Brett Sholtis

Why PA Supreme Court retention race spending is hard to track Blame it on a mix of lagging reporting, weakly enforced rules, and a campaign finance system that requires little transparency.

"You could drive a Mack Truck through the loopholes in Pennsylvania’s campaign finance rules," election law attorney Larry Otter told @spotlightpa.org @stephenjcaruso.bsky.social @katiemeyer.bsky.social

www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/10...

Michael Days, pioneering journalist who led the Philadelphia Daily News during its 2010 Pulitzer Prize win for investigative reporting, has died at 72 Days was a mentor to countless young journalists and was president of the National Association of Black Journalists-Philadelphia.

It's not often that I get to interview other journalists. This is the exception. May we all aspire to live such an exemplary life as Michael Days, former editor at the Philly Daily News and @inquirer.com and NABJ-
Philadelphia president.

www.inquirer.com/obituaries/m...

And a few more. Details on some of the people in the photos in my stories.

Today I helped cover the No Kings protest in Philly along with several of my talented @inquirer.com colleagues. Here’s a liveblog of our coverage along with some pics

www.inquirer.com/news/philade...

Philly detectives are solving homicides at the highest rate in 40 years as violence plummets and tech improves Still, nearly 800 killings between 2021 and 2023 have yet to result in an arrest, according to an Inquirer analysis.

As Philly’s rate of violence plummets to near-historic lows, police are also solving homicides at the highest rate in recent memory.

The homicide clearance rate this year is around 90% — the highest in 40 years.

thank you for reading and sharing the story

During Philadelphia visit, Navy’s top officer said he would follow ‘lawful’ orders to deploy troops ‘anywhere’ With the Navy in Philadelphia for its 250th anniversary, its chief of operations spoke about the military's role in a moment of heightened tension at home and at sea.

With the U.S. Navy in Philly, I asked its top officer about the bombing of boats in the Caribbean, Trump's efforts to politicize the military, and the deployments of soldiers and Marines in U.S. cities. Here's what he said @inquirer.com

www.inquirer.com/politics/nav...

Gov. Shapiro signs onto a lawsuit against the Trump administration over National Guard deployments to U.S. cities Shapiro's support comes as President Trump seeks to send the National Guard to Oregon. A federal appeals court is expected to decided on it today.

The lawsuit states that the Trump administration’s deployment of Oregon National Guard and out-of-state National Guard troops in Portland is “unlawful, unconstitutional and undemocratic” and violates long-held concepts like federalism and states' rights.

www.inquirer.com/politics/sha...

City Hall bike lane faces unclear future after Philadelphia City Councilmember Jeffery Young pumps the brakes on support Councilmember Jeffery Young has hit the brakes on his bill authorizing a bike lane around City Hall after construction already started on the project.

Check out the story @brettsholtis.bsky.social and I published this weekend on last Monday's Street's Committee hearing, where bicycle advocates and the Parker admin faced a series of setbacks at the hands of City Council: www.inquirer.com/news/bike-la...

Sheraton and Hampton hotel workers are on strike in Center City Sheraton and Hampton hotel workers left their job sites and joined picket lines, seeking better pay and staffing levels ahead of an expected busy 2026 tourist season.

The union wants to lock in a new contract ahead of the 2026 tourist season in Philly, which they expect will drive up company profits and strain hotel staff. Approximately 190 union members are striking.

My latest @inquirer.com

www.inquirer.com/news/sherato...

A ‘brazen’ Jeffrey Yass-backed mailer suggests the Pa. Supreme Court created the congressional map it actually threw out “It’s probably the most shameless political ad I’ve ever seen,” said Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice David Wecht in a rare interview.

share.inquirer.com/dnBmAe

They talked about Charlie Kirk’s death on social media. Now, they’re getting death threats. In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, local officials, lawyers and other professionals, teachers, and even teens have been targeted.

Tanisha Long shared her thoughts online, and "within hours, her phone was lighting up with notifications: people trying to hack her Instagram, calling her racial slurs, and wishing her dead."

My latest, a Ximena Conde collab @inquirer.com

www.inquirer.com/politics/cha...

Stephen Wilkins shut off his tenants’ electricity, tossed a brick through a window, and even removed all of the doors and windows from their home, said former tenant Crystal Hall.

“And then Wilkins sent a man to the house with a gun. And he killed her mother.” @ellierushing.bsky.social

As SEPTA restores bus and rail service, here’s what you need to know Routes are returning, fares are increasing, and the underlying funding shortfall has not been addressed.

State lawmakers still have not passed a budget, and the complex reasons behind the transit agency’s $213 million shortfall remain unaddressed. But for now, things are back to normal. Sort of.

www.inquirer.com/transportati...

In Port Richmond, suburban developers seek to fill vacant lot with houses and apartments The Jenkintown-based developers are proposing 162 houses and apartments.

some of the last large undeveloped lots in Port Richmond could be on their way to getting filled in www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...

