"A Delaware County woman, who allegedly helped her boyfriend lure young victims to her babysitting service so he could secretly tape sexually explicit videos of them in what authorities have called the 'most horrific case' of child exploitation they have seen, pleaded guilty in a federal courtroom yesterday. " 29-year-old Anthony Derubeis of Upper Darby decided to barbecue some books on his grill yesterday morning. When firefighters arrived, he started throwing stuff at them,......

A 22-year-old New Jersey man found guilty of beating another man in the parking lot before a Phillies game last year, has been sentenced to at least a year of nonreporting probation, allowing him to be deployed to Iraq with the National Guard in just a few weeks. The military deployment is being considered part of his sentence. SEPTA bus schedule changes start tomorrow with Regional Rail changes following on September 7th. It's all part......

Yesterday former skinhead Thomas Gibison was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison by a Common Pleas Court judge for conspiring to commit a racial killing more than two decades ago. A Philadelphia police officer was responding to a call to assist another officer around 1AM this morning when his police car collided with another car at a downtown intersection. The officer is listed in critical condition, but his prognosis is good. Yesterday, the......

"Police last night charged a Yellow Cab Co. driver with vehicular homicide in an early-morning hit-and-run in Logan that left a young mother clinging to life and her 5-year-old son dead." A couple of unrelated incidents involving firearms took place early yesterday morning in Philadelphia. In the first incident, a retired Philly cop working as a pizza delivery man was accosted by three teenagers, one of whom pointed a gun at him while the......

Image courtesy of the British Library. Londonist explored the hidden basement levels of the British Library.Phillyist wondered whether AT&T was treating them just like everyone else.Bostonist got all worked up about grammar. A local man, member of the Typo Eradication Advancement League and apparent troublemaker, was busted (or is it got busted?) fixing/besmirching an historic sign at the Grand Canyon.Seattlest talked with icanhascheeseburger.com head honcho Ben Huh about the existence of dirty LOLcats and......

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......

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......

Torontoist featured video of an absolutely insane series of explosions at a propane facility in the north end of the city last weekend.Despite an eventful week at the Olympics, Phillyist focused on local, Philadelphia teams.Seattlest, freshly aware of their "Junior High Readability Level," implemented a new weekly feature spotlighting a local they’re totes crushing on. First up, a guy they met at the Seattle Tattoo Expo.LAist reported on a protest by bicyclists in Santa......

A lawsuit by the Philadelphia firm of Cozen O'Connor blaming the government of Saudi Arabia for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks is probably dead in the water now after a federal appeals court ruled yesterday that Saudi Arabia could not be sued for acts of terrorism. A 1-year-old child was slashed in the neck yesterday afternoon at a North Philadelphia home. The suspect is believed to be the child's father, but police are withholding the......

The Phantom Attacker! Throughout folklore there have been tales pertaining to spectral assailants attacking helpless citizens, usually women, whether as knife-wielding maniacs who disappear into the night or ghostly leapers who accost their victims and elude police. During the Victorian era in London a caped marauder was attacking women in London. He became known as Spring-Heeled Jack, and his spate of attacks remains unsolved to this day. This sinister apparition, adorned often in dark garments,......

Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC, owner of the Daily News and the Inquirer, requested their union employees to forego a $25-a-week raise scheduled to begin September 1st, as a cost-cutting measure in the face of declining revenue that has afflicted newspapers nationwide. Members voted overwhelmingly to do so. Early this morning, someone called police to report a break-in at a South Philadelphia home. The homeowners were away at the Shore. While investigating, police critically wounded a......

Undercover officers were standing in as prostitutes on Kensington Avenue yesterday afternoon and Wednesday, cracking down on prostitution. Some lucky schmuck bought the winning Powerball ticket last week at the Turkey Hill Minit Mart in Willow Street, PA, just south of Lancaster. This Phillyist can sadly report that it wasn't him. But whoever it was will be revealed at 10 this morning. A group of residents in Yorktown feel their community is being threatened because......

A bill now pending in the Pennsylvania legislature would legalize video poker in Pennsylvania's 5,000 private clubs and social halls. Speaking of gambling, the Borgata yesterday ejected a smelly poker player from the casino after receiving complaints from other players. The 440-pound man had been playing for 17 straight hours, and now he wants an apology. PETA has named Citizens Bank Park the most vegetarian-friendly sports venue in North America for the second year in......

The Swan Day Spa in wealthy Berwyn on the Main Line was a front for a brothel, and the three people who ran it were arrested in Nevada and Pennsylvania yesterday. Vandals pushed over more than 200 headstones at a historic African American cemetery in Collingdale, including the stone of famed Philadelphia civil-rights activist Octavius V. Catto. A state trooper and member of a collision/accident-reconstruction team in Philadelphia was arrested for allegedly using his state-issued......

Could you imagine if the Joker was around while this was happening? Yikes!......

