Alternative Middle Years at James Martin, in Port Richmond, is all but finished and ready for students to occupy after winter break.
Community members, district officials, and dignitaries gathered Tuesday to take tours and trumpet the new construction, a bright spot in a district grappling with a large stock of aging and sometimes environmentally troubled buildings.
“This is what growth looks like,” said Paula Furman, AMY at James Martin’s principal. The middle school educates 200 students in grades 6, 7, and 8.
Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. and Debora Carrera, the city’s chief education officer, applaud a student performance Tuesday at AMY at James Martin, a new middle school in Port Richmond.
Sarah-Ashley Andrews, the school board vice president, noted that of the district’s roughly 300 buildings, more than 200 were built before 1978.
“Projects like this underscore why continued investment is essential,” said Andrews.
On time, on budget
Inside, the 88,000-square-foot, four-story structure at Richmond and Westmoreland Streets just off I-95 is a marvel: all light and flexible seating, makerspace, “digital flex lab” (think: computer lab), and “gymnatorium” (spiffy gym and auditorium). It has modern science labs, dedicated spaces for instrumental and vocal music, and a killer view of Center City from its rooftop outdoor classroom.
The outdoor space with a view of the Center City skyline at the new AMY at James Martin school.
The school replaces an 1894 structure razed to make way for new construction. It is the Philadelphia School District’s sixth new building in 10 years.
“It is kind of crazy, just the giant leap forward that students will be taking, just in terms of furniture, not to mention the technology,” said Melanie Lewin, a district school facilities planner who led tours of the new building. AMY at James Martin students, who have been temporarily learning in classrooms at Penn Treaty High School, used to learn in a 19th-century building; they’re relocating to a building with built-in charging outlets and “noodle chairs” that let them fidget securely while in class.
The instrumental music classroom at the new Amy at James Martin School in Philadelphia.
“This school was not just built to look fantastic,” Watlington said. “I want everyone to know that it was built on time and on budget. That is no easy feat when the price of everything is going up — inflation, tariffs, everything.”
Some neighbors showed up at Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting to celebrate. But the process was controversial at first — some protested the loss of the old AMY at James Martin historic site.
City Councilmember Mike Driscoll alluded to the past pain on Tuesday.
“It’s been a struggle, I’ll admit that,” Driscoll said. But, he said, the new school is lovely. “When you see the plans on paper, it doesn’t do it justice.”
A looming facilities master plan
AMY at James Martin’s opening comes with the district approaching a crossroads: Officials are awaiting a years-in-the-making facilities master plan, the first in decades.
While schools in the Northeast and in a few other spots are overcrowded or nearing capacity, schools in many parts of the city are dramatically underenrolled.
Custom cushioned seats in a classroom at the new Amy at James Martin School in Philadelphia.
Officials have said that some schools will likely cease to exist as part of the process, now expected to culminate early next year with Watlington making recommendations to the school board for grade reconfigurations, closures, co-locations, significant renovations, and new construction.
AMY at James Martin, in its current form, is likely to come in under the district’s minimum recommended school size, at 200 students. The school’s capacity is 500, officials said.
But Casey Laine hopes the school count grows by two in January.
One of the bathrooms for students at the new Amy at James Martin School in Philadelphia.
Laine, who lives around the corner from the new AMY at James Martin and attended Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting, is the mother of a sixth and seventh grader who currently attend Bridesburg Elementary.
She’d like her kids, a son and daughter, to transfer to AMY at James Martin if possible.
“This is beautiful,” Laine said. “I’m so excited.”
The Brown family, which operates a dozen local ShopRites, recently purchased the Shoppes at Wissinoming for $30.8 million, according to JLL real estate, which represented the seller. The nearly 98,000-square-foot complex in Northeast Philadelphia is anchored by one of Brown’s ShopRites.
“We think it’s important to own the real estate where our supermarkets are located, so we can ensure the long-term healthy food access for the local community and the overall sustainability of our stores,” Brown, executive chairman of Brown’s Super Stores, said in a statement. “We are excited to add the Shoppes at Wissinoming shopping center to our real estate properties.”
Brown said he owns the shopping centers surrounding his ShopRites in Cheltenham, Brooklawn, and Roxborough.
The ShopRite in Roxborough, pictured in 2020, is run by Jeff Brown and located in a complex owned by the longtime grocer.
The family also runs ShopRites in Eastwick, Nicetown, Parkside, Port Richmond, South Philadelphia, Bensalem, Fairless Hills, and Mullica Hill..
The ShopRite at the Shoppes at Wissinoming opened in 2018, and was acquired by Brown earlier this year. The grocery store anchors the center, occupying about 68,000 square feet.
The complex is 98% occupied, according to JLL. Other tenants include Wawa, Popeyes, and AT&T.
“The transaction reflects broader trends in the retail investment market, where investors continue to prioritize grocery-anchored properties with proven tenant performance,” said Jim Galbally, JLL senior managing director. “Shoppes at Wissinoming has an ideal combination of dominant grocery anchor, diverse tenant mix, and strategic location within one of Philadelphia’s most densely populated submarkets.”
Better Box owner Tamekah Bost (left) talks with ShopRite owner Jeff Brown at the Cheltenham ShopRite in 2021. Brown has brought local restaurateurs into his stores.
