Former CBS3 anchor Larry Mendte is scheduled for a plea hearing at 9:30AM this morning at the federal courthouse at Sixth and Market Streets, where he is expected to plead guilty to hacking into the personal e-mail of onetime colleague Alycia Lane. Lawrence Scott Ward, 65, a former marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, is already serving a 15-year sentence in federal prison for trafficking in child porn, but yesterday new......

Dorrell Shaw, 26, who was wanted for questioning in the recent series of sexual assaults in Frankford, turned himself in to police yesterday. But authorities warn the case is by no means closed; Shaw was in prison during the first of the assaults, and it's quite possible he was not responsible for any of them. The rebuilding of the Market-Frankford El, a project that is now $300 million over budget and two years behind schedule,......

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......

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.......

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......

Beginning at 10AM today at City Hall, Philadelphia School District officials will present their proposed $2.28 billion budget to City Council. You can already see the budget and prepared testimony on the district's website. Members of the public will offer testimony on the budget tomorrow. The Inquirer investigates the lasting effects of the shooting death of 33-year-old Moroccan-born Ouadii Souliman. He was gunned down at the door Al Aqsa Mosque on the border between Northern......

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......

Animal cruelty investigators raided some rowhouse stables on Fletcher Street yesterday, giving the owners 24 hours to relocate the 60 horses on the site. The Daily News paints a pretty horrific picture of the conditions the animals were living in. Chelsea Clinton was at Penn yesterday, stumping for her Mom, and said we should expect to see her and her family a lot in the near future. Which sounds like a threat to us. Beware,......

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......

Two things with regard to this post. 1. Sorry the post didn't go up last week. The author was out of town on business and flaked out and didn't get someone to cover the post. 2. We're abandoning the day-by-day format that we'd adopted for our first several recaps of the goings-on in the Nutter Administration, and will be doing a more streamlined list of the previous week's highlights. The change is mainly because it......

Around 2AM yesterday, Joseph Kelly Sr. was driving along the Vine Street Expressway when he saw a homeless man in a wheelchair marooned on the median. He pulled over and crossed three lanes on foot to try to help the man across the street. As one car slowed down to let them pass, another struck that vehicle and then ran into Kelly and the other man, killing them both. A 17-year-old male knocked on the......

Sons of Ben and other Philly area soccer fans rejoice: the Inquirer says sources are telling them that "Major League Soccer is moving swiftly toward an agreement that will grant a long-sought expansion team to the Philadelphia region." Saint Joe's will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5PM today to officially open its new Hawks' Landing parking and retail facility at 54th and City Avenue. Hawks' Landing is a $19 million project that features a five-story,......

Last Friday & the weekend: Michael's search for a new CEO of the Philadelphia School District got down to two contenders—apparently—after Temple College of Education dean Kent McGuire withdrew his name from consideration for the position. Monday: Michael's choice for city commerce director, Germantown-born Andrew Altman, was sworn in, as was Managing Director Camille Bates Barnett. And the worst-kept secret of Michael's early administration appointments became official, as he named Lori Shorr his chief education......

The Daily News suggests strongly that if the city made use of private ambulances when Fire Department medic units are swamped with calls, it could make the difference between life and death for certain patients. Philadelphia doesn't use nonmunicipal ambulances because of legal issues. Also in the Daily News this morning is an article providing more details on the case of the three North Philadelphia teenagers killed in a car accident on Saturday. Last......

The latest in the case of Ebony Nicole Dorsey, the 14-year-old girl allegedly killed by her mother's boyfriend: the Daily News has an exclusive interview with the girl's mother, Danielle Cattie, who calls her boyfriend a monster. Meanwhile, the Inquirer quotes Cattie's brother defending his sister; he says she's "a great mom who deeply loves her children," and "She's a good person who made some bad decisions. She's paid a horrible price." It may seem......

Two separate laws aimed at making most government records public by default are making their way through the state legislature. The House bill, which was approved by a committee yesterday, is stronger than the bill that was passed by the Senate yesterday, 48-1. Another day, another shooting in Philadelphia. Two officers responding to a call about a man causing a disturbance in West Philadelphia early yesterday morning chased the man into an alley, where he......

Last night at about 6:30PM, a three-year-old boy, who was outside with his grandfather on the 400 block of Decatur Street in Holmesburg, ran into the street between parked cars and was struck and run over by a dark-colored SUV. The driver stopped, got out, said the child had run into his path, and then drove away. The child is now in critical but stable condition with numerous injuries. Anyone with any information about......

