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  • The partial shutdown forcing TSA agents to work without pay could not have come at a worse time | Editorial

    The partial shutdown forcing TSA agents to work without pay could not have come at a worse time | Editorial

    Lost in the economic and political fallout from Donald Trump’s war in Iran is the growing chaos at airports and an increased terrorist threat inside the United States.

    More than 60,000 Transportation Security Administration employees have been working without pay because of the partial government shutdown that began on Feb. 14. More than 300 TSA agents have quit and thousands more have been calling out from work, prompting long lines at many airports.

    TSA temporarily closed the security checkpoint at Terminal C in the Philadelphia International Airport last week.

    Despite staffing shortages, the wait times for travelers in Philadelphia remained manageable for now. But travelers at other airports waited more than three hours to get through security.

    The partial shutdown that resulted in funding lapses for the Department of Homeland Security could not come at a more dangerous time. Federal law enforcement agencies remain on high alert following threats to the United States after Trump and Israel began bombing Iran.

    Airline passengers wait in long lines outside the terminal to get through the TSA security screening at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston on March 8.

    Indeed, Trump’s war has apparently already spurred several terror attacks on U.S. soil.

    • Two teens from Bucks County who said they were inspired by ISIS were charged with trying to set off homemade bombs during a protest outside the residence of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
    • Iran-linked hackers claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Stryker, a Michigan-based company that makes a range of medical equipment and technology.
    • A U.S. citizen born in Lebanon drove a truck into a synagogue in Michigan last week after four of his relatives were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
    • A naturalized citizen from Sierra Leone accused of killing an ROTC instructor at Old Dominion University was previously convicted of supporting ISIS.
    • A U.S. citizen from Senegal who was wearing a T-shirt with the colors of the Iranian flag was accused of killing three people and injuring a dozen more outside of a bar in Austin, Texas, the day after the initial attack on Iran.

    The motives for the attacks are still being investigated but law enforcement officials urged people to report suspicious activity, and police have increased patrols around synagogues and public transit hubs.

    The growing threats come as the Trump administration spent the past year decimating national security.

    FBI Director Kash Patel fired counterterrorism agents because they were involved in the investigation that led to Trump’s criminal indictment in 2023 on charges of mishandling classified documents.

    At the same time, the FBI and Homeland Security have shifted thousands of agents to focus on immigration enforcement, while the Justice Department’s elite national security division has faced mass firings, resignations, and forced retirements.

    FBI Director Kash Patel fired counterterrorism agents because they were involved in the investigation that led to President Trump’s criminal indictment in 2023 on charges of mishandling classified documents.

    More unsettling, the person now overseeing Homeland Security’s terrorism prevention programs is a 22-year-old former Trump campaign worker fresh out of college with no apparent national security expertise.

    Meanwhile, thousands of TSA agents — who are charged with screening customer baggage and cargo for weapons and explosives — are overworked and not getting paid.

    TSA agents, who make an average of $35,000, endured a 43-day government shutdown last fall, making this the second time in six months they have been forced to work without pay.

    A TSA union representative said several employees reported lacking money for daycare and food. “They just want to know why the hell they can’t get paid when we have money to shoot missiles into other countries,” Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of American Federation of Government Employees TSA Council 100 and a Dallas-based TSA worker, told USA Today.

    Republican and Democratic lawmakers blamed each other for the shutdown underscoring the deep political divide and dysfunction in Washington.

    Airline chief executives demanded Congress find a way to pay the TSA workers as the shutdown disrupts travel and undermines safety.

    Trump, who took a break from his war to play golf over the weekend, offered cold comfort when asked if Americans should worry about terror attacks in the United States: “I guess,” he responded. “Some people will die.”

    Trump, quite literally, to America: Drop dead.

  • One year of inspections at Lower Bucks Hospital: December 2024 — November 2025

    One year of inspections at Lower Bucks Hospital: December 2024 — November 2025

    Lower Bucks Hospital was cited by the Pennsylvania Department of Health for failing to properly record a patient’s weight and improperly treating another patient’s pressure ulcer last year.

    The issues were among the instances health inspectors visited the Bristol hospital, owned by Prime Healthcare Services, between December 2024 and November 2025.

    Here’s a look at the publicly available details:

    • Dec. 4, 2024: The Joint Commission, a nonprofit hospital accreditation agency, renewed the hospital’s accreditation, effective September 2024, for 36 months.
    • Dec. 16: Inspectors came to investigate a complaint but found the hospital was in compliance. Complaint details are not made public when inspectors determine it was unfounded.
    • Jan. 29, 2025: Inspectors came to investigate a complaint but found the hospital was in compliance.
    • Feb. 27: Inspectors cited the hospital for failing to measure a patient’s weight and instead recording the weight told to staff by the patient’s family member. Staff were retrained that a patient’s weight must be recorded using a hospital scale within eight hours of admission.
    • March 4: Inspectors cited the hospital for failing to properly monitor and care for a patient’s hospital-acquired pressure ulcer. Inspectors found that the ulcer was not reported to a doctor or documented in the internal reporting system. Administrators said they were trying to hire a wound care nurse, and retrained staff on wound care policies.
    • April 1: Inspectors visited for a mental health monitoring survey and found the hospital was in compliance.
    • Aug. 27: Inspectors followed up on the March citation and found the hospital in compliance.
    • Sept. 5: Inspectors followed up on the February citation and found the hospital in compliance.
    • Sept. 9: Inspectors came to investigate a complaint but found the hospital was in compliance.
  • Body found on Central Bucks West practice field, school officials say

    Body found on Central Bucks West practice field, school officials say

    A corpse was discovered on a Central Bucks West High School practice field on Wednesday night, school officials said.

