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  • Heat takes a toll as Philly events for nation’s 250th ramp up; mayors march in Old City; Queen Latifah concert canceled

    Heat takes a toll as Philly events for nation’s 250th ramp up; mayors march in Old City; Queen Latifah concert canceled

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 10:37pm

    John Adams wanted ‘pomp and parade’ to mark July 2. For the 250th, Philly tried, despite the heat.

    Participants gather to create the Living Liberty Bell, gathering 250 people to form the shape of the famous bell on Independence Mall (with the backdrop of Independence Hall) adorned in red, white, and blue, at Independence Hall, July 2, 2026.

    As the mercury climbed above 100 degrees in the Philadelphia region two days before the nation’s 250th birthday, it was, it seemed, too hot for liberty as originally planned.

    Thursday marked the start of the Red White & Blue To-Do — Philadelphia’s third-annual celebration of the day the Second Continental Congress voted to adopt a resolution of independence here on July 2, 1776. Though many events honoring that anniversary were planned, several highly anticipated gatherings were canceled or postponed due to the heat.

    And yet, despite the oppressive temperatures on a particularly toasty July day in the cradle of the nation’s founding, the celebration started early Thursday.

    At 7 a.m., some 250 revelers, clad in red, white, and blue clothing, gathered at Independence Mall to make a living Liberty Bell — a representation of a symbol that has defined Philadelphia for centuries, and a touchstone for Americans nationwide. The human formation even captured the bell’s signature crack through an outline of participants wearing blue.

    John Adams wanted ‘pomp and parade’ to mark July 2. For the 250th, Philly tried, despite the heat.

    — Nick Vadala, Stephanie Farr, Dana Munro

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 7:51pm

    Drone show still set for 10 p.m. tonight over National Constitution Center

    While other events have been canceled because of the heat, the Independence Illumination Drone Show is still scheduled for 10 p.m. Thursday over the National Constitution Center and is viewable from Independence Mall.

    — Robert Moran

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 7:25pm

    Photos: Union Pacific’s legendary ‘Big Boy’ locomotive heading to Philly

    Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 will arrive in Philadelphia on Saturday in time for Fourth of July celebrations, completing its journey from the West Coast. The legendary locomotive has drawn thousands of spectators as it has traveled across Pennsylvania.

    The Big Boy is headed to Intrepid Avenue and League Island Boulevard at the Navy Yard, where the Port of Philadelphia will host a public viewing from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and again on Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. before heading west. Admission is free.

    Earlier on Thursday, over-heated train fans gathered near Reading to see Big Boy required medical attention because of the scorching temperatures.

    “Preliminary estimates indicate that more than 100 patients required medical evaluation and care throughout the incident,” the Blandon Fire Department, one of the numerous responding agencies, posted on Facebook.

    No serious injuries were reported.

    — Robert Moran

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 6:13pm

    Philly ties a record with high of 103

    The official high reached 103 Thursday in Philly, tying a record perhaps fittingly set in 1901 when the nation was marking its 125th birthday, halfway to the Semiquincentennial.

    The bar is a shade higher Friday when the record is 104, and Saturday’s would be 103, both set during a sizzling heat wave in 1966.

    Relief-bearing showers are unlikely Friday, said Patrick O’Hara, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly, N.J.

    However, the 50-50 chance remains for Saturday night, coinciding with the climax of the city’s Welcome America celebration on a World Cup game.

    Severe storms are possible, the federal Storm Prediction Center says.

    Sunday, the highs might not get past 90, or the low 80s on Monday.

    — Anthony R. Wood

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 5:48pm

    Salute to Service, featuring Queen Latifah, has been canceled because of extreme heat

    A man working the event (right) tells folks that the Wawa Welcome America’s Salute to Service featuring the United States Army Field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus on Independence Mall with superstar Queen Latifah has been cancelled because of the excessive heat on Thursday, July 2, 2026.

    The Wawa Welcome America Salute to Service concert has been canceled because of the extreme heat, organizers announced via social media just after 5 p.m. Thursday.

    The concert was to feature Queen Latifah and the United States Army Field Band & Soldiers’ Chorus performing at Independence National Historical Park. It was intended to be a “rousing performance honoring our soldiers and veterans,” according to a description of the event online.

    It was set to begin at 8 p.m., but is now among a list of several other events that have been canceled or rescheduled due to the heat blanketing the Philadelphia region. Temperatures topped 100 degrees in the city Thursday afternoon, and the heat is expected to continue into Friday.

    Sign announcing the cancellation of Thursday night’s Salute to Service concert featuring Queen Latifah and the U.S. Army field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus at Independence National Historical Park due to a declared heat emergency with 100-plus temperatures.

    — Nick Vadala

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 5:14pm

    Artists perform music, poetry at historic locations across Old City

    More than two dozen Philadelphia artists filled 11 historic spaces across Old City Thursday afternoon with music, poetry, and powerful vibes as part of WXPN Welcomes the Red, White & Blue To-Do Music Series.

    The audience seats, however, were not all filled as crowds remained light and foot traffic across the historic district was much sparser than an average Thursday.

    Legendary Philly poet and recording artist Ursula Rucker performed with Miles Orion on guitar at the Arch Street Meetinghouse for a crowd of about a dozen people. She gave moving renditions of her poems — like “Philadelphia Child” and “Fear or Freedom” — and ended her set on “L.O.V.E.”

    “Love soft, love hard, just love,” she said, encouraging the small crowd to repeat one of the most powerful words in the English language with her – love.

    Over at Mother Bethel AME Church, 21 members of the Mass choir accompanied by an organist and drummer performed gospel music for a crowd of about just as many spectators. The floorboards of the church’s social hall vibrated, hands clapped, and feet tapped as the choir beautifully performed songs like “Battlefield” and “Yes, God is real.”

    “They just about blew the roof off!” said Dolly Marshall, who frequents the church.

    Marshall, a historic preservation specialist for the city of Camden, is a “Bicentennial baby” who’s celebrating both the country’s birth and her own milestone birthday this year. She’s also a descendent of James Forten, who was a Revolutionary Philadelphia sailmaker, abolitionist, and Black patriot.

    “I wanted to be a part of the festivities today. Seeing people come together, we should carry this spirit all year long. You’ve seen the evidence with FIFA and the World Cup too, people coming together from different denominations and different cultures. That’s the beauty of celebrations like these,” she said. “Of course, this coincides with other things that are going on in the country, some that aren’t so pleasant. We’re divided in many ways, so these times also shed light on the work that still needs to be done.”

    Rev. Carolyn C. Cavaness, pastor of Mother Bethel AME, said she wanted to open the church’s doors for the Red, White & Blue To-Do because it sits on the oldest parcel of land continuously owned by African-Americans in the country, dating back to 1791.

    “I’ve been reflecting, here we’re celebrating the birthday of America but there are people who are not invited to the party. There are people who are still left out. So how do we, in this generation, show that all men and women are created equal?” she said. “And not only in word and ideal but in deed and thought and how we legislate and how we live and embrace each other.”

    Mother Bethel AME Mass choir performing as part of @wxpnfm.bsky.social Red, White & Blue music series in Philly today.

    — Stephanie Farr (@farfarraway.bsky.social) 2026-07-02T18:27:27.324Z

    — Stephanie Farr

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 5:10pm

    At Independence Hall, Hakeem Jeffries said it was important to speak about the history of slavery in America

    House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington in May.

    During his speech Thursday afternoon at Independence Hall, Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries underscored the country’s history of slavery that coexisted during the nation’s founding. He also emphasized that Americans have no king and should never obey one. He said it was important to speak to those themes to remind people of the founders’ ideals.

    “The Declaration of Independence was pretty clear as a defiant document in breaking away from King George III and establishing a country where there would be representative democracy based on the consent of the government, where there are no subjects, only citizens,” he said.

    The city of Philadelphia and President Donald Trump’s administration have been embroiled in a battle over language that references George Washington, who enslaved people as the country gained its independence.

    Jeffries said he has not had a chance to see the updated language yet.

    “But I think it’s important for us to embrace the fact that America was not born as a perfect country, but the framers and the founders of our great republic were able to set us on a path toward always marching to a more perfect union,” he said.

    Only a few Republicans, including U.S. Reps. Glenn Thompson and Rob Aderholt, attended Thursday’s session. No members of Republican leadership in Congress attended.

    “Speaker Johnson, I didn’t get an opportunity to talk about why he wasn’t present here today, but I’m thankful that I was here, and it’s a very special day that I will,” he said, referring to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.).

    Thompson, a Republican who represents Pennsylvania, said he was proud to attend Thursday’s event: “Oh, who would not want to be a part of celebrating the actual 250th anniversary of our independence?”

    Several speeches during the special Congressional session emphasized the need for Congress to remain an independent branch and exercise its authority to check power on the executive. To Thompson, the remarks seemed ”a little political,” he said, “but it is an excellent observation, whenever we don’t have a king, we can thank George Washington for that.”

    The 250th anniversary gathering of Congress at Independence Hall touches on divided times, uneven history

    — Michelle Baruchman

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 5:01pm

    Philly performances by Jill Scott, The Roots will be featured on CBS primetime special July 4th

    Fil photo of Jill Scott performing at The Met on March 16, 2023.

    CBS will highlight performances in Philadelphia by Jill Scott and The Roots during a three-hour “primetime” televised special July 4th, the network announced Thursday.

