Broad Street, also designated State Route 611, has 31 speed cameras spread over 13 miles between Philadelphia’s northern and southern city limits. They began operating last September.
Since then, PPA has issued warnings or violations to nearly 800,000 speeders.
In October 2025, the Broad Street cameras issued 213,057 formal warnings to people who drove 11 or more miles per hour above the 25 mph limit.
Fines began the next month. In March, 70,498 fines were handed out based on speed-camera readings.
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“Fewer people are speeding, and that means fewer people seriously injured or killed on Philadelphia roadways,” Gabe Roberts, interim executive director of the PPA, said in an interview.
“That’s the goal and it’s how we measure the program’s success. We feel very good about where it stands today,“ Roberts said.
Drivers who travel more than 11 mph over the posted speed limit will eventually be ticketed, with fines starting at $100 and rising to $150 for those driving more than 30 mph over.
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When speed cameras were placed on Broad Street, some suburban commuters had concerns they were being targeted. PPA’s numbers found 59% of speeders lived in Philadelphia zip codes.
Speeding has dropped 95% on the roadway, based on the declining number of violations issued since the first month cameras were operating there, PPA said.
The Route 13 corridor — identified by the city as a particularly dangerous stretch of road — spans Baltimore Avenue in West Philadelphia, Hunting Park Avenue in North Philadelphia, and Roosevelt Boulevard in the Northeast before leaving the city by way of Frankford Avenue.
The first set of cameras along Route 13, in the Northeast, began issuing warnings in June, and there are not enough data to report from the corridor, officials said.
PPA also operates cameras to enforce school-zone speed limits at five elementary schools in the city. Those were installed in the spring and by law had to be shut down in the summer when school was not in session. Roberts said that the school zones will be assessed more fully in next year’s annual report.
A Peco power project in West Philly that Councilmember Jamie Gauthier described as “critical” for the neighborhood has been delayed, after residents expressed outrage at the electric utility’s plans to trim their beloved tree canopy.
Residents near the 400 block of South 48th Street received flyers from Peco in early August, explaining that the utility would soon begin a power infrastructure project involving the installation of electrical poles and wire, and trimming large trees draping over the street. It was the first they’d heard of the project, according to block captain Jonas Maciunas.
“Right now the place that is our home, the creation that we’re taking care of, is being unilaterally changed against our will,” Maciunas, 42, said. The Garden Court street’s tree canopy is one of the draws for living in the neighborhood, and Maciunas said he believes that feature would be ruined by the project and ongoing maintenance.
“That’s butchery … over time, this is a death sentence,” he said of the tree trimming.
The tree canopy over Osage Avenue near South 48th Street.Nate File
But residents are in dire need of the new infrastructure. Over the hottest days of this summer, Gauthier’s office began hearing from people living in apartments at 48th Street and Osage Avenue about extended power outages. For the better part of a year, they’d experienced several days-long outages in the summer and the coldest parts of the winter.
Gauthier said it surprised her to learn Peco had not adequately communicated with these residents about the problems and why temporary fixes had continued to fail.
Looking for answers
The area near 48th Street and Osage Avenue is served by an aging, four-kilovolt infrastructure, according to Peco spokesperson Candice Womer. Peco’s modernization plan would transition residents to a modern 13-kilovolt distribution system, which is designed to be more resilient, more reliable, and reduce the frequency and impact of power outages.
Gauthier said she contacted Peco after hearing about the outages, and learned the utility already had plans for a $15 million modernization plan that would improve power access for a large portion of West Philly. Those plans have been under development since at least 2023, but have yet to break ground. Gauthier implored Peco to accelerate the plan for a smaller portion that would cover these 48th and Osage residents, and it agreed.
Councilmember Jamie Gauthier talks with news media following a special session of City Council March 24, 2025.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The expedited plan, which will cover roughly 1,000 residents, involves installing or replacing 10 power poles, and installing 450 feet of new wire and related equipment along 48th Street. It’s unclear how many trees would be need to be trimmed to accommodate the new infrastructure, and how much wider the scope of the full plan is. Womer said the upgrades would better support future anticipated energy needs for electric vehicles, solar energy, and other electricity demands.
After residents received the flyers from Peco stating installation would begin the following week, some contacted Gauthier’s office in confusion and anger. She asked Peco to pause its plans, and organized a community meeting last week with the utility so residents could learn and ask questions about the project. It did not go well, both Mathias and Gauthier said. Peco representatives provided little information, they said, and could not answer questions in a satisfactory manner.
“I don’t understand Peco’s communication. I don’t understand their response, and I don’t understand the lack of ownership for allowing this to become such a big, urgent problem,” Gauthier said.
Womer said Peco appreciated the feedback it has received from residents and community stakeholders, but noted that it does not include a public engagement process for every one of its projects.
“While we welcome community feedback and consider it when evaluating project implementation, our responsibility is to ensure we continue providing safe and reliable electric service to our customers,” Womer said by email.
