Revitalizing Center City, a Pet Pig Rescue and more

Yesterday, the fifth day of the Israel-Hamas truce, 12 hostages were released by Hamas after 53 days in captivity.  Among those freed was 84 year-old Ditza Heiman, the step-mother and grandmother of a family in Ardmore. The family had a chance to talk with Ditza briefly yesterday. We’ll talk with Ditza’s step-son, Amichai Shdaimah, and daughter-in-law, Corey Shdaimah, about Ditza’s return, her health and how they’ve been coping.

Center City was hard hit by the pandemic as businesses went remote, requiring a lot less work space. Now, like many other big cities across the country, fifty percent of Philadelphia’s once crowded high-rises are sitting empty. One of the solutions to revitalizing downtowns is turning old offices into residential apartments, but how hard is it, and what are the costs? We’ll talk with Center City District President and CEO Paul Levy and developer and MM Partners founder David Waxman about rethinking downtown.

Pigs are clever, emotional and intelligent — and they make nice, neat companions, according to Ross Mill Farm owner Susan Armstrong-Magidson, who places miniature swine with happy pig parents across the U.S. She joins us to talk about the ins and outs of taking care of a pig, and who should do it.