    Police discovered the body on Pettine Field, near the edge of the Doylestown school’s campus, the officials said.

    Officials did not provide information about the identity, gender, or age of the deceased. Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    A spokesperson for the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said the office had not been assigned to investigate the death as of Thursday afternoon, and that it did not appear to be the result of foul play.

    The person who was found dead was homeless, the spokesperson said.

    Interim Superintendent Charles Malone and principal Lyndell Davis said in a joint statement that there was no threat to the safety of students or staff.

    The school campus is secure and police are investigating, their statement said.

  • Two Philly-area Jewish schools are merging, a ‘proactive’ push to remain competitive in the region’s strong academic market

    Two Philly-area Jewish schools are merging, a ‘proactive’ push to remain competitive in the region’s strong academic market

    Two prominent Jewish day schools in the Philadelphia suburbs are set to merge, a decision school leaders say will keep the institutions competitive in the region’s strong educational market.

    Perelman Jewish Day School, a private Jewish pre-K and elementary school located in Melrose Park and Wynnewood, and Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy, a Jewish middle and high school located in Bryn Mawr, will merge next year to become the only unified pre-K through twelfth-grade Jewish day school in the Philadelphia area.

    Perelman and Barrack will maintain their current operations for the 2026-27 school year, while beginning to combine their admissions and development programs. Faculty, staff, and students will come under the unified school umbrella beginning in fall 2027. Perelman and Barrack will continue to operate on all three campuses.

    School officials say the merger will help streamline curriculum development and strategic planning while bringing more families into the Jewish day school system by offering a consistent, pre-K-through-high-school experience.

    Perelman Jewish Day School was founded in 1956 as the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Philadelphia. The school operates across two campuses, one in Melrose Park, which serves parts of Philadelphia County, eastern and northern Montgomery County, and Bucks County, and another in Wynnewood, which serves Center City and Philadelphia’s western suburbs.

    Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy, originally Akiba Hebrew Academy, was the nation’s first pluralistic Jewish secondary day school when it opened in Center City in 1946. The school moved to Merion Station in 1956, then Bryn Mawr in 2008. Barrack boasts numerous notable alumni, including Gov. Josh Shapiro and CNN anchor Jake Tapper.

    Perelman and Barrack completed a partial merger in 2012, when the schools combined their middle schools into a single sixth-through-eighth-grade program on Barrack’s campus.

    Tuition at Perelman ranges from $21,500 to $32,300 per year, and tuition at Barrack ranges from $34,900 to $42,700. Both schools offer tuition assistance. Perelman says it awards over $3 million in tuition assistance each year to families earning up to $500,000.

    School leaders say the merger will ensure Perelman and Barrack are an attractive option for families in Philadelphia’s rich educational ecosystem, where parents can choose from dozens of strong public and private schools. Often, families choosing private education are looking for continuity from pre-K through high school, something that Perelman and Barrack have not been able to provide until this point.

    The ability to have students “become part of an educational system from their earliest years and grow within that system” will be academically and socially “deeper and more impactful,” said Rabbi Marshall Lesack, Barrack’s head of school and a Barrack alumnus. Lesack will lead the unified school beginning in 2027.

    Daniel Eisenstadt, a member of the Perelman board of directors who will chair the new, combined board, said the merger will also allow for more cohesive planning. The schools will be able to align their vacation calendars, external messaging, and curriculum plans.

    Though the overwhelming majority of Perelman students already matriculate to Barrack, bringing the schools under one system will allow for more parity in what to teach and when to teach it. Elementary, middle, and high school teachers will be able to sit in the same room and plan best practices for everything from math to art to Jewish studies, considering the arc of a student from ages 5 to 18, Eisenstadt said.

    Both schools’ enrollment has been “stable to growing” in the past few years, said Eisenstadt. Both he and Lesack were clear that the merger is not in response to a souring financial outlook, as can be the case when educational institutions merge.

    “We’re both coming from a place of strength,” Lesack said.

    Barrack reported revenue of $20.9 million in 2024, an increase of $3.4 million over 2023, according to tax records. Perelman reported a revenue of $13.4 million in 2024, up $400,000 from 2023.

