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  • Horoscopes: Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026

    Horoscopes: Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026

    ARIES (March 21-April 19). Algorithms rarely show you something that doesn’t intrigue you or make you want to pull out your wallet — there go your attention and money. Contrastingly, the analog living you do today will reward your attention instead of competing for it.

    TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Avoid spending any time at all noticing or lingering in the sorrow of unpossessed talents while your potentiality waits for attention, praise and the hours of work it will take to make the talents you possess in abundance absolutely gleam.

    GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You’ve spent enough time in your head lately, so it will be great to get a win you can feel in your body or see in the physical world, such as sore legs after a long walk, a point on the score board or a room you cleaned yourself.

    CANCER (June 22-July 22). You’re reminded how life is always rolling along and relationships along with it, shifting in ways perhaps undetectable over the course of days and weeks, yet each little change creates a different degree of depth, distance or temperature.

    LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You’re so open to the muses, not just for yourself and your own work, but for those you’re sure to inspire along the way. You’re all contributing to something that’s bigger than the sum of its parts.

    VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Don’t be overly concerned with making everything easy for others today. Some need it, sure. But if you make yourself too useful to entitled types, you could be doing yourself a disservice, as they will never stop taking.

    LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Believe in your powers of consecration. You can imbue a subject with a sacred energy, which exists as much in you as it does in any. What’s sacred to you is sacred, period.

    SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Maybe someone’s loyalty runs so deep they would be there for you whether you were nice to them or not, but the fact is that you’re unfailingly kind and never take them for granted, and they show up for you again today.

    SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). There’s no need for postgame analysis because today’s cosmic gift is the clear, clean, obvious and undeniable move that all can see and comprehend immediately. This doesn’t happen every day. The whole game will progress.

    CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You may feel the strong need to surround yourself with things that reflect who you are because it’s extremely important now that you put your whole self into what you’re creating. It needs the values, taste and sensibility that’s all you.

    AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You’ll solve a long-standing problem with one elegant move. The answer may be so simple that you’ll laugh at the elaborate plans in the recycling bin. It’s a testament to your beautiful thought processes. Sometimes they take the scenic route.

    PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). When is it appropriate and useful to say everything you want to say? Almost never. Even so, adults still manage to communicate with grace inside the realization that everyone is, to some degree, holding back.

    TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Sept. 15). In your Year of the Gentle Rain, your wild heart is nourished by all that you need to thrive, and it seems to come straight from heaven in measures that are so easy to absorb. More highlights: Education is immediately applied to better relationships and lucrative work. Peace, pride and production as you build together with chosen family. Hot tickets and fun. Pisces and Aries adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 30, 10, 12, 9 and 15.

  • Dear Abby | Drama queen disrupts gatherings without even being there

    Dear Abby | Drama queen disrupts gatherings without even being there

    DEAR ABBY: A good friend in our prayer circle, “Diane,” has a friend, “Suzy,” with whom several of us once socialized. We’ve all distanced ourselves because Suzy has anger and stability issues that have become increasingly frequent since her former spouse has begun dating again. Diane allows Suzy to verbalize all kinds of half-truths and act out with volatile behavior, which some of us feel is basically encouraging destructive mental health.

    While some of us suspect Diane enjoys the drama of recounting Suzy’s latest issue, others believe she thinks she’s “being there” for Suzy. Since so much of each meeting is now focusing on Diane’s description of Suzy’s latest tantrum, how can we encourage her to help Suzy get the counseling she needs to get past not only her divorce, but also the results of several years of negative behavior, and focus on the real reason we are gathering?

    — CARING FRIEND IN OHIO

    DEAR FRIEND: Has it occurred to you that instead of praying, which is what those meetings are supposed to be about, Diane has hijacked the purpose of the meeting with gossip when she describes in detail poor Suzy’s antics? What an invasion of Suzy’s privacy! Tell Diane that if she really wants to help her friend, she should encourage her to get professional help and, if she’s reluctant to do it, to pray (as will you all!) that Suzy summons up the courage.

    ** ** **

    DEAR ABBY: I live in a neighborhood that has no sidewalks, and I vacation in a busy coastal area that also has narrow roads. My dog and I walk at least once a day along these roads, and I’ve noticed that many pedestrians don’t know which side of the road to walk down.

    According to the Scouts, you should walk facing traffic. This makes sense because you can see vehicles coming toward you and can move out of the way if they do not or cannot move around you. These days, electric cars are so quiet that many walkers don’t hear them coming. Driving when you never know where walkers will be is dangerous, too. Please get the word out to walk or jog facing traffic, but not down the middle of the road. Thanks!

