PhillyInc

The Wall Street Journal is saying that the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. at the moment is the "exclusive" potential buyer of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, quoting people "familiar with the matter." A PHLX spokeswoman said no comment. The PHLX is run by Meyer "Sandy" Frucher. The WSJ notes a deal is uncertain and hinges, in part, on whether the PHLX wants to stay in Philly. But just remember, the PHLX has been for sale before. And before that.

- Thomas Ginsberg

The IRS says it's looking for new revenue agents for expanded operations in King of Prussia, Reading and Lancaster. But its help-wanted ad made us wonder momentarily if tax scofflaws have anything to worry about: "You'll receive excellent federal benefits, exceptional training, plus time to enjoy life."

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) is launching a spin-off from its authoritative Merck Manual and Merck Veterinary Manual. The new Merck/Merial Manual for Pet Health (also here), edited by Cynthia M. Kahn, will be the "first complete health guide for pet owners," or so Merck crows. Call it another sign of Big Pharma's pitch for the Animal Planet generation. Animal and veterinary products long have been big business, but some companies are upgrading their marketing strategies. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), for example, has created a "Cats of the Revolution" website, replete with online games and chats, to promote its heartworm-and-flea medicine Revolution. Merck's new project is being done with Merial Limited, an animal health company based in Duluth, Georgia. Merck says it'll be a non-profit venture, although it telegraphs the vast positive P.R. potential by noting that "pet owners spent an estimated $9 billion on veterinary care for their animal companions."

- Thomas Ginsberg

The University of Pennsylvania's college of arts and sciences wants to offer its students a business minor. So reports The Daily Pennsylvanian. That's nice, but what about that other business school at Penn -- Wharton? Wharton'svice dean of Undergraduate Education, Georgette Chapman Phillips, tells the DP: "If you are going to take all these business classes, why aren't you doing it in [Wharton]"?

Maybe because Wharton's just too hard? According to senior Elie Gittler, a student member of the Dean's Advisory Board, many students view Wharton classes as "too difficult and not worth their time."

This may be oddest tale yet from the long and already scandalous fen-phen diet drug litigation relentlessly dogging the local drug giant Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) : Hundreds of Kentucky plaintiffs got a $200 million settlment from Wyeth. But their lawyers Shirley Cunningham Jr. and William Gallion allegedly pocketed too much of the money. The plaintiffs sued the lawyers, won and were awarded, among other things, the lawyers' 20 percent stake in champion race-horse Curlin, winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic. Now Curlin is up for sale. So Wyeth's fen-phen users may get their payday, or at least some of it. Can't make this stuff up.

- Thomas Ginsberg

For leaders in the Latino community such as Will Gonzalez, these are challenging times. Not only is the public demanding immigration reform, but economic problems such as the meltdown in the subprime mortgage market threaten to eat away at the economic gains Latinos have made in recent years. Gonzalez runs Ceiba, a coalition of five Latino community groups founded in 1991. Gonzalez, 45, has been the leader since 2001. The group is named after a tree native to Caribbean noted for its resilience. In an interview with PhillyInc, Gonzalez, who also is an attorney, spoke about his background, the gains made by Latinos and the work that still lies ahead.

PhillyInc: Why did you become a community activist?
Gonzalez: Knowing that but for others that I would not have been in a better position. I know there are the traditional heroes that they have holidays for, but there are a lot of people at the grassroots level .... Today, there are so may people challenging the system.

You have to read all the way to the end of a light-hearted story in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday to catch this: insurance brokerage firm Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: PHLY), run by James J. Maguire Jr., is in negotiations to sell a unique kind of cancellation-insurance coverage to the organizers of the New York City Marathon next year. (This year's race took place yesterday, covered by somebody else for the first time). The WSJ portrays this kind of insurance as a new trend -- marathon organizers everywhere considering extra coverage because of a recent spate of race cancellations, which some people actually link to global warming. Anyway, not clear if this is actually a trend, or if global warming is the culprit. But WSJ writers Aaron Lucchetti and Liam Pleven do unearth this anecdote about NYC organizer Mary Wittenberg and Maguire:

At a pre-race dinner this week of blackened grouper and flourless brownies, she mentioned the new policy to James J. Maguire Jr., a marathon runner who also happens to be chief executive of an insurance company, Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp. "We could have saved you some money," Mr. Maguire said. ... Ms. Wittenberg -- like the competitive marathoner she used to be (a bum knee sidelines her these days) -- says she plans to follow up with Mr. Maguire about his offer after the race. "The negotiations are on!"

By the way, unclear if Maguire actually ran yesterday. His name does not appear to be one of the many Maguires listed among the finishers.

- Thomas Ginsberg

Appearances deceived us. In our previous post about James J. Maguire Jr., CEO of Philadelphia Insurance Companies (NASDAQ: PHLY), we said he did not appear to be among the finishers of the NYC marathon. Turns out he did run, listed as Jamie Maguire, not James. He finished at No. 2284. But he was first among a half-dozen or so Maguires at a mile pace of 7:33.

Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), the corporation bloggers love to hate, has a genuine defender in the blogosphere. A week before Halloween, the blog called ComcastRocks http://comcastrocks.blogspot.com sprang up and has engaged in a spirited defense of Comcast with any and all critics. The writer identifies himself/herself as a female Comcast employee, but has given no name or hometown (other than an e-mail address containing the name "Parks"), and insists he/she is "in no way getting paid by anyone, especially not Comcast, to have this blog." Frankly, the blog is too rough looking for a "flog" and one of Comcast's biggest skeptics, Bob Garfield at www.ComcastMustDie.com, seems to think it's a legit employee. Good for some fireworks, anyway.

