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  • This developer wants to revive one of South Jersey’s deadest malls. But it’s not a done deal.

    This developer wants to revive one of South Jersey’s deadest malls. But it’s not a done deal.

    A North Jersey developer has plans to finally transform the long-dead Echelon Mall, saying he’d spend more than $250 million to create a “regional destination” with high-end restaurants, entertainment venues, sports retailers, housing, and perhaps even an “upscale supermarket.”

    “We’re going to try to make it Voorhees’ main street” inside the old mall building, said George Vallone, president of the Hoboken Brownstone Co. “Just sort of reinvent the whole thing.”

    The project, which would include townhouses, apartments, a parking garage, and community spaces, was unanimously approved by the Voorhees Township Committee in October.

    But Vallone said his plans aren’t set in stone: The revitalization of the former mall, now called the Voorhees Town Center, depends on whether Hoboken Brownstone can get financial help from the state.

    The entrance to the food court at the Voorhees Town Center, which has been closed for nearly two years after a fire.

    Vallone said his company is applying for a $90 million tax credit for development projects and expects to hear in the coming months whether it is approved. If not, he said, “we walk.”

    Vallone made similar statements in a Philadelphia Business Journal report earlier this week.

    Voorhees Township Mayor Michael Mignogna said he supports “the thoughtful redevelopment of the former Echelon Mall site” as proposed by Hoboken Brownstone.

    “Throughout the process, the township has worked collaboratively with Hoboken Brownstone and Namdar in their private transaction to advocate for the rejuvenation of Town Center, specifically a strong business and retail presence that will restore the site as the center of Voorhees tradition and community,” Mignogna said in a statement.

    He noted that a state tax credit would not affect the developer’s local tax responsibilities.

    The uncertainty represents the latest hurdle in the long quest to revive the sprawling complex off Somerdale Road. Over the years, the 400-acre property, one of the Philadelphia region’s many lifeless malls, has been redeveloped in fits and starts under multiple owners.

    Recently, transformations have begun at nearby malls, including Moorestown and Burlington Center, as the old Echelon Mall languishes.

    What $250 million could do for dead Voorhees mall

    The Voorhees Township Town Hall would not be included in a potential sale of the closed mall building.

    Voorhees officials, including Mignogna, have been talking about the troubled mall’s revival for two decades.

    Built in the 1970s, the once-bustling Echelon Mall has been struggling with vacancies since the early 2000s.

    In an attempt to turn the mall around, it was partially demolished, and a Main Street-style mixed-use development was built on part of the property in 2008. After this makeover, which cost an estimated $150 million, the complex was rebranded as the Voorhees Town Center.

    Namdar Realty Group, which is known to scoop up distressed malls, bought the property from PREIT for $13.4 million in 2015, but the situation did not improve. Retailers continued to flee. Customers followed. In 2024, a two-alarm fire damaged the inside of the building. It has not reopened since.

    A sign on the door of the Voorhees Town Center, which has been closed for nearly two years due to fire damage.

    Hoboken Brownstone plans to buy the mall building from Namdar in a pending sale, dependent on the tax break, Vallone said. He declined to disclose how much he would pay for the property, and Namdar executives could not be reached.

    The sale would not include the Voorhees Town Hall, which occupies 22,000 square feet of the mall and cost the township $5.5 million.

    Nor would it include the property’s existing mixed-use section, Boulevard Shoppes, which had been home to an Iron Hill Brewery until the company filed for bankruptcy and closed all locations this fall. (Township administrator Stephen Steglik said Voorhees hasn’t heard anything from Namdar about what’s next for the Iron Hill space.)

    Voorhees Township officials are in the dark about the future of the closed Iron Hill Brewery.

    Boscov’s, the site’s sole department store, would also be excluded from the sale, and executives have said it would remain open.

    If the sale goes through, Vallone said, construction could begin in early 2027.

    The company plans to build more than 200 market-rate townhouses; more than 100 units of affordable housing, including for-sale townhouses and rental apartments; and a parking garage with at least 1,300 spaces.

    As for the retail space inside the mall, “we’re going to invest a lot of money because there has been very little maintenance done on that thing for the last 20 years,” Vallone said. The mall building will not be torn down, he said, and may look largely the same from the outside.

    Why this developer invests in dead New Jersey malls

    The former Echelon Mail, as seen through a window in October 2024, after a fire damaged the building. The mall has not reopened since.

    In Voorhees, Hoboken Brownstone’s plan differs from its other major mall redevelopment in New Jersey.

    In Flemington, Hunterdon County, Vallone said they’re demolishing Liberty Village, considered the country’s first outlet center, and turning it into a mixed-use complex that will also include townhouses and apartments.

    After buying Liberty Village from Namdar, Vallone said he reached back out to the real estate company to inquire about other mall properties for sale. That’s how he became interested in the Voorhees Town Center.

