The Department of Homeland Security alerted employers this week that it had officially ended humanitarian protections for 350,000 Haitian immigrants, triggering mass layoffs that threaten to disrupt summer travel and destabilize an array of essential institutions and industries up and down the East Coast and across the Midwest.
Nursing homes terminated hundreds of workers, including nursing assistants, dietary aides and housekeepers, industry and union leaders said. At airports including those in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Boston, contractors terminated scores of Haitian workers, including janitors, cabin cleaners and wheelchair attendants, according to union leaders at Service Employees International Union 32BJ.
At Florida schools, landscapers, bus drivers and other staff were fired. And in New York City, dozens of security guards were terminated only to be rehired because of confusion around their eligibility to continue working, union officials said.
The tumult comes about a month after the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administration permission to cancel the humanitarian program, known as temporary protected status (TPS), potentially stripping permission to live and work in the United States from as many as 1.3 million immigrants from Haiti, Syria and a dozen other countries.
The high court said the program for Haitians, one of the largest groups affected, could end on Monday. But attorneys for Haitian TPS holders said the protections should remain in effect until a lower court that had blocked the Trump administration from ending the program formally recognizes the Supreme Court decision.
In response to a question about the status of TPS for Haitians, a DHS spokesperson said in a statement that “activist lower court judges are openly defying the Supreme Court on this, but the end result will be the same. Haitians with TPS cannot and will not be able to stay.”
Earlier this week, DHS informed employers that it considered the “Haiti TPS designation … terminated, effective” immediately, and businesses have been laying workers off ever since.
The DHS spokesperson added that “Temporary Protected Status is exactly that -temporary.” “For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent,” the spokesperson said.
Geoffrey Pipoly, who represented the Haitians at the Supreme Court, accused the administration of sowing confusion instead of winding down TPS provisions in an orderly way.
“What we’ve seen from [the administration’s] behavior in the past month … is that they are trying to create conditions that are just not worth it for employers to keep people employed,” Pipoly said.
Food service, retail, warehousing, health care and long-term elder care are expected to be pummeled in some cities where many Haitian TPS holders have lived legally for more than a decade. The Obama administration first granted TPS to Haitians in 2010, after a major earthquake destabilized the country, killing hundreds of thousands of people.
“We do think the Supreme Court decision is going to decimate industries that people really count on because they’re largely serviced by immigrants. That’s true of airports,” said Roxana Rivera, assistant to the president at SEIU 32BJ, which represents cleaners, security guards and airport personnel on the East Coast. “It’s going to be much more difficult to fill these essential jobs.”
As the firings rippled through cities such as Miami and New York and smaller cities such as Columbus, Ohio and Allentown, Pennsylvania, newly unemployed Haitians frantically lined up care for their children, downsized into single-room rentals and sheltered in place, fearing a new wave of immigration enforcement focused on their community, advocates said.
On Monday evening, Haitian workers at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport burst into tears as they were asked to turn in their badges. Marlene, 47, a single mother who has worked as an airport janitor for 12 years, said she has been sick to her stomach.
“I am panicking. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep,” said Marlene, who spoke on the condition that she be identified by first name only. “My kid is wondering if he goes to school, will I be there when he comes home?”
The Broward County Aviation Department, which operates the airport, did not respond to questions about the status of impacted employees. But the department said 132 Haitian TPS holders worked there as of Monday, and that contractors who employ them have “‘uninterrupted service’ clauses to ensure continuity of operations.”
Helene O’Brien, the Florida director of SEIU 32BJ, said the union has lost at least 140 other workers, mostly janitors, due to previous Trump immigration policies.
Some TPS holders from Haiti are seeking new protections, including under asylum law, while others are holding out hope for litigation or legislation that could change the fate of the program — though experts say that is unlikely.
White House Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller has said that Haitians who lose status should be deported: “It’d be crazy for us to say that Haitians couldn’t live in Haiti. It’s their country,” he told reporters last month.
Opponents of the terminations say Haiti is not safe and warn that the expulsion of 200,000 working Haitian TPS holders from the labor force will lead to declines in economic activity and tax revenue in local economies.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) told CBS News this week that Haitians helped revive the city of Springfield, where Trump falsely accused Haitian immigrants of eating cats and dogs during the 2024 presidential campaign. DeWine called the decision to end TPS a “mistake.”
“These are people who have helped Springfield really come back,” DeWine said. “The Haitians … came there because there were jobs that were not being filled by other people.”
In the days leading up to the cancellation, powerful business groups pushed the administration to delay implementation of the Supreme Court ruling and establish a pathway for workers to regain legal status. The National Restaurant Association and the Florida Health Care Association were among several trade groups that sent letters to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin warning of looming operational disruptions.
“Many affected employees are long-serving, legally authorized workers who are central to restaurant operations,” the National Restaurant Association said in a letter to Mullin. “Their departure could remove a substantial share of the local hospitality workforce overnight.”
This month, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) introduced legislation to restore TPS for Haitians, warning the nation would otherwise face “a health care disaster.”
Some nursing homes have cut ties with scores of employees in recent days, while others have downsized. One facility in Staten Island, New York, raised its sign-on bonus from $2,000 to $6,000 to attract workers, while others shut down building wings and took beds offline. Still others explored recruiting replacement workers from high schools, said Katie Sloan, president of LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit aging service providers.