    — DOG WALKER IN IOWA

    DEAR WALKER: I have long thought that my column serves as a sort of extended “community billboard.” Your safety message is an important one. Thank you for taking the time to share it.

    ** ** **

    DEAR ABBY: We need advice on the polite thing to do when you observe something on the face of a person you are talking to. Should you: a) Motion with your finger on your face that an object has been observed; b) Tell the person discreetly; c) Say or do nothing? Does it make a difference if the person is a friend, spouse or casual acquaintance? In the case of a spouse or good friend, should the observer suggest removing it? Does the same thing apply if you notice a zipper undone, button unfastened, clothing untucked, a smudge, tear or wet spot?

    — DIFFERENT OPINIONS

    DEAR OPINIONS: I think the kind choice would be to inform the person of the problem discreetly, which would cause the least confusion and embarrassment. If appropriate, offer to help and see if it is welcome.

  • Rapper Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran’s ‘Loop Tour’ Philadelphia stop, while supporting acts quit

    Rapper Macklemore dropped from Ed Sheeran’s ‘Loop Tour’ Philadelphia stop, while supporting acts quit

    Just days before Ed Sheeran’s concert on Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field, rapper Macklemore was dropped over pro-Palestine comments. Following that, several of Sheeran’s supporting acts have quit in support of Macklemore.

    Aaron Rowe, Finneas, Lukas Graham, and Sheeran’s backing band, Beoga, have all announced they were dropping out of the tour, Deadline reported. Lincoln Financial Field officials didn’t immediately return a phone call for comment on what this might mean for this weekend’s concert.

    Macklemore, a Grammy winner, joined the tour earlier this month and was slated to open for Sheeran on eight of his last 10 shows on the U.S. leg of the tour.

    According to Rolling Stone, Macklemore was dropped because of the rapper’s pro-Palestine statements at two shows at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., earlier this month.

    On Sept. 4, Macklemore performed his 2024 protest song, “Hind’s Hall,” about pro-Palestine demonstrators at Columbia University and chanted “Free Palestine” while a screen behind him showed footage from the war in Gaza.

    Singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran performs during “Ed Sheeran’s Play: Live from New York” presented by TikTok at Domino Square in Brooklyn on Sept. 13, 2025. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)Andy Kropa

    On Tuesday, Sheeran issued a statement on Instagram, writing that he was in contact last week with venue owners, promoters, and activists to “find a mutual resolution for all.”

    While he respects Macklemore’s “strength of purpose to stand up and shout for what he believes,” Sheeran said he was unable to “build bridges” with venue owners and promoters because of the way the rapper “conveyed part of his message” during his two New Jersey shows.

    Messina Touring Group, the promotional team behind the U.S. leg of Sheeran’s tour, told Rolling Stone that several venues “will not allow a concert to take place with Macklemore on the lineup.” That list of venues includes Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.; Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium; Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium; Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.; AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.; and the South Philadelphia venue.

    Not removing Macklemore from the lineup, Messina representatives said, would “result in the cancellation of the tour and impact hundreds of thousands of fans.”

    Lincoln Financial Field representatives did not respond to requests for comment from The Inquirer at the time of publishing.

    U.S. rapper Macklemore (center) attends a demonstration in support of Palestinians calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, near the Dolby Theatre where the 96th Academy Awards Oscars ceremony were being held, on March 10, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent, File)Etienne Laurent

    “What I said at MetLife I have been saying on stages around the world for almost three years,” Macklemore wrote in a social media post on Monday. “So why is it an issue now? Because now I’m sharing a stage with one of the biggest artists in the world, in some of the biggest stadiums in America.”

    The rapper wrote that he was dropped from the tour after Sheeran, whom he called a friend, received a call from Robert Kraft, the owner of the NFL’s New England Patriots and Gillette Stadium.

    “Kraft had rallied some of the other stadium owners and collectively they gave [Sheeran] an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues,” the post reads.

    “I agree with Macklemore,” Kraft said in a statement obtained by USA Today Sports, in which he acknowledged his decision that Macklemore’s “participation in the September 25th and 26th concerts at Gillette Stadium would cross that line.”

    Kraft also wrote: “Too many lives have been lost and there has been too much suffering, but only sharing selective information and ignoring the actions of Hamas is not honest and only advances more divisiveness and hate.”

    Macklemore’s shows at MetLife spurred backlash from pro-Israel groups like StopAntisemitism. In a social media post, the group accused Macklemore of spreading “anti‑Israel propaganda,” an assertion that was amplified by Bucks County-bred pop star Pink.

    “A repost isn’t a statement,” Pink clarified in an Instagram post, adding that she didn’t object to Macklemore’s “Free Palestine” chants, and said that she believes that “Palestinians deserve a future that honors their humanity and their aspirations.”

