The coronavirus lockdown has put people experiencing domestic violence in a dangerous position over the past three months. Some in Philadelphia have been using 24-hour emergency hotlines to reach out for help, advocates say, but far fewer have filed for legal intervention from their abusers. According to judicial data, applications from protection for abuse orders dropped nearly 40% under the pandemic when compared to previous years. An average of 748 people per month filed PFAs during March, April and May 2018. During that same period this year — a time of stay-at-home orders, historic job...…The coronavirus lockdown has put people experiencing domestic violence in a dangerous position over the past three months. Some in Philadelphia have been using 24-hour emergency hotlines to reach out for help, advocates say, but far fewer have filed for legal intervention from their abusers. According to judicial data, applications from protection for abuse orders dropped nearly 40% under the pandemic when compared to previous years. An average of 748 people per month filed PFAs during March, April and May 2018. During that same period this year — a time of stay-at-home orders, historic job...WW…

💌 Love Philly? Sign up for to get everything you need to know about Philadelphia, every day. Philadelphia has been rocked by nights full of fires, commercial break-ins, and robberies as vandals take advantage of the uproar created by protests against institutional racism and the killing of George Floyd. Many city residents have reported difficulty sleeping through the louder-than-usual cacophony of sirens. And…the explosions. Low-frequency blasts continued deep into Wednesday evening, intensifying after dark and carrying through into the early hours of the morning: booms of sonic...…💌 Love Philly? Sign up for to get everything you need to know about Philadelphia, every day. Philadelphia has been rocked by nights full of fires, commercial break-ins, and robberies as vandals take advantage of the uproar created by protests against institutional racism and the killing of George Floyd. Many city residents have reported difficulty sleeping through the louder-than-usual cacophony of sirens. And…the explosions. Low-frequency blasts continued deep into Wednesday evening, intensifying after dark and carrying through into the early hours of the morning: booms of sonic...WW…

A high-ranking Philadelphia Police Department commander who roughed up protesters with a baton in two separate incidents this week will be charged with aggravated assault, the District Attorney’s Office said. The officer facing charges is Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna Jr, who has a history of misconduct and is linked to past corruption scandals. Before he was removed from street patrol duty this week, Bologna was operations commander of the department’s Patrol Bureau, a bicycle-mounted police unit that runs interference for protests and special events. In one video, Bologna can be seen...…A high-ranking Philadelphia Police Department commander who roughed up protesters with a baton in two separate incidents this week will be charged with aggravated assault, the District Attorney’s Office said. The officer facing charges is Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna Jr, who has a history of misconduct and is linked to past corruption scandals. Before he was removed from street patrol duty this week, Bologna was operations commander of the department’s Patrol Bureau, a bicycle-mounted police unit that runs interference for protests and special events. In one video, Bologna can be seen...WW…

In late May, Philadelphia jail officials set out to , whether or not they were showing symptoms of the coronavirus. The results are now in, adding to mounting evidence that COVID-19 spreads covertly in close-quarter settings. Over the past two weeks, 6% of incarcerated people without symptoms tested positive — or 220 out of 3,695 inmates, officials told Billy Penn. The experiment was conducted several weeks after the viral surge peaked in the region in late April. Only 17 people in custody refused to participate. Cases among people without symptoms are spread between all four city...…In late May, Philadelphia jail officials set out to , whether or not they were showing symptoms of the coronavirus. The results are now in, adding to mounting evidence that COVID-19 spreads covertly in close-quarter settings. Over the past two weeks, 6% of incarcerated people without symptoms tested positive — or 220 out of 3,695 inmates, officials told Billy Penn. The experiment was conducted several weeks after the viral surge peaked in the region in late April. Only 17 people in custody refused to participate. Cases among people without symptoms are spread between all four city...WW…

Manufacturers with no verifiable credentials. Distributors demanding payment up front. Orders cancelled without explanation. Months of waiting for shipments to arrive. Ten weeks into the pandemic, Philadelphia is still contending with a gaping shortage of personal protective equipment. Officials allocated $85 million of coronavirus relief money last month, but less than a quarter has been spent so far — most of it trying to land some elusive PPE. Even when successful, records show that PPE orders placed back in March still haven’t arrived on the city’s loading docks. Three orders for...…Manufacturers with no verifiable credentials. Distributors demanding payment up front. Orders cancelled without explanation. Months of waiting for shipments to arrive. Ten weeks into the pandemic, Philadelphia is still contending with a gaping shortage of personal protective equipment. Officials allocated $85 million of coronavirus relief money last month, but less than a quarter has been spent so far — most of it trying to land some elusive PPE. Even when successful, records show that PPE orders placed back in March still haven’t arrived on the city’s loading docks. Three orders for...WW…

