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Padge Victoria Windslowe, a.k.a. the “Black Madam,” who the New York Daily News described as a “transgender hip-hop artist,” was nabbed on Wednesday night at about 7:30 p.m. at a north Philadelphia home just before one of her “pumping parties.” At these events, she allegedly shot silicone into the buttocks of men and women looking to get curvier figures.

During the police sting, five people were at the home and authorities found needles, cotton balls, Super Glue, power tools and a 20-ounce water bottle filled with a substance believed to be silicone, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.

Earlier this week, cops obtained a warrant for Windslowe’s arrest after a 23-year-old stripper, who got butt injections at one of Windslowe’s parties, complained of shortness of breath and coughed up blood. The victim was admitted to Temple University Hospital and eventually released.

Lt. John Walker told the Philadelphia Daily News:

“What allegedly happened is Padge injected her, hit a blood vessel; the substance entered her bloodstream, goes through [and] lands in her lungs.”

Walker said that the recent case was similar to what happened last year to Claudia Aderotimi. The 20-year-old aspiring hip-hop video vixen from England died at a Philadelphia hospital after silicone from an injection entered her bloodstream and stopped her heart.

Windslowe is being considered a “person of interest” in connection to that case as well. Authorities did not charge her then in that case because they were waiting for results from toxicology reports.

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Brett Johnson is a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based writer and the founder of the music and culture blog VeryArtistical.com.

Fox 29 Philadelphia received the video, according to reports, but refused to air it after being consulted by Nutter who convinced them to not air the video.

Philly.com reports:

A Fox 29 viewer recorded Nutter and his female companion having a blast about 2 a.m. one day last summer, sources say. We’re told the cellphone video is of high-enough quality that you can hear the two butt slaps Nutter delivered to the woman, identified by our sources only as Andrea, as she got up to bowl.

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Nutter was angry that the three teenage shooting victims, who were between the ages of 14 and 16, were out a a Tuesday night looking for a fight on the night that they were shot.

CBS Philadelphia reports:

“Seven young people, somewhere between 14 and 16 years old, on a Tuesday night, a school night, are out in a car going to somewhere to have a fight with some other teenager. That is completely insane, it is irresponsible. Parents have to know where their children are and what they are doing,” the mayor said.

“Their little butts should have either been in bed, getting ready for bed, or doing some homework,” Nutter added. “Not out in a car, not in some other neighborhood, and not up to this kind of nonsense. I’m not your mom and I’m not your dad. We cannot completely legislate, or by policy, make people responsible for their children.”

Read More At CBS Philadelphia

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David Fields says he tried to exit the Roosevelt Middle School from a side stairwell to avoid bullies, but realized he was trapped when he approached the locked door.

Angela Johnson, David’s mother, said the family tried to get into the school to look for David but were turned away by janitors who said they weren’t allowed to look around.

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Gosnell is the wife of Kermit Gosnell, who is charged in the deaths of seven babies and a woman who died of a painkiller overdose.

Authorities say babies born alive were killed at the west Philadelphia clinic by having their spinal cords severed with scissors.

Besides the Gosnells, eight others were also charged in the case. Several have already pleaded guilty.

The lawyers in the case are under a gag order.

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Seven seventh graders were transported to St. Christopher’s Hospital after a teacher noticed they appeared tired and called 911.

According to the CBSPhilly.com, the children who had taken pills were so woozy that they had to be assisted out of the school. HAZMAT crews and fire officials responded at first, thinking an environmental cause was responsible for sickening them.

Read more at MSNBC.com

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John Wilson, better known as rapper Tommy Hill, was talking to the manager of a bar he left without paying when he was approached by three men around 1:30 a.m. on Friday.

According to reports, one of the suspects aimed his weapon at Wilson while the others grabbed him, pushed him to the ground and began rooting through his pockets.

Wilson was later found with wounds to the chest and lower body. He was rushed to a local hospital where he died from his injuries Sunday morning, police say.

Allhiphop reports that back in 2004, Wilson cooperated with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office in a case against a trio of North Philadelphia drug dealers accused of running a high level drug organization in which they stockpiled weapons of mass destruction.

Read more at the Grio.

