DUIs, secret crashes linked to cop bar | Morning Newsletter

Welcome to Thursday, Philly. First, see the latest details on the region’s weekend snow threat.

A members-only cop bar in the Far Northeast has been linked to two DUIs — plus a third crash previously kept secret.

And the city’s No. 2 public official has been noticeably absent during major events in the last year. His increasingly low profile in Philadelphia City Hall has generated frustration and fueled questions.

— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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‘It’s just not something that would have happened maybe if it didn’t involve the police or the FOP’

7C Lounge, a members-only club in the Far Northeast for active and retired cops, has been connected to multiple drunken-driving incidents in the last few years.

The most severe incident left a woman in a coma for more than two months. An off-duty police officer who had been drinking at 7C just down the street plowed his car through the front of her home, striking and dragging her into another room.

It was the second time the family’s property had been damaged by a patron who left 7C impaired.

The bar is operated by the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, inside the union’s headquarters, raising questions about how drunken-driving cases are investigated when they involve a powerful police union operating its own bar.

The officer behind the near-fatal crash was ultimately sentenced to prison. But records show that in the immediate aftermath of the incident, he had been allowed to confer with FOP representatives and delay a blood-alcohol test for nearly six hours.

Reporters Barbara Laker and David Gambacorta investigate several apparent alcohol-related crashes linked to 7C — including one in the union’s own parking lot that was kept secret.

In other police news: Dozens of drug and gun convictions were vacated Wednesday, the latest batch in what could grow to 1,000 cases tied to three narcotics officers who prosecutors say repeatedly gave false testimony in court.

MIA managing director

As Philadelphia’s managing director, Adam Thiel is tasked with overseeing the delivery of city services. Yet the top-ranking official has been noticeably absent from public view in recent months.

An Inquirer review found that Thiel was out of office last year for a total of nearly five months, much of which he spent on military leave. In addition to his high-profile role with the city, he serves as a major in the U.S. Army Reserves, works as a consultant, and is an adjunct faculty member at two universities.

Almost half of his $316,200 city salary — more than the mayor’s — in 2025 was for paid time off, according to payroll records.

His extended absence has prompted frustration at City Hall.

City Hall reporter Anna Orso has the story.

More on local government: Philadelphia has spent about $59 million in snow response since January’s massive storm. That includes spending on the extended activation of warming centers, plowing operations, and more.

What you should know today

• Federal authorities in New Jersey violated judicial orders in recent immigration cases, the Department of Justice noted in a court filing, such as improperly deporting a man to Peru.
• President Donald Trump’s administration must restore the slavery exhibits to the President’s House by Friday evening, a judge ruled.
• Bucks County officials voted to oppose immigrant detention or processing centers in the county. The feds have already approached two warehouse owners there.
• Stetson Middle School was neglected for decades, district officials admit. Now, they’re trying to close the school.
• A Chester County planning commission on Tuesday recommended township supervisors deny a developer’s plan for a data center at the historic Pennhurst site.
• QVC Group in West Chester faces a $30 million “unjustified termination” lawsuit following a report of its potential bankruptcy.
• Johnson & Johnson plans to spend more than $1 billion to build a cell therapy manufacturing facility in Montgomery County.
• Robert Indiana’s bright red AMOR sculpture has been removed temporarily from Sister Cities Park for conservation and restoration.
• The Simpsons snuck a cartoon version of the late writer Dan McQuade into its Philadelphia episode. Here’s how it came together so quickly.

Quote of the day

Lingel interviewed hundreds of Craigslist users in Philadelphia for her book An Internet for the People: The Politics and Promise of Craigslist. She says the platform functions as a kind of parallel infrastructure to the more polished Facebook Marketplace and Depop, particularly for people with fewer financial resources.

🧠 Trivia time

Philadelphia’s Chinatown gate isn’t the oldest in the country, but does have the distinction of being the first Chinese American archway that was what?

A) Built over 20 feet tall

B) Built with materials from Asia

C) Built to match another U.S. city’s gate

D) Reconstructed after a massive fire

Think you know? Check your answer.

What and whom we’re …

🏡 Remembering: Marie Whitaker, whose Media organization bridged racial divides.

🫁 Checking: Philly’s new real-time public air quality monitoring network.

🍲 Suggesting: Where to break Ramadan fast around Philadelphia.

🌊 Eager to see: A concert on the Atlantic City beach.

📜 Considering: The pitch to get this Old City print shop a blue historic marker before July 4.

🧩 Unscramble the anagram

Hint: Wildwood amusement park

ROSY EMPIRES

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.

Cheers to Nereda Jones-Pugh, who solved Wednesday’s anagram: NovaCare Complex. The Eagles’ training facility in South Philadelphia will have a new name this coming season: Jefferson Health Training Complex.

Photo of the day

⛄ One last creative thing: Narberth artist Emily Stewart is making public art out of snow in her own front yard, including Swedish lanterns and sculptures of a giant eagle and orge-like creature. The art form is “ephemeral,” she said. “Like, enjoy it, and it’s not yours to keep.”

Thanks for starting your day with The Inquirer. See you back here tomorrow.

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