A passenger in an SUV was killed and the driver was critically injured when the vehicle struck a SEPTA bus late Wednesday afternoon in Southwest Philadelphia, police said.
Just before 4:20 p.m., a 2019 Honda HR-V heading north on Island Avenue in the area of Buist Avenue hit the rear of a SEPTA bus also traveling north on Island, police said. A third vehicle then hit the rear of the Honda.
Medics transported the two people from the Honda to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. The passenger, who was not identified, was pronounced dead at 5:20 p.m. The driver was listed in critical condition.
No other injuries were reported.
The cause of the crash was under police investigation.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ally Sentnor scored in the 55th minute and the United States beat Canada 1-0 on Wednesday in the SheBelieves Cup tournament, the Americans’ seventh straight shutout.
Sentnor scored her seventh international goal off a corner from Rose Lavelle, gathering the ball on a bounce before punching it past two defenders and Canada goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.
The U.S. hasn’t allowed a goal since a 3-1 win over Portugal last October, a stretch of 714 minutes.
“Honestly, our goal was just to win the game,” Sentnor said. “I think going into a rivalry game, we knew what was going to happen. It was going to be on the line and Canada gave us an incredible performance, and we really had to work for this win.”
United States midfielder Sam Coffey (left) celebrates a goal by teammate Ally Senator in the second half of a SheBelieves Cup soccer match against Canada on Wednesday.
The United States sat atop the SheBelieves table with two wins, ahead of Canada and Colombia with one each. The Colombians defeated Argentina 1-0 in the early match Wednesday at ScottsMiracle-Gro Stadium.
The United States is 55-4-9 against Canada since their first meeting in 1986. The U.S. won the last meeting, 3-0, in July.
The Canadians’ last win in the series came at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Jessie Fleming converted a penalty in a 1-0 semifinal victory. Canada went on to win the gold medal.
U.S. coach Emma Hayes included Trinity Rodman in the starting lineup despite Rodman taking a hit in the back late in Sunday’s 2-0 SheBelieves victory over Argentina in Nashville. Rodman struggled with a nagging back injury last year.
Canada, which defeated Colombia 4-1 in the tournament opener, was without captain Fleming because of an illness.
The game was scoreless after the first half despite the United States dominating possession by nearly 70%.
Sentnor, who plays professionally for the Kansas City Current, broke the stalemate with her third goal of the year. The 22-year-old was named U.S. Soccer’s young player of the year in 2024.
Canada coach Casey Stoney felt her team showed “huge progress” from the last time the Canadians faced the United States, but was disappointed about conceding on a set piece.
“I think we were competitive throughout the game. I think we kept our distances better, we had good discipline,” Stoney said. “I think we had moments in their box where we can have a little bit more composure.”
Colombia will play the United States on Saturday in the tournament finale in Harrison, New Jersey. Canada plays Argentina in the early game.
It is the 11th annual SheBelieves Cup hosted by the United States. Canada was making its fourth appearance in the tournament.
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.
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.
Quentin Grimes hit two tiebreaking free throws with 16.4 seconds remaining, Tyrese Maxey scored 25 points and the short-handed 76ers beat the Utah Jazz 106-102 on Wednesday night.
Grimes finished with 16 points and Jabari Walker had 22 points for the Sixers, who were without Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe, and suspended Paul George.
Keyonte George scored 30 points for the Jazz, who have lost seven in a row.
Philadelphia, which entered in sixth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race, trailed 100-94 with 4 minutes, 51 seconds left after George hit a three. But Utah missed its next six field goals, and Philadelphia tied it at 100 on Adem Bona’s follow dunk with 1:50 left.
Isaiah Collier’s layup 46 seconds later put the Jazz ahead by two points, but Grimes tied it on a drive with 46.8 seconds remaining. After George misfired on a long-range shot for Utah, Grimes converted both free throws after being fouled. Utah coach Will Hardy did not call timeout, and a wide-open look from long distance by Kyle Filipowski was off.
Sixers’ Dom Barlow (left) attempts a layup past Utah Jazz’s Kyle Filipowski during the first half of Wednesday’s game.
Embiid missed his third straight game with a strained right oblique. Edgecombe suffered a lower back contusion in Tuesday’s 131-91 loss to the Spurs.
