The Daily Numbers: 2 teen suspects charged yesterday in the stray-bullet death of Kathy Stewart in Chester.
1 of the suspects who managed to commandeer a police car from in front of the county prison and lead cops on a wild chase back into Chester.
2 suspects, dubbed Upper Darby’s Bonnie & Clyde, busted in an undercover police sting. A cop posed as the delivery guy and shot the suspect when he rushed him with a gun.
2 men being sought by police in Lower Chichester after they approached schoolkids and asked where their mother was.
40 foot Colorado blue spruce donated by an Upper Darby family as the township’s official Christmas tree.
1,250 signing bonus awaiting union members of SEPTA’s city division as they vote on a new contract today.
2.5 hours, how long it took a jury in Philadelphia to convict John Lewis of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Officer Chuck Cassidy.
Today they will take up whether to impose the death penalty in the case.
9, as in the 9th most regressive tax system in the nation. That’s where Pennsylvania ranks, according to a new study.
242 days in jail under a plea deal for the Coatesville fireman charged with setting 2 small fires. It amounts to the time served.
8.8 percent, where the Pa. jobless rate remained in October.
3 people charged with hacking into the Comcast Web site and diverting traffic.
17 seconds left when Villanova hit a 3-pointer to edge ahead of stubborn George Mason for the win yesterday.
78-68 loss for La Salle at the hands of South Carolina.
5 interceptions thrown by Bears QB Jay Cutler in a loss last week. He’ll be facing the Birds Sunday night.
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Call me a Phanatic: A look at the ups and downs of being a Philadelphia sports fan.Is it just me or has sports suddenly hit a lull. The Eagles can show up any time now. Or at least whatever version they will be this week in their Jekyll & Hyde act.
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I Don’t Get It: Can someone explain to me exactly how a handcuffed prisoner manages to commandeer a police car when he’s being accompanied by two officers?
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Today’s Upper: Thumb’s up for Chester residents for coming forward and offering key information that led to the arrest of two suspects in the shooting death of Kathy Stewart.
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Quote Box: “We thought it was important to you, to the William Penn family, to come out on this very street and let you know what took place.”
- Chester Mayor Wendell Butler, announcing the arrest of two teens in the murder of Kathy Stewart.

They started taking back the streets in Chester yesterday.

It’s not going to be easy. Just how tough was proved by two incidents that happened after two suspects were arrested yesterday for the “stray-bullet” death of Kathy Stewart.

You can read all the details here.

But here’s what most impressed me. D.A. Mike Green made it clear the arrests were the result of people in the community coming forward and giving information to police.

Maybe the tide is turning.

Or maybe the senselessness of Stewart’s death finally struck a nerve.
Stewart was simply doing part of her daily routine, stopping at her ailing 85-year-old mother’s home to care for her. Stewart would stop every day and help her mom get cleaned, dressed and makes sure she’s taking her medicine. Her mom is battling cancer.

That’s what she was doing there Sunday night. Stewart, herself a mother of three, was resting on a bed chatting with her fiancee on a cell phone when gunshots rang out from the street outside. It’s an all too familiar sound to residents of the William Penn homes.

Incredibly, one of the bullets went through the wall of the home, through a headboard, and struck Stewart in the head. She was rushed to Crozer-Chester Medical Center, where she died the next day.

The community was outraged. They marched in the street.

But they did more than that. They did something police and city officials have been begging residents to do. They told them what they knew.

As a result, Dominique Smith, 19, of the 400 block of Gilbert Street in Trainer, and Abdult Johnson, 17, of the 1100 block of Curry Street in Chester, face a slew of charges including first-degree murder.

As officials announced the arrests, a crowd of 100 residents broke into cheers.

At a window above, Stewart’s ailing mother looked on as authorities announced charges against the two teens for snuffing out the life of her daughter.

Maybe it marks a turning point in the city’s war against street violence.

They have their work cut out for them.

Just hours after he was charged, the 17-year-old Johnson incredulously got another short taste of freedom.

As the unmarked police car sat at the entrance to Delaware County Prison, both officers got out to secure their weapons, as is standard procedure. At that point, a handcuffed Johnson managed to get into the front seat and take off.

He led officers on a wild chase back into Chester, where the pursuit ended when Johnson ran the car into the front porch of a house at Sixth and Highland.

And a few hours later, a familiar sound rang out on a Chester street.

A man was shot and killed just after 11 p.m. on the 1300 block of Crosby Street.

One step forward, two steps back.

