Delaware River

In the Region Regional unemployment down   Unemployment in the Philadelphia region fell to an estimated 8.7 percent in February, from 8.8 percent a year earlier, the U.S. Labor Department said. The numbers were not seasonally adjusted. The national unemployment rate in February was 7.7 percent. Rates were lower in February than a year earlier in 287 of 372 metropolitan areas monitored by the department, higher in 69 areas, and unchanged in 16 areas. Yuma, Ariz., had the highest unemployment rate in February, at 25.6 percent.

  A new marina will finally be built along the Delaware River in Bristol Borough, after it was announced Tuesday that the borough will receive a $1.5 million federal grant to cap off the funding needed for the $2.5 million project. For nearly a decade, local residents and politicians have hoped to construct a marina in the river to complement the borough's waterfront park and trail, which are only a few hundred feet from the borough's main stretch of shops and restaurants. But officials had not been able to find ways to fully fund the project until this federal grant was awarded.

OFFICIALS reported Monday that two people were injured after a piece of equipment malfunctioned at a plant in Port Richmond, spilling about 50 gallons of hazardous material into the Delaware River. The spill happened about 11 p.m. Sunday at a Kinder Morgan Company facility along the 3300 block of North Delaware Avenue. Officials said 50 gallons of phenol, which is also known as carbolic acid, spilled into the river. Two workers were taken to the hospital after being exposed, and were reported to be in stable condition.

A Philadelphia Police Marine Unit on Saturday rescued a 53-year-old man who had jumped into the Delaware River in Northeast Philadelphia to save his dog. Police brought the man and the dog ashore at State Road and Rhawn Street, where the man was treated by medics. The drenched man, who was not identified, declined to go to the hospital and departed with his son and his dog, said Christine O'Brien, a police spokeswoman. - Andrew Maykuth

A Philadelphia Police Marine Unit on Saturday rescued a 53-year-old man who had jumped into the Delaware River in Northeast Philadelphia to save his dog. Police brought the man and the dog ashore at State Road & Rhawn Street, where the man was treated by medics. The drenched man, who was not identified, declined to go to the hospital and departed with his son and his dog, said Christine O'Brien, a police spokeswoman.    Andrew Maykuth

Winding through one of the nation's densest population corridors, Darby Creek has long been a dangerous, volatile, and flood-prone waterway. But thanks to a "rare" project, funded largely through the proceeds of an oil-spill settlement, a major effort is under way to tame its sometimes-erratically flowing waters. For decades, the creek has been fighting its way through the equivalent of clogged arteries. But under the Darby Creek Restoration Project, water-obstructing dams in Lansdowne, Darby Borough, Colwyn, and Upper Darby - one of them dating to the 1600s - are being removed.

The leaders of the Delaware River and Bay Authority swapped roles Tuesday, as part of the biennial rotation of leadership posts between New Jersey and Delaware. James Hogan of Franklinville returned to the chairman's post after two years as vice chairman, while outgoing Chairman William Lowe 3d of Lewes, Del., returned to the vice chairman's position. Hogan, the clerk of Gloucester County and the former sheriff, has gone back and forth as chairman or vice chairman since 2007. Lowe, a river pilot, was named vice chairman in 2010 before moving up to chairman in 2011.

CAPE MAY - When the agenda was planned for the 2013 Delaware Estuary Science and Environmental Summit - a biannual gathering of scientists, academics, and government officials - Sandy hadn't devastated the New Jersey Shore. But the storm that struck Oct. 29 was at the forefront of conversations and some workshop discussions during the four-day conference, titled "Weathering Change - Shifting Environments, Shifting Policies, Shifting Needs. " "So much has happened within the environment since our last summit in 2011, coming in on the heels of what perhaps is the worst natural disaster in the mid-Atlantic in modern times," said Jennifer Adkins, executive director of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, which has hosted the event every two years since 2005.

Police and dozens of volunteers continued searching sections of Lambertville Monday for Sarah Majoras, a popular New Hope bartender last seen early Saturday morning. Majoras, 39, a bartender at John and Peter's, was apparently walking home after spending Friday night with friends watching a band at the bar, according to Michael Gardner, a fellow bartender reached by telephone on Monday. She was not working on Friday, he said. After the bar closed, Majoras set off by herself to walk back to Lambertville, where she lives with her boyfriend, Gardner said.