Inspections

The mayor and his top aides said yesterday they knew nothing about a plan to inspect MOVE headquarters that was aborted after a crowd gathered in front of the Southwest Philadelphia house yesterday morning. The morning inspection was canceled after the Daily News reported yesterday that the city Department of Licenses and Inspections was coming to call. Managing Director James S. White and other city officials decided to call off the scheduled inspection during a two-hour meeting in White's office yesterday, said Capt.

A Philadelphia development company and building-trade unions are expected to face off in court in just one episode of what has become a turbocharged battle over union hegemony in Center City construction. So far, there have been accusations of violence and intimidation against the developers by the unions; a counteraccusation by the head of Philadelphia's building-trades council that developers Matthew and Michael Pestronk tried "to hire some muscle to beat me up," and a question of whether the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections got itself improperly involved in the fray by shutting down the job site Wednesday afternoon.

The language of food inspection reports differs significantly from place to place, and can be hard to interpret. Food safety experts also caution that inspections are merely a snapshot in time, and cannot guarantee that a restaurant is safe (or unsafe). But they say the following is most important for preventing foodborne disease: Temperature: Were cold foods kept cold? Hot foods left on a counter for hours? Some reports note what times and temperatures are safe - and what was found.

Need a favor in Bensalem? Maybe picking up the tab for a motel room will help. Some motel owners say that's what helped them defeat a proposed ordinance requiring annual township inspections of motel rooms and apartments. At least one Bensalem supervisor says so, too. "In my opinion it was politics. I think it was a good ordinance," said Supervisor Joseph Francano Jr. Bensalem supervisors voted, 4-1, Monday night to reject the ordinance. Before the vote, Supervisor David Costello, who voted with the majority, said the township owed the motel owners a debt for giving free rooms to visiting township job applicants and letting township police use a motel gym for free.

In a case testing the limits of the Fourth Amendment, the United States District Court has ruled that Glenolden Borough can continue its inspections of rental properties despite the objection of tenants. Judge Stewart Dalzell rejected the claim of Mary D. Smith, a resident of Glen Manor Apartments. Her suit alleged that Glenolden Borough's search of her apartment for its compliance with building and fire codes violated the Fourth Amendment's protection against "unreasonable search and seizures.

In about three months, local code officials will take over building inspections in Gloucester Township from state officials who have done the job for the last eight years. The Township Council voted unanimously last week to turn over the operation of the construction office to local officials. The township is now interviewing applicants for the jobs in the office. In 1980, the township, plagued with complaints about local inspectors, turned to the state to straighten things out. In the eight years that it has been in town, the state group, which comprises six full-time and two part-time employees, received no complaints from residents, according to Rosario "Butch" D'Amore, the construction code official.

The Pennsauken Township Committee has given a cool reception to a proposal that the township conduct indoor house inspections as a method of preventing accidents such as one that killed a Willingboro woman and her three children on Sunday. Art Johnson, township code enforcement officer, proposed at the committee's work session last night that the township conduct interior inspections of homes and require buyers to obtain certificates of approval before closing home purchases. Johnson talked about the recent Willingboro deaths, which were attributed to carbon-monoxide poisoning from a faulty furnace pipe in a newly purchased home.

Safety inspections on SEPTA subway cars came under scrutiny yesterday during a hearing into the March 7 fatal derailment near 30th Street Station. But an inquiry panel from the National Transportation Safety Board heard conflicting accounts on who actually inspects the cars and how inspections should be carried out. Four people were killed and at least 165 injured when a traction motor on Car 817 fell off its support housing under the floor of the car, causing the derailment of the westbound Market-Frankford train near 30th Street during morning rush hour.

In the aftermath of the deadly collapse of Pier 34, Philadelphia officials have been repeating a mantra: It is not the city's responsibility to make sure the structure supporting the pier was sound. "The structure of that property is the owner's responsibility," said Ed McLaughlin, commissioner of the city Department of Licenses and Inspections. "If an owner found problems . . . it would be the owner's responsibility to take corrective action. " In that, however, Philadelphia differs from a number of its counterparts around the country.

US Airways Group Inc. found problems on seven of its Boeing 757 aircraft during inspections prompted by the loss of a wing component from another company plane during a March 22 flight from Orlando to Philadelphia. US Airways spokesman Phil Gee says the carrier inspected 17 Boeing 757s with wing specifications similar to the damaged jetliner. Last week, a small part of a 757's wing dislodged and hit a passenger window. Nobody was injured, and the plane landed safely at Philadelphia International Airport.