In particular, Gauthier said she and residents did not receive an adequate explanation from Peco as to why the new power lines need to be built aboveground, when areas like Center City use underground power lines. Womer said Peco evaluated alternatives, but determined the underground system in the area had no capacity for the new lines and infrastructure without major construction.
A pigeon resting on electric pole in October.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
“The aerial solution provides the most timely and cost-effective path to improving reliability while minimizing overall construction duration and disruption,” Womer said.
Top priority
Gauthier is attempting to thread the needle of satisfying all of her constituents. She said the concerns of the aesthetically concerned homeowners are valid. So too are those without power, some of whom asked Peco at the community meeting to reimburse them for food that has been spoiled as a result of the failing electricity.
There is no precise timeline for the accelerated plan to resume. Gauthier is arranging for Peco to speak at another community meeting in the near future, where she expects them to have more answers for residents upset by the new infrastructure plan. But ultimately, she said the need forreliable power has to come first.
“I understand the concerns around the trees,” she said, but ”we have to get this project done.”
Good morning, Philly. There’s a heat advisory today, as temperatures are expected to head toward the triple digits.
Today, we start with exclusive documents obtained by The Inquirer in the case of Raymond “R.C.” Horsch: a 1985 psychological evaluation which raised red flags decades before he was linked to the disappearances of at least five women.
In 1985, a four-hour exam concluded that Raymond Horsch was “grandiose, mistrustful, suspicious, and excessively controlling,” according to a psychological profile obtained by The Inquirer.
He was also “consumed by anger.”
The full report, which has not been previously reported, is a window into the mind and early childhood of the criminal pornographer at the center of an expanding investigation into a series of missing women.
At the time, Horsch faced sentencing on federal drug charges he’d tried to dodge by assuming a new identity in New Zealand. It would take decades before his home would become the center of a growing missing-persons investigation.
But the report indicated that Horsch could be capable of great violence. Reading it, “I would say you have a potential serial killer on your hands,” a retired FBI special agent told The Inquirer.
Last week, Pennsylvania officials reported two deaths associated with measles, amid a growing outbreak that has already sickened more than 500 people in the state so far this year.
The vagueness of that disclosure touched off a number of strong reactions:
Gov. Josh Shapiro and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. clashed over the announcement. Kennedy accused Pennsylvania of “fabricating” the deaths and Shapiro said Kennedy is spreading misinformation.
Public health experts criticized the Shapiro administration, saying that by not releasing more information about those who died it created a void for conspiracy theorists to fill.
State officials later explained that they define a measles-associated death as one where evidence of measles is present, whether or not it’s listed as the immediate cause of death.
A day after its closure announcement shook the city, the Academy of Natural Sciences and Drexel University came to a tentative agreement about how the transition to a new space, and other changes, would be managed, multiple sources said.
After progressive candidate wins in other cities, Philly real estate developers are pouring money into a PAC aimed at protecting business-friendly Democratic incumbents.
Upper Darby elected officials will consider a sweeping ordinance to restrict how federal immigration officers operate within the township.
An illegal speakeasy and hookah lounge, where an off-duty police officer got into an argument before he was fatally shot outside, must close, a judge has ruled.
A Peco project to install new utility poles in West Philly has been paused after residents expressed outrage over plans to trim back the tree canopy.
Nneka Nwosu, a Philadelphia native currently serving as the vice president of marketing and local programming at WLS in Chicago, will take over running 6abc’s Action News newsroom, reports The Inquirer’s Rob Tornoe.
🧠Trivia time
Move over, $140 cheesesteak from Barclay Prime. There’s a new luxury food gimmick in town. Mr. Edison, the two-story steakhouse on Broad Street, is slinging a crab-stuffed, caviar-covered “blackout” baked potato. How much does it set diners back?
🍽️ Catching up on. If summer put you in a dining-out rut, food writer Mike Klein rounded up a dozen new restaurants to try.
🎧 Listening to. Travis Kelce gave some of his only public remarks about his wedding to Taylor Swift on the new episode of his podcast, New Heights, per the Inquirer’s Mia Messina. He also talked football.
🏈 Reading. “From his early playing days Division 3… to becoming Iowa State’s winningest head coach, Matt Campbell has built a career that has prepared him for his highest-profile opportunity yet,” writes Devin Jackson in this profile of Penn State’s new head football coach.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Concertgoers braved thunderstorms to see this artist perform hits like “24K Magic” at the Linc on Tuesday.
Cheers to Jimmy Butterfield, who correctly guessed Wednesday’s answer: Collingswood. Residents of this borough are weighing whether to allow alcohol sales within its borders.
Trees down on a house, a truck and across Shadow Place, in Mantua, N.J. on Tuesday, September 1, 2026. Strong evening storms left a trail of destruction around the area.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
This summer’s ongoing storm roulette hit Gloucester County, N.J., on Tuesday night. Here’s hoping the power is back in time to run the A/C today.
