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  • ICE formally withdraws plans to build two Pennsylvania detention centers, Gov. Josh Shapiro says

    ICE formally withdraws plans to build two Pennsylvania detention centers, Gov. Josh Shapiro says

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has formally reversed its plans to establish two ICE detention centers in Pennsylvania that were intended to hold up to 9,000 immigrants, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Wednesday.

    The decision, which comes amid opposition from the state and from local communities, marks the end of efforts to convert warehouses in Berks and Schuylkill Counties, as the Trump administration works to offload some sites that were intended to support its mass-deportation agenda.

    Shapiro, a first-term Democrat seeking reelection this year, told DHS officials in February he would “aggressively pursue every option to prevent these facilities from opening,” and his administration later denied permits to update local water and sewage systems to handle thousands of additional people.

    On Wednesday, Shapiro praised the federal decision and credited his administration’s work to block the facilities.

    “From the beginning, I’ve been clear that these warehouses should not be used as ICE detention centers because they are not suitable for people and converting them to detention centers would have posed serious risks to the health, safety, and infrastructure of the surrounding communities,” he said.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro on July 21.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Two sites had been purchased in Pennsylvania ― one in Upper Bern Township, in northern Berks County, and another in Tremont Township, in Schuylkill County, where the plan for a former Big Lots discount store warehouse drew the ire of residents. Both plans faced steep opposition from top officials like Shapiro and from local community activists.

    ICE confirmed its plans to withdraw its permit requests in a filing Wednesday to the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, as well as in a July 13 letter from DHS Assistant Director James Ingalsbe.

    News emerged earlier this year that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement planned to spend more than $38 billion to buy warehouses and retrofit them as detention centers that would hold tens of thousands of immigrants. Those two dozen properties, including the two in Pennsylvania, would be located across the country, with some holding as many as 10,000 detainees.

    In Pennsylvania, the Berks County project would have held 1,500 detainees, while the Schuylkill County one would have held 7,500.

    An expanded ability to confine immigrants was central to Trump’s plan to deport as many as 1 million people a year. The additional space was necessary to help ICE respond to White House demands for greater numbers of arrests.

    As of July 11, ICE held 65,765 people in detention, up from 60,311 in April, but below the record high of 70,766 set in January, according to Syracuse University professor Austin Kocher, who studies immigration data.

    During Trump’s first year in office, the government fell short of his million-deportation goal, removing 622,000 people through mid-December, fewer than the 778,000 deportations carried out in President Joe Biden’s final fiscal year, according to the American Immigration Council in Washington.

    While some around the country saw the conversion of empty warehouses as a chance for new jobs, others were opposed over humanitarian concerns, the impact on water and sewerage use, and the potential loss of tax revenue.

    Earlier this summer, it appeared likely that the plans in Pennsylvania were being discarded.

    The New York Times reported in June that ICE planned to offload its two properties in Pennsylvania and a third in New Jersey, which were purchased for more than $336 million. Those were among seven warehouses across the nation that would be sold or handed off to other federal agencies, according to the Times.

    The same month, U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) said that detention-warehouse plans would not go forward in Tremont and Upper Bern Townships and that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had “recognized the negative impacts these facilities would have in Pennsylvania.”

  • How 6,600 noncitizens were registered to vote in New Jersey and what happens next

    How 6,600 noncitizens were registered to vote in New Jersey and what happens next

    New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill was handed an election security crisis that took place under her predecessor just days after President Donald Trump’s administration pushed out claims of widespread noncitizen voting.

    Sherrill revealed Tuesday that about 6,600 noncitizens had been illegally registered as voters in New Jersey due to a system error in the state’s department of motor vehicle voter registration program under former Gov. Phil Murphy.

    The governor said fewer than 400 of those people had voted. There is no evidence that their ballots changed any election outcomes, but the news has thrust the Garden State into the middle of the national debate over election security.

    “This failure didn’t occur on my watch, but accountability starts now,” she said at a news conference Tuesday.

    Here is what to know about what happened and how, and what the fallout could be — both in Trenton and in Washington.

    How many noncitizens got registered in New Jersey and how many voted?

    About 6,600 people who identified themselves as noncitizens were registered to vote in New Jersey between June 2023 and June 2024 “through no fault of their own” due to the glitch, though fewer than 400 cast a ballot, Sherrill said.

    Sherrill said at a news conference that the error “was caught and stopped in 2024” but that her administration is now working to remove those hundreds of voters from the rolls. She said they could have voted in any elections since then but there is no evidence at this time that they could have swayed any results. She said they were registered as Democrats, Republicans, and mostly unaffiliated, and scattered throughout the state.

    She said her team is “taking a hard look at the process failures that occurred under the previous administration and the guardrails we can put down for the future.” Through a spokesperson, Murphy declined to comment.

    Sherrill, a former member of Congress who began her term in January, campaigned on changing the culture in Trenton and distanced herself from Murphy on the campaign trail but remained cordial with him. Her tone sharply changed this week.

