5 stories to follow: Dec. 23

Get the week started with a quick look at five stories to know about:

1. Health exchange deadline: Today is the deadline to enroll in the federal health insurance exchange for coverage that begins Jan. 1. Enrollment continues through March 31, but picking a plan on healthcare.gov after 11:59 p.m. today means coverage won't start until Feb. 1.

2. Center City pickpockets: Shoppers are flocking to Center City restaurants and coffee shoppers amid the hustle and bustle of the holiday season -- and pickpockets are joining them. The busy holiday season gives pickpockets plenty of prime targets, police say: distracted customers.

3. Mob figure in court: Reputed South Philadelphia mob associate Ronald Galati is scheduled to appear in court today for a bail hearing on charges of attempted murder, solicitation of murder and retaliation and intimidation of a witness or victim. The city of Philadelphia cut its contract with Galati's auto-body shop (which had raked in $1.2 million from the city since 2011) last week, after news reports surfaced about the contract and Galati's alleged insurance fraud and involvement in a triple murder-for-hire case.

4. Parole for priest: Franciscan friar Charles Newman, the former president of Archbishop Ryan High School who was convicted of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the school, is scheduled to be released on parole today. Newman was also accused of sexual abuse, but was never charged with those offenses.

5. Casino bankruptcy: A judge must approve Tropicana Entertainment's and Caesars Entertainment's plans to pay a combined $23.4 million for the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel, which is closing Jan. 13, at a bankruptcy court hearing this morning. Tropicana is expected to buy the casino's slot machines and table games, with Caesars purchasing the property and hotel rooms.