Regina Heilmann Knecht isn't so sure how great it is to be president of John F. Scanlan Inc., a Philadelphia-based, 40-employee representative for manufacturers of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. As she explains it, she gets the title and the extra work, but shares the power, and whatever glory there is, with five of her close relatives.

This is a company that specializes in employing family members. Her father, in his 80s, had been an employee of the company before he bought it. He still works there, along with Knecht's leadership gang of five, which includes her sister, Chris. One of their in-laws works there, as does the in-law's brother, and someone else's mother, who comes in two days a week. That makes nine Heilmann family members and their relatives.

There is also the Gannon family of employees -- a son, a nephew, the nephew's two brothers-in-laws and one of their sons, for a total of five.

There are two brothers from another family who run the sales office in the Poconos.

Add it up and it looks like 40 percent of the employees have family ties. What do you think? Can your company top that number and percent? Does it add stability or cause problems, or both on alternate days? What's it like at Thanksgiving? And what's it like if you aren't part of the family?

- Jane M. Von Bergen

We've been informed that Angela Di Medio Carlino of Haverford, co-owner of Carlino’s Market in Ardmore, died of a stroke at Bryn Mawr Hospital on Sunday, her 70th birthday. Her death came two days after the opening of the West Chester branch of Carlino’s Market, a combined pasta plant, pizza and bread bakery, and pastry shop, which also carries fresh produce, homemade sausage, imported cheeses and prepared food.

- Sally A. Downey

What effect will the credit crunch, high oil prices, volatile stocks, economy jitters and ever-present terrorism threats have on -- company holiday parties? Leave it to the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. of Chicago to pitch an answer. Its survey (download here) of about 100 H.R. executives nationwide finds nearly 90 percent saying companies plan to hold holiday parties this year, up from 79 percent last year. Two-thirds said the parties will cost the same or less this year.

Unreliable and anecdotal data, to be sure. The firm's CEO, John A. Challenger, notes the survey may not capture distress in real estate and financial sectors. "Certainly, there are some industries that will not be holding lavish parties this year. In addition to the construction and real estate industries, the automotive sector continues to struggle. Meanwhile, Wall Street firms can undoubtedly afford to hold lavish parties, but it might be viewed as unseemly, considering they have suffered billions in losses tied to bad bets on high-risk mortgages -- losses which have thus far resulted in thousands of job cuts."

We’re just curious enough to ask the same question in our own poll: Will your Philly-area company hold a holiday party this year? And will it spend less, the same or more this year on the party? Maybe this will prove to be a truly interesting statistical indication for the economy. Well, not a chance, but maybe it'll be fodder for party small-talk ...

- Thomas Ginsberg

Not sure what to make of this. The Pennsylvania Securities Commission has climbed on the executive compensation bandwagon, officially, with other securities’ regulators. Two weeks ago, the state commission approved a resolution (curiously announced only yesterday) that "encourages issuers engaged in public offerings to enhance disclosure of executive compensation." Unfortunately the resolution itself is not findable on the commission's website. The director of the commission's division of corporation finance, John Quinn, noted in the press release that "executive compensation issues are big news" and the commission decided to act after the commission's professional group, the North American Securities Administrators Association, adopted its own resolution on the subject in early October.

Canadian billionaire Michael Lee-Chin's mutual fund management firm, AIC Ltd., has unloaded all its holdings in Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN), the Philadelphia-based mortgage insurance company. So says Radian in an SEC filing. That means AIC has gone from being Radian's biggest shareholder to its biggest deserter in just two months. AIC held about 13 percent of Radian shares in September, according to Bloomberg News. Lee-Chin's firm, now run by his successor, was known for emulating Warren Buffett's "buy-and-hold" strategy. Or at least it used to be.

- Thomas Ginsberg

In our previous post on company holiday parties, we noted that the Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. released its second-annual survey that found more companies will hold holiday parties this year despite economic jitters. Now a similiar survey by the executive-search firm Battalia Winston of New York finds exactly the opposite trend: 85 percent of companies plan to hold a holiday party this year, down from 94 percent last year. Both polls had about 100 respondents. That's nowhere near enough, of course, to constitute a real poll. But we won't let that stop us, either: Take our poll up there to the left on the same question. Perhaps we can document an entirely different trend, such as businesses' rising use of falacious polls to promote their services.

- Thomas Ginsberg

Not only are National Labor Relations Board members sparring with each other, but the NLRB's general counsel is in a battle with the board's union workers.

In the posh Loews Hotel in Philadelphia, a large group of employment and labor lawyers crammed into a conference room to hear Ronald E. Meisberg, the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, speak about his role at the Washington panel that oversees the relationship between unions and companies. You can read more about the conference in Saturday's Inquirer business section.

And on their way in, they encountered members of the National Labor Relations Board Union, who were leafletting in protest against their boss - Meisberg. The union represents 1,000 lawyers, examiners and support staff field offices, as well as support staff in NLRB headquarters and in Meisberg's office. In the Philadelphia NLRB office, 35 to 40 workers are represented by the union.

The union is peeved with Meisberg and has filed an unfair labor practice complaint against him with the Federal Labor Relations Authority, which acts as a national labor relations board for federal employees.

In March, 2007, the FLRA approved union's 2005 petition to consolidate its four separate bargaining units into one.

Meisberg, who had previously served on National Labor Relations Board as a Republican appointee, opposed the idea of one bargaining unit, explaining to the assembled lawyers Thursday that the agency has both a prosecutorial function and judicial function and that workers in each function properly belong in separate units.

Meisberg's argument failed to persuade the FLRA. In June, he sent a memo to NLRB employees saying he would not bargain with them. But on Thursday, he said he will uphold current contracts until the issue makes its way through the courts.

