Sokah McNear had just handed a customer a spiral potato from her stand at the Southeast Asian Market in South Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon when her husband pointed to the dark clouds that had suddenly gathered in the sky.
“I said, ‘OK, this is your last potato,’” recalled McNear, the vice president of the vendors’ association at the long-running outdoor market in FDR Park. She switched off her stove, and nearly a dozen friends and family members who had been working the stall with her started to pack up.
Within minutes, they were caught in a torrential downpour. Then came the winds, whipping through dozens of tents across the market.
McNear and her family were struggling to keep their tent from flying away when another vendor raced by, yelling that it was no longer safe to stay outside. As branches cracked and fell from nearby trees, they abandoned the tent and ran to their car.
“We sat in there for maybe five minutes. Then we came out and saw the devastation,” McNear recounted on Sunday.
All of the market’s 53 tents were damaged. Tables were overturned, with ruined food and clothing scattered throughout the market. Two vendors suffered minor injuries when a tree branch fell on their tent.
Flying debris left a cut on a customer’s nose, said Sonetha Svay, who sells cookies and bagels at the market. “Everything was just flying. We really didn’t know what to do — we just hung on,” she said.
Eventually, she sheltered in her car with the woman and two other customers. A tree branch also fell on a tent near hers, she said, but the vendors working there had already fled.
A large downed tree near the Anna C. Verna Playground at FDR Park in South Philly on Sunday, July 12, 2026. The Southeast Asian Market, which was also damaged, is near the playground. On Saturday severe thunderstorms caused damage across the region.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Afterward, Svay, McNear, and other vendors picked through what was left of the market in shock.
Melissa Mgar, the vendors’ association secretary, had raced home with her three young children after a falling tree branch narrowly missed their car. She returned to find all three of her family’s tents destroyed. “One was crumpled into a ball,” she said.
Food inside coolers had survived, but nearly everything else — including supplies for barbecue and papaya salad — was lost.
Mgar, who has been selling at the market for more than 20 years, estimated her losses at around $1,500. She said she believed inventory at her neighbor’s clothing tent next door was “completely damaged.” Svay also lost her tent and food and estimated damages around $1,000.
Between ruined food and other merchandise and broken tents and equipment, most stalls likely sustained damage between $500 and $1,000, McNear said.
Vendors have already been struggling this season with market closures related to high-profile events like the World Cup at the sports stadium complex across the street from FDR Park, McNear said. Food and other supplies are more expensive now, too.
When she first saw the damage, McNear said, she panicked, worrying that vendors or customers had been injured. Once she made sure no one was seriously hurt, she said, her mind turned to the impact on the market. “These are people’s livelihoods,” she said.
By Sunday, the market was still closed for safety reasons. “You don’t want any more of these branches to fall,” McNear said.
Most vendors had managed to clean up what was left of their tents. Market organizers were encouraging donations from the public to help vendors rebuild. A “Dolla Holla” sale set for next weekend was postponed.
Trees had fallen all over the park, and the Friends of FDR Park marshaled volunteers to help clear debris. Park director John Murawski said he was too busy overseeing cleaning operations to comment. On the park’s Instagram account, staff noted that the storm had also caused flooding throughout the park.
McNear said that the market’s vendors are resilient and determined to bounce back from an unexpected setback.
“If you see any of the videos [from the market cleanup], everyone is still smiling. Everyone has such a positive attitude. Even with the devastation, we’re helping each other as a community,” she said.
Added Mgar: “After the storm, it’s going to be sunshine.”
His eyes were smeared with black goo, his legs were caked in dirt, his back was riddled with ticks, and a chunk of fur was missing from his upper lip. And yet,Oreo, a 4-year-old shih tzu, blissfully bounded up the front porch steps of his Mantua home on a Sunday morning in April.
He wedged his tiny frame between the door and the molding, a crumpled purple leash trailing from his neck, waiting until the knob turned and 22-year-old Jayda Pizarro appeared in a black hoodie and yoga pants. Her braces sparkled as she beamed widely and greeted her pup, who’d been lost in the woods for the last 15 days.
Jayda Pizarro reunites with her dog Oreo at her Mantua home.Dana Munro
Tears dripped from Pizarro’s eyes onto the tile foyerfloor as she nestled Oreo between her cheek and shoulder.
“Thank you,” she sniffed out as she cradled his body and rocked him in her arms. “We’ve been crying every day.”
It was all in a morning’s work for 53-year-old Colleen Bell, who estimates she’s recovered nearly 1,000 dogs, both strays and family pets, over the last roughly 14 years.
