Joyce Wilkerson, Philadelphia’s longest-serving school board member, was named 2025 Urban Educator of the Year on Thursday night.
The Council of Great City Schools — in town for its annual conference — selected Wilkerson for “the nation’s highest honor in urban education leadership.” The award is presented in alternate years to either an outstanding school superintendent or school board member from 81 of the largest urban public-school systems in the country.
The prize comes at a curious time for Wilkerson — when her very membership on the school board has been legally questioned, after a public battle with some members of City Council on her re-appointment by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker to the board.
Flanked by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, left, and Superintendent Tony Watlington, right, Joyce Wilkerson, center, speaks during the announcement of the School District of Philadelphia Board of Education nominees at City Hall last year.
Wilkerson is not an educator by profession — she’s a lawyer who served as former Mayor John Street’s chief of staff. But she was named to the former School Reform Commission in 2016 andbecame the inaugural school board president in 2018, when the district returned to local control after nearly two decades of state oversight.
Wilkerson, who also serves as a Council for Great City Schools board member, was hailed by the organization for steady leadership that helped end the Philadelphia School District’s state takeover, and for work that led the board to refocus its efforts on student outcomes. Ray Hart, who leads the Council, called those efforts “a national model.”
Wilkerson, Hart said in a statement, “has reshaped the educational landscape in Philadelphia through her unwavering advocacy for students, along with her commitment to equity and excellence. Wilkerson’s dedication to strengthening public education has made her one of the most effective school board members in the nation.”
As part of the prize, Wilkerson receives a $10,000 college scholarship to award to a district student.
Joyce Wilkerson, Philadelphia’s longest-serving school board member, received the 2025 Urban Educator of the Year award from the Council of Great City Schools, a national organization whose annual conference is being held in Philadelphia this year.
The People for People case — which came after the board voted to nonrenew the school’s charter over academic concerns — is still pending.
It stems from a 2024 public fight over Wilkerson’s reappointment to the board. Several key Council members, including Council President Kenyatta Johnson and education committee chair Isaiah Thomas, took issue with Wilkerson.
Her stance on charters in particular — no new charters were approved during Wilkerson’s school board presidency — rankled some on City Council.
Council ultimately approved eight of Parker’s nine nominees, but did not act on Wilkerson’s candidacy. The mayor, though, did an end run, asking Wilkerson to serve on the board — essentially filling the seat Council denied her — until she named a successor.
Parker ‘s administration argues the city charter allows Wilkerson to fully serve as a board member until her replacement is named, and it’s clear that the mayor is in no hurry to pick someone to replace her.
The Parker administration, when the People for People suit was filed, said Wilkerson remains a full school board member, and said she still has the mayor’s support.
Bob Yantorno, a Republican candidate for a seat on the Upper Darby Township Council, is facing scrutiny over material he posted three years ago that Democrats have decried as racist.
Yantorno, 65, is a former commanding officer of the Narberth Police Department,a former paramedic, and a veteran of other law enforcement agencies. He’s running in the township’s 3rd District.
Yantorno denies that anything he has ever posted was motivated by racism andsaid his social media comments reflected his outrage over incidents of violence.
The controversy stems from posts Yantorno made in 2022 on Twitter, now known as X, in response to crime news stories from Fox 29 that involved Black suspects.
“Take him out back n bullet in occipital section,” Yantorno wrote about a suspect from Drexel Hill charged with two homicides.
“Arrest convict bury,” Yantorno wrote in response to a booking photo of a Camden man accused of rape.
In a 2022 reply to an Upper Darby Police Department statement about a rash of thefts from automobiles, Yantorno wrote under four photos of young men in hoodies walking near cars but not stealing anything, “Common denominator?”
The race of the men was not obvious from the photos posted by the department.
Democrat Noah Fields, 25, who is running for one of two at-large council seats, neither of which Yantorno is seeking, condemned Yantorno in an interview for what he said was “shocking” and “hateful” speech, as well as “violent rhetoric.”
Fields said that “racism has no place in Upper Darby.” He added that “this guy is calling for the execution of people without due process. The violent rhetoric we’re hearing on the national level is trickling down to local politics.”
State Rep. Heather Boyd (D., Delaware), who represents Upper Darby, said the posts were “really upsetting, offensive, and disappointing.”
She added, “We don’t want anyone in a position of influence to not consider people’s right to due process and the rule of law.”
Asked about the posts in an interview Wednesday, Yantorno initiallysaid he was unaware of their existence.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. What Democrats are saying is slanderous. People put stuff out there about me that’s not true,” Yantorno said. “All I can tell you that in the Narberth Police Department, my reputation was stellar.”
Yantorno said he didn’t know how posts with his name, photo, and personal details got onto X.His page says he joined the platform in 2022 and features a profile photo of him in police uniform.
He bristled at being called racist. He added, “I would never put a picture of somebody of any color and disparage them because of their race.”
Yantorno said that personal experience has made him sensitive to race bias. He said that when he and his first wife, whom he identified as a woman of color, moved into a house in Stonehurst, an Upper Darby neighborhood, someone stuck a cross in their lawn.
It was, Yantorno said, a symbol of hatred aimed at his then-wife.
Similarly, he said, when he was a police officer in Yeadon, he and hisformer wife “fell in love” with a house they wanted to buy, but had to back out of the deal because their real estate agent said if they moved in, “someone would burn down the house and the real estate office.”
