Plastic waste can be diverted from landfills in many ways — including making art out of it. Some Philadelphians learned how to do this Sunday at PECO Family Jam at Philadelphia Magic Gardens on South Street. Participants were shown how to create art using plastic caps from containers such as peanut butter jars, laundry detergent, and water bottles. A child learns how to use recycled plastics to make art at an event at Philadelphia's Magic Gardens on August 14, 2022. (Cory Sharber/WHYY News) Co-organizer Ricky Boscarino owns Luna Parc in Sandyston, N.

https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-magic-gardens-event-recycled-plastic-art/

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More than 100,000 customers in Puerto Rico are still waiting for power to be restored two weeks after Hurricane Fiona dumped historic amounts of rain and knocked out power across the island. Fiona made landfall in southwest Puerto Rico on Sept. 18 as a Category 1 storm. Most of the remaining outages are on the western and southern sides of the island, according to LUMA Energy, the company that operates the island's power infrastructure. The storm dropped more than 30 inches of rain in some areas, causing flooding and mudslides that damaged roads and bridges into Puerto Rico's mountains.

https://whyy.org/npr_story_post/puerto-rico-thousands-without-power-2-weeks-after-fiona/

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It's a home to bog turtles, short-eared owls, and three rare varieties of orchids. It's a resting place for migratory birds. And now Big Elk Creek in Chester County is a state park. Canada geese (non-migratory) flock around Big Elk Creek State Park in Chester County, Pa. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY) Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced Tuesday the designation of three new state parks, including 1,712 acres around Big Elk Creek. A Canada goose glows in the sunset as it soars over the newly designated Big Elk Creek State Park in Chester County, Pa.

https://whyy.org/articles/pennsylvania-new-state-park-big-elk-creek-chester-county/

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In a dank basement behind the local supermarket, metal bars cordon off a corner of the room to form a large cell. A dirty sleeping bag and duvets show three sleeping spots on top of sheets of Styrofoam for insulation from the damp earth floor. In the corner, two black buckets served as toilets. A few meters (yards) outside the barred cell, three dilapidated chairs stand around a table, cigarette butts and pumpkin seed husks littering the floor around them. Ukrainian authorities say this was a makeshift prison where Russian forces abused detainees before Ukrainian troops swept through the border village of Kozacha Lopan in a major counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region this month.

https://whyy.org/articles/ukraine-alleges-torture-at-village-near-russian-border/

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This story originally appeared on 6abc Actor Gary Busey is facing sex offense charges in connection with an incident at the annual Monster Mania Convention in South Jersey, according to police. It happened back on August 13 while the event was being hosted at the Doubletree Hotel in Cherry Hill. Police confirmed Saturday that Busey, 78, of Malibu, California, was charged with two counts of criminal sexual contact, one count of criminal attempt/criminal sexual contact, and one count of harassment.

https://whyy.org/articles/gary-busey-sex-offense-monster-mania-convention-cherry-hill-new-jersey/

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After a virtual celebration in 2021, the Philadelphia Caribbean Festival returned to the streets Sunday, giving community members the opportunity to express and celebrate their heritage. Despite the pouring rain, Caribbeans united to showcase the impact their communities have on Philadelphia and its surrounding communities. Music could be heard all along the waterfront at Penn's Landing. Musicians perform at the Caribbean Fest in Philadelphia on August 21, 2022. (Cory Sharber/WHYY) Among the performers was Philly T&T Rhythm Makers, performing beats inspired by the organizers' Trinidadian heritage.

https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-caribbean-festival-penns-landing-2022/

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Housing advocates say the timing of this policy makes it particularly harsh. 'We've seen homelessness at record levels … we've never seen so much homelessness,' said Jessica Fenchel, vice president of adult behavioral health for Access Services, which does outreach to people without housing in several eastern Pennsylvania counties. The number of unhoused people across Montgomery County has risen by at least 118% from 2021 to 2022, according to the county's 2022 Point-in-Time (PIT) count. According to the PIT, as of January 2022, 568 individuals were sleeping in one of the county's emergency shelters (including hotel rooms paid for with public funding), transitional housing projects, or outdoors.

https://whyy.org/articles/norristown-pa-unhoused-people-dawn-to-dusk-park-ordinance/