But make no mistake. The people of Chester sent a message this week.
They no longer will tolerate the lawlessness and gunfire that riddle too many of their streets.

They will work with police and city officials to take back their streets.

And they will do it Kathy Stewart’s name.

This one gives a whole new meaning to “justice delivered.”

Working to solve a string of holdups targeting delivery men for local pizza shops, Upper Darby police literally took matters into their own hands.

You can get the full story here.

Here’s the abridged version. When a pizza shop got another suspicious call, they handed the cheesesteak to an undercover cop. Officer Scott Pecko was approaching the house where the order was supposed to go when a guy jumps out of the bushes and demands cash.

He had no idea that his “mark” was an undercover cop. He was about to find out.

The suspect’s bad decision was about to get worse. He was brandishing a pistol. It turned out to be a pellet gun. Pecko told him to drop his weapon. The suspect kept coming at him. Pecko drew his own service revolver and shot the suspect once in the arm.

A woman also was arrested. Police believe she was driving the getaway car.

Upper Darby top cop Mike Chitwood promptly branded them duo Upper Darby’s own “Bonnie & Clyde.”

And he offered a warning for anyone considering preying on delivery people who are just trying to make an honest buck. Be careful.

“The next person they rob may be an undercover cop,” Chitwood said.

Justice delivered indeed.

They are thinning the herd in Lower Merion.

They want to do the same in Valley Forge National Historical Park.

And now Rose Valley is looking to do the same.

Their target is deer. There are too many of them. And they are marauding over the landscape, destroying vegetation and upsetting the environmental balance.

Personally, I have a little more visceral response to deer.

It stems from my seemingly daily game of early-morning dodge-ball with the critters as I drive to work.

The latest came this week. Of course, I encountered this animal not on a straight stretch of dry road. Instead I was coming up over a hill, on a rainy morning, when there it was, standing right in the middle of the road.

I swerved to avoid it, and luckily it never moved.

I’m not talking Bambi here. I’m talking a full-grown buck, with a magnificent rack. This thing could have been the spokesman for the Hartford Insurance Co.

It wasn’t my first close encounter. No doubt it will not be the last.

It’s not the deer’s fault. I know we have over-developed. I don’t especially care. All I know is that one of these mornings my luck is going to run out.

I say thin the herd. Now.

The Daily Numbers: 6 feet, 6 inches. That’s how tall Joe Sherlock stood.
The victim in the fatal crash on Route 352 is being remembered by family and friends as a “gentle giant.” Sounds about right.
50 vaccinations her hour, how many likely will be performed at this weekend’s H1N1 vaccine clinic. By the way, the clinic now has a new location. It will be held at Penn State Brandywine, not Chichester Middle School.
1 suspect shot by police during a sting operation late last night in Upper Darby that targeted a gang that was ripping off pizza delivery guys.
2 suspects busted in a car break-in in Clifton Heights. Police are asking residents to check their cars; they think the duo may have hit more victims.
15, age of girl to whom the former head coach of the Plymouth Whitemarsh High School’s girls swim team admitted sending sexually explicit text message to, as well as offering her money for sex.
60 percent of the cocaine going into Norristown that police say was the result of one guy Dontay Rayshaw Brewer, known as Cornbread. He was busted yesterday.
0 cost of living hikes for our elected officials in Pennsylvania this year, because the rate of inflation is down.
31 years, how long Dave Roberts has been delivering the weather on Channel 6. He’s hanging it up, and will deliver his last forecast on Dec. 11. His career spanned 56 years.
4 women raped in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. Police believe the same person is behind all the attacks.
50,000 dollars that will go to a local non-profit organization in a push by the Eagles and Tev Pharmaceuticals to honor community involvement.
30, age of driver in New Castle, Del., who survived after his car was struck by a train. Police say he ignored flashing lights and tried to get through the crossing anyhow.
50,000 dollars allegedly ripped off from a mentally and physically disabled man by the owner of a Germantown personal care home.
62, age of local business leader Constantine Pavlides, who was killed in crash on Route 322 Tuesday. He founded the Greater Philadelphia Senior Executive Group.
3 neighborhoods in Philly that are now getting FIOS TV service from Verizon, in a challenge to local cable giant Comcast.
105,000 dollars, how much was collected by Boeing union boss Tony Forte in a loan scam tied to the company credit union. He pleaded guilty in federal court.
32 million dollars up for grabs in Saturday’s Powerball drawing after no one hit the numbers Wednesday night.
849 billion dollar health care bill introduced in the Senate last night. Republicans are vowing to filibuster to keep it from even being debated.
19 points, 11 rebounds last night for Elton Brand, flashing his old form as the Sixers beat Larry Brown and the Bobcats.
21 shots turned away in the 3rd period last night in L.A. by Flyers goalie Brian Boucher to preserve a 3-2 win.
600 dollars per seat, how much extra some folks will have to pay to keep their spots in Beaver Stadium at Penn State, according to a new seating plan.
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Call me a Phanatic: A look at the ups and downs of being a Philadelphia sports fan.Maybe it’s just me, but I find it hard to believe anyone is seriously talking about Brian Westbrook actually playing again this year for the Eagles. The question seems to be if Westbrook will ever play again – period.
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I Don’t Get It: Ed Rendell says he wants to be an advocate for government reform in his final year in Harrisburg. I think he said that with a straight face.
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Today’s Upper: Thumb’s up for those who took to the street last night demanding change in the wake of the senseless death of Kathy Stewart.
Now the rest of the city needs to join them, and come forward with information on who is responsible for the shootings.
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Quote Box: “It hasn’t really set in that she’s gone.”
- Sunday Hollman, sister of shooting victim Kathy Stewart, at vigil in her honor Wednesday night.

