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FOOD & WATER WATCH hosted workshop Tuesday to train local activists on skills needed for 2012
Farm Bill: running effective meetings and generating media awareness. State Rep. Babette Josephs, a
food activist, was special guest at workshop, addressed group about opportuni-
ties for change. “If not you, then who?” Josephs said, challenging FWW cam-
paigners. Josephs, right, is joined here by FWW organizer Emily Heffling.
PhiladelphiaDaily Record
Food ForThought
Vol. II No. 191. (351) Keeping You Posted With The Politics Of Philadelphia November 30, 2011
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T h e P h i l a d e l p h i a P u b l i c R e c o r d C a l e n d a rDec. 1-Reception honoring US Sen. Bob Casey withSpecial Guest James Carville, at Racquet Clubof Phila., 215 S. 16th St. 6 p.m. Friend$250/person. Committee Person, Young Pro-fessional $100/person. RSVP (267) 601-4450or rsvp@bobcasey.com.Dec. 2- Local 98’s Turkeys and Toys Party, Finni-gan’s Wake, 7 p.m.Dec. 3- 10th Ward’s Christmas Holiday Gospel Break-fast hosted by Edgar Howard at Imhotep Char-ter HS, 6201 N. 21st St., 10 a.m. (Welcomehome from hospital, Edgar!)Dec. 4- Fundraiser for Tracey Gordon at 1033 Chris-tian St., 5-5:30 p.m. For info (215) 501-2197.Dec.4- Ward Leader Bob DellaValla, Esq, hosts 55thDemocrat Executive Committee ChistmasParty from 2 to 6 p.m. at Knights of Colum-bus, 3300 Knorr Street( at Rowland). For infocall (215) 335-4004.Dec. 7- United Republican Club celebrates 131st birth-day at Sheraton Society Hill, 1 Dock St., 5:30to 7 p.m. For info (215) 545-2244.Dec. 8- State Rep. W. Curtis Thomas hosts Weather-ization and Energy Forum at Temple’s Den-tistry Student Faculty Ctr., 3340 N. Broad St.(Broad & Ontario), 6-8 p.m. For info NatalieDavis (215) 560-3261.Dec. 15- Christmas Celebration in 6300 block German-town Avenue, 6-7 p.m. Corporate and com-munity donations are welcome! For more infoto make a donation A. Neal (215) 438-1768or A. Alexander (215) 844-9345.Dec. 17- Black Professionals Christmas Party atAfrican American Museum, 7th & Arch Sts.,8 p.m.-1 a.m. $50 includes live music, enter-tainment. For info Earl Harvey (267) 244-3860.Dec. 29- Friends of Council-elect majority leader CurtisJones host “Black Out Party” at 4130 MainStreet, next to Manayunk Brewery. Dress inblack. VIP Coctail 6 to 8 pm $1,000 host;$500 sponsor, $250 VIP. General admission,8 p.m. to 1 p.m. $50 guest. Fort info call Do-rian Stanley at 732-642-2163.
THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD
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THE PHILADELPHIA DAILY RECORD
Toomey Lays Out
Earmark BanUS Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and
Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) an-
nounced the bipartisan Earmark
Elimination Act of 2011 yesterday.
This legislation would build on the
temporary moratorium on ear-
marks scheduled to expire at the
end of 2012 and would perma-
nently ban earmarks from the leg-
islative process.
The legislation would define ear-
marks as any congressionally di-
rected spending item, limited tax
benefit, or limited tariff benefit. It
would create a point of order
against any legislation containing
an earmark, which could only be
waived by a two-thirds vote.
Unfortunately, a number of con-
gressional members are clamoring
to reinstate the wasteful earmark-
ing process that forced taxpayers
to fund such pet projects as the
Bridge to Nowhere. According to
the Washington Post, lawmakers
are trying to fund special-interest
projects by finding loopholes in
the current earmark moratorium.
“With some members of Congress
clamoring for a return to wasteful
earmark spending, it is time for
Congress to make the current
moratorium on special-interest
giveaways a permanent ban,”
Toomey said. “For years, earmarks
played a role in fueling the over-
spending in Washington and un-
dermining the integrity of our
legislative process. We cannot af-
ford to allow Congress to resume
earmarking and playing pork bar-
rel politics with taxpayer dollars.”
Senate Passes Casey Amendment To
Keep Libyan Arms From Terrorists
The US Senate yesterday unani-
mously accepted a bipartisan
amendment to the FY 2012 De-
fense Authorization bill that urges
greater action by the Obama Ad-
ministration to keep Libya’s stock-
pile of about 20,000 portable
anti-aircraft missiles, known as
MANPADS, out of the hands of
terrorists who wish to do harm to
Americans. US Sen. Bob Casey
(D-Pa.), Chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Subcommittee
on Near Eastern & South & Cen-
tral Asian Affairs, cosponsored the
amendment.
