Surprisingly Underwhelmed....

Now usually the Academy Ball for the Grand old Gal on Broad Street in Philadelphia is a glittering butterfly-like and bejeweled array of fabulous gowns and even some knock out jewelry. Not so this year I just looked at the photos Philadelphia Magazine took to see what they saw....and what they saw was definitely boring, and if not boring, it was a bunch of wrinkly dowagers who should have given up the strapless and uber decolletage decades ago (seriously some of them need to cover up those saggy udders they are swingin' waaaay too low - strapless is for young, firm skin - strapless and almost strapless over 60 is NOT a pretty sight and looks like they still go out for lunch in their mini skirts, and maybe they do, and I will mock them then as well---- just like I mock sandals and reinforced toe pantyhose peeking through)...and other women who just don't look particularly self assured. How can these mamas not own who they are? Don't they know that if a camera is in their face, they need to own that camera? Deportment, deportment, deportment....honestly, doesn't anyone have a little Jackie O/Grace Kelly/Audrey Hepburn in them anymore?

Philadelphia Magazine: Academy of Music 152nd Anniversary Concert and Ball
On January 24, 2009, the Academy of Music celebrated its 152nd anniversary. Guests enjoyed classical favorites by Maestro Christoph Eschenbach and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Actors Blythe Danner and Fred Willard were in attendance. Proceeds benefited the Academy of Music Restoration Fund and The Philadelphia Orchestra Association. Photography by Jeff Fusco

The worst dressed hands down is that woman in photo 4. Electric blue and that dress can't decide where it's going. The woman sort of looks like she is wearing a lop sided umbrella...the dress is simply bizarre...

Other notable photos include Hagatha the Horrible in photo 46 who looks like a slump shouldered witch - is she kidding? It's not Halloween there granny! Cover up! ---- Also check out mama in her nightie on photo 39 (and the darn gown is WRINKLED- get her a steamer!) ----- Pack those bags under that woman's eyes in photo 26 - and yikes! That dress - it could stop traffic and not in a good way----- lucky photo 13? OMG It's that Devo-riffic gal - she is looking kinda hot in her gold dress, and the white girl 'fro is not evident (thank God!)...but she appears to have a rather disturbing hamster or something nestled on top of her head?(anyone missing a hamster?)

The only woman a Glamour "Do"? Blythe Danner looking serenely lovely in her picture perfect, event perfect ball gown in photo 34 - what a knockout that lady still is!

Final photo that amuses moi? Did anyone tell the woman in photo 36 that Barbara Bush is missing some costume jewelry ----- And photo 35, it's a darn shame that old Crabby Queen Eschenbach can't afford a dinner jacket or white tie, isn't it? (When does he leave?)

Check out (if you want) the 2008 ball, and the 150th anniversary in 2007 - the 150th had terrific gowns because Prince Charles came to town...and check out the Bulletin's coverage of the 2009 Academy Ball- the Bulletin has photos too.

Yo Conshohocken: What Are You Hiding About That Fire?

I am so sorry, but I think Conshocken is hiding something over the Millenium fire? This town government is not known for being lily white except in it's bigotry and racism, is it? Will we ever know what really happened? Say, isn't Brian O'Neill in Tierney's PMH investor pool too? And isn't Conshohocken all mired in the worst kind of small town Republican politics as well? OMG, is this all about the GOP these bad things? Is this why the GOP needs to clean house in PA in Montco and Delco but good?

Is Conshohocken keeping mum because it has something to hide? Hmmmm? Makes you wonder who is on the take and who has what to lose? Of course, if Conshohocken is innocent, they could come forward, but will they?

Posted on Thu, Jan. 22, 2009
Montco files report on Riverwalk fire
By Anthony R. Wood
Inquirer Staff Writer

The surprise in Montgomery County's much-anticipated report on the devastating August fire at Conshohocken's Riverwalk complex was what wasn't in it:
Input from Conshohocken officials.

In presenting the report at a county commissioners meeting yesterday, county public safety chief Thomas Sullivan said one of the key players in the fire investigation - the Borough of Conshohocken - declined to cooperate with Montgomery County investigators.

The blaze, which destroyed 189 apartment units, was a setback to the centerpiece of a successful small-town revival story.

Borough officials declined the county's request to answer several basic questions, including some on building permits and variances.

"I'm not sure why the borough didn't respond," Sullivan told the commissioners.

"There's pending litigation, and we can't comment," Borough Fire Marshal John McGrath said in an interview. At least three lawsuits have been filed in connection with the fire.

"I disagree with that" explanation, Commissioner Joseph M. Hoeffel III countered in an interview later. "You're talking about public records.".....Commissioners Chairman James R. Matthews said that after he has read the report, he will consider how the county might get involved in building-code issues.

Sullivan said the report assumed that the buildings conformed to Conshohocken's codes - but with a caveat: The reports' authors acknowledged that the lack of input from the borough was a serious flaw.

"It was impossible to glean any definitive information," they wrote. "As such, this report is acknowledged to be of limited value."

It said that a key question - whether proper precautions had been taken at the work site where the fire started - remained unresolved....The civil suits, filed on behalf of tenants in Montgomery County Court, name as defendants developer J. Brian O'Neill, owner of the property; the construction companies that worked at the site; and Riverwalk property manager Bozzuto Management Co.

The county report made no attempt to assign blame, alluding only to the "failure of some entity . . . to properly supervise" the work.

Oh this smells, Conshocken is up to it's eyeballs, pending litigation my ass....

Montco Report On Fire Advises Changes
By Bradley Vasoli, The Bulletin
Published: Friday, January 23, 2009

Norristown — Montgomery County’s Board of Commissioners yesterday received a report yesterday on last year’s major Conshohocken fire that could leave them wanting more details.

On Aug. 13, 2007, a fire at the Riverwalk at Millennium apartments engulfed three of the complex’s buildings in Conshohocken Borough, causing 14 minor injuries and 300 displacements of residents but no deaths. Since then, the County Department of Public Safety, along with a team of local experts, completed an “After Action Report” to help plan ahead to prevent similar cases.

The three commissioners are still perusing the document at this writing but heard it summarized by Public Safety Director Tom Sullivan, who said the borough hasn’t provided details on the buildings’ code compliance. He said the borough seems concerned about liability issues it would face should it respond to a set of questions on that subject submitted to it by several local fire chiefs working on the review.

“Additional information might have helped our report writing,” Mr. Sullivan said. “We don’t really know that.”

He added that his department makes the assumption for the moment that the Riverwalk Buildings were built to code but the matter is uncertain.

Commissioners’ Chairman Jim Matthews, R, said he considers that issue important to whatever decision the board makes on future measures. The county has considered drafting a model building ordinance to which municipalities could refer when setting standards for new construction projects.

“I think we’re operating in a little bit of a vacuum right now in the absence of a response by Conshohocken,” he said.

Something smells in Conshy, and it ain't the Schuylkill River.....

Pile on Tierney Week....

Wow, wow, wow....Philadelphia Magazine arrived yesterday, and when I was giggling through the pages (Main Line lice pickers are featured, no less. What's next Main Line ass wipers? ROFL it gives nit-pick a whole new caché...Brooke De Villanova's little tidbits about Gladwyne divorces pending and Rittenhouse relos --- which of course explains a lot....) , and what do I find: a HUGE, HUGE I tell you article on Brian Tierney....because although the paper is intertwined within this article, the thrust of it is All About Tierney.

I really have to pay attention to Philebrity and City Paper...because if I wasn't so remiss, I would not have missed this:

Brian Tierney Pentagram Of Doom: Lawsuit Against Inky Alleges That Tierney Tried To Crush Gladwyne Businessman When Partnership Talks Went South

These are heady days in the BTPOD, and maybe we’ll look back upon them fondly in a few years when the Inky and DN either change hands again or sink altogether, but right now? There is a soup kitchen in our minds, and Brian Tierney is spooning out heaping, hot helpings of WTF to a line of the disaffected and unemployed that never seems to end. This is where it gets bad, people, and part of the size and shape of The New Badness seems to be reflected in a lawsuit filed against Philadelphia Media Holdings by Vahan H. Gureghian.....The suit claims that over the last two years, Tierney and Gureghian....had met and phoned numerous times to discuss various partnerships between Gureghian and PMH’s interests. When the dealmaking had reached a point where Gureghian asked Tierney to sign a confidentiality agreement, talks broke down. The suit alleges that after this fact, Tierney used the Inky as a bully pulpit to cast aspersions on Gureghian’s interests. But that’s not really the half of it: Over the course of two pieces on the matter - one in today’s Inky and another in yesterday’s Legal Intelligencer (pasted after the jump).....Businessman Names Inquirer, Publisher In Libel Action
The Legal Intelligencer
By Shannon P. Duffy
January 08, 2009

The Philadelphia Inquirer and its publisher, Brian P. Tierney, have been hit with a libel suit by a Gladwyne, Pa., businessman who claims the newspaper set out to retaliate against him after negotiations between his company and the newspaper’s parent company to launch joint business ventures ultimately soured and were called off.

