All posts tagged: Philadelphia

Former Philadelphia probation officer sentenced for running illegal sports gambling business

Former Philadelphia probation officer sentenced for running illegal sports gambling business

Published by skeptic

A former Philadelphia probation officer is facing a mix of jail time and home confinement after admitting he spent years running an illegal sports betting operation, federal prosecutors said Wednesday (April 8). Joseph M. Moore, 43, was sentenced to one day in custody followed by a year of home detention. On top of that, he’ll serve three years of supervised release, give up $200,000, and pay a $7,200 fine. U.S. District Judge Mark A. Kearney handed down the sentence in federal court. Former Philadelphia Probation Officer Sentenced to One Day in Custody and One Year of Home Detention for Conducting Years-Long Illegal Gambling Operation @FBIPhiladelphia https://t.co/G2fS9gFYtF — U.S. Attorney EDPA (@USAO_EDPA) April 8, 2026 Authorities say Moore’s gambling business operated for roughly eight years, beginning in early 2017 and continuing until February 2025. During that time, prosecutors said, he took bets on sporting events and organized so-called block pools and other group betting schemes. Moore admitted guilt in October 2025, pleading to a single charge of running an illegal gambling business. His co-defendant, James P. …

It’s Always Surreal in Philadelphia, Where Art Meets AI in a Sweeping Space

It’s Always Surreal in Philadelphia, Where Art Meets AI in a Sweeping Space

Published by skeptic

Climbing up flights of stairs in a bank building full of rooms draped in surrealist art, tunnels with lurking beasts called “skin horses” and exhibits of keepsakes imaginary and real, I find myself looking at an art mural across a domed ceiling that I can explore with instruments next to me. Speaking into a microphone, I see my words scroll across the edges. My hands, thrust into a small chamber, are projected across the ceiling, highlighting parts of the mural. Suddenly, AI-generated descriptions emerge where I’d put my hands. This is the Ministry of Awe, a new installation experience in Philadelphia that I was lucky enough to visit ahead of its opening, and it’s a welcome East Coast dose of strangeness. Created by Meg Saligman and over 100 other artists, it’s a six-story space that makes me think of Meow Wolf or long-time LA oddity the Museum of Jurassic Technology — or even London’s very real Sir John Soane’s Museum. This “skin horse” lurks in the basement, if you look hard enough. Scott Stein/CNET The former bank …

Video of Delivery Robot Getting Humped in Philadelphia May Presage Issues for Robotics Industry in the City of Brotherly Love

Video of Delivery Robot Getting Humped in Philadelphia May Presage Issues for Robotics Industry in the City of Brotherly Love

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech It’s tough to be a robot on the mean streets of Philadelphia. Infamous for brutally destroying an experimental hitchhiking robot in 2015, residents in the city of brotherly love are now sharing their sidewalks with a new kind of pedestrian: delivery robots. A video recorded by Philadelphia street photographer Hugh Dillon late Saturday night shows that the city’s reputation as a haven for robophobia hasn’t improved much over the years. In the 30 second clip, the little bot is kicked, sat on, laughed at, and even humped by a crowd of onlookers as it prattles along to its destination. After escaping the crowd’s wrath, the robot ambles over past Dillon, who’s able to get a clear shot of graffiti reading “DESTROY ME PLZ” scrawled on its plastic chassis. “Honestly thought it was done for,” Dillon wrote in the video caption. “One wanted to throw it, another sat on it. another person wrote destroy me on it… Then it …

Judge to decide if Penn must produce records in probe of antisemitism at Ivy League school

Judge to decide if Penn must produce records in probe of antisemitism at Ivy League school

Published by Sam Flores

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The federal government’s demand for information about the membership of Jewish groups from the University of Pennsylvania in an investigation into whether antisemitism has created a hostile environment for employees landed Tuesday before a federal judge who will decide whether to enforce a subpoena. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s probe of the Ivy League school in Philadelphia has cited several incidents, including that someone had shouted antisemitic obscenities and destroyed property at a Jewish student life center, a Nazi swastika was painted on an academic building and “hateful graffiti” was left outside a fraternity. The investigation has also focused on actions related to protests over the war in Gaza, and Penn’s response to that and other incidents. The hearing before U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert on Tuesday involved the EEOC’s request, filed against Penn’s Board of Trustees in November, seeking to enforce an administrative subpoena it issued as part of the investigation into claims the school has subjected its Jewish faculty and employees to an illegal hostile work environment based on national …

