Philadelphia Metropolis

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Nutter Kicks Drop

Mayor Nutter wants City Council to abolish the DROP program for city employees.  The reason? It costs the city money -- an estimated $258 million over the last 10 years, according to a report issued Tuesday (Aug. 3) by Boston College... (Comments)

Sinking Under Debt

The Washington Post offers up a profile of Harrisburg, Pa. a city with a debt that exceeds its annual budget. The city owes $68 million -- and soon -- to make payments on bonds floated to refurbish a trash-to-power incinerator, but... (Comments)

An Outbreak of Candor

 By Tom Ferrick Jr. There was a sudden and unexpected outbreak of candor in the gubernatorial race the other day. Attorney General Tom Corbett, the Republican candidate for governor, ambled down to Lebanon last Friday (June 11) to talk to... (Comments)

A Council "Oinkfest"

Charles McPhearson, City Council's go-to guy on the city budget, may be returning to the chamber as a $150,000-a-year consultant.  McPhearson, 60, retired from the job a year ago when it was a salaried position.  Council converted the post into... (Comments)

Day Dreaming

 By Tom Ferrick Jr. This may come as a surprise to some, but we are going to have to elect a new governor this year. Despite his druthers, Ed Rendell must step down. The state Constitution only allows the governor... (Comments)

Recent Entries

  • Why I Am 'Going Bamboo': I'm not sure which aspect of corporate America can be credited as the straw that broke the camel's back and made me decide to "go bamboo." Maybe it was the chorus of co-workers wishing me things like "Happy Friday" or chirping "Somebody could use another cup of coffee!" Maybe it was time I spent studying the walls of my cubical, attempting to conjure up ideas of how any postcard or picture could camouflage the plastic box I worked in. Most likely, however, it was the unenthusiastic chatter of my fellow 20-somethings every morning on the R5. IPod in ears, the front page of The Metro shielding their faces, they are daily ushered from the suburbs like unwilling passengers on the River Styx.
  • Return to Eden: September is rolling in and stores across the nation are...
  • New Look, New Logo: Regular Metropolis readers will notice a different look to the...
  • 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.
  • Finding the Right Cyber Charter: In the new world of public education - where choices abound - parents have to do their homework before picking a school for their child. That's doubly true for cyber charters, which promise a lot but sometimes don't deliver the goods when it comes to quality education. In this installment of The New Home Schooling, reporter Connie Langland offers tips and a list of sources on how to find the cyber charter that best fits your child's needs...
  • A Cyber Future for Education: The John Paul II High School in suburban Montgomery County has all the bells and whistles of a brand-new school--including two cyber learning labs. Advanced Placement courses, once the bragging right of the highest functioning, best funded schools in the region, are becoming commonplace - thanks to the Internet. Students who once were on the verge of dropping out in the Octorara Area School District in Chester County are now making up lost ground - taking so-called credit recovery courses using school computers.
  • Do You Speak Construction?: I'm sitting in my house cringing, as two guys are...
  • Say It Ain't So, Sam: It's been the worst-kept political secret in Philadelphia and now...
  • From Dawn to Dusk: I usually sleep until 7 a.m., but these days I...
  • Confessions of a Techno Dolt: As a mom of three teens, I've relied upon them...
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