It wouldnât be a Pennsylvania election without Bucks County becoming the star of the show.
And thatâs exactly whatâs happening this weekend, when Gov. Josh Shapiro travels to the swingiest of the swing counties to stump for Democrats up and down the ballot in key races.
đ¤ Iâm Fallon Roth, the suburban politics reporter at The Inquirer, coming to you live from Bucks (my home county) as we dig into how the suburb will be the make-or-break place for Democratsâ wishlist next month, including a win for Bob Harvie in the 1st Congressional District and shift in party control in the state Senate, which could only happen with help from the Philly suburbs.
Weâll also explore whether Pennsylvania voters would support Shapiroturning his attention to a bid for the White House in 2028.
In this edition:
đłď¸All hands on deck: Shapiro will be in Bucks County Saturdayto launch a day-of-action for Democrats, organized by Planned Parenthoodâs state-level PAC.
đłď¸ The Bucks stops here: Two Bucks County swing districts and another in Montco could determine which party controls the state Senate.
đłď¸Homefield (dis)advantage?: Pennsylvania voters are split on whether Shapiro should run for president in 2028.
-Fallon Roth, Michelle Baruchman, Sam Janesch, Gillian McGoldrick (pa2026@inquirer.com)
The latest
The price of gas, groceries and, well, living is on the rise and Pennsylvaniaâs swing district voters will have affordability on their minds as they head to the ballot box next month.
As democratic socialist candidates become more mainstream â including in Philly â most Pennsylvania Democrats said in a recent Inquirer/New York Times/Siena University poll that they have a positive view of socialism.
Shapiro and Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (possible 2028 rivals) went to Samâs Morning Glory Diner in Philly to energize voters ahead of the midterms.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trumpâs health and human services secretary, is even less popular than the president with Pennsylvania voters.
đ Without a doubt, Shapiro is a popular governor. Heâs viewed favorably by Democrats, independents and even some Republicans â no small feat in a swing state that voted for President DonaldTrumpin 2024. But whether these likely Pennsylvania voters want Shapiro to run for president in 2028 is an entirely different question.
Voters, in a poll conducted by Siena University on behalf of The Inquirer and the New York Times, were split on whether Shapiro, who is expected to pursue a White House bid, should run: 43% of respondents want him to run, and 44% donât.
Of those supporting a potential presidential campaign, 41% ranked his character and competence as their reasons, and nearly one in five said they were satisfied with Shapiroâs performance as governor. But for those who oppose a run, itâs not necessarily because they donât like him (although that is the case for 21% of respondents).
About one in 10 said they would prefer Shapiro, who is up for reelection this November with a commanding lead against his competitor, to remain in Pennsylvania. Campaigning and presidential debates would likely begin soon into his second term.
âI like his views. I like his policies. I like everything. I just think his religious affiliation will stop him from winning because I think the rest of the country, especially the middle of the country, will rally against him,âsaid Michael Biello, a 68-year-old Democrat in Philadelphia.
Campaign scrapple
đĽ Is the U.S. ready for Medicare for All?
Democrat Bob Harvie thinks there needs to be more trust in the federal government first before it starts running the healthcare system, he told The Inquirer on Tuesday evening.
Harvie, a Bucks County commissioner challenging GOP U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick in the swingy 1st Congressional District, has focused his campaign on addressing rising costs and increasing access to healthcare, such as advocating for 55-year-olds to be able to buy into Medicare.
Congressional candidate Bob Harvie (D, Pa.) speaks on Friday, September 11, 2026 at the Garden of Reflection in Yardley, Pennsylvania.William Thomas Cain / For The Inquirer
âMy worry is you start talking to people about well, âWeâre going to take away the healthcare system you have, and weâre going to give you another one, and the governmentâs going to run it,ââ Harvie said of Medicare for All. âWeâve got a lot of work to do to rebuild trust in the government, just like we have a lot of work to do to rebuild how this healthcare system works.â
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (second from the left) and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro chat with diners at the Morning Glory. The two Democrats have grown close in recent years, but they could become rivals in 2028 if they both pursue the presidency. Aidan T. Gallo / Staff Photographer
đ What weâre watching
Shapiro and Garrity will face off in a live, televised debate this coming Wednesday, Oct. 7. The Harrisburg-based TV station ABC27 is hosting the debate, which will air on several stations owned by Nexstar across Pennsylvania, including WPHL-TV in Philadelphia. Politics reporters Gillian McGoldrick and Michelle Baruchman will break the major moments down at inquirer.com/politics.
Quote of the week
U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick weighs in on the No. 1 issue this election. William Thomas Cain / For The Inquirer
Fitzpatrick agrees with his opponent, Harvie, on one thing: this election will hinge on which party voters think will do a better job lowering the cost of living.