Philadelphia native Sheinelle Jones will be taking over Hoda Kotb’s chair on Today.
Jones will join Jenna Bush Hager as a permanent co-host starting Jan. 12, Hager announced on Tuesday morning, after nearly a year of rotating 60 fill-ins, including Jones, to find the perfect person to fill the shoes left by Kotb earlier this year.
During her stint as a fill-in co-host in September, Jones exchanged pleasantries with Hager as if it were a first date.
“Hopefully this will be a date where you walk away and go, ‘OK, hopefully she calls me tomorrow!’” Jones said to Hager on Today.
“You’re coming back,” Hager promised.
Today with Jenna & Sheinelle marks a new chapter for Jones, since she joined the chatty morning show in 2014. Before hitting the national stage, she worked at local station Fox 29 for nine years, including as co-host of Good Day Philadelphia.
Left to Right: Jennaphr Frederick, Sheinelle Jones, and Sue Serio of Fox Good Day Philadelphia backstage preparing for The Career Wardrobe fashion show on Saturday, June 9, 2011, at the Hyatt at the Bellevue.
The announcement comes just months after the death of Jones’ husband, Uche Ojeh, 45, who died in May while battling an aggressive form of brain cancer. After returning to Today in September, she joined Hager live to share her experiences: “My coach was gone, right? My life partner. The days after my first week were tough. Because it’s my new normal,” she said.
The two met as college sweethearts at Northwestern University when Jones, a freshman, showed Ojeh, a high school senior, around campus. Married in 2007 at Rittenhouse Square’s Church of the Holy Trinity, the couple would later have their son Kayin, 15, and twins Clara and Uche, 12.
Jones was on leave since January to care for her family before returning in September to her post at the 9 a.m. show alongside Dylan Dreyer, Al Roker, and Craig Melvin.
NBC News executive vice president Libby Leist and Jenna & Friends executive producer Talia Parkinson-Jones celebrated Jones’ addition to the show.
“Sheinelle has been a cherished member of NBC News for more than 11 years,” the executive said in a joint statement. “From standout interviews with newsmakers and celebrities to her iconic Halloween performances as Beyoncé and Tina Turner, she has captivated audiences time and again.”
The city experienced its coldest morning since at least Feb. 19 with low temperatures in the teens, even at Philadelphia International Airport, as for the second straight year December is off to quite a chilly start.
And also for the second straight year, those looking forward to that first generous coating of white in Philly, or viewing the possibility with a certain trepidation, may be in for a wait.
Readings dropped into single digits in Pottstown and Doylestown, and in the teens elsewhere. As usual, Philadelphia International Airport was the regional hotspot, bottoming out at 18.
Temperatures are due to top out in the mid-30s Tuesday, more than 10 degrees below normal. A midweek warmup is due as rain approaches, followed by a late-week cooldown, and a deeper chill over the weekend into next week as the Arctic continues to share a generous supply of cold air to the central and eastern United States.
Flake sightings are possible this week in Philly, but don’t expect a rash of school closings.
The city and areas to the north and west may see a few snowflakes at the onset of general rainfall Wednesday, said Robert Deal, the science and operations officer at the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly. And a dusting or less is possible in the region Friday with a cold frontal passage, he said.
So, while folks around Doylestown had to dig out from a whole three-tenths of an inch of snow during the weekend, and the likes of Atglen, Chester County, and Avalon at the Shore were buried under a tenth of an inch, the vigil goes on for Philly’s first ruler-worth snowfall.
With an unusual degree of certainty, in its Monday update, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center said it was very likely that temperatures in Philadelphia and the rest of the Northeast would be below normal in the Dec. 13-17 period, with odds favoring below-normal readings through the solstice.
Deal pointed out that since the 2019-20 season, Philly’s official snowfall is more than 80 inches below normal — that’s a total of 56.7 inches measured, vs. 139.4 inches that constitute the normal.
The last several winters generally have been mild, but snow doesn’t always correlate well with cold, and atmospheric scientists caution that snow is a lousy climate indictor.
Last season, for example, the Dec. 1-Feb. 28 meteorological winter finished about a degree below normal with plenty of cold air for snow, but snowfall was a paltry 8.1 inches — beating New Orleans by a mere 0.1 inches. The seasonal normal as measured at Philadelphia International Airport is 22.3 inches.
Tuesday officially would be Philadelphia’s 13th consecutive day of below-normal temperatures, and 13th without measurable snow.
Why the absence?
Snow around here typically falls near the battlegrounds of cold, heavy air from the north country and warmer moist air off the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean, which can rout the cold.
“We generally need a high-pressure system anchored to the north so it keeps the cold air locked in place,” Deal said. “Lately, most of the high-pressure systems have been more transient, shifting offshore.”
If they are too strong and persistent, those same cold high-pressure systems can repel moisture.
The climate center outlooks favor below-normal precipitation in the Northeast in the six-to-10-day and eight-to-14-day periods.
The lack of snow to date is by no means unusual,Deal points out. On average Philly doesn’t measure an official inch until Dec. 10.
“Right now,” he said, “normal is next to nothing.”
Brightening prospects
The winter solstice doesn’t occur until Dec. 21, but if you have had it with these early sunsets, your prospects are brightening considerably.
