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  • The biggest America 250 events from now through July 4

    The biggest America 250 events from now through July 4

    There’s a reason the Wall Street Journal (and Travel + Leisure, CNN, the New York Times, National Geographic, the BBC, and others) tapped Philadelphia as a top place to visit in 2026.

    The city has already been a hive of activity this summer — and it’s about to get even busier as the city gears up for America’s 250th birthday.

    There’s a packed calendar of events between now and Independence Day, and countless ways to get in on the celebration.

    From soccer to ballet, art to history, the region’s upcoming events calendar has something for everyone.

    ArtPhilly’s What Now

    This inaugural citywide arts festival has been running strong since late-May, but the coming weeks offer a deep slate of programming ahead of the July 4 weekend.

    Launched to “foreground our city’s artists as interpreters of this complex moment in American history,” the multidisciplinary festival includes puppetry, dance, music, books, film, and more through July 2.

    The lead-up to Independence Day features multiple exhibitions and events, many of them free, making it an affordable way to celebrate the nation’s milestone birthday.

    For a full schedule, check out ArtPhilly.org.

    🕒 Various dates and times, 💵 Prices vary, 📍 Various locations, 🌐 artphilly.org

    A view of the new conservatory (background) in October 2024 at Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pa.

    ‘Masterworks 3: Made in America‘

    The Brandywine Valley Symphony will perform “Masterworks 3: Made in America” in the open-air venue at Longwood Gardens. Before the concert, organizers for Dare to Declare will attempt the region’s largest public reading of the Declaration of Independence.

    🕒 June 25, 7 p.m., 💵 $20-$65, 📍 1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348, 🌐 bvsymphony.org

    Independence Week Events at the National Constitution Center

    Play trivia, test your knowledge against a historian, and attend a town hall on the “shared principles at the heart of the American idea.” It’s all free and part of the weeklong lead-up to July 4, when the National Constitution Center celebrates America’s 250th birthday.

    🕒 June 29-July 4, times vary, 💵 Free, 📍 525 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA 19106, 🌐 constitutioncenter.org

    Gospel on Independence

    Headlined by 20-time Grammy winner Kirk Franklin, this two-hour gospel music celebration features a choir of more than 250 voices against the backdrop of Independence Hall. Seating is first-come, first-served.

    🕒 June 28, 7 p.m., 💵 Free, 📍 599 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19106, 🌐 july4thphilly.com.

    A worker prepares to raise the head of a fire-breathing dragon lantern in preparation for the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival at Franklin Square this year.

    Chinese Lantern Festival in Franklin Square

    The festival is back with a special nod to the global events arriving in Philadelphia this summer. Handmade sculptures take over Franklin Square, with nightly performances held on three stages: face-changing, table foot-juggling, and head-balancing.

    🕒 Open daily between now and Aug. 2, 💵 Adults $28-$32, with discounts for children and seniors, 📍 200 N. Sixth St., Philadelphia, PA 19106, 🌐 phillychineselanternfestival.com

    Cam Gorman, 23, of Gilbertsville, Pa., cheering with Philly Sports Guy at the FIFA Fan Festival at Lemon Hill, as USA beats Australia on June 19.

    FIFA World Cup ’26 and FIFA Fan Festival

    With the U.S. team still battling for a title, what better way to celebrate the lead-up to 250th birthday than by cheering on the team in the World Cup?

    The tournament, with several matches hosted in Philadelphia, has transformed the city into a summer-long party. Much of the action centers on the Fan Festival at Lemon Hill, where visitors can enjoy music, food, drinks, and watch parties. Admission is free, though preregistration is required.

    Two Round of 16 matches are scheduled for July 4, at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., though the participating teams have yet to be determined. The 5 p.m. game will be played at Lincoln Financial Field.

    🕒 Various dates and times, 💵 Free (registration required), 📍 Lemon Hill Park, 1 Lemon Hill Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19130, 🌐 phillyfwc26.com.

    Welcome America, including the Red, White & Blue To-Do

    Philadelphia’s Historic District goes all out with a full day of events welcoming visitors to America’s “most historic square mile.” Highlights include a giant human Liberty Bell, plus a block party and street music festival featuring more than two dozen acts. At 7 p.m., Queen Latifah performs with the Army Field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus on Independence Mall. A 13-minute drone show follows later that evening.

    🕒 July 2, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., 💵 Free, 📍 Philadelphia’s Historic District, 🌐 july4thphilly.com

    Dan St. Mary poses for a portrait with his bubble dispenser during the Salute to Independence Parade on July 4, 2025, in Center City.

    Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade

    This year’s parade features an extended route, along with 50 marching bands, 19 floats, and tributes to all 50 states and U.S. territories. The event begins at 5th and Chestnut Streets and winds through Center City before ending near Broad and Chestnut Streets. Feel like skipping the crowds? Catch it live on NBC 10.