đ Thanks for reading, and donât forget to check back as we enter a final campaign month packed with debates, candidate events and maybe even a few October surprises. You can follow The Inquirer politics teamâs coverage here, and weâll see you in your inbox next Friday.
Howâs âfalse fallâ treating you? If you pulled your sweaters out thinking summer was done and dusted, youâre not alone. Soon enough, itâll start to feel like autumn (real autumn).
As the clock ticks on, weâre losing roughly 2½ minutes of sunlight each day, The Inquirerâs weather whisperer Tony Wood reports. One sure way to combat the negative effects of shorter days? âGet outside and move your body daily,â an expert told Wood.
In Philly and the surrounding region, we have a variety of fall festivals and markets to embrace the season in good company.
Hereâs a preview of some lively events to look forward to:
đş Mt. Airy Arts Fest (Oct. 3) at Allens Lane Park will have stations for painting, printmaking, and ceramics to make art with your own hands, along with live performances and food to enjoy.
đ§ Manayunk Fall Festival (Oct. 17) lets you mac-and-cheese-crawl your way through local vendors. Plus, just one neighborhood over, enjoy free pumpkin decoratingand more fun for all ages at East FallsFest.
đ Cherry Hill Harvest Festival (Oct. 18) at Croft Farm will host a beer garden, free pumpkins, and a petting zoo.
Last weekendâs norâeaster underscored the limitations of computer models, and it may also foreshadow whatâs to come.
đł Your outdoorsy experience
My colleague Sam Stewart recently spent a couple of days in the Poconos and was excited to share this with us:
These pics are from the Little Falls Trail in Promised Land State Park! It was SO beautiful, lots of water along the trail (including a waterfall!), and it was a super easy, 1.5-mile loop. It was my first fall hike of the year, the weather was incredible and the sun was shining đ
Such a spectacular sight! Iâm already planning my own trip up there. Thanks, Sam.
How about you, dear reader? Whatâs happening in your neck of the woods? Email me with your favorite adventures or special outdoor memories (and pictures, if you have them). You may see it featured here.
Pennsylvania is home to tens of thousands of farms, and Airbnb wants you to stay on them.
The short-term rental giant ispartnering with the American Farmland Trust and recruiting Keystone State farmers â and even offering grants â to host guests and tap into the growing agritourism industry. The average farm stay listing on Airbnb, the company said, can make an extra $9,600 per year.
Valerie and Jeff Fellenbaum said theyâre making much more than that at Pleasant Pines Stables, their horse farm dating to the early 19th century in Lancaster County.
âOnce we started, we never looked back,â Valerie Fellenbaum said. âI would say, from March to about the end of October, weâre anywhere from 85% to 90% booked.â â Jason Nark
đŁ An activity: Find a good spot to watch sailboats hit the Delaware for the annual Philadelphia Regatta Cup.
đ A shoutout: Look out for these runners at the Delco 10 Miler.
đ A fun pup-ortunity: Join âThe Dogistâ for a walk along the Schuylkill Banks and up the Rocky steps on Sunday.
đĄ A fall fact: According to Merriam-Webster,the term âautumnâ entered English in the 1300s, and âfallâ became the shortened version of âthe fall of the leavesâ in the 1600s.
There are spotted lanternflies hidden among these vines.Paola PĂŠrez
I believe this is a Virginia creeper plant, also known as woodbine. It also bears some resemblance to poison ivy. Avoid its berries, though â while wildlife can feed on them, they are toxic to humans.
đ Can you spot a spotted lanternfly among the leaves? By my count, I think there are at least two.
Speaking of the invasive species, my colleague Nick Vadala reported this week about a man tricking at least 80 Pennsylvanians into paying for fake trainings and permits to contain the invasive species. Be wary of scams like that, folks.
đđ˝ Our next adventure awaits!
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirerâs Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
ITHACA, N.Y. â There were fiery testimonies, voices lurching and pleas for action from school leadership. There were fingers pointed angrily at Cornell Universityâs internal investigators, including by a woman who faced her student government representatives and said, emphatically: âI am also speaking as Jane Doe.â
Cornellâs student government convened a public hearing on sexual assault Thursday, and some 100 people turned out to share their raw emotions in a student union auditorium, Cornell flags and chandeliers hanging overhead.
Some broke down in tears, channeling the churning emotions of the broader campus. They walked forward, one by one, to offer testimonies, facing a semicircle of somber-faced student assembly representatives who were surrounded by backpacks and soda bottles.
âI cannot pretend this is a normal Thursday,â said Sophia Riley, a junior, remembering that as a freshman in 2024 she was shattered to hear that a student said she was assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house. âI cried about it then, and Iâm still equally devastated now.â
In the days since a lawsuit and rape allegations put Cornell in the national spotlight, the schoolâs Ithaca campus has been consumed by the news. The meeting gave students a chance to denounce administrators, saying that they had mishandled the allegations of assault, though few school leaders were in the room and the university president, Michael Kotlikoff, was absent.
