http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney RSS Feed for Inq Col Monica Yant Kinney en-us Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:47:14 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/20120215_Monica_Yant_Kinney__Pa__bill_preventing_local_gun_crackdowns_would_be_travesty.html In 2008, when the General Assembly voted on a modest antiviolence bill most Pennsylvanians support, the 128-75 defeat confirmed that in this state, the lobbying muscle of the NRA trumps common sense and constituent safety. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/20120212_Monica_Yant_Kinney__A_Sugar-coated_reality.html After Mat Tomezsko moved from Mantua to Fishtown last summer, he couldn't stop thinking about his neon neighbor, SugarHouse Casino. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/20120208_Monica_Yant_Kinney__Corbett_won_t_dare_mention_the_mentally_disabled.html When a governor says little, every word counts. Referring to Pennsylvania's complicated and costly relationship with its most vulnerable citizens, Tom Corbett speaks only of a generic Welfare with a capital "W" - code for women having babies they can't afford. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/20120205_Monica_Yant_Kinney__On_electoral_reforms__the_silence_is_deafening.html As I type, jurors deliberate the fate of State Rep. Bill DeWeese, the former House speaker who will go down in history as a modern legislator who spoke primarily in 19th-century verse. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/20120201_Monica_Yant_Kinney__Non-fans_send_the_most_thoughtful_gifts.html Readers can be so thoughtful. In 2005, after I mocked acting New Jersey Gov. Dick Codey for using state funds to subsidize Rutgers students' Jell-O shots at a bowl game, he sent me a six-pack of Flying Fish Extra Pale Ale with a note that said: "No taxpayer money was spent on this beer." http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/20120129_Monica_Yant_Kinney__Teen_s_anti-bullying_plea_makes_its_debut.html For a world premiere, STOP's was low on ego. It helps that the feature presentation was a public service announcement conceived of and directed by an unassuming 13-year-old victim of bullying. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/20120125_Monica_Yant_Kinney__Flood_of_donations_seeks_to_save_Bonner__Prendergast.html Over 45 days in 2006, wealthy philanthropists raised $68 million to stop Thomas Eakins' The Gross Clinic from skipping town. They unified behind civic pride and a love of art, but what mattered was reaching a magic number. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/20120122_Monica_Yant_Kinney__Students_unveil_their_pride__pain.html I'll admit that I went to Wednesday's performance of Of Mythic Proportions hoping Kensington teenagers would explain the inexplicable - why it's easier to get a gun in their neighborhood than a job, why seven of their own squeezed into a Toyota Corolla at 10:30 on a recent school night eager to fight, why only four came home alive. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/20120115_Monica_Yant_Kinney__Nutter_s_candid_ways_connect_with_the_public.html You probably missed it, but Esquire anointed Michael Nutter one of six "Patriots of the Year." Nutter made the list not for enacting a soda tax or exacting a bold contract with city workers. He wowed the nation as a "no-nonsense truth teller" after scolding young black flash mobbers, "You damaged your own race." http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/20120112_Monica_Yant_Kinney__I_gasped_right_away.html In the interest of full disclosure, I was among the dirty-minded political observers who gasped at an exchange Gov. Christie had with a female heckler at a rally in New Hampshire last weekend.