During the bridge closure, cars and bicycles will be detoured to Chestnut and Walnut Streets, according to PennDot’s plans. The agency has said one sidewalk would remain open to pedestrians to cross the bridge during construction.
Six SEPTA bus routes will be detoured in the area for roughly a year starting Monday: buses 31, 44, 49, 124, 125, and L1 Owl.
Parking restrictions are also in effect in the area through 2028 because of the project, PennDot spokesperson Helen Reinbrecht confirmed. Those restrictions affect Chestnut Street between 23rd and 22nd Streets, 23rd Street between Market and Walnut Streets, and Walnut Street between 23rd and 33rd Streets.
PennDot’s multimillion-dollar project is mostly funded with federal money, with 20% of the cost paid for by the state.
Pedestrians can cross, but the Market Street Bridge (at left) is closed to vehicle traffic Monday for a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation project that could span 14 months.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
KYIV, Ukraine — European leaders joined President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Monday to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence and boost its long-range missile program as Russia pressed on with its 4-year-old invasion of the country.
One of President Vladimir Putin’s key goals in starting a war with Russia’s neighbor in February 2022 was to return Kyiv to Moscow’s orbit. Ukrainian lawmakers voted on Aug. 24, 1991, to proclaim the country’s independence, and a nationwide referendum later that year overwhelmingly approved it.
With no significant changes on the front line for months and no apparent progress after more than a year of U.S.-led peace efforts, both countries are locked in a spiral of escalating aerial attacks that are killing civilians and smashing infrastructure.
Europe rallies around Ukraine
U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham, on his first overseas trip since taking office last month, joined almost a dozen other European leaders, as well as other dignitaries, in Kyiv on Monday.
“For Ukraine, independence is not an abstract idea. We defended it against all odds,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on social media. “In times like these, nations learn how important it is to have allies by your side.”
Burnham co-chaired a meeting of what’s been dubbed the Coalition of the Willing — a group of over two dozen countries helping Ukraine resist Russia’s onslaught.
Burnham said he is pushing British industry to help a Ukrainian project that is working on a low-cost alternative to the U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems that are desperately needed but are in short supply. He urged other countries to encourage Washington to adopt stiffer sanctions on Russia and press Moscow to accept U.S. attempts to secure an unconditional ceasefire.
Zelensky said in a speech at Kyiv’s St. Sophia Square that the presence of European leaders reflected continental fears about Russia’s wider ambitions.
“We all understand that in this Russian war against us — against Ukraine — far more is being decided than the future of Ukraine and Eastern Europe,” he said.
“No nation in a war like this could rely solely on its own weapons,” Zelensky said. ”No nation could withstand attacks of such intensity without the world’s help.”
Ukraine eyes local production of Anglo-French missile
The leaders brought pledges of further military and financial support. Burnham announced his government has agreed to allow defense company MBDA to release classified information relating to British components used in the SCALP long-range missile. That paves the way for France and Ukraine to advance plans for the weapon’s production in Ukraine.
SCALP is the French version of the U.K.’s Storm Shadow missile, with both systems incorporating shared technology.
“Ukraine has been Europe’s protector, not a drain on our security, but the front line of keeping Europe safe,” Burnham said, adding that Kyiv and its partners “must keep up the pressure on Moscow.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin views the plan “extremely negatively.” He accused the U.K. of “taking part in this war” on Kyiv’s side.
Ukraine has leaned heavily on NATO countries for help fighting Russia’s bigger army, although relations with the United States have been cooler under President Donald Trump.
Ukraine’s swift development of innovative drone technology has enabled it to blunt Moscow’s battlefield progress as well as hit targets deep inside Russia, as far as 1,200 miles from their border. The speeches in St. Sophia Square were accompanied by a parade of domestically produced weapons.
Both Russia and Ukraine are trying through long-range strikes to inflict economic pain, disrupt military supplies, and erode public morale.
Ukraine’s long-range drones have repeatedly hit facilities in Russia’s vital oil industry, causing fuel shortages, and have also engaged in a campaign against Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries.
But foreign suppliers also have to take into account their own needs, weapon production levels, and the depth of stockpiles.
As the air war has intensified, Ukraine’s stocks of Patriot interceptors to counter Russia’s ballistic missiles have dwindled. Kyiv urgently needs more interceptors before winter, when Russia routinely bombards its power grid, but the demands of the Iran war and slow output of the sophisticated interceptors have left Ukraine short and vulnerable.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said he believed that striking Russian targets like Wildberries was a “sensible military strategy” that would hasten peace negotiations.
