Barrels

IT WAS the midpoint in the era when teeming masses, yearning to breathe free, arrived on our shores - and were on their own to find their way in a new land. Jacob and Rose Bain arrived from Romania in 1905, two of 12 million immigrants who arrived at and passed through Ellis Island. Papers in hand, they made their way to South Philadelphia, which had a sizable Jewish community. Why South Philly? In a voice barely above a whisper, Jeff Jolles, 67, the Bains' great-grandson, says that they had some family there.

A powerful thunderstorm that rolled through the region with a hurricane-force gust knocked out power to at least 280,000, some SEPTA service, and, evidently, the heat wave. The storm barreled along at a brisk 55 m.p.h. between 3 and 4 p.m. Thursday, and cleared the region in time for the heart of the evening commute. Damage and debris will linger much longer. At 12:01 a.m. Friday, Peco Energy Co. spokeswoman Cathy Engel said 190,000 customers in Delaware and Chester Counties and in Philadelphia were still without power and she said some would go days without power.

New music director a marked man As I read Peter Dobrin's articles on the search for a new music director for the Philadelphia Orchestra, I came to think I would feel sorry for whomever is chosen, if it wasn't Vladimir Jurowski. That impression was reinforced with Dobrin's article on the selection of Yannick Nezet-Seguin ("Canada's 'rising star' to be Phila. maestro," Monday). To Dobrin, no one but Jurowski could possibly be worthy of the position. I am concerned that his future articles on the new director could well be unwarrantedly critical.

WASHINGTON - The runaway Deepwater Horizon well is pouring 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration said yesterday. The new estimate means that hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil will flow into the Gulf in the next several weeks until BP completes a plan that it hopes will collect 60,000 to 80,000 barrels daily. That plan won't be fully implemented until the middle of next month. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a Nobel laureate in physics, called the new estimate "a significant step forward in our effort to put a number on the oil that is escaping from BP's well.

The BP oil spill is two media events: one environmental and one political. The ecological and economic disaster - oily pelicans, tar balls, empty restaurants, grounded fishing fleets - has prompted monumental media coverage charged with outrage and frustration. Add politics, and this combustible mixture has flared into a second story as white-hot as the first. Ever since the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which killed 11 people, today's fractionated, diverse media world - cable TV, public radio, Internet - has shown that it can cover multiple angles of a complex story.

Congressional Democrats have made modest progress in their efforts to limit pork-barrel spending projects known as "earmarks. " And then there's Rep. John Murtha (D., Pa.). Murtha is chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, a post in which he has earned the title as Pennsylvania's "King of Pork. " In last month's defense bill alone, Murtha led all House lawmakers by sponsoring 23 earmarks worth $76.5 million. In a career spanning nearly 40 years, Murtha has directed billions back to his Johnstown-area district.

Gazing among the many spirit wonders at Village Whiskey, my eyes settle on the smallest of bottles and a curious pedigree: bourbon from New York? That's right. The preciously-priced Baby Bourbon, brandylike with notes of apple and mulled spice, comes from the pot-distilled Hudson Whiskey line of Tuthilltown Spirits (along with a superbly dry Manhattan Rye). This six-year-old Hudson Valley distillery is part of America's growing artisan spirit movement, and is the first new whiskey producer in New York since before Prohibition.

Days before Hurricane Ike plowed through Texas, gas prices started to climb across the country. Then, over the weekend, the average price for a gallon of gasoline jumped 11 cents in the five-county Philadelphia region. Prices in South Jersey soared 15 cents, on average. Nationwide, prices jumped almost 19 cents a gallon in eight days, to $3.84. In Florida, at least one station was selling gas for $5.50 a gallon. It's easy to blame Hurricane Ike, but the price hike doesn't gibe with the situation on the ground.

Unlike most people, gardeners love rain. It's no spoiler - just the opposite. Rain is life-giving. It's also welcome relief from a chore most of us dislike only slightly less than weeding: Hose-dragging is truly a drag. There are other reasons Jeff Player, Jackie Umphlet and Rachelle Aquilla try to conserve water in their gardens, in such diverse locales as South Jersey, central Montgomery County, and Philadelphia: They want to save money, and the planet. But saving water rarely hits the popular radar without a dry spell or drought.

Unlike most people, gardeners love rain. It's no spoiler - just the opposite. Rain is life-giving. It's also welcome relief from a chore most of us dislike only slightly less than weeding: Hose-dragging is truly a drag. There are other reasons Jeff Player, Jackie Umphlet and Rachelle Aquilla try to conserve water in their gardens, in such diverse locales as South Jersey, central Montgomery County, and Philadelphia: They want to save money, and the planet. But saving water rarely hits the popular radar without a dry spell or drought.