    “I have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I’m not asking now. I don’t need anyone fired, and I don’t need a refund,” she said. “What I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, ‘that scared me, and it scared people I love,’ without being told our fear is just propaganda, and without being told I’m somehow cool with genocide because I noticed?” she wrote. She also pointed to her “decade as a UNICEF ambassador” during which she worked for “kids who didn’t choose the country or the war they were born into.”

    In this Feb. 20, 2019 file photo, singer Pink poses for photographers at the Brit Awards in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP, File)Vianney Le Caer

    The Israeli American Council also launched a petition, demanding that Macklemore be removed from the tour.

    Macklemore performs at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater during the South by Southwest Music Festival on March 17, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP, File)Jack Plunkett

    Despite one “painful disagreement, Macklemore contends that he will remain friends with Sheeran and understands his position. “Taking a side can cost you. Money, brand deals, sponsorships, festivals, private shows, relationships and access. I’ve lost all of those things,” Macklemore wrote in his social media post.

    The North American leg of the “Loop Tour” wraps up at Raymond James Stadium on Nov. 7. A South American leg of the tour will follow in November and December.

    An earlier version of this article misstated the day of Ed Sheeran’s concert. It is on Saturday, Sept. 19.

  • Supreme Court rejects Trump mail ballot restrictions for now ahead of midterms

    Supreme Court rejects Trump mail ballot restrictions for now ahead of midterms

    WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected President Donald Trump ‘s mail ballot restrictions for now, capping a flurry of last-minute legal action with voting in the midterm elections already underway.

    The decision allows states to continue sending out mail ballots under the same processes they’ve used for years.

    Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented from the brief order. Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed that the restrictions should not go into effect for the midterms but indicated he might rule in favor of the Trump administration later.

    The Trump administration had asked the court, once again at the center of a roiling political controversy, to clear the way for restrictions before the pivotal November contests for control of Congress. The case has major implications because nearly one-third of the country votes by mail.

    Election officials have said there was simply no way to carry out a complete overhaul in the weeks before the midterms. Indeed, Alabama, North Carolina and Wisconsin began sending mail ballots to voters over the past week while the new system was still not active.

    The Trump administration plan would require states to adopt a uniform envelope style and submit lists of eligible voters to an online portal. The Postal Service could refuse to deliver ballots to states that didn’t comply.

    A whistleblower report, though, said the postal system’s requirements could lead to millions of mail ballots never being sent, because the portal wasn’t properly built and a single bar code error could result in an entire batch of ballots being tossed out.

    Democratic state officials and voting rights groups challenged the restrictions in court, arguing that the president has no constitutional authority to set election rules that would “virtually eliminate mail voting on the eve of a major election.”

    Lower courts agreed and blocked Trump’s plan, including a preliminary injunction issued by a judge nominated by the president.

    But the Trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that federal control of the Postal Service allows them to set rules for mail ballot handling and that compliance was possible.

    The federal government won an early procedural decision at the Supreme Court, but the justices pointedly did not decide the legality of the plan.

    Trump has long opposed mail voting and falsely blamed it for his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, even though he often uses that method to cast his own ballot, including as recently as this year.

  • Pennsylvania AG announces bust of statewide ring allegedly selling millions in ‘legal’ weed

    Pennsylvania AG announces bust of statewide ring allegedly selling millions in ‘legal’ weed

    Twelve people have been charged in connection with an alleged multimillion-dollar operation to sell high-potency marijuana products in stores across Pennsylvania “under the guise that they were legal” using large distribution warehouses, including one in Bucks County, state Attorney General Dave Sunday said Monday.

    Marijuana products are being sold at vape shops, convenience stores, and gas stations because of what has been described as a loophole in federal law. This is separate from the laws passed by states, such as New Jersey, approving the sale of recreational marijuana with strict regulations.

    In the Pennsylvania case, investigators traced about $18.7 million to the alleged illegal proceeds, Sunday said.

    “We have closed this operation by raiding the main source warehouse locations, three of them, and by removing products from those warehouses and many convenience stores or smoke shops across Pennsylvania,” Sunday said at a news conference in Westmoreland County.

    “The defendants in many cases went from being renters of homes and apartments to owners of giant warehouses and lavish residential properties,” Sunday said.

    The investigation got its first “big break” in January 2025, when authorities conducted a vehicle stop in Chester County and discovered the driver was “hauling loads of THC products to these stores, illegal products, all being paid for with cash, and that was a tipping point,” Sunday said.

    Three warehouses were raided as part of the statewide investigation into “legal weed” sold at gas stations and vape stores, state Attorney General Dave Sunday said.Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office

    “So our investigation showed that this criminal organization began as a small-town, small-time operation that grew into something massive,” Sunday said.

