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Archive: January, 2012
Bback around the turn of the 20th century, the Delaware River's Atlantic Sturgeon supported the largest caviar industry in the nation. Today, the fish was named to the National Marine Fisheries Service's endangered species list. There are believed to be fewer than 300 spawning adults left in the river, down from 180,000 adult females a century ago.
As we reported back in November, the threats to the population include water pollution, a shrinking spawning area as saltwater slowly seeps further upriver, and bycatch from other fishery operations. But the National Marine Fisheries Service identified the Delaware River Main Channel Deepening Project as a threat of special concern: “[T]he location and scope of the project in the Delaware River, coupled with the lack of information on the precise location of spawning and other important habitat in the Delaware River, indicate that the project could be very harmful to the Delaware River riverine population of Atlantic sturgeon.”
It's the latest critique of a dredging project that has continued over environmentalists' criticism for years now. Most recently, a University of Maryland professor re-crunched the numbers on the initiative, run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and found that the project lacked any significant value for the region as an economic driver or jobs generator. However, while the federal government hasn't budgeted for the project to continue, Gov. Tom Corbett has come up with $15 million to move the channel deepening along, touting it as vital to the progress of the proposed Southport Marine Terminal.
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide is back: and yes, it did go (mostly) away for a while.
Today, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office announced charges against an alleged “ring” of LSD dealers who had been operating on Drexel’s campus— to the tune of as much as $5,000 to $15,000 per week’s worth, according to the DA.
Putting aside tantalizing details like the Homer Simpson blotter paper and the 9,500 hits the ring was allegedly busted with — and putting aside the question of how we all feel about the drug wars, especially when it comes to drugs not usually associated with violence — what makes this bust particularly interesting is that it seems to be indicative of the resurrection of LSD.
A weekly series of foulmouthed investigations into empty lots, dead-ass proposals and other development and design phenomena in Phladelphia. Find more stories like this at philaphilia.blogspot.com.
Not really a whole city, just a buttload of ugly buildings.
Now here's a project that would have definitely changed things in good ol' Philadelphia, but was pretty much doomed from the get-go. This Dead-Ass Proposal was for a 8-acre, 15-million-square-foot, 15-year-long, $3.5 billion master plan for at least 10 tall buildings that would cover the Schuylkill Sea and the CSX and Septa rail tracks. Back in the early days of Philaphilia, I blamed NIMBYs for this huge development not going forward, but it turns out that corrupt-ass city officials and developers were just as responsible. Don't think that means NIMBYs didn't go balls-out apeshit over it.
Across the country, Latino advocacy groups have been watching warily as states develop their redistricting plans, designed to accommodate changing populations — including fast-growing Hispanic communities. It's been an issue in Texas, (the Supreme Court struck down a map that it said favored Latino voters), and in New York, (Gov. Andrew Cuomo has promised to veto a proposed map he called "hyperpartisan"). And a local advocacy group, LatinoLines, says it's a cause for concern here too.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision to strike down the whimsically gerrymandered map of Pennsylvania legislative districts — and revert temporarily to 2001 districts — could disenfranchise Latino voters and therefore violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the group argues. They're preparing to file a lawsuit if the concerns are not addressed.
You know it's not your average zoning meeting when the conversation starts with an admonishment to stick to the matter at hand, and the statement — by South Philadelphia HOMES Inc. executive director Claudia Sherrod — that if you "go up against me, you will see the other side of midnight." Which was why so many residents turned out for last night's zoning meeting at Mount Zion Pentecostal that the conversation had to be moved into the main sanctuary. It's a fairly straightforward proposal: OCF Realty's Ori Feibush wants to put 13 "affordably high end" housing units and a retail space onto a vacant lot on Point Breeze Avenue. But some neighborhood old-timers see this as a battle against gentrification.
Campaign consultant Patrick Ahern, left, and candidate Nathan Kleinman, center, distribute petitions for supporters gathering signatures to get Kleinman on the 13th District Congressional ballot.
A 29-year-old Occupy Philly activist with a “Repeal the Patriot Act” button on his sweater, Nathan Kleinman may not look like your average candidate for Congress. But a look at the stream of supporters stopping by a recent campaign meeting — mostly 40-, 50- and 60-somethings Kleinman had met volunteering for Obama and other Democratic candidates — suggests first impressions don’t tell the whole story.
