Methadone Expansion in Philadelphia Continues Unchecked

Posted on May 8, 2013 by MasterBlaster

Methadone is a synthetic opioid unlike the opium that comes from opium poppies.  For the bountiful amount of junkies who live in the DelVal and in the rest of PA, oftentimes intensive rehab just isn’t there, or the patients really don’t want to get any better but seek out treatment due to certain life events, like ODing or an arrest that separates a drug user from their opiate derivative drug of choice, whether it be prescription high-strength pain killers or heroin.

Because junkies can’t be trusted to self-medicate, methadone is given in dispensaries, known as methadone clinics.  The term clinic in this case is purely an anaphormism.  They’re not clinics in the same sense as a doctor’s office.  Mainly they are there to collect cash or submit medical claims (that’s ANSI ASC X12N 837 claims in EDI format for you nerds), often to the state Medicaid program as many patients are poor and their drug-addiction status, depending on the state you live in, places that patient in a category that nets them coverage.  Or for some of the lucky ones, that being the clinics, the patient is under a court order to go to the clinic regularly.  A guaranteed customer.

Parkside on a light day with happy customers waiting to get in.  You should see it when they have heavy flow.

Continue reading →


Posted in Nuisance Businesses | Tagged , , | Comments Off

You’re Only Alive Because It’s Illegal to Kill You

Posted on May 1, 2013 by MasterBlaster

The family of Theodore Cossum, the slain drug dealer from the previous post, requested to have the graphic video showing his dead body slumped off to one side in his Cadillac yanked from Vimeo.  It’s gone, but enough people have already seen the gruesome aftermath of a dealer-on-dealer killing that yanking the video now just seems pithy.

Most people who read my site have already seen the graphic video, and I will refrain from  reposting any stills.  The horror and reality of it all was clearly watched by most people in the river wards and many more people across the city before Cossum’s family found out that it was taped.

And well, there’s always the risk of retaliatory killings… as this one friend of the family seems to allude to on her Facebook…


Posted in Crime | Comments Off

Rayford Means Wins Worst Common Pleas Court Judge Award

Posted on April 29, 2013 by MasterBlaster

I seriously hate this shit.   A couple of days ago, this happened pretty close to my neighborhood (WARNING, GRAPHIC):

Judge Rayford Means

Luckily, Philadelphia Police witnessed the entire thing go down because the asshat who did it,  Daniel Walker, either wasn’t paying attention to the police cruiser behind him or just didn’t care.

One thing I did notice is Daniel’s prior conviction history.    In particular, this probation nonsense from Daniel’s previous drug dealing conviction in 2010.

It instantly struck me when I saw the name:  Judge Rayford Means.   Judge Means dishes out a lot of sentences at the Criminal Justice Center in a courtroom that can best be described as an auctioneering house.   Means also has a reputation for being extremely lenient to the point of absurdity.

Oh yeah, he’s also a “motivational speaker” (rayfordmeans.com)

Let’s take a look at this little murderer’s schedule for his probation violation:

How many times do you put off a hair appointment or a root canal with your dentist? This many times?

If you’ve faintly heard of Judge Means in the past, let me jog your memory:  In 2007, the City’s Department of Licenses & Inspections went after him for being a slumlord.

He was then slammed again for using his aides in his office to help run his then-illegal real estate operation from his courtroom.

This, my friends, is why a murderer got away with doing this shit in Kensington.   And if you ever push a button to retain Judge Means when his retention comes up, then you’re a hypocritical, self-loathing lying asshole who doesn’t deserve to live.   Maybe you’ll be lucky and be shot to death by one of the many, MANY, miscreants that Judge Means freely releases into the wild each day from his courtroom.

 

UPDATE:  David Walker’s Mugshot and arrest bio, here.


Posted in Municipal Incompetence, Slumlords, Zoning | Tagged | 1 Comment

Old City Civic Association Throws in the Towel

Posted on April 26, 2013 by MasterBlaster

It appears that the endless battles of fighting nuisance bars has taken their toll on Old City Civic Association.