    CBS will broadcast from 8 to 11 p.m. Saturday The Great American Block Party 250 from 8 to 11 p.m. hosted from the nation’s capital by CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil and Entertainment Tonight co-host Nischelle Turner, the network said.

    The special, which will be streamed on Paramount+ and CBS News 24/7, will feature musical performance from across the country, “grill sessions” with Washington chef Rock Harper, and a big fireworks show.

    The performances by Jill Scott and The Roots are part of the scheduled One Philly Unity Concert for America in Philadelphia.

    The Philly concert also will be aired by NBC10.

    — Robert Moran

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 3:37pm

    Members of Congress gather at Independence Hall

    Jarquiza Ayers, on the staff of U.S. Rep. Watson Coleman, uses a handheld fan to cool off U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, seated In Congress Hall at Independence Hall on Thursday before some 30-40 members of the House of Representatives gathered for a ceremonial event to mark the 250th anniversary of the day the Second Continental Congress voted for independence.

    Members of the U.S. Congress lined up Thursday to enter Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the site where, 250 years ago, the Second Continental Congress gathered to declare independence from Great Britain. Rep. Glenn Thompson (R., Pa.) opened the ceremonial event, saying “the origins of our republic trace back to Pennsylvania.”

    In speeches, Gov. Josh Shapiro and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries reminded attendees of the history of the founders’ goals that America has no king, and that what would become the legislative branch is separate from the executive and acts as a check on power.

    Members of both parties attended, wearing suits and waving fans — a sign of the 100-degree heat outside the Hall in Philadelphia.

    Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Democrat whose district includes Independence Hall, had worked for two years to convene a special Congressional ceremonial event to mark the 250th anniversary of the vote to declare independence.

    He motioned to pass into the Congressional record that reads: “The members of Congress present on this day come together in the spirit of unity and celebration … to reflect on the best of our nation’s founding ideals.”

    About 30 members of Congress attended the special meeting.

    Following a benediction from Rep. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), the special session adjourned.

    — Michelle Baruchman

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 1:59pm

    Extreme heat leads to canceled and postponed July 4 plans across South Jersey

    Countless parades, fireworks, drone shows, and more are scheduled for this weekend to celebrate the Fourth of July and the nation’s 250th birthday across South Jersey, but extreme heat is complicating plans.

    With temperatures forecast to exceed 100 degrees through Independence Day, some South Jersey towns are taking steps to keep residents out of the heat — even if it means canceling their annual holiday events.

    Others that haven’t taken any major steps yet are advising residents to stay hydrated and out of the direct sunlight as much as possible over the weekend.

    Here are some South Jersey towns that have announced changes to their Fourth of July celebrations.

    — Lacey Latch

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 1:46pm

    Essentials carted in ahead of ceremonial Congressional event

    The seal of the U.S. House of Representatives waits outside Independence Hall Thursday, July 2, before some 30 to 40 members of Congress gather for a ceremonial event to mark the 250th anniversary of the day the Second Continental Congress voted for independence.

    — Tom Gralish

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 1:42pm

    Philly temperature hits 100

    Visitors to the Liberty Bell, in Philadelphia, July 2, 2026.

    For the 63rd time in records dating to 1874, the temperature reached 100 degrees on Thursday afternoon, officially in Philadelphia, and the heat index jumped to 109 at 1 p.m.

    The forecast high, 103, would match a record for a July 2, set back in 1901 when the nation was marking its 125th birthday,

    While summers have become warmer in Philadelphia, 100-degree readings have been relatively scarce this century.

    On average, temperatures of 100 or higher have occurred every four years in Philly, but when it reached 100 last summer, that was the first time in 13 years, the longest 100-less stretch on record.

    It had reached 100 in three consecutive summers ending in 2012, and five consecutive years ending in 1955.

    Things may change tomorrow; it might get a little warmer.

    Missing January yet?

    — Anthony R. Wood

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 1:38pm

    More than 100 mayors learn about historical significance of July 2nd, 1776, at Museum of the American Revolution

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker interacts with visiting mayors on July 2.

    More than 100 mayors, some with families in tow, gathered in a small auditorium in the Museum of the American Revolution and learned about the historical significance of this day 250 years ago.

    On July 2, 1776, 12 of the 13 colonies voted in favor of independence from Great Britain, explained Tom Cochran, U.S. Conference of Mayors CEO and executive director. Only New York cast a no vote until a few days later, when it got on board as well.

    “We talk about the Declaration, we talk about the Constitution, it was on that day, July 2nd … that we broke,” Cochran said.

    He put the work that political leaders executed on that day two and a half centuries ago in terms the modern-day U.S. mayors would understand.

    The resolution the officials voted on in 1776 “didn’t have 35 whereas clauses,” Cochran explained, as are common in modern-day resolutions reviewed in local government chambers. This resolution, he explained, only had one clause.

    “Resolved, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states,” Cochran said, quoting the resolution.

    It was only in coming together and sharing ideas that the representatives from across the colonies accomplished an extraordinary thing. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker urged the mayors at the symposium to do the same at this meeting.

    “May today’s conversations strengthen old friendships, spark new ideas, and renew our shared commitment to public service,” Parker said. “Welcome to Philadelphia, everyone. Let’s roll up our sleeves and continue the hard work together.”

    — Dana Munro

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 1:29pm

    Floats, dance, and a lot of sun: Pomp & Parade winds through historic district

    A member of Gente de Venezuela Philly marches through Independence Mall during the Red, White, & Blue To-Do Pomp & Parade event on Thursday, July 2, 2026, in Philadelphia.

    Performers from neighborhoods across Philadelphia and nations around the world weren’t slowed down by oppressive temperatures Thursday as they marched, stepped, and danced their way down Independence Mall in the Red, White & Blue To-Do Pomp & Parade.

    The extreme heat did seem to have an effect on attendance, though. Crowds were relatively light along the parade route this year, particularly in areas without shade, of which there are many along the mall.

    The parade featured cultural groups like Gente de Venezuela Philly, whose members waved Venezuelan and American flags; Banda Escolar de Guayanilla, a marching band from Puerto Rico; the Indiana County Fife & Drum Corps, who brought the history in tricorn hats, and the West Powelton Steppers & Drum Squad, who brought the beat in the heat.

    Participants pulled wagons featuring small floats of Independence Hall, the LOVE sculpture, and the Liberty Bell, and a historical interpreter portraying John Adams brought up the rear of the procession.

    Despite its name, the parade was a living illustration that this country’s true colors aren’t just red, white, and blue — this nation is a diverse tapestry of vibrant, beautiful hues.

    Pastor Funmi Obilana of RCCG Church in West Philly stopped to watch the parade with two other members of her congregation on their way to the President’s House Site. The three women were doing a walking tour of their own city Thursday, stopping at places where their ancestors were once enslaved in advance of Independence Day.

    “We are here to pray for this city and this nation,” Obilana said. “Two-hundred-and-fifty years is a big number and it should be a new beginning, not only for Philadelphia, but for the nation.”

    Christian Greene, 14, and fellow members of the Indiana County Fife and Drum Corps, a music group for 6th-12th grade students in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, wait for their bus back home after the parade ends in front of the YO statue on Thursday, July 2, 2026, in Philadelphia.

    Lori Morgan and her three daughters traveled from Seattle to celebrate the Red, White & Blue To-Do in Philly before heading to Boston for July 4th.

    “We knew we wanted to do something historic for the 250th so we thought ‘Let’s go to Philadelphia on July 2, since this is where it all happened,” she said.

    The family toured Independence Hall Wednesday, and Morgan said it gave them a new perspective on the days and people that led to the founding of our nation.

    “We really thought about how when they did the Declaration it was a hot summer and this weather is helping us empathize with what they went through. It was difficult for them with the heat and tempers and they had to pull it together,” Morgan said. “I just think about those men and they all had different ideas, just like we do today, but they knew they couldn’t fail and they had to come together, and they did.”

    Dance4Life from Claymont, Del, in Philly’s Red, White & Blue To-Do parade today

    — Stephanie Farr (@farfarraway.bsky.social) 2026-07-02T17:35:33.413Z

    Behind Independence Hall Thursday, where the shade was plentiful, National Park Service rangers, colonial reenactors, and independent guides led several large groups on tours and gave information talks.

    Lines for both Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell snaked down the sides of their respective buildings. Directly in front of Independence Hall on the mall, FOX Sports appeared to be setting up a large broadcast booth that an employee said will be used for coverage of the July 4th World Cup game in the city.

    Philadelphians also got their side hustle on around the mall, selling everything from 250th flags to homemade buttons that read “Make America humane again” and “Deport ICE.”

    — Stephanie Farr

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 12:29pm

    What state candidates for governor are doing on Independence Day

    (use as desired) Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro shakes hand of Stacy Garrity, 78th State Treasurer, Forum Auditorium, Harrisburg, PA, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. Day of her swearing in.

    Treasurer Stacy Garrity, the Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor, will be spending her July Fourth marching in the Susquehanna County parade Saturday, a spokesperson told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

    It’s one of many events planned throughout the commonwealth to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary of its founding.

    Her Democratic opponent, Gov. Josh Shapiro, meanwhile, will appear from sunup to sundown at events throughout the city — as well as frequent television hits.

    Shapiro has repeatedly raised concern that President Donald Trump has led the nation astray from its founders’ design and initially announced that Pennsylvania would not take part in Trump’s Great American State Fair, before Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators, Republican Dave McCormick and Democrat John Fetterman, made a push to fill the state’s empty exhibit. Garrity, in a statement, said Shapiro is the “only career politician who has politicized America 250.”

