Philadelphia International Airport has been named one of the top 10 most "Pet Friendly Airports" by the website tripswithpets.com. The airport was commended for its seven pet relief areas designed to give animals a place to visit the fire hydrant or, in this case, a faux fire hydrant.

"All of our pet relief areas are fenced." said airport spokeswoman Victoria Lupica. "They range in size from 250 to 600 square feet, they have a 4-foot-high fence with a latch gate. We have 4-inch-deep mulch, a bench, we even have a faux fire hydrant, and biodegradable pet waste bags, so it's very safe."

Lupica said the airport caters to pets traveling with their owners and also service dogs.

Greene's attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

Greene contends he was unfairly terminated as executive director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority and his attorney believes that is worth a big payout.

Joe Podraza, an attorney representing the housing authority board, said the multimillion-dollar demand is ridiculous and insulting.

"Mr. Greene is not entitled to any compensation," said Podraza. "We believe very strongly in the defense of the lawsuit and believe that PHA will succeed and eventually following our investigation into other activities we believe we will be taking action against Mr Greene to collect monies."

Podraza said Greene was fired because he covered up sexual harassment settlements from the authority's board and that was one of the reasons he could be terminated.

When PHA sacked Greene, he had two years left on his contract and was earning more than $300,000 a year.

Minority contractor participation in Philadelphia is up ten percent in the past year. The city says that's not good enough.
John Macklin is from the National Association of Minority Contractors. He says in the difficult economy there isn't enough good work to go around.

"We are looking for work, they are ready willing and able to do the work but we're looking for the commitment from all of us to make this happen," Macklin said.

Mayor Michael Nutter says the problem is finding qualified minority contractors to handle city contracts.

"The city uses citywide contracts to purchase a variety of products but there are few if any disadvantaged owned businesses that can compete for $57 million a year that we spend on many commodities," said Nutter.

Mayor Nutter says he hopes using outside expert advisors will help the city hire more minority contractors and in turn expand their reach into the private sector.

The city of Philadelphia spends about $20 million a year just to maintain blighted properties even though it owns only a fraction of them, according to Mayor Michael Nutter.

"Maybe 70 percent of these properties are not city-owned. Sometimes citizens make the automatic assumption," he said. "You see a vacant lot, you see a derelict building, it might have an L and I sign or it or something — most of the time we actually don't own that building."

John Kromer, a former director of Philadelphia's Office of Housing and Community Development, said things have changed in the last 20 years.

"The city has come a long way since the 1990s when the official position, and this was true of many cities, was vacant properties were not our problem, we don't own most of them and we don't have the money to fix them all up," said Kromer.

The city is working to consolidate properties to make it easier for buyers to find them. Philadelphia is owed $70 million in back taxes due on blighted properties.

Fewer than 100 people attended the services to remember those who served their country in the military. If you take away those participating in the ceremony, only a handful showed up. Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams says it's disappointing to see attendance falling off.

"We had thousands and thousands of people for a parade, a deserved parade when the Phillies won the World Series. When you have these men and women who fought for us to protect us and have all the rights we enjoy, it's only them here to celebrate."

Williams serves as a Army reservist. Mayor Michael Nutter spoke of those who roam the streets after serving their country.

"It is of course a national disgrace that those who have served their country so well are not receiving the service they need now."

The mayor says there is more work to do to take care of those who have served in the military.

Bernie Strain testified Wednesday that his son was suffering from a burn and taking medications when he was offered something to take away his pain.

"The mixture of drugs that were in his system killed our son that night. Timothy Michael Strain, the charming, good-looking athlete was dead," said his father.

Strain wants to prevent future deaths by setting up sites where people can drop off unnecessary prescription medications. Jeremiah Daily oversees the federal High Intensity Drug Task Force for the Philadelphia area. He said that can be a tall order.

"Right now the current limitations of law, regulations that are in place, make it challenging for the public to dispose of medications in a simple, legal and environmentally responsible manner," said Daily.

The medications must be incinerated and the closest facility for that is in Ohio. For a police officer to take medications requires about an hour's worth of paperwork just for one pill bottle.

The Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board is busy retraining people to help them land available jobs. Eric Nelson, head of the group, said without a federal unemployment extension, many people's benefits will run out soon.

"Eighteen thousand between now and the end of December," said Nelson. "And in the first quarter of next year, we are going to see an increase between 30,000 and 40,000 individuals whose benefits will end."

One of those people is Helen Durkson, who has been unemployed for more than a year. She's gone back to school to learn how to change from handling paper medical records to electronic ones.

"I'm scared because I've been to a lot of job interviews and mostly the people I talk to are just taking resumes," said Durkson. " And they are saying they really don't have an opening."

Durkson said she's hopeful federal officials will grant another unemployment extension but for now she and others continue their job searches.

Deputy Philadelphia Mayor Alan Greenberger said Wednesday Energy Works pays to send auditors to a home or business to pinpoint specific changes that can save energy and money.

"I have a big house in Mount Airy and, even though I'm an architect, I can actually think of 10 things to do, but I don't know which one is the most bang for the buck," said Greenberger.

Any homeowner can get a $400 energy audit and only pay $100 for it. Low-interest loans are available for improvements. David Adelman is the first commercial recipient of an Energy Works grant for an energy-efficient hotel he's building in Philadelphia.

"They gave us $1.5 million in low-cost flexible capital that helped get this deal across the goal line in a difficult economy," said Adelman.

The $25 million program is available in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties.

The more than $6 million transformation of the former Pier 11 into the Race Street Pier will turn the rotting structure into a recreation lover's dream. Thomas Corcoran is head of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation. He said when the project is complete in the spring of next year, it will offer numerous recreational activities.

"An incline that goes up to 14 feet so that at the edge of the pier you have spectacular views north and south and seating areas," said Corcoran. "There will also be a lawn area where we can have small performances and a circulation path of trails for people on bikes and skates so they can do whatever they want to do."

The pier was full of weeds and potholes and hadn't been used for 40 years. Corcoran said the goal is to transform other decrepit piers along the river to offer similar recreational activities and in turn bring businesses to the riverfront to capitalize on the people using those sites.

The $1.1 million contract costs more than twice as much as proposals from other final bidders — and the winning system won't be available as quickly.

Fernando Gallard of the school district says the system is right for the district even though it costs more. He says a competing system currently used in New York City was not a good fit.

"You have to understand the difference between New York and Philadelphia, what is it that we have here currently, to be able to get them to the standard that we want to be." said Gallard Monday. "Our standard may be different than New York City and where we are starting from is a different place."

Gallard said the other two finalists just didn't have the right system, so the Philadelphia district decided to pass them over, even though they were considerably cheaper.