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It went live Thursday on Lenfest Broadcasting’s WMCN-TV in Philadelphia

Bounce TV executives include Martin Luther King III and former Atlanta mayor and U.N. ambassador Andrew Young. They say the new network’s targeted demographic is vastly underserved and hungers for positive programming that speaks to them.

Since launching in a handful of markets Sept. 26, the network has made deals with broadcasters in more than two dozen cities.

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Dozens of officers in riot gear flooded down the steps of Los Angeles City Hall just after midnight and started dismantling the two-month-old camp two days after a deadline passed for campers to leave the park. Officers in helmets and wielding batons and guns with rubber bullets converged on the park from all directions with military precision and began making arrests after several orders were given to leave.

The raid in Los Angeles came after demonstrators with the movement in Philadelphia marched through the streets after being evicted from their site. About 40 protesters were arrested after refusing to clear a street several blocks northeast of City Hall, Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey. They were lined up in cuffs and loaded on to buses by officers. Six others were arrested earlier after remaining on a street police that police tried to clear.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa raised public safety and health concerns in announcing plans for the eviction last week, while Philadelphia officials said protesters must clear their site to make room for a $50 million renovation project.

Defiant Los Angeles campers who were chanting slogans as the officers surrounded the park, booed when an unlawful assembly was declared, paving the way for officers to begin arresting those who didn’t leave.

In the first moments of the raid, officers tore down a tent and tackled a tattooed man with a camera on City Hall steps and wrestled him to the ground. Someone yelled “police brutality.”

Teams of four or five officers moved through the crowd making arrests one at a time, cuffing the hands of protesters with white plastic zip-ties. A circle of protesters sat with arms locked, many looking calm and smiling.

Opamago Cascini, 29, said the night had been a blast and he was willing to get arrested.

“It’s easy to talk the talk, but you gotta walk the walk,” Cascini said.

At least two dozen people had been arrested in the first two hours and police said they planned to arrest the 75 people remaining in the park. Police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said one person was arrested for violence against a police officer, but Smith couldn’t provide details.

Police used a cherry picker to pluck five men from trees. Two others were in a tree house – one wore a crown and another taunted police with an American flag.

In Philadelphia, police began pulling down tents at about 1:20 a.m. EST after giving demonstrators three warnings that they would have to leave, which nearly all of the protestors followed. Dozens of demonstrators then began marching through the streets and continued through the night.

Ramsey said breaking up the camp in the early-morning hours helped minimize any disruption to businesses and traffic.

“We acknowledge the fact that we are going to have to leave this space …. but in another sense this has been our home for almost two months and no one wants to see their home taken away from them,” Philadelphia protestor Bri Barton, 22, said before police began clearing out the camp.

“Whether or not we have this space or work in the city is nowhere near done,” she said.

The eviction overall appeared to have been carried out without any significant scuffles or violence.

Demonstrators and city officials in both Los Angeles and Philadelphia were hoping any confrontation would be nonviolent, unlike evictions at similar camps around the country that sometimes involved pepper spray and tear gas. The movement against economic disparity and perceived corporate greed began with Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan two months ago.

About 1,200 Los Angeles officers staged for hours outside Dodger Stadium before the raid. They were warned that demonstrators might throw everything from concrete and gravel to human feces at them.

“Please put your face masks down and watch each other’s back,” a supervisor told them. “Now go to work.”

Before police arrived in large numbers, protesters were upbeat and the mood was almost festive. A protester in a Santa Claus hat danced in the street. A woman showed off the reindeer antlers she had mounted on her gas mask.

Some were smoking pot, some were carrying gas masks, others wore hoodies and had bandanas around their faces. Some protesters carried lit candles and held signs saying “Defend Occupy LA.”

Fireworks exploded in the sky at one point. Later, as helicopters hovered above, someone blew “The Star Spangled Banner” on a horn.

As officers first surrounded the camp, hundreds of protesters chanted, “The people united will never be defeated.”

Campers planning to defend the camp and hold their ground barricaded entrances to the park with trash cans.

The police operation was planned at night because downtown is mostly vacant, with offices closed, fewer pedestrians and less traffic, but a spokesman said it could make officers more vulnerable.

“It’s more difficult for us to see things, to see booby traps,” Lt. Andy Neiman, told pool reporters. “Operating in the dark is never an advantage.”