See you tomorrow. 👋
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
When the baked, crab au gratin-stuffed potato with a caviar “blackout” was placed in front of me at Mr. Edison’s bar, the man sitting next to me looked upon it with wonder. His eyes were transfixed upon the spud, which spewed crab cream — lightly broiled, like the top of a classic French onion soup — and lots of fish eggs from its potato casing. After he watched me take one bite and then another, he leaned over and asked, “Is that as good as everyone says?”
The $48 baked potato at Mr. Edison comes stuffed with crab imperial.Craig LaBan / Staff
Short answer: It is not. I wanted this absurdly expensive baked potato to be good. I love that baked potatoes, of all things, have been trending in the last year. And besides, my colleague, restaurant critic Craig LaBan, liked the non-caviar-topped version of it. It was one of the few bright points of his review of the splashy new restaurant in the Bellevue hotel: “The restaurant’s $48 baked potato, stuffed with nearly half a pound of sweet lump crab au gratin, was the most memorable thing I ate at Mr. Edison,” he wrote.
Thomas Angelina straightens the menus during service at Mr. Edison in the Bellevue Hotel on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The same restaurant can offer experiences that diverge widely, justas not all potatoes are created equal.
Alas, the baked potato I was served at Mr. Edison was all mush. “Well, a baked potato is usually all mush,” you might say. But think about a classic baked potato. There’s the crisp and chew of bacon bits; the gooeyness of melted cheese; bright, tangy, cold sour cream; a sharp pop of chives, all before you even get to the potato part. Precisely the kind of baked potato that’sall-you-can-eat for $15 on Wednesdays at Wine Dive, not even two blocks from Mr. Edison.
And if you’re eating a jacket potato from Mod Spuds in Graduate Hospital (five blocks away from Mr. Edison, with much better baked potatoes), you cantrust great attention was paid to making sure the potato skin is crispy.
The caviar-ladenbaked potato at Mr. Edison costs almost six times what a potato at Mod Spud’s costs. Is it six times better? It is not. There is always a chasm between cost and value. When it comes to the Mr. Edison’s baked potato, that chasm is very wide.
The ideas behind the dishes at Mr. Edison aren’t terrible. Cream belongs on a baked potato, and so there it is. People love crab. So there’s crab in that cream. And people love caviar, so put that on there, too. But somewhere along the way, it seems that the kitchen forgot to make the final result delicious in addition to expensive.
But we’re not really talking about an $88 potato here, are we?
We’re talking about that upcharge, the caviar that catapults a $48 baked potato (still wildly expensive) into the stuff of legend — or at least, the stuff that makes food writers like me write articles about it, including a $55 slice of pizza (it comes with caviar), a $59 pancake (it also comes with caviar, but thankfully, it’s delicious even without it), or a $140 cheesesteak (it comes with truffles, foie gras, and champagne).
My colleague Michael Klein, who wrote about that $55 slice of pizza from Marina’s Pizza, said that it felt like a stunt. Indeed, caviar is seemingly everywhere now. Give me all the high-quality caviar all the time. But caviar for caviar’s sake? It’s starting to feel like it’s going the way of truffle oil.
The bar at Mr. Edison in the Bellevue Hotel on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Beware: Caviar is great. Baked potatoes are great. But more caviar and/or money does not buy you a better baked potato. It does, however, buy you the privilege of eating a baked potato in the company of a live pianist, sitting under a Ferris wheel that houses equally astonishingly expensive bottles of liquor.
Boots Levinson (left) and Laura White pose in the meadow at their home in Merion Station, Pennsylvania.Joe Lamberti / For The Inquirer
When Boots Levinson and Laura White purchased their three-story Tudor in Merion Station in 2021, it lacked curb appeal. Now, five years later, it buzzes with pollinators and plenty of swaying blooms.
Where once there was just a crab apple tree in the backyard and a simple flower bed in the front yard, there’s now a riot of colors thanks to hibiscuses, hydrangeas, creeping Jenny, and lavender.
The couple has also added a kitchen garden, replete with Swiss chard, honeynut squash, and strawberries.
While it’s a lot of work, it’s also “like having four extra rooms,” they said.
Penn Valley resident Samantha Paige Rosen recently released a book that explores the different ways Americans are choosing to live, including communally. It was inspired in part by her own decision to move into her parents’ Bala Cynwyd home at the age of 29.
Speaking of public transportation, the SEPTA bus stop at the Lancaster and Greenfield Avenues intersection has been relocated to the west side, with a full sidewalk closure planned for next month.
Montgomery County has approved a new policy about so-called mail ballot curing, meaning residents who return election mail ballots with something missing or that are damaged will automatically be sent a replacement, along with instructions to properly fill it out.
