"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,......

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......

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......

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......

When Eagles defensive tackle Brodrick Bunkley returned to his South Philadelphia townhouse after a preseason game early Saturday morning, he found it had been ransacked. Someone forced open his back door and made off with $7,950 worth of guns, video game systems, and cameras. Police say evidence was collected at the scene that would hopefully lead them to a suspect. Yesterday, amid criticism that they were seeking to profit from their child's death, Andrea and......

The parents of Danieal Kelly have filed a lawsuit against their criminal co-defendants, blaming them for the girl's demise. Leonard P. Luchko, a top computer technician for State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo pleaded guilty yesterday and told a federal judge that he followed Fumo's orders to erase e-mails being sought by federal agents investigating the powerful Philadelphia Democrat. Apparently he failed to erase incriminating e-mails from his own devices, however. Police responded to reports......

"Five men were indicted in New Jersey yesterday on charges of illegally selling guns bought in Bucks County sporting goods stores to buyers in Trenton." Philadelphia Police Officers Sheldon Fitzgerald and Howard Hill III, both five-year veterans who worked in the 25th District in North Philadelphia, were charged with aggravated assault and other offenses for allegedly beating up a graffiti prankster in August 2007. Now police authorities have reopened another Internal Affairs investigation into......

Soaring gas prices are leading to increased ridership on local public transportation services like SEPTA, which just passed a $1.1 billion budget for 2009 that includes major upgrades to handle all those new riders. Because of course, fuel costs are increasing for SEPTA, too. The Philadelphia chapter of the Boy Scouts sued the city in federal court late Friday to prevent being evicted from its city-owned headquarters or being charged $200,000 a year in rent.......

Hey, Greensgrow, a North Philly urban farm, got profiled in a New York Times article! Go them! (Via Dexter) A plan made public yesterday reveals the city prisons commissioner's strategies to reduce prison overcrowding, fight recidivism, and improve prison-staff morale. Meanwhile, an as yet unreleased study of the Philadelphia prison system reveals that recidivism has less to do with prison overcrowding than first-time offenders. "A member of the Eagles Pep Band will be walking 90......

Today, from 9AM through 5PM, Media Mobilizing Project and local broadband activists are urging Philadelphians to call Mayor Michael Nutter to demand that the city step in to save the Wireless Philadelphia network. If you want to give it a shot, the numbers are (215) 686-3000 or (215) 686-2250. The Delaware River Port Authority is conducting two public meetings about its planned efforts to ease congestion on the Philadelphia side of the Ben Franklin Bridge.......

Yesterday Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey fired four police officers and disciplined four others for taking part in the infamous videotaped beating of three shooting suspects. "Students from four Philadelphia-area high schools are meeting at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia today, with other students videoconferencing from as far away as Louisiana, to discuss issues in the presidential election and create a student agenda for the candidates." As promised, Governor Rendell announced the highest......

Michael's been in office for a little over four months now, which apparently means it's time to start fund-raising for his reelection campaign. Michael appointed former Daily News columnist Mark Alan Hughes as the city's "sustainability director," charged with overseeing environmental initiatives. Michael's proposed budget easily cruised through a City Council committee, clearing the way for approval by the whole Council, which should come next week. Some people are accusing Michael of inappropriately excusing the......

"Lane closures are scheduled this weekend on northbound and southbound Interstate 95 near the Betsy Ross Bridge (Exit 26) for bridge deck repairs." Click through for the details. The three men whose arrest and beating was captured on video by a news helicopter have their preliminary hearing scheduled for this morning. They're accused of taking part in a May 5 shooting that wounded three people in Feltonville. Meanwhile, police officials have changed their account......

SEPTA will give away free rides to passengers of the Route 100 Norristown High Speed Line from 11AM through 4PM tomorrow, as part of a celebration of the 100th anniversary of service on the route. SEPTA is also celebrating the 100th anniversary of service to and from the 69th Street Terminal, so there will be a reception there and a series of related activities and events. In other SEPTA news, the agency will be providing......

The world is talking about it, so you should probably check it out—even though it's not especially fun to watch.......

Eric DeShawn Floyd, the third suspect in the murder of police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, was arrested last night when he was found sleeping in a boarded up rowhouse in Southwest Philadelphia at 11:10PM. He was unarmed and offered no resistance. Philadelphia police thus met their goal of capturing Floyd before Liczbinski's funeral. Meanwhile, the leadership of the Germantown Masjid has refused to conduct funeral services for Howard Cain, the bank robber who actually killed Liczbinski.......