It’s led to OCCA’s insurer either abandoning them or raising OCCA’s premiums to unaffordable levels that OCCA would have no choice but to go at it uninsured.

To wit, OCCA has posted on its website:

Important Update

OCCA has suspended its Developments and Liquor Committees and all associated activities as it can no longer afford the risk of liability assumed with these. OCCA will continue its various community improvement and outreach activities, such as its semi-annual tree planting, clean up and “haz-mat” removal days, social events and tours of historical places. “While OCCA goes through a challenging transition, we look forward to working with our neighbors towards a cleaner, greener and more beautiful Old City” Ryan N. Berley President, Old City Civic Association

In other words, Old City will not give two shits anymore about the mayhem, or shootings, between Market and Chestnut from 5th to Front.

Also, this is totally rumor-mill but… we’re also hearing that OCCA will elect to decertify themselves as a Registered Community Organization, so that way OCCA would no longer be involved in zoning affairs.    So basically it’s now a group of people who plant trees and complain about dog poop.


Posted in Nuisance Businesses | Tagged | Comments Off

AVI, AVI, AVI… Tax, Tax, Tax

Posted on April 23, 2013 by MasterBlaster

Let’s just wrap up all the AVI and Delinquent Tax news links over the last few days in one short post:

The guy who used to run PGW is now the “tax czar” of Philly [CBS3]

Clarena Tolson, the new Revenue commissioner, says it’s now a “brand new day” at the Revenue Department.  We’ll just see about that. [CBS3]

A couple of bills in Harrisburg that will make it possible for a means-test gentrification protection plan for Real Estate taxes just left an obscure House Committee and might make it to the House floor this month to get voted on. [CBS3]

City Council threatens to subpoena the Mayor unless he gets OPA (Office of Property Assessment) to turn over the formulas that were used in the AVI reassessment of the City. [CBS3]

City Council still has no real handle on what form property tax relief will take.  There’s about 6 weeks left before the City’s budget is due.  [Newsworks]

Some parts of Philly are more accurately assessed than others post-AVI. [AxisPhilly]

 


Posted in AVI, Sheriff Sales, Tax Deadbeats, The Law | Tagged , | Comments Off

City Official Throws Her Weight Around to Kill Coffee Shop, Suffers a Verbal Bitchslapping

Posted on April 19, 2013 by MasterBlaster

Chief Integrity Officer Joan Markman apologizes for trying to throw her weight around to kill OCF Coffee Shop at 21st and Fairmont.  Now, her actions are being questioned. [CBS3]

Joan Markman, Chief Integrity Officer [Philly.com]

It’s not a secret that a small cabal of neighbors in the Spring Garden neighborhood who are central to Spring Garden Civic Association and Spring Garden Community Development Corporationhave pulled out all the stops to kill OCF Coffee, itself a replacement for Mugshots Cafe which previously occupied the space in the industrial building across from Eastern State Penitentiary.

Joan immediately begins her testimony (audio here) by stating that she is acting in her official capacity as Chief Integrity Officer, then directly questions the City’s Historical Commission.

It could be retribution, but the Historical Commission then voted unanimously to approve OCF Cafe’s use of the space.

The only option left for SGCA and SGCDC to kill the coffee shop now is through the appellate courts.

Previous:  Does Michael Nutter hate Ori Feibush?  City Official Inserts Herself In Coffee Fury


Posted in Municipal Incompetence, Zoning | Tagged , , | Comments Off

Bad News: The Drug-Overdose Death House at 2035 E Hazzard Street Claims Another Victim

Posted on April 18, 2013 by MasterBlaster

2035 E Hazzard has a fairly gruesome reputation:  it’s where junkies rent-to-die.

Just today a Fire Department rescue team was called out to bring a stretcher to this house in Kensington.  Inside, a known drug user has overdosed for the last time.

