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Category: Pennsylvania News

At Trump-promoted Freedom Fuel gas stations, prices are up and questions linger

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 stations spread across the region, garnered national attention earlier this month when it began selling regular gas for $3.47 a gallon — a nod to Trump, and 40 to 50 cents cheaper than other stations.

Gas station owners suddenly undercut, political observers, and government watchdogs wondered how long the promotion would continue.

It turns out, not long.

The Inquirer visited seven Freedom Fuel locations over several days, and while all were still selling gas cheaper than nearby competitors, the deep discounts from earlier were gone.

Gas prices are up everywhere, including the Freedom Fuel Network station on Edgemont Avenue in Brookhaven, Delaware County.Rob Tornoe /

Three Philadelphia gas stations and two Delaware County locations were among those within the network selling gas at $3.92 a gallon Monday. Near Philadelphia’s Freedom Fuel stations, competitors were charging $3.89 to $4.09 for a gallon of gas. The same was true in South Jersey, where Freedom Fuel stations in Marlton and West Berlin were selling gas around 10 cents a gallon less than their nearby competitors.

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Selling gasoline is a low-margin business, with owners making just “a few pennies” of profit per gallon sold, according to Eliezer Fich, a finance professor at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business.

“They can sustain those losses for a little while, but it becomes unsustainable if you can’t offset that with a convenience store or a car wash,” said Fich.

Several Freedom Fuel stations visited by Inquirer reporters were small, appeared somewhat rundown, and offered a limited selection of products beyond gas. One location had an inoperable convenience store.

Fich doesn’t know the specifics of Freedom Fuel. He said independent stations banding together can offer purchasing power with refineries, which can be one route to securing lower fuel costs. But those savings wouldn’t come close to supporting the deep discounts the stations were offering.

Despite the White House’s involvement in promoting Freedom Fuel, a spokesperson said the company received no government subsidies and did not obtain fuel at a lower cost. The below-market prices would exist “for as long as the company chooses,” the spokesperson said.

If that’s the case, the business itself was already absorbing dramatic losses before the United States resumed attacks on Iran, leading to a jump in gas prices over the past week.

The average cost of a gallon of fuel in Philadelphia was $4.17 a gallon Monday, up from $3.95 a gallon last week, according to AAA. Nationally, the average cost of a gallon of gas also jumped back to $4 a gallon, up from $3.14 a gallon compared to last year.

While questions remain, Freedom Fuel plans to expand

Little is known about who is taking on the likely losses expected from the promotion.

Former Evesham Township mayor, Baltimore Ravens assistant coach, and self-proclaimed “proud Trump supporter” Randy Brown, along with former commodities trader Yoni Gontownik, both signed the certificate of formation, first obtained by The Newsground, an investigative news outlet. Neither could be reached for comment.

Cherry Hill developer Shamikh Kazmi and his brother Syed Kazmi are linked to at least six locations. The brothers, who have been embroiled in at least two lawsuits related to previous gas station ventures, also could not be reached for comment.

One of Shamikh Kazmi’s businesses was sued as a result of a lengthy trademark dispute with BP America Inc. and BP Products North America Inc. in 2021. That case ended with four deputies with the U.S. Marshals Service seized remaining brand signs in June 2022, according to court documents.

Also in 2021, the brothers were accused by Petroleum Marketing Group Inc, a fuel distribution company, of stealing thousands of gallons of gas from the company. Petroleum Marketing Group sued the brothers, who were ordered by a federal judge in February to pay $600,000.

Freedom Fuel stations across the Philly region offer cheap gas, feature local owners, and raise ethical concerns

The company has yet to receive payment.

Still, the people behind Freedom Fuel are looking at expansion.

“Since launch, drivers have flooded us with one request: bring Freedom Fuel Network to my area,” read the website Monday. “We heard you. Due to overwhelming demand for additional locations, we’re expanding to serve more communities with lower prices at the pump.”

The website did not give a timeline for when those additional stations could come online and did not respond to a request for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

July 21, 2026
Two Philly prosecutors accused DA Larry Krasner of telling them to ‘protect the office’ in a controversial appellate case

Two Philadelphia prosecutors have accused District Attorney Larry Krasner of instructing them to litigate a controversial appellate case in a manner that would “protect the office” — a highly unusual assertion that effectively accuses the city’s top law enforcement official of telling his staff to act in a way they now say was “incompatible with their ethical obligations and the interests of the Commonwealth.”

In a court document filed late Monday, Assistant District Attorneys Katherine Ernst and Steven J. Wildberger wrote that Krasner’s directive came after they had been seeking to persuade him to allow the state attorney general’s office to take over the appeal of Dennis Johnson, who is seeking to have his murder conviction overturned.

