The Daily Numbers: 3 people charged with stealing copper wire from an emergency communications tower in Eddystone.
185 feet high, the height of the tower they scaled to get to their booty.
2.8 on the Richter Scale, the magnitude of the earthquake the shook the region yesterday morning. No damage was reported.
9 p.m., that’s the new curfew in Lower Chi for those 18 and under.
12 years at the helm of the Villanova Law School for Mark A. Sargent, who announced his resignation.
8 full-time employees and 4 part-timers laid off in Radnor Township.
Officials say the cuts will save the township as much as $1 million a year.
4.4 percent tax hike included in the budget recently adopted by the Haverford School Board.
3 men beaten by Philly police in an incident captured on videotape who were acquitted on all charges stemming from their arrests.
2 execs of a Philly charter school who have been charged with mail fraud and honest services fraud.
8 mile stretch of beach in New Jersey from North Surf City to Barnegat Light where medical waste washed up yesterday. Just what they need for the holiday weekend.
11 states other than Pennsylvania that also have yet to pass a new state budget. California has declared a fiscal emergency and ordered state offices closed three days a month to save money.
15.5 percent decline in revenues collected in Pa. in June. That won’t help the budget crunch.
1 person killed in a motorcycle crash in Bucks County after the driver hit the back of a pickup truck.
5 white firefighters who the city of Philadelphia will pay $275,000 to settle their discrimination complaints.
3 bank heists in New Jersey believed to be the work of a 20-year-old woman from Sicklerville.
17, age of Philly teen police are charging in a one-man crime wave, including shootings that left four people wounded.
15 DUI charges for a man in North Jersey. He’s had his license suspended
78 times.
12 people nationwide suffering kidney failure in connection with a possible E. coli outbreak in beef suspected of being contaminated with salmonella.
20 days out of 30 in June in which we had rain.
4 innings, how long Phils’ starter Cole Hamels lasted last night. He got shelled for 7 runs on 9 hits.
4.98, where Hamels’ ERA sits these days.
2 hits for the Phils, 0 through the first six innings.
27 at-bats without a hit for Jimmy Rollins, who did reach with a walk last night.
5.6 million dollar deal for Mike Knuble, who signed with the Caps yesterday.
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Call me a Phanatic: A look at the ups and downs of being a Philadelphia sports fan.The Phils aren’t hitting and aren’t pitching. Kind of hard to win games that way.
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I Don’t Get It: A thief swiped a tandem bike from outside the home of a woman in Newark, Del. The 59-year-old victim is blind. She sits and peddles in back while a friend navigates in front. Nice.
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Today’s Upper: A little extra jingle in the pockets of those who park in Philadelphia. The city Parking Authority has rescinded a planned fare hike, from $2 to $3 per hours, when revenues showed an increase.
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Quote Box: “I wanted to, uh, I am going to get into the race against Arlen Specter.”
- Joe Sestak, in an interview with a paper in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The great Joe Sestak tease continues.

Call it the world’s longest political announcement. We’ve been reporting for some time that Sestak is going to run. Earlier this week we noted that he has received the green light from his wife and is still talking with his young daughter about it.

That has not stopped him from kicking off a 67-county tour of the state to let everyone know that he is kind of, sort of, you know, getting ready to announce that he is going to get into the race against Arlen Specter for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate.

All that remains is for Sestak to call a press conference and make if official.

During one of his interviews yesterday Sestak again tossed out the kind of quote that makes reporters salivate.

“I am going to get into the race against Arlen Specter,” he told the Wayne Independent in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Sounds like he’s running, right? It’s what he’s been saying for weeks now, ever since Specter bailed on the Republican Party and was welcomed with open arms by most in the Democratic Party, including its leaders, but not Sestak.

The blogosphere picked up the quote and soon it was rattling around the cyberworld. I’m guessing that’s pretty much exactly what Sestak intended.

Except that it was not a formal announcement. Who knows when that is coming.

But for a guy whose biggest problem is a lack of statewide recognition, every story that gets picked up on the wires or linked to on the Internet is another chip in that wall.

At this point, I don’t really think Sestak has much choice. He’s going to run. All that’s left is the announcement.

But not before a few more teases.

On Tuesday our front page carried this lead headline: Joe to Go! The story was Sestak taking one more step toward a formal announcement.

Call it 99.999 percent.

Expect another quote that he’s getting into the race any day now.

What’s shakin’? We are. Or at least the ground underneath us was.

That’s right. That wasn’t something you are for breakfast rumbling yesterday morning. We had an earthquake. Check out our reporting on it.

