Today's Top Picks: Oct. 12, 2016

The head of a now-defunct education firm tied to Chaka "Chip" Fattah Jr. has been charged with bilking the Philadelphia School District out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. David T. Shulick, former president of the Delaware Valley High School Management Corp., was indicted for allegedly skimming funds from a $2.1 million contract his company held to run an alternative school for district students at risk of dropping out. Prosecutors say Shulick drafted false budgets and invoices, and spent the money on housekeepers, nannies and landscaping instead of school maintenance, counselors and teachers. Fattah, Delaware Valley's former chief operating officer and the son of former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, was convicted last year on bank and tax fraud charges, in part for his role in fleecing the School District through the education firm's contracts. "It's incomprehensible after what I have been put through by the Fattahs and others," Shulick said of the indictment. Read more

More than 300,000 voter-registration applications were filed online in Pennsylvania in the last three weeks, ahead of the state's Tuesday deadline. Monday's 77,400 applications marked a record since Pennsylvania began letting voters register online in August 2015. "It's been crazy," State Department spokeswoman Wanda Murren said. People could also register with paper applications or through PennDot, so final figures won't be known until later this month. The latest registration numbers available Tuesday showed Democrats holding a nearly one-million-voter-edge over Republicans in the state. Read more

Clarena Tolson, the city's deputy managing director for infrastructure and transportation, is seen as the likely next leader of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, according to sources. The PPA board is set to meet Thursday and expected to vote on appointing Tolson to replace Vincent J. Fenerty Jr., who resigned after a sexual harassment scandal. The appointment would be interim, and Tolson would have the opportunity to apply for the position permanently. "We conducted an interview and she seems very interested, and I would have to say we're interested in her," said City Councilman Al Taubenberger, a member of the Parking Authority board. Read more

A man has pleaded no contest to trying to kill his wife – a former roller derby skater known as "Nina Knockout" – and their children in their West Oak Lane home last year. Stephen Burton entered the plea to attempted-murder charges Tuesday in the stabbing assault on Danecia Berrian and their 22-month old daughter, Desiree. Berrian then tackled Burton before he could harm their 4-year-old son. Despite having been stabbed 60 to 70 times, Berrian had rushed upstairs to the children's room: "I had to. I knew he was going to kill my kids. They were asleep." Read more

American Airlines will "rebank" its several hundred daily flights at Philadelphia International Airport in January, moving from eight waves of arrivals and departures to six. Reducing the number of "banks" means American will operate 30 to 40 fewer flights a day. The airline said the move will boost efficiency, performance and revenue. American will fly larger planes on some of the affected routes to mitigate the loss of seats. "Travelers are going to have a much more compelling schedule. We can still offer them all the connections we did before," said Vasu Raja, the airline's vice president of network and schedule planning. Read more