Philadelphia

This month at the Philadelphia Zoo, we opened KidZooU: Hamilton Family Children's Zoo & Faris Family Education Center. KidZooU, more than a decade in the making, is the largest single improvement project in the zoo's history. Throughout the process, during which we also expanded our innovative animal exploration trails and added visitor amenities such as a multistory parking garage, our board, staff, funders, and volunteers were keenly aware that we were creating a place that will be enjoyed by children for generations.

For decades, fugitives thumbed their noses at judges in Philadelphia. But now something remarkable has happened: Criminal defendants are showing up for court. A year ago, the judge in a new Bench Warrant Court began to crack down on defendants who ducked out on court, handing out thousands of brief jail terms. Since then, the fugitive rate has fallen nearly in half, new figures show. "The results are pretty astounding," said Ronald D. Castille, chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Philadelphia will try to borrow or refinance more than $1 billion over the next nine months in the face of contentious tax reform, rising pension and public school costs, a flat private-business sector, tough labor negotiations, and the lowest credit rating among the largest U.S. cities. That's why Mayor Nutter and business executives invited 150 bond marketers, some of the giant institutional customers that own Philadelphia debt, and firms that invest in other big, higher-rated U.S. cities for closed-door presentations on the city's prospects Thursday.

NEW YORK - Helpless against the ropes, a fatigued Steve Cunningham crumpled as Tyson Fury leveled him with a powerful right hook. Referee Eddie Cotton began his count as Cunningham lay motionless on the mat Saturday afternoon at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden. For the first time in his 13-year career, Cunningham had been knocked out. But the West Philadelphian and his team believe they were wronged. "He held me up with his forearm and punched me," Cunningham said. "That's illegal.

Corner stores are a staple in poor neighborhoods, where large supermarkets find it economically unfeasible to flourish. The problem has long been that small groceries aren't known for fresh fruits and vegetables. That has left an impoverished population bereft of good food, compelled to live in so-called food deserts. But Philadelphia's Food Trust, a nationally recognized nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that everyone has access to nutritious food, has been working to change that.

Philadelphia will be the site of the 2013 Beyond Sport Summit from Sept. 9 to 11, Mayor Nutter announced at City Hall on Wednesday. The Eagles, who won the Beyond Sport award in 2011 for their work in the community, will host the annual event for the global organization that promotes and funds sports as a vehicle for social change. "I think we're the greatest sports town in the United States of America, and we know that sport has a tremendous impact, especially on our young people," said Nutter, who was joined at the announcement by former Eagles safety Brian Dawkins and former 76ers center Dikembe Mutombo.

Rasheed Wallace, who was known on the national level since his freshman basketball season at Philadelphia's Simon Gratz High, has retired for the second time in his NBA career. Slow to recover from a broken left foot, Wallace, 38, retired Wednesday from the New York Knicks. Wallace first retired after the 2010 NBA Finals following his appearance with the Boston Celtics, who lost in seven games to the Los Angeles Lakers. He returned to the NBA this season and appeared in 21 games for the Knicks.

Cyber charter schools, watch out. The Philadelphia School District is coming for your students. Come September, the district - pending School Reform Commission approval Thursday night - will launch the Philadelphia Virtual Academy, an online school for city sixth through 12th graders. The move could net the financially distressed district millions of dollars. This year, about 6,000 city students are enrolled in cyber charters, at a cost to the school system of about $60 million.

LIKE EVERY talented basketball player, Hakeem Baxter was hoping to receive numerous Division I offers. Instead . . . "I only got one," he said. At 7 o'clock Wednesday night, Baxter, an explosive, worker-bee, point-guard prospect from Philadelphia Electrical and Technology Charter, said yes to his one big suitor, Maryland-Eastern Shore, by signing scholarship papers. "I looked at things the right way," he said. "It would have been nice to get more looks, but those guys were really showing me love.

Ralph Rucci's New York Fashion Week show attracts the industry's elite: Simon Doonan, the creative ambassador for Barneys New York; Ken Downing, Neiman Marcus' director of fashion; Pulitzer Prize-winning fashion reporter Robin Givhan; and the Rucci label's dear friend, Martha Stewart. This is a discriminating, austere, almost emotionless bunch. Still, when Rucci sends a dramatic piece down the runway, he manages to elicit a round of applause, sometimes a standing ovation. But after the clapping, the backstage handshakes, and the reviews that praise Rucci's artistic genius, the love all but disappears.