Jazz rookie Ace Bailey scored 12 points.
Jaren Jackson Jr. (left knee injury recovery), Walker Kessler (left shoulder injury recovery), Lauri Markkanen (right hip impingement), Jusuf Nurkic (nose injury recovery) and Vince Williams Jr. (left knee injury management) were out for Utah.
The Sixers travel to Atlanta on Saturday (6 p.m., NBCSP) to face the Hawks to begin a two-game road trip. After facing the Hawks, the Sixers will play in Cleveland on Monday (7 p.m., NBCSP).
A 35-year-old man was fatally shot while trying to drive away from an altercation with another man Wednesday night in the Castor section of Northeast Philadelphia, police said.
Just after 7:10 p.m., police were called to the area of Summerdale and Magee Avenues and found the victim lying on the ground next to an SUV with the engine still running, said Chief Inspector Scott Small.
The man, who had at least one gunshot wound to his back, was transported to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:47 p.m., Small said.
The SUV was parked outside a neighborhood store, and the victim and another man were inside the store when an argument occurred, Small said.
The victim got into the driver’s seat of the SUV and the other man started shooting through the front passenger-side door, Small said.
The shooter then ran from the scene.
Police were told that both men were regular customers at the store, Small said.
The victim was found lying next the front driver-side door with a handgun on the ground next to him.
Police believe the gun belonged to the victim, Small said.
Police recovered three spent shell casings next to the passenger door as well as three live rounds.
A former Bucks County man who claimed he was covered by pardons given by President Donald Trump to supporters who tried to overturn the 2020 election was found guilty Wednesday by a federal jury in Philadelphia of voting twice for Trump in 2020.
Matthew Laiss, 32, was charged by indictment in September of one count of voting more than once in a federal election and one count of voter fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 10 and faces a maximum of five years in prison on both counts.
Laiss, who prosecutors said is currently a resident of Bethehem, Pa., had been a resident of — and was registered to vote in — Ottsville, Bucks County, from at least 2012 to around August 2020, prosecutors said. Laiss then moved to Frostproof, Fla., where he obtained a driver’s license and registered to vote there.
Around Oct. 31, 2020, Laiss filled out and returned a mail-in Pennsylvania ballot, then on Nov. 3, 2020, Laiss went to a polling place in Florida and voted again.
“Casting a ballot in more than one jurisdiction undermines public trust and dilutes the votes of others. Our office will continue to protect the integrity of federal elections and hold accountable those who violate the law,” Metcalf said.
The case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Pennsylvania Department of State, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Dubnoff.
Federal defenders who represented Laiss could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
Laiss was not among the 77 people Trump listed when specifying who would receive relief, but Laiss’ lawyers said the proclamation’s preamble included language making it applicable to “all United States citizens” for conduct, voting, or advocacy surrounding the contest.
His lawyers wrote that Trump allies including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Mark Meadows were all explicitly pardoned for “exponentially more egregious alleged conduct.” Extending relief to them while denying it to Laiss, his lawyers wrote, “would be outrageous.”
Prosecutors said they checked with Trump’s Office of the Pardon Attorney and were told that the lawyers there did not believe the pardon proclamation applied to Laiss.
In January, Leeson ruled against Laiss’ motion to dismiss the indictment, explaining that the court was without jurisdiction to decide the matter because Laiss had not applied to the Office of the Pardon Attorney, or had received a certificate of pardon.
At least four people were critically injured after a large explosion destroyed a commercial production building Wednesday afternoon in Logan Township, N.J.
Gloucester County Emergency Management quickly asked people within a two-mile radius of the explosion at 617 Heron Dr. to shelter in place, but the request was later lifted. About 7,200 people live within two miles of the explosion.
“It was a terrible tragedy,” Logan Township Police Chief Joseph Flatley said at an evening news conference.
However, he added: “The community is safe. There are no ongoing hazards.”
The explosion occurred just after 2:35 p.m. and firefighters who were first on the scene said at least two people had been severely burned, and the building had collapsed with a ruptured propane tank still burning.
Map of building explosion in Logan Twp., Gloucester County.
Cooper University Hospital received three patients, said Cooper spokesperson Wendy A. Marano.