Some students expressed rage about the fraternity culture cited in the lawsuit. The suit had prompted the Tompkins County district attorney to reopen the investigation into the claims by a woman known only as Jane Doe that she was sexually assaulted by seven men at a fraternity house.
University officials have defended their disciplining of the defendants in the lawsuit and denied that the consequences were not strong enough, saying that âfalse narrativeâ could make assault survivors feel less safe and less likely to report crimes.
None of the men accused in the lawsuit has been charged with a crime, and they all have denied any wrongdoing. Four said that they had consensual sexual contact with the woman at the party, and the others denied any participation. Two were expelled, and others received lesser penalties.
Along with the students, the forum brought together faculty members and a smattering of Cornell parents. Eeshaan Chaudhuri, the student body president, began the event by addressing the room.
âWeâre absolutely ashamed of the events that happened on campus,â Chaudhuri said, before inviting members of the community to line up and make comments. âI think weâve made it abundantly clear for the past couple of days that we as a campus community stand with victims of sexual violence.â
A stream of ideas and proposals followed from students, some of whom feel besieged by national media and eager to shift the focus to solutions. Students urged administrators to improve the required workshops and trainings that teach students about consensual sex. And they asked for their classmates to be supported if they canât complete homework and exams this week because of distress about the case.
âStudents should not have to choose between grieving and keeping up with their academic responsibilities as if nothing had happened,â said Riley, declaring that the campus is in a âmental health crisis.â
While the majority of the meeting was declared off the record so students could come forward and candidly share their reflections, a handful shared their stories in front of reporters gathered for the public portion.
Emotions heightened as a woman came to the front of the room and said she, too, had reported a sexual assault at Cornell and felt let down by the universityâs Title IX process, which investigates complaints of sexual assault on campus. She saw her own experience reflected in the accuserâs reports, of having an assault claim mishandled.
âWhen I filed my Title IX case in the midst of all of my mental, physical and emotional recovery from the assault,â Jane Wang, a junior, said, âI was also met with an abundance of paperwork, very little instruction on how to navigate it and no follow-up from our Title IX office of an outcome.â
Wang said that for students like herself to feel comfortable coming forward to report assault, they need to know the institution will act on it. âThrough this event, we have witnessed the complete opposite,â she said.
BUNIA, Congo â Congoâs Ebola outbreak has killed more than 4,000 people, authorities said, as they struggle to contain what has become the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history.
The latest figures released by the Health Ministry on Thursday showed that 4,018 people have died among 8,300 cases recorded since the outbreak was declared in eastern Congo on May 15.
Some health workers, meanwhile, gathered at the epicenter in Ituri Province to demand payment for wages owed them. The protesters, who included surveillance team members, waved placards saying, âNo money, no data!â and âNo payment for months.â
Some of the workers havenât been paid for August and September, said Biongi Beiza, one of the protesters in Bunia, Ituriâs capital. âThere is no explanation from the administration,â he said.
Congolese authorities did not immediately address the issue. Front-line workers have gone on strike several times since the outbreak began, further hampering efforts to contain the disease.
A senior U.N. official said an Ebola-hit displacement camp housing a transit center for infected patients was burned by soldiers earlier this week as they were looking for weapons in Kigonze, on the outskirts of Bunia, forcing 19,000 people in the camp to flee.
Creating such transit and treatment centers has been a struggle, requiring money and staff, all of which are in short supply, said Julien Harneis, the U.N. senior Ebola coordinator. âWhen we lose a center, that means we lose capacity, we lose investment, and we have to start again. And above all, it means that people do not get access to the care that they really need,â Harneis said.
Infected aid worker evacuated to the Netherlands
An aid worker with MÊdecins Sans Frontières, known in English as Doctors Without Borders, was infected with Ebola while working in Congo, the group said in a statement.
The worker arrived in the Netherlands late Thursday on a special medical flight and was transferred to a high-level isolation unit, the Leiden University Medical Center said in a statement.
âThe human cost of this crisis is unprecedented in the DRC, with communities facing the largest Ebola disease outbreak ever recorded in the country,â MSF said.
At least 50 health workers have died after contracting the virus.
Mobile labs are helping detect cases quickly
One way local authorities have tried to contain the outbreak is through mobile laboratories. In Butembo, an Associated Press journalist watched a medical team operating one such lab near an Ebola treatment center on Thursday.
Test results that used to take 72 hours can now be obtained in six hours with the mobile labs, said Lota Kalubi, a doctor at the treatment center.
