Featured Articles from Philly.com

Please Touch Museum president and CEO Laura Foster is stepping down. Foster, leader of the museum for five years, said Tuesday that it was a good time for her to move on. "I want to do some new things," she said. "I want to spend time with my new grandchild. Twenty-two years is a long time," she said, referring to her tenure at the museum, where she initially served as director of development and marketing. Foster said she was not sure what her next career move would be. Her contract is up in November.

The Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State generated a public outcry for stronger laws against child abuse and neglect. Several bills have been introduced that purportedly provide a "complete overhaul" of Pennsylvania's child-protection laws. For example, Senate Bill 20 makes it clear that any adult who "causes serious bodily injury," either by "kicking, biting, stabbing, cutting, or throwing a child," or "forcefully shakes or slaps a child under one year of age," or "causes serious physical neglect," or "causes a child to be near a methamphetamine lab," or "operates a vehicle in which a child is a passenger while driving under the influence of alcohol," has committed child abuse.

Hello there Rachael and John's friendship started in fall 2008, during their first year of nursing school at Thomas Jefferson University. They often studied in the same group, and sometimes drank coffee or beers on their own after class. Rachael felt as comfortable around John as she did her girlfriends. She could tell him anything. Both were unavailable then. Their second year, John and Rachael were assigned to some of the same clinical groups - about 10 students assigned to work with professionals and patients in pediatrics, psychiatric and other nursing disciplines.

Henrika "Riki" Kuklick, 70, of South Philadelphia, a retired professor who taught at the University of Pennsylvania for 32 years, died Sunday, May 12, of unknown causes at her home. A friend found her body; an autopsy was being conducted late Monday, according to the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office. Dr. Kuklick retired in 2012 as a professor in Penn's department of history and sociology of science, where she specialized in the history of sociology and anthropology, department chair Robert Aronowitz said.

With a single, quick, surprise move earlier this month, a Philadelphia-area trucking company put itself in position to become the nation's biggest revenue producer in its highly specialized business. If Chemical Leaman Corp., based in Lionville, Chester County, does take over the number-one position in the bulk-commodity hauling industry, it would do so by taking over the equipment and facilities of a failed Ohio trucking company. The move could enable Chemical Leaman to displace another area company, Matlack Inc., a division of RLC Corp.

CHIP KELLY, meet Sam Hinkie. Sam, Chip. The Eagles' new coach and the Sixers' new president of basketball operations share neither a sport nor a background - but they are united in a way they probably don't even realize. They are united in their ability to make people uneasy. Kelly insists that he is a football man to the core, but his philosophies about how to play the game - and, even, how to practice the game - have left some people with a permanent eye-roll. Hinkie, by all accounts, is a video fanatic who spends a large percentage of his time scouting the game in a traditional way - but his embrace of advanced basketball statistics leads some to marginalize him as a nerd.

It's common in some circles nowadays to scoff at the very notion of retirement. Years after the 2008 financial crisis, unemployment lingers at painful levels. Who can think of voluntarily giving up a job? But time is relentless. Unless you plan to work till you drop and your mind and body cooperate, retirement will one day be upon you, ready or not. If you haven't started planning, there's no time better than now. Should you seek professional advice? That's your choice. But you might want to recall other circumstances when you've willingly sought expert counsel - say, a rattle in your car or your knee - and ask how ensuring a secure retirement compares in importance.

FELIX JONES once set a Cowboys franchise record in a playoff game against the Eagles, blazing 73 yards over right tackle, untouched, for a touchdown, back on Jan. 9, 2010, as part of a 34-14 Dallas humiliation of the Birds that ended the Donovan McNabb era. Had the Eagles been able to acquire Jones that offseason, fans would have danced in the streets. But sports years are kind of like dog years. That playoff game was so long ago, Jeremiah Trotter was a starter on the defense that couldn't flag Jones down.

Philadelphians were clearly tired of the Civil War in the days leading up to the invasion. They read regular newspaper accounts of Union setbacks and horrific battlefield losses while wounded soldiers filled their hospitals and fresh military units clogged the streets. To escape, some attended the stage adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin at the Continental Theatre; others took in the play Peep O'Day at the New Chestnut Street Theatre or caught a concert by Birgfeld's popular German military band in Fairmount Park.

By Brian Wright O'Connor Nearly 50 years after leaving the University of Pennsylvania for Vietnam, Lt. Col. Mortimer Lenane O'Connor will receive a posthumous Ph.D. today in a ceremony honoring academic achievement and sacrifice on the field of battle. My father, who set aside his dissertation to lead soldiers in war, will be included in the Class of 1968, the year he would most likely have completed his doctorate had fate not intervened. Born in 1930, my dad grew up in the company of soldier-storytellers on Army garrisons from Manila to the Old West, and watched his own father and three uncles set off for war in Europe.

JetBlue Airways, the highly regarded, low-fare carrier, is coming to Philadelphia and trying to do what three other airlines couldn't: compete successfully with US Airways Group Inc. on a Boston-to-Philadelphia route. The introductory fare for the five daily nonstops that begin May 23 is $17.76 - but you have to move quickly. That's the cost if you book at www.jetblue.com by 11:59 p.m. Dec. 14. What makes JetBlue think it can succeed where Southwest, AirTran, and Delta failed?

Infants are precious, yes; but a teeny-tiny babe in a tutu? That's just pinch-your-cheeks adorable. That's why Leah Wright was shopping late last week at Fiona's Fairies, Karen Clarke's Northern Liberties boutique. Wright heard Clarke's clothing was magical, and because her baby girl, Kalea, turned 1 on Thursday, she decided her pudgy-faced princess needed something in which to preen. "I want her to stand out," Wright said as she purchased a lacy eggplant tank and matching pettiskirt.

A 13-year-old died Saturday morning when he was thrown from his all-terrain vehicle, police said, after losing control of it as he drove on a street in Southwest Philadelphia. The boy, whose identity was not released Saturday, was driving a 2002 Yamaha four-wheel ATV eastbound on the 5900 block of Elmwood Avenue. He was seen weaving in and out of traffic, police said. Around 9:30 a.m., a preliminary police report said, the boy "lost control of his ATV, was ejected, and struck a pole and a tree.