Larry Holmes, the former heavyweight boxing champion, won a legal fight regarding a towing company and his Easton, Pa. restaurant.

Holmes, 63, who owns Champ’s Corner on a stretch of road through the eastern Pennsylvania town named in his honor, sued a neighboring business in January that he said would regularly and wrongfully tow vehicles from a parking lot the two businesses shared.

According to The Express-Times of Easton, a Northampton County judge ruled that Riverstar Properties must stop towing vehicles until the lawsuit concludes.

Holmes said he and the restaurant have an agreement, and the towing is hurting business.

Holmes, an Easton native and current resident, reigned as world heavyweight champion for seven years from 1978 to 1985.

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More than a thousand  people turned out on Monday for a protest against hate crimes, ending their march at W. 8th Street and 6th Avenue, where Mark Carson was killed in an apparent anti-gay bias attack last week.

Members of Carson’s family addressed the crowd, which included City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

“The family would like to have justice be served, so that Mark’s death is not in vain,” said Carson’s aunt, Flourine Bompars.

Chilling reports emerged on Tuesday that the man charged with Carson’s murder, Elliot Morales, was laughing as he confessed to the killing.

Meanwhile, another assault against a gay man was reported in the East Village on Monday night.

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Talk about a spirited debate.

In the tradition of Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams and Thomas Paine, at-large city council candidate Shaun Ivers is planning to channel the local pastime of pub-style political debate at Boston’s bars.

“For centuries, the neighborhood pub has served as a meeting place and epicenter of political discourse,” said Ivers, a Ivers, a Jamaica Plain real-estate agent and consultant.

“If there is one thing ‘old school’ about Boston, it’s that people in this city have a fondness for debate over a frosty pint.” He went on to say the booze-fueled banter “will not be some cheap meet and greet where handlers protect the candidates from talking about anything of substance.”

The first debate is slated for Thursday at Slad Bar & Grill in the South End, with the others happening sporadically until June 13. They are open to local politicians – including mayoral candidtes vying for outgoing Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s job – as well as the general public.

According to Ivers, the appearances will serve as “unofficial and informal debates for all city council and mayoral candidates.”

There will be no predetermined debate format, he said, however casinos, The Boston Redevelopment Authority, police, crime, schools and housing costs are just a few of the topics that Ivers intends to discus.

“When it comes to the issues in this race I’ll talk to my fellow candidates, I’ll talk to voters, I’ll talk to your grandmother, and I’ll even talk to your dog. You don’t have to agree with me to show up. In fact, I’d prefer that people who disagree with me show up, because only through healthy debate and multiple points of view can we keep Boston great,” he said.

Check out a full schedule below (between 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.):

Thursday, May 23

Roxbury Crossing/South End
Slade Bar & Grill
958 Tremont Street

Sunday, May 26

Beacon Hill
The 21st Amendment
150 Bowdoin Street

Tuesday, May 28

Allston
Tavern in the Square
161 Brighton Avenue

Thursday, May 30

South Boston
Cornerstone Pub
16 West Broadway

Sunday, June 2

Jamaica Plain
Doyle’s
3484 Washington Street

Tuesday, June 4

West Roxbury/Roslindale
West Roxbury Pub & Restaurant
1885 Centre Street

Thursday, June 6

Back Bay
The Globe
565 Boylston Street

Sunday, June 9

Dorchester
Eire Pub
795 Adams Street

Tuesday, June 11

Charlestown
Sullivan’s Pub
85 Main Street

Thursday, June 13

East Boston
Kelley’s Square Pub
84 Bennington Street

Follow Morgan Rousseau on Twitter: @MetroMorgan
Follow Metro Boston on Twitter: @MetroBOS

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Philadelphia received $1.2 million in grants from ArtPlace America to create four public space “creative placemaking” projects, the city announced on Monday.

“We are committed to beautifying and increasing the quality of life in our neighborhoods,” Mayor Michael Nutter said in a statement.