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Mastriano, a Pennsylvania state senator, has spread Donald Trump's lies about widespread election fraud in the 2020 presidential election and was a leading proponent in Pennsylvania of Trump's drive to overturn the result. He was also in the crowd outside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack by Trump supporters after attending the 'Stop the Steal' rally nearby. Mastriano did not immediately respond to requests for comment but retweeted a comment by Jenna Ellis, a senior legal adviser to his campaign, who said 'Media MELT DOWN that Mastriano apparently once posed as a civil war historical figure for a photo.

https://whyy.org/articles/pa-elections-gov-candidate-mastriano-confederate-uniform-faculty-photo/

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And visually, the majority of attendees were in favor of the line. Along the back wall of the room, four posters hung for people to mark their vote on public transit ideas for North Philadelphia: subway, elevated rail, more bus routes, or no changes. Most voted for the subway, and second was elevated rail, according to Solomon's office. There to respond to community members' questions, was Daniel Pearson, editorial writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer; Jay Arzu, a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania's Weitzman School of Design; Will Tung, a transportation advocate at 5th Square; and Christopher Puchalsky, director of policy and strategic initiatives in the city's Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability.

https://whyy.org/articles/philly-roosevelt-blvd-subway-project-town-hall-state-rep-jared-solomon/

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Las Vegas had a unique set of economic circumstances that made it ground zero for welfare reform. Much of its economy is based around the casinos, most of which preferred to hire temporary part-time staff, firing and rehiring them seasonally. In order to keep a pool of low-paid employees available year-round, the casinos would help laid-off workers get on welfare. If workers wanted to keep getting welfare benefits, they could not look for other jobs until the casinos wanted to hire them back, thusly keeping an entire population of largely Black people in a low-income cycle.

https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-blackstar-film-festival-storming-caesars-palace-las-vegas-poverty-activism/

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President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan could lift crushing debt burdens from millions of borrowers, but the tax man may demand a cut of the relief in some states. That's because some states tax forgiven debt as income, which means borrowers who are still paying down student loans could owe taxes on as much as $10,000 or even $20,000 that was taken off their bill. In Mississippi, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Arkansas and North Carolina, forgiven student loans will be subject to state income taxes unless they change their laws to conform with a federal tax exemption for student loans, according to a tally by the Tax Foundation, a Washington, D.

https://whyy.org/articles/states-tax-biden-student-loan-debt-relief/

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Earlier in the day and heeding al-Sadr's calls, the demonstrators used ropes and chains to pull down cement barricades leading to the gate of Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and embassies. The development showed al-Sadr was using his large grassroots following as a pressure tactic against his rivals, after his party was not able to form a government despite having won the largest number of seats in the federal elections held last October. With neither side appearing willing to concede, and al-Sadr intent on derailing government formation efforts lead by his rivals, Iraq's limbo and political paralysis has ushered in a new era of instability in the beleaguered country.

https://whyy.org/articles/iraqi-protesters-storm-parliament-baghdad/

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In an apology issued by Sesame Place on July 19, the theme park said it would take actions to 'do better,' including training employees to 'deliver an inclusive, equitable, and entertaining experience.' Johnson said his group was there to make sure Sesame abides by those promises, and they also are calling for the termination of the employee who was dressed as the 'Rosita' character in the viral video. 'It's obvious [Sesame Place] needs to start learning or relearning how to treat young, Black children that come to this amusement park,' Johnson said.

https://whyy.org/articles/sesame-place-racial-discrimination-protest/

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The original 'Star Trek' premiered on NBC on Sept. 8, 1966. Its multicultural, multiracial cast was creator Gene Roddenberry's message to viewers that in the far-off future — the 23rd century — human diversity would be fully accepted. 'I think many people took it into their hearts … that what was being said on TV at that time was a reason to celebrate,' Nichols said in 1992 when a 'Star Trek' exhibit was on view at the Smithsonian Institution. She often recalled how Martin Luther King Jr. was a fan of the show and praised her role.

https://whyy.org/articles/nichelle-nichols-lt-uhura-on-star-trek-has-died-at-89/

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the attack casts serious doubt on the credibility of Russia's commitment to the deal and undermines the work of the U.N., Turkey and Ukraine. 'Russia bears responsibility for deepening the global food crisis and must stop its aggression and fully implement the deal to which it has agreed,' he said. Russia also fired a barrage of missiles Saturday at an airfield and a railway facility in central Ukraine, killing at least three people, while Ukrainian forces launched rocket strikes on river crossings in a Russian-occupied southern region.

