BOSTON — The lone juror who wanted to convict Lindsay Clancy of murder for killing her three children said he was certain of her guilt, but that other jurors wouldn’t listen to him, according to a statement released by his lawyer Friday in his first public comments on the case.
Eleven of 12 jurors were ready to clear Clancy of criminal responsibility, with the majority feeling that the Massachusetts mom was in the grip of a rare condition called postpartum psychosis when she strangled her kids. But juror Michael Desronvil sided with the prosecutors, who had argued that Clancy knew what she was doing.
“I didn’t have any doubts,” Desronvil said in a statement released on X by his lawyer, Edward Paltzik.
The jury’s foreperson had claimed in an earlier media interview that Desronvil had admitted having “reasonable doubt” about Clancy’s guilt, but wanted to convict her anyway. Desronvil said that wasn’t true.
“As I tried to explain different possible theories during deliberation, I kept getting cut off as if I had doubts based on the evidence presented,” he wrote. “Based on all the physical evidence, key witnesses, and what the prosecution presented, I thought it was enough proof that she (Clancy) knew exactly what she was doing and planned.”
The jury’s deadlock forced the judge to declare a mistrial on Sept. 4, leaving the case unresolved. The Plymouth County district attorney has yet to say whether he’ll seek to put Clancy on trial again.
Neither side disputed that Clancy strangled her children, Cora, Dawson, and Callan, in the family’s home in 2023 before trying to end her own life. But her attorney said she was a loving mother experiencing deep delusions and other mental health problems, for which she had been getting treatment.
Since the trial ended, Desronvil has been both publicly praised and scorned for his actions, and his personal life and past financial and legal problems have become the subject of scrutiny by the news media and amateur sleuths.
Among the public revelations: He had a restraining order against him at the time of jury selection and was facing eviction from his apartment due to over $12,000 in unpaid rent. He also was accused of domestic violence in 2021, a charge that was later dismissed.
Some of the opinion has fallen along political lines, with Desronvil being praised by some conservative pundits as a hero.
Paltzik, whose past clients have included President Donald Trump and Martin Shkreli, said on X that Desronvil was in “an undisclosed secure location” in a rural part of northern New England and would not be giving interviews.
“As a devoted father and man of God, he will not be defeated or shattered by the wicked who wish harm upon him,” Paltzik wrote.
A fundraiser to cover what organizers say are costs of “security, lawyers, and lost work” for Desronvil has raised over $289,000.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has rolled out the welcome mat for him, saying that if he is being harassed, “Florida will provide asylum.”
“I’m sure he’d be welcomed and appreciated,” DeSantis wrote on X.
The Trump administration’s policy on deporting immigrants to third countries is unlawful, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, a decision that could halt a program that has already sent thousands of people to countries that are not their own.
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit unanimously agreed with a lower court judge’s decision in February that the Department of Homeland Security’s policy violates due process rights by failing to give migrants sufficient notice and a chance to raise fear-based claims to contest their deportations to third countries.
The appeals court’s decision marks a major setback for the administration, which has sought to establish third-country deportations as a key part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign. Since Trump took office last year, DHS has sent more than 25,000 migrants to third countries, mostly in Latin America and Africa, according to public records. The program has raised fierce objections from congressional Democrats and legal challenges from human rights advocates who say the deportees face dangerous conditions and inhumane treatment in the countries where they are being sent.
Legal experts said the administration is likely to appeal to the Supreme Court and seek a stay on the 1st Circuit’s decision that would allow DHS to continue sending migrants to third countries. For now, however, the deportation flights should be immediately grounded, said Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance, who was among the team of attorneys who brought the class-action case.
“This is a huge win,” she said. “All those deportation flights should not be taking off because the policy under which people got put on planes and targeted for removal is unlawful.”
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Administration officials say third-country deportations are the only way to remove the most difficult to deport immigrants, including violent criminals who have committed rapes and murders. These immigrants have final removal orders from U.S. immigration judges, but many are protected by federal law from being sent back to home countries where they are likely to face persecution. Others cannot be returned because their home countries refuse to accept them.
The lawsuit stemmed from DHS’s policy memos last year stating the government could deport migrants to third countries with as little as six hours’ notice, even if U.S. officials have not received assurances that the deportees would be safe from persecution or torture. Those being flown to places that have offered those assurances could be deported with no advance notice.
The plaintiffs filed their lawsuit in March 2025, arguing that the U.S. government was violating federal law and sending immigrants to places where they could be harmed or killed, without giving them a chance to argue against it, including a Guatemalan man deported to Mexico, where he had been kidnapped and raped.
U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston barred the Trump administration from removing immigrants without giving them a “meaningful” opportunity to challenge it, and he issued a preliminary injunction in April 2025 enjoining the government from continuing with the deportation flights. Two months later, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority paused the judge’s decision in a brief, unsigned statement that did not explain its reasoning, but it cleared the way for the removals to resume as the legal case played out.
