Philadelphia

Axios Philadelphia

Former Penn Museum curator-in-charge Janet Monge is suing the University of Pennsylvania, various media outlets, the Association of Black Anthropologists and the Society of Black Archaeologists over "false" and "defamatory" reports of her alleged mishandling of a 1985 MOVE bombing victim's remains. 

Driving the news: Monge, an anthropologist, filed the lawsuit Friday against more than 30 defendants, including the Philadelphia Inquirer and Billy Penn.

Monge says she suffered harm to her reputation and was demoted from her position after Billy Penn and other outlets published articles last year claiming that she and her colleague Alan Mann had kept the remains of a MOVE bombing victim and that she used them in an online course.

Catch up fast: The city of Philadelphia dropped a bomb on a West Philadelphia home on Osage Avenue, where members of a Black liberation group known as MOVE lived, in 1985. Six adults and five children were killed.

The city medical examiner gave Mann children's bones after the bombing to identify them. He wasn't able to, but the remains weren't returned to the city. 

Last May, the city revealed its discovery that in 2017, former Philadelphia health commissioner Thomas Farley ordered a separate set of MOVE bombing victims' remains to be cremated without notifying family members. The order was never carried out. 

Between the lines: A Tucker Law group report examined how the remains from the 1985 bombing resulted in Penn's custody and were used in a 2019 online course. 

The group wrote that Monge and Mann did not "violate any professional, ethical or legal standards," but "demonstrated at a minimum, poor judgment and insensitivity."

What she's saying: In the complaint, Monge alleges she spent 36 years trying to identify the bone fragments of the remains.

She alleges that "defamatory" media reports were initiated by her former colleagues, University of Pennsylvania doctoral candidate Paul Mitchell and anthropology professor Deborah Thomas, in part in retaliation for Monge reporting Mitchell for "unprofessional conduct."

Monge also claims Mitchell falsified information to his "then-girlfriend" Maya Kassutto, who wrote one of the initial reports for Billy Penn before the story was picked up by multiple local and national outlets. 

Monge's lawyer, Alan Epstein, declined to comment further, saying "the complaint speaks for itself."

Context: Both Billy Penn and the Philadelphia Inquirer broke the story on the same day last spring. 

Kassutto previously worked at Penn Museum and was an intern in the physical anthropology section.

The response: Mitchell said in a statement to Axios, "claims, including those about me, which form the basis of Dr. Monge's complaint are substantially and demonstrably false."

Kassutto, the Philadelphia Inquirer, WHYY (the entity that owns Billy Penn) and Penn Museum declined to comment. Thomas didn't return Axios' request for comment.

Abdul-Aliy Muhammad, who wrote the Inquirer story, told Axios the media reports, including their own, were not mischaracterized and that their source was not Mitchell. 

"I think it's to intimidate and scare people who have been involved in the reporting, and I don't think it has merit," Muhammad told Axios of Monge's lawsuit.

Editor's note: Axios Philadelphia reporter Taylor Allen has previously worked at WHYY.

Former Penn curator sues news outlets over coverage of her handling of MOVE victim remains

The Philadelphia Inquirer and Billy Penn are named in the lawsuit.

Aerial view of smoke rising from smoldering rubble where some 60 homes 

The 1985 MOVE bombing in West Philadelphia . Photo: Bettman/Getty Images 

Former Penn Museum curator-in-charge Janet Monge is suing the University of Pennsylvania, various media outlets, the Association of Black Anthropologists and the Society of Black Archaeologists over &quot;false&quot; and &quot;defamatory&quot; reports of her alleged mishandling of a 1985 MOVE bombing victim&#x27;s remains. Driving the news: Monge, an anthropologist, filed the lawsuit Friday against more than 30 defendants, including the Philadelphia Inquirer and Billy Penn.

News

Data: Bounce; Note: Security check data is as of March 10 and includes all departing passengers. Passport control data takes an average from March 8, 2021, to March 7 and includes all arriving international passengers; Chart: Simran Parwani/Axios

Waiting at the Philadelphia airport can take awhile, but it's certainly not the worst in the nation, according to data per Bounce, a luggage storage company. 

