The lead city inspector on the building that collapsed at 22nd and Market Streets during demolition last Wednesday, killing six and injuring more than a dozen, reportedly has killed himself.

The 52-year-old man died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Philadelphia’s Roxborough section Wednesday night, NBC10 reports.

Police found the man’s body in his pickup truck, which was parked along a wooded stretch of the 100 block of Shawmont Avenue about 9:30 p.m.  He had shot himself once in the chest, according to the report.

The inspector, who has not been identified, reportedly gave the go-ahead for the demolition at 2136 Market St. to continue in May after the city had received a complaint.

Police have charged excavator operator Kane R. Robert, aka Sean Benschop, with six counts of involuntary manslaughter and other offenses in the fatal Center City building collapse. Robert allegedly was under the influence of codeine and marijuana.

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A crane operator was arrested on Saturday on involuntary manslaughter charges after a building collapse in Philadelphia that killed six people and injured 14 others.

Sean Benschop, 43, turned himself in to police to face six counts of involuntary manslaughter and 13 counts of endangering another person, Philadelphia police Sergeant Mike Veasey said.

Police said Benschop was assisting with the demolition of a building in downtown Philadelphia on Wednesday when a wall of the building collapsed on a neighboring building that housed a Salvation Army thrift store. At the time, the store was filled with shoppers and staff.

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The New York City resident who turned heads and made headlines last year after walking around the East Village topless has moved on to Philadelphia, where she continues to bare her breasts in public.

Moira Johnston, exercising her right to be topless in NYC (which has been legal since 1992, by the way), was a well-known fixture in the neighborhood, walking the city streets and shopping at Whole Foods.

She told the blog Racked last year that her skin show was really about raising awareness for a woman’s right to be topless in public. She was arrested once on the accusation that her free-roaming ta-tas were a danger to children, but those charges were eventually dropped.

Now, as warm weather returns to the east coast, Johnston, 30, is spreading her message in Philadelphia, but scaling it back a notch by covering her nipples with a pair of pasties. She was spotted in Philly’s Rittenhouse Square on Wednesday, according to New Jersey 101.5. Apparently, she is a native of the City of Brotherly love. Johnston also said her mom is a breast cancer survivor who supports her nude endeavors.

Will Johnston be returning to the East Village this summer? If she does, we’re sure she won’t be hard to miss.

Follow Cassandra Garrison on Twitter: @CassieAtMetro

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Six people – one man and five women – are confirmed dead after a building collapsed near 22nd and Market streets yesterday morning.

At least 13 more were injured as they were pulled from the bricks and rubble spilled across the busy Center City strip.

Mayor Michael Nutter said the area is still very much an active search-and-rescue site to find any more people who may be trapped and to begin cleanup efforts.

Around 10:45 a.m. today, emergency workers responded to a commercial 4-story property at 2136 Market Street, which collapsed onto the neighboring Salvation Army thrift store at 2140 Market Street, causing that property to partially collapse.

The 4,200 square-foot former retail store was in stages of demolition. City officials said they still don’t know what caused the collapse.

Only a few hours after the incident, the body of a 35-year-old woman was pulled from the debris. Others were pulled out by emergency officials and passers-by. Thirteen were brought to area hospitals. One official with the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania said the patients treated there had “relatively minor injuries.”

“I ask that all Philadelphians and all who care to keep that person and her family in your prayers,” Nutter said at a 6 p.m. press conference tonight. “Second, we pray for the speedy recovery of the 13 individuals who were able to get out of his potentially incredible tragedy that could have taken place here today.”

Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers said search and rescue operations at the site will continue for at least 24 more hours to look for more possibly trapped in the rubble.

Ayers also said dogs are on scene to help in rescue efforts.

Dan Gillis, a construction worker from Cinnaminson, N.J. who was working across the street, told Reuters he saw a crane remove a supporting beam from the front of the building. Then, the wall next to the thrift store started to sway, he said.

Several eyewitnesses said they thought the construction site was unsafe. One onlooker said it was an accident waiting to happen.

Carlton Williams, commissioner of the Department of Licenses and Inspections for Philadelphia, said the site had all the permits needed for demolition. The owner is Richard Bosciano with STB Investments. Griffin and Campbell Construction was on site as the demolition contractors.

Reporting by Tommy Rowan, Alex Wigglesworth and Christina Paciolla

Click here for our original report and updates.

Follow us on Twitter: @MetroPhilly

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Photos of the scene where a building has collapsed at 22nd and Market streets earlier today in Philadelphia.