Neiman said the force was prepared to deal with demonstrators holed up in the camp or those who had climbed up trees in the small park.

Gia Trimble, member of the Occupy LA media team, said a lot of people committed to the cause would stay and risk arrest.

“This is a monumental night for Los Angeles,” Trimble said. “We’re going to do what we can to protect the camp.”

In their anticipation of an eviction, the Los Angeles protesters designated medics designated with red crosses taped on clothing. Some protesters had gas masks.

Organizers at the camp packed up computer and technical equipment from the media tent.

Two men who constructed an elaborate tree house lashed bamboo sticks together with twine to push away any ladder police might use to evict them.

Police said they would be able to remove the tree climbers.

Members of the National Lawyers guild had legal observers on hand for an eviction.

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“The victim was an 8-year-old male classmate, whom the three allegedly attacked in a bathroom at West Philadelphia’s Bryant Elementary School.”

The community is in a state of complete shock. The mother of the boy who was attacked was simply quoted as saying:

“I felt helpless,” the victim’s mother told WPVI. “It took him almost 7 hours to try to tell me what happened.”

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How do we explain acts of violence like this to ourselves, let alone our children? Is this a situation of broken families, broken school systems or is American society falling apart? Please post your thoughts below. See the full story at The Huffington Post.

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Protesters chanted “we won, we won” as riot gear-clad Los Angeles police left, though there were four arrests.

In Philadelphia, the camp was mostly quiet amid a heavy police presence, and on Monday morning a handful of people marching down one of the city’s main business corridors banging drums.

When the camps would be cleared after officials in both cities ordered their removal was unclear.

“There is no concrete deadline,” LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said after hundreds of officers withdrew without moving in on the camp. He said he wanted to make sure the removal would be safe for protesters and officers.

“With as little drama as possible,” he told reporters.

Police and protesters have clashed in recent weeks, most notably in Oakland, Calif., as officers sometimes used pepper spray and tear gas to shutter camps that officials say have grown more dangerous for public health and safety.

Some of those encampments had been in use almost since the movement against economic disparity and perceived corporate greed began with Occupy Wall Street in Manhattan two months ago.

In Los Angeles, about half of the 485 tents had been taken down as of Sunday night, leaving patches of the 1.7-acre park around City Hall barren of grass and strewn with garbage.

Police turned back after hundreds of Occupy LA supporters showed up at the camp Sunday night as the midnight deadline for evacuation neared. As the night drew on, many demonstrators left.

Protester Julie Levine said she was surprised that police did not move in as the numbers dwindled. “We were fearful,” she said. “But we held our numbers and police were on their best behavior.”

Officers reopened the streets around 6:30 a.m.

“Let’s go get breakfast,” said Commander Andrew Smith as he removed his helmet.

The protest was largely peaceful but there were some skirmishes. Four people were arrested for failure to disperse and a few protesters tossed bamboo sticks and water bottles at officers, Smith said. No injuries were reported.

A hearing in federal is scheduled for Monday on a petition for an injunction to prevent the camp closure.

“We want to make sure that everybody knows the park is closed and there are services available, that there are alternative ways to protest,” Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in an interview with MSNBC.

In Philadelphia, a deadline set by the city for protesters to leave the site where it has camped for nearly two months passed Sunday without any arrests.

Dozens of tents remained at the encampment outside Philadelphia’s City Hall on Monday, 12 hours after a city-imposed deadline passed for the protesters to move to make way for a construction project.

Along the steps leading into a Philadelphia plaza, about 50 people sat in lines Sunday with the promise that they would not leave unless they were carried out by authorities. For a time, they linked arms.

But as it seemed that a forceful ouster was not imminent, they relaxed a bit. A police presence was heavier than usual but no orders to leave had been issued.

A few dozen tents remained scattered on the plaza, along with trash, piles of dirty blankets and numerous signs reading, “You can’t evict an idea.”

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter was out of town Sunday, but his spokesman reiterated that “people are under orders to move.”

The mayor had an exchange on Twitter with hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons, who asked Nutter “to remember this is a non-violent movement – please show restraint tonight.” Nutter’s response: “I agree.”

