daily news: Philadelphia Metropolis

New-Wave Street Gangs: Armed and Violent

Longtime anti-crime activist Greg Bucceroni wears a three-inch-long scar on his forehead, a souvenir from the June 5, 2008 evening when more than a dozen members of the heroin-dealing "Bart Simpson" gang - named after the brand of dope they peddled - backed him against a concrete wall in West Kensington. Bucceroni wore a blue polo shirt inscribed with the words, Philadelphia Police Youth At-Risk Program that night as he walked toward the home of a troubled teenage boy he was mentoring. (Comments)

My Life as a Telemarketer

Best of VoxPop» It's your average grey January day in your average Philadelphia area neighborhood. Going about your daily business, you are interrupted by the phone ringing off the hook. Stumbling to answer it, your eye notices the I.D. displaying Philadelphia Direct. There is no holding back the bad feeling as you answer the call, "Hello?" "Yes, good evening Mrs. Smith. This is John calling from the Inquirer how are you?" answers the Telemarketer. You shout: "I've told you before, STOP Calling!" And you hang up. What is this company that seems to call a dozen times a day? It is Philadelphia Direct Call Solutions, a service of the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. The purpose of the call, no matter how they disguise it, is to sell you a subscription to the paper. (Comments)

There's No Place Like Home

By Kessa Baylor» A year and a half ago I awoke to a burning desire to leave the city of brotherly love. Being born and raised in Philadelphia meant that I under appreciated all of its glory. Every sight and sound became an irritating thorn in my flesh, urging me to flee. I didn't start thinking of moving until after the company I worked for downsized. I decided to use my new freedom to practice some organized spontaneity. I did a little online research for a place to live and a few job leads and I packed up my family and our dog and headed to South Carolina. I had enough savings to keep our heads above water for six months, which I thought was a nice head start. We settled in Rock Hill, about 20 miles from Charlotte, NC. The city was small but (Comments)

Atop the White Tower

The first time I walked into the Inquirer building was in 1970 when I was a Temple student working the summer as an intern at the paper.  To say it was grungy is to be kind.  The paper's owner,... (Comments)

The New Home Schooling

Like many Pennsylvania children, eight-year-old Venus Kennedy has just begun third grade, but not in a new and unfamiliar classroom. She is doing all of her schooling from the comfort of her family home near Temple University. Kennedy is among the thousands of youngsters in the Philadelphia region for whom the start of school this year means pulling up a chair in their living room, dining room or bedroom and logging on to a computer. They are attending virtual schools - a fast-growing trend in K-12 education, enrolling about 175,000 students nationwide and estimated 23,000 in Pennsylvania. (Comments)