Free Republic

A Philly hoops legend, Tom Gola was one of only two players to win an NIT, NCAA and NBA title. Tom Gola, the Hall of Fame basketball player who led La Salle to the 1954 NCAA title, still holds the Division I record for career rebounds and helped the Philadelphia Warriors win the 1956 NBA championship, died Sunday. He was 81... Late UCLA coach John Wooden called Gola the "greatest all-round basketball player" ever...

PHILADELPHIA, PA–He was the only one who didn’t run. Now Darrin Manning may never father children after his encounter with a police officer earlier this month. While on his way to a basketball game after school, the straight-A student and his teammates had an encounter with officer Thomas Purcell. Apparently one of the teammates may have said a snide remark to the officer, who then approached them. The boys ran, but Manning stopped and stayed. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said to Philly.com. What happened next is hard to believe. Darrin was handcuffed, frisked, and his genitals were pulled...

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) –Philadelphia police commissioner Charles Ramsey did his best today to address an incident in which there are more questions than answers. According to a published report, a 16-year-old boy who is a straight-A student at Mathematics, Civics & Sciences Charter School suffered a ruptured testicle during a patdown by police at 15th and Girard on January 7th. The boy, Darrin Manning, underwent emergency surgery the next day at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. However, police commissioner Charles Ramsey says the boy and his family have yet to file a formal complaint and have yet to speak with the police...

January 09, 2014, 12:45 pm Obama nomination of Mumia Abu Jamal lawyer stirs controversy By Mario Trujillo Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) expressed reservations about President Obama’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s civil rights division during a Wednesday confirmation hearing for Debo Abegbile. Abedbile’s nomination has come under scorn from the Fraternal Order of Police, who have scolded Obama for nominating a lawyer involved in the defense of Mumia Abu Jamal, who was convicted of killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in a 1982 trial. Grassley said he would giving “thoughtful consideration” to the complaints from police. He said the...

Unrepentant Cop-Killer Mumia Abu-Jamial’s Attorney Debo Adegbile to Head Obama’s Justice Department’s Civil Rights Posted By Pamela Geller on Jan 7, 2014 http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/01/former-black-panther-cop-killer-mumia-abu-jamals-attorney-head-obamas-justice-departments-civil-rights/ President Obama’s nominee to be the nation’s top civil rights enforcer is a race-obsessed lawyer who tried to permanently free unrepentant cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal. Once again, Obama appoints the most vicious radical to a key leadership position. At Justice, no less. An anti-American, enemy of freedom demagogue. Obama’s hatred for this country sends shivers up my spine. Radical racist Debo Adegbile has worked hard to free Mumia Abu-Jamal. Abu-Jamal gunned down policeman Daniel Faulkner in Philly in...

Pennsylvania Rep. Jim Gerlach, one of a shrinking number of Republican moderates in the U.S. House, said Monday he will retire from Congress at the end of this term. Gerlach said it's "simply time for me to move on to new challenges and to spend more time with my wife and family." The six-term congressman's decision opens up a district anchored in Philadelphia's western suburbs and rural areas on either side of Reading, as well as a coveted seat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee. Gerlach has routinely had relatively close elections, though the latest round of redistricting made...

Most teenagers do dumb things. But not trying-to-rob-Joe-Galiano dumb. Who is Joe Galiano? He's the owner of Suburban Armory, the gun shop on MacDade Boulevard in Collingdale Borough, Delaware County. He is surrounded by guns, including the one on his hip. Like his .45-caliber pistol. Can't miss it. Despite this fact, police say two teenagers dressed in burkas walked into his store this afternoon, pulled a gun on Galiano and tried to stick him up. Galiano, less than thrilled about having a man in female Muslim garb pointing a silver handgun at him inside his own store, decided not to...

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has spoken out on a variety of issues, including insurance coverage for birth control. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput does not yet wear the empowering red hat of a cardinal, and he is so new to Philadelphia that he recently called it "Denver."But in the mere five months since he arrived here from the Rockies, Chaput has already emerged as a fierce warrior-bishop, unlike anyone Philadelphia has seen since the mighty Cardinal Dennis Dougherty reigned more than 60 years ago.His fighting words have refocused the national spotlight on the archdiocese, led lately by the low-profile Cardinals Justin...

The Dallas Cowboys lost to the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday night 24-22. The Cowboys starting quarterback, Tony Romo, was recuperating at home following back surgery, and backup quarterback Kyle Orton was at the Dallas helm. The Cowboys had a chance to regain the lead on their final drive of the game when Orton threw an interception... Football fans, Dallas and otherwise, elevated Orton to instant Romo status:

ABC This Week viewers were treated to a classic conservative versus liberal debate Sunday. When former Clinton labor secretary Robert Reich tried to blame the increase in poverty in the past five years on Republicans, former Speaker of the House and current CNN host Newt Gingrich called it "baloney" firing back, "Every major city which is a center of poverty is run by Democrats" (video follows with transcript and absolutely no need for additional commentary): Gingrich Schools Reich: 'Every Major City Which Is a Poverty Center Is Run By Democrats' JONATHAN KARL, SUBSTITUTE HOST: And let me ask you, Mr....

