It was C.T. Vivian’s bold challenge of a segregationist sheriff while trying to register Black voters in Selma, Alabama, that sparked hundreds, then thousands, to march across the Edmund Pettus bridge.
"Abbot Elementary” star Sheryl Lee Ralph performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Ralph began the song dubbed the Black national anthem as a reflective ballad, and it became a soaring hymn as it went on.
#SuperBowlLVII
#FlyEaglesFly
Harriet Tubman has arrived in Philly, just in time for her 200th birthday.
'Journey to Freedom’ will remain on view at City Hall until March 31. It depicts the last person she brought to freedom, a child she ultimately adopted.
Details here →
Democrats have won control of the Pa. House by sweeping three special elections.
The victories bring an end to a dozen years of GOP power in the chamber.
Pa. AG Josh Shapiro is in federal court today to give oral arguments in support of his motion to block “illegal conduct” by the USPS.
via
@Kenny_Cooper_Jr
Marc Lamont Hill recently opened a coffee shop on Germantown Ave. to flip the stereotype of gentrification on its head.
#WHYYGentrified
“I can’t reverse gentrification with one bookstore, but what I can do is help model an alternative to what gentrification looks like."
#BREAKING
: Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley has resigned after admitting to having the remains of the 1985 MOVE bombing victims cremated and disposed of.
Today is the 36th anniversary of the MOVE bombing.
NEW: President Biden has appointed Dr. Ala Stanford, the founder of Philly's Black Doctors Consortium, to lead the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Region 3 office.
The Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium first embarked on a mobile testing and vaccination operation.
Now, it's set to open a clinic offering primary care.
via
@ncannellf
Judge Anne Marie Coyle (& dog) were escorted to her car by police today amid protesters.
She's the only Philly judge who has rejected every request for the emergency release of incarcerated ppl in county jails. She's even increased bail for some.
Pa. state House Rep. Dan Frankel had this message for his GOP colleagues in Harrisburg, and for other Republicans considering supporting Mastriano: “There is no coming back from this.”
via
@katieemeyer4
✨ We are thrilled to announce that
@cherrigregg
is joining our team as an on-air host ✨
Formerly at KYW Newsradio, she comes to WHYY with deep ties and connections to the Philly region and its communities.
Welcome, Cherri!
#BREAKING
: Bristol Borough School District has announced that it has canceled all of its student lunch debt — a total of over $20,000.
@_emilyrizzo_
reports.
Pa. state
@SenMastriano
's campaign spent thousands of dollars on charter buses ahead of the Washington D.C. rally.
The same week the payments were made, he posted an event on Facebook offering bus rides to the D.C.
Hours before
#SuperBowlLVII
, the stakes will be lower. The players will be cuter.
Nearly 20 shelter pups from across the Delaware Valley are set to frolic, tumble, and snooze their way through Puppy Bowl XIX.
via
@mariapulcinella
A suburban Philadelphia man accused of firing three shots into a Montco Democratic Party office on Inauguration Day has pleaded guilty to related federal charges.
#BREAKING
: The Philadelphia Historical Commission has voted to remove the Christopher Columbus statue in Marconi Plaza.
This marks the second-to-last procedural hurdle for
@PhillyMayor
's proposal to remove it.
Pa. just made a major change to the redistricting process.
It will no longer count state prisoners as residents of the districts where they’re incarcerated, but rather as residents of the districts where they originally lived.
@katieemeyer4
explains.
#BREAKING
: Philly officials urge all residents — including those fully vaccinated — to wear face masks in public indoor spaces, citing a rise in COVID cases and hospitalizations among children.
Whether it was through the air or on the ground, Jalen Hurts dominated the Super Bowl offensively for the Philadelphia Eagles.
It just wasn’t enough to outduel Patrick Mahomes.
#SuperBowlLVII
#FlyEaglesFly
“I know that we have an opportunity right now to … make sure that we have a country that doesn’t just talk about justice and fairness for all, but that actually makes it real."
—
@malcolmkenyatta
Police say they used tear gas on protesters on I-676 because they were rocking a trapped state trooper's vehicle and throwing projectiles.
Philly officials are struggling to produce evidence showing that actually happened.
via
@rw_briggs
+
@MaxMMarin
#BREAKING
: Philly will require all health care workers and faculty or students of colleges and universities to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 15.