Rebecca Forand, spokesperson for the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office, said a total of four people were hospitalized in critical condition. A fifth person in a neighboring building experienced a medical incident, Forand said.
It was unclear how many people were in the building, but “as far as we know, the owners of the business have told us that they believe everyone is accounted,” Forand said.
“We are assisting in the investigation. It does not look like there’s any criminal activity,” she added.
A large amount of propane was being stored on the facility’s premises, which she said was used in the production processes of the company that used the building, called Savita Naturals. The company describes itself on its website as a “provider of specialty oil extractions and related services.”
The cause of the explosion, however, remains under investigation. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection was notified of the situation, and officials from the Bureau of Emergency Response were heading to the scene, Forand noted.
“Fire and HazMat Units remain on location monitoring a burn off of additional fuel product stored on-site and continue to conduct air monitoring in the community,” Gloucester County Emergency Management said on social media.
A worker in a nearby business described the shock of the first large explosion.
“I thought a bomb hit us,” said the worker, who asked not to be identified because his employer had not authorized him to speak to a reporter.
He and his fellow employees were evacuated and saw the building with the explosion had been destroyed and a wall of the neighboring building had been knocked down.
The worker said he saw a man whose clothes were on fire “rolling on the ground.” The man ripped his shirt off while other people pulled his pants off. The man then got up wearing only his underwear. His injuries didn’t appear to be serious, the worker said.
Residents across the region said the explosion shook their houses. At Fish2Coral, a fish and aquatic supply shop in Swedesboro, things fell off the shelves, alarms went off, and part of the interior ceiling collapsed.
“We didn’t know where it came from,” said store manager Brian Makowski. “It felt like something hit our building.”
Fish2Coral is located only half a mile from the explosion site. “If I was outside, it probably would’ve knocked me over,” he said.
Propane is a highly flammable gas that can decrease the amount of oxygen in the air in high concentrations, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. It is naturally colorless and odorless, but typically has an odorant added to aid in detection. Symptoms of airborne exposure may include headache and dizziness, as well as fainting, and contact with it in its liquefied gas form is capable of causing frostbite.
The company notes online that it was founded about 35 years ago as a processor in the cocoa and chocolate industry, but has since expanded to include a range of products. Savita also indicates online that “production of cocoa butter remains our core business.”
Among the other products for which Savita says it provides services is CBD, or cannabidiol, a non-intoxicating compound found in hemp and marijuana that has risen in prominence in recent years. An article on the company’s website from 2019 indicates that flammable solvents like butane, propane, and ethanol are popular choices in cannabis-related extractions.
Savita notes online that propane has been its “solvent of choice” for botanical extractions since 1996, as it “produces the highest yields at intermediate cost without sacrificing quality.”
— Staff writer Emily Bloch contributed to this article.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker this week appointed former prosecutor Tito Valdes as Philadelphia’s new director of LGBTQ+ affairs.
Valdes, who graduated from Pennsylvania State University Dickinson Law, has extensive experience working on legal issues concerning youth. He previously worked as a city attorney representing the Philadelphia Department of Human Services in child welfare cases. And he is well-known for his work as a Philadelphia assistant district attorney in the family violence and sexual assault unit.
Valdes said one of his top priorities in his new role will be working with DHS to that ensure LGBTQ+ youth receive proper care in the city’s foster system.
“I am envisioning a particular focus on LGBTQ youth and care, and just ensuring that that particular population, which is in the system oftentimes because of who they are, receive services that are culturally competent,” Valdes said in an interview.
Valdes is the third person to hold the job under Parker’s administration, which began in January 2024. The previous two both left the city under unusual circumstances, and Valdes said he hopes to restore stability to the office.
“The community generally deserves and needs stability and just a sense of consistency,” he said.
Valdes assumes the role at a sensitive time for the city’s work on equality and civil rights issues. Progressives and advocates for marginalized populations have called on Parker to take a more aggressive stance against President Donald Trump’s attacks on immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, and other groups.
But Parker has for the most part avoided direct confrontation with Trump in a strategy to prevent Philadelphia from being targeted by his administration. (One notable exception is the city’s lawsuit to preserve exhibits on slavery at Independence National Historical Park.)
