Ciara VanBuren was on the couch with her 4-year-old daughter in the next room and her 13-year-old upstairs when she smelled something burning.
She looked out the window of her Franklinville rowhouse a few moments later and saw smoke coming from her neighbor’s window. She heard pounding on the door as neighbors and firefighters checked for anybody inside. In the moments that it took to get outside with her daughters, the front porch had collapsed, with the blaze killing a 69-year-old man and prompting charges for the woman accused of setting it.
Natasha Teague, 38, has been arrested and charged withmurder and arson, among other offenses, in connection with the Monday fire, police said Wednesday. Teague had been a frequent presence in the neighborhood over the last year, said neighbors, who said they believed she knew the fire victim’s brother.
Two fires were started on the block that day. In the early morning, police were called to the 3600 block of Percy Street after a small fire was started on the porch, according to the Philadelphia Fire Department. The fire department was not called, and no one was arrested. In the early afternoon, police say,Teague started the second fire, which severely damaged five homes and killed Barry Turner.
A preliminary hearing for Teague is scheduled for July 13. She remained in custody Thursday and no attorney for her was listed in court records.
Turner, 69, grew up in the area and came back to live with his brother, neighbors said. Other residents have described Turner as having been a straight-A student in school, said James Martinez, a 21-year-old who was in the shower when his house started to burn down.Hesaid he did not know Turner well.
Martinez sat by the burned porch, sighing as he looked toward to the homes that were destroyed. “We are missing half a block.”
James Martinez sitting on the porch of a neighbor’s house on Percy Street.Isabel Maney
Neighborssaid they were saddened and scared by the tragedy. Kendra Olen, who lives a few houses down from the fire with her 66-year-old mother and 22-year-old daughter, said she had not been able to sleep since the fire.
“It’s from fear,” she said. Firefightersknocked down the front door to rescue her mother, and they had to install fans in the house to get rid of the smoke.
This was the second incident of arson reported on the block in less than a month, according to the fire department. On May 23, a Molotov cocktail was thrown into an unoccupied house. No other houses were affected. Before these two incidents, neighbors could not remember a fire starting on their block in recent decades.
The fires concerned and confused neighbors who previously thought of their block as an idyllic place.
Days after the fire, there was a clear blue sky and cool breeze. Many residents sat on their porches as they usually do. Jose Vazquez lounged comfortably, wearing a blue-and-white-striped linen shirt, as he looked out to the row of burned houses.
“Almost everyone knows me, even if I forget their names,” Vazquez, who is 85 and has lived in the neighborhood for decades, said with a laugh. He does not plan to move.
BOSTON — A federal judge on Thursday halted President Donald Trump’s executive order that sought to create a federal voter list and limit who can receive a mail ballot.
U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani, who was nominated by Democratic President Barack Obama, sided with a coalition of nearly two dozen states that challenged the Republican president’s order in granting a summary judgment. Her ruling applies to this year’s midterm election cycle.
Plaintiffs argued in two lawsuits, both filed in federal court in Boston, that Trump’s order should be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. The judge agreed, noting in her ruling that the provisions of Trump’s order “unconstitutionally violate the separation of powers.”
It was the second ruling in as many days against executive orders Trump has signed seeking oversight of the nation’s elections. A separate ruling Wednesday prohibited an executive order he had signed last year that would have required people to show documents proving their citizenship when registering to vote.
The administration, in its motions to dismiss the lawsuits challenging the order seeking to establish a federal voter list, argued that the motions are premature and that plaintiffs lacked the legal basis to bring their claim based on the Administrative Procedure Act, which governs how federal agencies develop and issue regulations.
But in an interim order before Thursday’s ruling, Talwani said the motions pertaining to this year’s election cycle were relevant: “In light of the EO’s specific deadlines over the next three months, and the reality that elections will be occurring throughout this period with the November 3, 2026 midterm occurring in just five months, postponing judicial review is impracticable and may inflict significant hardship on Plaintiffs,” she wrote. That order denied the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss the challenges.
Trump’s executive order, the second one aimed at elections during his second term, comes as he continues to raise the specter of widespread voting by noncitizens as a reason to change election rules. But states already have detailed processes aimed at keeping their voter rolls accurate, and voting by noncitizens has been shown to be rare. It also is a felony that can be punishable by deportation.
Trump issued his second order in March after a bill he supported to overhaul voting stalled in Congress. The order would have had the federal government create a list of eligible voters and then directed the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to those on the list. Election officials argued that it was ripe for abuse and could cause chaos, and the postal union has objected to the idea of mail carriers policing ballots.
The Postal Service has published a proposed rule required by Trump’s executive order in the Federal Register. Among other things, the rule would not apply to primary elections or overseas ballots.
The lawsuit seeking summary judgment was filed by Democratic attorneys general representing 22 states and the District of Columbia. Also signing on were attorneys representing Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, which has a Republican attorney general.