Monday’s sunset, just before 4:37 p.m., was a second later than Sunday’s. Tuesday’s will be 4 seconds later than Monday’s, and the sun will call it a day four whole minutes later on Dec. 21.
That will still be the shortest day, however, since daybreak will be later, but feel free to sleep through it.
Kevin Bean was a frail 125 pounds last February when he entered a brand-new recovery house, a facility where he landed after spending four years in the throes of addiction — at times on the streets of Kensington, the epicenter of the city’s drug crisis.
The Frankford native was one of the first residents to enter the Riverview Wellness Village, the 20-acre recovery facility that Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration opened in Northeast Philadelphia nearly a year ago as part of City Hall’s efforts to address opioid addiction and the Kensington drug market.
Bean, now 46 and boasting a healthier frame, just celebrated one year of sobriety and is preparing to move out of Riverview early next year.
He described his transition simply: “whole new life.”
Much of the mayor’s agenda in Kensington has been visible to the neighborhood’s residents, such as increased law enforcement and a reduction in the homeless population. But the operations and treatment outcomesat Riverview, located down a winding road next to the city’s jail complex, happen largely outside of public view. Last spring, some city lawmakers complained that even they knew little about the facility operations.
An inside look at the Riverview complex and interviews with more than a dozen residents and employees showed that, over the last year, the city and its third-party healthcare providers have transformed the facility. What was recently a construction zone is now a one-stop health shop with about 75 staff and more than 200 residents, many of whom previously lived on Kensington streets.
Those who live and work at Riverview said the facility is plugging a hole in the city’s substance use treatment landscape. For years, there have not been enough beds in programs that help people transition from hospital-style rehab into long-term stability. The recovery house industry has been plagued with privately run homes that are in poor condition or offer little support.
The grounds and residence buildings at Riverview Wellness Village, a city-owned drug recovery home in Northeast Philadelphia.
At its current capacity, Riverview has singularly increased the total number of recovery house beds in the city by nearly 50%. And residents — who are there voluntarily and may come and go as they please — have much of what they need on the campus: medical care, mental health treatment, job training, and group counseling.
They also, as of last month, have access to medication-assisted treatment, which means residents in recovery no longer need to travel to specialized clinics to get a dose of methadone or other drugs that can prevent relapse.
Arthur Fields, the regional executive director at Gaudenzia, which provides recovery services to more than 100 Riverview residents, said the upstart facility has become a desirable option for some of the city’s most vulnerable. Riverview officials said they aren’t aware of anywhere like it in the country.
“The Riverview Wellness Village is proof of what’s possible,” Fields said, “when we work together as a community and move with urgency to help people rebuild their lives.”
While the facility launched in January with much fanfare, it also faced skepticism, including from advocates who were troubled by its proximity to the jails and feared it would feel like incarceration, not treatment. And neighbors expressed concern that the new Holmesburg facility would bring problems long faced by Kensington residents, like open drug use and petty theft, to their front doors.
But despite some tenets of the mayor’s broader Kensington plan still facing intense scrutiny, the vocal opposition to Riverview has largely quieted. Parker said in an interview that seeing the progress at Riverview and the health of its residents made enduring months of criticism “well worth it.”
“I don’t know a Philadelphian who, in some way, shape, or form, hasn’t been touched by mental and behavioral health challenges or substance use disorder,” said Parker, who has spoken about how addiction shaped parts of her own upbringing. “To know that we created a path forward, to me, I’m extremely proud of this team.”
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker places a new block on the scale model of the Riverview Wellness Village on Wednesday, Jan. 8 during the unveiling of Philadelphia’s new city-operated drug treatment facility. At left is Managing Director Adam Thiel. City Councilmember Michael Driscoll is at right.Isabel McDevitt, executive director of the Office of Community Wellness and Recovery, points to a model with upcoming expansion at Riverview Wellness Village, a city-owned drug recovery home in Northeast Philadelphia on Nov. 25.Staffers move photos into place at the Riverview Wellness Village on Jan. 8 before the unveiling of Philadelphia’s new city-operated drug treatment facility.
Meanwhile, neighbors who live nearby say they have been pleasantly surprised. Pete Smith, a civic leader who sits on a council of community members who meet regularly with Riverview officials, said plainly: “There have been no issues.”
“If it’s as successful as it looks like it’s going to be,” he said, “this facility could be a model for other cities throughout the country.”
Smith, like many of his neighbors, wants the city’s project at Riverview to work because he knows the consequences if it doesn’t.
His son, Francis Smith, died in September due to health complications from long-term drug use. He was 38, and he had three children.
Getting a spot at Riverview
The sprawling campus along the Delaware River feels more like a college dormitory setting than a hospital or homeless shelter. Its main building has a dining room, a commercial kitchen, a gym, and meditation rooms. There are green spaces, walking paths,and plans for massive murals on the interior walls.
Katherine Young, director of Merakey at Riverview Wellness Village, talks with a resident at the city-owned drug recovery home in Northeast Philadelphia on Nov. 25.
Residents live and spend much of their time in smaller buildings on the campus, where nearly 90% of the 234 licensed beds are occupied. The city plans to add 50 more in January.
Their stays are funded through a variety of streams. The city allocated $400 million for five years of construction and operations, a portion of which is settlement dollars from lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies that manufactured the painkillers blamed for the opioid crisis.
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To get in to Riverview, a person must complete at least 30 days of inpatient treatment at another, more intensive care facility.