Murphy issued a final judgment in February 2026, vacating the administration’s policy, and the Trump administration quickly filed an appeal.
The 1st Circuit panel agreed with most of Murphy’s decision, saying that there was nothing in the public record or court filings that showed which countries had provided the State Department with diplomatic assurances that the immigrants would not face abuse.
They added that “we have some difficulty seeing how a receiving country can credibly provide blanket assurances that all removed noncitizens will not be persecuted or tortured there unless it intends to provide them with some sort of affirmative protection against rogue agents and non-state actors.”
NEW YORK — Reporters from three major news organizations — CNN, MS NOW, and Politico — were denied access to the White House on Saturday, a day after President Donald Trump said he was barring them because of reporting he found to be “fake news.”
The actions were a clear escalation of Trump’s long-running efforts — in the courts and through administrative action — to restrict news coverage by journalists he finds objectionable, and the latest test of First Amendment protections in the United States. Trump had said Friday he would ban all three outlets because of coverage he disliked.
White House reporters from the two cable networks — Betsy Klein of CNN and Akayla Gardner of MS NOW — both went live to report they’d been turned away when arriving for their jobs at the White House. Soon after, Politico said its White House reporter Cheyenne Haslett was also denied entry and had her badge confiscated.
Politico editor-in-chief Jonathan Greenberger said in a statement to the Politico newsroom: “We stand by her and all reporters here covering the White House. … We will vigorously defend our First Amendment rights.”
CNN and MS NOW issued similar statements. “We will not be deflected from our duty to hold the government and other public bodies to account,” CNN said.
“The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars,” MS NOW said in its statement. “MS NOW intends to take any and all steps necessary to defend our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy.“ ‘
In his second term, Trump and his administration have upped the ante and punished certain media outlets, both in the courtroom and through regulatory action. Trump has also lashed out at individual reporters in person or over social media, sometimes in strikingly personal terms — insulting them in briefings, or in his recent speech at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
CNN and MS NOW correspondents are turned away
Network correspondents are usually present on the weekends when the president is in Washington or at nearby Camp David. Trump is at the presidential retreat in Maryland this weekend.
MS NOW’s Gardner reported that she had walked through two gates successfully, but once she got to where her badge needed to be scanned, an officer told her it was disabled and asked her to hand it over. He said the decision “was above him,” she reported. An MS NOW producer was able to get in, but a photographer’s badge was also disabled, Gardner said.
Klein, senior White House reporter at CNN, also said her badge had been deactivated. It was confiscated, and she was handed back the clear plastic case. She said she was referred to the White House press office for further information.
Amy Kristin Sanders, a professor at Pennsylvania State University and an expert in media law, said it has “become pretty clear that this administration is not interested in playing by traditional First Amendment rules and norms.
“The second Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on press freedom and delegitimize independent journalism far exceed those of any other modern American president,” Sanders said. ”It is not an exaggeration to say his hostile actions toward news organizations and individual reporters have a chilling effect on freedom of expression around the world.”
CNN media analyst Brian Stelter called the move “a direct threat to press freedom in the United States.”
“It’s so much bigger than CNN,” Stelter said. “This is a free speech test in America.”
Trump calls these and other outlets ‘fake news’
The president wrote on his social media site Friday that effective immediately, “I am banning” CNN, MS NOW, and Politico “from the White House as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” Minutes later, speaking at an event in the Oval Office, Trump was asked to explain his statement.
“Because they’re fake news,” he said. “You get so tired of reading and seeing fake news. When you look at CNN, it’s just fake. That’s why their ratings are no good. When you look at MS NOW … it’s fake news.”
“And when you look at Politico … the stories they wrote are fake. So there’s a lot of news and there may be others to join them, and maybe they can get better,” he said. “But our country has to have honest news.”
The move follows the president’s decision last year to bar Associated Press reporters from the Oval Office, Air Force One, and other events in retaliation for the news outlet’s decision not to follow his lead in changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico, which lies partially in Mexican and other waters. The AP said that it would note when appropriate that Trump had ordered it renamed the “Gulf of America.”
The AP filed suit and the case is ongoing. Since returning to office, Trump has pursued other legal action against a variety of different outlets, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the BBC. His administration is also involved in a long-simmering confrontation involving ABC over renewal of its broadcast licenses.
The AP said Saturday it supported the news organizations banned this week. In a statement, it said: “No news organization — or person — should be retaliated against by the government over the words they use.”
Landon Dickerson has made a career of fighting through injuries and pain, last season being the latest instance. But after the left guard looked like a shell of himself Week 1 vs. Washington, the Eagles decided to shut him down – at least for now. With Dickerson landing on injured reserve, The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane explains why, this time around, he and the Eagles are taking the cautious route. Jeff also shares what he’s heard about how the Eagles might fill Dickerson’s void on the offensive line, and takes listener questions in this week’s mailbag segment.
00:00 The Landon Dickerson dilemma: injury history, replacements, long-term outlook
17:40 Why isn’t Makai Lemon lower on the depth chart?
