Philadelphia health commissioner lauds Ohio clinic's example

Starting next week, doctors, nurses, and patients at the Cleveland Clinic will have a much harder time buying M&Ms, chocolate-chip cookies, and Cokes on the hospital's campuses.

And that's a good thing, said Philadelphia Health Commissioner Don Schwarz, one of the primary proponents of the city's failed effort to tax sugared beverages in an effort to reduce obesity.

The hospital in northeast Ohio has banned all food with added sugar from its cafeterias and vending machines, and Schwarz says he would like to see local employers follow its lead.

Clinic employees jonesing for a little sugar can still find it at retailers that have space in clinic facilities. The McDonald's restaurant there will still sell Coca-Cola, for example.

But Schwarz, who wards off sugar cravings with almonds, fruit, and water, praised the clinic's move, believing it will help people make better choices.

"It appears that as a health-care provider they have clearly understood the impact of unhealthy food choices on their clients, who come from all over the world," Schwarz said. - Miriam Hill

First, John J. Dougherty wins election as a Philadelphia ward leader. Then he mends fences with Democratic Party chairman U.S. Rep. Bob Brady.

Next he airs the dirty laundry at the Delaware River Port Authority - and now, in his latest move, the electricians union leader known as "Johnny Doc" is causing a stir at the Convention Center.

In the last 12 days, he has written a letter alleging that Ahmeenah Young, the center's president and CEO, wants to squeeze some unions out of the building, and another letter seeking quick intervention from Gov. Rendell and Mayor Nutter before the "simmering situation" at the center explodes "into a very contentious and public fight."

Putting an even finer point on things, the Convention Center received notice late last week that the union has hired new lawyers: "Please be advised that I am now representing IBEW Local 98 with regard to matters involving its activities at the Pennsylvania Convention Center," Richard A. Sprague wrote to Young and the center's board chairman, Buck Riley.

Sprague, of course, is the celebrated lawyer who had once defended former Democratic State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo and was a close Fumo friend until their falling out in 2007.

Fumo, of course, is - or was - a political powerhouse and longtime Dougherty rival. Now he's in a Kentucky prison.