“Donald Trump’s illegal and unconstitutional Executive Order sought to undermine eligible voters’ ability to make their voices heard in our democracy,” Pennsylvania Shapiro posted on X Thursday. “Our Constitution is clear: the authority to set our election rules belongs to the states.”
The states also told the court that the move imposes a costly burden on election officials to comply and would spread fear about the possibility of prosecution. Stephen Pezzi, a lawyer for the Trump administration, had argued that no one would be prosecuted for violating the order.
In a separate lawsuit filed against the executive order, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., in May agreed with the Trump administration that it was too early to block the order because it had yet to be implemented. That lawsuit was brought by Democratic and civil rights groups, who have appealed.
The minimum wage would be raised to $25 an hour under a new bill to be introduced by Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) on Thursday, in a bid to enthuse the working-class voters who have abandoned the Democratic Party.
The legislation, dubbed the Living Wage for All Act, has a companion bill already introduced in the House.
Murphy, whose name is frequently floated as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, said he is pushing his party to take more aggressive stances on affordability, following its punishing defeats in the 2024 elections.
“Democrats need to offer solutions that are as big as the problems people are facing,” Murphy said in an interview. “The way you solve people’s basic economic problem — not having enough money to pay the bills — is by making a minimum wage be a living wage.”
The bill would incrementally increase the minimum wage from its current rate of $7.25, with the first jump to $12 an hour in the first year of enactment. Major corporations would have six years to work up to a $25 minimum wage, while smaller employers would have a 13-year runway. The legislation would also do away with subminimum wages for tipped workers, such as restaurant servers, youth workers and workers with disabilities. Nearly half of the American workforce makes less than $25 an hour.
The legislation is unlikely to get very far in this Congress, with Republicans in control of both chambers, but the $25-an-hour push is one of the more significant proposals aimed at boosting Americans’ wages, which have been rising but not as quickly as inflation, especially in recent months.
Some 34 states, territories or districts, including Washington, D.C., have increased the minimum wage above the federal minimum, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage, a left-leaning advocacy group that worked with Murphy on the bill, credited support for a $25 minimum wage for primary wins in competitive races in Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and California. She said she has heard support for the proposal from liberal and MAGA voters alike.
The $25 figure was drawn from calculations by MIT that analyzed a living wage, which takes into account costs such as food, childcare, healthcare, housing and transportation.
Democrats have long advocated raising the federal minimum wage from its current $7.25, but Murphy’s bill would set the highest floor of any proposal in the Senate. Rep. Delia C. Ramirez (D., Ill.) is leading a House version of the bill, which she introduced earlier this year with wide support across the Democratic caucus. A similar bill by Sen. Bernie Sanders (Ind., Vt.) would set a $17 minimum wage and has 33 Democratic senators as cosponsors, including Murphy.
Murphy’s bill also has the backing of Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), Andy Kim (New Jersey), and Ron Wyden (Oregon).
Congress has not raised the federal minimum wage since 2009, though only about 1% of workers make $7.25 an hour or less.
Business groups have often campaigned against raising the minimum wage, suggesting that the economy works best when employers are responsive to market forces.
A higher federal minimum wage could create “really damaging consequences,” including businesses closing or cutting jobs, especially in rural areas where the cost of living is low, said Ryan Bourne, an economist at the libertarian Cato Institute.
He said the rising average wage shows that state and local governments are already responding to market changes.
“I think it makes much more sense for it to be set at a local level where policymakers have a better sense of the local industries,” Bourne said.
Murphy called those kinds of arguments a “red herring,” saying cities that have already established a $15 minimum wage have not seen major adverse effects. He said the staggered adoption would help assuage employers’ concerns.
“The business community cried murder, and the job losses they predicted did not materialize,” Murphy said.
Alex Jacquez, the chief of policy and advocacy at the left-leaning Groundwork Collaborative and a former Sanders aide, helped craft a $15 minimum wage proposal that Democrats attempted to include in their climate and economic policy bill in 2021. He said the surge in wage growth as the economy recovered from the coronavirus pandemic has led more liberal policymakers to believe that a $15 minimum wage would now be too low.
“It’s also an organizing tool,” he said. “It’s something big and bold that people can hang on to and run on and be able to see the Democrats are fighting for them.”
So far, most congressional action has tried to address affordability through tax cuts, including the child tax credit, covid-era Affordable Care Act credits or the numerous tax cuts in Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill.
While Murphy supports programs such as the child tax credits and student loan forgiveness, he said tax cuts have proved insufficient in motivating voters.
“People don’t want to be written a check. People want to work for pay,” Murphy said. “[Tax breaks] are designed to compensate for a rigged system. Why don’t we just unrig the system?”
Rep. Thomas Kean Jr., who has been missing from Washington for nearly four months with little explanation, is back home in New Jersey.