The labs have also made it easier to get to locations usually difficult to reach, said Michel Ngimba with the National Institute of Biomedical Research in Butembo. âSo we can go, if today we have an emergency, for example, in Katwa, we can start up the vehicle, and we can move the lab to Katwa,â said Ngimba.
Insecurity and community resistance are hampering containment efforts
The World Health Organization has recently raised the alarm about the virusâ rapid spread into new health zones, stretching limited resources. The current outbreak is on track to exceed the deadliest on record, West Africaâs regional outbreak between 2014 and 2016, which killed 11,000 people, WHO has said.
The number of newly confirmed cases is falling, but that could be attributed to insecurity and challenges in getting communities to cooperate in some of the hot spots, Africa CDC said on Thursday. While the spread of the disease has slowed in some areas, it has accelerated in others.
Confirmed cases fell from around 850 cases and 470 deaths a week in mid-July to an average of 490 cases and 230 deaths in September.
A Congolese politician was beaten to death earlier this week in one of the emerging hot spots after defending government measures to deal with the outbreak, highlighting tensions and mistrust in communities.
Authorities last month launched a village-centered approach that involved working with local leaders to educate people about the virus, but those efforts face resistance from residents who dismiss Ebola as a hoax. There is also deep distrust in the countryâs government for reasons including how itâs managed past Ebola outbreaks and chronic corruption.
Friedman â who has posted over 50,000 photos and videos of dogs (and their humans) online since 2013 â is hosting a meetup on Sunday morning on the Schuylkill Banks. Hundreds of hounds are expected to attend.
âWeâre going to meet at the Schuylkill River Dog Park,â said Friedman, speaking via Zoom from his Manhattan apartment, âand then weâre going to walk along the river up to the Art Museum and climb the Rocky steps for a group photo.â
Friedman will be there with his dog, Elsa, the Instagram-famous white husky mix who was dog of honor at his 2025 wedding to Samantha Cutler, his fellow alum of Wynnewoodâs Friends Central High School. The wedding was featured in the New York Timesâ Vows column.
âItâs a little crazy for me,â said Friedman, âbecause I feel like Iâm a prophet, orâ â he laughs â âsome sort of dog evangelist, where everybodyâs gonna follow me. Itâs like Iâm leading a march.â
âItâs a very joyful thing to have people meet up around a shared love of dog. They get to know each other, and make a lot of connections. Itâs an amazing show of the power of not just the dog community, but the Dogist community.â
Sundayâs walk with Friedman is part of a Dogist tour tied to the launch of the Dogist Company, a canine wellness brand whose first product is Vitality, which is advertised as a âBoard-Certified Vet-formulated antioxidant chew that supports brain, joint and immune health.â
âItâs salmon flavored so a dog might consider it a treat,â Friedman says of the product he developed with veterinary nutritionist Angela Rollins, which is available at thedogistcompany.com. âBut itâs not a treat, itâs a supplement.â
Elias Weiss Friedman, a.k.a. the Dogist, holds a package of his newly launched canine wellness brand, The Dogist Company’s Vitality supplement, during a Zoom interview.Dan DeLuca
âEverybody wants more years with their dog. But itâs also about having good years with your dog,â says Friedman, who credits Elsa, 6, as âchief wellness officerâ on the Dogist Company website.
âIâve spent the last 13 years of my life showing the world how amazing dogs are. So the next evolution of the Dogist ecosystem is creating products that make dogsâ lives better â because itâs the least we can do for them for all they do for us.â
âTheyâre based in Narberth where I grew up,â Friedman said. âThey raise service dogs to work with teenagers and children who are clinically diagnosed with depression, or PTSD, or are on the autism spectrum.â
Friedman also has a show on YouTube â simply called Dogs â where he strolls around meeting pups with celebrities, such as actors Zooey Deschanel and Sarah Paulson, and comedians Roy Wood Jr. and Lewis Black.
Elias Weiss Friedman, photographer and founder of the Dogist, holds onto his dog named Elsa, while photographing Michael Rey and Rosie, in his childhood neighborhood on May 20, 2025, in Narberth.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Last year, Jane Goodall was a guest in an episode recorded a week before her death. Meeting the English primatologist and anthropologist âwas the biggest honor, probably, of my life,â said Friedman.
The Dogist origin story dates back to when he was a 2 year old and wandered away from his grandmotherâs house in Narberth toward traffic on Montgomery Avenue. Oreo, his grandmotherâs dutiful black Lab, kept him from walking into speeding traffic.
Most of the Dogistâs photos are taken in New York, but Friedmanâs content-gathering travels have frequently brought him to Philadelphia, where heâs found four-legged subjects in Manayunk, Rittenhouse Square, and the Main Line.