The district has outlined its plan to replace Jennifer Rivera on the school board of directors, should her resignation — made last week after she was charged with embezzling from her employer — be accepted at a special Sept. 14 meeting. Interested applicants have until Wednesday to put their names forward.
As measles cases continue to climb in the state, several local elementary schools fell under the 95% measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination rate among kindergarteners in 2025, a figure needed to reach so-called herd immunity. For those schools, rates ranged between 76.9% and 94.7%. Here’s a look at local vaccination levels.
🎸 Damn the Torpedoes: Catch a tribute to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. ⏰ Friday, Sept. 4, 8 p.m. 💵 $26.91-$61.07 📍 Ardmore Music Hall
🎶 Bryn Mawr Twilight Concerts: The penultimate show for the 2026 season features David Wilcox and Lucy Kaplansky. ⏰ Sunday, Sept. 6, 7 p.m. 💵 $25.88, free for kids 12 and under 📍 Bryn Mawr Gazebo
The home has a wall of windows and a large deck.Courtesy of Beth Samberg/Real of Pennsylvania
This contemporary five-bedroom Bala Cynwyd home has lots of outdoor living space thanks to a wraparound deck out back. It’s accessed through a family room with vaulted ceilings and a wall of windows. Opposite the windows, the family room is also anchored by a large concrete fireplace. Upstairs, the primary suite has a spacious bathroom and a walk-in closet, while a finished walk-out basement provides additional living space.
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
Platter-sized hibiscus, hydrangea, cardinal flowers, small yellow blooms called partridge peas, chartreuse creeping Jenny, daisies, and lavender fill the front yard of the Merion Station home.
The plantings extend from the porch to the curb, where parked cars push against tall stems of deep pink celosia. “It’s a hostile environment. You hope for the best,” said Boots Levinson.
Levinson and his wife, Laura White, own the three-story Tudor surrounded by colorful vegetation.
“Laura’s the gardener,” Levinson said. “I’m the waterer and manual laborer.”
White and Levinson’s home is surrounded by flowering gardens.Joe Lamberti / For The InquirerThe Tudor-style home has an arch that required repairs.Joe Lamberti / For The Inquirer
The couple moved to the 3,000-square-foot property in 2021 from a one-bedroom condo in Center City. “We bought the first house we looked at,” White said, then conceded, “We had no idea what we were getting into.”
The stucco-and-brick, four-bedroom, 2½-bath house had a new kitchen and bathroom. There was space to entertain and for corgis Archie and Ozzie to romp.
Levinson and White met on Jdate, an online dating service for Jewish singles. They had in common a Midwest background. She grew up in Missouri, while he lived in Minnesota until moving to the Philadelphia area in the sixth grade. White came to Philadelphia for her medical training. The couple married in 2013.
The house needed new air-conditioning and heating systems, and a basement leak exposed a drainage problem.
Hibiscus flowers bloom in the front yard.Joe Lamberti / For The InquirerWhite roses in the garden.Joe Lamberti / For The Inquirer
Landscaping amounted to little more than a crab apple tree in the backyard, rocks and dirt, and a flower bed covering a parking space in front of the garage.
White and Levinson hired mason Deen Vinci of Surrounded by Stone in Merion Station to repoint and repair the stone arch that leads to the backyard. Vinci also built the arch’s wood door and paved the front driveway. In the backyard he reset and repaired patio bricks.
White furnished the patio with a wood table and chairs from Arhaus. The large umbrella from Wayfair is set in concrete so it won’t tumble over in a storm. Plants in the backyard include hydrangeas, zinnias, jasmine, dahlias, gardenia, a juniper and a pine tree.
White, a psychiatrist, had no horticultural training. But she learned a bit from watching her father, Bruce, garden and is grateful to neighbors who share knowledge and plantings with her. Watching hummingbirds and bees flit about her flowers, she and her neighbors “have created a pollinator pathway.”
A hummingbird enjoys cardinal flowers in White and Levinson’s garden.Joe Lamberti / For The Inquirer
Neighbor Suzanne Kane, who tends a lush garden across the street, is a particularly helpful mentor, White said.
Levinson, a Realtor, said his wife’s cultivating talents have been aided by her medical training. “She’s a scientist and is observant and nurturing.”
White planted a kitchen garden on one side of the house with honeynut squash, Swiss chard, Thai and Shishito peppers, and varieties of plum tomatoes she will can. Cucumbers grow on a trellis. In late summer, Ozark strawberries are ripening. Alpine strawberries, which ripen in the front yard in late spring, are so sweet neighborhood children pilfer them.
White stores garlic harvested from her garden in the basement.Joe Lamberti / For The InquirerA squash growing in the garden.Joe Lamberti / For The Inquirer
White has harvested garlic stored in trays in the basement where she starts seeds in the winter with hydroponic lamps. She likes to garden year-round. Soon she will move the Amaryllis plants from outside to the basement for eight weeks or so before placing them in a sunny spot indoors in time for them to bloom at Christmas.
