Dan Gross | Dustup over Geno trash

IN ADDITION to the ongoing saga of Rick's Steaks vs. the Reading Terminal Market, there was another recent cheesesteak fight.

South Philly's Adam Cramer says that Geno's Steaks owner Joey Vento slapped him at 9 a.m. Sunday, after Cramer dumped a bag full of trash in front of Geno's. Vento says he "lightly tapped" Cramer and says it wasn't a slap.

"I definitely believe I provoked him, but he overreacted," says Cramer, 38, who lives near the sandwich shop. The trash he dumped was Geno's steak wrappers and cups that Cramer says were scattered all over the street.

After the altercation Cramer, an antique- motorcycle dealer, called police, as did Geno's. According to Cramer, when cops arrived, they didn't care about the slap and gave him a $25 littering citation for dumping the trash.

He's contesting the fine.

Vento says his staff cleans up the areas around 9th Street, Passyunk Avenue and Federal Street, and he can't help it if people buy his products and litter.

Pat's Steaks also has staffers clean up the streets several times a night. But, of course, if drunk slobs want to litter, they will. Cramer says that before the skirmish, he had requested help from Geno's in picking up the trash and was colorfully told to get lost. Vento says that there was nothing polite about Cramer's request and that he demanded the help and also harassed Geno's customers.

* Speaking of Vento and fighting, the cheesesteak mogul says he's "prepared to fight all the way to the Supreme Court" to defend his shop's "This is America: When Ordering Please Speak English" sticker, which brought Geno's national attention last year. The Human Relations Commission has ordered Vento to court Sept. 27 at 34 S. 11th St.

Hy Lit expands online offerings

Radio veteran Hy Lit has introduced an online radio station, "The Rhythm of Your Life," at HyLitRhythm.com. Along with his son Sam, Lit now programs a handful of online radio channels at HyLitRadio.com.

Local actor loves animals

Upper Dublin High graduate John Tartaglia, who starred in "Avenue Q" on Broadway and formerly did puppeteering for "Sesame Street," has become a spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States' Proud 2 Adopt campaign. The actor now lives in New York. For more on the program, visit humanesociety.org/adopt.

Justice on the tube

Wired 96.5's Justice, of the "Chio in the Morning" show, is now contributing features segments to NBC-10's "All that and More" with Tracy Davidson.

The radio sidekick, aka Justin Scheman, recently made headlines when he took to the roof of Conicelli Toyota in Conshohocken for 21 days, protesting until Sanjaya Malakar was kicked off "American Idol." He met Davidson when she subbed a day on Wired for co-host G-N Kang while Kang was off getting breast implants.

Stars at Saloon

"Easy Rider" star Peter Fonda and actor Ben Foster hit Saloon (750 S. 7th) for dinner Tuesday night. The co-stars were in town promoting their remake of "3:10 to Yuma," which opens Sept. 7. The actors turned down the offer of a bottle of champagne from a fellow patron. A few nights earlier, Sir Charles Barkley and a handful of guests were also spied at the Saloon.

CBS 3 earns most Emmy nods

CBS 3 leads the pack of local television stations with 55 nominations for the 2007 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards, which will be held Sept. 15. Longtime NBC-10 weathercaster Herb Clarke will receive the Board of Governors Award. For a complete list of nominees visit natasmid-atlantic.org.

Fire in her heart

KYW 1060's Michelle Durham is planning to further her fire training in October, after she returns from an upcoming assignment covering the military in the Middle East. Durham trained with the Philadelphia Fire Department last year and reported an award-winning piece called "A Firefighter's Journey." Durham, 41, whose grandpop Joseph McAndrews was a city firefighter, said she loved working for the department and hopes to work part time at a suburban department after completing her course work. She'll take her training manuals with her to the Middle East. *

If you have something you'd like to share with Dan, call 215-854-5963, or e-mail grossd@phillynews.com. To read Dan's recent columns, visit http://go.philly.com/dangross.