Monday bits

I'm on holiday today, so theoretically getting to some overdue off-line projects. Here are some highlights from today's news et al:

• Chaka Fattah suggests leasing the airport to raise funds for child poverty programs. This initiative is part of what he calls his "opportunity agenda," which appears to range from educational improvements to cuts in wage and other taxes... Fattah also introduces himself and his agenda over at YPP (greeting the blogging community as fellow-travelers).
  
  
• A majority of the mayoral candidates think residency requirements for policemen should be relaxed, at least during the recruiting stage. (A bill to do this was passed by Council in 2001, but vetoed by Mayor Street.)
  
  
• The Next Great City mayoral forum video is now available to those (like myself) who didn't manage to see it live. yay!
  
  
• The Daily News surveys defense attorneys on angles that Fumo might take in handling his federal indictment. Most of them give me a headache.
  
  
• John Baer raises the grim prospect that the I-78 snow debacle might prove a stumbling block for planned negotiations over increased highway and transit funding.
  
  
• A DN editorial calls for a city study of casino sites, assessing them indepent of the developers and other considerations -- in fact, looking at a full range of possible sites, not just those owned by the original license applicants -- in order to make better long-term plans for the city and for gaming here.
  
  
• Dan at YPP responds to the rather galling Sunday Inquirer story about people struggling to survive the winter, usually people with their heat shut off, who make do with space heaters and huddling around the stove (or just shivering). Thousands of Philadelphians are living in such conditions, and there has to be a better way to look after each other.
  
  
• Albert shares some glimpses of Chinese New Year, as celebrated in Chinatown this past weekend.