“Thanks to the generosity of ArtPlace America, we will be able to do so by leveraging the strength of our arts and culture community.”

Philly garnered the most grant dollars of any city chosen by ArtPlace, a collaboration of foundations, banks and federal agencies that funds art with the goal of revitalizing communities.

ArtPlace gave $310,000 to the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation for them to transform Penn’s Landing’s Boat Basin into a “river stage” in the hopes of launching a cultural and economic redevelopment of the waterfront area. That project is scheduled for completion in July 2014.

The Philadelphia City Planning Commission received $335,150 for arts-focused marketing campaign Destination Frankford, which will publicize the neighborhood’s growing arts scene and burgeoning commercial corridor.

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More than two dozen people were arrested early Tuesday morning when police conducted gang raids in a violent area of Roxbury known for being home to several gang members.

About 30 people were arrested and more were being sought for arrest after the early morning raids, according to the Suffolk district attorney’s office.

Authorities dubbed the enforcement effort “Operation H.” It was a long-term investigation targeting drug offenses and suppressing violent crime in the H-Block area of Roxbury, according to the district attorney’s office. The arrests come after authorities conducted multiple controlled drug buys, “extensive surveillance” and two months of grand jury testimony.

Fourteen people were indicted in Suffolk Superior Court while others face criminal complaints filed in Roxbury District Court. A few others will be charged in federal court.

The raids come ahead of the summer months when violence typically increases.

Police and District Attorney Dan Conley scheduled a news conference for later Tuesday to discuss the operation.

Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.

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Gov. Tom Corbett will visit the National Constitution Center Wednesday for what the museum bills as a “historic announcement.”

Corbett, who will be joined by state and local officials, will announce details of a “landmark agreement” between the state and the New York Public Library.

The announcement  will “Make public one of America’s most important and elusive historic artifacts for the benefit of ‘We the People,’” according to a news release.

The announcement will occur at the center, at 525 Arch Street in Independence Mall, around 10 a.m.

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An analysis by New York City’s public advocate may indicate that racial profiling does not contribute to effective stops.

The report looked at public NYPD data on stop-and-frisk from 2012, and found that weapons and guns were more often found on white New Yorkers than African-Americans or Latinos.

The NYPD discovered a weapon in one of every 49 stops of white New Yorkers. They only found weapons on one of every 71 Latinos stopped and one in every 93 African-Americans stopped, the public advocate’s office said.

Contraband, including marijuana, was also found more frequently on white New Yorkers than minorities. One out of every 43 white people stopped had illegal substances on them, while illegal items were found on one out of every 57 Latinos and every 61 African-Americans.

The director of policy at Bronx Defenders, a holistic public defense organization, said the data align with “what we see representing clients every day in the Bronx.”

“Despite promised reforms a year ago, black and Latino New Yorkers — especially young people — are still stopped every day based on nothing more than the color of their skin or the neighborhood they hang out in,” said director Kate Rubin.

The report acknowledges an overall reduction in stops but found that the skewed proportion of stops of minorities is still the same. Minorities constitute 84 percent of all stops, but make up only 54 percent of all New Yorkers.

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio said there is “an ugly truth in these numbers” and said the inefficacy of the system puts communities and police officers in danger.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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A pair of Jamaica Plain farmers are just weeks away from sprouting their first sky-high veggies atop the Boston Design Center.

Higher Ground founders Courtney Hennessey and John Stoddard plan to start growing in June, supplying produce to five Boston restaurants as well as a farm stand near the South Boston waterfront.

“We’ve been working on this for almost three years,” said Hennessey. “Now it’s really happening. We hope to grow two tons of produce this year. It’s exciting. It’s been such a growth for us.”

Their farm’s final fundraiser will happen tonight at the design center. Tickets are available for $100 on Eventbrite.com.

Over 300 backers pledged nearly $24,000 on Kickstarter.