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Still, residents at Riverview have come from more than 25 different providers, according to Isabel McDevitt, the city’s executive director of community wellness and recovery. The bulk were treated at the Kirkbride Center in West Philadelphia, the Behavioral Wellness Center at Girard in North Philadelphia, or Eagleville Hospital in Montgomery County.
They have ranged in age from 28 to 75. And they have complex medical needs: McDevitt said about half of Riverview’s residents have a mental health diagnosis in addition to substance use disorder.
She said offering treatment for multiple health conditions in one place allows residents to focus less on logistics and more on staying healthy.
“Many of the folks that are at Riverview have long histories of substance use disorder, long histories of homelessness,” she said. “So it’s really the first time a lot of people can actually breathe.”
When new residents arrive, they go through an intake process at Riverview that includes acute medical care and an assessment for chronic conditions. Within their first week, every resident receives a total-body physical and a panel of blood work.
“They literally arrive with all of their belongings in a plastic bag and their medications and some discharge paperwork,” said Ala Stanford, who leads the Black Doctors Consortium, which provides medical services at Riverview. “We are the ones who greet them and help get them acclimated.”
Stanford — who this fall announced a run for Congress — said doctors and nurses at Riverview have diagnosed and treated conditions ranging from drug-related wounds to diabetes to pancreatic cancer. And patients with mental health needs are treated by providers from Warren E. Smith Health Centers, a 30-year-old organization based in North Philadelphia.
Physician Ala Stanford in an examination room at the primary medical care center run by her Black Doctors Consortium at Riverview Wellness Village, a city-owned drug recovery home in Northeast Philadelphia, on Nov. 25.Francesca Colon (right), a recovery support professional with Gaudenzia, brings people in recovery to the main entrance of the Meetinghouse at Riverview Wellness Village on Nov. 25.
Residents’ schedules are generally free-flowing and can vary depending on their wants and needs. About 20% have jobs outside the campus. Culinary arts training will be available in the next month or so. And residents can meet with visitors or leave to see family at any time.
They also spend much of their time in treatment, including individual, family, and group therapy. On a recent day, there were group sessions available on trauma recovery, managing emotions, and “communicating with confidence.”
Vernon Kostic, a 52-year-old Port Richmond native who said he has previously been homeless, has been in and out of drug treatment facilities for years.
He said he’s been content as a Riverview resident since July, and called it “one of the smartest things that the city has ever done.”
“We have the doctor’s office right over here,” he said. “They’ve got counseling right here. Everything we need. It’s like a one-stop recovery place.”
Resident Vernon Kostic heads to a group meeting at Riverview Wellness Village on Nov. 25.The dining room and meeting room in the Meetinghouse at Riverview Wellness Village. At rear left is a brand-new, industrial, restaurant-quality kitchen that was not operational yet on Nov. 25.
Finding ways to stay at Riverview
Finding success in recovery is notoriously hard. Studies show that people who stay in structured sober housing for at least six months after completing rehab see better long-term outcomes, and Riverview residents may stay there for up to one year.
But reaching that mark can take multiple tries, and some may never attain sobriety. McDevitt said that on a monthly basis, about 35 people move into Riverview, and 20 leave.
Some who move out are reunited with family and want to live at home. Others simply were not ready for recovery, McDevitt said, “and that’s part of working with this population.”
Fields said a resident who relapses can go back to a more intensive care setting for detoxification or withdrawal management, then return to Riverview at a later time if they are interested.
“No one is punished for struggling,” he said. “Recovery is a journey. It takes time.”
Providers are adding new programming they say will help residents extend their stays. Offering medication-assisted treatment is one of the most crucial parts, said Josh Vigderman, the senior executive director of substance use services at Merakey, one of the addiction treatment providers at Riverview.
Entry to the primary medical care center run by the Black Doctors Consortium at Riverview Wellness Village.The main entry Meetinghouse at Riverview Wellness Village.Naloxone (Narcan) in an “overdose emergency kit” at Riverview Wellness Village.
In the initial months after Riverview opened its doors, residents had to travel off campus to obtain medication that can prevent relapse, most commonly methadone and buprenorphine, the federally regulated drugs considered among the most effective addiction treatments.
Typically, patients can receive only one dose of the drug at a time and must be supervised by clinicians to ensure they don’t go into withdrawal.
Vigderman said staff suspected some residents relapsed after spending hours outside Riverview, at times on public transportation, to get their medication.
This fall, Merakey — which was already licensed to dispense opioid treatment medications at other locations — began distributing the medications at Riverview, eliminating one potential relapse trigger for residents who no longer had to leave the facility’s grounds every day.
Interest in the program has been strong, Vigderman said, with nearly 80 residents enrolling in medication-assisted treatment in just a few weeks. Merakey is hiring more staff to handle the demand.
What’s next at Riverview
The city is eying a significant physical expansion of the Riverview campus, including a new, $80 million building that could double the number of licensed beds to more than 500. That would mean that about half of the city’s recovery house slots would be located at Riverview.
Parker said the construction is “so important in how we’re going to help families.” She said the process will include “meticulous design and structure.”
“The people who come for help,” she said, “we want them to know that we value them, that we see them, and that we think enough of them to provide that level of quality of support for them.”