    — Michelle Baruchman

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 11:48am

    📷 Images of the nation’s 250th birthday

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 11:42am

    Watch artists prepare floats for Philadelphia’s Salute to Independence Parade

    — Lauren Schneiderman

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 11:32am

    March featuring mayors from across the country heads through Historic District

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker leads bipartisan mayors from communities across the nation in a Historic March of America’s Mayors through the birthplace of American democracy, and past Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, July 2, 2026.

    In the sweltering shadeless heat of Independence Mall, more than 100 mayors from small towns and big cities across the country disembarked from coach buses donning large white sashes reading “mayor” and styling various patriotic yet professional sundresses and suits.

    After a quick photo opp, the crowd of local leaders made its way down Market Street and turned at Sixth Street at the President’s House.

    “Hit the music!” someone from the group joked.

    Despite no accompaniment, scorching temperatures, and differing political alignments, the mayors quickly befriended one another, many bonding over a shared connection of a city or state.

    “There’s so many Michigan mayors here,” one said. “It’s great to be in the city of brotherly love,” someone else from the group shouted to the spectators.

    Visitors along the mall, some beating the heat with portable fans or umbrellas for shade, waved and welcomed them while one man followed them juggling.

    Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker led the charge from the President’s House site to Independence Hall to a collective sigh of relief when the sweat-laden group entered the Museum of the American Revolution for a symposium.

    “At a time when too much in our country pulls people apart, mayors have a different responsibility starting with bringing people together,” Parker said. “We share the same mission to serve our people, solve problems and strengthen the communities we are privileged to lead. We fully believe there is no better place for that reminder than Philadelphia because this city tells America’s whole story, no matter how imperfect it may be.”

    — Dana Munro

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 10:12am

    Strong storms are possible Saturday night

    The National Weather Service sees a 50-50 chance of thunderstorms Saturday night, and some of them may become quite strong.

    On Thursday, the federal Severe Storm Prediction Center, in Norman, Okla., increased the probability of severe storms — those with wind gusts up to 60 mph — to 15%.

    Forecasters warned that predicting the timing, location, and ferocity of storms would be impossible two days out.

    On average, thunderstorms occur every five days in July in Philadelphia, the peak month of the year.

    — Anthony R. Wood

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 10:11am

    Advocates to host Black Independence Day gathering on Independence Mall on July 4

    Avenging The Ancestors Coalition, the advocacy group that pushed to create and maintain the President’s House exhibit memorializing the nine people enslaved by George Washington in his Philadelphia home, will host a Black Independence Day gathering on Independence Mall on July 4.

    The event on the nation’s 250th birthday comes as the walls of President’s House remain mostly bare following President Donald Trump’s abrupt removal of the exhibit’s interpretive panels in January. A Philadelphia-based federal appeals court gave the National Park Service a green light to install its own proposed panels. But the future of the site remains in limbo because of litigation out of Boston.

    The event is slated to include reflections on freedom and independence, and an update on the legal battle surrounding the slavery memorial, and a call to action.

    As the country celebrates the Founding Fathers’ “righteous battle” against tyranny, it’s important to also acknowledge slavery, said Michael Coard, a coalition founding member.

    “You can’t truly love something unless you truly know it,” Coard said. “Until Americans acknowledge and address that bad and especially that ugly, they will never know, and therefore can never love, America.”

    The group will meet at the grassy area adjacent to the memorial, which is on the corner of Sixth and Market Streets, at 1 p.m. Saturday.

    Philadelphia’s historic sites draw tourists from around the world. They’re getting an incomplete version of the President’s House.

    — Abraham Gutman

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 9:59am

    Philadelphia shipwrights handbuilt a replica of the boat Washington used to cross the Delaware. It’s on display now.

    The team at the Seaport Boat Shop at Independence Seaport Museum has built a full-scale replica of the Durham boat — the model of boat George Washington used to cross the Delaware with his Patriot troops on Christmas in 1776.

    The boat got its name because it was used to transport iron from Durham Ironworks in Bucks County to Philadelphia. It is on display in Washington Crossing Historic Park.

    Philadelphia shipwrights handbuilt a replica of the boat Washington used to cross the Delaware. Yes, you can climb on it.

    — Morgan Ritter, Lauren Schneiderman

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 9:26am

    Living Liberty Bell takes shape on Liberty Mall

    Two hundred and fifty participants gather to create the Living Liberty Bell to form the shape of the famous bell on Independence Mall adorned in red, white, and blue, at Independence Hall.

    Kicking off Red, White & Blue To-Do at 7 a.m. Thursday, 250 people gathered at Liberty Mall to make a “living Liberty Bell.”

    (Left to right) McKenzie Kerry, Kate Dimmett, and Reagan Earlywine, stand with other participants who gathered to create the Living Liberty Bell.

    Participants wore red, white, and blue (naturally) and included Tess Ferm, Miss America’s Teen from South Carolina, and former city representative Sheila Hess.

    Participants gather to create the Living Liberty Bell.

    The human formation even captured the bell’s signature crack through an outline of participants wearing blue.

    A little later and just down the road, bells rang out at the Betsy Ross House and the official flags rose to signal the beginning of a day’s worth of festivities.

    — Emily Bloch

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 8:04am

    Thursday events include a parade, concert, and drone show

    Locals and tourists alike are set to brave 100-degree-plus temperatures to attend the Red, White & Blue To-Do — Philadelphia’s third-annual celebration of the day the Second Continental Congress voted here on July 2, 1776, to adopt a resolution of independence from Great Britain — all day Thursday.

    Founding Father John Adams believed July 2 would be celebrated for generations to come with “Pomp and Parade,” but July 4, when Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, got all of the glory and became the day we mark the founding of our country.

    Adams’ prognostication in a letter to his wife, Abigail, didn’t come to fruition until 2024, when the Philadelphia Historic District Partners — a coalition of more than 30 institutions, museums, and attractions — heeded his call and created a packed day of festivities across Old City in advance of this year’s Semiquincentennial.

    Thursday’s events begin at 7 a.m. with 250 people forming the outline of a “Living Liberty Bell” on Independence Mall and will conclude at 10 p.m. with the “Independence Illumination Drone Show” over the mall.

    Highlights include the Red, White & Blue To-Do Pomp & Parade, which begins at 11 a.m. at the National Constitution Center and passes by Independence Hall, and the 8 p.m. Wawa Welcome America Salute to Service concert with Queen Latifah and the United States Army Field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus.

    In between, attendees can stop in and cool off at attractions across the city that will host events, like colonial chocolate making at the Betsy Ross House and a scavenger hunt at the Independence Seaport Museum. From 2 to 5 p.m., more than two dozen Philadelphia musicians will perform at 11 locations across the city as part of WXPN Welcomes the Red, White & Blue To-Do Music Series.

    Here’s the full Red, White & Blue To-Do schedule

    — Stephanie Farr

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 7:40am

    Congress to mark 250th anniversary of vote for independence

    Historic Interpreter, Lane Norris, as Alexander Hamilton, outside Independence Hall earlier this month.

    Members of Congress will gather Thursday at Independence Hall for a ceremonial event to mark the 250th anniversary of the day the Second Continental Congress voted for independence.

    U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Philadelphia Democrat whose district includes the historic site, had worked for years to set up a joint session of Congress — an extremely rare occurrence outside Washington, D.C., since 1800 — on the anniversary.

    Thursday’s event will not be a formal joint session. But members of both parties will come together in Congress Hall, the room where the legislative branch convened before relocating to Washington.

    First, they’ll proceed into the room with lawmakers from the original 13 states entering first, Boyle said in an interview with the Washington-based streaming network 535. Lawmakers will also tour the Liberty Bell and the time capsule set to be buried on July 4, Boyle said.

    “It’s no secret that our politics are more polarized today than at any moment in our lifetime. The way the House has been operating in recent years completely reflects that,” Boyle told The Inquirer in a recent interview. “So for us as members of Congress from both parties to come together, put partisanship aside and focus on national unity, I think that’s something that is incredibly positive.”

    Organizers are not publicly releasing details about the Congressional gathering, like timing or who’s expected to attend, citing security concerns.

    — Sam Janesch

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 7:35am

    Lightning injuries are rare, but an expert says the Parkway is an especially risky venue on July 4

    In the grand casino of the atmosphere, scheduling outdoor events on July Fourth in the Philly region is almost always going to be a rolling of the bones.

    And on the day Philadelphia and the rest of the national are holding a mass 250th birthday party, the odds may be dicier than usual, with thunderstorms and accompanying lightning possible Saturday afternoon and night, forecasters say.

    July happens to be the peak month for lightning-bearing thunderstorms in Philadelphia, occurring every five days on average, and who doesn’t want to be outside on the Fourth?

    As if record-challenging heat and an atmosphere that feels like syrup weren’t enough.

    Lightning injuries and fatalities are rare — on average in the last decade, 20 people have been killed annually by lightning in the United States, according to the National Weather Service. But among outdoor events with large crowds across the country, Philly’s July Fourth concert would be among the riskiest for lightning, according to Stephen Strader, disaster specialist at Villanova University.

    “It’s way up there, a lot higher than I thought it was,” he said.

