Week In Review

ABOVE PHOTO:  Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown   Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown released the following statement following City Council’s vote to place the abolition of the School Reform Commission on the November election day ballot: “Today I proudly cast my vote, calling on the General Assembly and Governor to abolish the School Reform Commission and return…

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Mayor Michael A. Nutter and Councilman James Kenney last week announced that they have reached an agreement to amend a bill originally introduced by the Councilman which will decriminalize possession and use of small amounts of marijuana in the City of Philadelphia. “This bill will not legalize marijuana.  Rather, it will decriminalize marijuana – which…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Unidentified rebel of the Free Syrian Army carries body out of regime controlled area into rebel controlled district of Bustan Al-Qasr in Aleppo, Syria on July 11, 2013.  (Photo: Shutterstock / Dona_Bozzi)   By Calvin Woodward Associated Press  WASHINGTON — It’s not as clear as President Barack Obama made it sound Wednesday night…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Joe Frazier (Photo by Webster Riddick) By Kathy Matheson Associated Press Busloads of tourists line up every day in Philadelphia to take photos with a statue of Rocky Balboa, the fictional heavyweight fighter made famous by Sylvester Stallone. Will they line up for pictures with a sculpture of real hometown champion Joe Frazier?…

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ABOVE PHOTO: ABOVE PHOTO:  Renisha McBride By Ed White    Associated Press DETROIT — A suburban Detroit man was sentenced Wednesday to at least 17 years in prison for killing an unarmed woman who appeared on his porch before dawn. Theodore Wafer was convicted of second-degree murder in the Nov. 2 death of 19-year-old Renisha…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Photo grab: St. Louis Post-Dispatch   ST. LOUIS, Mo. –Michael Brown’s relatives said goodbye Monday to the 18-year-old who was shot and killed by a police officer, remembering him as a “gentle soul” with a deep and growing faith in Christianity and ambitions that one day “the world would know his name.” Thousands…

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ABOVE PHOTO: Wikipedia By Michael Rubinkam Associated Press READING, Pa — On the second day of class at Reading Senior High School, teacher Eric Knorr directs his students’ attention to the banners hanging on the wall. Syracuse. Temple. Brown. Penn State. All of them brought back by former students who bucked the odds and went…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Protesters at night  in Ferguson.  (Screen grab photo: Video by Cristina Fletes-Boutté/Source: St Louis Post-Dispatch)   By Nigel Duara and Jim Suhr associated press FERGUSON, Mo.  — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon ordered the National Guard to Ferguson early Monday, hours after police used tear gas to clear protesters off the streets following a…

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By Jake Pearson Associated Press NEW YORK — Agitated and hallucinating from alcohol and heroin withdrawal, inmate Angel Ramirez took a swing at a jail guard and missed. What followed, according to investigative documents obtained by The Associated Press, was a quick punch back from the guard that put Ramirez on the floor. Then he…

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By Jennifer Peltz associated press NEW YORK — Barneys has agreed to pay $525,000 to resolve allegations that minorities were singled out as suspected shoplifters at its flagship store, part of a spate of racial profiling complaints against major retailers last year. Barneys shoppers and ex-employees complained that detectives followed minority customers around — even…

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