The Philadelphia Inquirer

These Muslim activists in Pennsylvania want to ‘abandon Biden’ over Gaza

PHILADELPHIA — The national “Abandon Biden” movement on Monday launched an effort to encourage Muslim voters and allies in Pennsylvania to ditch President Joe Biden in November.

Leaders of the movement, which seeks to punish Biden for supporting Israel and failing to call for a cease-fire in Gaza last year, gathered Monday at Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

“You have not only abandoned the American people, you have abandoned humanity,” activist Hayla Solomon, 23, said at the rally.

The story of the Dolly Vardens, a 19th-century baseball team made up of Black women

PHILADELPHIA — In May 1883, in the Lamokin Woods in Chester, a group of Black women strode down a hill. Leading them was Ella Harris, who wore a fashionable pink calico dress and a white jockey cap. She hoisted a baseball bat over one shoulder.

The red ribbon pinned to her dress distinguished her as the captain of the Philadelphia Dolly Vardens, a baseball team fully composed of Black women.

Her team wasn’t alone in the woods; a large crowd of people of all ages and races had gathered, awaiting the game that had been announced the day before.

Trump, in Pa. speech, says he shouldn’t be charged in document case if Biden isn’t

HARRISBURG, Pa. — In his first visit to Pennsylvania of 2024, former President Donald Trump seized on a special counsel’s decision not to charge President Joe Biden for mishandling classified documents while Trump continues to contend with a pending criminal case. Before a crowd of thousands of supporters at the National Rifle Association gathering in Harrisburg, Trump contended he was the victim of unfair treatment. “Biden is not going to be charged,” Trump said. “If he’s not going to be charged, that’s up to them. But then I should not be charged.” He also took shots at Biden’s mental facult...

Gunman who fired at 2 officers is presumed dead, along with 5 relatives, sources say

PHILADELPHIA — After hours of sifting through the charred remains of an East Lansdowne, Pa., home on Thursday, investigators retrieved three sets of human remains and a rifle — the beginnings of their painstaking search for evidence as they worked to piece together what led a resident of the home to shoot two police officers before setting the house ablaze the day before.

It was difficult, “gruesome” work, according to Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer.

Multiple family members unaccounted for at Pennsylvania home razed in a fire after 2 officers were shot

PHILADELPHIA — Two police officers were shot Wednesday afternoon in East Lansdowne while responding to reports that an 11-year-old girl had been shot inside a home that later burst into flames. And later Wednesday, as investigators struggled to piece together what led to the shooting, they said that as many as eight members of the family that lived inside the home — children and adults — were unaccounted for. Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said the home was still smoldering Wednesday night, preventing investigators from sifting through the ruins. He described the house as ...

2 fetuses were mailed to Philly's Mütter Museum. Police are investigating

PHILADELPHIA — Mütter Museum curator Anna N. Dhody opened a package Tuesday morning that arrived at the museum by mail.

Inside was a glass jar containing two preserved fetuses, and a letter from someone claiming to be a retired physician who wanted to make a donation.

“I saw the letter and was like, ‘Oh no, no no, I have to make a few calls,’” said Dhody, who promptly called the police. “This is not normal procedure.”

The package was addressed to Dhody, but did not have a return address. The letter was scant and included no other details about the sender or the fetuses, Dhody said.

Man accused of beheading father bought a gun the day before fatally shooting him: report

A day before authorities say he decapitated his father and posted a graphic YouTube video calling for the execution of federal employees, Justin Mohn strode into a gun shop in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and legally purchased the 9mm handgun police say he used to carry out the killing. “There was nothing legally precluding him from purchasing that gun,” Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said during a Friday news conference. In the days before visiting Johnston’s Sporting Goods in Croydon, Mohn, 32, who was unemployed and lived with his parents, had surrendered his medical marijuan...