A lawyer for the Inquirer said the suit’s allegations are “unfounded” and that the newspaper looks forward to defending itself in court.

The suit by Vahan H. Gureghian and his company, Charter School Management Inc., was filed just eight days after theInquirer published a two-part series and an editorial that focused on Gureghian’s role in founding and operating Pennsylvania’s largest charter school, Chester Community Charter, and raised questions about the propriety of the school’s financing.

A third article focused on the political connections of Gureghian — a lawyer who is a former partner of two firms, Clark Ladner and Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel — and his frequent hosting of political fundraisers at his 30,000-square-foot mansion.

Gureghian quit practicing law to run the charter school and in June was chosen to serve as finance chairman of Montgomery County’s Republican committee. He also owns Matt Outdoor, a billboard company that has permits for 11 signs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

The suit was filed in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas by attorneys Clifford E. Haines and James A. Wells of Haines & Associates and Joseph Fioravanti, and names as defendants Philadelphia Media Holdings, the Inquirer , Tierney, three reporters — Dan Hardy, Derrick Nunnally and Martha Woodall — and education editor Rose Ciotta.

In its opening paragraphs, the suit outlines the alleged failed business deal between Gureghian and PMH.....But although the two had reached agreements on “substantial aspects” of the joint venture, the suit alleges that the negotiations ultimately ceased when Tierney “unexpectedly and inexplicably” refused to agree to a confidentiality agreement.....Tierney’s “sole reason” for refusing to sign, the suit alleges, was his claim that he does not interfere with the Inquirer’seditorial decisions.

Hmmmmm, Fiorvanti? Isn't that the guy Ponzi Prince Joseph Forte is trying to raise money to retain? Something political and Delco? Hmmm. (File under the more things change in Delco, the more things stay the same?)

I feel for the reporters and the editor the Inquirer, because call me crazy, but this is not the first time this person was written about in the Inquirer was it? And he was referred to in Delco Tom Paine for years (which is probably why even if Clouse is 6 feet under he hasn't surfaced, right?)

To me the lawsuit is Republican peanut on Republican peanut (well neither are very large people, are they?) and doesn't it smack of not being First Amendment friendly? (But then again, in this area is it sooooo unusual for Republican politicos and the politically connected to try to quash what they do not want to hear about themselves, right? No wonder the suburbs are going Dem and Indie voter by voter, huh?)

What bullshit. That guy has been in the news long before he moved to posh and stuffed 19035! That charter school guy was in the news on the SAME topic when he lived in Delco. ( Inquirer wrote about this captain of industry in 2005, right?) OMG, my bobble head is having a hard time processing this and I have to wonder if Brian Tierney's money grubbing Republican ass kissing ways have gotten reporters and editors and a paper in dutch? Well, this is true Nouveau Main Line tradition: sue and be sued, right? Air all dirty laundry in court?

But it all comes back to Tierney, doesn't it? Who else has he talked to that could potentially hurt honest reporters? If VG wants to go after BT, well that's on him, but shame on VG for dragging working stiffs into it. And VG, I am entitled to my opinion here, am not breaking any new ground as you are ground that has been covered many,many times by media and blogs prior to my interest, right?

I feel very strongly about the First Amendment. And I feel very strongly about Republicans who talk out of both sides of their mouth and can it be said the new Republican motto in this area should be "I/We Support The First Amendment of The Constitution of The United States as Long as You aren't Talking About Me"?

Bullshit. (also see Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: Charter school official sues Philadelphia Inquirer for defamation and Editor and Publisher: Charter School Owner Sues 'Philly Inky' Over Coverage By Joe Strupp and The Clog )

Now back to Philadelphia Magazine. They have truly outdone themselves, and quite possibly knocked Little Mr. T off that pedestal he created. I worry for the papers, though. I worry that the PMH investor pool will bail on this. What they should do is just get rid of Tierney. A politically connected publicist never should have purchased papers - it's like inviting the burglar to dine as he steals the good silver, hmm?

I wonder now if Tierney will sue Philadelphia Magazine over this? Man, oh man, it doesn't get better than this:

1978 Called. It Wants Its Newspaper Back
All big-city newspapers have been hurt by the rise of the Internet, declining ad sales, and an economy gone south. But the brain trust at the Inquirer and Daily News has a deeper problem: They think we still need their papers to find out what’s going on
By Steve Volk

IN THE HEADY early days after Brian Tierney’s ownership group purchased the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News in 2006, one of his new employees saw him walking up Broad Street toward the paper’s headquarters. Tierney wore a mobster-loud pin-striped suit and chomped on a cigar so thick his mouth barely encompassed its girth. A cigar is, of course, never just a cigar. It’s a symbol of success or pretension to it....Tierney offered himself up as The Man Who Would Save Philadelphia’s Newspapers at a tumultuous time.....And when he first took to a podium in the Inquirer building, he made a particularly grand promise: “The Next Great Era in Philadelphia Journalism,” he said, “begins today.” Legacy time....

.....Now, less than three years later, it’s all gone to hell. Circulation has fallen. In early 2008, Tierney warned union representatives of “a dire situation” if costs weren’t cut by 10 percent. The papers have slashed more than 400 staff members across all departments since he took over. According to Newspaper Guild representative Bill Ross, Tierney once shook up a management meeting by barking “I will not lose my fucking house over this!” And Ross says a couple of people emerged from a private meeting with the CEO claiming that he’d spoken to them, in his 12th-floor office, with a baseball bat in his hands. Ross also adds that in January, Tierney took to patrolling the parking garage, watching to see what time employees were arriving to work and asking managers about those who were late. “That’s what I’m getting calls about now,” says Ross. “He’s walking around the parking garage. If he gets hit by a car, it’ll be his own fault.” Tierney’s ownership group, Philadelphia Media Holdings, stopped making interest payments to its creditors over the summer......Tierney refuses to talk — the public relations wizard is hiding under his desk. But how did this happen?

.....Some employee disputes are headed to court, and Tierney is also facing a lawsuit from billboard and Chester Community Charter School entrepreneur Vahan H. Gureghian. In that suit, Gureghian claims a series of critical Inquirer stories was triggered by business talks with Tierney that ultimately went nowhere. The libel suit figures to claim the most media attention, but another filing that deals more directly with life at 400 North Broad Street was made in January by Lourdes Hudson, a former advertising department manager and now the plaintiff in a sex discrimination suit against Philadelphia Media Holdings.....For a kid whose parents worked a succession of blue-collar jobs — deli man, cabdriver, waitress — to pay his tuition at prestigious Episcopal Academy, Tierney’s subsequent ride to the top was particularly delicious, and replete with obvious and poignant symbolism. He ensconced his ad firm, for instance, in the Bellevue, where his mother once waited on tables.

By 2006, Tierney had risen high enough in Philadelphia’s social and business circles to draft a veritable hot list of the city’s monied that ponied up roughly $150 million in cash to buy the two papers, among them Bruce Toll, of the Horsham-based Toll Bros. home-building company; insurance executive Bill Graham; cable heiress Patricia Harron Imbesi; and Liberty Ventures fund principal Katherine Crothall....Tierney has missed on other counts, too. Bringing in Michael Smerconish, Rick Santorum and Lisa Scottoline as columnists was as crass as name-dropping at a dinner party, an attempt to co-opt the glow emanating from this city’s most well-known radio host, an abhorred Pennsylvania politician and, uh, a crime novelist, instead of growing his own stars. Tierney also promised a revamped and more ambitious website at Philly.com. But the result is unremarkable. New stories and fresh updates — the lifeblood of an Internet publication — are buried on the home page. And a Google trends snapshot doesn’t demonstrate any lasting uptick in viewers since the new site was unveiled in May 2008. Overall, daily print circulation has declined a little more than 10 percent since Tierney took over....It would be a tremendous irony, as well as unlikely, if Brian Tierney were to preside over the Inquirer’s transition away from capitalism. But then, that possibility is no more ironic than the current reality: that the end times are coming; that one of the most profitable and colorful enterprises in the history of man, newspaper publishing, is facing oblivion; and that the Inquirer is being looked on by the city’s rich as something no one could have envisioned 30 years ago: a charity.