    🕒 July 3, noon to 4 p.m., 💵 Free, 📍 Independence Hall to Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 🌐 july4thphilly.com

    Pops on Independence

    The Philly Pops are joined by Broadway legend Idina Menzel for a two-hour concert on the eve of Independence Day. A pre-show block party featuring food trucks and giveaways begins at 5 p.m. Seating is first-come, first-served.

    🕒 July 3, 7 p.m., 💵 Free, 📍 599 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19106, 🌐 july4thphilly.com

    Musket firing will be a part of the Independence Day Celebration at Valley Forge National Historical Park.

    Valley Forge National Historical Park’s 50th Birthday

    Valley Forge marks 50 years as a national historical park with three days of commemorative programming, including Revolutionary War reenactors, musket firings, and artillery demonstrations.

    SEPTA Bus 125 will get you to the park, and a park shuttle runs throughout the celebration from July 3-5. Plus, there are bike rentals on-site. All events are free to attend, and you can find a complete schedule of the weekend’s events at the National Park Service website.

    🕒 July 3-5, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, 💵 Free, 📍 North Outer Line Drive in Valley Forge National Historical Park, 🌐 nps.gov.

    Independence Weekend at the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center

    A three-day slate of activities begins July 3 with extended First Friday hours at the Heritage Center and an evening car show at the East Greenville Fire Co. The next day features a parade, a reading of the Declaration of Independence, performances by the Brandywine Colonials Fife and Drum Corps and the Red Hill Band, followed by fireworks. On July 5, the Heritage Center hosts a free family-friendly event from noon to 4 p.m. with exhibits and refreshments.

    🕒 July 3-5, times vary, 💵 Free, 📍 Various locations, 🌐 schwenkfelder.org.

    Celebration of Freedom Ceremony

    In addition to musical performances from Yolanda Adams and DJ Diamond Kuts, a collection of speakers — including Philly Mayor Cherelle L. Parker — are slated to reflect on the nation’s history on the morning of its 250th birthday.

    🕒 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., July 4, 💵 Free, 📍 599 Market St., Philadelphia, PA 19106, 🌐 visitphilly.com

    Betsy Ross House Patriotic Pet Parade

    The courtyard of the Betsy Ross House will be filled with animals on the morning of July 4, during the annual patriotic pet parade and costume contest. Pets will be judged in five categories — Most Patriotic, Best Betsy Ross Influence, Best Duo with Owner, Best Non-Canine, and Best in Show — so make sure they arrive dressed to impress.

    🕒 10:30 a.m., July 4, 💵 Free (pet registration required), 📍 239 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA 19106, 🌐 historicphiladelphia.org

    Christina Aguilera, pictured here in 2016 in Morocco, is one of several musicians performing at this year’s One Philly: Unity Concert for America on July 4.

    One Philly: Unity Concert for America

    This July 4 star-studded concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway features Christina Aguilera, The Roots, Jill Scott, Meek Mill, Will Smith, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Seal, and others.. Comedian Wanda Sykes serves as host. Doors open at 3 p.m., and performances begin at 5 p.m.

    🕒 5 p.m. to midnight, July 4, 💵 Free, 📍 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 🌐 visitphilly.com.

  • Philly-area rain totals varied dramatically, and drought conditions survived the storms

    Philly-area rain totals varied dramatically, and drought conditions survived the storms

    The storms took down trees and wires, flooded roads, spoiled a World Cup party, and set off a deluge of smartphone panic alerts. But they evidently didn’t come close to erasing the rain deficits throughout the Philly region.

    Even with the additional light rains on Tuesday, bringing the two-day total to about 1.45 inches, officially Philadelphia’s rainfall for June still is slightly below normal, and this is after an extraordinary streak of 10 consecutive months of below-normal precipitation.

    And Monday’s storms exhibited a classic summer caprice. Areas of New Jersey and Chester County, both under state-declared drought emergencies, were all but stiffed, according to an analysis by the National Weather Service’s Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center. Northwestern Philadelphia and southeastern Montgomery County got as much as 2 inches.

    The weather service’s Mount Holly office reported that totals within counties varied radically. In Bucks County, for example, 1.8 inches was measured in Bristol and just over a half inch in Doylestown. Across the river, 2.4 inches fell upon Sewell, and about 0.75 in Monroe Township.

    “Some areas got it, some didn’t,” said Ben Casella, executive director of the New Jersey Farm Bureau. It can “rain here, but it may not rain on the other side of town,” he said.

    Not all of that Monday rain was beneficial, said Andrew Frankenfield, educator with the Penn State Agriculture extension in Montgomery County. Some of the water in those downpours on Monday rushed to the gutters and didn’t stop to soak into the soil.

