PlanPhilly: Planning Philadelphia's Future

Another mistaken release at the Delaware County prison this week has left officials frustrated, wondering how many more prisoners have walked free this year, and recognizing there are system-wide problems with the paperwork for inmate releases.

As federal investigators scrutinize the books and operations of the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA), the agency has suspended all contracts with outside consultants and lawyers until further notice.

As high tide came and went around 3:30 p.m. Friday, officials and residents up and down the Jersey Shore said they were ready to breathe a sigh of relief over Earl and start the weekend. The massive hurricane brought only kicked up surf, scant rain showers, and minor tidal flooding to the region.

Police on Friday identified a man who allegedly raped a woman near Eighth and Race Streets Sunday night and left his pants at the scene.

As this statue, located on Kelly Drive north of Boathouse Row, declares, the laborer "wrought miracles." A little less miraculous but still pretty nice is a three-day weekend. Have a great one!

A 19-year-old woman was charged with DUI and aggravated assault after her 20-year-old boyfriend was run over by a car early yesterday while he was trying to push it up the Manayunk Wall, police said.

The Rodin Museum is undergoing extensive exterior repair and restoration work, including structural fixes for its roof and facade as well as a good scrubbing. With the Barnes going up the next block over, this section of the Parkway now looks like one big construction site. The Thinker must be a little dismayed. GMAP

Come Sunday at dusk, Clifford Greer will bare all and take to his bicycle for one reason: "to promote fuel-conscious consumption."

THERE WAS always something about Steven Molin that bothered folks in Darby, some hard-to-describe vibe that made him seem off-putting.

The attractive, long-empty building on Manayunk's Main Street that once housed a Banana Republic is finally getting a new tenant, Greene Street Consignment Shop. The store already has five other locations in not-too-shabby places such as Bryn Mawr, Princeton and Lambertville. This is a good start for reducing the number of empty storefronts on Main. GMAP

An African-American family has reached a second settlement with a New Jersey shore town for more than $100,000 in a racial discrimination lawsuit.

It might be a good idea to buy that SEPTA pass. PhillyInc reports that Philadelphia is in the bottom 10 of Allstate's list of the cities with the safest drivers. They studied 193 cities, and we came in 187. That's right, people. You've gotta start watching the road and keeping both hands on the wheel, okay?
Philadelphia Remains Low on Allstate's List of Safe-Driving Cities [Philly Inc.]
Photo by deepthirteen

Three weeks ago, physician Steven Brigham led a car caravan of patients from his Voorhees abortion clinic to his facility in Elkton, Md. After one of the patients was critically injured during her surgery there, Brigham put the semiconscious, bleeding woman into the back of a rented Chevrolet Malibu and drove her to a nearby hospital emergency room rather than call an ambulance.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Joe Paterno, as indicated by the famously outdated game-day wardrobes he and his Nittany Lions continue to wear, doesn't do change well.

A local team's high hopes of flying its gigantic, homemade replica of the Phillie Phanatic off a 30-foot platform into the Delaware River turned to heartbreak yesterday when Major League Baseball forbade the flight because of trademark restrictions.

See that little note at the bottom of the receipt? It announces that Garces Trading Company will start taking reservations beginning Sept. 10. Better pick up the phone right now! GMAP

After her son was killed in 2008, Sherderian Sutton got a Philadelphia license to carry a concealed weapon and a small Ruger pistol to protect herself and her surviving children.

A young man was struck and killed by a SEPTA trolley in Upper Darby Thursday night.