Chickadees? This article in Philadelphia Magazine is VERY, VERY long and goes on for pages. Savor it like a good glass of wine, and maybe read it more than once...I am glad Philadelphia Magazine is getting this all out in the open. It's about damn time.

The Bail Outs = Bend Over

I firmly believe we are dancing on the precipice of a depression. And I have to revisit this potential/rumor of Inquirer being bailed out by the government thing. It's just so damn disturbing on so many levels. Does this mean that paper employees should be CASHING their paychecks immediately?

Honestly, I am not pro bail out no matter who it is. Why? Because if I needed the bail out, no one would help me, and would they help you? And this far these bailouts mean taxpayers are paying for fat cat bonuses, expensive "retreats", and oh yes, redecorating corporate offices because the freaking feng shui was off or something.

And I love newspapers...I just do....but I am at a loss why Rendell would even entertain the idea of bailing out a rich guy like Brian Tierney? How much of his personal assets has he actually sunk into the Inquirer versus how much he pays to maintain a certain lifestyle and be a nouveau socialite? What of his deep pocketed partner, Toll? His consortium of politically intertwined investors? I mean this is like contemplating bailing out Brian O'Neill because he almost burnt down Conshohocken when his tenament on the river burned a few months ago, right? (and hey, where is THAT follow-up?)

Maybe Tierney should sell the paper back to the workers and walk away? But I will tell you what. I don't want my government owning my media outlets....Mother Russia is not the place for me...so... I guess I can count Chris Freind of The Bulletin as one of my readers....that's pretty cool as long as he can accept I will never like Sarah Palin (not that I know he likes Sarah Palin, but his paper SURE did)...so I wrote this little blip about the Inquirer and that bailout chitter chatter, and danged if the author of the article in The Bulletin didn't leave me a message to check for follow- up (is there a hyphen there? but I digress....)

So I would be delighted to post his follow-up and quote liberally,as I like intrigue as much as the next gal!

Possible 'Inquirer' Bailout Draws Ire
Elected Officials, Media Watchdog Groups React With Consternation
By Chris Freind, The Bulletin
Published: Thursday, January 29, 2009

On Dec. 29, the publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News wrote a column titled “Papers Matter More Than Ever.”

In his essay, Brian Tierney stated, “Our original news reporting sets the table for the entire region’s news output, much of which derives from the work we do. No other news medium — television, radio or Web — can compare to the daily coverage (we) produce.”

He added, “This is a tremendous responsibility, and we take it seriously. Without the Daily News and Inquirer, who would be exposing corruption and incompetence … and covering our city and region so thoroughly?”

Mr. Tierney concluded his article by stating, “Our local owners know that it’s more than a business; it’s a public trust.”

Not mentioned in the column was that Mr. Tierney had been in discussions with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, D, for several months regarding a potential government bailout of Philadelphia Media Holdings, the entity that owns both newspapers.

Chuck Ardo, the governor’s press secretary, told The Bulletin earlier this week, “The governor and Brian Tierney have had a number of conversations over the course of the last several months [regarding a possible bailout]. The governor has made no commitment as a result of those conversations.”

When asked if a bailout of the newspaper was still on the table, Mr. Ardo responded that the governor, “would certainly be open to discussions with Brian.”

Reaction to a possible taxpayer-funded bailout of a news entity brought consternation from elected officials, media watchdog organizations and newspaper readers.

“Where does one start?” asked L. Brent Bozell, III, president of the Media Research Center, an Alexandria, Va.-based media watchdog organization. “I would submit that if there were a bailout, it would prove the end of the free-market system in America. There’s no such thing as free enterprise when everything is government owned. It’s called socialism.”

Mr. Bozell said government control of the media, even in the slightest, would be the last thing a journalist would want.

“When a media outlet proposes a bailout, it proposes to put itself under the authority of the entity bailing it out. Therefore, if it’s a government, the media entity proposes to become an arm of the government,” he said.....“Maybe the governor’s office could make the best out of two bad situations by placing slot machines in all the Boscov’s stores,” he said. “That would be a way of drawing shoppers into the failing retail chain he is trying to prop up, and would assist the declining slots revenue until the two Philadelphia slots locations are done with litigation.”

Boscov’s Inc. received a $35 million bailout to rescue the department-store chain from bankruptcy, courtesy of Gov. Rendell’s maneuvering.

Mr. Boscov contributed $139,000 to Mr. Rendell’s campaigns, and other Boscov family members gave an additional $25,000. Questions posed to the governor regarding this connection were repeatedly dismissed.

A concern of many is that the objectivity of the Inquirer and Daily News is now irreparably compromised because of the bailout discussions, regardless of whether money ever changes hands.

“If ‘Papers Matter More Than Ever,’ as Brian Tierney has written, then how is it that journalistic integrity and editorial independence apparently matter less than ever?” asked Colin Hanna, president of the public policy organization Let Freedom Ring....Matthew Brouillette, president of the Harrisburg-based Commonwealth Foundation, cited the historical importance of an independent American media in expressing his opposition to the possible bailout.

“Thomas Jefferson understood the importance of a free press in a free society when he said, ‘Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter,’” Mr. Brouillette said.

“The Inquirer’s request for a bailout and Gov.Rendell’s entertainment of it must have Jefferson and Franklin rolling over in their graves, and Lenin and Hitler cheering them on.”...Whether or not a deal goes through, Mr. Bozell said, “the reputation of the paper is sullied forever. That a newspaper would even consider prostituting itself like this … is outrageous.”

Calls to Philadelphia Media Holdings went unreturned.

Chris Freind can be reached at cf@thebulletin.us

Wow. Just wow. Now this is a story that will grow....maybe by whispers at first, but it will grow. Wonder what that union that represents what is left of the writers thinks about this? As for the "prostituting" part, not such a reach is it?

But I would disagree with the left wing comment in the article, which I did not quote. I don't find the Inquirer like that, I find that it is just sort of covering what everyone else covers some days, some days they excel, some days I agree with them, some days I don't. I think if there was different ownership you would have a different paper - but how can morale be fab in a paper that has been gutted? I think the papers (INQ/DN) just exist and that is pretty much that.

Another thing in The Bulletin to pay attention to? Montgomery County wasting yet more money - see article titled Montco Officials Will Soon Hire A Economic-Development Director By Bradley Vasoli, The Bulletin Published: Friday, January 30, 2009.

I often find many gems contained within the pages of The Bulletin. But I will say the sometimes hyper-conservatism and hyper-catholicism is a bit over zealous and quite frankly scary. (Sorry, I'm a little bit country and a little bit rock-'n-roll)

So anyway, don't forget this paper The Bulletin....the upside is they have really great writing.

Any takers on how long before they start considering merging the Inquirer and Daily News into one?

New Historic District Policy in Radnor? Bulldoze First?

(No this isn't the house in Wayne, I don't know what it looks like, just wanted a photo of a demolition in progress)

I saw this article in that reincarnation of the Suburban & Wayne while at Borders chillin' with a Mocha Latte....you know what's that paper called now? Main Line Suburban Life? Anyway, I was flippin' on thru checking out who looked the most absurd at the Academy Ball, and went back to the front section and buried in the middle was this article that blew my mind: Radnor Township Staff allowed a house in a historic district to come down BEFORE the HARB critters and Board of Commissioners had a chance to weigh in? Where are the engineering reports? The experts weighing in at public meetings BEFORE demolition? What a load of crap. I am so sick of Main Line sluts just taking down every old house.

Unbelievable! Cowboys rule Radnor! The man defending it - that staff person - he should find his sorry ass in the unemployment line....only it will never happen because in Radnor Township, the inmates run the asylum, which is probably why they want to talk about some new Wayne overlay district - maybe in West Wayne...which of course is code for some developer with deep pockets wants to build something no one needs, right? (You know I am)

Anyway, I absolutely can't believe that this house was in such bad shape considering the article claims the property owner had gotten approval to add one of those ugly assed additions that are sprouting like herpes simplex on houses all over Wayne and Radnor Township.

And oh, the best? The slezoid property owner is a slezoid pimp (i.e. realtor). So fitting, so slimy. Historic preservation means nothing.

Sure makes you wonder about Relationships in Radnor, eh? Who knows who, who owes whom? Yesssss....indeedy.....this sure is slimy....bet it never gets discussed again, too. Just like all those issues of sunshine and school district and all the other fun.....gotta love the Main Line - it's better than TNT when it comes to drama...anyway, have a little read and might I say safety my ass?

