INQUIRER: When police arrested the parents of Khalil Wimes and accused them of starving and torturing their 6-year-old son to death, Mayor Nutter decried the boy’s demise as tragic, but said the city could not have prevented it. Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services had no official oversight – no “open case” – for Khalil Wimes, the mayor stressed. “None,” Nutter told reporters in March. “Next question.” In fact, Khalil had spent the final months of his life beaten, bone thin, desperately ill, and out of school – and DHS had failed to see what was right in front of […]

With The Roots on top. Kinda mind-blowing that it even happened. Combined with the president’s press secretary declaring, in the middle of a White House conference, that Guided By Voices “the greatest rock n’ roll band of the modern era,” (for the second time!)it feels like some kind of cosmic joke that, for a change, we’re not the butt of. Feels good, man.

NPR: Fox News reports that “senior Gingrich aides” say former House Speaker Newt Gingrich “plans to formally suspend or end his presidential campaign next Tuesday.” CNN writes that “sources close to Newt Gingrich say he will end his bid for the GOP presidential nomination next week.” USA Today‘s On Politics blog notes that “Gingrich told a North Carolina audience today that he’s ‘working out the details of our transition.’ ” MORE

_______ NEWSWORKS: At a time when so many of us say we’re sick of politicians and want to throw all the bums out, we generally don’t. And that’s one lesson from yesterday’s legislative races in Pennsylvania. Incumbents prevailed almost everywhere.But in Philadelphia, the rule was broken by Brian Sims, an openly gay attorney who mobilized a national constituency to unseat a fixture in the city’s Harrisburg delegation, Democratic state Rep. Babette Josephs of Center City. Josephs, who was elected when Ronald Reagan was president, was simply overhelmed by Sims’ direct mail and field effort. A veteran committeeman from the 8th […]

FRESH AIR Actor Jack Black is best known for his comedic performances in films like Nacho Libre and School of Rock. In his latest film, Bernie, Black goes to a darker place: He plays a serious small-town funeral director who uncharacteristically murders his live-in companion, a wealthy widow played by Shirley MacLaine. The film is based on a true story. In 1996, 39-year-old Bernie Tiede of Carthage, Texas, murdered his 81-year-old companion, Marjorie Nugent, shooting her in the back four times with a rifle. A lengthy Texas Monthly article about the case notes that “what made the story peculiar was […]

Capitol dome, 10:21 AM Thursday, by JEFF FUSCO

EDITOR’S NOTE: Phawker South American Correspondent St. John Barned-Smith just completed a two year stretch in Paraguay for the Peace Corps. He is currently in Nepal, Katmandu to be exact, and you can almost see neighboring Tibet from there. Next stop is India. He will be sending intermittent dispatches as our newly deputized Himalayan Correspondent. BY ST. JOHN BARNED-SMITH My Peace Corps service ended last Sunday. On Tuesday, I took a taxi to JFK airport through the ribbons of highway that look like a spider web of asphalt webbing and I boarded another international flight, this time for the Himalayas […]

GUARDIAN: Charles “Chuck” Colson, the former special counsel to President Richard Nixon who was jailed for his role in a Watergate-related case and became an evangelical Christian, has died aged 80. Colson, who compiled Nixon’s infamous “enemies list” before the Watergate scandal led to the president’s resignation in 1974, died of complications from a brain haemorrhage after undergoing surgery. He was jailed for obstruction of justice in 1974 after being involved in an attempt to discredit Pentagon analyst Daniel Ellsberg who leaked secret defence papers on the Vietnam war to the New York Times. Colson, who was known for his […]

BY ZIVIT SHLANK Saxophonist, improviser and composer Steve Coleman is reticent to call himself a jazz musician because of preconceptions. It’s probably best to just call him a musical expressionist. Originally from Chicago, Coleman’s early explorations stemmed from his dad’s love of Charlie Parker. He gained foundational insight early on studying Windy City legends Bunky Green and Von Freeman at play. From there, it was onto New York in 1978 and that’s where the real work began. Coleman as an early, foundational member of the collective MBase, through countless collaborations and his most prolific vehicle, Five Elements, has been consistently […]

Calling all electric warriors, metal gurus, jeepsters and Telegram Sams! Creem Circus — from the people who brought you Wastoid, i.e. Chris DiPinto of DiPinto Guitars fame — celebrates the release of their debut 7-inch 10 PM tonight at Gunners Run in the Piazza. The show is free. Why should you go? This is their cover sleeve art. Enough said. Still not convinced? Here’s how Creem Circus describes that thing they do: Tandem lead, sparkle-faced riffs, chocolate covered choruses with glamtastic outfits! Word has it the kids are gonna kill a man and then they’re gonna have to break up […]