Dear PPA: I need you to explain something to me. I've seen PPA officers hang out and wait for a meter to expire, ticket cars that stayed in a loading zone a minute too long, and ignore "meter broken" notes. So I'm curious as to why you completely ignore cars parked on the median, or in turn lanes and in clearly marked "no parking" zones on Sundays. I know it's the day of rest,......

We bring you the buzz in the 215 blogs. Not For Tourists (Philly edition) checked out The Toy Shop in Northern Liberties. Old school fun—yay! SEPTA Watch took a lovely bike trip using... SEPTA? Yep. And speaking of bikes, The Illadelph reports that the PPA is installing bike racks at some of its garages and lots. No word yet on whether they'll be ticketing bikes left more than two hours. Brendan Calling turned a critical......

When someone offers you the chance to watch a television show and spit out your opinions on it, they probably hope that you enjoy what they're throwing at you. Well, suffice it to say that Parking Wars: Best of Season 1 falls into the category of "fun to watch because it ain't me!" True Phillyists all over the city know the Philadelphia Parking Authority means business. The PPA raked in over $70 million last year.......

We bring you the buzz in the 215 blogs this week. Phawker is running a "Question the Parking Authority" contest. It's really not so much a contest as a challenge—a dare, if you will. Regardless, we like the idea and the prize. The Philadelphia Turkey took a look at the new slogan on the former "Trenton Makes" bridge. We know a guy who has that bridge tattooed across his back. Time for a touch......

At least Clinton and Obama can agree on one thing: neither of them likes McCain. The Philadelphia Inquirer has coverage of Obama's appearance on sports-talk radio station WIP (610 AM) this morning, where he talked about his poor bowling; the fact that he'd rather be Dr. J than president; and the fact that he prefers the Eagles to the Steelers, but he'll always be a Bears fan first. Meanwhile, Hillary was criticizing Obama and......

Senator Vincent Fumo was eating dinner at his Spring Garden home at 7PM last night when he started experiencing chest pains. He was taken by ambulance to Hahnemann University Hospital where it was determined that he had suffered a heart attack and that his right coronary artery was 100 percent blocked. He had emergency surgery and remains in critical condition this morning, although he was alert and speaking with his family after the procedure. Hey,......

SEPTA will announce its "Go Green Go SEPTA" initiative this afternoon at Market East Station. (We've already seen the ads up there; they're posters with real moss or grass glued to them.) The idea is to increase ridership to reduce emissions that contribute to global warming, and they've timed it for the Philadelphia Flower Show, which runs March 2-9 at the Convention Center and is typically a time of increased ridership. General manager Joseph......

Our very own state could actually be of key importance in the Democratic presidential primary, so the campaigns for both Clinton and Obama will be opening offices in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in the coming days, and expanding their staff by recruiting local pros. The Inquirer takes a look at the battle going on over a proposed state-wide ban on smoking in Pennsylvania. A woman leaped from her third-floor apartment window on South Street near 2nd......

Have a nominee for Asshole of the Week? Send it to us! We love stories about local bureaucratic idiocy. They're always good for a laugh or two, but we do tend to forget about them five minutes after we've read them. And then there's the story of Edward Stanley Harris. By now, we're sure you all know the story. This guy had been hassled annually by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for 17 years over......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. BCS Championship Game: Ohio State vs. LSU (Mon, 8:15PM-11:30PM, Fox) - Woo hoo! It's the college football Super Bowl! Of course, the bittersweet thing is, this means college football is over for the season. But at least it'll go out with a bang. Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Mon, 10PM-10:30PM, Food Network) - This episode's theme is eateries that are open 24/7, and one of the places being......

If you still aren't bored of stories about Jocelyn S. Kirsch and Edward K. Anderton, then by all means, read on. Meanwhile, other rather more dangerous criminals are still on the loose. Police still have little to go on in the brutal November 25th murder of John Bartram High School sophomore Antonio Q. Clarke, who was last seen alive trying to catch a trolley in Southwest Philadelphia. Call police at 215-686-3334 or -3335 with......

Hey, it's election day! And what with the Mayor's race being a foregone conclusion and everything, the interesting stuff is happening in the fight for two seats on the state Supreme Court. The search for John Lewis, the suspect in the murder of Officer Chuck Cassidy, is over. Police apprehended him at a homeless shelter in Miami at 7AM. They tracked him down after learning that a relative had bought a bus ticket to......

Prepare to be insulted! A recent survey of visitors and residents of 25 cities ranked Philadelphia as the home of the least attractive people in the United States. Apparently we're also among the least stylish, least active, least friendly, and least worldly. Well, we don't know about all of those things, but these results certainly make us feel pretty unfriendly at the moment... (Via Jen) As another new tactic in the fight against crime and......

Restaurateur Susanna Foo has completed her six-month probation and 50-plus hours of community service, which she received for supposedly striking an officer of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, something she still claims she didn't do. About 1:30AM yesterday morning a woman died when she crashed her car into the back of a stationary PennDot dump truck in a construction zone on northbound I-95 near the Chichester Avenue exit. Northbound traffic was detoured until the lanes were......

How about a couple of heartwarming holiday stories, huh? The Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Red Cross is throwing its eighth annual Children's Holiday Party at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel tonight. About 500 children who have lost their homes in various disasters will get to have fun and act like kids, and their parents will get to relax and enjoy it. Also, recently the students from Central Bucks West High School organized their Washington Project......

Our weekly look into the odd, strange and bizarre at one .org. Shouldn’t you always touch up right after, just in case? Well, good for you. Now go f*** yourself. Jeepers! It’s the fuzz! They’ve been reading my column! A Philadelphia Parking Authority oh, SNAP! of the week. But, really, there are much better reasons to move to Jersey. Topic of the week: The ABC docudrama about 9/11. Discuss. Sex in public! Sex in......

Ah, our Philly heart swells with pride: a local Fishtown dog is in competition for the World's Ugliest Dog! His name is Pee Wee Martini (AKA "Mr. Peepers," AKA "Son of Sam") and he's a hairless, crooked-nosed Chinese-crested, Japanese Chin mix with no teeth on one side of his mouth (see picture, right). One man's reaction upon seeing Pee Wee for the first time: "I was confused. I thought I just witnessed a horrible accident."......

- King Wenclas & The Underground Literary Alliance has thrown down the Gauntlet, poetry stylee - challenging several poets to a read-off of Alan Ginsberg's infamous Howl at Columbia University on April 17th. We expect they shall perform starving, hysterical & naked. - Philebrity points out that we're one of the Top Ten cities in which to live in the event of an oil crisis. Gothamist family cities New York, Boston Chicago, Seattle & San......

Remember back in 1990 when you parked your bitchin' Camaro on South Street and came back to see a zillion parking tickets on the windshield of your sweet ride? Yeah, we don't remember that, either...but it sure did happen and you -- being the broke college student at the time -- never paid those tickets. Get ready to be harrassed by a collection agency, hounding you day and night until you cough up the cash......