White grows straw flowers because they are easy to dry for year-round flower arrangements. And she chooses perennial plants that span the seasons, such as Muhly grass, which turns from green in the summer to fluffy pink in the fall. Amsonia grass has blue blossoms in the spring and turns from green to gold in the fall.
White shops for plants at several locations, including Primex Garden Center in Glenside, Wynnewood Garden Center, and Lancaster Farmers Market.
A hydrangea in the front yard.Joe Lamberti / For The InquirerA dahlia in bloom in the garden.Joe Lamberti / For The Inquirer
Caring for the property is work.
“Sometimes,” Levinson admitted, “I miss just paying a monthly condo fee.”
Still, he said having gardens on all sides of his home is “like having four extra rooms.”
Is your house a Haven? Nominate your home by email (and send some digital photographs) at properties@inquirer.com.
Apple-picking season is approaching at Linvilla Orchards. Linvilla Orchard
While this week’s weather may not suggest it, September is officially here, which means all things pumpkin spice and apple are right around the corner.
Luckily the region has no shortage of spots to go apple picking and a relatively long runway to score the fruit at the peak of its season. While crops took a hit due to a late spring freeze, two of Media’s best-known orchards have pick-your-own options this fall.
Both Indian Orchards Farm and Linvilla Orchards grow about 25 varieties and are gearing up for hayride offerings. You can also grab apple cider donuts and attend fall festivities at Linvilla.
Middletown Township’s planning commission is set to resume discussions about the proposed Rose Tree Media K-1 Early Learning Center during a meeting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Penn State Brandywine. The district is aiming to build on open land behind Penncrest High School, a proposal that’s received considerable community pushback, with residents citing traffic safety concerns.
A 57-year-old woman, Robin Massing, was charged this week after allegedly stealing more than $7,000 from Media Little League, including through forgery and bad checks.
Media lawyer Daniel A. Pallen pleaded guilty this week to tax evasion and mail fraud related to submitting over $400,000 in fake checks as part of a scheme to evade federal taxes. He is also accused of using a fake cashier’s check to purchase a vehicle. Pallen, whose offices are at 114 W. Front St., faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
A Media man, Matthew McDonough, 40, was charged last week with burglary and criminal trespass after he allegedly broke into the Fine Wine & Good Spirits store on Baltimore Avenue and was later found bloody and drunk in Glen Providence Park, the Daily Times reports.
Longtime Media resident Jeffrey Louis Pettit, a lawyer and former member of the Rose Tree Media school board, died last week at the age of 76. A graduate of Yale University and Villanova Law School, Pettit was also active in the lacrosse community, founding lacrosse and field hockey youth sports organization Rose Tree Media Optimist Sports.
Trash and recycling pickups may operate on an altered schedule for Labor Day. Check with your municipality or service provider for details.
Tonight is the Media Bowl, which will see Penncrest take on Strath Haven. The 7 p.m. football game takes place at Penncrest and includes a kindergarten run prior to kickoff.
🍽️ On our Plate
Ship Bottom Brewery, which has an outpost in Swarthmore and at Linvilla, is gearing up for fall with new brews. The Oktoberfest-inspired Festbier lager is a 5.2% ABV with Czech Saaz hops, while the 9.4% ABV Imperial Pumpkin Ale blends pumpkin pie spices with vanilla. Both will come in cans and on draft. Ship Bottom also has plans to bring back its Cider Donut Hard Cider in partnership with Linvilla.
🎳 Things to Do
🍿 Freakier Friday: Catch the much-anticipated follow-up to the 2003 Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis body-swap film. ⏰ Saturday, Sept. 5, 8 p.m. 💵 Free 📍 Media Borough Hall lawn
🎸 90s Unplugged: Hear a set of covers featuring iconic 1990s hits including “Zombie,” “Wonderwall,” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” ⏰ Saturday, Sept. 5, 8:45 p.m. 💵 $39.96-$88.56 📍 Media Theatre
🎈 PCS 115th Birthday Party: The theater will mark its anniversary with a special cabaret show, food, and drinks. ⏰ Thursday, Sept. 10, 6 p.m. 💵 $28.50 📍 Players Club of Swarthmore
🗞️ What other Greater Media residents are reading this week:
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.
It was a historic Sunday afternoon at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club in the penultimate Tour Championship in its present form, which begged the question: Why change?
With the exception of contrived, boorish, international gimmickry, golf will never be relevant after majors season ends. With apologies to the British Open, golf’s not particularly relevant after Father’s Day and the final round of the U.S. Open. This was proved again last weekend when everything was up for grabs: golf’s biggest money, its MVP trophy, a Tiger record, all swirling around the game’s biggest star.