19:40 Should we be worried about the defensive line?
unCovering the Birds is a production of The Philadelphia Inquirer and KYW Newsradio Original Podcasts. Look for new episodes throughout the season.
Thousands of supporters of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts gathered Friday as the sun set over the Potomac, surrounded as much of the building as they could, linked arms, and chanted: “Hands off! Hands off!”
For the first time in what felt to them like ages, their beloved arts center was brimming with life.
The vigil, which had been in the works for months, took on fresh urgency at the end of a week that saw the doors to the marble building locked shut, while President Donald Trump indicated the structure could be “ripped down” if his name isn’t added to the institution.
There were dogs and bikers; elders with gray hair and babies with no hair; people in Nationals jerseys and business casual attire (equally ubiquitous D.C. uniforms). Most wore one common item: a red pin that read, “Hands Off the Arts.”
The protest was organized by an advocacy group of the same name, which was founded by Kennedy Center staff in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s takeover last spring and has since campaigned against his changes to the institution.
“The center had more or less become like a mausoleum rather than a vibrant cultural center,” co-organizer Mallory Miller said before the vigil. “But a lot of us have amazing memories of the center hustling and bustling with people. We wanted to kind of bring that feeling back.”
The event was initially planned for July as a cap to the group’s 172-day protest of Trump’s changes at the center. It was intended to celebrate what they saw as victories — Richard Grenell’s stepping down from his role as interim head and the center’s continued operations past July 4, when it had been previously scheduled to close. The vigil was postponed due to wildfire smoke and rescheduled for the third Friday in September — a date organizers didn’t expect to have any special significance.
Then came the events of this week. On Tuesday, the Kennedy Center’s board voted to close its main building for two years and Trump threatened to cancel a roughly $250 million renovation unless his name was added to the center. On Wednesday, fencing was erected around the arts center and, that evening, Trump was photographed on Air Force One examining a printout with a partially visible title that appeared to read “Kennedy Center DEMOLIS[HED].” Thursday, a federal judge turned down a request for an emergency hearing about potential demolition but ordered the center to provide notice ahead of any construction, including demolition.
So by Friday, many arts patrons were ready to protest. Early in the day, organizers expected about a thousand. By the end of the evening, they estimated the turnout was several times that number.
Tara Hoot, a prominent D.C. drag performer and event co-organizer, hosted a storytime event at the center before Trump’s takeover. Appearances like hers were cited by Trump and his new leadership team as an examples of the kind of woke programming they wanted gone. She said she carries what feels like a responsibility to protect the institution now.
“It’s an obligation for me to be out there fighting back,” she said in an interview with the Post.
On Friday, Hoot dressed in honor of the American flag — long red dress, white floral pin, blue shawl. “It’s time to take that tarp down,” she said, pointing to the sheet behind her that has covered the building’s facade since Trump’s name was ordered to be removed.
“Take it down!” the crowd chanted back to her.
Donna Smits, 67, traveled from Delaware early Friday morning after learning about the planned protest around 11 p.m. the night before.
She stood in the plaza’s garden and looked up at the tarp through her gold-detailed RayBans. She was close to tears.
“It hurts a lot to look at it like that, to see all the beautiful fountains off,” Smits said. “Nobody’s name belongs on this center except John Kennedy’s.”
The rally began with impassioned speeches from activists, artists, and politicians, including D.C. Council Member Robert C. White Jr., who recalled being introduced to the arts as a third-grader visiting the center and returning decades later to watch his own third-grade daughter perform.
Lynda Carter, the actor known to most as Wonder Woman, made a surprise appearance to stress the importance of arts for humanity. “Music and the arts is how we actually survive,” she said. “It is how we learn. It is about vibration in the universe. It is about gravity, it’s about our souls.”
Additional fencing was constructed Friday and some parts of the campus have been closed to the public for several weeks, so the attendees were not able to encircle the main building as initially planned. Organizers posited that were it not for the barriers, the crowd that assembled could have circled the structure 2½ times.
Jasmine Small, who worked in ticket sales at the Kennedy Center for seven years, watched the human chain form from her perch on the plaza. She was among the first layoffs last year.
“I’m showing up today, because no one showed up with my colleagues,” Small said. “I’m going to have a voice for them to say that we won’t be forgotten.”
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, whose show at the Kennedy Center for World Pride last May was canceled days after the president was announced as chairperson of the institution, returned to perform at the vigil.
While the sky grew dark, they began a song from Ragtime.
“Will justice be demanded by 10 million righteous men?/ Make them hear you/ When they hear you/ I’ll be near you again.”
Then, as if on cue, the exterior lights of the building flickered to life.
The Philadelphia Eagles (1-0) are on the road this week to take on the Tennessee Titans (0-1), and a Hall of Fame quarterback is joining them in Nashville.