    A few months later in Westmoreland County, a related investigation was launched after authorities found that “kids at school” were consuming marijuana products sold from these stores, Sunday said.

    “We know that these products can end up in the hands of children, but also adults who consume them, sometimes without knowing what they contained. The charged traffickers, however, knew what they were selling and they knew that the products were illegal,” Sunday said.

    Investigators then allegedly connected the statewide operation to three main warehouses, and search warrants were executed last September in Bensalem, Pittston in Luzerne County, and Plum Borough in Allegheny County.

    “These warehouses were hubs for distribution to storefronts where the products were sold, and those transactions led to consumption by kids and adults alike. From those warehouses, we seized more than 40 pallets full of illegal products,” Sunday said.

    Hundreds of types of products were sold, including pre-rolled joints and candy-like edibles, and investigators seized nearly 150,000 total items, Sunday said. Some were also legal products, such as snacks and sodas.

    Sunday said some of the defendants owned stores where the products were sold.

    “The storefronts were also scattered all throughout the commonwealth, but the pieces and the players were all working together,” Sunday said.

    Search warrants also were executed at some of the stores.

    The 12 individuals charged are Albina Kumar, Duttkumar Patel, Dharmeshkumar Patel, Madhav Patel, Nirav Patel, Palak Patel, Divyesh Patel, Ketankumar Patel, Niravkumar Vora, Roshniben Patel, Ankitkumar Patel, and Mitul Patel.

    “Many of them are also charged with felony drug trafficking charges as well, because that is precisely what this was — a high-level drug trafficking empire disguised as legitimate businesses,” Sunday said.

    Agencies that assisted the attorney general’s office in the case include the district attorney’s offices in Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties. Also assisting were the police departments in Bensalem Township, Bristol Township, Lower Moreland Township, and other municipalities.

    In the meantime, Pennsylvania lawmakers are still struggling with how to close the so-called loophole.

    Under the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp became legal if it contained less than 0.3% Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) after harvest. The legislation was meant to help a struggling agricultural sector.

    However, entrepreneurs began extracting trace amounts of intoxicating THC variants from those legally grown hemp flowers and turning them into powerful, alternative cannabis products.

  • Eagles to place guard Landon Dickerson on injured reserve, will miss at least four games

    Eagles to place guard Landon Dickerson on injured reserve, will miss at least four games

    The Eagles are placing left guard Landon Dickerson on injured reserve, NFL sources told The Inquirer on Monday.

    Dickerson will miss at least the next four games with a knee injury after his struggles in the season-opening 24-22 win over the Washington Commanders. The 27-year-old offensive lineman was on 94.1 WIP when the news broke and while he said he had yet to be told he was going to injured reserve, he said it was “the plan.”

    Jalen Hurts used his arm, legs, and mind to beat the Commanders. He also helped the Eagles mask some O-line issues.

    “Honestly, I played like s— yesterday,” Dickerson said on the radio. “I was a complete liability. It was my fault. I should not be out there until I feel healthy. A few weeks ago, someone rolled up on me in practice. We got some imaging on it today. Really the best plan going forward is to put me on IR so I can have a good stretch at the back end of the season.

    “I don’t think anybody wants to see that again. That was ugly. That was [bull]. This is not related to last season.”

    Dickerson underwent knee surgery prior to last season after suffering an injury during training camp. He rushed his return in time for the opener, but said recently that he wouldn’t have come back so soon in retrospect.

    He struggled all season and there was concern inside the Eagles that he may retire. Dickerson later said he never contemplated retirement.

    “I wouldn’t have spent seven figures in the offseason,” Dickerson said on WIP.

    Second-year offensive lineman Drew Kendall is expected to replace Dickerson, unless the Eagles decide on another configuration that could shift center Cam Jurgens to guard. Willie Lampkin is also in play for either job, although Kendall is the likely first interior lineman up.

    Drew Kendall (66) had a good training camp and appears in line to start on Sunday in Tennessee. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    Kendall played center exclusively in college, while Jurgens’ first season as a starter in the NFL was at right guard. Jurgens also struggled against Washington on Sunday.

    Like Dickerson, he played through injury during the Super Bowl LIX run in 2025 and returned the following season following back surgery. He never looked 100%.

    Dickerson’s career, dating back to college, has been injury-plagued. He had multiple ACL tears, ankle surgeries, and other ailments during his time at Florida State and Alabama. The Eagles drafted him in the second round despite the medical red flags.

    He quickly became one of the NFL’s best interior linemen, though, and earned three straight Pro Bowl nods from 2022-24. But the injuries mounted, and while Dickerson missed only a handful of games in his first five seasons, it increasingly affected his performance.