By the numbers: PHL's 27-minute average wait is among some of the shortest TSA wait times, compared to the 39 U.S. international airports analyzed. 

Zoom out: Denver International Airport, Chicago Midway and Boston Logan all have similar wait times.

Raleigh puts everyone to shame with a 16-minute wait.

Yes, but: At least we're not JFK International Airport in New York or Miami International Airport (around 45 minutes)!

Charted: airport wait times

Waiting at the Philadelphia airport can take awhile, but it's certainly not the worst in the nation.

Air travel

Waiting at the Philadelphia airport can take awhile, but it&#x27;s certainly not the worst in the nation, according to data per <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Bounce" data-vars-click-url="https://usebounce.com/blog/airport-wait-times?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=sendto_localnewslettertest&amp;stream=top" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://usebounce.com/blog/airport-wait-times?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=sendto_localnewslettertest&amp;stream=top" target="_blank">Bounce</a>, a luggage storage company. By the numbers: PHL&#x27;s 27-minute average wait is among some of the shortest TSA wait times, compared to the 39 U.S. international airports analyzed.

At least 29 Pennsylvanians are among the nearly 1,000 Americans banned from entering Russia, according to an updated list the country's Foreign Affairs Ministry released over the weekend.

Why it matters: While largely symbolic, the travel ban highlights the downward spiral of Russia-U.S relations following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reports.  

The big picture: President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Mark Zuckerberg, filmmaker Rob Reiner, and actor Morgan Freeman are among some of the big names banned from visiting Russia.

Zoom in: The list also names most of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation, as well as John Kennedy, a retired common pleas judge in York, and former U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania Scott Brady.

Joy Flowers Conti, a chief federal judge for the District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, is also listed.

The intrigue: Sen. Pat Toomey and U.S. Reps. Glenn Thompson and Mike Kelly — all vocal critics of the invasion — aren't included. 

What they're saying: "We emphasize that the hostile actions taken by Washington, which boomerang against the United States itself, will continue to receive a proper rebuff," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation said in a statement. 

U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans — who represents Pennsylvania's 3rd Congressional District, which spans most of Philadelphia — said he considers the sanction "a badge of honor."

Russian bans most of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation

U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans said he considers the sanction "a badge of honor."

Illustration of the Kremlin behind a red velvet rope.

Pennsylvania

At least 29 Pennsylvanians are among the nearly 1,000 Americans banned from entering Russia, according to <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="an updated list" data-vars-click-url="https://www.mid.ru/ru/maps/us/1814243/" data-vars-content-id="21042315-ffa1-4e28-b09d-7ff48fdf2219" data-vars-headline="Russian bans most of Pennsylvania&#x27;s congressional delegation" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.mid.ru/ru/maps/us/1814243/" target="_blank">an updated list</a> the country&#x27;s Foreign Affairs Ministry released over the weekend.Why it matters: While largely symbolic, the travel ban highlights the downward spiral of Russia-U.S relations following the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Russian invasion of Ukraine" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/02/22/russia-ukraine-invasion-putin-live-updates" data-vars-content-id="21042315-ffa1-4e28-b09d-7ff48fdf2219" data-vars-headline="Russian bans most of Pennsylvania&#x27;s congressional delegation" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/02/22/russia-ukraine-invasion-putin-live-updates" target="_self">Russian invasion of Ukraine</a>, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Reuters reports" data-vars-click-url="https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-declares-travel-ban-963-americans-including-biden-blinken-2022-05-21/" data-vars-content-id="21042315-ffa1-4e28-b09d-7ff48fdf2219" data-vars-headline="Russian bans most of Pennsylvania&#x27;s congressional delegation" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-declares-travel-ban-963-americans-including-biden-blinken-2022-05-21/" target="_blank">Reuters reports</a>.

A number of Philadelphia's community gardens are at risk of going away. 

Why it matters: These lots are primarily located in low-income, Black and Latino neighborhoods in North and West Philadelphia. 

Community gardens can improve food access, beautify and revitalize public spaces and even decrease violence, per the CDC.