#BREAKING
: New dashcam video from Philly's 1-676 protest contradicts officials’ claim that state troopers were in danger.
It includes audio of police saying the demonstrators were “peaceful.”
@rw_briggs
reports.
#BREAKING
: Masks will be required in all Pennsylvania K-12 schools.
Gov. Tom Wolf is reversing course amid a statewide COVID-19 resurgence that is filling hospital beds just as students return to class.
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Pa. lawmakers Saturday in Philadelphia, underscoring the critical role that their state will play in deciding the fate of reproductive rights at both the state and federal levels.
@SamSearles9
reports.
✨Join us in wishing
@AnnetteJH
a happy retirement ✨
She came to
@whyy
a seasoned journalist, with perspective, a sense of daring, and a commitment to amplifying voices of color.
After a 41-year career, her achievements are many.
She will be missed!
A Philly drag show is tackling climate change — on ice.
Performers hope audiences leave feeling “energized and curious” about solutions.
via
@tough_schmidt_
The Central Bucks South High School librarian papered his windows with posters of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel’s words, after the principal reversed the order of removal.
via
@EmilyKRizzo
Fifty-two school board directors from 25 Pennsylvania school districts have condemned the Central Bucks School board majority for “fostering intolerance,” “discrimination,” and targeting LGBTQ students “for political purposes.”
via
@EmilyKRizzo
President Trump said he may send “more federal law enforcement” to Philadelphia to deal with ongoing protests.
@PhillyMayor
called that kind of federal intervention both "ironic and offensive.”
An increase in concealed carry permits is leading to an increase in total homicides, according to a new study from Rutgers University Camden.
via
@SammyCaiola
Pete Buttigieg made his first trip to Delaware as a Cabinet member Friday.
The transportation secretary says President Biden's mammoth infrastructure package will benefit Delaware and the rest of America with cleaner air.
@BarrishCris
reports.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner called on leaders from the city’s business, academic, and government sectors to collaborate for a $100 million investment in community organizations to help stem gun violence.
Central Bucks West has told teachers not to use students’ preferred names and pronouns without parent approval.
Some teachers are pushing back, saying they won’t out trans students.
"I cannot be complicit in harming children."
@_emilyrizzo_
reports.
It's
@_emilyrizzo_
's first day as a reporter with our Philly suburbs desk.
And can we just say... she and
@Kenny_Cooper_Jr
make quite the team.
Welcome, Emily! 🎉🎉
Philadelphia’s firefighter and paramedics’ union are protesting their chapter’s endorsement of President Donald Trump.
Benjamin Windle, a fire service EMT, called the decision “unconscionable.”
Josh Kruger — a Philly journalist whose work appeared on WHYY and Billy Penn — was shot and killed inside his Point Breeze home.
Kruger was remembered as someone who “never stopped advocating for queer Philadelphians living on the margins of society."
NEW: Central Bucks' school board has ties to a Christian nationalist group, and is considering removing four LGBTQ books from its libraries.
@emilykrizzo
reports ↓
Council banned supervised injection sites in most of Philly last week, with enough votes to override a potential veto.
"If you really want to say you want to fix this problem ... then address it," Kenney said. "Stop trying to put your head in the sand."
Pew Charitable Trusts’ State of the City report finds that immigrants now make up the largest percent of Philadelphia’s population since the 1940s.
via
@E_B_Neil
#BREAKING
: Seven Philadelphia transit cops are under investigation for attending the “Save America Rally" that came before insurrectionists stormed the U.S. Capitol.
via
@rw_briggs
A man interviewed by TV news after the I-95 highway collapse is providing the internet with its most perfect example of Philly accent in a while.
via
@billy_penn
📣 THREAD 📣
We are thrilled to announce the launch of WHYY’S News & Information Community Exchange — a mutual aid, journalism collaborative dedicated to organizing, supporting, & developing grassroots news and information content creators →
Mount Airy’s Ryan Long won his fifth game straight on Thursday night, winning a total of $105,801. The Philly rideshare driver is also winning hearts across the globe.
ICYMI:
@KendraPHL
's push to limit landlords use of tenants’ eviction records passed City Council 16-1.
