Operation Stone Wall started as an investigation into a cocaine ring in South Jersey. One year later, New Jersey's attorney general says four people in that ring became the very first to be charged under a new law criminalizing ghost gun trafficking. This week on Scroll Down, Steve Tawa and Kristen Johanson tell us about ghost guns, how Operation Stone Wall developed, and what's next for New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Read Steve's article about Operation Stone Wall on kywnewsradio.com Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Studios in Philadelphia. You can follow the show on Twitter: @ScrollDownPod. And you can follow Tom: @teerick. Find us wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe! See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Listen to the first part of this story in episode 40, anywhere you get your podcasts, or on kywnewsradio.com Peter Biar Ajak has been in a notorious prison in South Sudan for the last 7 months. Friends of the jailed peace activist and political prisoner say his situation has gotten worse since we talked to them last, back in September of 2018. Follow the effort to free Peter on Twitter: @FreePeterBiar  and on Facebook: @FreePeterBiar  Tim Jimenez (@timjradio) helped bring Peter's story to the podcast today. Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia. You can follow the podcast on Twitter: @ScrollDownPod, and you can follow Tom on Twitter at @teerick. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

One of the things Old First Church is known for is the live animal nativity scene around Christmas time. Every December, you could walk by the church in Old City and look at the animals. This lasted for 40 years. Right until the Christmas of 2017. Today on the podcast, John McDevitt and Andrew Kramer join Scroll Down to tell the story of how a Philly church's New Year's Eve service radically transformed after a cow decided to cross I-95. John McDevitt is on Twitter at @JM1060  Andrew Kramer tweets at @Philly_Kramer  Check out John's story about the refugee nativity: CLICK HERE Andrew wrote some words about it too: CLICK HERE Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert at the KYW Newsradio podcast factory in Philadelphia. You can follow the show on Twitter: @ScrollDownKYW. And you can follow Tom: @teerick. Listen to us wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe! See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

"The ugly duckling of education" isn't looking so ugly anymore. Teachers and students at a South Jersey trade school say today's high schoolers watched how the Millennials piled up college degrees -- and the mountains of debt that went with them -- and are deciding to follow a different path. And the state of New Jersey wants to help. Today on Scroll Down, Mike Dougherty (@MicDougherty) talks about what he found at the Gloucester County Institute of Technology, and why Generation Z is embracing the trades. Mike's article on kywnewsradio.com: CLICK HERE Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia. You can follow the show on Twitter: @ScrollDownKYW and you can follow Tom: @teerick. Find us wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe! See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

When KYW Newsradio's Mike DeNardo came back from touring a recycling plant in Philadelphia, we quickly realized that a lot of what we thought we knew about recycling... was just plain wrong. This week on Scroll Down: the international intrigue that determines what actually happens after you put your blue bin on the sidewalk, and the top five things you can recycle to ruin it for everyone. Mike DeNardo is on Twitter: @_MikeDeNardo  Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Studios in Philadelphia. You can follow the show on Twitter: @ScrollDownKYW and you can follow Tom: @teerick. Find us wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe!   See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Today on the podcast, Scroll Down producer Charlotte Reese visits the secret headquarters of an animal rescue organization, to talk with Wolf, the tattooed biker responsible for saving thousands of abused animals and nursing them back to health. Find out more about Justice Rescue at their website, justice-rescue.com. Scroll Down is made in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia. Today's show was reported and produced by Charlotte Reese (@creese28). Tom Rickert (@teerick) is Scroll Down's executive producer. You can follow the podcast on Twitter at @ScrollDownPod. Thanks for listening!   See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Erin Kimmerle digs up bodies. She's carefully picked through mass graves in Kosovo and Croatia to identify victims of war crimes. She did the same thing in Peru, where men, women, and children were executed by the military forty years ago. She dug up the bones of young boys murdered at a Florida reform school. And this summer, she came to Philadelphia, to dig up bodies. Kristen Johanson (@KristenJohanson) joins the podcast today to talk about how forensic anthropology hopes to solve decades old cold cases, even when the victims are unidentified. Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia. You can follow the podcast on Twitter: @ScrollDownPod, and you can follow Tom on Twitter at @teerick. Kristen and Tom make a true crime podcast about unsolved murders in Philadelphia. You can follow the podcast on Twitter (@GoneColdPhilly) and to listen to the episodes CLICK HERE or wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