Zoning discussions in Point Breeze have become a heated battleground for arguments over whether gentrification is a net-positive for a neighborhood — and tonight's meeting, over 13 condo units proposed for the area, should be no different. After all, once again, Naked Philly publisher and OCF real estate developer Ori Feibush will be pitted against longtime residents — at least one of whom is fired up enough to circulate this (un-signed) flier. The flier notes: "His Blog NakedPhilly.com is where they talk about black people who stand up for their community with petty name calling. The blog also advertises properties in Point Breeze to encourage his cult following to buy into Point Breeze. His targeting of Point Breeze has been nonstop."
OCF Marketing Manager Alex Caluckovaic assures CP that Feibush has Point Breeze's interests at heart. "Ori certainly does work for OCF, but he is making a tremendous effort to bring development to the neighborhood." She referred other questions to the Naked Philly posting about last week's meeting — which, perhaps not surprisingly, seems to lean toward OCF's side in the whole matter, calling residents who asked that the meeting be delayed "crazy people." OCF will be at the meeting early tonight to answer any questions.
Last Thursday, City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown heartened herself to Philadelphia barflies, night owls and don't-wanna-go-homers by introducing The Extended Bar Hours for Education Bill, which proposes that last call at local drinkeries be pushed back one hour, from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m., for the budgetary benefit of our struggling School District. The 10 percent taxation of alcohol raised approximately $42 million for schools in the 2010 fiscal year; Brown, Council's newly elected Majority Whip, estimates this idea could generate $5 million more.
The bill is in its infancy — it would still have to earn approval within the State General Assembly for City Hall to gain the authority to tweak bar operating hours, which are lorded over by the PLCB. But like anything in Philly involving the word "liquor," it's already garnered strong reactions. (Mayor Nutter, for one, is not a fan of Brown's proposal, per The Inquirer.) We touched base with Councilwoman Brown late last week to get some background on her bill and her honest take on its chances in Harrisburg.
Last night's Occupy Philly rally at Love Park — which the demonstrators declared a "Police-Free Zone" — didn't end so well. The event started out as an expression of solidarity with Occupy Oakland, where hundreds were arrested after they attempted to take over disused auditorium. But when protesters attempted to take back Dilworth Plaza by dismantling the fencing, they were promptly dispersed and arrested. This morning, demonstrators' attempts at a follow-up visit — in time for the official groundbreaking event for the $50 million plaza renovation by the city and Center City District, with US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in attendance — didn't exactly work out either.
"I was told that it was a private event, despite that it was a public space," says Nathan Kleinman, an Occupier (and Congressional candidate — more on that later today) who was turned back at the lobby of City Hall. "It seemed to be every policeman in Philadelphia was there. Nobody was allowed it. They're keeping themselves shut up on the ninth floor. They don't want to answer for the fact that they can find $50 million for a programmable fountain and an ice skating rink, but they can't find money to save our schools and fix our sewers."
Still, maybe it will be just that much nicer to camp out in once there are more trees and permeable paving….
“Asset test for food stamps a sound idea for Pennsylvania,” proclaimed a column in yesterday's Sunday Inquirer from the conservative Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives. The position it takes ― that Gov. Tom Corbett's move to exclude people with more than $2,000 in assets (largely excluding homes and cars, but largely including savings) is a good thing ― is not surprising. But the arguments it makes in Corbett's favor are, at least if you take truthfulness (perhaps naïvely) as a standard for political discourse, astounding:
Right-wing claim: “The measure is necessary because welfare eligibility and spending — including for food stamps — have exploded, threatening to crowd out everything else in the state budget.”
Fact: Actually, the federal government picks up most of the tab. According to the Inquirer , “Pennsylvania receives about $2.5 billion in federal SNAP [that's food stamps: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] funds annually and pays about $160 million annually in state money to maintain the program.” That's just over one half of 1 percent of Pennsylvania's state budget. And as I reported last week, the state of Pennsylvania taxpayers spends nearly $2 billion on prisons ―$463.8 million more than generally reported.
Right-wing claim: “Despite indisputable evidence that welfare fraud and waste are alive and well, many politicians in Harrisburg and Washington have downplayed it, while actually expanding welfare benefits to the detriment of the truly poor.”
Fact: Pennsylvania has been recognized for having an extraordinarily low rate of food stamp fraud: one-tenth of 1 percent.
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