Zoning

It is almost a year since Philadelphia's new zoning code became law. After 50 years the code has been simplified, clarified, and modernized. A huge amount of work was done by our political leadership and dedicated citizens. And no one will miss the old code. But it did provide for unforgettable moments that may never be repeated. As a member of the Zoning Board of Adjustment working with the former code, I heard and read a lot about hotel development in Center City, billboards on Interstate 95, cellular towers sprouting inside and outside the "antenna farm" in Roxborough, and numerous other requests for homes, swimming pools, decks, signs, and fences.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - I like panic as much as the next guy. Practically get anxiety attacks anytime the gas gauge dips below the halfway point. But you're going to have to wait for me on Roy Halladay. I don't see the 2013 Phillies season as half-empty yet. Especially when I look at how the other questions surrounding this spring training have played out. Mike Adams has allowed a run in six appearances. After a bumpy first two appearances, Jonathan Papelbon has allowed one hit over his last five, including Sunday's ever-so-brief stint against his old team at Bright House Field.

MINNEAPOLIS - It's the prerogative of a movie star to create a distinctive image and build fortress walls around it. A film actress behaves otherwise, seeking audacious and independent projects that test her chameleon abilities. Then there's Nicole Kidman, whose 44-film career defies easy categorization. She's sought by international cinema's top directors for her aristocratic beauty and laser-like intensity. Yet she pushes her artistic boundaries in dark comedies (Gus Van Sant's "To Die For")

THIRTY-FOUR years ago, Sarah McEneaney was a young art-school graduate who bought an old building on a gritty industrial stretch of Callowhill Street, because the price was right and she wanted a home with studio space for her artwork. Back then, "it would be busy during the day and, at night, it would be desolate and kind of scary," she said. But the neighborhood slowly grew busier as Chinatown inched northward and developers built condos, she added. City officials now plan to chart that change.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in the Afghan capital Friday night to take stock of America's winding-down war in Afghanistan, one of the thorniest issues the new Pentagon chief will confront. Just days after weathering a bruising confirmation process, the former Republican senator said he was eager to get a firsthand look at the war zone, speak to commanders and reacquaint himself with Afghanistan's nettlesome president, Hamid Karzai. "We have a lot of big issues and challenges ahead as we prepare for a responsible transition," Hagel said during the flight to Kabul.

Most of the lot at 335 Righters Ferry Rd. in Bala Cynwyd doesn't look like much, with its tangle of trees and weeds on hilly ground. But to Lower Merion Township officials, it is the beginning of turning the unremarkable and unwalkable area around City Avenue into a pedestrian's paradise. The township's Planning Committee on Monday night heard an initial presentation from Nolen Properties to construct an 11-story apartment building on the Righters Ferry site, bounded by Monument Road, Belmont Avenue, and St. Asaphs Road.

The West Chester Borough Council approved the purchase Wednesday of "quiet zone" signs to be posted in several neighborhoods, among initiatives to ease residents' concerns over noise at night in student-heavy downtown areas near the West Chester University campus. Installing about 240 signs will cost $4,230, Councilman Jordan Norley said. The signs will indicate that the area is a "quiet zone" between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. and warn passersby that they risk a minimum $250 fine if they make too much noise.

The West Chester Borough Council approved the purchase Wednesday of "quiet zone" signs to be posted in several neighborhoods, among initiatives to ease residents' concerns over noise at night in student-heavy downtown areas near the West Chester University campus. Installing about 240 signs will cost $4,230, Councilman Jordan Norley said. The signs will indicate that the area is a "quiet zone" between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. and warn passersby that they risk a minimum $250 fine if they make too much noise.

A proposal due to be considered by the Cherry Hill Planning Board on Tuesday night that would have eliminated the public's right to appeal major zoning variances to the Township Council was pulled from the agenda even as residents prepared to speak against it. Township officials said they withdrew the proposed change, which drew protests from residents opposed to a 152-unit apartment complex planned at the former Haddonfield Lumber site at Brace...

GOV. CORBETT was wise to step back from the threat he made to tie any increase in state aid for public schools to the Legislature passing the pension reforms he is seeking. That line in the sand was drawn by the governor and his top aides before he presented his budget. Last week, the governor erased that line. He said he wouldn't presume to tell the Legislature what to do. His budget, Corbett said, is "now over in their camp. . . . We've made our proposal, now they get to massage it. " The ultimate solution, though, is going to require more than a massage.