John Atwater's Blog

Is a $20,000 fine appropriate for a casino that allowed a 14-year-old to play the slots, walk around, and even talk to a cashier and cash out?  State regulators say the girl and her aunt were at the casino for just over an hour before a guard noticed them.

Are you wondering who's watching the cameras, and who's allowing anyone under 21 cash out?

Here's a link to the story

Visitors got quite a scare on New Jersey beaches when needles and other medical debris washed up on shore, just in time for the ceremonial end to summer.

Watch my video blog below and let me know if you'd get back in the water.

Obama's VP choice shores up the Democratic ticket in many ways. But was it the right choice?

Watch my video blog and start the discussion.

The transportation agency that's thrown hundreds of millions of dollars at projects like the Kimmel Center, the Linc, Campbell's Field, the National Constitution Center, the Camden Aquarium, the new Jewish History Museum, and a new soccer stadium in Chester is now asking you to pay more to use their bridges.

They say they need money for repairs even though around $300 million over the years has gone to finance many economic development projects.

Drivers aren't one bit happy to know their toll money is helping build stadiums, museums, and other venues.  But, the CEO says the prior board should be held responsible for all those outlays.  No more, he says.  But now, it's your time to pay up.  So, now you'll pay $4 to get over a bridge into the city.  All of that money will now go to maintenance of bridges -- the objective of the agency.

If you use the bridges, how does this sit with you?

It's around 1 a.m. and I've returned home from the massive fire in Conshohocken.  My clothes are smoky, my hair is smoky, and I'm still wondering how this fire traveled so quickly.

It engulfed a construction site and even a roadway couldn't stop its march toward a nearly 400-unit apartment building.

The developer says all precautions were taken in the apartment building -- sprinklers, firewalls, etc.  And, he says the city installed enough fire hydrants in the area.  Firefighters say they had several obstacles fighting the fire.  Pressure from those hydrants was down because they had to tap several to contain the blaze.  They were also working in a confined space between the construction site and the apartment building.  They had to retreat at one point because of a wall collapse.

At the end of the day, 11 firefighters were hurt, four fire trucks were damaged, but everyone survived.  The personal stories, though, were tough to hear.  People getting home from work only to find their pets trapped in the building. Many others wondered if firefighters could stop the march.

Did anyone else watch in amazement as this fire stayed well ahead of efforts to contain it?

Here's my video from the fire

The indictment is horrifying.  A defenseless girl with cerebral palsy allegedly starved to death.  She was covered with bone-deep bedsores that were infested with maggots when she died.  And the city agency overseeing her health watched her waste away, according to the district attorney.

The new DHS Commissioner says the department is changing.  There are new safeguards, new checks, and new monitoring.  But the D.A. says the department is deeply flawed and can't fix itself.

Does the state need to step in to correct DHS as the D.A. suggests?  Or does the mayor's new administration have the capacity to restore accountability on its own?

Read the entire indictment (WARNING: some images are very graphic)

Tonight I met a 15-year-old Palestinian who lost his legs and an arm in violence in the Gaza Strip.  A non-profit helped bring Asaad Mahmoud here and Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia is making him prosthetics at no charge.

When I walked into his room, he was on a computer chatting with friends back home.  He was laughing and seemed pretty caught up in his converstation.  Clearly, his injuries have been daunting, but it seems like his trip to Philadelphia has really given him some hope.  If he hadn't come here, he would likely live the rest of his life in a wheelchair.  But, now when he returns home, he'll be able to walk off the plane.

He told me he didn't know if he'd be "accepted" when he came to America.  His impressions have changed quite a bit during his visit.  He's found Americans to be very helpful and caring. 

On the day of this interview, we learned that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will be stepping down.  Asaad has fears about going home -- he's afraid of the violence -- but he's also excited to see his family.  Olmert's resignation, though, almost ensures that he will return home to the instability he's known his whole life.

Not sure if you saw this article in the Times this morning:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/books/27reading.h
tml?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

We're all on the internet so much these days, but what about the kids who are growing up with it.  Some don't like books, and many do most of their reading on social networking sites like Myspace (owned by the parent company of my employer) or Facebook.  Or maybe "reading" on the internet is better than watching TV?

What do you think of the 4-day work week some county government's are considering?  The rationale is to save employees some gas.  But, in Montgomery county, if a plan goes through, offices would be open longer (10 hours a day -- there would be fewer employees on Monday and Friday), so it would cost more to keep the lights on and heat or cool the buildings.

Does it add up to much of a savings?

The School District of Philadelphia is proposing that some kids walk up to two miles to and from school.

Of course, this is a money-saving move.  They say it would save about $4 million, which would knock a chunk off of a $39 million shortfall.

Right now, the district will pay for students to ride public transportation if they live farther than 1.5 miles from their school.

Now, they want to up that to 2 miles.

Parents are concerned about their kids potentially walking through rough neighborhoods.

Do you think those concerns are valid, and should the district look elsewhere as they try to balance their books?

Were police confused?  Did they think they had their suspect in the fatal shooting of a cop?

Dwayne Dyches' family and his attorney think police thought Dyches was Eric Floyd, the suspect they were looking for.

The arrest turned violent as police arrested three suspects; the arrest was caught by Sky Fox.

Here are the two side-by-side.  Do you think confusion is possible?

Floyd: Police shooting suspect

Dyches: Victim of alleged violent arrest

I was at a community meeting Friday night where they were discussing the violent arrest of three suspects after a shooting.

Watch the arrest here

At that meeting, people said they felt race was a central factor in how police treated the suspects. A state representative also brought a flyer to the meeting which they say is only dividing the community further. The flyers were apparently being distributed at schools, according to the state rep.

Here are two shots of the poster (the top and the bottom):

"Guns don't kill people"

"Dangerous minorities do"

State Rep. Curtis Thomas (D) Philadelphia is contacting the state attorney general regarding the matter.

The bottom of the flyer says "Keystone United" with web address www.keystoneunited.com (a state skinhead group). I contacted the group, but haven't heard back.

The Rev. Al Sharpton says the violent arrest of three suspects in Philadelphia was worse than the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles in 1991.

Watch the Philadelphia arrests here

Race was the critical issue in the Rodney King beating, and the Commissioner says strain from an exhaustive search for a police shooting suspect -- not -- race was a motivating factor.

Is the comparison justified, and do you think Al Sharpton should come to Philadelphia as he has promised?