    The Eagles’ changes to their offensive scheme this offseason were expected to affect Dickerson the most out of the starting five O-linemen. The wide-zone blocking requires more athletic and agile blockers.

    Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was asked earlier on Monday if Dickerson was healthy enough to compete at a high level.

    “I think what you see with Landon is his extreme power,” Sirianni said. “He’s a big man who’s able to move guys off the spot. If you go back and you look at, OK, so he gives up some pressures, all right. But he also caved in the side on Saquon [Barkley]’s long run on that third down.”

    Dickerson underwent meniscus surgery during training camp last year but returned to practice approximately two weeks later.

    “Probably shouldn’t have gone out there and played, but you live and you learn,” Dickerson said after the third practice of training camp this summer. “You do stupid stuff when you’re young. I learned that mistake.”

    Landon Dickerson is injured and walks off the field in the second quarter against the Chargers on Dec. 8, 2025.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    A player placed on injured reserve with a designation to return is required to be out for a minimum of four games. Dickerson will miss road contests against the Tennessee Titans and Chicago Bears over the next two weeks, in addition to a home game against the Los Angeles Rams and the team’s Oct. 11 trip to London to face the Jacksonville Jaguars.

    He would be eligible to return on Oct. 18 against the Carolina Panthers.

    General manager Howie Roseman admitted last month that the Eagles’ interior O-line depth was a chief concern heading into camp. Kendall and Lampkin had very little NFL experience, but Roseman said their performances in camp and the preseason assuaged his worries.

    Kendall, a fifth-round pick out of Boston College in 2025, played mostly special teams in seven games last season — including a start in the season finale against the Commanders when the Eagles rested most of their starters — and also appeared on special teams in Sunday’s win against Washington.

    The Eagles signed the 5-foot-11, 290-pound Lampkin after the Rams released him with an injury designation last August. He was inactive all of last season, but showed promise immediately this summer despite his below-average size.

  • Jaxon Smolik pulls ahead in Temple’s QB battle; K.C. Keeler proud of defense’s ‘dramatic’ improvement

    Jaxon Smolik pulls ahead in Temple’s QB battle; K.C. Keeler proud of defense’s ‘dramatic’ improvement

    Two games into the season, Temple’s identity is beginning to take shape.

    The Owls’ defense kept No. 14 Penn State within reach, but Temple managed just nine points in an 18-point loss while continuing to split quarterback duties between Jaxon Smolik and Ajani Sheppard.

    With several offensive players nearing returns and the defense’s emergence, here are three takeaways from Monday’s practice as the team prepares for a nonconference road matchup against Toledo on Saturday (3 p.m., CBS Sports Network).

    Temple honored its 2016 team. A few of them offered advice on how the Owls can reclaim success.

    Quarterback roles taking shape

    K.C. Keeler has not formally declared a winner of Temple’s quarterback competition, but the division of responsibilities between Smolik and Sheppard is becoming clearer.

    Smolik started against Penn State and completed 10 of 16 passes for 59 yards with an interception, while adding 71 rushing yards. Sheppard completed 3 of 6 passes for 48 yards and scored Temple’s only touchdown on a 3-yard run in the fourth quarter.

    Keeler expects the arrangement to remain the same against Toledo, with Smolik directing most of the offense and Sheppard entering when his mobility fits a situation.

    Ajani Sheppard (13) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a Temple’s only touchdown on Saturday.Isaiah Vazquez / For The Inquirer

    “I still think we feel we have two quarterbacks who can win in this league,” Keeler said, referring to the American Conference. “It just depends on how we’re going to deploy them.”

    Sheppard could receive more snaps this weekend, particularly when his running ability could force Toledo’s defense to crowd the line of scrimmage. Keeler also wants the Owls to counter that expectation by allowing Sheppard to attack favorable matchups through the air.

    Smolik remained first in Temple’s quarterback order during Monday’s practice. Keeler defended his performance against Penn State, noting that the Nittany Lions’ tight coverage and pressure against a depleted offensive line limited passing opportunities.

    “It’s tough to play quarterback when your receivers aren’t open,” Keeler said. “I thought he did a good job managing the offense, pulling the ball down and making plays when he had to.”

    Offense awaits reinforcements

    Temple rushed for 176 yards against Penn State, but an inability to turn that production into points underscored how much the offense missed its injured starters.

    Sights and sounds from Temple vs. Penn State at the Linc
    Video: Sights and sounds from Temple vs. Penn State at the Linc

    Running back Sam Brown practiced in full pads Monday after missing the Owls’ first two games. Keeler said Brown could have played against Penn State if it were Temple’s final game of the season, but he did not clear the training staff’s return-to-play protocols.