“My approach will be to loudly proclaim what I believe the Parker administration does proclaim, which is that everybody deserves to be treated fairly, that we’re committed to this work,” Valdes said.
The Philadelphia Gay News first reported Parker’s appointment of Valdes, who has served on the board of the William Way LGBT Community Center and on the Governor’s Advisory Commission on LGBTQ Affairs under former Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.
Valdes has won the Prosecutor of the Year award from the Philadelphia Coalition for Victim Advocacy and the Team Excellence Award from the Philadelphia Children’s Alliance, according to the mayor’s office. He most recently worked at the personal injury law firm Anapol Weiss.
“Tito brings years of legal experience and proven intergovernmental, collaborative leadership to this role,” Parker said in a statement. “His leadership will help ensure that LGBTQ+ Philadelphians experience a city government that is responsive, accountable, and fully committed to their safety and opportunity.”
The Philadelphia Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs works to “strengthen protections, expand opportunity, and improve service delivery for LGBTQ+ residents across Philadelphia,” according to the city.
Valdes’ most recent predecessor, Tyrell Brown, was fired last year after receiving a seminude photograph from another high-ranking city employee, then-deputy chief of staff Chris Dailey, while using a cruising app.
Inspector General Alex DeSantis said he recommended Parker fire Brown and Brandee Anderson — who was the city’s chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer — after an investigation by his office found they acted “highly unprofessionally” while discussing the photograph in the workplace.
Anderson has publicly pushed back on the city’s account, denying that she and Brown mishandled the incident and saying the administration targeted her for pushing the city to be more aggressive on DEI issues.
Brown has not commented on the incident. But they said in a statement that they were “incredibly excited and proud of Tito’s appointment.”
“This moment is about celebrating his leadership and standing behind him as he steps into this role, something I am honored and proud to do,” Brown said.
Morrison-McLean made national headlines in March 2024, two months after Parker took office, when she and her husband were arrested after a state trooper pulled her over on I-76 for multiple violations. During the traffic stop, Morrison-McLean recorded a cell phone video of a confrontation between the trooper and her husband, who had been following her in a separate vehicle and was also pulled over. The video went viral, but it answered few questions about the circumstances that led to the confrontation.
Merrimack guard Kevair Kennedy was unanimously named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year on Wednesday.
Kennedy, a former Father Judge standout, is the first freshman to win the honor. He led the MAAC with 18.5 points per game, while averaging 4.2 assists, which ranks fourth in the conference. He helped lead Merrimack (21-10) to the MAAC regular-season title, as the Warriors went 17-3 in its conference slate.
Merrimack finished the regular season with the conference’s third-best scoring defense, allowing 67.5 points per contest and forcing the third-most turnovers. Kennedy leads the team in steals (1.9) and is averaging 4.6 rebounds.
The Philadelphia native started all 31 games and scored at least 20 points in 15 games. Kennedy finished with a career-high 32 points in a 79-72 overtime win over Siena on Feb. 20.
He won MAAC rookie of the week seven times and was named conference player of the week twice. Kennedy also was named freshman of the year and became the first player to win both awards in the same season.
Kennedy won a Catholic League championship last season. He also propelled the Crusaders to a state title while averaging 16.1 points, 7.3 assists, and 6.6 rebounds.
Pottstown Hospital was cited by the Pennsylvania Department of Health for shuttering intensive care services 13 days before it was scheduled to close the unit.
Tower Health, which owns Pottstown, announced in November that it was closing Pottstown’s ICU, endoscopy center, and the Pottstown outpost of Tower’s McGlinn Cancer Institute effective Jan. 6. Hospitals are required to give 60 days notice before shuttering services.
The closures were part of a larger downsizing that included laying off 350 workers across Tower’s hospital system. Tower also owns Phoenixville Hospital, Reading Hospital, and has a joint ownership of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children with Drexel University.
Tower officials said they closed the unit 13 days ahead of schedule on Dec. 24 because they did not have enough remaining nurses on staff to safely operate.
“Safe ICU care requires appropriate nurse staffing, and operating the unit under those conditions could have compromised the high-quality care our patients deserve,” Tower said in a statement.
Pottstown had already limited admissions to the unit to four patients, and began transferring remaining patients to other intensive care facilities on Dec. 22, according to the health department inspection report.
