The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission is working to help keep alive the city’s project to cap the Vine Street Expressway after Washington last year yanked $150 million in promised federal money.
The project was dependent on a $159 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant covering the entire cost.
Now, DVRPC, at the city’s request, is managing the process of gathering $12.5 million to replace some of the lost money, enough to complete the final design.
“We are taking this administrative action to keep the project moving,” DVRPC spokesperson Elise Turner said.
The Chinatown project involves building a cap over I-676 from just east of 10th to 13th Streets, allowing for a park as well as more developable land. It would tie together Chinatown and the neighborhood to the north, which were united until the interstate split them.
Finishing the design will advance the project as officials look for construction funding. It’s possible building the cap will be delayed.
For the design work, $10 million would be obtained from another federal program for improvements on the national highway network. That money is available in the region’s reserve controlled by PennDot, DVRPC staff said.
The city would contribute $2.5 million.
The city’s Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems is working to secure the money and is “confident” that will happen, a spokesperson said, while declining to disclose details.
As for construction, “funding will have to be figured out later,” said DVRPC’s Turner.
The agency determines priorities for regional transportation projects.
To receive federal funds, an infrastructure project needs the formal blessing of the DVRPC, the designated metropolitan planning organization for the Philadelphia region.
Meanwhile, preliminary engineering work is continuing, financed by the $8.4 million. The project is expected to receive environmental approvals in the spring, DVRPC said.
President Donald Trump and the GOP congressional majorities have been targeting Biden-era initiatives for elimination, including various transportation-equity programs — to fund projects like the Stitch — that began under the national infrastructure act of 2022.
In late 2023, construction of the cap was projected to begin in 2027, although at other points a groundbreaking was anticipated in 2028.
The timeline is currently unclear.
This story has been updated to clarify DVRPC’s role in the project.
The NBA trade deadline produced a frenzy of deals around the league, but the dust has finally settled. The 76ers were one of the least active teams at the deadline, only making two trades before 3 p.m. on Thursday. However, one of those trades garnered plenty of reaction.
Guard Jared McCain won Sixers fans over as a rookie in 2024-25 as he was a rare bright spot in an otherwise trying season. The 16th overall pick out of Duke averaged 15.3 points across 23 contests before a torn meniscus in his right knee ended his season.
McCain struggled to find his footing this season. He missed the first six games and made his season debut against the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 4, where he missed all four of his shots. However, he did show flashes of his rookie self, including scoring 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting against the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 27.
But with the Sixers searching for roster flexibility and a way to duck under the luxury tax, they decided to trade McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for the Houston Rockets’ 2026 first-round pick and three second-round picks.
The Sixers also moved on from guard Eric Gordon, who played in just six games, along with a 2032 second-round pick swap to the Memphis Grizzlies.
The trades cleared a roster spot for Dominick Barlow’s two-way contract to be converted to a standard contract.
Here are how some of the national media outlets are grading the Sixers’ moves.
ESPN: B+/B
ESPN gave the Sixers a B+ for the McCain trade as they accomplished multiple logistical goals with the move. The trade got the the team below the luxury tax line, cleared a roster spot to convert Barlow’s contract, and gave them future flexibility to re-sign guard Quentin Grimes. The Thunder received the same grade on their end of the deal.
“After adding VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes to All-Star Tyrese Maxey in the past year, Philadelphia’s roster got crowded, part of the reason McCain hasn’t played many minutes this season,” wrote Kevin Pelton. “Turning McCain into draft picks not only gets Philadelphia below the luxury tax line but probably makes it easier to make additional deals, whether before Thursday’s trade deadline or this offseason.”
Tyrese Maxey (0) walks up the court against the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 2.
ESPN graded the Gordon move as a B, as he had not made much of an impact on the court this year. The veteran has not played since Christmas and has played 74 total minutes this season. The Sixers now have three open roster spots after the trade, giving them plenty of room to convert two-way deals or sign a free agent.
The Athletic: B
Zach Harper of The Athletic was much more fond of the McCain trade from the Thunder’s point of view as opposed to the Sixers. He gave the Sixers a B for moving on from McCain in year two while Oklahoma City got an A for adding a potentially valuable bench player with two and a half years of control.