Heavy snow and travel disruptions will spread from the Midwest and into the Northeast as the day progresses on Saturday. The snowstorm will span more than 1,000 miles. Snow will fall on and impact every major city and rural area from St. Louis to Boston, including Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York City. The area encompasses about 110 million people.

Lesson: Don’t punch someone who is holding a camera.In November, we told you about the woman who took a photo (left) of the man who allegedly punched her at Broad and Arch, a split second after he hit her in broad daylight. That same man was also accused of punching another woman within the same week at a SEPTA station at Broad and Erie. Now, police have a suspect in custody. Colt Younger, 26, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with two counts of simple assault and one count each of recklessly endangering another person and harassment. That’s his...

Today, the Philadelphia City Council voted unanimously to ban the manufacturing of guns by 3-D printers, making Philly the first city to do so. Which is interesting, because the author of the bill, Kenyatta Johnson, isn’t aware of of any local gun-printing 3-D printers. ”It’s all pre-emptive,” says Johnson’s director of legislation Steve Cobb. “It’s just based upon internet stuff out there.” We would hereby like to claim credit for this legislation by pointing to Nick Vadala’s comprehensive May 10th piece on guns made by 3-D printers. It reads, in part: People have been manufacturing their own guns for hundreds...

PHILADELPHIA, PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Amtrak said it is investigating after a train headed from Philadelphia to New York ended up lost in suburban Pennsylvania. Officials said Amtrak Train 644 departed Philadelphia's 30th Street Station Tuesday night and accidentally ended up on Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority tracks, KYW-TV, Philadelphia, reported Wednesday. The train traveled several miles on the wrong tracks before the mistake was noticed and it stopped at a station in Bala Cynwyd, a suburb of Philadelphia. Amtrak said the 130 passengers on the train were taken back to Philadelphia, where they boarded another train for New York....

The speed limit on Kelly Drive near Fountain Green Drive is 35 mph, but the average speed of motorists is nearly 55. In an attempt to slow everybody down, the city has installed sensors in the roadway that determine the speed of vehicles approaching Fountain Green, about a half-mile north of the Girard Avenue Bridge. If a vehicle passes the sensor going above the speed limit, the light at Fountain Green turns red. … In another safety measure, the city will add a nonslip surface on Kelly Drive next year to help reduce accidents on rainy days, (acting Streets Commissioner...

PHILADELPHIA, A US Airways flight in Philadelphia was canceled when passengers became outraged about a blind man and his seeing-eye dog being kicked off the plane. Albert Rizzi said flight attendants removed him and his dog from the Wednesday flight from Philadelphia International Airport to Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, N.Y., because the dog became agitated during a delay on the tarmac, KYW-TV, Philadelphia, reported Friday. "What I'm concerned about is that there are a tremendous number of individuals in the disabled community who might not have the stamina, the strength, the confidence to stand up for their rights...

Parents found guilty of murder after SECOND child dies from pneumonia because they prayed instead of seeking medical attention A Philadelphia couple were found guilty of the third-degree murder of their son after pleading 'no contest today. Herbert and Catherine Schaible's 7-month-old son Brandon died last April 18 from dehydration and pneumonia when his parents decided to pray for him to get better rather than seek medical attention. At the time, the Schaibles were on 10-year probation for their 2-year-old son Kent's similar death in 2009. The terms of their probation required the Schaibles to seek medical attention any time...

Philadelphia city council members have approved a resolution that calls for socialist historian Howard Zinn’s book “A People’s History of the United States” to be taught in public high schools. The resolution was backed by council members Jim Kenny and Jannie Blackwell, who believe that Zinn’s far-left socialist vision of American history is currently missing from high school textbooks. “Howard Zinn’s ‘A People’s History of the United States’ emphasizes the role of working people, women, people of color, and organized social movements in shaping history; not simply the version retold by those powerful enough to ensure history remembers their actions...

Philadelphia city council members have approved a resolution that calls for socialist historian Howard Zinn’s book “A People’s History of the United States” to be taught in public high schools. The resolution was backed by council members Jim Kenny and Jannie Blackwell, who believe that Zinn’s far-left socialist vision of American history is currently missing from high school textbooks. “Howard Zinn’s ‘A People’s History of the United States’ emphasizes the role of working people, women, people of color, and organized social movements in shaping history; not simply the version retold by those powerful enough to ensure history remembers their actions...

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Residents in one Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood had a rude awakening Wednesday morning when they woke up and discovered vulgar graffiti spray-painted on their cars and homes. The vandalism happened on four blocks in the city’s Rhawnhurst section. The streets targeted were Hoffnagle Street, Benson Street, Emerson Street and Solly Avenue. According to investigators, the vandals spray-painted racial epithets, sexual symbols and swastikas on cars, houses and fences. The spray paint vandalism included the saying “Fu* Crakers” and some on the swastikas were backwards.