    Vallone said he believes dead and dying malls can make good investments.

    “Here we have a substantial amount of infrastructure that is feeding the mall,” including plumbing and electric, Vallone said. “That de-risks the project quite a bit.”

    What should a dead mall become? In Exton, the debate continues.

    And he said he thinks customers will come to malls-turned-town-centers if they are developed thoughtfully.

    After all, retailers like Amazon can’t deliver everything same-day, Vallone said, and shopping online doesn’t offer the same experience as browsing at a store.

    In-person entertainment, fine dining, and even grocery shopping are also hard to replicate at home, he said: “Certain things, you have to go somewhere to do.”

  • Other Pa. transit systems are dealing with the fiscal crunch that hit SEPTA last year

    Other Pa. transit systems are dealing with the fiscal crunch that hit SEPTA last year

    The bus system serving 11,000 daily riders in Lehigh and Northampton Counties cut its service 5% last week, a result of the continuing uncertainty around state funding for mass transit.

    LANTA did not eliminate any routes but has reduced the number of trips on 13 bus lines.

    “If there’s no solution coming, we’ll have to make deeper cuts,” Owen O’Neil, executive director of LANTA, said in an interview.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro last fall used executive authority to flex long-term funding for capital projects to cover daily operations at SEPTA and Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT) for two years, following an impasse with lawmakers.

    Most of the state’s 33 smaller public transit systems did not get that big an assist and now are facing unpleasant belt-tightening choices amid rising costs and years of underfunding from Harrisburg.

    LANTA is planning to raise fares in March.

    But the agency was able to make smaller cuts than the 20% it had budgeted because the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation granted it $13 million to stabilize service over two years, O’Neil said.

    With federal COVID-19 relief funds, LANTA was able to expand service to 11 popular new worksites in the fast-growing Lehigh Valley. It’s the third-largest system in Pennsylvania.

    Not just SEPTA: Public transit is in trouble all across Pennsylvania, including in GOP districts.

    In the state budget unveiled Tuesday, Shapiro proposed increasing the share of sales tax revenue reserved for SEPTA and its fellow mass transit agencies, raising a projected $319 million a year.

    If the idea is enacted, however, new money would not begin flowing until July 1, 2027 — the start of the 2028 fiscal year. The tax rate itself would stay the same but transit would get 6.1% of the revenue, up from 4.4%.

    O’Neil said LANTA likely could wait that long if needed. But “we don’t have the stable source of funding,” he added. It would be difficult to continue to operate the expanded routes without one, O’Neil said.

    “Our governor is not meeting the moment,” said Connor Descheemaker, statewide campaign manager of Transit for All PA!, a nonprofit advocacy group.

    “Adjusting the sales tax allocation does not meet the structural deficit facing a single one of Pennsylvania’s public transportation systems,” they said.

    Postponing a change for 18 months gives lawmakers and the governor a longer runway to reach agreement on a stable, recurring source of money for transit — either via Shapiro’s proposal or through a new revenue stream.

    State funding for transit operations has declined steeply since the 2013 passage of Act 89, which used toll revenue from the Pennsylvania Turnpike to raise $450 million a year through 2022.

    SEPTA, which got $394 million from the state-sanctioned flex of capital dollars last year, has said it is not considering major service cuts or fare increases this year.

    Explaining the Public Transportation Trust Fund

    Executives figure that SEPTA can provide current levels of service until summer 2027.

    The transit agency estimates that it would get $183 million in the first year if the governor’s Tuesday proposal is enacted, said Erik Johanson, SEPTA’s chief financial officer.

    With a local match of $27 million, “the difference between what the governor is proposing and how much we need is getting closer and closer to being sufficient,” Johanson said.

    Yet there has been no proposal to replace the capital money that the transit agency and PRT essentially borrowed against.

    “Those dollars are gone, and they have to be replenished,” he said.

    Descheemaker’s group estimates that seven smaller transit systems, including in the State College area, will have to cut service or raise fares if no solution is in the offing.

    “It’s disappointing that we continue to hear about transit as if it is something that only affects Philadelphia and a little bit of Pittsburgh,” Descheemaker said.

  • Philadelphians are frustrated with the city’s snowstorm cleanup. What does that mean for Mayor Cherelle Parker?

    Philadelphians are frustrated with the city’s snowstorm cleanup. What does that mean for Mayor Cherelle Parker?

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker often says she isn’t a fan of “Monday-morning quarterbacks” and “expert AOPs” — her shorthand for so-called articulators of problems who don’t offer solutions.

    Now she has a city full of them.

    After a heavy snowfall followed by a week of below-freezing temperatures, Philadelphia’s streets are still laden with snow, slush, and ice; SEPTA buses are packed; and numerous cars are still stuck in the spots residents left them in 11 days ago.

