Day: May 24, 2019

Philly Legend Leaves WPVI After 31 Years

A local TV legend in Philadelphia has left WPVI after 31 years.

Anchor-reporter Monica Malpass signed off of the 5 pm newscast on Wednesday for the last time.

“I have decided to move on, but it’s with mixed emotions that I leave after more than 31 years,” Monica stated. “I have loved being your anchorwoman. This is a wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family. It was certainly a difficult decision to make, but I’m excited to spend more time with my young family while I choose the next great opportunity.”

Malpass says she is pursuing a number of national and international opportunities.

 

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Special Report: Teens accused in plot to lure men in on Tinder and then rob them at gunpoint

Tinder stressed in its guidelines the importance of spending time talking on the app and meeting in a populated space.

Five teens have been arrested for a string of armed robberies against men who believed they were meeting up with a woman they had met on Tinder, police said.

Bryan Gonzalez, 19; Jonathan Jimenez, 18; Lesly Portillo, 18; Yarida Villareal, 19; and an unidentified 15-year-old male were arrested separately in San Jose, California. Police say they were booked on multiple charges, including robbery, carjacking, auto theft and hit and run.

The group created fake profiles on the Tinder dating app under the names Becky or Victoria, police said in a news release. They would communicate with men on the app and convince them to meet up.

“The times and locations were usually in the late evening hours on secluded streets near a park,” the release said.

Instead of Becky or Victoria, police said, several masked suspects would meet the victims and beat them, rob them, and carjack them at gunpoint.

The adult suspects are being held in Santa Clara County Jail and the minor was booked into Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Amanda Estantino of the San Jose Police Department’s Robbery Unit at 408-277-4166.

Tinder’s safety guidelines encourage users to take precautions when meeting people offline.

“Bad actors often push people to communicate off the platform immediately,” the company said. “Meet for the first time in a populated, public place — never in a private or remote location, and never at your home or apartment. If your date pressures you, end the date and leave at once.”

 

 

California Dreamin’ – 1982 to 1984 – That’s Not a Guitar. Put it Down

I was with my bandmates passing through Santa Barbara CA. headed to Orange County where we had a gig the next day. While walking around browsing stores and enjoying the nice day we found ourselves in this huge store that had a little bit of everything including a lot of used items. I ran across an odd sized guitar case that was leaning up against the wall so I opened it to see what it contained. Turned out to be one of those latin style instruments with the courses of 3 strings together, can’t think of the name at the moment, but I had never seen one in person and was kinda thrilled and excited to mess with it.

I was plinkin’ away and about that time this kinda dumpy old Hispanic man came up and tried to take it from me. He couldn’t speak English and though not getting especially angry or too physical he was obviously trying to get it from me. I’m like “Hey gramps, I saw it first”. But he wouldn’t let up. I finally gave him a pantomime of “Dude, back off”. With that he walked away and I look at my buddies like what was that all about? A few minutes later the guy comes back with a younger man that could speak English. Turned out the old man was a street musician and that was his personal guitar. He was friends with the store owner and he would set it in that particular spot whenever he took a break.

I was so embarrassed. I told the young guy to explain what happened and that I was very sorry. He was actually pretty cool about it smiled and shook my hand.
But I got ribbed about that the whole weekend. My band mates were all “You big bully stealing an old man’s guitar”.

 

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