Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Joe Yerardi

The NewsGuild-CWA @newsguild.org · 10h

NEW: L.A. Times journalists just voted to authorize the newsroom’s first open-ended strike.

Eighty-five percent of the @latguild.bsky.social voted to support the strike. Just over 200 workers — 98% of members — took part in the historic vote.

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Joe Yerardi @joeyerardi.bsky.social · 1d

Both parties in NJ's gubernatorial election say they need non-white voters. Yet for over a month, a GOP super PAC's ads excluded the state's most diverse areas. What a recent shift in its advertising says about the state of the race, w/ @aliyareports.bsky.social www.inquirer.com/politics/new...

Who this GOP group wants — and doesn’t want — to see its N.J. governor’s race ads

A pro-Ciattarelli super PAC excluded disproportionately nonwhite areas from its YouTube attack ads on Mikie Sherrill except for a recent push in Passaic County.

www.inquirer.com

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Emily Babay @emilybabay.bsky.social · 3d

I regularly encounter (ie, am nearly hit by) e-motos on the Schuylkill and Delaware river trails and am not at all surprised the apparent rise in serious injuries www.inquirer.com/news/electri...

E-bikes have evolved into e-motorcycles. Law enforcement is lagging behind.

Serious injuries are on the rise in emergency rooms around the country, as electric cycles become bigger and faster. Lawmakers and police departments are scrambling to address the problem.

www.inquirer.com

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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 9d

www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...

Building Industry Association president Mo Rushdy resigns amid furor over Gaza speech

The developers association leader spoke out about the Gaza war, denouncing the Israeli government's actions.

www.inquirer.com

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Joe Yerardi @joeyerardi.bsky.social · 13d

Three Pennsylvania Democratic supreme court justices are up for retention — and with them, control of the court that's likely to serve as the final arbiter on the state's Congressional maps. The money's been pouring in: www.inquirer.com/politics/pen...

More than $7 million has poured into the Pa. Supreme Court judicial retention election so far

Voters on Nov. 4 will be asked to mark “yes” or “no” on whether each justice should be retained for another 10-year term, in what are usually sleepy off-year elections.

www.inquirer.com

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Joe Yerardi @joeyerardi.bsky.social · 17d

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Jake Blumgart @jblumgart.bsky.social · 18d

Bring back pre pandemic hours, Philadelphia coffee shops! www.inquirer.com/food/philly-...

Philly coffee shops close earlier than other cities. What gives?

Philly coffee shops are open, on average, two to four hours fewer than comparable cities. Why are there so few late night and afternoon options?

www.inquirer.com

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Baltimore Banner @thebaltimorebanner.com · 17d

New ‘Capital Gazette Five’ highway markers remind: ‘It’s still dangerous to tell the truth.’

New ‘Capital Gazette Five’ highway markers remind of the potential cost of the truth

New highway markers along Rowe Boulevard pay homage to the five Capital Gazette employees killed during a 2018 mass shooting in the Annapolis newsroom. Some said there’s a deeper meaning to the signage.

buff.ly

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Joe Yerardi @joeyerardi.bsky.social · 22d

Not so much. Way out of town and interminable security lines.

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Joe Yerardi @joeyerardi.bsky.social · 22d

Ah. So that airport has at least one thing going for it.

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Stephen Stirling @sstirling.bsky.social · 22d

International tourism, led by 🇨🇦, is down significantly in Philadelphia.

More on new complications on the horizon as well as opportunities for the city in 2026: www.inquirer.com/business/can...

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Joe Yerardi @joeyerardi.bsky.social · 22d

If you are hungry now, you’re in the only airport in the United States with a legitimately great restaurant (Tortas Frontera).

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Joe Yerardi @joeyerardi.bsky.social · 24d

The number of local law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania that have signed agreements to help ICE enforce immigration laws has nearly quadrupled, from 10 in mid-May to 39 early this month (w/ @jeffgammage.bsky.social): www.inquirer.com/news/pennsyl...

