In case you didn’t hear, chain restaurants and retail food establishments in Philly will have to post nutritional information for food and beverages starting January 2010. The new menu labeling law made headlines last week locally and nationally. NYC was among the first in the nation to pioneer menu labeling. But the Big Apple’s law is not as tough as the one the [...]

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter told the crowd last Thursday night that after seven previous meetings he has got the message that people don’t want him to make the budget cuts. But the mayor said, they will happen. Facing a $108 million dollar shortfall between now and June 30th the city, he said, has to make [...]

In the latest It’s Our City TV interview, we get an update on reforms underway in Philadelphia’s Department of Health and Human Services. The overhaul was ordered by our guest Anne Marie Ambrose following the indictment of two DHS social workers and others related to the death of Danieal Kelly.  This interview was recorded on [...]

A neighborhood with overgrown and trash-covered vacant lots is a perennial issue often facing poor neighborhoods. So how does a community nip this sort of problem in the bud? In Philadelphia, one of the answers has been the municipally-funded Community LandCare (CLC) program. But it’s now at risk of being wiped out as part of Mayor Michael Nutter’s $108 million budget cut plan.
The Community [...]

The 8th and final town hall meeting on Philadelphia’s emergency budget cuts tapped into the uneasy relationship some neighborhoods have with police. While most of the anti-police comments were coming from Uhuru Movement members, who believe government oppresses all African-Americans, some of their comments drew applause and cheers. Perhaps the most striking came when one [...]

Today, the mayors of several cities are meeting with the Obama transition team to plead their case for a piece of the economic stimulus package.  The U.S. Conference of Mayors has posted the wish lists of the several cities here.  Of course, we’re most interested in Mayor Nutter’s list - $2.6 billion for projects ranging [...]

In doing the reporting for her story below, WHYY’s Elizabeth Fiedler paid a visit to the Gallery at Market East and talked to patrons of the mall and folks who work nearby.  She wanted to find out whether people who frequent the Gallery or are regularly in close proximity would find themselves tempted to spend [...]

From Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane:
Hour 1
CHARLES RAMSEY talks about his first year as Philadelphia Police Commissioner. We discuss budget cuts, the city’s crime rates, and how the department is coping with the loss of recently slain officers. Ramsey was chief of the Metropolitan Police Deparment of the District of Columbia from 1998-2006. Before that, [...]

This time of year companies all over the region are receiving special little gifts and packages from their vendors as a way of saying “Happy Holidays” and “Keep the Business Coming.”  If you work for any kind of business that pays for a service or refers customers to another company, you know what I’m talking [...]

I just got back from my very first Fancy Brigade rehearsal where the captain of the troupe delivered the news that the parade would go on thanks to a deal with the mayor and yet another case of crisis management by Congessman Bob Brady.
Yes.  I was at a rehearsal.  No. I’m not going to be [...]