And all most sports fans cared about was if Bill Belichick’s lousy college football team would win in Ireland (they did; ugly), how many NFL teams would keep four quarterbacks (four teams did, including the Eagles), whether Aaron Donald would unretire to join Myles Garrett with the Rams (he did; yikes), and if the Brewers and Rays are for real (TBD).
Meanwhile, golf’s most monied weekend delivered. It was a closed, $40 million tournament with mostly the same old names, but it delivered more drama than any 16-man, single-elimination tournament will deliver when the latest format begins in 2028, the year after FedEx’s deal expires with the Tour.
This is the brainchild of a panel of existing Tour stars and new PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, the latest attempt of Big Golf to extend interest to compete with MLB’s stretch run, the NCAA’s kickoff frenzy, and the NFL’s annual four months of dominance. Past formats have included cumulative points systems that rendered playoff events (as many as four of them) moot, as well as a system that awarded the best players with pre-tournament handicaps that absurdly skewed the odds of winning the Cup.
Currently, players compete for FedEx Cup points to determine the field for a playoff tournament for the top 70, which winnows the next field to the top 50, which winnows the next field to the top 30, the winner of which wins the Cup and the $10 million first-place check.
It is imperfect, but it is simple, and it is elegant.
Beginning in 2028, a bifurcated series of Tour events will assign qualifying points to determine the top 90 golfers, who will compete in a stroke-play tournament to determine a top 32 in points. That group will compete for a week in round-robin, match-play in pods of four. The two top players from each pod advance to a Sweet 16, single-elimination, match-play tournament to determine a playoff winner.
The problems:
Match play is boring, even if it winds up at non-traditional venues like Pine Valley or Bandon Dunes. The Ryder Cup is the only exception, but that’s more about jingoism and theater than it is about golf.
Stroke play is a truer test of quality. There’s a very real chance that Min Woo Lee and Viktor Hovland would have been the finalists had the 2028 format been used this year. Yawn.
This year’s tournament absolutely delivered.
Got it right
The best golfer of his generation came from three strokes down for a three-stroke win to claim his second FedEx Cup title and surpass the winnings of the best golfer of any generation.
Scottie Scheffler passed Tiger Woods and became the all-time leading money winner in PGA Tour history.
The win, Scheffler’s third of the season, his second of the playoffs, and his 22nd of his career, surely secured his fifth straight Player of the Year award. It will be announced in December, and the five in a row ties him with Tiger. (The award has only existed since 1990, so it postdates Jack and Arnie and Gary Player, but Tiger also won it three times in a row and 11 times overall.)
Tiger Woods, who won the FedEx Cup three times, was the tour’s player of the year 11 times.AP
Before the 30-man Tour Championship there was, incredibly, some debate over whether Scottie should win it over a handful of other players. This, even though Scheffler had a lead of more than 1,400 points over the next closest Tour Championship qualifier; had won two tournaments; and led the Tour in second-place finishes (five), top-5 finishes (13), scoring average (by nearly three-quarters of a stroke), birdie average, greens in regulation, scrambling, and, with more than $20 million in the bank, had earned more than $6 million more than his closest competitors — Matt Fitzpatrick, Wyndham Clark, and Cameron Young.
Uphill battle
At any rate, Scheffler took care of business — a business that he has dominated. Since Official World Golf Rankings began 40 years ago, his 207 weeks at No. 1 are third-most in history, including the last 172 weeks, the third-longest streak in history. He recently ended a streak of 78 consecutive cuts made, sixth-best in history.
In a world of self-promoting social media wankers, he’s about as interesting as warm skim milk.
It’s not his fault. In the midst of golf’s most divisive era, Scheffler won’t say anything controversial. In the midst of America’s most heated political climate in 60 years, Scheffler is apolitical. He’s a retiring Christian family man who tries to play the best golf he can every time he plays.
Bryson DeChambeau is always interesting, no matter how he plays.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
He lacks the additive abrasion of Bryson DeChambeau. He lacks the international appeal and frank assessments of Rory McIlroy, a glib Northern Irishman, or Jon Rahm, a prickly Spaniard.
Exhausted
More than anything, the Tour’s long, top-heavy schedule is its own worst enemy.
Its best tournament, the Players Championship, happens in March. Its most beloved tournament, the Masters, happens in April. Its best major tournament, The PGA Championship, now comes in May. Its toughest test, the U.S. Open, is in June. Its oldest and coolest tournament, the British Open, is played in July.
By August, all but the most rabid golf fans (hand raised) are burned out. Every other year the casuals need the eight weeks between the British and the Ryder Cup to refuel. (We’ll keep ignoring the President’s Cup until it matters.)
As LIV dies and its prodigals return, the Tour Championship in its present form only would have become better. Now, instead of being virtually assured of having DeChambeau, Rahm, LIV stud Joaquin Niemann playing against Rory and Scottie at East Lake on the final Sunday of the 2028 season, you’re guaranteed to have no more than two of them.