    However, Eisenstadt said, “there is a recognition that we operate in an environment where there are excellent other independent schools, and excellent public schools. Rather than waiting for a moment where we see a dip in enrollment or where there are challenges, I think the general feeling from a leadership point of view was, ‘Let’s be proactive.’”

    Two Jewish schools are pooling resources

    Amid rising reports of antisemitism, some Jewish day schools have seen a spike in enrollment, as families seek more opportunities for Jewish affiliation for their children.

    When it comes to growing enrollment at Barrack and Perelman, however, Eisenstadt said there’s no one cause. He is “a little bit skeptical about the generic narrative” that the Israel-Hamas war and rising antisemitism have solely driven increased interest in Jewish education. He says Perelman and Barrack can’t rest on the assumption that larger forces will inevitably push families toward the Jewish day school experience. In a “dynamic world,” the schools need to continue to evolve, he said.

    In Eisenstadt’s words, Barrack and Perelman can’t “assume that any one thing that’s occurred, any one event, or any one trend is the future.”

    Lesack and Eisenstadt said many of the merger’s details are still up in the air and will be decided by the board. However they noted that there are plans for major investments across all of Perelman and Barrack’s facilities. Plans have long been in the works to find a new home for Perelman’s Melrose Park campus. School leaders say they are committed to having a continued presence in Philly’s northern suburbs.

    Lesack and Eisenstadt acknowledged the challenges of merging two schools with different campuses and cultures. Yet there’s “an unbelievably strong foundation” upon which to build, Lesack said, citing the many families, values, and traditions that the schools already share.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • ‘You are failing’: Residents berate Quakertown council for inaction after students’ arrest

    ‘You are failing’: Residents berate Quakertown council for inaction after students’ arrest

    Nearly two dozen residents and Quakertown taxpayers confronted the borough council at a public meeting Wednesday night, castigating its members for refusing to discipline the town’s police chief and demanding that they take action before leaving the room.

    The backlash was the latest fallout from a Feb. 20 student protest against federal immigration enforcement that began as a walkout from Quakertown Community High School and ended in a confrontation between Police Chief Scott McElree and a group of teenagers. The encounter, which was captured on video, led to the arrests of several teenagers and prompted an investigation by the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.

    Wednesday’s meeting, which stretched to nearly two hours as speakers stepped to the podium one by one, laid bare a community in turmoil. Residents described fear, anger, and embarrassment that their small town had become a national flashpoint. By the end of the night, council members had made no motion and held no discussion about potential discipline for McElree.

    Council President Donald Rosenberger opened the meeting by telling the audience that the nine-member council — eight men and one woman — would not consider action against McElree or comment until the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office completes its investigation.

    McElree, 72, also serves as the borough’s manager, a role that includes overseeing the police department and managing public records.

    A parent holds a sign outside the Quakertown School Board meeting on Feb. 26 in Quakertown, Pa. Critics who addressed the board accused the district of not doing enough to support the students arrested during last week’s ICE protest.

    Outside the locked doors of the borough hall before the meeting, more than three dozen people — adults and teenagers — gathered holding handmade signs. One woman had scrawled “peaceful protester” across a flattened cardboard box in black marker. Beneath it she wrote: “Don’t put me in a chokehold, mmkay?”

    Inside the crowded chamber, speakers urged council members to reckon with the national attention now focused on the town and warned that their response — or lack of one — would shape voters’ decisions in November.

    Nearly every speaker who addressed the council called for McElree to be fired and criminally charged.

    Joseph Rittenhouse, who said his niece was among those arrested after the clash, told council members that images of her bloodied face were now among the first results people see when they search for “Quakertown” online.

    “We are national news. If you’re OK with that, I don’t think any of us are going to be OK with you sitting up there” when voters go to the polls, Rittenhouse said.

    Ileana Ramos of Quakertown speaks during a council meeting as members of the community speak out against the actions of Police Chief Scott McElree on Wednesday night in Quakertown.

    A handful of people who identified themselves as immigrants or women of color said the episode had shaken their sense of safety in the community, leaving them worried about how they or their children might be treated.

    “It leaves me breathless as to how this is possible in America,” said Illeana Ramos. “Everyone is scared.”

    Laura Foster, who leads Upper Bucks United, a civic group that has organized demonstrations since the altercation, said the council’s refusal to act had forced residents to step into a role that should belong to elected leaders.

    “You are failing to act as leaders in this community,” Foster said. “I don’t need to be doing this. You should be doing this.”

    Only one resident spoke in support of McElree.

    Caroline DeVenuto said officers had been “sent on a fool’s errand” when they were called to respond to a gathering of teenagers, and blamed parents for allowing the situation to spiral.

    “It’s time for parents to grow up and discipline their children like the rest of us,” she said.

    DeVenuto also criticized news coverage of the confrontation, calling portrayals of McElree and the police department “slander and deceit.”

    Residents and advocates first called for disciplinary action against McElree at a borough council meeting three days after the Feb. 20 confrontation. By Thursday, a petition seeking his resignation had drawn more than 12,000 signatures, though it was unclear how many of the signers live in the borough.

