Yesterday's news today!

A funny thing happened yesterday when I was preparing to put up this post. Here it was right around 3 p.m., the Phillies home opener had just started, I was getting the link, and people in the newsroom started yelling. And jumping up and down.

As you doubtless know by now, that's because Barbara Laker and Wendy Ruderman won for the Daily News its third Pulitzer Prize, and its first in Investigative Reporting. There was a crazy scene for a while, with people hugging, slapping backs, people (OK, just Wendy) drinking champagne out of sneakers, speeches, flowers, cake, more jumping up and down, and other people working on the Tainted Justice Web page to make sure it was ready for its close-up (a closer close-up, that is).

Didn't have a chance to get back to this, but I will now, because it's not exactly time-sensitive, but it is a pretty cool idea. Those big banners that hang in Center City along Broad Street and suchlike, advertising tourist destinations and interests, are being turned into trendy carryall bags rather than end up in landfills.

They're the Center City District's banner bags, eco-friendly totes made from the fabric scrolls that once hung from light poles throughout the area.

"These bags are something that are uniquely Philly," said Kelly Farrelly, manager of the CCD's banner program. "You're not going to find something like this anywhere."

The initial run included bags constructed from banners made for the Red Bull Soap Box Race 2008, Christoph Eschenbach's 2003 debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Ben Franklin Tercentenary. A more recent one included the banner promoting Walnut Street Theatre's production of "The Producers."

You can read the full story here. Perfect bag if you have a huge amount of stuff to lug around. In fact you sense they'd almost like to make the things bigger - you can barely read word one on them now!