    “This entire situation is unacceptable,” she said. “It’s unacceptable that the vendor released software with such a glaring error. It’s unacceptable that the MVC [Motor Vehicle Commission] took a year to get this fixed, and it’s unacceptable that no one in the previous administration brought this to light, demanded accountability, or took action when it happened years ago.”

    How did this happen?

    Sherrill called the issue a “serious software error in New Jersey’s motor vehicle system.”

    New Jersey began automatic voter registration in 2018, which allows citizens to be automatically registered to vote when they get an ID at the MVC unless they opt out.

    The noncitizens who were improperly registered had answered “no” when asked on a keypad at the MVC whether they were a U.S. citizen, Sherrill said. But she said the system registered them anyway “through no fault of their own.” She said the error could put those individuals’ immigration status at risk. It would be hypocritical for the state to charge the individuals and she wants to protect them, she said, but she “would not put it past” the federal government to charge them.

    U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a North Jersey Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for governor last year, called for a national audit into IDEMIA, the vendor whose software was used for the registrations.

    But IDEMIA pointed a finger at the New Jersey Department of State, noting that while the vendor’s role is to transmit information between the motor vehicle and state departments, it is ultimately the state department’s responsibility to verify voter eligibility.

    “Information submitted by IDEMIA must still be validated and adjudicated by the Division of Elections,” the company said in a statement.

    When did Gov. Sherrill find out?

    Sherrill said she learned about the error last Wednesday, the day before Trump’s speech. She announced the discovery on Tuesday.

    What is Gov. Sherrill doing about it?

    Sherrill said she immediately ordered an investigation when she learned about the issue and ordered the removal of the noncitizens from the voter rolls. She said that Rosalie Johnson, whom Sherrill appointed as New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission administrator this year, had already begun replacing the system vendor.

    The governor said her administration hired an independent firm, CSG Law, to conduct the investigation. She said “they will be moving very quickly” and had already found the figures she has been citing. She said she will “present the findings” of the investigation to the public.

    Johnson said she expects to launch the new vendor next year and is working on creating additional safeguards to regularly review information before sending it to the elections division.

    Sherrill said her administration is looking at ways to make the state’s elections more secure and vowed to hold any government workers accountable.

    “Should there be anyone that is identified that is still working in this space that has not done the right thing, I will hold them personally accountable for this,” she said.

    How is the Trump administration responding?

    The Trump administration and other prominent Republicans are using the issue to call for the passage of the SAVE Act, a federal bill that Republicans say would improve election security but Democrats warn would suppress millions of voters.

    Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a post on X that the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice “is investigating this unlawful dilution of American votes.”

    Additionally, the department argued in a letter that the incident justifies the Trump administration’s efforts to obtain the state’s unredacted voter rolls.

    Vice President JD Vance called on New Jersey U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim, both Democrats, to support the legislation in a post on X, given the issue in their home state.

    “If only there was a way to stop this type of ‘software error’ that allowed non citizens to vote in our elections,” Vance said in the tongue-in-cheek post.

    Booker said he trusts the Sherrill administration to solve the problem and criticized “those who will choose to weaponize this issue.” Kim declined to comment on the matter.

    Why is the timing beneficial for the president?

    The news came at an opportune time for Trump, just days after his speech in which he reignited conspiracy theories about his 2020 election loss. The same day, the White House shared claims of widespread noncitizen voting, including in New Jersey.

    DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin claimed that more than 35,000 noncitizens could be registered in New Jersey. The department has not shared how it arrived at that number, and experts cautioned it could include new citizens who have not been updated in a system meant to check work eligibility.

    Sherrill said her administration received a letter with that 35,000 figure after Trump’s speech — which was also after she said she had learned about the 6,600 noncitizen voters.

    “We have asked them for any evidence of this, where they got that number, who this is,” she said. “We’ve received nothing back yet.”

    Sherrill said that the president “knows that if he provides us any credible information we will of course investigate it” but that he has “zero credibility on the issue of election integrity.”

    “For the past 10 years he’s cried wolf and peddled bizarre conspiracy theories about fraud with no evidence,” she said.

    Trump called for the passage of a national proof of citizenship requirement Wednesday during a speech in Georgia, but he did not directly reference New Jersey.

    How will New Jersey lawmakers respond?

    State Sen. Anthony Bucco of North Jersey, the Senate Republican leader, said the state should “at the very least” suspend the automatic voter registration program until a full investigation is complete and next steps are made clear.

    He also called on the state to enact a voter identification requirement.

    New Jersey requires identification or a Social Security number to register to vote, and first-time voters who registered to vote by mail may need to provide ID at the polls. But overall, most voters do not need to show ID at the polls in New Jersey.

    Republican-led efforts to enact legislation following this incident are unlikely to succeed in Trenton because Democrats hold a supermajority in the Assembly and a majority in the Senate.

    Sherrill said at the Tuesday news conference that the problem is not with the state’s laws, but rather with how the state government has been operating — further pushing blame on her predecessor.

    “I see no reason why our state cannot run our election system well and have a computer program that can operate well, and should any problem occur it should be caught quickly … it’s a problem with accountability,” she said. “It’s a problem with making sure government is effective and running well, and it really is a lack of responsibility.”