âNegativity is easily found on the internet,â he said. âDogs are an antidote or a respite to all that.â
At group meetups like Sundayâs â where walkers without dogs are also welcome â he can connect IRL with members of the digital Dogist community.
âI always enjoy going out and meeting people and talking to them about their dogs,â said Friedman, who has published three books including last yearâsThis Dog Will Change Your Life.
âDogs donât have an ego, right?â he said. âTheyâre not burdened by one like we are. So part of the joy of seeing that theyâre so free is that it allows us to transcend our ego for a few minutes. And thatâs a very liberating experience.â
The Dogist Company Vitality Walk at Schuylkill River Park, 30 S. 25th St. at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 4, Instagram.com/thedogist
Former Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell is being investigated by his own church.
A bishop of the Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey Episcopal Area sent an email about the probe to colleagues on the same day of Caldwellâs resignation last week, which followed the release of the initial report finding evidence of sexual harassment.
Caldwell, who is a senior pastor at Covenant United Methodist Church in Plainfield, told the Inquirer that the Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey Episcopal Area was âinvestigating the investigation, based on the same informationâ and referred to the examination as a âpiling on.â
He is suspended from his church duties until the investigation is complete.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $2.5 million grant to dig up layers of a 1.6-acre site to get rid of contamination.
Itâs from a 45-foot-high pile of illegally dumped construction waste that was removed years ago in Camdenâs Bergen Square neighborhood that left behind lead, arsenic, and PFAS, aka âforever chemicals.â
The EPA, Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen, and other officials announced the grant on Thursday. The money will come after the city finds a developer and submits plans for new use at the site, the EPA said.
An investigation from Floodlight and The Guardian revealed that the DataOne data center in Vineland emitted large amounts of air pollution for almost a year before regulators stepped in. The center was recently hit with a $1 million fine for violating clean-air laws by operating dozens of natural-gas power generators without the required state permits.
Bancroft NeuroHealth seeks to build a two-level school for 160 students on its Mount Laurel campus. The proposal will go before the townshipâs planning board next week, according to 70and73.
A new Rutgers University poll shows South Jersey residents are less supportive of Gov. Mikie Sherrill than the rest of the state.
A recently introduced bill would allocate $60 million in state grants for farmers who lost crops from the surprise April freeze. Under the proposed legislation, farmers would need to apply and the most impacted would have priority, according to New Jersey Monitor.
Fresh off its recent rebrand, Cooper Norcross Health released the first renderings of its planned $650 million Camden patient tower, which is set to open in 2028, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports.
Philadelphia 76ers LeBron James poses for a portrait during NBA Media Day at the team’s training facility in Camden on Monday. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Enjoy your weekend! See you on Monday. đ
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirerâs Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
Faces from the past were dragged into the present.
Oil portraits in City Hall of three former Philadelphia mayors were defaced on Sept. 27, 1978.
Around 4:30 p.m., a former city employee smashed the portraits that were hanging in a gallery on a lobby wall outside the second-floor Mayorâs Reception Room. The gallery features stately portraits of the cityâsdozens of former mayors.
A 21-year-old recently fired city carpenter, Russell Byrd from Ogontz, pulled four framed, two-foot-by-three-foot portraits off the wall and smashed three against nearby railings and stairs. He left a fourth portrait â of John Barker, mayor from 1808 to 1812 â unharmed.
A cop on duty watched Byrd suspiciously pacing the stairway and went to investigate. He found the portraits in the second-floor stairwell, and followed Byrd into a menâs room and placed him under arrest.
Byrd was charged with theft, burglary, receiving stolen goods, and criminal mischief. He pleaded guilty to the mischief count in June 1979 and was sentenced to two years of probation, court records show.
The damaged paintings were of Isaac Roach, who served in the 1830s; Robert Conrad, who led the city in the 1850s; and William Smith, who helmed the big desk in the 1880s.
A descendant of Conrad, his great-great-grandson Wendell W. Oberholtzer, read about the destruction the next morning in the newspaper.
After the City Hall portrait-defacing in 1978, Wendell W. Oberholtzer holds a book with an engraving of his ancestor, Mayor Robert T. Conrad.Robert L. Mooney / Staff Photographer
Oberholtzer called City Hall and offered to help.
He said he would lend the city a personally owned portrait of his famous relative, or he could supply photos, for an artist or engraver to useto create a replacement portrait.
But the donations were not necessary. Robert Silver, commissioner of public property, said conservators from the Philadelphia Museum of Art sized up the situation and decided the portraits were not beyond repair.
Silver told The Inquirer that he could have the portraits restored to âpractically their pre-smash conditionâ within a few months.
And the honored could once again return to their rightful places in history.
A landlord whose tenants can no longer pay rent. A man in Allentown who now stops short of filling his gas tank. A professional chef whoâs stressed about the price of groceries.
