Wednesday, May 22, 2013

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Politics

City Controller Alan Butkovitz greets well-wishers yesterday as he enters Famous Fourth Street Deli. Butkovitz defeated two challengers in the primary, winning the Democratic nomination for November’s race. (Alejandro A. Alvarez/Staff)

Butkovitz clinches controller race

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Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams is all smiles as he leaves the voting booth with his daughters Taylor, 13, and Hope, 9, after voting in the primary Tuesday at the 34th Ward, 34th Division. Williams was the 9th voter to vote, a little before 8 a.m. (Clem Murray / Staff Photographer)

Philly voters select 12 judges

The smattering of city voters who went to the polls for Tuesday's primary picked 12 would-be judges, including three potential new members of Traffic Court, an institution so steeped in corruption that state lawmakers are trying to abolish it.

Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Girard College in Philadelphia, Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, after a round table discussion on gun control with elected and law enforcement officials. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Biden: Jewish leaders drove gay marriage changes

Vice President Joe Biden is praising Jewish leaders for helping change American attitudes about gay marriage and other issues.

Minority clerk Dori Lenz awaits voters at the 8th ward, 6th division polling location on the third floor of the Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel, Philadelphia, May 21, 2013. ( DAVID M WARREN / Staff <br />Photographer )

HERE COME THE JUDGES

Here are the apparent winners of yesterday's judicial primaries: Common Pleas Court Democrats Anne Marie Coyle Timika Lane Joe Fernandes

Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn believes he can raise $91 million by taxing the NFL and NHL. (Susan Walsh/AP)

Okla. senators voted against Sandy aid

When the U.S. Senate was presented with a $60.4 billion emergency spending aid package for victims of Hurricane Sandy backed by Democrats in January...

Primary election day in Pennsylvania Tuesday, May 21, 2013 as evidenced by campaign signs sprouting in front of the polling place at York Avenue Elementary School in Lansdale. CLEM MURRAY / Staff Photographer

Bachtle wins in Bucks in top suburban race

Despite a notably low turnout, local government candidates battled it out Tuesday in primaries across the four Pennsylvania suburban counties, with two Republican incumbents in Bucks County facing primary challenges for row offices.

Ralph Brooks Tot Lot , in Point Breeze, will get an eco-friendly makeover, including an updated basketball court and a rain garden.

Reimagining a Point Breeze basketball court

The Ralph Brooks Tot Lot is supposed to be a safe haven for kids in Point Breeze who want to get exercise and stay out of trouble

Waters loses for Superior Court

HARRISBURG - Allegheny County Court Judge Jack McVay defeated Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Joseph Waters Jr. on Tuesday for the Democratic nomination for a vacant seat on the state Superior Court.

Judge of the Superior Court Contested race only

Democrat (84% of the vote) Jack McVay Jr. . . . 269,443 Joseph Waters Jr. . . . 215,432

Bucks County Contested races only

Sheriff Republican (98% of the vote) *Edward "Duke" Donnelley . . . 17,546 Tom Lingenfelter . . . 6,388

ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Municipal Court nominee Henry Lewandowski with former Daily News columnist Harriet Lessy at Famous Fourth Street Deli.

Democratic machine cleans up in judicial primaries

Party-endorsed candidates won at least 10 or 12 vacant positions on Philadelphia's three courts.

A poor excuse for justice

A growing gap in legal aid needs to be closed for the sake of equal justice.

Philadelphia City Controller Alan Butkovitz and wife Theresa arrive at polling place Ward 53 Division 11 inside the St. Thomas Indian Orthodox school at 1009 Unruh Ave in northeast Philadelphia on Tuesday, May 21, 2013. ( ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER )

Election Day updates: Butkovitz wins

City Controller Alan Butkovitz defeats two challengers in Democratic primary.

Controller, judgeships up for grabs in Phila.

It may come as a surprise to many Pennsylvania voters, but Tuesday is primary election day, with balloting to choose party candidates for judgeships and a variety of local offices throughout the state's 67 counties.

In this file photo, police in tactical gear surround an apartment building while looking for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings in Watertown, Mass., Friday, April 19, 2013. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

FBI: Man fatally shot in Boston bombing probe

A man being questioned by authorities in the Boston bombing probe was fatally shot when he initiated a violent confrontation, FBI officials said Wednesday.

Los Angeles Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti votes early Tuesday morning, May 21, 2013, in Los Angeles. Garcetti faces Wendy Greuel in a mayoral runoff. After months of buildup and millions of dollars spent on a blizzard of television ads and mailers, Los Angeles voters went to the polls Tuesday to choose between Garcetti and Wendy Greuel. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)<br />

Garcetti elected Los Angeles mayor over Greuel

City Councilman Eric Garcetti defeated Controller Wendy Greuel to become next mayor of Los Angeles after a caustic campaign in which he depicted his fellow Democrat as a pawn of powerful labor bosses.

