Mails

Democrat Stephanie Singer toppled party stalwart and ward leader Marge Tartaglione last year with a promise to bring professionalism and proficiency to the City Commissioners' Office and the Board of Elections it supervises. So what was Singer doing sending out a "Vote for Obama" blast e-mail from her campaign account? Singer said Thursday she felt so strongly about the forthcoming election that she wanted to share her opinion. Legally, nothing prevents her from doing that.

HARRISBURG - The American Civil Liberties Union and other foes of Pennsylvania's voter-ID law are asking a judge to order state officials to stop distributing what they call false and misleading information about the law's role in the Nov. 6 election. The request filed Friday followed reports from voters and newspapers about mailings from state and nongovernment entities that contained outdated information about the law. Earlier this month, Commonwealth Court Judge Robert E. Simpson Jr. blocked the law from taking full effect until after the Nov. 6 election.

William Trost Richards, a Philadelphia landscape painter of some renown during the late 19th century, enjoyed a working situation that few artists today are lucky enough to fall into. A wealthy patron, Philadelphia industrialist and art collector George Whitney, not only subsidized Richards and bought dozens of his oils and watercolors, but he also promoted the work among other collectors. The two were friends who corresponded regularly for about 10 years when Richards was out of the city.

A recent mailing to 34,000 retired Philadelphia city workers includes a flier that tells them, inaccurately, that they will need a photo ID to vote Nov. 6 - the latest in a series of mishaps and oversights that might confuse potential voters. After a roller-coaster ride through the state court system - upheld by a Commonwealth Court judge, appealed to the state Supreme Court, then sent back to Commonwealth Court - the state's new voter-ID law was put on hold two weeks ago by Judge Robert E. Simpson Jr. He delayed the photo-ID requirements until after the Nov. 6 general election.

Need a little motivation to lose those nagging 10 pounds? Or seal the big deal? Or book that beach vacation? Aherk! suggests putting your online rep, well, on the line. The beta website with the goofy name amps up the pressure by asking users to post a goal and deadline. But it doesn't stop there. The user also e-mails Aherk! an embarrassing photo - referred to as "the bomb" on the site. When the deadline hits, Facebook friends vote on whether the goal was achieved. If not, up goes that incriminating pic at the expense of some social media status.

Former Union manager Peter Nowak's lawsuit against the team has taken another twist. E-mails between attorneys for Nowak and the team, submitted as evidence in the case, claim that Nowak "may have improperly profited from player transactions" as the team's coach. Nowak, who was fired June 13, is suing the team in federal court for unfair termination and compensation he claims he is owed. The Union have asserted that the dispute should be resolved by an arbitrator, not a judge. The team's attorneys filed a motion last month to have the lawsuit dismissed on those grounds.

HILLSIDE, Ill. - The investigation started months ago, when the FBI noticed an e-mail message: A man in the Chicago suburbs was using an account to distribute chatter about violent jihad and the killing of Americans. Two undercover agents reached out and began to talk to him online. In May, they introduced him to another agent who said he was a terrorist living in New York. The operation ended Friday night, an affidavit describing it says, when the man was arrested and accused of trying to detonate what he believed was a car bomb outside of a Chicago bar. Prosecutors said an undercover agent gave Adel Daoud, a U.S. citizen from the Chicago suburb of Hillside, a phony car bomb and watched him press the trigger.

The e-mail was brief and blunt. "I would be happy to receive good and professional advice, but not when it is delivered as cynically as you have done it," the writer scolded. "Christians do not speak to others that way. " That missive is one of a dozen e-mails readers forwarded me from their remarkable electronic conversations with Archbishop Charles J. Chaput. From the moment the conservative yet high-tech cleric arrived to lead the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, he made it his policy to connect with his new flock.