That case — which the district attorney’s office has been handling — has become a flash point in an ongoing debate about whether Krasner’s office has behaved improperly in its efforts to overturn flawed convictions.

And it received renewed attention last week, when a former prosecutor who was once assigned to Johnson’s appeal, and who had recommended that the conviction be overturned, said she had done so only at the direction of her boss. She also said she was encouraged to lie about aspects of the case in court to try to minimize scrutiny on the way the office handled it.

According to Ernst and Wildberger, they experienced similar pressures from Krasner.

As the office was weighing how to handle aspects of Johnson’s appeal this spring, they wrote, they tried to persuade Krasner to refer the case to the state attorney general’s office because of issues that had arisen internally over its handling.

One example, they said, was that a supervisor who was initially involved with the appeal — and who they believed had made mistakes while overseeing it — was still offering legal advice about it from a different role in the office, which Ernst and Wildberger viewed as self-interested and “inappropriate.”

But the district attorney’s office kept the case. And during the deliberations about how to move forward, Ernst and Wildberger wrote, they “received instruction from DA Krasner to litigate the case in a manner to ‘protect the office.’”

Then, in late June, Ernst and Wildberger wrote, they again asked Krasner to refer the case to state prosecutors, but “DA Krasner stated that there would be ‘consequences’ for anyone who notified the court of the conflict issues.”

Ernst and Wildberger nonetheless filed a notice in federal court saying they believed their office was beset by conflicts and should no longer handle Johnson’s appeal. Their filing Monday expanded on their reasons.

The accusations they lodged against Krasner represent a striking display of discord between line prosecutors and the city’s district attorney. And they come at a moment in which Krasner is under court scrutiny over his office’s actions in cases involving post-conviction review.

Krasner said in an interview Monday that although he had “a lot to say” about the latest filing, he was largely unable to comment because the case remains pending in federal court. A hearing at which many of the issues were being aired was cut short last week, and U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond has not yet scheduled the next portion of the proceeding.

“The DA’s office will be responding to the recent filing in the ethically appropriate way — on the record, because it is generally viewed as inappropriate and possibly unethical to comment during a pending hearing,” Krasner said.

The case on which the saga is centered is Johnson’s conviction for second-degree murder. A jury found him guilty in 2009 of having fatally shot Kenyatta Smith during a robbery outside a North Philadelphia convenience store two years earlier, and he was sentenced to life in prison.

Johnson appealed his conviction, in part because he said his trial attorney was ineffective. And in 2022, then-Assistant District Attorney Jaclyn Mason filed court documents agreeing with that assertion and saying Johnson’s conviction should be overturned.

But earlier this spring, Ernst and Wildberger signed on to a brief that tried to walk that recommendation back. They said that Mason’s filing had been filled with “material misstatements” and that they could no longer support it.

And according to Ernst and Wildberger’s latest brief, as they were having internal discussions in recent weeks about how to proceed with the case, the supervisor who had approved Mason’s work, Matthew Stiegler, was continuing to offer his thoughts on what to do. That included speaking to Krasner — which Ernst and Wildberger viewed as a clear conflict of interest because of his potential interest in seeking to clear his name rather than evaluate the case on its merits.

That development and others led the pair to “repeatedly” implore Krasner to refer the case to the attorney general’s office, Ernst and Wildberger wrote, which he did not do.

Krasner’s subsequent instructions to “protect the office” only deepened the degree of their office’s conflicts, they wrote, because such statements could lead to questions about whether prosecutors were acting primarily out of self-interest.

It was not immediately clear how or if Monday’s filing might affect Johnson’s appeal. Ernst and Wildberger said they were prepared to testify before Diamond about the situation, and they are expected to take the stand as the case proceeds.

Diamond has not yet set a timetable for when that testimony might occur.

July 20, 2026
A Chester County judge has reversed a township’s denial of luxury homes on hundreds of acres of Rock Hill Farm

A township’s decision to deny the development of luxury homes on the rolling 246-acre Rock Hill Farm was reversed by a Chester County judge last week, which could pave the way for construction of more than a dozen houses.

In his order on July 15, Court of Common Pleas Judge Anthony Verwey ruled that Willistown Township’s board of supervisors had erred by denying in 2024 developer Rock Hill Farm Acquisition LLC’s preliminary plan, due to the “clear and unambiguous language of the zoning ordinance.”

Willistown’s elected supervisors plan to explore an appeal, the township said in a statement Monday.

But until then, the developer has the green light to submit final plans.