Colleen Bell finishes setting up a dog trap by the Woodford Mansion in Fairmount Park on Monday, May 11, 2026. Bell runs the non-profit, GoodBoy Dog Recovery, where her and her brother and friend catch mainly stray and lost dogs in the Philadelphia region.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
Bell doesn’t do this work for money, acclaim, or internet fame. She does it purely for a love of the game, the thrill of the hunt, the satisfaction of capturing a petrified pup, and the fulfillment of reuniting it with a frenzied family.
Over the lastseveral years, she’s become a trusted and critical resource for the Animal Care & Control Team of Philadelphia and many others in the region and across the globe. She’s also become a fearless dog rescuer, who’s traversed mountains, driven through blizzards, sifted through building rubble, and charged through rainstorms with soccer nets to retrieve retrievers, shepherd shepherds, and master mastiffs.
Puppy love for a new pursuit in life
Bell spent much of her Lower Chichester upbringing tearing through Nancy Drew booksas a steady procession of stray dogs came and went from her Delaware County home.
However, this specific fusion of her love of dogs and solving mysteries didn’t set in until decades later. Itstarted about 14 years ago witha black pug named Lilly.
When her neighbor with dementia accidentally let Lilly out the front door, Bell, a single mother with two adult daughters and some time on her hands, volunteered to help. She and others weren’t able to find the dog, but the experience, Bell said, “kind of sparked something in me.”
When another opportunity arose to reunite a lost dog with its family, she was determined to do so. So she contacted Justice Rescue, a Pennsylvania-based animal welfare group, whichhad special traps designed to catch animals. The dog was caught within five minutes.
From then on, “I was kind of hooked,” she said.
Colleen Bell dumps food into a dog trap in hopes of luring a local stray dog by the Woodford Mansion in Fairmount Park.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
Slowly, she started collecting her own equipment — some traps, some cameras, and some dog food.
With a little outside advice, a whole lot of dogged persistence, and through good old-fashioned trial and error,she refined her approach. She learned what entices fearful dogs and what scares them off. She studied their body language and behaviorsand miraculously kept all her fingers and toes in the process.
She filled her free evenings after her day job as a supervisor at a health insurance company with stakeouts.
Most people in her life didn’t know she was doing any of this until one fateful midnight about two years ago.
Tanwyn the golden retriever was missing in Chester County’s White Clay Creek Preserve. Bell tried every tactic in her arsenal. She even purchased a stuffed golden retriever toy that breathed and cried in hopes it would spark Tanwyn’s maternal instincts. She set up traps and slept in her car overnight in case the dog appeared. But nothing worked. Bell needed to get closer.
She procured a duck blind and positioned it near the trap so she could hide behind it and grab the leash if thedog came close enough.
Around 12:30 a.m., as she sat alone in the preserve, fear set in.
“What the hell am I doing?” she thought to herself. “I’m scared to death. Nobody knows I’m here.”
But she couldn’t leave. It wasn’t in her nature. It could be the night the dog came. So she called her brother, Brian. Of her three older brothers, Brian had always been the “dependable” one, she said.
“What are you doing?” she asked him.
“I’m sleeping,“ he replied. ”What’s going on?”
Within the hour, he was there. And, for the most part, he hasn’t left her side since.
“I’m an older brother,”said Brian Bell, 55. “It’s my job to look out for her.”
Brian Bell sets up a dog trap by the Woodford Mansion in Fairmount Park.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
Previously, the two had gone years without speaking. They were raised in an abusive household, Colleen said, which led her to distance herself from her siblings.
“I just couldn’t deal with talking to anybody” from that part of my life, she said.
The dog recovery work reunited all four of them, Colleen said, but especially her and Brian.
“He’s become one of my best friends,” she said.
“We’re like inseparable,” Brian added.
Soon their friend Alan Boates, 45, got involved as well. All three, who live minutes from one another in Chichester, adore dogs and the rush of capturing one on the run fending for its life.
Quickly, Brian Bell and Alan Boates understood their assignment as the muscle of the operation. Colleen Bell was the brains, and neither hell (an unstable building or unscalable mountain) nor high water (frozen creeks and torrential downpours) were going to stand in her way.
“There’s nothing that she won’t do to save a dog,” Boates said. “If she got to sacrifice us for a dog, it’s the dog.”
Boates, who owns a construction company, leveled up their equipment. They built traps operated by remote control and others activatedby laser beams.
They upgraded items as they found more advanced versions online. They swapped DIY drop nets for net launchers that hang between trees and shoot nets at the ground.