“The good news is the Sixers are good now, so they didn’t need him nearly as much to play well. If he can’t be the player we saw in his rookie season, then that Houston pick should be pretty easy to use to replace him,” Harper wrote. “If he can be that player again, then Philadelphia doing this to not pay the luxury tax in a decent season makes nailing that Houston pick pretty big.”
Yahoo! Sports: B-
Morton Stig Jensen of Yahoo! Sports was critical of general manager Daryl Morey’s decision to trade McCain and praised Thunder general manager Sam Presti. Jensen gave the Sixers a B- for getting below the luxury tax, but described it as a “pity grade.” He gave Oklahoma City an A+ for filling its need for floor spacing.
“Trading away young, cheap pieces, when you have that much money tied up in Joel Embiid and Paul George is just not a position they want to be in,” Jensen wrote. “So this is all about the finances, which is both boring and discouraging.”
“So, sure, Philly, congrats on avoiding the tax bill, I guess.”
Joel Embiid celebrates after scoring and drawing a foul against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.
Sports Illustrated: C
Austin Krell of Sports Illustrated gave the Sixers a C. He also looked at the deal as a win for them from the financial side, but a big risk for giving up on McCain’s upside. The Thunder received a B for getting another shooter in their push for back-to-back championships.
“This seems like a clear indication that the Sixers viewed McCain as someone whose stock would drop if they kept him,” Krell wrote. “If we want to look at it from a financial perspective, he’s maybe the only player you could’ve moved that would’ve accomplished the goal of dodging the luxury tax while also netting actual assets in return.”
Philadelphia International Airport CEO Atif Saeed is stepping down, just as Philadelphia prepares for an expected influx of tourists this year.
Saeed has led the city’s Department of Aviation, which also includes the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, since 2022, and plans to step down Feb. 27. He is heading west to be president and CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority.
“Under his direction, our airports emerged stronger from the pandemic, advanced critical modernization efforts, and positioned Philadelphia to welcome the world in 2026 and beyond,” Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said in a statement Thursday.
“We are grateful for his contributions and wish him continued success in this next chapter,” Parker said.
The city plans to hire a new CEO following a national search. Tracy Borda, PHL’s chief financial officer, will be interim CEO.
Saeed’s departure comes as Philadelphia expects to be inundated with visitors this year for the United States’ 250th anniversary, the MLB All-Star Game, and the FIFA World Cup games.
“I will always look back at my time at PHL and PNE fondly,” Saeed said in a statement Thursday. “I am confident that our airports are ready to welcome the world for the events of 2026 and beyond.”
“From the start, by addressing the unhoused situation at PHL with a caring, multiagency approach, this team was committed to ensuring that through strategic investments and thoughtful planning, PHL and PNE are in a position of strength to continue to enhance airport operations for an even brighter future,” Saeed said Thursday.
Students and teachers from two Philly area private schools joined up with activists and protesters Friday morning at the President’s House in Independence National Historical Park to demand that the site’s slavery exhibit be restored after it was abruptly dismantled last month.
“Whitewashing history is a totalitarian gimmick,” read one sign in a crowd that included young and older people. “All our stories must be told,” read another.
The “teach in” was held in front of a granite wall etched with the names of nine enslaved people owned by U.S. founding father and first president George Washington. The wall is one of the few remnants of the slavery exhibit that was dismantled by order of the Trump administration.
Standing at a lectern, the students, from Solebury School in Bucks County and Friends Select in Center City, read the biographies of the enslaved whose names had been etched on the wall.
Activist and criminal defense attorney Michael Coard told the crowd he helped to create the slavery exhibit after learning that Washington owned enslaved people — and realizing that his educators had failed to teach him about it.
“When I learned about that, I was enraged, because I’d never heard about it,” Coard said.
With the help of elected officials, the President’s House Site became a reality in 2010, Coard said.
But when the Trump administration issued its “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” executive order last March, Coard knew that the exhibit could be targeted. The order calls on the U.S. Department of the Interior to remove historical exhibits that “perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history” or “disparage Americans past or living.”
Attorney Michael Coard makes a social media post at the now removed explanatory panels that were part of an exhibit on slavery at President’s House Site in Philadelphia, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
“Anything pertaining to Black people, he was opposed to it,” Coard said of President Donald Trump.
Since then, Coard said, there’s been a furious legal battle to have the site restored. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker sued the federal government. A judge ordered the government to safeguard the exhibits, which are currently in storage, while the issue plays out in federal court.
