Cover Story

  • Ghost Towns

    Cover Story Celestia, Barclay, Laquin, Centralia… A journey to Pennsylvania places that have disappeared, or are just about to. On Sept. 27, 1850, Peter Edward Armstrong and his wife, Hannah, plunked down $450 for a 181-acre spread along the Pole Bridge Run in the Endless Mountains of North Central Pennsylvania. This was no mere summer…

  • No Regrets

    Cover Story Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Edward G. Rendell opens up about the nastiness of the campaign, ‘low-hanging fruit’ and why legalized gambling’s OK but legalizing drugs isn’t. Last week, Ed Rendell popped in to City Paper’s offices (less than 15 minutes late, a Rendell punctuality record) to munch Bitar’s falafel and talk about the increasingly…

  • Nothing Will Ever Be the Same

    Cover Story Observations and ruminations on the day the world changed, from Philly, New York and Washington. By Howard Altman, Jim Barry, Daniel Brook, Jenn Carbin, Daryl Gale, Mary F. Patel, Gwen Shaffer, Rick Valenzuela and David Warner Tuesday, September 11, 2001 9:45 a.m., U.S. Customs House, Second and Chestnut Elva Cherry is standing on the stone steps of the Customs building, trembling. “I am…

  • Interview with the Umpire

    Cover Story Eric Gregg, the legendary plump ump from Philly, opens up about the game, the fans and the prospect of losing his job. The sun is bright, and a stiff, refreshing wind is blowing in from Lake Michigan, a mile or so from the right field wall of the time tunnel ballpark at Clark…

  • The Kimberly Conundrum

    Cover Story Three years after the murder of Center City jogger Kimberly Ernest, the case is about to explode again, fueled by an all-out campaign to pin the blame on the son of a prominent lawyer. Bala Cynwyd attorney Fred Ambrose has an amazing story. It’s a story about a cover-up in one of the…