Congresswomen press National Guard on allegations at Horsham air station

Two Philadelphia-area congresswomen are asking the Pennsylvania National Guard’s commander to address allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation at the Horsham Air Guard Station near Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a former Air Force officer, and U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, whose district includes the air base, wrote Friday that they were troubled by allegations reported by the newspaper last month.

The Inquirer’s investigation included allegations of rampant sexual harassment and discrimination within the base’s 111th Attack Wing and a pattern of reprisal against those speaking out about misconduct.

The letter to Maj. Gen. Anthony Carrelli by the freshmen Democrats says the National Guard “is not immune from the cultural challenges facing our military, especially when it comes to sexual harassment, misconduct, and retaliation.”

As adjutant general, Carrelli is responsible for supervision of the state’s Army and Air National Guard units.

Probe nets guns, drugs, cash

PHILADELPHIA » Authorities say an eight-month investigation of three drug trafficking organizations in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood has netted 20 guns and $480,000 cash as well as tens of thousands of doses of fentanyl and cocaine and other drugs.

Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Monday that agents executed search warrants last week in 30 locations believed to be connected to the organizations, whose activities he said have been linked to two Philadelphia-area shootings.

Drugs sold by the groups have been located as far away as Delaware, New York, New Jersey and Virginia as well as Pennsylvania, he said. Shapiro also released the names of almost three dozen people he said were among those arrested.

Woman punched after reading at church

PHILADELPHIA » Philadelphia’s archbishop called it a “senseless act of aggression” after a woman who had finished a reading at a Roman Catholic church was punched as she left the altar.

The attack took place Sunday during the 11 a.m. Mass, which was streamed on Facebook Live from the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter & Paul.

Video showed the lector leaving the altar when a woman punched her.

“The lector who was assaulted received immediate attention and assistance from cathedral staff members off camera,” Archbishop Nelson Perez wrote on Facebook. She did not require medical attention, he said.

The suspect was not detained.

The archdiocese was working with police.