We're celebrating Veterans Day in America, when we honor the men and women who have put on a uniform for the United States. Many of us have someone close who has served -- a family member, a friend, a coworker. This week's show is about our veterans, and it's about our heroes. This episode was originally released on November 13th, 2017. It was remixed and rescored for 2018, with an update on some of the people we talked to at the end of the show. Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Studies in Philadelphia. You can follow the show on Twitter: @ScrollDownKYW. And you can follow Tom: @teerick. Find us wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe! See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

This week, we're following up on our last episode -- a story about a Philadelphia family who found out their grandmother had died months after it happened. We followed Cherri Gregg and David Wilson as they tried to find out what happened to David's grandmother Ruth Pasley, where she was buried, and why they weren't notified by her guardian after she passed away. Today on the podcast, Cherri Gregg is back to break down what's being done to try to fill the cracks in the Pennsylvania guardianship system, so what happened to the family of Ruth Pasley doesn't happen again. You can follow Cherri on Twitter at @CherriGregg, and listen to her community affairs podcast "Flashpoint" at kywnewsradio.com  Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia. You can follow the podcast on Twitter: @ScrollDownPod, and you can follow Tom on Twitter at @teerick.   See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Ruth Pasley was 85 years old when she died, on New Years Eve, 2017. She lived in a nursing home, and a court appointed guardian controlled her affairs. Her grandchildren found out she died six months later. It took weeks to discover where she was buried. Cherri Gregg (@CherriGregg) joins the podcast with the story of what happened to Ruth Pasley, the cracks in the guardianship system, and how Ruth Pasley and her family slipped through those cracks. Read Cherri's reporting on this story at KYWNewsradio.com Cherri hosts the KYW Original Podcast "Flashpoint." You can listen to new episodes HERE or find it wherever you get your podcasts. Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia. You can follow the podcast on Twitter: @ScrollDownPod, and you can follow Tom on Twitter at @teerick. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Peter Biar Ajak left Sudan during a horrible civil war, one of the 40,000 Lost Boys. He found a new home in Philadelphia, went to Central High School and graduated from La Salle University in 2007. He continued his education at Harvard, then Cambridge. And then, he went back -- hoping to use his education to help bring peace to South Sudan. Peter was arrested in July for speaking out against the South Sudanese government and has been kept in prison since then. His friends from Philadelphia and around the world are calling for his release. Two of his friends from La Salle are on the podcast today to tell us why. Follow the effort to free Peter on Twitter: @FreePeterBiar, on Facebook: @FreePeterBiar, and on the website, FreePeterBiar.org  For more information, email info@FreePeterBiar.com. Tim Jimenez (@timjradio) helped bring Peter's story to the podcast today. You can read his article about Peter on kywnewsradio.com  Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia. You can follow the podcast on Twitter: @ScrollDownPod, and you can follow Tom on Twitter at @teerick.   See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Earlier this year, we put out an episode about homeless encampments, occupied by drug users, that were springing up under railroad tracks in Philly. We called it "The People in the Tunnels." Part two came out a couple months later, about a pilot program the city developed in two of the tunnels. Basically, anyone living there could get a bed and treatment to get sober, if they wanted it, before the encampments were shut down. Today on the podcast: part three of our series on the people in the tunnels. What does life look like now, for someone who decided to say yes and get clean? And is there really such a thing as a fresh start? Thanks to KYW Newsradio city hall bureau chief Pat Loeb for coming back on the podcast, you can follow what she's covering on Twitter at @patloeb.  Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia. You can follow the podcast on Twitter: @ScrollDownPod, and you can follow Tom on Twitter at @teerick. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