    And those cloudbursts certainly weren’t beneficial to people routed from the World Cup fan fest in Fairmount Park, or to some motorists. Numerous water rescues were reported in the Wyncote section of Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County, And the weather service noted several reports of flooded streets and rushing water up to a foot deep floating cars in Germantown.

    Tuesday’s gentle rains, Frankenfield said, were more beneficial to the plant life, which is only going to get thirstier as the summer progresses.

    Is more rain coming to the Philly region?

    Showers are possible Thursday, said Alex Staarmann, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, with a better shot Friday night and Saturday.

    However, these may again be lottery-ball situations, something with which farmers are well acquainted.

    Generally throughout the region through Monday, precipitation was running about 75% of normal, on average about 5 inches below normal, according to the river center, which bases its surveys on several measuring stations in each county.

    The latest interagency U.S. Drought Monitor map had most of the region in “moderate drought,” but Cape May County and areas of New Jersey near Delaware Bay are in “extreme drought.” Those regions were all but shut out from the Monday downpours.

    They evidently fared a bit better on Tuesday, with the Millville airport reporting about a third of an inch, and a half inch measured in Sea Isle City.

    While the rains were welcome, the drought anxieties persist, Casella said.

    “As we turn the calendar into July, the crops are going to need more moisture,” Frankenfield said.

    “We certainly need more” rain, he said. “We can’t make it up in a week, we can’t make it up in a month. We’re concerned, but not alarmed.”

  • American Swedish Historical Museum aims to tackle $2.8 million in improvements as it turns 100

    American Swedish Historical Museum aims to tackle $2.8 million in improvements as it turns 100

    The American Swedish Historical Museum in South Philadelphia’s FDR Park could be getting some exterior upgrades, including a new auxiliary building for storage, for its 100th anniversary.

    Museum staff appeared Tuesday before one of the Philadelphia Historical Commission’s advisory committees seeking input and support for a new ADA ramp, parking area, plaza, pedestrian paths, and lighting for the grounds of the property, as well as the additional building.

    The nonprofit’s board has chosen to focus on projects that provide equitable and safe access to the building for its centennial, said Tracey Beck, the executive director of the museum, the oldest Swedish museum in the nation.

    “We do serve a lot of families with small children and senior citizens, and therefore things like the 25 steps leading up to our front door create a real barrier for a lot of people,” Beck told members of the architectural committee that met Tuesday.

    The museum sits on the northern edge of the park, facing Pattison Avenue, which is an advantage but comes with some logistical hurdles, including park parking that can be easily gobbled up during 5Ks and other events hosted at FDR.

    The small 10-spot parking area that would be located on the Pattison Avenue side of the building would ensure the museum would always have parking available, no matter what is going on in the rest of the park, said Brittany Scherer with Studio Sustena, the design lead on the project. A one-way vehicular entrance drive illustrated in plans submitted to the committee also aims to create an accessible drop-off. New plantings would make the street-facing side of the building more inviting to those driving by.

    The building is already accessible, with two handicap parking spaces and an elevator installed in the early aughts, Beck told The Inquirer. Still, she said, the pandemic highlighted the need for better connectivity between the museum’s indoor and outdoor spaces during events.

    The new ADA ramp would be located on the side of the building that faces the park, which serves as the main entrance, creating a connection between the museum’s interior and its terrace, where events are held. The addition would save visitors with limited mobility from having to navigate half the building’s footprint in order to reach the existing ramp.

    Proposed Pattison Ave. improvements, including a new driveway for accessible drop-off.

    Other improvements are more practical. The lighting aims to make the museum more visible to passersby and drivers at night, while the added building would store large and heavy items, such as tables and chairs for outdoor programming.

    Members of the advisory committee were largely receptive to the improvements, unanimously approving all but two that required tweaks — the auxiliary building and the ramps — for design reasons.

    Committee members raised concerns over placement of the added storage building and how close it would be to the museum. They also thought the design was too eye-catching, possibly leading people to believe it was a welcome center or bathrooms.

    Aerial view of proposed changes to the American Swedish Historical Museum.

    “I want it to disappear a little more,” said committee member Justin Detwiler.

    Another member disagreed with the use of acrylic panels meant to provide more protection for children along the proposed ADA ramp. Committee members worried that panels would scratch and become unsightly in the future, suggesting a simple ramp or other changes to eliminate the need for panels.

    Those tweaks should be simple enough to incorporate in time for a July 10 meeting of the full commission, Beck said.

    Because the museum is still in the early stages of fundraising and awaiting conceptual approval, there is no firm timeline for the projects, budgeted to run about $2.8 million.

    The museum’s proposed improvements come as the rest of the park continues a $250 million, once-in-a-generation overhaul.