"With these bills, Philadelphia is continuing to set a nationwide precedent in protecting the rights and dignity of renters.”
JUST IN: Rite Aid is moving its headquarters to Philadelphia.
The company says the site is “designed specifically for in-person collaboration and company gatherings, rather than office spaces."
Central Bucks School Board attracted attention for book bans, anti-LGBTQ sentiments, and treatment of its students and staff.
On Tuesday, Democrats completed a clean sweep of all five board races.
@Kenny_Cooper_Jr
reports.
Despite threats of punishment from the school district, Pennridge High School students organized a memorial to honor the victims in Uvalde, and to take a stance against gun violence.
via
@_emilyrizzo_
Historically segregated blocks of Philadelphia saw crime rates drop by nearly 22% after even just a single home on the block received city-funded repairs, according to research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Kansas City benefited from a defensive holding call against Philadelphia on its final drive, allowing it to run out the clock before Butker’s kick.
#SuperBowlLVII
#FlyEaglesFly
AG Josh Shapiro says any consumers who believe they have been misled by Philly Fighting COVID should file a complaint with his office — online, by phone or by emailing charities
@attorneygeneral
.gov.
Details ↓
The Delaware Senate voted Thursday to require handgun buyers to get permits and training before making their purchases.
Similar efforts failed to pass in 2019.
It's a big night for women in
#Pennsylvania
. Democrat Chrissy Houlahan has won her congressional seat, along with Susan Wild, Mary Scanlon, and Madeleine Dean.
#Midterms2018
Plans to make the Parkway more of a “park” and less of a “way” are slowly progressing with new money to study improvements to the circle at the base of the art museum.
JUST IN:
@PhillyMayor
and
@PPDCommish
admit they were wrong about 676 protest tear-gassing.
The police commander who greenlit the use of teargas will accept a voluntary demotion, and officers involved will be fired.
Via
@rw_briggs
+
@MaxMMarin
The terrestrial headquarters of the Sun Ra Arkestra is a 3-story rowhouse in Philly's Germantown neighborhood. The house has partially collapsed, but Marshall Allen, 96, the band’s founding saxophone player and current leader, still lives and works there.
The Philadelphia International Airport will be the second airport in the nation to welcome evacuees from Afghanistan.
"Philadelphia stands in solidarity with Afghan refugees," said
@PhillyMayor
.
Philly's gun violence crisis is primarily taking the lives of Black men. Both churches and mosques are grappling with the aftermath.
"We all are tired of burying young people," said Sonnia Brown.
via
@SammyCaiola
A Central Bucks High School South librarian said a principal told him to take down posters with a quote from Elie Wiesel, for violating the new ‘advocacy’ policy. The principal later reversed the order.
@EmilyKRizzo
reports.
In honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 15 free little libraries will pop up throughout Philadelphia in the spring, made by new Philly carpenters mentored through the Carpenters’ Apprentice Ready Program.
NEW: Washington Avenue is going to be reduced from five lanes of vehicular traffic down to three next year, with the goal of reducing traffic accidents and fatalities.
Under a proposed law Councilmember Helen Gym plans to introduce today, Philadelphia companies with more than 50 employees would have to offer a transit tax benefit: letting workers pay for SEPTA passes with pre-tax salaries.
Philly is moving forward on a long-term plan to overhaul much of the Parkway with an eye toward improving access for bikes and pedestrians.
"We’ve got a parking lot at the end of our Champs-Élysées. That’s not the best use of that space.”
Staff at the Philadelphia Art Museum are unionizing.
@PMA_Union
say "it has never been more important for workers to have a say in our own working conditions."
Studies show that when black students are taught by black teachers, it can have a profound effect on their lives. Yet in Pa, just 5.6% of teachers are POC.
@AnnetteJH
talks to
@dalemezz
about what’s driving this trend & what’s being done to change it.
The Fraud Street Run, a charity 11-miler that starts at the Four Seasons hotel in Center City and ends at Four Seasons Total Landscaping, was born of the idea that Philly has a great sense of humor coupled with a desire to give back.
NEW: The South Philly police captain who came under fire for his handling of the demonstrations in Marconi Plaza has been removed.
It's one of several recent command-level changes in the department.
@rw_briggs
+
@MaxMMarin
share the details.