    Has this happened before?

    In 2017 Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt, a Republican city commissioner in Philadelphia at the time, uncovered and resolved a similar glitch at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in which all Pennsylvania drivers were asked if they wanted to be registered to vote regardless of citizenship status.

    Schmidt said at the time that the glitch led to 168 noncitizens registering to vote in Philadelphia but that just 44 ballots were cast in the city as a result.

    Schmidt has since said that noncitizen voting is rare and that the threat has been exaggerated.

    Staff writers Michelle Baruchman and Abraham Gutman contributed to this article.

  • Ida Schmertz, pioneering women’s activist, political innovator, and former American Express senior vice president, has died at 91

    Ida Schmertz, pioneering women’s activist, political innovator, and former American Express senior vice president, has died at 91

    Ida Schmertz, 91, formerly of Jenkintown, pioneering women’s activist, international relations innovator, presidential appointee, first female senior vice president at American Express, volunteer, mentor, and role model, died Thursday, July 2, of organ failure at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

    Born in Amsterdam, Ms. Schmertz and her family made their way to Philadelphia and then Jenkintown at the start of World War II in 1940, and she became a trailblazing American powerhouse in civil and women’s rights, international relations, corporate management, and healthcare.

    She earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in international relations, and did everything but write a dissertation for a doctorate in international relations and Soviet studies. She was founding codirector in 1971 of the groundbreaking Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, founding cochair in 1994 of the International Business Incubator and Training Center in Russia, and founding chair of the board of trustees for the Romanian-American Foundation in Bucharest in 1994.

    Wherever she was, Ms. Schmertz championed research, education, and public engagement. She helped organize the first national conference of women in political office for the Center for American Women and Politics in 1972, and later provided professional services to small businesses and startups in Russia, especially those owned by women.

    “I have empathy for people,” Ms. Schmertz told a colleague at the Romanian-American Foundation in a 2018 video interview. “I’ve always felt badly for people who are hurt or poor or unfortunate or don’t have access to something.”

    Ms. Schmertz was interested in voluntary foreign service, gun reform, and U.S.-China relations, and she lectured and appeared on TV shows and in dozens of newspapers. She worked with New York Gov. Hugh Carey on statewide initiatives of all kinds in the 1970s and was appointed by President Bill Clinton to head the Romanian-American Enterprise Fund in 1994.

    Surviving spouses always remember how they met their mate. Here are the meet-cute stories told to The Inquirer’s obit writer.

    In the 1950s and ’60s, she worked for the Democratic National Committee, the CIA, and the American Association of University Women. She spoke English, Dutch, Russian, and French, and served as a guide at the State Department’s first U.S. promotional exhibition in Moscow in 1959.

    She lobbied for fair elections in South Africa in the 1990s, and pressed New York lawmakers to support the state’s medical aid in dying act until it recently passed. Colleagues praised her “vision, energy, and grit” and “integrity and long-term commitment” in online tributes.

    From 1979 to 1992, Ms. Schmertz was the first woman to supervise corporate strategy and philanthropy at American Express in New York.Courtesy of the family

    One colleague said: “I feel so fortunate to have known her.”

    Colleagues at the Romanian-American Foundation said in a tribute: “She helped shape not just an organization but a picture of what philanthropy in Romania could be: transparent, accountable, built on partnership, and dedicated to creating opportunity for all Romanians.”

    When parents die, even the mundane memories comfort their children. Here are their tales, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer.

    From 1979 to 1992, Ms. Schmertz was the first woman to supervise corporate strategy and philanthropy at American Express in New York. She was also an honorary director of the Women’s Economic Roundtable and a former director at Prudential Financial Inc.

    “She was extraordinary, formidable, deeply caring, and exceptionally committed to the people and causes that she believed in,” her daughter, Lexy, said. “Her hobby was her job, learning and exploring.”

    Ms. Schmertz worked with President Ronald Reagan and many other political notables. Courtesy of the family

    Ida Frederieke Schaap was born Feb. 24, 1935. Her family traveled from the Netherlands to Indonesia in 1939 and then to the United States to escape the war.

    She was the first Jewish student to enroll in the old Stevens School for Girls in Germantown in 1940, was elected president of the student council and captain of the field hockey team, and graduated in 1952. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Wellesley College in Massachusetts in 1956 and her master’s degree at Columbia University in 1960.

    Survivors give advice about mourning their loved ones, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer

    She also studied French political science at Sorbonne University in Paris and Russian at Middlebury College in Vermont. She married Herbert Schmertz in 1962 in Philadelphia, and they had a son, Anthony, and a daughter, Lexy. They divorced in 1976, and he died in 2018.

    Ms. Schmertz was tough and direct, her family said, intelligent and loving. She liked to read and travel, and was an engaging conversationalist.

    Ms. Schmertz was a summer camp counselor for underserved children as a teen, loved cats, and supported the Philadelphia Museum of Art.Courtesy of the family

    She lived in Washington after college, moved to New York in the 1970s, and hosted friends and colleagues from around the world in her Upper West Side apartment. She doted on her four grandsons and took them to museums and hockey games. “She met them where they were,” her daughter said.

