Featured Articles from Philly.com

Now that Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. has taken ownership of the closed Marcus Hook refinery, the pipeline company has big plans for the Delaware River industrial site. Sunoco Logistics chief executive Michael J. Hennigan provided analysts with details Thursday about how the pipeline and terminal company plans to repurpose the refinery as a hub for shipping liquid fuels produced from natural-gas drilling in the Marcellus and Utica Shales. "We plan to create a world-class natural-gas liquids hub on the East Coast," Hennigan said.

The domestics have made considerable progress in developing and marketing cars and crossovers. But their bottom lines remain intimately linked to the sales of big pickup trucks. Just how crucial those highly profitable, full-size pickups are was underscored by Chris Perry, vice president for Chevrolet global marketing, at a recent regional preview of Chevy's all-new big pickup, the 2014 Silverado. "We'll have 13 all-new or significantly redesigned vehicles coming out this year," Perry told me. "That means a lot of important launches.

While the other networks are splashing around in the kiddie pool, ABC jumped into the shark tank at its upfront presentation Tuesday at New York's Avery Fisher Hall. The network will launch eight prime-time series, an even split of dramas and sitcoms, in the fall. It also made some major programming moves, including an all-new Tuesday night lineup, and a significant revision of Dancing With the Stars . As ABC president Paul Lee said, "We are taking some big swings . . . this season.

They couldn't row. One of them couldn't even speak. Jack Alden tried to stand up in front of schoolmates at a chapel service Friday morning to talk about one of his best friends on the Episcopal Academy rowing team and couldn't get past the first few words. "I just burst into tears," Alden said of the memorial service for Paul Pratt, a junior on the Episcopal Academy team who was killed in a one-car accident Thursday night. Alden and senior Pat Bernhardt, his partner on the Episcopal Academy boys' lightweight double, made up their minds: They weren't going to compete at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta.

SEPTA may slightly reduce its fare hike and allow more rides on passes under changes offered to its planned overhaul of the fare-collection system. SEPTA plans sweeping changes that will start with fare hikes July 1. The cash fare will rise to $2.25 from $2, and a token will cost $1.80 instead of $1.55. Then, by the end of the year, electronic "smart" cards will replace tokens, passes, and transfers on subways, buses, and trolleys. And by mid-to-late 2014, Regional Rail travel is to be transformed by subway-style gates in Center City stations, electronic card-readers in the suburbs, and new fare zones everywhere.

Robert W. Patterson served as a welfare adviser in the Corbett administration When Philadelphia Magazine compiled 76 reasons "Why We Love Philly" in December, the editors placed Tenth Presbyterian Church's Christmas Eve service in the 23d spot. "The spine-tingling, haunting sound of the congregants' collective a cappella 'Silent Night,' " the monthly observed, "is as serene and unifying as . . . Christmas. You feel chills, and not from the night air. " Yet, just as Philadelphia gets lost in the shadows of New York and Washington, the historic church that graces the southwest corner of 17th and Spruce Streets rarely competes in the media's estimation with such better-known Protestant houses of worship as Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, the popular Southern California megachurch, and Riverside Church of Manhattan, the iconic cathedral of liberal Protestants founded by John D. Rockefeller.

CHICAGO - C.J. McCollum remains intrigued with the 76ers even though they didn't request to interview him at the NBA draft combine. "I was [attending college] pretty close to Philadelphia, out in Bethlehem," the Lehigh senior guard said. "So I will be interested to see if they are taking a guard or a post player in this draft. " The organization's biggest needs are a post player and a backup point guard. However, one could argue that McCollum could be a solid addition to a team planning to make offseason moves via trades and free agency.

For the first time, the city's vast inventory of 9,000 vacant properties for sale will be just a mouse click away. The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority (PRA) is rolling out a new online site for viewing all of its vacant land and buildings, as well as the holdings of the Public Property Department and the city-run Philadelphia Housing Development Corp. The official launch will be in June. Technicians are working out the bugs, but the site will be accessible through the main PRA page (www.phila.gov/pra)

Eating healthy is something Marian McMullan tries to do. She is used to parsing food labels loaded with calories, carbs, sugars, and serving sizes. But there's one thing McMullan has never understood: dietary fiber. When the topic came up at a Bryn Mawr Family Practice group medical appointment, McMullan jumped in to ask registered dietitian Judy Matusky to break the code. How many grams does a person need every day? McMullan asked. Matusky told the nine strangers in the room, done in soothing green tones, that a person needs 25 grams of dietary fiber daily.

Danny Brown had it made. The foul-mouthed Detroit rapper won acclaim from Spin, which named his XXX the best hip-hop album of 2011. MTV.com called him one of rap's standouts. And he got a number of click-to-pick mentions for his forthcoming album, Old . With his naughty lyrics, throaty yowl, and love of electronics on the house and techno tip, his creds were strong. Brown needed no headlines, then, to pack the Theatre of Living Arts on Wednesday; it would have been a hot ticket no matter what.

A big yard with a fence, an overstuffed bed, new collars, and a feline companion await Brooke, the aging black Labrador mix whose plight went viral after a Bristol Township couple found her tied to to a rock in a rising Neshaminy Creek. After sorting through 65 adoption applications that came from dog lovers across the county - including ones from Arizona, Florida, Ohio and Washington State - Bucks County SPCA officials decided Brooke will be headed south to Annapolis, Md., on Saturday to spend her days with her new owner, Diane Bartkovich.

Hey, Philly. Airfares to Boston are going to get cheaper - a lot cheaper. JetBlue Airways announced today it will begin five daily nonstop flights between Boston and Philadelphia on May 23, with "low fares and an ideal schedule for the business traveler. " JetBlue will offer a special $17.76 one-way "independence" ticket for travel between May 28 and June 19, if booked at www.jetblue.com between now and midnight tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 14. A check of JetBlue's website showed fares as low as $64 one-way for other days, once the service begins.

LOOKING FOR a change of location for this summer's fun-in-the-sun family vacation? You might want to consider Ocean City. No, not that Ocean City. We're talking Ocean City, Md. A few clicks less than 150 miles southeast of Philadelphia City Hall, this Ocean City offers the familiar - but in a somewhat different setting. Visitors from the Delaware Valley will likely find the seaside town - which, like so many Jersey Shore resorts, is on a barrier island - most similar to Wildwood.