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The Olms will perform as part of the Live From Home benefit concert series at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, a not-for-profit organization providing healthcare, housing, advocacy and other services to homeless and formerly homeless people with HIV and AIDS, on June 7th.

Event Venue : Housing Works Bookstore Cafe

Event Date : June 7

Event Time : 8:00 PM

Call : 212-334-3324

Event Price : $15.00 and Fee-$1.82

For bookings click here

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There are things that everyone knows about Mike Tyson. The weird stuff. The frightening stuff. The flat-out insane stuff. The stuff of legends. Holyfield’s ear. Years of domestic strife. Bouts of volatility and violence (an occupational hazard, perhaps). That face tattoo.

But there’s also other stuff. Like an inexplicable fondness for pigeons, arguably the most common bird in the aviary hierarchy. You’d have guessed maybe peacocks. Or bald freaking eagles. But no, Iron Mike loves pigeons. He also loves theater. All kinds of theater. He digs Porgy and Bess and cites the little known (among non-theater heads, at least) Cuba and His Teddy Bear – the Reinaldo Povod-written play starring Robert DeNiro that enjoyed a 53-show Broadway run in ‘86 — as one of his favorites. The dude is a little bit enigmatic. He’s also a known hot-head, though not these days, as both recent behavior and self-testimony indicate that Tyson is a changed man, maybe even a bit of a Zen man.

Still, when you’re tasked with calling Mike Tyson up on the phone to interview the champion heavyweight boxer-turned-actor about his one-man play Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth (directed by similarly legendary Spike Lee) — for which he’s currently wrapping up a 19-date tour with a stop at the Kimmel Center in Philly and a penultimate stop at the Wang Theatre in Boston — you’re a little nervous.

This writer was tasked with just that. The following are excerpts from a conversation held over a very bad connection on an iPhone, from the cafe car of a southbound Amtrak. Excerpts because the other thing Iron Mike is known for is that signature lisp. If you’ve ever tried to talk to anybody on a cell phone with a bad connection on an Amtrak cafe car, you’re likely aware that it is….difficult. (A seventh listen to the recorded transcript of this interview revealed that Mike Tyson did not, in fact, tell this writer that he once watched Ben and Jerry perform A Bronx Tale. Though that would have been amazing.)

Mike Tyson on deciding to do a one-man play.
Me and my wife was watching [not Ben and Jerry] do a Bronx Tale onstage and it was just so amazing, you can’t even imagine. Inspiration is an understatement. We was hanging on every word they said and I said ‘Baby, I think I can do this.’ Because, I mean, when I’m in Europe, and in Asia, I’m onstage talking about myself. People ask me questions from the crowd. But when I do it in America, I feel like it’s coming from an artistic point of view. And so we did it for two weeks at the MGM Grand and sold out every night….mostly foreigners. Every night, foreigners! And then Spike Lee called me when I was in Poland and asked me to take it to Broadway. And now we’re on a nationwide tour.

On pre-stage ritual.
I make sure I’m in the best physical and spiritual shape I can possibly be in. I just think of myself as being, like, one of the great stage performers. Like, you know, Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., Julie Garland, and all those guys. Frank Sinatra. I’m talking about real entertainers, I’m talking about really explosive entertainers. The dancers! That kind of stuff.

On a bomb threat that got called in to his New York show.
Yes, there was a bomb threat. But they caught the guy, they caught the guy. But that’s okay. And they’re going to do that to me? Can you imagine me dying on a Broadway stage?! Holy Moley! Well they got the guy…I think it was fake. He wanted to do another, um, Colorado movie theater shooting….online….and that helped the FBI catch him.

On his favorite story to tell onstage.
When I had my street altercation with Mitch Green. I had a street fight with Mitch Green — a boxer – and I’m explaining to the crowd what happened. Oh, amazing. It’s not meant to be, but it gets a lot of laughs.

On the suggestion that that’s good, because isn’t his show meant to be half-comedic and half-serious?
No! I don’t want to be anything comedic. Nothing comedic! But sometimes people laugh.

On his favorite city on the tour.
I’ve been to….man. I’ve been to St. Louis, I’ve been to San Francisco, San Diego, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Francisco. Where else? San Diego. Where else? San Jose, Atlanta, North Carolina, Mississippi, Miami, Tampa, all over the place.

On his favorite city on the tour to hang out in, though.
Hey, I don’t do no hanging out. But I did like Durham, North Carolina, that was a nice town.