In the meantime, staff are working to help the center’s current residents — who were among the first cohort to move in — plot their next steps, like employment and housing.
A rendering of the new, $80 million five-story building to be constructed on the campus of Riverview Wellness Village. It will include residences and medical suites.
That level of support, Vigderman said, doesn’t happen in many smaller recovery houses.
“In another place, they might not create an email address or a resumé,” he said. “At Riverview, whether they do it or not is one thing. But hearing about it is a guarantee.”
Bean is closing in on one year at Riverview. He doesn’t know exactly what’s next, but he does have a job prospect: He’s in the hiring process to work at another recovery house.
“I’m sure I’ll be able to help some people,” he said. “I hope.”
Two Philadelphia police officers who drove after a fleeing drug suspect until the man crashed his car and killed a bystander are not liable under federal law for causing the fatal collision because the officers didn’t intend to harm anyone, an appeals court ruled.
In an opinion issued last week, the three-judge panel from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals said officers Christian Kane and Alexander Hernandez were forced to make a quick decision in 2020 when they sped after a man they’d seen dealing drugs in Kensington.
The pursuit of the suspect, Tahir Ellison, proceeded at a normal speed for a few blocks, court documents said, but became dangerous after Ellison drove through a red light and down a one-way street.
The episode ended in tragedy when Ellison ignored another red light and crashed into Virgen Martinez’s car at the intersection of Allegheny and Frankford Avenues, killing Martinez, a 47-year-old mother of four.
Ellison pleaded guilty in 2023 to charges including third-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison, court records show.
But Martinez’s relatives sued Kane and Hernandez, arguing in part that the decision to speed after Ellison — which violated the police department’s policy to avoid most car chases — also violated Martinez’s 14th Amendment due process rights and made the officers liable for her death. Last year, U.S. Magistrate Judge Scott W. Reid agreed that that question should be put before a jury.
The officers appealed. And in the opinion issued last week, Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas wrote that although Hernandez’s death was a tragedy, the officers made a “snap judgment” to pursue Ellison and did not behave egregiously during the portion of the chase in which Ellison began speeding and ignoring traffic signals.
“We ask not whether in hindsight [the officers] chose rightly, but whether they intended to cause harm,” Bibas wrote.
Philadelphia police directives generally prohibit car chases, which are often dangerous for both citizens and officers. Exceptions are made only if officers are seeking to capture suspects fleeing violent felonies, or to prevent imminent death or serious injuries.
An Inquirer investigation published last year found that about half of all reported chases by Philadelphia police were in violation of department polices and that the city had spent about $20 million since 2020 to settle crash- or chase-related lawsuits involving police.
Earlier this year, the city agreed to pay $2.9 million to settle a lawsuit over a crash in which a man on a dirt bike being pursued by a city police officer struck two bystanders — including a 6-year-old girl — in Upper Darby.
In that case, however, the officer initiated the chase without witnessing any crime, continued driving after the man for nearly 10 miles, and was later accused by the department of providing false statements to a superior and falsifying official documents.
Bibas wrote that Kane and Alexander, by contrast, “had a split second” to decide whether to follow Ellison, whom they’d seen dealing drugs from his car. And the dangerous portion of the pursuit spanned about half a mile and 39 seconds before Ellison crashed into Martinez’s vehicle.
Jim Waldenberger, one of the attorneys who filed suit on behalf of Hernandez’s relatives, said he and his colleagues disagreed with the ruling.
Before the officers’ pursuit turned dangerous, Waldenberger said, they pursued Ellison at a normal speed with their police lights on for several blocks, meaning their decision to continue the chase when he sped up was not a snap judgment made under unavoidable pressure.
The department conducted an internal investigation and found that the officers violated departmental policies regarding pursuits, and each spent at least several months on administrative duty, court documents said. The documents did not specify whether either officer faced additional discipline.
Sgt. Eric Gripp, a police spokesperson, said Monday that Kane is still on the force but that Hernandez left last year. Gripp declined to comment further.
Waldenberger said he and his colleagues were still weighing whether to appeal the Third Circuit’s ruling on the officers’ liability.
The lawsuit can proceed on more limited grounds surrounding whether the city sufficiently trains police officers regarding pursuits, and whether Kane, who was driving the police car, violated state negligence laws.
The Golden Globe Awards on Mondayannounced its nominees for the best in television and movies, and with it, another chance for victoryfor regional productions and local actors.
The ceremony airsJan. 11 with awards given in 28 categories.
The Abbott Elementary crew visits the Always Sunny gang at Paddy’s Pub in the “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Abbott Elementary” crossover.
In its fifth season, Abbott Elementary has already won the hearts of Philadelphians and three Golden Globes. Still, this wholesome band of teachers, starring Philly-native Quinta Brunson, isup again for best musical or comedy television series.
HBO’s Task and Peacock’s Long Bright River, two crime thrillers set in Philadelphia neighborhoods and suburbs, both have leading actors nominated for Golden Globes this season.
Mark Ruffalo as Tom, Alison Oliver as Lizzie, Thuso Mbedu as Aleah, and Fabien Frankel as Anthony in “Task.”
Amanda Seyfried (left) and Asleigh Cummings in the Kensington-set Peacock series “Long Bright River,” based on the novel of the same name by Temple professor and novelist Liz Moore.
