harrisburg: 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)

Sink or Swim

The Inquirer inadvertently served up a compare-and-contrast moment in the Friday paper by running two stories about contract settlements side by side on the front page. The first was about the musicians at the Philadelphia Orchestra approving a new contract. ... (Comments)

Drunk and Blind

The thing that tends to get overlooked in the whole Bob Archie-Dwight-Evans imbroglio is that the reason the district sought to make major changes at Martin Luther King High School was because its performance sucks. Despite the presence of Evans' darling,... (Comments)

The Other Shoe Drops

The other shoe dropped at Philadelphia School District headquarters this week. With Arlene Ackerman gone, the folks responsible for hiring her fired themselves. Robert L. Archie Jr., chair of the School Reform Commission, announced he was stepping down.  His departure... (Comments)

I Try to Be Cynical...

As the malaprop-prone Gov. James Duff once told a reporter in Harrisburg: "There's nothing mysterical about the electrical college." But, it looks the Republicans intend to make it mysterical. Senate Republicans have suggested a do-over in the way we count... (Comments)