Street station to the 69th Street station. Regular El service in that range of stations will resume at 5 am on July 25th. Don't get too comfortable, though. SEPTA also noted that these same stations will shut down from August 12th to......

Trusting Mayor John Street has been difficult. It never seemed like a good idea to put a guy with a history of serious financial problems in charge of a city the size of Philadelphia, not to mention Street's history of inappropriate nepotism. Hey, we're all for picking your friends and family for things -- if you're in the seventh grade and choosing kickball teams. As an adult and a public official, we'd like to see......