Philly Briefs
Jordan Osecki
Issue date: 12/7/07 Section: News
Black caucus walks out over gun control
Pennsylvania legislators, mostly from Southeast Pennsylvania, reportedly want House colleagues to reconsider a trio of firearm bills. At least a dozen members of the Legislative Black Caucus abruptly walked off the House floor this week, saying that they were angered and frustrated over the lack of movement on any meaningful gun-control legislation, according to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"This wasn't a walkout - this was a stand-up. It was a stand-up for a cause," Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland (Democrat from Delaware), chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus said. "What we did today was start a movement. What we did today was raise the bar and raised the issue about lives being lost in our various communities."
The 12 members, almost all from Philadelphia and its suburbs, asked to be placed on leave just as debate began on a bill to make government records more accessible, one of a few major items left on the legislative agenda for this year.
Representative Tony Payton Jr. (Democrat, Philadelphia), said that the group wanted to revive three bills and have them voted on by the House's full membership. One of the measures would limit Pennsylvania residents to one handgun purchase a month. Kirkland said that the caucus would not be satisfied until the gun-control bills were voted on and signed into law.
This week, Ed Rendell, Mayor Street, Mayor-elect Michael Nutter, and a number of other mayors from the across the state are scheduled to appear at a news conference in the Capitol, organized by CeasefirePA, to revive discussions on the bills.
Project brings wireless Internet to city schools
Every classroom in the 170,000-student Philadelphia School District now has wireless Internet capabilities under a $40 million project completed last month, one of the world's largest networks of its kind, according to officials as reported in an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The school district initiative, 75 percent of which was funded by the federal government's E-Rate program, advances the district's efforts to modernize its classrooms. Meru Networks of California has reported that while other school districts have plans for a network, they aren't aware of a larger initiative at this time. According to the U.S. Department of Education, Philadelphia was one of the largest school systems known to have implemented wireless technology in every classroom.
Pennsylvania legislators, mostly from Southeast Pennsylvania, reportedly want House colleagues to reconsider a trio of firearm bills. At least a dozen members of the Legislative Black Caucus abruptly walked off the House floor this week, saying that they were angered and frustrated over the lack of movement on any meaningful gun-control legislation, according to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"This wasn't a walkout - this was a stand-up. It was a stand-up for a cause," Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland (Democrat from Delaware), chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus said. "What we did today was start a movement. What we did today was raise the bar and raised the issue about lives being lost in our various communities."
The 12 members, almost all from Philadelphia and its suburbs, asked to be placed on leave just as debate began on a bill to make government records more accessible, one of a few major items left on the legislative agenda for this year.
Representative Tony Payton Jr. (Democrat, Philadelphia), said that the group wanted to revive three bills and have them voted on by the House's full membership. One of the measures would limit Pennsylvania residents to one handgun purchase a month. Kirkland said that the caucus would not be satisfied until the gun-control bills were voted on and signed into law.
This week, Ed Rendell, Mayor Street, Mayor-elect Michael Nutter, and a number of other mayors from the across the state are scheduled to appear at a news conference in the Capitol, organized by CeasefirePA, to revive discussions on the bills.
Project brings wireless Internet to city schools
Every classroom in the 170,000-student Philadelphia School District now has wireless Internet capabilities under a $40 million project completed last month, one of the world's largest networks of its kind, according to officials as reported in an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The school district initiative, 75 percent of which was funded by the federal government's E-Rate program, advances the district's efforts to modernize its classrooms. Meru Networks of California has reported that while other school districts have plans for a network, they aren't aware of a larger initiative at this time. According to the U.S. Department of Education, Philadelphia was one of the largest school systems known to have implemented wireless technology in every classroom.
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