The Philadelphia City Council voted down a plan to ban plastic bags. This means stores can continued to offer shoppers the choice of plastic or paper bags. Heard in the Hall reports that one of the plan’s sponsors was so mad at Shoprite’s lobbying effort that helped kill the bill that he will urge a boycott people to decide for themselves whether to patronize the stores.

Councilman Jim Kenney, a co-sponsor, blamed ShopRite for lobbying against the bill, and encouraged Philadelphians not to shop there. DiCicco (Frank DiCicco the bill’s other co-sponsor) accused the plastic bag industry for undermining the bill.

“I have never dealt with an industry that has been so manipulative,” DiCicco said on the Council floor.

We want to know what you think. Is a boycott of Shoprite is justified over this?

Letter from Frank DiCicco's attorney warning Jethro Heiko to apologize and retract recent statements. Click image to see full size letter

If you call a politician corrupt, can you be sued for defamation? Calling all attorneys out there. We need your pro bono advice.

On Monday, Philadelphia City Councilman Frank DiCicco’s lawyer/son warned in a letter to anti casino activist Jethro Heiko that he could be sued for defamation of character for comments he made on the Young Philly Politics blog. Heiko left his comment on a story about the City Council’s approval for a new zoning designation for the site around 8th and Market Streets where the Foxwoods casino is expected to be built. Heiko criticizes Frank DiCicco and the rest of City Council for not doing more to block Foxwoods and another casino. Heiko is a founder of Casino Free Philadelphia which has opposed the state’s plan to bring casino gambling to the city. In Christian DiCicco’s letter to Heiko, one of the comments he cites as being “malicious, false and defamatory” is this one.

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Judge Albert W. Sheppard of the Court of Common Pleas has ordered the City of Philadelphia to pay the Philadelphia Eagles NFL team $5 million for lost revenues from a canceled 2001 preseason game.

This follows a separate ruling that orders the Eagles to pay the city $8 million costs related with the now demolished Veterans Stadium.  Under a contract the team was supposed to pay rent to the city for the use of luxury sky boxes. But the team withheld $8 million due to the city because it believed it lost the same amount after a game had to be canceled due to poor field conditions.

Mayor Michael Nutter issued the following statement this morning.

I am pleased that this matter has finally been concluded.  Just over a week ago Judge Sheppard ordered the Eagles to pay the City $8 million and today he has ordered the City to pay the Eagles $5 million, resolving both pieces of this case.

The bottom line is that the city comes out $3 million ahead.

Whew! This dispute is finally over.

Vincent Fumo

A judge yesterday denied fomer state Senator Vince Fumo’s request for a delay in sentencing. Prosecutors say the 66 year old  he could face anywhere from 21-27 years in prison.  Fumo’s attorneys will argue for less time and say they needed more time to prepare their arguments.

Fumo was one the most powerful politicians in Pennsylvania and weilded tremendous influence in Philadelphia politics. He was convicted of defrauding the Senate, obstruction of justice, and defrauding a South Philadelphia non-profilt organzation.

To read more, check out Craig McCoy’s write up.

SEPTA has removed some very funny signs that pranksters placed in subway cars. The signs were designed to look like a message to riders from SEPTA management. Philebrity has a photo of the sign and the whole message which is pretty lengthy.  Go over there to see the full message. But here’s a quick excerpt.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is committed to providing non-discriminatory transportation services to all of its passengers, including schizophrenics, drug addicts, Irish Catholics, hipsters, homos, prostitutes, gentrifying transplants, raging maniacs, tourists, obnoxious Penn students, corner boys, pimps, drunk rich kids who still think Old City is cool, and terrified suburbanites who tremble with unease at the sight of everyone.

Illustration of the interior of Foxwoods casino as it was proposed for its original south Delaware Ave site

When I applied for a job at a Pizza Hut, It was never put in writing that I might have to stand on my feet for hours, pick up pizza crust under the tables, or carry sizzling hot food. All this was just a given.

But for Foxwoods casino, the human resources department wants to make sure there are no misunderstandings about the job you are applying for. If you go to the Foxwoods website, you can see a description of some of the 950 jobs anticipated for the Philadelphia site.

In many ways, job descriptions should be more like these, that way as an applicant you can get a better picture of what you’re in for. Most companies just point to the line “perform other duties as required” to make you work like a dog. So, my hat’s off to you Foxwoods for spelling out clearly what your needs are. Here’s a job description for a Slot Attendant.

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Heard in the Hall reports that Severino Verna passed away over the weekend at the age of 78. He had suffered from a stroke three years ago. This thursday is City Council’s last meeting before the summer break.  Majority Leader Marian Tasco will fill in for the Council president for this session.  Here’s an excerpt from the Daily News that tells you a little more about Severino.

Severino D. Verna Jr., who ran the Verna Funeral Home at 1244 S. Broad St. for more than 50 years and was the husband of Anna Cibotti Verna, president of City Council, died Saturday of complications of a stroke. He was 78 and lived in South Philadelphia.

He was the brother of Anthony Verna, the inventor of instant replay and winner of several Emmy awards.