Tuesday takes

• Casino yappage:
  
  
  
  • A profile of the Pinnacle group, behind the proposed Fishtown casino. They have a number of other gaming enterprises around the country.
    
    
  • More on Street's support for the Riverwalk casino proposal (and more related noise, aiming toward the big announcements tomorrow). And more.
    
    
  • Meanwhile, a number of planners call on the city to allow more time for citizen input and coherent riverfront planning.
    
    
  • And a Nothern Liberties neighborhood activist also weighs in.
    
    
  • A YPP poster notes that Philadelphia's anti-casino movement has caught some national attention.
  
  
• The Fraternal Order of Police want the Police Commissioner replaced because of Philadelphia's problems with violence. (Also some other recommendations, as for improving and even relocating some police houses.)
  
  
• Hand recount in Chester County started this morning, with a strict one-week deadline, holidays be damned.
  
  
• Update on the Eakins painting controversy: Street drops attempt at historic designation, as Philadelphia Museum of Art (and collaborators) feel optimistic about their speed fundraising effort (and worry that the designation might complicate matters). Also mentioned here is some undisclosed "agreement" between Jefferson and the city.
  
  
• City likely to join appeal of the court decision that overturned local campaign finance rules (presumably gladdening the Daily News, who called on them to join in). Meantime, the new city Ethics Board calls on all mayoral candidates to honor the rules while the legal battle sorts things out. [This sentence also interested me: "If a candidate raises funds above the limits before officially declaring, the board asked that the excess money be put in a separate account not used for the campaign." hmmmmm, rational but sticky for some.]
  
  
• DN columnist Ronnie Polaneczky is cautiously optimistic about a new deal between the city and CSX that might solve pedestrian woes and make access to the Schulykill River Park a breeze.
  
  
• A DN editorial bemoans the state of those without heat facing a winter in Philadelphia. In related news, Dan at YPP notes that a local activist saved us from Enron a decade ago. (So things could be much worse!)
  
  
• And finally, the unseasonable warmth in Philly has led Albert to think about recycling and using recycled products, both things we could all do more of.