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☆ A Philly cop has been charged with assault over a bar fight. In 2011, the Fraternal Order of Police made sure he didn't lose his job after being accused of punching his wife in the face.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Philadelphia police officer has been charged with assault over an alleged bar fight. The officer became enraged when someone put on hip-hop or R&B music, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The same cop was arrested in 2011 and accused of punching his wife. The same officer was arrested in 2011 and charged with simple assault and reckless endangering after he was accused of punching his estranged wife in the face at another bar. An FOP spokesperson told Insider that, this time around, the union "is not representing the officer and has no further comment."

☆ Lowe's is testing 400-pound, egg-shaped autonomous robots to patrol parking lots at some of its stores
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Lowe's is testing robots from Knightscope to help deter crime and promote safety at its stores. Lowe's is testing autonomous, 400-pound security robots from robotics company Knightscope to patrol parking lots at some of its stores to enhance safety, the company told Insider Monday. Lowe's said it began testing the Knightscope K5 robots in February in Philadelphia. Several TikTok users have posted videos of the robots patrolling the Lowe's parking lots, likening them to the popular Dalek villains from "Dr. Lowe's decision to test these autonomous robots comes as retailers have been sounding the alarms about rising levels of theft.

☆ Dangerous 'forever chemicals' were found in turf at the Philadelphia Phillies' old stadium after six former players died of same cancer, investigation finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"Forever chemicals" were found in turf that was used in the Philadelphia Phillies' old stadium. The Inquirer was researching whether there was a link between the turf and ex-Phillies dying of brain cancer. The artificial turf was used for years and replaced several times at Veterans Stadium, where both the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies played from 1971 to 2003. The Phillies played their last game at the stadium in September 2003 and it was demolished in March 2004. The six former Phillies — Tug McGraw, Darren Daulton, John Vukovich, John Oates, Ken Brett, and David West — all died of glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer.

Feb 9 (Reuters) - German authorities searched the premises of three companies early Thursday as part of an ongoing probe into the possible violation of European Union sanctions against Russia, prosecutors said in a statement. German authorities also searched the residences of three suspects, according to the statement, which didn't name the companies or individuals. Reuters was unable to reach Smart Impex or its manager, Gokturk Agvaz, by phone on Thursday for comment. Some went to a Moscow customer that had received American and non-U.S. products from Smart Impex before Russia invaded Ukraine last February. The correspondence is available on handelsregister.de, a public German companies registry.

☆ Trump poses for photograph with convicted mob boss, in a flashback to controversial dinner with white nationalist Nick Fuentes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Donald Trump was pictured with a man who is a convicted mob boss, per The Philadelphia Inquirer. The ex mob boss, Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino, said Trump wasn't aware of who he was. Trump, Merlino, and a third unidentified man are pictured in the photograph giving thumbs-ups while at the Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach in Florida. The photo was widely shared online on Monday, prompting questions as to whether Merlino and Trump knew each other. "President Trump takes countless photos with people," a campaign spokesperson told The Inquirer.

What is it with Elon Musk and pronouns? The implication that respecting someone’s pronouns is somehow an imposition that could potentially result in ostracizing is also wildly off base. And if you can’t even accept something as basic as someone’s pronouns and identity, you’re making it pretty clear that you do not support their civil rights and liberties. The implication that respecting someone’s pronouns is somehow an imposition that could potentially result in ostracizing is also wildly off base. At the end of the day, it costs nothing to respect someone’s pronouns.

☆ Elon Musk and Facebook's former chief security officer got into it on Twitter over the release of the 'Twitter Files Part 2'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk sparred on Twitter with Facebook's former security chief over "Twitter Files part two." Alex Stamos tweeted "Musk fired the lawyer" who would tell him what happens if non-employees have access to users' DMs. On Thursday, conservative columnist Bari Weiss tweeted the latest thread of "files," an installment about "Twitter's secret blacklists." Journalist Matt Taibbi tweeted the first part of the "Twitter Files" last week, which Musk described as internal communications that would reveal Twitter tried to censor free speech on the platform. Stamos tweeted that he was the target of "a wave of really poorly targeted racist and antisemitic slurs from" Musk's "posse," after Musk's reply.

☆ A woman who mistakenly visited an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center said she was met with pushback for seeking an abortion: 'I just was not ready, and words can't make you ready for that'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Hannah Getahun | Isabella Zavarise | Katie Nixdorf | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Crisis pregnancy centers outnumber abortion clinics in the US. When she got to The Keim Center in Virginia Beach, it didn't look or smell like a medical clinic — it was too nice, too inviting. Unbeknownst to her, Estefanía had walked into one of the 2,000 crisis pregnancy centers, or CPCs, in the US. "Most of the folks that work in crisis pregnancy centers are people that are on a mission to end abortion." Researchers from Middlebury College have estimated that the extinction of national abortion rights means the number of people living closer to CPCs than abortion clinics will double, and CPCs will outnumber abortion clinics 1-to-5.