https://whyy.org/articles/russia-ukraine-black-sea-port-grain-deal/

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Several hurdles stand in the way. Even in a best-case scenario, it will likely take years to get a new, free system up and running. There's also pushback from commercial tax preparation companies, which question whether Americans want the IRS to prepare their taxes. Perhaps this biggest hurdle is an agreement between the IRS and some commercial tax preparation companies, known as the Free File Alliance, which prevents the federal agency from creating its own free tax return filing system. In short, the IRS agreed not create its own filing system if companies would instead provide free services to taxpayers making $73,000 or less.

https://whyy.org/articles/democrats-climate-health-care-bill-expanded-irs-free-file-system/

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Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said officers did not hear the man say anything before he opened fire 'indiscriminately' in the street with a handgun and walked toward the Capitol building. Authorities are investigating whether the man may have set his car on fire, the chief said, because the collision did not appear to cause the blaze. Police officers at the scene saw the man fatally shoot himself as they approached, Manger said. The chief said investigators located addresses for the man in Delaware and Pennsylvania and learned he had a criminal history in the past decade, though his motive remained unclear and he had no links to the Capitol.

https://whyy.org/articles/police-man-killed-himself-after-ramming-us-capitol-barrier/

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Two other victims, a 25-year-old man and a 31-year-old man, were also injured in the shooting. They were not inside the vehicle. Around 7:30 p.m. Friday, gunfire rang out on the 5300 block of Charles Street in Wissinoming. Four shooting victims, all in their 30s, were found inside and outside of a home on the block, according to investigators. Three of the four victims are listed in critical condition at an area hospital. And just after 10 p.m., police say a 15-year-old male and a pregnant woman in her twenties were shot on the 2600 block of North Bouvier Street in North Philadelphia.

https://whyy.org/articles/more-than-a-dozen-shot-3-dead-in-rash-of-violent-incidents-in-philadelphia/

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A number of historically Black colleges and universities are seeing an increase in Black students applying and enrolling after years of decline. 'The percentage of Black students enrolled at HBCUs fell from 18 percent in 1976 to 8 percent in 2014 and then increased to 9 percent in 2020,' according to the National Center for Education Statistics. HBCUs such as Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, have seen an increase in applications. At that school, the number went up over 60% in 2020 from the previous year, according to Data USA.

https://whyy.org/npr_story_post/hbcu-spotlight-black-students-families-enrollment-increase/

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Updated September 10, 2022 at 1:03 PM ET Michael Jennings, the Black pastor arrested while watering his neighbor's flowers, has filed a federal lawsuit against the police officers involved in his detainment. The lawsuit also names the city of Childersburg, which oversees the police department that arrested Jennings, as a defendant. Jennings, a longtime pastor at Vision of Abundant Life Church in Sylacauga, Ala., is represented by national civil rights attorney, Harry Daniels, and attorneys Bethaney Embry Jones, Joi Travis and Roderick Van Daniels.

https://whyy.org/npr_story_post/black-pastor-watering-flowers-alabama-lawsuit/

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Marsha Hunt, one of the last surviving actors from Hollywood's so-called Golden Age of the 1930s and 1940s who worked with performers ranging from Laurence Olivier to Andy Griffith in a career disrupted for a time by the McCarthy-era blacklist, has died. She was 104. Hunt, who appeared in more than 100 movies and TV shows, died Wednesday at her home in Sherman Oaks, California, said Roger Memos, the writer-director of the 2015 documentary 'Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity.' A Chicago native, she arrived in Hollywood in 1935 and over the next 15 years appeared in dozens of films, from the Preston Sturges comedy 'Easy Living' to the adaptation of Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' that starred Olivier and Greer Garson.

https://whyy.org/articles/marsha-hunt-40s-star-and-blacklist-victim-dies-at-104/

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President Joe Biden marked the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, taking part in a somber wreath-laying ceremony at the Pentagon held under a steady rain and paying tribute to 'extraordinary Americans' who gave their lives on one of the nation's darkest days. Sunday's ceremony occurred a little more than a year after Biden ended the long and costly war in Afghanistan that the U.S. and allies launched in response to the terror attacks. Biden noted that even after the United States left Afghanistan that his administration continues to pursue those responsible for the 9/11 attacks.

https://whyy.org/articles/biden-honors-9-11-victims-vows-commitment-to-thwart-terror/

