Monthly Archives: February 2015

Towns along the Jersey Shore are still arguing with Gov. Chris Christie, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers about the proposed — or, to some, mandated — construction of barrier dunes along the beaches, on land owned by the town or, in some cases, individuals. The dunes would protect the beaches and beachfront communities from extensive damage from a major storm. Over the past couple of years, the project has struggled to overcome its own barrier dunes

The Delaware Riverkeeper and Friends to Preserve Radnor co-hosted a meeting recently that featured a hydrologist from a private environmental consulting firm. The two organizations are committed to protecting the river and maintaining thriving communities in the watershed..

We have a friend in Baltimore who deals with water quality issues in the Chesapeake Bay. The bay has been plagued by algae blooms and dead zones for years. Neither the Delaware River nor Delaware Bay are in the same state of crisis as the Chesapeake Bay, but Philadelphia and surrounds face the same problems that got our “sister bay” to this point.

The East Coast is having an interesting weather year. Philadelphia has mostly seen the “wintry mix” that proves so deadly on the roads, but we have seen more precipitation than usual. According to the National Climate Data Center, the city has logged 5.5 inches of precipitation since the first of the year, a notable increase from the usual 3.8 inches.

It took two years, a team of dedicated lawyers and a lot of imagination to do it, but Philadelphia artist James Dupree beat city hall this past December. In 2012, the city took the fairly cynical step of delivering its declaration of taking just a few days before the move would have been prohibited (see our Jan. 30 post). The notice that Dupree’s studio in Mantua had been seized under the power of eminent domain spurred the artist into action.

There are many different things the process of getting a new business off the ground can involve. For some businesses, this process includes purchasing a piece of commercial real estate to serve as the business’ location.