Willistown and nearby residents, who came together to form the campaign “Save Rock Hill Farm,“ had hoped that the property could remain as open meadows, woods, and waterways and eventually become publicly accessible open space. It’s something a number of communities have championed in Chester County — and have won, in a number of cases — seeking to preserve open space and fend off dense development.

But developer J. Brian O’Neill, who purchased the property for $25.4 million several years ago, has sought to build up to 22 luxury homes there.

In their appeal challenging the supervisors’ vote, the developer argued that the township had “erred and abused its discretion by denying its application” because it did not meet the township’s requirements for an open space conservation (OSC) district overlay, which requires that, in areas zoned for residential use, a portion of the tract is held as common open space, according to the Chester County planning commission.

But the proposed development was located in the township’s rural district, according to the opinion.

The township had countered that the overlay was applicable to the rural district because it is also a residential district.

Verwey ultimately agreed with the developer’s argument, finding that “residential district is not a designated zoning within the township.”

“Taking an appeal would just compound the damages that they’ve cost the owner of the property by insisting on applying the OSC district to lands in the RU district,” said Marc Kaplin, an attorney for the developer, when reached for comment Monday.

Verwey wrote in his opinion that the zoning ordinance makes the open space conservation overlay “applicable to a zoning district that does not exist, does not appear on the Map, and it was an error” for the township to deny the application for failure to comply with the overlay’s requirements.

Residents behind the Save Rock Hill Farm campaign sounded the alarm Monday after the township’s statement came out, rallying the Facebook page’s more than 770 followers to “reach out to our supervisors and ask them to FILE AN APPEAL!”

In a statement late Monday, the group said it remained “steadfast in our commitment to pursuing every available opportunity to preserve open space and protect Rock Hill Farm, an invaluable community resource and home to the pristine headwaters of Crum Creek.”

“We are deeply grateful for the continued support and engagement of our community throughout this process,” the statement continued. “We also thank Willistown Township for exploring all available legal options, including an appeal, in support of these important preservation efforts.”

This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

July 20, 2026
‘One of the most terrifying sexual assault cases’: Chester County man accused of raping kids, women across region

A handyman who worked in homes across southeastern Pennsylvania raped and sexually assaulted children and unconscious women, and produced a vast collection of photographs and videos documenting his crimes, Chester County prosecutors said Monday.

David Vincent Rosa, 54, faces more than 300 charges, including rape of a child, aggravated indecent assault of a child, and hundreds of counts tied to creating and disseminating child pornography, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.

Rosa, a transient handyman and housepainter whose last known address was in Chester County, used his work to gain entry into homes and prey on the people inside them, investigators said.

He recorded the attacks, they said, amassing a digital trail of evidence that spans a period of several years.

“It is one of the most terrifying sexual assault cases that we have come across in some time,” Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe said in a news conference Monday.

Chester County District Attorney Christopher de Barrena-Sarobe holds a news conference on Monday to announce charges against David Vincent Rosa.Steven M. Falk / For The Inquirer

The charges stem largely from two videos investigators discovered on a phone they said belongs to Rosa. In one, a man investigators identified as Rosa filmed himself touching a young girl. A second clip, also of Rosa, they said, depicts the rape of a child.

But the case has widened beyond those recordings: Stored on Rosa’s devices and in his accounts, de Barrena-Sarobe said, investigators also found videos of him sexually assaulting additional children and women.

The women “appear to be unconscious” in the videos, de Barrena-Sarobe said, and “they may not know that they have been victimized.”

The children in the videos appear to be younger than 10 years old, he said. De Barrena-Sarobe declined to say exactly how many victims appear in the recordings, saying only that they showed “multiple” women and children. The videos and images are dated from 2017 to 2024, he said.

Investigators traced recent logins to a Comcast account in West Whiteland Township, where records indicated Rosa lived, according to the affidavit. They also identified Rosa as the man seen in multiple images, the document said.

Chester County and West Whitefield Township authorities began investigating Rosa in March, after receiving three dozen cybertips that child sexual abuse materials had been uploaded to Google accounts. The tips — reported by Google and routed through a regional Internet Crimes Against Children task force — involved six email accounts containing hundreds of images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of girls as young as 2, investigators said.

In April, authorities searched Rosa’s home, where they found a cell phone with a video matching the materials reported in the cybertips, according to the affidavit.

Rosa was arrested April 2 and charged with 100 counts of child pornography, court records show.

He has been held in Chester County Prison since then, unable to post bail, de Barrena-Sarobe said.

Prosecutors filed hundreds of additional charges last week, after investigators extracted files from Rosa’s phone and interviewed witnesses who identified one of the children.

