Free Republic

Cities coast-to-coast grappling with broken-down e-buses that cannot be fixed .. Between the federal government, states and municipalities, untold billions in taxpayer dollars have been spent adding electric buses to transit fleets across the U.S. in an effort to reduce carbon emissions. However, cities from coast-to-coast are grappling with broken-down e-buses that cannot be fixed, are too expensive to fix, or they have scrapped their electric fleets altogether. Officials in Asheville, North Carolina, recently expressed frustration that three of the five e-buses the city purchased for millions in 2018 are now sitting idle due to a combination of software issues,...

Joe Biden's National Park Service under Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will remove the statue of William Penn from the park erected in 1982 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of his founding of the colony of Pennsylvania. The park is on the site of his original home in Philadelphia. The park, located in Philadelphia near the Delaware River at Sansom and Second Streets, will be "rehabilitated" and that proposal will include an "expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia." The plan was "developed in consultations with the representatives of the indigenous nations of the Haudenosaunee, the Delaware Nation, Delaware...

Native American groups did not support the removal of a statue of William Penn from Welcome Park in Philadelphia prior to the Biden administration’s now-abandoned effort to do so. William Penn was an English Quaker who moved to the American Colonies in 1682 and founded the British colony of Pennsylvania, during which time he maintained friendly relations with Native Americans of the Lenape tribe. The National Parks Service recently canceled plans to remove Penn’s statue from federal property at Welcome Park, in Philadelphia’s downtown historic district, amid strong political and public backlash against the plan, though representatives for a native...

These physical markers of our shared past help to bind us together, gluing us to history and the promise of future generations.The left’s jihad against statues and public memorials has finally hit a roadblock. After removing statues of Gen. Robert E. Lee, President Theodore Roosevelt, Christopher Columbus, and the Confederate Memorial at Arlington, a New York Times columnist even suggested that the father of our country be ripped off like a filthy Band-Aid and tossed. But it was the founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn, who resisted and won.The National Park Service planned to remove Penn’s statue in Philadelphia’s Welcome Park...

An overnight shooting left two men dead and four other people suffering from gunshot wounds after a shooter opened fire in a suspected speakeasy in Philadelphia on Sunday, according to the Philadelphia Police Department. Just before 1 a.m. on Sunday, officers responded to a report of a person with a gun inside a home that was allegedly operating as a speakeasy. Upon arrival at the home, officers located a 53-year-old male who suffered a gunshot wound to his face and was pronounced dead at the scene.

On February 5, 1824, Samuel Vaughan Merrick and William H. Keating founded The Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts. Within three years of its founding, that promotion took place through public lectures, a high school, a library, public exhibitions, and a research journal, and many of these endeavors remain core activities to this day... For the organization's first century, the Institute offered classes in mechanics, drafting, and engineering, and promoted science and invention. In 1930, despite the Great Depression, The Franklin Institute and the Poor Richard Club began to seek funds to...

The National Park Service reversed course Monday and abandoned its proposed removal of William Penn's statue from Welcome Park in Old City. Why it matters: The withdrawn design incorporated Native American history rather than just the story of the state's founder, whose legacy has come under scrutiny for his ownership of enslaved people. Driving the news: The Park Service said Monday evening that the draft plan, published on Friday, was "released prematurely and had not been subject to a complete internal agency review." The agency added that it looks forward to a "robust public process to consider options for refurbishing...

It’s time to stop debating history and facts with people who only care about the exercise of raw political power.div class="article-content"> The news that the Biden administration planned to remove a statue of William Penn in a federal park in Philadelphia that commemorates the founding of Pennsylvania, and that the purpose of the removal was to “provide a more welcoming, accurate, and inclusive experience for visitors,” should at this point not come as a surprise.Once the removals and destruction of Confederate statues and memorials began a few years ago, it was inevitable that all historical figures from America’s past, even...

The National Park Service on Monday suddenly withdrew its plan to remove the statue of William Penn from the site of his home during a "rehabilitation" of Welcome Park in Philadelphia. NPS had opened a public comment period on Monday but by 6:30 p.m., it was closed. "The preliminary draft proposal, which was released prematurely and had not been subject to a complete internal agency review, is being retracted. No changes to the William Penn statue are planned," the NPS said in a statement. The NPS faced widespread backlash after announcing its plans to update the park to "provide a...

Independence National Historical Park has withdrawn the review of a draft proposal to rehabilitate Welcome Park and closed the public comment period, the National Park Service (NPS) said Monday. The preliminary draft proposal, which was released prematurely and had not been subject to a complete internal agency review, is being retracted. No changes to the William Penn statue are planned, according to the press release, which continued: “The National Park Service remains committed to rehabilitating Welcome Park as the nation prepares to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026. Upon completion of all the necessary internal...

