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  • Wonder opens its latest location in Media as it prepares to more than double its number of restaurants

    Wonder opens its latest location in Media as it prepares to more than double its number of restaurants

    Wonder is continuing its rapid expansion in the Philadelphia area with a new Media location formally opening Thursday.

    The ribbon-cutting starts at 4:30 p.m. at the new site at 1127 W. Baltimore Pike, with the first 100 guests getting a Wonder gift and live music.

    Wonder prepares to open Delco locations as part of its rapid expansion in the Philly area

    Part of Wonder’s sales pitch is that it offers something for everyone, from pizza and cheesesteaks to Mediterranean and steak.

    That flexibility, with parents of finicky kids in mind, is part of what drew Eddie Jefferson to Wonder.

    “The picky eater thing kind of sits with me,” said Jefferson, senior operations leader for Wonder’s Media location. “I have children who never really could settle on the same food. So it was like, ‘Oh, this makes sense.’”

    Steve Skalis, of Springfield, picks up an oder of drunken noodles during Wonder’s soft opening in Media on Tuesday, December 16, 2025.

    Jefferson said he wants Wonder to be more than just a chain takeout restaurant.

    “I want to make sure we’re a staple of the community,” Jefferson said. “I do want to be here for a very long time.”

    Wonder is donating $1 to Philabundance for every order at the Media location this week. Jefferson said he hopes that’s just the first local partnership and he will be able to be active in the community.

    “Once we settle in to this community I’ll be able to be outside shaking hands and kissing babies.”

    What to know about trying Wonder, the chain of food halls coming to Philly and the Main Line

    Restaurants available at the Media Wonder include:

    • Alanza
    • Alanza Pizza
    • Bobby Flay Steak
    • Burger Baby
    • Detroit Brick Pizza Co.
    • Di Fara Pizza
    • Fred’s Meat & Bread
    • Hanu Poke
    • Kin House
    • Limesalt
    • Maydan
    • Royal Greens
    • SirPraPhai
    • Streetbird by Marcus Samuelsson
    • Tejas Barbecue
    • Yasas by Michael Symon
    • Bellies
    • Room for Dessert

    Wonder’s Media location brings the total to 91 sites across the Northeast, from Rhode Island to Virginia. The plan for 2026 is to more than double that, according to Jason Rusk, head of restaurant operations.

    “Our plan is to grow 110 locations, so we’ll go from 91 locations to just over 200 locations by the end of next year,” Rusk said.

    Eddie Jefferson, senior operations leader at Wonder in Media, reaches for one of many menus Tuesday, December 16, 2025.

    Wonder plans to open locations in Drexel Hill and Roxborough in early 2026, a representative said. It is also planning a foray into Allentown and the rest of the Lehigh Valley.

    Rusk said sales have been good across the Philly area’s 20-plus stores, with Cherry Hill one of the strongest openings.

    “There is no sign of stopping,” Rusk said. ”I have no doubt in my mind that we will fully have a Wonder that services nearly every part of the broader Philly [area].”

    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.

  • A West Philly man is on trial this week for setting a fire that killed his ex’s disabled sister

    A West Philly man is on trial this week for setting a fire that killed his ex’s disabled sister

    When Aaron Clark’s soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend ignored his 200 calls in December 2022, he sent her a simple text message: “Pick up before I do something crazy.”

    Clark, unable to handle the impending end to what Delaware County prosecutors described Tuesday as a toxic, abusive relationship, later made good on that threat, they said.

    The West Philadelphia resident set fire to Amira Rogers’ home in Darby Township, killing Olivia Drasher, her wheelchair-bound sister, and forever tearing her family apart, Assistant District Attorney Danielle Gallaher said at the beginning of Clark’s trial for murder and related crimes.

    “The breakup was the match that lit this fire, and the defendant was going to burn her and everything she cared about down to the ground,” Gallaher told jurors in her opening statement.

    Just after midnight on Dec. 4, 2022, Clark, 33, sprayed accelerant on the front porch of Rogers’ home on Sharon Avenue, directly underneath her sister’s bedroom, the prosecutor said. Witnesses told 911 dispatchers that the fire spread quickly, and soon the entire house was engulfed.