Liz Moore’s crime novel Long Bright Riverturned heads when it was released in 2020, detailing the harrowing story of a Kensington police officer, played in the series by Amanda Seyfried, searching for her sister in a cat-and-mouse chase with a killer targeting sex workers. While the television adaptation was filmed in New York City, the bulk of the show takes place in Kensington and other Philadelphia neighborhoods, with Seyfried grabbing a nomination for best female performance in a dramatic limited series.
Hometown stand-up icon Kevin Hart was back to his roots with a new comedy special, Kevin Hart: Acting My Age, tackling injuries after 40, Chick-fil-A’s spicy chicken sandwich consequences, and slipping in the shower. He earned a nomination for best stand-up comedy performance on television.
Host Kevin Hart speaks during the BET Awards on Monday, June 9, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
And through a few degrees of separation, several other nomineescan be claimed as Philly-adjacent.
Hannah Einbinder, whose father is from Doylestown, accepts the award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for “Hacks” during the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Take Hacks actress Hannah Einbinder, who shouted “Go Birds!” during her speech after winning an Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy series, and was filmed by the evening news crying in the streets of Los Angeles after the Eagles’ 2018 Super Bowl win.
She may not be from Philadelphia (her father, actor Chad Einbinder, is from Doylestown), but she reps the city. HBO’s Hacks, which follows a veteran Las Vegas comic mentoring a young comedy writer, is up for best musical or comedy television series, with Einbinder and costar Jean Smart nominated for best supporting female actor and best actor in a musical or comedy series, respectively.
And there are some broader Pennsylvania and New Jersey ties among the nominees.
The breakout medical drama The Pitt, which takes place in the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Center, depicts a 15-hour shift in an emergency room, split across 15 one-hour episodes. The Pitt’s lead actor, Noah Wyle (known for his role as Dr. John Carter in NBC’s ER), is up against Ruffalo for best male actor in a dramatic television series.
After a major overhaul of the award show in recent years, including the sunsetting of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association due to ethics and diversity concerns, the new Golden Globe Awards are judged by a panel of 400 journalists from across the world.
The Golden Globes will be broadcast live on Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. Philadelphia time on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
Beginning in late afternoon, members of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s staff met with union leaders and SEPTA senior managers at the governor’s Philadelphia office. The goal was to unstick talks that had faltered, seeing if compromise was possible.
The union’s push for an increase in pensions and SEPTA’s proposal for union members to pay a greater share of the cost of their healthcare coverage emerged over the last week as the biggest obstacles to an agreement, according to both union and transit authority sources.
“Gov. Shapiro’s office brought the parties together and they made progress,” SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said. “It was significant.”
In a statement, the union said “significant progress” was made.
“Gov. Shapiro was instrumental in preventing a strike that could have started as soon as Monday morning. We’re grateful for his close involvement,” said TWU Local 234 President Will Vera.
A work stoppage would have brought chaos to a mass transit system that carries a weekday average of 790,000 riders.
TWU Local 234 represents 5,000 bus, subway, elevated train and trolley operators, as well as mechanics, cashiers, maintenance people and custodians, primarily in the city.
Their one-year labor contract expired Nov. 7, but members stayed at their posts. On Nov. 16, they authorized Local 234’s leaders to call a strike if needed. The vote was unanimous.
SEPTA and the union were not far apart on salary and both wanted a two-year deal after a series of one-year pacts during a time of financial crisis for the transit agency, sources said.
Management wanted to hike what union members pay for health coverage and increase co-pays for doctor and hospital visits.
The union pushed for an enhancement to the formula that determines retirees’ monthly pensions, based on years of service. It was last increased in 2016.
SEPTA officials calculated that TWU’s proposed changes would have created an annual unfunded liability of about $6 million for an undetermined length of time. The union says the pension plan books showed a bump was affordable.
Because TWU Local 234 is the largest SEPTA union, its contracts are used as a template for the other locals working for the transit system, which could boost costs.
Regional Rail was a concern to SEPTA because commuter railroad workers, like others, receive a federal pension that has tended to be less generous. Those unions would have wanted a SEPTA sweetener to their retirement benefits too.
TWU Local 234 also wanted changes to work rules involving sick time benefits and the length of time it takes new members to qualify for dental and vision benefits — currently 15 months.
The local also represents several hundred suburban workers, primarily operators, in SEPTA’s Frontier district, which runs 24 bus routes in Montgomery County, Lower Bucks County, and part of Chester County.
The Victory district has a similar number of employees, who are represented by SMART Local 1594. They run Delaware County’s two trolley lines, the Norristown High Speed Line, and 20 bus routes in the suburbs.
Unions for both the Frontier and Victory districts could choose to strike alongside TWU Local 234. If that happened, Regional Rail, already plagued by delays and cancellations due to federally-mandated repairs on train cars, would be the only public transit running.
TWU last struck in 2016. It lasted for six days and ended the day before the general election. Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign was worried about voter turnout, and the city sought an injunction to end the strike. That proved unnecessary.
Regional Rail would operate during a TWU strike. Locomotive engineers and conductors on the commuter service are represented by different unions than transit employees, and are working under current contracts.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker traversed pulpits across West and North Philadelphia on Sunday, promoting her vision for her signature housing initiative that’s heightening tensions in City Hall.