This isn’t the first junkie to die there.   Or the second.   This is the third.

Herbert Werner, a known absentee property owner in the area who lives in the suburbs, owns the house.   It has no rental license, and L&I has been to the house three times before.

We can’t tell if Werner is an actual landlord making oral or written deals to put people into this home, but this certainly is not a legal rental property.  Neighbors on the block strongly suspect each occupant in this property to date have all been squatters.   Each time the property is occupied, shootings occur.

Someone has tried to pay off one of the tax liens in hopes that the City doesn’t come and take the property to Sheriff’s Sale.  Given that yet another squatter is going to move in (there’s never a shortage of them), maybe it’s time something is done to clean this house up and to take it out of Herb’s hands for good.   This community of homeowners deserves better.


Posted in Property Squatting, Sheriff Sales, Tax Deadbeats | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

Good News: Former Sheriff John Green Being Sued By the City For Millions

Posted on April 18, 2013 by MasterBlaster

This frumpy face is about to get frumpier [Philly.com]

Former Sheriff John Green just found out that he and several of his cohorts who left the Sheriff’s Department are now under a multi-million dollar suitfiled by the City to chase after all the graft that occurred during John Green’s tenure there. [Philly.com]

Seems too little too late.


Posted in Municipal Incompetence, Sheriff Sales | Comments Off

Why Was the Background Check Gun Bill Defeated in the Senate?

Posted on April 18, 2013 by MasterBlaster

Most people are sitting around right now wondering, as President Obama explains it, “how 90% of Americans are in favor of stronger background checks to buy a gun, including gun owners, and it not happen”.

It’s simple.

The Joe Manchin/Pat Toomey amendment to Senate Bill 649 was a hastily-written piece of crap.  One of the legal blogosphere’s most respected sites, the Volokh Conspiracy, has a quick breakdown of the changes to Senator Schumers’s gun control bill.  Without Manchin-Toomey, S.649 will die in the Senate.  That is guaranteed.

To get this gun legislation to pass, one thing is certain:  compromise.   Democrats have been historically unwilling to compromise on gun control since 1998, which is why gun legislation usually goes nowhere in Washington.   But in Purple-State Pennsylvania, changes to PA’s gun laws occur fairly frequently.   PA has one of the most liberal gun laws, and at the time it reformed its laws into the PA Uniform Firearms Act, Pennsylvania’s state house was primarily controlled by Democrats.

So, what can be used to compromise with “gun nuts”?   Simple.    The National Right To Carry.   Pennsylvania has a License to Carry Firearms.  Many other states recognize Pennsylvanians rights to carry a firearm concealed when they travel through a different state.  But not all.   As this crazy map shows, there is a complicated patchwork of state laws which shows which states are allowed for you to enter with a concealed firearm and which ones you are not.

This matters if you are a truck driver and wanted to carry concealed and be legal in all the states along your route to protect yourself from a carjacking.

QUICK! Can you memorize this crazy map? The states in blue is where you are allowed to enter with a concealed firearm if you got your license from PA. As you can see here, the only way to drive from Pennsylvania to Texas with a concealed firearm is through West Virginia.

The Toomey changes to S.649 were supposed to give an out to these legal gun owners.  If you stow your guns and ammo separately in a compartment that’s not easy to reach, and you happen to be in one of those red states that doesn’t honor your permit, that state cannot throw you in jail solely for that reason.

But that’s not how the Toomey amendment was written.   The language overrides a similar protection for gun owners in the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986 that creates a legal loophole.

A state that doesn’t like concealed carry gun owners traveling through its state can create paperwork requirements and criminal penalties attached to them, and even if you were properly licensed in your home state, pass background checks with ease, have no arrest or criminal record, you can go to jail and your guns confiscated and it will all be perfectly legal thanks to Senator Pat Toomey.