    Keveun Mason will continue receiving most of the work while Brown, who is expected to return vs. Toledo, eases into the rotation. Mason rushed for 76 yards on 14 carries against Penn State.

    “We’re hoping a healthy Sam Brown, along with what Keveun can do, gives you a great one-two punch with your run game,” Keeler said. “We definitely want to get him involved, but we’re going to be smart enough not to give him 30 carries.”

    Sam Brown almost walked away from football. Now he looks to lead Temple’s backfield.

    Mason said he is prepared for any distribution of the carries and believes the running backs bring different elements to the offense.

    The offensive line may also receive reinforcements. Keeler expects guard Eric King and tackle Kevin Terry to be available, although their workloads will depend on their progress this week.

    Defense setting the standard

    Temple’s defense demonstrated its resilience in its Week 2 loss. After Smolik’s first-quarter interception set up Penn State at Temple’s 5-yard line, the Owls made a goal-line stop four plays later.

    Temple also held Penn State scoreless in the first quarter and allowed just 10 first-half points before the Nittany Lions pulled away. In the season opener, the Owls forced three turnovers and returned two interceptions for touchdowns against Rhode Island.

    Temple linebacker Eric Stuart (left) pushes back Penn State tight end Andrew Rappleyea during Saturday’s game.Isaiah Vazquez / For The Inquirer

    “They’ve improved so much from a year ago,” Keeler said. “It’s dramatic. Part of it is that I think we’re putting our kids in a little bit better position to be successful. The other thing is we’re more talented.”

    Defensive tackle Kevin Hornbeak Jr. credited the unit’s progress to a deep rotation that has kept the defensive line fresh through two games.

    “All of our group is one,” Hornbeak said. “Anybody can get thrown out there. I’ve got all the faith in our room.”

  • Philadelphia Orchestra musicians’ pay will reach $200,000 if new pact is approved

    Philadelphia Orchestra musicians’ pay will reach $200,000 if new pact is approved

    Musicians and management of the Philadelphia Orchestra have struck a tentative agreement on a new three-year labor deal. The pact, whose terms were finalized in the past few days after more than six months of talks, would, if ratified, put the base minimum salary of orchestra members at $200,008 annually by the end of the contract.

    Players were presented with the deal Monday and, after a mandatory 48-hour period to mull it, are slated to hold a ratification vote starting Wednesday.

    The old contract expired Monday at 12:01 a.m., but no interruption of performances is expected. Opening night of the 2026-27 season is Sept. 24 — a benefit concert for the musicians’ retirement fund featuring Joe Hisaishi’s Orbis and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.

    The musicians’ negotiating committee recommended the contract — which keeps the Philadelphia Orchestra’s players among a group of the best paid in the U.S. — to the full membership.

    “It’s a step in the right direction,” Ellen Trainer, president of local 77-274 of the American Federation of Musicians, said of the tentative deal. “I think the association [management] understood our narrative and worked with us to achieve something we can all be proud of.”

    “This is a deal that commits to the artistry of the orchestra,” said Philadelphia Orchestra and Ensemble Arts president and CEO Ryan Fleur. “We’re trying to assure short- and long-term economic stability. It does make an investment in our artists and it is a competitive deal that will keep them among their highest-paid peers.”

    The new contract follows one whose negotiations in 2023 were publicly acrimonious and left some orchestra board members feeling bruised. Players authorized a strike, though a strike never happened, and they filed unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board.

    Talks this time did not bubble over in public, though musicians did make labor-solidarity statements over the summer such as wearing union T-shirts to rehearsals.

    The new contract calls for an increase in base salary from the current $176,280 to $200,008 over the contract’s three-year span. Many players earn more, and some, like principals, make much more.

    The contract does not call for changes in healthcare coverage. It provides work-rule changes, such as opening up more rehearsals to students, and spells out protocols for hearing loss protections during performances using amplified sound. The third year of the contract grants supplemental payments to substitute and extra musicians for their retirement accounts.

    Ravi Coltrane and the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Edwin Outwater, during a concert celebrating the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birth at the Highmark Mann Center this past July.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    The new contract increases the size of the “complement” — that is, the number of full-time members — from the current 103 to 104 by the third year.

    The deal also enshrines for the first time a limit on the number of live-to-screen movie presentations that can be programmed to two per subscription season, with no more than three performances per movie. The contract does not restrict the number of film concerts in summer.

    Fleur said it’s not the film music itself that concerns the orchestra’s musicians. But film scores are typically recorded in multiple sessions, and when an orchestra performs the entire score all at once, “it’s a very intense process and requires skills that are not consistent with the skills when responding to [music and artistic director] Yannick [Nézet-Séguin] in a Mahler symphony.”