    Lightning injuries are rare, but an expert says the Parkway is an especially risky venue on July 4

    — Anthony R. Wood

    // Timestamp 07/02/26 7:30am

    Mayor Parker defends decision to host July 4th Parkway concert despite dangerous heat and high price tag

    Mayor of Philadelphia Cherelle Parker speaks during a news conference about the July 4 concert.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on Wednesday defended the city’s upcoming July Fourth concert, a seven-hour outdoor spectacle featuring performances from Christina Aguilera, Jill Scott and The Roots, amid concerns over the nearly 100-degree forecast and revelations that the event will cost taxpayers millions more than in years past.

    The city has dealt with high temperatures before and has battle-tested personnel and protocols prepared for the evening, Parker told reporters at a news conference in front of the stage at the foot of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps.

    She also addressed the detractors head on.

    “I do not apologize to anyone about making sure that the city of Philadelphia, as the sixth largest city in the nation, the birthplace of democracy, we were going to have a celebration that is fitting to and for our historical significance and prominence,” Parker said. “One that could be seen, respected and honored not just in our city and commonwealth and nation but in the world.”

    Parker described the concert as the largest July Fourth concert in the city’s history. For an occasion as momentous as the nation’s 250th anniversary in the city that bills itself the birthplace of America, Parker said Philadelphia must rise to the occasion and prove it can achieve ambitious undertakings.

    Parker said her administration scaled up the experience including moving the stage back to accommodate an estimated 300,000 concertgoers, and made the stage larger.

    “We won’t get a second chance to do this over again, Philadelphia,” Parker said. “We only turn 250 years old once in a lifetime.”

    Mayor Parker defends decision to host July 4th Parkway concert despite dangerous heat and high price tag

    — Dana Munro, Anna Orso

    // LiveBlog Name: 250th in Philly

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  • Vatican excommunicates breakaway group, in first major crisis for Pope Leo

    Vatican excommunicates breakaway group, in first major crisis for Pope Leo

    VERBANIA, Italy — The Vatican on Thursday excommunicated all formal followers of a breakaway conservative faction of the Roman Catholic Church, a day after its leaders defied a personal plea from Pope Leo XIV and consecrated four new bishops without his permission.

    The Vatican announced in a decree that the group, the Society of St. Pius X, was in schism with the Church. In an explanatory note about the decree, it also said the society was barred from officiating marriages and hearing confessions, and it warned the society’s followers to stop attending its Masses and participating in its events.

    The Vatican’s note added that all formal followers of the society “are to be considered schismatics and excommunicated” after its leaders consecrated the bishops in a ceremony in Switzerland on Wednesday “against the will of the Holy Father and in open violation of canon law.”

    The society did not immediately comment on the excommunication.

    The schism is the biggest internal crisis of Leo’s young papacy, and a blow to his stated efforts to bridge divisions between Catholics who want to modernize the church, including by ordaining female priests, and conservatives, like followers of the Society of St. Pius X, who hold fast to tradition.

    The Vatican’s decision heightened a decades-long standoff between the Church’s leadership and the society, which is widely known by the acronym SSPX.

    The society was founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in protest against the Church’s efforts to modernize after the Second Vatican Council, held in the 1960s, including by allowing priests to hold services in vernacular languages instead of only in Latin. The society also objects to the council’s efforts to soothe tensions between Catholicism and other Christian faiths, and to take part in interreligious dialogue. And it insists on the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church even as it accuses the modern leaders of heresy.

    Those tensions peaked in 1988, when the society first consecrated four bishops without the permission of Pope John Paul II, who swiftly excommunicated them and Lefebvre.

    Relations thawed somewhat in 2009, under Pope Benedict XVI, who lifted the excommunications of the surviving bishops in a gesture of outreach to all Catholics still attached to celebrating the traditional Latin Mass. But one bishop had provoked outrage by denying the Holocaust.

    That rapprochement ended on Wednesday, after the society defied Leo by proceeding with a consecration ceremony that the group said had brought some 17,000 worshipers to Écône, a small village in Switzerland where the society installed its first seminary in 1970.

    The Vatican’s sanctions on Thursday were even harsher than those imposed in 1988 under John Paul II, when the Vatican only excommunicated its five senior prelates.

    This time, the excommunication applies to all of the society’s priests and formal followers. The Vatican added that the sacraments administered by the society’s priests, including confession and matrimony, were invalid, reversing concessions that Pope Francis had made to the society in recent years.

    The Vatican’s decree left open the possibility of reconciliation for those who renounced the society, saying that “the Church, as a caring mother, will welcome with sincere affection and lively solicitude all those who wish to return to full communion.”

    The Rev. Ian Andrew Palko, an SSPX priest in Texas, said he did not expect the excommunication to lead to many defections. “There may be some who are uncomfortable with” excommunication, he said. But, he added, if the faithful “were worried, it would have already pushed them away.”

    And the Rev. Paul Robinson, the society’s prior in Denver, said he expected communication with Rome would continue, as it did after the 1988 excommunications. “There were plenty of conversations that took place” even after the fact, he said. “So I think there will still be contact with Rome.”

    This article originally appeared in the New York Times.

  • As the Pentagon stays quiet, AP reconstructs a U.S. strike that killed over 100 Iranian children

    As the Pentagon stays quiet, AP reconstructs a U.S. strike that killed over 100 Iranian children

    JERUSALEM — It was the deadliest reported strike in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran. Most of the victims were children.

    In almost any other conflict, these haunting truths would be seared into national memory. Yet more than 120 days since at least one U.S. missile struck an Iranian primary school, there remains no final accounting of what happened.

    The Trump administration has yet to directly accept the blame or formally release findings of a Pentagon investigation into the bombing, even though the military possessed evidence almost immediately that the site of the school had been struck, a U.S. official with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss an ongoing investigation, told the Associated Press.

    The AP has reconstructed the story of the attack, beginning in the schoolyard on the morning of Feb. 28, drawing from open-source information, video footage, human rights reports, and interviews with researchers and civilians inside and outside Iran to reveal previously unreported details about the bombing in Minab, including the diversity of children killed.

    Still, many details about the blast remain elusive, as a lack of information from the Pentagon and politicization of the attack by Iran’s theocracy have complicated independent reporting efforts. That has created an accountability vacuum, leaving the families of the victims without resolution. Among the mysteries remaining are the number of munitions that hit the school and a complete list of the dead.

    When asked last week about the incident, President Donald Trump said he hadn’t read the Pentagon’s report and had seen nothing to make him believe the U.S. had carried out the attack.

    “I don’t know that they’re ever going to solve that problem in terms of whose fault was it, because there were missiles flying all over the place,” he said. “I don’t think it was us.”

    Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment from the AP.

    Video evidence, interviews and other sources yield a fuller picture

    The reconstruction draws from interviews with U.S. officials, Iranian human rights workers, a resident of Minab, an international representative of the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Union, and researchers from major international rights groups.

    Several people who spoke to the AP were in direct contact with the families of victims and rescuers who rushed to the scene. Most requested anonymity for fear of retribution against them and those with whom they spoke.

    Parents called to pick up their kids, then bomb fell

    Skies over the city of Minab, located in southeastern Iran about 16 miles from the Strait of Hormuz, were clear and bright on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 28, a school day in Iran. It was Ramadan.

    Students of the Shajareh Tayyebeh school, Farsi for “Good Tree,” jostled past the colorful murals lining the schoolyard and into the building. Boys and girls filtered into separate spaces with brightly painted desks.

    The school they entered was one of over 30 with the same name established to serve children from families closely tied to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard or other state institutions, said Shiva Amelirad, the international union representative who also worked as a teacher in Iran for 18 years and has been in contact with people in Minab.

    Though most schools in Iran operate within guidelines proscribed by the Islamic Republic, the Shejareh Tayyebeh schools were more explicitly oriented toward reproducing and reinforcing the Guard’s worldview, she said, adding that children are civilians regardless of their family backgrounds, and “any attack targeting a school is unequivocally condemnable.”

    The school lay within the same walled compound as a Guard base, according to an AP assessment of satellite imagery and open-source mapping. It was once part of that neighboring base, before it was fenced off and converted over a decade ago.

    Though some of its pupils were the children of Guard officers working on the nearby base, others were local children from Minab, which is populated predominantly by people of the majority-Sunni Baluch ethnic minority who often face repression from the Iranian government, said the Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Network.

    Hundreds of students are believed to have been inside the building by the time teachers and administrators received the news that bombs had begun falling on Tehran around 9:40 a.m.

    Teachers and administrators thought it prudent to send the children home. They called parents on landline phones, summoning them for an early pickup, two people told the AP. A recently released report by Airwars, a London-based independent group that tracks recent conflicts, also found that parents were called to pick up their children.

    At 10:15 a.m., Iran’s state media sent out an advisory, closing schools across the country.

    One father, who lived a short distance away, went immediately to pick up his 10-year-old son, said a resident of Minab, who relayed the stories of several families to the AP. The AP verified details of the residents’ stories against available lists of the dead and rights groups’ chronologies of the day’s events.

    The father noticed his 6- and 7-year-old relatives among the students waiting for their parents, said the resident. He asked them if they’d like a ride home and they said no, that their own father was on the way.

    He left with his child and headed to the supermarket. Ten minutes later, he heard the explosions.

    Multiple munitions pummeled the compound, striking at least five buildings, according to an AP analysis of satellite imagery. Hundreds of pounds of explosives collapsed the school.

    A tiny arm, suspended in the rubble

    The father raced back to a scene of chaos, where onlookers gathered, screaming, as men pawed through smoking rubble to dig out bodies, according to video of the aftermath circulated by Iranian state media.

