Laura Smythe
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Communications Manager @visitphilly • past: @forbes, @PHLBizJournal @phillygaynews @PhillyInquirer @phillymag • Temple alum 🍒 • opinions my own
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Articles by Laura Smythe
Family speaks on Cheltenham High assault | Inquirer Greater Abington
Hi, Greater Abington. 👋 Thanks for reading the third edition of this newsletter. It’s been incredibly helpful to hear your thoughts so far. Please keep sharing your insights with us via this survey so we can shape this resource to be the most helpful it can be! This week, we go inside the alleged assaults in the Cheltenham High School locker room that led to the cancellation of two football seasons.
Abington geese vs. lasers | Inquirer Greater Abington
Hi, Greater Abington. 👋 Local and federal officials are on a mission to clear geese out of Alverthorpe Park, which has become an accidental paradise for the bacteria-spreading waterfowl. Also this week, the Cheltenham School District is under federal investigation, SEPTA is trying to reduce congestion between Glenside and Wayne Junction, and we take a closer look at the $1.2 million “Tall Trees” estate.
Jenkintonians rebuild local playground | Inquirer Greater Abington
Hello, Greater Abington! Welcome to the inaugural edition of Inquirer Greater Abington, your go-to weekly roundup of the top stories affecting your community, from updates on your local government leaders and schools to restaurant openings and events. We hope to make your day a little easier with helpful and accurate news you can really use. 👋 I’m Laura, your trusty newsletter writer.
What will Media look like in 2035? | Inquirer Greater Media
Hi, Greater Media! 👋 Wonder what Media might look like in a decade? A new comprehensive plan lays out goals for the borough through 2035. Also this week, filming for the second season of Task — which just scored a handful of Emmy nods — gets underway, local coaches and players reflect on the significance of seeing Auston Trusty play in the World Cup, plus we round up area farmers markets to check out this season.
Lake draining debate | Inquirer Chester County
Skip to content Plus, where to celebrate the Fourth of July. A view of the Township Line Dam along Airport Road in West Goshen. Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer by Lisa Dukart and Laura Smythe Published July 1, 2026, 5:45 a.m. ET Hi, Chester County! 👋 Neighbors of a West Goshen reservoir are concerned about what will be lost if it’s drained by Aqua as planned.
Where to celebrate the Fourth of July | Inquirer Cherry Hill
Skip to content Plus, what to know about BAPS’ planned expansion. by Lisa Dukart and Laura Smythe Published July 1, 2026, 5:15 a.m. ET Hello, Cherry Hill! 👋 Communities throughout the region are pulling out the stops to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary this weekend. We’ve rounded up spots to catch everything from fireworks to parades.
Forbes Daily: ‘The Economy Is Unwell’
This is the last time a Forbes Daily newsletter written by me will land in your inbox. From here, I’ll be moving on to a new opportunity, and leaving the Daily in the very capable hands of my colleagues Sarah Whitmire and Caroline Howard. They'll continue to bring you the same content you crave to jumpstart your day. I’ve so enjoyed starting the mornings with you this past year with the top business, finance and tech news of the day. Thank you for reading along.
Forbes Daily: Banking ‘Repercussions’
Today in hopes of spicing up your week I present you with "Frase by Forbes," our new daily word game that challenges you to unscramble an anagram into a hidden phrase. Our Forbes team has been hard at work developing the brain-stimulating word game, which aims to unite our readers’ affinity for essential news and entrepreneurial journalism with the curiosity, creativity and competitive spirit that pulses through our audience.
Forbes Daily: Arraignment Day
All eyes are on former President Donald Trump, who arrived in Manhattan on Monday and is expected to be arraigned in New York this afternoon over about 30 charges related to an alleged hush-money deal with adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Forbes Daily: Beach Bum Billionaire
Welcome to April. Perhaps most hopeful for a fresh start in the new month is the U.S. banking sector, which lost hundreds of billions in market value in March as several institutions failed and others faltered. A potential good sign: some experts say the most painful days for the bleeding sector have already come and gone. Sign up here to get the Forbes Daily morning newsletter straight to your inbox.
