• Figures released yesterday revealed that $613 million of the money gamblers have been pumping into slot machines in Pennsylvania will go to property-tax relief for most homeowners and to lower the wage tax in Philadelphia. It's all thanks to Act 1, passed in 2006, which gave the state a portion of the gaming revenues from slots to use for tax relief.
• The Inquirer points out that finding the lowest gas prices in the area might be as simple as launching your web browser.
• It's possible that the dead baby in a suitcase found in South Philadelphia was the victim of a religious cult.
• A dolphin was probably following a school of fish up the Delaware when it veered off into the Schuylkill, where it was spotted yesterday by the police Marine Unit near the Art Museum. Later it turned around and headed back downstream. The general feeling seems to be that the dolphin will fill up on fish and be just fine, as long as a recreational boater doesn't run into it.
• The current state of the economy is good for at least one type of local business: pawnshops.
• Contractor Donald "Gus" Dougherty Jr. is accused of working on John Dougherty's extensive home renovations for free in violation of a law that prohibits contractors from providing gifts to leaders of unions doing related work. Apparently John Doc's explanation is that his father-in-law paid for $200,000 of the renovations, but prosecutors say the chief financial officer for the contractor has no record of any such payment.
• "A 15-story hotel and condominium project in Society Hill won zoning approval in City Council yesterday, drawing a threat of a lawsuit from a neighborhood activist who fears it will destroy the area's historic charm."
• "SEPTA will offer competitors in Sunday's Blue Cross Broad Street Run a free ride on the Broad Street Line to the start of the race at Broad and Somerville Streets en route to the finish line at the southern end of Broad Street."

Image Credit: Flickr user pwbaker