    Eventually, the father made out two burned figures he believes were those of his relatives, but he couldn’t be sure.

    People kept coming. One man from a nearby Sunni village arrived to search for his nephew after receiving a panicked call from the boy’s mother. In the rubble, he found her dead son.

    Rescuers found small backpacks and children’s drawings, colored pencils and worksheets. Gently suspended, a tiny arm lay in the wreckage.

    Men carried disfigured limbs and torsos to the local hospital, said the Balochistan Human Rights Documentation Network, whose staff spoke with two families of those killed. The AP has not been able to verify how many munitions specifically hit the school, but the attack had left flesh so mutilated that many body parts were unrecognizable.

    By the end of the day, doctors at the hospital estimated they had at least 108 bodies, but cautioned that it was likely an undercount, said the resident of Minab.

    By the next day, state media was saying around 150 had been killed. Soon, it was reporting a death toll of 168.

    “They called the kids martyrs”

    Three days after the bombing, state TV showed thousands of Iranians packing a Minab roundabout, where the crowds faced a podium and a large portrait of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic Republic.

    The gathering might have been mistaken for a demonstration, if it were not a funeral. All the parents of victims, regardless of ethnicity or religion, had to participate, said the Minab resident. Most women in the crowd wore the black chador garment customary to the Islamic Republic, even though it’s not typically worn by Baluch people at funerals.

    Parents were told they’d be permitted to take their children’s bodies back to their villages and conduct their own observances, said the resident. In the end, though, many decided to bury their children together.

    In footage captured by drone cameras and circulated by state media, workers broke ground on an earthen lot, creating a grid of tiny, identical, unmarked graves.

    “The state media advocated a narrative based on IRGC interest,” said Amelirad. “You can tell because they called the kids martyrs.”

    The story grows harder to tell

    Strikes continued to ravage Iran, targeting more sites in the opening days than the start of recent U.S. or Israeli military campaigns, including in Gaza, an Airwars analysis found.

    Racing to document the ongoing bombardment, journalists and rights groups struggled to verify details from Minab. They had no access to the target site. Government restrictions in Iran prevented most foreign journalists from entering the country. The opening day of the war, Iran shut down the internet, making it nearly impossible to hear from ordinary civilians.

    As the war progressed and the Strait of Hormuz became a major battlefield, the situation in the province grew more tense, said the resident. All branches of the military were deployed heavily in the area. Families of the victims feared retribution for speaking out. People were reportedly being detained for trying to communicate with foreign media.

    That left Iran’s government in control of the messaging around the strike.

    Iran’s soccer team wore golden “#168” pins on their jackets upon their arrival at the FIFA World Cup.

    The Iranian team negotiating for a pause to the war with the U.S. named itself “Minab 168.”

    The children were depicted as animated Lego figures in viral videos made by pro-Iran groups trolling the U.S.

    “In the aftermath of the attack, Iranian authorities … exploited the suffering of victims’ families and surviving children for propaganda purposes,” wrote Amnesty International in a March report investigating the deaths.

    Through it all, there remained no public list of the names of the dead.

    The Pentagon finds clues in archive

    Locked out of Iran, researchers focused on the question of responsibility.

    Iran blamed the U.S. Trump cast doubt on American culpability and pointed the finger at Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said only that the Pentagon was investigating.

    Internally, the U.S. military knew more than it initially let on. The clues were buried in their archives.

    When the news first surfaced, the U.S. military knew they had conducted strikes in the vicinity — though it took the military time to verify the Iranian claims that a school was struck and begin a formal investigation, said a U.S. official with knowledge of the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing inquiry.

    It appears that while the building housing the school was identified as such by one analyst as early as seven years ago, that discovery was not sufficiently made known across different intelligence and military staffs and agencies, the U.S. official said.

    Ultimately, the building was not known among target developers as a school, revealing potential systematic shortfalls in the target analysis and review process, they said.

    One former Pentagon official, similarly speaking on condition of anonymity, said the bombing came as a natural result of changes made by the Trump administration to reduce staff to mitigate civilian harm and Hegseth’s emphasis on lethality.

    When Hegseth took charge, he slashed the size of an office called the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, created at the direction of Congress in late 2022. That stopped the office’s work on updating “no-strike lists,” which are lists of protected sites such as hospitals, schools, churches, and mosques, that the Pentagon keeps, said Wes Bryant, who began working at the office in 2024 as the branch chief of Civil Harm Assessments.

    When he was working at the Pentagon, it was well known that the list was out-of-date, he said.

    The search for more answers from Minab

    In the last weeks, researchers have made some progress. Airwars, the conflict research group, spent months combing through open-source information to verify the identity of victims. The group determined the names and identities of 157 of the dead, including 123 children, all 13 or younger, and 34 adults. Among the adults are 26 school staff members (one of whom was pregnant) and five parents — each of whom lost at least one child.

    The group puts the death toll between 157 and 168 and says between 95 and 111 people were injured.

    It’s unclear when the formal results of the military’s Minab investigation will be published. Much of the investigative work has been completed, but the U.S. military’s Central Command, which commissioned the investigation, is currently reviewing the findings.

    Hegseth said last week the report would be divulged “when the appropriate time is right.”

    Findings from similar past investigations have been more timely. When a Hellfire missile killed 10 civilians in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 29, 2021, the Defense Department claimed responsibility and gave details on its operations in less than a month.

    Some members of Congress still push for transparency.

    In a recent interview, Sen. Mike Rounds, a Republican from South Dakota and a member of the Armed Services and Intelligence committees, said Congress has not gotten enough information on the bombing and expected a full report.

    The issue “has not gone away,” he said.

  • Couple climbs needle of Empire State Building

    Couple climbs needle of Empire State Building

    NEW YORK — A couple known for scaling tall buildings climbed to the top of the needle of the Empire State Building on Wednesday and unfurled a large black banner that flapped in the breeze, about 1,450 feet above the city.

    The couple, Angela Nikolau, 33, and Ivan Beerkus, 32, were taken into custody after the stunt, according to a law enforcement official. Nikolau, according to a police document, was charged with burglary — defined in New York state as unlawfully entering a building with the intent to commit a crime. It was not immediately clear whether Beerkus was also charged.

    Late Wednesday morning, Nikolau posted a video on her Instagram account that showed a vertiginous view from a narrow platform and that was captioned “Currently at the Empire State Building.”

    The message on the banner read: “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace.”

    As they stood atop the skyscraper, Beerkus proposed to Nikolau, the law enforcement official said. A photo Nikolau posted to Instagram shows Beerkus getting down on one knee.

    The law enforcement official gave Nikolau’s first name as Angelina and Beerkus’ surname as Kuznetsov, which appears to be his birth surname.

    The couple were the subjects of a 2024 documentary, “Skywalkers: A Love Story,” about their romance and quest for thrills and fame. In 2022, they climbed Merdeka 118 in Malaysia, which is more than 2,000 feet tall.

    The Empire State Building’s needle, which houses communications equipment and a very tall antenna, rises about 200 feet above the top floor of the building.

    Climbers with a banner atop the spire of the Empire State Building in Manhattan, on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. After making the ascent, the man proposed to the woman on a tiny platform, 1,450 feet above the city. (Dave Sanders/The New York Times)

    It is a surface that is not frequently scaled. In 1994, the French climber Alain Robert did so, according to the Guinness World Records website.

    New York City’s skyscrapers and monuments, however, have long been magnets for climbers.

    Their attempts have ranged from the modest to the truly harrowing.

    In 1918, Harry Gardiner, nicknamed “the Human Fly,” climbed the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Arch at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn; it is all of 80 feet high.

    Philippe Petit walked a tightrope between the towers of the World Trade Center in 1974.

    In 2008, after three people — one of whom was Robert — climbed the New York Times Building in a matter of weeks, the Times removed some of the horizontal rods that climbers had used to scale it.

    In 2014, a teenager from New Jersey climbed to the spire of the Freedom Tower, which was built on the site of the twin towers.

    Jason Barr, an economics professor at Rutgers University who has studied skyscrapers, said that the initial plans for the Empire State Building did not include a spire or antenna, but after the construction of the Chrysler Building, with its distinctive crown, the building was redesigned to include a mooring mast that would stretch into the sky.

    “These spires are designed partly for aesthetic reasons but also partly for advertising reasons, like, ‘Look at the top of my building’,” Barr said.

    In recent years, artists and exhibitionists have called their unsecured and usually illegal ascents “rooftopping,” documenting the climbs on social media. Aside from structures in New York and Malaysia, Nikolau and Beerkus, have ascended buildings and constructions sites in China and Europe, sometimes with legal repercussions.

    But there have been sanctioned climbs of skyscrapers, too. In 2023, actor Jared Leto scaled 18 floors of the Empire State Building, from the 86th floor to the 104th floor, with permission, to promote a world tour for his band Thirty Seconds to Mars.

    He performed one of the band’s songs from the 104th floor, an unofficial landing off limits to the public.

    This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

  • A major Russian attack kills 21 in Kyiv as Ukrainian strikes batter Moscow’s oil sector

    A major Russian attack kills 21 in Kyiv as Ukrainian strikes batter Moscow’s oil sector

    KYIV, Ukraine — Russia hammered Kyiv in an 11-hour drone and missile attack overnight into Thursday morning, killing at least 21 civilians in the city and injuring scores more in what Moscow said was retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil facilities.

