Philadelphia Inquirer

Good morning. It’s Friday, October 25th. The Philadelphia Phillies have a new manager. And for the first time ever, they hired a manager who has previously led a team to a World Series championship. Joe Girardi (Jer-are-di) got the job on Thursday. He replaces Gabe Kapler, who was heavily criticized by fans during his two years as manager of the Phillies. Girardi previously managed the New York Yankees for 10 seasons, including in 2009 when the Yankees defeated the Phillies in the World Series.

Good morning. It’s Thursday, October 24th. Crime rates in Pennsylvania have fallen to their lowest point in decades. But since 1980, the rate of incarceration in Pennsylvania state prisons and county jails has nearly quadrupled. And, the number of people on probation or parole has also grown four times larger. Pennsylvania now has the nation’s second-highest rate of people under correctional control when compared to other states.

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, October 23rd. The Philadelphia 76ers open their NBA season tonight against the Boston Celtics. And this matchup between the two longtime rivals carries a little extra meaning. Both teams will look a bit different than they did last season. The Sixers’ marquee addition is big man Al Horford, who spent his last three seasons as one of the Celtics’ best players.

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, October 22nd. Politicians in Pennsylvania operate under some of the country’s weakest campaign finance laws. According to a nationwide survey, It’s the only state without contribution limits and without an explicit ban on spending campaign cash for personal use. And there’s little enforcement of the rules that do exist. Campaigns are supposed to keep vouchers of their spending for the past three years.

Good morning. It’s Monday, October 21st. Philadelphia police are investigating a pair of shootings involving children over the weekend. A 2-year-old girl was killed in Kensington on Sunday when an unidentified gunman fired a rifle into her family’s home. Her death followed a shooting which took place on Saturday night in Hunting Park. In that incident, an 11-month-old boy was struck four times. He remained in critical condition Sunday, according to investigators.

Good morning, it’s Friday, October 18th A tense trial with racial undertones ended in a not guilty verdict in Philadelphia on Thursday. A jury found Michael White not guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of real estate developer Sean Schellenger during a fight that happened near Rittenhouse Square last year. White’s lawyers had argued during three days of testimony that he had used a knife against Schellenger in self-defense.

Good morning. It’s Thursday, October 17th. The fire and explosion this summer that ultimately closed an oil refinery in South Philadelphia released over five thousand pounds of a deadly chemical into the air. The federal findings that were revealed yesterday were the first to confirm that toxic hydrofluoric acid was released. The chemical can destroy tissue and bone and has been known to cause fatalities.

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, October 16th. Harrisburg Area Community College has quietly eliminated its campus mental health services. And it didn’t notify all of its students. The school is Pennsylvania’s largest community college system with 17,000 students across five campuses. According to an internal memo, the college told its counselors to stop individual and group counseling as of mid-September. Counselors can still help students, just not with their mental health.

Good morning. It’s Tuesday, October 15th. A couple from England say they took a wrong turn while visiting Canada and entered the United States; now they are in custody. The couple was visiting Vancouver, and say they swerved to avoid an animal and turned down an unmarked road. Now, their attorneys say they’ve been shipped to a detention center in Berks County along with their three-month-old baby and two-year-old twins. The couple say they were denied the right to contact their embassy.

Good morning, it’s Monday, October 14th. Six people were shot and injured Sunday in Philadelphia’s Fairhill neighborhood, capping a violent weekend in the city. Police did not describe any suspects or give a possible motive for the shooting, although they did say it could have been a drive-by attack. The youngest person injured was a 14-year-old boy.