The tallest building in Philadelphia – the Comcast Tower – fully opened this month, just in time to meet plans for it to be surpassed.
Earlier this month, plans for the American Commerce Center, planned to be the second tallest building in the country behind only the Sears Tower in Chicago, were announced, exciting everyone, and the talk is spreading.
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Interview and article prepared for the Philadelphia Business Journal, as filed last week, without edits, to run in tomorrow’s edition.
Mayor Michael Nutter was on hand to watch Bank of America award a $1 million grant to the National Constitution Center earlier this month.
“As the leader of our city, it’s very appropriate,” said Tom Woodward, president of Bank America Pennsylvania. “So much of what we’re doing speaks to augmenting education in the region and our city.”
Nutter, just three months into his term, has named a more learned Philadelphia among his highest priorities, so supporting a sizable funding gift to the Constitution Center was sensible, Woodward said.
“They do so much with students and educating our kids in what it really means to have civic responsibility and be an American,” he said. “The educational component is an absolute priority in what we want to fund.”
Much of the funding will go to developing programs for the Constitution Center’s newly named Bank of America Family Theater, beginning with the reopening of “Living News,” which displays constitutional issues that affect the daily lives of everyone.
“When you go through the Constitution Center, whether you are an American or from somewhere else, you leave with an appreciation of freedom,” he said. “This really is about trying to make Philadelphia and the region a better place.”
See other reporting by Christopher Wink here.
Photo courtesy of Bank of America public relations. Depicted from left, Joe Torsella, CEO of the National Constitution Center; Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter; Kenneth D. Lewis, chairman and CEO of Bank of America, and Tom Woodward, president of Bank of America Pennsylvania
There was a huge media crunch for Barack Obama’s Philadelphia address at the National Constitution Center today, though I did cover the event as best I could. (You can also see it here on The Temple News Web site)
I fought my way in, was escorted out twice, before finally get 30 seconds to take as many photos as I wanted in what was a rotating photographer system. A fire marshal enforced an occupancy limit as the second floor room was overfilled, there was a lot of frustration and perhaps as many as 80 journalists watching Obama’s speech on race from a overfill room, broadcasting a closed circuit video of the presidential candidate.
I was told some 250 media credentials were requested for 50 spots, as more than 100 tickets, mostly for city Democrats and high profile party leaders of the region, were only privately distributed.
Though the event’s locale wasn’t announced beyond media circles, still many supporters of Obama, perhaps more than 30, gathered to try to get in.
There has been plenty of speculation about where Barack Obama will be tomorrow.
It has been announced that he will be speaking somewhere in Philadelphia, but the location has been kept limited, for reasons I don’t entirely understand. The speech has been described as a major address on race in politics, so expect historic words.
Still, I have been granted the privilege of reporting on his appearance tomorrow for The Temple News. All will be posted tomorrow afternoon. Check back for coverage.
See him in Philadelphia last May below.
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Mike Schmidt, the Hall of Fame former Phillies third baseman, has taken to wine-making for charity. Along with two other members of the 500 Home Run Club, former Chicago Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks and standout switch hitter Eddie Murray, Schmidt has teamed with Eos Estate Winery in California to produce three wines, each using one of the major leaguers’ names and career home run totals. All of the proceeds will go to a philanthropic cause of the athlete’s choosing. Schmidt has decided his profits will go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, based in Maryland. There is the Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel, the Ernie Banks 512 Chardonnay, and the Eddie Murray 504 Cabernet. They can be preordered now, though they won’t be available in stores until May. A bottle is expected to cost $17.”
We’ll have a carafe of the Mike Schmidt 548 Zinfandel, maybe something in a 2009.
But, I couldn’t possibly top the press release I received.I happily shared with just about everyone one quotation I read while filing the story. It came from Liz Banks, wife of Ernie Banks and president of the 500 Home Run Club.
With 548 home runs, Mike Schmidt was such a quality ballplayer that for him to launch a quality wine for charity seemed a natural fit.”
Natural fit, indeed.
The Obama plane will be landing shortly.
In an email to supporters, Sen. Barack Obama acknowledged that – enough with the suburbs – the big guy is coming to Philadelphia. A press release that was released from his campaign today read as follows:
Chicago, IL – The Obama campaign announced today that Senator Obama will campaign in Philadelphia on Tuesday. Further details will be announced as they become available.
Sen. Hillary Clinton was at Temple University today, and I was on hand, taking photographs for The Temple News, though I won’t have them posted until tomorrow morning. I will additionally post some video clips of the speech.
Next week, Barack Obama is coming to Temple.
As Philadelphia and Pennsylvania’s importance increases with its primary coming April 22, we will see plenty of the two candidates in the Quaker City.
I stumbled upon this and thought it pretty cool.
This silent film claims to be, and I have no reason to suggest otherwise, a home movie of the 1929 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Athletics, a series the Philadelphia team won four games to one.
The video owner described it as such:
Home movie footage of 1930 Flag Day followed by the 1929 World Series played between the Philadelphia Athletics and the Chicago Cubs. Both games were played at Wrigley field. The World Series was played on either October 8 or October 9, 1929. It includes opening ceremonies, crowd shots, and a few pitches.
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