Decades of firefighting foam at Delaware's military bases sent "forever chemicals" into local drinking water, leaving nearby residents with elevated PFAS in their blood and costing millions to clean up. A new state law, signed by Gov. Matt Meyer, bans the toxic foam going forward.
— via WHYY, Zoë Read
Five Philly stories in one episode: how the city is bracing for heat waves, a possible cell phone ban in K-12 schools, a dragon boat crew's trip of a lifetime, teens' end-of-world play and a bike cafe hidden in Wissahickon Valley Park.
— via WHYY
New Jersey's new e-bike law now requires licenses, registration and insurance for even the slowest models, after three deadly crashes pushed lawmakers to act. Sales have plunged up to 90% at some shops and at least a dozen have closed, while immigrant riders and people without driver's licenses say they're being pushed off their bikes entirely.
— via WHYY, David Matthau
Only 30% of Americans aged 18-34 got a flu shot last season, and overall vaccination rates fall well short of the government's 70% target. Philadelphia is offering free flu and COVID-19 shots at five locations citywide, no appointment needed.
— via WHYY, Andrew McGurl
Eight people died Friday in a shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania, with the shooter also found dead and no further threat to the public, officials said. The police chief called it unlike anything he's seen in 28 years on the force.
— via WHYY, Jacqueline Ganun
The original urinal and bicycle wheel are gone, tossed out decades ago. The 300-object retrospective, the first in 50 years, instead tracks how a chronological timeline bends back on itself to capture an artist who kept undoing his own work.
— via WHYY, Peter Crimmins
One officer was shot three times, the other 12, after stepping onto a West Philadelphia porch where a man with a gun had been reported. The suspect fled, fired on more officers and was caught after falling out of a tree.
— via WHYY, 6abc digital staff
Chris Coons cruised to nearly 80% of the Democratic primary vote; his GOP challenger once ran as a Democrat and later as an independent against a different senator. Early voting opens Oct. 22, and the two split sharply on the ACA, Medicaid and gun laws.
— via WHYY, Sarina Grossi
A man died after allegedly firing on police near the Ben Franklin Parkway Friday morning, officers returning a single shot each from a SEPTA and a Philadelphia officer. A bullhorn warning failed first, and the commissioner says it's still unconfirmed the man fired before police arrived.
— via WHYY, 6abc digital staff and Corey Davis
Delaware’s congressional delegation wants $30 million in federal money to rebuild storm-battered dunes, on top of $10 million already secured this year. Officials say the sand worked as designed, absorbing a nor’easter’s blow so roads and homes didn’t have to.
— via WHYY, Sarina Grossi
Edgar Allan Poe once visited this Bucks County estate and later sent his host a signed first edition of his darkest tales. Now the historic mansion along the Delaware River is restaging those stories after dark, complete with a stone grotto finale.
— via WHYY, Emily Neil
KRS-One, DJ Shadow and Teddy Swims hit town the same weekend nearly 300 Marcel Duchamp works land at the Art Museum. Add a four-day film festival in Wilmington, a Springsteen tribute band fronted by an L.A. singer, and a citywide "Rocky" 50th-anniversary bash running through December.
— via WHYY, Tonya Pendleton
Shapiro told Garrity she can't be trusted to certify the 2028 election. She called it the most ridiculous thing she'd ever heard, and the two traded barbs over voter ID, data centers and a state surplus Shapiro wants to spend and Garrity wants to save.
— via WHYY, Carmen Russell-Sluchansky
Philadelphia tenant organizers want City Council to ban landlords from using AI to log maintenance requests and calculate rent arrears, saying the software has wrongly flagged renters as delinquent. Property managers counter that the technology just speeds up repetitive tasks, not replaces staff.
— via WHYY, Aaron Moselle
New Jersey officials found about 750 more bad voter registrations, including 60 tied to people who were incarcerated, after digging further into a software glitch that previously flagged 6,600 noncitizen registrations. Some records date back to 2016, and the MVC is now running daily audits to catch the errors before they happen again.
— via WHYY, P. Kenneth Burns
Shapiro and Garrity split sharply on Medicaid, abortion and transgender sports rules, with up to 310,000 Pennsylvanians at risk of losing coverage under new federal work requirements. Here's where the governor's race stands on the issues likely to shape the next four years.
— via WHYY, Carmen Russell-Sluchansky
A Philadelphia therapist's referrals fell 10% in 2023, 20% in 2024, then 25% more last year, forcing her to downsize her apartment and dip into savings. She blames platforms like BetterHelp and Headway for hijacking Google and Psychology Today searches, plus a wave of AI-generated fake client inquiries.
— via WHYY, Meir Rinde
Vermilion red, one of history's most prized pigments, came from mixing mercury and sulfide, then superheating it until it transformed. A new Philadelphia exhibit argues alchemists were running real experiments, not chasing fairy-tale gold.
— via WHYY, Maiken Scott
GLP-1 drugs promise fast weight loss with minimal screening, and eating disorder specialists say that combination is fueling relapses among people in recovery. One woman who battled bulimia and anorexia for years describes watching the culture that nearly broke her come roaring back.
— via WHYY, Nicole Leonard
