Philadelphia Columnists

FEATURED COLUMNS

Dick Polman

Why GOP can't block Sotomayor

Michael Klein

Alycia Lane heads for the Hills of L.A.

Kevin Ferris

Back Channels: Discrimination, on its face

Michael Smerconish - Inquirer

Soldier's death overshadowed by Jackson's

Trudy Rubin

Showtime in Swat

Annette John-Hall

Admiral wants hands of all colors on bridge - not just on deck

Harold Jackson

End of racial bias? Not yet

Bob Ford

Phils' bandbox would not faze Halladay

NEWS

Admiral wants hands of all colors on bridge - not just on deck

If Adm. Gary Roughead has his way - and what chief of naval operations doesn't get his way? - more midshipmen like Osborne Bingham, Kadeem Gordon, and Christopher Dugan will graduate from the Naval Academy as fully commissioned officers.

John Baer
Stu Bykofsky
Clout
Dave Davies
Annette John-Hall

Monica Yant Kinney
Ronnie Polaneczky
Jill Porter
Daniel Rubin
Karen Heller

SPORTS

Phils' bandbox would not faze Halladay

Bob Ford: Halladay is a serious guy. He likes routine. He likes knowing his environment and controlling it when possible. Change is not his favorite thing, according to those who know him.

Talkin' baseball scorekeeping

From: Ford, Bob To: Salisbury, James T: Fitzpatrick, Frank Re: 5-4-3 I walked through the concourse during a Phillies game last week, killing time after I had filed my story and waiting for the game to play out. I had my scorebook with me, keeping up with the game while I strolled around.

Ed Barkowitz
Les Bowen
Sam Carchidi
Bill Conlin
Paul Domowitch
Sam Donnellon
Bernard Fernandez
Frank Fitzpatrick
Bob Ford
Ashley Fox
Mel Greenberg
Paul Hagen

Rich Hofmann
Phil Jasner
Dick Jerardi
Mike Kern
Joe Logan
Don McKee
Ed Moran
Tim Panaccio
Jim Salisbury
John Smallwood
Phil Sheridan
Ted Silary
Stan Hochman

FEATURES

Rendell writes Fumo judge

Karen Heller: Once, Vince Fumo was one of Ed Rendell's many best friends. Now, Rendell writes a letter to the judge in Fumo's corruption case, extolling Fumo's good works and saying that "the good that Vince Fumo did should count for something; in fact, it should count for a great deal."

'Diva' carries real weight

Ellen Gray: In Lifetime's Lifetime'"Drop Dead Diva," Brooke Elliott stars as Jane Bingum, a brilliant lawyer whose body is essentially snatched by a "Price Is Right" model wannabe.

German beer hall fills a void - and slakes a thirst

Once upon a time, dating to 1840, German brewing in Philadelphia was a powerful presence; inhalable, in fact: "The air was as nourishing as vaporized bread," the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin noted, bemoaning the smothering hand that Prohibition visited on neighborhoods once populated by stout brewmasters, "titanic drivers in leather aprons," and giant draft horses, and on evenings that had been alive with drinking songs and "the guttural language of Goethe and Schiller."

A question of character

IT'S EVERY woman's nightmare. No one wants to think she's living the ultimate life only to find out it's all a lie.

Karla Klein Albertson
Jenice Armstrong
Sandy Bauers
Jim Coleman
Dan DeLuca
Tirdad Derakhshani
Peter Dobrin
Kimberly Garrison
Kellie Patrick Gates
Howard Gensler
Dan Gottlieb
Ellen Gray
Dan Gross
David Hiltbrand
Al Heavens
Mitchell Hecht
Karen Heller
Michael Klein
Craig LaBan

Alfred Lubrano
Dennis McCauley
Rick Nichols
Steven Rea
Carrie Rickey
Carlin Romano
Inga Saffron
Lisa Scottoline
Howard Shapiro
Joe Sixpack
Edward J. Sozanski
David Patrick Stearns
Steve and Mia
Jonathan Storm
Jonathan Takiff
Gary Thompson
Elizabeth Wellington
Toby Zinman

OPINION

Pa.'s fireworks insanity

Michael Smerconish: Let Pennsylvanians buy their back-yard fireworks in their own back yard. In an era of smoking bans and restaurants forced to post the calorie content of their meals, consumers could use a little less nanny state and a little more freedom.