Homicides are way down in Philly | Morning Newsletter
🚸 And special education dispute settlements.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Hi, Philly. Breathe carefully today: Canadian wildfire smoke is back, prompting more air quality alerts in the region.
Halfway through 2025, Philadelphia has the fewest homicides in recent memory, and experts are hopeful that continues. The decrease comes despite several high-profile shootings this summer that left children and teens maimed by bullets. Our top story examines the decline, and the factors that might be contributing to it.
And secretive special education settlements are costing area school districts millions. Parents say districts aren’t fixing their programs.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Philadelphia’s homicide rate this year has slowed to a pace not seen in decades. While the city’s violence problem is far from solved, the steep decline indicates to public safety leaders and experts that something is working.
By the numbers: Violence rates for 2025 so far are more than half what they were during pandemic highs. Through July, 134 people were killed in homicides, down from 319 killed during the same period in 2021. The city also saw 618 shootings, its lowest total through July since at least 2015.
It’s not just Philly: The decline is similar to that of other major American cities. It’s also not clear exactly what has caused the decline, though expanded community-based violence prevention programs and more arrests in shootings could be factors.
Still too high: The numbers won’t bring comfort to the families of those killed in the Memorial Day shooting at Lemon Hill, or the Fourth of July weekend shooting in Grays Ferry, or any other deadly incident in Philadelphia. Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel says he knows more must be done, but the direction is encouraging. “If you got the wind at your back,” he told The Inquirer, “then run, dammit.”
Hundreds of Philadelphia-area parents have reached settlements with school districts after challenging the adequacy of their special education services. But that doesn’t mean the problems that prompted parents to sue in the first place are getting fixed.
🚸 Critics say school districts are spending millions of dollars to place children in private schools and compensate families for insufficient programs.
🚸 These settlement agreements, school officials and special education lawyers say, are often the most cost-effective way to give children what they need, instead of making sweeping changes.
🚸 There’s a discrepancy in who gets a deal: Lawyers say affluent parents who can afford to hire them, and who are dissatisfied with their child’s individualized education plan, are more likely to sue a school district than poor parents.
Education reporter Maddie Hanna has the details.
In other education news: Upper Darby School District has agreed to buy the shuttered Delaware County Memorial Hospital complex for $600,000, according to a court filing.
What you should know today
Police on Monday warned of a recent pattern of sexual assaults in and near Center City involving a man on the street approaching women from behind.
The Bucks County man shot by a Bensalem officer on Saturday is a serial road-rage antagonist who was threatening another driver with a gun, police said Monday.
Two South Jersey sites are expected to be cleaned up as part of an up to $2 billion settlement over PFAS pollution in the state.
The Bala Cynwyd-based investment firm with major holdings in TikTok’s parent company settled a lawsuit brought by former contractors who alleged they were entitled to some of the firm’s stake in the $315 billion company.
Two panels that reference Edgar Allan Poe’s opposition to abolitionism were flagged for President Donald Trump’s administration’s review at the historic site in Philly where the author once lived.
Philadelphia’s Democrats in the state House rallied at Lincoln High Monday to demand that Senate Republicans pass a budget that fully funds mass transit.
In its first year, Temple University’s Community Gateway program has connected hundreds of local residents to educational programs, job training, healthcare, and more.
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley says he declined a position on Trump’s national sports council.
Quote of the day
Many students had to abandon their artworks when University of the Arts closed. Thunderbird Salvage is trying to reunite them.
🧠 Trivia time
An upcoming free concert and skateboarding competition set to take place at the Grays Ferry Crescent Skatepark is going viral. What’s unique about it?
A) Only 31-year-olds can attend
B) It celebrates baldness
C) Attendees must be TikTok famous
D) Mr. Worldwide is making an appearance
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🍀 Eyeing: The price tag for Wildwood’s Shamrock bar-turned-10-bedroom house.
🏀 Anticipating: Watch Party PHL in spring 2026 plus Marsha’s later this summer.
🌿 Reading: The highlights of The Inquirer’s Reddit AMA on Philly’s “gas station” weed.
⚾ Appreciating: The Phillies’ quickly produced walkout show for Jhoan Duran.
🗣️ Considering: The benefits of investing in Spanish-speaking therapists for U.S. mental health.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: In Delaware County’s Marple Township
MORAL LOB
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Patricia Kane William, who solved Monday’s anagram: The Nightman Cometh. Columnist Stephanie Farr makes the case that the iconic play from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia should be performed live again in Philly.
Photo of the day
Enjoy this vision of calm before launching into the rest of your day. See you tomorrow.
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