You haven't heard from me in a while, and it's for the best of reasons. I’ve been on parental leave with our first child. I am beyond grateful to @inquirer.com, the @newsguild.org, and my colleagues who made it possible for me to spend this time with my daughter. And now, back to work.

Residents raised lots of questions last night. Among them: What threat prompted the school to cancel the protest? Is it true, as one resident said, that a text threatened to bring a gun to the walkout? And if this threat was credible, then why wasn't more done to lock down the school?

A Quakertown High School students' ICE protest escalated into a confrontation with adults that left at least one teenager bloodied and in handcuffs.

Four years after Russian invasion, many Ukraine war veterans and refugees have found support and community in the Philadelphia region. But with no end to the war in sight, and not enough action from the government, they say the future is uncertain. @inquirer.com www.inquirer.com/news/ukraine...

Alongside journalist Don Lemon, DOJ indicted 35-year old Ian Austin from Bryn Athyn, right outside of Philly. Here’s my @inquirer.com story on who Austin is and why he drove to Minneapolis to protest ICE.

BREAKING: The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez.

A decorated U.S. Army veteran from Montgomery County was arrested Friday for participating in a protest at a St. Paul church, just two days after a video of him speaking out against the Trump administration went viral. My latest @inquirer.com www.inquirer.com/news/montgom...

MPR News has learned that the police chief in the small southern Minnesota city of St. Peter intervened Thursday afternoon to prevent federal immigration agents from arresting a local resident.

"Analysis of the City of Philadelphia’s PlowPHL data, which tracks the movement of plows via GPS data, showed that about a quarter of streets citywide had received no snow treatment at all — including salting or plowing — after the conclusion of the storm Sunday" www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

Earlier this week, federal officials abruptly terminated some $2 billion in grant funding for mental health and addiction programs. The grants were restored after bipartisan outcry, but providers in the Philly area who briefly lost funding are rattled. www.inquirer.com/health/samhs...

As Minneapolis shooting stirs fears of state violence, several Black Panther Party members made their presence known in Philly @inquirer.com www.inquirer.com/news/black-p...

“ Sheriff Rochelle Bilal has garnered headlines and condemnation for calling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement "fake, wannabe law enforcement" and sending a blunt warning to immigration officers who commit crimes in Philadelphia.” @inquirer.com www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

Four days after the Bristol nursing home explosion, residents are left in unfamiliar new locations without clothes, possessions, and medications. My latest @inquirer.com www.inquirer.com/news/bristol...

"You could drive a Mack Truck through the loopholes in Pennsylvania’s campaign finance rules," election law attorney Larry Otter told @spotlightpa.org @stephenjcaruso.bsky.social @katiemeyer.bsky.social www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/10...

It's not often that I get to interview other journalists. This is the exception. May we all aspire to live such an exemplary life as Michael Days, former editor at the Philly Daily News and @inquirer.com and NABJ- Philadelphia president. www.inquirer.com/obituaries/m...

Today I helped cover the No Kings protest in Philly along with several of my talented @inquirer.com colleagues. Here’s a liveblog of our coverage along with some pics www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

As Philly’s rate of violence plummets to near-historic lows, police are also solving homicides at the highest rate in recent memory. The homicide clearance rate this year is around 90% — the highest in 40 years.

With the U.S. Navy in Philly, I asked its top officer about the bombing of boats in the Caribbean, Trump's efforts to politicize the military, and the deployments of soldiers and Marines in U.S. cities. Here's what he said @inquirer.com www.inquirer.com/politics/nav...

The lawsuit states that the Trump administration’s deployment of Oregon National Guard and out-of-state National Guard troops in Portland is “unlawful, unconstitutional and undemocratic” and violates long-held concepts like federalism and states' rights. www.inquirer.com/politics/sha...

Check out the story @brettsholtis.bsky.social and I published this weekend on last Monday's Street's Committee hearing, where bicycle advocates and the Parker admin faced a series of setbacks at the hands of City Council: www.inquirer.com/news/bike-la...

The union wants to lock in a new contract ahead of the 2026 tourist season in Philly, which they expect will drive up company profits and strain hotel staff. Approximately 190 union members are striking. My latest @inquirer.com www.inquirer.com/news/sherato...

Tanisha Long shared her thoughts online, and "within hours, her phone was lighting up with notifications: people trying to hack her Instagram, calling her racial slurs, and wishing her dead." My latest, a Ximena Conde collab @inquirer.com www.inquirer.com/politics/cha...

Stephen Wilkins shut off his tenants’ electricity, tossed a brick through a window, and even removed all of the doors and windows from their home, said former tenant Crystal Hall. “And then Wilkins sent a man to the house with a gun. And he killed her mother.” @ellierushing.bsky.social

State lawmakers still have not passed a budget, and the complex reasons behind the transit agency’s $213 million shortfall remain unaddressed. But for now, things are back to normal. Sort of. www.inquirer.com/transportati...

some of the last large undeveloped lots in Port Richmond could be on their way to getting filled in www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...

