Sen. Arlen Specter lost his bid for a sixth term, succumbing in the Democratic primary to relative newcomer Joe Sestak, a two-term congressman who successfully campaigned against Specter's recent party switch. Specter's loss represents the biggest rebuke of incumbent lawmakers so far this year. "Philadelphia generally does not vote as strongly as the rest of the state in primaries to begin with," said Joseph McLaughlin, director of the Institute for Public Affairs at Temple. "And coupled with the rain — rain is not good for Arlen Specter," he said.

Today bicycle-friendliness is considered a factor in the sustainability of big cities. The city's proposed new bicycle network, now undergoing final revisions, will roughly double the miles of marked bike lanes to about 400, not counting 40 or so miles of separate trails on parklands. The bike lanes will come over the next decade as streets are repaved. Notable parts of the new network are more north-south routes, including longer stretches that will make for easier riding from South Philadelphia all the way to Temple University along 13th and 15th streets.