TEHRAN, Iran - The head of the U.N. nuclear agency pushed Monday for a breakthrough pact with Iran to resume inspections into suspected secret atomic weapons work and possibly set in motion further deal making when envoys from Tehran and world powers gather later this week in Baghdad. The mission by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano raised speculation about greater flexibility by Iranian officials as they struggle to balance the blows from Western sanctions and their insistence never to abandon the country's nuclear program.

A Philadelphia development company and building-trade unions are expected to face off in court in just one episode of what has become a turbocharged battle over union hegemony in Center City construction. So far, there have been accusations of violence and intimidation against the developers by the unions; a counteraccusation by the head of Philadelphia's building-trades council that developers Matthew and Michael Pestronk tried "to hire some muscle to beat me up," and a question of whether the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections got itself improperly involved in the fray by shutting down the job site Wednesday afternoon.

Philadelphia's Department of Licenses and Inspections issued three citations Wednesday against a building in the 700 block of Market Street owned by Yechiel, Nahman, and Michael Lichtenstein, who also owned the Kensington building that burned last week, killing two firefighters. An L&I spokeswoman said the fire had prompted a review of all Lichtenstein properties, leading to the new citations on Market Street, which included operating a multifamily dwelling without a housing-inspection license, failure to keep fire-alarm testing records and certificates on site, and improper maintenance of the facade.

NEW YORK - Apple said Monday that an independent group, the Fair Labor Association, had started inspecting working conditions in the Chinese factories where its iPads and iPhones are assembled. Amid growing criticism over labor and environmental practices - especially in China - Apple last month for the first time disclosed a list of suppliers for its gadgets. The Fair Labor team began the inspections Monday at Foxconn City in Shenzhen, China, Apple said. The complex employs and houses hundreds of thousands of workers.

Pennsylvania regulators are taking steps to begin safety checks of some natural gas pipelines in the Marcellus Shale regions - hiring inspectors and drafting new rules that will bring the state in line with the rest of the nation. But a dispute continues over whether the state oversight goes far enough. The new safety-inspection and construction regulations still will not apply in the most rural areas of shale country, the hotbed for new pipeline projects, with up to 25,000 miles being built or on the drawing boards.

CDI Corp., the Center City engineering and technical personnel provider, said Thursday it has completed its first natural gas pipeline inspection project in the Marcellus Shale region. CDI's infrastructure subsidiary, L.R. Kimball, based in Ebensburg, Pa., near Altoona, provided construction management and inspection services to Laser Northeast Gathering Company L.L.C. during the installation of a 30-mile gas pipeline from Susquehanna County, Pa., to Broome County, N.Y. The pipeline feeds natural gas from Marcellus Shale wells to an interstate pipeline that carries the fuel to Northeastern markets.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's top diplomat offered Monday to extend the current visit of U.N. nuclear inspectors and expressed optimism that their findings would help ease tensions, despite international claims that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. The comments by Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, reported by Iran's official news agency, underscored efforts to display cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency team and downplay the expectations of a confrontation atmosphere during the three-day visit that began Sunday.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's foreign minister expressed optimism Sunday that a visit by U.N. inspectors to Iran's nuclear facilities would produce an understanding, despite world concerns that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. The three-day inspection tour by the International Atomic Energy Agency team comes during spiking tension. The West is imposing new sanctions to try to force Iran to slow or halt its nuclear program, and Iran is threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil passage, in retaliation.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced plans Tuesday to more uniformly enforce Marcellus Shale natural-gas drilling regulations after an internal study found inconsistences among different regions. The announcement by DEP Secretary Michael Krancer drew a subdued response. "Every DEP secretary that I recall has tried to do this," said Louis D'Amico, president of the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association, who nonetheless welcomed the effort.

I'M REALLY FURIOUS at Gov. Corbett and the attorney generals for not wanting to help me with my auto inspection rip-off complaint. They should've cracked down on crooked auto-repair shops that have been ripping off consumers with their crooked practices by forcing them to pay for the unnecessary repairs. (They sabotage their vehicles to make more money for themselves.) Yet they want to investigate JoePa and his former assistant coach for sex abuse and a possible cover-up? That really stinks!