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About 200 flights were canceled Wednesday afternoon at Philadelphia International Airport as wintry weather caused travel woes around the region. Arriving flights that were not canceled were experiencing delays of more than four hours Wednesday night because of high winds, said Victoria Lupica, an airport spokeswoman. There were delays throughout the day "as a result of our weather and weather elsewhere," Lupica said. The National Weather Service said the Philadelphia region was expected to get as much as two inches of rain, and a flood watch was in effect for Southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and northern Delaware.

This takes money laundering to a different level. Customs and Border Protection agents at Philadelphia International Airport seized more than $11,000 from a Jamaica-bound passenger on Saturday after he tried to hide the cash, stashing some of it in six boxes of Irish Spring Soap in his luggage, officials said today. There is no limit to how much cash can be brought in, or taken out, of the country, but travelers are required to declare amounts in excess of $10,000. The passenger was released and allowed to depart Saturday after agents returned $200 to him and seized the remaining $11,143 he was carrying.

US Airways Flight 702 bound for Frankfurt, Germany returned to Philadelphia International Airport shortly after take-off Sunday night because of a faulty fuel indicator light. A sensor in the engine was replaced, and the aircraft later departed. The pilot notified the Philadelphia air traffic control tower at 9:08 p.m. that the plane was returning. Since the Boeing 767 was full of fuel to go to Europe and "overweight" to land, the tower issued a precautionary alert, which put airport emergency vehicles on standby.

The emptied piece of luggage was unusually heavy. Wilson Miguel Jaquez Torres, 23, arrived at Philadelphia International Airport on Sunday afternoon on a flight from the Dominican Republic. Torres, of Philadelphia, approached a customs officer with a sports duffel bag in hand. The officer got a "tingling feeling," said Steve Sapp, spokesman for Customs and Border Patrol Protection. Something didn't seem right with Torres or his baggage. So the officer referred him for a second inspection.

An Italian national, previously convicted in the assault of a New Jersey police officer, was indicted today on charges that he attacked a Customs and Border Protection officer in May at Philadelphia International Airport, said U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger. Francesco Riccio, 51, currently lives in Philadelphia. On May 19, he was returning from Rome with his wife when he was detained at passport control. A lawful permanent resident of the U.S. since 1975, Riccio presented his passport but said his alien registration card had been stolen.

A Lancaster County man who was involved in an altercation with Customs and Border Patrol agents at Philadelphia International Airport in 2007 was sentenced Wednesday in federal district court to time served and two years supervised release, with the first six months under home confinement. John Randall Gillenwater, 29, of Gap, was also ordered to undergo drug treatment. Gillenwater, who had been free on bail after a guilty plea in December, was taken into federal custody in February after he failed to appear for a court hearing.

The NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit today against the City of Philadelphia for refusing to accept a billboard bringing attention to the number of prisoners held in the United States. The billboard, which was to be posted at Philadelphia International Airport said: "Welcome to America, home to 5% of the world's people & 25% of the world's prisoners. Let's build a better America together. " The lawsuit, filed in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, claims the city violated the NAACP's First Amendment rights.

Three US Airways employees at Philadelphia International Airport have been fired, and a number of others disciplined, for selling their employer-issued "buddy" passes for a profit on flights between Philadelphia and Tel Aviv, Israel. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia are investigating, said US Airways spokesman Todd Lehmacher. The three employees fired were a US Airways manager, a fleet service agent, and a customer service agent, Lehmacher said. "Several employees were involved in a fraudulent ticket scheme that involved using employee travel benefits to and from Tel Aviv," he said.

It's part of getting passengers, and their bags, on and off planes more efficiently. About 900 US Airways Group flights come and go at Philadelphia International Airport each day, and those planes are serviced by ground equipment, like baggage tugs and catering trucks. To improve getting bags to and from planes, and with less down time for equipment maintenance, US Airways on Friday opened a $22 million ground-service equipment shop, at the west end of the airport in Tinicum Township.

When you meet 86-year-old Joseph Procacci - nicknamed the Tomato King of South Philadelphia, since he claims to supply one of every five of the nation's tomatoes - he grabs your hand and tells you how happy he is to see you. He walks at a slow pace. His voice is so soft you can barely hear him, and a smile, like that from an approving grandfather, never leaves his face. Such traits made last week's presentation by PHL Local Gaming L.L.C., Procacci's group seeking a Philadelphia casino license, that much more intriguing.