2007: A year in review

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

The year 2007 has been an eventful one in the Northeast, both for good reasons and bad ones.
The good: A bunch of local high school sports teams celebrated league championships and a couple of local politicians earned big promotions.
The bad: Two armored-car guards were killed in an incident that shook the city, and several popular businesses closed their doors for good.
In 2008, local residents will see if a new mayoral administration has a positive or negative impact on Northeast neighborhoods. There will be heated political battles from the state legislative level to the presidential campaign. And could ’08 be the year the Phillies win the city’s first major pro sports championship in 25 years?
We’ll have to wait until this time next year to address those issues, but for now, let’s look back at 2007.
As the year began, it looked like state Rep. John Perzel (R-172nd dist.) was going to hold on to his job as speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, even though Democrats held a one-seat advantage. That’s because one Democrat announced plans to vote for him and a couple of others were known to be fed up with Rep. Bill DeWeese, the Democratic leader.
Democrats, though, went to Plan B. They asked Rep. Dennis O’Brien (R-169th dist.) if he’d serve as speaker but allow Democrats to control all of the committees. No fan of Perzel’s, O’Brien jumped at the chance and won with mostly Democratic support.
As 2008 approaches, Perzel is trying to win the majority back for Republicans so he can reclaim the speakership.
Like O’Brien, Superior Court Judge Seamus McCaffery had a good year. In a state that loves to nominate and elect women from western Pennsylvania in judicial races, McCaffery easily won a seat on Pennsylvania Supreme Court. A Democrat from Bustleton, he’s a former police officer best known as the presiding judge at a makeshift courtroom set up at the former Veterans Stadium to crack down on unruly Eagles fans. He’ll join Rhawnhurst resident Ron Castille, a former Philadelphia district attorney, on the seven-member court.
While McCaffery was looking to move up in the judiciary, City Councilwoman Joan Krajewski (D-6th dist.) started the year eyeing retirement. She’d already enrolled in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP). Krajewski changed her mind and ran successfully for an eighth four-year term. She’ll retire briefly, collect about $300,000, then be placed back on the city payroll for the next four years.
In the Democratic mayoral primary, all of the local ward leaders and most of the unions backed U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D-1st dist.). But it was pretty clear from the start that many Northeast voters were attracted to a wealthy businessman, Tom Knox, who vowed to end the city’s pay-to-play culture.
Knox won the Northeast, with Brady third among five major candidates. Former City Councilman Michael Nutter came on strong late in the campaign with tough talk on crime and corruption. He beat Knox for the nomination, thanks in part to a strong second-place showing in the Northeast.
In the general election, Fox Chase Republican Al Taubenberger, president of the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, was trying to become the first mayor from the Northeast. He didn’t have Nutter’s money, and the Democratic voter-registration advantage was too much to overcome. Nutter won in a landslide and will be sworn in to replace Mayor John Street on Jan. 7.
The Northeast continues to be proud of all of the soldiers serving overseas, especially those in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mayfair’s Ryan Bowman is home for the holidays for a couple of weeks and got to celebrate his son’s second birthday on Christmas. He’ll then resume service in Iraq.
But it was a tragic ending for Adam Chitjian, a Somerton native who was killed while serving in Iraq.
Vince Malatesta, a friend to all veterans, also passed away. For years, he was the driving force behind the successful effort to bring a veterans nursing home to Southampton Road and Roosevelt Boulevard.
There was an outpouring of support for the family of police officer Chuck Cassidy, shot to death during a robbery of a Dunkin’ Donuts in West Oak Lane. A Holme Circle resident, the officer is survived by a wife and three children.
Sadly, in October, armed-car guards Joe Alullo and William Widmaier were shot to death during a robbery outside the Wachovia Bank branch at Bustleton and Bleigh avenues. The two were former Philadelphia police officers.
Across the street from that scene, a wrecking ball has demolished the former Hollywood Bistro and AMC Orleans Theatre, an institution for 44 years. A Target store will be built.
In other business news from the year, Bel Jewelers announced plans to close its store on Verree Road. A promising Frankford restaurant, mozaic, couldn’t build on its popular Saturday night jazz events and had to close — another blow to the struggling neighborhood.
In the hospital industry, Jeanes closed its maternity ward. Its next-door neighbor, Fox Chase Cancer Center, has a new president in Dr. Michael Seiden. He replaced Dr. Bob Young. Fox Chase still hasn’t been given final approval to expand into Burholme Park.
Meanwhile, Cancer Treatment Centers of America — located in the former home of Parkview Hospital — is moving ahead with plans to add patient rooms, exam rooms, treatment space and guest quarters.
Orleans Technical Institute was also on the move. It relocated from 1330 Rhawn St. to fancy digs at 2770 Red Lion Road.
One ongoing story that broke right before Christmas was the criminal charges filed against the Rev. Charles Newman, former president of Archbishop Ryan High School. He’s charged with stealing about $900,000 from the school and the Franciscan religious order in a 16-month period from July 2002 to November 2003.
In the local sports scene, the highlight was Father Judge High School capturing its first Catholic League soccer championship in 31 years.
Other league championship teams included Archbishop Ryan girls soccer, George Washington football, Northeast boys soccer and field hockey and Frankford wrestling and baseball.
Other winners included West Mayfair’s Mark Fusetti, who earned a starring spot on the Sci-Fi Channel’s Ghost Hunters. The show’s hosts were so impressed with his performance during a live Halloween episode inside a supposed haunted hospital in Kentucky that they invited him back for a starring role in an upcoming ghost hunt.
Bustleton’s Ryan Donlon and Jennifer Farina hit the jackpot. The engaged couple took part in a promotion in which they’d earn $1,000 a day if they communicated only with MY M&M candies for a month. They managed to keep their vow of silence for 31 days. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com