More than 1,000 still images captured from the videos were recovered from Rosa’s phone, investigators said, and records provided by Google showed the videos were shared more than 50 times on the company’s chat app.

Investigators also said in the affidavit that they recognized Rosa’s voice in both videos after speaking with him during his arrest and in a recorded interview.

Detectives identified the first child victim in early June, after interviewing a woman who identified Rosa and the child from still images, according to the affidavit. The woman told investigators that Rosa had stayed for about a week at a Wind Gap home where she and the child lived in 2022. He was doing painting work at the house, she said.

She described two incidents that had alarmed the household: Rosa was once discovered in a basement crawl space with the child, she told investigators, and another time, the girl was found in bed with him under a blanket. It was unclear whether anyone had reported either incident to authorities at the time.

That account matches the pattern investigators now fear extends further. Rosa lived throughout the region and has previous arrests in Philadelphia, Allentown, Malvern, and Saylorsburg, de Barrena-Sarobe said.

Investigators are asking anyone who hired him — or knows someone who did — over the last 10 years to come forward.

David Vincent Rosa is pictured in photos shared by Chester County prosecutors on Monday.Steven M. Falk / For The Inquirer

Prosecutors released a series of photographs showing Rosa’s changing appearance over the years, along with an image of a room they are trying to locate: what appears to be an unfinished basement with a bed covered in rust-colored bed linens, where investigators say some of Rosa’s crimes were committed.

Authorities described Rosa as 5-foot-4 and weighing about 150 pounds.

Although de Barrena-Sarobe said Rosa is presumed innocent until proven otherwise, he added that “we strongly feel like this was a predator that was out in our region creating and destroying lives.”

Rosa’s attorney did not return a phone call Monday afternoon.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Chester County Detectives at 610-344-6866.

July 20, 2026
Taylor Farms recalls lettuce in Pa. and N.J.; FDA says consumers should avoid it despite false positive Cyclospora test

Pennsylvania and New Jersey are among the 27 states seeing recalls of shredded lettuce products sourced to Taylor Farms, the produce company at the center of a food safety investigation into an outbreak of “explosive” diarrhea caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis.

Federal officials announced over the weekend that a sample of lettuce taken from a Taylor Farms shipment at the U.S.’s southern border with Mexico tested positive for Cyclospora.

The test involved lettuce that wasn’t affected by the California-based produce company’s recall.

The results turned out to be a false positive. As of Sunday, federal officials said, they had not found a positive test for Cyclospora in a produce sample.

Still, the Food and Drug Administration tweeted Monday, there is “overwhelming epidemiological data supporting the current voluntary recall” from Taylor Farms.

Officials notified the public because it was “actionable public health information,” acting Deputy Commissioner for Food Donald Prater said in a press call Monday.

Thousands of people have been sickened in a cyclosporiasis outbreak, with cases reported across Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia.

Investigators at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found more than 1,600 people in those states became ill after they ate iceberg lettuce from Taco Bell, which sourced lettuce from Taylor Farms.

Taylor Farms did not immediately return a request for comment.

Cases in Pa. and N.J.

Cases of cyclosporiasis have been reported in 34 states, including Pennsylvania, though case counts here were low as of last week, affecting 28 people since the beginning of the year, including 14 in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

New Jersey health officials said the state had recorded 46 cases between May 1 and July 16. Cases typically rise in the late spring and summer months, and this year’s are in line with a typical year’s case count.

It’s unclear whether anyone in Pennsylvania or New Jersey was sickened after eating Taylor Farms products. The CDC said it was also investigating outbreaks and other cases that are not connected to the Michigan outbreak.

National lettuce product recall

The FDA has listed products affected in the recall on its website. People who bought affected lettuce should throw it out immediately and not eat it, the CDC says.

They should wash items and surfaces that might have touched the lettuce with hot, soapy water, and avoid recalled lettuce at Taco Bell or other restaurants. Customers should ask restaurants about the source of their lettuce before ordering it.

Cyclosporiasis is caused by a single-celled parasite that spreads through fecal material. It can infect a person’s gut after they consume food or water contaminated by feces. Common symptoms include watery diarrhea, a loss of appetite, cramping, nausea, and fatigue.

July 20, 2026
Delco officials are investigating a racist voicemail threatening the county sheriff

Delaware County detectives are investigating a racist, threatening voicemail left for county Sheriff Siddiq Kamara, officials said Monday.

The caller, whom police are working to identify, used a racial slur to refer to Kamara, who is Black, and called for “death to Islam.” Kamara is a Muslim whose family came to Delaware County from their native Liberia.