    Videos recorded by bystanders and reviewed by The Inquirer show McElree grappling with several students, at one point wrapping his arm around a teenage girl’s neck before taking her to the ground. McElree, who was not in uniform at the time, left the scene bleeding, the videos showed.

    Five teenagers were charged with aggravated assault, a felony, and related offenses. They are on house arrest with ankle monitors, their attorneys said.

    In the affidavit of probable cause for the arrest of one of the teenagers, officers wrote that McElree had been attempting to take a student into custody when the encounter escalated. A teenage boy struck him in the ear, the affidavit said, and others hit him in the shoulder and ribs.

    The document does not mention a chokehold.

    According to the affidavit, McElree sought medical treatment for undisclosed injuries. More than a week later, he began a workers’ compensation leave, the borough’s attorney said.

    The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the encounter and has declined to comment.

    At least three defense attorneys have asked the Pennsylvania attorney general to assume control of both the investigation and the prosecution, and to dismiss the charges.

    In an email last week, lawyer Ed Angelo wrote that the affidavit “rendered only allegations that were damning to the children, but left out the assaultive behavior of the chief of police — behavior the children fought to protect themselves from.” He called the prosecution “an obvious and unacceptable conflict of interest.”

    On Friday, the attorney general’s office declined to intervene, saying in an email that “it would be inappropriate for our office to engage” in the investigation or the case.

  • Philly Music this week, with Subtronics, Jimmy Webb, Cat Power, Maná, Moe., and more

    Philly Music this week, with Subtronics, Jimmy Webb, Cat Power, Maná, Moe., and more

    This week in Philly music features two nights at the Met with electronic music artist Subtronics, Mexican pop rock band Maná in South Philly, four nights with Moe. on the Main Line, Jimmy Webb in Wilmington, and Cat Power celebrating the 20th anniversary of her The Greatest album.

    Wednesday, March 4

    Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy play R.E.M.

    Actor Michael Shannon has played James Garfield (in Death by Lightning) and George Jones (alongside Jessica Chastain in George and Tammy) and now he’s playing Michael Stipe. Or at least singing his songs. Along with guitarist Jason Narducy, Shannon has been moonlighting in recent years in this R.E.M. tribute band. This time, the band is playing 1986’s Life’s Rich Pageant, and more. 8 p.m., Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden, utphilly.com

    Jesse Welles

    Before Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets of Minneapolis” or Billy Bragg’s “City of Heroes,” there was Jesse Welles’ “Join ICE.” The best of Welles’ many protest songs is an Immigration and Customs Enforcement recruitment satire that stings with humor. “There’s a hole in my soul that just rages,” Welles sings, “but look at me now, I’m putting folks in cages.” 8 p.m., Fillmore Philly, 29 E. Allen St., thefillmorephilly.com

    Sonny Landreth & the Iguanas

    It’s the in-between time between Mardi Gras and New Orleans Jazz Fest, which makes it Louisiana music season. Two top-shelf ambassadors share a bill in Bucks County, in Breaux Bridge-based slide guitar great Sonny Landreth and NOLA roots-rock band the Iguanas. 8 p.m., Wednesday, Sellersville Theater, 84 W. Temple Ave., st94.com and 8 p.m., Thursday, Elkton Music Hall, 107 North St., ElktonMusicHall.com

    Thursday, March 5

    Moe.

    They named themselves after “Five Guys Named Moe,” the 1942 hit by swing blues greats Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, though none of their name is actually Moe. The longstanding six-member Buffalo, N.Y., jam band is settling in for four shows, starting Thursday. 8 p.m., Ardmore Music Hall, ardmoremusichall.com

    Mx Lonely play Nikki Lopez on South Street on Thursday.

    Mx Lonely & Wax Jaw

    Top-notch shoegaze-slash-punk rock double bill. Mx Lonely is a Brooklyn band, fronted by singer Rae Haas, who just released their musically and thematically layered debut, All Monsters on Julia’s War, the West Philly label helmed by They Are Gutting a Body of Water’s Doug Dulgarian. Openers are terrific Philly punk quartet Wax Jaw, whose 2025 album It Takes Guts! was one of the strongest local releases of the year. 8 p.m., Nikki Lopez, 304 South St., @nikkilopezphilly

    Lindsey Webster

    Woodstock, N.Y., vocalist Lindsey Webster, who topped the contemporary jazz charts with her 2016 hit “Fool Me Once,” has just released her seventh album, Music in Me, on New Jersey’s Shanachie label. She’s playing two nights as part of Gerald Veasley’s Unscripted Jazz series. 6:30 and 9 p.m. Thursday and 7 and 9 p.m. Friday, South Jazz Kitchen, 600 N. Broad St., southjazzkitchen.com

    Philly Pogues tribute band Bar Dust play Free at Noon at World Cafe Live on Friday and Anchor Rock Club in Atlantic City on Saturday.