Official: Treasury played no role in IRS targeting

The Treasury Department's No. 2 official told Congress on Wednesday that his agency played no role in the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups.

FILE - In this June 2, 2012 file photo, House Armed Services Committee member Rep. Niki Tsongas, D-Mass. speaks in Springfield, Mass. Determined to check the growing epidemic of sexual assaults in the armed forces, a House panel is poised to approve a series of revisions to longstanding military law. They include stripping commanding officers of their unilateral authority to change or dismiss a court-martial conviction and requiring that service members found guilty of sexual offenses be dismissed or dishonorably discharged. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)<br />

House panel seeks to curb military sexual assaults

Determined to check the growing epidemic of sexual assaults in the armed forces, a House panel is poised to approve a series of revisions to longstanding military law. They include stripping commanding officers of their unilateral authority to change or dismiss a court-martial conviction and requiring that service members found guilty of sexual offenses be dismissed or dishonorably discharged.

File-This June 16, 2011 file photo shows Anthony Weiner speaking to the media during a news conference in New York. The ex-congressman who resigned over raunchy tweets said late Tuesday may 21, 2013, that he´s in the New York City mayoral race. He had said last month he was considering it. The Democrat is jumping into a crowded field for September´s primary. He´s arriving with some significant advantages, including a $4.8 million campaign war chest, polls showing him ahead of all but one other Democrat, and no end of name recognition. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig,File)

Weiner launches NYC mayoral bid

Anthony Weiner's run for a renaissance is officially on.

Iceland forms new center-right government

Progressive Party leader Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson has been chosen as Iceland's new prime minister.

FEMA Chief: Feds won't go 'when the cameras leave'

The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency says U.S. officials are "going neighborhood to neighborhood" to make sure Oklahoma gets the help it needs.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent subcommittee on Investigations Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., left, and the subcommittee´s ranking Republican Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., arrive on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, May 21, 2013, for the subcommittee´s hearing to examine the methods employed by multinational corporations to shift profits offshore and how such activities are affected by the Internal Revenue Code. A string of unrelated events are highlighting divisions among Republicans, just when they’d like to show a united front and take full advantage of President Barack Obama’s latest political problems. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)<br />

Republican divisions may hinder party's momentum

A string of unrelated events is highlighting divisions among Republicans just when they'd like to show a united front and take full advantage of President Barack Obama's latest political problems.

Garcetti builds growing lead as LA picks new mayor

Councilman Eric Garcetti, who jammed with pop star Moby and fashioned himself as a voice for a new generation of city leaders, has opened a growing lead in the race for Los Angeles mayor with the pool of uncounted ballots steadily shrinking.

Several dozen tea party activists and other concerned citizens, wave signs and small American flags as they march outside the main Internal Revenue Service office on Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Phoenix. The rally was one of many around the country after IRS officials acknowledged that some conservative groups received inappropriate attention and questioning. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) <br />

Star witness to stay mum for House hearing on IRS

A House committee taking Congress' latest look at the Internal Revenue Service's mistreatment of tea party groups will apparently have to do so without input from the star witness.

Star witness to be mum during House hearing on IRS

A House committee taking Congress' latest look at the Internal Revenue Service's mistreatment of tea party groups will apparently hold its hearing without input from its star witness.

Kerry praises $2.1 billion Raytheon deal in Oman

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Wednesday with officials in Oman to discuss their plans to buy a $2.1 billion air defense system from American manufacturer Raytheon.

FILE - In this May 20, 2013 file photo, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., left, confers with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., center, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., as the Senate Judiciary Committee assembled to work on a landmark immigration bill to secure the border and offer citizenship to millions, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Leading senators working on immigration legislation reached a compromise Tuesday on the details of an expanded high-tech visa program, officials said as the Senate Judiciary Committee neared completion of its work on the measure. At the same time, several officials said the White House has made it known to Leahy that it would prefer postponing a showdown over the rights of same sex spouses until a vote in the full Senate. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)<br />

Immigration bill heads to full Senate

A far-reaching bill to remake the nation's immigration system is headed to the full Senate, where tough battles are brewing on gay marriage, border security and other contentious issues, with the outcome impossible to predict.

Officials say Benghazi suspects under surveillance

Five men are under round-the-clock U.S. surveillance in Libya, wanted for questioning in the attack last year on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. The White House believes there is enough proof for a military force to seize them as terrorist suspects, officials say, but prefers to wait until investigators have enough evidence to try them in a U.S. civilian courtroom.

Harrisburg mayor won't get second shot

Democratic voters in financially troubled Harrisburg denied Mayor Linda Thompson a second term Tuesday, choosing bookstore owner Eric Papenfuse to try to help the financially strapped capital.

With primary election over, focus turns to DA's race