Follow Morgan Rousseau on Twitter: @MetroMorgan
Follow Metro Boston on Twitter: @MetroBOS

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Philadelphia’s race for Democratic City Controller nominee is probably the most contentious ticket in today’s primary elections – challenger Brett Mandel and incumbent Alan Butkovitz, in particular, have engaged in verbal sparring on numerous occasions.

According to an email from Local 98 spokesman Frank Keel, the tension between the two candidates has already reached a boiling point this Election Day – and it’s not even lunchtime.

“In the 2nd Ward earlier this AM, Brett Mandel entered the polling place and handed a ‘Mandel for City Controller’ sticker to a poll watcher, not knowing the watcher was a Committeeman in the 2nd Ward AND a Local 98 member,” Keel wrote.

“The poll watcher notified the Butkovitz camp. Election law attorney Kevin Greenberg is going into court on the matter soon.”

Pennsylvania polls are open today from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Anyone who experiences problems at the polls is encouraged to call nonpartisan voter hotline 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683).

To look up your polling place, click here, and to check your voter registration status, check out this link.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

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A Delaware gym teacher and coach is suspended from his job following his arrest on the charge of indecent exposure over the weekend.

The principal at Appoquinimink High School sent an email to students’ parents Monday informing them Charles Word, 31, won’t be able to come on school grounds or attend activities involving students following his arrest in Newark on Sunday, NBC10 reports.

Word, of Ogletown, Del., allegedly exposed his genitals to a woman he had called over to ask for directions Sunday morning. He reportedly followed the woman in his car, but ran from the area when the woman threatened to call police.

Word was arrested later at his home on the charges of indecent exposure and harassment.

Word coaches the New Castle County school’s baseball team, according to NBC10.

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Local Tea Party members will be protesting outside the Boston office of the Internal Revenue Service Tuesday as part of nationwide protests of the IRS targeting scandal.

The activists called for other members to meet up at noon and protest outside the JFK Federal Building near Government Center and Faneuil Hall. The building houses the Boston IRS office.

In a statement posted on its website, the Greater Boston Tea Party admonished the IRS for the scandal that has led to the resignation of an agency head after it was revealed that workers were targeting conservative groups for extra scrutiny dating back to 2010.

“The Greater Boston Tea Party is greatly distressed to learn that a department of the federal government, in its oversight of our tax system, has routinely targeted for intimidation and harassment citizen activist organizations, based on their conservative political ideology,” the group said. “This behavior matters to every American. No department of government at any level has the power or authority to target individuals or organizations based on ideology.”

Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.

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A federal judge approved a request by Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s lawyers that his jailers hand over their files on him, including suicide watch logs and psychological data, according to court documents released on Monday.

The defense has said it wants to track 19-year-old Tsarnaev’s injuries and mental state while he is held in federal prison to provide evidence of “the voluntariness of his statements” while under interrogation.

Tsarnaev was found hiding in a trailered boat in Watertown, four days after the April 15 blasts, which killed three people and injured 264 others at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

He was shot in the throat before his capture and is being held in a prison hospital at Fort Devens. He has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Bowler on Friday had denied a separate request by Dzhokar’s attorneys to take photographs of their imprisoned client without sharing them with prosecutors. She decided instead that prison staff could take the pictures in the presence of the defense counsel and that prosecutors would then have access to the photographs.

All the defense requests were made in secret filings with the court, and only made public later.

Tsarnaev’s lead attorney was not immediately available to comment on the judge’s decisions.

Tsarnaev left a handwritten message inside the hull of the boat describing the attack as retribution for U.S. wars in Muslim countries, according to a CBS News report last week citing unnamed sources.

Tsarnaev’s older brother and fellow suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died in a gunbattle with police. He had been on a U.S. government database of potential terrorism suspects, and the United States had twice been warned by Russia that he might be an Islamic militant, according to U.S. security officials.

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis testified to a congressional committee that that information was not shared with local law enforcement.

Follow Metro Boston on Twitter: @MetroBos

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The FBI and Philadelphia police are seeking a man in connection with the robbery of a Citizens Bank branch office in Philadelphia’s Bridesburg section Saturday.

