First came the heavy rains. Then came the derailed train. On the morning of July 17, the Delaware Valley held its collective breath as reports came in that a freight train had derailed in Whitemarsh Township, a few miles from Philadelphia’s northwest border. The train carried rail cars containing hazardous materials and residents were evacuated
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On a sunny afternoon in late spring, 27 sixth graders from Mount Airy’s Henry H. Houston Elementary School skipped and hooted their way to SEPTA’s Carpenter Train Station, as if already savoring the adventure of planting trees there. “We identified flowers and pollinators along the way,” says Christine Bush, a STEM (science, technology, engineering and
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How does the Philadelphian cross the road? It isn’t always easy or safe. Dangerous intersections mean bikers, pedestrians and people with disabilities risk life and limb to simply get where they’re going. The risks they take are apparent in death and injury statistics — 49 pedestrians and cyclists were killed in 2021, according to the
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I drive, walk and bike with one eye following the pavement, scanning for dead animals. It comes from my background as a herper, someone who recreationally searches for reptiles and amphibians. A popular way to find the critters I love is “road cruising,” in which you drive around and look for them crossing the pavement.
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Carol Foy, a lifelong Grays Ferry resident and community advocate, knows how dangerous air pollution can be. “I lost a son over a decade ago who had lung problems,” she says. “He was only 33 years old.” After moving out of Grays Ferry, her son moved by the oil refinery in South Philadelphia. He lived
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Regina Asmutis-Silvia cannot forget the gaze of a humpback whale stranded on a beach in Chatham, Massachusetts. With fellow members of an International Wildlife Coalition team, she worked to dig under the whale to relieve the pressure of its body-weight on vital organs. They hoped the high tide would carry the whale back to sea,
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Today, Weavers Way Co-op counts more than 10,000 member households, with storefronts in Ambler, Chestnut Hill and Mount Airy, and a new store due to open this year in Germantown. But long-time member Sylvia Carter can remember 50 years back to its humble beginnings as a buying club in a church basement. Carter moved to
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Samara Banks was the life of the party. Everyone waited for her to arrive at family gatherings, knowing that she would be the one to rally her cousins and entertain the crowd with a song or dance. “She was always happy and hopeful,” Latanya Byrd says. “She loved children and people loved her naturally. And
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By Carolyn Kousky and Noah Raven Busy roads and wildlife are a bad combination. Collisions between vehicles and wildlife not only kill and injure animals — they can also cause substantial property damage and injure or kill drivers and passengers. In 2020, Pennsylvania had the highest total number of animal-vehicle collisions reported through insurance claims
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Last fall, I was cruising down a street in Mount Airy on my new electric bike, joyfully accelerating into the wind and relishing in emission-free transportation, when suddenly it hit me. The pavement, that is. An SUV facing the wrong way on the two-lane road jumped out from a line of parked cars in front
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