Briefly... CITY/REGION

Firefighter hurt in W. Kensington

A firefighter was injured last night after a fall from a ladder while fighting a fire in West Kensington, according to Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers. The fire broke out on D Street near Allegheny Avenue about 6 p.m., Ayers said.

The injured firefighter was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.

The firefighter's ladder moved and he tried to secure himself, but a rotted second-floor window sill completely gave out, Ayers said. The fire was placed under control about 6:15 p.m. No other injuries were reported, Ayers said.

Old boss gets new gig

Brian Tierney, who was head of the group that previously owned the Daily News, Inquirer and Philly.com, has announced that he has partnered with New Spring Capital, a private-equity group, to buy Realtime Media, a digital-marketing company based in King of Prussia.

Tierney, 53, a longtime public-relations executive, also announced the launch of a new PR firm, Brian Public Relations.

"I definitely wanted to do something that was in the digital area, in mobile [and online]," said Tierney, who was chief executive of Philadelphia Media Holdings. "I knew this company, having worked with them and by reputation. . . . I was really impressed by the people and the technology and the client list."

Realtime Media's clients include CNN, Toys 'R' Us, AOL and L'Oreal USA.

Ethics appointments moved

Mayor Nutter has submitted resolutions to City Council that would confirm the appointments of William Brown III and Sanjuanita Gonzalez, and reconfirm the appointment of Sister Mary Scullion, to the city's Board of Ethics.

Brown will fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Nolan Atkinson Jr. Gonzalez will fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Kenya Mann Faulkner. Damone Jones Sr. and Richard Glazer fill out the five-person board.

Gamble & Huff walk on Broad

A block-long stretch of Broad Street, between Spruce and Pine, was rechristened yesterday in honor of Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, the producers whose lush acoustics created soul hits like "If You Don't Know Me by Now."

About 400 people were on hand as signs went up marking "Gamble and Huff Walk" outside the duo's Philadelphia International Records building. Gamble and Huff produced numerous hits in what became known as the "Philadelphia Sound."

Gas is 3 bucks a gallon now

The average price of gasoline in the Philadelphia region reached the $3 mark yesterday, increasing a penny overnight to the highest price seen in more than two years.

Since Nov. 1, the average gas price in the region has jumped 11 cents a gallon.

Even worse, it has jumped 34 cents since Oct. 1. The average cost of regular unleaded gas is 27 cents higher than this time last year.

Finalists in schools' turnaround

Ten outside providers are in the running to turn around more of the city's failing schools as part of the second round of the school district's Renaissance Schools Initiative.

Among the finalists are two New York-based turnaround providers, Global Partnerships Schools Inc., and Mosaic Turnaround Teams. Green Dot America, based in Los Angeles, has also been named a finalist.

Four providers who run district schools were also picked again - Mastery Charter Schools, Scholar Academies, Aspira Inc. and Universal Companies.

Johns Hopkins/Diplomas Now, in Baltimore, which was a finalist last year, is also in the running. Other finalists are locally based Esperanza Academy and Foundations Inc.

- Staff and wire reports