A bullpen game for the Arizona Diamondbacks; a sparkling game from Phils starter Andrew Painter. But the offense didn’t rise to the occasion.
And in the end, one swing by D-backs catcher James McCann (on the first pitch by reliever Jonathan Bowlan, no less) made all the difference in the series finale as a six-game winning streak came to an end.
Despite the lackluster finish — and subpar production from the top two spots in the lineup — the Phillies went 6-3 on the trip and are heading into a day off with some breathing room in the National League wild-card race.
But it doesn’t get easier from here. The Phillies are four games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East standings and will welcome them to Citizens Bank Park on Friday. It’ll be a battle of aces in the series opener as Cristopher Sánchez (16-4, 2.52 ERA) faces Chris Sale (13-9, 2.06) on Friday (6:40 p.m., NBCSP)
Bryce Harper was the DH on Wednesday, but he’s been on a roll since his move back to the outfield. He and his wife, Kayla, also recently offered a rare glimpse into their home life.
Jonathan Greenard’s status for Week 1 may be unclear, but his impact on the Eagles is obvious, his position coach says.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Jonathan Greenard is not starting the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list, but the veteran pass rusher’s status is going to be kept “close to the vest” as he works his way back from a pectoral strain, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said.
Even if his status for Week 1 is unclear, his impact on the team is certain, according to his position coach, Jeremiah Washburn.
“We’ve been blessed with a lot of guys that can play, and guys just kind of carve out their roles as we go, and we figure that [out] week-to-week,” Washburn said. “But, man, I’ve been here since ’19, and we’ve just been blessed with depth and different guys that can play. So it’ll look a lot similar to what we’ve done in the past.”
Some of that depth is in the developmental ranks, and Washburn also shared what’s next for practice squad players like Uar Bernard and Joshua Weru.
Off the field, New Heights is back, and former Eagles star Jason Kelce and his brother, Travis, discussed Travis’ wedding to pop megastar Taylor Swift, the Birds’ offensive line, and more.
Next: In case you need a reminder, the Eagles’ season kicks off vs. the Washington Commanders on Sept. 13 (4:25 p.m., Fox29).
The offseason is winding down for Sean Couturier (14) and the Flyers.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The Flyers enter the season, at least on paper, with their strongest roster in quite some time. There is serious competition for roles; not a ton separates the wingers who will play on the first line from the four who will comprise the second and third lines.
Other spots — such as goaltender — are more secure. So where do established stars like Travis Konecny, stalwarts like Sean Couturier, and newer faces like Porter Martone or David Jiříček fit into the puzzle?
Bringing in the likes of LeBron James will have ripple effects on Tyrese Maxey’s role going forward.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Ever since James Harden was traded in 2023, Tyrese Maxey has been the Sixers’ primary ballhandler. An increased usage rate led to bigger accolades.
But, as things go when your team signs LeBron James, things are changing for Maxey. James, who averages 7.4 assists per game in his career, likely will take over some of those point guard duties. Sixers beat writer Chris Hine takes a look back at the early seasons of Maxey’s career to predict how the point guard’s role could evolve after a seismic offseason.
Scottie Scheffler hits from the fairway on the 18th hole during the final round of the PGA Tour Championship on Sunday in Atlanta. Colin Hubbard
Sunday’s Tour Championship seemingly had it all: Drama, history on the line, and a lot of money at stake. So why change?
Just look at the schedule: All the really good stuff (think the Players Championship and the Masters) is in the front half of the year. By the time the sports world has turned its attention to football and the MLB stretch run, all but the most rabid golf fans are burned out.
The PGA’s solution? A convoluted playoff, starting in 2028, that culminates with a single-elimination, 16-player match-play tournament to determine a winner.
We’ll let the experts explain that one. Marcus Hayes takes us inside the new system and why changing the format won’t fix the root problem.
What you’re saying about Week 1 vs. opening day
We asked: Which is more exciting, NFL Week 1 or MLB opening day? Why?
The Phillies may be America’s most historic one-name sports franchise — but football own Opening Day in Philly. It’s a sport that has become beloved in this town since the days of the Frankford Yellow Jackets and Bert Bell’s struggling Eagles of the 1930s. Sports have been a part of the City for over 150 years — and while we want the Phillies in the World Series — it’s football that is Philly. — Michael L.
As a diehard baseball fan, I have to say the NFL opener is more exciting. The build-up to the NFL season is fantastic, with the draft, schedule release and training camp with only 3 pre-season games. The NFL’s 17 game regular season slate (vs. MLB’s 162) makes every game count more! — Bob C.
Just my opinion of course, but I think the beginning of the baseball season has always been more important to me than the NFL start. Baseball is still America’s Game and now played throughout the world. An individual NFL game is more exciting than most individual baseball games generally, but baseball is a game of stats that are so interesting to all baseball fans who so look forward to the new season. MLB plays 2,430 games vs 272 for the NFL. — Everett S.