He could be seen from the street Wednesday evening, standing in a brightly lit front room of his Westfield home just before 8:45 p.m.
“It’s good to see you,” he said after a reporter for the New York Times rang his doorbell. He was wearing a dark suit and a red tie. “I’ll talk to you next week,” he said. “Thank you.”
Kean’s wife, Rhonda, stood in the background, smiling pleasantly. He declined additional comment and closed the door.
Aides had said that Kean, 57, was being treated for a health condition and was expected to fully recover, but had offered no additional details as their boss missed more than 100 floor votes since the middle of March.
Kean, a Republican, is running for a third term in November in one of the country’s most competitive midterm races. His absence from the campaign trail, though, had left even some of his biggest Republican boosters frustrated.
A spokesperson for Kean, Harrison Neely, said last week that Kean was expected to return to Washington on June 30. He declined to say how long Kean had been home or to offer any additional details about the representative’s long absence.
“He will be fully transparent on the 30th,” Neely wrote in a text message.
Earlier this month, Kean, in absentia, locked in the Republican nomination for his 7th District seat; he was running unopposed. Democrats selected Rebecca Bennett, 39, a former Navy helicopter pilot.
The Democratic Party considers Kean’s seat one of its best pickup opportunities as it seeks to tip the balance of power in Washington and had been aggressively targeting the race long before he began missing votes in Washington.
Kean was last spotted on Capitol Hill on March 5. He spoke that day during a committee hearing and cast a crucial “yea” vote in support of funding President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and moving to end a government shutdown.
Then, he seemingly vanished. Neighbors in Westfield said there had been no obvious sign of Kean for months, and the family’s vacation house in Bay Head, N.J., appeared shuttered the weekend before Memorial Day. Year-round residents of Fishers Island, N.Y., where the Kean family owns a large estate, said they had not seen him, either.
Kean’s aides repeatedly insisted that he had no plans to abandon his reelection effort and that he was expected to return to work “soon,” even as they refused to discuss the medical condition that had sidelined him.
In May, after a debate between the four Democrats vying to run against him, Dan Scharfenberger, Kean’s chief of staff, offered a cryptic explanation for why there had been no sightings of the representative in Washington or in his New Jersey district. “There’s no cameras where Tom is,” he said, and did not elaborate.
During his absence, Kean has nonetheless bought and sold stock, introduced remarks into the Congressional Record and urged House colleagues from afar to oppose Ireland’s effort to limit trade with Israel.
A handful of Republican leaders in the 7th District’s six counties reported getting calls from Kean. And his office has released two statements attributed to Kean, including one on primary day, June 2, when he made no public appearances.
“Right now I am focused on my recovery and under the advice of healthcare professionals,” the June 2 statement said.
The statement indicated that he planned to be “completely transparent as to the nature of my medical condition.”
“I understand the need for transparency on this matter,” he wrote, “and I look forward to sharing my experience with the public.”
A federal judge on Wednesday tossed out a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department that accused four New Jersey cities of having “sanctuary” policies that shield immigrants in the U.S. illegally from federal immigration enforcement.
Justice Department lawyers had sued the mayors and City Council members of Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, and Paterson last month as tensions were rising between local governments in the Garden State and immigration authorities.
The complaint accused local officials of thwarting federal immigration enforcement by impeding access to immigrants in local custody, restricting the ability of local officers to turn over immigrants to agents, and barring “willing local officers from providing mission-critical information to federal immigration authorities.”
But Judge Evelyn Padin, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, ruled that the federal lawsuit had “a fundamental flaw” because it challenged only the cities’ policies and did not take into account an order from the state attorney general’s office, known as the immigrant trust directive, that dictates how local law enforcement officers must engage with immigration authorities.
That 2008 directive, which has been upheld by previous court rulings, was not raised in the lawsuit, Padin wrote. That means, as a legal matter, the federal government lacks the standing to file the suit.
The judge dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice, meaning the Justice Department could refile it. A spokesperson for the department did not immediately return a request for comment.
The ruling came as protesters have swarmed Delaney Hall, an immigration facility in Newark, with nearly daily demonstrations.
Local officials praised Padin’s ruling, saying the immigrant trust directive was one key to maintaining good relationships between local police agencies and immigrants without permanent legal status. Police departments depend on cooperation in immigrant neighborhoods to stop crime.
Amol Sinha, the executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, wrote in a statement that the sanctuary policies “help people access public services” without fear of being detained, separated from their families and perhaps deported.
“Public safety is strengthened when people can report crimes, and public health is improved when people can seek medical care,” he said.
President Donald Trump’s latest D.C. renovation, painting the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool “American Flag Blue,” to celebrate the country’s 250th birthday has instead turned the symbolic heart of the National Mall Algae Bloom Green. The paint is peeling, and the water is a swampy muck.