Coard encouraged people to sign a petition, attend protests, and stay involved in future protests.
“Just because you can’t do everything, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do anything,” Coard told the crowd, quoting poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron.
Solebury School college counselor Erin Wallace joined the 50 students who traveled by bus to the site for the teach-in.
Wallace said the students are “very active” in following national politics, and were eager to attend the protest. About 25% of the student body attended, Wallace said.
“It was an overwhelmingly positive response,” Wallace said.
Workers remove the display panels about slavery at the President’s House Site in Independence National Historical Park Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. The fate of exhibits at the site, which serves as a memorial to the nine people George Washington enslaved there during the founding of America, had been in limbo since President Trump’s executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” directed the Department of the Interior to review over 400 national sites to remove or modify interpretive materials that “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”
Solebury School history teacher Don Kaplan of Elkins Park attended the first vigil after the site was shuttered. Kaplan said he organized the teach-in student protest because it is relevant to what he teaches his 9th- and 11th-grade students.
“I just thought to myself, we need to address this,” Kaplan said.
Kaplan asked that his students not be quoted directly. But after the rally, he struggled to keep his 11th graders from weighing in as he was interviewed for this story.
“We should teach all history,” two students said.
They explained that in Kaplan’s class, their research often shows that historical figures are not purely good or evil and were shaped by myriad forces.
To Kaplan, that stands in contrast to the Trump administration’s perspective on teaching history, which seeks to eliminate “negative” stories about America’s founders.
“That’s not what we do,” Kaplan said. “We have to teach every possible perspective.”
The late Maya Angelou had a saying that goes, “When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.”
She’s gone now, but that was some really good advice.
I am reminded of the late author’s wisdom after watching and rewatching a blatantly racist video that President Donald Trump posted on Thursday on Truth Social. It includes AI-generated imagery depicting former President Barack Obama and his wife as dancing primates.
I am so disgusted.
Anything to make the Obamas look bad. I wish I could share a photo of it with this column, but it’s too offensive. I’d tell you to go see his Truth Social account and look it up yourself, but I learned while writing this column that he has taken it down.
Trump’s boorishness is no surprise. He has been showing us who he is and what MAGA is about since even before he came down that escalator at Trump Tower in 2015 and called Mexicans rapists and drug dealers.
So it’s entirely fitting that night he would reshare a video repeating false claims about the 2020 presidential election, which he lost, that includes vile imagery about the 44th president.
For many of 44’s supporters, the Obamas represented America at its best. And no matter where one stands politically, it would be hard to argue that Obama himself ever succumbed to the kind of impulsivity, rudeness, and disrespect we regularly see these days out of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
But Trump is a petty, vindictive man whose obsession with the Obamas goes way back. It began in 2011, when Trump deliberately started a campaign of lies about Obama, claiming he wasn’t born in America and therefore ineligible to occupy the Oval Office.
Some pundits argue that Trump’s Obama envy helped fuel his own run for the presidency. And now that he is in the White House for a second term, you’d think he’d be over it. But judging from the way he keeps disparaging Obama, he’s not.
President Barack and Michelle Obama wave to the crowd from a balcony at the Grand Hotel in Oslo, Norway, after he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize at the city hall in 2009.
Trump also ordered the installation of plaques under the photos of his presidential predecessors, and used the one under Obama’s to bash his legacy, calling him “one of the most divisive political figures in American history” and making other false claims.
Plaques of explanatory text are seen beneath a framed portrait of former President Barack Obama on the Presidential Walk of Fame on the Colonnade of the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Washington. Portraits of President Donald Trump and former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush with plaques of text below are seen on the Presidential Walk of Fame on the Colonnade of the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025, in Washington.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to walk Trump’s post back, writing, “This is from an internet meme video depicting President Trump as the King of the Jungle and Democrats as characters from the Lion King.”
She added via text, “Please stop the fake outrage and report on something today that actually matters to the American public.”
There’s nothing fake about our outrage. We see Trump. We know what he’s doing by pulling out that old racist trope. Even Black Trump supporters like Sen. Tim Scott (R., S.C.) see this for what it is. “Praying it was fake because it’s the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House. The President should remove it,” Scott wrote on social media.