Yantorno added without being asked: “You will never see anything from me online using the N-word. That’s not how I roll, brother.”
A statement emailed Thursday by the Upper Darby Republican Campaign Committee included remarks attributed to Yantorno that differed from his original explanation.
In the new statement, Yantorno no longer said he was unaware of the posts. Instead, he said, “those comments reflected my frustration and anger over the senseless violence in our community and had nothing to do with race.” He added that “claims of racism are offensive and absurd.”
A GOP committee statement, which was not attributed to a specific person, emphasized Yantorno’s commitment to public service and said that he does not deserve a “fabricated inference that has no basis in reality.”
Jeff Jones, an Upper Darby real estate developer who has been a Republican candidate for the council in the past, defended Yantorno.
“I read the tweets. They were comments made by a gentleman 35 years in law environment who’s seen criminals and victims at their worst, and the frustration came through in those tweets,” said Jones, who is Black.
Melissa DiNofia-Bozzone, Yantorno’s Democratic opponent for the 3rd District seat, declined to comment on the posts, saying, “I’m focused on running a positive campaign.”
Friends describe Yantorno, a veteran, as a gregarious person with a desire to help his community.
In 2020, he biked across the United States to raise money for families of slain police officers. He also did the ride, he said, for the family of Daniel Faulkner, the Philadelphia police officer who was killed in 1981. Mumia Abu-Jamal received the death penalty for the shooting, which was later reduced to a life sentence without parole.
Yantorno is also the author of a 1995 crime novel set in Philadelphia called Brutal Mercies. According to the publishing company, Trafford, the story opens with “a horrific act of mutilation” in Overbrook that “leaves the police asking, ‘Why?’”
Staff writers Katie Bernard and Ryan W. Briggs contributed to this article.
A police sergeant in New Jersey has been accused of failing to properly respond to a reported shooting that led to the deaths of a veterinarian and her volunteer firefighter boyfriend, both allegedly killed by a New Jersey State Police trooper, prosecutors announced Thursday.
Lauren Semanchik, 33, of Pittstown, and Tyler Webb, 29, of Forked River, were found dead the afternoon of Aug. 2 at her home on Upper Kingtown Road in Franklin Township, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office said.
The night before, a dispatcher notified Franklin Township Police Sgt. Kevin Bollaro about a report of gunshots and screaming on Upper Kingtown Road.
Instead of responding directly to the scene, Bollaro went first to an ATM to conduct a transaction, the prosecutor’s office alleged.
While at the ATM, Bollaro was told by a dispatcher about a second report of gunshots and screaming, the prosecutor’s office alleged. Bollaro then proceeded to the location of the first call, allegedly without activating his lights and siren.
Around five minutes after the second call, a third call reporting gunshots and screaming was made to police and relayed to Bollaro, who ultimately met with the first caller but not the second and third callers, the prosecutor’s office said.
Approximately 17 minutes passed from the time of the first dispatch to Bollaro to when he arrived to meet with the first caller, the prosecutor’s office said. Bollaro also allegedly failed to turn on his bodycam while he met that caller.
After leaving the area, Bollaro immediately drove to Duke’s Pizzeria & Restaurant in Pittstown, where he remained for around 50 minutes, the prosecutor’s office said.
Bollaro later went to Pittstown Inn, a restaurant, and remained there for nearly an hour engaging socially with patrons, the prosecutor’s office alleged.
Bollaro then spent five hours — from around 11:27 p.m. until 4:33 a.m. — at a local cemetery, during which no law enforcement activity was recorded by him, the prosecutor’s office alleged.
Bollaro then allegedly submitted a false report about what he did that night.
The next day, as detectives were investigating the deaths of Semanchik and Webb, authorities learned that Ricardo Jorge Santos, a lieutenant with the New Jersey State Police and Semanchik’s ex-boyfriend, was found dead inside a white 2008 Mercedes SUV in Johnson Park in Piscataway, Middlesex County, the prosecutor’s office said.
Santos sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound, which the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office preliminarily determined to be a suicide, the prosecutor’s office said. A semiautomatic handgun was found inside the Mercedes.
The New York Times and other news outlets reported that Santos had previously served as a supervisor on the New Jersey governor’s protection detail.
Charles J. Sciarra, an attorney representing the Franklin Township police sergeant, said in a statement Friday morning that “nothing Kevin Bollaro did or did not do that day impacted or could have stopped that tragedy in any way.”
Sciarra said that “the evidence will show that there were delays in these 911 calls being made and dispatched,” and that “he canvassed the area thoroughly. Sgt. Kevin Bollaro has faithfully served that community for nearly 25 years [and] is not guilty of anything related to this horrendous killing. This prosecution is unfortunate.”
David Mazie, an attorney representing the families of Semanchik and Webb, said in an emailed statement Thursday evening that the families “are shocked at Sgt. Bollaro’s egregious conduct as charged by the Hunterdon County Prosecutor. We believe this to be the tip of the iceberg of the many failures by the local and state police which will be uncovered and which led to the murders of Lauren and Tyler.”
Bollaro was charged with second-degree official misconduct “for knowingly refraining from performing his police duties with purpose to obtain a personal benefit,” and disorderly persons tampering with public records or information for knowingly making false entries in his police report, the prosecutor’s office said.
Bollaro was charged on a complaint-summons and is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Nov. 5.