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In each Scottish town and village, the entourage was met with muted scenes of respect. People stood mostly in silence; some clapped politely, others pointed their phone cameras at the passing cars. In Aberdeenshire, farmers lined the route with an honor guard of tractors. Along the route, the cortege passed through locations laden with House of Windsor history. Those included Dyce, where in 1975 the queen formally opened the U.K.'s first North Sea oil pipeline, and Fife, near St. Andrews University, where her grandson Prince William, now the Prince of Wales, studied and met his future wife, Catherine.

https://whyy.org/articles/queen-elizabeth-ii-coffin-takes-long-road-through-scotland/

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Filling your gas tank is not as painful as it used to be. Gasoline prices, which hit a record high earlier this summer, have fallen sharply in recent weeks. They are now below $4 a gallon in parts of the country, even as the national average remains above that level. That's a relief for drivers – and for inflation, which hit a four-decade high in June. How much have prices fallen? According to the American Automobile Association, the average price of gasoline nationwide was $4.08 on Saturday. That's down nearly a dollar since mid-June, when pump prices hit an all-time high of $5.

https://whyy.org/npr_story_post/gas-prices-oil-inflation-cost-of-living/

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I went to Wisconsin in June to report on how abortion rights are affecting the Senate and governor primaries – the idea was to do one story on the Democrats and one on the Republicans. Long story short: I heard back from the Democrats but not the Republicans. Phone calls, emails, Facebook messages – I didn't hear back from anyone. The top Republican governor candidates posted no events, though their social media showed they were out, talking to voters. And so, when I happened to catch the top two GOP governor candidates walking in an Oconomowoc Fourth of July parade, I ran to the end of the route to catch them.

https://whyy.org/npr_story_post/republicans-feud-mainstream-media-shutting-them-out/

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Affordable housing remains a priority for Bucks County residents — it was the greatest need identified in a 2021 community survey. The results were released in March by the Bucks County Opportunity Council (BCOC), the county's leading anti-poverty agency. As of March, Bucks County housing agencies and advocates said they had seen a rise in community members on the brink of displacement or already unhoused, especially since the start of the pandemic. Bucks County Commissioners recently released 'performance standards' for mixed-used development across the county, intended to encourage municipalities to 'explore, develop, and pass ordinances permitting mixed-use development and the creation of additional, attainable housing.

https://whyy.org/articles/bucks-county-pa-rent-relief-program-update/

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Working on a solution to gun violence and want to share it? Get in touch with gun violence prevention reporters Sammy Caiola and Sam Searles. The hashtag #PrayForPhilly' has been circling social media for some time, but now, it has a new meaning. A Philadelphia rapper is using social media and a music competition to connect young people to resources. Vinte Clemons, who uses the stage name ARSIN, has lost over 50 people to gun violence or addiction, and he also has a master's degree in counseling.

https://whyy.org/articles/prayforphilly-music-arsin-teens/

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Montgomery County is offering a free clinic with pro-bono lawyers to assist in legal name changes. The clinic is Montgomery County's first — meant to help members of the transgender, non-binary, and gender nonconforming communities in what is normally a complex, expensive, and taxing process. The clinic will be over Zoom, on Saturday, Oct. 15 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. for residents 18 years old or over. The registration deadline is Monday, Oct. 3. Each participant will be in their own private 'breakout room' and assigned a lawyer.

https://whyy.org/articles/montgomery-county-name-change-clinic-transgender-nonbinary-lgbtq-community/

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With a growing number of patients in states that now prohibit abortion traveling for the procedure, Planned Parenthood says it will soon open its first mobile abortion clinic in the country, in southern Illinois. 'Our goal is to reduce the hundreds of miles that people are having to travel now in order to access care…and meet them where they are,' said Yamelsie Rodriguez, President of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, said in an interview with NPR. The mobile clinic will begin offering consultations and dispensing abortion pills later this year.

https://whyy.org/npr_story_post/planned-parenthood-mobile-clinic-will-take-abortion-to-red-state-borders/

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Got a question about life in Philly's suburbs? Our suburban reporters want to hear from you! Ask us a question or send an idea for a story you think we should cover. In just a few months, the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has grown more than 6,000 pounds of produce —  kale, squash, garlic, mustard greens, asparagus, potatoes, beets, tomatillos, and various herbs — at its Green Resource Center in Montgomery County. They've distributed most of it to area residents experiencing food insecurity.

https://whyy.org/articles/pennsylvania-horticultural-society-celebrates-its-first-season-growing-distributing-produce-to-food-insecure-neighbors/

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