One person was killed and at least seven others, including a firefighter, were injured as a fire tore through an Upper Darby apartment Saturday, officials said.
Firefighters were called about 10:30 a.m. to a three-story building on the 3200 block of Township Line Road, in the Drexel Hill neighborhood, where the blaze had broken out in a second-floor apartment. The flames were contained to the apartment, but the heat, smoke, and water damaged nearby units, Upper Darby Township Fire Chief Nicholas Martin said in a news release.
Martin said one person died from their injuries after being hospitalized, and another was critically injured. Their identities have not been made public.
A firefighter was also hospitalized, but later released, for burn injuries sustained while rescuing two people from the apartment. At least five others suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, and about 75 people were displaced from their homes, the news release said.
“Our thoughts are with the victims of this fire and their families during this tremendously difficult time,” Martin said in the statement.
While waiting for a bus earlier this year, two Philadelphia street artists who rely on public transportation diagnosed an all-too-familiar ailment: I have no idea when the bus will be here.
“No one knows when the bus is coming,” one recalled saying.
“We should really make something.”
Earlier this month, their brainchild — a solar-powered e-reader mounted into a street sign that provides bus arrival information — went live on the northeast corner of Broad Street and Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia, along bus Route 64.
The device pulls real-time arrival times from publicly available data (the same dataset that feeds SEPTA’s app), according to artist Make It Weird, who engineered the rig and asked to remain anonymous because their work meanders into a legal gray area.
The digital real-time bus tracker that has been installed at the Route 64 bus stop on the northeast corner of Broad Street and Washington Avenue in Philadelphia on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025.
Their creation is inconspicuous; to passersby, it could be a road sign graffitied with a lanky bird and stalky flowers. Commuters might get closer and see it reads, “This data is unofficial. … Do not contact SEPTA.”
“We have a fundamental issue with funding transit in Pennsylvania,” Make It Weird said. “We, as citizens, often make excuses for real quality-of-life improvements that could be made by saying, ‘Well, SEPTA doesn’t have money, so quit complaining.’ We’re just saying, ‘This could be better.’”
The sign is akin to a Band-Aid on a public transportation network plagued by infrastructure issues, financial turmoil, and an ever-constricting budget, as well as a resource for people who don’t have access to a smartphone with unlimited data or SEPTA’s app, said Make It Weird and collaborator Bird, the alias for the artist whose signature statuesque and slender pink bird appears on the sign.
“Accessibility is something that’s hugely important to me,” Bird said. “It comes from a really large place of privilege that people always assume that everyone has a phone or can look something up, and that’s just not the case. Trying to provide that kind of accessibility for everyone — I think it’s an important place to start.”
Late last month, a prototype of the device near South Philly’s Benna’s Cafe caught the attention of Conrad Benner and wound up on Streets Dept’s Instagram.
The video has garnered more than 8,500 likes; the comments section is filled with fire emojis and clapbacks at SEPTA. One commenter wrote, “This is a sincere public service. Artists are extraordinary. Septa should hire them.” Another said, “Hopefully, it doesn’t find the same fate as Hitchbot did.”
“I’ve been really appreciative of how many people think it’s cool,” Make It Weird said. “I’ve been also really appreciative of how many people say, ‘Yeah, other cities are doing this.’”
Digital screens that feed real-time tracking information have already popped up in other major cities, like New York City and Minneapolis. But Philadelphia has been slow to adopt the tech: While a five-year, $6 million contract to install iPad-sized trackers mounted to bus stops was publicized last year, SEPTA spokesperson Kelly Greene said in an email that none of the screens have been deployed yet, citing cybersecurity.
“We recognize the importance of real-time bus tracking for our customers and will provide an update on this initiative as soon as possible,” Greene said.
Make It Weird started making goofy and whimsically mock street signs in June; all their signs are configured to meet the federal standards, they said, which helps their art meld with the monotonous “No Parking” and “Tow-Away Zone” verbiage. (One sign near City Hall said, “Stop Parking, Ride SEPTA: Fund Public Transit, Sell Your Car,” in the ubiquitous, red Highway Gothic sans-serif font. Another triptych read, “Go Birds,” “F— ICE,” and “Free Palestine,” quoting Hannah Einbinder’s bleeped Emmy acceptance speech.)
The Route 64 sign is the first in hopefully a series of 10, all featuring collaborations with other Philly artists who don’t drive.
