Page 9 - Morgan Cephas News Today

Ghost gun parts are untraceable and can be purchased without background checks. Experts say slowing the supply is key to violence prevention.

Philadelphia is now on the list of municipalities suing ghost gun manufacturers. Experts and law enforcement say these homemade firearms are increasingly being used for violent crime.

A stark increase in pregnancy-related deaths has been raising alarm bells in the state. Now state legislators are acting on the trend.

A nonprofit collaborating with state agencies and lawmakers is trying to expand doula services. The goal is to reduce the state’s maternal mortality rate, especially in communities of color, where that rate tends to be higher.

Cherelle Parker could be the first mayor to have previously served in the General Assembly since the late James H.J. Tate, giving her a head start on navigating state bureaucracy.

A 46-year-old man who was canvassing for One PA, a progressive political organization, was fatally shot by a fellow canvasser on Monday last week in Germantown.

Restraining and shackling incarcerated pregnant women in Pennsylvania prisons may soon be prohibited as a bill to change the way correctional facilities treat pregnant inmates advanced in the state House of Representatives this week. The bill would also bar putting pregnant inmates in solitary confinement and would require three days of bonding time after labor and delivery.

Gym said Thursday the city could borrow money to finance some capital costs and that she favors directing a higher share of property taxes to the School District.

Rep. Morgan Cephas and Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta introduced a bill that would ban the manufacturing, sale and possession of ghost guns or individual parts not marked with serial numbers. The legislation was introduced in response to the growing popularity of privately-made, often untraceable firearms among Philadelphia and Pennsylvania residents, including those barred from owning firearms.

Now in the majority, Democrats from the Philadelphia region will have an outsized influence on how the state spends its tax dollars.