    The mayor acknowledged residents’ exasperation at a news conference at the Pelbano Recreation Center in Northeast Philadelphia on Wednesday, her first appearance dedicated to the city’s snow response since Jan. 26, the day after the storm walloped the region.

    “For anyone who is frustrated right now about the ice, about the ability for all of the streets to be fully cleared, I want you to know that I understand,” she said. “Everybody can Monday-morning quarterback. … That’s cool. We can’t stop people from feeling the way they feel. But let me tell you something: We were prepared.”

    Parker said the city deployed 1,000 workers and 800 pieces of snow-removal equipment to deal with the emergency.

    “We don’t promise to be perfect, Philadelphia,” she said. “We promise to go to war with the status quo and to fix things, to be doers. … We’re going to continue doing everything that we can to make sure all of this work is done.”

    Philly’s unplowed snow has slowed SEPTA and frustrated residents and businesses
    A pedestrian walks past a large pile of snow and ice along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway days after a fierce winter storm dropped up to 9 inches of snow and sleet, with freezing temperatures leaving large banks of ice and snow on streets and sidewalks in Philadelphia, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026.

    Snowstorms are infamous for their ability to undermine constituents’ faith in their mayors. Over the years, they have been credited with ending political careers in Denver, New York, Chicago, and Seattle.

    The risk of political fallout could be heightened for Parker, who campaigned on a promise to upgrade city services. When Parker ceremonially dropped the puck at Tuesday night’s Flyers game, she was greeted with boos from many fans at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    “Parker has pitched herself as the can-do mayor. ‘I’m not gonna deal with ideology. I’ve got principles, but I’m here to get the job done,’” said Randall M. Miller, a political historian and professor emeritus at St. Joseph’s University. “There’s that expectation you’re going to get this thing done.”

    Parker also faced questions about her administration’s commitment to delivering core services during the eight-day city workers strike last July, when “Parker piles” of trash mounted around Philadelphia in the hot summer sun. She escaped that ordeal relatively unscathed after winning what she called a “fiscally responsible” contract largely in line with her goals.

    ‘They are my people’: Mayor Cherelle Parker on why she stood firm in the DC 33 city worker strike

    But Miller said the mobility issues associated with snow removal have unique psychological effects for constituents.

    “You’re cold, you’re miserable, and you’re trapped. You’re looking around like, ‘Who is confining me?’” Miller said. “You get angry at the mayor because the mayor said, ‘I’m here to provide public services,’ and public service isn’t being provided.”

    Fred Scheuren shovels snow at 12th Street, near Waverly Street, in Center City, Philadelphia, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026.

    The circumstances of this year’s winter weather emergency could also give Parker some breathing room. Municipal leaders in Pittsburgh, New York, Washington, D.C., and Providence, R.I., are all feeling the heat amid the polar temperatures, thanks to an unusually persistent cold snap that has hampered snow-removal operations.

    It’s ‘Groundhog Day’ in Philly this week as snow and ice persist

    A slight reprieve in the weather this week, with highs peaking above freezing Tuesday and Wednesday, could help the city’s cleanup efforts. But officials warned Wednesday that temperatures are forecast to fall again by the end of the week.

    “It’s not hyperbole to consider that we’re still under emergency conditions,” Dominick Mireles, who leads the Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management, said Wednesday.

    Lessons from past Philly storms

    By some measures, the city threw more resources at the latest storm than in the past, but got fewer returns.

    After the legendary blizzard of Jan. 7, 1996, then-Mayor Ed Rendell deployed more than 540 snowplows, dump trucks, and other vehicles to clear away the record 30.7 inches of snow that fell over two days, according to an Inquirer report from that year. Officials bragged at the time that the fleet eclipsed the 300 vehicles marshaled by former Mayor W. Wilson Goode Sr. for the last major blizzard, in 1987.

    Four days after the 1996 storm, the city said it hauled away 50,000 tons of snow, including truckloads famously dumped directly into the Delaware River and the Schuylkill. Officials also said that day that about 71% of roadways were passable, including around half of all side streets.

    In February 2003, the city got walloped with 19 inches of snow, followed by days of subfreezing temperatures. Four days after that storm, the city said it had cleared 75% to 80% of city streets.

    In 2016, Mayor Jim Kenney used 10,000 tons of salt and 1,600 city workers to clear away 22.5 inches of snow, clearing 92% of residential streets by day four — with a major assist from warmer temperatures a few days after the storm.

    The 800 pieces of snow-removal equipment Parker cited that were used in the most recent storm are far more than even in the blizzard of 1996. She also said the city brought in a snow-melting machine from Chicago, saying workers had melted about 4.7 million pounds of snow, while scattering 30,000 tons of salt.

    The result: More than a week after the end of the snowfall, about 85% of city streets had been “treated,” which includes salting, plowing, or both, according to the city.

    Heavy equipment clearing snow along S. Broad Street at Dickinson Street, Philadelphia, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.

