This morning, Councilmembers Jim Kenney and Frank DiCicco introduced legislation aimed at reining in bicyclists.

The particulars: Three bills were introduced today, two as an either-or pair.

Councilman Kenney introduced two bills (co-sponsored by Councilman DiCicco) that each seek to increase fines for riding on the sidewalk (from $10 to $300), wearing headphones (from $3 to $300), and riding without brakes (a $1,000 penalty in one bill; confiscation in the other).

Councilman DiCicco introduced one bill (co-sponsored by Councilman Kenney) that would require all riders to register their bikes with the city (at a fee of $20), and mount license plates on their bikes. The penalty for not doing so would be $100.

The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia – which has been a vocal advocate for bikers’ following traffic laws – has voiced its opposition to these bills.

(more…)

WHYY’s Susan Phillips reports today that State Senator Larry Farnese and State Representative Mike O’Brien are both calling on the state to tell Foxwoods its time is up.

Said Sen. Farnese:

They should shut the door on this and we should move forward. And the city of Philadelphia should move forward on this. I think its a bad idea to try and give them additional time. Because they’ve never convinced anybody and they’ve never done anything to prove they can do what they say they’re gonna do.

Yesterday, the Inquirer’s Jennifer Lin broke the news on a buried clause in a proposed amendment to the amazingly pernicious table games bill that would give Foxwoods yet another extension to get up and running.

The casino actually just got an extension in August, giving it another two years to open. This amendment would have allowed it to take yet another year.

But Foxwoods appears to be in serious financial difficulty. They’ve been unable to find sufficient funding for their South Philly waterfront location; and, the AP reports today that Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut just announced that they’d be defaulting on a debt payment, prompting Standard and Poor’s to lower their credit rating to a ‘D.’

Why, then, do there seem to be efforts afoot in Harrisburg to help the faltering casino afloat?

As per NBC, the TWU and SEPTA have reached an agreement, and service will resume for the Monday commute.

Courtesy of Marion County

Have you ever had to report something stolen to the police? Would you ever tell the police that someone stole all of your weed?

Would you then drive around drunk and call 911 again, while vomiting?

This guy did.

Councilman Frank Rizzo

Today, at-large Councilman Frank Rizzo introduced a resolution calling for the city to restore mechanical leaf collection, a service which Mayor Nutter cut last November, during the fiscal budget crisis.

The resolution was co-sponsored by Councilmembers Anna Verna, Jannie Blackwell, Curtis Jones, Joan Krajewski, Donna Reed Miller, Marian Tasco and Brian O’Neill.

It passed 14-2, with Councilmembers DiCicco and Green dissenting and Councilman Greenlee absent. (*corrected from an earlier draft, which gave the vote incorrectly as 15-2).

The Mayor’s office has said that it opposes re-instituting the service, choosing to spend the money elsewhere: “We’re asking citizens to work with us on this issue so we can meet our spending priorities such as police, fire, and libraries,” said spokeswoman Maura Kennedy yesterday.

Rizzo, however, saw it a different way:

“There are certain things that the city has an obligation to do,” he told the Inquirer.

“There are certain things you can’t put a price tag on,” he told the Daily News.

Actually, putting a price tag on the service is pretty easy: it cost the city $400,000 annually.

And, it turns out, only about 10% of the city was ever getting the service. And, it turns out, that 10% includes the richest neighborhoods in Philadelphia.

Streets Department maps obtained by the CP show that only tiny pockets of the city were receiving mechanical leaf collection services in the first place.

I apologize for the poor image quality, and we’re working on getting better maps. A Streets spokesperson confirmed that the different shadings (solid vs. striped) simply refer to different scheduled weeks of collection.

Shaded portions (only) received mechanical leaf collection in 2008

Among the pockets of Philly that did get the service, Chestnut Hill and West Mt. Airy seem to dominate in the northwest. Elsewhere: Somerton, Bustleton, and a few other pockets of the northeast; the small gentrified triangle of West Philly that extends west from the University bounded by Chestnut, Baltimore, and 52nd Street; and the swath of Overbrook that hugs City Ave; and a teeny, tiny little pocket of South Philly.

The rest of West Philadelphia, North Philadelphia, the River Districts, and South Philadelphia — had to rake their leaves themselves.

Asked why these areas - and not others - received service, Streets spokeswoman June Canton pointed out that they have more leaves. And we don’t doubt she’s right: but they’re also wealthier – a lot wealthier, in some cases – than the rest of the city.

There may be “certain things the city has an obligation to do,” as Councilman Rizzo put it: but is this really one of them?

