A Million Stories

All the news we care to print.

by Jeffrey C. Billman, Holly Otterbein and Andrew Thompson

Evan M. Lopez

Neighbors continued to log complaints with the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I) and the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PSPCA); last week, one such grievance made its way to our tipline: "Since September 2009, the residents of the 700 block of Earp Street have been contacting police, L&I, PSPCA, the Pennsylvania Department of Health to no avail regarding a residence at 739 Earp St.," the missive read. "The neighbors have compelling evidence that indicates the home is the base of a dog-fighting operation, and that there are dead dogs/bodies rotting in the home. ... L&I logged a complaint six months ago ... yet L&I has still not been to the property. This is the second summer in a row where residents of this block cannot even open their windows, due to constant barking and crying of dogs that no one has seen outside of the home, and the smells of death, urine and feces."

So what the hell was L&I waiting for?

Last Wednesday, July 14, we started our search for answers with some phone calls to L&I and PSPCA. And lo and behold, the very next morning, the Inquirer broke the most serendipitous WTF news imaginable : PSPCA had raided the house, and found 50 Chihuahuas inside, living in filth and yapping like motherfuckers.

But there's more, and since we started this story, by God, we're gonna finish it. As it turns out, there were 85 Chihuahuas, not 50, says PSPCA Law Enforcement Director George Bengal — and two of them were dead. Oh, and there were two cats, as well.

Here's the thing that bothers us: That Wednesday, the day of the raid, L&I told us that 739 Earp St. had been hit with some violations for its exterior, weeds and trash . But, they assured us, all those violations were taken care of, and the house was in complete compliance with city code. As far as they were concerned, 739 Earp St. was all right by them. Which means that, presumably, at some point, some L&I official scoped this place out, and simply failed to notice the unavoidable, pervasive stench of dog shit, even after the neighbors complained repeatedly to L&I about this very thing. In the end, it took the PSPCA's discovery of a Hell's Legion of rat dogs for L&I to decide that the house was condemnable — which it did, right after the raid.

That's some nice work there, boys.

In order for the PSPCA to obtain a search warrant, they — like any other police organization, which they are — had to have probable cause. "We had complaints going back to December of '09 regarding that location," Bengal says. "The owner of property" — listed in records as Frank and Antoinette Rotonta — "would never contact the officer, never let us in. We never had enough probable cause to be able to get a search warrant to get in. Every time, we could never see anything." Eventually — and coincidentally, right around the time we were calling them — something came along that provided a foundation for a warrant, though Bengal won't say exactly what. Probable cause, he explains, is established on the basis of "an investigation, or someone has to come forward as an eyewitness or give photographic evidence."

Why L&I didn't obtain an administrative warrant allowing it to inspect 739 Earp St. — which it can do — is anyone's guess, and since no one at that agency will get back to us, we'll just attribute their ineptitude to an inherent character flaw they simply can't help. But don't get too down on yourselves, L&I. At least you have complete job security and pensions fatter than this publication's payroll. Feel better? We thought you might.

GOOD GOVERNMENT

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You've probably heard about the $10 million grant the state budget set aside for a library honoring (soon-to-be-former!) Sen. Arlen Specter, and the other $10 million grant reserved for the John P. Murtha Center for Public Policy (where, one imagines, you can learn how to be anti-abortion, get an "A" from the National Rifle Association, be routinely listed among Congress's most corrupt members and still persuade Democrats to vote for you).

But what about the other $288 million allotted for the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP, but pronounced "R-Cap," because this state is dyslexic), which Gov. Ed Rendell defends as a way to grow Pennsylvania's economy and create jobs? Let's review some RACP projects throughout the state.

Well, there's the $10 million going to the "construction, renovations, infrastructure and other related costs for a headquarters facility for a Fortune 100 global company" to be named later. (Optimism!) Ten million dollars more is bequeathed to the "expansion of the Sharon Regional Medical Center" in Mercer County, wherever that is. Here in Philly, $15 million will go for the redevelopment of the old Tasty Baking Co. facility at Fox Street and Roberts Avenue. For the American Revolution Center, also in Philly? Twenty million bucks.

Then there are the projects that can't possibly be bringing in more than a handful of jobs, no matter what Fast Eddie says: In Luzerne County, $5 million is going to the "redevelopment of an abandoned historic former schoolhouse," and King's College, a private Catholic school with 2,200 students, will obtain $3 million for a rec center. In Lycoming County, Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. — a construction company — will receive $390,000 to "extend existing siding across public road onto Hawbaker property." Premium Fine Coal will get $220,000 to build 600-foot siding in Schuylkill County.

But here's our favorite: Two million dollars is going to Antrim Township for, well, the state doesn't know yet. Or, at least, it's not saying. "There really aren't any more details available on this," Gary Tuma, Rendell's press secretary, told local media.

We're not saying RACP is all bad — after all, this state needs jobs, and the program requires beneficiaries to match dollar-for-dollar the state's buy-in — but in a state whose annual debt costs have risen from $80 million to $250 million since 2003 (the year Rendell took office), legislators may want to pay closer attention to who and what gets these grants.

Conservatives, meanwhile, are incensed that almost a third of the state's RACP money is headed toward Rendell's hometown. They're crying favoritism, and who knows, maybe they have a point. But don't worry: The state has $300 million more in RACP money to throw around. "Legislators will have input on what will happen to the other $300 million," Tuma promised the Pennsylvania Independent. Wonderful, no?

Related: The budget the legislature passed earlier this month assumes Congress will come through on $850 million in Medicaid funding — a prospect that looks increasingly unlikely. Layoffs of up to 20,000 state workers are quite possibly coming. But hey, Specter will have a library named after him. Just saying.

This week's report by Jeffrey C. Billman, Holly Otterbein and Andrew Thompson. E-mail us at amillionstories@citypaper.net.