Philadelphia Daily News
HOW THEY ROLL
A decade-long void was filled: the whooshing winds of the peloton, the whooping and cheery sounds of cowbells, the whiffs of greasy food, and sips of cold beer. All of it returned to the city’s vistas Sunday as the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, one of...
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CRINGE WORTHY
Two years ago, every child in the kindergarten class at Eleanor Emlen Elementary in Mount Airy had vaccine protection against measles. A year later, the school’s kindergarten immunization rate had dropped to just 80%, putting students and the...
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SHERIFF SUPERVISION
A Philadelphia judge on Wednesday took the rare step of imposing six months of outside supervision of sheriff sales after years of dysfunction in processing deeds and distributing money from the auctions. The decision came after a hearing in City Hall...
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DEAR DOLLY
Dolly Parton, the rhinestones-to-riches daughter of Appalachia who for six decades ruled country music with an outsize personality and country wit that enshrined her as one of the 20th century’s most cherished American originals, died Tuesday in...
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HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Eighth graders tossed a football across the concrete schoolyard. A fourth grader broke into a dead run, intent on catching up with friends she hadn’t seen all summer. A teacher hugged a first grader with a shy smile and a giant pink backpack crammed...
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HEALTH IS WEALTH
Maleka Evans waited outside Octapharma Plasma in South Jersey at 8:30 a.m. on a recent sweltering morning, sweat beading on her face. A dozen other prospective donors had arrived before her, and the line was still growing a half hour before doors...
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WAR & PEACE
No matter where he is on the infield, Bryson Stott is only thinking about one thing. It could be second base, where he started the season, or third, where he’s been playing since the trade deadline. But even back in college and the minor leagues, when...
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SET IN STONE
A White House official said of the ballroom construction: “Given the current progress, the superstructure is beyond the point of return.” Lawyers for the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States said the administration had...
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NEW DATA
HARRISBURG — Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a sweeping executive order on Tuesday dramatically restricting data center development in Pennsylvania, marking a major shift from his initial embrace of the increasingly unpopular projects. Shapiro, a first-term...
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WHAT’S THE POINT?
Sixty days ago, seated beside French President Emmanuel Macron at a lavish dinner at the Palace of Versailles, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran and declared the beginning of the end of the U.S. conflict with...
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PHILLY REP
To witness the reaction to LeBron James’ decision to play in Philadelphia the next two seasons, you might have thought we’d beaten the Russians to the moon or ended the next world war. Folks drove down Broad Street honking their horns, heads hanging...
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‘A GOOD GUY’
Abdoulaye Cherif was asleep when his phone rang that morning, and he answered only because the display showed the call was coming from a prison. He was shocked to hear the voice of his father, who was supposed to be at work, driving for Uber. Mamadou...
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‘THE WORK WILL SHOW’
The Eagles held their first practice of training camp on Wednesday at the Jefferson Health Training Complex. Here were my observations from Day 1: Healthy Birds The Eagles announced that outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard was placed on the...
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THE STUFF OF LEGEND
The first thing people noticed about Jadin Aviles was his smile. It was bright and big, and became part of his identity. Not just because of his youthful spirit, but the work that shaped each glistening tooth. When Aviles was 9, his mother, Emelissa...
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PHILLY HOSTS THE ‘OLYMPICS OF MATH’
There’s math games and math art. Math theater and math music. Math for the family. Math for the kids. Mathdramatics. Math on stage. Math movies. Math podcasts. Math murals. Math rock stars. Math awards. Math in sports. Math in culture. Philly...
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SHORT END OF THE SPAN
The state of the University Avenue Bridge, long neglected and subject to vandalism, is attracting a wave of public scrutiny. An online petition that has collected hundreds of signatures calls for the historically significant span to be secured before...
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KEY TO THE CITY
LeBron James met Donovan McNabb, ordered a cheesesteak in South Philly, and stayed at a hotel just a few blocks from City Hall when he visited Philadelphia for the first time. But James — then a high school senior — had no interest in trekking to the...
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TOUGH AS NAILS
Kyle Kendrick used to walk into the batting cage he built in his Clearwater, Fla., backyard and just stand in it. He dreamed of having something like this when he was a kid and the former Phillies pitcher was in awe of what he had. “I would just look...
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DON’T BET ON IT
The tension between the rise of legalized sports betting and the specter of gamblers developing ruinous addictions came into sharp focus last week, between the stark recommendations of a nonpartisan Pennsylvania commission and a baseball star’s social...
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MANSPLAINING
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the U.S. war against Iran has cost $37.5 billion, so far, as he faced questions and protests at a Senate hearing ahead of a $95 billion GOP budget package to fund the military, along with aid to...
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PUMP IT UP
Even the Freedom Fuel Network promoted by President Donald Trump isn’t immune to rising gas prices. Yet, the Philadelphia-area network of gas stations is expanding anyway, according to the company’s website. The enterprise, currently made up of 25...
