Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has been ordered to stand trial after a judge repeatedly rejected her legal arguments at a Monday court hearing. The state's top law enforcement official is accused of leaking confidential grand jury information and lying about it under oath to embarrass a foe. At the hearing, a top aide to Kane described giving her the information she is accused of leaking to the press, and prosecutors tried to use Kane's testimony before a grand jury to show that she lied to cover up her actions. Montgomery County District Judge Cathleen Kelly Rebar overruled several moves by Kane's lawyers, including an effort to delve into pornographic emails exchanged by top prosecutors, assertions that the news story that stemmed from the leak didn't damage a subject's reputation and a claim that the defense didn't have enough time to review documents. Kane faces charges that include perjury, conspiracy, obstruction, official oppression and false swearing. The case's lead prosecutor says a trial isn't expected until early next year. Read more
The mother of an 8-year-old child actress is scrambling to sort out where her daughter will attend school this fall, after the Northeast Philadelphia girl received a death threat at John Hancock School in June. Samantha Coleman is now trying to figure out how she can homeschool Shayne, a soon-to-be third-grader who has appeared in television shows with Phylicia Rashad and Kevin Bacon. A message scrawled on the wall at John Hancock read, "I will kill Shayne Coleman - murder," but the school district denied transfers for both Shayne and the perpetrator, a girl in her class. "I'm not taking a chance with my child's life. They cannot ensure her safety," Samantha Coleman said. The mother said her daughter is "clearly having anxiety over it" and the young girl said she was "scared that she could just turn up behind me somehow and kill me." Read more
A group of about a dozen Philadelphia inmates with carpentry skills have been working for weeks on a nearly six-foot-tall chair that Pope Francis will sit on during his visit next month. During the pontiff's trip to Philadelphia, he will spend time with inmates at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility and their families. Five inmates in a vocational program carved the chair, and others are working on upholstery and decoration. "It really gives you joy knowing you're making something for someone so big that's comping to the city," inmate Michael Green said. "And that everyone's going to get a chance to see the craft we're learning here." Read more
The parent company of the Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com has named a new publisher: Terrance C.Z. "Terry" Egger, a news-industry veteran who has led the Cleveland Plain Dealer and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Egger, 57, takes over Oct. 1. Egger says he aims to maximize revenue while protecting the news outlets' journalistic mission. "We have to remember that it's about the journalism we do, and the news and information we produce every day, and its value to readers and users," said Egger, who will also serve as the company's CEO. "We're a content, news, and information company. That is our core competency. And we need to monetize that." Current Philadelphia Media Network publisher H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest, who became the sole owner of the news entities after Lewis Katz died in a plane crash last year, will remain involve with strategic planning and on the board of directors. Read more
Few ideas of what to do with the 35-acre tract of land that makes up the so-called Logan Triangle have gained traction. But a community organizer is now proposing an innovative plan for a neighborhood of tiny but stable houses, and fruit, vegetable and flower gardens to provide residents with income. Paul Glover calls his idea "functioning green village" for the land, which families were forced to be relocated from after it became clear that their homes were built on unstable ground and sinking. The Redevelopment Authority, meanwhile, is developing its own proposal for the Logan neighborhood, with ideas about education, safety and vacant land. The authority aims to introduce its finished plan at a community meeting this fall. Read more