On whether he had to read Fifty Shades of Grey to “research” for a scene in Scary Movie 5.
My wife reads that stuff, I don’t read that stuff. They just told me what to do. I don’t listen to my wife about no Fifty Shades of Grey. Yeah, I don’t want to read that stuff.

On stage versus screen acting.
I love stage acting, I don’t love anything more than stage acting — that’s instant gratification right there. You have people breathing, you have instant gratification.

On his favorite sports movies of all time.
Gentlemen Jim and Raging Bull.

On the best Rocky movie.
Big time Rocky fan. The one with Mr. T in it was the best.

On the one question he never wants to be asked again.
I don’t know…I’m so accustomed to answering any question anybody asks me. I’m not afraid to answer any questions.

On Zach Galifianakis.
He’s a really good guy. I think he’s a good guy. He’s a very normal person. He’s more normal than I am! He’s real normal, a good guy.

On the funniest actor in The Hangover.
Zach was the funniest. Zach. Zach. Zach. Zach. Number one, Zach. Zach was funnier than everybody.

On pets.
I just love animals, you know. They need people to take care of them. It’s a cold world out there. They live longer under the care of human beings than they do in the wild, in the care of the nature. Nature is harder on them.

On pigeons.
That’s just what I do. That’s my culture, that’s where I come from. You do that.

On his favorite pet pigeon.
No favorites, I have a lot of pigeons I like.

Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth        

PHILADELPHIA
May 2 @ 8 pm
Kimmel Center, 300 S Broad St.
$20-$500
tickets.kimmelcenter.org

BOSTON
May 4 @ 8 pm
Wang Theatre, 270 Tremont St.
$33.25-$503.75
citicenter.org

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  View Video

  VIDEO: Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, and Sugar Ray Leonard on the Arsenio Hall Show

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Hey, Philly and Boston, you can’t always get what you want, but you can see the Stones this summer.
Credit: Brian Rasic

When the Rolling Stones initially announced live dates last year and called the tour to celebrate their 50th anniversary “50 and Counting,” most people assumed that there would be more dates to follow the few fall offerings. But with a band that has been together for twice as long as most chart-toppers of today have been alive, playing it safe by not announcing all of the dates at once makes more sense than having to cancel a number of them, in the event of, say, a broken hip, or the guitarist falling out of a tree. But now the band are making good on the “and Counting” part.

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  View Slideshow

  PHOTOS: Rollings Stones keep on rolling

The band announced Wednesday that they will kick off their tour in Los Angeles at the Staples Center. (Date TBA pending NBA/NHL playoff schedules.) The tour debut will be followed by performances in Oakland, San Jose, Las Vegas, Anaheim, Toronto, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia.

The Stones were recently crowned Best Live Band at the NME Awards in London and released a new greatest hits collection, “GRRR!,” a groundbreaking documentary film “Crossfire Hurricane” and a photographic book “Rolling Stones: 50.”

“’50 and Counting’ has been pretty amazing so far,” said singer Mick Jagger in a statement. “We did a few shows in London and New York last year … and had such a good time that we thought … let’s do some more. It’s a good show. Lots of the classic stuff everyone wants to hear … with a few little gems tucked in here and there. The stage is shaped like lips and goes off into the venue so I get to run around in the crowd. It’s great fun to be able to get that close to the audience.”

“From day one at rehearsals it sounded so fresh. You could tell that everybody was dying to get their teeth into it. It was like … open the gates … let us out!” said Keith Richards, the aforementioned guitarist who has been known to fall out of trees. “’Cause man, it is the life and blood of us to play in front of people.”

Mick Taylor, who was a member of the Rolling Stones from 1969-74, will be a special guest throughout the tour.

The band will treat their generations of fans to an evening of classic Stones hits like “Gimme Shelter,” “Paint It Black,” “Jumping Jack Flash,” “Tumbling Dice,” and “It’s Only Rock and Roll,” curated with lesser-known gems, and a cover or two.

’50 AND COUNTING’ TOUR DATES

TBA Los Angeles Staples Center

May 5 Oakland Oracle Arena
On sale April 8 @ 10AM PST

May 8 San Jose HP Pavilion
On sale April 8 @ 10AM PST

May 11 Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena TBA
May 15 Anaheim Honda Center TBA

May 25 Toronto Air Canada Centre
On sale April 8 @ 10AM EST

May 28 Chicago United Center
On sale April 8 @ 10AM CST

June 12 Boston TD Garden TBA
June 18 Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center TBA

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It was Day Three at SXSW, and everything on my itinerary was louder, harder and heavier than the days before. For anyone seeking solace in cerebral modern day psychedelia, this was surely the place to be.