As temblors go, this one was pretty minor. We didn’t feel a thing here in beautiful downtown Primos. But some folks down in the lower end of the county near Chi and the Delaware border got pretty shook up.

No damage. No injuries. Just the way I like them.

I did learn something yesterday. The fact that we had an earthquake is not all that unusual. In fact, we apparent sit on a huge fault that runs up and down the East Coast.

Beach front property in Chester? Gotta love that.

We’ve now been one week without Michael Jackson.

I loved the guy’s music. I’m aware that he had some personal problems.

There was the whole plastic surgery thing. You can’t look at a picture of him as a kid, or at the shot of him reclining on the cover of the “Thriller” album (for my money still one of the best of all-time), and wonder how he managed to morph into the odd, almost plastic appearance he took on as an adult.

If there is one thing I have always wanted to do, it’s blow up the huge, reddish blog of a nose that sits square in the middle of my face and have someone build me a new one. But if the alternative is winding up looking the way Jackson did as an adult, I’ll take a pass.

Then there’s his bizarre personal life, including the allegations of child abuse.

Know what? All that should die along with him. What remains is his music.

And the guy undoubtedly was a genius. Find me an album with as many classic songs on it as “Thriller.” Oddly enough, I still find myself singing along to some of those songs on the radio. They are timeless, and will be played along with Sinatra, Elvis, the Beatles and The Boss forever.

Unfortunately, here’s what also likely will go on forever – the ugly, vulture-like obsession with him and his death.

He’s gone. Let it go.

What do you think the chances are of that happening? Thought so.

That’s the glory of 24-hour cable news shows. You soon realize that you need something to fill those 24 hours. So we get all-O.J. all the time.
Followed by all-Chandry Levy all the time. Followed by all-Natalee Holloway all the time.

Now it’s Jackson’s turn. Don’t expect the spotlight to shine anywhere else for months.

Just try to remember the music.

June is over for the Phils; their June swoon is not.

If anything, things managed to get worse last night. The Phils sent their ace to the mound last night. And for the second straight outing, Cole Hamels came up small.

Hamels again failed to get past the fifth inning, last night he only managed four. It wasn’t pretty. Hamels gave up nine runs on seven hits.
Seven of the runs were earned. His ERA is now a decidedly un-ace-like. 4.98.

Just to complete the picture, the team is not hitting either. Last night somebody named Jair Jurrjens continued his mastery of the Phils, no-hitting them for six innings. He’s now 3-2 against them with an ERA of 2.50 in six career starts. The Phils managed all of two hits last night.

And of course no mention of the Phils’ struggles would be complete without a mention of Jimmy Rollins. The leadoff man continues to spin his wheels. Hey, he actually got on base once last night. He managed to work a walk. But he is now hitless in his last 27 at-bats. Not good.

Forget the Mets. The Phils now are clinging to a half-game lead over the hot Marlins.

They get one more shot at the Braves tonight before returning to Citizens Bank Park for a weekend set with the Mets.

They announced that Rodrigo Lopez will get a start Friday night in the spot vacated by Antonio Bastardo, who was filling in for Brett Myers.
Fans no doubt would rather see one of their young hotshots, such as Carlos Carrasco or Andrew Carpenter get the call.

Not going to happen.

The Phils have squandered a great chance to put a huge cushion between themselves and the rest of the NL East. Now they are in another dogfight. Yes, it’s a long season. We’re not even at the All-Star break yet.

But the Phils have problems. They’re not pitching or hitting. Kind of tough to win that way.