Posted on Fri, Jan 30, 2009
House in South Wayne Historic District demolished without process due to safety
By Sam Strike

A house in the South Wayne Historic District of Radnor Township was demolished without the required township review process after a township-code official deemed the property in imminent danger of collapse.According to Delaware County records the house was built in 1966 and most recently bought in August 2008 for $305,000.

The owner of 215 W. Wayne Ave. had been granted zoning relief from the township to build an addition on the house.

In September the property went in front of the township's Historic and Architectural Review Board (HARB) for review of an addition, as is the requirement since the HARB and the township's historic districts were created a few years ago.

Carol McMichael, owner of the property and a real-estate agent herself, then went on the agenda of the Sept. 18 zoning-hearing-board meeting, where she was granted zoning relief for that addition.

But on Oct. 24, according to Radnor Township Community Development director Bob Loeper, a demolition permit was issued for the house. A foundation permit was issued Dec. 18.

What is unclear is why a home - "unquestionably beyond the scope of rehabilitation" according to Loeper - was a candidate for a brand-new addition to begin with.

According to Wayne resident Baron Gemmer, who owns a house in the South Wayne Historic District, a zoning-hearing-board member had asked whether the building is being demolished and replaced.

Gemmer transcribes the owner's answer: "Well, it's being renovated. At the moment I don't know... the idea is to keep as much of it as possible... but the building has so deteriorated that until we really get in there and start to take it apart, we don't know how much has not been destroyed by mold and termites and neglect and... It's been empty almost all year, and before then had no maintenance for at least 20 years, so... it's rather in sad shape."

According to Gemmer, by Oct. 29 the house was completely demolished.

Inquirer Desperately Seeking Bailout?

Well, well, well, the captain of industry Brian Tierney has his hand out? Is Brian having a tough time with those loan payments? Is he having buyer's remorse and wishing he'd never let cash cows like John Grogan leave? Is this a case of all good things come to those who wait, except we'll all suffer if our papers go kaput?

The rumor mill she is a squeakin' on this issue...and quite frankly, why should rich men all over this country continue to get bailed out? Look at all those banks and brokerage houses? They were still partying like it was 1999 on the taxpayer dime last time I checked. Ya know, some of these fat corporate cats need to get real. They can forgoe their bonuses, throw their own millions in...BEFORE they come a callin' with their hands out. Honestly. Some men. More like mice.

Bailout For The 'Inquirer'?
A Discussion With Rendell’s Press Secretary
By Chris Freind, For The Bulletin
Published: Tuesday, January 27, 2009

It is no secret the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News have severe financial difficulties.

The parent company of both newspapers, Philadelphia Media Holdings, has missed its debt payments since June, and according to Bloomberg News, the company is in “technical default” on its loans.

The papers were bought from the McClatchy Company in 2006 for $562 million. There are currently no buyers, especially given the recent volatility experienced by media entities nationwide. Making the situation even more precarious is that, even if there were a prospective buyer, obtaining financing in these market conditions is difficult, if not impossible.

The Tribune Company, owner of the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, has filed for bankruptcy protection, as has the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The Rocky Mountain News, strapped with large debts, could be permanently closing its doors, while the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has announced it will cease publication. The competing Seattle Times also is in danger of closure.

And The New York Times, because of its need to ease cash flow problems, is borrowing $225 million against its Manhattan headquarters via a sale-leaseback deal. Additionally, the Times borrowed $250 million from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, at a 14 percent interest rate. Mr. Slim will eventually become the largest single shareholder in the Times, owning up to 17 percent of common shares in the company.

After it was reported that Inquirer publisher Brian Tierney has been engaged in discussions with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, D, about obtaining a $10 million government bailout for his newspaper, the Bulletin spoke with Chuck Ardo, the governor’s press secretary, for clarification.

The Bulletin: It has been reported that Inquirer publisher Brian Tierney has approached Gov. Rendell for a $10 million bailout for the newspaper.

Did that conversation take place?

Chuck Ardo: The governor and Brian Tierney have had a number of conversations over the course of the last several months. The governor has made no commitment as a result of those conversations.

TB: Is the bailout something that is still on the table?

CA: He would certainly be open to discussions with Brian, but we need to look at the situation that we are in economically and financially, and I think any discussions have to be seen through that prism.

TB: If the governor were to say, “Sure, we’ll do it,” from where would the money come?

CA: If the governor was persuaded to the wisdom of helping Philadelphia Media Holdings, the money could come from a number of revenue streams.

NEWSBUSTERS:Philadelphia Inquirer Seeks Bailout
By Stephen Gutowski (Bio | Archive)
January 28, 2009 - 16:15 ET

We all wondered if it would happen. NB readers said it would very soon. NB author Tom Blumer even predicted this would be the year for it. Now the largest newspaper in Philadelphia is requesting a bailout.

In a perfectly ironic fashion it took a lawsuit for the public to learn that the Philadelphia Inquirer is seeking $10 million dollars from the state of Pennsylvania. The bailout request was revealed after the school filed suit against the paper for a series of articles questioning the school’s use of government funds.

That White Girl 'Fro HAS Got To Go!

Lord love a duck, no one loves themselves the way the well preserved Sharon Pinkenson does....honestly, the Greater Philadelphia Film Office Diva needs a less dated 'do'....the white girl 'fro is just silly at this point. I opened Main Line Magazine again just now, and EEEEK! there she was in the 'fro of it all looking silly on page 22.

That hair is just mockable, signature look or not. I look at it this way, the single glove thing didn't work so well for Michael (just call me Miss Ross) Jackson, did it?

Seriously, she's a pretty woman caught in the 80s of it all....LOL

Amy Fisher: Just Call Her June Cleaver (or Striparella?)

Oh I am so relieved! Amy Fisher is STILL a crazy slut after all these years....the mom of three will be Queen of the Porn according to news reports. Too funny. (Well somewhere Joey Buttafuoco is whacking off at the news)

Oy vey, her poor kids! Can you imagine having to explain what mommy does at work? Or should I say WHO mommy does at work?

Posted on Thu, Jan. 29, 2009
Tattle: Amy Fisher looks forward to porn career
By Howard Gensler
Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Tattle Columnist

AMY FISHER wants people to know that she's not the same girl who shot her lover's wife in the face 16 years ago.
She's 34 now, still with a thing for older men - she's married to her 56-year-old agent, Lou Bellera - and mother of three, ages 3 months to 8 years.

Amy also has a new career: Porn actress and stripper.

In Touch magazine talked with her about porn and the pole.

Amy Fisher stars in a pay-per-view porn special
BY OLGA BOYKO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Updated Wednesday, January 21st 2009, 4:36 AM

The one-time "Long Island Lolita" Amy Fisher is making headlines again, and this time she didn't have to shoot anyone to do it.

The 34-year-old Fisher is starring in an “explicit” pornographic pay-per-view special, "Amy Fisher: Totally Nude & Exposed."

The tabloid headliner recently told Fleshbot.com she has "a fascination with the adult world," and thinks "it's very cool."

"Everyone's nice, and I'm just having a great time," she added.
The film became available on January 12th, and will continue its run through February.

This isn't the femme fatale’s first foray into adult cinema.

In October 2007, Fisher's husband, Lou Bellera, sold a private sex tape of themselves to Red Light District Video.

FOOD FIGHT! Mims Told To Put Down His Ladle in Wayne?

OMG! It has been like the second coming of Christ all this talk about John Mims going to Wayne to rescue the latest reincarnation of the former La Forchette spot.

But Mims must have been a VERY bad prom date when he dumped his exes (Carmines/Au Bon Temps), and now well, the Creole Kid has been told to put down his ladle and step away from the stove. Man oh man....he's gonna' be flippin' burgers at McDonalds if he doesn't laissez les bon temps roulez and start behavin'! What's a chef without a kitchen? And so now what happens to "Mims" in Wayne? If he doesn't cook will they sue him next? Man, this Cajun Chef has got the voodoo on him biens sur!

Posted on Wed, Jan. 28, 2009
Chef barred from many Main Line restaurants until 2011
By Michael Klein
Inquirer Staff Writer

Chef John Mims has been barred from working at Mims Food & Drink in Wayne - and many other Main Line restaurants, for that matter - until July 2011.
An injunction by a judge in Montgomery County, signed Tuesday and received yesterday, supports a noncompetition agreement that Mims signed in late 2006 with his then-partner, lawyer Howard Taylor, when they were preparing to move Carmine's Creole Cafe to Bryn Mawr.

Mims agreed not to work for a "competing business" within 10 miles of Carmine's, according to Taylor's suit, filed this month.

