Archive: March, 2011
A new report that finds Pennsylvania once again leading the nation in unsafe bridges should be the catalyst for Gov. Corbett and state lawmakers to get back to work on a transportation funding plan — before a bridge collapses.
With more than 5,900 bridges deemed deficient by the group Transportation for America, millions of motorists are at risk when crossing spans that could become dangerous unless they are repaired in the near term.
Neighboring states’ bridges are in far better shape.
It feels more like winter, but the Boys of Summer are finally back.
If God and the weather forecasters cooperate, the Phillies will open one of their most anticipated seasons ever at 1:05 p.m. Friday. Cliff Lee has returned, and his swagger is contagious.
Consider the young child who asked Ryan Howard at a team event earlier this week: “When you win the World Series, um, can I be in the parade?”
A new report on children in New Jersey indicates the state is doing some things right to improve the lives of its most vulnerable children. But as teachers like to say to students, there’s room for improvement.
The findings in the first ever New Jersey Kids Count Report Card offer a snapshot into the well-being and quality of life for two million children.
The report concluded children are doing poorly in seven key areas studied by the Advocates for Children of New Jersey organization, which has added the report card to its annual survey of child welfare. Similar data for Pennsylvania will be released in June.
It’s too bad that a Philadelphia judge has allowed a months-delayed sheriff’s sale to go ahead on Tuesday. That has set off a race against time for hundreds of Philadelphia homeowners facing the loss of their homes.
Some owners of these foreclosed homes could be rescued with low-cost loans that should be available soon under a new federal program.
The question is, will the aid arrive in time? Or will it reach these homeowners only after they have been put out on the street?
As rebels retreated Tuesday from counterattacks launched by forces loyal to dictator Moammar Gadhafi, diplomats from 40 nations, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, met in London to consider the plight of Libya.
They had no easy answers to the question of what’s next. Nor did President Obama present any simple solutions in his address on Monday night. Obama ably articulated why this fight is right for the United States, but he could not say how, or when, the nation’s involvement will end.
The president gave both strategic and moral explanations for his decision to intervene in Libya, which he stressed was made “after consulting the bipartisan leadership of Congress.”
So you want to be a judge in Philadelphia? Pick a number. Pull out your wallet — or tap your lawyer and union friends for money. Then hold your nose.
In the run-up to the May 17 primary, the free-for-all process of electing judges in the city and across Pennsylvania will play out in all its messy, haphazard and bare-knuckle glory.
There are 45 candidates vying for 10 openings on Common Pleas Court, and 11 for one Municipal Court post.
Battling over the size of short-term budget cuts in Washington is like "fighting over the bar tab on the Titanic," said former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker.
In an interview Tuesday with the Inquirer Editorial Board, Walker said lawmakers should focus on the real threat to the nation's fiscal health -- long-term debt of more than $14 trillion and costly entitlement programs.
"The threat is not today's spending," Walker said. "The threat is where we are headed."
It’s an audacious undertaking to try to revive the entire downtown of a major city just one scrap of litter at a time.
But that simple idea — and then some — is behind the success of Philadelphia’s Center City District, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.
With funding provided by Center City property owners, the district on a daily basis fields uniformed street cleaners, as well as roving guides who advise tourists and serve in an eyes-and-ears role to report crime and other problems to police and City Hall.
Women have made gains in elected office since Geraldine Ferraro’s trailblazing moment in 1984, but not enough progress.
Ferraro, who died Saturday at age 75 from cancer complications, was the first woman nominated by a major political party for vice president. The Democrat’s breakthrough encouraged women to believe that anything was possible.
Ferraro will be remembered for her toughness and political skill in that campaign. At the time of Ferraro’s nomination, many people thought a woman would soon get elected president. But more than a quarter-century later, the nation still hasn’t elected its first female head of state.