The prosecutor’s office previously said that Semanchik had been in a relationship with Santos that ended around September 2024, but “Semanchik alleged that Santos engaged in continued harassing and controlling behavior.”
At some point, Semanchik installed a video surveillance recording system in her vehicle, which detectives accessed and reviewed.
Video evidence showed Semanchik’s vehicle leaving the Long Valley Animal Hospital, where she worked, around 5:25 p.m. on Aug. 1 and a white 2008 Mercedes SUV was seen leaving a parking space and closely following Semanchik to her home on Upper Kingtown Road until she turned into her driveway shortly before 6 p.m., the prosecutor’s office said.
“At approximately 6:11 p.m., while Semanchik’s vehicle is parked, an individual is seen surreptitiously walking through the wooded area along the driveway leading up to the residence. And at approximately 6:45 p.m., Webb’s vehicle arrives at the residence and parks next to Semanchik’s vehicle,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Detectives said the white 2008 Mercedes SUV that followed Semanchik was the same vehicle in which Santos was found dead in Piscataway.
At a news conference in August, Mazie said Semanchik went to the Franklin Township Police Department to report her ex-boyfriend’s behavior but was told no one was available to talk to her. She was given a phone number to call, which she did, Mazie said. No one called back.
Mazie said that Semanchik’s vehicle was damaged, apparently with a key, while she was at work in May 2025. Semanchik reported the incident to the Washington Township Police Department in Morris County and to a female trooper who worked with Santos, Mazie said.
Mazie said a report from the Washington Township police indicated that Santos was contacted and denied damaging her vehicle. He was advised to avoid contact with Semanchik, Mazie said.
Mazie said he plans to sue both the New Jersey State Police and the Franklin Township Police Department for failing to act against Santos.
In May 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh became the first person to fly nonstop between New York and Paris. A feat that launched him and his plane into a level of stardom today reserved for the likes of Taylor Swift.
He was held up as the poster boy for an expanding empire. He epitomized the delicate balance of American exceptionalism and humble appreciation.
So when he returned stateside, there was a nationwide celebration. The victory tour covered nearly 100 cities and ended in Philadelphia.
So maybe he was a little cranky when a gaggle of reporters fawned over the 25-year-old aviator from Missouri.
One problem
Lindbergh landing the Spirit of St. Louis at Philadelphia’s airport on Oct. 22, 1927, was a big deal.
During this PR tour, which also helped sell his forthcoming memoir We, the city saw an opportunity to hype its airport.
Only problem?
Lindbergh said he didn’t like the airport.
His thoughts
After landing, Lindbergh raised Old Glory as part of ceremony to dedicate what was then called Philadelphia Municipal Airport, which is now part of the Philadelphia International Airport. Two years earlier, in 1925, the municipal airport had opened as a training facility for National Guard aviators.
Charles Lindbergh flew nonstop between New York and Paris in the Spirit of St. Louis.
Later, he was honored at a reception at Municipal Stadium, which stood at the site of what’s now Xfinity Mobile Arena. The stadium was originally built for the 1926 Sesquicentennial.
It was followed by a banquet at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, which is where he made his thoughts on the airport known.
“What do you think of Philadelphia’s landing field?” a reporter asked.
“Well,” he paused, “it could be improved.”
He laughed at his frankness, The Inquirer reported.
He thought that the airport needed longer runways and needed to be closer to the city.
“I think that the field is a little far out,” he said.
An Inquirer reporter covering the event observed Lindbergh was not the only out-of-towner to express disdain for the city.
“A stranger finds Philadelphia the most difficult of American cities at first,” Richard Beamish wrote in The Inquirer, “and the most charming after he has become known.”
In fairness, Lindbergh was also advocating for the expansion of airports and expansion of aerial accommodationsacross the country.
Pennsylvania and New Jersey turnpike officials have settled on two alternative plans for replacing the Delaware River Bridge that has linked their toll roads for 70 years.
Traffic has mushroomed since the interchange with I-95 opened in 2018, and the four-lane span is often congested, along with highways and roads in Bucks and Burlington Counties.
“We have a lot more traffic here … and it will keep growing,” said engineer John Boyer, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s project manager. “We need additional capacity.”
Before the I-95 connection was finished, about 42,000 vehicles a day crossed the Delaware River Bridge. Now, that’s up to around 67,000. Average daily traffic is projected to be 90,000 vehicles by 2050.
What are the two ‘finalist’ options for a new bridge?
In one scenario, the new bridge would be constructed at once about 75 feet north of the existing span over four years. Pennsylvania- and New Jersey-bound lanes (six in all) would be built 15 feet apart. When finished, all traffic would be moved to the new bridge. The existing bridge would be removed.
The other option: constructing the new bridge in stages, about 40 feet north of the existing bridge — over eight years. Initially, the first half of the new span would go up. Then four lanes of traffic would be diverted to the new half while the old bridge is demolished, after which the second half of the new bridge would be built. When complete, there would be six traffic lanes.
What are the next steps?
Turnpike officials are preparing a new environmental impact statement, required for federal approval and funding. The 2003 version is outdated.
The plan is to unveil the site decision in the spring. Then would come final design and the rest of the bureaucratic steps in building transportation infrastructure.
Construction could start in 2031.
The final cost of the project has not yet been estimated, officials said, but it won’t be cheap.
What’s the history of the project?