They took to the streets last night in Chester – in an effort to take their streets back.

Residents outraged by the random gunfire and stray bullet that snuffed out the life of Kathy Stewart held a vigil in her memory.

Stewart was killed when a bullet from another street gun battle about a block away went through the wall of her mother’s home, through a headboard, and struck her in the bed as she chatted on a cell phone while in bed.

Residents are right to be outraged. This kind of gun violence is all too common in Chester, and lots of other towns in this county.

They also should be doing something else. We editorialized about it today.

There is a comfortable anonymity that comes with working for a newspaper.

Yes, we come into your house every day. Both in print and online. And my picture does appear in the newspaper every Monday, along with my print column. I have opted instead for a logo to accompany this blog, The Heron’s Nest.

But for the most part, we ink-stained wretches toil in the background.

Every once in a while, someone will approach me in the Wawa or out on the street. I can always tell what’s coming next by the way they look at me. “Aren’t you the editor of the Daily Times?” they ask. I always offer them my stock response: “That depends on who wants to know.” Along with a smile. Hopefully they smile back. That’s not always the case.

On the other hand, those who make their living on TV, especially in this market, become much more familiar to their audiences.

The fact is that it’s a completely different medium. People on TV enter people’s homes and make a different, more personal connection with their audience than folks who write for a newspaper. They become like family, sharing meals, offering accompaniment. Their voices – and faces – become part of our conversations, and our lives.

I can admit that TV news folks make a connection that a newspaper editor for the most part simply does not. It’s the visual element that does it.
I’m sure that fans of a local TV newscast believe they really know the people delivering the news. They welcome them into their home each night. They become like trusted family members.

In this market, I’ve always been a bit taken aback by how we treat the folks who do TV news. They become like our own little celebrities. And they get covered in a way that newspaper people simply do not.

That’s not always a bad thing, at least as far as I’m concerned.

Dawn Stensland recently graced the cover of the Daily News. She used to be an anchor at Fox 29. Her contract was not renewed. She also happens to be married to Larry Mendte, the Delco native who made a slew of headlines of his own the past couple of years.

I have to admit that during his travails, I did not envy Mendte’s celebrity one little bit.

We now will go through this process once again, but for a different reason.

Dave Roberts is leaving Channel 6. I wish I could count how many times I’ve watched as Roberts gave me the nightly forecast. The truth is I can’t. But for most of my life, Roberts has been the guy who gave me the weather.

He’s been on Channel 6 for 31 years, the majority of his 56 years in the business. His face and voice are the equivalent of a favorite blanket. I suppose you might say for some of us he would be considered a security blanket.

I always liked Roberts for another reason. He seemed to resist what has happened all too often in recent years when it comes to weather in this market. But that I mean the hype that accompanied even the slightest possibility of snow. Now they seem to do the same thing when it rains.

Roberts announced on the 11 p.m. Action News show that he is calling it quits. He will serve as always as the co-anchor of Channel 6’s coverage of the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, and his last forecast will be on Dec. 11.

No doubt the sun will come up on Dec. 12. But make no mistake. As a community will be a little bit different. A very familiar figure will no longer be a part of our lives, will not come into our homes each night.

I’m guessing it will be a cloudy day.

Thanks for a million forecasts, Dave. And for being a constant, soothing presence in an increasingly stormy world.