“To lose that many employees in one fell swoop is incredibly disruptive,” Sloan said. “And it’s destructive to the residents who have been close to these caregivers for years.”
Augustine, 30, is among those who stand to lose protective status. She and her mother fled Port-au-Prince after the 2010 earthquake destroyed their home.
Now Augustine — who spoke on the condition that she be identified only by first name — is a caregiver at Cabrini of Westchester, a 304-bed nursing home overlooking the Hudson River in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Most mornings, she is the first person to greet nine residents, waking them, bathing them, brushing their teeth and helping some eat breakfast and use the bathroom. Most of their families don’t visit regularly, she said; one calls her “my daughter.”
When she contemplates leaving her job, Augustine — whose shifts were canceled this week in anticipation of her work permit expiring — worries about these residents. But she said she would rather leave on her own terms than have immigration agents knocking on her door, so she and her mother have decided to begin packing as soon as the loss of her work permit is clear.
Asked if she had any parting words, Augustine said: “Thank you, America.”
In Florida, where nearly half of Haitian TPS holders reside, the Palm Beach County School District laid off nearly 20 Haitian workers, including bus drivers, janitors and cafeteria workers, school district and union officials said. “All School District employees must be legally authorized to work in the United States,” Steven King, a Palm Beach County School District spokesperson, said in a statement.
Afifa Khaliq, president of the SEIU Florida Public Services Union, which represents those workers, said she has been having conversations “that you would never want to have with a parent,” telling them to “make a plan so that your children can at least stay in safe environments while you may have to go back to Haiti.”
One 58-year-old Haitian woman with TPS in West Palm Beach, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she fears being targeted by ICE, was fired from two full-time jobs this week. A single mother, she worked as both as a certified nursing assistant in a senior living facility and at a separate job in medical records, to pay for her two kids’ college tuition.
“I can’t plan ahead for this news. We live paycheck-to-paycheck,” said the woman, who has been in the United States since the 2010 earthquake.
“There is nowhere to go in Haiti,” she said, adding: “There are gangs living in my house in Port-au-Prince.”
President Donald Trump recently accused Democrats of being “godless Communists,” building on his previous denunciation of his opponents as the “enemy from within.” These “Communists” were allegedly plotting to destroy Mount Rushmore once they seized control of the government. Such assertions reflect Trump’s willingness to peddle disinformation and rumors designed to paint the opposition as politically unacceptable.
But while Trump spreads disinformation to an unprecedented degree, he is far from the first president to do so. Ambitious politicians’ intent on proving their populist bona fides have circulated unfounded conspiracy theories since the birth of the American republic — including many of Trump’s presidential predecessors. Their experiences reveal that while Trump’s rumor mongering has unique elements, especially his focus on eroding practices essential to a functioning republic, similar tactics have long been highly effective.
Five of Trump’s predecessors stand out as serial conspiracy mongers: Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt. These presidents represented many points on the ideological spectrum but shared one thing in common: their conspiracy mongering was rooted in their perception that the opposition was disloyal. All five men were also willing to peddle such claims because they believed they were saving America from a major threat.
Thanks to his prominent role in the founding, Jefferson felt a certain ownership of the American experiment. That shaped the ruthless way in which he dealt with those who stood in his way. He claimed, for example, that Federalist leader Alexander Hamilton, “bewitched and perverted by the British example,” had betrayed the “Spirit of 1776.” Hamilton, Jefferson held, was not only a “monarchist” but an advocate for a monarchy “bottomed on corruption.”
At the time, tradition prohibited public figures from directly attacking one another. Instead, Jefferson employed newspaper surrogates to circulate damaging and often unfounded information. These surrogates claimed that Hamilton’s goal was to destroy the republic and replace it with “an unlimited hereditary” government. Jefferson’s willingness to do anything to ruin his opponents became clear when one of his surrogates exposed Hamilton’s involvement in an extramarital affair.
Unlike Jefferson, Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson’s dark view of his opponents and his willingness to engage in conspiratorial thinking stemmed from his defeat in the 1824 presidential election. Jackson charged that a “deep state” had stolen the presidency because he believed he received the most popular votes and, then, after no candidate received a majority in the Electoral College, the House of Representatives had handed the election to John Quincy Adams. Jackson claimed that the selection stemmed from a “corrupt bargain” between Adams and Speaker of the House Henry Clay, in which Adams promised Clay the position of Secretary of State.
Losing in this fashion to Adams, the Harvard educated son of a former president, convinced “Old Hickory” that the system was stacked against self-made frontiersman like himself who were looked down upon by East Coast elitists. Jackson’s contest with, as the Jacksonian press called him, “John the Second” was “a struggle between the honest yeomanry of the country, and an aristocracy” intent on “perpetuat[ing] in certain families” all government positions. One Jacksonian paper told its readers that Adams and his supporters were creating a system that was “fast tending to monarchy.”
Taking a page from Jefferson, Jackson’s surrogates claimed that Adams was somehow un-American. They based this charge on the amount of time the president had spent working as a young man at his father’s side in Europe and serving overseas as an American diplomat. Much was also made of Adams’ private purchase of a billiard table —— a purported sign of decadence and creeping European sensibilities. One Jacksonian editorial claimed that Adams admired “monarchy and aristocracy” and had learned his “contempt of republics and democracy” from his father and from his elitist education at home and abroad.
