The Philadelphia Inquirer
Philly, U.S. brace for weekend storm, even as FEMA backtracks on cuts
Philadelphia could experience more snow this weekend than it did during the entire winter of 2024-25, but the forecast updates Friday suggested that may not be the worst of the storm’s offerings. In issuing a profoundly predictable winter storm...
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Philly sues after slavery exhibits taken down at President’s House
The National Park Service dismantled exhibits about slavery at the President’s House Site in Independence National Historical Park, provoking a lawsuit from Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration. The President’s House, which serves...
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Philly Art Museum’s new director looking to move past the turmoil
If the question of who gets to call the shots at the Philadelphia Art Museum was a major source of friction between its former chief and board and staff, the museum’s new director and CEO arrives as something of a salve. Eight weeks on the job, Daniel...
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Sworn in as N.J. governor, Sherrill moves on utility rates, slams Trump
NEWARK, N.J. — Mikie Sherrill was sworn in as New Jersey governor Tuesday, becoming the second woman to govern the state and the first from the Democratic Party. Sherrill, who is also the first female veteran from either party to be elected to the...
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At a farm in N. Philly on MLK Day, planting seeds for the future
Chris Meyers, 67, was planting onion seeds Monday in the warmth of a large greenhouse near North 24th and Berks Streets for Sanctuary Farm Phila’s first ever Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. The onions will be transplanted when the time is...
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A resolve to protect cemetery after thefts
Past a marble monument for a Civil War hero, down a grass path where toppled headstones disappear into ivy and weeds and faded miniature American flags droop, lies the underground vault of James Campbell, who died in 1913 and whose remains may have...
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Big lights, big Ben
The Franklin Institute will debut a new “immersive multimedia show” Saturday called Franklin’s Spark that is projected onto the 82-foot-high domed ceiling of the museum’s Franklin National Memorial.
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Avenue of the Arts breaks ground on ambitious $150M streetscape
Lush landscaping and public art will soon line Broad Street, impromptu performances may pop up, and vehicular traffic will be calmed with a new Avenue of the Arts south streetscape about to take shape. The project — estimated to take $150 million and...
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A mother’s grief from two shootings: One son killed, another son arrested
Two mass shootings, just years apart, forever altered Nyshyia Thomas’ life. In July 2023, her 15-year-old son, Dajuan Brown, was shot and killed when a mentally ill man dressed in body armor gunned down five people at random on the streets of...
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Trump’s DOJ terminated funding for violence prevention groups
In Kensington, a program to mitigate street violence was hitting its stride. After joining the New Kensington Community Development Corporation in 2023, outreach coordinators with Cure Violence began responding to shootings in the neighborhood,...
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Woman, 72, released from prison after half a century behind bars
For the first time in more than half a century, Marie Scott is free. Scott, 72, who served more than 52 years in prison for felony murder, was released from custody on Wednesday after Gov. Josh Shapiro commuted her life sentence in June. Despite...
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Divisions define United States on 5th anniversary of Jan. 6 riot
WASHINGTON — Five years ago outside the White House, outgoing President Donald Trump told a crowd of supporters to head to the Capitol — “and I’ll be there with you” — in protest as Congress was affirming the 2020 election victory for Democrat Joe...
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Maduro says ‘I was captured’ as he pleads not guilty to drug trafficking
NEW YORK — A defiant Nicolás Maduro declared himself “the president of my country” as he protested his capture and pleaded not guilty Monday to federal drug trafficking charges that the Trump administration used to justify removing him from power in...
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In Venezuela, Rubio will find a different challenge
Marco Rubio has held many titles during Donald Trump’s presidency. He may have just acquired his most challenging one yet: Viceroy of Venezuela. The secretary of state, national security adviser, acting archivist, and administrator of the now-defunct...
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TRUMP SEIZES MADURO, VOWS TO RUN VENEZUELA
President Donald Trump on Saturday demonstrated how expansively he is willing to exert U.S. power abroad, removing a foreign leader who had not threatened military force against America and declaring that Washington could assume long-term control in...