    Loud explosions shook the Ukrainian capital, where more than 50,000 people sheltered in subway stations after authorities issued air raid warnings, the Kyiv Metro said. Emergency crews dug through the rubble of collapsed and charred apartment buildings all day in search of victims.

    Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the bombardment was in response to Ukraine’s recent barrage of long-range strikes, which have caused severe fuel shortages and put pressure on President Vladimir Putin.

    Ukraine’s frequent attacks inside Russia — described by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a 40-day blitz — have especially targeted oil refineries, causing a fuel crisis that has frustrated Russians already feeling the war’s economic toll.

    More than four years after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor, Ukraine’s technological advances in drone engineering have in recent months given it an edge, analysts and Western officials say. Its strikes on supply routes behind the front line have robbed the Russian army of momentum on the battlefield and made its progress slow and costly, they say.

    Kyiv’s forces have especially targeted supplies to Crimea, triggering the worst fuel crisis on the Black Sea peninsula since it was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 and delivering a blow to the Kremlin’s narrative that Moscow is winning the war.

    Ukrainian officials say they are trying to force Putin to the negotiating table, but so far Moscow’s response has been to hit back.

    Diplomatic efforts to end the war, most recently by the Trump administration, haven’t produced results. President Donald Trump and Zelensky are expected to attend next week’s NATO summit in Turkey.

    Putin thinks that time is on his side, that Western support will peter out and that Ukraine’s resistance will eventually collapse under pressure from strategic bombing, analysts say.

    Ukraine’s top diplomat says it was a ‘night of horror’ in Kyiv

    The attack killed 21 people in Kyiv, according to the country’s Emergency Service. More than 90 others were reported injured.

    Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said it was a “night of horror” in the capital, which had a prewar population of roughly 3 million people.

    Flashes from exploding drones and missiles lit up the night, and loud booms echoed through Kyiv. Tracers from air defense fire streaked through the air as a huge pall of black smoke rose into the sky.

    More than 30 locations across the city reported damage, including about 20 residential buildings, authorities said.

    Kyiv resident Serhii Budko said three or four ballistic missiles hit his district of the city. “We were inside the shelter and felt the shelter shaking — the ceiling and floor, everything,” the 24-year-old said.

    In Kyiv’s Desnianskyi district, residents were trapped inside a damaged nine-story building, and in the Darnytskyi district, most of a nine-story building collapsed.

    In Ukraine’s central Dnipropetrovsk region, meanwhile, a Russian strike killed a 7-year-old girl and wounded four other people, including an 11-year-old girl, all members of the same family, regional head Oleksandr Hanzha said.

    The bombardment was “exclusively against military or military-linked targets,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

    Russia’s aerial attacks on Ukraine have repeatedly hit civilian areas. More than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the war, according to the United Nations.

    No reliable figures are available for battlefield casualties in the war. A report earlier this year by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank, estimated that up to 1.8 million soldiers have been killed, wounded, or gone missing on both sides, with Russian troops accounting for most of that number.

    Ukrainian officials urge countries to provide more air defenses

    The attack used “high-precision long-range weapons” and drones to strike weapons factories and energy facilities in and around Kyiv, and “military airfield infrastructure” in other parts of Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry’s statement said.

    In all, Russia fired 74 missiles and 496 drones in the attack, Ukraine’s air force said.

    Ukraine’s air defenses have improved throughout the war, especially in countering Russian drones. But it is harder to stop ballistic missiles, which accounted for roughly a third of the missiles fired overnight.

    Sybiha, the Ukrainian foreign minister, said in April that the country’s weapons factories meet up to 75% of its military’s needs. But he and other Ukrainian officials have pleaded with partner countries to supply more Patriot systems that offer the best protection from Russian aerial attacks.

    Ukraine attacks another Russian oil refinery

    Ukrainian forces struck one of Russia’s largest oil refineries overnight in the Nizhny Novgorod region east of Moscow, starting a fire, Ukraine’s General Staff said.

    Also, Ukrainian forces struck a railway bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region, it said. The bridge was used by Russian forces to transport personnel, weapons, and military supplies, according to the General Staff.

  • Immigrant arrests surge to 10,000 in 5 days as ICE clamps down

    Immigrant arrests surge to 10,000 in 5 days as ICE clamps down

    WASHINGTON — Federal immigration officials have detained more than 10,000 people in the last five days, a major surge that has stemmed from a push within Immigration and Customs Enforcement to increase arrest rates.

    Agency leaders in recent days ordered top ICE officials to focus more of their officers’ efforts on picking up immigrants they want to deport, according to documents obtained by The New York Times and interviews with federal officials. ICE officers have arrested people at check-ins, with immigration authorities, during traffic stops and on the street. The push has apparently yielded results, with recent arrest numbers roughly doubling from the 1,000 picked up each day earlier this year.

    ICE officials were told that the White House wanted an increase in arrests, according to three officials with knowledge of the conversations. One of the officials said that it was unclear how long the pace could continue, but that ICE officials had been told that 2,000 arrests a day was the new standard for enforcement.

    The surge has occurred without the fanfare of highly visible operations last year, in which officials announced their intentions ahead of time to target cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, and send officers pouring into the streets. Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, pledged to mount a quieter enforcement campaign following the chaos of a monthlong operation in Minnesota, where federal officers killed two U.S. citizens.

    The rise in arrests suggests that President Donald Trump is determined to meet his pledge of mass deportations, a goal that is popular among his conservative supporters but that has fueled a political backlash amid the administration’s heavy-handed tactics. The Trump administration has promised more aggressive actions, particularly after the Supreme Court in recent days expanded the president’s power to set federal immigration policy, but undercut his effort to eliminate birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants in the country illegally and visitors.

    “Our message is clear: If you come to our country illegally, we will find you, we will arrest you and we will deport you,” Lauren Bis, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, said in a statement.

    Word of an uptick in arrests has started to trickle out, sowing fear in immigrant communities and among advocates already on edge after the Supreme Court ruled that Trump could end deportation protections for people from disaster- and war-torn countries under the Temporary Protected Status program.

    In recent days, ICE officers have launched an intense push to ramp up arrests. Arrests topped out Saturday when authorities detained more than 2,400 people, according to documents obtained by the Times. The detention population inside ICE facilities has jumped nearly 4,000, to more than 63,000 in the agency’s custody as of Tuesday, according to internal documents.

    In emails to ICE personnel, agency leaders applauded the latest numbers.

    “I want to personally thank each of you for your extraordinary efforts this past weekend,” Marcos Charles, the head of ICE’s deportation wing, wrote this week. “Through your dedication, professionalism, and unwavering commitment to our mission, enforcement and removal operations achieved remarkable operational results.”

    Top ICE officials were told to make sure that as many officers as possible were working seven days a week, and to put 80% of their officers on arrest operations, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations. Top supervisors were expected to be working closely on the operations as well.

    Last year, Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, set a goal of 3,000 arrests a day for the agency, a figure it was not able to hit. Since then, the agency has hired thousands of new officers and has had its budget increased by billions of dollars for the enforcement surge.

    Across the country, immigration lawyers and advocates have reported an uptick in enforcement.

    In South Texas, Sister Letty Ugboaja, a Nigerian nun, was arrested on her way to church on Sunday morning, according to Sister Norma Pimentel, her colleague. Ugboaja is a local nurse who also helps at a parish in the region. Pimentel called local leaders after learning of the arrest, and congressional officials soon got involved and pushed for her release.

    On Sunday, she was let go from ICE custody, and Pimentel was there to greet her.

    Pimentel said that Ugboaja was distraught upon her release.

    “It took her awhile to be able to talk — she was crying,” she said.

    In southern Florida, attorneys have been on alert. Cindy Blandon, an immigration attorney in Miami, said that one of her clients, a Nicaraguan father of two children, had an immigration court hearing set for 2027, but was arrested by ICE on Monday during a routine check-in.

    And in Utah, Ysabel Lonazco, an immigration attorney, has noticed an uptick as well. She has spoken to several clients, including a man who was driving when he was picked up by the agency for overstaying his visa this weekend.

    “It sets further fear in the community,” she said. “People don’t want to leave their houses. They are afraid to drive to do their grocery shopping. They are just terrified with these detentions.”

    One of her clients, Arturo, a 48-year-old Mexican man, was arrested in Salt Lake City on his way to a soccer game Sunday, according to his wife, Veronica. She said the arrest had shattered their family.

    “They’re getting people — be very careful,” her husband told her from ICE detention, she recalled through an interpreter. She said her 13-year-old son was traumatized by the arrest of his father, who had worked most days of the week building furniture before his arrest, she added.

    A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said that Arturo had illegally reentered the United States and would be held in ICE custody as the agency sought to deport him.

    Veronica said the family had not expected to be caught up in Trump’s deportation sweep.

    “We were worried, but it wasn’t like we were extremely worried. We figured — we don’t have any criminal record, we pay taxes every year,” she said.

    This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

  • Judge blocks Postal Service from imposing restrictions on mail-in ballots

    Judge blocks Postal Service from imposing restrictions on mail-in ballots

    WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington on Wednesday blocked the United States Postal Service from carrying out changes to its delivery of mail-in ballots, writing that recent policies directed by President Donald Trump ran afoul of legal terms the agency accepted more than four years ago to ensure timely delivery of mail ballots.

    In a brief opinion, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan pointed to a settlement agreement reached between the NAACP and the Postal Service in December 2021, after the group sued the government arguing that postal delays threatened to disenfranchise voters. At that time, the agency agreed to “prioritize monitoring and timely delivery of election mail.”