In April, the Louisiana-born Mims, 47, and the Main Line-bred Taylor, 49, opened Les Bons Temps, an updated Creole restaurant and lounge, at 12th and Sansom Streets. They had a falling-out in July.

Shortly after he left Carmine's and Les Bons Temps, Mims started cooking at the Freehouse, a pub on Wayne Avenue specializing in fare such as Welsh rarebit and cottage pie.

Taylor calculated the distance between Carmine's and the Freehouse at 4.1 miles. Taylor said he notified Mims that he was in violation of the agreement but received no response.

In early January, the Freehouse was renamed Mims. Taylor's lawsuit was filed shortly afterward....County Court Judge Harold Thomson's order bars Mims from working within 10 miles of the Bryn Mawr restaurant until July 1, 2011. The Mims restaurant was open last night.

Here are things about Mims from a little bit of Google in my life....

ZAGAT Buzz: Chefs Moving On

John Mims Out: Posted by Foobooz on August 26th, 2008

Posted on Thu, Jan. 8, 2009
Table Talk: Plea to moon goddess graces Thai spot
By Michael Klein / Inquirer Columnist

The Brew Lounge: Saturday, January 10, 2009
Staid Main Line? not in Wayne, PA


Main Line: THE ACCIDENTAL RESTAURATEUR
By Samantha Melamed • January 16, 2009

Tell Us Another Fable, Joseph Forte

Oh pullleaaazzze! Joseph Forte is telling a newspaper reporter HE DOESN'T KNOW WHY HE'S HERE? (Meaning court?) Give me a break. Did he expect a boy scout merit badge for admitting he stole millions? Come on!

Now the media is showing us the reclusive Mr. Forte. He doesn't even LOOK like a money guy. He looks like a used car salesman. What of his client list? Who is on it?

And how can he tell the Philadelphia Inquirer he is speaking out against the advice of counsel if he can't find a lawyer to represent him?

Sayyyyy...I have an idea! Joseph Forte could join the Rod R. Blagojevich Whistle-stop coast to coast media tour! He could tout his case, pick up an ambulance chaser along the way?

Tsk, tsk James Forte...We all know you are where you are, are you trying to build an insanity defense? Oh your poor, poor family. They will be on paupers' row in this economy...nice family man. And I still do not believe that the Irwin guy who was his CPA did not know ANYTHING that was going on over all these years because any good CPA worth their salt always has an idea where their clients' bodies are buried....why doesn't the saint of criminals in Delco take him on? That Donato guy that is always in the paper?

And the most frightening thing of all? Joseph Fortes in this country are a dime a dozen as it seems every week brings more news of new Ponzi schemers...
Posted on Tue, Jan. 27, 2009
Forte says he’s trying to raise money for lawyer
By Harold Brubaker
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Joseph S. Forte, who in September told investors he had grown their money to $154 million, but now stands accused of running a Ponzi scheme, appeared alone in federal court today because he has no money for a lawyer.

"I'm trying to raise the money," Forte told Magistrate Judge Faith Angell. She granted him a one-week continuance, pushing the preliminary hearing back to Monday.

Before the hearing, Forte, 53, who has a stubbly salt-and-pepper beard, hair of the same color, and small, dark eyes, leaned forward on a courtroom bench with his hands together as if in prayer and his thumbs under his chin.

After the brief courtroom appearance, Forte spoke publicly - against the advice of lawyers, he said - for the first time since the collapse of the fund he started in 1995.

He said all the money he raised was gone, most of it back to investors. The numbers in the civil and criminal complaints filed against him this month, including the $50 million put into the fund by investors, were estimates.

"It could turn out to be something different," said Forte, whose purported success as a money manager won him spots on the boards of Hill Top Preparatory School (whose endowment he managed) and Malvern Preparatory School.

Forte: I don’t know why I’m here
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 8:05 AM EST
By Cindy Scharr, cscharr@delcotimes.com

PHILADELPHIA — A Marple man who allegedly scammed more than 80 clients out of $50 million told a federal judge Monday he didn’t have money for an attorney.

“I’m trying to get the funds together,” Joseph S. Forte told U.S. Magisterial Judge Faith Angell.

Minutes later, after saying he probably shouldn’t be making any comments, Forte told reporters outside of a fifth-floor courtroom in the federal courthouse he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“I don’t know why I’m here,” he said to the throng of reporters scribbling in their notebooks. “I went to them. They didn’t come to me.”

Forte had been scheduled for a probable-cause hearing before Angell. During the brief court appearance, Forte told the judge he had spoken to an attorney, but had not yet come up with the cash for a retainer.

When federal prosecutor Joseph J. Khan didn’t object, Angell continued the hearing until next Monday.

“I basically have no money,” Forte said, adding that his family and friends are trying to get enough money together to hire an attorney.

Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond issued an emergency court order freezing Forte’s personal assets, as well as the assets of his trading company, Joseph Forte LP, which he operated out of his home in the 200 block of Fawn Hill Road.

Wall Street Journal: JANUARY 28, 2009 In Echoes Of Madoff, Ponzi Cases Proliferate By STEVE STECKLOW

Federal and state authorities are reporting a growing number of financial scams that echo the alleged Madoff fraud, as strapped investors seek access to their cash amid increasingly hard times.

At least six suspected multimillion-dollar fraud cases have emerged this month alone, many of them alleged Ponzi schemes, in which investors are lured by promises of lofty returns but are actually paid off from new victims' funds.

On Tuesday, authorities arrested Arthur Nadel, the missing Florida hedge-fund adviser, who was accused by federal authorities of defrauding clients of millions of dollars.....In the latest case to emerge, Nicholas Cosmo, a Long Island, N.Y., investment-firm owner, surrendered to federal authorities Monday. Mr. Cosmo allegedly raised more than $370 million between 2006 and 2008 by promising investors 48% annual returns from funding commercial loans, according to a federal affidavit in support of his arrest.....Three weeks ago, the SEC accused a Philadelphia-area investment fund manager, Joseph S. Forte, with running a Ponzi scheme since at least 1995 that claimed returns as high as 38% and raised $50 million. Mr. Forte didn't return phone calls made late in the day.

Meanwhile, Idaho's securities regulators are investigating allegations by investors in Idaho Falls that they lost up to $100 million in an alleged Ponzi scheme by Daren Palmer, a local money manager. No charges have been filed. Mr. Palmer didn't return phone calls made late in the day.

There was also the case of Marcus Schrenker, an Indiana financial adviser who was arrested in Florida earlier this month after allegedly trying to stage his death in a plane crash as investigators probed his businesses. He faces charges in Indiana and Florida; his lawyer has said Mr. Schrenker isn't mentally competent to stand trial in Florida.

The biggest case, of course, is the one allegedly carried off by New York money manager Mr. Madoff, who has estimated inflicting losses of $50 billion on his investors.

Coatesville Fire Bug: They WILL Find You!

If you are out there whacking off to your handiwork fire bug, I think you are one sick mother f*cker. And yes, I am cursing. Cursing you, for making people scared to go to sleep at night. I can't wait until they catch you, fire bug...and they will catch you.

A couple of days ago, I asked "Why Coatesville, Fire Bug?"

I'm still asking, and each day the media brings more sickening news of more fires. Who is doing this? Is it a disgruntled crazy former resident of this poverty stricken area of Chester County? Or is it the land? Is the land valuable? After all, Coatesville is no stranger to issues surrounding land, right? Wasn't Coatesville the setting for a nasty land taking, or eminent domain fight a few years ago? (I embedded what I found by Googling about Coatesville)

Now Chester County's latest black eye is in the national media, and blogs are starting to chatter as well. I am so scared for all those people in Coatesville. Can you imagine living in fear, and being afraid to sleep at night? Or as some residents have been interviewed on local news as saying they have emergency bags packed?

Stay safe and be viligent residents of Coatesville...and I think you all should have been allowed to speak at your town meeting last night. I mean, so many of you took a risk by leaving your homes unattended to go to this meeting, right?

TIME/CNN Who Is Setting Fire to Coatesville?
By Sean Scully / Philadelphia Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009

John Pawlowski has lived in the small city of Coatesville all his life, and he's never seen anything like this: neighbors so afraid they're threatening violence against strangers. "I heard from one guy who said, 'If I see someone who I don't know walking in my backyard, they're going to have to carry him out,' " says Pawlowski, 75, a retired newspaper worker. "And he said that with malice in his voice."

