UnFree Parking: I just noticed that the PPA’s new parking meters have spread to the block between 2nd and 3rd on the north side of Market.  They’ve been in place at Headhouse Square for several months.  If the city had more control over the PPA’s revenue, they might actually enjoy some of the benefits that Baltimore is enjoying from the same new technology.

Seasonal Parking Restrictions: The Huffington Post’s attempt at local news in Chicago apparently includes a column called “Ask the Parking Ticket Geek.”  Today’s question: why restrict parking from December 1 to April 31 if there’s no snow on the ground?  In Philly, the question would be, why have no parking on alternate Tuesdays from March to December when no one’s cleaning the streets anyway?

SEPTA Watch watching for a strike: Negotiations have begun.  Fingers crossed everyone.

Rearranging the deck chairs: I never get tired of stories and articles about the S.S. United States.  On the S.S. Minnow ranks higher on my list of ships that start with “S.S.”  Unfortunately, according to that article by the Weekly, the answer to which direction that ship is heading may be… down.

Stop the presses: Governing.com blogs about a Fitch report that ominously warns of the potential loss of newspapers in several cities across the nation.  December 31, 2009: will the Inquirer and Daily News (not to mention Delco Times, Bucks County Courier Times, Chester County Daily Local, etc.) still be around?

Not so magna cartas: Inquirer finished up their two part series on charter schools in Philadelphia.  While a few charters have some governance or oversight issues, the addition of these choices to the public school landscape seems to have benefited a lot of students.

Round House 4 Sale: Got a few million and an interest in an iconic Philadelphia municipal building?  Heard in the Hall reports on the potential sale of Philadelphia’s Police Headquarters.  Center City District’s Paul Levy provides the obligatory “what cool things can we have in that location” quote.  This one is of special interest to us here at WHYY.  I’m hoping for at least a ground floor coffee shop or possibly a new Marathon Grill location.