A gunman opened fire at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Saturday night, killing five people and injuring 19 others. The shooting at Club Q is a tragic yet predictable outcome of demonizing LGBTQ people and using children as political pawns. Run by Chaya Raichik, Libs of TikTok has targeted LGBTQ people, drag events and Pride celebrations across the country. In addition to Boebert and Libs of TikTok, political leaders like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Florida Gov. We deserve to go to gay bars and drag shows or walk down the street without being attacked or harassed, or killed.

As Republicans across the country saw their predictions of commanding victories up and down the ballot fall short on election night, Democrats in Pennsylvania were celebrating signs of a blue wave. Spencer Platt / Getty Images fileMany state Republicans said it’s no surprise that the strategy worked. “I think Republicans are going to be very demoralized here,” one Republican who worked on a Pennsylvania campaign, said in an interview. But while Oz struggled to overcome questions about his residency, Democrats and Republicans both said the election was driven by the Shapiro-Mastriano dynamic. “To have a wave, you not only have to have the initial motion, but you have to have the driver.

☆ How Hurricane Sandy transformed the Jersey Shore into 'a playground for the rich'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Zoe Rosenberg | Dan Latu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Jersey Shore residents battled through a patchwork of programs to rebuild after Hurricane Sandy. Even 10 years after Hurricane Sandy, Barbara is still reminded daily of the mental and financial toll it took on her. Courtesy of BarbaraThe bureaucratic red tape around flood insurance and rebuild programs linked to Hurricane Sandy deepened the divide between the haves and have-nots of the Jersey Shore. Milliman, an actuarial company that works with FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program, found that about 47% of coastal dwellers had flood insurance, The Inquirer reported. "After Sandy, there was a lot more money coming in," Mery, who has built Jersey Shore homes for 15 years, told Insider.

☆ Democrats say they have won control of Pennsylvania's state House for first time in more than a decade
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Democrats claim they have won a majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. If confirmed, it would be the first time Democrats have won a majority in the chamber since 2008. State Rep. Joanna McClinton is set to be the first woman and first Black speaker of the House. "Pennsylvania voters overwhelmingly rejected hatred," state Rep. Joanna McClinton, a Democrat from Philadelphia, said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphia. It would be the first time Democrats have won control of the chamber since 2008 and only the second time since 1995.

☆ Go ahead. Go crazy with avocados. There's a massive glut and prices are cooling off
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNNBusiness —There’s at least one item in the grocery store that is getting less expensive: avocados. A significant supply glut of the buttery fruit has triggered a drop in wholesale prices, sending store prices lower as well. A glut of global avocado supply has triggered a significant drop in prices. “In the first half of 2022, avocado shipments from Mexico were 25% lower compared to the record-high shipments we saw in 2021,” said Magana. Those regulations were quickly lifted, but not before causing a further run-up in store prices.

More than three-quarters of the deliveries list the supplier as Gap Europe Ltd, a London-based unit of Gap Inc. The Russian customs records are drawn from several commercial providers of trade data and go through Sept. 30. The Gap shipments included everything from "knitted children’s socks" and "children’s pajamas" to "textile blouses for women" and "textile shorts for men." Some items are missing.”Russian customs records show more than 1,200 shipments of Gap clothing to Russia between March 11 – the day after Gap Inc’s announcement that it was halting shipments – and June 21. After July 16, the customs records show no shipments to Gap Retail in Moscow, indicating that the apparel flow to Russia had stopped.

CNN —The 2022 World Series is a classic case of overwhelming favorite against plucky underdog. The Astros’ only previous World Series win came when they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017. “It is the World Series, it’s a big stage, but they have been loose the entire time through this whole process. The Philadelphia Phillies last won the World Series in 2008. Further back in 1929, the Philadelphia Athletics’ World Series win was followed by the Wall Street Crash.

☆ How college became so expensive, and how we can turn it around, according to a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Annie Nova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwardsThe average cost to attend a private college in 1970 was about $3,000 a year. Bunch is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the national opinion columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer. That said, I don't believe the price of college will fall dramatically without states lowering tuition at public universities, and without a renewed push for free community college. WB: Making public 4-year universities free or next to free would be expensive and require new funding sources. WB: This seems the biggest flaw in the Biden plan, that it included nothing in the way to lower college costs going forward.

