|
|
|
Archive: January, 2012
Some 39 years after the passage of Roe v. Wade, anti-abortion advocates are stepping up their game in a big way in Pennsylvania. The latest effort: the misleadingly named "Women's Right to Know Act," which would require ultrasounds before abortions and then give women "the right" to look at them. State Rep. Kathy Rapp, who introduced the bill and recruited 112 co-sponsors, is pushing hard and expects the bill "to be considered by the House Health Committee in the near future."
Says Rapp, "Ultrasounds dispel the myth that abortion is only about removing a ‘clump of cells’ and that information in itself is absolutely critical to every mother’s ability to make a fully informed decision.” While the bill does not force women to look at the ultrasound screen it does require practitioners to "Position the screen so that the patient is able to view the ultrasound test in its entirety, with a view of her unborn child, while that test is being conducted to determine gestational age. The patient is not required to view the screen."
Opponents, on the other hand, say it's part of a piecemeal dismantling of women's rights to choose. Rep. Babette Josephs tells CP: "It's a very thinly disguised attempt to make sure that it's difficult for women to get abortions, to require abortion providers to perform actions that are not medically necessary, that have nothing to do with high-quality medical care, and which are designed only to make it difficult for women to access medically safe abortion, which is their Constitutional right." (Plus, she adds, it's ludicrous to be zeroing in on this in the first place: "Why can I not concentrate on what people in the state, need which is jobs?")
Here's Rapp's video plea on the topic.
Touching, right? For those with anti-abortion agendas, it dovetails nicely with House Bill 574 and Senate Bill 3, which effectively raise the cost of doing business for clinics and restrict insurance coverage of abortions. Notably, an ultrasound would not be required for abortions done within eight weeks — perhaps because fetuses that small wouldn't have quite the emotionally hefty impact.
On Monday, Rosemary “Reyna” Fernandez-Rivera was assassinated while working behind the counter of a North Philadelphia / West Kensington bodega. Neighbors told reporters that they believe she was targeted because she may have witnessed another murder, a month prior.
But they also told reporters that she was targeted because she was seen being brought in for questioning by police officers several times, despite apparently asking the officers not to do so.
Yesterday, Mayor Nutter announced a nine-point crime-fighting plan including increased rewards for tips leading to arrests in homicides and promised to double the budget for victim/witness services. The mayor in the past has chided Philadelphians for failing to come forward in investigations, and prominently supported a “start snitching” campaign.
But Fernandez-Rivera’s death highlights the fact that many residents not only don’t trust the city’s police force enough to confide in it, but have good reason not to.
Reports of the murder have posed the question: “Did knowledge of a murder get store worker killed?”
But another good question is this: “Was Fernandez Rivera’s death partly the result of sloppy police practices?"
According to reports citing various residents in the area, police were seen questioning Fernandez-River and bringing her in for questioning several times and right in public.
“They picked her up three, four times. Everybody saw,” was what Luis Sanabria told the Daily News. “They set her up.”
Fernandez-Rivera’s brother in law told the Inquirer: “Last week, she was taken to the police station — she did not want to go …”
In the same article, neighbor Gladys Martinez describes hearing four shots the night of the murder and yelling out from her porch, “What happened?”
The answer: “What do you think? They shot Reyna.”
It appears to be obvious to everyone on that block that Fernandez-Rivera had been in danger not just because she may have witnessed a murder — but because Philadelphia Police put her in danger by making their questioning of her obvious to everyone on the block, drug dealers included.
Mayor spokesman Mark McDonald says the case is still under investigation and that "There are a number of different stories out there," and that "an easy one to grasp, particularly if you don't like police, is the one you mentioned."
But he also conceeds that the mere perception that police questioning may have contributed to the killing of a murder witness matters in and of itself: "Whether or not it's true," that police repeatedly questioned Fernandez Rivera in public, that perception matters, McDonald said.
City Paper has not yet been able to reach 25th District Captain Frank Vanore or Police Commissioner Ramsey — but we're working on it.
Philadelphians have been called a lot of things, but overly polite isn’t one of them. As for the loudest of the loudmouths, when their friends and family can no longer bear to listen, they head to Philadelphia’s website of record and heckle hardworking journos, sources and other commenters. Here, the week in review, as told by the dot-commenters.
Maybe this is where Occupy (and the Tea Party for that matter) were heading all along: if you can't get the government to yield to your demands, ditch it. Or, to paraphrase an old saying: If you can't beat 'em, move outside their jurisdiction. Richard Allen of Wilmington, Del., has a rather Water World-esque vision for how to do it, and, of course, a Kickstarter to match. The notion: "The Bergstead Oceanic Habitation System," "a submersible floating robotic concrete moored structure that provides permanent residential or commercial living space outside the territorial boundaries of any traditional government." He's trying to raise money to build a working scale model that "will have over 20 different sensors, and the sensory data will upload constantly to the internet via cell tower data connection. It will also regulate its own depth below the surface for a period of 2 weeks. I started discussing the project with the state government in order to obtain an official permit."
