Yesterday morning, 20-year-old Community College of Philadelphia accounting student Fakhur Uddin was bound with duct tape and string, shot in the head, and left in the back room of the East Germantown gift and sundry store he was minding for his ailing father. Police believe he was killed during a robbery. Apparently one of the key witnesses against Vincent Fumo in his corruption trial will be his own son-in-law. In the hopes of keeping......

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.......

"A man who was being evicted from his apartment in Yeadon, Delaware County, yesterday pulled a gun and shot the constable who served the eviction notice and the apartment manager, police said. The gunman fled into Southwest Philadelphia and hid in a rowhouse at 1846 Conestoga St, but a host of cops tracked him down and arrested him as he attempted to get away out the back door." The wounded men were listed in critical......

One-time rap music impresario Alton "Ace Capone" Coles is on trial for using his record company as a front for a $25 million, Southwest Philadelphia-based cocaine trafficking network, and yesterday a former girlfriend, and the mother of his two children, testified against him. A man was walking north on Broad Street near Somerset in North Philadelphia, just before 5PM, when someone ran up to him from behind and, he thought, punched him in the......

How did last night's debut of American Idol treat Philadelphia? The Inquirer has the analysis - and a horrifying picture. Two West Philadelphia High students were slashed during an argument on Monday, so a heavy police presence blanketed the area yesterday as students were dismissed for the day. A suspect on the city's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list, described as a "one-man army," and who had eluded authorities for over two years while running a......

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......

The big story around these parts continues to be the arrest and imprisonment of CBS3 anchorwoman Alycia Lane. The Daily News has an article about the incident, focusing on Lane's call to the governor from prison, which she apparently made in order to "make sure he knew her side of the story because he is an opinion-maker and runs around in influential circles." A 4-year-old in Southwest Philadelphia shot himself once in the throat......

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......

"A former lawmaker has returned $79,000 he was paid to serve as litigator for House Republicans." But the state Ethics Commission still has to decide whether his contract violated Pennsylvania law, in which case he might have to pay fines equal to three times that amount. The 90-year-old woman who was beaten and robbed outside her Port Richmond home last month has now died from her injuries. The police are asking for help in......

Warm up your Tivos, because some exciting television program is coming your way this Saturday! And by exciting, we mean boring and pointless. It's a televised debate between the Philadelphia mayoral candidates! The city has ordered Judge Rayford A. Means to fix the two rooming houses he owns in Southwest Philadelphia, which are apparently infested with rodents, have faulty plumbing, sagging floors and broken ceilings, and are also overcrowded. In response to a grand jury......

Sadly, we have a lot of notes about violent crime this morning. First up is the story of a brutal mugging, and the act of a good Samaritan that may very well have saved the victim's life (via Jill). That incident occurred some time ago, but early Saturday morning a gunman fired into a crowd outside Club Polaris, killing two young men and injuring three more. The club has been closed by the city's......

From 12:30PM to 2PM today, you will find members of the Philadelphia Youth Chess Challenge plying their skills at the Shops at Liberty Place. Passersby are invited to play, but beware! We bet you will get your ass handed to you. As you've probably noticed, it's been hot and humid around here recently, which is uncomfortable and disgusting for everybody, but can also be deadly for some, especially the elderly. The Inquirer has an article......

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......

It's about damn time. The Inquirer reports that yesterday administrators announced 80 additional policemen would join those already working in the 12th Police District in Southwest Philadelphia, the city's most beleaguered district. The public and the media watched as officials held a roll call of 80 uniformed police at 60th Street and Woodland Avenue yesterday afternoon. In addition to increasing police presence, Street said his plan involves a holistic approach, one in which "other city......

There was a cool marathon at the AMC at the Neshaminy Mall on Saturday: all five Best Picture nominees in a row. Kind of wish we could have made it to that... If you can't wait to see the result of the legal proceedings against Senator Vince Fumo... well, get used to disappointment, because the trial isn't likely to start until early 2008, and it'll probably go on three to four months. Check out......

Senator Rick Santorum is hoping to overcome his poor poll numbers with a record-breaking campaign fundraising total of $20.1 million. Sorry, Mr. Santorum, but that's not enough money to make us forget your many, many ridiculously stupid and offensive public statements. The dog-screwing one particularly sticks in our minds. An off-duty Southwest Philadelphia police officer allegedly tried to do some shop-lifting at a Northeast Philly Wal-Mart Tuesday night - and he wasn't kidding around......

Thursday afternoon, two men, one of them wearing a full burka, kidnapped a woman as she entered a Philadelphia International Airport terminal. They took her cash, jewelry, and cell phone battery, and then dropped her off on Polar Drive near Kelly in Fairmount Park. Since the police believe she knew her kidnappers, and the incident took place outside the airport security checkpoint, this is not being considered a terroristic crime, or a threat to travellers......

Well, it's official, folks: we're going to have a citywide wi-fi hotspot! (Phillyist gets a tingle just typing that.) The deal between internet service provider EarthLink and non-profit Wireless Philadelphia (created by Mayor Street to oversee the plan) has been signed, and we are go. Now EarthLink just needs to install about 4,000 transmitters on various lightpoles. Don't worry, there will be no cost to city taxpayers...although we're not sure how that's going to......