Drew Brees, the Super Bowl XLIV MVP who spent 20 seasons in the NFL, will be in the booth to call the game on Fox alongside play-by-play partner Adam Amin. Kristina Pink will report from the sidelines of Nissan Stadium.
Similar to his playing career, Brees has been forced to overcome adversity as a broadcaster. He was hired by NBC in 2020 and appeared to be on track to replace Cris Collinsworth on Sunday Night Football, but a widely criticized performance in his first NFL broadcast — a 2021 wild-card game — led to his departure from the network.
“When Drew shows up in the booth, who wouldn’t want to listen to him?” Fox Sports’ president and executive producer Brad Zager told Sports Business Journal before the start of the season. “You saw with Tom [Brady] that he had 18 weeks of reps with an ‘A’ crew his first year, and you saw that improvement. Drew never really had that on the NFL level. He does that playoff game, and everybody has their opinions.”
Drew Brees spent 20 season in the NFL, winning a Super Bowl with the Saints. YONG KIM / Staff Photographer
Fox turned to Brees last season to replace former Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez, who was fired following a late-night fight in October where he allegedly attacked and stabbed a delivery driver. Brees has now called nine game in the network’s No. 3 booth alongside Amin, who has been impressed by the Hall of Famer’s deep understanding of the game and the gravitas he brings to the booth.
It was certainly on display last week when the pair called the Chicago Bears’ 59-37 drubbing of the Carolina Panthers. Bears quarterback Caleb Williams credited advice Brees offered during a production meeting before the game with helping him focus on sticking with his reads and not overlooking open targets in search of a big play.
“We want to encourage him to use his voice and take [viewers] another layer deeper,” Amin said. “And I think he’s starting to improve as a presenter. He still has to learn some of the timing and rhythm, but a lot of that just comes with doing the job. And the rest of it, the presentation, is going to come with timing and confidence.”
Adam Amin and Drew Brees are paired together in Fox’s No. 3 NFL booth.Fox Sports
In a way, Brees is fortunate to have been paired with Amin, who is in his seventh season with Fox and has a track record of working with recently retired players. That includes Sanchez on the football side and Adam Wainwright and A.J. Pierzynski on MLB games. Despite working with former All-Stars and MVPs, Amin has found most of his on-air partners to be coachable, and Brees has been no exception.
“Most people don’t get a lot of coaching or guidance when they first step into the booth,” Amin said. “I have a process. I know what the feel of the broadcast looks and feels like and what the timing and rhythm of it is. And I go, ‘Man, here’s the timing and rhythm that I work off of. Let’s start there.’”
“It’s funny to listen to him use television terminology,” Amin added. “Like, ‘Hey, let’s talk about this graphic’ or ‘Hey, what does the viz do?’ It’s like learning a new playbook for him.”
“Simmons did not get a whole lot done against Landon Dickerson the last time they met in 2022,” Amin said. “Obviously, Dickerson is hurt, so who gets the assignment on Simmons?”
“The All-Pro lines up at multiple spots inside, but it’s likely Titans coach Robert Saleh will concentrate his efforts vs. Kendall,” McLane wrote.
How to watch and stream Eagles vs. Titans
Eagles-Titans will air on Fox Sunday at 1 p.m. Troy Taormina, Imagn Images
Sunday’s Week 2 game between the Eagles and Titans is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Philadelphia time on Fox.
The game will stream on Fox One, the network’s subscription streaming service. It’s also available on any so-called skinny bundle that carries Fox, including fuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, and DirecTV Stream. Most offer a free trial.
If you live in Philadelphia or any other TV market where the game is airing, you can also stream the game on NFL+, the league’s subscription streaming service, which runs $6.99 a month.
If you’re looking to stream the game for free and you live in or around Philadelphia, your best option is to use a digital antenna, since the game will air on broadcast television on Fox 29.
The last time the Eagles played in Nashville Carson Wentz was still QB and Nick Foles was his backup. Michael Bryant / Staff Photographer
Sunday’s matchup is just the fourth time the Eagles have traveled to Nashville to face the Titans since the franchise moved to Nissan Stadium in 1999.
Overall, the Eagles are 8-5 against the Titans, but they haven’t had much success down in the Music City, losing all three games they’ve played there. The most recent was an overtime loss to the Titans in 2018, when Carson Wentz was quarterback and Nelson Agholor — who recently joined NFL Media as an analyst — was still dropping passes.
The last time the two teams played was in Week 12 of the 2022 season, with the Birds dominating the Titans in a 35-10 win in something of a revenge game for former Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown.
Jordan Davis didn’t think for very long before offering an answer to the hottest football game he has ever played in.
“It has to be Tampa two years ago,” Davis said Friday.
The Eagles, in their last game before an early Week 5 bye that changed the trajectory of their Super Bowl season, were dominated by the Bucs, 33-16, in a game that wasn’t even that close. The real feel on the field reached triple digits.
Davis, who is from North Carolina and played his college football at Georgia and all across the American South, knew he was in for a long day long before the game started.