This isn't a totally new idea. Apparently "seasteading" is established enough to have its own institute, even if it was founded by a billionaire who has been (perhaps not undeservedly) termed a "wackaloon." If only Allen were so well financed. So far, his Kickstarter fund has zero down, $25,000 to go.
Of course, seasteading isn't for everyone. If you're not ready to dose up on Dramamine, there's always the fledgling campaign of local Occupy participant Nathan Kleinman.
Pennsylvania spends at least $463.8 million more on prisons than is reflected in the state's already massive $1.6 billion prison budget, according to a new Vera Institute of Justice and Pew Center on the States report.
The study used a calculation that included various costs tabulated elsewhere in the budget including fringe benefits to employees, underfunded pension and retiree health care plans, spending on inmate health care and education, legal costs and capital projects.
Pennsylvania, according to the study, had one of the largest discrepancies of the 40 states surveyed: 22.6 percent of prison costs are outside the corrections budget, which makes the total spent $2.1 billion. Nationwide, states pay 14 percent more for prisons than is reflected in state budgets—$38.8 billion, or $5.4 billion than officially budgeted.
McPherson Square, known to locals by the affectionate nickname of “Needle Park,” should be looking a little more inviting come spring.
The park, which houses the still-busting McPherson Square branch of the Philadelphia Free Library, has seen better days. At night, residents say, it fills with drug users. During the day, spent needles litter the ground.
After months of meetings over what to do about it, residents and city officials sat down yesterday to discuss what both seemed to think was pretty good news: Parks & Rec Tsar Michael Diberardinis, 7th District Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez, Sanchez aide Justin DiBerardinis, and other city officials announced a small package of improvements for the park, including more policing, bi-weekly summer events, and the hiring of a full-time staffer to oversee free children’s programming this summer.
The news was greeted by applause — a pleasant surprise, perhaps, to some: prior meetings had been mired in disagreements, including a heated debate over whether planting more trees would, as the city seemed to think, be a good thing or whether it would simply make for more hiding places for unseemly behavior.
But yesterday, DiBerardinis Sr. put that question to rest: “If you don’t want trees,” he said, “You won’t have trees.”
5th District Councilman Council President Darrell Clarke began his first session in charge of City Council today by announcing some new rules for the weekly meetings of the city's legislative body. Among them: the enforcement of a three-minute time limit for all members of the public registered to speak.
Until last year, Council didn't allow any public comment during its sessions, a practice which ended when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled in favor of a lawsuit by local attorney Darrell Zaslow arguing the no-comment policy violated state laws governing public meetings.
Under the leadership of former Council President Anna Verna, a 3-minute timer was set, but speakers were usually simply asked to wrap up their comments if they went over.
Not any more. Today, President Clarke — who declined several weeks' worth of requests for interviews by City Paper and the Daily News (we ran our profile of Councilman Clarke without the Councilman's assistance; the DN ran its today, after Clarke finally granted some face time) — declared that the three minute limit would be enforced. Speakers will likely find the microphone simply cutting out after that.
[+3] D.A. Seth Williams rails against the city’s recent incidents of ignorance and senseless violence on Good Day Philadelphia. “You know, you’re right,” says local violent ignoramus. “This has been a real wake-up call for me.”
[0] Retired porn star Jenna Jameson will be a Wingette at the 20th Wing Bowl. It will be the most disgusting experience of her life.
[-2] A rotting, stinking whale carcass washes up in Ocean City. “Ha ha, very funny. Now somebody help me up,” says Snooki.
[-3] Nighttime sports radio host Tom Byrne is arrested for beating a cab driver while attempting to duck a fare because he’s “a celebrity.” This is the first we’ve heard of you, douche
[0] A special committee charged with overhauling the city’s criminal justice system considers bringing back private bail bonders. “I recommend you at least try it. I was in Private Ball Bonders 3 and had a blast,” says Jenna Jameson. “In my face. And my hair. It was jizz.”
[+1] Alums of Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School raise more than $1 million to attempt to keep the school open despite the Archdiosese’s plan to phase it out. “Is that a lot?” asks the Pope, sitting on a $31 million throne atop a $22 million rug and smoking $14 million cigarettes. “P.S.: Don’t forget to tithe. God says.”
[-2] Foul fumes force the evacuation of 20 homes in North Philly. “I’m lost,” says Snooki.
[+1] The Philly School District names a “chief recovery officer” to help cut $61 million from the budget by June. His mission? Bring back Arlene Ackerman, hold her upside down and shake.
[-5] A study finds that the Philadelphia Fire Department has slow response times, is “beset with racial strife” and is resistant to change. One of us! One of us!
[-5] Scientists say the Corbett administration is cutting funding to scientific research relating to the environmental impact of fracking. “Hey, I’m also forcing children to go hungry and launching an assault on the rights of women,” says Corbett. “Why you gotta focus on the fracking?”
[-10] Longtime Phillies announcer Andy Musser passes away.
This week’s total: -17 | Last week’s total: -5
Today, City Council joined the Mayor and Democratic state legislators in pushing back on Gov. Tom Corbett's "war on food stamps," a plan to disallow the distribution of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance) to those with savings of $2,000 or more. Council introduced a resolution to urging Pennsylvania not to begin asset-testing, an idea that advocates have called both "inhumane" and "counterproductive," as it discourages attempts to climb out of poverty and makes it even more difficult to do so.