    She was a summer camp counselor for underserved children as a teen, loved cats, and supported the Philadelphia Museum of Art. For 30 years, she lived with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

    Why did best-selling author Carol Saline email The Inquirer’s obit writer?

    “She was compassionate and caring,” her daughter said. Her son said: “She was devoted to her family.”

    In addition to her children and grandsons, Ms. Schmertz is survived by two sisters and other relatives.

    Ms. Schmertz visited Amsterdam in May.Courtesy of the family

    A private memorial service is to be held later.

    Donations in her name may be made to Compassion & Choices, Box 485, Etna, N.H. 03750.

  • Tornado confirmed in Cape May County as storms swept through New Jersey

    Tornado confirmed in Cape May County as storms swept through New Jersey

    The National Weather Service in Mount Holly on Wednesday confirmed a tornado briefly touched land in Cape May County during powerful thunderstorms that swept through the region Tuesday evening.

    The agency said a waterspout was witnessed going ashore at Cape May Point around 6:15 p.m. Tuesday and causing minor tree damage for about a minute. The tornado was classified as EF-0, with estimated peak winds between 60 and 70 mph, the agency said.

    The National Weather Service also confirmed North Jersey tornadoes in the Stanhope and Mount Olive area, and in the Lower Berkshire Valley. An investigation was still ongoing in the Parsippany and Troy Hills area in North Jersey, the agency said.

    The waterspout that became the tornado on the southwestern tip of Cape May County could be viewed as far south as Rehoboth Beach, Del.

    The high winds tore down some trees and a few power lines in Cape May Point, said Bill Gibson, the borough’s emergency management coordinator.

    “We commonly get waterspouts in the bay and harbor, but this was a big one, and when it hit land it was able to continue on for a little bit,” Gibson said Wednesday morning. “But it’s already all cleaned up.”

    National Weather Service surveyors were investigating the remaining North Jersey areas with tornadic damage Wednesday. Findings were expected Wednesday evening. The agency conducted a virtual survey for Cape May Point since the damage was minimal.

  • HBCU football is returning to the Linc this fall when Lincoln University hosts Virginia Union

    HBCU football is returning to the Linc this fall when Lincoln University hosts Virginia Union

    Following the success of Michael Vick’s Norfolk State and DeSean Jackson’s matchup in the HBCU Battle of the Legends game last fall at Lincoln Financial Field, more historically Black college and university football is coming to South Philadelphia this fall.

    The Eagles are coordinating with the City of Philadelphia to host an HBCU weekend that could feature one or two games at the Linc, according to a team spokesperson. Because the negotiations are ongoing and not yet finalized, the spokesperson could not confirm which teams will be featured that weekend.

    Last week at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association media day, Lincoln University head coach Frank Turner revealed his team would be playing Virginia Union at the Linc. Those teams, who compete at the Division II level, are scheduled to play Oct. 31, per the program’s schedule.

    Neither school responded when The Inquirer reached out directly.

    Boisterous DeSean Jackson gets the best of stoic Michael Vick during ‘surreal’ HBCU showdown at the Linc

    It would be Lincoln’s first game in Philadelphia in 16 years, when they played Cheyney University at Northeast High School in back-to-back years in 2009 and 2010. The two programs played yearly from 2009 until Cheyney’s football program was shut down in 2017.

    Lincoln was winless in 10 games last season, including a 66-21 loss at Virginia Union. Overall, Lincoln is 1-16 all-time against Virginia Union, with its only win coming in 2011, a 19-10 victory.

    Frank Turner (center) has coached at Lincoln since 2018 and became the program’s head coach ahead of the 2023 season.Erin Blewett

    Turner is entering his fourth season as head coach and has been on the staff since 2018, serving previously as the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach. Turner has a 6-24 record at the helm.

    Virginia Union, meanwhile, finished with a 9-3 record last season and lost in the first round of the Division II playoffs to California University of Pennsylvania. The Panthers were picked as the preseason favorite to win the CIAA in 2026. Lincoln was picked to finish last in the preseason conference poll.

    Penn State and Temple set a kickoff time for their Week 2 matchup at Lincoln Financial Field

    The matchup between Lincoln and Virginia Union will be the second straight year the Linc hosts an HBCU game. Last year, Jackson’s Delaware State squad held off a late rally from Vick’s Norfolk State for a 27-20 victory. The game brought in a crowd of 47,266 people and brought out all types of stars, from former NFL players Cam Newton and Marshawn Lynch to rapper Meek Mill and longtime Eagle Brandon Graham.

    Lincoln, located in Chester County, was the first college-degree granting HBCU in the country.

  • Cheltenham to pull millions from Citizens Bank over immigrant detention facilities

    Cheltenham to pull millions from Citizens Bank over immigrant detention facilities

    Cheltenham Township is closing its two remaining Citizens Bank accounts over the bank’s financing of companies that run detention facilities, despite the bank’s announcement it would no longer lend to those companies.