    Friday, March 6

    Bar Dust

    Shane MacGowan’s spirit lives on with Bar Dust, Philadelphia’s premier Pogues tribute band, the collective featuring members of Modern Baseball, Foxtrot & the Get Down, and the Menzingers. With St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, the punk folk septet is having a busy month, starting with a Free at Noon on Friday, followed by Saturday night at Anchor Rock Club in Atlantic City, and dates at Johnny Brenda’s on March 14 and John & Peter’s in New Hope on March 17. The band has recorded two Pogues-style original songs, including the single “Three Castles Burning,” on its new Bar Dust From the Studio EP. Noon, World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., xpn.org and 8 p.m., Anchor Rock Club, 247 S. New York Ave., anchorrockclub.com

    No More Dysphoria VII

    This benefit for the self-described “queer-run nonprofit with the goal of helping trans + nonbinary individuals financially through major aspects of their transitions” has a loaded lineup. Headliners are Oceanator, the Elise Okusami-led band whose new Things I Never Said was made with Grammy-winning Philly producer Will Yip. Also on the bill are Frances Quinlan of Hop Along, Hit Like a Girl, and Universal Girlfriend, which features guitar hero Marissa Paternoster and Augusta Koch of Gladie. 8 p.m., First Unitarian Church, 2125 Walnut St., r5productions.com

    Robert Glasper performs on the Fairmount Park Stage during The Roots Picnic at the Mann Center in Philadelphia on Sunday, June 2, 2024. He plays Union Transfer on Friday.

    Robert Glasper

    Pianist, producer, and bandleader Robert Glasper’s music spans R&B, hip-hop, jazz, and beyond. He’s won five Grammys and released two albums in 2025. Code Derivation featured jazz instrumentalist like Keyon Harrold and Walter Smith III, and Keys to the City, Vol. 1, showcased guests Black Thought, Norah Jones, Bilal, Yebba, and MeShell Ndegeocello. You never know who might turn up at a Glasper concert. 8 p.m., Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., utphilly.com

    Lindsey Webster plays two shows each night at South Jazz Kitchen on Thursday and Friday.

    Baroness

    Savannah, Ga.-born and Philly-based heavy rock band Baroness plays a hometown show in support of its sixth album Stone, a muscular, melodic effort that as always features bandleader John Baizley’s distinctively trippy album cover art work. Commitment and Blood Vulture open. 8 p.m. Friday, Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., undergroundarts.org

    Subtronics, the electronic dance music project of Philadelphia DJ-producer Jesse Kardon, plays two nights at the Met Philly this weekend.

    Subtronics

    Jesse Kardon doesn’t normally land on the list of the biggest music artists in Philadelphia, but he should. Kardon, who records and performs as Subtronics, is an electronic dance music phenom on an ascending career arc. The son of longtime Philly music business fixture (and former Hooters road manager) Rich Kardon, Jesse grew up in Lower Merion, lives in Chestnut Hill, and has become a major player in dubstep and EDM in general over the past decade. He’s headlined the Sphere in Las Vegas and Red Rocks in Colorado, and his two shows at the Met Philly this weekend are timed to the release of his new 10-song EP, Fibonacci Pt 2: Infinity. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Met Philly, 858 N. Broad St., themetphilly.com

    Jimmy Webb plays the Baby Grand in Wilmington on Saturday.

    Saturday, March 7

    Jimmy Webb

    The songwriting legend who penned “Wichita Lineman” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” will be singing songs and telling stories at the Baby Grand in Wilmington. And now he has a new one to tell. Alysa Liu skated to Donna Summer’s recording of Webb’s “MacArthur Park” during her gold medal-winning figure skating program at the Olympics in Italy last month, and bringing what Webb has called his “old, beat-up song,” originally recorded by Richard Harris, an audience with a new generation. 8 p.m., The Grand, 818 N. Market St., Wilmington, thegrandwilmington.org

    Maná

    In 2025, Maná became the first Spanish-language band nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The pop-rock band from Guadalajara, which has sold over 40 million records, is on the road with its “Vivir Sin Aire” tour, named for its 1992 power ballad. 8 p.m., Xfinity Mobile Arena, 3601 S. Broad St., xfinitymobilearena.com

    Cat Power plays Union Transfer on Sunday.

    Sunday, March 8

    Cat Power

    It’s been 20 years since Cat Power — the remarkable song interpreter Chan Marshall — released her greatest album, appropriately titled The Greatest. Marshall will lead a six-piece band featuring Philly guitarist, music director, and former Delta 72 leader Gregg Foreman. She’ll play the Memphis soul album in its entirety and also reach into her catalog and hopefully include her version of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” from her new EP, Redux. 8 p.m., Union Transfer, 1026 Spring Garden St., utphilly.com

  • The Quakertown school board has accepted its superintendent’s resignation

    The Quakertown school board has accepted its superintendent’s resignation

    The Quakertown Community School District board accepted the resignation of Superintendent Matthew Friedman at a meeting Tuesday night.