At a press conference with Mayor Nutter and US Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack this morning, Rep. Bob Brady also spoke out against the asset testing plan. "When you talk about the SNAP program, in my mind you talk about our children," Brady said today. Jeopardizing that is "utterly ridiculous. It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, to talk about preventing a child form having a decent meal."
Believe it or not, he was the calmer of the speakers. "This is one of the most mean-spirited, asinine proposals that's come out of Harrisburg in decades," Nutter fumed, noting that children, senior citizens, disabled people and the working poor who comprise 92 percent of recipients aren't "gaming the system" to claim SNAP. In America, he said, "We encourage people to do the best they can, and when they are down we extend a hand to help lift them up. This is wrong. .... So obviously we're opposed."
Philly could get a lot more outdoor advertising if a couple of bills introduced at the year's first real meeting of City Council this morning make it to final passage. The first, Council President Darrell Clarke's revenue-focused proposal to create regulations for putting ads on municipal buildings like City Hall, was introduced last year and re-introduced again this morning.
The second was new to us: a proposal "to allow posting of signs on utility posts and street light [posts] in designated areas." This could be an interesting battle, given that neighborhod revitalization advocates have been fighting those very signs — you know the ones: for MyPhilly Roofer, or diabetes test strips — in Philly neighborhoods for years. They've also been urging the city to enforce the fines assocated with the illegal postings, which, at $300 per illegal posting, they argue could be a significant revenue generator unto itself.
- ActiVman
- adventures
- Arts
- Ask A Man-About-Town
- Award Tour
- Awards
- Bad Idea Factory
- Beer
- Below the Curve
- Bikes
- Booze
- Brian Hickey
- BRT
- Budget
- Budget Fuss
- Business
- Casinos
- City Council
- City Hall
- CouncilMANIC
- CP Abroad
- CP in the Community
- Criminal Justice System
- Day Tripper
- Death and Taxes
- Delaware River
- Design
- DROP
- Drugs
- Dubious Distinction
- Elections
- End of Days
- Environment
- Fashion
- Film Fest
- Financial Meltdown
- FrackTrack
- Free Library
- Gambling
- Gay Stuff
- Get Lit
- Greenstorming
- guns
- Hall Monitor
- Health
- Health Care
- Hello, Kitty
- Holidays
- Ice Cubes
- Iggles
- Immigration
- In Memoriam
- Labor
- Lawsuits
- Letters
- LGBTQ
- Maps
- Marcellus Shale
- Media
- MMA
- Mummers
- Music
- MUST READ
- Mysterious Mysteries
- Nation
- News
- Non Sequitur
- Opinion
- PA politics 2010
- Parking Wars
- Parks and Recreation
- People Send Us This Stuff
- Philadelphia Police
- Philadelphia Union
- Philaphemera
- Philly From Scratch
- philly madness
- Photos
- Poverty
- PPA
- President Obama
- Print Edition
- Prisons
- Protest
- Readers Write
- Real Estate
- Rock Bottom
- Schools
- Science
- Screwing Philly
- SEPTA
- snow
- So Lush
- Soccer
- Sporting Life
- Sports Complex
- State Politicians
- State Politics
- Street Art
- Strike
- Stuff We Like
- Taxes
- Taxi Drivers
- Tech Fetish
- television
- The Budget Crisis
- The City Paper
- The CLOG
- The Human Condition
- The Mayor
- The Phightin Phils
- The World
- Things that make you go hm
- Tinfoil Hats Off
- Under the Table
- Under the Tables
- Urban Development
- Urban Planning
- urban wildlife
- Video Poker
- We Call Shenanigans
- Weather
- Web Junk
- Weekend Omnibus
- White House
- What We've Found
- Women's Issues
- Flyered Up!
- How 'Bout That Weather?
- it's always sunny in philadelphia
- Stu!
- Shopping
- get out
- 10-track mind
- ArtsFlash
- Bloggity
- Bruce Being Bruce
- Colleges
- Comedy
- Gigantic Surprises
- Hello Canary
- Hello Puppy
- errata
- get lost
- Inside The Fishbowl
- Library Closings
- Local Support
- Movies
- Murder
- Night Moves
- Recycling
- radio
- Scientology
- Sex
- Sixers
- Skeeze Police
- State Politicians Screwing Philly
- That's a cool stencil!
- Theater
- Things We See
- This Week
- This Week in Oates
- University City
- WIN
- What we don't heart
- trailer!
- what we heart
- Feeling Guilty
- Askadelphia.
- Broke in Philly
- Contest
- Dance
- Dear Paper Doll
- Do A Good Thing
- Education
- Film Fest Schism
- G20-20 Vision
- Goodbye
- Gossip
- Great American Heroes
- PATCO
- Pearl Jam Week
- Puppy
- Stars of the Photostream
- sustainability
- Lower Merion Webcam-Gate
- The Cycle
- Equality Forum
- Bureaucrat of the Week
- Animals
- ElectionEar
- Photostream