Trump has asserted, without evidence or corroboration, that vandals cut a 250-foot gash into the new lining and poured corrosive chemicals into the basin. Yet, the explanation for what has happened appears to be more mundane and predictable than the cloak-and-dagger sabotage Trump has suggested. Rosalina Stancheva Christova, an aquatic ecologist from George Mason University’s Algal Ecology Laboratory, sampled the water and found an ordinary, non-toxic bloom — the kind any ordinary swimming pool owner has fought in their own backyard.
And yet, the problem with the renovation runs far deeper than all of this. Trump’s painting project reflects a fundamental lack of understanding of the original purpose and vision for the reflecting pool. For more than a century, the basin has functioned as a civic mirror, a place where visitors could see themselves reflected alongside the monuments that commemorate the nation’s story. Today that possibility is gone.
The roots of the reflecting pool lie in the “City Beautiful” movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Gilded Age and decades of laissez-faire growth had left many of America’s cities in disrepair, full of tenement districts, boss-run wards and blight.
American architects Daniel Burnham, Charles McKim, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and Augustus Saint-Gaudens wanted to change that, and they were inspired by European urban renewal projects like Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann’s redesign of Paris. In 1893, at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, they explored the principles that spawned their movement to reimagine American cities — demonstrating how monumental architecture and carefully designed landscapes could express civic ideals.
Their experience in Chicago helped to convince the men that beautiful, orderly, civic space could repair the disordered industrial cities the Gilded Age had left them. Their vision reflected a broader Progressive Era faith that urban renewal and public investment could address the social problems of industrial America while restoring civic pride through monumental construction projects designed to project an image of a robust and resilient nation.
In 1903, all four architects became members of the Senate Park Commission (McMillan Commission) whose mandate was to replace decades of haphazard development in Washington D.C. with a coherent civic plan.
They set their sights on the National Mall, which was, at that time, a disunified Victorian garden punctuated by marshland with a public green transected by a railroad depot and tracks.
The commission’s 1901 report complained that the mall “has been diverted from its original purpose and cut into fragments, each portion receiving a separate and individual informal treatment, thus invading what was a single composition.” Their redesign plans aimed to unify the space into a legible and cohesive civic story and the reflecting pool eventually became the spine for that narrative.
Over the next two decades, the McMillan Plan gradually reshaped the mall.
Architect Henry Bacon was charged with designing the Lincoln Memorial. In 1911, he completed his first sketches, and he incorporated the commission’s vision by extending the mall’s central axis westward and anchoring it with the reflecting pool. Bacon imagined the pool as a mirror reflection, where visitors could see both the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. As a result, Bacon created a linear and legible connection between the man who presided over the creation of the republic at one end and the man who led the nation through the war for its preservation at the other.
The future Reflecting Pool site facing west toward the Lincoln memorial in 1921. National Park Service
In 1919, the Army Corps of Engineers began excavating a former Potomac marshland known as the Kidwell Flats, to enable construction of the pool. The project took four years and was still under construction at the time of the Lincoln Memorial’s dedication in 1922.
The pool quickly became a symbolically rich venue for crucial moments in U.S. history. In 1939 the African American contralto Marian Anderson sang from the memorial steps to a crowd of approximately 75,000 people massed along the pool after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let her perform at Constitution Hall.
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Twenty-four years later, a quarter million people lined both banks of the pool to hear the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaim his dream, to challenge the nation to complete the unfinished journey toward racial equality and achieve a meaningful resolution of the issues that had nearly destroyed the nation.
Marian Anderson performs from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on April 20, 1952, in this image showing the Reflecting Pool and the Washington Monument. . Anderson’s accompanist is Franz Rupp, lower left, at piano. (AP Photo/Henry Griffin, File)Henry Griffin
The pool reflected those crowds, those moments and those movements only while they occupied the space. Each reflection vanished and was replaced by another individual, another gathering, another episode in the nation’s story.
Yet, despite its symbolic significance and its success as a site for large scale civic dialogue, from a physical standpoint, the pool faced problems almost from day one. At issue was the soggy foundation created by the choice of marshlands for the reflecting pool’s site.
This 1922 photo was taken at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial. Nearly from the start, the Reflecting Pool faced structural problems.Library of Congress
During its construction, the Army Corps of Engineers had attempted to mitigate the potential problem with concrete support beams and a drainage system undergirding the pool. But almost immediately these mitigation systems proved inadequate. The result was cracks and leaks that have plagued the pool for its entire lifetime.
Numerous administrations have tried to solve the issues. In 1986, the Reagan Administration drained the pool and poured an entirely new concrete foundation. Even this did not solve the problem. The pool continued to leak nearly 30 million gallons per year.
In 2011, Barack Obama’s administration undertook another round of renovations. While matters improved, the pool still leaks 16 million gallons of water per year.
The current issue with the reflecting pool and Trump’s response to it, however, go well beyond structural inadequacies and sabotage theories. They reflect a lack of understanding about the pool’s purpose.