To deal with the snow, the city has deployed roughly 1,000 workers and 800 pieces of snow-removal equipment, and instituted programs to break up ice at crosswalks and streets in residential neighborhoods, among other efforts. But to some Inquirer readers, the solution has been right in front of us all along.
“I know we used to toss snow into the river,” one reader wrote via Curious Philly, The Inquirer’s forum for questions on all things local. “What happens to it now?”
In the past, the city has dumped snow into the Delaware River and the Schuylkill on various occasions. But in recent decades, that practice has been used rarely — if at all — primarily over environmental concerns. Here is what we know:
An old practice
Newspaper archives show references to dumping snow in the Delaware and Schuylkill dating back at least to the late 19th century — during a storm colloquially known as the “Great Arctic Outbreak of 1899.” That storm dumped 19 inches of snow on Philadelphia around Valentine’s Day.
In the aftermath, the city sought permission from its Board of Port Wardens to dump snow in the rivers surrounding Philadelphia, but there were concerns over the “considerable amount of dirt” that would be thrown into the water.
The practice was utilized in the winter of 1909, when 21 inches of snow fell. Initially, snow was dumped into the rivers at three points, but officials later expanded approved dumping sites to be “at any point and from any wharf” along either river.
“It was contended that this was perfectly proper, since snow is not refuse, but will readily melt after it is thrown into the water,” The Inquirer reported at the time.
Article from Jan 10, 1996 Philadelphia Daily News (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) <!— –>
The blizzard of ’96
Perhaps the most well-known modern use of Philadelphia’s rivers as a snow dump came in 1996, when a debilitating 30.7 inches of snow fell in early January. The city was left with few options, and got a permit from state environmental officials to dump snow in the rivers, Inquirer reports from the time indicate.
Within days, roughly 500 tons of snow were dumped into the rivers, and that total would grow into the thousands. Famously, city trucks were spotted dumping snow into the Schuylkill from the Market Street Bridge — until being asked to stop by the U.S. Coast Guard.
“We did advise the city to stop dumping snow into the Schuylkill. Our concern was the accumulation of ice in the river,” a Coast Guard spokesperson said at the time. The piles of snow in the river ran the risk of forming dams that could cause flooding.
The piles became so severe they had to be beaten back down. By mid-January, one Inquirer report noted, wrecking balls were sent in to break up at least one mountain of snow that threatened to clog the Schuylkill.
Article from Feb 22, 2003 The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) <!— –>
An ‘option of last resort’
The city again in 2003 dumped snow into Philadelphia’s rivers, this time in an attempt to mitigate the impacts from a February storm that left about 19 inches of the white stuff. This time, though, city officials seemed to at least feel bad about it, calling it an “option of last resort.”
For this storm, roughly 400,000 pounds of snow was dumped into the Schuylkill. But along with it went road salt, antifreeze, trash, and other pollutants, prompting concerns from regional environmental groups. That pollution, they said, could harm marine life and devastate the riverbanks.
“All the stuff that’s on the road surface goes into the water,” Delaware Riverkeeper Network head Maya van Rossum told The Inquirer that year. “This is not the appropriate way to deal with the snow. There are plenty of places on the land to put it.”
The dumping, Streets Commissioner Clarena Tolson said, was limited. And the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said it asked the city to only dump “virgin snow” into the rivers.
“We’re going to take some of that down to the Navy Yard. We will not dump in the river,” Tolson said. “There are environmental concerns with placing snow in the river. The snow accumulates pollutants and salt, and dumping it in the river would be a very extreme measure.”
The Center for Environmental Policy at the Academy of Natural Sciences applauded the Nutter administration’s decision, writing in a letter to The Inquirer that the move would “prevent serious environmental damages to the river.”
“Urban precipitation, including snow, acquires a witch’s brew of contaminants such as oil, grease, litter, road salt, and lawn fertilizer,” director Roland Wall wrote. “We salute the city for making a commonsense decision that will protect one of Philadelphia’s natural treasures.”
A pedestrian walks past a large pile of snow and ice along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway days after a fierce winter storm dropped up to 9 inches of snow and sleet, with freezing temperatures leaving large banks of ice and snow on streets and sidewalks in Philadelphia, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026.
So what do we do now?
On Wednesday, Carlton Williams, the city’s director of clean and green initiatives, said the city does not dump snow in Philadelphia’s rivers, as that practice is “not an EPA standard.” Instead, the city has gravitated toward removing the snow from city streets and placing it at 37 snow dump sites around Philadelphia.
