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Archive: July, 2012
Despite the enthusiastic tone of this week's press release from the Pennsylvania Department of State and PennDOT — "Department of State and PennDOT Confirm Most Registered Voters Have Photo ID" (exclamation point implied only) — voting rights activists didn't take the news that 91 percent of registered Pennsylvania voters have PennDOT IDs all that well. After all, that's 9 percent of voters without PennDOT IDs, compared to the 1 percent previously estimated. And, it leaves 186,830 registered Philly voters (136,182 of whom are considered to be active voters), unaccounted for, enough to potentially spin an election. Which is exactly what House Republican leader Mike Turzai proudly pointed out in the video above was the point all along.
But as the general election creeps closer, more challenges to the law are popping up.
Hey, remember that baffling brush Fishtown had with an Internet sweepstakes cafe of the type that are apparently sweeping the nation? The now-shuttered cafe will, it seems, be the first and last such attempt we'll see here in Philadelphia. Our legislature, even while contemplating opening the door for pay-day lenders to bankrupt poor people across the state, has finally passed a law forbidding these sweepstakes joint from operating. The governor signed the bill, House Bill 1893, into law this week; it had bipartisan support and was sponsored by Reps. Randy Vulakovich (R-Allegheny) and Tina Davis (D-Bucks). It's now a "misdemeanor offense to own, operate, maintain or have a financial interest in an electronic gaming machine or sweepstakes through the use of a simulated gambling device."
Public opinion on shale-gas drilling in Pennsylvania runs the gamut, from the utter outrage of those whose water has been contaminated, whose livestock have died in the fields and whose family members have taken ill, to those who see it as the commonwealth's big chance for big money, in the form of big campaign contributions and big — oh wait, that's meager — income from taxes and fees. But what about Philadelphia and its suburbs? Except for joining in the outcry against drilling in the Delaware River Basin — a.k.a. the source of our very own drinking water — many people here have been relatively indifferent.
So, how can the fracking industry tip the scales? Here are the makings of a solid action plan, and it's already well underway.
Step 1. Keep the drilling the hell away from us.
Done, and done. The Commonwealth's new budget bill was injected with language that provides for a moratorium on oil and gas drilling permits in the South Newark Basin — which runs through Bucks and Montgomery counties — until 2018. Since Act 13, passed earlier this year, pretty much eliminates any local zoning controls over drilling, such a law was the only sure way to prevent fracking from running right through the metro Philly area.
“Decisions about gas drilling and fracking must be made based on environmental and community impacts, not back room politics,” said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, in a statement from the Riverkeeper, PennEnvironment, Sierra Club and Clean Water Action.“This law is a sham— it’s a power play to try to get a few politicians who voted to gut community rights off the hot seat in their backyard at the expense of every place else and that’s just dead wrong. We need a statewide moratorium on gas drilling now.”
“Oh no they didn't” is Daniel Denvir's weekly blog post on last week's state politics. Philadelphians know precious little about the legislature or governor, but pretending that Tom Corbett doesn't exist will not make him go away. Follow on Twitter @DanielDenvir.
Republican Gov. Tom Corbett signed a $27.7 billion budget 15 minutes before Saturday's midnight deadline. So before you take off to drown your sorrows in cathartic mock combat with our erstwhile British overlords, ponder 11 things that Pennsylvania Republicans, sometimes with a Democratic assist, have accomplished this session.
Much of the legislation—privatizing public services, voter ID, targeting immigrants—has little to do with our local needs. Today, Pennsylvania is more like a cog in a national agenda controlled by anti-tax power brokers like Grover Norquist, and groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which brings conservative state legislators nationwide and corporations together to draft and lobby for legislation.
As the AP curtly summarized, the new budget is “cutting businesses' taxes by hundreds of millions of dollars and slashing hundreds of millions of dollars from services for the poor, homeless, troubled and disabled.” But there's more.
A weekly series of foul-mouthed investigations into empty lots, dead-ass proposals and other design phenomena in Philadelphia. Find more stories like this at Philaphilia.blogspot.com.
622 N. 2nd St. -- Holy shit look at that crazy motherfucker!! This nutty-looking building was going to be a revolutionary killer-structure that would bring Philadelphia architecture into the 28th Century. Unfortunately, the building's own crappy developer was its downfall.
Back in 2005 and 2006, Creating Real Estate Innovations, aka CREI, was proposing the boldest and wackiest projects for the city. Priding themselves on their unique creations, CREI gave hope to Philaphiles everywhere that a new built environment using the latest technologies would become the rule in this city instead of the exception. Not only that -- the sites they chose to build on were often long-lived empty lots that were itching for development.
View galleryTensions have been mounting among Occupy National Gathering protesters after last night’s arrest of 28 Occupy members, including two Philadelphia medics, during a march.
One of the medics arrested, addressed her main concern at the jail solidarity gathering this afternoon outside Philadelphia’s Roundhouse where nine protesters remain detained. “I define autonomy as people looking out for their own,” she explains, “I did not feel that last night.” The medic cites a lack of communication among members of Occupy National Gathering as the root of the issue. She goes on to explain that a dialog needs to be had within the group to discuss the future of National Gathering and the movement as a whole, and to make the protesters more connected. Which, after all, was the point of organizing this weekend's events in the first place.
However, a large goal of the National Gathering is to remedy exactly this situation within the movement. Dustin Slaughter, a member of Occupy Philadelphia since the fall and an organizer of National Gathering states that this five-day meeting is a chance for Occupy members to bond and forge new relationships. The ultimate goal is to form a “blueprint” for the future of the Occupy movement. With this blueprint, members of the Occupy movement will be able to “work together on issues and concerns people are most passionate about … on a national scale,” Slaughter explains.
Photo by Jesse Kudler, used with permission
Well, the title pretty much sums up what this reporter knows at the moment, but ...
More than twenty Occupy movement members were arrested tonight, during an ongoing nearly-weeklong Occupy National Gathering here in Philadelphia.
(Read all about it on the #natgat Twitter tag)
According to various accounts posted online, as well as the first-person account of an Occupier with whom Naked City spoke, those arrested had participated in a smaller march following the closing of Franklin Square, where most of the gathering's activities have been centered.
A large number of police — more police than marchers, by one account — followed the group and arrested them en masse, on Race Street near 12th or 13th. Several accounts pin the number at 27, but we can't confirm that (we've called Police Public Affairs but haven't heard back yet).
A group of Occupiers is now waiting outside Police HQ ("The Roundhouse") for the release of those arrested. According to a few accounts, the arrestees were charged with summary offenses.
The event will continue through Independence Day; you can catch live streaming of it here.
Follow Isaiah Thompson on Twitter.
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