    Rogers’ mother, other sister, and Drasher’s full-time nurse were able to escape. But Drasher died in the blaze.

    Gallaher promised the jury that “physical evidence, digital evidence and the defendant’s actions” will prove Clark was the only one who had the motivation and will to target Rogers and her family.

    A man wearing distinctive clothing similar to what Clark was seen wearing that day was recorded on surveillance footage near the scene of the fire, Gallaher said. And cellphone data shows he was in the area of the blaze when it was set.

    But Clark’s attorney, Michael Dugan, challenged Gallaher’s theory of the case, saying investigators had “tunnel vision” and focused in on Clark at the insistence of Rogers and her family.

    Authorities failed, Dugan said, to find any witnesses who said he set the fire, and instead relied on “assumption and supposition.”

    “At the end of the day, this is a tragic case,” the defense lawyer said. “But also at the end of the day, you have to understand that emotion doesn’t prove a case, evidence does.”

    At the start of testimony, prosecutors chronicled the tumultuous 10 months during which Rogers and Clark dated. They met as co-workers at the United States Postal Service’s facility in Southwest Philadelphia.

    But their relationship turned sour toward the end of 2022.

    Hours before setting the deadly blaze, prosecutors said, Clark attacked Rogers when she confronted him over his infidelity and ended their relationship. He choked her so hard, she testified Tuesday, that she was afraid he was going to kill her.

    “I begged him to stop,” Rogers said, her voice filled with emotion. “I felt terrified, because I didn’t know what he was doing.”

    That attack came weeks after another, similar assault, she said, in which Clark struck her so hard that he bent the laptop computer she was carrying at the time.

    Rogers later took steps to avoid Clark, changing her scheduled shift at work and reporting his continued harassment to their supervisors, she said Tuesday.

    For hours on the day of the crime, Clark called her nonstop, his requests to speak with her turning to demands and, eventually, threats, according to text messages displayed in court.

    Clark made an Instagram account through which he shared nude photos of Rogers, and shared the account with her family and friends.

    Rogers continued to ignore Clark. Then he sent her a cryptic message not long before the fire was set: “Hope you don’t miss the show.”

    The trial is expected to last through Friday before Delaware County Court Judge Deborah Krull.

  • How quiet is your hospital at night? See how patients rate Philly-area hospitals.

    How quiet is your hospital at night? See how patients rate Philly-area hospitals.

    Once considered the loudest hospital in the Philadelphia area, Riddle Hospital in Media has significantly reduced its nighttime noise levels, newly released federal data shows.

    At the Main Line Health Riddle hospital, only 12% of patients from the most recent survey rated the area around their room at night as “sometimes” or “never” quiet — down from 26% of patients surveyed between July 2022 and June 2023.

    Across the Philadelphia region, 52% of patients said their hospital room was “always” quiet at night. That’s slightly worse than nationally, where patients said hospitals were quiet throughout their stay 57% of the time.

    Virtua Mount Holly Hospital in New Jersey is now rated the loudest by patients.

    Nazareth Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia, owned by Trinity Health, was ranked the second loudest in the region.

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    Quieter hospitals have benefits for both patients and staff, helping to lower anxiety levels, improve sleep quality, and ease the flow of communication.

    Riddle Hospital’s improvement follows construction of a new 230,000-square-foot patient pavilion that had temporarily increased noise at its Delaware County campus.

    “With the pavilion’s 2023 completion, as well as the resulting addition of more private rooms, noise is significantly reduced,” spokesperson Larry Hanover said.

    Reducing noise is also priority for Penn Medicine, whose Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) was rated the quietest hospital among the 25,000 patients surveyed in the Philly-area.

    Chester County Hospital, also owned by Penn Medicine, was ranked the second quietest.

    The health system has made big investments in recent years to address noise levels at its hospitals, according to the university’s website. The Pavilion, which opened at HUP in Center City in 2021, was designed to reduce noise levels and nightly disruptions by separating nonclinical work from patient care areas.