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2026 Mummers Parade: High winds, high spirits
With sequins and glitter, music and pageantry, the nation’s oldest folk parade strutted through downtown Philadelphia on Thursday, delighting thousands who lined Broad Street despite fierce, damaging, and bitter winds. Over 125 years, there have been...
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A bridge to 2026
Spectators gather to watch the fireworks show over the Delaware River on New Year’s Eve at Penn’s Landing, looking toward the Ben Franklin Bridge. Across the globe, the world greeted 2026, often in a subdued or defiant mood.
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As Russia’s bloody war with Ukraine grinds on, its social fabric is fraying
OLKHOVATKA, Russia — The bus from the front lines ground to a halt outside the roadside kitchen, and the soldiers on board limped out into the winter mud. Most were missing feet or a leg. A water bottle filled with blood swung precariously from a...
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A little Fancy footwork
At the Mummers Museum in South Philadelphia, Joe Rita (right) with the Clevemore Fancy Brigade borrows a mannequin decked out in prizewinning regalia. The outfit, sported by 2025 first-prize captain Thomas Dougherty with the Saturnalian Fancy Brigade,...
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Grappling with grief after delayed inquiry
Police found the body of the woman with the crystal pendant necklace stuffed beneath a wooden pallet in an overgrown lot in Frankford one night in June of last year. She had been shot once between the eyes, and wore only a sports bra, with her pants...
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How brokers cash in on addiction recovery
Christina Gallo and Daniel Zehnder came to McPherson Square in the Kensington neighborhood looking for a fix, as they did almost every day. But on this day in late April, an SUV pulled up. A woman bounded out with an offer that sounded like a miracle:...
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One family’s survival tale
Around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, Samuel “Bull” Thomas pushed his older brother in a wheelchair down the first floor of the Bristol Health & Rehab Center. As they rolled down the hallway, the 49-year-old Levittown resident smelled gas. “People were still in...
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Nurse killed in blast tried ‘to make a difference’
As first responders arrived at the Bristol Health & Rehab Center on Tuesday afternoon, they were faced with a nightmarish scene: A nursing facility that housed 120 people had exploded, and dozens were trapped. Shards of wood, glass, and paneling...
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Blast at Bucks nursing home kills 2, prompts daring rescues
At least two people were killed and multiple people injured after a possible gas explosion rocked a Bucks County nursing home Tuesday, triggering a widespread emergency response and dramatic rescues and causing destruction that Gov. Josh Shapiro...
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Big plans for New Year’s Eve
The Quaker City String Band performs before Monday’s news conference with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker at City Hall to share details on how Philadelphians and visitors can ring in the new year with a free concert and fireworks on the Parkway.
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An icebreaker
Peter Slavin of Ice Sculpture Philly draws a crowd while crafting a work at Decemberfest in Mount Airy. The holiday festivities along Germantown Avenue on Saturday included live music and vendors as well as an ice sculpture demonstration.
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Mayor touts strong ‘State of the City,’ with caveats
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker marked the halfway point of her term as mayor Friday by portraying the city as safer and more stable than when she took office two years ago, pointing to metrics like the plummeting homicide rate and cleaner streets. During...
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Light in the darkness
On a chilly Thursday evening, a crowd gathered in Manayunk’s Canal View Park for the lighting of a Hanukkah menorah hosted by Chabad-lubavitch of Northwest Philadelphia. Thursday was the fifth night of Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish Festival of Lights.
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Kingsessing gunman sentenced in shooting that ‘traumatized’ city
The man who walked through the streets of Kingsessing and shot people at random in 2023, killing five and wounding five others in one of Philadelphia’s deadliest mass shootings, pleaded guilty Wednesday to multiple counts of murder and was sentenced to...
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‘Highway!’ was his greeting. But he had a higher calling, his wife said
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel stood at a podium behind a cherry wood coffin inside the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul on Tuesday and told mourners how Highway Patrol Officer Andy Chan had arrived in the afterlife: on his...