“It’s when you’re walking out, the warmup before the warmup, and you’re already sweating in like two minutes,” he said. “You didn’t even finish stretching yet, and you’re dripping.
“I don’t like that feeling.”
He won’t be able to avoid it Sunday. The Eagles and Titans play in Nashville at noon local time, and the city is under a heat advisory. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-90s, and the feel on the field could reach triple digits, just like it did in Tampa, Fla., each of the last two years.
Sunday will be the Eagles’ seventh game against the Buccaneers (including playoffs) — and their sixth in Tampa — in Nick Sirianni’s six seasons. They are 2-4 in the previous six.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Nick Sirianni studies everything his team does, down to travel times and all that goes into a trip. The Eagles had another early-season game in Tampa last year, and they took their data from 2024 and left a day earlier to try to acclimate. Sirianni doesn’t like to be entirely results-oriented, but the Eagles left Florida with a 31-25 victory.
That’s in part why they left for Tennessee on Friday evening.
“It benefited us,” Sirianni said of leaving early last year, “and that’s why we decided to do that again.”
What are some of the worst parts about playing in extreme heat?
“It kind of slows your cognitive ability,” Davis said. “You can’t think as fast. You’re just kind of fighting for survival and also playing a football game at the same time if you really feel it.
“You really have a second opponent if you’re not careful.”
Mind over matter, right?
“It’s mind over matter until your body is cramping up and locking up,” center Cam Jurgens said. “Then you’re like, ‘Well it’s a little bit of matter now.’”
The Eagles and Titans kick off at 1 p.m. Philadelphia time on Sunday (noon central time). The game will be broadcast on Fox with Adam Amin (play-by-play), Drew Brees (analyst), and Kristina Pink (reporter) on the call.
As always, 94 WIP is where you can hear longtime Eagles play-by-play voice Merrill Reese call the game on the radio with Mike Quick.
Eagles assistant coach Jeremiah Washburn (left) speaks with linebacker Jonathan Greenard, who didn’t play last week and is out again Sunday.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The Eagles again will be without top edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, who continues to practice in a limited capacity but is not ready to play as he recovers from a pectoral injury.
“I feel like they’ve done a great job here with the rehab process,” Greenard said Thursday. “I’m feeling better. I’m getting more and more confident in it and just only going to stack days to where I can eventually get out there.”
Eagles
Out
OLB Jonathan Greenard, pectoral
Questionable
S Andrew Mukuba, knee
Titans
Questionable
CB Cor’Dale Flott, quad
LB Cedric Gray, concussion
LB James Williams, elbow
Storylines to watch
Jalen Hurts was sacked three times last week as Landon Dickerson tried to play through an injury.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The biggest takeaway from last week’s 24-22 win over Washington probably was the offensive line’s inability to consistently protect Jalen Hurts from pressure and create lanes for Saquon Barkley.
The line will look different Sunday in Nashville. The Eagles have been keeping Landon Dickerson’s replacement close to the vest, but it’s expected to be Drew Kendall. Could this be addition by subtraction for the Eagles? We’ll find out Sunday.
Elsewhere on offense, Makai Lemon’s first real NFL game went about as well as his first preseason game. It’s way too early to be alarmed by Lemon’s usage and production, but the Eagles are going to need more from their first-round pick if the offense wants to be more dynamic. Lemon knows he has “lots to improve on” moving forward.
Could Hollywood Brown get more involved this week? The receiver Howie Roseman signed to a deal worth $5 million in guaranteed money didn’t see the field in Week 1 and was surprised by it.
Jalen Carter and Cooper DeJean sat out on Wednesday, the first practice day of the week, before returning Thursday. Both are set to go Sunday, but Carter was sporting a cast on his right wrist.
DeJean, meanwhile, is looking to bounce back from a Week 1 performance he said “wasn’t good enough.”
Our Eagles Week 2 preview show
Landon Dickerson’s health was a major topic on this week’s Gameday Central preview show.Staff Illustration
I said that and more on this week’s Gameday Central preview show with my beat partner Olivia Reiner. Watch our full Week 2 show here.
Want instant reaction after Sunday’s game? Ryan Novozinsky will be live from Nissan Stadium after the final whistle to recap what he saw.
Jalen Hurts found success throwing the ball downfield in Week 1, and could have more opportunities against the Titans.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
176
Jalen Hurts threw for 203 yards in Week 1, and 176 of them came on throws that traveled at least 10 air yards, according to Next Gen Stats, which counts any throw of 10 or more air yards as a “downfield” pass.
Hurts completed six of his nine downfield attempts and the Eagles scored all three of their touchdowns that way.
The Titans were susceptible to the deep ball last year and that carried over into Week 1.
Nick Sirianni (right) flew his team down to Nashville a day early due to the heat.Monica Herndon / Staff Photo
Here’s what our columnists are saying this week, starting with David Murphy, who ponders if “expecting a 40-spot is really too much to ask?”
