Philadelphia Inquirer

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, December 11th. A Pennsylvania appellate court rejected Bill Cosby’s efforts to overturn his sexual assault conviction yesterday. The judges found that five additional accusers who were allowed to testify at his trial did not improperly influence the jury’s decision. Lawyers for the 82-year-old said that the testimony alleging assaults had unfairly prejudiced jurors when it came to whether he committed a specific assault in 2004.

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, December 10th. Philadelphia had some nasty weather yesterday and it’s about to go through some mood changes this week. Forecasts call for more rain in Philly today, but the high could reach 60 degrees. But the warm temps might not last long. By tomorrow, we could be back down to the 30s. And, as a bonus, forecasters say that cold front could turn rain into snow and put down some accumulation, at least to the north and west of the city.

Good morning. It’s Monday, December 9th. The opioid crisis has deeply impacted Pennsylvania’s two biggest cities — Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. But one seemed to make significant progress last year, leaving the other to wonder how. After a record-breaking year for overdose deaths in 2017, the Pittsburgh area saw fatal overdoses drop by more than forty percent in 2018. Experts in Pittsburgh and surrounding Allegheny county point to a number of reasons.

Good morning. It’s Friday, December 6th. A new Pennsylvania law aims to protect victims of domestic violence by requiring alleged abusers to hand over their weapons. They have 24 hours to do so. But the rollout of the law hasn’t been smooth in Philadelphia. Since April, five-hundred-and-seventy-four domestic abusers were ordered to hand over weapons in the city. And only 62 have complied. That percentage is much lower than in other areas in the state.

Good morning. It’s Thursday, December 5th. Pennsylvania State Representative Movita Johnson-Harrell will resign from her seat representing West Philadelphia. She was charged yesterday with perjury, theft, tampering with public records, and other related crimes.

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, December 4th. A quiet 2019 general election in Philadelphia showed positive signs for Democrats in 2020. Inquirer analysis shows that almost half of this year's general election voters did not vote in the same election cycle four years ago. The numbers suggest that the city's electorate is growing and that people who did not vote in the past are doing so now.

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, December 3rd. City Council is considering changes to Philadelphia’s controversial 10-year tax abatement, which has served as a major real estate tax break since it became law almost 20 years ago. The tax abatement was designed to encourage new development in the city’s housing stock and boost the local economy.

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, November 27th. A city report released yesterday encouraged the now-shuttered oil refinery in South Philly to be reused as something “cleaner” and “safer for Philadelphians.” But the report also acknowledges that the thirteen-hundred-acre complex will likely continue as a petroleum processing facility in the near future. Following an explosion and fire that damaged the refinery earlier this year, it is now up for sale in bankruptcy court.

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, November 26th. Pennsylvania has been hit by E. coli illnesses linked to tainted lettuce from California. As of yesterday, there were three documented cases of E. coli infections in Pennsylvania. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises that people should throw away romaine lettuce and salad mixes from California’s Salinas Valley region.

Good morning. It’s Monday, November 25th Spectators witnessed history at Sunday’s Philadelphia Marathon. Feyne Gemeda beat the female course record by just three seconds with a time of two-hours-thirty-two-minutes-and-forty-eight-seconds. Gemeda, knowing what was at stake, pushed hard through the final hundred feet before falling to the ground just past the finish line. She rose to her feet minutes later with the Ethiopian flag draped around her back.