Posting up at the Thrasher/Converse Party at the Scoot Inn early in the day, I was happy to find I was one of the only members of the press at the party. Yes, the show was somewhat of a secret, but with such an eclectic mix of some of the festival’s most sought after acts, I figured word would have gotten out.

With skateboarders grinding on a half-pipe next to a relatively small open-air venue, this daytime party provided some of the best acts under the hot Austin sun. Bleached took the stage around 2pm and rocked the crowd with a hard and tough bubblegum take on pop-punk girl group music.

King Tuff followed an hour later, and with a full band in tow, he superceded the sensitive sounds of his recent record with a more aggressive, more intense and heavier psychedelic set that put his recent release in a new perspective.

Chelsea Light Moving was up next. The new band fronted by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth with Sunburned Hand of the Man’s John Maloney on drums, their recent debut album came out last week on Matador and is most reminiscent of Moore’s 1995 record, Psychic Hearts. Thurston arrived fashionably early in a laidback style, entering the venue on a bicycle and riding it through the audience just before taking the stage for soundcheck. Combining his alternate tunings and surrounded by Marshall stacks, Moore and company combined Sonic Youth’s pastoral and intricate riffs with heavy drowned out pedal stomps and intensive guitar solos. Proving he’s one of the greatest guitarists of all-time, Moore’s combination of sensitivity juxtaposed with harsh, high-decibel 6-string serenades provided the perfect dynamic to coincide with his poetic meanderings.

After giving into the elements, I returned back to town around 9pm. Snoop Dogg (aka Snoop Lion), Stevie Nicks and Dave Grohl were all scheduled to perform tonight—not together of course. With the long lines and my general lack of interest, I skipped the “hot ticket” shows and headed to East Austin for some psychedelia. Once considered the wrong side of the tracks and a home to artists looking for cheap studios, I was surprised to find East Austin as a hotbed of cool. It’s a tale as old as time, but I never expected it could happen so quickly in Austin.

Just a few blocks beyond this newfound center for up-and-coming greatness and unfortunate gentrification, I found my way to Hotel Vegas. With a retro neon sign lighting the landscape, I headed inside to catch some of music’s greatest and heaviest sonic surprises. With two stages, I bounced back and forth catching a sampling of sounds. The Go, a longtime Detroit-based garage band, has only gotten better and heavier since former and future famous member Jack White left the band.  MMOSS, a New Hampshire bred/Boston-based band combined acoustic guitars and ethereal drones, often summon the sounds of early Floyd on record. But more notably their live show has brought the flute back to the forefront of the rock n roll frontier.

Though I had just missed Philadelphia’s Bleeding Rainbow, I was able to catch them a few hours later at their second showcase of the night. Combining an awesome name with spaced out male and female vocals against a bed of deep driving guitars, and chugging rhythms, they evoked a speedier and grittier My Bloody Valentine.

Seeing just how many shows I could catch within the hour, I continued on to Maggie Mae’s where the Seattle band Kinski was still spacing out. I’ve been bearing witness to Kinski’s heavy and heady rumblings for almost a decade now, and they always deliver. Combining searing and soaring guitars with spacey solos, the band played songs from their recent release on Kill Rock Stars and brought a slight darkness to the overlit and well-stocked cocktail venue.

Austin Psych Fest comes to town in April and with some of these bands returning to play it, it should be epic.

The post Psychedelic Thursday: SXSW worth its weight in heavy metal appeared first on Metro.us.

(Rikard Larma/Metro)

A Northwest New Jersey volunteer ambulance driver was arrested Wednesday night after he responded to an emergency call drunk, according to police.

James Rigney Jr., 39, a member of the all-volunteer First Aid and Rescue Squad in the small town of Hackettstown in Warren County, NJ, drove to an emergency call around 9  p.m. with a blood alcohol content of .08, according to Hackettstown Police Sgt. Darren Tynan.

Tynan said an officer at the scene “noticed that the ambulance drove past where the medical call was, the ambulance then turned around at some point and then entered the wrong way into the complex.”

The officer on scene then detected an odor of alcohol on Rigney’s breath. Rigney refused to perform a field sobriety test, but officers gazed his eyes for clues.

Rigney was charged with driving while intoxicated, driving while intoxicated in a school zone and careless driving. The emergency squad is investigating the incident, but no decisions have been made, Tynan said.

Follow me on Twitter @tommyrowan

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