The bank robbery occurred about 10:25 a.m. at the Citizens Bank at 2702 Kirkbridge St. The suspect slipped a threatening note to a teller, who handed over an undisclosed amount of cash to the robber.

The FBI/Philadelphia Police Violent Crimes Task Force released a surveillance image of the suspect on Monday.

The suspect is described as a white male, about 20 years old, 6 feet tall and thin. He was wearing a dark Nike hoodie, a blue T-shirt and a green skull cap with “Irish” written across the front.

The robber also has a tattoo on the left side of his neck.

Police ask anyone with any information about this crime to call 215-686-TIPS (8477) or text a tip to PPD TIP (773847). You can also submit information by electronic form by clicking here.

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The NYPD will increase its presence in the Manhattan neighborhoods where five anti-gay hate crimes have occurred in the past few weeks, officials announced Monday.

Following a rally for 32-year-old Marc Carson, who was shot and killed in the West Village this past weekend, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced an action plan to keep the city safe for all New Yorkers, which includes beefing up police patrol.

The NYPD has agreed to increase its presence in LGBT neighborhoods, including setting up temporary headquarter command vehicles, according to Quinn’s office. Neighborhoods include the West Village, Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen.

The deployments will continue through at least the end of June, which is LGBT Pride Month.

Carson was killed near the corner of West Eighth Street and Sixth Avenue late Friday night by alleged gunman Elliott Morales, 33, who shouted anti-gay slurs at Carson before shooting him to death.

Another recent anti-gay attack occurred earlier this month near Madison Square Garden, when two men were injured in an attack by a group of men yelling anti-gay remarks.

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The Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced plans to eliminate cash tolls on the Tobin Bridge and collect the money electronically instead, starting next year.

MassDOT said toll booths on the bridge will be replaced with overhead sensors, which will scan a car’s E-ZPass unit, linked to a debit or credit card. Spokeswoman Sara Lavoie told the Boston Globe the system will save drivers time.

Cameras will record each car’s license plate, and those that don’t have E-ZPasses will get a bill in the mail.

Similar changes are planned for tolls collected on the Massachusetts Turnpike and at tunnels near Boston’s Logan International Airport.

Switching to electronic tolls on the Tobin Bridge will cost $1.7 million. Another $120 million will be spent for changes to the Mass Pike and tunnels.

Transportation Secretary Richard Davey said the system will eventually save the state $50 million a year, primarily due to lower labor costs. 300 to 350 MassDOT workers will lose their jobs, about 75 percent of the state’s toll takers.

“Obviously, we don’t want to displace employees. They’ve done nothing wrong. Technology has just caught up to them,” Davey told the Globe.

MassDOT will hold public meetings on the North Shore over the next month to get feedback on the plan.

E-ZPass transponders are available for free online, and at 20 Registry of Motor Vehicles locations and 17 AAA offices statewide.

Follow Metro Boston on Twitter: @MetroBos

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A Queens teacher who was arrested in April for having sex with a 14-year-old girl has pleaded guilty to statutory rape charges.

Daniel Reilly, 36, pleaded guilty to second-degree rape in Queens Criminal Court on Monday.

Reilly, who was a sixth-grade English teacher at I.S. 237 in Flushing, admitted to having sexual intercourse with a former student at his Forest Hills residence in April, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 22. Reilly will be sentenced to six months in jail and 10 years’ probation. He must also give up his teaching license and register on the state’s sex offender registry.

The relationship between Reilly and the girl was discovered by the girl’s sister, who found sexually explicit text messages from the former teacher on her sister’s phone. The two had an ongoing sexual relationship for seven months, the New York Post reports.

Reilly is married and has a 1-year-old daughter, according to the Post.

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A teen is in critical condition after he was shot several times near an alley in Philadelphia’s Feltonville section overnight.

The shooting occurred just after 1 a.m. Tuesday on the 4700 block of Rorer Street, according to police.