These three Pennsylvanians all share concerns about rising prices. And they all live in Pennsylvania swing districts that could shape who controls the next Congress.
Among likely voters in Pennsylvania, 75% disapprove of how President Donald Trump is handling the cost of living, compared with just 25% who approve, according to a recent poll from The Inquirer, the New York Times, and Siena University.
But Trump is not on the ballot, and these approval ratings donât necessarily indicate whether people will back the local Republican or Democrat running to represent them.
Delaware County nurse Monica Ryadi and her husband couldnât wait to take their 3-year-old son to Disneyland, so he could meet his favorite characters from the Cars movies.
But shortly after their plane touched down in Los Angeles on Sept. 15, they faced a sudden crisis. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement appeared and surrounded Ryadi.
Despite her legal standing in this country, which she has maintained for more than 20 years since her parents brought her to this country at age 9, ICE arrested Ryadi and sent her to detention.
Legally, Ryadi cannot be sent back to Indonesia, where her family fled religious persecution all those years ago. But per a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the U.S. can continue to speedily deport people to countries other than where they came from, something Ryadi said ICE agents told her was coming.
A disciplinary court is weighing whether Philly Judge Scott DiClaudio can remain on the bench. DiClaudio was accused by another judge of trying to sway the outcome of a case involving a friend of rapper Meek Mill.
During a two-day hearing this week, representatives from the Philadelphia Sheriffâs Office told a judge that they had found $20 million in unspent sheriff sale proceeds, among other revelations.
Eleven Philadelphia-area small-business owners stole nearly $1 million in public funds by defrauding WIC, a program designed to support low-income mothers and their children, authorities said Thursday.
A former Philadelphia woman who voted twice â once here and once in North Jersey â in the 2024 presidential election was sentenced Thursday to three years of probation.
Philadelphia City Council voted unanimously on Thursday to make the city one of the first in the country to explicitly endorse a nationwide boycott of Starbucks amid a unionization drive.
đ¤ Gawking at. Whatâs pink, has four wheels, and may shock or delight you, depending on your mood? The Inquirerâs Stephanie Farr takes a spin with Phillyâs answer to those Uber Eats robots, Orifice the Awebot.
đĽ Following. After a man filmed himself throwing a cheesesteak through the open service window at Patâs King of Steaks in South Philly, the owner is offering a $5,000 reward to help bring him to justice, food writer Michael Klein reports.
đ Learning. With mortgage rates hitting 7.28% this week, Inquirer real estate reporter Michaelle Bond talked to experts about how to still get the best rate you can.
𧊠Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Earlier this year, a peregrine falcon with lead poisoning was recovered from this Philly landmark and rehabilitated by the Schuylkill Center.
Cheers to Loretta DiPietro, who correctly guessed Thursdayâs answer: Clementon Park. The 119-year-old amusement park is heading back to auction just weeks after announcing its closure, and five years after it was last sold at a bankruptcy auction.
Photo of the day
Windows on the Excelsior Scottish Rite Temple in Collingswood. The Scottish Rite Auditorium inside is a 1,050-seat venue built in 1931, making it one of the largest privately owned theaters in South Jersey. Among its previous owners was Edward Collings Knight Sr., inventor of the Pullman sleeping car for railroads. He was also a descendant of the Collings family for whom the borough and Knight Park are named.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Some gorgeously detailed architecture and a little bit of history to wrap up the week.
đ Thanks for spending some time with The Inquirer this week. Catch you Monday!
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirerâs Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
Delaware County nurse Monica Ryadi and her husband couldnât wait to take their 3-year-old son to Disneyland, so he could meet his adored Cars movie characters â Lightning McQueen, Tow Mater, and the rest.
They didnât get there.
The family had barely stepped off the plane at Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 15 when they were surrounded by four or five men in street clothes who said they were ICE agents, flashed a badge, and snapped Ryadi into handcuffs.
When her husband protested, the officers threatened to arrest him and send their toddler, Luca, to child-protective services, the couple said in court filings. One officer told Ryadi she was here illegally and, âI donât care if you are the president of the United States or a congresswoman like Ilhan Omar,â court records say.
Ryadi, 30, said she kept insisting that she was a legal immigrant.
And thatâs true.
She has lived in the U.S. since she was 9, brought to this country by her parents when they fled religious persecution in Indonesia.
They entered on legal visas in 2005, and five years later were officially granted whatâs called âWithholding of Removal.â Thatâs where an Immigration Court judge agrees that deporting someone to their homeland could get them hurt or killed.
Itâs similar to asylum, the key difference being the federal government retains the right to deport someone if it can find a third country willing to take them. Withholding does not include a path to citizenship.
Traditionally, people who gained that relief were left alone.