Talk of fixing the crossing started more than 30 years ago, and by 2003, after exhaustive environmental impact and engineering studies, authorities proposed building a modern bridge alongside the old one, which would be refurbished.
Federal highway officials signed off, but it never came together.
In 2010, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission formally deferred the project “due to funding constraints,” spokesperson Marissa Orbanek said.
A crack in a steel truss supporting the bridge closed the span for six weeks in 2017 and rekindled the idea. Engineers combed through nine possible sites north and south of the bridge and decided to replace rather than refurbish the span, as first planned.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and New Jersey Turnpike Authority are working together on the project.
In addition, the turnpike prioritized the connection to I-95 and widening the roadway to accommodate the additional traffic, as well as other projects — including removal of toll booths and switching to gantries that charge drivers by reading an EZ-Pass or snapping a picture of a vehicle’s license plate.
Act 44 was a workaround for a state constitutional prohibition on the use of the gas tax for public transit and legislators’ reluctance to hike that tax for highways and bridges.
The turnpike would contribute $750 million a year to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, split evenly between transit and roads.
That formula was tweaked in 2013 with Act 89, which raised the gas tax to finance roads and bridges and cut the turnpike’s annual payment to $450 million — with all of it going to transit — through 2022.
The toll road’s obligation to PennDot then dropped to $22 million a year.
Will the Pa. Turnpike need to acquire properties? Where?
It’s too early to say. Officials working on the project said they would have a better idea after the final proposal is chosen, expected in spring 2026. The two northern options are seen as likely to have fewer impacts than other alternatives considered.
What about a shared-use path for bikers and walkers?
Pennsylvania Turnpike officials have ruled that out, citing regulations barring pedestrians or nonmotorized vehicles on turnpikes and interstates — the connector is part of I-95 — as well as future maintenance costs. Advocates still want access.
John Boyle, a staffer for the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, pointed to several toll bridges with free paths that accommodate cyclists and pedestrians.
The Great Egg Harbor Bridge on the tolled Garden State Parkway, for instance, has bike and pedestrian lanes.
And the Gordie Howe International Bridge, a toll facility between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, nearing completion, will have separate shared-use lanes.
What considerations guide the choice?
Boyer said they boiled itdown to picking a site that would have the lowest negative impact on the built and natural environments.
“We’re looking at it from a 10,000-foot view in the entire corridor: commercial impacts, industrial impacts, residential impacts, and potential impacts to billboards or cell towers in the area,” Boyer said.
Despite the public fall from grace, the voter said he missed John Dougherty’s leadership in Philadelphia, adding that he believed Dougherty had been good for workers in the city. They are brothers, Kevin Dougherty confirmed.
Justice Kevin Dougherty (left) canvasses with his son, State Rep. Sean Dougherty (center) in Fox Chase Sunday Sept. 7, 2025, stopping at the home of a voter. The elder Dougherty is one of three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices up for retention.
But in this year’s unusually high-profile state Supreme Court retention race, the connection has, in some circles, become unavoidable. Republicans seeking to oust Kevin Dougherty and two of his colleagues, all initially elected as Democrats, have sought to tie the judge to his brother’s misdeeds. The justice, a son of South Philadelphia who previously led Philadelphia’s Family Court, has sought to distance himself, and has seen the continued support of labor unions in his retention campaign.
“Over the course of 25 years as a judge, including ten years as a Justice on the Supreme Court, Justice Dougherty has had the privilege and the benefit of meeting a multitude of Pennsylvanians including the working men and women of organized labor,” Shane Carey, Kevin Dougherty’s campaign manager, said in a statement. “Our campaign is proud to receive their support, as well as the support from almost 5,000 other individual donors.”
How Johnny Doc helped elect his brother to the Supreme Court in 2015
Kevin Dougherty didn’t choose to be related to one of the city’s most prominent power brokers, but he certainly benefited from his brother’s former union’s help, with significant support from the politically powerful Local 98 during his 2015 campaign for the state bench.
Local 98, where John Dougherty was the longtime business manager, contributed more than $620,000 during Kevin Dougherty’s 2015 campaign for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Local 98’s spokesperson at the time also served as Kevin Dougherty’s campaign manager and appears from campaign finance filings that year to have been paid by Local 98. The union also spent more than $480,000 on in-kind contributions for “professional services,” mailers, merchandise,and more.
Justice Kevin Dougherty talks with volunteers before they head out the canvass in Fox Chase Sunday Sept. 7, 2025. Dougherty is one of three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices up for retention.
Kevin Dougherty is the only justice up for retention from Southeastern Pennsylvania. The other justices, Christine Donohue and David Wecht, live in Pittsburgh. They will each appear on the November ballot with no party and no home county. Voters will simply be asked “yes” or “no” whether each individual justice should be retained for another term.
Republicans working to oust the three justices this year have tried to leverage Kevin Dougherty’s past support from his brother to encourage voters to oppose his retention.
Scott Presler, an influencer aligned with President Donald Trump who has more than 2.4 million followers and runs a political action committee aimed at registering Republican voters, posted an AI-generated image of John Dougherty behind bars, tying, without evidence, Local 98’s contributions to Kevin Dougherty’s 2015 campaign to his brother’s convictions.
“Coincidence?” Presler wrote.
Johnny Dougherty, the former IBEW business manger, and his attorney Gregory J. Pagano as they leave the U.S. District Court, Reading, Pa. on the day he was sentenced to 6 years in prison Thursday, July 11, 2024.
