Philadelphia Eagles Schedule Loaded With Prime-Time Features

Jeffrey Lurie, Philadelphia Eagles owner, after the Eagles' training camp, Aug. 3. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  Let’s hope we actually have a reason to watch all this hoopla.  Winning needs to be the focus this season!   No more excuses, Andy!

Two Sunday night games, two Monday night games, a Thursday night telecast and a multitude of stars coming to Philadelphia highlight the Eagles‘ 2012 schedule, which was released Tuesday by the NFL.

They’ll open their season Sept. 9 at Cleveland and close it on Dec. 30 at MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants.

In between, they’ll host the Giants on a Sunday night (Sept. 30), visit New Orleans on a Monday night (Nov. 5), host Carolina on a Monday night (Nov. 26) and will host the Dallas Cowboys on a Sunday night (Dec. 2).

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/sports/football/eagles/mc-philadelphia-eagles-nfl-schedule-20120417,0,4213630.story

Taking Refuge In The City – Urban Wildlife Refuges

Philadelphia is easily visible from the refuge. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is cool, Philly gets a shout-out!

Denver’s Bluff Lake Nature Center may be situated beside an abandoned airfield, but the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge’s neighbor, Philadelphia International Airport, is very much in use today. Still, Tinicum Marsh, Pennsylvania’s largest remaining freshwater tidal wetland, provides essential habitat for more than 300 bird species, almost one-quarter of which nest here. Established in 1972, the refuge continues to grow and will eventually reach 1,200 acres. Paddlers can tour a 4.5-mile section of Darby Creek, a perfect vantage point for spying elusive least bitterns, the state-endangered red-bellied turtle and the rare coastal leopard frog. Bird and flower walks, family programs and even story times occur every weekend.

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Read the entire article: http://roysrants.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.php?post_type=post

 

Take Tax Gripes To School Boards, Not State, Corbett Says

Standard of the Governor of Pennsylvania http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/us-pa.html#gov (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HARRISBURG - Pennsylvanians who are concerned about rising school taxes should take their complaints to local school boards, not the state government, Gov. Tom Corbett said Wednesday.

“I think the taxpayers need to help themselves,” Corbett replied when a caller on Philadelphia’s Talk Radio 1210 WPHT asked what can be done to help ease the pressures on taxpayers.

In his monthly appearance on the “Dom Giordano Program,” the Republican governor suggested that excessively small class sizes and overly generous contracts with teachers unions are part of the reason many school districts are struggling financially.

“I would love to see the taxpayers speaking up at the school board meetings,” he said.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=379227

New List: The Poorest County In Each State

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Philadelphia County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So of course, I sat and scrolled through 39 pages to get to PA!

In my head I was expecting Fayette County or Greene County to make PA’s poorest county.  Not so!

Philadelphia is a city and a county.  Philadelphia is the poorest county in Pennsylvania with nearly 400,000 people (26.4 %) living at or below the poverty level.

Another list, another day!

If you feel like looking at all 50 states, click here: http://money.msn.com/family-money/the-poorest-county-in-each-state-mainstreet

Newspaper Barons Resurface

The Philadelphia Inquirer-Daily News Building in Philadelphia, PA. Taken from North Broad and Callowhill Streets. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note: If you have followed the sale of the Philadelphia newspapers, this article gives some perspective on what that might mean for Philadelphia from an out-of-town perspective.

Is there anything more forlorn than the American metropolitan newspaper? First readers began deserting in droves, then the advertisers followed. Family owners headed for the exits and then hedge funds and other financial players scooped up newspapers thinking they were buying at the bottom of the market. Greater fools came and went, each saying they could cut their way to former glory and renewed profitability. They got a haircut instead.

Many smaller community newspapers remain stable and newspapers with a large national footprint have generally done better. But quite a few of the midsize regional and metropolitan dailies that form the core of the industry have gone off a cliff: over all, the newspaper industry is half as big as it was seven years ago.

So if most newspapers are an uneconomical proposition incapable of sustaining profits, let alone pay off the debt so many buyers have larded on them, who is left to own them?

Rich guys.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/09/business/media/the-return-of-the-newspaper-barons.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&src=dayp

Related articles

• Political Figure Considers Bid For Philadelphia Newspapers (huffingtonpost.com)

Local Investors Buy Philly Newspapers For $55 Million

The Philadelphia Inquirer-Daily News Building in Philadelphia, PA. Taken from North Broad and Callowhill Streets. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PHILADELPHIA, PA —  A group of powerful local business leaders announced Monday that they have purchased Philadelphia‘s two largest newspapers from hedge funds for approximately $55 million, a fraction of what investors paid for them in 2006.

It is the fifth time in six years the newspapers are being sold.