Are you on the front lines of the coronavirus?Street sweeping in Philadelphia is over before it began.Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration has slashed as part of .Philadelphia is the only big city in the country to lack a comprehensive street sweeping program. But Marisa Waxman, Kenney’s budget director, said Thursday that the projected $10 to $11 million needed to finance the expanded program was not in the cards.“As we looked across the budget with a $649 million gap, we had to prioritize what we still are able to do and we focused on keeping Philadelphians safe, healthy and educated,”...…Are you on the front lines of the coronavirus?Street sweeping in Philadelphia is over before it began.Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration has slashed as part of .Philadelphia is the only big city in the country to lack a comprehensive street sweeping program. But Marisa Waxman, Kenney’s budget director, said Thursday that the projected $10 to $11 million needed to finance the expanded program was not in the cards.“As we looked across the budget with a $649 million gap, we had to prioritize what we still are able to do and we focused on keeping Philadelphians safe, healthy and educated,”...WW…

💌 Love Philly? Sign up for to get everything you need to know about Philadelphia, every day. Jennie Burd misses her neighborhood bars. It’s been two months since the city’s watering holes closed their doors. For this East Kensington resident, they were places of spontaneous social magic, and like so much else from the Before Times, the pandemic has cast the corner bar in a new, admiring light. “I don’t think I ever fully appreciated how amazing it is that you can sit down and have a drink with people coming from very different places,” Burd said, “and over the years, I’ve formed some really...…💌 Love Philly? Sign up for to get everything you need to know about Philadelphia, every day. Jennie Burd misses her neighborhood bars. It’s been two months since the city’s watering holes closed their doors. For this East Kensington resident, they were places of spontaneous social magic, and like so much else from the Before Times, the pandemic has cast the corner bar in a new, admiring light. “I don’t think I ever fully appreciated how amazing it is that you can sit down and have a drink with people coming from very different places,” Burd said, “and over the years, I’ve formed some really...WW…

Minutes before his life ended, U.S. Army veteran Angelo Slaughter was with his two young sons on the steps of their Southwest Philly rowhouse. That night in 2006, police officers appeared on the block to question suspects over a drug transaction that had allegedly taken place earlier that day.Two plainclothes officers approached Slaughter to question him. What happened next is a matter of dispute — a story where the distinction between self-defense and a police murder hinged on the position of Slaughter’s arms.Philly Police Officer Sharrod Davis, who had joined the force three years prior,...…Minutes before his life ended, U.S. Army veteran Angelo Slaughter was with his two young sons on the steps of their Southwest Philly rowhouse. That night in 2006, police officers appeared on the block to question suspects over a drug transaction that had allegedly taken place earlier that day.Two plainclothes officers approached Slaughter to question him. What happened next is a matter of dispute — a story where the distinction between self-defense and a police murder hinged on the position of Slaughter’s arms.Philly Police Officer Sharrod Davis, who had joined the force three years prior,...WW…

Jose de Marco sent the funerary wreath to Philadelphia Managing Director Brian Abernathy after a man died of coronavirus in a city homeless shelter.Subscribe to PlanPhillyOur weekly newsletter delivers original reporting on the people, places and things that make Philly.In-depth, original reporting on housing, transportation, and development.Philadelphia’s budget for fiscal year 2023 funds neighborhood improvements, creating safe youth spaces in an effort to combat the city's gun violence crisis.The budget includes no tax hikes, steps to ease the tax burden of rising property valuations,...…Jose de Marco sent the funerary wreath to Philadelphia Managing Director Brian Abernathy after a man died of coronavirus in a city homeless shelter.Subscribe to PlanPhillyOur weekly newsletter delivers original reporting on the people, places and things that make Philly.In-depth, original reporting on housing, transportation, and development.Philadelphia’s budget for fiscal year 2023 funds neighborhood improvements, creating safe youth spaces in an effort to combat the city's gun violence crisis.The budget includes no tax hikes, steps to ease the tax burden of rising property valuations,...WW…

A day after Philadelphia police came under fire for the handling of a demonstration on I-676, PPD Commissioner Danielle Outlaw is ordering the department to revise its use of force guidelines.A memo obtained by Billy Penn and WHYY shows officers will be required to report all use of force live on their radios, rather than as procedural paperwork after the fact.“Effective immediately, and until notified otherwise, all uses of force must be reported via Police Radio, to ensure we can properly defend our actions when we are ultimately challenged,” Outlaw wrote in the department-wide...…A day after Philadelphia police came under fire for the handling of a demonstration on I-676, PPD Commissioner Danielle Outlaw is ordering the department to revise its use of force guidelines.A memo obtained by Billy Penn and WHYY shows officers will be required to report all use of force live on their radios, rather than as procedural paperwork after the fact.“Effective immediately, and until notified otherwise, all uses of force must be reported via Police Radio, to ensure we can properly defend our actions when we are ultimately challenged,” Outlaw wrote in the department-wide...WW…