One of the things I get to do each day is second-guess myself in terms of that day’s paper, in particular how stories get played.
I’m doing it again this morning.
I’ve known Rose Quinn for about 30 years. She’s a crackerjack police reporter. Every Thursday she and Cindy Scharr do a column on police and firefighters, often focusing on things that don’t normally make it into their police stories. So when she stopped in my office yesterday afternoon and mentioned how moved she was by what she had just witnessed, I paid attention.
What she saw was a homecoming for a state trooper who had been serving in Iraq. He visited his kids’ classrooms as a special holiday surprise.
You can read her story here.
There’s a photo of Trooper Mike Suter being hugged by his kids. We used it on Page One as one of our “teasers.”
We should have run it as our entire front page.
It doesn’t get much better than that.
Thanks, Mike, for your service. Here’s wishing your family a great holiday season, but I think they already got what they wanted for Christmas.
15 minutes of fame
So far as Andy Warhol is concerned, Susan Finkelstein no doubt has gotten more than her money’s worth.
And more than she ever wanted.
Warhol of course once famously commented about our society that “everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.”
Little did he know how our culture – and our media – would evolve.
Finkelstein is the West Philly woman who police in Bucks County say offered sex for Phillies World Series tickets. It’s a charge she vehemently denies.
When the story broke back in October, Finkelstein got her 15 minutes – and then some. It probably did not help that the team the Phillies were playing was the New York Yankees. Finkelstein soon found herself on the cover of the New York tabs, and from there a world-wide Internet sensation.
She was in court for her preliminary hearing on the charges yesterday.
It didn’t go very well.
A couple of Bensalem detectives testified in the case. One indicated that after he came upon her ad on Craigslist, with its “buxom blonde desperate for World Series tickets – price negotiable ad,” he contacted her. He testified that she sent him topless pictures of her.
It got worse. Another detective who met with her in a bar testified she exposed herself to him during their conversation.
Not only is Finkelstein facing trial on the original charges, she now faces a charge of prostitution.
She continues to profess her innocence, and her lawyer points out there is no corroboration for the salacious testimony, no video, no audio, just the cop’s word against that of his client.
Enough, already.
I’m not going to stand in judgment of Finkelstein. She’s paid a pretty steep price already, having lost her job in the fallout from the story.
I can’t help thinking this, however. Don’t the cops in Bensalem have anything better to do?
The Powers that be
The more I hear about Bob Powers, the more I admire him.
If the name is familiar, it’s because he’s been in the news recently.
The 74-year-old retired Marine (I know, there is no such thing as an ex-Marine), is the guy who put $23,000 in cash in a bag, then placed it on the roof of his car while he put some things inside, then promptly drove off.
He was headed to Annapolis to buy more tickets to last weekend’s Army-Navy game.
Along the way it dawned on him what he had done. He immediately called his son, who retraced his steps. They found the Fed Ex mailer, they found the purple velvet Crown Royal bag in which he placed the wad of bills. What they did not find was any trace of the $23,000 in cash.
Police say no one has come forward.
So how does the Chester Heights man react. He has a holiday greeting for whoever found the money: Merry Christmas.
He’s a better man than I am.
You can see the whole story here.
Roy to the World
OK, I admit it. I was one of those people who did not want Ruben Amaro Jr. to pull the trigger last July and send a bunch of the Phils’ best prospects to Toronto for Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay.
I was ecstatic when Amaro changed course and instead shipped some lesser prospects to Cleveland for Cliff Lee.
Fast-forward a few months. The Phillies yesterday formally announced their new ace. His name? Roy Halladay.
Excuse me if I’m not singing “Roy to the World.”
Pardon me Roy, but is that Cliff Lee now heading to Seattle? Yep, the guy who put the Phils on his back from the moment he arrived and went 4-0 in the postseason is now a former Phil, having spent just a few precious months in pinstripes.
It remains to be seen how this all will work out. Halladay is now signed to an extension, while Lee was looking to test free agency at the end of this year.
One way of looking at this is that the Philllies, via these two deals, bid adieu to seven of their top prospects and eventually got Halladay.
I hope Halladay is a stud. Everything he’s done in his career points to him being just that.
But I still feel bad about Cliff Lee.
That’s what’s wrong with sports today. Even on a day when you should feel great about what the Phils have done, you still have a bad taste in your mouth.
The Daily Numbers: 116 bucks, how much the Delco SPCA wants to charge towns for stray animal costs. That’s up from $25, a 450 percent increase.
1,600 dollar reward handed out to the person who came forward with information that led to arrest in the death of Cuddles the cat.
26,000 dollars and change, how much has rolled into our annual Merry Christmas Fund. We’re on our way to our goal of $50,000.
40,000 dollars worth of goods bought by a guy from Upper Darby who police now think is responsible for a massive ID theft ring. As many as 1,000 people tied to UPenn Hospital may have fallen victim to him.
85 million dollar deal to bring a movie studio to Chester Township that is “very close” to being a done deal.
1.08 million that Radnor Township now wants back from their former manager. They’ve filed suit against him in court.
1 more charge filed against the woman who police say offered sex for World Series tickets. After her preliminary hearing, Susan Finkelstein now faces a prostitution charge as well.
28, age of man found shot to death outside the Mariott Residence Inn Hotel in southwest Philly early this morning.
4 malnourished horses and a goat seized when police raided an illegal barn in West Philly.
92 million dollars, value of Powerball drawing Saturday after no one had all the winning numbers drawn last night.
250 million dollar hole in state budget that isn’t going anywhere because the Senate failed to OK a bill expanding gambling in the state to allow table games at slots parlors.
9 current and former city workers who now face theft charges after police say they were literally cleaning out homeowners in a program designed to help them stay in their homes.
2 more months in prison for the Bucks County woman who admitting faking her abduction. Bonnie Sweeten will go free on home monitoring in February.
2 Cy Young winners who are trading teams. Roy Halladay is coming to the Phils. Cliff Lee is going to the Mariners.
7 prospects who parted the Phils in the two deals that brought Lee here last summer, and Halladay this week.
15.75 million dollars, how much Halladay is scheduled to make next year.
36 points for LeBron James as the Cavs beat the Sixers last night, 108-101.
4 point lead for the Sixers with 5:50 to play. They couldn’t hold on.
2 clutch 3-pointers for James in the final minutes as he took over the game.
26 points for Andre Iguodala to lead the Sixers; Allen Iverson added 16.
Call me a Phanatic: A look at the ups and downs of being a Philadelphia sports fan.
Thanks to Roy Halladay, baseball season arrived early in Philly. Much to the chagrin, no doubt, of the Eagles. Who do they play again on Sunday?
I Don’t Get It: The folks in Harrisburg just can’t get out of their own way. Don’t look for a deal to give the green light on table games until early 2010. And that means there is still a huge hole in the state budget. These guys just don’t get it.
Today’s Upper: Our kudos to the Suter family, who had something of a family reunion yesterday when the state trooper visited his kids’
classrooms on his arrival back from a tour in Iraq. What a great Christmas present.
Quote Box: “We’re not trying to fleece you on this, we’re trying to stay in business.”
– Marcia Noa of the Delco SPCA, on new fees to handle animals brought to the facility