At one point, Colleen Bell came across literature about thermal drones and how they create digital maps that can help locate animals in dense woodsso she bought one for $8,000 and roped a retired state trooper into teaching her to fly it. It shattered on the asphalt due to a faulty battery. Luckily, she’d already purchased a more sophisticated one for $18,000.
While she worked alone, Colleen paid roughly $15,000 to $20,000 a year out of pocket. She even took a second job at a nursing home to cover the costs. But once her brother and Boates came on board, the operation became more advanced, and the equipment too expensive to afford on her own.
So, about two years ago she created a 501(c)3, GoodBoy Dog Recovery. Donations rolled in for fuel, food, traps, cameras, and more. Last year she raised about $134,000, according to a 990 tax form. Much of the money came from her 75,000 Facebook followers.
Never letting sleeping dogs lie … alone in the woods
Now, dog recovery is effectively Colleen’s No. 2 full-time job and No. 1 passion.
Her days typically start with work at AmeriHealth Caritas at 7:30 a.m. She clocks out at 4 p.m., then texts her brother an eyeballs emoji to see if he’s free and up for an adventure. She’ll often reach out to Boates as well.
On a recent Tuesday in June, she picked up Brian in a donated conversion van and drove to the Woodford Mansion near the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood.
Colleen Bell (left) her brother Brian Bell (right) set up a dog trap by the Woodford Mansion in Fairmount Park on Monday, May 11, 2026. They run the non-profit, GoodBoy Dog Recovery, where they catch mainly stray and lost dogs in the Philadelphia region.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
They often sleep in the van parked near a trap in the woods. That’s because sometimes the dogs enter the traps in the wee morning hours and if the traps were unattended, the dogs might get confused and scared.
On this night they pulled into a driveway at around 7:15 p.m. and replenished the kibble in the trap they’d set weeks ago for Parker, a stray pit bull they were pursuing. Colleen Bell sprayed the area with a barbecue-scented liquid smoke, which she buys by the gallon. Some of these dogs, especially if they’ve been in the wild a long time, survive primarily on wild game. So the crew keeps deer meat and chicken feet on hand. They even have a moose dealer.
After they prepared the trap area, the siblings sat in the van and waited.
They scrolled their phones, sipped juice, and nearly popped out of their seats when a jingle emanated from Colleen’s phone, which told them motion was detected in the trap.
“Be a dog. Please be a dog,” she muttered to herself. “Oh it’s a raccoon. Oh it’s two raccoons.”
About half an hour later the phone tinkled again. She rushed to press the alert.
“Damn,” she said. “It’s a fox.”
An hour later, another alert sounded. This time, it was Brian Bell who shot out of his seat.
“I got a feeling,” he said with a cockeyed smile.
“Fox,” she responded, deflated, before pressing a button on her phone that allowed her to transmit an audio message into the trap. “Get out of there,” she warned the fox before its white frame scurried out of view.
Many nights, she only sleepsa few hours.
“We never stop until we catch the dog,” she said.
Colleen Bell drags a dog trap no longer in use to pack up in her van after setting up a different dog trap by the Woodford Mansion in Fairmount Park on Monday, May 11, 2026. Bell, her brother, and friend run the non-profit, GoodBoy Dog Recovery, where they catch mainly stray and lost dogs in the Philadelphia region.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
When normal methods cease to work, Colleen Bell will throw in a number of toys of her own invention. Her tactical lamb chop, as she calls it, a stuffed Lamb Chop toy into which she sews a GPS tracker, can be especially effectivein locating dogs.
For Brian Bell, the most satisfying part is watching his sister’s face when they close in on a canine.
“Once she sees it, she’s locked in,” he said. “To her, it’s like each dog that we catch is like the lottery.”
When they do finally catch them, sometimes the dogs are in disturbingly poor condition, Boates said. One they caught recently “looked like it has 10 legs because it was so matted,” he said. Another had cigarette burns all over its head. Some dogs are dead when they find them. The trio will retrieve the body for the family to deal with as it sees fit.
For the dogs who are alive, once they’re securely in the trap or net, Colleen Bell puts them in the back of her van. They’re usually asleep within minutes.
“They’re just so tired of running,” Boates said. “I don’t know what it is, with Colleen, it’s like they know she’s there to help them.”