“It is essential that the U.S. work
with its allies to ensure that
weapons from the war in Libya do
not end up in the hands of terror-
ists,” said the Senator. “Shoulder-
launched missiles pose an
extremely dangerous threat to
commercial aircraft across the
Middle East, including to our ally
Israel. I was proud to be an origi-
nal cosponsor of this important
amendment, which will enhance
the safety of those flying interna-
tionally.”
The amendment specifically
charges the Administration to con-
duct an urgent intelligence assess-
ment of the threat these missile
pose to the American people and
our allies. It also requires the Pres-
ident to develop and implement a
comprehensive strategy to mitigate
this threat.
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The Pennsylvania State Police re-
cently participated in a five-day
enforcement effort inspecting
motor coaches.
State and municipal motor carrier
enforcement personnel, including
Philadelphia and Pittsburgh police
officers and Public Utility Com-
mission staff, inspected 341 motor
coaches at popular travel destina-
tions such as casinos and amuse-
ment parks throughout the state.
“Motor-coach strike forces are just
one of the many ways we help en-
sure the safety of everyone travel-
ing throughout Pennsylvania,”
State Police Commissioner Frank
Noonan said. “Whether you’ll be
driving 20 or 200 miles this holi-
day season, it’s important to be
aware of the road and to be a safe,
courteous and patient driver.”
Troop K (Delaware, Montgomery
and Philadelphia Cos.) conducted
41 inspections. It put two vehicles
and one driver out of service, is-
sued four citations and 22 warn-
ings.
State Police Bust Local Bus Lines
PGW Set To Cut Gas Rates
The Philadelphia Gas Works today
announced it will decrease what
residential customers pay for natu-
ral gas. The average residential
heating customer will pay about
1.1% less per month for the next
three months.
The new cost for gas will change
from $1.52 per Ccf to $1.51 per
Ccf. Residential heating customers
will pay $1.51 per one hundred
cubic feet (Ccf) of natural gas as of
Dec 1, 2011. The price for PGW’s
commercial, industrial and munici-
pal customers will also decrease on
that date.
The rate will stay in effect through
Mar. 1, 2012, when PGW will de-
termine, based on market condi-
tions, whether or not the rate
should change.
“PGW consistently excels at pur-
chasing the least-expensive gas for
our customers,” said Craig White,
president and CEO for PGW.
“With the abundance of natural gas
available, we expect the cost of gas
to remain stable for the foreseeable
future.”
The company anticipates its rates
should remain stable, based on
current market projections, pro-
ducing savings for all of the com-
pany’s customers compared to
recent years. PGW’s residential
natural gas rates are made up of
two main components: a supply
charge and delivery charge. The
supply charge is the part of the bill
that reflects the amount of gas
used by the customer. This charge
is what PGW pays for the gas and
is passed on to the customer with-
out markup.
Founded in 1836, PGW is owned
by the City of Philadelphia and is
the largest municipally owned gas
utility in the country.
Sens. Hughes,
Tartaglione Visit
Stetson School
State Sens. Vincent J. Hughes (D-
W. Phila.) and Christine
Tartaglione (D-Kensington) toured
Stetson MS yesterday to get a first-
hand look at the school’s remark-
able turnaround.
“It is an honor to be here today to
meet with the faculty, students, and
parents of this promising school.
Stetson MS is a successful model
of education reform,” Hughes said.
“After years of underachievement,
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Stetson is now a school with a
promising academic future for all
students.”
Stetson, which has a largely His-
panic student body, was one of
Philadelphia’s lowest-performing
schools, until it was taken over by
Aspira of Pennsylvania, a Hispanic
advocacy group. Since the
takeover, the school has produced
academic gains, while reducing vi-
olence and disruptive behavior.
“In a changing world economy, ed-
ucation becomes more valuable
every day,” Tartaglione said. “The
success at Stetson proves that with
parents, teachers, and administra-
tors working together to help stu-
dents, the future can be bright for
any student who wants to
achieve.”
Hughes was instrumental, along
with Success Schools COO Robert
Lysek, in securing 50 iPads for
Stetson students and 10 for teach-
ers and administrators. The stu-
dents use the iPads for remedial
math and writing support. Teachers
use them to support and facilitate
the lessons.
During the tour, Hughes and
Tartaglione were updated by stu-
dent leaders on how Stetson was
turned around through targeted ed-
ucation reforms. Many once-dis-
ruptive students are now classroom
leaders, excelling both academi-
cally and socially. The school has
seen gains in PSSA scores as well.