Police took the 18-year-old victim to Temple University Hospital, where he remained in critical condition around 8:45 a.m. Tuesday. He was being treated for a gunshot wound to his neck and two gunshot wounds to both his right thigh and his left foot.

No arrests have been made.

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As Vito Lopez resigned from the state assembly amid a sexual harassment scandal Monday, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver proposed sweeping changes to sexual harassment policies amid mounting criticism of the way he’d handled the affair.

Silver announced plans to create an independent investigator to look into all sexual harassment complaints reported to the assembly, the New York Post reports.

Secret settlements — like the one Silver approved for two of Lopez’s accusers last year — would be banned, according to the proposed changes, and all sexual harassment complaints must be reported immediately.

The proposals come as women’s groups, government watchdog organizations and others have called for Silver’s resignation. According to a report by the Joint Commission on Public Ethics released last week, Silver’s staff failed to refer initial sexual harassment allegations against Lopez to an ethics committee.

A special prosecutor who cleared Lopez of criminal charges due to a lack of evidence said what he found in the investigation was “alarming,” and that the way the assembly’s leadership handled the allegations encouraged Lopez to continue with his inappropriate conduct.

Lopez resigned Monday morning after 28 years in the assembly.

Silver said on Monday, “I never gave any thought to resigning.”

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Police have identified a man shot and killed while sitting in a car in North Philadelphia on Monday night as Mark Thomas, 25.

Thomas was shot several times on the 1800 block of North 20th Street. Police rushed him to Temple University Hospital with multiple gunshot wounds after finding him injured about 10:43 p.m.

Thomas, who lived on the street where he was attacked, was pronounced dead at 11:30 p.m.

Police did not release any suspect information.

Metro’s original article is below.

A man was shot and killed while sitting in a car in North Philadelphia Monday night.

The fatal shooting occurred about 10:40 p.m. near the 1800 block of Uber street, 6ABC Action News reports.

The 25-year-old victim was shot several times. He was pronounced dead at an area hospital.

The post [UPDATE] Man shot to death in car identified appeared first on Metro.us.

Two Braintree children were found safe Monday night after being allegedly kidnapped by their father, triggering an Amber Alert.

Massachusetts state police said Jon T. Lockwood, 54, was arrested at a 7-Eleven store in South Windsor, Conn. The children, Patrick and Sarah Nguyen, aged 8 and 10, were located unharmed.

Braintree police Chief Russell Jenkins told the Quincy Patriot Ledger Lockwood had a supervised visit with the children earlier in the day at a Department of Children and Families facility in Weymouth.

“There was some concern this might happen,” Jenkins said in an email.

“The foster mother tried fighting off Lockwood, engaging in a tug-of-war for the custody of Patrick, but was unsuccessful,” Jenkins said. “She tried to get the children to hide from him.”

A neighbor who heard the commotion at the foster home tried to chase Lockwood’s car as he drove away.

A description of that car, a brown 1995 BMWi with Massachusetts plates, led to Lockwood’s arrest, after a trucker called 911, telling Connecticut state troopers that he saw the car exiting Interstate 84.

Massachusetts state police said Lockwood would be returned to Massachusetts to face charges.

Braintree police said Lockwood lived in Utah and had been staying at a hotel in Foxboro. The children’s mother is believed to be out of the country.

Follow Metro Boston on Twitter: @MetroBos

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A 21-year-old man was found shot to death in the Fleetwood-Concourse Village section of the Bronx on Monday night, police said.

Police responded to a call about a person shot shortly after 10 p.m. in front of an apartment building located at 287 E. 162nd St., cops said. They discovered Marcos Cabral with two gunshot wounds to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing. Cabral lived just a few blocks away from where he was killed.

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If you drew a map of Manhattan, what would your landmarks be?

For one man, a smattering of dots marked six wives and three lovers. Notably, the third, fifth and sixth wives were plotted about a block apart.