Investigators are still trying to work out how a woman's vehicle ran over both of her legs while she was in the drive-thru lane at a McDonald's in Phoenixville this past Friday. (Via JReedNet, via our contribute page) A whole array of services are now being offered to college students nationwide - as well as right here in the Philadelphia area - with names like DormAid, DormMom, CollegeBellhop and Soapy Joe's. They do things......

A study released earlier this week revealed that Philadelphia area drivers spend an average of 38 hours a year sitting in traffic, which is up an hour from last year, but as it turns out, it's still not that bad as far as traffic delays in large American cities go: we ranked 33rd. But we ranked second in the level of impact that accidents and stalled vehicles have on traffic congestion. Kind of makes......

A little Philly celebrity news: 50 Cent was in town earlier this week. Click through for details and pictures. Earlier this spring, when the whole thing came out about the Philadelphia School District's budget problems, their chief financial officer and budget overseer resigned. But it's just now coming out that, despite the fact that she only worked for the district for two years, she left with a ridiculously good deal: she was paid for unused......

The Inquirer has a nice little article (and a video) about the super-cool Girls Rock Philly day camp, which is at Girard College this week. Apparently every summer Senator Arlen Specter likes to visit all 67 counties in Pennsylvania and have a little Q&A session. Here's how the trip's going this year. Another annual ritual in PA is a SEPTA bus tour for Philly assistant DAs of some high crime city neighborhoods. This year......

Psst. Rumor is, Billy Penn will soon be enclosed in scaffolding again for waterproofing. It was announced yesterday that a company called Pacifica Ventures would be opening a $75 million "entertainment production facility" (read: film studio) in the Delaware Valley by the fall of 2008 - and it's all thanks to our new tax-incentive package for filmmakers. "Pacifica is looking at sites in Bucks, Delaware and Philadelphia Counties for a 500,000-square-foot facility." Yesterday the......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Modern Marvels (Mon, 8PM-9PM, History Channel) - Tonight's modern marvel is chocolate, so obviously this episode is required viewing. Included is the history of chocolate, the chocolate-making process (including the manufacture of M&Ms), and the many properties that chocolate is thought to possess. LA Ink (Tue, 10PM-11PM, TLC) - Fugitive from Miami Ink Kat Von D is opening her own tattoo parlor - High Voltage Tattoo -......

Famous rocker and local dude Bon Jovi doesn't like that the name of the Mijovi energy drink is so similar to his own, so he's got his lawyer sending them letters telling them to stop using it, and suggesting something like "My Jovi" instead. Which... actually makes it look more like "Bon Jovi" to us. (Via Jill) More news about toxic gas leaks! The Oxford Valley Mall in Langhorne was closed early yesterday morning when......

Paul Vallas, former chief executive of the Philadelphia School District, is lucky. His contract states that he has to get his final $180,000 paycheck within 30 days, so he will. But a backlog in the auditing process that determines how much each person is owed means that other former employees of the school district will have to wait months for their money. Yet more information is coming out about that shooting in South Philly (a......

The snow storm came to Philly, and it was worse than was originally expected! Many schools in the area yesterday dismissed students early and/or cancelled after-school events. A couple of crazy bastards parachuted down off the Comcast Center Sunday morning. Of course, as is requisite these days when you do something stupid and dangerous, a video was taken and promptly posted on YouTube (although sadly, it has since been taken down). Police are looking for......

As we mentioned a while back, King Tut is coming to town this weekend! Well, okay, maybe not the King himself, but a bunch of his coolest stuff will be on display at The Franklin Institute. Now that it's become clear that Tom Knox is doing exceedingly well, and has a great deal of money, a bill has been introduced to temporarily cancel the campaign contribution limits in order to even things out a......

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia is trying to get more recruits to area Catholic schools via a new $500,000 marketing campaign. Maybe they should try the "Buddy Christ?" Meanwhile, a lot of work needs to be done, and a lot of money needs to be raised, if they're going to get the Sister Clara Muhammad School and the Philadelphia Masjid at 47th Street back up and running again. Apparently, part of Valley Forge is an......

The Philadelphia School District has cut the 175 administrative positions they said they were going to, in order to help fix their budget. All told, this meant 81 layoffs. Obviously, most folks weren't happy about it. Did the Feds steal money from the family of a late Center City jeweler? That's what the family is claiming. An amber alert abduction case was quickly and happily resolved yesterday, thanks to swift police action and a......