The caller also told Kamara he was going to hunt, attack, and torture him when Kamara least expects it, according to a recording of the voicemail that was reviewed by The Inquirer.

“I will find you. I know where you are,” the male caller said. “You are an amateur.”

Kamara, in a statement, said despite the caller’s attempts to intimidate him, the incident has strengthened his resolve.

“Let me be clear: There is a fundamental difference between criticism and criminal conduct. Public officials should expect scrutiny, disagreement, and accountability — that is part of our democracy,” he said. “But threats of violence, intimidation, and hate cross the line and will be treated accordingly.”

Kamara, 31, was elected sheriff in November. He is the youngest person in county history to hold the position.

A career police officer, Kamara said he was motivated to run for office after a personal tragedy: His cousin, Fanta Bility, was struck and killed by a stray bullet fired by Sharon Hill police officers in 2021.

In a statement Monday, the Delaware County Council said it “unequivocally condemns these threats in the strongest possible terms” and stands with Kamara.

Members of the Philadelphia chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations called the incident “the latest example of the growing climate of intolerance that seeks to intimidate public servants based on their race, religion, or national origin.

“No public official should be subjected to racist intimidation for simply serving their community,” Ahmet Tekelioglu, executive director of CAIR-Philadelphia, said. “Attacks like these are not only directed at one individual They are intended to send a message of fear to entire minority groups — particularly the Black, immigrant, and American Muslim communities.”

July 20, 2026
Bucks County sheriff’s deputy took naked pics of people in custody and shared them, DA says

A Bucks County sheriff’s deputy used his personal cell phone to take naked pictures of two people he encountered as part of his job, including a mentally ill man at whose home he was serving an arrest warrant, prosecutors said Monday.

Ryan Gaffney, 46, has been charged with official oppression for taking the photos, as well as unsworn falsification to authorities for lying about the photos and attempting to dissuade investigators by sending them doctored screenshots of his phone’s photo library.

Gaffney, of Feasterville, shared the photos to get “his kicks” with civilian employees at the Bucks County Justice Center, Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan said at a news conference Monday.

“Mr. Gaffney’s conduct is a disgrace. It’s an abuse of the trust given to him by the sheriff’s office and by taxpayers,” Khan said. “When a deputy sheriff breaks the law, and lies about it, he erodes the public trust that our law enforcement officers work every day to build.”

Gaffney was charged via summons, and has not yet been arraigned on the charges, court records show. He was fired from his position with the county sheriff’s office in June, officials said Monday.

Ryan Gaffney was sworn in as a Bucks County sheriff’s deputy in 2023.Courtesy Bucks County Commissioners

Gaffney’s attorney, Paul Lang, said Monday that he will “address this case in court, not through one-sided social media posts or press conferences.”

“Ryan Gaffney deserves due process, not trial by publicity,” Lang said. “These are allegations, not facts, and we look forward to answering them where they belong, in a courtroom.”

The photo of the first victim was taken Jan. 30, when Gaffney and four other sheriff’s deputies served a warrant at the man’s home in Middletown Township, according to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest.

When the deputies arrived, the document said, the man was naked from the waist down, and asked deputies to allow him to put pants on. Before he could do so, Gaffney used his personal cell phone to take a photo of the man’s genitals, according to the affidavit.

A review of Gaffney’s body-worn camera footage showed that he placed his hand over the camera while taking the surreptitious photo. Other deputies at the scene said they were unaware that Gaffney had taken the photo until later.

One of those deputies saw Gaffney sharing the photo with female civilian employees at the courthouse, and reported his conduct, the affidavit said. Investigators later learned he had also texted the photo to other contacts in his cell phone.

Bucks County Sheriff Danny Ceisler said Monday that he reported Gaffney’s conduct to Khan’s office immediately after learning about it.

The former deputy’s behavior, Ceisler said, “was beyond unacceptable and not in any way representative of the highly professional deputies who serve this county with integrity every day.”

While investigating the case, county detectives found that Gaffney had taken a photo of another person during a separate arrest in December 2024.

A photo of that person’s buttocks, taken while he was handcuffed, was shared with 12 people, including other members of the sheriff’s office’s warrant division, the document said.

While being questioned by investigators, Gaffney denied taking the photographs and signed a sworn affidavit affirming that. Through his attorney, he also provided screenshots of his phone’s photo library that showed the photos were not on the device.

However, investigators downloaded the contents of Gaffney’s phone, and were able to recover both images, which had been deleted.

Gaffney was sworn in as a sheriff’s deputy in June 2023.

