Vol. III No. 82 (446)
Keeping You Posted With The Politics Of Philadelphia
May 7, 2012
Philadelphia Daily Record
The Kids’ Team
EX-GOV. ED RENDELL was all smiles last week serving as honorary chairman of Public Citizens for Children & Youth annual Super Party. He was joined with PCCY executive director Shelly Yanoff and Donna Cooper, former Pennsylvania Secretary of Planning & Policy during Rendell Administration.
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The Philadelphia Public Record
Calendar
Translation/Interpretation Arabic, Hebrew, English, French For more information, call William Hanna
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Henry Nicholas, Jody Dodd, Jim Savage, Amanda Geraci and Occupy Phila.
Jun. 10St. Edmond’s Parish Centennial Dinner at Penn’s Landing Caterers, 1301 S. May 11State Rep. Ron Columbus Blvd., 2-6 p.m. Ticket Waters hosts Senior Health Expo $65 with a cash bar. For info & Luncheon for 191st House Dist. (215) 334-3755. at KIPP W. Phila. Charter Sch., 5900 Baltimore Ave., 11 a.m.-2 Jun. 15-16-7- Annual St. Maron pm. Free. For info (215) 748- Church Lebanese Festival on Ellsworth Street beween 10th and 6712. 11th. Friday from 5 pm, SaturMay 15Mothers In day and Sunday from 11 a.m. No Charge hosts 9th Anniversary Cel- admission. All welcome. Authenebration at Penn’s Landing Cater- tic Middle East cuisine and enterers, 1301 S. Columbus Blvd., tainment. 5:30 p.m. For info Dorothy JohnFilitalia Int’l, toson Speight, Mothers In Charge, Jul. 231415 N. Broad St., Suite 229, gether with UNICO Phila. Chapter and Commissione Giovani, Phila., PA 19122. presents 2012 Phillies Italian st May 171 Annual Spring Heritage Night at Citizens Bank Social for Chapel of Four Chap- Pk., 7 p.m. Tickets $30. Call lains, 1201 Constitution Ave., Christine Macolino (267) 984Bldg. 649 in Navy Yard, 5:30- 2954 or Rosetta Conigliaro (267) 7:30 p.m. $20 Early Bird, by May 231-6887. Email for tickets to 16. At door, $25. For info (215) rconig812@verizon. net. Dead218-1943 or Events@Fourchap- line for tickets May 1. Paying via lains.org. Paypal will cost $31. Mention Public Record. May 19Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Cele- Aug. 19Annual Bill Meeth bration at Franklin Sq. Park, 6 & han Clam Bake at Cannstatter Race, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Volksfest Verein, 9130 Academy Rd., 4-8 pm. Ferko String Band May 23Jobs With Justice entertains. For details call Repubannual Solidarity Reception at lican City Committee (215) 561District 1199C, 1319 Locust St., 0650. 5:30-7:30 p.m. To be honored are
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Extended EUC Program Ending In Pennsylvania The US Dept. of Labor has notified Pennsylvania the state’s declining unemployment rate is too low to authorize continued payment of Extended Benefits, or EB, the Dept. of Labor & Industry said Friday. The EB program provided 13 weeks of unemployment compensation benefits beyond federally funded Emergency Unemploy-
ment Compensation, or EUC, and 26 weeks of state-funded unemployment compensation.
The department will notify, by mail, individuals affected by the end of the program.
The last payable week of EB will be the week ending May 12. Claimants currently filing for EB may continue to file claims for weeks they are fully or partially unemployed through May 12, 2012.
Federally funded EB is a separate program from federally funded EUC. The EUC program and participants are not affected by the end of EB in Pennsylvania.
Corbett Names Asian Month, Commission Members In recognition of the more than 300,000 citizens who trace their roots to Asia and the Pacific Islands, Gov. Tom Corbett has proclaimed May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in Pennsylvania. “The Asian Pacific American community represents a vital dimension of our commonwealth’s diverse ethnic and social community,” Corbett’s proclamation
said. Gov. Corbett also announced he has selected distinguished community leaders to serve on the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian American Affairs. The commission is committed to ensuring that the commonwealth is receptive to the issues and concerns of its Asian American citizens. The commission advises and makes recom-
mendations to the Governor on policies, procedures, legislation, and regulations that affect the Asian American community. Among the 17 individuals commission members named were four from Philadelphia: Kenneth Wong, the commission’s chair; Be Van Hua; Quang Mac; and Julie Wong.