In April, Trump posted a doctored image of himself and his officials in swimsuits lounging in the reflecting pool, a woman in a bikini reclining in the water beside them. But the pool is a mere 18 inches deep, not swimming pool/ lounging depth and Bacon never intended anyone to use it that way. He built a basin you stand beside because its work happens in the mind of the person at the rim. Trump’s artificial intelligence revisionism gets the object exactly wrong — an instrument of contemplation made over into the feature of a tacky resort.
Trump directed the Department of the Interior to repaint the pool in time for the nation’s 250th anniversary and used an emergency exemption to award a no-bid contract to a company that specialized in painting swimming pools. The result essentially took an area that was a swamp, before its transformation into a civic mirror, and returned it to a swamp. An algae-greened surface now sits where the reflection used to be, and the connection the pool held, the citizen to the monuments, individual to the national story, has been severed.
When the pool functions as a mirror surface, it is a monument that embodies an evolving republic rather than a finished one. Trump’s swamp has transformed it into a static, murky image that defies the idea of a nation moving forward. As this history makes clear, the health of the republic depends on its ability to see itself clearly, and Trump’s algae-infested reflecting pool is a symbolic reflection of a nation and a history he and his administration continue to try to obscure from clear view.
Susan Deily-Swearingen holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of New Hampshire, and has taught at multiple universities since 2015. She has a forthcoming book about the persistent legacies of the U.S. Civil War in contemporary politics and society, and frequently writes about historical memory and the echoes of the past in the modern world.
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.
Hispanic Women’s Resource Centers were established in 1991 to address the wage gap for Latinas in New Jersey, one of the states with the biggest gap for Latina workers.
Under Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s proposed budget, the statewide initiative could see its funding decrease by 80%.
These centers help women like Consensa Francisca Silva Silva who was able to obtain a work permit, make a down payment for an apartment, and start working thanks to the assistance she was able to receive for one of these centers in Camden.
“It was very hard to come here without knowing anyone, and it was really hard because at first I couldn’t find any work,” Silva said about her experience when she first arrived from Costa Rica.
Silva and other supporters worry immigrant women like her won’t get the support they need if the cuts go through.
Medford sent a clear message this week: No data centers here. Its council adopted the ordinance to prohibit them, despite not receiving any formal applications for a center.
“These are extra precautions to ensure that we don’t move forward in a direction that we can’t come back from until we know full well what the impacts of data centers will be,” Medford Mayor Michael Czyzyk said.
Council reserves the right to amend the ordinance to permit data centers in the future.
Medford is the latest South Jersey community to resist data centers, including Cherry Hill.
The New Jersey Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered prosecutors to fully disclose how police used facial recognition technology in a murder case, New Jersey Monitor reports.
The federal government ordered Chemours Co. to pay $450 million over illegal discharges of synthetic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS. According to the Associate Press, the company will pay penalties and provide mitigation efforts to prevent these types of discharges in North Carolina, West Virginia, and New Jersey.
Camden might get a new rooftop nightclub along the waterfront. The Club 9 SkyLounge is proposed for the rooftop deck of the Hinson Parking Garage on Delaware Avenue.
Yaxel Lendeborg, a 23-year-old forward who played for Pennsauken High School, was chosen by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the NBA draft.
Moorestown Township established new rules for e-bikes, electric scooters, dirt bikes, and other motor-assisted devices. One of those rules is that they’re generally banned from sidewalks. The new ordinances takes effect on July 19.
🗓️ The best things to do this week
⚽ SoccerFest26 at the Waterfront: Residents and tourists will be able to celebrate the World Cup with match screenings, international food, soccer-based youth programming, live music, and various craft vendors. ⏰ Thursday, June 25-Saturday, June 27, various times 💵 Pay-as-you-go/RSVP required 📍 Wiggins Park, 2 Riverside Dr., Camden
🏳️🌈 Gloucester Township’s LGBTQ+ Pride Festival: The three-day Pride celebration will feature local vendors, film screenings, art, wellness sessions, and drag shows. ⏰ Friday, June 26-Sunday, June 28, various times throughout the weekend 💵 Pay-as-you-go 📍 Harmony Hall, 3 S. Black Horse Pike, Blackwood
🇺🇸 Freedom Fest: A Star Spangled Spectacular: The festival will include live performances, fireworks, food trucks, and more. ⏰ Saturday, June 27, 3 p.m. 💵 Pay-as-you-go 📍 Delran Community Park, 12 Hardford Rd., Delran
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home has Colonial charm with the original deed dating back to 1842. It has a classic farmhouse exterior with modern amenities inside such as an updated kitchen. The home showcases exposed wood beams and hardwood flooring. There’s also an abundance of space including two large great rooms, and an expansive backyard with mature trees and patio areas.
