Following through on a promise from last June, Mayor Nutter today re-invented the Penn's Landing Corp., which dissolved itself and was replaced by the new Delaware River Waterfront Corp.  The new entity, Nutter promises, will be more open to the public and expand its focus to cover more of the water front.

You can read Nutter's announcement after the jump.

»  More City Restructures Waterfront Agency

The opening testimony in the federal corruption trial of Chris Wright, City Councilman Jack Kelly's former chief of staff and four of his political allies, has focused on allegations that Wright was bribed in part with a rent-free apartment and parking space near Rittenhouse square.  Prosecutors say that was worth more than $15,000.

The building was one of one of nine buildings Ravinder Chawla had a contract to buy in 2006. He “flipped” those properties at the last minute to another company, taking a profit as the middleman in the deal.  Before that happened, prosecutors say, Chawla and his attorney, Andrew Teitelman, struck a deal with the owner to let Wright move in to the building.

Defense attorneys claim the apartment was “a dump” with no heat and a rodent problem.  And they insist Chawla never owned the building.  Prosecutors call it a “very livable apartment in a premiere neighborhood” of the city. They're trying to show that Chawla had some control of the property for a crucial period when Wright moved in.

The new owner sued Wright for living there without paying rent. Teitelman’s law firm represented Wright in that legal action.  So far, we've heard from the guy who sold the property, his property manager, his attorney and the investor who ultimately bought the building.

Here's a sad economic model:  Economy goes into decline, bank robberies increase.

Was Chris Wright, City Councilman Jack Kelly's former chief of staff, greedy or needy when he took money and other help from his boss's political allies? A jury considers.

In another federal courtroom, the top attorney for former state Sen. Vince Fumo breaks down during testimony.

And Clout details a loophole in the local campaign finance law that allowed a local union funnel cash into the 2007 mayoral primary.

Mayor Nutter says he doesn't know what's in the reports, but he says the budget process -- as the city seeks to cut $1 billion over the next five years -- will be tough.

"There will be no good choices," said Nutter, who promised that the options will be made public before the first community budget workshop on Feb. 12. "This will be a very challenging, almost horrible process to go through."

Local Home Prices Predicted to Take Significant Decline
Prices were not as bad as National figure but that could change due to major drop in sales

PHILADELPHIA – City Controller Alan Butkovitiz today released the Monthly Economic Snapshot and Monthly Economic Forecast Review for December that shows local home prices could start to decline because of the major decrease in housing sales.

The decline in local home prices was about seven percent in December compared to a nationwide decline of 15 percent. Despite the less dismal decline in prices, the region faced a 21 percent drop in sales volume, which may indicate steeper price reductions. Nationally, sales were down only 3.5 percent.

The monthly review also showed the unemployment rate for the Philadelphia region is up from 3.9 percent to 5.9 percent. The City’s rate stands at nearly 8 percent which has increased from 5.6 percent last year.

The Monthly Economic Snapshot presents key economic data for the United States, the Greater Philadelphia Region, and the City of Philadelphia. The Monthly Economic Forecast Review is a collection of projections from prominent economic institutions and an analysis of their forecasts of future economic performance. These two documents together — the Snapshot and the Forecast Review — are a useful tool for policy makers and analysts in understanding our city’s and country’s economy.

»  More Grim Economic News From City Controller

"This money belongs to Philadelphians who for whatever reason they may not know they qualify," Nutter said. "Please help our fellow Philadelphians, especially at this critical time, get the benefits they need."

For four months, the campaign targeted 60,000 low-income elderly Philadelphians believed to be eligible for programs like Medicare, Food Stamps and property and rent rebates. Efforts to reach those without benefits will continue in 2009, but with less state support. Nutter said he hoped to step up work at the city level, through health centers or constituent service outreach.

Those friends? Andy Teitelman, Kelly’s campaign treasurer and real estate developers Hardeep and Ravinder Chawla, brothers who have supported Kelly with campaign contributions.

“You’ll hear evidence that Councilman Kelly was a deer in the headlights,” Teitelman’s attorney, Bill DeStefano told the jury when explaining why Kelly secretly recorded conversations for federal investigators with Wright and Ravinder Chawla. “He didn’t think his chief of staff did anything wrong.”

Lisa Mathewson, Wright’s attorney, said there was “surprisingly little” disagreement between the defense and the prosecution on what happened. She said a rent-free apartment Wright received near Rittenhouse Square, worth more than $15,000 according to prosecutors, was an uninhabitable dump and merely a “crash pad” set up by his friends to keep him off the road while drunk.

“Ask yourself: Is this where you would put someone you are trying to bribe?” Mathewson said. “Was it to grease him or was it a place that his friend wanted him to have as a crash pad so that he didn’t drink and drive?”

"As you can imagine this is one of my most painful moments in my time here," said Nutter, who wore an Eagles hat to offset the rival jersey. "The news media is here. It has been witnessed. I will now take the jersey off."

"I was in a conversation where it was suggested that there are tons of stars, some from Philly, some might come to Philadelphia," Nutter said today. "It entails a whole lot of work and effort and is not necessarily something you can build a budget around. Whatever you would generate would be a onetime thing."

Nutter stressed that this was all very preliminary, but said: "I'd be more than happy to have a followup discussion if folks are serious."

We asked if Nutter had a dream starring act, but he said he hadn't thought about it. What Philly act would you like to see -- Hall and Oates, the Hooters, Boyz II Men, Jill Scott, The Roots?