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  View Slideshow

  Mapping Manhattan: A Love (and Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps

Another map-maker left his map nearly blank, but for a small “x” in the southeast corner of Central Park with the note: “met my wife.”

A third cartographer noted at the tip-top end of Manhattan: “ruined a kickball game by kicking ball into Hudson.” Slightly further south is the note: “FIRST CRUSH I was 27.”

These maps, and 72 others, are part of a collection by Becky Cooper, titled “Mapping Manhattan: A Love (and Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps by 75 New Yorkers,” out of a public art project Cooper started in 2009.

She handmade hundreds of blank maps using a letterpress at school, and initially hid 300 of them around the city, in the Waldorf and the backseats of taxis, hoping people would stumble across them. She printed her P.O. box number on the back, expecting people would fill them out and send them back to her.

But she said that none came back, until she had a conversation with a boutique owner downtown who caught her trying to stash a map in the store. Cooper explained the project and a week later received a map in the mail that she knew was from that woman.

“The conversation had invested her enough in the project to return the map,” Cooper said. After that, she and her roommate walked the length of Manhattan, from Marble Hill to Battery Park, with a shoebox of maps, and handed them out to strangers.

A contribution from New Yorker staff writer Patricia Marx, a twenty-year Manhattan resident who is apparently “still annoyed with Broadway for running on a diagonal.” Credit: Becky Cooper.

Her book chronicles that walk, recounting little stories about the people she encountered. The text of the book is, in fact, her own map of Manhattan.

When she first considered producing a collection of the maps, she spread them all out on the floor and tried to group them into categories. A lot of people used to maps to chronicle numerous lovers, and it was then that it occurred to her that the maps were little love stories.

She noted the lost or haunted feeling that can come after a breakup, the disorienting feeling of traveling through a city pockmarked with memories.

“You feel like you’re in a ghost town,” Cooper said.

Cooper recounted the words of a friend after the end of a five-year relationship: “She’s never lived in New York without being with him. She was like, ‘My whole map of the city is skewed. I don’t know the city without him.’”

Cooper hesitated when asked if she has a favorite map.

“I feel like it’s like picking your favorite child,” she said. “I definitely have maps whose circumstances I remember more than others.”

She said the second-to-last map in the book, which portrays a four-decade-long relationship with a late wife, broke her heart when she received it.

“There isn’t an overwhelming amount of emotion that would allow you to distance yourself from it, but you can feel his loss.”

One of the most memorable maps for Cooper, which she calls “Eve.” Credit: Becky Cooper.

That sender had put his own return address label on the map, so she searched his name online and discovered the eulogy he wrote for her in a local paper.

“He said, ‘She was the most wonderful person I’ve ever known,’” Cooper recalled. “I just lost it.”

Cooper had the chance to meet that mapmaker at a reading recently when he approached her to express his gratitude at seeing his map in her collection.

“I knew his name because I love his map so much,” she said.

He told her that making it had helped him to remember things about his wife as he was trying to cope with losing her.

“He thanked me for allowing him to capture that particular Manhattan,” Cooper said.

Cooper is still collecting maps. Blank ones can be accessed here, or found on the cover of Tuesday’s Metro New York. She will be giving a talk and signing books at BookCourt in Brooklyn on Thursday, June 6 at 7 p.m.

“Mapping Manhattan: A Love (and Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps by 75 New Yorkers”

Book Talk and Signing with Becky Cooper

Thursday June 6

7 p.m.

BookCourt 164 Court Street, Brooklyn

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

The post Handmade maps describe a city of loves and losses appeared first on Metro.us.

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About 30,000 travelers moving through Connecticut dealt with grueling commutes Monday as trains between Boston and New York remained canceled due to a train crash Friday that injured more than 70 passengers and crew members.

A Metro-North train derailed and then was hit by another train between Fairfield and Bridgeport, Conn.

Many buses bound for New York from Boston’s South Station were already sold out early Monday morning.

While the snafu had little impact on Boston-area traffic, Total Traffic Network reporter Nichole Davis warned of hold-ups heading south.