The pastry case at The Buttery in Bryn Mawr.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
Sourdough, coffee, and locally sourced eats enthusiasts, this one’s for you. Popular Main Line bakery The Buttery has officially opened its third location at 836 W. Lancaster Ave. in Bryn Mawr.
The bakery-coffee shop and scratch kitchen mash-up is known for its sourdough breads, homemade pastries, and seasonal dishes. Paoli couple John and Silenia Rhoads opened the first Buttery location in Malvern back in 2015 before expanding into the Ardmore Farmers Market last fall.
The Rhoadses credited the bakehouse they launched a year ago in Norristown with providing the space and resources they needed to grow the concept. Bryn Mawr felt like “a good center point on the Main Line,” John Rhoads said, with Silenia Rhoads adding she’s already noticed the “sense of community.”
The 82-seat location offers full breakfast and lunch menus, including bagels, quiches, sandwiches, open-face tartines, salads, and Passenger coffee and tea beverages. Dinner service is anticipated to launch in the fall or winter, the Rhoadses said.
Main Line Health and UnitedHealthcare reached an “agreement in principle” on a new contract, Main Line Health said Wednesday. Their current contract was set to expire Tuesday, potentially disrupting service for 32,000 people who rely on the health system’s doctors and have insurance through United. Main Line Health owns Bryn Mawr Hospital and Lankenau Medical Center.
Lower Merion’s board of commissioners last week passed an amendment to the township’s gas-powered leaf blower ban that specifies exemptions for walk-behind, stand-on, riding, and tow-behind leaf blowers and vacuums, The Inquirer’s Denali Sagner reports. The board also approved a pay raise for future commissioners from $4,000 to $6,000 annually. The raise will go into effect for commissioners who take officer after Jan. 3, 2028, and will not impact sitting commissioners, unless they are reelected.
Township police said they linked a hidden camera found along the 900 block of Stony Lane in Gladwyne to a theft ring connected to several Main Line burglaries. (6abc)
A Gladwyne designer recently worked with an Ardmore family to transform the second floor of their older home. To bring it into the current century, Rupam Patheja of Ru and Co. Interior Design knocked down walls in the primary suite to create two walk-in closets, and added colorful wallpaper for flair. Philadelphia magazine took a peek inside.
🏫 Schools Briefing
Summer school kicks off on Monday and continues Monday through Thursday until Aug. 6.
Three Lower Merion School District students were honored as winners of the Art & Poetry of Freedom Contest, held as part of Montgomery County’s annual Juneteenth celebration. The K-2 poetry winner was Cora Fusi, a first-grader at Penn Valley Elementary School; the 6-8 poetry winner was Jaliyah Taylor, a seventh-grader at Welsh Valley Elementary School; and the 9-12 poetry winner was Ariel Dichamp, a ninth-grader at Harriton High School.
🍽️ On our Plate
Local healthy foods chain ANEU Kitchens will open its fifth location, a 650-square-foot cafe at the Ardmore Farmers Market in Suburban Square, this Monday. Starting at 8 a.m., the first 100 customers will receive free samples of the brand’s YEU snacks. ANEU also plans to add a 20,000-square-foot production kitchen, eatery, and wellness center in Tredyffrin Township.
🎳 Things to Do
🔮 Mystic of the Main Line’s Inception Day: The Ardmore shop is marking its one-year anniversary with readings and refreshments. ⏰ Saturday, June 27, 7-11 p.m. 💵 Pay-as-you-go 📍 Mystic of the Main Line
🎶 Bryn Mawr Twilight Concerts: Vermont-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist Mihali headlines this week’s show. ⏰ Sunday, June 28, 7 p.m. 💵 $25.88, free for kids 12 and under 📍 Bryn Mawr Gazebo
🎵 Music in the Park: Four Lean Hounds, a Grateful Dead tribute band, will perform at the next concert. ⏰ Wednesday, July 1, 7 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Narberth Park gazebo
The home has a dedicated driveway, a garage, and a covered front porch.Colin Burkhardt | Courtesy of Karen Strid/Compass
This newly built Narberth home is situated in a five-home community and has its own private driveway. The home’s open-concept first floor has a living room and eat-in kitchen with two-tone cabinetry and an island. There are three bedrooms upstairs, including a primary suite with a walk-in closet and a double-sink vanity. The home also has a finished basement and a covered front porch.
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This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
Media’s Auston Trusty (right) embraces Wayne’s Matt Freese after the U.S.’ win over Australia on Friday.Manu Fernandez
Delco is on the international stage, thanks to some homegrown soccer talent.
USMNT’s Auston Trusty was born in Media and played with the Nether United Soccer Club in Wallingford in his youth. He attended Penncrest High School, trained at the Philadelphia Union’s youth academy, and began his pro career with the Union.