    Cheltenham officials said they are working to move around $9 million in two bank accounts from Citizens Bank into Santander Bank after months of lobbying by local residents concerned about Citizens’ financing of private prison companies that operate detention centers, including CoreCivic and GEO Group Inc. GEO Group runs Moshannon Valley Detention Center near State College, Pa., and Delaney Hall in New Jersey.

    Cheltenham’s Citizens divestment still pending

    The township’s tax collector, Melvin Pitts, said he is also closing his office’s four Citizens accounts, but that process will take longer because of the nature of the accounts, which include real estate and income tax money. The total the tax collector holds at Citizens was not immediately available, but May bank statements showed around $3 million between three of the four accounts.

    Cheltenham’s commissioners said at a recent finance meeting that they had hoped to have the township’s two remaining Citizens accounts closed already but hit some administrative hurdles. Cheltenham was also waiting to receive pending state money in one of the accounts before closing it, township spokesperson Lauren Walter said.

    Cheltenham’s primary accounts were already at Santander, she said.

    Pitts and Matthew Areman, president of the township’s board of commissioners, both confirmed that resident lobbying against the detention facilities motivated the switch.

    “The Cheltenham Township Board of Commissioners has committed to divest all Township accounts from Citizens Bank,” Areman wrote in a statement.

    “While the Board remains committed to protecting taxpayer resources and maintaining sound fiscal stewardship, we also believe that where we choose to do business is an expression of our community’s values.”

    Divestment campaign began with dog walkers

    Much of the divestment push came from a community group formed after the 2024 presidential election, said Pam Albright, a member of East Cheltenham CARES.

    Neighbors started chatting while out walking their dogs, Albright said, and EC CARES grew from there.

    With a sizable immigrant community — about 14% of the township is foreign-born, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures — immigration enforcement was among their top concerns.

    After advocacy from EC CARES and other local groups such as Cheltenham Immigration Response, the town adopted a policy last October to affirm that local police would not ask about immigration status or take on federal policing roles when not legally required.

    EC CARES joined Indivisible Jenkintown in protesting monthly outside their local Citizens Bank, volunteers said, and began asking Cheltenham about closing its accounts after seeing other towns take action.

    Everyone played a different role, organizers said: Some talked to township officials, while others pulled research and records or handed out flyers at protests.

    “I like rabble-rousing,” said Susan Shachter of EC CARES. “I like making signs, I like screaming and talking to people.”

    Private prisons have long been a target for organizers over poor conditions and concerns over private companies’ involvement in government-mandated detention. Eight major U.S. banks agreed to stop funding private prison operators back in 2019 under activist pressure.

    But GEO Group and other companies have come under particular scrutiny in recent years for holding immigrants in concentration facilities amid alleged due process violations, detaining young children for months, and reportedly depriving detainees of food, water, sleep, and medical care. Most detainees have no criminal conviction, according to analyses by think tanks, research nonprofits, and news outlets.

    “If we think corporate America is doing what’s ethical in terms of people being detained, we’re joking ourselves,” said KayLee Taylor, another member of EC CARES.

    Some Cheltenham officials were hesitant to push back against federal action, Albright said, but they came around.

    “It is a little scary for them to, as they said, stick their necks out, or have a target on their back,” she said.

    But once commissioners passed the town’s immigration enforcement policy, it got the ball rolling, Taylor said: “Our commissioners have more guts than any others in the county because we were the first ones to put in writing our policy.”

    Albright also got the impression from a commissioner that Santander was fiscally better for the township, she said.

    Walter, the township spokesperson, said Cheltenham likely moved its main account to Santander for better rates a few years ago, but due to township staff turnover she could not confirm details with the officials who were involved at the time.

    Citizens says it stopped lending to GEO, but organizers want more

    Last week, Citizens announced it had stopped lending to private prison companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group now that the federal government has begun buying up facilities and the corporations need less capital than before.

    Walter said Wednesday that she had made commissioners aware of Citizens’ announcement late last week and that the officials did not indicate it had changed their plans. Walter was not sure if Pitts had changed his plans for the tax office accounts or not. Pitts could not be reached for comment on the issue.

    The bank’s announcement also criticized activists for failing to appreciate Citizens’ “virtues,” including the volunteer work its employees do.

    But organizers pointed out that lending is not the only business a bank can do with detention facility providers, and renewed a call for Citizens to end all banking relationships with private prison companies.

    “We want them to completely pull out,” Taylor said. “What you’re doing is wrong.”

    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.

  • Judge gives Pennsylvania the green light to fund abortions through Medicaid

    Judge gives Pennsylvania the green light to fund abortions through Medicaid

    Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration can pay for abortions through the state’s Medicaid program while an appeal of the April ruling that recognized “a fundamental right to reproductive autonomy” plays out, a Commonwealth Court judge ruled.

    Judge Matthew S. Wolf last week granted a request from abortion providers to allow Medicaid to fund the procedure during the appeal from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office because the state Supreme Court held previously that the funding restriction was “presumptively unconstitutional.”

    The Philadelphia Democrat wrote the April majority opinion that struck down a decades-old state law limiting public funding for abortions to cases involving rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother.

    Attorney General Dave Sunday appealed the ruling to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, where three justices previously signaled their willingness to rule that abortion access is a right.

