Portal:Philadelphia/news archive/2008

Philadelphia Portal news archive 2006 - 2007 - 2008

[edit] 2008

May 19: Four Philadelphia Police Officers are fired and four others disciplined over the May 5 videotaped beating of three suspects. (Reuters)
May 7: Temple University Woman's basketball coach, Dawn Staley, leaves Temple to coach at the University of South Carolina. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
May 6: Six Philadelphia Police Officers are taken off street duty while the city investigates a video taken by WTXF-TV which shows around a dozen officers beating three men. The city says more officers will be removed when identified. (CNN)
May 3: Philadelphia Police Sergeant Steven Liczbinski is shot and killed responding to a bank robbery. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

April 17: Sean T. Buffington is installed as the president of the University of the Arts. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
April 9: The Fairmount Park Commission approved a public sculpture by Tom Otterness, that will be built in Aviator Park, the area between the Franklin Institute and Logan Circle. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
April 4: Starting April 7, French restaurant Le Bec-Fin will drop fixed-price dinner menus and set seating times for less expensive à la carte dining. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

March 31: The Philadelphia Housing Authority gets a reprieve on losing US$40 million of federal funds the same day the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson resigns amid allegations Jackson sought to punish PHA because of its land development dispute with Kenny Gamble. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
March 27: The Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion upholding Mumia Abu-Jamal's murder conviction while ordering a new sentencing hearing. Should the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania choose not to hold a new hearing, Abu-Jamal will be automatically sentenced to life in prison. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
March 22: The decommissioned supercarrier USS John F. Kennedy arrives in Philadelphia. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
March 12: Pennsylvania state senator Vincent Fumo announces he will not seek reelection in 2008 as a result of a corruption probe. (WTXF-TV)

February 22: Milton Street is convicted on three counts of tax evasion and acquitted on four counts of mail and wire fraud. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
February 19: Arlene Ackerman is selected as the new chief executive officer of the School District of Philadelphia. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
February 11: Northeast High School is closed for a day after a prank sets fifty chickens loose inside the school. (AP)
February 1: Joey Chestnut wins the Wing Bowl for the third year in a row. (Philly.com)

January 25: The Philadelphia Museum of Art and its proposal for an exhibition on Bruce Nauman have been selected to represent the United States at the 53d Venice Biennale. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
January 22: A judge says the state may demolish two historic buildings that were once the headquarters of the Philadelphia Life Insurance Co. for the Pennsylvania Convention Center expansion. (AP)
January 15: The Phillie Phanatic is rated the number one U.S. sport's mascot on a list by The Marketing Arm's Davie-Brown Index (Forbes)
January 14: Former district attorney of Philadelphia, Ronald D. Castille, is sworn in as the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
January 13: Former Philadelphia Phillies pitching coach Johnny Podres dies. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
January 7: News anchor Alycia Lane is fired from KYW-TV after being arrested in New York City for assaulting a police officer. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
January 7: Michael Nutter is sworn in as Philadelphia's 98th mayor. (KYW-TV)