    But mobility nonetheless remains limited in much of the city, and officials pointed to the lingering icy conditions.

    The prolonged freeze is “not unheard of, but it is unusual, and that stresses and makes the potential for a lot of not-great things to happen,” Mireles said. “It’s affecting the snow-fighting operation.”

    An analysis of city plowing data shows that after the conclusion of the storm on Jan. 25, vehicles reached about 70% of city streets by the end of Monday. As the snow hardened, activity slowed by about a third on Jan. 27. Some parts of the city — including neighborhood-size chunks of South Philly — saw little plowing until five days after the storm or longer.

    The psychology of snow

    One reason voters punish mayors more harshly for failing to remove snow than for other problems is because of its omnipresence, from getting around the city to small talk about the weather, Miller said.

    Even trash-collection problems tend not to get under residents’ skin to the same degree because they don’t shut the city down, he said.

    “You are furious, and it’s day in, day out,” Miller said. “You’re constantly reminded.”

    Trisha Swed walks with her dog Alberta Einstein at North 30th Street and Girard Avenue in Brewerytown on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026 in Philadelphia. In Philadelphia, 9.3 inches of snow fell, the most in a decade.

    Parker has turned to private contractors to help with the snow-removal operation. And at Wednesday’s news conference, she touted the city’s efforts to deploy 300 “same-day pay and work” laborers earning $25 per hour to help manually clear streets and sidewalks.

    300 ‘ambassadors’ to chip away at ice on Philly’s crosswalks

    Those moves drew criticism Wednesday from the city’s largest union for municipal workers, District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers, which went on strike for higher wages last summer.

    “District Council 33 is deeply concerned by the City’s decision to bring in outside laborers for snow‐removal operations without any consultation or collaboration with our union,” DC 33 president Greg Boulware said in a statement. “Our members deserve better, and the residents of Philadelphia deserve a snow‐removal strategy rooted in safety, foresight, and respect for the workforce that keeps this city running.”

    Miller said those efforts show the city is doing everything it can to clear the city’s streets and sidewalks.

    “There’s been a great effort to try to deal with it, but Philadelphia is a very difficult place to manage in terms of snow because it’s got so many older streets,” he said.

    Man with shovel clearing snow from small park on Main Street in Manayunk on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026.

    But, he said, hearing about the city’s efforts is cold comfort to residents struggling to navigate their neighborhoods.

    “The major thoroughfares, they’ve done a pretty good job. But folks are concerned with their neighborhoods. They’re not concerned with if they go down to Fourth and Market,” he said. “Once you start to hear those kinds of complaints, it’s hard to contain it.”

    Parker said complaints will not deter her team. “Whenever we’ve been dealing with something challenging in government … there are some people who are expert articulators for problems,” she said.

    Her staff, she said, “is not a team of expert AOPs.”

    “This is a team of subject-matter experts who are doers and they are fixers, and we don’t cry,” she said. “Our job won’t be done until every street in the city of Philadelphia is walkable.”

    Staff writers Ximena Conde and Anna Orso contributed to this article.

  • Penn State’s Gavin McKenna, a top 2026 NHL draft prospect, charged with aggravated assault

    Penn State’s Gavin McKenna, a top 2026 NHL draft prospect, charged with aggravated assault

    Penn State winger Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft, was charged with aggravated assault and related crimes Wednesday, after allegedly assaulting a 21-year-old man during an altercation in State College over the weekend, according to a statement released by the State College Police Department.

    The arrest, first reported by Onward State, a Penn State student-run blog, stemmed from an incident hours after McKenna played in Penn State’s outdoor game against Michigan State at Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon. According to the local police department, at approximately 8:45 p.m. in the 100 block of South Pugh Street, he allegedly punched the male in the face twice, resulting in a fractured jaw and a lost tooth and requiring corrective surgery and his mouth being wired shut.

    McKenna, 18, has been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment, and disorderly conduct for fighting, court records show.

    Flyers draft: Penn State’s Gavin McKenna is once again stating his case to be the No. 1 overall pick

    The felony, which is defined as “attempts to cause serious bodily injury or causes injury with extreme indifference,” carries a 20-year maximum sentence in Pennsylvania. The misdemeanor carries a maximum of two years, and fines are also attached to each of the four counts.

    McKenna, a freshman at Penn State, was arraigned before District Judge Casey M. McClain and released on $20,000 unsecure bail. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing the morning of Feb. 11 at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa.

    Penn State officials acknowledged the arrest on Wednesday evening, telling The Inquirer, “We are aware that charges have been filed; however, as this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not have any further comment.”

    McKenna’s adviser, Pat Brisson, was not immediately available for comment.

    Penn State forward Gavin McKenna was projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft.

    Hours before the alleged assault on Saturday, McKenna scored a goal and added two assists in the No. 6 Nittany Lions’ 5-4 overtime loss to the No. 2 Spartans.