    Each floor of the $1.6 billion building centers around an “offstage” area for staff to hold conversations and calls away from patient rooms that line the perimeter. The design of the rooms also allows care teams to check vitals and refill medications from the hallway, reducing nighttime disruptions.

    Here’s a look at how patients ranked their Philly-area hospitals on nighttime noise, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems data from October 2023 to September 2024.

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  • Killer who gunned down a pregnant Delco woman during Wawa fight sent to state prison

    Killer who gunned down a pregnant Delco woman during Wawa fight sent to state prison

    Evelina Williams told a Delaware County judge she has been agonizing for more than a year over her split-second decision to fatally shoot a pregnant woman and her unborn child.

    For that, the Southwest Philadelphia woman was sentenced Friday to 10 to 20 years in state prison.

    “I am not God. I can’t decide who lives and who dies,” Williams, 31, told Judge Kevin F. Kelly. “This is the biggest mistake of my life, and I hate myself for it.”

    Williams pleaded guilty in August to third-degree murder and third-degree murder of an unborn child for fatally shooting Latoya Davis in the parking lot of a Wawa store in Collingdale last year.

    At the time, Davis, 32, was six months pregnant, something Williams said she did not know when she pulled the trigger of her Ruger .380 handgun on that night in October 2024.

    “Not a day goes by where I don’t cry my eyes out,” Williams said. “I am sorry for the Davis family for the pain I have caused. I took something so precious, and I’m embarrassed, ashamed, remorseful, shattered.”

    Davis, who left behind two young daughters, was shot once in the back during the dispute, which prosecutors said began inside the Wawa and continued in the store’s parking lot, where the two women had parked next to each other.

    Latoya Davis, a mother of two, was killed outside of a Wawa in Glenolden. Davis was six months pregnant at the time.

    As Williams went to drive away, Davis continued to argue with her and, at one point, threw a beverage at her. In response, Williams shot her with the gun she was licensed to carry.

    Williams’ attorney, Anna Hinchman, said a lifetime of trauma, including sexual abuse as a teen and violent domestic assaults by her ex-husband, left Williams with a severe case of PTSD that was triggered when Davis confronted her.

    Assistant District Attorney Dan Kerley called the shooting a “senseless act of violence” and said that, despite Williams’ perception that she was defending herself, her actions forever ruined two families.

    “It’s undisputed that Ms. Williams had a license to carry her gun, but that did not give her a license to kill,” he said. “It does not give you the ability to shoot someone during an argument.”

    Still, Kerley credited Williams for remaining at the scene, performing CPR on the grievously wounded Davis, and cooperating with police.

    Gabou Jean Pierre Toure, Davis’ longtime boyfriend and the father of her unborn son, said no amount of remorse or accountability can heal the pain he feels.

    “I want to forgive you so bad. I’m trying to forgive you,” he said. “But I still feel this is a nightmare that I want to wake up from.”

    Toure said he and Davis were soulmates, and were both eagerly awaiting the birth of their son after struggling with fertility issues. The two shared a birthday and celebrated together every year.

    This year, he said, all he could do on that day was weep for his lost love.

    “You are a mom. You can imagine how it feels to lose your child,” he said to Williams. “I hope you regret what you’ve done.”

  • Delco homeowner surprised to find ‘significant amount of cash’ in mailbox

    Delco homeowner surprised to find ‘significant amount of cash’ in mailbox

    It had all the markings of a good, old-fashioned bit of porch piracy.

    The man appeared one recent morning in front of a Nether Providence home. He looked to be between 20 and 30 years old, around 5 feet 8, and balding. He wore a black puffer jacket.

    For a long while, he paced back and forth in front of the home in the 300 block of South Providence Road.

    Then, he opened the mailbox, fiddled with something inside, and walked away.

    When the homeowner, who witnessed the incident, went to investigate, however, she was struck by what she found. Inside her mailbox was what Nether Providence police are calling “a significant amount of cash.”

