Good morning. It’s Wednesday, July 31st. For years, Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood has been at the center of the city's drug crisis. But in the earliest days of the opioid epidemic, the neighborhood quietly began to house a booming legal market for prescription opioid painkillers. The Inquirer analyzed sales data from a Drug Enforcement Administration database.

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, July 30th. The Fox Chase Cancer Center will change owners. Two Philadelphia nonprofits announced yesterday that Temple University will sell it to Thomas Jefferson University. The groups had been in exclusive negotiations since January. The price of the transaction will be set after the formal agreement is completed in the coming weeks. Temple and Jefferson are also partnering on a bid for the bankrupt St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children.

Good morning. It’s Monday, July 29th. A man was killed and five other people were wounded in a shooting in the Elmwood neighborhood of Southwest Philadelphia on Sunday night. Some victims are in critical condition, while others are stable. It’s the latest in a string of violent weekends this year. There’s an ongoing investigation. As of Saturday, there were 185 homicides in Philadelphia in 2019. Last year, there were 176 in total.

Good morning. It’s Friday, July 26. Philadelphia officials have demanded the city has a say in who buys St. Christoper’s Hospital for Children out of bankruptcy. Court filings reveal the city wants to consult on the sale because officials say there’s a dire need to sustain the hospital’s services. The North Philly hospital provides preventative care, parental advice, developmental counseling and supports a group that aids sexually abused children.

Good morning. It’s Thursday, July 25th. The Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled yesterday that Meek Mill’s conviction on gun and drug charges should be thrown out. Those charges eventually led to the Philly-born rapper serving jail time AND receiving the two-to-four-year prison sentence for parole violations that sparked a social justice movement. Now, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office has to decide whether it will pursue a new trial against the 32-year-old.

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, July 24th. For the second time, a judge has dismissed criminal charges against the Amtrak engineer who was operating a train that derailed in Philadelphia in 2015, which killed 8 people. Brandon Bostian [Baas-tee-an] accelerated to 106 mph as he approached a bend in the tracks shortly after stopping at 30th Street Station, more than twice the posted speed limit for that stretch of rail.

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, July 23rd. Equifax has agreed to pay up to $700 million over a data breach. Federal and state investigators have been looking into the 2017 breach, where hackers accessed Social Security numbers and other sensitive information from nearly 150 million people, including 5.5 million Pennsylvanians. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said it took Equifax 145 days to patch the vulnerability.

Good morning. It’s Monday, July 22nd. Voter turnout among people with disabilities has long lagged behind turnout among other voters, and continued to do so in 2018, according to a new analysis from Rutgers University. People with disabilities are a potentially powerful voting bloc, but one that often goes unnoticed. If turnout was the same for voters with and without disabilities, 2.35 million more ballots would’ve been cast nationwide in the 2018 midterms.

Good morning. It’s Friday, July 19th. The Philadelphia Police department has fired 13 officers over racist Facebook posts. The decision was announced Thursday by commissioner Richard Ross. He expressed disappointment and anger over the offensive posts and called for an end to what he called “the ridiculous hate that has consumed this country.

Good morning. It’s Thursday, July 18th. Dangerously hot weather has forced the City of Philadelphia to take some critical precautions. The National Weather Service has an excessive heat warning in effect for the region through Sunday. The city has also declared a heat health emergency. The declaration sets off a variety of actions from the city, including opening cooling centers AND activating the Heatline, a number to call for those in need of help related to the high temperatures.