For months, the conservative influencer has posted on social media urging followers to vote against retaining Kevin Dougherty and his colleagues, citing the times his name was mentioned during John Dougherty’s trials, such as when prosecutors alleged the justice received free home repairs or snow removal on the union’s dime. Kevin Dougherty’s lawyer at the time of the embezzlement trial said the judge never knowingly accepted services paid for with union funds.
While door-knocking in September, Kevin Dougherty dismissed attacks against him related to his brother as “misinformation,” noting his decades-long career as a judge.
Kevin Dougherty, 63, spent more than a decade as a Common Pleas Court judge in Philadelphia before his election to the state Supreme Court. During his tenure on the state’s highest court, he has authored majority opinions and is leading a statewide initiative to improve how Pennsylvania’s judicial system interacts with people with behavioral health issues.
“I spent close to a quarter of a century being a judge,” Dougherty said on a sidewalk in Northeast Philly. “I just don’t accept people’s comments and judgment. I want to know what the motive behind those comments are. Some of these comments are just partisan … and I believe in my reputation.”
The justice should be vetted on his own merits, said John Jones, a former U.S. District Court judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania who was appointed to the bench by former President George W. Bush.
“You can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your relatives,” Jones, now president of Dickinson College, added. “You have to judge the justice on his own merits. This is not a country where we favor guilt by association.”
Kevin Dougherty still has broad union support, including from Local 98
With John Dougherty no longer at the helm of Local 98, labor unions in Pennsylvania this year still overwhelmingly supported the justice for retention, contributing $665,000 to Kevin Dougherty’s campaign as of September. While trades unions contributed the most of any interest group to all three justices — for a total of $903,000 as of the latest filings — Kevin Dougherty is the largest beneficiary of that support.
Among those contributors: Local 98. The union, which has reorganized and distanced itself from John Dougherty since he was first convicted in 2021, gave $70,000 to Kevin Dougherty’s retention campaign.
“IBEW Local 98 does not support candidates based on personal relationships,” said Tom Lepera, Local 98’s political director, in a statement. “We support candidates who understand and stand up for the needs of working men and women in organized labor. Justice Dougherty, along with Justices Donohue and Wecht, have consistently demonstrated their commitment to protecting the rights and interests of middle-class workers across this commonwealth.”
Kevin Dougherty’s campaign did not respond to several questions this weekabout his brother’s role in his 2015 campaign or whether his brother’s reputation has influenced the retention campaign.
Anti-retention material featuring President Donald Trump as Uncle Sam was on display at Republican rally in Bucks County last month headlined by Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a candidate for governor. The material is from Early Vote Action, a group led by GOP influencer Scott Presler.
Union leaders insist their support for Kevin Dougherty this year has nothing to do with his brother and is a reflection of his quality work in the judiciary. Labor unions often support Democratic candidates, who are often seen as more beneficial to unions and their priorities.
“It’s about keeping good judges on the bench,” said Ryan Boyer, leader of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, an umbrella organization of local trades unions once commanded by John Dougherty. This year, the building trades gave just over $33,000 to each justice.
“We don’t live on Mars where we don’t know that sometimes familial connections can be there,” Boyer said, “and they try to exploit those things.”
Nonpartisan and Democratic groups favor Dougherty’s tenure on the bench
Like his colleagues running for retention, Kevin Dougherty has earned broad support from nonpartisan and partisan groups alike.
Lauren Cristella, CEO of the Committee of Seventy, the Philadelphia-based good-government group, noted that the justice was never charged or found guilty of wrongdoing.
Justices David Wecht, Christine Donohue and Kevin Dougherty sit onstage during a fireside chat at Central High School on Monday, Sept. 8, 2025 in Philadelphia.
“The Committee of Seventy relies on the findings of law enforcement and professional oversight organizations, such as the Bar Association, when evaluating judicial candidates. This year, the Pennsylvania Bar Association has evaluated Justice Dougherty and recommended him for retention. Our focus remains on transparency, accountability, and maintaining public trust in Pennsylvania’s courts,” Cristella said in a statement.
Dougherty and his fellow justices have also gained the support of Gov. Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s popular Democratic governor, who in a fundraising email to Pennsylvania Democrats on Thursday urged voters to mark “yes” on retaining Dougherty, Donohue, and Wecht.
Justice Kevin M. Dougherty listens during a Courtroom Dedication Ceremony at the Supreme Court Courtroom in Philadelphia City Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025 in Philadelphia.
“The threats to our freedoms are coming from all directions, and we need a Court that stands up for what’s right,” Shapiro said in the email. “Justices Donohue, Dougherty, and Wecht have proven that we can count on them to protect freedom, reproductive rights, and the rule of law.”
In a statement to The Inquirer, Kevin Dougherty didn’t mention his brother by name.
“With regard to my personal relationship I love my big brother. For obvious reasons, my brother is not participating in my Retention campaign,” he said.
Think you know your news? There’s only one way to find out. Welcome back to our weekly News Quiz — a quick way to see if your reading habits are sinking in and to put your local news knowledge to the test.
Question 1 of 10
The jewel heist at the Louvre this week caused a stir, marking one of the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory. But Philly’s seen its own fair share of heists over the years. In 2017, a man attending a party at the Franklin Institute broke this body part off a life-size Chinese terracotta warrior statue.