“When you’re a little kid, dreaming about the stadiums you play in and the atmospheres and everything involved, to play in a home turf World Cup, get minutes, it’s a dream come true,” the 27-year-old said after Friday’s shutout.
⚽ Plus: See Trusty’s sweet tribute to his local upbringing and career journey on Instagram.
💡 Community News
A Delco judge on Monday denied a motion to dismiss trespassing charges filed against nine people for refusing to leave a pro-Palestinian encampment on Swarthmore College’s campus last spring. The decision sets the stage for the so-called Swarthmore 9 to face trial next week.
Main Line Health and UnitedHealthcare reached an “agreement in principle” on a new contract, Main Line Health said Wednesday. Their current contract was set to expire Tuesday, potentially disrupting service for 32,000 people who rely on the health system’s doctors and have insurance through United. Main Line Health owns Riddle Hospital in Middletown Township.
Measles was detected in wastewater samples taken in Delaware County on two days earlier this month, health officials said last week, though no one in the county had been officially diagnosed with the disease. Health reporter Aubrey Whelan has more.
Middletown Township’s manager, John McMullan, is leaving at the end of August for a new position with another municipality. McMullan shared the news at last week’s council meeting.
Roland Walter Bailey, a 64-year-old Media man, has been charged with possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing today. (Daily Times)
The county announced its 2026 heat plan to bring relief to residents during periods of extreme heat. As part of the plan, 30 cooling centers will be open across Delco, including at the Swarthmore Public Library and at Helen Kate Furness Free Library in Wallingford.
Springfield Mall’s valuation continues to drop and had an appraisal value of $30 million recently, down 73% from when owners PREIT and Simon Property Group took out a loan for it in 2015. At the time, the mall was valued at $112 million. (Bisnow)
🍽️ On our Plate
It’s not hard to find a quality hoagie in Delaware County. Delco.Today rounded up nine sandwich shops worth traveling for in the region, including A Cut Above Deli in Newtown Square and Boccella’s Deli in Havertown.
🎳 Things to Do
🎶 Rose Tree Summer Concert Festival: The upcoming lineup features performances from Doobie Brothers tribute band Minute by Minute tonight, blues band Three Fourteen tomorrow, ‘80s tribute band Class of ‘84 on Saturday, and the Blackbird Society Orchestra on Sunday. Next Wednesday, the Chester County Concert Band takes the stage. ⏰ Thursday, June 25-Wednesday, July 1, 7:30 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Rose Tree Park, Media
🎥 Death on the Brandywine: Catch a screening of this political murder mystery set in the Brandywine Valley. ⏰ Friday, June 26, 8-10 p.m. 💵 $19.50 📍 The Media Theatre
🇺🇸A Celebration of Patriotic Sports Movies: Radio personalities Ray Didinger and Glen Macnow are teaming up to host this event looking at iconic U.S. sports movies. ⏰ Saturday, June 27, 7:30 p.m. 💵 $39 📍 PCS Theater, Swarthmore
✨ Nature at Night: Learn about fireflies while exploring the arboretum after dark. ⏰ Tuesday, June 30, 8-9:30 p.m. 💵 $10-$25 📍 Tyler Arboretum, Media
🎂Swarthmore’s 250th Birthday: The library is throwing a birthday party party in the lead up to the nation’s 250th birthday. ⏰ Wednesday, July 1, 2-4 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Swarthmore Public Library
The home has undergone a number of updates, inside and out.Courtesy of Brian Tuner/Coldwell Banker Realty
Located less than a mile from the Swarthmore town center, this 1950 Colonial has been extensively updated for modern living. The home features a living room with a fireplace, a three-season room, and an eat-in kitchen with white cabinetry and stainless steel appliances. There are three bedrooms upstairs, including a primary suite and a bonus room. In addition to interior renovations, the home’s systems have also been updated, as have the roof and windows.
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Georgette Luna planned her Father’s Day weekend down to a T, splurging $3,000 on three tickets to the Friday World Cup match in Philadelphia. The Fishtown resident, her husband, and her father — who traveled from New York — would go to Reading Terminal Market, she thought, barhop to mingle with fans before the game, and then head to the stadium early to tailgate before seeing Brazil take on Haiti.
She had purchased the tickets on the third-party ticket resale platform StubHub last fall, but the seller she bought the tickets from never transferred them. She called StubHub frequently in the months, weeks, and finally days leading up to the match, wondering when the transfer would go through.
Every time, a StubHub representative said her “tickets would transfer to her on the day of the game,” Luna said. But by Friday, the group — who could not wait to see Brazil play, since their favored Chileans did not qualify for the World Cup — never made it into the stadium.
“We’re standing outside the stadium and obviously everybody is in full celebration, and here we are, supposed to be living this World Cup moment together for the first time, and there’s just this feeling of disappointment,” Luna said.