Parker, who wants to ensure the initiative helps those with varying incomes, largely opposes the changes, which has caused one of the most notable standoffs between the city’s executive and legislative branches during her mayoralty. From West Philly’s Church of Christian Compassion on Sunday morning, she lobbied her constituents, saying her vision for the housing plan is to avoid “trying to pit the ‘have-nots’ against those who have just a little bit.”
“We should be about addition, not subtraction,” she said to a packed sanctuary, as she sought to reclaim the narrative surrounding H.O.M.E. Her rousing 10-minute address was met with acclaim and applause, bringing some in the crowd to their feet.
“We’ve got to take care of the people who are most in need, but we can’t penalize the people who are going to work every day, pay their taxes, contribute to the city, and they can’t benefit from home improvement programs.”
The H.O.M.E. initiative calls for spending $800 million across dozens of existing programs. The bulk of the funding would go to affordable-housing preservation, the Turn the Key program, the Basic Systems Repair Program, affordable housing production, and One Philly Mortgage, which would provide loans to low income households.
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, chair of the Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless, and whose district includes Church of Christian Compassion, called Council’s proposal reasonable and compromised and a fiscally responsible response to “Philadelphians who need our help the most in this moment.”
“The mayor has every right to get out into the public, to tell her side, to talk about her vision,” Gauthier said in an interview, “but I will say there was plenty of time to negotiate with Council on this, and plenty of attempts made from the Council’s side.”
Despite the disagreement over eligibility rules, Parker and Council are on the same page about the broad strokes of the housing plan; critical pieces of legislation Parker proposed as part of H.O.M.E. were approved by Council earlier this year. The changes last week did not alter the fundamentals of the program, which Parker hopes will achieve her goal of creating or preserving 30,000 units of housing in her first term.
Congregants at the Church of Christian Compassion cheer as Mayor Cherelle L. Parker addresses the crowd before service in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of West Philadelphia on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025.
The main sticking point in recent negotiations has been eligibility criteria for several programs: Parker, for instance, had proposed that H.O.M.E. funding for the Basic Systems Repair Program — which subsidizes critical home improvements — is open to any homeowner who makes Philadelphia’s area median income, about $119,400 for a family of four. Council’s amendments, however, require 90% of the new funding to go to families making 60% of the area median income or less, about $71,640 for a family of four.
Gauthier likened what’s in dispute to an emergency room: “The person who’s having a heart attack is going to be seen before the person with a broken leg, because that person who’s experiencing a heart attack might not make it if they don’t get immediate assistance.”
The squabble has given way to the most significant public dustup between Parker and Council President Kenyatta Johnson. In an uncharacteristically blunt statement last week, Johnson broke from his usual alignment with the mayor and defied her administration’s analysis of the situation.
In a statement Sunday, Johnson’s spokesperson Vincent Thompson said “Johnson heard clearly and directly from Councilmembers and housing organizations in Philadelphia about critical issues they want addressed in the first-year H.O.M.E. Plan spending. Those concerns center on accountability, neighborhood equity, and — most importantly — making sure that the deepest investments reach the poorest and most vulnerable Philadelphians.”
The amended budget could be up for a final vote as soon as Thursday, Dec. 11, Council’s last meeting before its winter break, according to Johnson’s office.
Listen — Philly has a reputation. We know this. We wear it like a badge. We boo Santa, we heckle refs, we meltdown on WIP like it’s an Olympic sport. But there’s passion, there’s unhinged, and then there’s driving to Moorestown at 3 a.m. to egg the offensive coordinator’s house because the Eagles lost to the Bears.
That’s not passion. That’s just loser behavior.
Patullo said all the right things this week. That criticism is part of the job, that he’s been here five years, that he loves the city and the fans. But he also made it clear: When it involves your family, the line isn’t just crossed… it’s obliterated. And he’s right. Yell at the TV, tweet about it, call WIP at 6 a.m. pretending to be “Bryce from Bridesburg.” But families are off-limits.
The good news? Neighbors rallied, the community reached out, and Patullo isn’t going anywhere — not from his home, and not from the sidelines (despite Nick Foles’ dream of him coaching from the booth like it’s Madden franchise mode).
Philly can take a joke, a hit, and a heartbreak season. What we can’t take is letting a few clowns make us look like we egg coaches every time the offense ranks 24th in yards.
Save the eggs for tailgates. Or better yet, breakfast.
A cheesesteak from Dalessandro’s in Philadelphia, on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. Michelin recently recognized the restaurant with a Bib Gourmand. Cheesesteak restaurants Angelo’s and Del Rossi’s were also recognized by Michelin.
Philly is America’s No. 1 foodcation destination: A (obviously)
All because of one thing: the cheesesteak, which topped the national list with 27% of Americans saying it’s their dream domestic “foodcation.” Translation: People are now booking vacations around a sandwich we buy at 1 a.m. like it’s no big deal.
Food & Wine says Americans spend about $910 on their typical food-focused trip and would nearly double that budget if the bite was bucket-list–worthy. So somewhere out there is a family justifying a $2,000 vacation to stand outside Angelo’s at 10 a.m. behind 70 locals who think they have “a system.”
Meanwhile, New York tied us at 27% for pizza — but let’s be serious. A cheesesteak beating out an entire city’s worth of pizza is so Philly-coded it should count as a parade.
A Waymo car drives down Market Street Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Philadelphia.