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‘ANGEL BIKE’
Dozens of sunflowers bloomed near 18th and Spruce Streets on Sunday morning in memory of Barbara Friedes, as family, friends, and others gathered to remember the CHOP pediatric chief resident. They were marking the second anniversary of when she was...
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A LITTLE KICK
Philadelphia has been flush with tourists flocking here for the World Cup and the nation’s 250th, patronizing local restaurants, bars, and stadiums. And in the aftermath, bar owners are weighing the exact size of any World Cup sales boom, how it...
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SMOKE SCREEN
Philadelphia’s jinxed July, which had already featured a record-setting dome of heat and microburst storms that razed hundred of trees, now includes a smothering, suffocating smoke. The polluted campfire-like vaporfrom Canadian wildfires plummeted air...
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CANDID CAMERAS
President Donald Trump’s administration has installed its own version of history at the President’s House Site, swapping panels on the brutality of slaveryat the site for displays that experts say sanitize George Washington’s role as an enslaver. The...
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HALT
BIDDEFORD, Maine — Trump administration officials told Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to suspend most vehicle stops after two deadly shootings within a week, people familiar with the decision said Tuesday. The order came after an ICE...
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PRIDE OF DELCO
While baseball’s biggest stars prepare to take the field at Citizens Bank Park for the MLB All-Star game Tuesday, the next generation of baseball talent delivered its own unforgettable moment Monday. The Texas Rangers Youth Academy came back from a...
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FAST & FURIOUS
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has declared a disaster emergency one day after at least four storms known as microbursts ripped through parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County, downing trees and power lines and causing electrical outages and...
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BUDDY BALL
DETROIT — The major league home run leader is taking his talents to the Home Run Derby. Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber announced Friday that he will participate in Monday’s competition at Citizens Bank Park as part of the All-Star...
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LARGER THAN LIFE
Philadelphia is gearing up for a star-studded week with the arrival of MLB’s midsummer classic. As Citizens Bank Park becomes a temporary home for some of the league’s top players, the Pennsylvania Convention Center will welcome fans to MLB’s All-Star...
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NO OTHER FIREWORKS
The first week of July has typically been one of Philadelphia’s most violent, with recent Independence Day weekends marked by mass shootings, police officers shot, and bursts of violence that left a dozen dead. But this year, amid a dramatic decline...
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TAXING ISSUES
The biggest spike in Philadelphia’s property assessments this year occurred in Kensington, a measure that means many homeowners in the long-struggling neighborhood are likely to see higher taxes amid a concerted effort by the city to clean up the...
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FRESH IDEAS
Cynthia Martini of Mantua Township visits Mood’s Farm Market every year to pick blueberries. During a typical summer, she collects 40 pounds of them. She used to bring her kids, but now that they’re older, she goes solo. Her routine on June 30 didn’t...
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NIFTY 250
An unscheduled and dramatic light and sound show — this one produced by nature — interrupted Philadelphia’s July Fourth extravaganza Saturday night, forcing crowds to evacuate the Parkway three hours before the man-made fireworks show was scheduled to...
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A BIG BIRTHDAY
As the mercury climbed above 100 degrees in the Philadelphia region two days before the nation’s 250th birthday, it was, it seemed, too hot for liberty as originally planned. Thursday marked the start of the Red White & Blue To-Do — Philadelphia’s...
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LET’S CROSS THAT BRIDGE
I’ve driven across the Ben Franklin Bridge countless times but until last week I’d never walked across it, and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge once, so I’ve quietly carried that shame with me for years. When I received a news release about the...
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RULING FOR THE AGES
The Supreme Court upheld the principle of birthright citizenship in a ruling for the ages on Tuesday, affirming amid rancorous national debate that people born in this country are American citizens. The decision handed a key loss to President Donald...
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IN HIS CORNER
“Smokin’” Joe Frazier is finally in his new home, just in time for the 250th birthday of the United States. City officials, alongside Frazier’s family, friends, and fans, on Monday unveiled the real-life heavyweight boxing champion’s statue at the...
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COLONIAL KEYS
The players amble into the auditorium on a cloudy May morning to run through their schemes and formations and make last-minute adjustments to the roster. Some are already in uniform — waistcoats and breeches — fueling up on Wawa coffee and bagels....
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IF WALLS COULD TALK
Philadelphia police and federal law enforcement agents have been searching an Olney home for nearly a week while working to determine if its owner has connections to at least two women who have been missing for years, according to law enforcement...
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LIVING HISTORY
In tricorn hats and tail coats, their locs, microbraids, and wavy tresses gathered into 17th century low ponytails, 27 Philadelphia-area high school students transformed into America’s Founding Fathers Wednesday evening at the Philadelphia High School...