Palumbo Academy Wins Interstate
Attendance ChallengeThe Academy at Palumbo, a
school of 646 students, improved
its overall attendance rate to 97%
in seven weeks to win the East Re-
gion of the national Get Schooled
Foundation’s Fall 2011 Attendance
Challenge.
The friendly competition engaged
nearly 80,000 students from 73
high schools in 17 states between
Oct. 3 and Nov. 18 students
through a variety of online, social
media, and in-school activities.
Across all participating schools
1,000 additional students came to
school during the course of the
challenge.
In the Eastern region, the Acad-
emy at Palumbo, motivated by the
idea of a national competition and
the chance to rally their school
around a common goal of improv-
ing attendance, worked hard to im-
prove upon their attendance rate.
“We are so proud that our Acad-
emy students showed their com-
mitment to their education and
their future by showing up to
school and participating in the At-
tendance Challenge,” said Adri-
enne Wallace-Chew, principal of
the Academy at Palumbo.
Attendance is the greatest predic-
tor of graduation and a significant
driver of student achievement. Re-
search shows missing just 10 days
a year can lead to academic prob-
lems. Students who miss 20 days a
year (or about one month) have
less than a one-in-five chance of
graduating from high school. Few
districts report these chronic tru-
ancy numbers, despite their corre-
lation to low graduation rates.
To celebrate the school’s achieve-
ments, Paramount Pictures, a unit
of Viacom, will host a red-carpet
experience for the students, with a
Mission: Impossible-themed event
at the school and preview screen-
ings of Mission: Impossible -
Ghost Protocol at the UA
Riverview theatre in Philadelphia
for all students.
Get Schooled brought a mix of
celebrity encouragement, interac-
tive educational games, and plenty
of opportunities to elevate the
youth voice, resulting in an aver-
age of 2.8% attendance rate in-
crease across all participating
schools. Schools earned points in
the challenge by improving their
attendance, nominating teachers
who inspire them to come to
school and testing their knowledge
in an online trivia bowl. 185 stu-
dents signed up for wake-up calls
from their favorite celebrities, such
as Tyra Banks and Trey Songz.
During the Challenge, the Acad-
emy hosted a Halloween atten-
dance-focused pep rally with more
than 600 students and teachers to
celebrate their high attendance
rates and to showcase their school
spirit.
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Boyle Brothers To Host Hoops
Tourney For Fallen OfficersState Reps. Brendan and Kevin
Boyle (both D-Northeast) will host
their annual basketball classic from
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3 at
Lincoln HS 3201 Ryan Avenue.
The tournament championships
will be played at 10 a.m. on Sun-
day, Dec. 4.
An awards ceremony will follow
the championship. At the cere-
mony, Billy Gibson, a 14-year-old
local Boy Scout, will receive the
“Constituent of the Year” award
for his leadership and community
service.
The tournament will allow 7th- and
8th-grade students from local mid-
dle schools to compete. Twelve
boys’ teams and seven girls’ teams
will participate.
The event raises funds for the Fra-
ternal Order of Police Survivors
Fund.
Butkovitz Finds City Using Outdated
Software To Manage Huge InventoryCity Controller Alan Butkovitz today released the FY08-09 Procurement Dept. audit that found the Depart-
ment is using a 15-year-old data-
base-software application to ac-
count for the City’s $472 million
equipment inventory.
Since 1996, the software has un-
dergone four major revisions but
the Department never obtained the
upgraded versions. The software
is no longer supported by the Mi-
crosoft developer.
“By failing to keep its software
updated, the Procurement Dept.
has created the potential for un-
wanted risks,” said Butkovitz.
“Old, outdated software can cause
flawed transactions and can open
the door to the threat of malicious
programs and hackers.”
Butkovitz continued, “The Pro-
curement Department needs to im-
mediately replace its old software
with a newer database application
that meets today’s technology
standards.”
Philadelphia’s Procurement Dept.
was created to centralize the pur-
chases made by all City depart-
ments, agencies, boards and
commissions that receive funds
from the City treasury. One of the
department’s main responsibilities
is to keep records of all equipment
already owned by the City.
To view the FY08-09 Procure-
ment Department Auditor’s Re-
port, please visit the City
Controller’s website at
www.philadelphiacontroller.org
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Blackwell Calls For Volunteer
Gift-Wrappers
ISSUING a call for volunteer gift-wrappers this morning was Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, at First
Thursday meeting chaired by University of Penna. VP Glenn Bryant, center. Every year she throws a
mammoth Christmas Party for thousands of homeless individuals and families; every child gets a pres-
ent. Volunteers are needed to wrap presents at City Hall Saturday morning, Dec. 17. Call (215) 686-
3418/3419 to find out how you can help.