In a North Philadelphia classroom, a group of fifth graders decided to work together on a project about gun violence. What they found out was shocking. And Mike DeNardo (@_MikeDeNardo) joins the podcast to talk about what happened two days before they were supposed to present their findings.  Read the article Mike wrote about the project and incident at Duckrey Elementary: CLICK HERE   This episode of Scroll Down was produced and edited by Charlotte Reese (@creese28). Tom Rickert (@teerick) is Scroll Down's executive producer.  You can follow the podcast on Twitter at @scrolldownpod.  See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Carol Orzel had a very rare bone disease. It's called fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, or FOP. It's a condition she shared with only about 800 or 900 people around the world. And before Carol died, she had one request: she wanted her skeleton to be displayed in the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia. KYW Newsradio's Mark Abrams (@MAbramsKYW1060) joins the podcast to talk about the life, death, and legacy of Carol Orzel. Check out the article Mark wrote about Carol CLICK HERE For more about the Mütter Museum CLICK HERE Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia. You can follow the podcast on Twitter: @ScrollDownPod, and you can follow Tom on Twitter at @teerick. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

It's something that's always been around -- grandparents raising their grandchildren when something happens to the parents. But as the opioid epidemic ravages more and more families across the country, the number of Grandfamilies is on the rise. This is a story about three of those families, and what is being done to give them the help they need. KYW Newsradio's Molly Daly (@ThisMollyDaly)  joins the podcast to talk about Grandfamilies. KYW Newsradio's Charlotte Reese (@creese28)hosted and produced this episode of Scroll Down. KYW Newsradio's Tom Rickert (@teerick) is Scroll Down's executive producer. You can follow the podcast on Twitter at @ScrollDownPod. Thanks for listening! See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Erin Redmond was a freshman lacrosse player at Rowan University when she was taken to the emergency room because of kidney stones. After a CAT scan at the hospital, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Matt Leon (@MattLeon1060) is back on the podcast with a story about an 18 year old athlete who didn't know how to give up. LINKS: Matt's article about Erin: https://bit.ly/2Kj4RMD Rowan Lacrosse: https://bit.ly/2lJ3DLS Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia. You can follow the podcast on Twitter @ScrollDownPod, and you can follow Tom on Twitter at @teerick. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Back in April we reported on homeless encampments popping up under four railroad tunnels in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood. The city set up a pilot program in two of the tunnels, offering treatment and beds to anyone who wanted them. And at the end of May, it was time to shut down what was left. Today on the podcast -- what a tunnel eviction looks like. Pat Loeb (@PatLoeb) covers homelessness and the opioid epidemic for KYW Newsradio. She's also the station's City Hall bureau chief. You can hear the original episode here -- The People in the Tunnels: https://bit.ly/2y5pOVZ Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia. You can follow the podcast on Twitter: @ScrollDownPod, and you can follow Tom on Twitter at @teerick. Charlotte Reese helped produce this episode, she's on Twitter at @creese28.  See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Shelter dogs, prisoners, and veterans with PTSD are the focal points of a program in the Camden County Correctional Facility that's trying to give all three a second chance. John McDevitt (@jm1060) went to prison to check the program out. Scroll Down (@ScrollDownPod) is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert (@teerick) in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia. Check out our new website at kywnewsradio.com!  See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Last summer, four young men were murdered on a quiet farm in Bucks County, outside Philadelphia. Jimi Patrick, Dean Finocchiario, Tom Meo, and Mark Sturgis were shot and killed, their bodies were burned. Cosmo DiNardo and Sean Kratz, the two cousins who prosecutors say were behind the four murders, were expected to plead guilty this week. But the court hearing on Wednesday, May 16th didn't turn out the way anyone expected. To catch up on the story, listen to the update we made earlier this year: https://bit.ly/2IsbgUZ  Jim Melwert is back on Scroll Down after a surprising and emotional day in court to continue the story of the Lost Boys of Bucks County. You can follow us on Twitter at @ScrollDownPod. Tom Rickert hosts and produces Scroll Down, you can follow him at @teerick. For more true Philadelphia stories, you can find Scroll Down on our website: https://bit.ly/2KxGx5i or wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Mary Baxter, AKA "Isis tha Savior" is fighting against youth homelessness and pushing for protections for incarcerated women -- two subjects she's intimately familiar with. Mary's first bout with homelessness came at age 11. She gave birth to her son while shackled to her hospital bed, and then did seven months in prison before she could spend time with him again. Now she's giving talks at places like Harvard University and Capitol Hill, and joined forces with Senators to push for national legislation to help women be able to serve time without losing dignity. Holli Stephens and Antionette Lee filmed a documentary about Mary for KYW Newsradio, and they brought her story to Scroll Down. Watch the doc here Follow Holli: Twitter, Instagram, Website Follow Antionette: Twitter, Instagram, Website  Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia. You can follow the show on Twitter: @ScrollDownPod.  Tom is on Twitter at @teerick.  Find Scroll Down wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe! See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

