Heartbroken by horror: South Philly chefs worked at Mumbai hotel whereterrorists struck

Morgan Zalot | Philadelphia Daily News
Cover story.
ATUL MEHTA sat with his sister at her suburban home Thursday night, his eyes glued to the television, watching the horror unfold at his former workplace in Mumbai, India.”I was absolutely devastated,” Mehta, 51, recalled yesterday during an interview at Lovash, a restaurant he manages on South Street. “It [...]

Fishtowners march to save their library

Morgan Zalot | Philadelphia Daily News
It was Kafkaesque, said Fishtown’s A.J. Thomson, as more than 100 bundled-up Fishtowners marched along Girard Avenue on yesterday’s sunny but chilly afternoon.”Fishtown takes to the streets to save its library,” said Thomson, 32, shaking his head as he followed the march. “It’s a surreal scene. How often do people [...]

Street closings set along Thanksgiving Parade route

Morgan Zalot | Philadelphia Daily News
The price of gas is down to less than $2 a gallon this week for the first time in nearly four years, and the drop couldn’t come at a more opportune time.
AAA, which announced that national average over the weekend, predicts that this Thanksgiving week will bring its usual flurry [...]

Foot-fetish bandit held for trial

Morgan Zalot | Philadelphia Daily News
A West Philadelphia man who became known as the “foot-fetish bandit” after a string of gunpoint robberies and sexual assaults was held for trial yesterday after a preliminary hearing.
Richard Casey, 49, was linked – in some cases by DNA evidence – to seven incidents between November 2006 and January 2007.
Six [...]

Recalling moments of joy in the war zone

Morgan Zalot | Philadelphia Daily News
Despite being thrust into a war zone at age 18, Army National Guard Sgt. Rosalie Martinsen has fond memories of her time in Afghanistan with the 50th Personnel Services Battalion from Fort Dix, N.J.
Yesterday, Martinsen, who served in the 250th Personnel Services Detachment section of the battalion, traveled to Fort [...]

Man gets 15-20 yrs. in Temple sexual assault

Morgan Zalot | Philadelphia Daily News
A 19-year-old North Philadelphia man who beat and sexually assaulted a Temple student in a campus building last year will serve 15 to 20 years in prison, followed by 27 years of probation.
Steven Holmes, who pleaded guilty in May to attacking the student last November, was sentenced yesterday for aggravated [...]

At cemeteries, victory signs for departed Phillies fans

Morgan Zalot | Philadelphia Daily News
Richie Ashburn’s rust-colored headstone stands out among the others in a small sea of graves behind the Gladwyne United Methodist Church.
A Phillies rally towel lies on the grass in front of the grave with a note to Ashburn, the Phillies centerfielder and broadcaster who died in 1997.
“I know you are [...]