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BROAD BLOSSOMS
A new landscaped median under construction for months in front of the Kimmel Center has reached completion — the down payment on a promised major redo of the Avenue of the Arts streetscape. The leafy ribbon down the middle of Broad Street from Spruce...
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KICKIN’ TIRES
MACUNGIE — President Donald Trump’s speech on manufacturing in a key Pennsylvania swing district repeatedly veered into other topics and musings about elections in other states, like Maine and California. It took the president nearly an hour to even...
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LIKE WATCHING PAINT DRY
President Donald Trump said that another round of repairs on the Lincoln Memorial’s Reflecting Pool will begin “immediately” as he continued blaming vandals for damage to the iconic basin, after a resurgence of algae and then peeling paint followed his...
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WORLD CUP FEVER
Eight years ago, when FIFA announced that the World Cup would be coming to the United States in 2026, a student in France felt a rush of excitement. He and his friends had been watching the international soccer tournament on television since they were...
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DON OF A NEW ERA
At noon on a bright June Tuesday, the scene at Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks & Pizza on the Wildwood boardwalk felt more like a South Philly block party than a soft opening. Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino worked the crowd at his new shop — hugging, shaking...
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HISTORIC REVERSAL
President Donald Trump’s administration can replace the slavery exhibits it removed in January from George Washington’s Philadelphia residence, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third...
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‘I HOPE YOU SUFFER’
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — After decades waiting for justice, relatives of women murdered by New York’s Gilgo Beach serial killer laid into him Wednesday before he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his admitted crimes. “A million years isn’t...
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STATUE OF LIMITATIONS
When Ecuadorian soccer content creator Leandro de Vera, aka DonFutbol, tied his country’s flag around the Rocky statue’s neck at the top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s steps, he was unaware of the butterfly effect he had set in motion. De Vera...
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FOUR MORE YEARS?
Through much of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s first two years in office, most political insiders in Philadelphia assumed she would cruise to reelection. After all, no mayor in the last eight decades in the deep-blue city has lost a bid for a second term....
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ARGUMENT ESCALATED
Three Philadelphia police officers were wounded in a shooting late Saturday after an argument with a retired city firefighter escalated, and the man opened fire on them in the street, law enforcement sources and city officials said. The gunman was...
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HOT ON THE WORLD CUP TRAIL
When organizers announced two years ago that Philly’s FIFA Fan Festival site for the World Cup would be at Lemon Hill, many Philadelphians responded with a collective: Huh? Located between the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Girard Avenue, the grassy...
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VIVA PHILLY!
OK, this scenario looked easy. Maybe I have what it takes. A passenger approaches you during your shift asking for directions to get to Northern Liberties from NRG station. I took the training class last week for SEPTA Ambassadors alongside about 35...
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ARK OF POSSIBILITY
FloatLab, a public art feature that will offer an eye-level view of the Schuylkill, finished its voyage up the East Coast from North Carolina to Southwest Philly on Wednesday. The 75-foot-wide floating structure arrived at its permanent home at...
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WE LOVE PHILLY
With the World Cup and its influx of fans just around the corner, the Fashion District has a new interactive installation: “Philly Love Stories.” Despite the name, this is not about romance; it’s about Philly love and pride. Two three-dimensional...
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‘PRIDE IS WHERE YOU STAND’
With the sun shining and the grand vista of the Philadelphia Art Museum steps framing a new venue, crowds poured into Philadelphia’s 2026 Pride festivities on Sunday — the first time the LGBTQ+ event was ever hosted on Benjamin Franklin Parkway. “This...
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SPEED BUMPS
White 150-pound cuboids with heart eyes have been delivering meals through Rittenhouse and a chunk of Center City since March, drawing jeers, hugs, endless candids, and numerous viral headlines. Yet for all the attention Philadelphia’s autonomous...
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SUN SCREEN
Highs in the 90s around here in early June aren’t all that special, but by the time this weekend is over Philadelphia may have experienced a climatological rarity. Afternoon temperatures are expect to crest past 90 degrees on Friday and Saturday, with...
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SEPTA REOPENS UNDERGROUND CONCOURSE
Six years after the South Broad Concourse was closed behind padlocked gates, SEPTA reopened the underground pedestrian passageway linking the 15th/City Hall and Walnut-Locust stations on Tuesday. The 1,500-foot stretch was unshackled at 7 a.m., 12...
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A CONCRETE ISSUE
About two weeks after the deadly April 8 collapse of a parking garage in Philadelphia’s Grays Ferry neighborhood, building inspectors shut down a new parking garage at a hospital in Toms River, N.J. “This building is declared unsafe for human...
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BOSS IN BUSINESS
Bruce Springsteen began Saturday night with a speech. Ever since President Donald Trump was elected for the second time, Springsteen has taken the extraordinary step of not letting his music speak for itself at the start of his shows. Instead, when...
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