Singletary

He rode into office on a motorcycle, with a suspended license and thousands in unpaid tickets, promising voters a sympathetic ear when they came before him in Philadelphia Traffic Court. He left his black robe and $85,000 salary behind in February after just four years when a Traffic Court cashier accused him of showing her cellphone photos of, well, the lower court. Traffic Court Judge Willie F. Singletary is gone but not forgotten, as Pennsylvania's Court of Judicial Discipline made clear Tuesday in an opinion excoriating Singletary for "bringing his judicial office into public disrepute.

All kinds of famous people pop up along football sidelines. Assisting at Simon Gratz this season, on a volunteer basis, is none other than ex-Temple guard Bill "Skip" Singletary, a member of the school's Hall of Fame. Singletary, a product of Woodrow Wilson, in Camden, was the Owls' MVP in 1970, '71 and '72. He played pro ball for the New York Giants in 1974 and for the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League. Singletary long had given thought to coaching. But as one year dissolved into the next, he was able to confirm that thinking and doing were two different things.

Position: Point guard Age: 22 Height/weight: 6-foot, 180 High school: Penn Charter Relevant stats: Singletary scored 19.8 points a game and dished 6.1 assists. Averaged nearly four turnovers per game. Breakdown: He declared for the draft last season, though the interest in him was so cool, he returned to the Cavaliers . . . Three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference first team . . . Had a bad few days at the NBA predraft workouts in Orlando last year, but vastly improved this year.

Traffic Court Judge Willie Singletary, suspended for allegedly showing a phone-camera photo of his genitals to an employee, has submitted a resignation. Common Pleas Court Judge Gary S. Glazer, the acting administrative judge of Traffic Court, said Singletary submitted his resignation by iPhone. Glazer said, however, that under state law, a judge must resign directly to the governor, so Singletary would have to resubmit his resignation to Gov. Corbett. Glazer declined to provide the contents of Singletary's resignation e-mail, received this week.

IT CAN BE awkward, trying to make small talk with a cute girl in the office. Some guys try to be Don Draper-cool. Some break the ice with a well-timed joke. Other guys, like Traffic Court Judge Willie Singletary, go for the always reliable this-will-probably-cost-me-my-job approach. After allegedly showing a young, female Traffic Court cashier in December two cellphone pictures of his erect penis, Singletary cooed, "Do you like that?" according to documents released yesterday by the state Judicial Conduct Board.

Three strikes and that's it. Sayonara! The state Supreme Court canned Philadelphia Traffic Court Judge Willie F. Singletary on Thursday, suspending him without pay after he allegedly showed a woman cellphone pictures of his genitalia two weeks ago. But this isn't the first time Singletary has made headlines, in 2007 his driver's license was suspended for unpaid tickets and two years later he was reprimanded for promising favors in exchange...

Even Reggie Singletary says he laughs at the improbable story line. Nine months ago, he was driving a United Parcel Service delivery truck in North Carolina, and his professional football career was in serious jeopardy. This summer, Singletary has driven off a two-year starter, Ron Heller, and has earned a job as the first-string right offensive tackle for the Eagles. Strange business, this National Football League. "It is kind of funny," Singletary said. "But in all seriousness, I got an opportunity and I was here at a time when things just worked out. I've been a little lucky.

Although Willie Singletary resigned from Philadelphia Traffic Court in February following a scandal involving lewd photos, the state Court of Judicial Discipline formally ordered Thursday that he be removed from his former job. In October, the court issued an opinion stating that Singletary was subject to discipline for his conduct. After news broke late last year that Singletary allegedly showed photos of his genitals to a coworker, the state Supreme Court suspended him without pay in January.

Philadelphia Traffic Court Judge Willie Singletary, suspended for allegedly showing a camera phone photo of his genitals to an employee, has submitted his resignation. Court of Common Pleas Judge Gary S. Glazer, the acting administrative judge of Traffic Court, said Singletary submitted his resignation by iPhone. However, Glazer said that under state law a judge must resign directly to the governor, which means Singletary will have to resubmit his resignation to Gov. Corbett for it to take effect.