    The appeal led to an automatic stay on the Commonwealth Court ruling, which meant Medicaid could fund abortion only in the cases allowed by the state’s Abortion Control Act.

    The coalition of abortion providers that brought the lawsuit in 2019 argued the stay would cause irreparable harm because it would force “an unknown number of their patients to carry pregnancies to term” during the appeal, the opinion said.

    If the coverage ban were to remain in place, despite the ruling holding it amounts to sex-based discrimination and recognizing the right to reproductive autonomy, that would violate the constitutional rights of Pennsylvanians, Wolf wrote.

    Sunday’s office argued that lifting the stay would allow more abortions, despite the opposition of many taxpayers.

    “There can be no legitimate interest — for the Commonwealth or the public — in knowingly violating constitutional rights,” Wolf said, rejecting the attorney general’s argument.

    A spokesperson for Sunday declined to comment.

    “At last, a terrible injustice that has harmed Pennsylvanians for decades has ended,” Susan Frietsche, executive director of Women’s Law Project, which represented the providers, said in a statement.

    Sunday, a Republican, stepped in to defend the law when Shapiro’s administration bowed out after the 2024 state Supreme Court ruling, which used language strongly endorsing abortion access as a constitutional right. But the justices were ultimately split on whether they were ready to make that call and sent the case back to the Commonwealth Court.

    The statewide court that oversees government-related matters sided with the abortion providers in a 4-3 ruling.

    It is unclear how quickly medical providers will be able to bill Medicaid for abortions. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services has not issued guidance for providers yet.

    “Gov. Shapiro has a proven track record of defending a woman’s right to choose and protecting access to safe, legal abortion services,” Rosie Lapowsky, a spokesperson for Shapiro, said. “He will continue to fight for women’s right to make their own medical decisions in consultation with their doctor.”

  • After closure rumors, USPS and Federal Realty are ‘finalizing’ Wynnewood Post Office lease extension

    After closure rumors, USPS and Federal Realty are ‘finalizing’ Wynnewood Post Office lease extension

    For weeks, a rumor swirled in Wynnewood that the local post office may be shuttering due to a leasing dispute between the U.S. Postal Service and Federal Realty Investment Trust, the owner of the shopping center where the post office is located.

    Now, Federal Realty says it is “finalizing an agreement to extend the current lease” of the post office and anticipates “no disruption to services.”

    “The Wynnewood Post Office is a valued tenant, and we appreciate the important role they play in serving the community,” a spokesperson for Federal Realty said in a statement.

    The Wynnewood Post Office primarily serves residents in the 19096 zip code, which encompasses parts of Penn Wynne, Wynnewood, and Penn Valley in Lower Merion. The post office provides a variety of mailing services, including international mailing, money orders, mail holds, and burial flags for deceased veterans. Some functions of the Wynnewood Post Office moved to nearby Havertown in 2009, namely mail processing and sorting for mail carrier pickup.

    The Postal Service did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

    Last month, patrons of the Wynnewood Post Office began hearing from postal workers that the location may close at the end of October after USPS and Federal Realty, which owns the Wynnewood Shopping Center, were unable to reach an agreement over the terms of the post office’s lease.

    Without the Wynnewood Post Office, residents would have to use neighboring post offices for services like mailing packages and accessing P.O. boxes. While other post offices are not far — Narberth’s post office is about a mile up the road from Wynnewood, and Merion Station’s is about 1.5 miles away — locals have said the Wynnewood location is critical for older adults and residents who value its convenience and easy access.

    Vince Tarducci, regional coordinator for the American Postal Workers Union, said in an email, “If there is no disruption in services to the People’s Post Office, we all win,” noting that the Postal Service, which turns 251 on July 26, is older than the United States itself.

    “Maintaining postal services in Wynnewood will allow people, especially our elderly, not to have to travel further from their residences to handle their business whether personal or work related,” Tarducci added.

    Federal Realty declined to say how much the post office’s rent would be raised under the new lease terms.

    “It’s great news that Federal Realty is speaking positively about renewing the lease for the Wynnewood Post Office,” Paul Gottleib, vice president of the Shortridge Civic Association, one of the neighborhood groups associated with the 19096 zip code, said in an email.

    The civic associations that represent the zip code will be “relieved and comforted knowing that the public resources available in the neighborhood will remain here for the foreseeable future,” Gottleib said.

    Gottleib was among a group of residents and civic association representatives rallying to keep the post office open, including spurring a campaign of calls to the office of U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat who represents the area.

    USPS is facing a financial cliff as costs rise and Americans send less mail. Customer visits to post offices across the country fell by more than half between 2000 and 2025, and walk-in stamp revenue, which once generated over $9 billion annually, decreased by two-thirds, according to the USPS Office of Inspector General. USPS was on track to run out of money next year, but was recently able to stave off a crisis until the early 2030s after pausing payments to worker retirement funds.

    The Postal Service leases around 25,000 facilities throughout the country, nearly triple the 8,500 locations it owns. Leasing post offices leaves USPS vulnerable to disagreements with property owners and, sometimes, post office closures.

    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.

