Media Mentions

A Pennsylvania Republican state senator doubled down Thursday on remarks denigrating Philadelphia, despite backlash from prominent Philly Democrats. “Philadelphia wouldn’t be such a shithole” if District Attorney Larry Krasner prosecuted more crimes, State Sen....

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A bold, art-inspired transformation of Center City officially began today as Avenue of the Arts, Inc. (AAI) broke ground on AveArts 2.0, a $150 million, decade-long initiative to reimagine the Avenue of the Arts (aka South...

While many Philadelphians rang in America’s 250th with the Mummers or at the inaugural NYE concert on the Parkway, one immigrant community celebrated the new year a few days later. And the party wasn’t for 2026; it was for 2765. “Karen New Year is a really precious...

Days after United States military forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Penn contacted students from Venezuela to acknowledge the unfolding “crisis” and offer academic and wellness resources. On Jan. 6, the College of Arts and Sciences’ CaseNet team,...

The night Zohran Mamdani won the Democratic primary for mayor of New York, I was at a dinner gathering of fair housing and tenants’ rights advocates in New Jersey. The occasion was celebratory—we were marking fifty years since the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled...

Philadelphia saw a mix of celebration and protest on Sunday as residents reacted to news of a U.S. military attack on Venezuela and the capture of its president, Nicolás Maduro. President Donald Trump announced the attack in a post on his Truth Social platform at 4:21...

Venezuela native Gil Arends was unwinding at his South Philadelphia apartment Saturday when an X notification came through: “There’s no power in Caracas and we are hearing some explosions.” A panoramic video showed smoke rising from the capital city. “I was...

In a move to protect citizens from masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement and partnering law enforcement encounters, two Pennsylvania State Senators have introduced legislation that calls to unmask them. The “No Secret Police: Unmask ICE” is co-sponsored by...

As Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents continue to ramp up their efforts to detain and arrest civilians, State Sen. Amanda M. Cappelletti (D-17, Montgomery/Delaware) and State Sen. Nikil Saval (D-1, Philadelphia) introduced legislation that will prohibit law...

Public school officials statewide administered medication to reverse an opioid overdose 32 times during the 2023-24 school year, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Who received the naloxone dose and in which schools it was administered were not made...

Entering 2025, SEPTA faced a dire fiscal crisis that threatened to slash up to 45% of its service by the start of next year. For the roughly 790,000 people who use SEPTA's mass transit on an average weekday, the backbone of transportation in the Philadelphia region...

(The Center Square) – It was a wild ride in 2025 for the millions of Pennsylvania residents who rely on public transportation. And 2026 looks no calmer. Ideas were floated and rejected. Routes were suspended and resumed. Funding was denied then extended via emergency...

2025 has been a memorable year for Pennsylvania public transit, for better – and for worse. While the state’s budget impasse – and ongoing financial struggles for transit systems – created a rocky road for public transit statewide, in the Philadelphia region, the...

Congressman Brendan Boyle is co-sponsoring federal legislation to reverse part of President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” and restore billions of dollars for Philadelphia’s Chinatown Stitch and other defunded transportation projects around the country....

ICE Officers Masking, Homelessness Prevention, On the Issues with Sen. Nikil Saval (D)

Just weeks after federal authorities arrested an Uzbek terror suspect with a Pennsylvania-issued commercial driver’s license, state senators convened a fact-finding panel in Harrisburg to investigate the details — without directly addressing the widely publicized...

The continuing right-wing assault on libraries, books and the right to read has left state legislators across the country scrambling to pass legislation protecting libraries and guarding against censorship. Pennsylvania can be included in that number. In 2023, State...

Last month, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro withdrew from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI (pronounced “Reggie”), a cap-and-trade program that establishes a regional limit on carbon emissions from power plants located in the Northeast. Here’s how...

HARRISBURG — Two Pennsylvania state senators want to make it illegal in the commonwealth for law enforcement, including federal agents, to wear masks and refuse to self-identify amid contentious operations and citizen protests over federal immigration enforcement....