Colleen Bell gets ready to pack up her van after setting up a dog trap by the Woodford Mansion in Fairmount Park on Monday, May 11, 2026. Bell, her brother, and friend run the non-profit, GoodBoy Dog Recovery, where they catch mainly stray and lost dogs in the Philadelphia region.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
A dog eat dog state
For the professionals, such as those in charge ofthe Animal Care & Control Team of Philadelphia, Colleen Bell is a critical resource, said Sarah Barnett, executive director of ACCT Philly.
Barnett’s team gets thousands of calls a month, many about lost dogs. Locating them all would be impossible for ACCT to do alone.
Not only does Colleen Bell search for dogs in Philly and the suburbs,relieving some of the load from ACCT, she also lends her equipment to individuals with missing pets.
Philadelphia is relatively privileged in terms of animal resources when compared with surrounding areas, Barnett said. Many Pennsylvania counties, such as Chester and Delaware, have spottier animal care and control coverage.
In those counties, sometimes, “the dogs just stay wandering,” Barnett said.
Call off the dogs
On the sunny April morning Oreo returned to his Mantua home, he quickly settled back into the loving and chaotic environment he’d wandered off from weeks before.
“Come see Oreo, Meatball,” Jayda Pizarro shouted up the stairs to her 3-year-old cousin who all in the home refer to by the name of the spaghetti topper.
Jayda Pizarro reunites with her dog Oreo at her Mantua home.Dana Munro
A toddler in dinosaur pajamas and one soccer-printed sock and one striped sock came ambling down the staircase.
As Meatball delightedly watched Oreo wriggle on the floor, a cat emerged from the living room to judgmentally gaze uponthe scene. All seemed as it was meant to be.
Jayda Pizarro and her family reunite with their dog Oreo at their Mantua home.Dana Munro
“I appreciate you,” Pizarro said with a smile for ColleenBell before the dog detective climbed back into her van to continue her perennial search for dogs in distress.
Colleen Bell packs her van with a dog trap no longer in use after setting up a different dog trap by the Woodford Mansion in Fairmount Park on Monday, May 11, 2026. Bell, her brother, and friend run the non-profit, GoodBoy Dog Recovery, where they catch mainly stray and lost dogs in the Philadelphia region.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
A Queen Village teenager is accused of gunning down and robbing a pizza delivery driver after luring him to an abandoned home in North Philadelphia last month, police said Saturday.
Sincere Camps, 14, was arrested late Friday and charged with murder, robbery, conspiracy, gun violations, and related crimes in the June 5 death of Anshul Kuncha.
Camps remained in custody and was denied bail. There was no indication he had hired an attorney.
Kuncha, 28, was working as a driver for Pete’s Pizza on Ridge Avenue when he was shot once in the back of the head at the nearby Raymond Rosen Homes, a Philadelphia Housing Authority property on Edgley Street, according to police.
Surveillance footage from the area showed two people following Kuncha as he walked to the property which, unknown to him, was abandoned.
Investigators identified Camps as one of the people seen in that footage.
Kuncha was an Indian national living in Philadelphia, according to an interview with his parents published in The Times of India. He had been living in the city for four years, his sister, Tanvi, told the publication. She described him as “a very loving and joyful person.”
A LinkedIn profile associated with Kuncha showed he had graduated from Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business in 2024, and was also working as a data analyst for a company in Warminster.
Saturday’s afternoon storm damaged multiple buildings across Philadelphia, uprooted trees, and caused some streets to flood.
As city officials gathered at news conference Saturday evening, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said that the city’s 911 dispatchers fielded 3,000 calls during a one-hour period during the height of the storm.
Wind gusts, according to Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, topped out at 60 mph.
Parker pledged that her office, as well as a number of other city agencies, will be working through the weekend to assess the damage and begin repairs.
“All of our departments are here today to function as one Philadelphia,” she said. “Because in the midst of crisis, that is what we are supposed to do and that is to have full interdepartmental cooperation today, tonight, and until we make it through this crisis.”
A woman named Sheila tries to find sneakers for her five children, as everything in her home was soaked. Her PHA building Aspen Way, at 55th and Vine Street, had its roof blown off by strong storms that passed through the area on Saturday afternoon.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Parker, Bethel, and other city officials spoke near a Philadelphia Housing Authority property on Vine Street near 55th in West Philadelphia that had part of its roof blown off during the storm. Eleven units in the building were affected, officials said, and residents were relocated to nearby hotels.
Those displaced residents will be moved into new PHA units on Monday, according to PHA president Kelvin A. Jeremiah, while repairs are completed.
Elsewhere in the city, at least two buildings partially collapsed due to the storm: a vacant property at 24th Street near Washington Avenue, and another building in West Philadelphia on Lansdowne Avenue near 56th Street.