Joe Biden's National Park Service under Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will remove the statue of William Penn from the park erected in 1982 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of his founding of the colony of Pennsylvania. The park is on the site of his original home in Philadelphia. The park, located in Philadelphia near the Delaware River at Sansom and Second Streets, will be "rehabilitated" and that proposal will include an "expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia." The plan was "developed in consultations with the representatives of the indigenous nations of the Haudenosaunee, the Delaware Nation, Delaware...

A 48-year-old woman was found dead at a popular sports bar at the Philadelphia sports complex, according to Fox 29 in Philly. The woman was reportedly found "hanging from an iron gate" at Xfinity Live!, which opened in 2012. She is said to have been climbing a fence or a gate outside the bar at around 2 a.m. Saturday morning. She "got impaled through the leg [and] was left dangling on [a] fence for as long as five hours before she was found [and] removed from gate." Tanya Little of the Philadelphia Police Department told Fox 29 the woman had...

A man has been charged with fighting another man who fell onto the tracks at a University City SEPTA station moments before being struck and killed by a train. Chaz Wearing, 40, is charged with involuntary manslaughter, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office announced Friday. Wearing, who investigators believe is homeless, is currently on bench warrant status for an unrelated strangulation case in Delaware County, investigators said. Wearing's criminal history also includes cases in Clinton and Lycoming counties, according to the District Attorney's Office. New video sent to NBC10 by a law enforcement source shows Wearing arguing with a 38-year-old man....

The Philadelphia Police Department’s first diversity, equity, and inclusion officer was fired Tuesday morning, shortly before the swearing-in of Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel and Mayor Cherelle Parker, police said. Leslie Marant, who began her job in April 2022, was fired by then-acting Commissioner John M. Stanford at a 10:30 a.m. meeting, who said that Bethel would be restructuring the department and would no longer need her services, a source with knowledge of the dismissal said. Marant, 57, declined to comment. The Police Department declined to give the specific reasons for the job termination or to make Bethel and Stanford available...

Philadelphia's first female mayor has been sworn in and promptly signed an executive order declaring a Public Safety Emergency to tackle rampant crime. Cherelle Parker, a 51-year-old Democrat and long-serving councilwoman, campaigned on a centrist platform of safety, jobs, and city services. She promised on the campaign trail to hire 300 more police officers, including community officers, and restore 'constitutional' stop-and-frisk. She also put forth the idea of making school year-round, to reduce juvenile delinquency. Her plans will include increasing the number of police officers on the streets with a focus on community policing - a policy she championed when...

A man who answered his door was shot and killed by gunmen inside a Northeast Philadelphia townhome while his family members were inside, investigators said. On Thursday shortly before 11:30 p.m., police responded to the Regency Townhomes on the 3500 block of Woodhaven Avenue for several reports of a person with a gun and gunshots. When police and medics arrived, they found 33-year-old Bilal Henry on the floor inside a townhome a few feet from the front door. Henry was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso and was pronounced dead at 11:37 p.m. Investigators also found...

A Philadelphia suburb school district issued a memo instructing employees to remove Christmas-themed decorations and attire, following complaints from parents. The district later clarified that holiday displays are not banned, but employees should aim to create an inclusive environment. “As per Dr. Marseille” — Wagner Marseille, the superintendent of the Wallingford-Swathmore School District — “he has been receiving complaints from parents concerning District employees displaying ‘Christmas’ themed decorations and/or wearing clothing of the same nature,” the memo read. “If you have decorated your bus with anything specific to the Christmas Holiday or any other decorations relating to a specific religion,...

Hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved over the years when naloxone — commonly known as Narcan — is administered to someone overdosing on opioids. Drugs Illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl can be mixed with xylazine, either to enhance drug effects or increase street value by increasing their weight. sedative/tranquilizer called xylazine to heroin, fentanyl and other opioids. And that’s bad news for addicts because naloxone doesn’t reverse a xylazine overdose. National Center for Biotechnology Information “You overdose on xylazine, and you’re going to die,” said the commander of the Greater Harrison Drug & Violent Crimes...

Sarah Laurel, a harm-reduction professional, sat behind her desk and asked the man who walked into her store how much he’d been paid to be in a viral video she’d recently watched. The man was an active substance user, struggling with addiction, who had probably taken drugs on the streets of Kensington, Philadelphia, earlier that morning. His answer was $50. Sarah laughed and said that was more than usual. Since 2021, Kensington, a low-income neighborhood in North Philadelphia, has been ground zero for a new and dangerous sedative called “tranq”. Also known as “xylazine”, a side-effect of this drug can...

WASHINGTON — Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is breaking with progressives on hot-button issues with his fiery support for Israel and calls for Democrats to engage on tougher immigration laws, disappointing some on the left as he shows an independent streak. He’s also continually scolding Democrats for not pushing Sen. Bob Menendez out of office after he was indicted on federal charges of taking bribes and acting as a foreign agent for Egypt, which the New Jersey Democrat denies. In the 2022 campaign, Fetterman's ties to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., prompted GOP opponent Mehmet Oz to tell voters he’d be a...