.6 M. Grant Will Support Low-Income and Disabled Museum-Goers

$7.6 M. Grant Will Support Low-Income and Disabled Museum-Goers

Published by José Betancourt

Earlier this week, the William Penn Foundation announced a slew of grants, totally $7.6 million, that will support access to museums for low-income families and people with disabilities. The grants apply to six specific organizations based on the number of ACCESS visitors each received during the 2024-25 fiscal year. (The ACCESS card allows people who receive public assistance or identify as having a disability to receive heavily discounted tickets to participating cultural institutions, of which there are nearly 100 in the Philadelphia area.) Related Articles The following organizations will receive funds from the William Penn Foundation: The Academy of Natural Sciences, the Franklin Institute, the Morris Arboretum and Gardens, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Zoo, and the Please Touch Museum. Art-Reach, the organization that administers the ACCESS program, also received financial support as part of this series of grants. John Orr, executive director of Art-Reach, said in a statement that “ACCESS was built 11 years ago by the Philadelphia residents who relied on SNAP and Medicaid benefits. Since then, it has been embraced …

How business students learn to make ethical decisions by studying a soup kitchen in one of America’s toughest neighborhoods

How business students learn to make ethical decisions by studying a soup kitchen in one of America’s toughest neighborhoods

Published by Sam Flores

(The Conversation) — For the past decade I have volunteered at St. Francis Inn, a soup kitchen in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Kensington, for those not from Philly, has long had a reputation for potent but affordable street drugs. Interstate 95 and the Market-Frankford elevated commuter train line provide easy access to the neighborhood for buyers and sellers, and abandoned buildings offer havens for drug use and other illicit activity. St. Francis Inn Ministries, which was founded by two Franciscan friars in 1979, serves sit-down breakfast and dinner for thousands of people each year, many of whom suffer from poverty, homelessness and substance use disorder. It also runs Marie’s Closet, a charity that provides free used clothing and housewares. These ministries are operated by a core team of nine full-time members, hundreds of volunteers from local high schools and colleges, and an ad hoc team of folks from many walks of life. In the years I’ve been volunteering at St. Francis, significant changes have occurred in Kensington, including gentrification, soaring housing prices and increased …

Shelly Desai death: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor dies aged 90

Shelly Desai death: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor dies aged 90

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Shelly Desai, the character actor best known for his appearances on the hit sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, has died. He was 90. The Mumbai-born actor earned over 90 screen roles, including the Ray Romano-led drama Men of a Certain Age. His death was announced on Facebook by his stepdaughter, Dawn Lerman Vaccaro, who wrote: “The kindest person in the world passed away today. I am beyond heartbroken. He was my mother Phyllis’s husband, soul mate , my stepfather, my kid’s grandfather and my cheerleader for all my creative projects.” She added: “Besides his friends and his family, the thing he cared most about was acting and charity.” In a follow-up post, she added: “He was that guy if you watched enough TV, films, or plays, you saw him — and said it: “Oh, that guy.” With over 92 credits, …

Two Philadelphia Men Admit To AI-Assisted .5M Housing Aid Scam In Minnesota

Two Philadelphia Men Admit To AI-Assisted $3.5M Housing Aid Scam In Minnesota

Published by Jenni Sidey

This will be the first of many AI scams of its kind, we predict… Two men from Pennsylvania admitted to repeatedly flying from Philadelphia to Minneapolis to exploit Minnesota’s Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) program, stealing about $3.5 million, according to prosecutors. Authorities say they used artificial intelligence to forge records and falsely bill for services, according to Fox News. Anthony Waddell Jefferson, 37, and Lester Brown, 53, registered businesses as HSS providers, claiming they offered housing support and transition services. In reality, officials say much of the work never happened. Launched in 2020, HSS helps people with disabilities, seniors, and those struggling with mental health or addiction secure housing. The Justice Department has noted the program had “low barriers to entry and minimal records requirements.” Attorney General Pam Bondi said, “Criminal fraud not only robs taxpayers — it shatters trust in our institutions… Our prosecutors will work tirelessly to unravel criminal fraud schemes.” Fox News writes that prosecutors allege the pair billed Medicaid for services supposedly provided to about 230 clients. Both men pleaded guilty …