Museum committed to repatriating skulls of Black Philadelphians used for racist science

PHILADELPHIA — On Saturday, the Penn Museum will host a public commemoration and interfaith burial service for 19 unidentified Black Philadelphians, likely enslaved during their lifetimes, who died in the 1830s and 1840s but were never laid to rest. Their skulls were severed from their bodies and stolen by white supremacist scientist Samuel G. Morton, who added them to his collection of more than 1,300 crania — to be examined by anthropologists for nearly 200 years. But this ceremony won’t put to rest the controversy around Penn’s handling of these remains. Instead, it adds another messy chapt...

Pennsylvania is the fat dog capital of America

PHILADELPHIA — Ralphie fell in love with lobster at first bite. Steak too.

But the pounds started creeping up. And up. In time, Ralphie’s doctor confirmed what his family already knew: At 30% overweight, the time had come for the South Philly Bullmastiff to go on a serious doggie diet.

In the Keystone State, Ralphie is far from alone. Pennsylvania’s dogs are the most overweight in the country, according to a survey conducted by Veterinarians.org, a veterinarian-informed information group on pet issues. The study found that Pennsylvania dogs carry over 18 excess pounds on average.

A church began ringing its bells again. Not everyone is happy

PHILADELPHIA -- Late last year, Rev. Alfred Bradley planned a Christmastime surprise for the neighborhood he grew up in. He was bringing back the sound of church bells to the Fishtown neighborhood. Thanks to two crafty volunteers and two generous families, the Holy Name of Jesus Church on E. Berks and Gaul Streets received a bell tower upgrade with a new electronic carillon system and big speakers. The entire project cost less than $5,000. “It was just our attempt to, we thought in a positive way, contribute to the sound of the city and maybe bring a bit of spirituality into an urban landscape...

Critics claim to find flaws in dozens of Alzheimer’s studies by Temple scientist

PHILADELPHIA — When Temple University scientist Domenico Praticò helped secure a $3.8 million state grant to study Alzheimer’s disease, school officials hailed the news as a sign that his research center was “poised to become a national leader in dementia research.”

Not mentioned in the announcement: School officials had been alerted to allegations that Praticò improperly reused or altered images of mouse brains that accompanied his studies, thereby making his findings appear stronger than they really were.

President Biden will return to Pennsylvania on Friday

PHILADELPHIA — President Joe Biden will visit Allentown on Friday, the White House confirmed, his second visit to the state in about a week as he looks ahead to the 2024 election.

Last Friday, he visited Valley Forge and then made a campaign speech in Blue Bell, where he argued former President Donald Trump is a threat to democracy.

It’s the second stop Biden’s made in the state just this year and at least the 16th since becoming president. Biden’s Allentown visit will be an official visit, aimed at touting his legislative record in a key part of swing state Pennsylvania.

The real reasons the GOP suddenly pretended to care about Harvard

By Will Bunch

For the last couple of weeks, it’s seemed like the New York Times has decided to reinvent itself as the Manhattan edition of the Harvard Crimson.

Dozens of articles and opinion essays about the controversies swirling around the first Black president of America’s most prestigious university competed for space in America’s most prestigious news org with stories about mass death in Gaza, in a newsroom overpopulated with Harvard alums.

Protesters arrested at a pro-Palestinian march in Philly during Christmas shopping rush

PHILADELPHIA — Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through Center City on Saturday afternoon to disrupt the last-minute Christmas shopping blitz with sorrowful reminders of the ongoing siege in Gaza — a protest that culminated in a tense standoff with police officers and the arrest of two protesters for disorderly conduct near Rittenhouse Square, authorities said. Cpl. Jasmine Reilly, a Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson, said a demonstrator attempted to put a sticker on a police vehicle near the park. As the protest was winding down, an officer was seen confronting the ...

President Biden’s latest trip to Philly illustrates his 2024 campaign strategy — and challenges

PHILADELPHIA — President Joe Biden was back in Philadelphia Monday on an afternoon that in many ways previewed his 2024 campaign. Three scenes from his visit — his 9th to the city this year — provided a snapshot of Biden’s campaign strategy and some of his looming challenges as he readies for a likely rematch with former President Donald Trump next year. Biden spoke to firefighters in Francisville, where he touted federal grant money that will help staff and equip the department. It was part of an ongoing attempt by the campaign to connect his administration’s legislative achievements to tangi...