The city did not respond to a request for comment regarding those dump sites’ locations. Some of them contain mounds of snow up to 12 feet high that stretch for blocks, Williams said Wednesday. Officials also brought in a snow-melting machine from Chicago.
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection guidelines, meanwhile, recommend municipalities push snow at least 100 feet away from surface waters, where it will be able to melt with less environmental impact.
“Dumping of snow directly into a stream carries with it the shock of loading de-icing chemicals and anti-skid agents,” the agency said in a recent recommendations document. “Allowing a natural melt provides a slow release of the water, dilutes the chemicals, and provides filtration of the solids through the soil.”
With the release of ESPN’s new 30 for 30 about the Philly Special on Friday night, Doug Pederson is back on the minds of Eagles fans. And that’s not the only reason why. The former Eagles coach was also spotted this week answering fan questions in an unusual way: over the public address system of an airplane.
Pederson talked about seeing Jalen Hurts grow after they drafted him in 2020, despite already having Carson Wentz as their starter. He also offered some advice for new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion.
"You know, we drafted Jalen Hurts for a reason."
They asked Doug Pederson about the new OC hire and he spent 90 seconds waxing poetic about his QB instead. pic.twitter.com/lpgrMOkUOP
“We drafted Jalen Hurts for a reason,” Pederson said over the microphone. “And we saw something in Jalen Hurts that we felt like he was going to be the starter at some point, he was going to be in the franchise at some point. Sooner, obviously, than later. In his defense, I think this is going to be his sixth offensive coordinator in his career.”
A former quarterback and coordinator himself, Pederson said he understands how difficult that can be, and noted that the Eagles have managed to be very successful despite all the turnover.
“That’s hard,” Pederson said. “But yet you look at the success the Eagles have had over the course of, really, since he’s started. They’ve won a Super Bowl, they’ve been in another Super Bowl. They’ve been to many playoff games. They’ve won a ton of football games. And, every year they’ve had a different offensive coordinator.”
Former offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who was replaced this offseason by Mannion, faced heavy criticism from fans during the 2025 season due to the team’s struggles on offense.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts will have another new offensive coordinator next year.
So Pederson’s advice to the Birds’ new OC? Work with Hurts.
“I don’t know a ton about [Mannion]. I just know he got to come in and he’s got to work with Jalen. He’s got to figure out what Jalen does best,” Pederson said. “Utilize his strengths, utilize the talent on offense get the run game going to where it was a year ago when they won the Super Bowl. If he does that then they’re going to have a lot of success moving forward.”
According to the fan on the flight who posted the viral video on Reddit, Pederson was there as part of a FanDuel Super Bowl event and took part in an interview before answering fan questions — like who he would rather have on his team, Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes. Pederson also gave his prediction for Sunday’s Super Bowl, where he picked the Seattle Seahawks over the New England Patriots.
Pederson has not coached since the 2024 season after he was fired following a three-year stint with the Jaguars. But he’s open to returning — and according to the Redditor on the flight, Pederson said he has some interest in currently open offensive coordinator positions, but that he is also enjoying spending time with his wife.
Members of the public in Norristown are demanding answers after a police cruiser responding to a 911 call Wednesday morning struck a naked man standing in an intersection.
The incident, captured on video, shows a police SUV apparently accelerating toward the man, who was standing on the road with other vehicles stopped around him. After being hit by the car, the man flies several feet in the air and hits the pavement. Police then rush out of the vehicle and surround the man.
Norristown police said one officer has been put on paid administrative leave while the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office investigates the matter.
Police have not released the name the officer or the victim. District Attorney’s office spokesperson Kate Delano confirmed that the man is alive, but declined to provide further details.
It’s a potential test for Norristown Police Chief Mike Trail, who has been on the job just about six months and is the fourth police chief to lead the agency in four years.
Trail took questions from community members at a public meeting Thursday. He said he wouldn’t be able to provide some details because they were part of the investigation, saying “my role here is to listen to you here tonight.”
Many of those questions centered on what residents who had seen the video perceived as the police officer’s decision to ram into the man.
Several people asked Trail whether agency policy ever would allow for a police officer to strike someone with a vehicle. Another speaker said she heard the car strike the man from her home.