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Police release new videos as hunt for Brown University shooter resumes
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Authorities knocked on doors Monday searching for any video there might be of the Brown University gunman, who could be seen in grainy footage walking away from the weekend attack that killed two students and wounded nine...
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For Riverview residents, a ‘whole new life’ away from Kensington
Kevin Bean was a frail 125 pounds last February when he entered a brand-new recovery house, a facility where he landed after spending four years in the throes of addiction — at times on the streets of Kensington, the epicenter of the city’s drug...
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Lincoln faces pressure to better control its events
After Lincoln University’s homecoming in October ended with seven people shot, including one killed, the rural Chester County township where the school is located plans to pass new regulations on large events. Several officials in Lower Oxford...
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Holiday delivery
Marane Knapper, a training tech with the U.S. Postal Service, dances to the music of the postal choir Thursday at the USPS processing and distribution center on Lindbergh Boulevard in Southwest Philadelphia.
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Philly to ring in 250th celebrations with 20 neighborhood Liberty Bells
Philly is getting ready to dress itself up — with Liberty Bells. Lots of Liberty Bells. Organizers of Philadelphia’s yearlong celebrations for America’s 250th anniversary in 2026 gathered in a frigid Philadelphia School District warehouse in Logan on...
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At Pa. rally, Trump talks economy, a third term, and Saquon Barkley
MOUNT POCONO, Pa. — President Donald Trump’s raucous rally Tuesday night in Pennsylvania was billed as the launch of a national tour focused easing voters’ economic anxieties that threaten Republicans’ hold in Washington with the 2026 midterms...
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SEPTA, workers reach tentative agreement on a 2-year contract
Transport Workers Union Local 234 and SEPTA reached a tentative agreement on a new two-year contract on Monday after Gov. Josh Shapiro helped break an impasse in talks. Members of the local’s executive board approved the deals, but it is subject to...
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The danger next door
Emily Phillips and her family never slam doors or walk too heavily inside their North Philadelphia rowhouse. They’re afraid of what too much movement could do to the vacant house next door. In early August, a back window and part of a wall came...
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The ‘tranq’ wounds that run deep
Kelly Wyatt winced as a nurse unwrapped layers of gauze from her left leg, exposing the massive wound beneath. Yellow and red and gray, weeping plasma and agonizingly painful at the slightest touch, it covered almost the entirety of the end of her leg...
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Kicking off Philly’s soccer spotlight
Soccer fans Wilson Velez, 36, (left), and Edwin Martinez, 25, both of Philadelphia, were among many at Stateside Live! on Friday watching the FIFA World Cup 26 Final Draw from Washington, D.C. Lincoln Financial Field is set to host six of the matches...
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City lights
Even the Grinches in the crowd were all eyes at Philadelphia’s holiday tree lighting Thursday night at City Hall. The 50-foot-tall, 75-year-old concolor fir, sourced from Stutzman Farms in New York, will be displayed on the north side of City Hall...
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Number of migrants in detention under Trump surpasses 65,000
The number of immigrants confined in federal detention facilities has surged past 65,000, perhaps the highest figure ever and a two-thirds increase since President Donald Trump took office in January. The 65,135 in custody across the nation represents...
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In Philly, a wintry washout
Conditions were more wet than white as an early winter storm hit the region Tuesday. This was a view of the Schuylkill, I-76, and Walnut Street from Cira Green, the elevated park at Cira Centre South in University City. Snow did fall elsewhere; story,
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Marra’s, Philadelphia’s oldest pizzeria, bids arrivederci after nearly a century
Antoinette and Chris Caserio walked out of Marra’s on Sunday afternoon with their children, a menu, a pizza box, and a bag of leftovers they called “their last supper.” “It’s super sad,” Antoinette Caserio said. “My dad’s 80 and this was his...
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Brendan Boyle takes center stage in Washington’s healthcare fight
WASHINGTON — Ahead of a morning Budget Committee meeting, U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle gathered his senior advisers in a brightly lit conference room just off the Capitol to settle on a simple strategy. “Let’s keep the main thing the main thing,” he said....