Reader James DiMartino of the Southwark/Passyunk Square area wrote this morning with this interesting alternative to a full-on transit strike:

The SEPTA strike is a great inconvenience to the general population. I am sure that the Septa board Members and the Union Leadership are not similarly inconvenienced by the lack of public transportation. Just look at the army of SUVs around the Bellevue during the talks.

I would like to suggest another approach to the union action. Instead of walking off the job, why not continue to operate the system as usual only REFUSE TO COLLECT FARES.

This would have a two-fold impact; 1. Put a halt to the revenue stream while 2. Retaining the popular support of the people whose livelihoods depend on reliable public transportation.

Each time SEPTA has gone on strike, they have actually lost ridership.

Why not take an action that helps the people as well as yourselves, guys? Would that not be enlightened self interest?

Please Adivise.

Thoughts?

Earlier today, “It’s Our Money” reported that Willie Brown, president of the Transport Workers Union Local 234 – the guys on strike – had told reporters that Mayor Nutter was “cut off” from future negotiations:

Nutter “has brought nothing” to the table, Brown said, adding, “I will not meet him” because of the attacks the mayor has leveled at the union.

About half an hour ago, Office of the Mayor Press Secretary Doug Oliver emailed me the following statement, reprinted here in its entirety:

The Mayor was only involved because he was asked to participate in the discussions.  To the extent that his participation is helpful, he’s willing to participate.  If his participation is problematic, he’s willing to stay out of the discussions.  It’s always been the Mayor’s position that his number one obligation is to the 1.5 million people who are trying to manage their way through this TWU strike.

There should be no reason why the negotiations can’t move forward.  But with a deal like the one that was offered (11% wage increases over five years and no increase in contributions to healthcare) during a time when so many people are taking pay decreases and even losing their jobs, one can’t help but wonder why a deal wasn’t struck already.  Again, if the absence of the Mayor is the only thing needed to strike a deal, the Mayor is more than happy to allow the negotiations to continue without his involvement.

It’s Our Money – now edited by former CP news editor Doron Taussig – has been blogging the strike like crazy.

A few hilights:

* Ben Waxman proposes that the transportation workers’ give up their right to stirke in exchange for “binding arbitration,” – in other words, if an agreement can’t be reached, a decision is simply made by an arbitrator or a panel of arbitrators.

* Anthony Campisi compares the last SEPTA strike to this one.

* Doron Taussig picks a few of the best how-I-got-to-work stories submitted to the blog.

And much more – so check ‘em out.

I’m outta here … six hours, 40 minutes left.

Meanwhile, our erstwhile mayor is offering these reassuring assurances: “Well, today is Friday. The parties have been talking. When parties are talking, it’s a much more positive sign than when
they’re not.”

The union and SEPTA won’t meet for another couple of hours — and really, what’s the rush? — by Gov. Ed Rendell has inserted himself into things, telling the Daily News that the union should suck it up through the weekend.

“This is a great opportunity for the city to shine in these next three days,” Rendell said of the series, with games scheduled at Citizens Bank Park tomorrow, Sunday and Monday.  “It’s not like the union can get leverage by doing this because the leverage goes away in three days. By the time the weekend is over, the leverage is gone. All they do is give the city a little bit of a black eye.”

Yeah, I know … stating the obvious.

But here’s the thing: If SEPTA doesn’t roll over — which I kind of doubt; nobody likes to be dicked around like this — what happens? The TWU could strike, and reap (deservedly so) the lion’s share of the blame if shit goes south this weekend — and then, maybe, have to deal legislation that would force transit contracts into arbitration and prohibit strikes, as is the case with cops and firefighters, because I promise you that Harrisburg will not be amused.

Were I a betting man, however — and hey, I am — I’d wager that all of this posturing is just that, posturing. Sometime between now and midnight, SEPTA and union officials will announce some sort of compromise, or union officials will say that, in their beneficence, they’ve decided to extend negotiations and work through the weekend, because they love their city and they’re team players and some other such pabulum. Maybe I’m green in this part of the world, but I can’t see the TWU being bat-shit crazy enough to go through with it. And I have to imagine that SEPTA officials know they’re bluffing.

We’ll see how accurate my prognostication skills are in about six hours and 40 minutes.

Governor Ed Rendell says he expects a clause in the pending table game legislation — one that would allow PA casinos to extend credit to their customers, whether they’re playing table games or just slots — to die before reaching his desk. In a phone conference today, Rendell referred to that clause and others as “ancillary,” and said, “I think a lot of that stuff is going to go out of the bills before it gets to me.” Pressed on the issue of casino credit specifically, Rendell said, “I don’t think that will survive the final bill — but if it did, I would have to sign it. That’s not a core issue for me.” Listen to the exchange here:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The General Assembly is supposed to reconvene on Monday, Nov. 9 to settle the issue. Meanwhile, we noticed that today’s Inquirer editorialized against the credit clause:

Even when Pennsylvania’s flawed gaming bill was passed in the dark of night in 2004, the legislature had enough sense to prohibit the extension of in-store credit. Why back off now? The gaming industry says it needs to be able to provide credit to the high rollers expected once the slots parlors morph. But the credit access will also be there for problem gamblers and those who can least afford it. That’s especially troubling in Philadelphia, where about a quarter of the population lives in poverty and many are on the edge.

