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The resounding success of the Please Touch Museum in its new Fairmount Park home came after a long fight on the part of Nancy Kolb. Many thought her proposal to take over Memorial Hall was wrongheaded. Things are different now, as a resolution honoring Kolb reflects.

Jones: For her visionary leadership that never let strategic planning get in the way of a most exciting opportunity.

That was Councilman Curtis Jones.

The Museum opened in Memorial Hall just over a year ago and attendance has exceeded expectations. What Kolb told the council was, effectively, "I told you so."

Kolb: City council, for those of you who never thought she'd pull it off, nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.

Nancy Kolb's tenure as CEO ends this week. She says she will spend more time with her five grandchildren, but warned that Philadelphia has not seen the last of her.

According to the preservation director at Beth Sholom synagogue, the building gets about 5,000 tourists a year. The congregation hopes to increase that number with its new visitor's center, gift shop, and staff of volunteer tour guides.

John Gallery of the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia says because the building had been open to tourists only erratically, the trip to the suburbs used to be daunting.

Gallery: If you're an architect and you're coming to Philadelphia region and looking for interesting things – that building is near the top of your list. The fact that you're going out to Elkins Park and don't know whether you could get in is a handicap – opening it up is a great thing for the congregation to be doing.

There is $10 charge to tour to sanctuary. Money from tours and the gift shop will go to preserving the historically designated building.

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President Lincoln wrote the letter in 1861 to an eight year old boy – to allow the boy to prove to his friends that the two had met. His classmates had mocked him for the claim.

Jonas Raab is Vice-President of the Raab Collection of Philadelphia, which is offering the letter for sale. He says it's the only remaining document from the President to a child.

Raab: The text of the letter says "Whom It May Concern, I did see and talk with Master George Evans Patton last May at Springfield Illinois. Respectfully, A Lincoln." So this child could in fact show his classmates this letter that he did in fact meet the President.

Raab says the rarity of the letter, and its excellent condition, dictate the $60,000 asking price.

The 6-5 freshman, a former National high School player of the year, led all scorers with 19 points.  She added 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocked shots and a steal as Delaware, which led by 5  at halftime,  pulled away in the second half for the 13 point win in Loretto, PA.

Jocelyn Bailey and Corinthia Benison joined Delle Donne in double figures, scoring 15 and 10 points respectively.

Delle Donne got her feet wet with a blocked shot in the game's first minute.  Her first basket, a put-back jumper in the paint 2 minutes and 40 seconds in, provided the Hens with their first points of the game.

Delle Donne wound up hitting just 5 of 14 of her shots (35 percent), including one of 3 three pointers, but was a perfect 8 for 8 from the foul line in 39 minutes of action.

Delaware used a 10-0 run midway to take control and pushed its lead to as many as 20 with just over three mnutes left.   The 77 points scored by UD is its highest output since a 79-58 win over VCU in March of 2007.

The Blue Hens (1-0) have won six consecutive season openers. They play the second of 7 in a row on the road to open the season Saturday at Princeton.

Check out WHYY's coverage of Delle Donne's return to basketball on our Delaware newsmagzine "First" here.

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According to the Office of Arts & Culture, Philadelphia will receive $14 million dollars in Community Development Block Grants – or CDBG. A half-million of that is earmarked for arts organizations who have immediate construction projects waiting.

One of the organizations that will be applying for money is the Asian Arts Initiative, to renovate its new space in North Chinatown. Director Gayle Isa says the project should generate about 100 jobs.

Isa: Even though at the federal level arts organizations are eligible for CDBG funds, in the city of Philadelphia that has been the exception rather than rule. This particular pool of funding I hope is a shift that integrates the cultural community with the rest of Philadelphia's development.

To be eligible, projects must be in low or moderate income neighborhoods and must be completed within 2 years of funding.

The theater in the Mayfair section of the city had been abandoned for years before undergoing an extensive renovation.

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With its in-house production company, the Devon planned to run five theatrical shows this season. Those productions were dependent on state arts funding, which was severely cut from the state budget.

The director of the Mayfair Community Development Corporation, Brian King, says the CDC had spent millions renovating the theater and surrounding streetscape to make the Devon the centerpiece of the neighborhood's economic revitalization.

King: As the new kid of on the block you want to be noticed. These productions were top of the line – they got great reviews, gotten a lot of press. In a city that has a lot of great arts&culture, it's important to be noticed. We tried to do that – but unfortunately the funding cut has changed that.

King says the theater is not going dark – film screenings, art exhibitions, and traveling theater will still be held there.

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The Dad Vail, the nation's largest collegiate regatta, has been held in Philadelphia since 1953. But sponsorship has fallen off in recent years. Officials in Rumson, New Jersey, in Mommouth County, offered the organizers money to hold it along the Navesink river. Harry Stinger is the spokesman for Dad Vail. He says the move is purely economic.

Stinger: The cost of putting on the race is very expensive and last year there was an analysis done and it showed there was a decline of revenues coming in. Faced with this reality officials from the city of Rumson approached the Dad Vail and inquired whether they would be willing to come there and in evidence of good faith they presented the organizing committee with a check for $100,000 dollars.

Stinger says the move is just for a year at this point, and the race will remain headquartered in Philadelphia.

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Eagles player Brian Westbrook suffered his second concussion in three weeks during Sunday's game. The team now must decide whether the running back should return to the field this season.

Timothy Young is the medical director of brain injury at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital. He says those two concussions put Westbrook at a higher risk for more.

Young: You can't underscore how frustrating some of these post-concussive situations are, because even after you're symptom free and you've passed all the prerequisites for return to sport, there's always the potential you're going to have another head injury.

Young says the long-term impact of multiple concussions is unclear. But he suspects that cognition, memory and emotion are damaged.

The estimates vary on how common concussions are among high school athletes — but doctors say far too many return to play prematurely.

Bob Baly is an assistant director at the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association. He says his group is testing out a program with school trainers to take baseline assessment of a student's cognitive abilities.

Baly: And then when they suffer a concussion or a head injury they would do another assessment to see if it's at the normal range, what it was prior to the concussion.

That way, trainers could better identify if students aren't fully recovered, or if they're suffered long term brain damage.

Baly says his group does not have any authority to ban students from playing.

Baly: If a student in a game suffers a concussion they're removed from the game and can't go back in unless a doctor clears them. Can't be cleared by anybody else except the school physician.

Baly cautions against letting students who have had multiple concussions continue to play.

Officials say a major factor in the decision to hire Brosse was the favorable reaction he elicited from the musicians during recent stints as guest conductor in Philadelphia. Brosse, who is currently conducting a multi-city, multimedia concert of the score to Star Wars, says he wants to build and accentuate the unique qualities of the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra.

Brosse: They are quite individualists. I like it very much. The goal for director is to get everybody to do the same thing in the right direction. Sometimes when you have different characters it can be tough, but I like it. I like very much how people have different opinions, and have a discussion.

The outgoing music director – Ignat Solzhennitsyn – will still be involved with the orchestra as Conductor Laureate.

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At $39.50 a pop, it's going to take more than a few music fans to fill the Mummer's coffers.

Mummers Museum Executive Director Palma Lucas,

Lucas: We need at least $300,000 to put this parade on. But you have remember this money has nothing to do with our costumes. We still have to raise money for our individual clubs. What "Save the Mummers" is about is raising the money we need to get services from the city. Like trash removal, fire, police, ambulance crews that sort of thing.

Lucas says it's been tough for many Mummers who have personal financial challenges, to raise money for the parade and for their elaborate costumes.