The Daily Numbers: 0 crimes committed by former state Trooper Albert Silveri III, despite his creepy online chats with an undercover officer.
3 months old, age of tot an Upper Darby man pleaded guilty to beating.
2 teens from West Chester who have been cited for disorderly conduct after police say they were observed urinating on the side of a Wawa in Thornbury.
16 hours, how long the ramp from the northbound Blue Route to westbound Schuylkill was closed after a tanker truck overturned.
2 people, a mother and child, who drowned in rough current last night in North Wildwood after lifeguards had gone off duty for the day. A third child was pulled from the rip current.
6 area McDonald’s that have been targeted by a gang of thieves. None of them are in Delco.
2 people, a brother and sister, from the Mayfair section of Philly who have been charged with ripping people off at their used car dealership.
24 years, how long it has been since we endured a June that was as cool as the one that ended yesterday.
71, our average temperature for June, which is about 1.5 degrees below our normal mark.
2.72, what we’re paying for a gallon of gas as we head into the July 4 holiday travel period.
113 million dollar jackpot up for grabs in the Mega Millions lottery game. The next drawing is Friday night.
1,236 residents who left Philadelphia in 2008. That number is down from previous years. Philly now ranks as the 6th biggest U.S. city.
23,000 dollars ripped off from a school fund at Germantown High by a former worker. The woman paid full restitution in returning the money and was sentenced to 5 years probation.
2 billion dollars in higher taxes being proposed by Gov. Ed Rendell to solve the state’s budget crisis.
2 days in a row a child has been struck and killed by a vehicle in Philadelphia. A 7-year-odl girl was hit Tuesday night, also in the Mayfair neighborhood.
0 for 5 last night for Jimmy Rollins, who continues to struggle in one of the worst slumps of his career.
0 hits in his last 24 at-bats for the Phils shortstop.
.207, Rollins’ batting average after last night, which actually prompted a chant by Braves fans mocking him in his final at-bat. Rollins promptly struck out.
4 hits and 4 RBI for Braves martin Prado to leave Atlanta to a 5-4 win in 10 innings.
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Call me a Phanatic: A look at the ups and downs of being a Philadelphia sports fan.Here’s a tip for Charlie Manuel. Should Jimmy Rollins continue to struggle the next two nights in Atlanta, get him out of the leadoff spot before coming back to Citizens Bank Field Friday night for a crucial series with the Mets.
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I Don’t Get It: So former Trooper Albert Silveri’s online chats were not illegal. That doesn’t make them any less creepy.
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Today’s Upper: Kudos to Harrah’s, which will kick off the July 4 holiday with a free fireworks spectacular along the Chester waterfront Thursday night.
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Quote Box: “The intensity of these communications and the specificity is alarming. These aren’t fantasies. These are far beyond that.”
- Delco Judge Frank Hazel, describing the online chats of former state Trooper Albert Silveri III.

No one is arguing that what former state trooper Albert Silveri III was doing online was creepy.

But it apparently was not illegal.

Delaware County Judge Frank Hazel Tuesday returned a verdict in the case against Silveri, who had spent several hours on the stand in his one-day trial detailing – often graphically – his activities in the cyberworld.

Silveri had opted for a jury before Hazel instead of taking his chances with a jury of his peers. Good choice.

It’s hard to hear Silveri’s testimony, in which he freely admits conversations with a woman he believed was a mother offering to set him up with her young daughters for a sexual liaison.

Silveri says it was all a fantasy, that he never actually intended to go through with any of his perverse online chats.

And for proof he notes that even though he set up several meetings with an online “mom” who turned out to be an undercover officer, he didn’t show up for any of them.

On a legal basis, there was no crime, hence Hazel’s verdict.

But “not guilty” is not all the judge had to say. He blasted the former trooper’s actions, even if they were just a part of his online “fantasy.”

“These aren’t fantasies,” Hazel said. “These are far beyond that.” The judge suggested that Silveri is in need of professional help, which his attorney says he is getting. Hard to argue with that.

Silveri is no longer working as a trooper. For that I suppose we can all be glad, although I now wonder what kind of case he would have if he decided to get his old job back.

But I remain intrigued by this burgeoning cyberworld and the undercover officers who prowl it.

Whenever we have interviewed these officers, they have admitted it is fairly depressing work, akin to shooting fish in a barrel. They log into a chat room, and in no time they are getting online proposals.

Too often it’s the same thing, a guy interested in having sex with her and her children.

A meeting is set up, the suspect shows up, and is arrested.

That seems to be the key difference from the Silveri case.

It all revolves around intent. The fact that he never showed up for any of the rendezvous that he had set up with the undercover officer means – at least legally – that he had no intent of going through with it. I notice in his testimony, however, that Silveri did indicate that he at least did drive past one meeting point. But he never pulled in.

So here’s what I’m wondering. Some pervert sets up one of these meetings, pulls into the convenience store parking lot expecting to meet a mom and her young daughters, and is instead greeted by the undercover officer and her pals. The fact that he showed up indicates his intent to go through with it.

So what happens if his response is, “Yeah, I’m here, and my intent is to walk into the store and buy a cup of coffee.”

I’m told this kind of challenge already has been offered and failed.

I’m trying to figure out exactly what the suspect is guilty of, other than talking dirty online.

I also wonder about what the officers say about their work, about how easy it is to lure these guys in. And I wonder if that’s the case, then how much of this is going on that is not caught.

And one other thing. Exactly when are these guys going to realize that you really have no idea who that person on the other end of the chat line is, and who might actually be waiting for you should you actually show up for one of these meetings.

My guess is Hazel’s ruling is going to be wildly unpopular with most people, even while it is legally correct.

When it comes to setting up these kinds of deals with kids, even if there is no “intent,” most people have a few “intents” of their own.

And not all of them are legal either.