David Murphy: “Every week, Nick Sirianni reminds us that winning is hard in the National Football League. Every victory is like a delicate child, something to nurture and cherish. … But, please, convince us. Forget all of that mumbo jumbo about a win being a win on any given Sunday. Wins are great. They’re much better when you feel good about them.” Read more.
Mike Sielski: “You ask why Landon Dickerson played against the Commanders, why in doing so he basically dared coach Nick Sirianni to make the difficult decision to bench him, why he was willing to damage the cohesion and performance of the Eagles’ offensive line, and the question answers itself. Next man up is a convenient cliche. Too many people forget or don’t give a damn about its corollary: First man, out. Sometimes for good.” Read more.
Murphy: “Two plays from Sunday illustrate the blurry line between results and reality. Both involve Makai Lemon, the rookie wide receiver who is currently threatening the integrity of the space-time continuum with a career average of minus-1.7 yards per reception on three catches.” Read more.
What the Titans are saying
Titans defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons had social media buzzing after his comments about Jalen Hurts.Stew Milne
Titans star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons certainly provided some bulletin board material earlier in the week when he said the Titans “just need to make Jalen Hurts be a QB.”
Perhaps he didn’t mean it as a slight, but the reaction to Simmons’ comments took it as one.
Eagles left tackle and captain Jordan Mailata, though, didn’t take the bait.
“I don’t see them,” Mailata said when asked about Simmons’ comments. “I don’t pay attention to that stuff. That’s clickbait stuff. That’s what you guys get paid for, you guys that promote that stuff.
“He can say it. You guys don’t need to say it to me. That’s all I know. I don’t listen to that stuff. I only care about everybody in this locker room. This locker room is the only thing I give a damn about. I don’t care what you guys say about this locker room, and I don’t care what any other locker room says about this locker room.”
Titans offensive coordinator Brian Daboll on playing the Eagles: “Coach Sirianni is an excellent head coach. 42-4 when he wins the turnover ratio, which is a pretty impressive stat. So that’s going to be paramount. Coach Fangio has done this for about 40 years in the NFL, plus whatever he did in college. Tremendous scheme, very sound. … And then, you add the players, a collection of players that Howie [Roseman] assembles each and every year. It’s a tough challenge.”
“I cannot remember a team that looked less functional on offense in Week 1 than the Titans in Sunday’s loss to the Jets. I went back and looked at the past few seasons of Week 1 travesties — Russell Wilson’s Giants had six points in 2025; Daniel Jones’ Giants had six points in 2024; Jones’ Giants also had zero points in 2023; oh my goodness, are all of these just Giants games? — and I still don’t remember seeing something I found this particularly problematic.
“The Titans looked as if they had never played together before.”
Yikes.
Jason Kelce on Dallas Goedert: “This offense I think will fit [Goedert] pretty well,” Kelce said. “All this misdirection and stuff, they scheme things up, and it stresses those linebackers.”
Thanks for reading. The weekly Eagles newsletter will arrive in your inbox on Sunday next week, a day ahead of the team’s Monday Night Football game in Chicago.
For more than 55 years, the white marble facade of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has presided over a portion of the eastern bank of the Potomac River. Thousands of performing artists have graced its stages, bringing to life what was envisioned decades ago as a symbol of the importance of the arts in a democratic society.
Now, the storied institution is closed. The center’s board of trustees voted Tuesday to shut down the venue, which has been beset by financial and legal troubles that snowballed after President Donald Trump and his allies took over its stewardship last year. Here are some key moments in the Kennedy Center’s storied history, and what could be lost if it disappears.
1955-1958
Eisenhower envisions ‘an artistic mecca’
In 1955, President Dwight D. Eisenhower creates a commission tasked with planning a new public auditorium in Washington. On Sept. 2, 1958, he signs the National Cultural Center Act into law, authorizing the fundraising for and construction of what he imagined would be “an artistic mecca” in the nation’s capital.
1961-1963
Kennedy boosts fundraising efforts
After President John F. Kennedy assumes office, he takes the lead in promoting and raising money for the center. On Nov. 29, 1962, he hosts a black-tie fundraiser, “An American Pageant of the Arts,” in Washington. The televised event includes performances by the National Symphony Orchestra, singer Marian Anderson, pianist Van Cliburn, poet Robert Frost, and a 7-year-old cello prodigy named Yo-Yo Ma.
“Art and the encouragement of art is political in the most profound sense,” Kennedy said in a speech that evening. “Not as a weapon in the struggle, but as an instrument of understanding of the futility of struggle between those who share man’s faith.”
Kennedy, who was in the midst of navigating the Cold War, also argued that the United States had a “special responsibility to the arts” as a democratic society.
“For art is the great democrat calling forth creative genius from every sector of society, disregarding race or religion or wealth or color,” Kennedy said.
Jan. 23, 1964
The center is officially renamed to honor Kennedy
Two months after Kennedy’s assassination, Congress unanimously passes a bill to rename the National Cultural Center as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and to dedicate it as a “living memorial” to the late president.