Before joining the office, Gaffney served in Iraq with the Air Force in 2005, and as a part-time officer with Penndel Police, according to Bucks County Commissioners.

Gaffney also works as a part-time officer with Hulmeville Borough Police, one of three members of the police force in the small municipality, and was sworn in there in late 2022, according to a borough newsletter published in January 2023.

Hulmeville Police Chief John Baran did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

July 20, 2026
Abington is paying the feds to ‘harass’ geese with lasers, pyrotechnics, and boats

Like many American suburbs, Abington accidentally spent centuries building a goose paradise. Now, the feds will help the township evict the waterfowl from their ideal habitat.

Abington Township approved a contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on July 9 for Canada goose abatement in Alverthorpe Park, where airborne birds are attacking people driving golf carts, digging into sand traps, and dropping slippery, bacteria-laden feces onto walking paths and around the playground, township staff said.

Goose droppings may also be affecting water quality at the park and interfering with fishing, according to the contract.

Each goose can deposit up to a pound of feces per day, a USDA spokesperson said.

“It’s a mess,” said Abington’s assistant parks director, Patricia Platt.

USDA to harass Abington geese 35 times, may kill some to be used as food

Between this month and June 2027, USDA personnel will conduct “waterfowl harassment” at the park, according to the contract, with “visual deterrents, use of lasers, and remote controlled boats, pyrotechnics, etc.”

The service will cost about $15,000 for the yearlong contract.

“Approximately 35 visits of harassment will be conducted throughout the spring and fall seasons,” the contract reads.

The pyrotechnics mentioned in the contract are typically propane-powered noisemakers to scare the birds, a USDA spokesperson said.

“It’s not like fireworks,” spokesperson Tanya Espinosa added.

Lasers can mean green light beams trained on the ground to deter the birds.

USDA workers start with less intensive goose-scaring methods and then escalate as needed, township and USDA staff said.

The feds will also throw away goose eggs and, if the geese start molting, euthanize up to 150 birds for people to eat.

Abington officials have considered other goose abatement tactics in the past. In 2023, the township’s shade tree commission asked whether a planned development across from Alverthorpe could include more shrubs and trees to reduce the goose habitat, but the engineering consultants said the community was adamant about an expansive grass lawn. The town’s 2023 parks plan suggests that closing some of the town’s outdoor ice rinks, which are wet lawns when not frozen, could help reduce goose habitat. The township parks director, Jessica Tholey, did not return calls and emails.

Canada goose damage has been a problem across Pennsylvania for at least three decades. In 2010, USDA Wildlife Services received more than 400 “technical assistance requests” for goose damage in the state.

Falls Township in Bucks County began reducing its resident goose population at a public park in 2015, according to its parks director. Falls spends about $17,000 annually for a private company to chase the geese with border collies.

Honkers plentiful nationwide, Pa. says

Goose populations have exploded across the United States in recent decades, rebounding from a dangerous low in the early 1900s when open hunting threatened migratory populations, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

“There probably are more honkers on the continent today than when the Pilgrims landed,” state officials write.

Canada geese still migrate through the Philadelphia region — a group dubbed the Atlantic population.

But many local geese are part of a nonmigratory population that is relatively new.

Pennsylvania had no year-round populations until 1936, when the state game commission released 30 Canada geese with amputated wing joints at a reservoir near Lake Erie.

The state added to the reservoir population in the 1950s, and by the 1970s, Southeastern Pennsylvania landowners were complaining about geese, according to a 2011 report from a group of government officials and wildlife biologists.

Nuisance geese settled in Abington over 40 years ago

The geese, which prefer open fields with short vegetation near water, thrived on the lawns, golf courses, and fake lakes of the Philadelphia suburbs.

By the 1980s, the geese had reached Alverthorpe Park, where Abington officials considered balloons and plastic swans to deter them.

A Philadelphia Inquirer article from April 1984 by Laura Quinn details the nuisance goose population in Alverthorpe Park.Deng-Jeng Lee

But with tens of thousands of them already settled in the Delaware Valley, The Inquirer reported in 1984, the game commission officer for eastern Montgomery County, William Wasserman, was not optimistic: ”What we’ve got right now with Canada geese is probably going to remain the same to the year 2000 and beyond.”

This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

July 20, 2026
The SEPTA special prosecutor in Philly is set to expire this year. Will state lawmakers extend it into Larry Krasner’s third term?

The special prosecutor for crimes on or near SEPTA property will be funded through the end of the year as part of the newly approved state budget, Pennsylvania lawmakers said this week.

After that, the office’s fate is uncertain.