    Friedman, a former Ocean City, N.J., superintendent who took over the 4,600-student district in Upper Bucks County in 2023, had been on leave since Feb. 13, a week before a student walkout protesting federal immigration enforcement ended in a confrontation with police.

    District officials did not give a reason for the leave.

    On Tuesday, the board voted 9-0 to accept Friedman’s resignation, without any discussion.

    Lisa Hoffman, the assistant superintendent who filled Friedman’s role during the recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement walkout that garnered national attention, was appointed Tuesday as interim superintendent.

    Addressing the board before the vote, Ryan Wieand, the president of Quakertown’s teachers union, said that selecting the next superintendent “is not simply about filling a position at this point. It’s about restoring trust.”

    Wieand said the superintendent’s job “demands presence, visibility, and leadership that requires showing up, and not just for social media photo ops.”

    The district “can’t be led effectively by someone who is absent more often than not,” Wieand said. “Our next superintendent needs to be 100% invested in Quakertown every single day,” and not view the job as “a stepping stone to another destination.”

    He called Hoffman the best candidate for the job, praising her loyalty to the district and “true accountability.”

    Friedman could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.

  • Community members accuse Quakertown school leaders of mishandling student ICE protest

    Community members accuse Quakertown school leaders of mishandling student ICE protest

    Community members accused the Quakertown school board Thursday of failing to keep students safe during the walkout against immigration enforcement last week that ended in a clash with police and five teenagers arrested.

    While the school district attempted to cancel last Friday’s planned walkout after receiving what officials called a credible threat, some members of the public said school officials could have offered students the opportunity to protest on Quakertown Community High School’s campus, knowing they were likely to walk out anyway.

    “Instead of guiding them to a safer option, we left them to navigate it on their own,” said Jessica Buhman, a parent of two children in the district who addressed the school board before a packed room Thursday. “The risks were foreseeable and unfortunately they materialized.”

    Parent Jessica Buhman speaks to the board at the Quakertown school board meeting Thursday.

    Some others faulted the district for allowing students to walk out at all. In the “real world … people don’t walk off their jobs to protest,” said Amalia Ritter. “You walk off the job, you’re fired. You want to protest, you do that on your own time.”

    School officials have said they had no authority to stop about 35 students who left the high school Friday, walking off campus.

    In town, a confrontation broke out. Video footage appears to show Quakertown’s police chief — dressed in plainclothes — putting a girl in a chokehold.

    A police affidavit obtained by The Inquirer Thursday said that students blocked traffic, struck cars, and assaulted the chief, Scott McElree, who is also the borough manager. It doesn’t mention a chokehold.

    The five students were charged with aggravated assault, a felony-level crime, and jailed. By Thursday night, all five teenagers had been released.

    Lawyers for two of the students denied that their clients hit McElree. Witnesses have said McElree didn’t identify himself as the police chief before engaging with the teenagers.

    Anger over district’s handling of protest

    Much of the attention in the aftermath of the incident has focused on McElree, but on Thursday, residents voiced their frustrations with the school district.

    “How does an administrator …not know these kids were going to do something?” said Wes Comes, who also questioned why the district didn’t hold the protest on its own property. “We missed the whole ball. We whiffed.”

    A number of speakers, Comes included, questioned what the threat was that prompted the district to try to cancel the protest — saying there had been a lack of transparency with the community.

    Some faulted the district for not making any statement of support for the arrested students, who were in custody for days.

    “It seems the school is wiping its hands of the kids who were injured and arrested,” said Lisen Cummings.

    Laura Foster, an organizer with the liberal Upper Bucks United group, said the district’s communications were “tone deaf.”

    “Thanking the students for staying in school while ignoring your students who were out there getting brutally attacked by the police …everyone on this board should have been like, what are we doing?” Foster said.

    The meeting was at times tense, with arguments breaking out as speakers took their turns at the podium to share their perspectives. A Pennsylvania State Police trooper stationed at the meeting defused an argument between two women in the lobby.

    The board’s president, David O’Donnell, told the crowd that “the emotions up here are just as raw as they are out there.”

    “No one up here would celebrate violence against children,” O’Donnell said. “I acknowledge that we probably have a lot to learn from how we handled the situation.”

    From left, school board member Todd Hippauf and board president David O’Donnell at the Quakertown school board meeting Thursday.

    Pre-meeting gathering

    Outside the school before the meeting, a few dozen people attended a gathering organized by Upper Bucks United. Stickers reading “support Q5” and “Apoya Los Q5” — referring in English and Spanish to the five teens who spent several nights in jail — were available at folding tables next to a gas burner providing hot chocolate to the protesters.

    A parent holds a sign outside the Quakertown School Board Meeting Thursday.

    “The First Amendment is a right, not a privilege,” read one of the signs protesters carried.

    In the crowd, Wayne Codner — the mayor of neighboring Richlandtown Borough, which is in the Quakertown Community School District — shook hands with friends in the Democrat-aligned Upper Bucks group.

    “I’m a Black, first-generation immigrant from Jamaica in a town that is 95% white — and I’m mayor,” Codner said. “And this doesn’t represent us,” he said of the Friday incident.

    Numerous speakers inside the boardroom tied the incident to a broader climate of intolerance and racism in the Quakertown community.

    Ashley Crowell, a “single parent and gender queer individual” with kids in the district, told the board that she had been threatened by men in loud pickup trucks while running in her neighborhood, “because I look offensively masculine” based on her haircut.

    Crowell said she believed the escalation during the walkout “was brought about by similar behaviors, also by men in loud trucks — maybe even the same people that made the threats which triggered your decision to cancel the walkout.”

    “Our students spoke up …and that resulted in mismanagement of the situation by white men, with ignorance of other people’s lived experiences with discrimination,” Crowell said.

    One student grew teary as she spoke about fears that “something would happen to my family” while she was at school, and how “35 students were fighting for my rights.”

    After the comments, one board member, Chris Spear, said the board had “heard a lot of accusations of racism” and suggested the district should bring in a consultant, as he said it had in the past.

    Spear also noted the criticisms that “this was predictable.”

    “As much as the students are going to learn something, the adults are going to learn something as well,” Spear said.

    Parents hold signs before the start of the Quakertown School Board Meeting.
  • An angry Josh Shapiro pledges to block new ICE detention centers in Pa.

    An angry Josh Shapiro pledges to block new ICE detention centers in Pa.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro met with leaders in Berks and Schuylkill Counties on Thursday as the communities confront the planned federal conversion of two warehouses into ICE detention centers, and the governor pledged to do everything possible to block the Trump administration’s plans in Pennsylvania.

    Shapiro, a Democrat who first publicly announced his opposition to the potential detention centers earlier this month, cited concerns over the impact on local economies, water resources, and residents’ quality of life.

    Government warehouse purchases around the country, undertaken as part of a massive ICE expansion of detention capability, have sparked anger, lawsuits — and, in one instance, a suspected arson, when someone attempted to burn down a property in Arizona.

    “I’m even more determined to do everything in my power to stop these facilities,” Shapiro said Thursday at a news conference in Berks County.

    He spoke on the same day that New Jersey’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Andy Kim and Cory Booker, introduced legislation to ban the federal government from buying or converting warehouses for immigrant detention or processing.

    “People across the country are standing up against this inhumanity, and Congress needs to stand with them,” Kim said in a statement.

    And just last week, Bucks County officials said that federal representatives had sought to explore the purchase of warehouses in Bensalem and Middletown Townships.

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has purchased two Pennsylvania warehouses this year ― one in Upper Bern Township in northern Berks County, and another in Tremont Township in Schuylkill County — drawing the ire of concerned residents.

    Shapiro offered few details on how the state government could block the facilities, citing possible legal or regulatory action.

    The governor, who is running for reelection, has been increasingly vocal in his opposition to ICE tactics even as his administration retains some cooperation with the agency. Earlier this month, Shapiro wrote a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem promising to “aggressively pursue every option” to block the detention centers from opening in Pennsylvania.

    Expanding warehouses

    The ICE effort to buy and repurpose warehouses as detention centers has quickly become one of the most contentious issues in immigration enforcement.

    The ability to confine and process huge numbers of immigrants is essential to President Donald Trump’s promise to carry out an unprecedented deportation campaign. The number of people currently held has already reached historic highs, topping 70,000 this year, and the administration says it needs more space.

    But as Trump’s plan has become public, opposition has been both immediate and fierce. Immigrant advocates call the warehouses “concentration camps” and question how buildings that were built to store consumer and industrial goods can safely and humanely hold thousands of people.

    ICE expects to spend $38.3 billion to buy and retrofit warehouses around the nation.

    Sixteen buildings would be converted into regional processing centers, each holding 1,000 to 1,500 immigrants. An additional eight detention centers would hold 7,000 to 10,000 detainees and serve as primary sites for deportations.

    Shapiro on Thursday sought to send a clear signal to federal officials that he would fight any facilities in Pennsylvania. Following his news conference, Shapiro posted a video to Twitter declaring that Noem “will hear us in Pennsylvania.”

    Standing outside the proposed facility location in Berks County, Shapiro outlined the impact detention facilities would have on local communities ― including increased pollution in Berks County and draining of water resources in Schuylkill County.

    “I’m pissed,” Shapiro said. “And I’m not going to allow this to happen.”

    “If you continue to go forward here, you will face legal and regulatory consequences,” he warned federal officials.

    In Bucks County earlier this month, commissioners said that the federal government recently approached warehouse owners in Bensalem Township and Middletown Township about converting the buildings to ICE facilities. Neither owner is going forward with a sale, they said.

    In Maryland, Democratic Attorney General Anthony Brown has sued the Trump administration to try to stop plans to hold 1,500 immigrants in a warehouse near Williamsport, about eight miles south of the Pennsylvania border.

    Brown and Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore say the project is unlawful, going forward without an environmental review or public input.