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Daily Waffles From Joe Sbaraglia (The Waffleman) Yo! Here we go again with these thoughts on things that require valid ID: BEERIES - were bottletops from beer bottles, therefore the name, “beeries”. These bottletops were not the twist-off variety. A bottle opener was needed to remove them. The best beeries were not bent, while opening the bottle. Beeries were used in the game of
“dead box”. BLOCK PARTIES - were a great way to spend a summer evening with your friends and neighbors. Outside, on your street (which was closed to traffic). You could enjoy, eating, singing and
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dancing but mostly eating. Every lady brought a special homemade delicacy to be sampled by the neighbors. Block parties were held once or twice a year. Usually, a group of the neighborhood musicians brought out their accordions, mandolins and guitars to entertain the neighbors. BOCCE - is a game played by first tossing a small ball, the pallina, to the opposite end of the bocce court. Then, in turn, the players tossed two, marked, larger balls attempting to stop as close as possible to the pallina. The player whose ball came closest to the pallina, scored a point. The other player did not score in that toss. A score of 21 ended the game. Bocce is a great game, but we did not have any bocce courts in our neighborhood. Since there were only a few parked cars, there was plenty of room to use the street as the bocce court. The men played for as long as they cared, arguing and occasionally cussing in Italian. You could learn quite a bit of Italian this way. However these words had to be used with extreme care, since many of them could get you into trouble.
To buy a copy of this book E-Mail Dwaffleman@aol.com
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RNC Appoints Pa. Dir. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus released the following statement announcing the 2012 Pennsylvania Victory Director, Peter Towey: “Pennsylvania will be critical in the coming election, and I am confident Peter Towey is the perfect person to move us forward to victory this November,” said Priebus. “The RNC is poised to run a comprehensive voter outreach and turnout operation in Pennsylvania and Peter will help ensure we make more phone calls, knock on more doors, and make more volunteer voter contacts than ever before. In the wake of three and a half years of President Obama’s failed policies
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and broken promises, Pennsylvanians are ready for a change in Washington and Peter is the start to a team that will demonstrate the RNC’s serious commitment to winning Pennsylvania and the White House this November.” Towey has been involved in Pennsylvania politics since 2008. His previous experience includes a 2008 congressional campaign, serving as political director for US Sen. Pat Toomey’s successful 2010 campaign, and most recently as campaign manager for Steve Welch for US Senate. Peter understands Pennsylvania Republicans are coming off a wave of success in 2010 and 2011, and he is looking to add to that success here in 2012.
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In addition to traditional onthe-ground voter-turnout efforts, the RNC unveiled the new GOP Social Victory Center this week. It’s the first-of-its-kind online tool, giving you access to many of the features of a traditional victory center from your own home. No other campaign or committee has developed the same technology to harness the power and reach of Facebook in this way; it is a new frontier in digital activism that will play a large part in the Pennsylvania RNC Victory Program. Learn more and get the app here https://apps.facebook.com/social-victory.
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Stack: Delinquent Tax Roundup To Save Schools State Sen. Mike Stack (DNortheast) said Friday he believes School District of Philadelphia Chief Recovery Officer Thomas Knudsen’s recent comments about the potential fallout of the district’s budget deficit is not helpful toward closing the gap in funding. Stack sent a letter to School Reform Commission Chairman Pedro Ramos expressing his disappointment with Knudsen’s comments in the May 2 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer, in which Knudsen said schools may not open in the fall if the School District does not receive $94 million from the City’s proposed
property reassessment plan.
tions.
“Knudsen’s hyperbole shifts the focus from helping students and leads the Philadelphia School Reform Commission down the wrong path,” Stack said in his letter to Ramos. “Playing with the emotions and using the future of students, parents, and teachers as a bargaining chip, whether intentionally or unintentionally, does not help the SRC’s mission of educating students.”
“Knudsen’s ‘sky is falling’ rhetoric takes away hope from our students, parents, property owners, and teachers, and staggering tax delinquency rates make it harder to advocate for the city and school district at the state level,” Stack said.
Stack said the Nutter administration should first focus on going after delinquent taxpayers who owe the City nearly $500 million in unpaid property tax collec-
Stack implored Ramos to encourage his colleagues at the SRC to tone down the rhetoric, work with city leaders and state legislative delegations to reduce the tax delinquency rate, and work with all parties in a positive direction.
Brendan Boyle Unveils Comly Outdoor Classroom State Rep. Brendan Boyle, (DNortheast), in partnership with Tidy Cats, joined Principal Michelle Byruch, students and teachers to unveil Comly ES’s new outdoor classroom in Somerton. Tidy Cats provided the necessary funding for the construction of the 420-squarefoot classroom. “Outdoor classrooms provide an opportunity for teachers to en-
gage their students in ways that are not possible within the walls of a traditional classroom,” Boyle said. “Thanks to funding provided by Tidy Cats, the students at Comly School will be able to benefit from outdoor learning, which has been known to enhance social skills and behavior, increase participation and much more.” “We are thrilled to help the
students and faculty of Comly School,” said Rebecca Schulz, Tidy Cats senior brand manager. “Creating an outdoor space for learning is exactly the kind of creative solution that we strive to provide.” Boyle said the new classroom will allow students and teachers to read, learn about nature and enjoy the outdoors when the weather is nice.