The controversial position is set to expire in December. It was championed by GOP lawmakers in Harrisburg, who for years have tried to limit Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s powers and contended that the position was necessary because Krasner failed to prosecute crimes on the state’s largest transit system.

Legislators set aside another full year of funding for the office — $1.2 million — but haven’t agreed whether they will extend it further into Krasner’s third term, which began in January.

Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana), the top Republican leader in Pennsylvania’s split legislature, where Democrats narrowly control the state House and Republicans lead the state Senate, said Democratic leaders repeatedly rejected GOP efforts to extend the position as part of the closed-door budget talks.

Krasner’s office has strongly opposed the law that created the special prosecutor position, calling it a “shocking usurpation of power” that unconstitutionally singled out Philadelphia and stripped an elected officials’ authority.

He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The post has also faced opposition from Philadelphia-area lawmakers who say the effort is an affront to city voters who have reelected Krasner, a progressive prosecutor, three times.

“This is nothing more than voter suppression and an attempt to circumvent some of the extremely popular criminal justice reforms under this DA,” said Sen. Nikil Saval (D., Philadelphia), who chairs the city’s Senate delegation to Harrisburg.

Pittman, by contrast, said extending the special prosecutor is a critical component for Senate Republicans to agree to a new long-term funding source for SEPTA, which is approaching another fiscal cliff that could cause service disruptions when the state’s current short-term fix runs out next year.

Asked about the future of the special prosecutor’s office, House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) said at Shapiro’s budget signing earlier this week that he hadn’t “given it much thought.”

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, a Republican who is tasked with overseeing the office, has lauded the special prosecutor’s work so far.

He said his office supports extending the position, calling it a “force multiplier” that has been effective in combating violent crimes against both SEPTA employees and riders.

“Our caseload reflects a range of very serious conduct — including murder and aggravated assaults — and we have secured results through convictions,” he said.

In one example of that effort, the special prosecutor will oversee the case of a 22-year-old woman charged with simple assault after authorities said she pepper-sprayed and punched a conservative social media influencer during a viral confrontation on a SEPTA bus.

While legislators approved the special prosecutor’s office in 2023, it has been mired in legal challenges from the district attorney’s office in years since and did not begin taking on cases until last year.

Some House Democrats supported creating the role in 2023, as part of a state budget deal with the Senate GOP and Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was critical of Krasner when he served as attorney general.

Saval said Democrats shouldn’t use the position as a bargaining chip again.

“House Democrats who voted to suppress the will of Philadelphians should be ashamed of themselves, and should not support other attempts to do so,” Saval added. “This has nothing to do with the essential task at hand, which is to secure funding for mass transit.”

A spokesperson for Bradford said the House needs to “take a critical look” at whether the SEPTA special prosecutor is necessary. She noted SEPTA’s success in reducing crime and the size of its police force, but said the money used to fund the position may be better spent to reduce fare evasion by replacing gates to full-length ones that cost $40,000 each.

The funding was approved in the 2026-27 fiscal year budget “in the case of reauthorization,” and would be used to wind down the office, said Beth Rementer, Bradford’s spokesperson. Any unused funds would be returned to the general fund, she said.

A spokesperson for Shapiro declined to comment on the prosecutor role, but said Senate Republicans “need to do their jobs” to find a long-term funding solution for mass transit.

The office

The office is overseen by Special Prosecutor Michael Untermeyer, a former deputy attorney general and real estate investor who ran against Krasner in the 2017 primary.

Untermeyer did not respond to a request for comment.

The single lawyer employed by his office is investigating about 15 cases, including charges of homicide, aggravated assault, and robbery, according to a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office. That figure does not include cases the special prosecutor is considering taking on or are still under investigation, the spokesperson said.

Lawmakers could still choose to extend the position as part of their fall legislative session. It is among the several time-sensitive issues before the General Assembly ahead of the November election, in which Democrats hope to flip control of the state Senate for the first time in decades.

Krasner’s office has challenged the special prosecutor role from the beginning. His office filed a lawsuit in 2024 in an attempt to nullify the law, but was rebuffed by a 4-3 Commonwealth Court ruling that said legislators had not violated the state constitution in creating the post.

The office then appealed to the state Supreme Court, which has yet to decide the matter. As the high court heard oral arguments in the case last year, justices cited the Pennsylvania Constitution when suggesting that the legislature had been free to pass such a law, even if it interfered with the duties of an elected county official.

And lawyers for the attorney general’s office argued that the special prosecutor role did not strip Krasner’s power, but rather offered additional powers to a prosecutor appointed by the attorney general to handle cases involving crimes in and around SEPTA property.