  • Philly police union defends questionable expenses, blaming city ‘ineptitude’ for delayed funeral payouts for officers killed in the line of duty

    Philly police union defends questionable expenses, blaming city ‘ineptitude’ for delayed funeral payouts for officers killed in the line of duty

    Philadelphia’s police union issued a statement criticizing city officials for failing to promptly reimburse expenses incurred for officers who died in the line of duty, and disputed the city’s claim that it did not use tax dollars to cover a roughly $11,500 funeral luncheon, which included a 94% “gratuity.”

    The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5’s statement, which was posted on Facebook last week and emailed to its members, followed an Inquirer investigation that found the union has for years billed the city following an officer’s death for expenses that are unrelated to funeral home and cemetery costs.

    “The problem has always been and continues to be the city of Philadelphia’s ineptitude to pay bills in a timely fashion,” the FOP wrote. “Which leads to the survivors’ families having to make large financial decisions for funerals, services, luncheons, transportation, cemeteries, funeral attire, and cremations within days of suffering a traumatic life-changing event.”

    Since 2014, the city has contributed up to $75,000 in tax dollars for each line-of-duty death, up from $15,000. The FOP’s contract with the city calls for the union to be reimbursed for “reasonable and necessary funeral expenses.” But there is no further explanation of what would qualify, and The Inquirer found the union has asked the city to pay tens of thousands of dollars for everything from bar and restaurant tabs to socks and underwear.

    The FOP has also billed the city for at least eight events at its own bar, 7C Lounge, located inside its sprawling headquarters in Northeast Philadelphia. One of those events was a luncheon in May 2020 for Cpl. James O’Connor IV, a 23-year veteran and married father of two, who had been shot and killed in March of that year.

    His funeral had to be postponed for eight weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic and only a limited number of people, all in masks, were permitted inside the church.

    Pallbearers carry the body of slain Philadelphia Police Cpl. James O’Connor IV outside Our Lady of Calvary on May 8, 2020. O’Connor was killed in the line of duty.

    Even though the city had restricted bars and restaurants to takeout and delivery service, the FOP held a 2½-hour lunch for O’Connor at its own bar.

    Records show the FOP billed the city for $5,700 worth of bottled beer, an open bar, and food for 160 people. The union added a $5,375 gratuity.

    Sharolyn L. Murphy, the city’s risk manager and deputy finance director, wrote in an email to The Inquirer that the city did not reimburse the FOP for the O’Connor luncheon.

    The FOP statement claims otherwise. The union wrote that it provided the city with comprehensive documentation and was fully reimbursed.

    The FOP statement also says that the $5,375 was not all a gratuity — which is how it is listed on the bill — but just $925 for a tip while the rest was payment for kitchen and catering workers, bartenders, servers, and managers.

    “This was the only way to add the payroll and gratuity expense to the catering invoice,” the FOP wrote. “This was all documented and explained in timestamped email records and provided to the city which is why they approved the reimbursement.”

    The FOP attached to its statement copies of six emails listing the amounts paid to the staffers, all of whose names are redacted. Names of the senders and recipients are also redacted, except for then-FOP president John McNesby’s.

    The emails were not included in the Right-to-Know records The Inquirer received from the city. The city did not respond to questions about whether the risk management team had gotten them and, if so, why they were not among the documents previously provided to the newspaper.

    But Murphy on Tuesday e-mailed The Inquirer a breakdown of the items the city denied from a $32,600 reimbursement request, including the cost of the O’Connor luncheon, as well as liquor bills totaling $800 and $50 in miscellaneous beverages.

    “The city provides expeditious payment of funeral expenses to support families of those who made the ultimate sacrifice to service to Philadelphia,” Murphy wrote in an e-mailed response to The Inquirer. “At the same time, the city has a responsibility to ensure that taxpayer funds are spent appropriately.”

    Current FOP president Roosevelt Poplar and McNesby, who served as the union’s president for 16 years before stepping down in 2023, did not respond to multiple requests for comment before The Inquirer published its investigation. In its June 13 statement, the FOP called The Inquirer’s investigation a “hatchet job hit piece.”

    The Inquirer’s examination of the funeral expenses underscored questions about the FOP’s nonprofit Charitable Foundation, commonly known as the Survivors’ Fund, which raises money to pay for funerals and support the families of officers who were killed or seriously injured in the line of duty.

    A 2025 Inquirer investigation found that the FOP reported spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on “funerals and special events” in years when no officers died in the line of duty, and that its expenditures and cash donations had been loosely documented and were difficult to track.

    The Inquirer sought further clarity by filing Right-to-Know requests with the city for more than 1,000 pages of invoices, bills, emails, and other public records concerning 17 police line-of-duty deaths since 2014. Eight of the deaths were attributed to COVID.

    The FOP publicly criticized The Inquirer’s records request.