Carroll Park, in West Philadelphia, had several trees toppled, as did Wharton Square Park in Point Breeze.
Officials survey the damage to a PHA building, at 55th and Vine Street, that had its roof blown off by strong storms that passed through the area on Saturday afternoon.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Peco reported that more than 34,000 residents across the region were still without power as of Saturday evening.
City officials are urging residents to properly document any and all damage their property sustained during the storm — the city is in the process of obtaining state and federal funding to help offset the costs of repairs.
Officials also warned residents to avoid downed trees and live wires, and could not confirm whether a tornado had caused any of the damage. The officials said they would work with weather experts to determine what sparked the severe storms.
Tattooed Mom, one of the city’s most iconic bars, said it has been ordered to cease all live music and performances by the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections.
A message posted Saturday morning on the South Street bar’s Instagram page said the order came on March 27 with “no notice.” Along with live music, Tattooed Mom said, it must also stop hosting “drag, burlesque, and karaoke events.”
Now, more than three months later, the order still stands.
“We’re working with legal, government, and small business support groups to figure out the daunting, complicated, and expensive next steps for zoning, permits, and licenses. We believe the interpretation of some of these rules is unjust to queer communities and creative spaces. There’s no clear timeline yet, but we’ll do our best to keep you in the loop,” someone from the bar wrote on Instagram.
Neither Tattooed Mom nor L&I could be immediately reached for comment Saturday. The Instagram post had thousands of likes and numerous comments from supporters, including State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D., Philadelphia).
“What?! Happy to help however I can!” Kenyatta wrote. “I sent a message.”
Others pointed out that Tattooed Mom is a haven for the LGBTQ+ community.
“Wouldn’t be Philly without you,” one fan wrote.
The bar vowed to fight on.
“No red tape can stop Tattooed Mom from being a queer creative space. We will continue to speak out and support the LGBTQIA+ community while navigating outdated policy. We miss the vibrant energy that drag and burlesque bring to Mom’s and hope to welcome these events back again soon,” someone wrote. “In the meantime, we are continuing to create new models to host more queer community events, including workshops, art shows, meetups, and more.”
The Philadelphia Department of Public Health is notifying travelers of a possible measles exposure that occurred recently at Philadelphia International Airport.
The Health Department noted that the exposure would have taken place on Saturday, July 4, between 7:30-11:15 a.m. at Terminals A, B, and C. The person with measles was traveling through Philadelphia and health officials are encouraging people who might have been exposed to check their vaccination status and watch for symptoms.
“We believe there is no threat to the general public associated with this case of measles,” city Health Commissioner Palak Raval-Nelson said in a statement. “We encourage people who were possibly exposed to take action if they are not protected against measles. Measles activity remains elevated both internationally and in areas of the United States, including the ongoing outbreak in Pennsylvania west of the city, concentrated in Lancaster and Lebanon counties, with spread to Chester County.”
Raval-Nelson encouraged parents to follow the CDC’s immunization schedule and have children fully vaccinated “as soon as they are able.”
Measles is a highly contagious virus that spreads through the air through coughing, sneezing, or talking. People who aren’t protected against measles can contract the virus up to two hours after someone else with measles left the same room or airspace. The early symptoms of measles are fever, runny nose, cough, and red, watery eyes, followed by rash. In some people, it can be a serious infection that leads to pneumonia, brain infection, and death.
A early-morning crash on the Schuylkill Expressway left three dead and snarled traffic on the roadway for hours Saturday, according to officials.
Just before 5 a.m., Pennsylvania State Police troopers saw a white Ford pickup truck traveling the wrong way on the westbound side of the highway in Upper Merion Township, according to a police report.
The truck nearly hit the troopers, who were unable to stop the vehicle. They continued their pursuit of the pickup truck, which sped away.
Not long after, the truck struck two vehicles-head on near the highway’s Belmont exit.
Three people were pronounced dead at the scene. Their names were not released Saturday, nor were any further details.
The westbound side of the highway near the scene of the crash was closed for eight hours to investigate the crash.
State police said their investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact them at 610-584-1250.
Ten-year-old Owen Villamayor approached the batting box with his bat held high and a determined look on his face.
As the pitching machine spat bright yellow balls across home plate, Villamayor, who plays Little League baseball in Chalfont, took a few strikes and hit a few fouls before he managed to drive a homer into the netting above left field.
“It’s a little harder than you think,” Villamayor said afterward. “The balls come in higher and you have to learn how to hit them.”