"FBI agents aided by local police arrested private-equity investor Daryl Heller outside his Lancaster County home Wednesday..." @inquirer.com Joseph N. DiStefano reports: www.inquirer.com/business/dar...

My profile of the redevelopment of the Willow Street steam plant! www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...

After the 2024 election, I wondered if I had wasted my time tracking Heather Honey, whose group had been setting up lanes to claim the election was rigged if Trump lost. Now, I'm glad we kept tabs on her and glad my story about efforts to remove voters from rolls was included in this piece.

With Lebanon County-based conservative activist Heather Honey newly appointed to oversee “election integrity” in Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, I’m re-sharing this thread from last year. Honey spent the past few years organizing people who believed Dems rigged the 2020 election.

Personal news: I have joined the Philadelphia @inquirer.com as part of its Inquirer Weekend team. I could not be more excited! Lancaster: Thank you for trusting me with your stories these past few years. Philly: Don't be a stranger, send me your story ideas, theories, etc.

The SEC has staked a claim against embattled Lancaster County businessman Daryl Heller. The federal agency said it has been investigating "certain pre-bankruptcy transactions and practices” involving Heller. @lancasteronline.bsky.social lancasteronline.com/news/local/a...

A luxury a-frame lodge, farmland, an active natural gas drilling site... part of over $4M in real estate, tied to ATM businessman Daryl Heller, that could get swept up in bankruptcy. My latest @lancasteronline.bsky.social lancasteronline.com/news/local/o...

Strike art at Thomas F. Donatucci, Sr. library, Philadelphia ☠️

The bill requiring cyber charter schools to see students online once a week came after the 2024 death of a 12-year-old attending Commonwealth Charter Academy who was allegedly tortured and starved. CCA faces a wrongful death suit. @katiemeyer.bsky.social www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/07...

ICYMI: a couple years before Amish-born Lancaster businessman Dave Zook was involved in Daryl Heller's $500 million+ ATM scheme, Zook was involved in a $181 million Ponzi scheme originating in Texas.

@brettsholtis.bsky.social looks at Dave Zook, a Lancaster County investor who tied to both the Heller ATM Ponzi scheme and another one in Texas.

What do an Amish shed maker from Lancaster, a dentist from the Philly suburbs, and the mayor of a small town an hour south of Dallas have in common? For the answer, you must travel to Fairfield, Texas . . . lancasteronline.com/news/local/a...

In the City Council race, all three of the Democratic party's endorsed candidates will move onto the Nov. general election. Incumbent Lochard Calixte lost out to newcomer Amos Stoltzfus, the director of Tenfold's SoWe lancasteronline.com/news/politic...

Jaime Arroyo has won Lancaster city's mayoral primary with more than 83% of the vote. He soundly defeated opponent Janet Diaz who earned just 710 votes as of 11:15 p.m. Arroyo had 3,692. lancasteronline.com/news/politic...

Charles Carrier, a “We Buy Ugly Houses” former franchise owner, is accused of orchestrating a yearslong Ponzi scheme, bilking tens of millions of dollars from both wealthy investors and older people with modest incomes. Despite signs of trouble, the company didn’t intervene.

they put me into a tik tok www.tiktok.com/@lancasteron...

“I’m having panic attacks and shaking uncontrollably at times,” Paramount's CEO, Randall Leaman, told his boss, Daryl Heller, as he made his case to resign from the company. My @lancasteronline.bsky.social colleague Chad Umble details the final, panicked months of the company.

New from @brettsholtis.bsky.social: “Do you think Paramount was a Ponzi scheme?” attorney Joshua Voss asked Paramount CEO Randall Leaman. “I do not know,” Leaman replied. lancasteronline.com/business/loc...

What does this jet have to do with a Lancaster County scheme that made hundreds of millions vanish? This jet was used to fly cash from Pa. to Michigan. Just one detail in my story: 'Under oath, Paramount execs could not say ATM company wasn’t a Ponzi scheme' lancasteronline.com/business/loc...

NEW: A secretive surveillance company is building "AI persona" bots for cops intended to gather evidence on people. Personas include "college protesters," "radicalized" divorced moms, children. We have docs that shows how it works and what cops can do with it: www.404media.co/this-college...

A city activist and City Council members have called on Janet Diaz to resign or be removed from her seat on council over a social media post they described as racist and Islamophobic. Diaz, a Democrat, is also running for mayor in the May 20 primary lancasteronline.com/news/local/l...

'Migrant children, teens in Lancaster County at risk of deportation after Trump administration cuts funds' New from me @lancasteronline.bsky.social lancasteronline.com/news/migrant...

Lawyers question Daryl Heller over family gifts, business entities at bankruptcy meeting My @lancasteronline.bsky.social look at a three-hour meeting today where lawyers scrutinized the businessman's assets -- right down to the grapes growing in his yard. lancasteronline.com/news/lawyers...

“Some local Republicans on Wednesday whispered — others shouted — that Parsons’ polarizing personality drove many GOP voters away from the polls, or to choose Malone on their ballots.”