November 4–11, 1999

city beat

The Bell Curve

City Paper's weekly gauge of Philly's Quality of Life

John Street wins. First up on staff training agenda: How to ignore phone calls from any newspapers that endorsed Sam Katz. Minus 10

Mummers divided over where to march this New Year’s Day. Some want to march on Broad, some want to march on Market, but most want to skip the parade and march right to the bar. Minus 1

Documentary by West Philly kids to air on HBO. Fat Albert and the gang now reportedly considering a comeback. Plus 2

Retailers worried about finding enough workers for holiday rush, Inquirer reports. Street campaign workers aren’t busy anymore, and they’ll do anything for a buck. Minus 1

Off-duty cop shoots man attempting to rob South Philly barber shop. He’s now filing for overtime pay. Plus 1

Mayor creates office of child care. Diminutive Councilmen Rick Mariano and Frank DiCicco will be called upon to head it up. Plus 5

Cops say they’ll protest upcoming Sting concert because of his support for Mumia Abu-Jamal. That, and the fact that pretty much everything he’s done since leaving The Police has sucked. Minus 1

---

Total Minuses: 13

Total Pluses: 8

---

Score for the Week: -5

Last Week’s Total: -1