The breaking news is that Judge Idee C. Fox has issued an order stating that Mayor Michael Nutter can NOT go ahead with his planned library closures on or after January 1st without City Council approval.
The Inky has some details but it appears that the Nutter administration will appeal the verdict.
WHYY’s Tom MacDonald reports even if [...]

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 [...]

By Tom MacDonald
Click below to listen to this story.
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Mayor Michael Nutter has announced a plan to replace some of the services offered city libraries set to close Thursday and some activists aren’t satisfied.
The mayor says an after school program offered at the 11 libraries scheduled to be closed this [...]

Philadelphia’s plans to close 11 branch libraries remain on track. The affected libraries will close their doors for good this Wednesday, December 31st. Some of you have wondered if any of the services provided at the libraries will be continued. To get some answers, we contacted Sandy Horrocks at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Here’s what we’ve been able to find out [...]

The city’s budget crunch has book lovers looking for ways to keep 11 library branches open, reaching out to foundations, individuals and corporations. Mayor Michael Nutter says an announcement about a partnership is imminent.  But options may be limited for Philadelphia residents hoping to save their neighborhood libraries.  WHYY’s Susan Phillips reports.
Click here to [...]

By Ben Bradlow
Amid the hum of skateboard wheels against the concrete of Love Park, about 30 gay activists gathered in the frigid cold on Saturday evening. As one opposite-sex couple tentatively made their way through “We Shall Overcome” and “If I Had a Hammer,” others joined in, quickly becoming confident in the spirit of the [...]

Remember Unisys?  They most recently made news when their plans to relocate their corporate headquarters to Two Liberty Place were thwarted by a newly invigorated Zoning Board of Adjustment who denied them the permission to affix a giant lighted sign to side of Philadelphia’s third tallest building.
The company is back in the news today with [...]

Blogging will be light today since I really have to get to some video editing but I’ll open today’s blogging with this fun post from Governing.com’s blog, The 13th Floor:
Here’s the darkest headline I can remember seeing on a press release:
Cities Officials Hold the Worst Outlook in the Nation’s Direction in Nearly 20 Years

And here is [...]

Links I didn’t get to for December 22, 2008:
Patrick Kerkstra reports on Philadelphia Forward’s financial difficulties and the fact that Brett Mandel’s outfit - the loudest one-man-reform-band in history - could be shutting its doors.  Much like baseball broadcaster outlasted the blog Fire Joe Morgan, it appears that Philadelphia’s unreformed tax system may be around [...]

Being an advocate of transit and a frequent rider myself, one of my favorite subjects to write about (and often deride) is our own Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.  So I meant to post this item from SEPTA Watch - the blog I’d love to do if I someone weren’t doing it already - but Philadelphia [...]