    Included in the documents were FOP submissions of receipts from businesses such as Target, Home Depot, Walmart, Acme, 7-Eleven, and CVS that include no explanation as to why they were funeral expenses. The union has also forwarded statements of corporate credit cards requesting reimbursement for restaurants and beer stores.

    Some reimbursement requests lacked receipts or itemized breakdowns, and at least two were for cash. The FOP did not address the cash requests in its statement.

    The Inquirer found that the city has covered the bulk of the FOP’s requests, although in almost all cases, the documents do not point to which specific reimbursements were approved or denied. An FOP request for $1,870 to cover two bar tabs and pipes and drums after a dinner is the only explicit denial in the records.

    The FOP wrote in its statement that its “finance office and accounting firm have comprehensive, accurate, and detailed records for all financial transactions for our multiple accounts. There are no missing or incomplete records.”

  • Man fatally shot while driving in Northeast Philly

    Man fatally shot while driving in Northeast Philly

    A man was fatally shot while driving a car Tuesday afternoon in Northeast Philadelphia, police said.

    Just after 3:50 p.m., police responded to reports of gunfire on the 9000 block of Frankford Avenue and found the victim in a Honda Accord crashed outside an AutoZone store at Frankford and Academy Road.

    The man, who had been shot in the face and shoulder, was transported by medics to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 4:22 p.m.

    The shots were fired from a tan-colored SUV that fled on Interstate 95.

    Police found spent shell casings on Frankford Avenue in front of a 7-Eleven across the street from the AutoZone.

    No other information was released.

  • Why a Boston-based appeals court ruling matters for President’s House

    Why a Boston-based appeals court ruling matters for President’s House

    President Donald Trump’s administration is closer to getting its way after a Boston-based appeals court said it doesn’t have to restore exhibits it removed — at least for now.

    The Boston-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled the National Park Service does not have to restore all exhibits it removed as part of its “restoring sanity to American history” push before the nation’s 250th anniversary celebration, issuing an administrative stay on a lower court’s order.

    That order protected the historic site of George Washington’s Philadelphia residence on Sixth and Market Streets from further changes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled last week that Philadelphia does not have the right to dictate the content of exhibits at the President’s House. The exhibits were dismantled by the Trump administration earlier this year.

    But it remains to be seen whether the stay allows the Trump administration to install the newly proposed panels, which historians say whitewash Washington’s culpability in enslaving nine people at his Philadelphia home.

    In a statement, the Department of the Interior responded: “We are confident that as this inferior ruling from an activist lower court judge receives further scrutiny, they will be further restrained.”

    Administrative stays are common steps federal courts take to buy time while judges assess the arguments.

    The First Circuit judges intend to rule “promptly” on a request for a more permanent stay during the appeal, the order says.

    Either way, the ruling marks a second blow in a week to the City of Philadelphia and stakeholders who developed the President’s House Site.

    Michael Coard, attorney and founder of Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, which is leading efforts to protect the President’s House, emphasized that the First Circuit action was not a final decision.

    “The stories of enslaved African descendants and other historically marginalized communities are American history and deserve to be preserved and told truthfully,” he said.

    Here is what you need to know about the status of the President’s House exhibits.

    The President’s House in Independence National Historical Park March 11, 2026.

    What do Boston-based courts have to do with the President’s House?

    Earlier this year, conservation groups sued the Trump administration in federal court in Massachusetts challenging Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s 2025 order implementing the president’s directive to ensure that no displays at national parks “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”

    U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley this month temporarily blocked the National Park Service from removing or altering content at parks across the country, and required the agency to restore before July 4 all exhibits that had been removed.

    The Trump administration’s changes to exhibits “seek to rewrite the Nation’s history with a white-out pen,” wrote Kelley, a nominee of former President Joe Biden.

    At least 50 exhibits were removed from more than 30 sites nationwide, according to court records.

    Justice Department attorneys appealed the ruling to the First Circuit and asked the higher court to issue an administrative stay or a stay for the duration of the appeal.

    The three judges assigned to the case — Chief Judge David J. Barron, appointed by Barack Obama, and Biden appointees Gustavo A. Gelpí Jr. and Julie Rikelman — issued the administrative stay Tuesday pausing the majority of Kelley’s order, including the directive to restore sites such as the President’s House.

    The order is not explicit on whether the National Park Service can make changes to sites, but administrative stays are viewed as a way to preserve the status quo while the appeals court can review the facts and arguments in a case.

    “The administration’s decision not to reinstall and reinstate censored materials, particularly in advance of our nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary, is a disservice to every park visitor this summer and to the broader American public,” the conservation groups, represented by Democracy Forward, said in a statement.

    What did the Third Circuit rule?

    The First Circuit ruling comes on the heels of the Third Circuit’s reversal of a February order entered by a Philadelphia federal judge.