July 18, 2026
The wildfire smoke in Philly is forecast to last into the weekend — and be followed by storms

Impacts from Canadian wildfire smoke increased throughout the Philadelphia region Friday, degrading air quality enough to prompt a code purple alert, and force the closure or suspension of some city amenities and services.

It was the latest bad weather event in Philadelphia’s run of tough luck in July, which has so far resulted in record-setting heat and destructive storms that have marred back-to-back weekends. Smoky conditions arrived Thursday, and were bad enough Friday to prompt the closure of city pools and spraygrounds, and temporarily stop trash pickup.

“Our worsening air quality is a dangerous development,” Palak Raval-Nelson, commissioner of the city Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “I strongly encourage all residents to take action to protect themselves by staying indoors, unless they need to be outdoors.”

Likewise, the Philadelphia Zoo remained closed Friday, saying in a statement that its animals were being “closely monitored.” The city, however, stopped short of recommending the cancellation of outdoor events, and large productions like comedian Shane Gillis’ performance at Lincoln Financial Field and a Death Cab for Cutie performance at the Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts were still set to go on as of late afternoon.

Officials said that venue owners had been advised of the conditions, and were able to make their own decisions as to whether those events would happen.

Trash collection in the city was expected to cautiously resume Saturday, officials said. Resumption of services was contingent upon improvement in air quality conditions, which vacillated between code purple and the comparatively less severe code red Friday.

What Philly’s air quality is like right now, in maps and charts

“We will make judgment decisions as to when we will resume collections in terms of a start time tomorrow,” said Carlton Williams, director of the Philadelphia Office of Clean and Green Initiatives. “But we do plan on working all day Saturday and Sunday to ensure that last week’s trash and recycling is collected in time for our services to be on a regular schedule starting Monday.”

Pools would reopen Saturday if air conditions were code red or below, said Susan Slawson, commissioner for Philadelphia Parks and Recreation.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said the Philadelphia region would be under a code orange air quality alert Saturday, marking a decrease in smoke pollution. That alert level, described as “unhealthy for sensitive groups,” is the lowest it has been since the wildfire smoke arrived this week.

Air quality conditions in the area were poor Friday morning. The city’s air quality index stood at about 267 as of 7 a.m. Friday — a figure that put it solidly in the “very unhealthy” range, meaning the general public was at risk for serious health effects. It later moved into the code red — or “unhealthy” — range, but stood to potentially again become more severe as the day wore on, Raval-Nelson said.

The city of Chester, however, recorded an air quality index of 312 early Friday, putting it in the “hazardous” range — the highest on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s scale. It later dipped into the “very unhealthy” range.

The region’s smoky conditions were expected to last at least until Saturday afternoon, the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly said. The sky’s hazy appearance, according to meteorologists, came from northwest winds that blanketed the region with particulate-filled air that was expected to stick around through the start of the weekend.

However, by Saturday, an anticipated storm system should clear the smoke out — though that development would likely come with its own risks. That system, said weather service meteorologist Joe DeSilva, could also bring “multiple rounds” of showers and thunderstorms, as well as the potential for flash flooding and possibly damaging winds — as well as a potential tornado.

What to know about the wildfire smoke in Philly and its health impacts

“It definitely looks like damaging winds will be the primary hazard type,” he said.

City officials warned residents to prepare for potential flooding due to heavy rainfall Saturday. A flood watch will be in effect from 10 a.m. Saturday through 2 a.m. Sunday, the city’s Office of Emergency Management said, as storms could produce up to 2 or 3 inches of rain per hour.

Philadelphia is not the only area at risk this weekend. Berks, Carbon, Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, Lehigh, Bucks, Monroe, and Northampton Counties also face dangers from the storm, as do portions of northern Delaware and parts of New Jersey including Camden and Gloucester Counties.

“Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations,” the city said. “Creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. Flooding may occur in poor drainage and urban areas.”

The risk of storm damage Saturday comes a week after high winds and four “microburst” storms downed nearly 300 trees in the city, and left tens of thousands of residents without electricity. As a result of that storm, Philadelphia still remains under a disaster emergency declaration amid its ongoing recovery.

On Friday, officials encouraged city residents to “do what you have been doing since last week’s storm” in the face of renewed threats.

“As Mayor Parker constantly reminds us, we are one Philly,” said Adam Thiel, managing director of the city of Philadelphia. “We are a united city, as our entire city workforce, along with our residents, our neighbors, our communities, continue to move us forward through this unprecedented year.”

Staff writers Rob Tornoe and Emily Bloch contributed to this article.

July 17, 2026