The buyers, who include influential New Jersey Democrat George Norcross III, former New Jersey Nets owner Lewis Katz and cable TV mogul H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest, said they plan to keep the newspapers’ tradition of strong journalism alive in the digital age.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-philadelphia-newspapers-sold-20120402,0,5831712.story

Amtrak Seeks Leisure Travelers

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A banner hanging in Lancaster‘s Amtrak station advertises a special promotion for travelers going to the current Philadelphia flower show.

The 15 percent reduction on tickets on Amtrak’s Keystone line is an effort to get more people to ride the rails rather than drive.

In the near future, there could be similar signs hanging in Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station or the Harrisburg train station advertising First Fridays in Lancaster.

Amtrak and the state Transportation Department — Amtrak’s partner in the Keystone line — hope to build more leisure travel on the 104-mile line between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Toby Fauver, deputy secretary for local and area transportation, said.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/601295_Amtrak-seeks-leisure-travelers.html#ixzz1ojKUHhx7

Wilkes-Barre Times Leader Newspaper Sold

Impressions Media, owner of The Times Leader newspaper in Wilkes-Barre, has been acquired by a Philadelphia private equity firm, The Times Leader announced on its website.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-times-leader-sold-20120306,0,6696191.story

 

Casino Nears Completion At Valley Forge Convention Center

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Construction crews are putting the finishing touches on Pennsylvania’s 11th slot-machine casino, set to open next month at a convention center just outside Valley Forge National Historical Park.

The sounds of drills, power lifts and hammers filled the air at the still-under-construction casino Tuesday, when the casino’s operators gave tours of the new facility. That cacophony, however, will soon give way to the cha-ching of coins and the whirr of slot machines when the casino fully opens for business on March 31 with 600 slots and 50 table games.

The scheduled opening comes as competition for gamblers is growing in the suburban Philadelphia market, which already has the Parx Casino in Bensalem, SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia and Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack in Chester. By law, Pennsylvania could one day be home to 14 casinos.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-valley-forge-casino-20120228,0,6627210.story

Landlord Ire Over Philadelphia Gas Work’s Lien Policy

YOU’D ASSUME that Gail Newman is using hyperbole when she calls the Philadelphia Gas Works a “fascist” regime run by “devious gangsters” relying on “Mafia-like” tactics to shake her down for $15,000 worth of natural gas she never used.

Bit over the top, right? Turns out, Newman’s not the only one who feels that way.

“They know they can extort the money . . . ” she said. “I’m just a middle-class person trying to make a buck, and they’re taking their boot and squashing us. I’m so pissed!”

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120217_Landlord_ire_over_PGW_s_lien_policy.html

Philly Wine Bar Owner Bubbly Over Debut

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Trying to corner London Grill owner Terry Berch McNally on Thursday night at her new Paris Wine Bar was akin to nabbing a butterfly out in the field with a net.  She was just here.  No, she’s over there. But could you expect anything else on her first debut in a couple of decades?

Paris Wine Bar, on Fairmount Avenue up from the Philadelphia Art Museum, was packed much of Thursday night, if nothing else sending staff often scurrying to get more clean wine classes.  Its opening in Philly was significant for two reasons: It was selling PA wines only, and they were being poured “on draught.”

Winemakers from Allegro, Galen Glen, Manatawny Creek and Pinnacle Ridge dined and probably would have signed autographs if anyone knew them.

Read more: http://blog.pennlive.com/wine/2012/02/post_118.html

Fast Eddie Part Of Group Looking To Buy Philadelphia Inquirer

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Looks like Fast Eddie’s back in the saddle again!

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Former Gov. Ed Rendell and Philadelphia Flyers owner Ed Snider are leading a “civic-minded” effort to buy Philadelphia’s two largest newspapers, Rendell said Friday.

The six-person group submitted a non-binding “letter of interest” Thursday in Philadelphia Media Network, which operates The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News.

News reports surfaced this week that two hedge funds with major stakes in the company want to sell. The firms, Alden Global Capital and Angelo Gordon, had led the creditors’ $139 million takeover of the company at a September 2010 bankruptcy auction.

Rendell could not confirm their intentions, but said a third party has been reaching out to potential investors in recent weeks. The media company would be bought outright, he said.

Read more: http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2012/02/04/news/doc4f2d48b30ba13550941899.txt

Retired Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua Dies Amid Abuse Testimony Controversy

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, the retired Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia whose competence to testify in an upcoming church sex abuse trial was hotly debated in court, died in his sleep on Tuesday, the church said.

The cardinal, 88, led the Philadelphia archdiocese, the nation’s sixth largest, from 1988 to 2003. Church spokeswoman Donna Farrell said Bevilacqua died at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, the traditional home for the leaders of the Philadelphia archdiocese, where he had lived since retirement.