Forbes Daily: Indicted
A federal judge in Texas struck down a provision of the Affordable Care Act that required insurance coverage for a range of preventive services including cancer and diabetes screenings, medications and more. More than 150 million Americans currently benefit from the coverage under the ACA, along with approximately 20 million Medicaid and 61 million Medicare beneficiaries. The Biden administration is expected to appeal the ruling.
Forbes Daily: Indicted
Donald Trump’s lawyers are already building out his legal defense. But the strategy hinges on an assumption that may not be true. Finally faced with …
Forbes Daily: Starbucks’ Schultz: ‘I Earned It’ ☕
More than a week after former President Donald Trump predicted his own arrest, the Manhattan grand jury weighing whether to bring criminal charges against the billionaire is reportedly set to take a break until late April. That further delays a vote for potential indictment in an investigation that has gone on for years. Sign up here to get the Forbes Daily morning newsletter straight to your inbox.
Forbes Daily: Bankman-Fried’s Alleged $40M Bribe
Silicon Valley Bank has been thrown a life raft with First Citizens Bank stepping up to purchase the troubled institution in a government-backed deal that will land First Citizens among the top 15 U.S. banks. That’s a big leap for a bank that previously ranked as the 30th top operating bank in the country. It’s also not the Raleigh-based bank’s first rodeo. First Citizens has previously acquired more than 20 banks via merger or purchase since the 2008 housing crisis.
Forbes Daily: Meet SVB’s New Owners
Even back in 1944, the CIA knew how to ruin a meeting. They listed a few tactics in their Simple Sabotage Field Manual—a guide for undermining enemies during World War II. If you run workplace meetings, or are someone who attends (too many of) them, I’d be willing to bet some of the “tactics” will seem familiar. Such as “haggle over precise wording of communications.” Clearly the CIA had not studied newsrooms… But ineffective meetings can have a significant impact.
Forbes Daily: Bank Stocks Hit New Lows 💸
With birds chirping and trees starting to blossom, the (slightly) warmer weather might have you beginning to daydream about your summer getaways. One analyst has some good news for your wallet as you start trip planning. Gas prices likely won’t return to their all-time high of surpassing $5 per gallon, and might not even reach $4 this summer, says GasBuddy head petroleum analyst Patrick De Haan. That’s despite rising demand and low gasoline inventories.
Forbes Daily: TikTok’s Loss, Rivals’ Gain 📈
Looks like we won’t know more about a possible indictment against former President Donald Trump until at least next week, as the Manhattan grand jury evaluating the case reportedly won’t meet again until Monday. It’s far from the first delay in the probe into alleged hush-money payments by the billionaire, with the investigation spanning years overall. Sign up here to get the Forbes Daily morning newsletter straight to your inbox.
Forbes Daily: TikTok's Hill Showdown đ±
Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok continues to be in the spotlight, and today CEO Shou Zi Chew is on deck to testify before U.S. lawmakers about the appâs safety measures to protect minors and efforts to firewall U.S. user data from foreign access. Itâs largely expected that members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will grill Chew as the app faces bans from governments globally because of security concerns, with the Biden administration threatening to follow suit.
Forbes Daily: ‘Different From 2008’ 🏦
Financial contagion, financial contagion, financial contagion. You’ve likely heard the term nonstop over the last couple of weeks as the banking sector experienced ups and downs not seen since the Great Recession. But what exactly does it refer to? Sign up here to get the Forbes Daily morning newsletter straight to your inbox. BREAKING NEWS Authorities briefly shut down the courthouse at 60 Centre Street in New York City on Tuesday after receiving a bomb threat.
Forbes Daily: First Republic Shares Tumble 📉
All eyes are on former President Donald Trump after the billionaire took to his Truth Social platform over the weekend to claim he expects to be arrested as soon as today in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’ case regarding alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels back in 2016. Sign up here to get the Forbes Daily morning newsletter straight to your inbox.
Forbes Daily: Empty Payroll Promises đź’°
Less than 0.1% of March Madness brackets remained perfect after just one day of this year's NCAA men’s college tournament, and there’s a good chance none of the remaining contestants will last much longer. Don’t feel too bad about it, though, if your brackets aren’t shaping up how you wanted. It’s a tough world out there. Fun fact: the odds of correctly guessing all 67 games of the tournament is literally 1 in 120.2 billion, per the NCAA.
Forbes Daily: Merch Madness ūüŹÄ
Scientists have had a breakthrough. A woman who received a transplant of stem cells from umbilical cord blood appears to have been cured of HIV, which could make her the first woman to be cured of the virus. Researchers are currently being conservative, describing her case as one of long-term remission. Just a few people have been confirmed clear of HIV, all of whom beat the virus after bone marrow transplants from donors naturally resistant to HIV.
Forbes Daily: AI Upgrade š¤
The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank have investors spooked. Itās no different when it comes to the oil market, with oil prices plummeting nearly 6% Wednesday in their biggest one-day drop in more than eight months. International benchmark Brent Crude also dropped to its lowest point since December 2021, coming amid fears about the banking system as additional big banks experience a decline in market value.
Forbes Daily: AI Upgrade š¤
The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank have investors spooked. Itās no different when it comes to the oil market, with oil prices plummeting nearly 6% Wednesday in their biggest one-day drop in more than eight months. International benchmark Brent Crude also dropped to its lowest point since December 2021, coming amid fears about the banking system as additional big banks experience a decline in market value.
Forbes Daily: Bank Stock Buy Up
The official start of spring may be next week, but winter wanted to show us who’s boss one more time. The powerful Nor’easter that struck the East Coast Monday evening has since caused more than 1,500 flight delays and 800 cancellations. Massachusetts and New York bore the brunt of it, with LaGuardia Airport put under a “ground delay” because of the weather conditions and Logan Airport experiencing more than 110 flight cancellations.
Forbes Daily: Bank Stocks Crumble
You’ve likely noticed by now that the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank are dominating headlines this week. The closures mark the second and third-largest bank failures in U.S. history, and the fear rippling through the markets is palpable. The White House assured depositors they’d get their money back, but that hasn’t stopped many companies with millions of dollars—or billions—tied up in the banks from worrying.
Forbes Daily: Will Disney Drop Hulu?
The 95th Academy Awards take place on Sunday, with several blockbuster hits in the running for the main categories. Throughout their nearly century-long history, the Oscars have been littered with many politically outspoken moments, and some viewers tune in to the show just to see if any such instances will take place. My Forbes colleague Conor Murray mapped out a timeline of the political protests and outburst over the years, including plenty of anti-war statements and booed speeches.
Forbes Daily: Adidas Faces The Music
Tax Day is creeping up faster than some of us may like on April 18. And while this tax season looks to be a bit smoother than in years past, it's still causing hiccups for taxpayers. If you have questions about your individual tax return, don’t miss your chance to ask and get answers at our free event happening today at 12:30 p.m. ET. We hope to see you there. Sign up here to get the Forbes Daily morning newsletter straight to your inbox.
Forbes Daily: Biden's Medicare Shakeup
In case you missed it, Forbes just published our 30 Under 30 Europe list 2023. Personally, I’m still blown away by some of the facts and figures about this year’s cohort, like that the youngest honoree is only 14 years old. Also pretty wild: the 2023 class cumulatively raised more than $3 billion in funding to further their missions. Of note, 30% of the listers self-identify as a person of color, and the list is made up of 33% women, 66% men and 1% non-binary individuals.
Forbes Daily: JetBlue-Spirit Merger Grounded?
As if enough people don’t already suffer from flying anxiety (yours truly included), two planes clipped each other while moving at low speed on the tarmac at Boston Logan International Airport yesterday, just one week after a plane departing from the travel hub almost collided with another one that was touching down, missing it by 100 feet. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.
Forbes Daily: America’s Tipping Turmoil
Investors latched onto hope at the end of last week that the Federal Reserve will soon give the ax to its aggressive rate hike campaign, causing stocks to rise broadly last Friday on the heels of a massive rally from technology titans.The nation’s biggest tech firms like Microsoft, Tesla and Meta led the surge. Not so on the upswing?
Forbes Daily: America’s Tipping Turmoil
1 hour ago Catch co-founder Kristen Anderson tweeted Monday that the health and retirement benefits company she and co-founder Andrew Ambrosino started six years ago is shuttering. Anderson and Ambrosino created Catch, and as she explained in a Twitter thread and post on the company’s website, “with a crazy …
Forbes Daily: Russia’s Cash Dilemma
The battle for widespread student loan forgiveness reached the Supreme Court this week, and the fate of President Joe Biden’s initiative to cancel up to $20,000 in federal student debt per borrower hangs in the balance. We likely won’t know the Supreme Court’s ruling until June, so while you kick back and wait for the outcome, we bring you six big takeaways from this week’s hearing on the matter. Sign up here to get the Forbes Daily morning newsletter straight to your inbox.
Forbes Daily: A Morning Cup Of… Subpoena?
I’m back from vacation and reporting for duty, though I see I left your morning curiosities in good hands with my colleagues. The latest entity to implement restrictions on the use of TikTok? The social media platform itself. The company announced Wednesday that “in the coming weeks” it will automatically set a one-hour daily screen time limit for users under the age of 18.
Forbes Daily: A Year Of War
As you’ve likely noticed by now, the Forbes newsletters team has been hard at work revamping this morning newsletter so we can better connect with readers like yourself. We rolled out the rebranded Forbes Daily last month, but we don’t want to stop there. To help us keep improving, we invite you to provide some feedback on your experience with our new format. Please find our reader survey here. Sign up here to get the Forbes Daily morning newsletter straight to your inbox.
Forbes Daily: Paging Dr. Amazon
Looks like Pennsylvania’s favorite groundhog Punxsutawney Phil was (unfortunately) correct when he saw his shadow earlier this month, which indicates six more weeks of winter, per tradition. More than 1,000 flights scheduled to leave or arrive in the U.S. were canceled Wednesday as at least another 3,000 were delayed thanks to a massive storm stretching coast to coast.
Forbes Daily: A Biblical SEC Settlement
Today we’ve got eyes out for the release of a summary of the Federal Reserve’s latest minutes, which will likely shed some light on how officials are thinking about the economy as they continue their most aggressive tightening campaign in decades. A glimpse into their logic will give companies and private citizens an idea of what our dollars are up against in 2023.
Forbes Daily: The Chicago Bears And The Fight For Tax Breaks
Good morning, I hope you had some time to recharge over Presidents’ Day weekend. President Joe Biden marked yesterday’s federal holiday with a surprise visit to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a strong display of U.S. support for the nation as the one-year anniversary of Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine approaches. Biden’s visit is the first by a U.S. president to Ukraine in almost 15 years, serving as a landmark in the history of Ukrainian-American relations.
Forbes Daily: Musk’s $1.9B Gift
Good morning, In the continuous pursuit of financial wellness, it never hurts to check up on how your bank is faring. Today Forbes releases our Best And Worst Banks Of 2023 ranking, whichassesses the 100 largest publicly-traded U.S. banks and thrifts by assets, based on ten metrics measuring their credit quality and profitability. On the 14th-annual iteration, community banks like CVB Financial are thriving, while trillion-dollar giants like Wells Fargo are sliding.
Forbes Daily: Boeing’s $46B Bonanza
Good morning, The travel industry continued to bounce back in 2022, and today Forbes Travel Guide reveals its 2023 Star Awards winners, a list of the world’s finest hotels, restaurants and spas. And new and noteworthy for the 65th annual edition: ocean cruises. With more and more people embarking all over the globe, this year’s list highlights 48 new Five-Star hotels, 64 new Four-Star properties and 45 new Recommended hotels.
Forbes Daily: Most Eligible Billionaires
Good morning, Happy Valentine’s Day. If you’re reading this, it might be too late to put the science of Valentine’s Day gift giving to the test—unless, of course, you’re trying to make sense of the gift that special someone in your life got you this year. And if you’re feeling unlucky in love this holiday, take comfort in knowing you’re not the only one. Even members of the elite three-comma club have trouble finding love sometimes.
Forbes Daily: Is A $7 Million Ad Spend Worth It?
Good morning, What's past is past, and if it's all the same to you, I'd rather keep discussion about last night's events to a minimum. (Yes, I'm a Philadelphia sports fan). The Kansas City Chiefs prevailed against the Philadelphia Eagles in yesterday's Super Bowl LVII, winning the final game with a score of 38-35.
Forbes Daily: Billionaire Peltz Calls Off Disney Proxy Fight
Good morning, I hope your game day snacks are in order for Super Bowl LVII on Sunday. As a die-hard fan of both the Philadelphia Eagles and this year’s halftime performer Rihanna, it’s going to be an exciting weekend over here. It may surprise you, though, that Rihanna won’t make a dime from returning to the music spotlight at the big game. And that’s not because the pop star-turned-beauty-mogul is already a billionaire.
Forbes Daily: Bob Iger’s Bottom Line
Good morning, The legacy of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is only becoming greater. After scoring 38 points in a 133-130 defeat against the Oklahoma City Thunder this week, he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. For James, it’s an exclamation point on a resume that includes 19 All-Star appearances, 18 All-NBA selections, four league MVP awards and four NBA championships.
Forbes Daily: How Google Fell Behind In The AI Tech Boom
Good morning, If you missed President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address last night—or just want an early morning refresher—we’ve got the quick rundown. During the address, Biden homed in on economic policy, calling for a new minimum tax targeting billionaires as part of a White House plan to ensure wealthy Americans and large businesses pay their “fair share” of taxes. He also made the case for quadrupling the tax on corporate stock buybacks from 1% to 4%.
Forbes Daily: Meet Bard, Google’s Plan To Beat ChatGPT
Good morning, The 65th Grammy Awards were one for the ages earlier this week as the world witnessed Beyoncé break the record for the most Grammy wins of all time (she now has a whopping 32 of the awards) and Viola Davis won the award that rounded out her EGOT collection of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and a Tony. There were also plenty of other memorable—and memeable—moments of the show, as my Forbes colleague Robert Hart puts it. Perhaps most of all?
Forbes Daily: Hot Sauce Billionaire 🌶️
Good morning, Let’s jump into Monday with some sage insight from billionaire Bill Gates, who recently spoke with Forbes for an exclusive interview about his work advising AI unicorn OpenAI and, back on Microsoft’s campus, artificial intelligence’s potential impact on jobs and in medicine. Even after leaving the board of directors of Microsoft in 2020, the cofounder spends about 10% of his time at its headquarters meeting with product teams. At the heart of lots of those discussions?
Forbes Daily: Will AI ‘Break’ Capitalism?
Good morning, By now, you’d be hard-pressed to find a person who hasn’t heard a single line about ChatGPT, the conversational robot from startup OpenAI. But I’m willing to bet there’s some lesser known facts about the technology that’s riling up the business and education sectors you don’t know, like the fact OpenAI nearly shelved the viral bot entirely.
Forbes Daily: Adani Scraps Share Sale
Good morning, The Federal Reserve officially upped interest rates by 25 basis points, targeting a range of 4.5% to 4.75%, which is the highest level since early 2008. In some ways that’s a relief. It’s a slower pace of increase, and officials acknowledged inflation has “eased somewhat.” Nevertheless, brace yourselves for additional rate hikes, which they said “will be appropriate” to further ease rising prices. Mark your calendars for March 22, when the central bank will make the next announcement.
Forbes Daily: Is The Fed’s Inflation Fight Over?
Trump in Even More Legal Hot Water After Lying to Judge Former President Donald Trump appears to have lied in sworn court records, opening him up to severe sanctions by a New York judge who has already lost his patience and threatened to punish him before.Trump claimed he wasn’t the president of the Trump Organization during his four years at the White House, despite previously testifying that he was an “inactive president.” And he claimed that he didn’t have a financial stake in a...
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