Now thatâs changed, as the Trump administration takes a new, hard view â seeing those who have Withholding, even those who have lived here for decades, as candidates for deportation. Some immigrants are held in ICE detention for months while the administration tries to find a foreign government to accept them.
On Tuesday, after 15 days in custody at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California, Ryadi was ordered freed by a U.S. magistrate judge. Her husband and son flew to her immediately, and the family reunited that night, at the same Los Angeles hotel they booked when they planned to visit Disneyland.
âItâs a lot of emotions,â Ryadi said in an interview after her release. âI am still terrified, Iâm still living under fear.â
At the same time, she said, âI canât stop thinking about the other women that are in there.â
Video: A Delco nurse arrested by ICE reunites with her family
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Ryadi was âan illegal alienâ taken into custody âduring a targeted enforcement operation at Los Angeles International Airport.â
DHS said she entered the U.S. legally in 2005 but âoverstayed her welcomeâ in violation of immigration laws. An immigration judge issued a deportation order in 2010, DHS said, but did not note that such an order is a standard part of receiving permission to stay, work, and live in the U.S. under a grant of Withholding of Removal.
Ryadiâs husband, Steven Sary, 35, said he was overjoyed to be reunited with his wife. âBut thereâs still work to do,â he said. âWhatâs the next step for us? Weâre still living in fear.â
He tried to stay positive and supportive while Ryadi was detained, even at moments when they were both crying on the phone. He told her, âYou donât have to worry about Luca, Iâm doing the best I can.â
The couple has arranged their lives around their son, setting schedules so one parent is always home with him. Ryadi works weekends at Riddle Hospital in Media, while her husband works Monday to Friday as a UPS truck driver.
The two met when they were children growing up in Philadelphia, and married in 2021.
Ryadi graduated high school from the Academy at Palumbo in the Bella Vista neighborhood, then earned an associate degree at Philadelphia Community College before obtaining her bachelorâs degree at Ohio University.
She became a nurse, she said, because she wanted to help people.
The court order that freed Ryadi came the same day that the Supreme Court ruled the Trump administration could resume the fast deportation of immigrants to countries other than their own.
The court granted the governmentâs emergency request to block an appeals court ruling that said the process was unlawful, because immigrants were not given sufficient opportunity to raise safety concerns.
The Supreme Court said it would hear oral arguments in the case in December, with a final ruling likely next year.
Steven Sary hugs his 3-year-old son, Luca, at their Delco home, waiting for word on his wife, who at the time was detained in California by ICE. She was detained by ICE agents after getting off a plane in Los Angeles as the family traveled to Disneyland. Steven M. Falk / For The Inquirer
âWhat happened to Monica should be treated as an extrajudicial kidnapping,â said Ryadiâs Philadelphia immigration attorney, Eric Rosenfeld, who is handling the case pro bono.
He noted that Ryadi is a registered nurse, the wife of an American citizen, and the parent of a son who is an American citizen â yet ICE casually told her she would be sent to an undisclosed third country.
She was never given any type of document or warrant to explain her arrest, he said. Upon release she was fitted with a GPS ankle monitor, and she knows ICE will likely try again to deport her, the attorney said.
âThis is a respite. Not security,â Rosenfeld said.
As the Trump administration pursues its mass-deportation agenda, the protection offered by Withholding and similar relief âis proving to be very little protection at all,â the American Immigration Council wrote. âThe Trump administration is trying to ship them out wherever it can â and keep them locked up in the meantime.â
A Philadelphia man who was arrested in July remains in detention, despite having lived legally for almost 20 years.
Mamadou Fadel Cherif of West Oak Lane was granted protection from potential political violence in his native Guinea. Now the administration wants to deport him to Ghana.
To receive Withholding of Removal, applicants must prove they were persecuted in the past or that their lives would be threatened in the future, that their home government harmed or will harm them â or failed to control others who might do so.
When that relief is granted, the immigration judge also enters a deportation order, then tells the government it cannot deport the person to their homeland. In that way the removal is âwithheld.â
âWe were planning to have an amazing trip with the family,â Sary said, âto see Cars Land with our son. But that changed.â
This image shows Delaware County nurse Monica Ryadi, left, in white, being arrested by ICE agents at Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 15. She and her husband were taking their 3-year-old son to visit Disneyland.Courtesy of the family
âIt felt like I was kidnapped,â Ryadi said. âI kept saying, âIâm legal, Iâm a legal immigrant.ââ
She grew up in the United States with government permission, has work authorization, a Real ID, and a Social Security number. She pays taxes. Yet she was chained wrist, ankle and waist like a criminal, she said.
Ryadi wonders if the ICE operation against her began in Philadelphia. As her family waited to board the plane, she said, a woman in a black jacket approached and made small talk.