Since New Year's Day, Coatesville has seen 14 arsons, including one on Saturday night that destroyed 15 row houses on Fleetwood Street, leaving up to 60 people, including one city council member, homeless. There has been nearly $2 million in damage. The city, an aging steel town of about 12,000 people an hour west of Philadelphia, usually records about two arsons per year, according to the police. But last year there were 15 reported arsons, including one in October that killed an 83-year-old woman. One man was arrested in connection with that fire, and two others were charged with other fires around the same time, but police told reporters they have no suspects in the latest wave of fires....."We cannot have people roaming the streets with guns," he said, according to the Daily Times newspaper.

Shortly after Sunday's gathering, city manager Harry Walker declared a "state of emergency," which he said would allow the city to ask for assistance from the state and might allow Coatesville to impose some regulations in the name of public safety, such as a curfew, although no specific regulations were in the works. He and other officials, however, said they were not yet willing to ask for help from the National Guard, as some residents suggested. Coatesvillle was once a thriving steel town, before the Lukens Steel Co. was bought by Bethlehem Steel, which went bankrupt in 2003, taking with it the pensions of many Coatesville residents. The local steel facility is now run by Arcelor Mittal and employs only a fraction of the total Lukens had at its height.

Feds join arson investigations in Pa. town
By MARYCLAIRE DALE - Associated Press Writer

COATESVILLE, Pa. -- Agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are joining the investigation into a suspicious fire that tore through a block of row houses in this Philadelphia suburb.

The agency announced Monday that it will assist local investigators who have responded to at least 30 arsons since the beginning of 2008, about a half of them in the past three weeks. Saturday's row house fire left several dozen people homeless.

Black Political Thought: Latest Series of Fires in Coatesville, Pa., Claims 15 Homes

I had never heard of Coatesville, Pa., until today and the news is heart-wrenching. According to media reports, the latest in a string of suspicious fires in this suburb, which is located 45 miles west of Philadelphia, engulfed a block of row houses, damaging 15 homes, leaving several dozen people homeless and prompting city officials to declare a state of emergency. This is terrible and to think that there is strong suspicion that this was arson. This comes on the heels of at least 30 arson cases that have been reported since the beginning of 2008, with about half of them in the last three weeks. Police said the blazes may be part of a gang initiation, but there was no clear information who was committing the crimes or why.

The latest fire was reported late Saturday at the rear of one house and quickly spread to adjacent homes in the Chester County community. The emergency declaration has given the city the necessary powers to deal with the situation without worrying about the budget, such as boarding up the buildings, assigning police to protect them and helping the families involved.

The criminals are bare-faced to do this again. The fire came despite increased police patrols and investigative help from county, state and federal agencies. Three people were arrested in December, but there is still a low-life thug out there still starting fires. The residents are scared, and rightly so. You don’t know where the next fire will start.

Tredyffrin Township Political Notebook: Monday, January 26, 2009
Coatesville fires making national news

The Coatesville situation received a mention on Morning Joe this morning on MSNBC. Here is the Google News Link for all the mentions this story is receiving.

Is it me or does it seem that since DA Joe Carroll has been more vocal about what is going on in Coatesville, the incidents of fires has increased.... Not sure if there is a cause/effect relationship on this.

What I do know is that Coatesville is a joke. Whether it is the city manager, the police chief, city council, etc. - Coatesville has to represent the most inept government operation we have ever seen.

On MSNBC this morning, there was mention that perhaps this is gang related. And if that is so, then perhaps there is some cause/effect relationship with the fact that Carroll has moved in and has opened his house 2 nights a week. Perhaps these fires are meant to have a muzzling effect on people - to sway them away from talking to Carroll and the authorities.

Or the opposite may be true. Maybe these fires aren't gang related at all. Maybe it is a plan that is meant to hasten the ouster of the current regime? A pretty controversial statement on my part - but you have to look at motive. In the case of Coatesville, there is plenty of motive to go around.

The Mind of an Arsonist
Psychologist gives a glimpse as to why a person would set fires
By KATHIE MCDERMOTT
Updated 12:15 AM EST, Tue, Jan 27, 2009

It's hard to look away from a huge fire, and psychologists say that's often true for the person who sets the fire as well.

"The perps...they come back to watch the fireman come on the scene they did it...it's all very exciting."

Temple University psychologist Doctor Frank Farley has analyzed many arson fires and doesn't hold out much hope that a criminal profiler will find the person responsible for the Coatesville fires. He says the science just isn't there.

"Unfortunately profiling hasn't been as successful as we hoped it would be…someday I think we will be there but we aren't even close at this point," Dr. Farley said.

He says arsonists tend to fall into different groups, those looking for revenge, profit or thrills.

Chesco D.A. searching for answers to 'devastating' events
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 8:59 AM EST
By Dan Kristie, Special to The Mercury

COATESVILLE — Chester County District Attorney Joe Carroll said that public law enforcement is doing as much as possible to arrest the people responsible for the string of arsons that has devastated the city.As residents demand to know exactly what is being done to address a problem they see as out of control, Carroll emphasized that, in order not to compromise the investigation, there are very few details authorities can divulge.

Carroll, who last year purchased a house on Coatesville's North Eighth Avenue, said he, too, is deeply shaken by these recent arsons.

New York Times: Fire Thought to Be Arson Damages 15 Homes in Philadelphia Suburb

COATESVILLE, Pa. (AP) — The latest in a string of suspicious fires in this Philadelphia suburb tore through a block of row houses over the weekend, damaging 15 homes, leaving several dozen people homeless and prompting city officials to declare a state of emergency.

At least 30 arsons have been reported since the beginning of last year, about half of them in the last three weeks. The police said the fires might be part of a gang initiation, but there was no clear information about who was committing the crimes or why.

Posted on Tue, Jan. 27, 2009
Coatesville stunned as arsons continue
By Derrick Nunnally and Kathleen Brady Shea
Inquirer Staff Writers

On the latest block ravaged by Coatesville's plague of unsolved arsons, former residents grimly trudged through 15 charred homes yesterday before boarding up the windows.
They salvaged what they could from rowhouses ruined Sunday by fire, smoke and water, packing their lives into relatives' cars through a frigid afternoon and mulling suddenly bleak futures.

Pausing, they assembled to look blankly up at the scorched brick buildings and discuss homespun theories about who might have set the latest in a string of 14 unexplained Coatesville fires since Jan. 1. Grasping to explain the cause of their misery, they guessed about gang members, immigrants, disaffected firefighters and various others.

"I'm too scared to go to sleep at night," said Dee White, 49, who lives several blocks away from the Fleetwood Street block that burned Saturday.

Castor Hoisted By Own Petard?

After watching the news yesterday, I can't help but wonder: has Bruce Castor been hoisted by his own petard?

Posted on Tue, Jan. 27, 2009
Fumo defense begins, tries to discredit government witnesses
By MICHAEL HINKELMAN
Philadelphia Daily News
hinkelm@phillynews.com 215-854-2656

After listening to 14 weeks of testimony from 77 government witnesses, former state Sen. Vince Fumo finally began his defense yesterday against federal corruption charges.

Fumo's defense team first called Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce Castor, a former district attorney, to the witness stand. He quickly attacked the credibility of star government witness Christian Marrone.

When he was D.A., Castor hired Marrone after he left Fumo's employ in 2002.

Castor testified that when he hired Marrone as an assistant district attorney, Marrone was "very vehement" in conveying that he didn't like Fumo because of family matters. (Marrone is married to Fumo's estranged daughter, Nicole.)

Castor told jurors that he fired Marrone two days after the Republican primary for state attorney general in May 2004, after he learned that Marrone had supported his opponent in the primary....Before that time, however, working relations between the two men were much friendlier.

Under a withering cross-examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Pease, Castor admitted that Marrone had offered to help him politically and that Castor had encouraged Marrone to contact key fundraisers in Philadelphia as he pondered a run for state attorney general.

The former D.A. said that he "probably" had political fundraising meetings in his office with Marrone.

The jury heard of e-mails - sent on the county's e-mail system - between Marrone and Castor in which the two discusssed Castor's campaign and fundraising in 2003 and 2004.

Posted on Tue, Jan. 27, 2009
Ex-Montco D.A. testifies for Fumo defense
By Craig R. McCoy and Emilie Lounsberry
Inquirer Staff Writers

The defense team in former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo's corruption trial called its first witness yesterday, former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor, who testified that he had fired one of Fumo's chief accusers because the man was "sneaky."

Castor, who was district attorney before being elected county commissioner, lit into former Fumo aide Christian Marrone, who is estranged from his father-in-law....In his direct testimony, Castor painted Marrone as an ambitious young man on the make.

Soon after he was hired as one of about 40 young assistant prosecutors, Marrone let his boss know he was eager to help him politically, Castor said. He told him he could use his contacts from his five years of working with Fumo to introduce Castor to political players outside Montgomery County.