  • Congo’s Ebola outbreak has killed over 1,000 people

    Congo’s Ebola outbreak has killed over 1,000 people

    BUNIA, Congo — More than 1,000 people have died in the Ebola outbreak in Congo, according to Africa’s top health body, a grim toll in the fastest Ebola outbreak in history, as conflict, community resistance and an uneven response fuel its spread.

    Speaking at a health summit in Ghana on Wednesday, Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said 1,031 deaths have been confirmed.

    “These are people dying. They are dying because we don’t have vaccines, we don’t have medicine, we don’t have funding,” he added.

    The latest update from Congo’s Ministry of Health showed that as of Monday, 2,473 cases had been recorded in the latest outbreak. At least 737 patients were in isolation or hospitalized, it said.

    The outbreak, which was declared on May 15, is unlike most previous Ebola outbreaks because the Bundibugyo virus responsible for it has no approved vaccines or treatments. It has also killed more people at a faster rate than any outbreak on record, including the 2013-2016 outbreak that is considered the worst on record with over 11,000 deaths out of at least 28,000 cases. That outbreak took about eight months from the first case to reach 1,000 deaths.

    Conflict and community resistance are complicating the response

    The World Health Organization has said that the true scale of the outbreak could be ⁠two to four times larger than official figures indicate. Some communities at its epicenter also remain difficult to reach, mainly because of fighting involving rebel groups.

    Ebola is rare, but highly contagious and can be contracted through contact with bodily fluids such as vomit, blood, or semen. It can cause severe illness and is often fatal.

    Officials have warned that 80% of new cases have emerged outside known chains of transmission, a sign the outbreak is spreading faster than health officials can track it even as they step up their response in Ituri province, the epicenter of the outbreak, and four other provinces where cases have been recorded.

    Community resistance to Ebola teams, particularly those carrying out safe burials, has also hampered the response. Robert Ndjalonga, head of civil protection in Ituri province, said some communities have refused to allow burial teams to operate because they prefer traditional burials, increasing the risk of further transmission.

    “The biggest challenge remains resistance from or outright refusal by some communities to accept response teams,” Ndjalonga said. ”On several occasions, burial teams have had to be escorted by security forces to ensure that safe and dignified burials could be carried out without incident.”

    Shortages of burial supplies have delayed responses to reported deaths, while some affected health zones still lack operational burial teams, Ndjalonga said.

    Attacks on health facilities and response teams have also forced front-line workers and aid groups out of some areas. Some health workers have gone on strike, saying they haven’t been paid since the outbreak started.

    A member of a team carrying out safe Ebola burials was recently injured when assailants threw stones at the team’s vehicle following a burial in Bunia last week, according to provincial civil protection authorities.

    The attack highlighted the challenges facing the response in eastern Congo. In Ituri’s Irumu territory, the local military administrator recently described Ebola as a greater threat than the Islamic State-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces insurgency and urged residents to support, rather than attack, health workers.

    Containment efforts are faltering

    A humanitarian worker involved in the response, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, cited poor coordination between response agencies, delays in transferring patients to treatment centers and waits of more than four days for some Ebola test results.

    “At times, it’s unclear who is doing what and where,” the worker said.

    The delays have led some patients to leave health facilities before they can be diagnosed, increasing the risk of further transmission, the worker said.

    Africa CDC head Kaseya called for intensified efforts to slow the outbreak on the first day of the health summit in Ghana on Tuesday.

    “If we do not stop this outbreak today, it could become one of the worst Ebola outbreaks the world has ever documented,” Kaseya said.

    Less than 9% of the contacts of confirmed patients who are expected to be traced are currently being monitored, far below the level needed to contain the outbreak, according to Africa CDC. More than 60% of deaths are occurring in the community before patients can receive care.

    Pierre Akilimali, the Ebola response incident manager at the National Public Health Institute of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said the high number of community deaths suggests many infections are not being detected or isolated in time, allowing the virus to continue spreading.

    Experts warn of a worsening crisis

    Last month, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention used computer modeling to estimate how the outbreak could evolve. In a worst-case scenario, they said it could approach the scale of the 2014-2016 West Africa epidemic.

    “There’s never been an Ebola outbreak that started with so many cases because it was so late to be identified,” said Trish Newport, emergency program manager for Doctors Without Borders, who has been working in Congo.

    “It’s like the outbreak is outrunning the response,” Newport said.

    University of Pittsburgh epidemiologist Jean Nachega, who is advising African health authorities, said he does not expect the outbreak to reach the CDC’s worst-case scenario but cautioned that the challenges remain “huge.”

  • Pa. state lawmakers found common ground on this data center policy — but still couldn’t reach a deal

    Pa. state lawmakers found common ground on this data center policy — but still couldn’t reach a deal

    HARRISBURG — Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania’s divided state government rarely agree.

    But this month, there was one issue upon which nearly all of them found common ground: ending tax breaks for data centers.

    Despite the rare consensus as Harrisburg looks to add guardrails to the state’s data center boom, no legislation was passed to end the favorable tax treatment for the projects. After approving the $50.8 billion state budget last week, Pennsylvania’s lawmakers went home for the summer, each blaming the other party for the inaction.