    Judge Cynthia M. Rufe issued an injunction that required the Trump administration to restore the President’s House to its form before the abrupt Jan. 22 removal of exhibits.

    Trump administration can install its own slavery exhibits at President’s House, Third Circuit rules

    A three-judge panel disagreed with Rufe, finding that Philadelphia gave up its rights over the President’s House when it donated the site to the National Park Service. The judges further said the federal government’s proposed replacement panels were “full of historical context.”

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker thanks workers as the President’s House site in Independence National Historical Park Thursday, Feb, 19, 2026 during a brief visit to the site as they began to return the slavery displays.

    What are the city’s options?

    After the Third Circuit ruling, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said she would “pursue every legal action possible in efforts to reverse this decision.”

    The city has a few options, but time is running out for a favorable ruling before July 4.

    The city could ask for a rehearing in front of the same three judges who unanimously ruled to overturn the injunction. It can also ask for a hearing in front of the full Third Circuit court, known as en banc, or ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.

    Philadelphia Law Department attorney Anne Taylor argued at the Third Circuit hearing that the federal government’s attack on these exhibits has caused irreparable harm as the city tries to tell its story ahead of next month’s 250th celebrations.

    Philadelphia is expecting a flood of visitors for the Semiquincentennial celebration, Taylor said, adding: “The President’s House is at the doorway to the Liberty Bell. That history is not being told to all the people who are expected to come here.”

    It could be challenging, or even impossible, to get a new panel of circuit judges or the Supreme Court justices briefed on the case to get a ruling in less than two weeks, legal experts said.

  • Two Philadelphia pastors charged with sexual exploitation, corruption of minors

    Two Philadelphia pastors charged with sexual exploitation, corruption of minors

    Two Philadelphia pastors groomed and sexually exploited two teenage boys, authorities say, paying them for explicit videos and sharing the images with each other in a scheme that stretched across years and may involve additional victims.

    Isaiah Banks, 30, and Bryan Jackson, 42, are charged with sexual abuse of children, sexual exploitation of children, conspiracy, corruption of minors, and related crimes, District Attorney Larry Krasner said Tuesday.

    Banks served as pastor of Second Pilgrim Baptist Church in Francisville, while Jackson served as a pastor at Garden of Prayer World’s Prayer Center in Strawberry Mansion, Krasner said.

    Both men were arrested, arraigned, and released from jail after posting bail — $600,000 for Banks, and $100,000 for Jackson. Prosecutors said they had sought higher bail, but their request was denied.

    Efforts to reach Banks’ attorney, Richard Kravets, were unsuccessful. No attorney for Jackson was listed in court records.

    The investigation into the men began in April after police received a report that a teen had been solicited by Banks through text messages and social media to send sexually explicit videos in exchange for money or food, authorities said. The messages, they said, came to light after a witness checked the boy’s phone.

    Prosecutors said Banks shared images he received with Jackson, who they said had also posed online as a female to solicit additional images and videos from the victim.

    As investigators dug deeper, authorities said, they found evidence suggesting that Banks and Jackson had received sexually explicit images and videos from other victims, dating back to February 2024.

    “A position of trust, when it is abused, has its criminal consequences,” Krasner said during a news conference to announce the charges.

    He declined to provide additional details about the case, including the victims’ ages and genders. He said that the investigation is continuing and that releasing additional information could discourage other victims or witnesses from coming forward.

    Court records, however, offer a more detailed portrait of the alleged crimes.

    The victims, both boys, were 15 and 16 years old when investigators began their inquiry, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Jackson’s arrest. None of the crimes is alleged to have occurred on church grounds.

    In the document, police described what they said was a yearslong pattern of communications, photographs, and videos showing Banks and Jackson cultivated transactional relationships with the boys.

    Messages recovered from the men’s phones were also “littered with images and videos of nude men,” and photographs “from a barbershop and church events,” according to the affidavit.

    By May, as the police investigation was underway, the tone of the messages between the two men had shifted, police said: In one message, Banks warned that one of the boys was rattled by the involvement of authorities.

    During an interview with detectives, Banks acknowledged knowing the boys for more than a decade, and said Jackson was a friend, according to the affidavit. He told detectives he typically paid $50 for videos that the boys sent, the document said.

    Efforts to reach officials at the church and prayer center where the two men worked were unsuccessful Tuesday.

    According to Second Pilgrim Baptist Church’s website, Banks was elected senior pastor in 2017. The website describes him as a leader who is “loved genuinely by our congregation because of his passion to see our church thrive and because of his genuine care and love for all those who are a part of our church.”

    Garden of Prayer World’s Prayer Center does not appear to have a website. An Instagram account appearing to belong to the church features photographs of Jackson promoting its events.