On Monday. an administrative law judge ruled Meisberg's refusal to bargain was an unfair labor practice and recommended that the FLRA require Meisberg to bargain with the union. That would then clear the way for Meisberg to appeal the matter to federal court, prolonging the process. You can read the judge's decision. Download file

Meisberg's refusal to bargain angers union president Eric Brooks, who was among those leafletting Thursday. "I think it's egregious that the person who is in charge of enforcing federal labor law is willfully violating federal labor law himself."

- Jane M. Von Bergen

Crawford Hill III, chairman of the science department at the Episcopal Academy in suburban Philadelphia and a member of the Bancroft family that once owned Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal, is bemoaning the balky effort to pick somebody to claim the family's seat on Rupert Murdoch's board at News Corp. (NYSE: NWSA).

Hill was among the family members who had favored the sale to Murdoch. Last July, before the current hubbub, Hill wrote an interesting perspective about family ownership and an argument for a sale in a letter to the family (in which he incidentally confesses to being "an Eagles fan all the way.") After the sale went through, deadlines were missed to name a board member. According to the WSJ, Hill wrote in an e-mail to relatives: "This entire, sad and pathetic, final episode is a fiasco. No wonder we lost Dow Jones!!" In the end, family member Natalie Bancroft, a 27-year-old opera singer who lives in Europe and is said to have no experience in commerce or journalism, got the board seat.

In an e-mail to PhillyInc this weekend, Hill reiterated that the family "was actually very much in synch" about the board appointment "but was kept in dark by our advisors." He declined to say more.

Here's his whole e-mail printed with other Bancroft family e-mails by the WSJ and which Hill told us was genuine. (By the way, the John Carroll he mentions is the same John Carroll who was an editor at The Inquirer and Los Angeles Times, and who some Bancroft heirs wanted to take the Murdoch board seat on their behalf).

Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007

Hi all,

I can only say what a joke this episode has become. To learn only just now what Chris [Bancroft] kindly just passed along to us is both disgraceful and egregious and reflects poorly on those who should have guided this to a satisfactory conclusion.

None of this however is to reflect on the integrity, smarts or work ethic of Mike Hill (and Liz [Elisabeth Chelberg], for that matter) who has (have) all of those and more. I just wonder, given the very bizarre nature of this process (or, really, Non-Process) and the Board position itself as we now know it, why anyone in the family would want to do this.

This entire, sad and pathetic, final episode is a fiasco. No wonder we lost Dow Jones!!

I will call John Carroll and pass along the news. To those responsible- Thanks so much for placing me in this awkward position... on the other hand as I have pointed out elsewhere, getting these things right requires more than our designated representatives were capable of executing. The pattern holds to the end. What a shame. I had high hopes that we could get this right and worked hard to that end. Finding all this out now, after the fact is stranger than fiction.

My Best to you all- may your future endeavours be more successful than what transpired here today (not saying much) and may you carry on with your interesting and diverse lives.

I am done with this matter.

Thanks for listening and thanks to those of you who spoke up and supported me when you were so moved. I appreciate your efforts and value our relationships.

As ever,

Crawford

- Thomas Ginsberg

ViroPharma Inc.'s chief executive officer, Michel de Rosen, who once told an interviewer that CEOs really need to enjoy their work, probably finally had a good day yesterday after his company's recent drubbing on Wall Street and pipeline troubles. Felix and Julian Baker, whose Baker Brothers Advisors hedge fund gets close attention from biotech investors, has told the SEC that it bought $8.8 million worth of ViroPharma stock (NASDAQ: VPHM) last week after having dumped about $11 million worth in April. That partly explains VPHM's 6 percent rise yesterday. Baker now holds about 9 percent of ViroPharma's outstanding shares, according to InsiderScore (reg. required).

ViroPharma spokesman Robert Doody tells us the Bakers' move "is a sign our stock is ridiculously undervalued." So, does that mean the wise Bakers' sell-off in April meant ViroPharma was overvalued then? "I don't want to speculate," Doody says.

- Thomas Ginsberg

Back when he was a baseball star, former Phillie Lenny Dykstra famously admitted he'd lost tens of thousands of dollars betting on himself in high-stakes poker games. Now as a bettor, Dykstra has moved up to the big leagues. Dykstra, who operates a Southern California carwash chain under his name, also has been moonlighting over the past year as a daily stock options columnist for TheStreet.com.

And in Monday's column, Dykstra cheered the boardroom coup at Hershey last weekend, which resulted in a new board featuring former Pennsylvania Attorney General LeRoy Zimmerman, former Gov. Tom Ridge, former Philadelphia School Reform Commission head James Nevels and a group of prominent businessmen.

"This is great news for Hershey investors," Dykstra wrote. He didn't predict if the new board would decide to merge with CadburySchweppes, cut costs, or boost offerings of novelty Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. He did crow about having been bullish on Hershey contracts in a column last week. He predicted the stock would pop a bit Monday, which it did. He also called the coup "a sweet indication of things to come" and urged readers to "keep your eye on the ball!" Dykstra also noted that he has not put his own money into Hershey shares.

- Joseph N. DiStefano

Ed Silverman at Pharmalot spotted this from OutSourcing-Pharma.com: The sell-side investment advisory firm Dresdner Kleinwort is predicting in a new analyst report that AstraZeneca PLC, now under the tutelage of ex-Wilmington-based U.S. division chief David Brennan, will wither in the coming eight years if something drastic isn't done. They say their worst-case disaster scenario "has a 50% probability of occurring." Brennan left Wilmington for London a couple a years ago, taking some top people with him. Certainly the reign of ex-CEO and founder Tom McKillop needed a shakeup. But Brennan has struggled since his ascent, reinvigorating the old talk of a merger or buyout with GlaxoSmithKline PLC.

