As we told you Friday, we here at PhillyClout have always had an appreciation for the city's political relics. We suspect you feel the same way. So we want to help you get your hands on one.
Behold: The official City Hall office baseball bat of former nine-term City Commission Chairwoman Marge Tartaglione.
This very-well-used 34-inch Adirondack, left behind when Tartaglione left office this month, can be yours if you correctly answer three questions about her.
- In what year was Tartaglione arrested and accused of illegally moving voting machines?
- Tartaglione was referred to in the 1980s by some political wags as one of the city's three "Boom-Boom Sisters." Who were the two others?
- To whom did Tartaglione pose this question during a City Commission meeting: "Are you finished? Then wipe yourself."?
Email us your answers, with "Bat Quiz" in the subject line, or mail them to us, care of "Bat Quiz," Daily News, 400 N. Broad St., Phila., PA 19130. Entry deadline is this Thursday, Feb. 2. Entries with three correct answers will be entered into a raffle to win the bat. Putting your answers in the comments section of this blog post = instant disqualification.
Meet Joe Stanfa, who owns a pizza shop where his mafia-boss dad used to meet and on one occasion, shoot.
A Greyhound terminal in Center City was robbed at gunpoint, $21,500 was taken.
Rick Santorum’s daughter is recovering from pneumonia.
A group of young thugs attack a cabbie and a passenger in Center City.
The Museum of the American Revolution found a home in Philadelphia.
Freshman Councilman Mark Squilla introduced yesterday proposed zoning changes to allow for the construction of the museum on Chestnut and 3rd streets.
Initially, the museum was going to be built in Valley Forge National Historical Park then it was later bumped to a nearby location – both times it was met with resistance. Finally, the museum found a home in the city’s historic district.
“I’m excited about bringing any type of tourism to the city,” said Squilla. “What better place than where the revolution got started.”
Costs for the $150 million project will be covered in part by a state grant. New York architect Robert Stern will design the museum. Construction is set to start March 2013 with an estimated 2-year completion.
The American Revolution Center, the nonprofit organization creating the museum, will supply artifacts like George Washington’s silver camp cups; letters from Washington, officers and soldiers and a 13-star American flag.
There’s quite a bit of buzz surrounding a bill that wasn’t introduced in City Council on Thursday.
Councilman Curtis Jones had planned on introducing legislation that would’ve amended the City Charter to create a permanent independent Police Review Commission to handle allegations of police misconduct.
Earlier in the week, Jones said in a statement that the commission would be required to reply to citizen complaints about misconduct within seven days, and compile reports that would list the status of the complaints and sort the complainants by gender, race, age and sexual orientation.
At the last minute, though, Jones pulled the bill.
“He held off. He knew we were going to be opposed to it. I believe the Nutter administration was also opposed,” said John McNesby, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5.
McNesby said the Police Department doesn’t need “another level of bureaucracy” to look over its shoulder.
Mayor Nutter has a host of new crime-fighting strategies. Chief among them: a $20,000 bounty on every murderer in town.
St. Hubert's has raised $722,000 in an attempt to stay open.
Stay a little bit later, drink a little bit longer -- it's for the kids!
Bonnie Sweeten won't be seeing Disney World any time soon.
It's Friday, so it must be Clout!
Check out the press release below:
Thursday, January 26, 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAYOR NUTTER, CITY OFFICIALS ANNOUNCE NEW
CRIME FIGHTING MEASURES
Philadelphia, January 26, 2012– Mayor Michael A. Nutter along with District Attorney Seth Williams and Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey unveiled the City’s new crime fighting measures focusing on prevention, intervention and collaboration at Strawberry Mansion High School. This strategy will link police, neighborhoods and our public and private law enforcement partners to reduce violence.
“Working with our local, state and federal partners and after months of study, we have put together a series of tough measures to reduce violent crime in Philadelphia. We’re going after the criminals who carry illegal guns and we’re empowering citizens to help the police identify these domestic terrorists,” said Mayor Nutter. “We’re offering large cash rewards, using technology in new ways in the fight against crime and immediately putting more police on the streets using overtime funds.”