The company says its cars are now driving autonomously (with a human babysitter for now), mapping our neighborhoods and “laying the groundwork” to eventually chauffeur actual Philadelphians around.
Bold. Truly bold. Because sure, a driverless car can operate in Phoenix. But can it:
Identify a pothole before it becomes a crater?
Handle a double-parked Amazon van, a food truck, and a guy pushing a sofa on a hand truck… all in the same block?
Not get stolen? (It’s Philly. We have statistics.)
City officials say they’re “monitoring the situation,” which is Philly-speak for: If this thing blocks a SEPTA bus, there will be consequences. Meanwhile, Waymo has been chatting with local groups — the Bicycle Coalition, Best Buddies — which is smart, because they’ll need all the friends they can get once these cars try to merge on I-95.
Delco Donny turning Wawa parking lots into concert venues: A
Only in the Greater Philadelphia region could a man with a guitar, a thick Delco accent, and a dream turn random Wawa parking lots into 100-person pop-up concerts — and somehow it feels… correct.
“Delco Donny,” the alter ego of musician Jake Dillon, started as a joke for his girlfriend’s Delco mom, reported Philly Voice. Now he’s pulling six-figure TikTok views by belting out Oasis, the Killers, and “Creep” between parked Hyundais and people sprinting inside for Sizzlis. At his Boothwyn Wawa show, fans were literally acting like he was Noah Kahan, except with more vowels flattened and more hoodies with paint stains.
The shtick is simple: He shows up, leans into the Delco accent America learned during Mare of Easttown, and sings like he’s headlining the Spectrum in 1996. And people eat it up. Wawa corporate even started sending him merch, which is basically the Delco version of getting knighted.
There’s something kind of pure about it: a Northeast Philly native channeling a fictional Boothwyn legend who meditates in a cluttered van, reviews local pizza joints, and humbly accepts Marlboro Reds as offerings from the people. The man is doing character work in a gas-station parking lot, and somehow it feels like local folklore in the making.
Opera Philadelphia hosted “Home for the Holidays” at the Wanamaker Building’s Grand Court on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.
The Wanamaker Christmas comeback: A
In the most Philadelphia plot twist imaginable, the Wanamaker Grand Court took what could’ve been a gut punch — Macy’s closing, holiday traditions dangling by a thread — and turned it into a full-blown victory lap complete with a wreath-wearing Wanamaker Eagle, opera singers, dinosaur dancers, and an organ flex so powerful it could rattle the Market-Frankford Line.
“Home for the Holidays,” Opera Philadelphia’s one-night takeover, wasn’t just a concert, it was a statement. Philly looked at a soon-to-be shuttered space and said, Fine, then we’re going out in style. The whole night doubled as a nostalgia bomb: marching-toy projections for anyone who remembers buying Christmas presents in the old store, an audience gasping at the tree like it was 1978 again, and the ground-shaking Wanamaker Organ.
But the real Philly heart came from the subtext: This was also a campaign to keep the space public, alive, and musical long after renovations. You don’t raise $1 million for a Pipe Up! series unless you’re gearing up for a fight.
Philly is getting a cruise terminal again (!!): A-
PhilaPort struck a deal with Norwegian Cruise Line, building a new terminal in Tinicum Township with 41 voyages already on the books over the next two years, reported 6ABC. Norwegian’s locked in through 2033, sending thousands to Bermuda, the Bahamas, Canada, and New England, all sailing straight out of the airport’s backyard.
It’s a major comeback for a region that hasn’t had a real cruise hub in more than a decade, and the timing couldn’t be better with the 250th, the World Cup, and the All-Star Game all landing next year. Economic impact? Around $300 million annually. Jobs? More than 2,100.
And yes, it’s a six-hour ride down the Delaware before you hit the Atlantic. Philly’s response: New York isn’t much faster, Baltimore is way slower. So grab a drink and enjoy the shoreline.
Franklin Mall, previously known as Franklin Mills, is for sale again.
Franklin Mills (sorry, “Franklin Mall”) is officially for sale: C
Franklin Mills, the place where Northeast Philly teens found Hot Topic, freedom, and an alarming amount of Orange Julius, is officially on the market. Again. After years of falling occupancy, collapsing value, and visitor counts dropping from 20 million a year in the ’90s to 5.6 million today, it’s basically being lilsted as: “137 acres… willing to become literally anything.”
Industrial redevelopment? Sure. Warehousing? Probably. Housing? Maybe, if City Council blesses it. A mall again? As one architect put it: “Unlikely.” (Philly translation: absolutely not.)
This place is 1.8 million square feet (second only to King of Prussia), but while KOP is still the superstar of malls, Franklin Mills slowly slid into its “legacy act” phase. The valuation dropped from $370 million in 2007 to $76 million last year. Even the name had to be changed back because Simon Property Group kept the Mills trademark, which feels like getting your hoodie taken in a breakup.
Real talk: The building is basically a demolition project waiting for a permit. But to its credit, 65% occupancy means it isn’t a ghost town yet — just a mall trying to remember who it used to be.
It might become warehouses, apartments, or over a million square feet of “don’t worry, it’ll create jobs.” But one thing’s for sure: If Northeast Philly wakes up to find a sea of Amazon vans where Franklin Mills once stood, people will still call it Franklin Mills.