At the time, Castor was gearing up to seek the GOP nomination for attorney general. According to the e-mails and testimony in court yesterday, Castor happily accepted the help as Marrone networked to connect him with such heavyweights as fund-raiser Robert Feldman, lobbyist Stephen Wojdak, and labor leader John Dougherty.

Soon, Marrone was being summoned to primary campaign strategy sessions at Castor's office. "Cool," Castor responded in one e-mail as Marrone worked to firm up labor support.....In one of the political e-mails shown in court yesterday, the former U.S. attorney, Patrick Meehan, a Republican, was listed as a recipient.

Hmmmmm...isn't Patrick Meehan seeking the nod to run for Governator on the GOP ticket? Just askin....

Posted: Monday, 26 January 2009 7:12PM
Defense Opens its Case in Fumo Trial
by KYW's Tony Hanson

There were fireworks as the defense opened its case in the federal trial of former State Senator Vince Fumo, who is charged with misusing senate resources for his own personal and political benefit. (see previous story)

The first defense witness ended up on the defensive.

White Dog Cafe Will Be Woofing and I will Be Gagging

Today, faithful readers, for just a few minutes I am turning restaurant critic. And I am dishing on Marty Grims, whom I DO NOT feel is all that and a bag of chips.

Yes way back when I went to Central in Bryn Mawr for about a minute. It was a loud incubation point for bar flies and spotty food. Then it eventually became Tango with a dark cave-like feel, mediocre food that is overly salted with an overpriced wine list that Marty must think we are all sharing the same crack pipe if we don't recognize the fact that some wines by the glass are that price by the bottle when purchased at a wine or state store.

He had this place is Radnor at that tennis club a million years ago that was ok on the cafe side (Bravo I think it was?), the other side was ridiculous (Passarelle, as in just pass, it was never worth the hype or dining dollars). Now it's Pond or something and I do not know who owns it. (But I digress)

So then I heard Marty was buying the Moshulu and reinventing it. I did go there a few times because dining on the water's edge is usually a pleasurable experience. My bad. Not San Fran. I gave up after a handful of visits because the Moshulu is merely a floating and overpriced TGI Fridays. No thanks.

Ok, so then I heard he was part of Du Jour in Haverford. Du Jour was his saving grace, even if his partner is a bitch. (I remembered her from the days when Du Jour was a teeny hole in the wall market and fledgling catering business next door to it's current location - at that time it had panache, but I believe panache walked when the original owner and I think conceptual creator of "Du Jour".)

I loved Du Jour until recently - they are in Symphony House in Philadelphia as well. The bloom came off the rose initially when downtown I decided to patronize Du Jour at Symphony House. I saw staff be incredibly rude to a very chic older woman who came in for a take out order. The food was ok there, the service incredibly snotty. For a place which is in essence a grown up Eden, I have never gone back (not that they would know or miss me).

Haverford Du Jour until not so long ago had a great concept menu of small and medium plates - it made it REALLY fun and a dinig adventure. Now they have stopped the small plates, and while the food is good, the service is very slow. I do love the decor - it it's funky fabulous. But I miss the small plates as an option.

But White Dog is one of those Philadelphia dining traditions. The founder, Judy Wicks created a chic fun dining haven that supported local agriculture, free trade, etc LONG before it is fashionable. The White Dog is not a formula restaurant, and Grims is no Steven Starr, and I wish he's quit pretending.

I know this post will undoubtedly generate a flurry of negative comments, but I am entitled to my opinion...just as I think John Mims screwed up a good thing with Carmine's in Bryn Mawr, and so now Mims is in Wayne trying to resurrect the Publick House (which was 7 degrees of sucky) as Mims.....I hope it improves Pub Town USA, because Wayne has been overly pubified and is a culinary YAWN, which is probably why the whole town is overly caffinated with all those coffee shops...but Marty Grims now has BIG PLANS for White Dog, which apparently includes marking his turf in Wayne too.

I just don't understand why Marty Grims with all his experience can't have an original thought? Everything is formula food, and where with Steve Starr it comes off as imaginative, with Marty it doesn't hit the mark. Sign me among the dining bored and jaded.....

I will tell you that the new BYOB A’La Maison in Ardmore is WONDERFUL!!!!! You will definitely LOVE it! (If you can get a table - VERY popular with good reason - it's great to have another good restaurant in Ardmore - too bad Fellini Cafe is still taking up space - I don't go there - the food is gross and the place is just DIRTY - and the BYOB patrons are a lot under aged these days...or I have suddenly become very old?)

Posted on Thu, Jan. 15, 2009
Table Talk: Rustic French BYOB is new in Ardmore

Darlene Boline Moseng, who did catering and private chef-ing, is into her third week of A La Maison (53 W. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, 484-412-8009), a rustic French BYOB in the Main Line storefront that was Jewel of India.

Moseng, a graduate of the Restaurant School, is keeping it traditional on a blackboard menu - coq au vin, short ribs, steak frites (dinner entrees: $21 to $28). She's backed in the kitchen by Maurice deRamus (Zen in Northern Liberties, Kujaku on the Parkway), and Marabella's alumna Lori Sexton is running the front of the house. Sunny-yellow bistro decor is accented with copper pots and a shiny Elektra espresso machine on the counter.

It's open for lunch Tuesdays through Fridays, dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays, and brunch Saturdays and Sundays.

Friday, January 23, 2009
New master of the White Dog Café Activist Judy Wicks holds onto a minority interest
Philadelphia Business Journal - by Peter Van Allen Staff Writer

University City’s iconic White Dog Café has a new owner — and plans for a second location on the Main Line.

Marty Grims, who has a half-dozen local restaurants, has acquired a majority stake in the White Dog and will oversee day-to-day operations.

The restaurant, which Judy Wicks opened in January 1983, is at 3420 Sansom St., adjacent to the University of Pennsylvania campus. Wicks retains a minority ownership stake.

As part of Grims’ larger role, the White Dog plans to open a second site in Wayne in June.

Why Coatesville, Fire Bug?

Somewhere out there is a sick fire bug. A sick mother f-er getting their jollies torching an economically depressed Chester County town.

Have any of you been to Coatesville? I think it is a very sad place with a lot of history that Chester County is letting rot.

And now, someone apparently is also allowing it to burn house by house? I am disgusted that this down-trodden community is hed in terror by this asshole. I love how when you watch a criminal drama on TV they always claim that the criminal has to be hanging around their own crime scene watching their handiwork. Only on TV, they always catch the perpetrator.Poor Coatesville. They have a fire bug. Now Chester County has something else to be known for other than Andrew Wyeth.

Who is doing this? Someone who wants to buy cheap land? Someone who was evicted from a house or lost it to foreclosure? Or just some sick freak who likes to watch things burn for no other reason than that? I hope the people of Coatesville and the fire fighters stay safe.

Posted on Thu, Jan. 22, 2009
Reward offered in Coatesville arsons
By Kathleen Brady Shea
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Concerned about an escalating series of arsons, Coatesville officials today announced a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible - hours after firefighters extinguished two more blazes.

Since the beginning of the year, 13 fires have been deliberately set in Coatesville, said Kristin Geiger, a city spokeswoman.

Last year, the city recorded 15 arsons, well above the norm of one or two a year, said Fire Chief Kevin Johnson. In December, three people, all of whom are still in custody, were charged with arson, one of which killed an 83-year-old woman.

This year's numbers are "off the charts" and "understandably terrifying" the community

3 More Arsons In Southeastern Pa. Community

Suspicious Blazes Fueling Fear In Coatesville
At Least 20 Coatesville Fires Under Investigation
Last Edited: Thursday, 22 Jan 2009, 5:56 PM EST
Created: Thursday, 22 Jan 2009, 1:33 PM EST

COATESVILLE, Pa. -- An arson investigation in Chester County has grown as another fire was set overnight.

At least 20 arsons in Coatesville are already under investigation, and the blazes have left the community anxious and on edge.

Fox 29's Claudia Gomez reported Thursday on the latest theory about who and what may be behind the string of set fires....The latest happened overnight at an apartment house, where someone climbed stairs to a second-floor porch and lit a fire....

Judge Ken Clouse Is Dead...

...and somewhere out there, Delco Tom Paine is smiling and breathing a sigh of relief...Yes seriously, the Judge that was in the news often has died:

Delco Times: Former President Judge Kenneth Clouse dies
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 11:41 AM EST

Judge Kenneth Clouse, the former president judge of Delaware County, has died.