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How authorities built a case against a drug gang plaguing Kensington
Ramon Roman-Montanez knew the police were watching. One day last April, as Roman-Montanez prepared to hand out free drug samples to users on Weymouth Street — a common tactic that dealers use to attract customers — he stood in the middle of the...
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Parade attendees tell of gratitude, and Thanksgiving Day plans
At the last minute on Thanksgiving morning, Chontai Diggs and her daughter decided to leave their Mount Airy home. Diggs, 35, had always watched Philadelphia’s Thanksgiving Day parade on TV, despite being born and raised in the city. But this year,...
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A Montco amputee hopes to power her mobility journey with 1-mile walk
Stephanie Dunn, who at first introduction has the warm disposition and positivity of someone who has never had a bad day, will tell you that a life-threatening, flesh-eating infection in her foot and the subsequent amputation of her left leg are not...
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Trump’s ‘fine-tuned’ plan to end war in Ukraine gathers ‘momentum’
KYIV, Ukraine — President Donald Trump said Tuesday his plan to end the war in Ukraine has been “finetuned” and he’s sending envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to meet with Ukrainian...
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Two found guilty in shooting death of Police Officer Richard Mendez
Two Camden men were convicted of murder and related crimes Monday in the shooting death of Philadelphia Police Officer Richard Mendez at the airport in 2023. Yobranny Martinez-fernandez, 20, who fired the fatal shots, was found guilty of first-degree...
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A test of endurance
The first of roughly 17,000 runners head out on the Parkway at the start of the Philadelphia Marathon on Sunday. Beautiful weather was a stroke of luck for runners and spectators alike. Story and photos, B1. Melikhaya Frans of South Africa won the...
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Remembering their service
Ray Nahrgang hugs friend and Vietnam veteran Harry Metzler on Tuesday as Metzler touches the names of friends he lost during the Vietnam war, at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington.
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Happy 250th to the few, the proud
Diners in a neighboring bar watch the festivities below on Chestnut Street as the Tun Tavern in Old City opens its doors to celebrate the U.S. Marines’ 250th birthday on Monday. The Marines, as history buffs attest, were established at the Tun in 1775.
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THE RAPID RISE OF MEDETOMIDINE
Dominic Cipriano couldn’t stop shaking. A drug dealer on the streets of Kensington had sold him a bag of what he thought was fentanyl. But whatever Cipriano had taken didn’t produce the familiar rush of the opioids he’d been using on and off since he...
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Choosing death over Alzheimer’s
Michael West struggled to remember the five words the neurologist asked him to repeat. The 64-yearold Philadelphia businessman — credited with helping to build one of the nation’s largest orthopedic practices — used to do complicated math in his head....
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Comcast promises ‘turbocharging’ East Market revival for 250th fest
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker promised at a news conference Friday that her administration’s plans to revitalize East Market Street will unfold quickly and in partnership with large private-sector supporters — most notably Comcast and the Philadelphia...
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Faa-ordered flight cuts could disrupt PHL travel
Amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, ahead of one of the busiest travel times of the year, the Federal Aviation Administration told airlines to reduce their flights by 10% at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports. On the list is...
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‘Our message was resonating’: Sherrill’s win sparked Dems’ surge
As pundits and some pollsters forecast a nail-biter in the New Jersey governor’s race, Dawn Rowe felt calm and confident. The 66-yearold Democratic organizer in Sussex County has known U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill since her first Assembly run. “I have...
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Across Philly and N.J., solid turnout seen at polls
Mikie Sherrill, Jack Ciattarelli, Larry Krasner, and Pat Dugan were among the marquee names on the ballots in New Jersey and Pennsylvania on Tuesday. But on a clear and breezy Election Day, President Donald Trump was very much a factor in state,...
