Check out the report here.

Have the Foxwoods Casino and the American Commerce Center skyscraper received different treatments from the city?

Family of a man who was brutally beaten in a SEPTA concourse is suing SEPTA and the city.

Will Black Friday be a bust this year?

Crews from Fairmount Park, Public Property and Sautter Crane Rental erect City Hall's Christmas tree yesterday.

City workers are now trimming an enormous Christmas tree erected in the City Hall courtyard yesterday afternoon.  Mayor Nutter's press office passes along this information about the tree from the Fairmount Park Commission:

The Colorado Blue Spruce is 33-feet-tall, 24-feet wide, weighs 3,000 pounds and is estimated to be 35 years old.  Fairmount Park workers supervised by an arborist harvested the tree, which was donated by an anonymous donor from Northeast Philadelphia.  Sautter Crane Rental lent a large crane and flatbed truck to remove, transport and install the tree, which received an escort from the Philadelphia Police Department.

Here's an excerpt:

Leading the pack of prospects -- at least in celebrity -- is Chris Matthews, the MSNBC "Hardball" host and a former Capitol Hill Democratic staffer. The Philadelphia native has been toying with a run for months, and this week he sat down with state Democrats to discuss the prospect of taking on the five-term GOP senator.

Others considered in the mix include Rep. Joe Sestak, who is sitting on $3 million in campaign funds; state Rep. Josh Shapiro; and U.S. Rep. Allyson Y. Schwartz, a two-term Philadelphia area lawmaker who has moved up quickly on the Hill and has a Rolodex full of prospective donors from her unsuccessful 2000 Senate run. "We'll see," she said about a repeat bid.

On the call were chiefs of staff and budget personnel from Dallas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Baltimore, Miami, Milwaukee and Minneapolis. They talked about Nutter's request that the federal government make some of the $700 billion bailout package available to cities -- so that cities could borrow to shore up pension funds, run their governments and start infrastructure projects.

Many cities, like Philadelphia, are facing devastating budget shortfalls due to low tax revenues and poor performance of pension fund investments. Nutter spokesman Luke Butler said the other cites expressed support for the request for federal aid. The next step will be a conference call between the cities and the Treasury Department.

Nutter tries to explain his budget cuts to South Philly in his first town hall meeting.

The City Controller calls for the elimination of student transpasses.

Details on tomorrow's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Nutter held the first town hall meeting on his budget plan at South Philadelphia High School this evening. Many emotional attendees begged Nutter to reconsider closing libraries and pools, and asked him if he had sought out new revenue and outside funding for city services.

“I believe you’re cutting the middle class and the poor, the services that they need,” said Karen Brown, president of the Southwark Civic Association, “What are you going to do with the youth in the summer when crime goes rampant when they have no place to go?”

Tonight's session was the first of eight community meetings Nutter has scheduled around the city to talk about the budget. Nutter was joined by more than a dozen top city officials, including Managing Director Camille Barnett, Chief of Staff Clay Armbrister and Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.

“These were not easy circumstances and they were not easy decisions,” Nutter said told the crowd of about five hundred in the school auditorium. “They were very heartfelt, in many cases they went against the grain of what I have promoted as a public official for 15 years.”

Check out the latest video conversation from the City Hall bureaus of the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer, where we discuss the anticipated reception for Mayor Nutter as he begins eight town hall meetings around the city to explain his budget cuts.