- Thomas Ginsberg

If Haddonfield's John J. Marquess feels a burning sensation around his ears, it's got to be because of the blasting he received from Philadelphia Court of Pleas Judge Mark I. Bernstein in the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. wage and hour case. We've all read lots of dull opinions by judges, but this one, handed down today, is definitely not one of them.

Marquess of Legal Cost Control Inc. in Haddonfield is the expert that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. asked to opine on what legal fees would be reasonable for the plaintiffs' attorneys, led by Donovan and Searles LLP in Philadelphia. They won $141 million for 186,000 Wal-Mart workers in Pennsylvania who did not get paid for their breaks or for certain time worked off the clock, a jury found in Oct. 2006. You can read our coverage of the case here, including the most recent article about attorneys' fees.

To put it mildly, Marquess did not overwhelm Bernstein with his expertise. In fact, Bernstein puts the word "expert" in quotes in his opinion and prints page after page of dialogue in which Marquess can't remember whether he read a page of testimony or a volume or what he considered in how he came to the conclusion about what the plaintiffs' attorneys should get -- which was not the $49.2 million the judge ordered.

"Apparently Mr. Marquess makes no effort to ascertain a factual basis grounded in the litigation for fee cutting. No part of Mr. Marquess’s business includes any participation, control or even monitoring of litigation itself. He claims no expertise in reducing costs by the efficient management of litigation and makes no cost-saving suggestions to his client or litigation counsel. Mr. Marquess’s only function is to criticize the bills of attorneys who actually face a Judge and jury," wrote Bernstein.

Marquess did not even know the name of the case, Bernstein pointed out.

There's more fun stuff in this opinion. Bernstein describes the incredible amount of work involved in the case which went on for five years from the first filing in March 2002.

"Having presided over this litigation for years, this Court can personally confirm the extensive work, time, and effort devoted by both sides and specifically plaintiffs’ lawyers, pre-certification, at certification, pre-trial, trial and post-trial. The reasonableness of Plaintiffs’ fee request is established by its detailed documentation and the observations," he said.

Bernstein asked Wal-Mart to document its legal costs, and then figured that the plaintiffs' work would be harder because of the complications involved in dealing with, for example, 186,000 plaintiffs.

The court docket numbered 183 pages. "The defense forced plaintiffs to file innumerable successful motions to compel discovery," he wrote, adding, "Finally, on the Saturday before trial, Defendant Wal-Mart served notice on Plaintiffs of sixty never previously identified fact witnesses who they intended to call at trial."

In the end, Bernstein wrote, it took 26 lawyers and 17 paralegals to handle the plaintiffs' case over the five year period. And by the way, it's not over. Wal-Mart plans to appeal and must post a $250 million bond within 30 days.

- Jane M. Von Bergen

Commerce Bancorp Inc., whose founder Vernon Hill was ousted in June, says in a preliminary proxy filing that suitors didn't exactly line up to buy it afterward. Only two got as far as stating a price they would pay, and only TD Bank Financial Group's $8.5 billion offer included a premium. The proxy also spells out the payday for executives who stick around for three years: bank chairman Dennis DiFlorio would get $7.63 million, bank chief executive officer Robert Falese would get $7.33 million, and insurance division chairman George E. Norcross III would get $7.59 million.

- Harold Brubaker

Novavax Inc., the vaccine developer that moved here a few years only to turn and move back to Maryland, soon will have no local operations. A filing says it will close its 24,000-square-foot manufacturing plant on Red Lion Road in Northeast Philadelphia, where it made Estrasorb. The reason? It lost the manufacturing contract with Esprit Pharma Inc., just purchased by Allergan Inc. No word on employees' fate. Its Malvern corporate office has been subleased to Puricore Inc.

- Linda Loyd

Q: What do correctional officers call their rest periods?
A: Jail breaks.

Q: Why are correctional officers like tavern workers?
A: They both work behind bars.

Q: Why do correctional officers take a long time to state their opinions?
A: They are speaking guardedly.

Q: What sandwich do correctional officers like the most?
A: Peanut butter and jail-y.

OK. We'll stop (almost). And now for the real point of this posting:

You can get a tour of a city prison and apply for a job as a correctional officer at the same time. Philadelphia Prisons Commissioner Leon A. King 2d is holding an open house on Nov. 29 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, the city's "flagship" facility on State Road in Northeast Philadelphia. The open house includes guided tours of the housing area. Correctional officers start at $32,816 a year, with benefits. Here's the best news: When the tour is over, you can leave. RSVP by calling 215-685-8914. For more information, you can click on the city's prison web site.

Any more puns on this job? They must be G-rated, or they will be barred from the Philly Inc. Why should the lawyers have all the good jokes. Here's the great part. Both lawyers and prison guards can use "bar" as a basis for puns. Interesting isn't it?

- Jane M. Von Bergen

David L. Cohen's day job is executive vice president at Comcast Corp. But he has been adding other big titles at an impressive clip. Last Thursday, the National Urban League and Comcast said in a joint statement that Cohen would join the New York-based NUL's board of trustees. It's part of a new community-building partnership between the organization and the cable corporation. It accompanied Comcast's induction into the NUL's "Five Million Dollar Hall of Fame" for big donors, although unclear if the moves were linked. Back in October, Cohen was picked to become the next board chairman of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. He also sits on boards of University of Pennsylvania and Comcast itself.

- Thomas Ginsberg

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. has jumped hard on the environmental bandwagon, and actually acquired a legal trademark for the name "Green Branch." This is a telling, though perhaps logical, result of environmentalism's new cache in corporate marketing and growth strategies. PNC announced the moniker last week to drive home its claim to have more numerous "certified environmentally friendly buildings than any other company on Earth." The bank said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted its request because, essentially, it's a term few others would commonly use about a bank. At least in environmental terms. Plenty are named for green things (Valley Green Bank in Chestnut Hill, for instance.) Some color themselves green (Citizens Bank, for instance). But PNC went further, even if it couldn't grab the ultimate prize: "Green Bank" is a name already owned by Green Bancorp Inc. of Houston, says the trademark office.

- Thomas Ginsberg

David I. Wexler, the former CFO of Brandow Auto Group in Abington, is being hit with a lawsuit (along with other people) over alleged mismanagement of the firm, which was just sold. The Intelligencer's John Anastasi has an outline of the tale this morning. Anastasi writes that Brandow Auto Group executives are accusing Wexler of "overstating profits to increase his bonuses." He also writes:

Efforts to reach Wexler for comment over the last two weeks were unsuccessful. He didn't return messages left on his cell phone or a message left at a number listed as a business contact line. His home phone number apparently has been disconnected.

The lawyer who originally represented Wexler -- Philadelphia attorney Stephen Springer -- said he no longer was involved in the case now that it had moved to bankruptcy court. He declined to comment further.

"I'm not suggesting the claims in the suit are legitimate -- just because an allegation is made doesn't make it true -- but the Brandow civil suit is looking for monetary damages against Mr. Wexler," said Paul Winterhalter, Wexler's Philadelphia bankruptcy attorney.

"Mr. Wexler has no money to give and no money to fight," Winterhalter said.

Slap, slap, slap.

That could be the soundtrack to a U.S. Senate Finance Committee report last week that blisters GlaxoSmithKline PLC for what it calls "an orchestrated plan to silence" a critic over the diabetic drug Avandia, charges the company strongly disputes.

Back in 1999, John Buse, a University of North Carolina medical professor, suggested that the drug carried cardiovascular risk. In e-mails, executives of the company called Buse an "Avandia renegade" and considered suing him. One executive called Buse's department chairman to complain about him, the report said.

Buse wrote back to the company, saying "Please call off the dogs. I cannot remain civilized much longer under this kind of heat." He later sought money from the company for a continuing medical education program about Avandia.

To say that Rob Rush and his friends are devoted to the cheesesteak may be an understatement. On their Web site Cheese-steak Town (www. cheesesteaktown.com), they write under aliases such as "The Big Cheese" (Rush), "Fried Onion" (talent agency owner Kenny Fine), and the "Ozzard of Whiz" (lawyer and cartoonist Andy Stein), waxing poetic about D'alessandro's unpretentious lunch counter" in Roxborough, and pay homage to South Philadelphia's Pat's King of Steaks as the "sacred temple and the holy shrine of the Philadelphia cheesesteak."

Rush says Cheesesteak Town gets about 1,000 hits a day, which the ebullient 55-year-old describes as "shockingly high" because the site hasn't been heavily promoted. Yet, Cheesesteak Town has caught the attention of city tourism officials. And of the Roller Derby Hall of Fame, which asked the site to help promote its "Hall of Fame Weekend" last month. Web site users can write reviews, and vote for their favorite cheesesteak joints. They also can vote in photo contests for "Mr. Cheesesteak" and "Miss Cheesesteak." (For people more versed in cheesesteaks than Web production, these sorts of things are called user-generated content. This stuff, the theory goes, tends to keep Web users on sites longer, makes the site more attractive to advertisers and users more receptive to targeted marketing messages.)

In an interview with PhillyInc, Rush discussed his numerous careers, his devotion to the cheesesteak, and his plans for the Web site.

Question: Who are you, and why did you start the site?
Answer: I did it with a few friends of mine. It's three of us who run the thing, and we have a crew who helps us execute events and do press. I am a professional rock musician, and write for a British rock paper, The Beat.

Grassley, that is, the GOP senator from Iowa. His no-nonsense missives requesting congressional testimony by this or that pharmaceutical executive come often to Philadelphia. Now a Grassley letter is chasing a former Philadelphian to Seattle. GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C.'s former R&D chief, Tadataka "Tachi" Yamada, who is retired from the industry and now works at the Gates Foundation, has been "asked" to testify to Grassley's Finance Committee about alleged intimidation of a researcher who was critical of GSK's diabetes drug Avandia. The story blew open last week when the committee released its report on the John Buse affair and concluded GSK behaved badly.

No indication when, or if, Yamada will comply. But it does show, you can take the man out of Big Pharma, but you can't take Big Pharma out of the man.

- Thomas Ginsberg

Drexel University real estate people are among the potential buyers who have made repeat visits to the Inquirer and Daily News building at 400 North Broad Street and the parking garage and lot behind it on 15th Street in recent weeks.

Agents for Drexel's Center City medical campus, which includes the dorms, bookstore and classrooms surrounding Hahneman University Hospital, have also been talking to property owners in the 300 block of North 15th Street, just south of the papers' back door, according to real estate sources.

The papers' owner, Philadelphia Media Holdings LP, said last year it wanted to sell the 1920s-era tower, which has been underused since prior owners moved the printing presses and trucks to Upper Merion Township in the early 1990s. The neighboring property at 440 North Broad, once home to the late Inquirer owner Walter Annenberg's TV Guide magazine, now houses offices of the Philadelphia School District.

No word on whether Drexel would share space with, or displace, the 1,000-plus news, advertising, circulation, finance and online workers now in the space. Philadelphia Media chief executive officer Brian P. Tierney declined comment. A Drexel spokesman and the university's real estate office did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

- Joseph N. DiStefano

PennPIRG, the national public-interest group's Pennsylvania state chapter, whose director is James Browning, has sent out a statement asserting that a national study of state-government Web sites reveals "how far Pennsylvania lags behind the forefront of this national trend."

Not that we're huge fans of the site and haven't cursed it from time to time, but this seemed excessive. So we looked at the report by a PIRG-sympathetic group called Good Jobs First, and we see that Pennsylvania actually got a better grade than most other states. It ranks not below the national trend, but above it by a healthy margin. (See page 3-4 in this summary). Pennsylvania and New Jersey had average scores of 73 percent each, tied for 12th place among 50 states, while the national average was 60 percent. OK, all the states' may stink in their online offerings and disclosures of contracts and lobbying. But even by that standard, Pennsylvania and New Jersey stank less than most others in the group's study.

Then we wondered why PIRG dissed Pennsylvania so erroneously. We dug around and discovered that PennPIRG’s press release was actually a boilerplate document used almost word-for-word by at least two other chapters, MarylandPIRG and Massachusetts PIRG. Each press release uses the same "lag" wording. And the three we read even used the same quotation -- "Transparency is necessary to keep a watchful eye on the public purse" -- attributed to three different people: PennPIRG's Browning, MassPIRG legislative director Deirdre Cummings, and MarylandPIRG policy advocate Johanna Neumann. The PennPIRG version didn't even bother to change the Browning's pronoun from "she" to "he" in his quote.

We left a phone message for Browning today but he hasn't returned it yet.

This "boilerplating" or "cookie-cutting" of news releases seems to be getting more common. It may be cost-efficient for P.R. agencies trying to kill several birds with one stone, so to speak. But do they think reporters won't realize it? Or that it doesn't matter? We've said it before and we’ll say it again: It hurts your credibility and your message.

- Thomas Ginsberg

Following up on our boilerplate press release post yesterday, James Browning, director of PennPIRG, got back to us yesterday evening. We told him that Pennsylvania, contrary to his statement that it "lags" the national trend, actually is ahead of the national average in the study. He paused, then said:

"PennPIRG has been calling for greater accountability by the state, to know how tax dollars are spent, and sunshine is the best antidote for [problems]."

He continued: "In making the argument for Pennsylvania to do more, and in talking about this with (PIRG chapters in) other states, the argument we're making is it's not keeping up with the latest technology in this area. Given the great possibilities of the Internet, it lags behind other states."

We responded that we completely agree that disclosure and sunshine are crucial and noted we work for a publication (The Inquirer) that has actively lobbied for strong sunshine laws. But we pointed out, again, that the study does not support his use of the term "lag" for Pennsylvania and is ranked next to New Jersey in the study at No. 12 nationwide.

He said: "The state making improvement is New Jersey. ... Jersey has made improvements recently. The argument is keeping up with the joneses."

Not getting anywhere. So we switched and asked why his press release seems to be a boilerplate statement used by several states. It uses an identical quotation attributed to several PIRG directors in different states, and even uses the pronoun "she" instead of "he" in his own case. So was that really his quotation?

Browning: "I certainly talk to other PIRG people on these trends. There were conservations about the issue. ... My thoughts and PennPIRG's statement is here. ... I stand by this statement. ... My predecessor was female, and I have a couple former press releases from her. ... That's just a typo. ... It's just my mistake -- it has nothing to do with this issue."

The issue? OK, I asked again how PIRG can advance this issue by claiming something -- Pennsylvania lagging the nation -- that its own evidence doesn't support?

Browning: "Our position on 'lagging' is there's a lot more that needs to be done that Pennsylvania is not doing."

Will let this speak for itself. We would note that the last time we wailed on somebody for boilerplating their press releases, they owned up to it quickly.)

- Thomas Ginsberg

James J. Maguire Sr., chairman and founder of Philadelphia Insurance Cos. in Wayne, has made a relatively big purchase of his own company's shares. He said in an SEC filing yesterday that he bought 114,500 shares worth $4.2 million worth this week. Maguire is at least 73 and this could be for his children. The filing says the purchases were "made from family trusts, of which certain of his children are beneficiaries." PHLY stock rose about 1 percent to $38.26 since his purchase at $37.

- Thomas Ginsberg

Environmental Tectonics Corp. is reporting more fallout from its dispute with the U.S. Navy over a contract. After taking a charge for the value of the receivables of that contract, the Southampton company now says in a filing to the SEC that it must restate its prior financial statements. And that means it is not in compliance with its $15 million credit agreement with PNC Bank.

ETC, which makes decompression chambers and simulation trainers, says it has borrowed $14.3 million under the agreement, and PNC Bank could demand immediate payment. Gerry Lenfest, a big Tectonics shareholder, has guaranteed all of the company's obligations under the PNC Bank loan. ETC's audit committee has identified errors in accounting related to the Navy contract. Until it figures out what happened, the company is telling investors not to rely on its financial statements for the last five fiscal years.

- Thomas Ginsberg

Enersys, the battery and power-system maker based in Reading, rose 14 percent last week on the NYSE, one of the biggest moves among Philadelphia area non-penny stocks. Unclear why. Since Nov. 8, several officers including CEO John D. Craig and president Raymond R. Kubis have sold a total of $18 million worth of stock and options, according to InsiderScore.com. No answer Friday at the company to our call asking for explanation. Anybody know what's happening?

It looks like the real estate mess is starting to hit the Philadelphia area. Royal Bancshares of Pennsylvania Inc. of Narberth, led by Joseph P. Campbell, announced about 10 days ago in an SEC filing that it is holding up releasing its third-quarter results pending a review of its loan portfolio. This doesn't look good. The company says that at a minimum it will take a $5.2 million charge related to an equity position in a condominium development (unknown which one). It says it also has hired an outside consultant to assist in evaluating its loan portfolio and determining a loan loss provision for the third quarter. Ugh!

Then the bad news hit RBPAA stock, which dropped 20 percent last week, although note that two insider directors, John M. Decker and Sam Goldstein, seemed to consider it a buying opportunity.

At first read, I was fearful the charges were related to Royal's newest banking subsidiary, Royal Asian Bank (Also, see story here about community banks). The company has two banking subs: Royal Asian Bank and Royal Bank America, the original Royal Bank. However, a review of the Sept. 30 FDIC's Call Report (enter "Royal Asian Bank, Philadelphia, Pa.") shows no delinquencies and no non-accruals. That's an unbelievably stellar record.

No, the problem seems to be at Royal Bank America, according to the FDIC Call Report (enter "Royal Bank America, Narberth, PA"). It notes: "Past Due Loans 30 days through 89 days and still accruing" in the construction, land development and other land loan category. It skyrocketed to $10,224,000 from a respectable $763,000 since just June 30 this year. Wow!

Hopefully this represents more than one deal. Royal Bank's legal limit is around $16 million, or 15 percent of its capital. So Royal could legally make a $10 million deal. But, as they say, that's a lot of eggs in one basket. I would hope this new loan problem represents several deals that just happened to go delinquent at the same time.

Certainly I can't tell why this happened, or the outcome of this situation. But I do think it's a harbinger of things to come at other Philadelphia area banks. Some of these banks have been pretty active in the real estate development market: good loan volume; good fees and good interest rates. Have they "reached" from time to time? Sure! In a vibrant economy delinquencies and losses were well controlled at Royal and most other banks. But in a weak real estate market?

I suspect over the next several quarters we will see large increases in real-estate related delinquencies, non-accruals and ultimately loan charge-offs. Unfortunately it's a sign of the times: tighter credit standards being applied to individuals who want to buy homes; higher gas and energy prices; difficulty in selling existing homes to upgrade; less consumer optimism and all that.

If I were at a credit desk today, I'd certainly want to upgrade my credit standards for new loans and try to tighten up some of my existing relationships. Things may soon get messy for Philadelphia-area banks with large construction and land loan portfolios. If you have any contrary or supporting thoughts, I'm all ears.

- Larry Jilk is a former Pennsylvania bank executive, who does not own any RBPAA stock but does own stock in several commercial banks headquartered in Pennsylvania.

Opinions expressed by contributors to PhillyInc are exclusively those of the contributors.

Your mouth, that is.

Allow us to explain. Earlier this month, a Chicago firm said its survey showed that companies will spend more on holiday parties this year. Then a rival New York firm said no, its survey showed that they will spend less.

Figured we can play this game, too. Our own unscientific, unreliable and pretty facile online poll found a third answer: a plurality (42 percent) said Philly-area companies will do just what they did last year. Not more. Not less. Another quarter said their parties will be smaller and cheaper. And about 15 percent said their gigs will be bigger and costlier. But the total votes? Just 26, a tiny sampling, like those big firms' polls. In other words, who knows what really will happen.

Our poll: Will your Philly-area company hold a holiday party this year?

So let's call this whole parties-as-economic-indicator game off. Just go, enjoy yourself, don't bad-mouth any colleagues, then go home.

Which leads us to another, better angle: Robert Graber of yet another jobs firm, WallStJobs.com, sent out a reminder last week (download here) about office-holiday party etiquette. It emphasized keeping your mouth shut about colleagues. The urge to bad-mouth a co-worker or boss may be strong during shop talk. But be extra careful because you never know who's within earshot, he said, especially "in the elevator, on the coat check line and in the rest room!"

Did you ever stick your foot in your mouth at an office holiday party? We've worked for news organizations most of our adult life, and news organizations frankly are pretty bad about throwing office parties. Drinking sessions at a bar or dinner party, yes, but organized holiday shindigs, no. So we don't have a good blabber-mouth tale we can recall. Maybe it will come to us later. Maybe your stories will jar some memories.

- Thomas Ginsberg

For Flying Fish Brewing Co. owner Gene Muller, beer isn't just a beverage, it's a way of life. Before he started the Cherry Hill-based brewery in August 1996, he would take vacations to the West Coast to try new beers. He went to school to become a brewer after leaving his job as an advertising creative director for the Albert Einstein Health Care Network, figuring he would get a job making someone else's suds.

Then while on a long road trip through Arkansas, Muller was inspired to start his own brewery. He canceled plans to move to New Mexico and instead set up shop in South Jersey, where has managed to attract a loyal following among the beer-literate residents of the Delaware Valley.

The company, which employs 16, has had its share of growing pains. It recently completed a strategic plan to keep it on track. He said the company was profitable but declined to give specifics. Flying Fish plans to install a $500,000 bottling line in December that the company says will increase capacity by 25 percent. It will let the company brew new types of beer and put its product in bigger bottles.

Muller told us: "Please get my title correct — it's president and head janitor." Then he held forth on the virtues of the beer business and demands of quality control (a.k.a. drinking the beer).

Q: Why did you decide to open a brewery?
A: That was a moment of weakness, I think. I was actually looking to move to New Mexico and on the long ride back through a particularly boring part of Arkansas, we came up with the idea for the brewery. All of our contacts were in the Philadelphia area, so we decided to do it here.

As crude oil watchers continue to wonder when and if black gold will hit the milestone $100-per-barrel mark, we take you on a trip down memory lane for some perspective on things. A ride through the newspaper clips might make you wonder -- haven't we sort of been here before? Aren't we all still here to talk about it?

Before beginning, we ask: Do you remember Abscam? The Iranian hostage crisis? When the 76ers, the Flyers and the Phillies all made it to the championship in the same year? If so, then chances are high that you also remember that in 1980 -- a year of extreme highs, it seems -- crude oil set a price record that would stand unbroken to this day.

Until now. Or, possibly, very soon.

Depending on who's doing the math, rising crude oil prices are only a few dollars away from breaking the 1980 record that made rising oil prices a nearly-daily headline. Back in early 1980, oil hit $38 a barrel. Adjusted for inflation, that would be worth $96 to $103 or more today, according to The Associated Press. Oil reached a $99.29 high last week but futures dropped today to about $97 a barrel. One reason? The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may be poised to increase supply.

Anxiety about crude 27 years ago sounded awfully similar to the way today's turmoil is playing in the headlines. OPEC was just one of the daily refrains in coverage of steep prices and economic anxiety back then in The Inquirer:

Another sharp increase in world oil prices could seriously worsen the already gloomy outlook for the nation's economy this year, President Carter and his advisers said yesterday.

- From a January 31, 1980 story.

"The immediate issue is how to get through the early 1980s with a well-functioning economy."

- Harvard University energy experts Robert Stobaugh and Daniel Yergin, from a February 7, 1980, story.

There'll be plenty of gasoline, but you'll be paying plenty for it.

- Headline from a February 28, 1980, story.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has engaged in a pricing free-for-all that has more than doubled world oil prices since early 1979.

- From a June 9, 1980 story.

Heated words on the state of gas prices.

- Headline from a June 19, 1980 story.

On the bright side: Although some economists fear we may be entering a recession, the fact of the matter is that the national economy still is holding up pretty well compared to 1980, when inflation and unemployment were considerably higher.

OPEC ministers will be meeting next week. Let's wait and see what happens.

- Maria Panaritis

The chief executive officers of two Philadelphia pharmaceutical giants -- J.P. Garnier at GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. and Richard T. Clark at Merck & Co. Inc. -- have cut a deal that may say something about their strategies. They say in a joint statement that Merck had sold to GSK the rights to one of its biggest early blockbusters, the statin Mevacor for high cholesterol. In its heyday, Mevacor enshrined Merck as King of Big Pharma. Later knocked from its perch, Merck sought permission to sell an over-the-counter Mevacor. But Merck didn't succeed (yet, notes Ed Silverman at Pharmalot) and Merck doesn't really do OTC. So passing the drug to GSK -- for undisclosed milestone and royaly payments -- could generate cash for Clark's R&D and lets J.P. keep growing his OTC empire despite the nay-sayers. Win-win, as they say, if the FDA goes along, that is.

- Thomas Ginsberg

Vernon W. Hill II is back in business. The ousted founder and ex-CEO of Commerce Bancorp Inc. is setting up a new private-investment firm in Chevy Chase, Md., to invest in mid-cap banks. His partner is Gary Townsend, former bank analyst at Friedman Billings Ramsey Group Inc. in Virginia, and a vocal Commerce fan whose deep voice could be counted on to ask some of the more understanding questions during Hill's often-tense quarterly earnings calls. They're calling the firm Hill-Townsend Capital (press release is here).

Will they be activist investors? "Vernon is long-term. That remains part of his thinking," Townsend told us. Yes, but will they push reluctant bank managers to shape up or sell out? "It's too early to say." Hill, who has a palatial home in Moorestown, couldn't be reached at his office. Bloomberg News notes that his stock holdings in Commerce (which has agreed to be purchased by Toronto-Dominion Bank) were worth roughly $177 million as of yesterday.

- Joseph N. DiStefano

The stock price of Exelon Corp., the Chicago-based parent of Peco Energy and Exelon Generation Co. L.L.C. in Philadelphia, has bubbled up steadily over the last year and hit a five-year high in the last few weeks. Turns out that's particularly good for chief executive officer John W. Rowe: He has exercised stock options valued at nearly $54 million so far this year, including $3.6 million last week alone, according to InsiderScore and SEC filings. Compare that with his compensation last year of $10.9 million. He made the sales under his 10b5-1 stock plan, which allows insiders to prearrange their sales. Rowe set these sale dates in September 2006 and seemed to pick well. Exelon closed yesterday at $82.30, nearly 38 percent above a year earlier. Says spokeswoman Jennifer Medley: "We are a pay-for-performance company, and when the company does well, our executives do well."

- Thomas Ginsberg

Dennis Gomes, the onetime president of Trump Taj Mahal, likes to boast that he "never ever gives up." Indeed, since leaving Atlantic City in 2005 after Columbia-Sussex Corp. bought his Aztar Corp., he's been trying to get back in the game. In 2006, he joined with New York real estate magnate Morris Bailey in a failed Poconos slots deal. Last summer, he teamed up with Bailey again to try to buy Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., but The Donald evidently didn't like their offer.

Now, Gomes is trying yet again. He and David Cordish, owner of real estate development firm Cordish Co., of Baltimore, have created Gomes+Cordish Gaming Management L.L.C., based in Maryland. This is the same Cordish who took a run at buying Trump Entertainment Resorts in A.C. last month but couldn't nail the financing. Cordish's past projects include The Walk in Atlantic City and two Hard Rock-themed casino hotels in Florida. He's now working on a casino complex at the Indiana Downs racetrack.

For Gomes, another bite at the apple.

- Suzette Parmley