Clouse had held the post overseeing the Delaware County Court's $46.2 million budget and its ever-increasing criminal caseload for more than half a dozen years, ending in Dec. 2006.

Under an edict set down by the Administrative Office of the state Supreme Court affecting judicial districts across the state that are the size of Delaware County's, the term for a president judge is limited to one full term.

While only one five-year term is allowed, Clouse was permitted to serve a year longer, because he was tapped by his fellow jurists to fill the unexpired term of then President Judge Joseph Battle, who died in 2001.

During his years at the top, Clouse's reign has often been marked by contention. Clouse has locked horns with county council over budgetary issues, was picketed by an angry Haverford group in 2004, and also brought in two former FBI agents earlier this year to sweep the courthouse to find out whether phones were being bugged.

JudiPhilly wrote about him here on her blog Truth, Justice & Peace :
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Legal Tales

OK, I admit it. I do love lawyer gossip. This one is about an attorney in the Delaware County office of Cozen & O'Connor who sued the firm for sex discrimination after being terminated. What's not to like?.....This according to the ABA Journal, Bias Suit Claims Cozen Promotes ‘Compliant’ Women. As the Legal Intelligencer reports, Cozen O'Connor Faces Gender Discrimination Lawsuit...I spent about 10 minutes at Cozen too many years ago to count, when I first moved to Philly. It was a small to mid-size firm then, but I knew very quickly after I got there that it was not for me, so I hit the road. The firm I knew is not the Cozen of today, since it moved from an insurance defense firm to an all purpose big firm, so I can't speak to its culture today. But it sounds like Biswanger may have gotten involved in some nasty politics in Havertown Township, which ended up raising the ire of then President Judge Clouse, who used his influence to go after her....For more dirt, see these posts on the Inquirer's business blog, PhillyInc, Biswanger's tale of politics and (alleged) sexism at Cozen and Biswanger vs. Cozen, Part II.

In 2006, Delco Tom Paine asked if he should come back. It's 2009, and I sure hope he does...this dude has been like the Magic 8 Ball of bloggers....and now his nemesis is gone?

Come on back Delco Tome Paine, you are missed!

Delco Times: Delco Judge Kenneth Clouse dies after battle with cancer

Thursday, January 22, 2009 5:48 AM EST

MEDIA COURTHOUSE — Former Delaware County President Judge Kenneth Clouse, who during his tenure courted controversy and recently waged a valiant struggle against cancer, died Wednesday at his Haverford home. He was 64.

Clouse was described by colleagues as an excellent judge who never allowed his quick temper to show while presiding over court matters, and someone who will be “dearly missed and very difficult to replace, both as a colleague and a personal friend.”

While Clouse has been viewed as a fair judge who knew the law, his tenure was not without problems.

While serving in the court’s top post, Clouse’s term was sometimes marred by contention. He locked horns with county council over budgetary issues, was picketed by a disgruntled Haverford group in 2004, and also brought in two former FBI agents in 2006 to sweep the courthouse for fear phones were bugged.

Clouse, while serving as a Haverford commissioner prior to becoming a judge, rode the stormy waves of Haverford politics both as a Republican rebel and then as a political insider.

Longtime friend and fellow attorney Arthur Donato described Clouse as a “complicated person.”

"Complicated"? I am not so sure that us the most apt descriptive adjective according to some.....perhaps death will blur the edges? Not to speak ill of the dead, but still....

WANTED: Attorney To Spin Ponzi Greatness of Joseph S. Forte

Well, well, well...Joseph Forte has been charged with some other stuff? And before becoming a money man he was a computer salesman and owner of a gym in Havertown? And all of this sent up no warning bells with his investors over the years? Did no one read this man's Curriculum Vitae or check any credentials? Would these people also go to a pretend doctor? Oy vey!

Philebrity Update: Forte Gets Wikipedia Page, Mail Fraud Charges

Posted on Wed, Jan. 21, 2009
Forte charged in investment-fraud case
By Harold Brubaker
Inquirer Staff Writer

The U.S. attorney in Philadelphia filed criminal charges yesterday against Joseph S. Forte, a Broomall money manager who has admitted to defrauding nearly 80 investors of millions of dollars.

The charge of mail fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, law enforcement authorities said.

Forte, 53, appeared in court without a lawyer and was scheduled to be released after posting bail of $100,000, said Patricia Hartman, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office......He estimated that he used $15 million of investors' contributions to pay redemptions to other investors and that he paid himself millions in fees because that was "essential to maintaining the fund's illusion of profitability," the affidavit said.

Forte continued to seek money from new investors until at least Friday, Dec. 19. The following Monday, Dec. 22, he told Clark of the fraud.

Before embarking on his investment career, Forte was a computer salesman and owner of a gym in Havertown.

But he evidently had hard times as a computer salesman, according to Brian K. Rebisz, Forte's landlord for an Upper Darby office.

Rebisz sued him in Delaware County in 1994 for back rent totaling $14,123. Rebisz said yesterday that Forte eventually paid the rent in small increments.

Philadelphia Fund Manager Forte Charged With Fraud (Update2)
By Jef Feeley and Sophia Pearson

Delco Times: Accused schemer faces fraud charge
Wednesday, January 21, 2009 11:41 AM EST
By Cindy Scharr, cscharr@delcotimes.com

James Schneller of PA

Oh I am laughing so hard, my sides will split for sure.

My blogging friends in states other than Pennsylvania love to send me blog posts about political oddities hailing from Pennsylvania...this is my fave post inauguration.

So here it is: some guy named James Schneller filed a law suit to stop Obama from being President. So Jimmy, how's that workin' for ya' on January 21, 2009?

Frivolous lawsuits should have stiff penalties....bet this guy will have problems with the First Amendment of it all too. ROFL. We grow 'em strange in Pennsylvania. According to the court docket on this below, this guy lives in Radnor Township, so he is a Main Line home grown?
James Schneller Petition, Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Writ of mandamus, Injunction, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth, Demand proof from Senator Barack Obama, Natural born citizen, US Constitution, Prevent certification of the vote, Electors meeting, December 9, 2008
December 9, 2008 · 15 Comments

I received the following comment on this blog from James Schneller:

“Submitted on 2008/12/08 at 11:45pm
I’ve filed a petition for review No, 199 MM 2008, to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, seeking a writ of mandamus and an immediate injunction ordering the Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth to demand proof from Senator Barack Obama of his sworn statement, filed with his application for placement on the ballot, that he is qualified as a natural born citizen under the United States Constitution.

2:03 P.M.
January 21, 2009
Page 1 of 5
Docket Number: 199 MM 2008
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Miscellaneous Docket Sheet

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
MIDDLE DISTRICT
JAMES D. SCHNELLER,
Petitioner

Hey Schneller? This is beyond stupid whoever you are.

Simple Gifts: Obama Takes the Oath of Office

'Tis the gift to be simple,
'tis the gift to be free,
'tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
It will be in the valley of love and delight

.

Simple gifts. A beautiful Shaker hymn. So appropriate today, I think....great to hear that hymn....so great...

Today was awe inspiring. Critics will say words are just words until action occurs, and while true, people in this country need to be inspired to act better. Will they? I don't know because I fear a new deluge across the US of racism and reverse racism and that people will have to fear the political correctness police ad nasuem.

We are who we are as Americans, and given what our country has struggled to accomplish over soon to be 300 years, today is perfect. Our forefathers founded this country in the hopes that a day like today would arrive.

But that doesn't mean Obama is a god. He's not. He is but one man. And I hope he can live up to at least part of what is expected. The rest of us however? Well we need to reevaluate politics as usual in this country because most of it is divisive bullshit. And I have no respect either, for politicians who do not respect the opinions of others and think the First Amendment is for other people if they are being dissected in the media and elsewhere. So let's move it along, ok? I am tired of being mired in the political crap of the United States of America.Cheers to a new day dawning. (I hope)- I will say that such a LARGE and expensive inaugural in the current economy could be interpreted as being in seriously bad taste...can't imagine what this all cost....

My favorite coverage today was CNN. It was the most comprehensive without the Fox News neuroticism that we are all going to hell because an African American Democrat is now our Commander in Chief. (And yes, I know the die hard conservatives are ever so busy sharpening their knives, but honestly, what does that gain us other then sound bytes?) Here is the text of Obama's speech from CNN:

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.....Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the fainthearted...What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them -- that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account -- to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -- because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control -- and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.....America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

CNN: Obama: Challenges real, but 'they will be met'

Barack Obama Isn't Superman, and It's Divisive to Think So/January 20, 2009 12:15 PM ET/By Bonnie Erbe, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

The New York Times: Obama Is Sworn In as the 44th President