More and more Pennsylvania police agencies are partnering with ICE

The partnerships come through a controversial ICE initiative called 287(g), named for a section of a 1996 immigration act

www.inquirer.com

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Joe Yerardi @joeyerardi.bsky.social · Aug 25

New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill scored a convincing win in the state's gubernatorial primary. But a deep dive into the data shows the voters her campaign may want to keep its eye on. My latest ahead of November's election (w/ @jterruso.bsky.social): www.inquirer.com/politics/mik...

Mikie Sherrill’s N.J. governor primary results show strengths and where she has work to do

Her performance was weaker in boroughs, towns and cities with higher shares of Black and Hispanic, lower-income, and younger residents.

www.inquirer.com

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Abby Sewell @sewella.bsky.social · Aug 25

Four journalists were killed by an Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital today, including Mariam Dagga, a freelancer with the @apnews.com. She has a 12-year-old son, who was evacuated from Gaza earlier in the war.

She was a true hero, like all of our Palestinian colleagues in Gaza.
tinyurl.com/3cn5c9vb

Multiple journalists killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza hospital

A hospital strike in southern Gaza has killed at least eight people, including four journalists. The attack happened on Monday.

apnews.com

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Marshall Project Guild @marshallprojectguild.org · Aug 14

Today, we sent a letter to @themarshallproject.org‬ leadership expressing concern about their denial of bargaining obligations. Management has repeatedly denied members Weingarten rights, engaged in an illegal layoff, and more — we need your help to demand that management bargain in good faith.

Dear Katrice and Geraldine,

We are deeply concerned about the manner in which The Marshall Project has been treating our members and approaching the bargaining process. Recently, The Marshall Project leadership has betrayed our organization’s values and compromised our position in the industry and the journalism we pursue. It’s time for that to change.

The guild has worked tirelessly and in good faith on proposals that would keep high-quality health care affordable for Marshallers. We have also been steadfast in asserting that all recognized members deserve due process and fair treatment required under the law.

The organization, in turn, has increasingly taken anti-worker stances that have eroded trust and created a culture that makes it difficult to do the work that makes us proud. Since the organization has taken such a hardline stance, refusing to work with the guild on the items listed below, we will be filing unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board and stepping up our public efforts to make it clear that we demand fair treatment.

The following recent actions by the organization have taken an immense toll on the workers of The Marshall Project:

1. The organization has repeatedly denied steward representation to a member facing a Performance Improvement Plan and possible termination, as well as denying another member representation in their termination meeting last week. This denial is illegal, egregious, and completely out of line with standards across our industry and the labor movement going back decades. We are shocked that the organization would take such a hypocritical and prohibitive stance on this, given our mission. The union has filed an Unfair Labor Practice about this illegal violation of members’ Weingarten rights and demands that members be allowed steward representation in any meeting they feel is appropriate.

2. The organization has caused a retaliatory ripple effect with its actions against one employee that has touched an entire newsroom in Cleveland with negative effects that go against the stated purpose of collaboration with local media and our ability to make good on promises we made to readers. When the organization recognized members it had a duty to follow the law and not proceed with layoffs without bargaining. We have filed an Unfair Labor Practice for the illegal layoff of employees and management retaliation.

3. The organization made a unilateral change to our outside employment policy without bargaining, changing expectations to require managerial approval. We have always maintained a workplace where outside work is permitted and the organization’s sudden termination of Chris Vazquez without a steward, without an opportunity to stop the freelancing project, and without severance is unjust and defies our values.

4. The organization is employing a strategic erosion of status quo through small changes to past practice while we bargain our first contract, including erasure of our cost-of-living adjustment, a significant change to our health insurance, and modifying the evaluation process. The organization has inconsistently complied with requests for information, which does not reflect good faith in bargaining.

The Marshall Project, in retaining union-busting law firm Kauff McGuire & Margolis, is willingly participating in the erosion of worker protections across our industry, a project that takes advantage of the current anti-worker political environment. When The Marshall Project voluntarily recognized our union last year, it touted a “longstanding commitment to a fair, equitable and inclusive workplace, with generous benefits.” We are demanding a return to these values.

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Joe Yerardi @joeyerardi.bsky.social · Aug 12

The number of people detained in ICE custody in New Jersey and Pennsylvania was up about two-thirds last month compared with the start of the Trump administration. The entire increase has come from individuals ICE classifies as non-criminal www.inquirer.com/news/ice-cus...