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
While attending an after-hours ugly sweater party at the Franklin Institute, Michael Rohana broke the thumb off the warrior statue. He described the incident as a “drunken mistake” and returned the thumb, which he had taken home. Still, it caused international turmoil, with Chinese officials accusing the Franklin Institute of carelessness with the artifact. Rohana was eventually sentenced to five years’ probation, a $5,000 fine, and community service.
Question 2 of 10
In an interview on Switch the Play (with Roger Bennett of Men in Blazers), Joel Embiid said this sport was his first love:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
A young Embiid had dreams of being a footballer (as in soccer, not the NFL) until the 7-footer grew too tall for that to be in the cards. Even though he doesn’t play anymore, he’s still a passionate fan of Real Madrid and the Cameroonian national team.
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Which supermarket is opening at the former Walgreens in South Philadelphia at Broad and Snyder Streets in early 2026?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
New York-based Met Fresh is on track to open its first Philly location. The 13,000-square-foot supermarket will include a pharmacy, a fresh-cut produce department, and a deli counter. It is also applying for a license to sell beer and wine.
Question 4 of 10
In its review of HBO mini-series Task, the New York Times describes Delaware County as a ___ stretch of rural America.
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
In the opinion piece, television journalist Alan Sepinwall, a New Jersey native who went to Penn, says show creator Brad Ingelsby — who grew up in Chester County — “transports us to a downtrodden stretch of rural America where a guy like Robbie has to resort to stealing from drug dealers in order to make ends meet.” But statistically, there’s really no argument to support that Delco is rural.
Question 5 of 10
Prime Video’s three-part series on this Philly-tied athlete premiered at the Philadelphia Film Festival this week:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Prime Video’s Allen Iv3rsonfollows the journey of 11-time NBA All-Star Allen Iverson from Newport News, Va., to his career in the NBA, covering his life both on and off the court.
story continues after advertisement
Question 6 of 10
The popular phrase among Gen Z and chronically online crowds, “six-seven” (or “6-7”), has ties to Philly. Which local rapper kicked off the trend through lyrics in their song?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Skrilla, 27, has more than 130 million streams across platforms and continues to rise in popularity. The Kensington-based artist’s song “Doot Doot (6 7)” features the first reference to “6-7.”
Question 7 of 10
This popular musician made an appearance in the crowds at Philadelphia’s installment of the “No Kings” rally against President Donald Trump and his administration. Who was it?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Former Talking Heads singer David Byrne, amid three solo shows at the Met Philadelphia, told a fan at the "No Kings" march that “he wanted to be here for this.”
Question 8 of 10
Barry Leonard, 87, formerly of Philadelphia, known for pioneering legal change to allow unisex hair salons, died this month at his home in Hallandale Beach, Fla. Leonard was best known as this term:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
In the late 1960s, Mr. Leonard gave local advertising whiz Elliott Curson a haircut, and Curson, delighted with the result, suggested rebranding Mr. Leonard as “a crimper,” British slang for hairdresser. What followed was a hugely successful ad campaign and a friendship that lasted more than 50 years.
Question 9 of 10
As the United States women's national soccer team took on Portugal at Subaru Park this week, it’s worth noting that this USWNT player is an “honorary Philadelphian” due to her local ties — and Inquirer reporter sister.
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Sam Coffey, 26, is a product of Penn State and now one of the U.S. team’s certifiable stars: an Olympic gold medalist, defensive midfield stalwart, and even a captain for a few recent games. She’s also the sister of Inquirer sports writer Alex Coffey.
Question 10 of 10
What is the title of Josh Shapiro’s upcoming memoir?
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On Tuesday, Harper — an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing — announced the release of Shapiro’s forthcoming memoir, Where We Keep the Light: Stories From a Life of Service, which will hit shelves on Jan. 27, 2026. The book will detail Shapiro’s career and personal life, including when a man firebombed the governor’s mansion while Shapiro and his family slept inside and his place on the short list for Kamala Harris’ vice president.
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JERUSALEM — U.S. Vice President JD Vance criticized on Thursday a symbolic vote in Israel’s parliament the previous day about annexing the occupied West Bank, saying it amounted to an “insult” and went against the Trump administration policies.
Hard-liners in the Israeli parliament had narrowly passed a preliminary vote in support of annexing parts of the West Bank — an apparent attempt to embarrass Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while Vance was still in the country.
The bill, which required only a simple majority of lawmakers present in the house on Wednesday, passed with a 25-24 vote. But it was unlikely to pass multiple rounds of voting to become law or win a majority in the 120-seat parliament. Netanyahu, who is opposed to it, also has tools to delay or defeat it.
Before departing Israel, Vance also unveiled new details about U.S. plans for Gaza, saying he expected reconstruction to begin soon in some “Hamas-free” areas of the territory. But he warned that rebuilding the territory after a devastating two-year war could take years.
“The hope is to rebuild Rafah over the next two to three years and theoretically you could have half a million people live (there),” he said, speaking of the strip’s southernmost city.
That would account for about a quarter of Gaza’s population of roughly 2 million, 90% of whom were displaced from their homes during the war. Out of every 10 buildings that stood in Gaza prewar, eight are either damaged or flattened. An estimated cost of rebuilding Gaza is about $53 billion, according to the World Bank, the U.N. and the European Union.