When U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina became majority whip, a high-ranking member of Democratic leadership, in 2007 he asked the Library of Congress for photos of eight men to display on the walls of his Washington, D.C., office.
He recalled, years ago, that a group of visitors stopped and asked who the men were: the first Black U.S. House members from his home state.
“I thought you were the first,” someone from the group said.
Clyburn replied: “Before I was first, there were eight.”
That became the genesis of his new book, The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation, which he discussed at length with longtime friend Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro on Sunday as part of the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Author Events series.
“This book is a cautionary tale: Anything that’s happened before can happen again,” Clyburn told a crowded Parkway Central Library auditorium.
The Free Library of Philadelphia welcomed U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina, to discuss his new book “The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation” on Sunday. Afterward, Clyburn signed copies of his book.
The book blends history with memoir: Clyburn intends it to be a monument to the legacies of these trailblazers and a discerning commentary on modern American politics. It weaves the men’s careers, which have largely been erased from public discourse, with Clyburn’s experience and observations from his storied three decades in Congress.
The First Eight “allows us to know where we come from, it allows us to know where we need to go in the future, particularly with the challenges we face today,” Shapiro said.
Clyburn drew parallels between the men’s histories of bitterly contested elections and domestic terrorism to the MAGA movement and Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol; he laid out how a series of events — beginning with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the accession of Andrew Johnson, the end of Reconstruction, and rise of Jim Crow — prevented a Black person from representing South Carolina in Congress for nearly 100 years.
“History is supposed to be instructive,” he said. “I believe that we are at a junction in our history that we must intervene in this process like we’ve never intervened before in order to check the movement currently going to the right.”
And though the book is South Carolina-centric, there are historical nods to the commonwealth: Smalls, the first Black man to pilot ships for the U.S. Navy, spent time in Philadelphia, according to Clyburn, and Miller graduated from Lincoln University in Chester County, the first degree-granting historically Black university in the nation. (Miller was also a longtime friend of Nelson Nix, the father of Pennsylvania’s first Black representative in Congress, Robert N.C. Nix Sr.)
Jill Biden, who grew up in Willow Grove, is a fervent Eagles fan and has never been shy about her passion for Philly sports. She’s talked about watching the Phillies with her dad, and in 2020, wore an Eagles shirt to a fundraiser with former Dallas Cowboys star Emmitt Smith — as any “good Philly girl” would do.
Husband Joe, a Delawarean, hasn’t been so forthcoming about his allegiance; ahead of the ill-fated Super Bowl LVII, then-POTUS tweeted, “As your president, I’m not picking favorites. But as Jill Biden’s husband, fly Eagles, fly.”
With its screen blank, the sculptural art installation that usually connects people in different cities around the world was akin to a void Friday afternoon, idling in the City Hall courtyard as the magic of Center City’s Christmas Village swirled around it.
It’s unclear exactly how long the Portal has been out of commission; according to city spokesperson Leah Uko, a technical issue “has disrupted the live stream in recent weeks,” and Portal officials expect a fix next week. The operators of the Portal did not respond to requests for comment by publication time.
“Turn the Portal back on, we demand it,” one onlooker said.
Another scoffed, “It must be nighttime there.”
Pedestrians walk by “The Portal” art installation on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, in the Philadelphia City Hall courtyard.
Yonas Legesse, 22, and Martina Gebrail, 24, trekked more than two hours from Secaucus, N.J., and Jersey City, respectively, in hopes of seeing the famous Portal.
“We were definitely gonna stop here, go wave at some people, and now it’s off,” Legesse said. “It kind of hurts.”
Gebrail was amazed by the technology she saw on TikTok: The 3.5-ton circular video screen beams real-time, 24-hour, unfiltered livestreams from and to places like Dublin, Ireland; Vilnius, Lithuania; and Lublin, Poland.
Despite their disappointment, Legesse and Gebrail said they would come back to see an operative Portal. It’s expected to stay in Philadelphia through the country’s Semiquincentennial celebration in 2026.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker traversed pulpits across West and North Philadelphia on Sunday, promoting her vision for her signature housing initiative that’s heightening tensions in City Hall.
Parker, who wants to ensure the initiative helps those with varying incomes, largely opposes the changes, which has caused one of the most notable standoffs between the city’s executive and legislative branches during her mayoralty. From West Philly’s Church of Christian Compassion on Sunday morning, she lobbied her constituents, saying her vision for the housing plan is to avoid “trying to pit the ‘have-nots’ against those who have just a little bit.”