    The new contract also provides for a process at the end of the season to review “the quality of all programs featuring a nonsymphonic work, including, but not limited to, programs featuring pops music,” to discuss the income generated as well as the “impact of the programming on the artistic health of the Philadelphia Orchestra.”

    Musician dissatisfaction has been around certain concerts at which “the orchestra is playing with stand-lights and they’re not really a partner on the stage but more in the background,” said Trainer. “They want to be mutually featured.”

    A number of other major U.S. orchestras have been in negotiations recently. This month, the National Symphony Orchestra settled a new contract, as did the Boston Symphony Orchestra last month. Players of the Cleveland Orchestra recently voted to authorize a strike. The San Francisco Opera canceled opening night of its 104th season on Sept. 12 after musicians of the orchestra went on strike.

    Philadelphia Orchestra has also had its share of strikes, though the most serious work stoppage in past years was three decades ago — a 64-day strike in 1996.

    Fleur said that recent talks featured a “collaborative process,” and while there were times when each side got frustrated, “that’s what happens when there’s an open dialogue, and we worked through it.”

    Orchestra negotiating committee chairperson and violinist Dara Morales said that this time in talks she felt that “the musicians’ voices and our collective knowledge of the orchestra and our industry were taken seriously.”

    The new contract runs though Sept. 9, 2029.

  • McConnell returns to the Senate for the first time since his June hospitalization

    McConnell returns to the Senate for the first time since his June hospitalization

    WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky returned to the Senate on Monday for the first time since June 14, when he was hospitalized after a fall in his home.

    McConnell’s three-month absence from the Senate generated a flood of criticism and online speculation, as the Kentucky senator initially remained quiet for weeks about his condition. The 84-year-old senator eventually disclosed that he had been “briefly unconscious” due to the fall and had also been treated for mild pneumonia in the hospital.

    “My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process, and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven’t made it any easier,” McConnell said in a statement Monday. “I’m still not quite back to 100%, but I’ve assured Leader Thune that, as I continue with physical therapy on the advice of my doctors, I will do my best to be present for tough votes when our Conference needs me.”

    The concerns over McConnell’s absence highlighted increasing public concern about the age of lawmakers and their capacity to carry out their duties. Speculation about his condition grew so intense at one point that Kentucky’s Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear took the extraordinary step of issuing a public letter asking McConnell to update the public in a “transparent manner.”

    McConnell’s absence was also felt over the summer as Republicans were unable to advance a farm bill out of committee. His return could give GOP leaders a needed vote as they try to advance legislation on cryptocurrency regulation and college sports.

    McConnell, who holds the distinction of being the longest-serving Senate leader, is in his final months of his four decades in office. He is retiring at the end of January after one of the most consequential careers in modern politics.

    Republicans have nominated U.S. Rep. Andy Barr to replace him, while Democrats have nominated former state lawmaker Charles Booker. McConnell said he is determined to finish out his term.

    A history of health problems

    McConnell had polio in his early childhood and has long acknowledged difficulty as an adult in walking and climbing stairs.

    The physician’s office in Congress in the July statement said McConnell has “experienced several falls through the year” due to his “post-polio condition.” The office said his physical therapy was aimed at reducing the risk of him falling again.

    “A comprehensive evaluation by a multidisciplinary team determined that he had no fractures, cardiac abnormalities, stroke, tumor, or hemorrhage,” the physician’s office said.

    McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and was the Republican leader from 2007 until last year, serving as both majority and minority leader during that period. He has remained active as a rank-and-file senator, showing up for work when the chamber is in session, often using a wheelchair to get around.

    But the senator’s physical condition has visibly declined in recent years.

    He was hospitalized with a concussion in March 2023 and missed several weeks of work after falling in a Washington hotel. He twice froze up during news conferences after he returned, staring vacantly ahead before colleagues and staff. A year later, he fell and sprained his wrist while walking out of a GOP luncheon.

  • Philadelphia faces calls for a data center moratorium amid spreading AI fear and talk of a slowdown

    Philadelphia faces calls for a data center moratorium amid spreading AI fear and talk of a slowdown

    The battle over data centers and the artificial intelligence they power has officially reached Philadelphia City Hall.

    A coalition of activist groups and environmental advocates gathered at City Hall Monday to call on local lawmakers to pass a moratorium on data center construction in the city, the opening salvo for the group’s public pressure campaign to oppose the projects that it says could hike energy rates and drive pollution.

    “There’s way too much at stake to let data centers expand without guardrails,” said Sonya Sanders, board president of Philly Thrive, an advocacy group for racial, economic, and environmental justice.