    ICE purchased the warehouse for $102.4 million in January, the property built as a commercial facility with 825,620 square feet of warehouse space, minimal office facilities, four toilets, and two water fountains, according to the attorney general.

    The 1,500 immigrants held there would nearly equal the population of Williamsport, home to about 2,000 people.

    Farther south, in Wilson County, Tenn., ICE is examining a two-building complex that would hold a combined 14,000 to 16,000 immigrants, by far the largest immigration detention center in the country, according to Project Salt Box, a Baltimore-based group that tracks ICE warehouse activity.

    This month in Surprise, Ariz., someone tried to burn down a warehouse that ICE bought to turn into a 1,500-bed detention center, but the fire was quickly extinguished by the interior sprinkler system, the Arizona Mirror reported, quoting federal officials.

    The plan to create a fixed, large-scale network of converted warehouses represents a radical new approach to immigration detention.

    Historically, the American Immigration Council noted, ICE’s detention funding has gone almost entirely to contract providers, the private prison companies and state and local governments that lease facilities to the agency. As of February 2025, ICE owned only 10 of the 220 facilities being used to detain immigrants, the council said.

    Now, ICE seeks to reengineer a detention system that was not centrally planned, but emerged over decades as Congress gradually increased agency funding, the council said.

    ICE currently operates five detention facilities in Pennsylvania, including the 1,876-bed Moshannon Valley Processing Center, the largest detention center in the Northeast. Two more are located in New Jersey, in Elizabeth and Newark, and the Trump administration has been exploring adding a third at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

  • Quakertown police mimic ICE brutality | Editorial

    Quakertown police mimic ICE brutality | Editorial

    Students speaking out against abuses by federal immigration agents and the kind of heavy-handed tactics that have led to clashes between protesters and law enforcement across the country were met with excessive force by Quakertown police, who slammed children to the ground and put one in a choke hold.

    The irony is not lost. Neither should the outrage.

    While some of the facts are in dispute, the picture that emerges from several bystander videos is that it was police — primarily Quakertown Police Chief Scott McElree — who seemingly escalated the confrontation.

    Five teenagers arrested during the protest have reportedly been charged with aggravated assault. Those are serious felony charges. Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan must also bring that level of accountability to McElree and his officers.

    It all began on Friday, when students planned a walkout to protest the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to Inquirer reporting, initial approval from Quakertown Community High School officials changed to opposition over safety concerns. At least 35 students walked out anyway.

    The diverse group headed downtown, holding signs and flags and chanting. Some passing drivers honked and shouted approval, or disapproval, from behind the wheel. A letter to parents by Lisa Hoffman, the acting superintendent of the Quakertown Community School District, said they received reports that students were “engaging in unsafe and disruptive behavior.”

    The hidden ICE blueprint that should horrify every American | Will Bunch

    A police statement said students entered traffic, threw snowballs, and damaged property, including a car’s side-view mirror. Available video footage shows students arguing with police about being off the sidewalk to shouts of “this is a peaceful protest,” shortly before McElree — out of uniform and not wearing any clearly visible identification — barrels into the crowd.

    McElree engages physically with the students, placing a teenage girl in a choke hold as punches from other protesters rain down. According to students, many believed McElree to be an aggressive counterprotester. A reasonable assumption considering the police chief’s wardrobe and other similar incidents, including one in Texas where a 45-year-old man ended up in a melee with student protesters.

    “It’s a grown man. It’s a grown man and a kid! He’s on a child! Why is no one stopping this?” distressed onlookers are heard saying in one of the videos. McElree then throws a teenage girl to the ground, while another Quakertown officer tosses a student onto a planter.

    Further compounding the shameful behavior by the authorities, the teens arrested were held in jail until a detention hearing on Tuesday. That’s over 72 hours. This would be unfair for adults; to treat children this way is unconscionable.

    The Quakertown community has been justifiably incensed over what happened.

    Trump didn’t bring impunity to immigration enforcement | Luis F. Carrasco

    At a borough council meeting on Monday, borough officials said they were “disturbed” by the incident, but declined additional comment. Residents wanted their elected leaders to go much further, demanding McElree’s resignation or termination.

    Evan Smith, from nearby Richlandtown, reminded officials that “Jesus told us to suffer the little children, not to make them suffer.” Colin Hancock, a student who attended the protest, described being afraid to go back to his own home due to the actions of the police. Many seemed shocked that something like this could happen in their small suburban town.

    The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania accused McElree of acting as a counterprotester, rather than as law enforcement. In a statement, the group said the chief “abandoned his job and his mission” and said he must be held accountable.

    Khan said his office is investigating. Hopefully, the results of the district attorney’s inquiry will give the community a thorough understanding of the incident and whether McElree or any of his officers merit dismissal. At the very least, changes to the Quakertown Borough Police Department must be implemented so this never happens again.

    Students exercising their First Amendment rights and engaging in civil disobedience may yet face disciplinary action from their school, but they should not have to deal with brutal treatment by law enforcement, who ought to know better.