Federal immigration agents should have to show their faces while conducting raids and detaining people in Pennsylvania, argue two state senators who have offered up legislation to “unmask these authorities. Across the nation this year, agents with U.S. Immigrations...

November is National Hunger and Homelessness month and Democratic State Senator Nikil Saval and State Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El introduced sweeping legislation to protect the unhoused and their property from harassment by local and regional governments across the...

State and city public officials hosted a town hall Thursday to address transit funding, or the lack thereof, included in Pennsylvania’s budget, which was approved last week after a stalemate that lasted more than four months. State Sen. Nikil Saval, D-Philadelphia,...

SEPTA’s 21.5% increase in transit fares and service cuts fell hardest on disadvantaged Philadelphians this year, showing an urgent need to make the city’s Zero Fare program permanent, City Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke argues. He touted his proposal to dedicate 0.5%...

HARRISBURG – Citing the need for permanent solutions to PA’s ongoing housing crisis, Lancaster County Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El and Philadelphia County Sen. Nikil Saval are introducing The Shelter First Act – legislation to prevent the criminalization of homelessness...

Pennsylvania lawmakers introduced a bill that would bar municipalities from penalizing people for sleeping outdoors unless adequate indoor shelter is available. State Sen. Nikil Saval and Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El, both Democrats, said the proposed Shelter First Act...

Harrisburg Republicans and energy-sector workers are taking a post-budget victory lap, celebrating Pennsylvania’s withdrawal from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Participation in the multi-state program, which was initiated by former Gov. Tom Wolf, would have...

SEPTA riders have experienced a multitude of crises this year, from service cuts to severe Regional Rail disruptions. On Thursday evening, two of Philadelphia’s more progressive politicians – City Council member Nicolas O’Rourke and state Sen. Nikil Saval – and the...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Democratic lawmakers in both chambers of the Pennsylvania State Capitol are pushing for legislation that would decriminalize homelessness. “We are experiencing, right now, one of the most severe crises of housing and homelessness that this...

Lawmakers and housing advocates in Pennsylvania are calling on the commonwealth to take a more compassionate response to homelessness on the heels of a monumental ruling that allows local government to ban outdoor sleeping even if there are no shelter beds available....

HARRISBURG – The School District of Lancaster has identified 800 students who are experiencing homelessness so far this school year. Last November, the district said 692 students were homeless, a number that climbed to 970 by the end of the 2024-25 school year....

(The Center Square) - Just as homelessness rates across the country reached record highs, the impact of a June 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling cleared the way for a town in Oregon to criminalize sleeping in public. Introducing bills in both chambers, progressive...

Pennsylvania lawmakers are set to introduce the Shelter First Act, which aims to prevent the criminalization of homelessness by requiring municipalities to provide indoor spaces for those experiencing homelessness before enforcing laws against living outside.

Pennsylvania lawmakers are set to introduce the Shelter First Act, which aims to prevent the criminalization of homelessness by requiring municipalities to provide indoor spaces for those experiencing homelessness before enforcing laws against living outside.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania lawmakers on Tuesday introduced companion bills designed to prevent municipalities from criminalizing homelessness unless adequate shelter is available. The Shelter First Act comes months after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 Grants Pass...

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Pennsylvania lawmakers and clean-energy advocates gathered this past week atop a Northeast Philadelphia warehouse to spotlight a rapidly emerging opportunity in the state’s renewable-energy landscape: large-scale rooftop solar on industrial...

HARRISBURG — In a Wednesday whirlwind of massive bills, rapid votes and an all-smiles signing ceremony, the state’s elected leaders adopted a $50.1 billion budget for a fiscal year that was already 135 days old. The flurry of public actions on major issues and big...

HARRISBURG — Gov. Josh Shapiro and Democratic leaders are considering a budget deal that would pull Pennsylvania out of an interstate program that charges power plant operators for releasing carbon into the atmosphere, according to a source with knowledge of...