And that’s why Republicans could not stomach the Manchin-Toomey amendment.   At least the Senators that had the sense to actually read the legislation and understand what it meant.

Does That Mean This Is Over?

Far from it.   Manchin-Toomey shouldn’t really die right here, and S.649 can be saved if the Senate sends it back to committee or holds it while it waits for another amendment to be crafted to save the bill.

Or, simply start a whole new bill and this time get the compromises worded correctly, the first time.   That takes time to do it.

Nobody could figure out what was in the Toomey compromise amendment until Toomey walked to the floor of the Senate, introduced it, and then the entire text was published in the Congressional Record where the crappily-worded amendment could be discovered.

Few people in the journalistic print and TV media analysed the actual text, and who can blame them because most of their legal talent is off chasing high-profile court dramas.

So today, a nation acts shocked at this legislative abortion did not get to make it to the House.

There’s no rush and expanded background checks certainly can be passed.   But if you want the gun lobby to shut the hell up about their 2nd Amendment rights being stripped away and hold off spending their money, then you have to give them something.   National Right to Carry is that carrot.

And if you don’t want to do that, then you won’t get a background check bill.

It’s just that simple.


Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

This Is How Justice Is Served in Philadelphia – Out of A Horn & Hardart Coffee Can

Posted on April 17, 2013 by MasterBlaster

Poor Leon King, Esq.

Former Bureau of Prisons Commissioner Leon King

Leon King is a story that exemplifies how we pick our judges in Philly, and in Pennsylvania in general.   Mr. King used to be Commissioner over the Bureau of Prisons, in charge of keeping Philly’s miscreants locked up.   Then in 2009 he decided to run for the Court of Common Pleas [Philadelphia Gay News].

Then he ran again, and now again.

Continue reading →


Posted in Nuisance Businesses, The Law | 1 Comment

It Begs The Question: Why Does The Legal Intelligencer Get All These Sheriff Sale Notices By Law?

Posted on April 17, 2013 by MasterBlaster

An interesting mental puzzle surfaced in my article about the Sheriff Sale advertising costs yesterday:  Why does The Legal Intelligencer get Sheriff Sale advertising guaranteed to it by law?

Continue reading →


Posted in Sheriff Sales | Comments Off

Philly Sheriff Jewell Williams Begs For More Money–We Have One Idea for Him to Find Some

Posted on April 17, 2013 by MasterBlaster

UPDATE:  Back of the napkin math ->   1/2 month of advertising is $158K, times two for one month times 12 for Jan-Dec = $3,811,776.48

Sheriff Williams [philly.com]

 

Sheriff Williams routinely signs large checks to run foreclosure ads nobody reads in the Philadelphia Gay News published by Mark Segal.

The Philadelphia Sheriff is only legally required to publish foreclosure ads in The Legal Intelligencer and one other periodical that publishes at minimum on a weekly basis.  The Department has already started posting Sheriff’s Sale information online on its own website.

Well, guess what?   The Sheriff is begging City Council for more money again. [PhillyClout]   Last time around for budget season, Williams was begging for a new Chevy Tahoe.

Now,  I have a new idea to get the Sheriff the money he needs to hire extra employees:  ditch foreclosure advertising to Liberty City Press.

The City Solicitor’s office denied a whole bunch of formulated requests to get at the annual amount the Sheriff’s Office spends on this advertising, but they did send us an invoice from Liberty City Press and a check from Jewell Williams to give you an idea of how much the Sheriff’s Office is spending regularly on this service.

A $158K invoice for 8 units of foreclosure runs, part of which go to the Philadelphia Gay News who endorses Jewell Williams (Sheriff) and Alan Butkovitz (City Controller)

 

The check paying for invoice (above)


Posted in Municipal Incompetence | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

City Controller’s Office Workers’ No.1 Job: Get Their Boss Re-Elected

Posted on April 16, 2013 by MasterBlaster

Team Butkovitz actually got City money to pay for these re-election brochures [CityPaper]

One would almost think that the employees at the City Controller’s office are bound by… I dunno… ethics rules perhaps?… from running political campaigns.  ANY political campaigns.  Including the one their boss is in right now.