At the announcement, Mayor Nutter and city officials outlined a series of new, specific crime fighting measures:
Updated:
Today was City Council’s first session in City Hall with six new members and a new president.
Council president Darrell Clarke walked up to the "big chair" –his new seat in Council. He at first seemed a bit uneasy, but quickly found his groove, tapping the wooden gavel to bring members and the public to order.
"You're in for one heck of a ride, you have no idea what you have gotten yourself into," Clarke said.
As soon as Council concluded, reporters asked the new boss how‘d it feel leading a Council session for the first time.
“I’m excited. I look forward to getting engaged in the business of running the city,” Clarke said. “I’m very interested in the fact that Council members have put some things on the agenda today that will hopefully create jobs, create revenue and create the type of synergy I’d like to see as we move ahead.”
City Councilman Darrell Clarke talks about his life beyond politics. Some familiar faces will be working on Clarke's staff.
Speaking of familiar faces: it's Milton!
People in Pennsylvania are feeling kind of "meh" towards President Obama.
Also kind of "meh": the long term outlook on the School District of Philadelphia's finances.
The fear is palpable in a North Philly neighborhood where a possible murder witness was killed.
Pennsylvania ranks No. 3 nationally for its murder rate of black residents.
What, you thought you had heard the last of former federal prison inmate and state Sen. T. Milton Street Sr.? No chance. Street is out circulating nominating petitions to run in the April 24 Democratic primary election for the state House's 195th District, currently held by rookie state Rep. Michelle Brownlee. Hat-tip to Newsworks, where we saw this first.
Street tells us he hopes to build his campaign on the same platform he used last year to challenge Mayor Nutter in the Democratic primary election -- the need to deal with crime in the city and to help prison inmates re-enter society.
"I think we made a lot of progress," Street said. "But I think we lose all that progress if I don’t stay involved. I think I can do that better as an elected official than as a community activist."
Street was still on supervised release after serving 26 months in federal custody for not paying taxes when he took 24 percent of the vote last May, a healthy showing for a guy recently released from prison and a good way to remind voters in Philadelphia about who he is.
Street said a review of last May's election results showed he did well in the neighborhoods that make up the 195th District -- parts of North Philadelphia, Fairmount, Brewerytown and Mantua. [Here's a map of the district, though the boundaries have changed a little with redistricting plan approved in December.]
Brownlee, who worked for 37 years for the last holder of the 195th District seat, former state Rep. Frank Oliver, gave both a sigh and a laugh when we called her in Harrisburg this afternoon to ask about Street. She said she has not spoken to him or anyone else about his campaign.
"Milton has the right to run, I guess," Brownlee said. "I'm almost sure it will be loads of fun. Let's say that."
Local attorney Dan McCaffery just confirmed to PhillyClout what we heard this morning: He is dropping out of the April 24 Democratic primary election for state Attorney General.
McCaffery said campaign fund-raising was a key factor in his decision to drop out of the three-way primary race. Former U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy had a head-start on big-money campaign donors while former Lackawanna County Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Kane says she has $2 million in the bank, though she won't respond to questions about how much she lent her own campaign.
McCaffery said his support was going to come from labor unions and blue-collar workers.
"I'm not going to have anybody writing me six-figure checks," McCaffery said. "I just wasn't comfortable having unions, whose members are out of work right now, writing checks for a bloody primary fight."
McCaffery said the Jan. 14 Democratic State Committee vote on whether to endorse a candidate for attorney general didn't play much of a role in his decision. He finished second in that vote while Murphy finished first and Kane finished third. No candidate reached the two-thirds majority needed to win the party's endorsement.
McCaffery said he hopes the Democrats can now rally behind just one candidate. He declined to say if he would endorse someone in the primary but vowed to campaign for the winner. He called for the office to be a "strong check" on Gov. Corbett's administration.
"At the end of the day, we have two other strong candidates," he said. "I'm hoping the party can unite behind somebody."
UPDATE, 1:20 pm: After the jump, you can read McCaffery's statement on his withdrawal.
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Catherine Lucey joined the Daily News in 2002 and has written about murderous drug gangs, political protesters and Harry Potter. After covering the 2007 mayoral election, she moved over to the City Hall bureau where she has been reporting on the Nutter administration.
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans.
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