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Fran Burns Quits As L&I Commissioner Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced the departure of Licenses and Inspections Commissioner Fran Burns and expressed his profound gratitude for her public service. Commissioner Burns has a long history of serving Philadelphians. She was appointed L&I Commissioner by Mayor Nutter in August 2008. Prior to that, she served as deputy commissioner of L&I from 2004-2008. She also held the positions of assistant managing director (2002-2004), assistant budget director (20022000) and business representative on the Mayor’s Business Action Team (1998-1999). She also previously held a staff position with PICA. “Fran Burns is a consummate professional and a great public servant,” said the Mayor Nutter. “Fran is honest, hard working, dedicated and an innovator. She has transformed the Dept. of Licenses & Inspections beyond what even I had originally envisioned. I am deeply grateful that she took on the challenge of being the Commissioner of Licenses & Inspections. And while we will all miss her in city government, I know she will do a fantastic job at PICA. She will continue to be an exemplary public servant, and I am very happy for her.” 7|
L&I Commissioner Fran Burns said, “It’s been a privilege to serve as L&I Commissioner. I thank everyone who played a role in moving this Department forward – the employees whose hours of hard work resulted in improved inspection rates, the community groups who partnered with us to identify and resolve issues, other City agencies for helping us reach our shared objective of improving this city, and Mayor Michael Nutter for raising the bar for L&I services. As a result, I am handing over a much improved Department. While there’s still work to be done, a solid foundation has been re-established. I look forward, with the same vigor of service of the past four years, to my new position as Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority.” Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Alan Greenberger said Byers “has done more to improve the Department of Licenses and Inspection than any Commissioner in my memory.” L&I has seen numerous improvements during Commissioner Burns’ tenure. These include: • Improved efficiency through the consolidation of more than 130 separate business licenses to
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48 types of licenses and a reduction in wait time at the license issuance counter from an average of 90 minutes to 15 minutes; • Implementation of a vacant land strategy to hold property owners more accountable for maintenance. This initiative was one of six winners of the American City & County award for excellence in local government; • Dedicated court time to hold owners accountable for not maintaining their properties after three departmental inspections; • Reduction in overtime over the past three fiscal years from $749,527 (FY08) to $220,143 (FY11); • Reduction in demolition costs through an improved bidding process and slower economy. The average demolition cost fell from $26,000 (FY07) to $15,000 (FY10); • Execution of a high-rise inspection program to include all high-rise buildings in the city, resulting in a 43% increase in annual high-rise license revenue and reinforcement of high-rise safety; • Consolidation of L&I call center operations into 311. L&I was the first city department to do so.
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Temple Surgeon Performs Neat Kidney Surgery A surgical team at Temple University Hospital performed the nation’s first robotic-assisted repair of an obstructed kidney using a surgical system that is specifically designed to operate through a single, small incision at the patient’s belly button. Daniel Eun, MD, Temple University Hospital’s vice chief of robotic surgery and director of minimally invasive robotic urological oncology, performed the surgery on a 47-year-old financial analyst from Bala Cynwyd, who suffered from ureteropelvic junction obstruction – a painful blockage of the drainage system that transmits urine from the kidney to the bladder. The surgery occurred on Apr. 19. Dr. Eun performed a surgical procedure known as pyeloplasty, which is the treatment of an obstruction by reconstructing the connection between the healthy part of the kidney and the ureter – the narrow tube that carry urine to the bladder. Pyeloplasty is a technically challenging type of
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surgery, requiring the surgeon to make incisions in, perform the operation on, and apply sutures to very tiny structures in the body. Traditional robotic surgical techniques (whereby miniature surgical instruments and cameras are placed through small incisions in the patient’s body and manipulated remotely by a skilled surgeon) typically require three to five abdominal incisions ranging in size from ¼ to ½ inches. Although urologists who are skilled in robotic surgery have done single-incision robotic pyeloplasty using the standard set-up of the robot which usually requires multiple ports (and therefore multiple incisions), they have encountered technical challenges because the robot wasn’t designed to perform the operation through a single incision, explains Eun. “My surgical team and I were able to perform this delicate pyeloplasty procedure – removing the blocked section of the
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kidney and repairing its drainage system – through a single, small incision using a brand-new operating platform for Temple University Hospital’s da Vinci surgical robot that is specially-designed for single-incision robotic surgery,” says Eun. “Minimizing the size and number of incisions may improve a patient’s recovery and decrease pain after surgery. Using a platform that improves the surgeon’s ability to manipulate the instruments with greater range of motion through that single incision truly brings the greatest benefits to patients,” Eun explains. The patient had the operation on a Thursday and was back at work on Monday without even needing aspirin. Dr. Eun is an expert in complex minimally invasive and reconstructive surgeries involving cancer of the prostate, kidneys, adrenal glands, testes, bladder and ureters. He joined Temple on Apr. 1.