“We should be about addition, not subtraction,” she said to a packed sanctuary, as she sought to reclaim the narrative surrounding H.O.M.E. Her rousing 10-minute address was met with acclaim and applause, bringing some in the crowd to their feet.
“We’ve got to take care of the people who are most in need, but we can’t penalize the people who are going to work every day, pay their taxes, contribute to the city, and they can’t benefit from home improvement programs.”
The H.O.M.E. initiative calls for spending $800 million across dozens of existing programs. The bulk of the funding would go to affordable-housing preservation, the Turn the Key program, the Basic Systems Repair Program, affordable housing production, and One Philly Mortgage, which would provide loans to low income households.
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, chair of the Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless, and whose district includes Church of Christian Compassion, called Council’s proposal reasonable and compromised and a fiscally responsible response to “Philadelphians who need our help the most in this moment.”
“The mayor has every right to get out into the public, to tell her side, to talk about her vision,” Gauthier said in an interview, “but I will say there was plenty of time to negotiate with Council on this, and plenty of attempts made from the Council’s side.”
Despite the disagreement over eligibility rules, Parker and Council are on the same page about the broad strokes of the housing plan; critical pieces of legislation Parker proposed as part of H.O.M.E. were approved by Council earlier this year. The changes last week did not alter the fundamentals of the program, which Parker hopes will achieve her goal of creating or preserving 30,000 units of housing in her first term.
Congregants at the Church of Christian Compassion cheer as Mayor Cherelle L. Parker addresses the crowd before service in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of West Philadelphia on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025.
The main sticking point in recent negotiations has been eligibility criteria for several programs: Parker, for instance, had proposed that H.O.M.E. funding for the Basic Systems Repair Program — which subsidizes critical home improvements — is open to any homeowner who makes Philadelphia’s area median income, about $119,400 for a family of four. Council’s amendments, however, require 90% of the new funding to go to families making 60% of the area median income or less, about $71,640 for a family of four.
Gauthier likened what’s in dispute to an emergency room: “The person who’s having a heart attack is going to be seen before the person with a broken leg, because that person who’s experiencing a heart attack might not make it if they don’t get immediate assistance.”
The squabble has given way to the most significant public dustup between Parker and Council President Kenyatta Johnson. In an uncharacteristically blunt statement last week, Johnson broke from his usual alignment with the mayor and defied her administration’s analysis of the situation.
In a statement Sunday, Johnson’s spokesperson Vincent Thompson said “Johnson heard clearly and directly from Councilmembers and housing organizations in Philadelphia about critical issues they want addressed in the first-year H.O.M.E. Plan spending. Those concerns center on accountability, neighborhood equity, and — most importantly — making sure that the deepest investments reach the poorest and most vulnerable Philadelphians.”
The amended budget could be up for a final vote as soon as Thursday, Dec. 11, Council’s last meeting before its winter break, according to Johnson’s office.
A fire Friday tore through the Atlantic City Boardwalk’s Peanut World souvenir shop, according to authorities.
Atlantic City firefighters battled the blaze that erupted about 4 p.m. at the business off Martin Luther King Boulevard. Heavy smoke billowed out onto the Boardwalk and damaged three other buildings, according to a news release.
The businesses were closed, and no injuries were reported.
While the buildings are salvageable, Peanut World’s interior will have to be rehabbed, according to city public safety spokesperson Matt Duffy. City officials will assess the damage next week, he said.
“We have many buildings of historical significance here in Atlantic City and we really try to keep their integrity whenever possible,” Atlantic City Fire Chief Scott Evans said in a statement.
Peanut World could not be reached by phone early Saturday.
MacKenzie Scott, one of the world’s richest women through her Amazon shares, has donated $25 million to Lincoln University, the college announced Friday.
The money — part of the billionaire philanthropist’s series of multimillion-dollar, unrestricted donations to historically Black colleges and universities — will support scholarships and initiatives, according to a news release.
Lincoln University officials said the no-strings-attached gift “exemplifies her confidence in the university’s mission, vision, and leadership.”
“Lincoln University was founded to break barriers and create pathways for African Americans to thrive,” president Brenda A. Allen said in a statement. “This investment honors that legacy and propels us forward, enabling us to build on 171 years of excellence and innovation.
