Greg, who happens to be a friend of mine and someone I met while I was working in the mayoral race in 2003 and he was lobbying to save Love Park’s iconic status as a skateboarding mecca, has taken the view that the recent denial by a judge of Fox Chase Cancer Center’s proposed expansion [...]

Mayor Michael Nutter’s $108 million budget cut plan includes a reduced economic development contract with the Schuylkill River Development Corporation (SRDC). This public-private partnership is the same one responsible for creating and maintaining the Schuylkill Banks trail from Locust Street up to the Waterworks area around the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The trail, which is home to popular outdoor summer movie nights, remains Center City’s jumping-off point [...]

President-elect Barack Obama is already under the spotlight as he tries to cope with the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression. But walk by any curbside clothing stand in Philadelphia and you are likely to see one positive economic from an Obama presidency that hasn’t even begun yet. The Obama image is [...]

A thin elderly man sits on a stool by the door inside the Charles L. Durham library in Mantua, or as the locals call the area “The Bottom.” He chit-chats with the clerk at the check-out counter, and asks her to put on some Christmas music. The clerk returns with a cd and pops it into a boom box. A [...]

“Unfortunately, I have to tell you here tonight that things have gotten worse.” - Michael Nutter at the John Perzel Community Center in Northeast Philadelphia last night.

Doesn’t it seem like the news just keeps getting worse?  In early September, the mayor made an announcement that the his Five Year plan projections, which City Council had [...]

Philebrity, a Philadelphia blog, reports that the parent company of The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News will be cutting 35 more jobs by the end of this month. The blog says Philadelphia Media Holdings wlll ask for volunteers first and if no one raises their hand then layout notices will go out. The targeted [...]

“We cannot grow, or even preserve, our revenue base unless we cut taxes. The status quo will lead to less revenue”
In the end, the tax reform movement in Philadelphia died without a whimper.
Last week, when City Council voted to freeze the wage and business tax reductions scheduled for coming years, it was done by unanimous [...]

In an effort to eliminate 111 positions, city library officials are laying off 49 people today and leaving 62 positions vacant. The library workers are among the first victims to feel the ax of Mayor Michael Nutter’s $108 million budget cuts in response to the latest economic woes. Under Nutter’s plan, the library system is taking a 20% hit to generate $8 million [...]

I hadn’t even realized that this contest was happening, but apparently Staples and the Philadelphia Eagles were encouraging people to vote for their favorite recreation centers.  The winner, Cohocksink Recreation Center in Port Richmond, got $25,000 for getting the most votes in this online poll.  Nice work by the Porters! (or are they the Richmonders?)
Alas, [...]

President-elect Barack Obama summoned the nation’s governors to Independence Hall today to talk about how to pull our nation out of a recession. With 48 governors in attendance, he asked for their input to help shape his economic recovery plan, which he hopes to enact soon after being sworn in on January 20th.  Some of [...]