☆ Threats against judges skyrocketed during the Trump era, and experts are now fearing for the worst
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Federal judges involved in matters related to the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago have also faced threats. The number of logged threats to judges and other officials nearly doubled early in the Trump era. He's a hater," Trump said of Judge Gonzalo Curiel, a 2012 appointee to the federal trial court in San Diego. But, as the threats to the federal judges in South Florida showed, the trend is extending down through the lower courts. It declined to give a broader assessment for the increase in threats to judges and other Marshals Service protectees.

☆ Fetterman Oz debate for Pennsylvania Senate seat sends message to stroke survivors
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Judith Hannah Weiss | Judith Hannah Weiss Is A Freelance Writer Whose Work Has Appeared In The Iowa Review | The Rumpus | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

John Fetterman suffered days before winning the Democratic Senate nomination in May. The stroke added a new wrinkle to a race that could determine which party takes control of the 50-50 U.S. Senate. The Oz campaign is clearly hoping that perception will hurt Fetterman. In one egregious example, Oz issued a list of “concessions” for their debate Tuesday night that many see as mocking. Benjamin Abella, a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, criticized the Oz campaign for shaming a stroke survivor.

☆ Suspicious packages, white powdery substances, and a 'swatting': Inside the threats federal judges are facing across the country
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +16 min

The US Marshals Service has been responding to a remarkable rise in threats against federal judges. At least three times this year, the federal court in Washington, DC, received suspicious packages. Arriving just months apart, the packages sent to DC's federal courthouse served as reminders of threats judges are increasingly facing across the country. Lawmakers have blamed Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, for blocking legislation to help protect federal judges. Greg Nash/AP ImagesCongressional solutionsCongress has approved additional funding for bolstering the security of federal judges.

☆ GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano's new ad uses same stock footage as Russian propaganda
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

An ad posted by the Doug Mastriano campaign uses footage previously featured in Russian propaganda. The stock footage of two young girls appears to have come from a videographer in Belarus. In July, a Russian embassy used the footage in an ad encouraging people to move to Russia. Twitter/Russian Embassy in SpainIt is not the first time that the campaign appears to have used stock footage from the site. The allure of stock footage — especially, of course, the free variety — is money.

☆ Pennsylvania school district created culture of anti-LGBTQ discrimination, complaint alleges
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed a federal complaint Thursday alleging one of the largest school districts in the state has created a widespread culture of discrimination toward LGBTQ students, particularly those who are transgender and nonbinary. The lawyers interviewed dozens of LGBTQ students and their parents, as well as current and former teachers and staff. The bullying forced some of them to miss school, and in 2019, a former transgender student attempted suicide, according to the complaint. Serving more than 18,000 students, Central Bucks drew national attention in 2021 as debates over pandemic policies gave way to larger culture-war clashes in the community. Amid a surge in anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and policy in school boards across the country, Walczak said, the alleged circumstances at Central Bucks are not an isolated situation.

State law was later changed to require unanimous Board of Pardons approval to recommend commutations for those serving life sentences. In his second term, Wolf has already commuted 47 life sentences, at the urging of the pardons board. “In making clemency decisions, John scrupulously reviewed clemency applications and consulted with corrections officials, prison wardens, judges and DAs. Fetterman has not, as one Oz ad implies, called for eliminating all life sentences for murderers. All but one of the men featured had been serving life sentences on second-degree murder convictions, with a variety of mitigating circumstances in their favor.

☆ Poll: GOP is winning on the economy, immigration; Democrats are ahead on abortion and health care
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Chuck-Todd-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Chuck Todd | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

... And Joe O’Dea pitches himself as pro-abortion rights in Colorado Senate while Democrats push back. The Republican Party holds all-time high advantages on the economy, crime and border security, while the Democrats have an all-time high on abortion and a double-digit edge on health care. Midterm roundup: Trump hits the trail in OhioFormer President Donald Trump traveled to Ohio over the weekend to boost GOP Senate hopeful J.D. Not every GOP Senate candidate is eager to campaign with Trump. It’s a position on abortion that is different from that of his fellow Republican Senate candidates, many of whom favor stricter bans with few exceptions.

☆ Joe Biden owed Philly money after leaving a muddy mess from a campaign event. After a delay, the city says it's now getting paid.
▼ + stars: | 2020-12-04 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Philadelphia is demanding that Joe Biden's campaign pay up following a campaign event in November left the city cleaning up a water-logged FDR Park. Liza Acevedo, a spokesperson for the Biden presidential transition committee, confirmed Friday evening that the final payment is on its way. The rainy drive-in campaign event at FDR Park on November 01, 2020 left a water-logged muddy mess that the city had to clean up. Philadelphia City Hall has already raised taxes, cut some services, and laid off hundreds of government workers to balance its books. Philadelphia, meanwhile, is hoping that Biden's team will pay up faster than Democrat Hillary Clinton, who conducted a campaign event near Philadelphia City Hall in 2016.

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