While reporting ... Philadelphia Industrial Correction Center

Inside the lobby of the county jail, young girls in stylish clothes and shiny lips held their crying babies, waiting to see daddy.

'Not safe on your own lawn'. Residents of Lincoln Drive are increasingly upset by speeders

On Easter afternoon, Sharon Boyd was standing on her front lawn in West Mount Airy, smiling at her husband and son as they moved new 10-foot columns onto their once-enclosed porch.

After nearly two years of dealing with insurance adjusters, lawyers, building inspectors, and contractors, the Boyds were finally rebuilding the porch - wrecked when a speeding SUV rammed into a traffic pole on Lincoln Drive, launched into the air, and crash-landed inside it.

As Boyd eyed the traffic, her dog, Peaches, in her arms, she thought, "Not again."

Keep reading...

(Photo credit: MICHAEL S. WIRTZ / Inquirer Staff Photographer)

A lively competition afoot. World Irish Dance Championships step into Phila.

In the lobby of the Kimmel Center, dancer Charaina Kelly, her hair a mass of blond curls, was panting, a light sweat shining on her forehead.

Dressed in a turquoise and black dress, her face sparkling with turquoise eye shadow and fuschia lipstick, Kelly had just finished a heavy jig in the senior girls competition of the World Irish Dance Championships.

"I'm happy with it," Kelly, 24, with an accent by way of Belfast, said of her performance. "I love the competition, just the buzz of having done well."

For most of her life, Kelly has been dancing. Last year, she placed 10th in the world. Then, three weeks later, she ruptured an Achilles tendon, leaving her "in plaster" for five months.

This year's competition marks her comeback. She's hoping to make the top 25.

Keep reading...

(Photo credit: Sarah Glover, Staff Photographer)

Student's article leads to desk duty for officer

By Kia Gregory
Inquirer Staff Writer

A Philadelphia police officer has been put on desk duty after he was quoted spouting his disgust for the black residents in the community he patrolled.

During a ride-along with a Temple University senior journalism student, the officer, William Thrasher, who is white, was quoted as calling the residents of the predominantly black 22d District "animals" and the violence that happens there "typical n- s-" or "TNS."

"If what's alleged is true," said Lt. Frank Vanore, a police spokesman, "the commissioner takes comments like that very, very seriously, and he's going to take appropriate action. We can't tolerate that."

Keep reading...