“Anyone heading toward Connecticut is going to find snarled traffic there,” she said.

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The Crosstown Coalition of Taxpayers, a group of 21 civic associations formed to address Philadelphia’s planned overhaul to the Actual Value Initiative of property tax assessments, announced on Tuesday the finalization of a report analyzing reassessment data calculated by the Office of Property Assessments for tax year 2014, when AVI is set to go into effect

According to the group, the report reveals the OPA’s valuation methods were “fundamentally flawed” and “fall far short of industry standards for accuracy.”

“The Crosstown Coalition of Taxpayers is in favor of the AVI goal of fair and accurate assessments, but must now reluctantly conclude that the job has not been well done,” CCoT’s Stephen Huntington said in a statement.

The Coalition in the report found that less expensive homes are overassessed, with homes whose sale prices are below $50,000 assessed at more than twice their market value.

The report claims multifamily properties, more expensive homes and large commercial buildings are overassessed, with the city’s two dozen largest office buildings being assessed at between 70 and 85 percent of their estimated market values.

Assessments on vacant land parcels that have been sold range from anywhere between 70 percent and 136 percent of their sale price, the group claims.

“Our analysis shows that the most expensive homes are assessed for less than their market value,” CCoT member Matt Ruben said in a statement.

“Homes selling for $50,000 are assessed at twice the market value. AVI is placing an unfair burden on the owners of lower-priced homes.”

Members of the Crosstown Coalition of Taxpayers will release the full report and discuss its findings in detail on Wednesday at City Hall, where they will be joined by City Council members Jim Kenney, Jannie Blackwell, Bill Green, Kenyatta Johnson and Mark Squilla.

The Council members will call on Mayor Michael Nutter to delay the implementation of AVI.

“I would like to thank the Crosstown Coalition of Taxpayers for its unbiased analysis of OPA’s data,” Squilla said in a statement.

“The report shows how much more work needs to be done before the assessments can be presented as fair and accurate.”

Data analysis chair Walt Spencer said the Coalition is willing to meet with the OPA to discuss the report, as well.

“If OPA can demonstrate that our findings are incorrect, we will publicly apologize,” Spencer said in a statement.

“However, if OPA cannot provide documentation to support its current assertions, I’m afraid that response will speak for itself.”

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Former football player and high school history teacher Stan Ellsworth, who now spends his days touring the country on a Harley Davidson for the unconventional history TV show “American Ride,” will be shooting in Philadelphia on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ellsworth and crew are covering the Progressive Era – a period of social reform between the 1890s and 1920s that included the Prohibition and suffrage movements – during the filming this summer of the show’s fifth and sixth seasons.

He’ll kick off his Philadelphia tour at the Independence Seaport Museum.

No word yet on what other sites Ellsworth plans to take in from the back of his bike.

Other cities on the itinerary include New Orleans, Nashville, Washington, D.C., New York, New Jersey, Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland.

“American Ride” is a weekly half-hour program inspired by Ellsworth’s teaching experiences that debuted in 2011 on Brigham Young University’s BYUtv, the only nationwide university-owned TV network.

Check out a trailer below:

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Metro has gained nearly 100,000 daily readers in the last year as well as strengthened its grip as the most read free daily newspaper in New York, according to new figures that were just released.

The market research company Scarborough said Metro reached an all-time record of 733,311 people over the age of 18 in the New York area, a whooping 15 percent increase to the same period in 2012. Every week, Metro reaches over 1.5 million adults in New York in print and online – that’s 124,000 more than its competitor amNewYork.

“Thanks to our readers for making us the most popular free newspaper in New York”, Yggers Mortensen, Metro US Publisher and CEO said, “we continue to grow, innovate and find new ways to engage New Yorkers and deliver impact to advertisers both in print and online.”

Metro’s success can be attributed to 400 new newspaper boxes throughout the city as well as a concentrated focus on a re-launched website, metro.us, a redesign of the print edition and interactive features such as Blippar, a new augmented reality app.