An unidentified man jumped from the Betsy Ross Bridge this morning in an attempt to escape police. Police responded to a Domestic Dispute at Griscom Street around 4 a.m. The man involved jumped into his Lincoln Town Car and fled the scene. As police chased him, the man proceeded to throw items out of the car. He then pulled onto the Betsy Ross, got out of his car and jumped, falling 200 feet onto concrete.......

File under inspiring: Story of the homeless Martin Luther King High School senior who made valedictorian and has been accepted at the Art Institute. Now let's find him some cash. As if the flash flooding wasn’t enough: over 4,000 lightning strikes were recorded in the area last night, along with close to 70,000 power outages. A day in the life of a PhillyCarShare Prius. Thrill as the kids go to daycare! More coverage of the......

Some updates on local criminal cases: the Bucks County mother accused of turning a sleepover into a sex party was ordered to stand trial yesterday. Andy Reid's son Garrett Reid was sentenced to two years in a relatively new state corrections program that combines incarceration and intensive drug treatment. Mumia Abu-Jamal lost his latest appeal for a new trial on Monday. Perhaps not surprisingly, the DRPA got an earful from angry commuters yesterday at......

Oh boy, just look at all the articles about the Larry Mendte case. Apparently Mendte hacked into the email of Alycia Lane 537 times in 146 days, and did so wherever he was around the clock, from home, his desk at work, his Shore home in Ocean City, and even the Union League. He then passed on the information he obtained to a Philadelphia Daily News gossip columnist, in order to undermine Lane's ongoing......

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week. Food Origin Shows (Mon, 9PM-10PM, Food Network) Food Network is airing two shows in a row exploring the origins of similar foods. First up is Unwrapped with a look at how goat cheese, cheesecake, and Cheez-It crackers are made. Then it's How'd That Get on My Plate? which explores milk and what it goes through to end up in the various different forms of ice cream, string......

The City of Philadelphia still has police officers—at least temporarily—thanks to a deal struck this week. Michael referred to the deal as buying time to work out the details of a longer-term agreement. Maybe he's right, or maybe he's just postponing the inevitable. Only time will tell. Michael's slogan for Philadelphia's soon-to-be-effective law requiring gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms within 24 hours: "If you lose your piece, call the police." Somewhere, Johnny......

"There will be overnight traffic restrictions on Route 202 at the Route 29 interchange in East Whiteland Township, Chester County, tonight and Monday." Also, I-95 North in Philadelphia will have a lane closure tonight, tomorrow night and Saturday morning for barrier construction. Newly released estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau reveal that Philadelphia lost more residents between 2000 and 2007 than any U.S. city except New Orleans. Ouch. High fuel costs are also affecting......

Philly International will not see a great reduction in number of flights this fall, unlike other major cities like Las Vegas and Chicago. If you're counting on that trip to Vegas paying the heating bill this winter, better head out there now. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey will hold six town hall meetings in July. Each public meeting will focus on particular neighborhoods, and residents will be asked about local problems and suggestions on making......

Remember, Eagles fans: tickets go on sale this morning at 10AM. The Inquirer offers tips on how to score some for yourself. Today is Philadelphia City Council's last meeting before summer break, so they're going to try to make decisions on a lot of leftover items at the last minute, including proposals to hike fines for littering, privatize the city's sludge plant, take control of Fairmount Park, force contractors to keep sidewalks open during construction......

Sixteen men will receive fatherhood awards from the Father's Day Rally Committee at a reception in North Philadelphia tonight. In case you were wondering, no, SEPTA transit police did not strike yesterday. About an hour before the 2PM deadline, negotiations began at SEPTA headquarters in Center City, and continued until about 10 before ending for the night. Nothing has been resolved, but they were scheduled to meet again at 9 this morning, which means they'll......

The Inquirer profiles a Germantown clinic whose services are described as indispensable, but which may shut down soon due to a lack of funds. Suspended Episcopal Bishop Charles E. Bennison Jr. testified yesterday in his ecclesiastical trial, trying to explain why he had not told anyone that his brother was sexually abusing a high-school student in the 1970s. A preliminary hearing was held yesterday for the five North Philadelphia teens arrested in the beating and......

SEPTA is, for better or worse, a part of most of our city-dwelling lives. We still remember the headache that was the 2005 transit workers strike, and we just had to negotiate with the El; folks who depended on the buses were especially and exquisitely screwed. So although the union is different this time and the bosses are promising no disruption in service, the threat of a SEPTA strike this week has us a wee......

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......

Philadelphia public and parochial schools plan to maintain regular hours today, but some schools in the surrounding area are closing or having early dismissals due to the excessive heat. Click through for the full list. A bunch of insane people actually had a bike race in Manayunk this past weekend, and other insane people actually went outside to watch it. Uh, whatever. We were inside keeping cool. The Inquirer discusses Mayor Street's already fading legacy.......