Villamayor was one of the dozens of early attendees Saturday morning inside the Convention Center at the Capital One All-Star Village, where the line for the home run derby quickly got as long as a theme park ride on a busy day. Old, young, boys, girls — everybody wanted to hit a dinger.
“This is so nice for all the families,” said his dad, Chris Villamayor, a 44-year-old nurse anesthetist. He said his family, decked out in Phillies gear, was excited for an All-Star Game where six Phillies were chosen to play.
A vintage Tug McGraw World Series jersey is seen on display in the Hunt Auction section at the All-Star Village at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pa., on Saturday, July 11, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Chris Villamayor said he was in middle school in 1996 when the All-Star Game last came to Philadelphia. So his excitement has been building since the league announced Philly would host the annual midsummer classic game that brings together some of its best players.
“Bryce Harper is definitely our favorite,” Villamayor said.
John Hoesle of Northeast Philly brought his two teenage sons to the All-Star Village, and they got in line to try their hand at a home run. When it was Hoesle’s turn, he was all business, hitting ball after ball, no big deal.
“It was fun,” Hoesle said. He said he played baseball with the Police Athletic League when he was a teen, and never lost his love of the game. Now, he coaches his sons’ team in Bensalem. That has given him countless opportunities to talk to his sons about the lessons that come with the game.
“You’re by yourself when the baseball is hit to you, you feel like you got to make the play, and your teammates are counting on you. It’s just a great feeling for kids to have,” Hoesle said.
Michael London, of Fort Washington, Pa., is at the “Home Run Robber” with his dad Stephen London, of Ambler, Pa., at the All-Star Village at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pa., on Saturday, July 11, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
At a nearby scaled-down baseball diamond, an array of children tried their best on the turf, while their parents cheered them on.
Amber Green, 40, took the train from Deptford with her family so that her 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter could join in the fun.
“It’s really exciting,” Green said. She and her sister were at Game 5 of the 2008 World Series, when the Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays at Citizens Bank Park, winning their first World Series since 1980.
Her 4-year-old son has little connection to that generation, Green said, but he recently got to meet Phillies All-Star pitcher Cristopher Sánchez, and now he’s a fan.
“The season is so long, and they can start at such a young age,” Green said. “And to live so close to a major league team, we feel lucky.”
Green said her son had turned to YouTube to prepare for the “Home Run Robber,” a fan event that puts participants in aVelcrosuit and lets them jump into a Velcro wall that looks like an outfield wall, simulating what it would be like to rob a batter of a home run.
“You just jump right up there,” said Walt Diamond, a 14-year-old high school baseball player who came to the All-Star Village with his parents.
The All-Star Village, which is broken into five sections named for areas of Philadelphia, includes tons of other activities. One of the more moving displays charts the history of the Negro Leagues from baseball’s segregated past through the mid-20th century, when Jackie Robinson became the first Black player in MLB.
The MLB All Star Brass Band provided by BD Entertainment is seen performing at the All Star Village near the South Philly section at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pa., on Saturday, July 11, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
One big draw is the autograph area and clubhouse, where retired Phillies greats Cole Hamels, Bobby Abreu, and John Kruk are set to make appearances, along with other pro players and even some mascots. With events and autograph signings scheduled through Tuesday, when the All-Star Game starts at 8 p.m., baseball fans still have plenty of time to take in the experience.
Philadelphia-area Democrats criticized President Donald Trump’s recent promotion of Freedom Fuel gas stations in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as an effort to fool people about the high price of fuel rather than a long-term solution to the problem.
“This appears to be a PR stunt of some sort, which is designed to distract people from the fact that gas prices have gone up because the president started a war against Iran,” said Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, who represents Delaware County and parts of South Philadelphia.
Questions still abound about who is behind the Freedom Fuel Network, which popped up around the region earlier this month with 25 gas stations sporting the branding.
No entity is registered in Pennsylvania or New Jersey with the name, but an application for a trademark was filed in Delaware on July 1, two days before the July 3 launch that was heavily promoted by the White House.
Trump was posting about it on Truth Social ahead of the launch, praising the retailer’s patriotism and promising that gas prices nationally would soon fall after they surged following his decision to attack Iran earlier this year.
“This Retailer is taking the lead, and others should follow. They are doing this because they love the U.S.A. We are proud to celebrate America’s 250th Birthday in the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Birthplace of our very special, one-of-a-kind Declaration of Independence, and where I won BIG in the Presidential Election!” Trump said on Truth Social on July 1.