Responding to questions, Trail pledged to make the police agency’s policies available to the public. He said he wants to initiate a mental health co-responder program, which would pair police officers with mental health experts trained to de-escalate situations.
“People experiencing mental health behavioral episodes are more likely to be victims of, to be subject to use of force by responding law enforcement officers because they lack the tools and the sophisticated training necessary to de-escalate.”
But according to Heather Lewis, who leads the Reuniting Family Bail Fund in Norristown, local police should already know how to work safely with people dealing with mental health issues.
Gov. Josh Shapiro blasted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Friday for buyinga Berks County warehouse that may be used to detain people.
“I’m strongly opposed to the purchase,” Shapiro said after speaking at an event at the Steamfitters Local 420 in Northeast Philadelphia.
Shapiro said the facility is “not what we need anywhere in Pennsylvania,” adding that he was not alerted ahead of time of ICE’s $87 million acquisition of the warehouse on 64 acres in Upper Bern Township.
“The secretive way the federal government went about this undermines trust,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro has grown increasingly vocal in his criticism of ICE and President Donald Trump in recent weeks as he’s toured the East Coast promoting his new memoir. In addition to voicing his opposition to the warehouse, Shapiro criticized Trump for sharing a racist video attacking former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.
The Democratic governor, who is widely seen as a contender for the White House in 2028, is in the midst of a reelection campaign against Trump-endorsed Republican Stacy Garrity, who has urged cooperation with ICE.
He said the commonwealth is exploring “what legal options we may have to stop” the ICE procurement, but he acknowledged “those options are very slim, given that the federal government is the purchaser.”
Shapiro told this audience of union workers and apprentices that the Berks County building would be better used for economic development.
At the same event, Shapiro announced a new $3 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant to expand the Steamfitters Local Union 420 Training Center, which he said would help “train the next generation of workers.”
Shapiro criticizes Trump over racist anti-Obama video
Duringthe union hall event, Shapiro also leveled criticism at the Trump administration for sharing on social media a racist video depicting Obama, the first Black president, and his wife, as apes.
When asked for a reaction, Shapiro said, “I actually agree with [Republican] Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina that it’s racist.”
Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, called the video “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” after Trump shared it to his Truth Social account Thursday evening.
Shapiro said thatTrump “seems to always find a lower and lower common denominator. We’re not going to get sucked down into the depths that this president seems to reach for each day.”
Trump took down the video early Friday afternoon.
The governor also strongly chided Trump for recently saying the federal government should be in charge of elections.
Specifically, Trump named Philadelphia, along with Detroit and Atlanta, as cities where the federal government should step in to run elections. The predominantly Black cities are in swing states and have long been targeted with Trump’s false claims of voter fraud.
“The president of the United States doesn’t run our elections,” said Shapiro. “County officials run our elections, Republican and Democrat alike.”
“We’re not going to have interference from the White House,” added the governor, who served as attorney general when Trump tried to overturn Pennsylvania’s election results in 2020.
Sonder, the buzzy short-term rental company, is no more. But some of its former properties across Philadelphia are taking on new lives.
At least three of Philly’s last five Sonder properties have new ownership and have already reopened or are about to as boutique short-term rentals.
The former competitor with Airbnb and Vrbo touted modern “apartment-style hotels” nationwide. In November, when Sonder announced that it was closing, citing “severe financial constraints,” it marked a chance for local and national operators to swoop in and snag desirable properties.
As first reported by the Philadelphia Business Journal, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts partnered with the hospitality company Reside to reopen the Sonder property at 325 N. 13th St.in Callowhill in January. The 96-unit building is now called Heid Lofts by Reside.
The Queen Hotel at 628 S. Fifth St.in Queen Village is now being managed by Sosuite, a Philly-based short-term rental company that has taken over other previous PhillySonder properties over the years. The 30-unit property reopened under Sosuite in November.
The Edison at 312 N. Second St. in Old City is working to reopen as a 24-unit rental property in the coming weeks under operator PHL Stays, the Business Journal reported. The company is run by Jake Tovey, who operates a similar business in Pittsburgh called Pittsburgh Furnished Rentals.
As for the remaining former Sonder haunts, The Arco at 1234 Locust St. in Midtown Village is still closed, while the Witherspoon Building at 130 S. Juniper St. in Center City is pivoting to become a traditional apartment building with a mix of 186 studio and multi-family units.
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