Well for me MLB opening day even though I am an Eagles fan. Somehow the NFL with all their greed has made it opening week. — Bill M.
Neither! The 76ers’ OPENING GAME is going to be like no other opening game this city has ever witnessed. Press from all over the world will be covering the game. We have our tickets and Mary can’t wait. — Ronald R.
What about the NHL? The last week of September will be huge for the Flyers. The Gritty 5k, a huge fundraiser and a ton of fun on the 26th, plus the home opener against PGH that Wednesday and then the next day we play the Devils for their home opener. Hopefully you remember how things went against the Pens out last game! Should be wildly exciting with a team that has a lot of hype around them. NBA a month later! — Kitty H.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Lochlahn March, Olivia Reiner, Gustav Elvin, Mia Messina, Chris Hine, Gabriela Carroll, and Marcus Hayes.
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
Thanks for reading! Kerith will be back in your inboxes tomorrow morning to close out the week. — Maria
Pennsylvania State University this week announced the opening of the Paterno Family Football Experience Room, named for the school’s iconic — and deeply polarizing — longtime football coach.
The backlash quickly followed.
According to a university news release, the new exhibit — which will be part of the Penn State All-Sports Museum inside Beaver Stadium — will include a slate of features, including Paterno’s original office desk and personal artifacts from his six-decade tenure at the school.
“Penn State Football’s history belongs to generations of student-athletes, coaches, staff, and supporters who helped build this program,” Pat Kraft, Penn State’s vice president for intercollegiate athletics, said in a statement. “This room gives us an opportunity to preserve that history, present it thoughtfully, and create an experience that connects the proud tradition of Penn State Football with its future.”
The release did not directly address how the university settled on the name of the new exhibit, saying only that the school’s athletics department “received a lead gift from an anonymous donor supporting the creation and naming of the Paterno Family Football Experience Room.”
In an email Wednesday, Leah Beasley, a Penn State deputy athletics director, declined to comment further, directing a reporter to the original news release.
The Paterno Family Football Experience Room is set to open to the public Thursday.
The announcement of the new attraction comes 15 years after Paterno’s coaching career came to an abrupt end, when he was fired in 2011 by Penn State’s Board of Trustees over the program’s handling of child sexual abuse allegations involving longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Paterno died in 2012 at the age of 85.
And on Wednesday, it quickly rekindled the discourse surrounding Paterno’s complicated legacy.
Critics on social media expressed their disbelief at the university’s decision to name the museum after a man who played a role in one of the biggest scandals in college sports history.
“The WHAT Family football experience room!??!?!?!?!?” wrote one user on X.
“Incredibly tone-deaf,” wrote another.
“Yeah I think I’ll pass on the ‘Paterno family football experience room,’” said another.
In an interview Wednesday, Penn State booster Michael Kirschner — who along with wife Patty helped fund the Paterno desk exhibit and historical display in the new project — said he supported the use of the Paterno name.
“I am OK with it,” he said. “Those of us who sit on the Paterno side realize that the character of the man was not such that he would do something like that, and he’s done so much for Penn State that we have an allegiance to him that is lasting.”
Brandon Short, a former Penn State football captain and NFL linebacker who now serves on the school’s Board of Trustees, also praised the announcement.
“As a two-time football captain, PSU Trustee, and Letterman, I’m proud to see the Paterno Family Football Experience Room coming to Beaver Stadium,” Short wrote in a social media post. “Been working on this for a while — grateful it’s finally happening. We Are!”
On the field, Paterno’s success was indisputable. From 1966 to 2011, the coach amassed a 409-136-3 career record, becoming the winningest coach in major college football history. He led the Nittany Lions to two national titles, five unbeaten seasons, and 37 bowl appearances.
But to many, those achievements were far overshadowed by the coach’s role in the case of Sandusky, who was accused of using his association with Penn State football to groom boys for sexual abuse.
Sandusky was eventually convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse involving 10 boys over the span of 15 years. (Last week, a judge agreed to a hearing in the case after a man said he wanted to recant his allegations against Sandusky.)
In a 2012 report commissioned by the university, former FBI Director Louis Freeh found that Paterno, school president Graham B. Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley, and vice president Gary Schultz “failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade.”
“The most powerful leaders at the university … repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse,” the report said.
Shortly after the release of the Freeh report, then-Penn State president Rodney Erickson announced that the seven-foot statue of Paterno in front of Beaver Stadium was being removed, calling it “a source of division” and “an obstacle to healing.”
The coach’s name still adorns the university’s main campus library, The Pattee Library and Paterno Library — and many within the Penn State community have remained vocally supportive of the coach and his legacy.
What effect, if any, the exhibit’s name has on prospective interest remains to be seen — though Kirschner, for his part, doesn’t appear overly concerned.
“The lines to see the exhibit,” he predicted, “will be longer than the lines to the Creamery.”