By 1828, having been falsely accused of election theft and doing the bidding of East Cost elites, Adams lost decisively to Jackson.
Forty years later, Jackson’s fellow Tennessean Andrew Johnson blamed “traitorous” Radical Republicans for undermining the Constitution and conspiring to oppress the white South by establishing “Negro supremacy.” In Johnson’s mind, they were traitors on par with, if not worse than, Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
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In Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 4, 1866, Johnson asserted that Republican leaders Thaddeus Stevens and Wendell Phillips should be executed. Johnson’s overtly racist rhetoric emboldened various white supremacist organizations, including the Ku Klux Klan, leading to a reign of terror throughout the South.
As with Jackson and Johnson, racial considerations were central to President Woodrow Wilson’s conspiratorially inclined approach to interpreting the nation’s past and present. In that sense, the nation’s first and only PhD president shared some surprising similarities with earlier presidents who lacked his extensive formal education and could rightly be accused of being provincial nativists. The president who vowed to “make the world safe for democracy” presided over an administration that was openly contemptuous of the civil rights and civil liberties of his fellow citizens.
Wilson saw plots by “hyphenated” Americans designed to undermine the government and claimed that opponents of American entry into World War I — especially immigrants — were on the German kaiser’s payroll. In his 1915 State of the Union message, Wilson claimed that “there are citizens of the United States, I blush to admit, born under other flags but welcomed under our generous naturalization laws to the full freedom and opportunity of America, who have poured the poison of disloyalty into the very arteries of our national life.”
Echoing Wilson, two decades later, Franklin Roosevelt accused American isolationists of disloyalty and argued they were placing themselves at the disposal of the German government in the lead-up to the Second World War. Roosevelt’s public and private statements about American businessmen, journalists and the Supreme Court, often involved circulating rumors and innuendo. His critics were “selfish men, jealous men, fearful men,” “big chiselers,” who were also “rumor-mongers” and “poison peddlers.” These “privileged princes … thirsting for power” were in some cases potential” would be dictators,” intent on creating a “new despotism.”
Roosevelt believed that groups opposed to his initiatives lacked virtue and patriotism and were undermining self-government. This was particularly true of his Republican opponents, who by the time of his 3rd reelection campaign in 1944, the president saw as emulating Hitler and Mussolini.
Each of these presidents used the “bully pulpit” to persistently question the patriotism of their opponents or to ascribe criminal motives to them. These presidents aimed to persuade the public that their opponents were un-American, if not outright traitors. That was possible, in part, because the five presidents saw no distinction between themselves and the state. What was good for them was good for America.
These tactics proved to be highly successful for each of these presidents, except for Johnson: Jefferson, Jackson and Wilson all won reelection to a second term, while Roosevelt went on to be elected a record four times.
Trump has much in common tactically with this group of presidents, as he too indulges in fear mongering, trafficking in rumor and innuendo and smearing the opposition. However, he lacks the accomplishments of many of them: Jefferson, for example, was the poet laureate of the American founding, while Roosevelt arguably saved American capitalism during the Great Depression and deftly guided the U.S. crusade against fascism during World War II. Some also have doubts about Trump’s commitment to the public good as he seems to profit from his office, adds his name to public places and focuses on things like a new White House ballroom.
Yet, it would be a mistake to latch onto these differences and to miss the lesson from these conspiracy mongering presidents from the past. Their success in using many of the same tactics Trump is deploying in 2026 serves as a stark warning for his opponents. History shows that rumor mongering works and one should never underestimate the threat presented by a president whose unbridled rhetoric is used to destroy those who dare to dissent.
Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of The Inquirer.
An expanding crisis for soccer’s governing body reached into Infantino’s longtime inner circle when his pick to represent FIFA on the White House Task Force for the World Cup walked away calling the Joshua Kushner-backed $20 billion commercial subsidiary plan “a bad deal for football.”
Carlos Cordeiro is a former Goldman Sachs banker and officially Infantino’s Senior Adviser yet revealed he was not involved in the secretive investment plan that has rocked the sport since media reports revealed it Tuesday.
“I cannot stand by while FIFA considers selling a stake in the World Cup,” Cordeiro said in a statement formally resigning, just hours after FIFA insisted in a statement: “Nobody is selling football.”
Cordeiro’s exit — and call for other senior staff to speak out — intensified scrutiny on Infantino one day after European soccer body UEFA threatened to boycott all FIFA games and events until the plan is dropped. North America’s CONCACAF also rejected Infantino’s offer of one-off $20 million payments to each member federation by a mid-September deadline.
Cordeiro often joined Infantino on working visits to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in recent years, and took part in meetings of the administration’s World Cup task force led by Andrew Guiliani.
“Let me be clear. I had no involvement in this proposal, and I oppose it unequivocally,” said Cordeiro, the former U.S. Soccer Federation president.
Asia joins Europe and North America
On another seismic day in soccer politics, Asia’s soccer body that has been a key ally in Infantino’s 11-year presidency opposed the investor plan and said FIFA must urgently review its management style
The Asian Football Confederation said it “stands in solidarity” with UEFA and CONCACAF, the first two continental bodies to oppose Infantino whose combined 90 FIFA member countries near a majority of the 211 global total.
“Football should never have been placed in such a position,” said the Asian soccer body, which counts 46 of FIFA’s 211 members
Infantino has proposed spinning off FIFA’s commercial businesses — including World Cups and Club World Cups for men and women — into a $20 billion subsidiary with 20% owned by private investors.
The “anchor investor,” described by FIFA, is a New York-based investment firm created by Joshua Kushner, the younger brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
“(T)he proposed (FIFA Forward Enterprise) cannot realistically achieve the necessary broad consensus and unity required to move forward” and must be reconsidered, the AFC said.
The statement did not name Infantino yet criticized FIFA for problems beyond the content of the private equity plan plus failing to consult about the secretive proposal.
“Rather, it has exposed fundamental weaknesses in FIFA’s consultation and decision-making processes that must now be addressed,” said the AFC, whose longtime president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa narrowly lost the FIFA presidential election to Infantino in 2016.
“Accordingly, the AFC calls upon FIFA to undertake an urgent review of its governance and decision-making framework,” said the organization based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Infantino’s job at risk?
Infantino had seemed — 11 days ago after the World Cup final in East Rutherford, New Jersey — to have a clear path to being reelected unopposed for a fourth and final term in office through 2031.
FIFA had briefed during the tournament that Infantino had letters of support from about 200 members, despite a furor over letting United States forward Folarin Balogun play against Belgium even though he received a red card in his previous game. Trump acknowledged asking Infantino to review Balogun’s mandatory one-game ban.
FIFA has set a Nov. 18 deadline for potential candidates to declare in a presidential vote of the 211 members scheduled next March in Rabat, Morocco.
FIFA blames the media
The Asian statement came hours after FIFA blamed the media and doubled down on pursuing the project which now seems to have a majority of the 211 in opposition.
“Our planned consultation process was disrupted by incorrect media reports,” FIFA said in a statement early Friday. “We will proceed with this consultation process to ensure that each (member) has the ability to express its vote based on facts.”
The next FIFA event that would be targeted by the threatened European boycott is within weeks — the Women’s Under-20 World Cup hosted by Poland from Sept. 5. The four British federations comprise FIFA’s only bidder to host the 2035 Women’s World Cup. That decision is due Nov. 23.
The New Jersey e-bike law that went into full effect earlier this month has a new update.
And after President Donald Trump denied the state’s request for federal disaster aid, South Jersey Democrat Andy Kim has concerns about the possible politics behind the decision.
Plus, several Camden County towns could owe more than a half a million dollars as part of a settlement in a class-action lawsuit, and more news of the day.
New Jersey’s new e-bike law was passed in January and went into full enforcement on July 19.
The state’s Motor Vehicle Commission has already made a policy change that impacts non-Jersey residents.
Here’s what you need to know before you’re ready to ride:
🚲 Everyone — including people from outside of the state — needs to register their e-bike. Out-of-state riders will need to make an appointment at the MVC and fill out a registration form.
🚲 Properly registered e-bikes will get a sticker from the MVC to display.
🚲 The law requires all riders to wear helmets and prohibits riders under the age of 15.
Back in February, New Jersey was hit with a record-breaking blizzard that resulted in thousands of power outages, school closures, and transit disruptions.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, via President Trump, earlier this month rejected the state’s request for $84 million in disaster aid after the agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration already determined that Jersey met the required levels to receive the help.
Sen. Kim said he’s worried the rejection may be partisan, but can’t say for certain. The White House has been consistent in saying Trump’s rejections for other disaster aid requests from states have not been politically motivated.
Five Camden County municipalities agreed to a settlement in a class-action lawsuit over vacant property fees. If approved in court, Barrington, Bellmawr, Runnemede, Voorhees, and Gloucester Township would collectively owe more than $500,000.
An Atlantic City lifeguard has been charged with trying to lure an underage girl who turned out to be an undercover detective, the Camden County Prosecutors Office said Thursday. The man from Egg Harbor Townshipwas arrested in Cherry Hill.
A woman was arrested and charged after fatally shooting her boyfriend in Winslow Township while in a parked vehicle, according to local authorities. The investigation is ongoing.
Gloucester County officials are reminding residents to ensure their pets are up to date on rabies vaccinations and to avoid wildlife after a report of a rabid raccoon biting a Glassboro resident last weekend.
Thieves recently targeted two trading card shops, one in Washington Township and another in Gloucester Township, and stole thousands of dollars worth of Pokémon cards, 6abc reports. Earlier this month, a man was charged for allegedly stealing a Pokémon card worth $24,000 using fake cryptocurrency in Marlton.
Olympic figure skater Isabeau Levito, who grew up in Mount Holly and now lives in Mount Laurel, teased her upcoming programs for the 2026-27 season, including a Pirates of the Caribbeantheme for her free skate.
🦘 Remembering: That time when Rex, a three-year-old wallaby, went missing for about a day from Lots of Love farm in Williamstown and then was found safe at a Walmart.
Two weeks ago, a reader asked Amy about the dress code and she responded that most people fall into the “throw stuff in a suitcase” camp. Well, we posed the question to the Shore Line text group. Below are a few recent submissions:
“‘Down the Shore everything’s alright.’ Sure it’s OK to wear beach attire (not sandy though, and do brush ur hair 😉)”
“I don’t care how much money you have. Make an effort, for the sake of the restaurant staff and other guests, to put on clean shorts and a polo for men and a cute cover up/sundress for women. If you can’t do that, then there’s always takeout.”
“Some people, when they come to the beach, lose or abandon their sense of propriety. Decent, casual attire respects the restaurant and other diners.”
There’s still time to weigh in. Is there a baseline for what’s acceptable? Or does anything go when you’re on vacation? Email Rosenberg your thoughts at downtheshore@inquirer.com.
📸 Photo of the week
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts posed for a photo with Gisele Maldonado, of Princeton, N.J., during the first day of Training Camp at the Jefferson Health Training Complex on Wednesday.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
TGIF. Enjoy your weekend and I’ll see you on Monday. ☀️
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The child-sized figure with robot-like qualities was the brainchild of Canadian researchers in the mid-2010s.
The goal was to try and better understand human-robot relationships, and to generally gauge how humans would interact with robots.
He was carried across the Northeast by the kindness of strangers who were kept up to date through social media posts.
Nicknamed hitchBOT, the oddity developed quite a following, moving through the Netherlands, Germany, andCanada.
When he hit the United States, he crossed through the northeastern part of the country over a two-week span.
And he was making — and having — a good time. He took in a Boston Red Sox game, visited an aquarium, and was gleefully photographed in Times Square in New York.
And then he arrived in Philadelphia.
hitchBOT’s creators said their baby had been mugged while taking a break at Elfreth’s Alley on Aug. 1, 2015, and stripped for parts.
They said he had been horrifically decapitated.
The creators later quipped, “sometimes bad things happen to good robots.”
In 2015, Laura Blankenship, cochair of the Computer Science Teachers Association, wrote a post about the lessons from the experiment.She remarked that the creators got an answer to their existential question:
“Humans might treat robots just like humans,” Blankenship wrote.
hitchBOT became fodder for late-night talk shows, gossip websites, and ammunition for the usual folks who enjoy taking cheap shots atPhiladelphia and its inhabitants.
The New York papers ate it up, as did CNN.
“This is why we can’t have nice hitchhiking robots,” CNN wrote.
As far as Philadelphia’s role in the episode, the city still holds a special place in its heart for the headless kind-hunter. On the 10th anniversary, a memorial service and a remembrance were held at the famous alley where hitchBOT met his end.
Today, hitchBOT’s body is on display at the Heinz Nixdorf Museums Forum in Paderborn, Germany.
Think you know your news? There’s only one way to find out. Welcome back to our weekly News Quiz — a quick way to see if your reading habits are sinking in and to put your local news knowledge to the test.
Question 1 of 10
Which top official resigned from Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration this week?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Philadelphia Managing Director Adam K. Thiel, a top appointee who supervises many of the government’s day-to-day operations, is resigning, the mayor announced Tuesday.
Question 2 of 10
A University of Pennsylvania professor has sold over a million copies of her highly praised translation of this story:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Professor Emily Wilson of West Philly thought she’d sell 1,000 copies of her Odyssey translation. She has sold more than a million, thanks to Christopher Nolan. Her translation was cited by Nolan as a reference for his blockbuster film version.
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Question 3 of 10
Philly band Snacktime performed at the Newport Folk Festival last week. While there, they also made a guest cameo, performing as the horn section for this popular singer:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The band — wearing their trademark black faux Sixers jerseys — joined Lauryn Hill as the Fugees singer’s horn section, on “Doo Wop (That Thing),” from her 1998 classic album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which was released on Conshohocken’s Ruffhouse Records.
Question 4 of 10
Philly’s Academy of Natural Sciences was the first public venue with a complete dinosaur skeleton on view. What kind of dinosaur is the 15-foot-tall skeleton of?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
In 1868, the Academy made paleontology history when Benjamin Waterhouse unveiled a complete dinosaur skeleton of Hadrosaurus foulkii built from bones of the plant-eating dinosaur excavated in Haddonfield 10 years before.
Question 5 of 10
A new art gallery at the vintage shop At My House features pieces all falling into this theme:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
All of the art on display at “Mini Mini” is about 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches — no larger than a postage stamp. On the wall are displays of tiny clothing items, makeshift houses and rooms, and some original drawings. The artwork is for sale, with items ranging from $60 to $300.
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Rising pop singer Audrey Hobert recently told a crowd at one of her shows that if she could haunt any place in the world, she’d select this Philly bar:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
“Such a great question,” responded Hobert, in a lime green zip-up and gym shorts. “I would probably haunt this bar in Philly which [inspired] my song ‘Silver Jubilee.’ … It’s the best bar I’ve ever been to.” A blog post on Hobert’s website detailing the backstory of “Silver Jubilee” explains it was inspired by a Halloween weekend in 2024 she spent at Drinker’s Pub.
Question 7 of 10
New details have been released about the Star Wars: The Experience exhibit, which is touring North America and launching at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute next year. The experience will include a range of interactive displays and original artifacts used in the films. Which character’s original lightsaber has been confirmed as part of the exhibit?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
A variety of rare artifacts used in the films — like Darth Vader’s costume and Darth Maul’s lightsaber — will be on display, along with various robots and aliens from the universe, like R2-D2 and Grogu.
Question 8 of 10
Oroshi, a budget-friendly omakase, has opened on Broad Street. The restaurant still uses plenty of high-end ingredients and cuts. But it’s also playful at times, food writer Kiki Aranita noted. What unexpected ingredient was torched on top of a piece of salmon when she dined there?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
A nigiri on Oroshi’s opening menu that they’ve since phased out consisted of premium Bakkafrost salmon from Scotland, topped with mayonnaise and a tiny square of Kraft American cheese that was torched multiple times.
Question 9 of 10
LeBron James’ move to the Sixers sparked major jersey sales. According to Fanatics, the move marks the highest-selling jersey of a player joining a new team (across all sports). What player held that record until now?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
After James shocked the sports world, choosing the Sixers over Cleveland and Miami, the future Hall of Famer’s jersey has been the highest-selling of a player joining a new team across all sports — surpassing Shohei Ohtani’s move to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2023, according to Fanatics.
Question 10 of 10
A rising senior at La Salle University built an app to help him and other athletes on his team excel in their sport, using a collection of stats and artificial intelligence. What sport is the app specialized for?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Will Tran, a rising senior rower and computer science major, created RowIQ, which provides an in-depth look at how rowers can improve with “data that’s never been seen before.”
Your Results
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The average reader scored XX out of 10
Seems like you’ve been skimming more than reading there, buddy. There’s always next week.
You’ve read some articles (or made some educated guesses) but we wouldn’t come to you first for our local news recaps. Better luck next week!
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The Cheltenham School District’s “level of incompetence didn’t just fail one child — it put every young man on the football team at risk,” the Montgomery County grand jury that recommended the charges against four coaches and six players said in a report released Wednesday.
The August and September 2025 assaults threw the football program into turmoil, with the district canceling last year’s season in October and announcing this spring that the forthcoming fall season would also be scrapped. While district officials shared little about what happened in the locker room, videos were widely circulated within the school community depicting one of the attacks, the grand jury found.
Yet the district did not punish any players; a Title IX investigation that could result in discipline is still underway. The two players charged as adults, Isaiah Simpson and Josiah Peeler, both graduated from Cheltenham High School this year, district officials said. While the district parted ways with all of its football coaches, at least one charged this week had been hired by another local school: Neumann Goretti tapped Benjamin Johnson as head football coach in January, but on Wednesday the school announced he no longer had the job.
When the mother of the 15-year-old who was attacked reported to the high school administration that her son had been jumped by hisPanther football teammates in the locker room last September, injuring his genitals, an employee who texted two other employees about the allegation said the student had “a chip on his shoulder” from not making the varsity team, the grand jury report said.
District employees took the team’s then-head coach, Terence Tolbert, at his word and included him in “every step” of their investigation, according to the report. Tolbert, whose lawyer did not return a request for comment Thursday, was charged Wednesday with endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy.
The football practice field and stadium at Cheltenham High School in Wyncote, Montgomery County, Wednesday, July 29, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Employees were also confused about their requirements to report child abuse allegations to law enforcement, the report said.
Cheltenham Superintendent Brian Scriven said in a statement Wednesday that “every report brought to the district’s attention was addressed based on the information available at the time.” He also noted that “individuals did not cooperate with the investigative process.”
On Thursday, Scriven addressed some additional questions about the district’s response. “At no point in time was Coach Tolbert involved in planning or executing any investigation,” he said in a written response to questions.
He also said the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office had directed the district to pause its Title IX investigation into the allegations while it was investigating.
Now that charges are filed, the Title IX investigation “has resumed and will be concluded promptly,” Scriven said, withpossible “school-based” discipline.
‘Backed her off coming to the building’
In addition to issuing findings supporting criminal charges, the grand jury released a separate report focused on the school district that included recommendations for new legal requirements for schools to report hazing allegations to law enforcement.
The report described the actions of three employees at the high school, identified only as Employee #1, Employee #2, and Employee #3.
The mother of the student who was attacked told The Inquirer earlier this month that she had texted Mark Hoff, then the assistant vice principal at the high school, on Sept. 7 after learning that her son had been jumped in the locker room. Hoff was named vice principal at Wyncote Elementary School in the district on July 20. Hoff could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The high school’s principal, Benjamin Hammond, referred a reporter to the district’s spokesperson Thursday.
The person identified as Employee #1 in the grand jury report, who texted two other employees about the student having a “chip on his shoulder,” also suggested in the text exchange that the administration was trying to keep the mother from the school.
“I THINK I backed her off coming to the building in the AM,” Employee #1 texted, according to the report.
Employee #2 called Tolbert that same day, and texted the other two employees that the coach denied that anyone told the student not to tell his mom.
“At this point in the conversation, all three employees vouched for Tolbert’s credibility,” the report said.
Employee #2 began his investigation by interviewing Tolbert, who said he did not know anything, according to the report.
He also spoke to other coaches and took them at their word because he “thought that they would be forthcoming, mature adults and do the right thing and not lie to him,” the report said.
Scriven did not address a question Thursday about employees’ response to the mother. But he said they appropriately went to Tolbert to ask “what he knew of the situation.”
“At the time, there was no reason to believe Coach Tolbert was being untruthful,” he said.
Tolbert had previously served as head coach of the varsity team at Abington Senior High School for the 2023-2024 season. An Abington spokesperson said on Thursday that the district had opted not to renew his appointment after one year.
Insufficient supervision
The grand jury also found fault with Cheltenham’s supervision of the football program.
While there was an office for coaches in the football locker room, “they rarely used it,” the report said. (Tolbert had become the head coach in June 2025; coaches had used the office the season before, according to the grand jury.)
Employee #2 testified to the grand jury that he did not do anything to ensure that football players were supervised, the report said.
The grand jury also found that “at least” five paid Cheltenhamfootball coaches were not up to date on Act 126 clearances. The Pennsylvania law requires schools to provide employees who have direct contact with children with at least three hours of child abuse recognition and reporting training, every five years.
In releasing findings from its investigation in January, the district acknowledged “insufficient student supervision in the locker room by the coaching staff” and “a failure to prioritize student safety by the coaching staff” and volunteers.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele announces at press conference Wednesday, July 29, 2026 multiple charges in connection with two assaults in Cheltenham Township High School locker room that injured a 15-year-old player and led to the cancellation of the 2026-2027 football season.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Circulating video footage
There were two videos taken of the Aug. 15 assault, prosecutors said. The grand jury findings characterized the footage — which it said depicted a student moving a broomstick toward the bottom of the student’s shorts while at least one player chanted “broomstick him” — as circulating widely within the school community.
One witness told the grand jury there was a TikTok video “going around where two boys were making fun of the juvenile victim with a Meek Mill video playing in the background.”
The victim testified that he believed many people had seen a video, because “random people” approached him about it in the cafeteria and hallway. Another student, who was not on the football team, told the grand jury she had been shown a video at school of the victim being kicked by multiple people.
While the district had been aware only of an incident on Sept. 3, questioning of one of the players by the grand jury in January led to the discovery that the video footage depicted an Aug. 15 assault.
Players told the grand jury that an administrator, identified only as “Administrator #2″ in the grand jury findings, met with the team after the Sept. 3 incident.
One player reported that “days” later, the administrator “addressed the team about ‘stuff’ and warned the players if there’s ‘another one,’ the season would be canceled,” according to the grand jury findings.
Another told the grand jury that the administrator met with the team while coaches were present, and told players not to fight with one another and that there would be consequences “if anything else occurred.”
That player said neither the coaches nor the administrator “encouraged anyone with information about the incident to come forward,” according to the grand jury findings.
‘Consistent confusion’ about reporting requirements
Prosecutors said the district contacted Cheltenham police after an anonymous Sept. 18 tip through the state’s Safe2Say hotline. The mother previously told The Inquirer that the tip was how she learned a broomstick was involved.
The grand jury report said district employees were unclear on their requirements as mandatory reporters.
“There was consistent confusion about what type of assault allegation would prompt an immediate report to ChildLine and the police,” the report said. It said the unidentified Employee #3 displayed “especially concerning judgment” by concluding that coaches never told the student not to tell his parents “simply because a coach said it never happened.”
Mandatory reporting laws currently do not require that allegations of hazing, committed by a child on another child, be reported as suspected child abuse — unless sexual assault is alleged, the grand jury report said.
Acts of hazing that “fall short of a completed sexual assault, touching or exposure, such as the threatened sexual assault in this case,” do not meet the mandatory reporting threshold, the report said.
It recommended that hazing be incorporated into mandatory reporting requirements. If it had been, the report said, “the Cheltenham High School administration would not have had the opportunity to mishandle the juvenile victim’s disclosure and the ensuing investigation as poorly as they did.”
In his statement Wednesday, Scriven said the district would welcome additions to the mandatory reporting laws. But he said hazing would not necessarily be immediately identifiable to school staff, noting that the law defines the offense as “for the purpose of initiating, admitting or affiliating a minor or student into or with an organization.”
Scriven did not address questions Thursday about employees’ understanding of reporting requirements.
Asked why the district did not contact police after the mother’s Sept. 7 report of an assault, Scriven said Thursday that it was “not reported as a sexual assault.”
“A ChildLine report was properly made when the district learned that a reportable offense may have been committed,” Scriven said.
In testimony, the player who was attacked described being stomped in the head and groin with cleats during the September assault, and being “tucked up” on the floor as teammates tried to poke him in his butt with a broomstick, according to the grand jury findings.
“He said that he feared for his life and did not want to go back to school or play football for the team anymore,” the findings said.
Staff writers Jess Rohan and Vinny Vella contributed to this article.
Khlood Hammad was at the drive-thru lane of a Northeast Philadelphia Dunkin’ on the evening of Jan. 31, 2025, when a private medical transportation jet nose-dived into the ground a block away.
The sheer force of the blast and the gruesome scene still haunts Hammad, she said in a lawsuit filed this month against the jet’s operator.
Hammad suffers from dizziness and imbalance because of injuries to her head and ears, the suit says, and she developed post-traumatic stress disorder that has been impacting her ability to work.
“It’s just miraculous that anyone that close survived,” said Joseph Russomanno, Hammad’s attorney.
The lawsuit is the latest against Med Jets, the Mexican air carrier that operates specialized airplanes for medical transport, and the second this month by a witness of the crash that killed eight people, injured dozens, and impacted hundreds of homes.
The new suits, filed in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, expand the circle of crash victims pursuing claims against Med Jets, vying for a chunk of the company’s $10 million insurance policy.
Med Jets — which operates under the name Jet Rescue Air Ambulance — is already facing two wrongful death lawsuits brought by families of Mexican nationals who were killed and a lawsuit brought by a man who was severely burned near the crash site.
“There’s a lot of people in line for the $10 million,” said attorney Michael Hanamirian, who represents another witness who is suing the company. “It sounds like a lot of money, but in this case it’s not a lot of money.”
Hanamirian sued Med Jets this month on behalf of Yunelly Cervera, who saw the crash from her home and had plane debris land on her property.
Cervera has been experiencing troubling dreams and panic attacks, among other symptoms of post traumatic stress, the suit said.
The crash took place shortly after 6 p.m. on a Friday. The Med Jets-owned Learjet 55 plummeted 1,650 feet at more than 235 miles per hour within a minute of taking off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport.
All six people aboard the jet died, including 11-year-old Valentina Guzman Murillo, who was heading home after having spent four months undergoing treatment for a spinal condition at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia.
Map of where a small jet crashed near Roosevelt Boulevard and Cottman Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia on Jan. 31.John Duchneskie
Med Jets did not respond to a request for comment.
The company’s insurance provider, El Águila Compania de Seguros, filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia’s federal court last summer saying claims would far exceed the remaining liability limits” the company’s $10 million insurance policy.
It is unknown how many more people have viable claims similar to Cervera and Hammad, attorneys said.
Once the insurance funds are exhausted, those who weren’t compensated — at all or sufficiently — could attempt to obtain a judgment directly against the company, Hanamirian said.
But the value of Med Jets’ assets remains an open question, the attorney said,and enforcing any award issued in a U.S. court on a company across the border can be tricky.
“The judgment has to be significant enough to enforce because of all the time and steps involved,” Hanamirian said.
Public health officials are advising South Jersey residents to be alert and avoid wild animals after a report of a rabid raccoon that bit a man in Gloucester County last weekend.
The Glassboro resident told 6abc Wednesday that the wild animal charged him outside of his home and bit the front of his leg before being captured and testing positive for rabies.
Gloucester County posted an alert on social media Wednesday reminding residents to make sure their pets are up to date on their rabies vaccinations and to avoid contact with wildlife. County officials did not respond to questions about the alleged attack Thursday.
“Rabies is a serious disease, but it is preventable,” the county wrote. “If you see a wild animal acting unusual; such as appearing aggressive, unafraid of people, drooling, or unsteady; keep your distance and report it to your local health department or animal control.”
Anyone bitten or scratched by a wild animal should wash the area with soap and water, seek medical attention, and contact local animal control or health officials, the county advised.
6abc reported that authorities said the infected animal involved in the attack was seen fighting with another raccoon before it was captured, and that the county is now working to locate the potentially rabid animal.
Resident physicians at Temple University Health System and Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals have ratified their first contracts with their health systems after having voted to unionize last year.
The 2,200 Temple and Jefferson residents organized with the Committee of Interns and Residents, affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, and are among the 86% of Philadelphia resident physicians who have joined a union in the last several years.
The contracts were ratified July 1 and announced Thursday.
The new contracts include “substantial” raises and “greater investment in resident education,” the union said Thursday in a news release.
In addition, residents at different hospitals in the same health systems will now receive similar salaries, the union said.
Residents at Jefferson Einstein Hospital will be paid the same as other Jefferson residents, and those at Temple’s Chestnut Hill Hospital will “achieve near pay parity” with residents at Temple University Hospital and Fox Chase Cancer Center by the second year of their contract, the union said.
Resident physicians and fellows have completed their medical degrees and spend three to seven years training in a clinical specialty, working up to 80-hour weeks for, on average, $61,000 a year. That’s a lower salary than other professionals who require special training, like flight attendants and electricians.
Union members said their new contracts would help them afford living expenses as they train. Many live paycheck to paycheck, and some take on debt to get by, Linda Li, a resident physician at Chestnut Hill Hospital, said in a statement.
“I’m incredibly proud that we stood together and won a contract that will make a material difference in our lives and for residents who come after us,” she said.
In a statement, a Jefferson spokesperson said: “We look forward to moving ahead together in support of the patients we serve.”
A Temple spokesperson said the contract “appropriately supports our residents and Temple Health and preserves our ability to provide our patients with the high-quality care they deserve.”
“We take great pride in the skill and compassion our Residents and Fellows demonstrate in caring for our patients, and in their tireless dedication to the pursuit of knowledge,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “We remain committed to a positive working relationship which supports the finest and most rewarding physician training experience for them.”
Philadelphia-area physicians have been part of a wave of unionization efforts for years. Residents at Penn Medicine signed their first contract in 2024, just before roughly 3,000 residents at Temple, Jefferson, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and Delaware’s ChristianaCare began a unionization push. ChristianaCare’s attending physicians are also unionized and signed their first contract earlier this summer.
Adrian Kase, a resident physician in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Jefferson, said in a statement that she and fellow residents were inspired by unionization efforts at Penn.
“We saw how residents at Penn were able to raise the bar for physician training and patient care by organizing and winning their first contract, and we’re thrilled to build on what they achieved,” Kase said.
While CHOP’s medical residents ultimately voted against unionizing, residents at the other health systems opted to organize with the Committee of Interns and Residents. ChristianaCare residents are still negotiating their first contract.