Ukrainian strikes kill 3 teenagers
Three teenagers were killed and six children were wounded in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, Russia’s children’s rights ombudsperson Maria Lvova-Belova said, as Ukraine attacked several warehouses of Ozon, another online retailer, for the third straight day, according to officials and the company.
Ozon said a large fire raged at its logistics facility in the suburbs of Krasnodar following the overnight attack.
A drone also hit the grounds of an Ozon logistics center in the southern Russian region of Adygeya, said regional Gov. Murat Kumpilov, although the company said its warehouse wasn’t damaged.
In all, four Ozon premises appeared to have been targeted.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces struck the Russian state-owned Kamenetsky Combine defense company in the Rostov region overnight, starting a fire. The plant produces rocket and missile fuel, it said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defenses overnight intercepted and destroyed 351 Ukrainian drones over eight Russian regions, the Crimean Peninsula, and the Azov and Black seas. Moscow illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.
The ministry also said its forces overnight struck Ukrainian ports and vessels delivering military cargo.
Russia has also turned its sights on Ukrainian shopping malls, supermarkets, and gas stations in recent months. Russian drones struck a shopping center in central Ukraine in a daytime attack Friday, killing 16 people and wounding 130, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukraine’s southern Odesa region came under a large-scale Russian missile and drone attack Monday, with food storage facilities and energy infrastructure among the targets, regional authorities reported.
Eighteen people, including two children, were injured in a Russian drone strike on Chernihiv in northern Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service.
It was not possible to independently verify each side’s reports.
Dom DiSandro, the Eagles chief of security started off as the guest star on Friday’s episode of The Pete Davidson Show on Netflix.
In his standard uniform of a track suit and hat, DiSandro and Davidson spent the 23-minute episode discussing everything from players retiring to his relationship with other security guards in the league, and finished with a FaceTime call to Mike Tyson.
In his longest — and, as far as we can tell, only — extended on-camera interview, the normally reserved DiSandro spoke about his relationships with players throughout his years with the Eagles and how he tries to learn everything about the player when recruiting, something that continues after they’re signed. He shared how that translates into helping players once they’re part of the organization, whether it’s on the mental side of the game or helping them manage their contracts.
Despite being a behind the scenes guy, Big Dom gained notoriety around the city — and the country — following his suspension stemming from a sideline altercation with San Francisco 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw in Week 13 of the 2023 season. During the Eagles’ visit to the White House last year, President Donald Trump even shouted out DiSandro and offered him the chance to speak.
Although Big Dom’s cultlike following extends beyond the city limits, the South Philly native has no plans on leaving.
“I’ve been offered jobs in the past to go to other teams, but I don’t even think about it,” DiSandro said. “Philly’s just always gonna be home for me.”
While it was the first time DiSandro opened up on camera, it wasn’t the first time the pair has been connected. In December 2024, Davidson was spotted at a Sixers game wearing a Big Dom hoodie with a photo of the security guard on it in a spoof of The Godfather movie poster.
“Big Dom” DiSandro shows off his new Italian flag sock collection, a collaboration with comedian Pete Davidson.Courtesy of Tim O'Connell
A few months later, in February 2025, Davidson told NBC Sports Philadelphia about how he loves Big Dom, calling him the “real life Tony Soprano.” That summer, the pair teamed up for a limited edition sock collaboration through Davidson’s brand, DoubleSoul. The socks were a nod to DiSandro’s Italian heritage.
DiSandro’s heritage came up multiple times throughout the episode with Davidson, including when he shared one of his pregame superstitions: eating “at least four, five, six cannolis” from Termini Brothers Bakery before every game.
On Saturday, ahead of the Eagles preseason game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium, DiSandro shared this tradition with another Italian figure in the NFL.
Sean Stellato, agent of noted Italian and current Patriots quarterback Tommy DeVito, shared cannolis from Mike’s Pastry, a famous bakery in Boston’s North End, with Big Dom on the field ahead of the game.
Stellato even added a “Go Birds” to the end of the video — but followed it up with a “Go Patriots.”
TRENDING: #Patriots quarterback Tommy DeVito’s agent Sean Stellato and #Eagles security chief Big Dom went viral after sharing cannolis together on the field before the game.