    A native of Whitehorse, Yukon, McKenna is ranked No. 1 on the NHL’s 2026 Central Scouting list among North American skaters.

    After a new rule was passed granting Canadian Hockey League players NCAA eligibility this season, McKenna left the CHL this summer to play college hockey. The freshman, who is one of the biggest recruits to ever play college hockey and one of the faces of the changing landscape of the sport, has 11 goals and 32 points in 24 games this season.

    This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

  • LaMonte McLemore, singer and founding member of The 5th Dimension, has died at 90

    LaMonte McLemore, singer and founding member of The 5th Dimension, has died at 90

    Singer LaMonte McLemore, a founding member of vocal group The 5th Dimension, whose smooth pop and soul sounds with a touch of psychedelia brought them big hits in the 1960s and ’70s, has died. He was 90.

    Mr. McLemore died Tuesday at his home in Las Vegas surrounded by family, his representative Jeremy Westby said in a statement. He died of natural causes after having a stroke.

    The 5th Dimension had broad crossover success and won six Grammy Awards including record of the year twice, for 1967’s “Up, Up and Away” and 1969’s “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.” Both were also top 10 pop hits, with the latter, a mashup of songs from the musical Hair, spending six weeks at No. 1.

    Mr. McLemore had a parallel career as a sports and celebrity photographer whose pictures appeared in magazines including Jet.

    Born in St. Louis, Mr. McLemore served in the Navy, where he worked as an aerial photographer. He played baseball in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ farm system and settled in Southern California, where he began making use of his warm bass voice and skill with a camera.

    He sang in a jazz ensemble, the Hi-Fi’s, with future 5th Dimension bandmate Marilyn McCoo. The group opened for Ray Charles in 1963 but broke up the following year.

    Mr. McLemore, McCoo, and two of his childhood friends from St. Louis, Billy Davis Jr., and Ronald Towson, later formed a singing group called the Versatiles. They also recruited Florence LaRue, a schoolteacher Mr. McLemore met through his photography, to join them. In 1965 they signed to singer Johnny Rivers’ new label, Soul City Records, and changed their name to The 5th Dimension to better represent the cultural moment.

    Their breakthrough hit came in 1967 with the Mamas & the Papas’ song “Go Where You Wanna Go.”

    That same year they released the Jimmy Webb-penned “Up, Up and Away,” which would go to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and win four Grammys: record of the year, best contemporary single, best performance by a vocal group and best contemporary group performance.

    In 1968 they had hits with a pair of Laura Nyro songs, “Stoned Soul Picnic” and “Sweet Blindness.”

    The peak of their commercial success came in 1969 with “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” which along with its long run at No. 1 won Grammys for record of the year and best contemporary vocal performance by a group.

    That same year they played the Harlem Cultural Festival, which has become known as the “Black Woodstock.” The festival, and The 5th Dimension’s part in it, were chronicled in the 2021 documentary from Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Summer of Soul.

    The 5th Dimension also had a rare level of success with white audiences for a group whose members were all Black. The phenomenon came with criticism.

    “We were constantly being attacked because we weren’t, quote, unquote, ‘Black enough,’” McCoo said in Summer of Soul. “Sometimes we were called the Black group with the white sound, and we didn’t like that. We happened to be artists who are Black, and our voices sound the way they sound.”

    The group had hits into the 1970s including “One Less Bell to Answer,” “I Didn’t Get to Sleep at All,” and “If I Could Reach You.”

    They became regulars on TV variety shows and performed at the White House and on an international cultural tour organized by the State Department.

    The original lineup lasted until 1975, when McCoo and Davis left to make their own music.

    “All of us who knew and loved him will definitely miss his energy and wonderful sense of humor,” McCoo and Davis, who married in 1969, said in a statement.

    LaRue said in her own statement that Mr. McLemore’s “cheerfulness and laughter often brought strength and refreshment to me in difficult times. We were more like brother and sister than singing partners.”

    Mr. McLemore is survived by his wife of 30 years, Mieko McLemore, daughter Ciara, son Darin, sister Joan, and three grandchildren.

  • Democratic campaign manager charged in Chester County for allegedly filing fake signatures in 2024 primary race

    Democratic campaign manager charged in Chester County for allegedly filing fake signatures in 2024 primary race

    A Democratic campaign manager was charged Monday in Chester County with filing fraudulent nomination petitions in the 2024 primary for auditor general, including the forged signature of a Chester County judge, authorities said.

    Mariel Kornblith-Martin, 40, of Philadelphia, is accused of filing the false nomination petitions when serving as campaign manager for Mark Pinsley, the Lehigh County controller, as he sought to secure a place on the competitive Democratic primary ballot.

    Petitions for Pinsley’s campaign included the names of people who said they had not signed them, including Chester County Judge Alita Rovito, Coatesville City Council members Carmen Green and Khadija Al-Amin, and West Goshen Township Supervisor Nate Wolman, The Inquirer reported.

