When visitors step into the Pray Tell Wines tasting room in a warehouse on a treeless street in Kensington, the first question they often ask is, “Where are the grapes?” It’s a fair question. In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, where owner Tom Caruso ran Pray Tell for seven years before relocating to Philly in 2024, vineyards
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On Oct. 2, 2025, a swamp sparrow smacked into a glass door at the Independence Visitor Center and fell dead onto the entryway’s pavement. A volunteer window collision monitor with Bird Safe Philly found the bird and documented its demise. Volunteers found four dead or stunned birds that morning, with an additional 13 logged by
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Move over, Pat’s and Geno’s. Philadelphia’s sliced-and-diced meat-and-cheese concoction faces a more sustainable, animal-friendly competitor — the vegan cheesesteak. So, where’s the “beef”? Typically, it’s thinly sliced seitan. Made from wheat, seitan was developed in China about 1,500 years ago and enjoyed by vegetarian Buddhist monks. Today, seitan has gained popularity among vegans, who do
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Just over 10 years ago, Kay Wood, now the cohost of the biweekly sustainability radio program “Planet Philadelphia,” was sinking into depression. An accomplished painter for 30 years, she suffered a herniated disc that badly affected her dominant arm. Her husband encouraged her to find new creative avenues. She did that by creating two graphic
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In September 2024, Philadelphians saw their monthly water bills jump by about 12%, the second-largest rate hike that year of any large water system in the country. This year, rates went up by nearly another 10%, now pushing a typical monthly bill close to $100, according to the Philadelphia Water Department. But if these recent
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