Happy Friday! Today we’re finally getting a reprieve from the heat, with highs just scraping the low 80s.
We start with a development in the Olney house saga. Specifically, a newly unearthed photograph of one of four missing women linked to the property.
Next, we unpack what a federal plan to “deregulate” Head Start could look like in Philly.
Plus, how Pennsylvania’s new data center regulations stack up against other states, and more news of the day.
— Laura Benshoff
(morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Missing in plain sight
Blair Tonzelli was reported missing in February 2023.
Friends last saw her the year before at a house in Olney. That property is now the site of a sweeping police investigation into the disappearances of four women.
The Inquirer has found that months after Tonzelli vanished, her picture remained on a pornographic website maintained by Raymond “R.C.” Horsch, a former occupant of the Olney house, who passed away last year.
Inquirer reporters recovered an archived version of his site, where Horsch posted hundreds of similar images of many still-unidentified women.
Reporters Ryan W. Briggs, Max Marin, and Ellie Rushing have the full story.
An uncertain future
One day early last week, Inquirer reporter Alfred Lubrano observed as 16 toddlers darted around a playground in Southwest Philadelphia, trailed by four teachers.
These were just a few of the estimated 7,500 low-income Philadelphia children who receive free education, health, or other services from Head Start.
Now, the 61-year-old federal program is poised for a major overhaul. The Trump administration plans to cut 1,400 of the program’s mandates.
Those changes would cause the number of students per teacher to rise “dramatically,” one Head Start provider told Lubrano.
Read his full story on the impact here.
What you should know today
- Following his executive order earlier this week, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Pennsylvania now has the “strictest guardrails in the nation” on data center development. We fact-checked that claim.
- In a related story, Pennsylvania’s DEP is currently weighing whether to issue permits for backup power generators for a planned Amazon data center in Bucks County.
- Police identified the man accused of chasing Center City pedestrians in a Chucky-style horror mask.
- The School District of Philadelphia faces a new lawsuit over its plan to relocate Kensington High students.
- Temple University will raise salaries for campus police.
- Scammers posing as WHYY’s Fresh Air host Terry Gross are conning media figures and celebrities.
- For the first time in its 14 years in Philly, organizers canceled last night’s Dîner en Blanc due to inclement weather.
Plus: What is the origin of Philly’s Shot Tower?
Welcome back to Curious Philly Friday. This is our forum for readers to ask about the city’s quirks and then we report the answers.
This week, we’re resurfacing an explainer from 2023 about a towering brick structure in Queen Village. Several readers wondered what its original purpose was, and how it came to be nestled among a playground and rec center.
It turns out, this building was once among the tallest structures in Philadelphia, and its height was key to its initial function. Read on for the full story.
Have your own burning question about Philadelphia, its local oddities, or how the region works? Submit it here and you might find the answer featured in this space.
🧠 Trivia time
What’s SEPTA’s name for its new bus route changes and updates?
A) SEPTA 2.0
B) On the Move
C) New Bus Network
D) Bus Revolution
Think you know? Test your local news know-how and check your answer in our weekly quiz.
What we’re …
🎬 Watching: Tony, the Anthony Bourdain biopic, starring South Jersey’s Dominic Sessa.
🤤 Salivating over: Jacket potatoes, matcha lattes, and other “little treats” in Grad Hospital.
📸 Discovering: That the first-ever selfie was taken in Philadelphia.
🪞 Envisioning: A new home for the Portal. [Spoiler alert: A lot of you like the Art Museum steps.]
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: The new CEO of Welcome America Inc., the nonprofit behind Philly’s Wawa Welcome America festival.
CHANEL MASONIC
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Nancy Gatti who correctly guessed Thursday’s answer: The Scottish Rite. A chaotic debate has broken out in Collingswood over who should be paying for the historic theater.
Photo of the day
Have a wonderful weekend, Philly! And if you or your kids are heading back to school on Monday, I hope you get to savor the final dregs of summer.
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