    In a season more closely associated with pinched parcels and pilfered packages, police in this Delco township are trying to get to the bottom of something far more novel: An individual apparently passing out a large sum of money through a mailbox.

    So far, authorities have been left stumped; a spokesperson for the Nether Providence police on Thursday called the incident an “open investigation” but declined to comment beyond a brief news release issued earlier in the week on the matter, which occurred shortly before 11 a.m. on Dec. 6.

    One theory is that the delivery could have been a simple mix-up: According to the homeowner who discovered the cash, the property once housed a psychiatrist’s office, and she suspected the money could’ve been left by a former patient unaware that the previous owner was no longer there.

    Police are asking that anyone with information about the curious delivery — or the individual behind it — contact them at 610-892-2875.

    “NPPD is urging anyone with information to come forward as detectives work to determine the circumstances surrounding the cash drop-off and identify the individual involved,” according to the department news release.

  • WSSD seeks ideas to fix its dire budget issues | Inquirer Greater Media

    WSSD seeks ideas to fix its dire budget issues | Inquirer Greater Media

    Hi, Greater Media! 👋

    Last night, Delaware County Council approved a tax hike for 2026. We share more details below. Also this week, Wallingford-Swarthmore School District is looking at ways to stem its budget deficit, plus Ridley Creek remediation to clean up a September oil spill is nearing completion.

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    Wallingford-Swarthmore is looking for ways to dig out of its budget deficit

    Wallingford-Swarthmore School District held listening sessions about its budget at Strath Haven Middle School on Monday.

    Facing a $2.6 million budget deficit for the 2027-28 school year, Wallingford-Swarthmore School District is considering any idea to trim that figure.

    That was the takeaway from a Monday listening session, where Superintendent Russell Johnston said the district is “turning over every stone” in its quest and took suggestions from the public.

    Unlike neighboring districts, WSSD is predominately supported by homeowners’ tax dollars, many of whom already feel stretched thin, The Inquirer’s Denali Sagner reports.

    While some attendees left the meeting feeling better about the school’s objectives, others still wonder how it got in this hole in the first place.

    Read more about Wallingford-Swarthmore’s plans to address its budget woes here.

    Ridley Creek cleanup is nearing the finish line after an oil tanker crash earlier this year

    Remediation work to clean up a September oil spill that contaminated Ridley Creek is nearing completion.

    Work to clean up oil that spilled into Ridley Creek when a tanker crashed on the Route 1 Bypass in September is nearly finished. Officials expect to wrap up next week, with road closures on Ridley Creek Road continuing until then.

    Crews have been remediating the area, where an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 gallons of oil spilled, including removing contaminated soil and refilling the site, The Inquirer’s Torin Sweeney reports.

    Read more about how crews have tackled the cleanup here.

    💡 Community News

    • Last night, Delaware County Council voted to approve a 19% property tax hike for 2026. Despite pushback from residents, the council enacted a double-digit increase for the second consecutive year. For the average assessed home, taxes will go up an additional $188 annually.
    • Delaware County Council voted unanimously last week to enact a policy protecting LGBTQ+ individuals from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. It is one of at least 79 local governments in Pennsylvania to adopt similar nondiscrimination ordinances.
    • SEPTA missed Friday’s federally imposed deadline to finish repairs to the heat-detection system on its Regional Rail cars. The agency said the lapse was due to a shortage of the thermal wire required to make the repairs. Installation of the backordered wire for 30 of SEPTA’s remaining trains is expected to be completed next week.
    • Now in its 50th year, the Festival of Lights officially got underway last week at Rose Tree County Park in Media, and will be lit nightly through Jan. 3. We take a look back at highlights from the opening night.
    • An Inquirer analysis of a year’s worth of Riddle Hospital inspections found that the Media hospital was cited once between last November and this October for failing to properly monitor a patient’s vital signs while waiting for care in the emergency department.
    • Residential parking permits for 2026 are now available for Media borough residents. Fees are $5 each for a household’s first two cars and $15 each thereafter. New for 2026, the borough will not distribute a physical sticker, but will instead track registration through the Passport Parking app.
    • Newlin Grist Mill has named a new executive director to lead the historic Concord Township site. Amy Ricci, who most recently held that same role at former Philadelphia paper mill Historic Rittenhouse Town, will assume the position in January, becoming the organization’s fourth executive director.
    • Wawa is opening its 1,000th fuel store today at 675 Baltimore Pike in Springfield. The first 250 guests will get a free T-shirt and coffee. (Daily Times)

    🏫 Schools Briefing

    • Notre Dame de Lourdes School in Swarthmore took home first place in the kindergarten through eighth grade category of B101’s annual Christmas Choir Competition for its rendition of Like It’s Christmas. The school will receive $5,000 for its music program and will perform the winning song at the Philly Pops’ A Philly Holiday Spectacular on Sunday.
    • There’s a school board meeting tonight at Penncrest High School. On Monday and Tuesday, Rose Tree Elementary will host its fifth grade band concert. Penncrest High School’s winter choral concert is on Wednesday. See RTMSD’s full calendar here.
    • Tonight is Swarthmore-Rutledge School’s winter concert, Strath Haven High’s orchestra concert is Monday, and its choral concert is Tuesday. Wallingford Elementary is hosting winter concerts on Wednesday and Thursday. See WSSD’s full calendar here.
    • WSSD is also hosting a community artificial intelligence forum tonight from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Strath Haven Middle School’s library, where attendees can provide feedback about policies.

    🍽️ On our Plate

    • Wonder is opening next week at the Promenade at Granite Run. The food hall at 1145 W. Baltimore Pike will host a “friends and family” preview Monday through Wednesday ahead of its grand opening next Thursday.
    • The Towne House in Media has been transformed for the five-week run of “Holly Jolly.” The holiday décor will be on display through Jan. 4, during which time festive drinks can also be ordered. Options include the Mistletoe Kiss, made with vodka, rosemary simple syrup, lemon, and club soda, or Holly’s Hot Chocolate, which gives hot cocoa a kick thanks to vanilla vodka and Irish cream.
    • Santa will be making a stop in Glen Mills this weekend alongside Mrs. Claus when the duo visit Harvest Seasonal Grill Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Kids can also decorate cookies during the holiday brunch buffet. Tickets are $25 for children and $35 for adults. Reservations are required.

    🎳 Things to Do

    🌃 Night Market: Swarthmore merchants will stay open later on Friday, and there will also be pop-up vendors, food, drinks, and an ugly sweater competition. ⏰ Friday, Dec. 12, 5-8 p.m. 💵 Pay as you go 📍 Swarthmore town center

    🎙️ The Newspaper Taxis: Hear tunes from this Beatles tribute band. ⏰ Friday, Dec. 12, 8 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Shere-E-Punjab, Media

    🍪 Cookie Walk: Love holiday cookies but don’t love baking? Or just want to get a larger array? This annual event lets attendees pick and pay for the homemade sweets they want. ⏰ Saturday, Dec. 13, 9 a.m. 💵 Pay as you go 📍 Middletown Church, Media

    ☕ Cocoa and Photos with the Clauses and Friends: Write a letter to Santa, decorate cookies, and pose for festive photos with Olaf, Jolly Bear, and the big man himself. ⏰ Saturday, Dec. 13, 10 a.m.-noon 💵 Free 📍 Media Community Center

    🕎 Chanukah Village: A number of stores throughout Media will host crafts and other activities in celebration of the first night of the holiday. A 4:30 p.m. menorah lighting will be held at the Delaware County Courthouse. ⏰ Sunday, Dec. 14, 3-5 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Various locations

    🏡 On the Market

    A modern four-bedroom townhouse in Middletown Township

    The townhome spans over 3,600 square feet and backs up to woods.

    Built in 2022, this spacious townhouse’s first floor features an open-concept kitchen, dining, and living area, which has access to a deck overlooking the woods. There are four bedrooms upstairs, including a primary suite with double vanities and a walk-in closet. It also has a finished walk-out basement with a full bathroom, and access to the community clubhouse and a tot lot. There’s an open house this Saturday from noon to 3 p.m.

    See more photos of the townhouse here.

    Price: $815,000 | Size: 3,640 SF

    🗞️ What other Greater Media residents are reading this week:

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

    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.

  • Cleanup of Ridley Creek oil spill near Media is almost complete

    Cleanup of Ridley Creek oil spill near Media is almost complete

    Crews are in the final stages of cleaning up the site where oil leaked into Ridley Creek after a tanker truck crashed near Media in September, according to municipal and county officials.

    Ridley Creek Road will continue to have road closures from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. until the work is finished.

    Work should be completed next week, said Larry Bak, the county’s hazmat crew chief. Crews from Lewis Environmental have removed the contaminated soil and are refilling the site. Environmental consulting firm Aquaterra is overseeing the remediation work and testing.

    A Cardinal USA truck carrying home heating oil crashed on Sept. 22 while traveling north on the Route 1 Bypass at the border of Upper Providence and Middletown Townships. The truck swerved across the highway and rolled an undetermined number of times, according to Upper Providence Fire Marshal Alan Mancill.

    The truck came to rest with the cab hanging off the east side of an overpass and a gash in its side that spilled 1,000 to 2,000 gallons of oil onto the roadway and into Ridley Creek below, Mancill said.

    The cause of the crash is unclear and Upper Providence police could not be reached for comment.

    Remediation work continues on Ridley Creek Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, under the Route 1 overpass in Media, Delaware County where a tanker overturned spilling thousands of gallons of home heating oil in September.

    Blocking the oil’s flow downstream was a priority for the Delaware County Emergency Services Department’s hazmat team, Bak said.

    “I sent half of my team up onto the bridge to work with the tank truck, and I sent the other half of my initial response down to the creek to get in front of it as it was going downstream,” Bak said. The crew put containment booms across the creek to halt the spread of oil.

    Aqua’s Ridley Creek water treatment facility is about a mile and a half downstream from the site. Bak said the facility was quickly alerted to shut off its intake after the spill. It was reopened after the water was deemed safe, but the booms remain in place just in case.

    “I believe the expression is ‘an overabundance of caution,’” Bak said.

    The site of the crash posed a challenge to the cleanup crew, with oil contaminating a hillside as well as the creek and marshy area below the bridge. Crews used a special excavator with 35-foot arms.

    “It had to reach out and down because it’s a fairly steep hill,” Bak said. “It’s not an insignificant height.”

    To reach the contaminated areas, the crew also built a dam from the Ridley Creek Road side with pipes underneath to let the creek flow underneath. The dam will be removed after work is complete, Bak said.

    Once the work is done, soil will continue to be monitored for two years.

    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.

  • Delco residents prepare for a 19% property tax hike — the second double-digit increase they face in two years

    Delco residents prepare for a 19% property tax hike — the second double-digit increase they face in two years

    For the second year in a row the Delaware County Council approved a double-digit property tax increase.

    Facing fury from residents, the all-Democratic board voted 4-1 Wednesday to approve a $340 million budget that raises the county portion of property taxes 19%.

    Last year, the council voted to increase taxes 23% as federal COVID-19 relief dollars that had filled the county’s longstanding structural deficit began to run dry. That hike took effect in January.

    The new 19% increase, which will take effect next month, will place Delaware County on stable financial footing, members of the council argued.

    “Our primary responsibility is to ensure that this county is on solid financial footing. Make no mistake, absent this increase tonight that would not be the case. We would run out of money,” said Councilmember Kevin Madden, whose term on the board runs out this year.

    The budget, Council Chair Monica Taylor said, would be the first truly balanced budget for the county in more than a decade.

    The tax increase will translate to an additional $188 annually for the county’s average assessed home value of $255,000.

    Taylor and the other council members said they didn’t take the increase lightly, but that it was a necessary step. Their Republican predecessors, they argued, went too long without substantially increasing taxes and left the county in dire straits when Democrats took control in 2020.

    Amid inflation and shrinking federal funds, they said the last two years of increases were needed. And after increasing taxes 19% in 2026, they predicted taxes could be kept level in the future.

    “If it comes down to it, next year rather than raise taxes I am going to be looking at cutting discretionary spending,” Councilmember Christine Reuther said Wednesday.

    The proposed budget increased spending by just under 6% with the majority of new spending attributed to increased costs for employee health benefits, increased court costs, employee pay, and increases to the county’s SEPTA contribution.

    “Our strategy is not just to increase revenue but to decrease expenses,” County Executive Barbara O’Malley said.

    Over the course of several meetings and hearings ahead of the vote Delaware County residents showed frustration with the increase and doubt that 2026 would be the end of the hikes. They urged council members to find ways to cut the budget or to spread the increases out over more years.

    “I own my home but I’m behind on my taxes because the taxes are so high,” resident Maureen Mitchell said in a Monday budget hearing. “Something’s gotta give for the seniors, we’re losing our homes.”

    Although Democrats inherited a deficit when they took control of the council, residents pointed out that they also made significant expenditures in recent years, including the decision to deprivatize the prison, spending more on legal fees, and launching a health department. The majority of the health department is funded by state and federal dollars.

    “Find some cuts and give taxpayers a break, then hold the line on future spending,” said Michael Straw, the chair of the Media Borough Republican Committee.

    Democrats retained control of all five seats on council in November despite GOP messaging that focused on rising tax costs.

    Cynthia Sabatini, an Upper Providence resident, asked council members to release a full list of what spending is discretionary and to spread the increase out over several years.

    “Why does it have to be done in one fell swoop?” she asked Monday.

    Councilmember Elaine Schaefer voted against the increase because she said she couldn’t justify such a steep hike during hard economic times.

    “We do need to raise the revenue but in my opinion it’s too abrupt and causes too much of a hardship to do two really significant increases in a row,” Schaefer said Wednesday.

    Delaware County is one of three of Philadelphia’s collar counties considering a tax increase this year. Montgomery County is poised to vote on a 4% tax increase next week while Bucks County is contemplating a tax increase to fill a $16 million deficit.

  • ‘Everything is up for consideration’ as Wallingford-Swarthmore tackles $2.6 million budget deficit

    ‘Everything is up for consideration’ as Wallingford-Swarthmore tackles $2.6 million budget deficit

    Standing before a room full of parents, administrators, and taxpayers on Monday morning, Wallingford-Swarthmore School District Superintendent Russell Johnston opened the conversation: “None of us is as smart as all of us.”

    At the listening session at Strath Haven Middle School, Johnston and members of the Wallingford-Swarthmore administration took suggestions from the public and laid out the district’s dire budget issues, which came into the public eye at a board meeting last month.

    The main message Johnston came to deliver: As Wallingford-Swarthmore works to cut its budget, everything is on the table, no idea is too big, and no cut is too small.

    “None of this is easy and, like I said, everything is up for consideration right now,” Johnston said, emphasizing that the district is “turning over every stone” and is eager to hear good ideas.

    The Wallingford-Swarthmore School District is facing a $2.6 million budget deficit for the 2027-28 school year. Administrators say the shortfall is due to a combination of factors, including runaway spending, rising staffing costs, a stagnant revenue base, and costly infrastructure repairs, which are needed due to years of deferred maintenance.

    At the community meeting (which was the first of two sessions that took place on Monday), Johnston and colleagues broke down expenses related to staffing, transportation, special services, curriculum, and the district’s long-range capital plan, which was approved in June.

    The conversation stretched across the big picture and the nitty-gritty.

    How often should classrooms be deep-cleaned? How important is renovating the swimming pool? Should the district run late buses for students in after-school clubs? Could the number of district administrators be reduced?

    Suzanne Herron, a parent of young children in the district, said the meeting felt “thoughtful and transparent.”

    “I walked out of there feeling pretty confident that they were going to think about the right things,” Herron said.

    Johnston took the helm of Wallingford-Swarthmore in May, closing an embattled chapter for the Delaware County school district. The district parted ways with its former superintendent, Marseille Wagner, with a $330,000 payout in August 2024. Wagner was accused of spending excessively on administrative initiatives and facilitating an unhealthy work environment for staff, including pitting staffers against one another and dismissing efforts for consensus building.

    The district and Wagner said in a statement at the time that they had “mutually agreed to amicably end their contractual agreement.”

    Wagner’s tenure hung over the conversation at Strath Haven Middle School. Attendees asked how many administrators had been added under the prior superintendent and how the administrator-to-student ratio compared with neighboring districts (administrators said they didn’t have exact numbers off the top of their heads). One parent said that while she was grateful for the open discussion, she struggled to understand how the district got to such a dire place.

    Parents also raised concerns that a disconnect remains between school needs and what taxpayers, especially those without children in the district, see as wasteful spending

    In contrast to neighboring districts like Rose Tree Media and Radnor, which are home to a mix of residential and commercial properties that feed their tax bases, Wallingford-Swarthmore is small and largely residential. This means its school district tax base is powered almost completely by homeowners, many of whom feel stretched thin by the growing tax burden. Swarthmore College, a major presence in the borough, pays limited taxes as a 501(c)3 nonprofit.

    On top of local taxes, Delaware County is expected to increase residential property taxes by 19% for next year. That’s in addition to the 23% increase the county approved for 2025.

    Joyce Federman, an attendee who recently moved to the area and does not have children in the school district, said she has been “staggered” by the amount of school taxes she pays.

    “My tax burden is unbearable,” she added.

    District officials emphasized that there will be continued opportunities for feedback as the budget process continues. The school board finance committee is set to present a potential budget reallocation strategy on Tuesday, and the board is set to vote on reallocation expectations on Dec. 22. A budget must be adopted by June.

    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.

  • A North Philly gang hit man, ‘the very worst’ of society, taken into custody for three killings, officials say

    A North Philly gang hit man, ‘the very worst’ of society, taken into custody for three killings, officials say

    A North Philadelphia street-gang hit man wanted in connection with three killings, including the execution-style shooting of a 16-year-old boy, was taken into custody Wednesday morning in Delaware County, officials said.

    Tyvine “Blumberg Eerd” Jones, 25, was apprehended by U.S. marshals in an apartment where he had been hiding at the Stratford Court complex in Lansdowne, authorities said. Jones was considered one of the city’s most wanted fugitives, and in October, marshals issued a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

    Eric Gartner, the United States marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said Jones’ “unrestrained existence serves only to diminish our great city,” and his arrest demonstrates the agency’s commitment to keep Philadelphians safe.

    Investigators say Jones is a suspect in three slayings that took place between 2020 and 2022: the killings of Heyward Garrison, 16, Wesley Rodwell, 20, and Ryan Findley, 23.

    Jones is a self-identified member of the Blumberg gang, which federal prosecutors say operates in the area around the now-shuttered Norman Blumberg Apartments on Oxford Street in North Philadelphia.

    Members of the gang, including its onetime leader, Edward Stinson, have been convicted of drug trafficking in that area, and others have been tied to assaults and shootings.

    Stinson, federal prosecutors wrote in court filings, ran a round-the-clock crack cocaine distribution ring that sucked in teenagers, single mothers, and other vulnerable people.

    Jones was an associate of Anthony “Blumberg Geez” Watson, and the two recorded rap songs together. In one song, “Blow Up,” the two brag about stalking and shooting their criminal rivals.

    Like Jones, Watson, 21, was sought by investigators as a suspect in Garrison’s killing, but he was gunned down in an unrelated shooting after a year on the run.

    Garrison was found shot multiple times in the back of a Honda Pilot parked near 22nd and Diamond Streets in August 2020.

    Two years later, in May 2022, Rodwell was slain on Erie Avenue near 16th Street in a broad-daylight shooting.

    And in September 2022, Findley was killed on Creston Street near Oakland in Oxford Circle.

    Investigators say Jones was involved in all three killings. When announcing the reward for his arrest, Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark called Jones “the very worst society has to offer” and said he demonstrated a complete disregard for human life.