As the World Cup takes over the country, people across U.S. host cities have shared the same story: Fans in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, New Jersey, Seattle, and, of course, Philadelphia arrived at stadiums hoping their tickets would be transferred to no avail, with most facing issues with StubHub. Other reports indicate fans are having similar issues on SeatGeek.
StubHub, for one, blames FIFA’s tech infrastructure and the rollout of a new mobile phone app weeks before the tournament for why tickets have not been transferring on time. FIFA has urged fans not to buy tickets on third-party platforms, saying it “may result in issues, including the inability to cancel or accept transfers,” as well as a higher risk of fake or invalid tickets.
But fans who lost out on a generational moment are more interested in how platforms like StubHub plan to resolve these issues.
Stephanie Fred of Bristol and her 9-year-old son, Levi, are heartbroken after their tickets to the Monday France vs. Iraq game never materialized, even as they stood outside the stadium. To make matters worse, Levi, a soccer player himself, had been trying to see his favorite player, French superstar Kylian Mbappé.
Mbappé scored two goals, tyingfor the second-most goals scored by a player in men’sWorld Cup history. Fred’s son could hear the cheers from outside the stadium. He broke down into tears that did not stop even later that night, she said.
During Philadelphia’s first World Cup game, between Ecuador and Ivory Coast, Jayden Quezada, 17, and his parents came to Philadelphia from Bensalem, hoping for an Ecuadorian victory. But they were turned away. The night before the game, the trio had spent $4,350 to get three tickets through the TickPick app after seeing a social media advertisement. By the time they arrived at the stadium, the tickets still had not been transferred to their FIFA app.
“They have been the biggest fans since before I was born, and they don’t get to go to Ecuador often because of work,” Quezada said. He said they would try to get a refund, but missing the game was “really sad because we were looking forward to feeling the Ecuadorian pride.”
For that game, a line of more than 50 fans waited for help with their failed tickets. Monica Rojas, 22, and her friend Jose Avil, both Spanish speakers, were confused about what to do after the ticket office explained the problem with their ticket in English. The pair had driven two hours from New York, after having bought tickets on StubHub for $2,000, including parking. After a FIFA volunteer interpreter intervened, the pair found out their tickets had been refunded.
Brazilian fans cheers before a FIFA World Cup Group C soccer match between Brazil and Haiti at Lincoln Financial Field on Friday, June 19, 2026, in Philadelphia.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
StubHub blames FIFA
StubHub is aware that fans are not receiving the tickets that they bought, and a company representative blamed FIFA.
“The issues fans have experienced at this World Cup are largely driven by performance problems with the event organizer’s own ticketing infrastructure, which has created transfer failures across all resale platforms,” a StubHub spokesperson said.
StubHub said the launch of a new FIFA app right before the World Cup began has led to delays, failed transfers, and access issues that have affected all resale platforms, not just StubHub.
The ticket reseller also said sellers are required to fulfill their ticket orders or they face financial penalties and bans from the platform.
Bad actors on resale platforms can engage in a practice called “speculative ticketing,” where buyers will list a ticket that they do not yet own on StubHub and other platforms, in the hope that they will find a cheaper ticket later and recover profit, said Scott Friedman, owner of the Ticket Talk Network podcast and an industry veteran who is helping to sue StubHub on behalf of 160 buyers and sellers who said company practices harmed them.
StubHub does offer a “FanProtect Guarantee‚” a promise the company will find replacement tickets or refund the order when a ticket does not transfer. But the policy repeatedly states that resolving these issues falls under StubHub’s “sole discretion.”
StubHub ticket protection measures can look like replacement tickets, a full refund, or a voucher worth 120% of the value of the tickets. During the World Cup, the company said, it is prioritizing replacement tickets so fans can get to a match.
France forward Kylian Mbappé sprints for a pass against Iraq during the first half of a FIFA World Cup Group I soccer match Monday, June 22, 2026, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Refunds can’t replace a once-in-a-lifetime moment
All of this leads to confusion, and eventually disappointment, when the tickets never show, Luna said. As she and her family, hanging their heads low, took a depressing train ride home from the stadium last week, Luna continued to try to get answers.
Finally, on Monday, she said, she received word StubHub would refund her June 19 match tickets and gift her similar tickets to the July 4 match in Philadelphia, which she said she would accept. But, later, Luna was told she would only receive replacement tickets.
“Is this a wonderful outcome? For sure, but my father and I would have been happy with the perfect weekend that we had planned for ourselves as it was,” Luna said. “While they’re doing right by us, there are so many people who aren’t getting this result.”
Fred’s family got word Tuesday that StubHub would provide them with tickets to France vs. Norway in Boston on Friday. Fred does not mind the drive as long as Levi can achieve his dream of seeing Mbappé play.
“We don’t get this type of opportunity from where we come from,” Fred said. “Being able to provide a World Cup experience for our kids just means the world to us, and having that be ripped away from us, it was just so hard to process.”
