Courtesy Mainline Magazine | Dave Roberts (pictured with his grandson and son, actor David Boreanaz) announced his retirement from Channel 6 after more than 30 years at the station.

And the call from AccuWeather is… A goodbye from longtime Channel 6 weather guy Dave Roberts.

6ABC promoted a “big decision” that Roberts made and wanted to share tonight on the 11 p.m. newscast. That decision was to retire from broadcasting after more than 55 years in the business.

The 11 p.m. newscast featured Jim Gardner’s one-on-one interview with Roberts. The show had no commercial breaks until after the tribute to Roberts, coming 23 minutes after the hour. When asked what he’d miss most in retirement, Roberts responded:

It’s the people… That’s what I’m gonna miss and I don’t know how I’m going to deal with it.

The Buffalo, N.Y., native began his career in Syracuse before moving back to Buffalo. The 73-year-old joined WPVI-TV Channel 6 in 1978 and began reporting the weather in 1983. With today’s weather technology and green screens, it’s not hard to forget Channel 6′s magnetic weather board, in front of which Roberts was a staple.

Thomas is the father of Bones star David Boreanaz. His last day on Channel 6 will be Dec. 11. Gardner said more features on Roberts’s life and career will be featured leading up to his final broadcast.

SEPTA launched a more accessible Web site this afternoon.

In the second “long-time-coming” post in a day, more Web site news to share.

SEPTA, the sixth-largest public transportation agency in the country, has launched a sleeker, new Web site.

Schedule information is much more accessible (though, as of today, there are still bugs to be worked out — Regional Rail and trolley schedules are MIA), and important links for riders — including customer service comments — are conveniently posted on the home page.

Next on the agenda, from a rider’s perspective, should be a new “Plan My Trip” feature. The old one is still in tact, but SEPTA also gives the option of Google Transit. But an in-house feature would be much easier to use. I gave up on Google Transit almost immediately.

AP Photo | Some Philadelphians favor Gov. Ed Rendell to return as the city's mayor.

How would you like to have one of the world’s 75 best people back as mayor of Philadelphia?

Gov. Ed Rendell, whom Esquire magazine talked up in its October issue, is a favorite for some to challenge Mayor Michael Nutter in the city’s democratic mayoral primary in 2011, according to Philadelphia magazine.

As stated in the brief:

Lots of movers and shakers think the solution to the city’s problems lies in a Rendell run. “I know people who asked Ed if he’d consider it,” says the CEO. “People are upset. There’s no communication from the current mayor, no direction, no sense that there’s anyone there.”

Rendell responded, saying he’d only run if all 1.4 million Philadelphians signed a petition asking him to do so.

I’m not endorsing. Simply providing links.

• http://www.petitionspot.com/
• http://www.gopetition.com/
• http://www.petitiononline.com/
• http://www.thepetitionsite.com/

It’s no secret local TV news stations are still learning how to effectively use the Web — how to effectively incorporate unique stories, audio and video separate from their newscasts.

In Philadelphia, statistics show that most people visit philly.com, the site for the Inquirer and Daily News, for news online instead of TV news Web sites. The competition isn’t even close.

All four major network stations in Philadelphia have redesigned their Web sites within the last two years, but they still aren’t necessarily catering to their audiences’ needs.

It’s easy to find grammatical and spelling mistakes in local news stories. Copy editing does not seem to be a priority. Thankfully, the sites have begun rewriting broadcast copy for the Web instead of simply posting the scripts as stories. Navigability could use improvement on many sites, as stations attempt to wow the audience with the use of Flash instead of making it simple to find stories.

Side note: The fancy Flash sites also take longer to load, which is not fun for slower Internet connections.

One step in the right direction: an iPhone app. KOMO in Seattle (DMA No. 14) recently released an application that conveniently compacts all its news content in one easy-to-follow platform.

Philadelphia stations could greatly benefit from a similar application, as none of the stations’ Web sites are particularly iPhone (or Blackberry) friendly. All of the stations currently use Twitter, mostly to link to recently-posted stories, but an iPhone app could put these stations on the cutting edge of local news Web site success.

CNN.com is my personal favorite news Web site, and its mobile site is also easily navigable. At the very least, the stations (or the networks themselves) can work on more accessibility via mobile sites.

It’s important to note that KOMO is an affiliate of ABC, not owned-and-operated by the network. Therefore, KOMO has more flexibility in content management, whereas stations in cities like Philadelphia, New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, for example, may not.

A sick 2-year-old has health officials wondering if swine flu, the latest nationwide epidemic, could be in Philadelphia.

The boy was sick at the end of March, long before the flu was known to break out, but officials are waiting on test results to confirm it. As of now, the child is no longer ill.

There are approximately 90 cases of swine flu in 10 states.

One of those states is Delaware. Students at the University of Delaware wore masks today after news broke that as many as 10 students are infected with the virus.

I hope so.

As a promotional campaign, KFC is offering to fix the country’s potholes for free. Not a bad deal.

In exchange, KFC will simply put a logo over the patch — “Re-Freshed by KFC.”

From car drivers to SEPTA bus operators, I think many Philadelphians would be happy to see some more Colonel Sanders on the streets.

This room could be yours at the low price of — $1.

It’s a seemingly twisted plan by the Alexander Inn in at 12th and Spruce streets. Management says it hopes to bring more revenue to the city by allowing guests to stay over for only a buck while they spend their money elsewhere.

After all, Philly’s more fun when you sleep over.

They need a month’s notice. Get your room by calling 215.923.3535 or 877.ALEX.INN. It only works for one night — extended stays will cost you the same amount.

I found this interesting article not too long ago about the obsession Philadelphia has with its newscasters.

Michael Schaffer, a former Inqy staff writer, says that local newscasters act as local celebrities, since many towns don’t have celebrities of their own.

It was a fun read until Page 3, where he gets into the future of local television news. Of course, we all know the situation. But it doesn’t make me feel any better when I keep reading it.

This memory came back to me after I read a headline from the Inquirer on Monday:

Man, 19, shot; 1st Phila. homicide in nearly a week.

And then I began thinking to myself — In all of my scouring of Philly.com in the past week, I didn’t read one “shooting” article. Amazing how it got by me — I would’ve assumed it’d be out of the ordinary had I not seen one.

But the headline also implies that something better is happening, I suppose. This death of William Wilson is the city’s 188th homicide this year. One year ago at this time, there were 248.

That drop of 24 percent should mean something, I guess. But it still comes with 188 prices to pay.

Philly has been named as the fifth most walkable city in the United States.

It’s so exciting that they made up the word “walkable” (at least, according to Microsoft Word). Nice, isn’t it? At least it gives us something good to brag about.

At one point, we were fat. And apparently still, we’re ugly, as The Temple News reported. And now, we can walk places.

Check out this link to see where your Philadelphia neighborhood ranks. Or, go here for the overall rankings, and see how San Francisco, New York, Boston and Chicago beat us.