Kristin Hunt

Kristin Hunt is a senior staff writer for PhillyVoice. A history and pop culture junkie, she spends her spare time stalking the Free Library shelves and binge watching TCM. She has previously contributed to Vulture, GQ, Mental Floss, JSTOR Daily, and The Washington Post.

kristin@phillyvoice.com

October 28, 2022

Government

Why doesn't the Philadelphia police require crisis intervention training?

by Kristin Hunt

The Philadelphia police officers have been undergoing crisis intervention reforms since the 2020 killing of Walter Wallace Jr in West Philly in 2020, which includes the the department spending $14 million to equip all officers with Tasers. Previously CIT training had been mandatory for all cops carrying stun guns, but now that training has become optional in order to speed up the rollout of the stun guns.

October 27, 2022

2022 Election

More than 700,000 people in Pennsylvania already have voted in the 2022 election

by Kristin Hunt

Early, mail-in voting statistics are already rolling in for the 2022 midterm elections in Pennsylvania. Most of the 733,370 ballots returned belong to registered Democrats. More than half came from seniors. Democrats and voters over 65 tend to favor absentee voting for any reason.

October 26, 2022

Food & Drink

Is Standard Tap (still) haunted?

by Kristin Hunt

Standard Tap, the longtime Northern Liberties bar owned by William Reed and Paul Kimport, is purportedly haunted. Visitors have reported seeing multiple ghosts in the building, whose history stretches back to the 1800s, when the first railroad track in America was laid outside its doors. So If you find yourself there this Halloween weekend and spy a woman with a voluminous blue dress, run.

October 26, 2022

Politics

Pa. House Republicans file articles of impeachment against D.A. Larry Krasner

by Kristin Hunt

Pennsylvania House Republicans filed articles of impeachment on Oct. 26 against Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. Rep. Martina White and others on the Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order accuse Krasner of abuse of office in his failure to reverse rising crime trends. They have not alleged criminal behavior.

October 25, 2022

Environment

Here's how to get a free tree for your yard so you can help improve Philly's canopy

by Kristin Hunt

TreePhilly is giving away free yard trees this fall to improve the city's urban tree canopy. The Philadelphia Parks and Recreation program hopes to boost UTC to 30% in every neighborhood, thereby reducing the urban heat island effect and improving stormwater management and air quality. Greenery can also improve mental health.

October 24, 2022

Children's Health

A spike in respiratory illnesses is filling children's hospitals in Philly

by Kristin Hunt

A surge of respiratory illnesses, particularly RSV, has left the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia at or near full capacity for weeks. Similarly, St. Christopher's Hospital for Children has seen spikes in RSV and rhinovirus, the predominant cause of the common cold. It's part of a trend that is overwhelming pediatric hospitals nationwide. And anticipated COVID-19 and influenza waves have yet to arrive.

October 24, 2022

Food & Drink

ReAnimator Coffee workers unionize with support from management amid ongoing organization effort

by Kristin Hunt

ReAnimator, a Philadelphia coffee chain, voluntarily recognized a new workers union, which has joined Local 80 of Workers United. Good Karma, Elixr, Ultimo, Korshak Bagels and several Philly Starbucks locations have also unionized. They mirror a national wave of cafe worker unionization efforts.

October 24, 2022

Protests

Student protesters who interrupted Penn football game say they're facing trespassing citations, disciplinary action

by Kristin Hunt

About 75 University of Pennsylvania students affiliated with Fossil Free Penn rushed Franklin Field during halftime of the university's homecoming football game against Yale University on Saturday, Oct. 22. Penn police arrested 19 people after the demonstration delayed the football game by an hour. The protesters say they were cited for defiant trespassing and are facing disciplinary hearings for violating the school's Open Expression policy.

October 21, 2022

Education

School District of Philadelphia considers adding more 'phone-free' classrooms

by Kristin Hunt

Yondr pouches can be used at schools or concert venues to lock cell phones from use. The School District of Philadelphia is considering using them in more schools based on the successful implementation at Overbrook High School last spring. But officials are debating whether a new $5 million contract is a sufficient use of money and whether the pouches will help increase class attendance and engagement, or invade students' privacy.

October 20, 2022

Movies

Catch these 5 must-see movies at the Philadelphia Film Fest this weekend

by Kristin Hunt

Netflix's 'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery' is one of the marquee films playing the Philadelphia Film Festival this weekend. New movies starring Jennifer Lawrence and Philly activist Kristal Bush will also screen, along with directors Noah Baumbach and Park Chan-wook's latest.