    But new regulations could be coming soon, Gov. Josh Shapiro said.

    The governor — who has adamantly stood by his proposal to condition tax breaks for data center projects based on their compliance with environmental and transparency standards — said he plans to take executive action on regulating Pennsylvania data centers in the coming weeks.

    “I am now exploring everything I can through executive authority since the Senate Republicans refused to act,” Shapiro said Tuesday at an unrelated event in Philadelphia, declining to share details or a timeline for his plans.

    Here’s what’s in — and not in — Pennsylvania’s $50.8 billion state budget
    Lawn sign along Crooked Lane in King of Prussia, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. Some residents are standing in opposition to building a data center in their community.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    The state’s current tax incentive for data center development is projected to cost Pennsylvania nearly $2 billion in lost revenue over the next five years.

    The current benefit was approved by the legislature in 2021. Developers who generate a certain dollar value of investment are exempt from the state sales tax rate of 6% for equipment, including materials used to construct the data center building.

    According to a February report from the state, 12 projects currently receive the exemption.

    Proponents of the tax break have said it helps keep Pennsylvania economically competitive. Opponents say such a benefit is no longer necessary for an industry that is expanding rapidly.

    “I am not going to get into hypotheticals,” Shapiro said Tuesday when asked whether he would sign a bill that would eliminate the tax benefit, something industry groups have loudly opposed.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro, flanked by fellow state Democrats, signs the 2026-2027 Pennsylvania state budget in Harrisburg, Pa. on Sunday, July 12, 2026.Gillian McGoldrick / Staff

    Shapiro has championed his proposal for data centers, which incentivizes tax breaks for projects that adhere to a series of requirements. He has not publicly endorsed other data center regulation bills passed by the Democratic-controlled House. The governor’s plan passed the House in June with a vote of 134-68, but was not put up for a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate.

    And as public opinion has soured on data center development, lawmakers in Harrisburg have become more skeptical. This year, all but five Pennsylvania state legislators expressed support for bills that would remove tax breaks for data centers.

    Poll: 44% of Pennsylvanians say they’re financially worse off now, while a majority oppose AI data centers

    According to an Inquirer review, 197 out of 202 House members voted for a bill that would have repealed the tax benefit. In the Senate, 44 out of 50 members voted in favor of a bill that included a provision to eliminate the tax exemption. The remaining six senators expressed support in interviews for getting rid of the tax break, though they said they voted against the bill because of unrelated provisions included within the legislation, including an expansion of the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program.

    Though the state’s final budget took no action on the tax exemption, it included a provision requiring data centers with electric outputs larger than 10 megawatts to submit information about their energy and water usage to the state.

    Several other data center regulations that received bipartisan support in recent weeks were also absent from the final spending package, including attempts to enact a local or statewide moratorium on new development.

    State Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) during a press conference at the Capitol in Harrisburg Feb. 3, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    House Democrats and Senate Republicans were quick to blame each other for failing to reach a deal on removing the tax exemption.

    During separate news conferences after the budget passed, Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana) and House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) each said it was the other party’s fault that a tax benefit repeal was left out.

    Pittman said that Democrats “shredded” a Republican-backed bill into “something that nobody could recognize,” adding in an email that Senate Republicans would also “continue to examine” the proposal backed by Shapiro.

    Bradford, placing the blame on Pittman, said he is “obviously unbelievably disappointed by the Republican leader in the Senate stating that he has no interest in doing anything on data centers,” adding that he was proud of the state House for advancing a number of data center regulation proposals.

    Beth Rementer, a spokesperson for the House Democrats, said in a statement that “Senate Republicans still have an opportunity outside the budget negotiation process to vote on all the bills we passed to hold big tech accountable.”

    State Rep. Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery County) during a press conference at the Capitol in Harrisburg Feb. 3, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry and the Pittsburgh Building Trades Council lobbied legislators to keep the tax break. In a June memo to state House members, the Pennsylvania chamber wrote that a repeal of the tax benefit “threatens to place Pennsylvania at a competitive disadvantage and sends a troubling signal to current and prospective investors that the Commonwealth is willing to change the rules after the fact.”

    The legislature quietly deferred action on other topics, like funding mass transit and regulating skill games, as part of this year’s budget negotiations. But the data center debate spilled into the public arena.

    In an interview, State Sen. Katie Muth (D., Montgomery) — one of four senators who voted against approving the original tax exemption in 2021 — said she suspected the legislative back-and-forth about the tax break gave lawmakers a chance to record their vote on a hot-button issue among their constituents.

    She said that many legislators who voted to repeal the tax break did so for “show, so everybody can send out mailers.” In addition to Shapiro, half the state Senate and all members of the state House are up for election in November.

    Lawmakers could revisit the topic come fall when they reconvene. And Shapiro said it is on his agenda, too.

    “I think the legislature should have acted,” Shapiro said. “Given the fact that the legislature refuses to act, we’re going to look at our executive authority and determine what the best steps are.”

    Ethan Young is an intern with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association. He can be reached at ethanmyoung@gmail.com.