    Rovito reported the forgery to the Chester County District Attorney’s Office at the time, saying the signature was not hers and she did not sign nominating petitions for any candidate, “as to do so would be a violation of judicial ethics,” according to charging documents.

    Rovito, a Democrat, told The Inquirer at the time that “the use of my name and signature is concerning to me due [to] the potential implications on my role as a member of the independent judiciary.”

    Alita Rovito, a Chester County judge, poses for a portrait in West Chester, Pa. in 2020.

    In the criminal complaint filed against Kornblith-Martin, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office alleges that she gave three college students “stacks of pages containing signatures of supporters” and asked them to sign the required sworn declaration at the bottom of each page. Among the charges filed against Kornblith-Martin was solicitation to false swearing.

    Prosecutors say she paid the students, who are not named in the charging documents, $50 on at least three occasions to sign the petitions.

    “That’s disgraceful,” former U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, the chair of the Philadelphia Democratic Party, said of the charges against Kornblith-Martin. “She’s not one of our favorites.”

    The three college students were all working part-time on several campaigns run by Kornblith-Martin, according to the complaint.

    The students were previously identified by The Inquirer as paid volunteers attending Temple University.

    Kornblith-Martin described herself to investigators as a “political operative” in Philadelphia with 13 years of experience who had worked on 16 campaigns, according to the criminal complaint. She previously served in Philadelphia’s 39th Democratic Ward, but resigned last year, according to its ward leader, Traffic Court Judge Michael Sullivan.

    Kornblith-Martin did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday or Thursday.

    She turned herself in on Wednesday and has been released on bail, which was set at $50,000.

    Kornblith-Martin said in 2024 that the campaign was conducting an “internal investigation” when asked about the alleged fraudulent signatures.

    Pinsley told The Inquirer on Wednesday evening his campaign “reviewed what was brought to our attention but did not have enough verified information to reach independent conclusions” when concerns were raised.

    “Petition drives can involve invalid or questionable signatures for many reasons, and we were not in a position to determine intent,” he added in a text message. “I was not personally involved in the signature collection, and I believe the legal process is the appropriate place for the facts to be established. If anyone knowingly falsified signatures, that would be wrong and should carry consequences.”

    Pinsley said he has “not been involved” with Kornblith-Martin since his auditor general campaign and does “not know the facts of this situation.” Pinsley is now running in the crowded Democratic primary to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in the Lehigh Valley.

    Pinsley’s campaign was not the only one with signatures that came under scrutiny.

    State Sen. Nikil Saval’s 2024 campaign complained about signatures on then-candidate Allen King’s petitions, which included two of the same student circulators and contributed to his being booted from the ballot.

    King, an entrepreneur who still has political aspirations, told The Inquirer the incident had disillusioned him about the two-party system and inspired him to reapply to law school.

    “When ballot access becomes a game of shortcuts and challenges, democracy loses before voters ever enter the booth,” he said.

    The February 2024 revelation that Pinsley’s campaign may have submitted fraudulent petitions shook up the race for a little-known office responsible for conducting audits to ensure that state money is spent properly.

    Pinsley failed to secure the Democratic nomination over State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who ultimately lost to incumbent Republican Auditor General Tim DeFoor as the GOP swept the state’s row offices in the general election.

    Kenyatta did not formally challenge Pinsley’s nominating petitions to remove him from the ballot during the primary. Reached Wednesday, Kenyatta said in a statement: “Fraud occurring within any stage of our electoral process is a direct assault on our democracy.”

    “The charges brought today are a first step in the legal process but accountability must not end here: the buck always stops with the candidate,” added Kenyatta, the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.

    Investigators found at least nine pages of alleged forgeries of Chester County voters, according to the complaint.

    To get on the ballot in Pennsylvania for a statewide row office like auditor general, a candidate must submit 1,000 signatures, including at least 100 from at least five counties.

  • Fire Marshal rules that a fatal house fire in Kingsessing was intentionally set

    Fire Marshal rules that a fatal house fire in Kingsessing was intentionally set

    A 25-year-old man was pronounced dead after he was pulled from a burning house in a fire that was intentionally set early Wednesday in the city’s Kingsessing, authorities said.

    The Philadelphia Fire Department responded just before 1:45 a.m. to a report of a fire in a two-story rowhouse on the 5400 block of Regent Street, authorities said

    Firefighters battled the fire on the second floor and attempted to rescue a man from the back bedroom. He was transported by medics to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:29 a.m.

    The fire was placed under control at 2:01 a.m. and no other injuries were reported.

    “The Fire Marshal’s Office did determine this fire was incendiary, meaning it was set intentionally,” said Rachel Cunningham, spokesperson for the fire department.

    The case is now being investigated by police.