“I am confident we have chosen well that the institution now given the breath of life will have a long and distinguished future,” President Lyndon B. Johnson said at the bill’s signing on Jan. 23, 1964. “All those who worked in this cause can now know that they are not only honoring the memory of a very great man, but they are enriching our whole American life.”
Dec. 2, 1964
Johnson breaks ground
Johnson breaks ground using the same gold-plated spade that Presidents William Taft and Franklin Roosevelt used at the Lincoln Memorial and Jefferson Memorial groundbreaking ceremonies. Johnson is flanked by a model of the Kennedy Center, designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone, and by members of the Kennedy family.
Sept. 8, 1971
Kennedy Center opens
The Kennedy Center officially opens on a Wednesday evening, with a gala and the world premiere in its opera house of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers, choreographed by Alvin Ailey.
In the inaugural program, President Richard Nixon hails the Kennedy Center’s opening as “the fulfillment of a dream shared by Americans in every walk of life.”
The following day, the concert hall opens with a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra, which would call the center its home for the next five decades. The Eisenhower Theater opens on Oct. 18, 1971, with a performance of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.
Dec. 3, 1978
Inaugural Kennedy Center Honors awarded
The center holds its inaugural Kennedy Center Honors, a lifetime achievement award that celebrates individuals who have “an impact on the rich tapestry of American life and culture through the performing arts.”
The inaugural ceremony was hosted by Leonard Bernstein, and honorees that year were Marian Anderson, Fred Astaire, George Balanchine, Richard Rodgers, and Arthur Rubinstein.
Since then, the Kennedy Center Honors have been bestowed on more than 260 artists in music, dance, opera, theater, film, and television.
1997
Millennium Stage offers free performances
Chairperson James A. Johnson proposes a somewhat radical idea: putting on a different free performance at the Kennedy Center every day at 6 p.m. to make the arts more accessible. Nearly 30 years later, free performances of all kinds continue to take place at the Millennium Stage on “select days of the week.” Most are livestreamed.
2019
The Reach expansion opens
The Kennedy Center expands for the first time since 1971 with the opening of the Reach campus, a $250 million project that adds rehearsal rooms and outdoor performance spaces.
The American sculptor Joel Shapiro gifts Blue, a giant stick figure preparing to leap, to the center in honor of the expansion.
“It’s about action and risk and performance and energy. It’s a celebration of possibility,” Shapiro said in a video about Blue.
2025
Trump shakes up Kennedy Center board, adds his name to building
A few weeks after President Donald Trump starts his second term in office, he announces that he is firing several Kennedy Center board members, including the chairperson, because they “do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.” He also names himself the new board chairperson.
In December, the new board, stacked with Trump loyalists, votes to rename the center “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts,” and a crew adds Trump’s name to the facade of the building the next day. The move causes ticket sales and fundraising to collapse.
2026
Legal battles plague center
Amid canceled performances and boycotts of the center, Trump announces in February that the Kennedy Center will close for about two years to undergo renovations.
“This important decision, based on input from many Highly Respected Experts, will take a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years, and turn it into a World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment, far better than it has ever been before,” Trump wrote then.
In May, a federal judge orders that Trump’s name be removed from the center’s facade and that officials halt its renovation plans. Workers remove Trump’s name in the middle of the night.
The legal challenges continue. The board’s trustees have continued pushing for the center to be renovated and for Trump’s name to be inscribed on the building, including renaming the center’s grounds the “President Donald J. Trump Plaza.”
Philadelphia health officials warned that people may have been exposed to measles at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in West Philadelphia last week.
City Councilmember Kendra Brooks is considering challenging Mayor Cherelle L. Parker in the spring Democratic primary election, sources tell The Inquirer.
Popular DJ and radio show host Mike Bowe has died. He spent more than 40 years at Philadelphia stations. He was 76.
Tesla’s gold, driverless Cybercabs seem to be testing on city streets. There’s no steering wheel, pedals, or mirrors, and it is piloted by AI.
Shay’s Steaks, the Logan Square eatery connected to embattled city judge Scott DiClaudio, will close next week as part of a settlement of an eviction battle with its landlord.
This week’s dilemma reads: At school drop off, a mother likes to hover around the kids and discipline all of them for every little thing. If there were any actual issues, we’d step in of course, but if they’re bumping into each other on purpose and laughing, for example, she tells them things like, “Stop doing that it’s almost school time!” or “Francesca doesn’t like that!” (Not the kid’s real name.) Also it’s very clear that Francesca does in fact like it, so we just tell our kids it’s fine. The mom stands right over her daughter and says things like, “We don’t do that, right?” It’s very performative and very annoying.
Now I respect that she can parent her kid however she wants to, but forcefully talking to our kids is driving some of us nuts. I believe kids usually can and should work out issues amongst themselves (again, though, we haven’t actually seen an issue!). She’s not only a helicopter parent, she’s a military-helicopter parent hovering over her kid and attacking the rest. Do we just keep telling our kids it’s fine and maybe, in private, tell them to not listen to her or do we take her aside and tell her what’s what?