Catch up fast: In 1997, the city bundled together roughly 30,000 tax liens and sold them to U.S. Bank to raise money for school funding. But investors weren't able to collect on many of the liens, eventually leading to thousands of vacant and abandoned properties scattered across Philly. 

In the years since, residents have maintained several properties and turned hundreds of areas into community gardens and green spaces. 

U.S. Bank, meanwhile, has been sending the abandoned properties to sheriff's sales in an attempt to sell them all by October 2023. 

The latest: City Councilmember Kendra Brooks is spearheading a campaign to keep roughly 500 sites her office identified as gardens, side yards or potential affordable housing locations that haven't been sold yet.

Brooks wants Philly to buy back the liens through a $10 million budget line item. The city can acquire the land and then prioritize selling to community groups. 

Yes, but: There's not a clear path to make that a reality yet. 

Options include tapping the city's unused American Rescue Plan money or  revenue from the new property tax assessments in neighborhoods that have seen rapid development. 

Of note: Councilmembers Jamie Gauthier, Helen Gym, Mark Squilla, Curtis Jones, and Katherine Gilmore Richardson support the proposal. 

What they're saying: "We're talking about communities that have been intentionally disinvested in. So when a community takes a hold and decides to do something to empower itself, the government should make sure it honors that," Brooks told Axios.

Council President Darrell Clarke said the proposal would be considered during the city's upcoming budget process. 

Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, a law firm representing U.S. Bank, didn't return to Axios' request for comment. 

Philly at risk of losing hundreds of community gardens and green spaces

The lots are primarily located in low-income neighborhoods.

City Councilmember Kendra Brooks.  Photo: Nigel Thomson/Getty Images

A number of Philadelphia&#x27;s community gardens are at risk of going away. Why it matters: These lots are primarily located in low-income, Black and Latino neighborhoods in North and West Philadelphia. <ul><li>Community gardens can improve food access, beautify and revitalize public spaces and even decrease violence, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="per the CDC" data-vars-click-url="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/healthtopics/healthyfood/community.htm" data-vars-content-id="77c1fbf3-366a-414c-84bb-435fc76b1888" data-vars-headline="Philly at risk of losing hundreds of community gardens and green spaces" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.cdc.gov/healthyplaces/healthtopics/healthyfood/community.htm" target="_blank">per the CDC</a>.</li></ul>

Data: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Cartogram: Axios Visuals

Pennsylvania traffic deaths were up more than 9% in 2021, compared to the year before, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The big picture: U.S. traffic deaths hit a 16-year high last year. 

An estimated 42,915 people died on America's roads, a 10.5% increase from 2020, Axios' Oriana Gonzalez reports. 

By the numbers: 1,234 people in Pennsylvania died in vehicle crashes in 2021. 

Philadelphia saw 133 traffic-related fatalities last year, according to the state Department of Transportation.

It's a slight improvement compared to 2020, when Philly reported 156 traffic deaths — an 88% spike compared to the year prior.

Between the lines: Philly's traffic violence disproportionately affects Black and brown communities and low-income neighborhoods. 

What to watch: Safety advocates are pushing for improved street designs to reduce accidents and force drivers to slow down. Some argue U.S. roads prioritize fast movement over other road users. 

Philadelphia's latest Vision Zero report shows 42% of fatal and serious injury crashes were the result of aggressive driving and speeding. 

Traffic deaths spike in Pennsylvania in 2021

U.S. traffic deaths hit a 16-year high last year.

Deaths

Pennsylvania traffic deaths were up more than 9% in 2021, compared to the year before, according to the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="National Highway Traffic Safety Administration" data-vars-click-url="https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813283?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=sendto_localnewslettertest&amp;stream=top" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813283?utm_source=newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=sendto_localnewslettertest&amp;stream=top" target="_blank">National Highway Traffic Safety Administration</a>.The big picture: U.S. traffic deaths hit a 16-year high last year.

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Russian bans most of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation

Traffic deaths spike in Pennsylvania in 2021

Philly at risk of losing hundreds of community gardens and green spaces

Former Penn curator sues news outlets over coverage of her handling of MOVE victim remains

Charted: airport wait times