    Sullivan, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, wrote that the Postal Service’s proposal, which includes not delivering mail-in ballots in states that decline to hand over voter data to the federal government, violated the settlement agreement, which the parties had agreed would run through the 2028 election cycle.

    Sullivan wrote that Trump’s order appeared “designed to exert federal control over who in the United States may be sent a mail-in or absentee ballot in federal elections by the Postal Service.” He wrote that the agency had previously agreed to outline plans before each national election and meet with the NAACP to explain how it would ensure efficient delivery of election-related mail.

    While another judge in Washington had declined for now to halt the enforcement of the executive order because new rules for the Postal Service had not been finalized at the time, Sullivan concluded that the agency’s recent proposal could be blocked preemptively because it would violate the prior agreement.

    Last week, a judge in Massachusetts struck down the main components of Trump’s order, including the creation of lists of eligible voters and changes to mail-in voting. The ruling from Judge Indira Talwani stated that the Constitution granted authority over elections firmly to the states.

    The NAACP, which brought the lawsuit in 2020 amid a spike in voting by mail during the COVID-19 pandemic, had raised concerns about delays in mail delivery. The group argued that the new proposed changes raised fresh worries for coming elections. Among the changes it contested were the addition of new individualized bar codes on mail-in ballots and a plan to reject ballots from states that do not submit a list of eligible mail-in voters to the Postal Service ahead of time.

    “The proposed USPS changes would have created unnecessary and unlawful barriers, in direct violation of the USPS’s mandate to prioritize election mail,” Anthony P. Ashton, the NAACP’s senior associate general counsel, said in a statement. “Those barriers could have disproportionately harmed Black voters, who are more likely to rely on mail voting due to long-standing inequities in access.”

    “Put simply, the use of mail-in voting helps reduce voter intimidation at the polls and Election Day dirty tricks,” he added.

    Postmaster General David Steiner has said on multiple occasions, including to The New York Times this year, that he would follow court orders governing voting by mail.

    The agency had argued in filings before the decision that the court could not block the changes until it had finalized its rules and that the changes fell outside the scope of the legal settlement.

    The Postal Service has not responded to multiple requests for comment after recent court decisions that partially blocked Trump’s mail voting executive order and the Postal Service’s proposal to impose it.

    Under the 2021 settlement, the Postal Service agreed to take extra steps to expedite mail ballots for all even-year federal elections through 2028.

    William Hensley, a former election mail specialist at the Postal Service who helped establish those “extraordinary measures” while at the agency, said in an interview that they can include dispatching delivery trucks on extra trips, authorizing local postmasters to pay out employee overtime, and in some cases postmarking and turning around mail ballots locally rather than at regional processing centers.

    For this year’s midterm elections, the Postal Service said it will begin enforcing those measures Oct. 27, roughly a week before the midterms.

    This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

  • 🌮 Let’s talk ‘Walking Tacos’ | Down the Shore

    🌮 Let’s talk ‘Walking Tacos’ | Down the Shore

    Walk with me.

    You open the door to the rental and let in the roaring summer sun, and you’re fully prepared for a relaxing day on beach: Toy Story-themed towel, Cherry Float Coke Zeros, and a thin layer of suntan spray coating everything in the canvas tote bag.

    But you could really use a snack.

    There’s a lot going on this holiday weekend, and it’s a mess. So the last thing you need is another one.

    What you’re looking for is a classic Jersey Shore treat, but ice cream isn’t built for travel and a slice of pizza has too many variables.

    You need a “Walking Taco.”

    Walking tacos are offered at the Wells Fargo Center.

    I’m Tommy Rowan, and I’m once again subbing in for Amy S. Rosenberg. I’m a lifelong Jersey Shore-goer who was raised on visits to the Ocean City boardwalk and Wonderland Pier. I spent my teenage years on the Wildwood boardwalk, my 20s in Sea Isle City, and nowadays I have family in North Wildwood. And maybe it’s because I’m within spitting distance of 40, or because places I once loved are being torn down, I find myself wanting to cram in more of everything.

    Which brings us back to the food that moves.

    The “Walking Taco” is for people who want to walk and talk, and who want to fit in more and keep moving.

    It’s a snack-sized bag of Fritos that’s crushed into pieces, garnished with seasoned ground beef, shredded cheddar cheese, and homemade pico de gallo, and eaten with a plastic spoon.

    It encourages you to get your steps in, but it’s not quite fast food. That’s why they don’t call it a “Running Taco.”

    It’s best eaten on the walk to the beach, but if you’re a “save for later” kind of person, it still works: The bag is self-contained, and yet it’s protected from splashes of sand and saltwater. And it’s an easy disposal: Just crush the bag into a ball and toss it in a trash can.

    It’s salty and crunchy and cheesy, but it’s not a true overindulgence.

    A cheeky hot dog stand in Sea Isle City has unfound claims to “the original,” but the product can be found up and down the Philly-favored beach towns between Atlantic City and Cape May — and many swap out Fritos for Doritos.

    And, honestly, what better way to ring in the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence than with a uniquely American product: a nonrecyclable bag of ultraprocessed salty particles, topped with chemically altered cheese strings, covered in oily animal fat, and topped with what can only be described as a “modern interpretation” of pico de gallo.

    It’s America in a fun-size.

    📮 What’s your favorite beach snack? And how do you feel about the “Walking Taco?” What are you eating this holiday weekend? Let me know what you think by replying to this email, and your most interesting responses may end up in a future newsletter. Have ideas or news tips about the Shore or this newsletter? Send them here.

    😡 We’re in for a dangerously hot holiday weekend. Remember to hydrate.

    — Tommy Rowan (🐦 Tweet me at @tommyrowan. 📧 Email me here.)

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Shore talk

    🏖️ Pumped up. Sand-pumping operations are expected to begin next week in Ocean City, while replenishment of the Seven Mile Island Beaches will reportedly begin toward the end of the summer. Avalon’s beaches are up first, with work scheduled to start in mid-August, followed by Stone Harbor in October.

    🛵 Take a number. A reminder that New Jersey is now taking appointments for e-riders to register their e-bikes, per a new state law (which doesn’t seem to affect visitors from Pennsylvania). We have a full look at the confusing law here.

    🎃 Halloween in July? Spirit Halloween is getting a head start on the spooky season and listing seasonal job openings on its website, including for pop-up stores at the Shore in May’s Landing, Rio Grande, and Egg Harbor Township.

    🗳️ The mayor is in. For a fifth time, Jay Gillian was sworn in as mayor of Ocean City. He won reelection in May.

    🏫 Stretching out. Dominique Dawes, a former Olympian who founded a chain of gymnastics schools, is planning to open a new location in South Jersey this fall. The new school is part of the former gold medalist’s expansion into the greater Philly region.

    What to eat/What to do

    🎆 Happy Fourth of July weekend! Check out this handy guide to the fireworks shows and festive celebrations happening across the region.

    🇺🇸 The Declaration. Two days before the country’s 250th anniversary, on July 2, Avalon is hosting a public reading of the Declaration of Independence. And then a few days after, on July 8, Cape May is planning its own public reading and reenactment. Both are worth checking out.

    👻🦀 Ghost crabs! Every Thursday between 8 and 9 p.m., the Nature Center hosts a ghost crab hunt on the beaches of Cape May. So grab a flashlight and watch the translucent crustaceans scurry in the spotlight. Preregistration is required.

    🌭 Hot Dog Tommy’s in Cape May. No. 1, fantastic name. No notes. And No. 2, helluva chili cheese dog.

    🎥 Beach movies. Catching a flick outdoors at the Shore is underrated. Ocean air, salty breezes, and overpriced ice cream cones coalesce to create the most perfect conditions to take in a picture. Cape May and Margate show movies on the beach, Sea Isle utilizes the Band Shell in Excursion Park, and Wildwood hosts at Byrne Plaza.

    🧢 Card show. If you’re looking for an escape from the heat this weekend, the Sports Card, Toy, Comic & Collectibles Show will be trading in childhood treasures and autographed memorabilia at the Wildwoods Convention Center on the boardwalk.

    🎸 Free tunes in Atlantic City. On Wednesday, Bayou Blues guitarist-vocalist Tab Benoit is playing Mardi Gras on the Boardwalk, a New Orleans-themed concert series at Kennedy Plaza. The free show starts at 7 p.m.

    🥡 Delicious takeout. Craig LaBan is a big fan of the General Tso’s at China Sea of Absecon. He went inland for his latest list of places to eat at the Shore.

    Shore snapshot

    Jason Kelce takes a selfie with fans at his annual fundraiser in Sea Isle City.

    After starting last year’s fundraiser with tear-away shorts and a Speedo, Jason Kelce was comparatively reserved this year for his entrance at his and wife Kylie Kelce‘s sixth annual “Shore Birds” event at the Ocean Drive in Sea Isle City. The event benefits the Eagles Autism Foundation.

    Vocab lesson

    Semiquincentennial (noun)

    [semi-QUINN-cen-ten-knee-all]

    The 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

    I hope the next milestone after the Semiquincentennial is easier to pronounce and simpler to spell.

    🧠 Trivia time

    On June 27, 1958, this civil rights leader addressed a convention of Quakers in Cape May in a little remembered episode in this cultural icon’s extraordinary life.

    A. Nelson Mandela

    B. Thurgood Marshall

    C. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

    D. Gloria Steinem

    If you think you know the answer, click on this story to find out.