Elsewhere, nine people were arrested in Maine after protesters in the Occupy Augusta encampment in Capitol Park took down their tents and packed their camping gear after being told to get a permit or move their shelters.

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Officials announced Monday that the Grammy-winning hip-hop group will be the subject of a mural in the city. The eight-month project will include a storefront art studio and arts education programs for students.

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter formed The Roots in 1987 after meeting at Philadelphia’s High School for Creative and Performing Arts. They are the house band for “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” on NBC.

The city’s Mural Arts Program is soliciting proposals for the design at www.muralarts.org. The mural is planned for a funky shopping area known as South Street and is expected to be unveiled next summer.

It will be one of more than 3,500 murals across the city.

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Beatrice Weston, who was locked in a closet when police discovered the adults in the cellar, was taken from her mother’s home at the age of 8 by her aunt Linda Weston following a family feud, said investigators. The girl had pellet-gun scars, burn marks, open wounds on her head and badly healed broken bones, reports ABC News.

Read more at Newser.com

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All that was missing was a bow.

The Philadelphia 76ers are under new management — lots and lots of management, that even includes a dose of Hollywood star power.

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New York-based leveraged buyout specialist Joshua Harris and the rest of his ownership group completed the deal to buy the Sixers from Comcast-Spectacor and wasted little time Tuesday making a splash on their first day in power.

Ed Stefanski is out as general manager and team president Rod Thorn will assume greater day-to-day control in running the franchise.

Doug Collins will not only remain the coach, but was asked to stand at the Palestra and publicly heaped with praise from his new bosses.

Among the lengthy list of new owners and investors include co-managing owner David Blitzer, former NBA player agent and Sacramento Kings executive Jason Levien, GSI Commerace CEO Michael Rubin, real estate investors, film producers, and Hollywood power couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith.

The 76ers were valued this year by Forbes at $330 million, 17th in the NBA, and have a television deal with cable station Comcast SportsNet through 2029. Harris bought the group for a reported $280 million.

The Sixers lag well behind the Phillies, Eagles and Flyers — even Villanova — in interest and attendance. Collins led a rebirth on the court last season, leading them to 41 victories and a competitive, five-game playoff series loss against Eastern Conference champion Miami. Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Jodie Meeks, and Thaddeus Young form a promising core, with veterans Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala also in the mix.

The new owners understand they have to win back the fan base as much as they have to win games.

Aron sounded like he was straight out of a late-night infomercial with his passionate pitch: Ticket prices are sliced, diced, and julienned! Harris could have been featured in Us Weekly magazine: NBA owners, just like US!

“I’ve been a 76ers fans since college,” Harris said. “Philadelphia is like a second home to me.”

Yes, a second home. Harris intends to run the Sixers (“my night job”) from New York — though he can surely afford the Acela.

He said he wouldn’t hesitate to pay a luxury tax, if it’s included in the new collective bargaining agreement

Before the lockout, the Sixers would have had about $55 million in payroll committed to next season, led by Brand’s $17 million and Iguodala’s $13.5 million. The Sixers spent the summer in trade talks involving Iguodala — plans that have been put on hold because of the lockout.

Harris, Blitzer and his group are buying the team with the NBA in the midst of a lockout. The first two weeks of the regular season have already been canceled.

“We’re trying to move along as if everything is as it normally is,” Thorn said. “You have to get ready scouting wise.”

Once they return, it’s possible A-list actor and rapper Smith could be in the stands and, ahem, Getting Iggy With It. Smith, who was not available for comment, is a Philadelphia native who attended Overbrook High School.

Turner posted on Twitter, “think it’s dope that the fresh prince is one of our new owners. Maybe willow can perform at halftime.”

Harris said a mutual connection was made once Smith expressed interested.

How about Smith’s 76ers vs. Jay-Z’s New Jersey Nets in the first Rapper’s Delight game?

The start of the season seems well down the road.

On Tuesday, it was all about the optimism and bright-eyed enthusiasm of a new era in Sixers history.

“We will be active, long-term owners,” Harris said.

Officer Christine O’Brien, a department spokeswoman, says a daughter of alleged ringleader Linda Weston was arrested early Wednesday.

O’Brien says detectives had been interviewing the daughter about the case and she was put under arrest around 3:45 a.m.

Police are not releasing her name, but say she will face similar charges as the other three arrested.

The 51-year-old Weston was charged Monday with kidnapping, false imprisonment and other offenses after her landlord stumbled on the four adults, all weak and malnourished, in a dank, foul-smelling boiler room over the weekend.

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The room they were found in was too small for an adult to stand up straight and also reeked of waste from the buckets they used to relieve themselves, police said Sunday.

Three people were arrested Linda Ann Weston, 51, and Thomas Gregory, 47, both of the 2500 block of N 29th Street and 49-year-old Eddie Wright who is homeless.

Officers were investigating a report of squatters in a building on the 4700 block of Longshore Avenue Saturday when they found three men and a woman in a 15-by-15-foot room behind a steel door that was chained shut.

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The man allegedly disabled the alarm and stole video game systems, laptops and televisions before fleeing in an unknown direction.

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Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan will commemorate the occasion by giving a keynote address. The effort will focus on hunger, street violence and political accountability, BET.com reports.

“This commemoration couldn’t come at a better time,” says Minister Rodney Mohammad, a member of The Greater Philadelphia Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and the media liaison to Minister Louis Farrakhan, head of the Nation of Islam, who created the Million Man March in 1995.

Read more at BET.com

The woman who was described as being in her 30s, says Keith Corley II, 27, dropped her off at a nearby train station after the attack.

TheGrio.com reports:

Investigators gathered DNA from the police car and issued a search warrant for Corley’s home, sources told NBC10′s Monique Braxton

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The curfew, which has been in effect since Aug.12, was instituted in response to a string of mob attacks by young people who gathered using text messages and social media to alert one another.

The 9 p.m. curfew is in effect for all minors under 18 in Center City and University City.

“Minors who are caught breaking curfew will be sent home, brought home or transported to a police station where their parents will be contacted. Minors may be issued a citation with a $100 to $300 fine for a first offense,” the city said in a news release.

Read more at CNN.com

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Roswell Friend, the 22-year-old who was a member of Temple’s track team, was found dead by the New Jersey State Police marine unit in the Delaware River in Riverton, reports the Philadelphia Daily News.

The Baltimore Sun reported Friend wrote, “Sorry guys” on a note board in his house and posted “I’m sorry everyone” on his Facebook page before he disappeared.

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The shooting occurred at the Kingsessing Recreation Center’s outdoor basketball courts shortly before 9PM.

According to police reports, two men got into a shootout and injured five men and one women who were all innocent bystanders.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:

During halftime, a man entered the area near the intersection of Chester Avenue and 49th Street and became involved in a gun battle with another man, said Lt. John Walker of Southwest Detectives. All victims were adults, and one was a woman.

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Corey White, 22, was shot once in the chest Monday night on a West Philadelphia street, authorities said.

Homicide investigators said White got into an argument with the occupants of a brown car and a man got out of the vehicle and shot him.

“There are a couple of other theories out there,” Capt. James White said.

A few hours earlier, a municipal judge had approved charges including murder solicitation against White’s girlfriend, 20-year-old London Eley of Philadelphia, and murder conspiracy and weapons charges against 18-year-old Timothy Bynum of suburban Darby.

“I will pay somebody a stack to kill my baby father,” Eley wrote in a post this spring, according to a police affidavit.

“Say no more … what he look like … where he be at … need that stack 1st,” Bynum wrote back, police said.

A “stack” is $1,000, investigators said.

Eley’s attorney said at Monday’s hearing that his client was merely venting about an argument she’d had with her ex-boyfriend and had no intention of following through.

“When you do it on a computer, you are putting it out there for the whole world to see and memorializing it,” defense attorney Gerald Stein said. “Unfortunately, it sort of magnifies the anger.”

Prosecutors countered by saying Eley wasn’t joking about the hit in the original post.

Bynum’s lawyer, Lopez Thompson, said Tuesday that Bynum’s family is devastated about White’s death. Thompson insisted his client had no intention of killing White when he responded to the Facebook message and had nothing to do with White’s shooting.

The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported White’s death.

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As an elected official and a “proud black man” in the nation’s fifth-largest city, Nutter felt he had to go a step beyond ordering a law enforcement crackdown.

So he channeled the spirit of another straight-talking Philadelphian: Bill Cosby. Nutter took to the pulpit at his church last weekend and gave an impassioned, old-fashioned talking-to directed at the swarms of teens who have been using social networks to arrange violent sprees downtown, injuring victims and damaging property. Moreover, he called out parents for not doing a better job raising their children.

“You’ve damaged yourself, you’ve damaged another person, you’ve damaged your peers and, quite honestly, you’ve damaged your own race,” Nutter said at Mount Carmel Baptist Church.

The 54-year-old mayor, married with a teenage daughter and a grown son, called out absentee fathers and neglectful parents. He did not mince words, saying they need to be more than just a “sperm donor” or a “human ATM.”

“That’s part of the problem in our community,” Nutter told the congregation. “Let me speak plainer: That’s part of the problem in the black community. … We have too many men making too many babies they don’t want to take care of and then we end up dealing with your children.”

It’s a version of the tough-love message Cosby and others have telegraphed for years.

“I am a proud black man in this country,” Nutter said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It was a message that needed to be said. It needed to be said at this time. … People have had enough of this nonsense, black and white.”

At a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People gathering in 2004, Cosby chided the black community in a speech commemorating the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the legal case that toppled segregated education.

“These people marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education and now we’ve got these knuckleheads walking around,” Cosby said then.

“I can’t even talk the way these people talk, `Why you ain’t,’ `Where you is’ … and I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk,” the entertainer said.

Nutter’s words also harkened back to a 2008 Father’s Day speech by then-presidential candidate Barack Obama.

“If we are honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that what too many fathers also are is missing – missing from too many lives and too many homes,” Obama told a church in Chicago. “They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men.”

Now, it’s Nutter taking up the mantra.

Some feel his message was needed. Others say he’s airing private community matters now that crime is sprouting downtown, near businesses and popular tourist attractions in a sprawling city with many other sections already plagued by persistent gun violence.

Bill Anderson, a talk show host on the black radio station WURD-AM, estimated that about 60 percent of callers commenting on Nutter’s address supported him. But quite a few, Anderson said, believe Nutter simply doesn’t have the community standing to make such strong remarks.

“The perception is that he is not necessarily a `community guy. … He has been perceived as more of a business guy,” Anderson said, noting that he didn’t have a problem with the comments himself.

Anderson cited concerns among the black community, such as Nutter’s perceived focus on the city’s downtown over other neighborhoods, a newly enforced curfew for teens and Nutter’s endorsement of “stop-and-frisk” searches, a tactic police credit with reducing crime but that some feel unfairly targets minorities.

Annette John-Hall, a black columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer, wrote this week that the mayor crossed a line when he said, “You’ve damaged your own race.”

“We can deal with the public tongue-lashing, even if his intended targets were nowhere to be found among the law-abiding churchgoers in their Sunday best,” John-Hall wrote. She went on to say, “But what really bothered me was when Nutter fired the age-old salvo that has historically evoked head-hanging shame among black folks.”

Nutter said things that needed to be said, according to J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP.

“It’s like Cosby did. It’s like the president did when he was running for office,” Mondesire said. “Something is wrong in many African-American homes, and we’ve got to come to grips with it.”

Some have questioned Nutter’s support among blacks at the polls, where he has fared better in white wards. Black politicians have taken shots as well.

At a mayoral debate in 2007, U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, who is black, challenged his fellow candidate Nutter on the issue of race, suggesting Nutter has to “remind himself he’s an African-American.” Last year, former Mayor John F. Street, Nutter’s predecessor and longtime political adversary, told a newspaper that Nutter was “not a black mayor … just a mayor with dark skin.” Nutter called Street’s remarks “ignorant.”

Race has again risen to the foreground for Nutter in the wake of the mob assaults.

In one attack last month, a man ended up in the hospital with broken teeth and a wired jaw after a group of teenagers attacked him downtown. Hours later, a crowd of young people assaulted four other men. The city plans to increase legal sanctions for parents whose children participate in the attacks. Nutter has also said strict enforcement of a curfew will continue and more programs at youth centers will be offered.

For his part, the mayor said he felt he had no choice but to go to the pulpit Sunday, regardless of the reaction.

“This is about personal responsibility,” he told the AP. “We have to be very straightforward.”

Philadelphia’s first black district attorney, Seth Williams, also lauded the mayor for using his position as one of the city’s most visible leaders to confront a public problem.

“What he was saying was perfectly accurate. People need to hear that,” Williams said. “Call it for what it is.”

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Teen Arrested In Wisc. Flash Mob Attack; City Blames Black Families

The arrests began about 9 p.m. Friday downtown and on South Street, a 10-block strip of bars, restaurants and stores on the edge of downtown that has long been a hangout for teens and 20-somethings, said police spokeswoman Officer Tanya Little.

Mayor Michael Nutter announced last week a curfew of 9 p.m. for those under 18 on Fridays and Saturdays downtown and in nearby University City, home to the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University.

A first arrest could mean a fine of $100 to $300 , and parents could be fined up to $500 for successive violations by their children. In other parts of the city, the curfew remains 10 p.m. for those under 13 and midnight for those under 18.

Other measures in the crackdown included increased enforcement, a campaign to get business leaders to register their security cameras with the police department and extended hours for about 20 youth centers in the city.

In one mob attack last month, a man ended up in the hospital with broken teeth and a wired jaw after a group of teenagers attacked him downtown. Hours later, a crowd of young people assaulted four other men. An 11-year-old boy was among the four young people arrested in the case.

Nutter took the pulpit of his own West Philadelphia church last weekend to call out teenagers involved in violent mobs that have left several people injured in recent weeks and said parents need to get more involved in their children’s lives.

“You’ve damaged yourself, you’ve damaged another person, you’ve damaged your peers and, quite honestly, you’ve damaged your own race,” said the mayor, who is black. He also called out absentee fathers and neglectful parents of teens involved in the attacks, many of whom are African-American.

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Nutter took the pulpit Sunday at his own church, Mount Carmel Baptist Church, and condemned the acts of the marauding bands of youths.

“You’ve damaged yourself, you’ve damaged another person, you’ve damaged your peers and, quite honestly, you’ve damaged your own race,” Nutter said. “You damaged your own race.”

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The mayor was then joined by a phalanx of law enforcement authorities at a noon press conference where he said the early curfew would go into effect in Center City and University city on Friday and Saturday nights. Anyone under age 18 must be off the street by 9 p.m. in those sections.

The mayor also indicated the city would keep 20 recreation centers open until 10 p.m. on those two nights.

The mayor, who is black, in his Sunday comments called out absentee fathers and neglectful parents of teens involved in the attacks, many of whom are African-American. He said parents need to be more involved and not just a “human ATM” dispensing cash but no discipline.

“That’s part of the problem in our community,” he said. “Let me speak plainer: That’s part of the problem in the black community … We have too many men making too many babies they don’t want to take care of and then we end up dealing with your children.”

Nutter said the city plans to increase legal sanctions for parents whose children participate in the attacks. He said that strict enforcement of the citywide curfew will continue and more programs at youth centers and help for parents will be offered.

In one mob attack last month, a man ended up in the hospital with broken teeth and a wired jaw after a group of teenagers attacked him downtown. Hours later, a crowd of young people assaulted four other men. An 11-year-old boy was among the four young people arrested in the case.

The mayor said the overwhelming majority the city’s young people were good but “there are some really bad ones,” he said.

“They’re lawless. They act with ignorance. They don’t care about anybody else, and their behavior is outrageous,” he said. “Well, we’re not going to tolerate that.”

Nutter preached to a congregation that largely shared his beliefs but said he hoped its members would spread his message citywide.

“He might be preaching to the choir,” said church member Carol Lee, 59, of Upper Darby, “but I hope his message gets out.”

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Fox News reports:

Chapman then made a phone call directing brothers, Karon and Raheen Patterson, to fire at the passenger when the bus arrived at her stop, prosecutors say.

Video taken from inside the bus shows other passengers, including a mother and her 4-year-old son, running for cover as bullets fly through the windows, MyFoxPhilly.com reports. It also shows an elderly woman who appears confused. The 80-year-old is seen dropping to the floor of the bus just moments before a bullet flies overhead.

Read More At Fox News

Video Shows Dramatic Septa Bus Shooting: MyFoxPHILLY.com

Patterson dropped to the ground between plays during a morning practice, and the player began violently shaking. He was immediately tended to by Burkholder and his staff, with assistance from rookie offensive lineman Danny Watkins, a trained firefighter.

Burkholder said the 6-foot-1, 300-pound Patterson was undergoing further tests at Lehigh Valley Hospital.

“Chances are really good we’re going to keep him in overnight for observation,” Burkholder said. “He’s there with his wife. The only thing that we’ve really ruled out, he didn’t have any bleeding in his brain or anything like that. The bleeding that some of you saw was that he bit his tongue, they’ve confirmed that, and they’re running more tests on him right now.

“But he’s very stable. He wants to come back to training camp, but he’s over there being observed, but that’s pretty normal for somebody who has a seizure. Standard protocol says keep him in overnight to watch him and keep some monitors on him and whatnot.”

Patterson’s agent JR Ricket said in a statement that the player is “in no pain and doing well.”

“We are very grateful for everyone’s prayers and support,” he added. “Mike will be back at practice as soon as the doctors clear him.”

Burkholder said the seizure lasted about four minutes, and Patterson lost consciousness at one point as he was on the ground.

As players kneeled nearby, holding hands and praying, an ambulance arrived and Patterson was placed on a stretcher and lifted into the ambulance.

The linemen resumed practice after about 15 minutes. The skill position players did 7-on-7 drills on another field while Patterson was down.

“We were all on edge a little bit and Rick just kind of calmed the situation down,” Eagles coach Andy Reid said. “One thing I think he did a phenomenal job with was evaluating it, evaluating the situation in a calm way.”

It was a cool day at camp. Temperatures were in the high 70s when the players took the field for their morning session.

Patterson, 28, was the Eagles’ first-round pick out of Southern California in 2005. He’s started 84 games and played in 95, the most of anybody on the current roster.

Burkholder said there’s no timetable for Patterson’s return.

“We’ll turn that over to the neurologists and those people who are absolute experts,” he said. “It’s not like hamstring strains. We don’t see tons of seizures in our sport, so that’s why I have a whole team of physicians, and Lehigh Valley Hospital has a great neuro department, so we’re allowing them to handle the case now and then we’ll get him to see our docs down at the Pennsylvania Hospital eventually.”

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The Anderson Monarchs gathered on a couch, relishing in the sports spectacle, stimulated by the team’s profound showmanship.

The predominantly African-American team is coached by Walter Stewart, who started the all-girls team in 1998 in the Marian Anderson Recreation Center in South Philadelphia.

Despite the girls’ ardor for soccer, the team has little to no funding, and practice on a borrowed, desolate patch of field that is oftentimes littered with trash and drug paraphernalia. Many of the young girls reside in dangerous neighborhoods and have little access to safe, after-school activities.

CNN Reports:

“They deal with the challenges of inner-city living for black girls, and soccer isn’t that popular socially,” said Jafi Barnes, assistant coach. “We deal with racism, social pressures, but it does teach them about life and brings them closer together.”

The Monarchs aren’t just about soccer. Grades are just as important as picking up ball-handling skills — or more so.

“The idea is to get to college. You can’t play and you can’t attend a Division I school without having the grades,” Barnes said. “This is about a lifestyle change.”

Read More At CNN.com

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The Huffington Post reports:

On Friday, The Philadelphia Public School Notebook, a blog on Philadelphia’s education system, reported that the state had provided it with a 2009 forensics investigation that flagged 60 statewide schools with suspicious results on standardized state exams.

Also on Friday, Washington, D.C., released its latest crop of test scores, showing a general positive trend. A district official revealed the day before that the U.S. Department of Education had joined in the investigation of unlikely scoring patterns and alleged cheating incidents between 2008 and 2010. The probe began in March after USA Today investigated patterns of erasing students’ incorrect answers.

The revelations come weeks after Andrés Alonso, CEO of Baltimore’s schools, announced that evidence of cheating had been found at two elementary schools over the last two years, and after Arne Duncan sent a letter to all state education commissioners across the country stressing the importance of test integrity.

Read The Whole Story At The Huffington Post

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