MEADE, SANDERS AND BROWN CASES ALL YET TO REACH TRIAL
One of three homicide cases involving the Temple community is scheduled to head to trial. Brandon Meade will receive a trial date Feb. 11 at 9 a.m.
Meade is accused of murdering his girlfriend and Temple student Agatha Hall, staging it to look like a suicide.
Attorney Evan Hughes could not be reached for comment.
Both Randolph Sanders and Dimitrius Brown are still in the pre-trial phase of their cases. Sanders is accused of killing community leader Kim Jones and is scheduled to return to court Feb. 12. Brown is accused of killing 14-year-old Duval DeShields and is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 27.
-Julie Christie
POLICE STILL INVESTIGATING FATAL SHOOTING
Philadelphia and Temple Police are still investigating the murder of Antonio Miller. The 25-year-old was found in an empty lot shot in the head three times on Edgely Street at around 4:40 p.m. Jan. 16.
Executive Director of Campus Safety Services Charlie Leone said investigators are focusing on why Miller was murdered with the hope that it will lead to who killed him.
“It didn’t look like a robbery, and the age difference was odd. The victim was older but the offenders were younger,” Leone said.
Police said they do not have much information on the three suspects. They were all young men between 15 and 20 years old and were wearing all black clothing at the time.
-Julie Christie
PHILADELPHIA DECLARES CODE BLUE BEFORE STORM
A Code Blue was declared on Jan. 17 and will remain in effect until further notice in Philadelphia.
During a Code Blue, transportation and emergency shelter are provided to all homeless people. Homeless are transported and housed by Project HOME.
The Code Blue extends from homeless people to abandoned animals that are left in the cold. Code Blues are announced by city government when temperature, wind chill and precipitation result in a temperature that feels like or is equal to 20°F.
To call for assistance for a homeless person, the Project HOME outreach hotline is 215-232-1984. To report a sick or injured stray dog or cat, ACCTPhilly can be reached at 267-385-3800.
-Gillian McGoldrick
STORM IS PHILADELPHIA’S FOURTH-LARGEST EVER
The totals for Winter Storm Jonas that brought large amounts of snow to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York broke records for some of the largest snowstorms in the cities’ histories.
Philadelphia’s total snow was 22.4 inches, approximately 1 inch away from being the third-largest snowstorm in its history. The storm broke records in Baltimore as the largest snowstorm in the city’s history and within Washington D.C.’s top five recorded.
Philadelphia’s largest snowstorm on record occurred during the Blizzard of 1996, when the area received 30.7 inches of snow.
– Gillian McGoldrick
CHARLES RAMSEY MOVING BACK TO CHICAGO
Former police commissioner Charles Ramsey is returning to his native police department, Chicago Police Department after eight years as police commissioner in Philadelphia.
Ramsey began as a police officer in Chicago, then left in 1998 to become police chief of Washington D.C. police department.
After nine years in that position, Ramsey came to Philadelphia. According to department statistics, both homicide rates and violent crimes decreased since his arrival.
Ramsey is returning to Chicago to advise and make recommendations to aid the Chicago Police Department in regaining the public’s trust after protests broke out following the shooting of an African-American teenager by a white cop.
USA Today reported hundreds of people protested after a video was released, which appears to show Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times on Oct. 20, 2014.
The city had initially resisted releasing the video—taken from the dashcam of a police car—referencing the ongoing federal and state investigations into the incident, USA Today reported.
-Gillian McGoldrick
FOOD STAMP ENROLLMENT INCREASED LAST YEAR
Poverty rates have increased in Philadelphia, and a resulting food insecurity has increased the amount of children enrolled in Pennsylvania’s food stamp program, The Notebook reported.
More than one in three children in Philadelphia lives in poverty. The number of children enrolled in the food stamp program in Philadelphia increased by 10,000 from January 2015 to November 2015. Federal school lunch and breakfast programs largely address these issues and are accessible to children in public schools who receive food stamps.
-Gillian McGoldrick
SOME CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST PSU PRESIDENT
Perjury, obstruction and related conspiracy charges against former president of Penn State Graham Spanier and former vice president Gary Schultz were thrown out by three judges in the Superior Court.
Spanier will still be charged with failing to report abuse and endangering the welfare of children, the AP reported.
Former Athletic Director Tim Curley had charges of obstruction and related conspiracy dropped as well.
The AP also reported the decision came after the court ruled former General Counsel for the university Cynthia Baldwin’s testimony should not have happened.
Judge Mary Jane Bowes said Baldwin did not clearly relay her representation of the university and not individuals.
-Julie Christie