The Israeli parliament’s vote has stirred widespread condemnation, with over a dozen countries — including Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia — rebuking it in a joint statement that called all Israeli settlements in the West Bank a violation of international law.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the “vote on annexation was a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to sow discord.”
Netanyahu is struggling to stave off early elections as cracks grow more apparent between factions in Israel’s right-wing parties, some of whom were upset over the ceasefire and the security sacrifices it required of Israel.
Vance said that if the Knesset’s vote was a “political stunt, then it is a very stupid political stunt.”
“I personally take some insult to it,” Vance said. “The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.”
The deputy Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Majed Bamya, told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday that Palestinians “appreciate the clear message” the Trump administration has sent in opposition to annexation.
While many members of Netanyahu’s coalition, including his Likud Party, support annexation, they have backed off those calls since U.S. President Donald Trump said last month that he opposes such a move.
The Palestinians seek the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, for a future independent state. Israeli annexation of the West Bank would all but bury hopes for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians — the outcome supported by most of the world.
Analysts like Amichai Cohen, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, say that a “de-facto annexation of very large parts” of the West Bank is already underway, referring to the growing number of Israelis living in settlements in the Palestinian territory — even without any law supporting annexation.
Intense U.S. push toward peace
Earlier this week, Vance announced the opening of a civilian military coordination center in southern Israel where some 200 U.S. troops are working alongside the Israeli military and delegations from other countries planning the stabilization and reconstruction of Gaza.
The United States is seeking support from other allies, especially Gulf Arab nations, to create an international stabilization force to be deployed to Gaza and train a Palestinian force.
“We’d like to see Palestinian police forces in Gaza that are not Hamas and that are going to do a good job, but those still have to be trained and equipped,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said ahead of his trip to Israel.
Rubio, who was meeting with Netanyahu on Thursday evening, has also criticized Israeli far-right lawmakers’ effort to push for the annexation of the West Bank.
Israeli media referred to the nonstop parade of American officials visiting to ensure Israel holds up its side of the fragile ceasefire as “Bibi-sitting.” The term, utilizing Netanyahu’s nickname of Bibi, refers to an old campaign ad when Netanyahu positioned himself as the “Bibi-sitter” whom voters could trust with their kids.
Gaza’s dire need for medical care and aid
In the first medical evacuation since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, the head of the World Health Organization said Thursday the group has evacuated 41 critical patients and 145 companions out of the Gaza Strip.
In a statement posted to X, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on nations to show solidarity and help some 15,000 patients who are still waiting for approval to receive medical care outside Gaza.
His calls were echoed by an official with the U.N. Population Fund who on Wednesday described the “sheer devastation” that he witnessed on his most recent travel to Gaza, saying that there is no such thing as a “normal birth in Gaza now.”
Andrew Saberton, an executive director at UNFPA, told reporters how difficult the agency’s work has become due to the lack of functioning or even standing health care facilities.
Another major challenge since the ceasefire began has been getting enough aid into Gaza — and distributed — to the meet the huge demand.
“We expected Gaza to be flooded with aid the moment the ceasefire began. But that’s not what we’re seeing,” said Bushra Khalidi, who oversees the Palestinian territories division at Oxfam, a nonprofit focused on global poverty.
More crossings into Gaza need to be opened in order to allow in more trucks, said Antoine Renard, head of the World Food Program in the Palestinian territories.
“With only two crossings that are open, you are facing clearly congestion,” he said.
The WFP has 36 distribution centers operating in Gaza, and aims to increase that to 145. Since Oct 11, the U.N. tracking system has recorded 949 aid trucks that were offloaded in Gaza.
ALAMEDA, Calif. — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he’s backing off a planned surge of federal agents into San Francisco to quell crime after speaking to the mayor and several prominent business leaders who said they’re working hard to clean up the city.
Trump had been threatening to send the National Guard to San Francisco, a move Mayor Daniel Lurie and Gov. Gavin Newsom said was unnecessary because crime is on the decline. Separately, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents began arriving at a Coast Guard base in the region earlier Thursday for a possible ramp up of immigration enforcement, a move that drew several hundred protesters.
It was not clear if the president was canceling a National Guard deployment or calling off immigration enforcement by CBP agents. At his news conference, Lurie said he could not clarify and could only repeat what the president had told him. Lurie said Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “reaffirmed” Trump’s commitment on Thursday morning. DHS oversees CBP agents as well as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“The Federal Government was preparing to ‘surge’ San Francisco, California, on Saturday, but friends of mine who live in the area called last night to ask me not to go forward with the surge,” Trump posted on social media. “I spoke to Mayor Lurie last night and he asked, very nicely, that I give him a chance to see if he can turn it around.”
Specifically, Trump said he heard from Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. He said the federal government could handle crime better than city leaders, and he indicated he could still send agents in the future.
At an afternoon news conference, Lurie said he welcomes the city’s “continued partnership” with the Drug Enforcement Agency and other federal authorities to get illegal narcotics off the streets and contribute to San Francisco’s falling crime rates.
“But having the military and militarized immigration enforcement in our city will hinder our recovery,” the mayor said. Trump’s assertions of out-of-control crime in the city of roughly 830,000 have baffled local and state leaders, who point to statistics showing that many crimes are at record lows.
Newsom’s office said on X: “Trump has finally, for once, listened to reason — and heard what we have been saying from the beginning. The Bay Area is a shining example of what makes California so special, and any attempt to erode our progress would damage the work we’ve done.”