    Krasner asked that anyone with additional information contact the district attorney’s office victim and witness services unit at 215-686-5709; the police department’s special victims unit at 215-685-3251; or the Philadelphia Center Against Sexual Violence hotline at 215-985-3333.

  • Philly has the cheapest office space of any Northeast city, report says

    Philly has the cheapest office space of any Northeast city, report says

    In the post-pandemic hybrid-work environment, Philadelphia office space remains cheaper than most other major metro areas, according to a new report from the online real estate platform Commercial Cafe.

    Asking rents for Philly offices were $31.26 per square foot on average as of May, the report found. That makes Philadelphia the only major market in the Northeast below the national average of $33.61 per square foot.

    Relative to other major U.S. markets, only Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix recorded lower average asking rents.

    Elsewhere in the Northeast, Manhattan averaged the most expensive asking rents at more than $69 per square foot, according to the report. Boston’s asking rents were around $44 and New Jersey’s were more than $35.

    Philadelphia’s 18.4% office vacancy rate, meanwhile, was slightly higher than the other Northeast markets, as well as the national average of 17.6%, according to the report.

    The analysis, released last week, reflected the broader challenges that all office markets are up against. In Philadelphia and elsewhere, the office landscape has shrunk since the pandemic, with many employers downsizing their space amid the rise of hybrid work.

    Some Center City office buildings have plummeted in value and are now becoming apartment complexes. Among them: The iconic Wanamaker Building and Centre Square, better known as the “Clothespin building” for the sculpture outside it.

    Chubb’s new 18-story tower at 2000 Arch St. may be Center City’s last new office building for a while, local industry experts say.

    The last new office built in Philadelphia? Inside Chubb’s new Center City building.

    Between January and May, $220 million in office sales were recorded in Philadelphia, according to the Commercial Cafe report, and $387 million in New Jersey. In the Garden State, 630,000 square feet of offices were under construction, found the report, which did not have under-construction data for Philadelphia.

    Peter Kolaczynski, the director of Yardi Research, helped compile the report, and noted the trend toward office reuse.

    “The destruction of value that we have discussed for years is showing through in the sales data,” Kolaczynski said in a statement. “With this decrease cost in acquisition comes opportunity — whether that is conversions to apartments, repositioning to best-in-class office and coworking, or full-on redevelopment and revitalization projects.”

  • 6abc is warning viewers about the FCC taking away its TV license. Here’s what’s going on.

    6abc is warning viewers about the FCC taking away its TV license. Here’s what’s going on.

    On Monday, 6abc issued a warning for viewers to take action to prevent Action News from disappearing from TV screens across the Delaware Valley.

    “The FCC is questioning our commitment to viewers by threatening to take us off the air,” a message from the station read.

    A 6abc message warning viewers about the FCC reviewing its broadcast license.

    So what’s going on?

    Most local news stations are owned by separate companies, but 6abc is one of eight owned and operated by ABC, whose parent company is Disney.

    In April, the Federal Communications Commission launched an early review of the broadcast licenses for those eight stations. The review came shortly after President Donald Trump called for ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel to be fired over a joke he made involving first lady Melania Trump.

    FCC commissioner Anna M. Gomez, the only remaining Democrat on the three-member panel, wrote in a May letter to Disney that the company had “been made a target” by Trump’s FCC, and that targeting local stations “is an extraordinary and dangerous misapplication” of the agency’s authority.

    “What Disney and ABC are facing is not a series of coincidental regulatory actions but a sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control,” Gomez wrote, “carried out through the weaponization of the FCC’s authority as a federal regulator and aimed at pressuring a free and independent press and all media into submission.”

    Despite that, the FCC said the review stemmed from an earlier investigation into diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at Disney, citing “the agency’s prohibition on unlawful discrimination.” The agency is conducting a similar investigation of Comcast, which owns NBC.

    “If the evidence does in fact play out and shows that they were engaged in race- and gender-based discrimination, that’s a very serious issue at the FCC, that could fundamentally go to their character qualifications to even hold a license,” FCC chairman Brendan Carr said on Fox News in March.

    6abc viewers being asked to comment

    In an attempt to fight back, 6abc, which did not immediately respond to request for comment, is asking viewers to weigh in on the early review of its broadcast license and support the station.

    The FCC doesn’t make it easy. Viewers need to visit the agency’s website and submit a “express comment” using the FCC’s docket number: 26-131

    The public comment period is open until June 29.

    6abc renewed its broadcast license in 2023 for eight years, but the FCC could move to revoke it if it determines the station hasn’t “served the public interest” or has violated federal broadcast rules and regulations.

    A Disney spokesperson said in a statement the company has “a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules” and was “prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels.”

    It’s been more than 40 years since the FCC has revoked a broadcast license from a TV station. The last time it happened was 1987, when the FCC stripped RKO General Inc. of its licenses in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles because of business misconduct.