Here's the last piece I wrote @lancasteronline.bsky.social on his bankruptcy before taking my new position at @inquirer.com.

bsky.app/profile/bret...

This Sea Isle City home is the most expensive ever publicly sold on the island It has six bedrooms, 7.5 bathrooms, an elevator, and three oceanside decks, and was sold earlier this month for $6.43 million.

Heller was in bankruptcy in New Jersey, because his most valuable claimed asset was a Sea Isle beach house that sold in April for a record $6.4 million. (Federal authorities say he used investor/company money to buy it).
www.inquirer.com/real-estate/....

Daryl Heller indicted in Lancaster County ATM fraud that raised $770 million from investors Federal investigators can't yet say how much investors, which included Plain families, might get back of the $402 million they are owed.

"FBI agents aided by local police arrested private-equity investor Daryl Heller outside his Lancaster County home Wednesday..." @inquirer.com Joseph N. DiStefano reports:

www.inquirer.com/business/dar...

Inside Callowhill’s Willow Street plant as it is transformed into apartments The long neglected industrial building will see new life as an apartment building after a half-century of vacancy.

My profile of the redevelopment of the Willow Street steam plant! www.inquirer.com/real-estate/...

‘PA Fair Elections,’ tied to powerful conservative groups, pushes to remove people from voter rolls All three of the data sources of supposed ineligible voters pushed by PA Fair Elections attendees lead back to groups dedicated to reelecting Donald Trump.

Link to the September 2024 story, '‘PA Fair Elections,’ tied to powerful conservative groups, pushes to remove people from voter rolls'

www.wesa.fm/politics-gov...

After the 2024 election, I wondered if I had wasted my time tracking Heather Honey, whose group had been setting up lanes to claim the election was rigged if Trump lost.

Now, I'm glad we kept tabs on her and glad my story about efforts to remove voters from rolls was included in this piece.

With Lebanon County-based conservative activist Heather Honey newly appointed to oversee “election integrity” in Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, I’m re-sharing this thread from last year.

Honey spent the past few years organizing people who believed Dems rigged the 2020 election.

Personal news: I have joined the Philadelphia @inquirer.com as part of its Inquirer Weekend team. I could not be more excited! Lancaster: Thank you for trusting me with your stories these past few years. Philly: Don't be a stranger, send me your story ideas, theories, etc.

ATM businessman Daryl Heller hit with federal Securities and Exchange Commission claim Another federal agency has staked a claim against embattled Lancaster County businessman Daryl Heller.

The SEC has staked a claim against embattled Lancaster County businessman Daryl Heller.

The federal agency said it has been investigating "certain pre-bankruptcy transactions and practices” involving Heller.

@lancasteronline.bsky.social

lancasteronline.com/news/local/a...

Why is it so hard to know what Daryl Heller owns? A law professor explains. As a federal bankruptcy judge mulls whether to appoint a trustee to oversee former ATM network owner Daryl Heller’s personal Chapter 11 bankruptcy, legal experts say that real estate owned

Why is it so hard to know what Daryl Heller owns? A law professor explains. @lancasteronline.bsky.social

lancasteronline.com/news/local/w...

But now, as 2,700 investors seek their share of a $140 million judgment against Heller’s collapsed ATM network and Heller fends off lawsuits from banks and lenders, his lawyer says Heller does not have ownership stakes in those businesses.

A luxury A-frame lodge, a dozen mobile homes, hundreds of acres of farmland and an active gas drilling well pad are among the properties owned by businesses that Lancaster County entrepreneur Daryl Heller claimed as part of his personal wealth less than two years ago.

Over $4M in real estate tied to ATM businessman Daryl Heller could get swept up in bankruptcy A luxury A-frame lodge, a dozen mobile homes, hundreds of acres of farmland and an active gas drilling well pad are among the properties owned by businesses that Lancaster County

A luxury a-frame lodge, farmland, an active natural gas drilling site... part of over $4M in real estate, tied to ATM businessman Daryl Heller, that could get swept up in bankruptcy. My latest @lancasteronline.bsky.social

lancasteronline.com/news/local/o...

A decorative Halloween skeleton sits outside the Thomas F. Donatucci, Sr. library, where it holds a sign reading “waiting for my contract still…”. Another sign says kids need to learn to spell and makes a joking reference to an incident where Philly Mayor Cherelle Parker led an Eagles chant and misspelled Eagles. Philadelphia city workers are on strike, leading to the closure of some libraries and other city services.

Strike art at Thomas F. Donatucci, Sr. library, Philadelphia ☠️

Cyber charter school fights PA law on student wellness checks Facing a wrongful death suit, Commonwealth Charter Academy says it’s “unreasonable” to expect its staff to see and hear from all 30K students weekly.

The bill requiring cyber charter schools to see students online once a week came after the 2024 death of a 12-year-old attending Commonwealth Charter Academy who was allegedly tortured and starved. CCA faces a wrongful death suit. @katiemeyer.bsky.social

www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/07...