When an engine on Southwest Airlines flight 1380 failed in midair, cracking a window and tragically causing the death of a passenger, every single passenger on the Boeing 737 dealt with some very real emotions at the same time, in their own way. Some were terrified. Others comforted the people near them. Many took the time to write texts saying goodbye to their family and friends. This is the story of what happened on that flight, from the people who lived through it and the reporters who covered it on the ground. Jennifer Riordan leaves behind her husband and two children. Her family has set up a trust in her memory to support causes Jennifer cared about. You can follow the reporters who talked to Scroll Down for this story on Twitter: Kim Glovas, Kristen Johanson, Paul Kurtz, Tim Jimenez, and Mike Dougherty. Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert. You can follow the podcast on Twitter - @ScrollDownPod. See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

People have started living in four tunnels under the railroad tracks in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood. City officials say most of them are drug users who've been unwilling to go into treatment, and prefer life under the tracks to a shelter. The city wants them gone, so Pat Loeb (https://twitter.com/PatLoeb) went to ask the people living there why they're staying. Pat's article on the people living under the tunnels: [https://kywnews.radio.com/articles/unusual-community-springs-philadelphias-opioid-epidemic]  Scroll Down is hosted by Tom Rickert in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia Follow the podcast on Twitter (https://kywnews.radio.com/articles/unusual-community-springs-philadelphias-opioid-epidemic) Follow Tom on Twitter (https://twitter.com/teerick) See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

This episode of Scroll Down KYW is about four murders that happened in the Philadelphia suburbs last July. Since then, a lot of things have happened. Paul Kurtz (@Kurtzpaul) joins the podcast with an update. (Original description) In July of 2017, four young men suddenly disappeared in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The search for answers took just over a week. What happened to them shocked the nation. KYW's Jim Melwert (@JMelwert) and Tim Jimenez (@TimJRadio) join Scroll Down to tell the story of the lost boys of Bucks County. Scroll Down KYW is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert (@teerick) in the KYW Newsradio studios in Philadelphia.   See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

Late at night on November 16, 2017, the Barclay Friends assisted living community in West Chester, PA, went up in flames. The fire tore through the building, quickly growing to five alarms. 137 seniors were inside. This story is about the heroic efforts by first responders to get them out, and the neighbors who got up in the middle of the night and sprang into action. Paul Kurtz (@Kurtzpaul), Dan Miller (@TrafficDanKYW), and Steve Tawa (@stevetawa) join Scroll Down to tell the story of the nursing home fire. Scroll Down is hosted and produced by Tom Rickert in the KYW Studios in Philadelphia. You can follow the show on Twitter: @ScrollDownKYW. And you can follow Tom: @teerick. Find us wherever you get your podcasts, and subscribe!  See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.