But apparently they aren’t.   Several workers who have been hired are actually the family and children of Philly ward leaders and they’re busy campaigning for their boss, City Controller Alan Butkovitz according to blogger Josh Kruger, who has secured interviews from people knowledgeable of inner department drama including ex-workers of “The Watchdog”.

Butkovitz Most Corrupt City Controller in Philadelphia History [Josh Kruger]


Posted in Municipal Incompetence | Tagged | Comments Off

Does Michael Nutter Hate Ori Feibush? City Official Inserts Herself in OCF Coffee Fury

Posted on April 16, 2013 by MasterBlaster

A heated meeting at the City’s Historical Commission probably went unnoticed by much of the local press weren’t it for an official from the Nutter administration turning up to criticize the Historical Commission and their approval of OCF Coffee across from Eastern State: Joan Markman, the City’s Chief Integrity Officer.

Joan Markman, City Chief Integrity Officer [philly.com]

The same group of pissed-off neighbors were present, all aligned with the Spring Garden Community Development Corporation and its founder, Patricia Freeland, herself not a stranger to controversy.

The meeting turned sour according to PlanPhilly when Joan Markman had this to say about the OCF Coffee Shop [emphasis added]:

And then Markman addressed the Commission, saying that while she lived in the neighborhood — and indeed had enjoyed Feibush’s cafe — she felt compelled to speak in her official capacity. She said she had no opinion on the matters under discussion but was “just concerned about the process” of the meeting, echoing the sentiment that Feibush be held to the same standards that the homeowners who had appeared earlier in the meeting.

Spring Garden CDC had previously lost their battle at stripping Ori Feibush from his permits to operate the coffee shop after L&I was forced in Common Pleas court later last year to restore permits it had previously granted and to seek judicial clearance before electing to re-revoke the permits.

The recent Historical Commission meeting was to give ultimate approval to the use of the coffee shop within the building as well as set a plan for OCF to comply with architectural violations.

The sudden appearance of Joan Markman to this meeting where she mentioned she was acting in an official capacity as the City’s Chief Integrity Officer set off alarm bells at the Commission when she questioned the very essence of the Commission itself and its board meetings:

Commission Chair Sam Sherman calmed him down, while Commissioner John Mattioni said, “I am personally offended — but we can take care of ourselves.” Turning to Markman, he added, “I believe you are out of line and if you are here at the Mayor’s request, I believe he is out of line.” (After the meeting,  both the Alliance and McMahon told PlanPhilly that they had not asked Markman to appear and she, too, emphasized that “none of these people knew I was coming.” She had initially come out of curiosity after reading an email from a neighborhood group, she said.)

Since SGCDC couldn’t get the coffee shop closed that way, the next obvious option was to fight OCF Coffee on its use of the ground floor of the building and using an industrial warehouse built in the 19th century for commercial space on the ground floor.

With the conclusion of this decision, the only options remaining for SGCA and SGCDC to get rid of OCF Coffee is more courtroom action.  This time, in Commonwealth Court.   Will SGCDC use its millions in cash and the fees it takes in from its surface lot by Eastern State to launch a court battle?  It’s too early to tell.

One thing is certain:  The mentally-deficient and small cabal of neighbors that are upset that a coffee shop (Mugshots) was replaced by another coffee shop (OCF) will probably explore more opportunities to eject OCF from Spring Garden.

Spring Garden is covered by the Spring Garden Historic District, as well as Spring Garden Civic Association and SGCDC.   The latter two organizations acts like a traditional suburban homeowner’s association, ruthlessly referring any property owner it suspects is modifying improvements that it feels are out of line with Historic District standards.


Posted in Zoning | Comments Off