  • Russia and Ukraine envoys meet in Abu Dhabi for 2 days of U.S.-brokered talks

    Russia and Ukraine envoys meet in Abu Dhabi for 2 days of U.S.-brokered talks

    KYIV, Ukraine — Envoys from Moscow and Kyiv met in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday for another round of U.S.-brokered talks on ending the almost four-year war, as a Russian attack using cluster munitions killed seven people at a market in Ukraine.

    The delegations from Moscow and Kyiv were joined in the capital of the United Arab Emirates by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council chief who attended the meeting.

    “The discussions were substantive and productive, focusing on concrete steps and practical solutions,” Umerov said on social media as the first of two days of talks wrapped up.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that a breakthrough in the talks may not come for a while but the Trump administration has made great progress on negotiations over the past year.

    “That’s the good news,” Rubio told reporters Wednesday. “The bad news is that the items that remain are the most difficult ones. And meanwhile the war continues.”

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov wouldn’t offer any details on the talks and said that Moscow wasn’t planning to comment on their results.

    He said that “the doors for a peaceful settlement are open,” but that Moscow will proceed with its military campaign until Kyiv meets its demands.

    Last month’s discussions in Abu Dhabi, part of a U.S. push to end the fighting, yielded some progress but no breakthrough on key issues, officials said.

    The current talks also coincide with the expiry of the last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States on Thursday. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could extend the terms of the treaty or renegotiate its conditions in an effort to prevent a new nuclear arms race.

    Energy networks targeted

    The Abu Dhabi talks were held as Ukrainians were outraged over major Russian attacks on their energy system, which have occurred each winter since Russia launched its all-out invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022.

    A huge Russian bombardment overnight from Monday to Tuesday included hundreds of drones and a record 32 ballistic missiles, wounding at least 10 people. This came despite Ukraine’s understanding that Putin had told Trump that he would temporarily halt strikes on Ukraine’s power grid.

    Ukrainian civilians are struggling with one of the coldest winters in years, which saw temperatures dip to around minus-4 degrees Fahrenheit.

    About 60 foreign ambassadors took part in an organized visit Wednesday to a Kyiv thermal power plant that was almost completely destroyed by missiles and drones in the Monday night attack. The plant provided heating to about 500,000 people.

    Russia is hitting Ukraine’s energy facilities because its armed forces believe the targets are associated with Kyiv’s military effort, Peskov said.

    There has been a lack of clarity about how long Putin had promised to observe a pause on power grid attacks.

    Trump said Tuesday at the White House that Putin had agreed to halt strikes for a week, through Feb. 1, and that the Russian leader had kept his word. But Zelensky said Tuesday that “barely four days have passed of the week Russia was asked to hold off,” before Ukraine was hit with new attacks, suggesting that the Ukrainian leader wasn’t fully aware of the terms of the Trump-Putin agreement.

    Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump was “unfortunately unsurprised” by Moscow’s resumption of attacks.

    On Wednesday, more than 200 repair crews were at work in Kyiv to restore power, according to the Ukrainian Energy Ministry, which said that staff were exhausted and would be rotated. More than 1,100 apartment buildings in the capital were still without heating, Zelensky said.

    The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said that the developments were part of Moscow’s negotiating strategy.

    “The Kremlin will likely attempt to portray its adherence to this short-term energy strikes moratorium as a significant concession to gain leverage in the upcoming peace talks, even though the Kremlin used these few days to stockpile missiles for a larger strike package,” it said late Tuesday.

    New attacks

    Russia used cluster munitions Wednesday in an attack on a busy market in eastern Ukraine that killed seven and wounded 15 others, officials said.

    The attack on the town of Druzhkivka darkened prospects for progress in the UAE, with Donetsk regional military administration chief Vadym Filashkin describing Russian talk of a ceasefire as “worthless.”

    Russia also launched 105 drones against Ukraine overnight, and air defenses shot down 88 of them, the Ukrainian air force said Wednesday. Strikes by 17 drones were recorded at 14 locations, as well as falling debris at five sites, it said.

    In the central Dnipropetrovsk region, a Russian strike on a residential area killed a 68-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man, regional military administration head Oleksandr Hancha said.

    The southern city of Odesa also came under a large-scale attack, regional military administration head Oleh Kiper said. About 20 residential buildings were damaged, with four people rescued from under the rubble, he said.

  • Still no suspect in the disappearance of ‘Today’ host Savannah Guthrie’s mother

    Still no suspect in the disappearance of ‘Today’ host Savannah Guthrie’s mother

    TUCSON, Ariz. — The search for Today show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother still had no suspect or person of interest Wednesday, authorities said, four days after she disappeared with signs of forced entry at her home in southern Arizona.

    Investigators believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will over the weekend and Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said they don’t have credible information indicating Guthrie’s disappearance was targeted. Guthrie has limited mobility, and officials do not believe she left on her own. Nanos said she is of sound mind.