The stations started selling gas at $3.47 a gallon on July 3, with the price a nod to the 47th president, according to the White House. Scanlon said that when she stopped by Friday morning, prices were already going up just seven days later.
“I actually went to one this morning just to get a sense of what was going on,” Scanlon said. ”They may have started with a price of $3.47, but it’s already going up; this one was at $3.57,″ she added, without identifying the location.
U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Democrat who represents Philadelphia, said these stations are too little, too late for constituents who have been feeling squeezed by gas prices.
“Gas was $2.98 a gallon before Trump’s disastrous Iran War. Prices then jumped 50% — the biggest jump in gas prices in American history. These few discounted gas stations are a band-aid on a gunshot wound,” Boyle said in a statement to The Inquirer.
U.S. Rep. Brendan F. Boyle holds a news conference at a Philadelphia gas station to announce legislation to suspend the federal gas tax whenever the national average price of gasoline exceeds $4.00 per gallon.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Boyle has been outspoken about gas prices while in office. In April, he announced a bill to suspend the federal gas tax when gas prices exceed $4 per gallon.
The average gas price in Philadelphia as of Saturday was $3.99 per gallon, about 11 cents above the national average, according to AAA’s fuel price tracker.
Gas prices peaked in May but have remained volatile because of the ongoing conflict with Iran. Following U.S. attacks, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz — an essential trading route — causing gas prices to spike. Recently, the U.S. and Iran resumed attacks, marking the end of a three-week ceasefire.
“In no uncertain terms, the Cease Fire is OVER!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday.
U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, a retiring Philadelphia Democrat, said that ending the war in Iran would be the long-term solution for lowering gas prices.
“As of now, it [the Freedom Fuel Network] doesn’t sound like a long-term solution,” Evans said. “Gas prices are high because Trump has been more focused on vanity projects like a ballroom than on ending his over-four-month illegal war of choice — a war which both houses of Congress have now voted to stop.”
According to the White House, Freedom Fuel is an independent company that the Trump administration does not fund, and it says the company was not buying gas at a discounted price.
But the White House has been heavily promoting the effort. It posted a video to social media Tuesday featuring patrons at Freedom Fuel gas stations crediting Trump.
“I thought gas was more expensive, but it’s not. So thanks Trump for saving me some money!” a man says in the opening of the video, which touts the prices as being 50 cents lower than the Pennsylvania average.
Scanlon said that identifying the people funding the initiative would make clear the motive for the low prices and whether they would be there to stay.
“Someone is making it worthwhile for these independent stations to rebrand themselves and sell at under market rates,” she said. “I mean, they’ve got to be making up that money somehow. So the question just is, who is doing it and why? Although it seems there can be no other reason than to prop up the president’s faltering poll numbers.”
Some weekends are just dates on the calendar. Others become part of history.
America’s 250th anniversary was one of those weekends.
Philadelphia, where the nation began, became the center of the celebration. Across days marked by extreme heat, thunderstorms, fireworks, a canceled parade, and a World Cup match, The Inquirer’s photographers captured the defining moments — and the quieter ones in between — creating a portrait of the country at 250.
After days of closed streets, parking restrictions, and traffic backups leading up to the weekend, Jessica Griffin planned to ride to cover the Wawa Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade. But it was canceled amid a declared heat emergency with 100-degree temperatures before she even left her house.
Instead, she found all the floats — moved overnight from the Pennsylvania Convention Center to Independence Mall in preparation for the parade — in an unofficial parade away from the Historic District.
The cancellation gave the many would-be paraders the opportunity to perform around Center City. Summer intern Aidan T. Gallo photographed Imajin Taiko, a lively dance group from Nakijin, Okinawa, Japan, performing outside Reading Terminal Market.
Musicians, Colonial reenactors in sweat-soaked wool, and visitors (also sweaty) wandered the Historic District looking for something to do. It led to impromptu pageantry around Independence Hall. Marching bands did their (stationary) thing, taking turns performing on the grassy mall.
Working the scene, I was able to frame three different bands at once. The Montrose Marching Unit Alumni Band from Susquehanna County was leaving as the Triuggio Marching Band, a community group from the northern Italian city of Triuggio, and a Falun Gong drum band from New York prepared to perform.
On the Fourth, Tyger Williams found photographing the National Constitution’s Liberty Medal presentation an interesting experience even though the honoree, the U.S.-born pope and Villanova alum, Pope Leo XIV, wasn’t physically there.
Finding a compelling way to photograph someone appearing only on a screen wasn’t easy, he said. “I wanted to be able to show the atmosphere when the Pope was speaking and show the impact he has to those listening to him.”
