In December of 2006 the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board awarded 11 casino licenses. Two of them were for Philadelphia. In the board’s statement it expected Sugarhouse Casino to be open by April 2008 and Foxwoods later that year in November. The site for Sugarhouse is still flat except for a lot of dirt shuffled around. [...]

Jon, Jon, Jon - why did it have to come to this?
In a world that is such a target-rich environment for his brand of political humor, why did Jon Stewart have to start his pre-inaugural version of The Daily Show Monday night with a weak, throwaway gibe at our fair city?
He opened the show with [...]

by Peter Crimmins and Elizabeth Fiedler, WHYY News
Across Philadelphia people gathered in auditoriums, classrooms, and on outdoor lawns to watch the historical swearing-in of the 44th President of the United States.  The crowd on Independence Mall stood in rapt attention on the frozen ground.

by Susan Phillips, WHYY News
Today’s Inauguration of Barack Obama has Philadelphians hoping for better economic times.  The city faces a growing deficit, library closings and possible tax increases.  So what can the new administration do for Philadelphia?
Wynnewood resident Will Archer: “More than anything else i think it breaks the glass ceiling for what people of [...]

Well, you didn’t think I’d string you along for the past week without including a pic from the actual day of the Inauguration, did you?  A countdown that started well over 500 days ago (at least since I’ve been observing it) has finally ended and this residence in Philadelphia marks the beginning of a new [...]

In every town across a huge, humbled nation, the scene was repeated today - in classrooms, in cloisters, in town squares and corporate cafeterias, in coffee shops and senior centers.
Americans gathered, clapped, cheered, laughed, wept or listened in rapt silence as Barack Obama took the oath of office as president of our nation, enacting for [...]

WHYY’s Tom MacDonald Jon Hoban braved the cold and was on out Independence Mall just moments ago and took these pictures of the gathering crowds.

This is the scene from just a few minutes ago at the WHYY studios on Independence Mall. We’ll be following this up with a quick video of what’s going on outside at the Independence Mall Jumbotron.
Tell us what’s going on where you are!

Video taken at 11:08am by Jason Kleinman an intern for It’s Our City and a graduate student in public policy at Rutgers University.

by Tom MacDonald, WHYY News
On this Martin Luther King Jr. Day Of Service, a record number of volunteers are expected to participate in public service projects across the Greater Philadelphia region.
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