    “Detectives continue to speak with anyone who may have had contact with Mrs. Guthrie,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement on social media Wednesday. “Detectives are working closely with the Guthrie family.”

    Multiple media organizations reported receiving purported ransom notes Tuesday that they handed over to investigators. The sheriff’s department has said it’s taking the notes and other tips seriously but declined to comment further.

    The Pima County sheriff and the Tucson FBI chief urged the public to offer tips during a news conference Tuesday. Nanos has said Guthrie needs daily medication and could die without it. Asked whether officials were looking for her alive, he said, “We hope we are.”

    Authorities say Nancy Guthrie was last seen around 9:30 p.m. Saturday at her home in the Tucson area, where she lived alone, and she was reported missing midday Sunday. Someone at her church called a family member to say she was not there, leading family to search her home and then call 911.

    DNA samples have been gathered and submitted for analysis as part of the investigation. “We’ve gotten some back, but nothing to indicate any suspects,” Nanos said.

    There were signs of forced entry at Guthrie’s home, evidence of a nighttime kidnapping, and several personal items were still there, including Guthrie’s cell phone, wallet and car, according to a person familiar with the investigation, who was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the case and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of an anonymity. Investigators were reviewing surveillance video from nearby homes and information from area license plate cameras and analyzing local cell phone towers data.

    Guthrie’s upscale Catalina Foothills neighborhood is quiet and mostly dark at night, lit mainly by car headlights and homes spaced far apart. Long driveways, front gates and desert plants provide a buffer from the winding streets. Saguaro cacti tower above her home’s roofline, and wispy trees partially block the view of the front door. Decorative streetlamps and prickly pear cacti dot the grassy front yard.

    Jim Mason, longtime commander of a search and rescue posse for the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, said desert terrain can make looking for missing people difficult. Sometimes it’s hard to peer into areas that are dense with mesquite trees, cholla cactus and other brush, he said. His group is based 175 miles (280 kilometers) north of Tucson, and is not involved in the search for Guthrie.

    On the other side of the country, Victory Church in Albany, New York, said it’s offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to finding Nancy Guthrie.

    “Me and my wife, we watch Savannah every single morning. We’ve heard of her faith. We’ve heard of her mom’s faith. And she’s got such a sweet spirit,” Pastor Charlie Muller said.

    For a third day Wednesday, Today opened with Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, but Savannah Guthrie was not at the anchor’s desk. NBC Sports said Tuesday that Guthrie will not be covering the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics “as she focuses on being with her family during this difficult time.”

    The Today host grew up in Tucson, graduated from the University of Arizona and previously worked as a reporter and anchor at Tucson television station KVOA. Her parents settled in Tucson in the 1970s when she was a young child. The youngest of three siblings, she credits her mom with holding their family together after her father died of a heart attack at 49, when Savannah was just 16.

  • Supreme Court allows new California congressional districts that favor Democrats

    Supreme Court allows new California congressional districts that favor Democrats

    WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed California to use a new voter-approved congressional map that is favorable to Democrats in this year’s elections, rejecting a last-ditch plea from state Republicans and the Trump administration.

    No justices dissented from the brief order denying the appeal without explanation, which is common on the court’s emergency docket.

    The justices had previously allowed Texas’ Republican-friendly map to be used in 2026, despite a lower-court ruling that it likely discriminates on the basis of race.

    Conservative Justice Samuel Alito wrote in December that it appeared both states had adopted new maps for political advantage, which the high court has previously ruled cannot be a basis for a federal lawsuit.

    Republicans, joined by the Trump administration, claimed the California map improperly relied on race as well. But a lower court disagreed by a 2-1 vote. The Justice Department and White House did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

    The justices’ unsigned order keeps in place districts that are designed to flip up to five seats now held by Republicans, part of a tit-for-tat nationwide redistricting battle spurred by President Donald Trump, with control of Congress on the line in midterm elections.

    Last year, at Trump’s behest, Texas Republicans redid the state’s congressional districts with an eye on gaining five seats.

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is eyeing a 2028 presidential run, pledged to respond in kind, though he had to win over voters, not just lawmakers, to do so.

    Newsom celebrated the court’s decision, saying on social media that Trump had “started this redistricting war” and would end up losing out in the November midterms, when control of Congress is at stake.

    California’s attorney general, Democrat Rob Bonta, said the decision was “good news not only for Californians, but for our democracy.”

    The state Republican Party, which brought the case, vowed to keep fighting against the map’s use in future elections.

    “We will continue to vigorously argue for Equal Protection under the law for all of California’s voters,” Michael Columbo, counsel for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

    One longtime party strategist, Jon Fleishman, a former executive director of the California Republican Party, said in a post on X that the decision means “this year’s elections will take place on the new lines shrinking the already very small Republican delegation from California.”

    Filing for congressional primaries in California begins on Monday.