This situation got the attention of life and culture reporters Zoe Greenberg and Mike Newall. They discussed what may motivate a “performative parent” and ways to set boundaries with kindness and compassion.
“You don’t parent other people’s kids,” Newall said. “Unless the kid is in danger or a danger to someone else.”
The Inquirer Editorial Board has endorsed Larry Krasner to lead the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office in previous elections.
But the board now writes that it believes Krasner “has created an untenable situation that could impact the treatment of crime victims and wrongdoers.”
“A series of legal setbacks has cast doubt on Krasner’s ability to administer fair and impartial justice, let alone manage his office,” the board argues.
Superman star David Corenswet grew up in Philadelphia loving the Eagles, but that didn’t stop him from saying yes to donning a jersey for this team in the forthcoming biopic, Mr. Irrelevant.
Cheers to Melinda Williams, who correctly guessed Friday’s answer: Independence Hall. The official naming of the United States will be remembered at a “firstival” there today.
🎤 People are closely watching developments to Ed Sheeran’s tour stop in South Philadelphia on Saturday. As of Friday afternoon, his concert at the Linc is still on. It’s slated to start later (so perhaps there are no openers) and protesters plan to rally outside the stadium.
As Philadelphia rounds the corner into spooky season, fans of all things gothic, literary, or historical may be disappointed to learn that the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site remains closed.
The three-story brick building at 532 N. Seventh St. shuttered in summer 2024 for fire safety upgrades costing over $931,000. It was initially slated to reopen that fall, but renovations grewinto a broader improvement project, according to the National Park Service.
More recently, Philadelphia’s tourism agency had said the site was expected to open this fall, and an Oct. 31 event celebrating Poe as the father of the modern detective novel is planned at the site.But the National Park Service says there is still no official reopening date for the public.
“I can tell you that we can offer no date for when the house will reopen,” said park service spokesperson John Warren.
Calls to a supervisor at Independence National Historical Park, which manages the Poe house, went unanswered Thursday and Friday.
Warren said park service officials did not provide more details to him on the timeline, adding that there were “multiple, complex infrastructure projects going on at the site all at once.”
“If you have ever owned an old home, you know that repair projects often lead to discovering more issues, so it’s wisest not to speculate on an end date,” Warren said.
What’s holding things up?
At the site Friday, volunteers tended to flowers and plants while National Park Service workers wrapped up another day renovating the building’s first floor.
National Park Service plasterer and painter Joe Palumbo said the house’s issues should have been addressed a decade earlier. He said when he started working there,the property “smelled awful” from likely water damage.
Palumbo said construction crews redid the restrooms, replastered and painted the first floor, and rehabbed the woodworking.
He estimated it would take another week to complete first-floor renovations. From there, outside contractors are set to replace the carpets and blinds.
Palumbo said a plan to renovate the building’s exterior is “on hold,” and he is not sure why.
What’s the significance of the site?
Built in the 1800s, the home is the only remaining residence where Poe lived during his six years in Philadelphia from 1838 to 1844.
Retired National Park Service worker Helen McKenna spent 25 years at the site, educating people about Poe and his ties to Philadelphia. During her time working there, the house had exhibits, poetry recitations, a short biographical film, and a reading room styled after one of Poe’s published articles.
Back then, the house still had the original plaster, which was moldering and falling away from its lath. Of course, she said, the walls would have been gleaming white when Poe lived there in 1843 and 1844.
The neighborhood was not even part of the city at that time, she said, and Poe would have traveled on horse-drawn omnibuses. These kinds of details help people imagine Poe, she said, not just as a literary figure, but as a person.
To her, the house captures thecontrast between Poe’s literary stature — with his influence stretching across detective fiction, science fiction, poetry, and short stories — and the alcoholic, struggling writer who lived there with his mother-in-law and his wife, who had tuberculosis.
“There’s that sense of place. This grand, admired author was living in really humble circumstances on the outskirts of the city,” she said. “He didn’t own the place, he was paying rent, and he wasn’t always able to pay the rent.”
What did Poe do while in Philly?
Many cities have memorials to Poe, McKenna said. That is because he traveled. He was born in Boston, grew up in Richmond and in England, lived twice in New York, had a stint in Delaware, and died in Baltimore.
Poe’s time in Philly, however, marked acreative high-water mark, McKenna said.
He moved to Philly after failing to find success with a novel in New York City and turned his attention to short stories. While in Philly, he published “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Black Cat,” and “The Tell-Tale Heart,” McKenna said. He also became known as a charismatic speaker and an acerbic critic.
At his best, McKenna said, Poe was “a genius of compression,” creating haunting, memorable stories at a time when interest in American writers was growing.
“I won’t say that Poe is the best writer that America ever produced, but he’s certainly had a ton of impact, globally,” McKenna said.
