A string of 17 arsons have shaken the 11,000+ residents of Coatesville, Chester County since early December. Dating back to the beginning of 2008, there have been 30.

It’s a story I was researching at Fox29 today, as I helped to compile reports on the most recent arsons following last night’s biggest one yet, where 15 rowhomes caught fire, displacing 11 families.

Out of the arsons, one elderly woman was killed as a result of the fire. But everyone involved in the fires so far are innocent victims.

National news organizations, like CNN and Fox News, have picked up the story.

The coverage by the Philadelphia media has been great, especially since the Coatesville area is not very convenient for Philly news organizations to get out there. But more importantly, they’ve been publicizing the story, putting it on the radar of those other than police.

I now have the pleasure of following up with this story.

Thanks to my obsession with cbs3.com, I found that our friend, Fr. Robert Whipkey, has been sentenced to five years’ probation.

He has to register as a sex offender. He’s no longer permitted to preach. And he’s having trouble looking for work.

All for running naked around a high school track in the early hours of the morning.

No reason has been given for the naked jog. I’m not so sure one is needed.

Yeah. This could be me some day.

I’ve been a big fan of Jeff Deck after seeing a report about him on ABC News. TEAL, or the Typo Eradication Advancement League, has been under controversy lately. As you might infer, that link isn’t what the Web site looks like normally.

Deck and his team literally go around America to copy edit everything — menus, business signs, highway signs — everything. So then they touched the pictured sign — a hand-painted sign at Grand Canyon National Park.

The National Park Service didn’t like this, so they fined TEAL $3,035 to repair the sign. They’re also banned from all national parks for one year (pity, I know).

This just proves — grammar is more than words. It’s a crime.

Larry Mendte has pleaded guilty to one felony count of hacking into Alycia Lane‘s e-mail inbox.

CNN, again, has picked it up. And CBS3 led their noon news with the story.

Supported by a dozen family members inside court, including his wife, Fox29 anchor Dawn Stensland, Mendte was quiet as he left the courthouse. Stensland did have one thing to say:

I love my husband, and he’s a good man.

Though Mendte could face up to six months in jail, federal prosecutors agreed not to discuss sentencing at today’s brief hearing.

After hearing an assistant U.S. attorney recount the government evidence of his hacking into Lane’s account more than 500 times, Mendte verbally acknowledged the evidence.

From the Inqy:

Mendte told the judge that he was “a little nervous, your honor, but I feel okay” as she sought to make sure that Mendte wanted to plead guilty and was legally competent to do so.

Apparently, he also acknowledged he’s been seeing a therapist since the entire scandal erupted.

Sentencing is scheduled to take place in November. A press conference by Mendte’s attorney is scheduled for later this afternoon. CBS3.com is your place for the up-to-the minute details…and of course, I’ll blog about them later.

The title is meant to be sung to the tune of Dr. Elmo’s “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.”

I’m really only posting this story because I want to use my “Old People” tag.

A less-than-likely suspect was arrested for drug possession in Florida. The perp’s stats?

A 70-year-old Latina woman from Miami.

Apparently, she was purchasing it for her son. She denies her own use, but claims the officers were a little rough with her, citing a bruised wrist.

It’ll be interesting to see whether the judge empathizes. Only problem is, we’ll never hear from this case again because the interesting part is over…

It’s so big, even CNN picked it up.

Fired CBS3 anchor Larry Mendte has been charged with one felony count of intentionally accessing a protected computer without autorization and thereby obtaining information in furtherance of a tortious act.

In other words, he allegedly snooped in Alycia Lane’s e-mail accounts (Yahoo! and .mac) and divulged private information — especially privileged communication between her and her lawyer — to an unnamed Philadelphia Daily News reporter (although, one…er, many names are swirling).

Regardless, that DN reporter won’t get charged. Only Mendte will.

A source says that Mendte is expected to plead guilty at his arraignment in the coming weeks. Snooping can get him zero to six months in prison, though according to a philly.com poll, most think he’ll just get a “slap on the wrist.”

The Information given by the district court in United States of America v. Lawrence Mendte lists every time Mendte accessed Lane’s e-mail account since Jan. 1, 2008. It lists from where he accessed it — usually from KYW, his Chestnut Hill home or his “vacation residence” — multiple times per day.

Since Jan. 1, he’s accessed it about 537 times until May 28, when his computers were confiscated.

The information (linked below) really is an entertaining read and gives those unfamiliar with the case (I know, laughable) can get caught up, stemming from Alycia Lane’s initial arrest in December 2007. Fun stuff, right?

As of 5:50 p.m. Monday, all the major stations in Philly except 6ABC have reported it. NBC10′s All That and More dedicated its call-in topic to it: “Is snooping e-mail the same as snooping snail mail.” They’re probably just trying to cover up their own anchor troubles.

Check out the full court information here!

The Daily News did a great job today summing up the apparent life of Joseph Genovese Jr.

The 18-year-old’s MySpace page was still up for grabs in the public domain when DN reporters searched for it — and they grabbed as much as they could. His mugshot is actually his profile pic. Humble, no?

NOTE: I did try searching MySpace for the profile, but had no success. If you find it, please share!

Genovese tragically hit and killed St. Louis native Cindy Grassi, 43, who was walking from Citizens Bank Park last weekend after watching her home team play the Phillies. She has since passed away while her friend, who was also hit, is in critical condition.

He was also allegedly drunk at the time. But from his comments talking to reporters, he’s “not a drinker.”

MySpace tells us differently.

Let’s pull some quotes from pictures of his antics. Pictured holding a bottle of alcohol:

i DRAnK DAt WHOLE BOtTLe!!

Picture of him, smoking a bong:

LOok AT ALL DATT WEeD!!!! ahaha brought a POUNd just 2go 2pROM!!!!!!

And under his occupation:

Chronic Dealer, Philadelphia, Pa US, HusLa, weed, dope, crack, heroin, meth., and wAT EVa U FIEn for!

Mmhmm.

He turned himself in yesterday, apparently pale and tragic. He’s held on $200,000 bail and now faces involuntary manslaughter, homicide by vehicle, homicide by vehicle while under the influence and DUI.

And the report says his MySpace page, which remains public, is not helping his cause…

The flattering mugshot says it all.

He was arrested for allegedly sexually harrassing a 17-year-old girl.

He was also found with Xanax and marijuana.

And apparently, he’s had a history of exposing and relieving himself in front of (and, occasionally, on) many unassuming poor souls.

This mugshot above is not the Andy Dick I remember. I remember the Andy Dick with the obnoxious humor and second-rate television gigs. This Andy Dick is more like the first cousin once removed you rarely associate with.

Not that I have one of those, of course.

Drunk bicycling. Yes, it exists.

Just ask this man, Jeffrey Burke, who was arrested for it. He chose not to drink and drive on July 4. Rather, he hopped on his bicycle. A commendable effort. Still not the smartest, but at the very least, commendable.

However, according to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a bicycle is a vehicle, thus a DUI is applicable. Sure enough, Mr. Burke got into an accident.

Now, Mr. Burke didn’t cause the accident — he was hit by a driver who got a ticket for, yes, careless driving — but he was still arrested.

Funny, I don’t really consider it driving a bike.

So a word of warning — wherever you are, stay put. Two wheels or four.