Want to know whether there were robberies – or worse crimes – in your part of Philadelphia this week?

How about murders across the city over the past day or years?

Mug shots pique your interest? Check the rundown of the most wanted and the most violent.

The Philadelphia Police Department’s expanded Web site makes it easy, and thousands have tapped into www.ppdonline.org.

The Web site has been upgraded to provide information for 27 crime categories, ranging from the worst violent offenses, including murder and rape, to property crimes, including thefts from autos or stolen vehicle-registration stickers.  read more »

Sen. Robert Regola bought a 9mm Taurus handgun for his teenage son more than two years before that weapon was used in the suicide of his next-door neighbor, according to testimony from the senator’s brother-in-law this morning.

Regola, 45, a first-term Republican lawmaker from Hempfield, is on trial in Westmoreland County court for perjury, providing a gun to a minor, reckless endangerment and false swearing.  read more »

Related Stories: 

DA Files Charges Against Sen. Regola

Despite Ongoing Perjury Case, Regola Kicks Off Re-election Bid

A confidante of indicted state Sen. Vincent Fumo will admit in court that he, Fumo and others used more than $200,000 in state Senate funds on campaign work, documents show.

Federal prosecutors preparing for the powerful lawmaker’s fall corruption trial filed a plea agreement Thursday signed by campaign consultant Howard Cain.

Cain, 60, of Wayne, also admits he failed to pay $411,000 in taxes on $1.6 million in income from 1997 to 2006 — and that he filed no tax returns from 1991 through 2006, the documents show.

The Senate Appropriations Committee paid Cain about $80,000 a year from 2000 to 2006, when Fumo served as ranking Democrat. Those contracts provided roughly half of Cain’s annual income.  read more »

Christian DiCicco, a candidate for the Pennsylvania state House, said yesterday that his South Philadelphia campaign office was burglarized and cast blame on electricians union leader John Dougherty, who is supporting DiCicco’s opponent.

Dougherty – a candidate for state Senate in next month’s primary – denied any involvement and said he was not aware of any involvement by State Rep. Bill Keller, the Democratic incumbent facing DiCicco in the primary race for the 184th District.

“We had no knowledge of anyone associated with this campaign participating in this alleged break-in,” said Dougherty spokesman Frank Keel. “This kind of stuff should not happen in this or any political campaign. There is no place for it.”  read more »

Every cent Eula K. Blair took from Bloomfield Township (Crawford County) by writing township checks to herself was money owed to her, the 25-year-old former secretary/treasurer of the township said Thursday.

But Blair did not explain what most of the money was for when she took the witness stand in her defense during the third day of her trial on theft charges.  read more »

Our friend Bernie O’Hare reported on this incident several days ago and had followup today. Bernie’s investigation has triggered additional media attention:

A political consultant linked to an investigation into dirty politics berated Ron Angle during a funeral Mass for a prominent Pen Argyl woman then challenged the county councilman to a fight in the parking lot, the woman’s widower said.  read more »

You don’t expect the mayor of a sleepy little town in the Lehigh Valley to make headlines. But it has happened again in the borough of Bath, Northampton County. Last time Keystone Politics told you about the Mayor being forced to resign and brought up on charges for stealing money from her church.

Now her replacement put Bath on the map again.

David D. Mosey (a Republican) was selected by the borough council in April to succeed ousted mayor Betty Fields (a Democrat and leader of Charlie Dent’s “Democrats for Dent” campaign).

Now Mosey has had his own brush with the law in an apparent “road rage” incident. Mosey, 54, was cited for reckless endangerment and related charges. State Police say Mosey intentionally struck a vehicle being driven by the son of a local District Judge on November 14th in nearby Hanover Township. Mosey and the other driver were not injured in the crash.  read more »

Related Stories: 

Bath Mayor charged in theft from church

The Pennsylvania State Police might have to cease their 24-hour presence at slot-machine parlors because of money issues.

State police commander Col. Jeffrey Miller informed state lawmakers of the development Tuesday.

“I don’t think that we should be operating that way, but I don’t have any other choice at this point in time,” Miller said during a hearing on the state’s ability to handle winter storms.