Opportunities

  WHEN first lady Michelle Obama launched her Let's Move! initiative in February 2010, it brought attention to school lunches, food deserts in urban neighborhoods and the rise in obesity, particularly among children and the poor. Among the results so far has been a campaign to make locally grown and healthy foods available in all communities, including city neighborhoods with few fresh-food resources. Change often comes slowly and, to paraphrase the adage, you may be able to lead the horse to an organic carrot, but you can't necessarily make it eat it. Mary Seton Corboy, founder of Greensgrow, Philadelphia's most successful urban farm, has been vocal about her frustration that her Kensington neighbors have been reluctant to give up their corner-store calories and opt in to Greensgrow's fresh and local fare.

CSAs are but one of many do-it-yourself strategies to energize the arts that involve a small amount of money and "community building," a term that until recently was rarely used in the arts outside of mural painting. Here is a roundup of alternative funding strategies for the arts being tried in Philadelphia: * Philly Stake: A dinner party event at which applicants present their projects and paying guests vote who gets the funding. phillystake.org. * Kickstarter, USAProjects: Online fund-raising vehicles that use "crowd sourcing" and privatizing.

IT'S BEEN THREE years since 65 black and Hispanic children were asked not to come back to a suburban Philadelphia swim club - because of their skin color. If we've learned anything at all in Pennsylvania since then, it's this: No one should ever harm children and get away with it. It is illegal to deny someone access to a public place or service based on their skin color. Business owners can't refuse you service because they don't like your race, skin color or ethnicity. Under Pennsylvania law, if your business is open to, accepts or solicits the patronage of the general public, it is a public accommodation.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Correll Buckhalter first needed to prepare a resume. It's a required task for any job seeker, but Buckhalter has not necessarily needed to seek a job. He was drafted by the Eagles as a running back out of Nebraska in 2001 and spent the next 10 years with an NFL contract. Last summer, Buckhalter wasn't in an NFL camp for the first time. He was 32. He didn't want to sit at home. Life moves on. He needed to do the same. "While I was playing the game, I always was like, 'I'm not coaching, I don't want to coach,' " Buckhalter said.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Phillip Hunt realizes he's in the NFL and playing on one of the league's most respected defensive lines during positional drills and in positional meetings, and it's not just because of the talent that surrounds him. It's also because of the talent that once surrounded him. Trent Cole and Jason Babin, the Eagles' two starting defensive ends, have both been to a pair of Pro Bowls. Before Hunt came to the Eagles, he spent two seasons with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.

IT WAS just last January when word came down from Wisconsin that the son of Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin had disappeared. The next day, Michael Philbin's body was found in the Fox River in Oshkosh. He had fallen through the ice, an accidental drowning. More details emerged later, but why something tragic happens never makes up for what happens. Details of how Andy Reid's son Garrett died on Sunday may emerge later, but, just like in Wisconsin, the details won't change the finality.

WASHINGTON - The questions were similar to the ones Domonic Brown answered the last time he thought he was here to stay. Do you feel like a different player? Is it nice to finally get an extended look? Are you better prepared to handle it this time around? The answers were the same, too. The big difference was the situation: Last year, the Phillies were on their way to a team record 102 wins, and a late-July deal for Hunter Pence. On Tuesday night, they were finishing off a fire sale, Pence on his way to San Francisco, his absence creating the same kind of opportunity that his arrival had eliminated.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Marvin McNutt stood on a sideline filled with other seemingly anonymous rookies, remaining the biggest wide receiver in the group even with a slight lean. Fans filled the bleachers behind him, calling for McNutt and shouting that he needs a nickname. When a sixth-round pick is in consideration for a nickname, it means there's either a rabid fan base or a player who could become relevant. In McNutt's case, it's both. The attention given to McNutt in training camp was amplified when Riley Cooper fell to the grass in Saturday's practice and broke his left collarbone, an injury that coach Andy Reid said will sideline Cooper for about six weeks.

WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney, looking for a boost after being battered recently by President Obama, heads abroad this week in a bid to portray himself as a wise statesman. The Republican presidential candidate leaves Tuesday on a six-day swing to the United Kingdom, Israel, and Poland. Each stop is carefully choreographed to help him gain stature in the eyes of the American public, not to mention the world. He hopes to create momentum that will continue through August, when he is expected to announce his vice presidential choice and reintroduce himself to America at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. The trip is loaded with political risks as well.