THREE STRIKES and that's it. Sayonara! The state Supreme Court yesterday canned Philadelphia Traffic Court Judge Willie F. Singletary, suspending him without pay after he allegedly showed a woman cellphone pictures of his genitalia two weeks ago. But this isn't the first time Singletary has made headlines. In 2007 his driver's license was suspended for unpaid tickets, and two years later he was reprimanded for promising favors in exchange for campaign donations. Yesterday, the Supreme Court ordered that Singletary be "relieved of any and all judicial and administrative responsibilities as a judge of the Philadelphia Traffic Court.

ONE THING IS certain about the looming federal spending cuts: Whether or not there's a deal to avert the blanket cuts, things are going to get financially tight for a lot of people who least expect it. First, can I just say I dislike the word "sequester"? It's a cold-sounding word being used for a cold end result. Yes, we need to pay our debts. Yes, the federal government has borrowed too much for too long. But the way the politicians - Republicans and Democrats - are handling the so-called budget fix is a poor excuse for a measured and humane way to find the needed cuts.

WITH MY 17-year-old daughter headed to college, I tried out the new college-scorecard tool launched by the Obama administration after the president's State of the Union address. I was not impressed. Some links didn't work and certain information I wanted wasn't there. Overall, the tool didn't add much value to help our family figure out which college would be the most affordable. The tool, which you can find at whitehouse.gov, is too general when it comes to the final price of college, what the academic industry calls the "net price.

WHY WOULD a couple risk so much - respect and even freedom - for furs, furniture and a fedora? This was the question that came to my mind when I read the federal charges against Jesse L. Jackson Jr., the former congressman from Illinois. He pleaded guilty Wednesday to misusing about $750,000 in private campaign funds. Jackson's wife, Sandra Stevens Jackson, who resigned her seat on Chicago City Council, reached an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office to plead guilty to one count of tax fraud.

LUCKY YOU if you're one of the many consumers who recognize an error in your credit file and are able to successfully dispute it, get it removed and receive the credit rating you deserve. But woe to those who find errors and still have trouble getting corrections from any of the three major credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian or TransUnion. That's the conclusion of a long-awaited study by the Federal Trade Commission on credit-report accuracy. Each credit bureau maintains files on more than 200 million consumers and uses them to create credit histories.

ONE OF THE quickest ways to destroy a relationship is by fighting over money. The battles can get particularly ugly and hurtful when they are among family members. I invite you to send me your stories about a monetary dilemma in your family. Whom do you think is right in your family's financial fight? Let me help you figure it out. To that end, here's a predicament one reader wanted me to help her with: The family background: She's one of three daughters of divorced parents.

TO HELP COMBAT fraud by tax preparers, the IRS created the "Registered Tax Return Preparer" program. Then, just before the tax season got under way, a federal judge told the agency that it doesn't have the authority to regulate the hundreds of thousands of tax preparers covered under the program. Although some tax-return preparers are licensed by their states or enrolled to practice before the IRS, many don't have to pass a government or professionally mandated competency test to prepare a federal return.

IT'S COMMONLY SAID that fighting about money is one of the main reasons couples divorce. That's not exactly accurate. Couples definitely fight about money - lying about it, the control of it, the lack of it or the mismanagement of it. But just as money isn't really the root of all evil, it's not the root cause of many divorces, either. The fights that couples have about money are frequently the manifestation of some other deeply entrenched stuff that comes out when there are financial issues.

IF YOU'RE WORKING on your 2012 tax return, you probably aren't in the mood to consider changes that await you next year. Nonetheless, the IRS wants to hear from you now about something that it's going to implement this year that could affect the return you file in 2014. The agency recently announced a streamlined option for claiming a home-office deduction. You have a chance to comment on this new option, and your suggestions could help improve the change for tax year 2014 and later, the IRS says.

ALFREDA WILLIAMS has been on the front lines for a long time, shepherding through some tough battles. Williams is a senior foreclosure counselor for HomeFree-USA, one of many agencies approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help people save their homes if possible. She has seen the ugly side of the expensive and predatory mortgages that helped create the housing crash we've been trying to recover from for several years. "The hardest thing for me is working with the older clients who have owned their homes for years," Williams said.

I LISTEN to presidential speeches with an ear to the parts about personal finance. In President Obama's second inaugural address, he made a few interesting points. The first came when he said, "For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it. " I immediately wondered: Do we as a nation really understand this? I don't think so. If we did, I wouldn't receive numerous emails from people criticizing programs that help those who fell into the housing sinkhole.