    The coordinated push could put Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and members of City Council in a politically tricky spot as they gear up to run for reelection in the spring. Data centers have proven deeply controversial and have drawn bipartisan backlash, but some unions that see job-creating potential support their construction.

    There is no specific data center proposal currently under consideration by City Council, and no member has said that they will introduce a moratorium bill. A spokesperson for Council President Kenyatta Johnson said that Council members and Parker’s administration are in “discussions on the future of data centers in the city.”.

    Any data center legislation would have to run through Parker, a centrist Democrat who has not staked a position on the issue. She is allied with the unions that represent construction workers and has generally been pro-development. However, she positioned herself as an opponent of Big Tech earlier this year when she advocated for new taxes on companies like Uber and Airbnb.

    Parker said in a statement Monday that she would sign an executive order this week to “formalize” a task force she convened over the summer to explore potential standards for data center development, and she vowed that the city would put “rigorous guardrails in place.” She did not specify a timeline.

    Grays Ferry resident Sonya Sanders speaks during a rally at Philadelphia City Hall on Monday, calling on City Council to pass a citywide data center moratorium and kicking off the No Data Centers in Philly campaign.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    The data center activists’ event in Philadelphia came as fear of AI’s rapid development and increasingly humanlike capabilities has spread substantially and as leaders of the nation’s largest AI developers over the weekend signaled support for a global slowdown.

    On Saturday, Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei wrote that the technology is advancing more rapidly than leading companies can implement safeguards. Several of his top rivals, including Sam Altman of OpenAI and Elon Musk of SpaceX, endorsed his call for a slower pace of growth.

    Top AI leaders unite to warn the technology is advancing too fast

    Meanwhile, talks of regulation have gripped Washington, with lawmakers from both major parties drafting plans to rein in tech companies and add layers of oversight to AI development. Any proposal faces an uncertain future, as President Donald Trump has said the country should remove barriers to AI development and accelerate advancement in order to outpace China.

    On Monday morning, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: “The only control or ‘guardrails’ that AI needs is a STRONG AND SMART (High IQ!) PRESIDENT, and the U.S.A. has that, in spades!”

    Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker start to make her budget presentation to City Council in Council Chambers on March 12. In the background is Council President Kenyatta Johnson.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    Inaction in Washington has left an opening for states and cities to regulate the construction of data centers, which produce the massive amount of computing power needed for artificial intelligence. They have become increasingly unpopular — a July poll found that 3 in 4 Pennsylvanians don’t want a data center in their backyard.

    Municipalities in Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia, now have more power than ever to slow or halt the development of data centers. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who is considered a potential presidential contender and who had previously courted data center projects, last month signed an executive order requiring local approval for any project to receive a state permit.

    In a major shift, Gov. Josh Shapiro restricts data center development in Pennsylvania

    Philadelphia is already home to eight data centers that were constructed before the issue was widely controversial. The existing data centers are far smaller than the newer “hyperscale” projects that are meant to power AI and have faced opposition in communities across the country.

    In July, the city’s planning commission said there are only two locations in the city that could support an industrial-size data center: the former South Philly refinery site known as the Bellwether District and 2600 Grant Ave., a city-owned plot adjacent to the Northeast Philadelphia airport.

    Planning commission officials emphasized that they were not asked to consider a specific proposal to build a data center at either of those sites.

    People hold signs opposing data centers during a rally at Philadelphia City Hall on Monday, calling on City Council to pass a citywide data center moratorium and kicking off the No Data Centers in Philly campaign.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    City Council has thus far not taken action on data centers, aside from passing a resolution authored by Councilmember Rue Landau earlier this year to hold hearings on the issue. A hearing has not yet been scheduled.

    Council, which is led by a supermajority of Democrats, will convene Thursday for the first meeting of the fall session. Members are unlikely to green-light a controversial data center project ahead of the primary election in May, when every Council seat will be on the ballot.

    But activists said Monday that city lawmakers must take proactive steps to ban data centers temporarily while they draft a regulatory framework and a system for considering public input on proposed projects.

    Shawmar Pitts, the managing co-director of Philly Thrive — which is rooted in the communities that surround the former South Philly oil refinery — said Council members are “on notice.”

    “Don’t put a moratorium in place, and your seat will be taken,” he warned.

    America needs responsible leadership on AI development. It has Trump, instead. | Editorial

    Senia Lopez, a Northeast Philly resident and an organizer with the advocacy group 215 People’s Alliance, said people in neighborhoods surrounding any future hyperscale data center would be saddled with higher utility costs and “increased threats to our health.”

    “City Council must chose whose interests it represents,” Lopez said. “It can side with Big Tech companies seeking to extract from our communities, or it can stand with the working people who have built and sustained them.”