It’s Friday, November 2nd. Since the tragic shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue last weekend, phones at the Philadelphia headquarters of HIAS [hi-as] have been ringing off the hook. For over a century, the Jewish-founded refugee resettlement agency has helped find homes for people fleeing some of the world’s most dangerous places. The gunman in Pittsburgh raged against the organization on social media.

It’s Thursday, November 1st. Officer Eric Ruch [Roosh] Jr. has been fired from the Philadelphia police force for shooting and killing an unarmed man last year. Police Commissioner Richard Ross said the decision to fire Ruch wasn’t influenced by protests, but because he violated policy by shooting his gun. Ross noted that 3 other officers at the scene in East Germantown did not shoot at the victim, Dennis Plowden Jr.

It’s Wednesday, October 31st President Trump wants to end citizenship by birth for babies born in the United States to undocumented immigrants. But experts say he can’t because the move would be unconstitutional. The impact of the statement is already being felt in and around Philly. For example, one local teacher tweeted that her student, a child of refugees, asked her about Trump’s comments. The teacher was unable to answer them.

It’s Tuesday, October 30th. The trial for Sean Kratz, who is charged with helping Cosmo Dinardo kill three men in Bucks County last year, is getting delayed. Kratz hired high-profile Philly defense lawyer Charles Peruto Jr. on Monday. The move will further delay Kratz’s trial, which was set to begin in early 2019. In the courtroom, the victims’ families were visibly upset when they learned that they’d have to wait longer for the trail to begin.

It’s Monday, October 29th The nation mourns with Pittsburgh today after a man opened fire, killing eleven people inside a synagogue on Saturday. 46-year-old Robert Bowers was taken into custody. President Trump called for the country to unite after the shooting. And suggested that armed guards might have prevented it. Federal authorities will treat the shooting as a hate crime. And a U.S. attorney in Pittsburgh says he wants the death penalty against Bowers.

It’s Friday, October 26th. An abandoned West Philadelphia property can’t shake its troubled history. Known as “The House of Horrors,” it was the infamous Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s abortion clinic where one woman and seven babies delivered to term died. He’s in prison serving three consecutive life terms for murder. Neighbors disagree on whether the 100-year-old building should be torn down, or preserved for its architecture.

It’s Thursday, October 25th. Bomb scares yesterday rattled five prominent figures with ties to the Democratic party, AND the New York offices of CNN. Packages that contained what appeared to be explosive devices were sent to the homes of former president Barack Obama and the Clinton’s, and other similar packages were found addressed to former CIA director John Brennan, former attorney general Eric Holder and Congresswoman Maxine Waters.

It’s Wednesday, October 24th. If you live in Northeast Philly it could take you six months to see a doctor. It’s because there are so few primary-care providers there, and in the city’s Southwest neighborhoods, according to a report. In those areas, there’s about one doctor for every thirty-five-hundred residents – a federally defined shortage. Experts say primary care is the most important life-saving part of our health system. And Philly needs more of it.

It’s Tuesday, October 23rd. A young boy spent three days in jail after his arrest in August. Now, Philly’s district attorney is dropping the charges against 13-year-old Zahiem Salahuddin [ZA-heem Sal-uh-hoo-deen]. He was arrested for allegedly shooting a police officer’s child with a plastic pellet from a toy gun. And charged as a juvenile with simple assault, reckless endangerment, and possession of an instrument of crime.

It’s Monday, October 22nd. Allegations of sexual abuse have surfaced involving a nationally acclaimed chess coach who taught for decades in Philadelphia's public schools. Three former students of Stephen Shutt say they either endured or witnessed abuse in his home in the 1980s. The allegations involve former members of his chess team from Frederick Douglass Elementary School in North Philly. The 76-year-old retiree denied the accusations in interviews with the Inquirer.