Immigrant detentions in NJ and Pa. rise as more people without criminal records are held

Detentions in the two states are up two-thirds since January. The increase has come from people ICE classifies as non-criminal.

www.inquirer.com

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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · Aug 10

BBC International Editor Jeremy Bowen has confirmed that the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City has been killed.

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Dylan Purcell @dylancpurcell.bsky.social · Aug 6

@ellierushing.bsky.social and I took inventory of how Philly’s year is shaping up in terms of violent crime. It’s a mostly improving situation. It’s also still too high and uncertain.

www.inquirer.com/crime/a/homi...

Halfway through 2025, Philly has the fewest homicides in recent memory

The decrease comes despite several high-profile shootings this summer that left children and teens maimed by bullets. Still, it's progress.

www.inquirer.com

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Aubrey Whelan @aubreywhelan.bsky.social · Jul 29

My colleagues @maxmmarin.bsky.social and @ryanbriggs.bsky.social tested hemp products from smoke shops around the Philly area -- and found mold, fungus, pesticides, and THC levels as potent as dispensary-grade pot. An important read about an unregulated industry: www.inquirer.com/news/a/penns...

Pennsylvania’s unregulated weed stores are booming — but tests show products are rife with toxic and illicit chemicals

Almost every sample The Inquirer had tested was over the legal potency or contained mold or pesticides.

www.inquirer.com

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Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com · Jul 29

“Protecting our history is about telling the truth, even when it is uncomfortable,” Shapiro said in a statement posted on X Tuesday afternoon.

Josh Shapiro says ‘protecting history’ is crucial as Trump admin weighs removal of exhibits about slavery at Philly national park

Gov. Josh Shapiro's comment comes in direct response to The Inquirer's reporting showing more than dozen displays at Independence National Historical Park about slavery were flagged for review.

inquirer.com

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Philadelphia Inquirer @inquirer.com · Jul 28

Materials will be evaluated by the National Park Service for containing information that “inappropriately disparages Americans past or living,” according to internal comments, obtained and reviewed by The Inquirer, from one or more employees tasked with evaluating INHP’s exhibits.

More than a dozen slavery displays in Philly, including at Washington’s former home, have been flagged for a Trump admin review

Thirteen items at the President's House Site, which illustrates the paradox between freedom in the new nation and the ongoing horrors of slavery, were among those flagged for review.

inquirer.com

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Joe Yerardi @joeyerardi.bsky.social · Jul 28

Loved this fun interactive story from Lizzie Mulvey and Charmaine Runes on Philly's most popular dog names (and breeds and neighborhoods). Biggest surprise? Only 64 dogs named Rocky in this town??? www.inquirer.com/health/pets/...

Inquirer analysis of Philly dog licenses counts: 82 Rockys, 17 Harpers, and 13 Hoagies.

www.inquirer.com

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Clara Murray @claradoodle.bsky.social · Jul 24

An AI slop factory apparently tried to rewrite our article about AI not replacing workers en masse, but hit the paywall... so just summarised the paywall. If this is the robot that takes my job I'll be v embarrassed

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CJ Ciaramella @cjciaramella.bsky.social · Jul 22

Latest: public contracts for Florida’s infamous new detention camp were scrubbed from a state database and replaced with bare-bones summaries.

A spokesperson tells me they contained “proprietary information,” but nobody’s really buying that. reason.com/2025/07/22/a...

'Alligator Alcatraz' contracts disappeared from a Florida state database

A state official says the contracts contained "proprietary information," so they were scrubbed and replaced with bare-bones summaries.

reason.com

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Joe Yerardi @joeyerardi.bsky.social · Jul 22

ICE arrests in Pennsylvania and the region are surging in the wake of a late-May White House directive reportedly demanding 3,000 detentions a day. Half of recent arrestees now have neither a criminal record nor pending charges www.inquirer.com/news/pennsyl... @inquirer.com

ICE arrests in Pa. and N.J. are surging, including people without criminal records

More people without criminal records are being detained around Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

www.inquirer.com

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