Protesters assembled just after dawn at Coast Guard Island in Alameda, California, where CBP agents were arriving before Trump made his remarks. Several hundred people stood outside the facility, with many singing hymns and carrying signs saying, “Protect our neighbors” and “No ICE or troops in the Bay.”
Police used at least one flash-bang grenade to clear a handful of demonstrators from the entrance as CBP vehicles drove onto the base. Organizers urged protesters to remain peaceful, as a line of Coast Guard officers in helmets watched from just outside the entrance.
Protester Gala King participated in an interfaith vigil against the federal crackdown and in support of immigrants.
“The Bay Area is a beautiful place full of diversity, and we are here to protect that,” King said. “Our faith traditions, our interfaith traditions, call on us to stand on the side of justice, to stand on the side of those that are most marginalized, that are most targeted right now.”
Coast Guard Island is an artificial island formed in 1913, and the Coast Guard first established a base there in 1926. The island is owned by the federal government and is not open to the general public, so escorts or specific government ID cards are required for visitors. The Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
Trump has deployed the Guard to Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tennessee, to help fight what he says is rampant crime. Los Angeles was the first city where Trump deployed the Guard, arguing it was necessary to protect federal buildings and agents as protesters fought back against immigration arrests.
He has also said they are needed in Chicago and Portland, Oregon. Lawsuits from Democratic officials in both cities have so far blocked troops from going onto city streets.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who created the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and served prison time for failing to stop criminals from using the platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism.
The pardon caps a monthslong effort by Zhao, a billionaire commonly known as CZ in the crypto world and one of the biggest names in the industry. He and Binance have been key supporters of some of the Trump family’s crypto enterprises.
“Deeply grateful for today’s pardon and to President Trump for upholding America’s commitment to fairness, innovation, and justice,” Zhao said on social media Thursday.
Zhao served four months in prison after reaching a deal with the Justice Department to plead guilty to charges of enabling money laundering at Binance. But, in explaining the pardon, Trump said of Zhao, “He was recommended by a lot of people.”
“A lot of people say that he wasn’t guilty of anything,” Trump said. “He served four months in jail and they say that he was not guilty of anything.”
The president added that he didn’t believe he’d ever met Zhao personally, but had “been told” he “had a lot of support, and they said that what he did is not even a crime.” He said Zhao had been “persecuted by the Biden administration.”
“I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people,” Trump said.
It’s the latest move by a president who has flexed his executive power to bestow clemency on political allies, prominent public figures and others convicted of crimes.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the pardon in a statement and later told reporters in a briefing that the White House counsel’s office “thoroughly reviewed” the request. She said the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden pursued “an egregious oversentencing” in the case, was “very hostile to the cryptocurrency industry” and Trump “wants to correct this overreach.”
The crypto industry has also long complained it was subject to a “regulation by enforcement” ethos under the Biden administration.
Trump’s pardon of Zhao fits into a broad pattern of his taking a hands-off approach to an industry that spent heavily to help him win the election in 2024. His administration has dropped several enforcement actions against crypto companies that began during Biden’s term and disbanded the crypto-related enforcement team at the Justice Department.
Former federal prosecutor Mark Bini said Zhao went to prison for what “sounds like a regulatory offense, or at worst its kissing cousin.”
“So this pardon, while it involves the biggest name in crypto, is not very surprising,” said Bini, a white collar defense lawyer who handles crypto issues at Reed Smith.
Zhao was released from prison last year after being sentenced for violating the Bank Secrecy Act. He was the first person ever sentenced to prison time for such violations of that law, which requires U.S. financial institutions to know who their customers are, to monitor transactions and to file reports of suspicious activity. Prosecutors said no one had ever violated the regulations to the extent Zhao did.
The judge in the case said he was troubled by Zhao’s decision to ignore U.S. banking requirements that would have slowed the company’s explosive growth.
“Better to ask for forgiveness than permission,” was what Zhao told his employees about the company’s approach to U.S. law, prosecutors said. Binance allowed more than 1.5 million virtual currency trades, totaling nearly $900 million, that violated U.S. sanctions, including ones involving Hamas’ al-Qassam Brigades, al-Qaida and Iran, prosecutors said.
“I failed here,” Zhao told the court last year during sentencing. “I deeply regret my failure, and I am sorry.”
Zhao had a remarkable path to becoming a crypto billionaire. He grew up in rural China and his family immigrated to Canada after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. As a teenager, he worked at a McDonald’s and became enamored with the tech industry in college. He founded Binance in 2017.
In addition to taking pro-crypto enforcement and regulatory positions, the president and his family have plunged headfirst into making money in crypto.
A stablecoin launched by World Liberty Financial, a crypto project founded by Trump and sons Donald Jr. and Eric, received early support and credibility thanks to an investment fund in the United Arab Emirates using $2 billion worth of World Liberty’s stablecoin to purchase a stake in Binance. Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency that are typically tied to the value of the U.S. dollar.
A separate World Liberty Finance token saw a huge spike in price on Thursday shortly after news of the pardon was made public, with gains that far outpaced any other major cryptocurrency, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Zhao said earlier this year that his lawyers had requested a pardon.
It is not immediately clear what impact Trump’s pardon of Zhao may have on operations at Binance and Binance.US, a separate arm of the main exchange offering more limited trading options to U.S. residents.