The Scarborough data also shows that Metro has the highest proportion of adults between 18-49 years old, a demographic regarded as highly desirable by advertisers. In addition, the data says that 76 percent of readers are employed and that 1 in 10 are planning to buy a house or condo this year.

FUN FACTS ABOUT METRO READERS

1 in 5 plan to look for a new job this year

1 in 20 plan to get married this year.

25% belong to a gym/fitness club

67% own a smartphone

Your favorite beers are Corona, Bud Light and Heineken.

29% drank vodka in the past month, compared to 11%  which drank tequila.

39% attended a professional sports event in the last year

18% went to a Yankees game vs. 15% went to a Mets game

33%watched live theater in the past year

29% plan a trip outside of the United States this year

Metro readers spend $2,367 on vacation on average

45 percent visited a casino in the last year.

Source: Scarborough R1 2013

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Philadelphia boxing legend Bernard Hopkins – also known as “The Executioner” – will receive this year’s John Wanamaker Athletic Award, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau announced on Monday.

The oldest fighter to win a world championship in boxing history, 48-year-old Hopkins in March snatched the IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion title from Tavoris Cloud in a 12-round unanimous decision.

“I am extremely honored to be named the Wanamaker Athletic Award winner,” Hopkins said in a statement.

“Breaking my own record as the oldest fighter to win a world title was a great accomplishment in my career and for my city to recognize that means a great deal.”

The John Wanamaker Athletic Award, which has been presented each year since 1961, recognizes an athlete or team that represents Philadelphia within their sport.

Members of the public this year voted for nominees and a committee of media and sports specialists made the final selection.

The award will be presented by PHLCVB division the Philadelphia Sports Congress in a June 20 ceremony at the Wanamaker Building’s Crystal Tearoom.

“Everyone knows that Philadelphia breeds great champions and I take so much pride in representing Philly every time I step into the ring,” Hopkins said.

“Many thanks to the Philadelphia Sports Congress for this great honor.”

Nonprofit Back on My Feet, which builds confidence among homeless people by engaging them in running, will also be honored June 20 with the Robert P. Levy Community Service Award, given to those who have done the most to improve Philadelphia’s quality of life through sports.

The city Department of Parks and Recreation will further present its third annual Sports Volunteer of the Year Award to Office of the City Solicitor employee Yolanda Laney, who has for over 30 years coached youth basketball programs in the Tri-State area.

“This year’s recipients are all great examples of the impact that individuals can have on others,” Philadelphia Sports Congress chairman David Montgomery said in a statement.

“Bernard Hopkins is a true champion who has continued a wonderful legacy of Philadelphia boxing. In addition, Anne and Yolanda have dedicated their lives to making a significant difference for so many people. They embody the true spirit of giving back to the community. All recipients represent our city extremely well.”

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Mastery Charter Schools’ hosted a college signing day yesterday at Temple University’s Liacouras Center to celebrate its senior students’ commitment to a college or university for the Fall 2013 semester.

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Eight people were arrested after Cambridge police were forced to quell multiple fights that broke out among a crowd of hundreds that had descended on Massachusetts Avenue early Friday morning. 

Police responded to the area of 450 Massachusetts Ave. just after 2 a.m. Friday for a report of a large fight. When officers arrived they found about 400 people standing on the street and on the sidewalks on both sides of the roadway, many of them arguing and yelling back and forth. They had come from one of the nearby bars in Central Square, police said.

“While on scene, between four or five additional fights broke out on both sides of the street, and officers responded to each, separating the parties, and arresting the individuals who were actively fighting with one or more persons,” Cambridge police wrote in a report, which did not specify which establishment the people had come from.

More than 15 officers from Cambridge and MIT’s police department responded to the scene to help break up the fights, many of which occurred at the same time within the large crowd.

The eight people arrested were charged with affray. They range in age from 21 to 29 and are from Boston, Brookline, Chelsea and Randolph.

Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.

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