    Your Shore memory

    I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Wonderland Pier and the unmistakable value boardwalk rides bring to the Jersey Shore, which is what made Joseph Farley’s recent submission jump out.

    The station wagon seemed to bulge like in a Willie the Worm cartoon; where endless hordes of Mickey Mouse types invade a building. Our family of ten filled the seats with the baby on mom’s lap. It was 1955, the tires were near bald and Dad kept a gallon of water handy to feed the radiator should it geyser in heavy traffic. We left Cheltenham, PA for Wildwood already singing, “On the Way to Cape May.” My pockets bulged with the contents of my piggy bank, my life’s savings. It was a six-hour trip, four of them spent in Dorothy, a town on the Tuckahoe Road, enjoying lunch while Dad made repairs to the car.

    That night I choose to ride the “Salt & Pepper Shaker” on Morey’s Pier; a scary ride that took you into the stars. At the top, it flipped upside-down. All the coins in my pockets fell out, clanking off the girders to oblivion. This broke ten-year old, turned moocher, still had a glorious vacation. I returned home brown as a berry with a tale that became family lure, a “feel sorry for dad story” that still brings sympathetic sighs every time I tell it.

    Send us your Shore memory in 200 words! Tell us how the Shore taps into something deep for you, and we will publish them in this space during the summer.

    ✌️ That should do it. Amy’s back from vacation next week, so I’ll see ya at the rest stops.

    — Tommy

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

  • 5 area Fourth of July events | Inquirer Lower Merion

    5 area Fourth of July events | Inquirer Lower Merion

    Hi, Lower Merion! 👋

    Communities throughout the region are pulling out the stops to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary this weekend. We’ve rounded up spots to catch the festivities. Also this week, longtime Narberth guitar shop owner Dan Gold reflects on his career, an Ecuadorian who grew up in the township is finding camaraderie and feeling proud amid the World Cup, plus a Wynnewood home once part of the Clothier estate is back on the market.

    We want your feedback! Tell us what you think of the newsletter by taking our survey or emailing us at lowermerion@inquirer.com.

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    The local Fourth of July events you won’t want to miss

    Wynnewood resident Lori Ney, along with her dogs Ava and Lilly, attended the Army’s Pershing’s Own followed by fireworks at the Great Plaza at Delaware River Waterfront in 2023.

    Celebrate the nation’s Semiquincentennial at one of these festive events, which are replete with parades, fireworks, and musical performances.

    • Bala Cynwyd: The Neighborhood Club of Bala Cynwyd’s annual parade starts at the Union Fire House and ends at the playground at Bala Cynwyd Park, where there will be a rock wall, pony rides, a petting zoo, and music. ⏰ Saturday, July 4, starts at 9:30 a.m. 💵 Wristbands are $15-$45 📍 Union Fire House and Bala Cynwyd Park
    • Ardmore: The community will celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary with a ribbon cutting for its new mural, a “freedom walk,” and crafts and sweet treats at Linwood Park. ⏰ Saturday, July 4, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Throughout Ardmore
    • Penn Wynne: The Penn Wynne Civic Association’s annual celebration kicks off with a parade at 10 a.m. followed by a carnival at Penn Wynne Park. ⏰ Saturday, July 4, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. 💵 Wristbands are $10-$30 📍 Penn Wynne-Overbrook Hills Firehouse and Penn Wynne Park
    • Narberth: This daylong event kicks off at 10 a.m. with a carnival, games, and pie-eating contest, which run until 1:30 p.m. After a break, the celebration continues at 6:30 p.m. with food trucks, live music, and a reading of the Declaration of Independence before the fireworks show. ⏰ Saturday, July 4, 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and 6:30-10:30 p.m. 💵 Free to attend, pay as you go for the carnival and food trucks 📍 Narberth Park
    • Garrett Hill and Rosemont: This festive hourlong parade starts at the Rosemont Business Campus at the corner of Conestoga and Williams Roads at 10:45 a.m. and ends at Clem Macrone Park, where there will be entertainment and live music. Residents can join in by decorating a bike or float. The judging begins at 10 a.m. ⏰ Saturday, July 4, 10:45 a.m. 💵 Free 📍 Rosemont Business Center to Clem Macrone Park

    🎇 See more area fireworks shows here.

    🇺🇸 Looking for other ways to celebrate the Semiquincentennial? Here’s what Montgomery County has in store.

    💡 Community News

    • Reminder for residents: There will be no trash and recycling pickup tomorrow when the township is closed in observance of the holiday. See how your household might be impacted here.
    • After a 17-year tenure in Narberth, Dan Gold remembers his time in the borough helming Danny’s Guitar Shop as “just perfect.” The Inquirer’s Denali Sagner caught up with the musician, who recently closed the guitar lesson and shop, about his career and what comes next.
    • World Cup fever continues throughout the region, and one resident who grew up in Lower Merion said the tournament has made him especially proud of his Ecuadorian roots. Rowan Teran, 24, was among those celebrating ahead of the team’s early round match at Lincoln Financial Field, finding joy with his fellow Ecuador fans.
    • Blackbird Health opened a new clinic last week at 225 E. City Ave. in Bala Cynwyd. The Pennsylvania-based chain offers mental healthcare for children, teens, and families.

    🏫 Schools Briefing

    • Applications are now open for eligible Lower Merion and Narberth seniors to get a 2025 rebate for property taxes paid to the school district. Learn more about the program here.

    🍽️ On our Plate

    • Two new eateries are getting closer to opening in Ardmore. Dessert spot Mango Mango is teeing up a July opening at 38 Greenfield Ave., while Vintner’s Table, a wine bar that dishes up Italian cuisine, is aiming to open in August on Cricket Avenue.

    🎳 Things to Do

    📖 Book Signing and Discussion with Jessica Knoll and Jennifer Weiner: Shipley School alum Jessica Knoll, who gained acclaim for her 2015 novel Luckiest Girl Alive, will sign copies of her new book, Helpless, and discuss it with fellow local author Jennifer Weiner. ⏰ Tuesday, July 7, 6 p.m. 💵 Free to attend, $25 for the book 📍 Barnes & Noble Bryn Mawr

    🎵 Music in the Park: The next concert features a performance by the Brazilian jazz outfit the Minas Trio. ⏰ Wednesday, July 8, 7 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Narberth Park gazebo

    🏡 On the Market

    A three-bedroom Wynnewood cottage with Clothier estate ties

    The exterior of the home blends the Arts & Crafts and Tudor styles.

    A Wynnewood cottage once part of the Clothier estate is back on the market, this time with a new price. Designed in the Arts & Crafts and Tudor styles, the three-bedroom cottage has a distinctive exterior from its stone facade to its woodwork. Inside, the home has been overhauled to give it modern amenities, including a sleek eat-in kitchen which complements the original herringbone-patterned floors. It also has a patio, a deck, and a fenced yard. There’s an open house Sunday from noon to 2 p.m.

    See more photos of the home here.

    Price: $1.575M | Size: 2,673 SF | Acreage: 0.04

    📈 Lower Merion market report

    • Median listing price: $875,000 (down $100,000 from April) 📉
    • Median sold price: $1.1M (same as April)
    • Median days on the market: 31 (up six days from April) 📈

    This Lower Merion market report is published on a monthly basis. Above is data for May from realtor.com.

    🗞️ What other Lower Merion residents are reading this week:

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • Goodwill opens new medical equipment store in South Jersey

    Goodwill opens new medical equipment store in South Jersey

    The young woman with muscular dystrophy wanted a motorized scooter, but her health insurance would only cover a wheelchair.

    So she went to Goodwill’s only medical equipment store in South Jersey, where she found a dozen scooters to choose from. She test drove one she liked and bought it at a steep discount.

    “She burst into tears and said, `You have no idea what a difference this is going to make in my life,’” recalled Mark Boyd, Goodwill’s president and CEO.

    Goodwill Home Medical Equipment on Wednesday opened the region’s second location. The new store is located in Gloucester County, while its flagship, 16,000-square-foot retail store and warehouse is in Camden County.

    Both sell sanitized and refurbished medical equipment, including power and manual wheelchairs, hospital beds, canes, walkers, and lift and shower chairs. The stores also offer unopened medical supplies, like adult diapers and colostomy bags.

    “When people go to a Goodwill store, they don’t really know what they are looking for — they’re on a treasure hunt,” Boyd said. “But when you get sick or somebody in your family gets sick, all of the sudden you need a specific piece of equipment, and it can be quite daunting.”

    The nonprofit thrift organization began offering used medical equipment at roughly one-third the retail price about 15 years ago, Boyd said.

    “Financially, it’s a break-even operation, but it’s such a great service to the community,” he said, adding they cater to people with no or limited insurance, or high deductibles.

    The new store on Mantua Pike in Woodbury Heights will be open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The location on Benigno Boulevard in Bellmawr is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

    The two South Jersey stores are the only Goodwill Home Medical Equipment retail locations in the country, according to spokesperson Juli Lundberg.

    “The savings are so great that people do travel to us from New York City, the Philly burbs, and Jersey Shore,” Lundberg said. “We have had many other Goodwills across the country inquire about the concept.”

    People can donate their medical equipment and unopened supplies at any Goodwill location in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Donation sites and regular thrift stores can be found at https://www.goodwillhomemedical.org/store-locator. Goodwill staff also will pick up home medical equipment that is too large for a car, according to Lundberg.