Man arrested after arson at Gov. Shapiro’s home

🚨Governor Shapiro & Family Evacuated After Arson Fire, Suspect in Custody

A Harrisburg man is expected to be charged with attempted murder, terrorism, and arson after allegedly setting fire to Governor Josh Shapiro’s official residence. Shapiro and his family were evacuated from the governor’s mansion in Harrisburg at 2 a.m. Sunday, just hours after the family celebrated Passover. No one was hurt but there was significant damage to the building that has housed eight governors. [🔒The Inquirer]

🛣️ Will High-Tech Cameras Help Us Share City Streets?

Whether you travel by car, bike, foot, or SEPTA, one thing we all have in common is the need to use our streets to get to our destinations. But how do we share these streets to keep everyone safe while keeping our cool? On a new occasional series from City Cast Philly – “Whose Streets?” – we discuss two new camera enforcement initiatives from the PPA and read your reactions on how this will affect how you get around town. [🎧 City Cast Philly]

🗳️ Pennsylvania Voters Facing Challenges in Casting Their Vote

The number of provisional ballots cast in Pennsylvania rose between 2016 and 2024, but so did the number of ballots rejected for technical issues. These ballots are meant to be fail-safe, but inconsistent training across counties and confusing envelope design are leaving room for error. Meanwhile, the U.S. House just passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which would require further proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. Yet more than 9% of eligible voters don’t have readily available documents such as birth certificates, which risks widespread disenfranchisement. [Votebeat, Politics PA]

💰 Breaking Down the Numbers of Mayor Parker’s Budget

Budget hearings continue at City Hall this week with officials from a variety of city offices – Planning & Development, Public Property, Fleet, Free Library, Parks & Recreation, and SEPTA – giving testimony. But what’s the per-person cost of this proposed budget? Here’s a visual explainer of the totals and how it compares to last year’s budget. [Philadelphia Citizen]

We’re more connected than ever thanks to today’s modern technology. But despite how many followers you may have on social media, why does making friends feel so hard these days? In a major city like Philly, shouldn’t it be easy to go out and meet people?

It’s time to close Bumble BFF and join Let Me Know Club. The local hobby group founded in 2024 is helping people get social over shared interests like crafts. The name is inspired by friends saying “let me know what you’re doing” or “let me know if you want to hang out” – so instead of leaving the invitation hanging, they’re directly giving you an invite.

Let Me Know Club originally wasn’t supposed to exist. Founder and New Jersey resident Monique Means participated in an entrepreneurial training program at a Philly yoga studio in the hopes of founding her own studio, but it turned out she had another calling.

“I realized that I just wanted a community space, and so at the time, my goal was to get people to come together and make friends,” Means said.

Pushing Back Against the ‘Loneliness Epidemic’

In 2023, then-U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wrote a letter highlighting America’s loneliness problem, one that existed well before the COVID-19 pandemic. Murthy cited studies showing that half of all adults in the United States reported experiencing loneliness. The advisory went on to state that lacking social connection is as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

“I kept hearing about this loneliness epidemic and how after the pandemic, people were really struggling to make friends and meet people,” Means said, pointing to social media as a contributing factor. “You can build relationships online, but I think people struggle with other people in real life.”

So-called third spaces – places beyond the home and work – have been talked about as a potential solution to this loneliness epidemic, but a physical space can only do so much.

“If you don’t create the infrastructure for people to communicate with one another, then they’re really not going to do it,” Means said. “You could have an amazing coffee shop. [But] most of the time people are there by themselves.”