Oh, awesome! Union negotiators have postponed talks until 5:30 this afternoon — six hours and 31 minutes before the strike deadline. SEPTA blames the delay on the union; the union isn’t talking. Is the union is overselling its hand with this rather obvious ploy? The closer the strike gets, the more pressure SEPTA comes under to get something, anything, ironed out before all hell breaks loose (translation: bending over and giving the union whatever it wants). Then again, walking out of negotiations in the eleventh hour when you’re already demanding raises and benefit increases while everyone else is dodging pink slips might not be the best way to engender public sympathy.

11 hours, 47 minutes to go.

At 12:01 a.m., the Transport Workers Union Local 234’s 5,100 members may go on strike, rendering the city’s public transportation system inactive — and what do you know, just in time for the World Series, the Saturday Flyers game, the Spectrum’s last concert, Halloween, and the Eagles vs. Giants contest. This, the TWU would have you know, is purely coincidental. The union insists, and we totally believe them, that they’re negotiating in good faith, and not merely using the potential calamity that such a shutdown would surely cause this weekend as leverage to force their SEPTA overlords to accede to their demands.

The TWU is seeking 4 percent raises each of the next four years, a freeze on employee’s health contributions at 1 percent (!), and an increase in pension benefits. SEPTA, which has seen ridership revenue decline about 5 percent since its peak last year, wants a wage freeze for two years followed by a 2 percent increase in the two years that follow, an increase in employee health contributions from 1 percent to 4 percent, and a freeze on pension benefits. Judge for yourself who’s being more reasonable.

Who blinks first? Will SEPTA call the union’s bluff? Is the union in fact bluffing? (Or, to put it another way, are SEPTA workers willing to endure the wrath of a very pissed-off city if they pull this kamikaze stunt now?)

We’ll find out, in the next 13 hours and 25 minutes. Your countdown is on.

On the face of it, the effort to introduce table games to Pennsylvania casinos didn’t seem like a major expansion of gambling. Table games, after all, are expected to produce only about $200 million a year, including licensing fees, in state  revenues, compared to the nearly $1 billion that came in from slots last year (with some casinso yet to open).

Table games are also less directly tied to gambling addiction and problem gambling.

But a tiny clause in table game legislaiton – one that has gone almost completely unreported – makes table games, expected to pass any day now, potentially a much bigger deal indeed: a clause that would let casinos extend credit to slots and table games players.

Why is this a big deal?

When I first began reporting on the ever-growing casino industry and its ever-growing dependence on slot machines for its profits, I encountered horror stories about what happens when casinos extend credit lines to gamblers.

Some of those stories related to Foxwoods – not the facility being built here but the one already operating in Connecticut. Foxwoods’ owners, acording to work done by journalist and professor Jeff Benedict,  had pursued gambling debts to the point of placing liens on the debtors’ houses and appearing as creditors in foreclosure documents.

The idea that casinos – which, according to respected studies, make a disproportionately large amont of their profit from problem gamblers – would be acting as mini-banks for those very gamblers seeemed pretty disturbing.But the issue, i was told, was a red herring: because Pennsylvania doesn’t allow casinos to extend credit to gamblers.

Apparntly, however, they’re about to.

Both table games bills being considered – Senate bills SB711 and SB1033 – contain the following clause(1326A.b):

A certificate holder may make credit card advances and debit card withdrawals available to patrons at its licensed facility [ . . . ] A certificate holder may extend credit to patrons for the purpose of playing slot machines or table games.

This goes directly against the current law, which states, in unusually direct language, that:

Slot machine licencees may not extend credit. Slot machine licensees may not accept credit cards, charge cards or debit cards from a player for the exchange or purchase of slot machine credits or for an advance of coins or currency to be utilized by a player to play slot machine games or extend credit in any manner to a player so as to enable the player to play slot machines.

The Daily News recently called table games “a trojan horse,” but mentioned the extension of credit only briefly. Other than that, this news has gone – as far as I can make out, anyway – virtually unreported.

The idea of this legislation being a trojan horse demands serious attention. Were table games really just a way to get previously-banned practices, like the extension of credit, into the slots parlors?

And why is no one talking about this? The difference between a casino that can lend money to its lots players and one that can’t would seem pretty significant.