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Newsletter for Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014
INSTAGRAM OF THE DAY
The rainbow flag at City Hall flies at half-mast in memory of Gloria Casarez, founding director of the mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs. Via Instagram user @phillygaycalendar
MONICA LEWINSKY IN PHILLY: I WAS ‘PATIENT ZERO’ FOR CYBER-BULLYING
In her first public appearance, Monica Lewinsky spoke to an audience of 1,000 millennials at Forbes’ 30 under 30 summit Monday. The video, online now, shows an emotional Lewinsky talking about her life in the spotlight and what she recognized in hindsight as suicidal feelings. It’s worth watching.
STATE SUPREME COURT JUDGE SUSPENDED OVER PORNY EMAILS
Seamus McCaffery, a state Supreme Court Justice, has been suspended with pay from the bench of Pennsylvania’s highest court while a Judicial Conduct Board gets all up in his inbox. The suspension comes via McCaffery’s colleagues, led by Chief Justice Ronald Castille (who really, really has beef with McCaffery, effectively comparing his colleague to a sociopath in his ruling). At issue: 230 or so completely disgusting emails that Castille claimed McCaffery sent or actively forwarded, but there’s some non-pornographic bad behavior noted too (allegedly: steering contracts toward his wife and trying to get a Philly traffic ticket fixed). McCaffery’s suspension comes on top of five other state officials resigning or retiring in the wake of let’s-just-call-it-PornGate, a scandal triggered as state Attorney General Kathleen Kane was looking into the Jerry Sandusky probe.
PHILLY JUDGE STAYS SRC’S CONTRACT CHANGES — FOR NOW
A Philadelphia judge has put a temporary hold on the state School Reform Commission’s move to force city teachers to pay part of their health care. The injunction, which was sought by the teachers union, was opposed by the SRC, which claimed that health care savings would free up $54 million this year for the city’s perennially under-funded public classrooms. This won’t end here, either — it’s a temporary injunction, so more court action is certain.
TEMPLE STUDENTS PISTOL-WHIPPED, ZIP-TIED IN OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING INVASION
Fairly alarming Sunday night for a group of six Temple University students as a pair of gunmen broke in to a North Philly home, pistol-whipped one resident, zip-tied the six people they found inside, and stole cash, a game system and speakers, according to CBS Philly. The break-in occurred around 8:30 p.m. in the 1900 block of North 18th Street. Right after the attack, the University emailed students with the news, and seeking tips. And while it looks like a random crime, it may not be — a source told the Philly Daily News the attack was a retaliation after the apartment resident and a neighborhood “hoodlum.” Talk about town vs. gown. Police are still investigating.
TO DO: HANG OUT IN OLD CITY’S NEWEST CRAFT BREWPUB
WHAT: 2nd Story, a farm-to-table craft brewpub
WHERE: 117 Chestnut Street, 2nd floor (duh)
WHEN: Today
HOW MUCH: Pay as you consume.
DETAILS HERE
BILLY PENN LIKES
PHILLY WEEKLY TAKES LOGICAL NEXT STEP, PHOTOSHOPS TOM CORBETT INTO STUFF
Buzzfeed‘s solid investigative journalism — that Tom Corbett’s campaign Photoshopped a black woman into what looked like a meeting with constituents — has come to its natural conclusion. Philly Weekly’s Philly Now blog has ‘shopped Pennsylvania’s governor into a performance with the Roots, meeting Malcolm X and MLK Jr., and as a cast member in Orange is the New Black.
WATCH THE TRAILER FOR ‘HAPPY VALLEY,’ THE SUNDANCE MOVIE ABOUT THE PENN STATE SCANDAL
Two weeks before the election for Pennsylvania governor, there’s a trailer out for Happy Valley — the documentary about the Jerry Sandusky scandal that rocked Penn State. The scandal is widely viewed as a reason why Tom Corbett, whose GOP base is largely clustered around the University, is fighting for (and losing) his political life. The documentary, which played at the Sundance Film Festival, features lines like this: “In this town God is Joe Paterno… but then Jesus would be Jerry. They could do what they wanted and they could do no wrong.” The movie opens Nov. 19 in New York City; the trailer went live this weekend.