“It is a powerful affirmation of the enduring value of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.”
A spokesperson for the university and the board of trustees could not immediately be reached Saturday for additional comment.
This is Scott’s second donation to the southern Chester County university, the first degree-granting HBCU in the nation. The ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos gave $20 million in 2020 — then the school’s largest gift from a single donor in its history. As of June 2023, the school’s endowment was $54 million.
A number of other historically Black colleges also received money from Scott in recent weeks, including Maryland’s Bowie State and Morgan State Universities and University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Scott’s total donations to higher education institutions this year have topped $1 billion, Forbes reported.
Meanwhile, the southern Poconos and northwest New Jersey could see anywhere from 4 to 8 inches of snow. The weather service has issued a winter storm watch for Carbon and Monroe Counties in Pennsylvania and Sussex County in New Jersey.
Any snow in Philly could quickly change to rain by mid-morning Tuesday, with high temperatures in the low 40s. More than an inch of rain is possible but flooding is not expected, according to Sunday evening’s forecast. Along the coast, 5- to 8-foot seas and gusty winds are possible Tuesday night.
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In more than a century of recordkeeping, half of the top 10 snow years have occurred in the last three decades. And periods of snow lulls are not uncommon, either: In the five winters ending 1931-32, the average was 10.1 inches, and in the five seasons that ended with the winter of 1952-53, the average was 11.8 inches.
The Wanamaker Light Show returned with gusto this weekend after Philadelphians held their breath over the last year about the fate of the deeply cherished tradition.
For nearly 70 years, the voice of John Facenda, then Julie Andrews, and a charmingly low-tech cast of twinkling characters have ushered in the holiday merriment for generations of Philadelphians. This year’s spectacle took on renewed significance as the future of the Light Show and the adjoining Dickens Village dimmed.
“This is deeply personal to us as Philadelphians, and we like to save stuff. We’re nostalgic to a fault,” said Kathryn Ott Lovell, leader of the Save the Light Show effort, a grassroots campaign that secured the show’s encore despite the sale of its longtime host, the Macy’s store in Center City.
Thousands of people wait outside the Wanamaker Building before the start of the Wanamaker Light Show on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. The light show returns this year after the closing of Macy’s, but it is uncertain if the light show will be able to return next year.
“Christmas isn’t Christmas without the Wanamaker Light Show,” said Paulette Steffa, who was among the first people who lined up at the door for the Saturday matinee, braving temperatures in the low 40s and gusty winds. By noon, the line outside the Wanamaker Building snaked from Market to Drury Streets; just 15 minutes later, about 1,100 people flooded the famed foyer. More than 7,000 attended the show’s opening day on Friday.
Steffa, 72, has been a Light Show regular since its debut in 1956, when she was 3 years old. On Saturday, she was decked out in a red sweater matching the show’s silhouettes and a plastic John Wanamaker shopping bag from the Bicentennial.
At the stroke of 12:30 p.m., kids and kids-at-heart alike flocked around the Wanamaker Eagle and tilted their chins upward to the magic Christmas tree. They oohed and aahed at the twinkling candy canes, glitzy Sugar Plum Fairies, and jolly snowmen.
Scottie Kurtz, 2, and Daniel Kurtz watch the Wanamaker Light Show at The Wanamaker Building on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. The light show returns this year after the closing of Macy’s, but it is uncertain if the light show will be able to return next year.
Debbie Miller, 68, came as a child with her parents, then with her husband, then with their children — and maybe, someday, she hopes, their grandchildren. The show’s warmth melts away troubles, she said.
“There’s that feeling of there’s still some good in this world, there’s still some positive energy in this world,” Miller, of Chester County, said. “We all have our daily struggles, but when you come here, it’s a little bit of an escape from that. It just makes you good.”
While many, like Steffa and the Millers, are regular visitors, Saturday was a long-awaited homecoming for Evelyn Poole: This was the 73-year-old’s first time seeing the show since she worked in the Wanamakers lingerie department and Santa’s Workshop as a teenager. She brought along her 7-year-old grandson for the occasion.
What will happen to the beloved attraction in the coming years remains uncertain: There is more money to be raised, ownership to be settled, and a long-term preservation plan to be devised.
But for at least one more season, Philadelphians can rejoice in the glow of the magic Christmas tree.