The woman didnât have luggage, Ryadi said, and she didnât get on the flight. Instead, she walked away to talk to a man who also did not appear to be a passenger.
When Ryadi was released from the Adelanto detention center, 90 miles northeast of Los Angeles, immigrant-aid volunteers gave her a ride all the way to the city.
There she flew into the arms of her husband and son.
âIâm so happy to see you!â she cried.
At the hotel, the family saw people decked out in Disney attire, coming back from the theme park. Young Luca asked if they could go.
Think you know your news? Thereâs only one way to find out. Welcome back to our weekly News Quiz â a quick way to see if your reading habits are sinking in and to put your local news knowledge to the test.
Question 1 of 10
This musical performance in Philadelphia this week observed a strict âno phonesâ policy, with audience membersâ devices locked inside Yondr pouches:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
What was different about Phoebe Bridgers'The Lost Tour at the Xfinity Mobile Arena was that none of the 20,000 or so people in the room had their cell phones with them. Bridgers was accompanied by her nine-piece band and her opening act, Havertownâs own Alex G.
Question 2 of 10
Who is the new Sixers jersey sponsor this season?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
A Silicon Valley company that makes off-grid mini-power plants in Delaware, Bloom Energy, just joined the S&P 500 and became a Sixers sponsor.
story continues after advertisement
Question 3 of 10
A local grocery store has a large hay and pumpkin display people have dubbed the âFauxnaticâ for its off-brand resemblance to the Phanatic. Which grocery store has the Phanatic-like fall display outside?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Rotund, snouted, and wearing a pinstripe baseball tee, the creature has all the trappings of our dear Phillie Phanatic. But somewhere along the way, the details in Sproutsâ new fall display got lost in translation.
Question 4 of 10
Saturdayâs Parallel Parking Championship will feature social media influencer Betsy Kenney and Fergie of Fergieâs Pub as guest judges. A Philly figure who went viral will also judge. Who is it?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
In May, Jamele Ransom gave an animated interview to NBC10 about having witnessed a carjacked truck crash into a playground. He gave that interview while actively eating a soft-serve vanilla ice cream cone the entire time. The clip quickly went viral, with people hailing Ransom as a Philly âlegendâ and âhero.â Now, heâll help judge parallel parking skills.
story continues after advertisement
Question 5 of 10
Which Philly cocktail bar is opening a bigger second act near Rittenhouse Square?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Almanac co-owners Vy To and Victor Ng and bar manager Rob Scott are building a two-level bar in the former Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. space at 112 S. 18th St. A name and opening date have not been announced.
Question 6 of 10
This Phillies player delivered a "career-altering performance" in his playoff debut during the wild-card series against the Atlanta Braves:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Game 2 of the wild-card series Wednesday was deadlocked at 3 in the eighth inning, and one pitch could mean the difference between their season extending another day or the Phillies packing their bags. The 23-year-old pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth to force extra innings, and returned to close it out
Question 7 of 10
What beloved Chinatown restaurant reopened its renovated dining room this week?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Since 2020, Davidâs Mai Lai Wah has only operated as a takeout restaurant (with no delivery). But on Monday, Davidâs Mai Lah Wah quietly opened up its dining room again, and the renovations were significant.
Question 8 of 10
Many of sculptor Zenos Frudakis' works of public art in Philadelphia are widely lauded. But the one depicting this figure has seen significant controversy since its debut in 1999:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Frudakis recently told The Inquirer that he had second thoughts about the Rizzo statue â he didnât vote for Rizzo, and has been concerned with civil rights and social issues. But working on it, he said, allowed him to survive "another day as an artist," and brought him additional work.
Question 9 of 10
A sickly peregrine falcon found at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in June was recently released into the wild after being rehabilitated at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. What was the bird's name?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Patient 718 â animals are rarely named at the Schuylkill Center â arrived thin and sickly on June 4, suffering from high levels of lead poisoning. It was released Tuesday afternoon, bolting from the tote that contained it into Roxborough.
Question 10 of 10
After nearly three decades in business, this music club â touted as the only woman-owned music venue in the city â closed for good this week:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Karen Lauria Saillant, the owner of the club at 412 W. Girard Ave. that is housed within the Philadelphia Bar & Grille, announced the venue's closure Wednesday. Many rising stars played there, particularly between 2003 and 2017, including John Legend, Rilo Kiley, and My Chemical Romance.
Your Results
You have skipped .
You scored XX out of 10.
The average reader scored XX out of 10
Seems like youâve been skimming more than reading there, buddy. Thereâs always next week.
Youâve read some articles (or made some educated guesses) but we wouldnât come to you first for our local news recaps. Better luck next week!
Do you work here? Youâre a local news stan with the latest updates on Philly happenings. Your friends definitely ask you for summaries on whatâs going on and it shows.