Jose F. Moreno wanted to create a simple, straightforward portrait essay on the people we often see in costume walking through the Historic District to recognize the people “whose passion, knowledge, and dedication help tell Philadelphia’s story as the city celebrates this historic milestone.”
By using a plain white background and removing all distractions, the focus remained entirely on the individuals and the history they represent. He photographed each History Maker one after another, asking them to “do nothing more than be themselves.” He only made two or three frames of each person against a plain white background.
Courtney Mitchell, who portrays Margaret Woodby, a free Black woman who owned a cake-baking business, smiled during her full-length portrait before turning slightly to the side.
On the morning of the Fourth, I covered the burial of “America’s Time Capsule” in Independence National Historical Park. Before the ceremony, dignitaries posed with Indy, a bald eagle from the Auburn University Raptor Center. Suddenly, another bird of prey swooped down asserting its territory.
I wasn’t actively photographing the scene, but luckily my camera settings were already dialed in. I managed to capture a frame just as the hawk came within striking distance. Indy — who made her first appearance at a Philadelphia Eagles game in 2023 — and her handler spent the rest of the photo opportunity watching the skies overhead.
Also on Saturday, Gallo was back covering neighborhood block parties. In Point Breeze, he heard kids sliding down an inflatable bounce water slide — a block party staple. What he didn’t expect was to see multiple children sliding all at once, including a little girl holding onto her popsicle.
By the time she got to the bottom, the popsicle was knocked out of her hands into the pool. “Luckily, I pressed the shutter at the right times to capture the popsicle and its flying pieces mid-air.”
Jill Scott takes to the stage for One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Philadelphia.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Kim and Elizabeth Robertson evacuated the area during the more than three-hour rain and lightning display, eventually taking shelter beneath the canopy of a gas station along Spring Garden Street.
Monica Herndon had been at The Inquirer for more than six years, but this was her first time covering the Parkway concert and fireworks. She “definitely did not expect to still be out there at 2:30 a.m.”
As the storm soaked the area, she waited it out in her car, “eating snacks and singing along to Christina Aguilera hits.” Once the concert resumed, she grabbed her tripod and headed down the Parkway deciding to “set up farther back than usual, hoping to make an image that felt a little different from the fireworks photos I’d seen in years past.”
Herndon used a slow shutter speed, alternating between one and two seconds, “to let the fireworks expand across the frame.” She made lots of images but liked the one with streaks of light that felt “organic and almost painterly…I also love the small starbursts created by the stage lights, a result of shooting at a narrow aperture [f/18].”
A few days before Sunday’s World Cup Round of 16 match, David Maialetti began preparing by cleaning his gear and checking his cameras. He knew the extreme heat was going to be a challenge so kept himself extra hydrated leading up to the match, dressed in loose-fitting, sweat-wicking clothing, and topped it off with a bucket hat.
“The last thing I wanted,” he said, “was to pass out during a key goal and end up a highlight on SportsCenter.”
David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Before kickoff, he photographed fans and the sweltering conditions, including a security guard dripping with sweat before France faced Paraguay.
His game plan sounded solid on paper until he realized the top of his cameras would “feel like a sizzling frying pan.” He knew the electronics could malfunction if they overheated and “gripping a hunk of hot metal for a few hours,” would not be the most comfortable way to work. His “brilliant hack in the moment,” was to turn his camera upside down so the controls weren’t exposed to the blazing sun. “It was totally awkward like trying to ride a bicycle backwards.”
Fortunately, newer cameras automatically reorient the electronic viewfinder, so after a few minutes it began to feel natural.
His plan kept the cameras cool enough to capture France’s lone goal by superstar Kylian Mbappé. The only downside: every image had to be rotated before he could file on deadline.
National Park Ranger Maggie Burkett holds an oversized replica of the Declaration of Independence while guiding visitors on a tour of the Assembly Room in Independence Hall (then called the Pennsylvania State House) where the Second Continental Congress met and the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
In the month leading up to the weekend, I worked on a photo essay on the local Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania Founders who signed the Declaration of Independence. With help from their lineage organization, I met and photographed direct descendants of the often overlooked men who were here with the Second Continental Congress as America was born.
The Town Crier of Hopewell, N.J., and his wife, Stanley and Cindy Saperstein, attend Hopewell’s USA 250th Town-Wide Block Party in June. John Hart, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, is buried at the Old School Baptist Church there.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Since 1998 a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in the print editions of The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:
