Mitchell and Hilarie Morgan Hall, Temple University | Photo: Peter Woodall
- Another arson fire was reported Wednesday at Temple’s Morgan Hall, a student housing high-rise now under construction. Unlike the previous six incidents, Wednesday’s occurred in a garage. “It’s another annoying fire that we believe the same individual or individuals are doing,” said Campus Safety’s Captain Edward Woltemate. “When they do get caught, they’re going to be charged and arrested, probably at the federal level.”
- The Philadelphia Housing Authority yesterday approved this coming year’s budget plan that aims to help offset the cuts it has experienced due to this month’s federal sequester cuts. It will unload another $4 million worth of scattered housing—“mostly stand-alone rowhouses and vacant lots,” says the Inquirer. “The agency will reduce overhead through savings on its insurance policy, $2.6 million, and reductions in administrative costs, $6 million.”
- Inga Saffron argues for a paradigm shift in how and what the federal government and states fund to facilitate mobility.“Transportation advocates hate to compare transit and road projects, since they’re financed from different pots of money,” she says. “But this schizoid approach has cost us dearly. No highway project has ever made a city a better place to live, while transit projects improve our quality of life in a variety of ways, and are better for the environment.”
- Plan Philly recently talked casinos with Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Alan Greenberger. His endorsement for a second Philly casino was lukewarm.“Casinos are economic drivers in the sense that they provide a lot of jobs and tax revenue to the governmental entities that sponsor them. I haven’t seen them generate local economic development. Yet. But one of the [proposed six] could. Some might, some might not.”
About the author
Stephen Currall recently received his BA in history from Arcadia University. Before beginning doctoral studies, he is pursuing his interest in local history, specifically just how Philadelphians engage their vibrant past. Besides skimming through 18th century letters, Steve is also interested in music and travel.