    Even if the FCC revokes ABC’s local broadcast licenses, the case would ultimately be decided by an administrative law judge, according to the FCC’s website.

    The process could take years, and no changes are expected for 6abc during that time.

    ‘The View’ is also fighting back

    It’s not just ABC’s local stations the Trump administration is targeting. The FCC is also targeting the daytime interview show The View and its ability to interview politicians.

    The investigation of The View stems from an February interview featuring U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, a Texas Democrat who at the time was facing off in a primary against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett.

    The FCC claimed the interview was a violation of the equal time rule, a federal requirement put into law in 1934 requiring broadcast stations to provide comparable airtime to political opponents during an election.

    Disney has asked the FCC to declare The View qualifies as a “bona fide news” interview program and is exempt from the federal rules, like news programs on broadcast TV like Meet the Press and Face the Nation.

    In a May filing, ABC said The View received a news exemption from the FCC in 2002, and in 24 years it hadn’t been challenged. It called the FCC’s move to go after The View “unprecedented” and an attempt to “chill critical protected speech.”

    It’s a blurry line for late-night shows, which feature politicians as guests. While not technically news programs, the FCC hasn’t enforced the equal time rule on late-night shows since 2006, when it ruled then-California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno qualified as a “bona fide news interview.”

    But that’s changing under the Trump administration. The FCC issued a notice to broadcasters in January stating late-night and daytime TV talk shows may no longer be exempt, claiming some were “motivated by partisan purposes.”

    Carr also pressured ABC affiliates to take Kimmel off the air in September. ABC ultimately suspended his show after two companies — Nexstar and Sinclair — said they would preempt it on their ABC-affiliated stations. Ultimately, ABC backed Kimmel and his show was back on TV a week later.

  • New ‘Love Island’ contestant is a Drexel grad and ‘Jalen Hurts doppelganger’

    New ‘Love Island’ contestant is a Drexel grad and ‘Jalen Hurts doppelganger’

    A new bombshell has entered the villa, and it’s not Jalen Hurts — but, uh, close enough!

    Ronnie Gunter, a lacrosse player and recent Drexel graduate best known for his viral resemblance to the Eagles quarterback, made his TV debut Monday night.

    Sporting orange swim trunks and not much else, Gunter was one of 12 new men who entered the show on episode 18 of Love Island USA.

    It’s all part of Casa Amor, the mid-season twist where OG contestants split off into two villas and are forced to explore new connections. Gunter, 25, was one of a dozen men and six women who’ve been introduced to the show in the last two nights.

    He was also one of the men chosen to stay: Those 12 men were quickly cut to six in the same episode.

    Proving Philly is the center of the universe — even on a remote Fijian island and even at Casa Amor, Gunter was quick to tell North Philly native Melanie Moreno that he went to Drexel.

    In a prior episode, Moreno, 24, told her most consistent connection, Sincere Rhea — who’s from Cape May — that her dream first date for them would be to walk through Penn’s Landing.

    But with Rhea away at the other villa with new arm candy and the OG women forced to explore connections with their own new crop of islanders, Gunter stood out.

    He chose to kiss both Moreno and Jen Terry as part of a challenge and later won the women over by talking about family life and his cooking chops.

    “I want my wife sipping red wine on the countertop while I’m cooking,” he said. “I love to chef. Y’all will never go hungry with me around.”

    While attending college in Philly, where he majored in sports studies, Gunter achieved virality for his likeness to Hurts.

    Two years ago, in a TikTok reshared by accounts including ESPN, Gunter’s then-girlfriend (now-former Division I golfer and prominent sports broadcaster and social media personality Emma Carpenter) said he’d get mistaken for Hurts “everywhere we go.”

    @emmacarpenter

    No cuz it’s everywhere we go 😭

    ♬ MILLION DOLLAR BABY (VHS) – Tommy Richman

    Gunter told The Inquirer at the time that the comparisons started coming around his sophomore year — along with stares and photo requests — but he welcomed the attention for the most part.

    “I think it’s funny. And I mean, he’s not a bad guy to be compared to,” he said. “It’s an awesome comparison to be mistaken for that guy.”

    Even Drexel’s Lacrosse program got in on the fun, posting on Instagram in 2023: “All we’re saying is that we’ve never seen @_ronniegunter and @jalenhurts together.”

    Notably, Gunter’s comparisons to Hurts — and his graduation from Drexel — predated the popular look-alike contests that popped up nationwide months later. A different ringer won Philly’s grassroots quest for a Hurts double.

    Born and raised in Minnesota before heading Northeast for school, Gunter lives in New York these days, where he works as a program director for the nonprofit Harlem Lacrosse.

    So far, no one on Love Island has made any comments about Gunter’s resemblance to Hurts. But there’s a lot more island time to play out.