Whether Bevilacqua was well enough to testify had become a pivotal issue in the sex abuse trial of three priests, one now defrocked, and a former archdiocese school teacher. Another church official, Monsignor William Lynn, faces charges of child endangerment but is not accused of abuse.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/allentown/sns-rt-us-catholics-philadelphia-cardinaltre8100mt-20120201,0,5208721.story

RIP Herb Clarke

Long-time WCAU (NBC 10) Weatherman Herb Clarke has died at age 84 from Alzheimer’s complications.  Clarke’s career spanned 39 years from 1958 to 1997.  During that time Clarke went from using a chalkboard to a computerized display.

Our condolences go out to this wife Barbara and the entire Clarke family.

Giant Food Stores To Acquire 16 Genuardi’s Family Markets In Philadelphia Area

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Giant Food Stores, LLC, is making a competitive push into the suburban Philadelphia market.

The Carlisle-based chain announced Thursday it has entered into an agreement to acquire 16 Genuardi’s Family Markets in the Philadelphia area for $106 million.

The transaction is expected to close over the next six months at which point the ownership will be transferred from Safeway Inc. and the stores converted into Giant Food Stores.

Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/01/giant_food_stores_to_acquire_1.html

RELATED STORY

Royersford, Norristown and Exton Genuardi’s closing!

http://www.timesherald.com/article/20120105/NEWS01/120109752

Kill-adelphia: City Tops List Of Homicide Rates

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Murders are up again this year in Philadelphia, and the city still has the highest homicide rate of the nation’s 10 most populous cities, according to stats provided by each city’s police department. At the same time, fewer murders are getting solved.

With a few days left in the year, the city’s homicide tally stood at 324 Wednesday, including the eight victims allegedly killed in previous years by West Philly abortionist Kermit Gosnell. Last year, 306 people were killed, and the year before, 302.

But despite the jump in homicides this year, city officials prefer to focus on the past. When they compare numbers, they go back to 2007, when murders in Philly were at the five-year high of 392. Looking at it that way, they get a 17 percent decrease in the murder rate from 2007 to 2011.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20111230_Kill-adelphia__Yet_again__city_tops_list_of_homicide_rates.html?cmpid=124488459

J.C. Penney Returns To Franklin Mills Mall

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The J.C. Penney outlet store at Franklin Mills mall was one of 19 outlet stores closed by J.C. Penney.  In March of 2012, J.C. Penney is coming back to Franklin Mills as a full-line department store.  The new 100,000 square-foot store will occupy the same space but feature an updated design.

Franklin Mills Mall, is owned by Simon Property Group and has 200 stores.

Pittsburgh Ranks 37th In Best-Performing Cities List

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The Pittsburgh metro area fell five spots but remained in the Top 40 in the 2011 Milken Institute Best-Performing Cities Index measuring economic and job growth.

Pittsburgh was ranked 37 on the 2011 list compared to 32 in 2010. This year’s No. 32 was York-Hanover, Pa; the only other Pennsylvania city in the top 50 was Philadelphia, at No. 49.

Pittsburgh was 30th in the United States when it came to one-year job growth during the recession years of 2009-10, and 60th in terms of five-year growth from 2005 to 2010. It was 50th in terms of job growth from June 2010 to June 2011, the Milken Institute said.

Read more: http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2011/12/19/pittsburgh-37th-best-performing-city.html?ed=2011-12-19&s=article_du&ana=e_du_pub

Lack Of Competition On Nonstop Flights Between Philly And Pittsburgh Will Skyrocket Ticket Prices

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This is a classic example of why competition is necessary in an economy.  Southwest Airlines is ending their Philadelphia to Pittsburgh nonstop service on January 8th.  Starting January 9th, US Airways will be the only carrier with nonstop flights between Pennsylvania‘s two largest cities. 

Today, a nonrefundable round-trip ticket will set you back $118.00 before taxes.  After Southwest ends their nonstop service, the same ticket, for the same flight, will cost you $698.00 on US Airways.

Taking a flight with one connecting stop makes flying almost equivalent to driving across the state.  Amtrak and Megabus are also not options for business travelers who need to make same-day round-trips.

Just another example of corporate greed.

Eagles Implode, Reid Sputters, Fans Ballistic

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Yesterday’s disgraceful loss by the Philadelphia Eagles to the New England Patriots has fans calling for Andy Reid‘s head.  As usual, Andy “takes responsibility” but offers no solutions.  The game was painful to watch.  The “Dream Team” is an embarrassing nightmare as evidenced by the booing from Eagles fans.  We can’t even win a game on our home field for cryin’ out loud!

Dropped passes, poor coverage, interceptions, a total Red Zone collapse and the list goes on and on.  Something drastic needs to happen.  If that means Andy Reid gets the axe then so be it.  Jeff Lurie better pull a rabbit out of his hat while he still has a football team left!  We need our mojo back!