Tag: Philadelphia

A police officer was hospitalized following an overnight crash in Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood.

According to police, the incident happened just before 2 a.m. on Saturday, November 22, 2025, at 28th and Lehigh Avenue.

Police said the officer, who was driving a police cruiser, hit another vehicle while responding to a call.

NBC10 was on the scene, and the officer’s vehicle could be seen crushed with the airbags deployed. The other vehicle also sustained damage, and the airbags could be seen deployed.

The officer was taken to a local hospital to be treated for minor injuries, according to police. No one in the other vehicle was injured.

This crash comes just a day after another officer-involved crash that happened in the city’s Oxford Circle neighborhood.

Several residents have been displaced after fumes from a chemical spill led to a hazmat response and an evacuation on Thursday, according to a spokesperson with the Philadelphia Fire Department.

Firefighters were called to the Emlen Arms apartment building on the 6700 block of Emlen Street in West Mount Airy just before 5 p.m. on Nov. 20 after there was a report of a chemical spill on the ninth floor, officials said.

Hazmat teams responded after fumes were reportedly coming from a substance of some kind in the area, officials explained.

This led to four residents being displaced from their homes, fire officials said. The residents are receiving assistance from the Red Cross.

Emergency responders helped two people at the scene, including a firefighter and a resident, before they were taken to nearby hospitals for further treatment, officials said.

According to the fire department, the apartment is owned by the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

Homeless advocates from several city agencies gathered at a Philadelphia cemetery for a burial ceremony honoring unhoused people whose remains went unclaimed after death.

The ceremony was held on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.

A historic ocean liner will become the world’s largest artificial reef after it’s sunk off Florida’s Gulf Coast early next year.

Okaloosa County officials announced Tuesday that they expect to sink the SS United States in early 2026 about 22 nautical miles (41 kilometers) southwest of Destin and 32 nautical miles (59 kilometers) southeast of Pensacola.

The nearly 1,000-foot (305-meter) vessel, which shattered the trans-Atlantic speed record on its maiden voyage in 1952, has spent most of this year at the Port of Mobile in Alabama, being scoured to remove chemicals, wiring, plastic and glass.

Regional Partnership

The ship’s final location was selected as part of an agreement with Pensacola tourism officials, who are contributing $1.5 million to the project, and Coastal Conservation Association Florida, which is kicking in another $500,000. Officials had been considering two other locations, including one that would have placed the ship further east and closer to Panama City Beach.

“This collaboration will foster amazing adventures for generations of visitors and create a tourism economy that will benefit the state and the entire Northwest Florida region,” Okaloosa County Board Chairman Paul Mixon said in a statement.

The contributions will be used to transform the SS United States into an artificial reef and finance a multiyear marketing campaign. The deal is part of Okaloosa County’s $10.1 million plan to purchase, move, clean and sink the ship, which includes $1 million toward a onshore museum to promote the ship’s history.

Once in place, the SS United States will sit at a depth of about 180 feet (55 meters), but the vessel is so tall that the top decks will be about 60 feet (18 meters) from the surface, making it attractive to both novice and experienced divers. The artificial reef will also be about 12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) away from the USS Oriskany, another popular dive destination that was sunk in 2006.

The SS United States is set to join Okaloosa County’s more than 500 artificial reefs, which include a dozen smaller ship wrecks.

“The transformation of the SS United States into the world’s largest artificial reef creates a rare opportunity to elevate our entire region on the global stage,” said Darien Schaefer, president and CEO of Visit Pensacola.

The new artificial reef will provide essential marine life habitat, which prompted Coastal Conservation Association Florida to make its largest donation in the organization’s 40-year history.

“It is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to contribute to the creation of the world’s largest artificial reef,” CCA Florida Executive Director Brian Gorski said in a statement.

Long Journey

The SS United States arrived in Alabama at the beginning of March following a 12-day tow from Philadelphia’s Delaware River, where it has spent nearly three decades. Okaloosa County took ownership after a years-old rent dispute was resolved last October between the conservancy that oversees the ship and its landlord.

Various groups have attempted to restore the SS United States over the years, but all plans were eventually abandoned because of the steep cost. Recently, increased media attention has generated more calls to preserve the ship, and a group called the New York Coalition sued in Pensacola federal court asking a judge to halt sinking such a historically significant vessel.

But Okaloosa County officials have said that preventing the SS United States from becoming a reef would only send it to the scrapyard.

The vessel, which is more than 100 feet (30 meters) longer than the RMS Titanic, was once considered a beacon of American engineering, doubling as a military vessel that could carry thousands of troops. On its maiden voyage, the ship reached an average speed of 36 knots, or just over 41 mph (66 kph), The Associated Press reported from aboard.

The ship crossed the Atlantic Ocean in three days, 10 hours and 40 minutes, besting the RMS Queen Mary’s time by 10 hours. To this day, the SS United States holds the trans-Atlantic speed record for an ocean liner.