Violations preceded nursing home blast | Morning Newsletter

Good morning. More snow is expected across the region today.

Prior to the explosion of a nursing home in Bucks County last month, the facility was cited for multiple violations. Our main Sunday read examines the safety lapses that preceded the deadly incident, as well as the records of other homes in Philadelphia and surrounding counties.

And while Ocean City will never be the same without Gillian’s Wonderland Pier, boardwalk merchants are holding on — and they want a say in what comes next.

— Paola Pérez (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Repeat citations

Three people died after a natural gas explosion flattened Bristol Health & Rehab Center just before Christmas.

While the cause has not yet been determined, an Inquirer data review found that state regulators had cited the facility for over 70 health and safety violations in the three years leading up to the tragedy.

Highest in the region: The Bristol facility that exploded has been hit with $418,000 in fines since 2023, more than any nursing home in the Philadelphia area.

All other offenders: In the same time span, almost half of the Philadelphia-area’s 182 facilities have faced over $5 million in financial penalties for safety violations.

Reporters Lizzie Mulvey and Harold Brubaker break down the details on other regional nursing homes that have been fined, and the history of inspections and citations at the Bucks facility.

In related news: Muthoni Nduthu, a nurse who was killed in the blast, was laid to rest Saturday. She was memorialized by family, friends, and a nurse honor guard as a dutiful nurse and faithful mother.

‘They have galvanized us’

🎤 I’m passing the mic to Amy Rosenberg down the Shore.

Along the commercial stretch of Ocean City’s boardwalk, from Sixth to 14th Streets, there are 167 storefronts, including four Kohr Bros. Frozen Custards, three Johnson’s Popcorns, three Manco & Manco Pizzas, and eight Jilly’s stores of one type or another.

There are eight mini-golfs, nine candy shops, 18 ice cream places, 10 pizza shops, 18 arcades or other types of amusements, five jewelry stores, three surf shops, five T-shirt shops, and 47 clothing or other retail shops. There is one palm reader.

Even without Gillian’s Wonderland Pier, the iconic amusement park at Sixth Street that famously closed in October 2024, it still adds up to a classically specific, if repetitive, Jersey Shore boardwalk experience. Many of the shops are owned by the same Ocean City families, some into their third generation.

But now these very shop owners are sounding the alarm.

“This is a group that’s been hanging on for a long time,” Jamie Ford, owner of Barefoot Trading Co., at 1070 Boardwalk, said in an interview last week. “These places are hanging in there. They’re not going anywhere, but we’re nervous.” — Amy Rosenberg

Read on to learn why the merchants are urging city officials to green-light a plan for a hotel at the Wonderland site.

What you should know today

• Two Philly-area children’s hospitals are under federal investigation for their gender-affirming care for transgender children.
• Police are investigating the cause of a deadly three-car crash on Lincoln Drive on Thursday night.
• Bensalem Township police arrested two men and a 17-year-old boy for allegedly stealing $16,000 worth of weight-loss drugs being delivered to a pharmacy.
• Small-business advisers and advocates in Philadelphia are bracing for a big tax headache as the city’s municipal tax expands to cover tens of thousands more small businesses and self-employed workers.
• A federal lawsuit alleges misconduct by two Pennsylvania state troopers who investigated the case of a former pastor who was acquitted of a 1975 killing.
• In an interview with Pennsylvania’s two U.S. senators, CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil asked about “extreme rhetoric” in Minneapolis. Here’s what Dave McCormick and John Fetterman said.
• Springfield Hospital has a new buyer: the same local investor group that bought Taylor Hospital in September.
• The universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education were flat-funded this year for the first time since 2021-22. They’re preparing for another enrollment cliff.
• An Old City establishment now offers a GLP-1 menu, making it one of the country’s first full-service restaurants to do so. It’s part of a trend of restaurateurs adapting to diners’ shifting preferences amid economic uncertainty and the rise of appetite-curbing medications.
• Center City District Restaurant Week returns Sunday for the first time in a year, with 120 restaurants offering fixed-price lunches and dinners — the largest lineup since the pandemic.

❓Pop quiz

The Inquirer will make an appearance in an upcoming episode of which TV series?

A) The Pitt

B) The Paper

C) Abbott Elementary

D) The White Lotus

Think you know? Check your answer.

🧩 Unscramble the anagram

Hint: Drag queen repping Philly on RuPaul’s Drag Race

GYM MADONNA

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

Cheers to Chris Lewis, who correctly guessed Saturday’s answer: Inglis House. Five residents of the home for people with severe physical disabilities are taking classes at Community College of Philadelphia. It’s the largest group to start since the 1990s.

📼 Photo of the day

This is Charlotte Astor, a high school junior from Cherry Hill. She’s trying to track down a long-lost demo tape recorded by her mom’s band in the ’90s. The hardcore community banded together to help Astor on her quest.

🎶 Today’s track goes like this: “As crazy as it may seem / I will change my whole life today.”

👋🏽 This newsletter is taking a break in observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We’ll be back in your inbox bright and early on Wednesday. Until then, stay warm and take care.