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Programs to mentor would-be citizens face funding challenges
Raised in Northeast Philadelphia, sisters Perla and Aydee Trinidad do everything together, from speaking with a similar cadence to enrolling in the same college program. But these days, only one of them feels like she can move through the city without...
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Race for N.J. governor could signal which party has an edge nationally
The eyes of the nation are on the Garden State. New Jersey voters will head to the polls tomorrow as America watches whether Republican Jack Ciattarelli pulls off an upset or Democratic U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill holds the line and gives her party...
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Amid uncertainty over SNAP, pantries struggle to meet demand
For decades, what is now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has been a lifeline for the country’s most vulnerable families — even through federal shutdowns. As the program appeared poised to grind to a halt this week, many experts...
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Judges tell Trump to tap reserves for food aid
BOSTON — Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration must continue to pay for SNAP, the nation’s biggest food aid program, using emergency reserve funds during the government shutdown. The...
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Jack Ciattarelli is banking on a South Jersey swing to the right
This article is the second in a twopart series on the campaign trail with the candidates for New Jersey governor. It’s Columbus Day in Rocco’s Town House in Hammonton, N.J. Italian flags line the room along with a buffet of sausage and peppers, a...
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Mikie Sherrill’s cautious campaign stirs hope, anxiety for Democrats
This article is the first in a two-part series on the campaign trail with the candidates for New Jersey governor. WEST WINDSOR, N.J. — Twelve days before the election, the air inside the Mercer Oaks Golf Course dining room was heavy with penne alla...
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Monster hurricane hits Jamaica with flooding and 185 mph winds
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Heavy floodwaters swept across southwestern Jamaica, winds tore roofs off buildings, and boulders tumbled onto roads Tuesday as Hurricane Melissa came ashore as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, one of the strongest Atlantic...
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The Pa.-born high-stakes gambler accused of rigging basketball bets
On the green felt of a Bellagio baccarat table, Shane “Sugar” Hennen flaunted $3,125 in winnings from a Pittsburgh Pirates game in June 2014. It was a drop in the bucket for Las Vegas moneylines. But on Instagram, Hennen called it “#2dayswork.” He...
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Green flash EAGLES 38, GIANTS 20
Saquon Barkley races to the end zone on a 65-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game. He finished with 150 yards on 14 carries before leaving the game in the third quarter with a groin injury as the Eagles ran over the New York Giants, 38-20,...
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For grieving coach and family, solace in their football community
When Rick Prete returned from Iraq in 2009, he had just one focus: his family. Throughout his yearlong deployment as an infantryman in the Army, he could speak to his wife and daughter only sparingly over Skype. Once he was home in Audubon, Montgomery...
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Kensington drug gang ‘annihilated’ after FBI raids, says U.S. attorney
FBI Director Kash Patel visited Philadelphia Friday to announce the results of a large-scale investigation into a Kensington-based drug gang — the latest demonstration of how President Donald Trump’s administration is seeking to highlight what it’s...
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Big plans, more delays on tap for Philly’s Carousel House rec center
In March 2023, Kathryn Ott Lovell, then Philadelphia’s parks and recreation commissioner, announced that the plan to build a new Carousel House in West Philly was finally coming together. The city’s only recreation center dedicated to people with...
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Trump’s big East Wing ballroom project raises all kinds of concerns
President Donald Trump’s plan to build a White House ballroom has underscored an oft-overlooked aspect of presidential power: no one could stop the president from tearing down much of the East Wing this week. The next stage of the project is also...
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A tragic discovery rekindles debate over vacant E. Germantown school
When it opened in 1973, Ada H.H. Lewis Middle School was a source of deep pride for East Germantown, the kind of state-of-the-art educational facility that only suburban kids had at the time. But on Saturday, when police found Kada Scott’s corpse...
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Arson charges, and maybe more, against man accused in kidnapping
Prosecutors on Monday charged Keon King, the man accused of kidnapping Kada Scott from her workplace earlier this month, with arson — and said they soon intend to charge him with murder for allegedly killing Scott, then setting on fire the car they say...
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