President Donald Trump’s economic policies drew a fresh round of concern from some Republicans over the weekend who criticized his trade policies, as others in the party sidestepped questions about his broader approach amid a midterm election that has put consumer prices front and center.
Rep. Ashley Hinson (R., Iowa), who is running in one of the most competitive Senate races, reiterated her opposition to Trump’s recent announcement that he would lower tariffs for up to 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef over the next 90 days, which he claimed would push down costs.
“We need to focus on affordability, but I think this isn’t the way to do that,” Hinson told Fox News in an interview broadcast on Sunday Morning Futures, arguing it would hurt domestic cattle ranchers. The import taxes, she said, are helping U.S. cattle ranchers restore the U.S. cattle supply, which remains at a 75-year low.
On Saturday, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, considered one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents, implored Trump to reverse course on Canadian import taxes and “reach a fair agreement” after trade talks between the United States and Canada collapsed.
“If the Administration proceeds with these tariffs, they will increase costs for Maine families, as most businesses will have no choice but to pass on the tariffs to their customers through higher prices,” Collins wrote in a social media post, urging “both sides to return to the negotiating table.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican who is running for reelection, refused to grade Trump on the economy when asked about it on ABC News’ This Week on Friday. He said that “people are not talking to me about Trump” on the campaign trail.
Pressed again, Abbott said, “We all need to have prices lowered,” adding that he thought Trump was “on a track to get us there.”
The comments from candidates in key races reflected the distance some Republicans have tried to draw from Trump at a moment when polls show that voters have major concerns about the economy and the president’s stewardship of it, including cost increases driven by an unpopular war with Iran. The remarks also revealed some of the geographic sensitivities to the administration’s economic approach that could come into play in November in battleground states such as Iowa and Maine.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Trump has defended his economic actions.
But some Republicans are unnerved by recent developments.
Hinson joined other Midwestern Republicans, including Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and both of Nebraska’s senators, who criticized Trump’s beef import tariff cuts. Sen. Tim Sheehy (R., Mont.) said he had “advised President Trump against this course of action for a year.”
The breakdown of trade negotiations with Canada kicked the Trump administration’s 50% tariffs on a range of Canadian goods into gear and prompted Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada to promise “dollar for dollar” counter-tariffs on American imports.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who served in the first Trump administration before breaking with Trump, expressed concern about the trade standoff between the United States and Canada on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.
“The last thing we need right now, as our economy is getting back on its feet, is a trade war with Canada,” Pence, a critic of Trump’s tariffs, said, adding, “That’s how I would advise the president: Drive a hard bargain, but let’s pursue free trade with free nations, especially our partners to the north.”
On Sunday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News Sunday that “Canada gets the benefit of trading with the U.S. way more than the U.S. gets the benefit of trading with Canada” and that it was “foolish” for Canada to think it could win a trade war with the United States.
Carney said the United States had made unreasonable demands of his country in trade negotiations.
John Barrasso (R., Wyo.), the Senate majority whip, who is not up for reelection this year, defended Trump’s handling of negotiations — but he also said that the United States needed to maintain its trade relationship with its northern neighbor.
Canada would “be wise” to return to the bargaining table and move forward, he said on Sunday Morning Futures, “because we need to continue trade with Canada.”
He added, “The president is very consistent: We’re going to make sure to protect our workers and bring jobs back to America.”
Democrats have sharply criticized Trump on the economy. On Sunday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.) said Trump had broken his campaign commitments to keep the United States out of foreign wars and to lower prices.
“He’s done the opposite,” Van Hollen told NBC’s Meet the Press. He added, “Broken promises, betrayal.”
The campaign of Troy Jackson, the Democrat challenging Collins in Maine, slammed Trump’s tariffs.
The tariffs are “a tax on Maine families and small businesses,” Dan Gottlieb, a spokesperson for Jackson’s campaign, said.
Sen. Tim Scott (R., S.C.), a staunch supporter of Trump, sought to redirect an interview when pressed on Trump’s tariffs. Asked on Meet the Press if he agreed with Collins’ comment that they would increase costs for families, Scott, who presides over the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, pivoted to arguing that Trump had inherited economic problems from his predecessor, President Joe Biden Jr.
The interviewer, Kristen Welker, interjected to say that Trump had been in office “for two years.”
Asked if Trump had broken his campaign promise to lower costs, Scott again dodged the question, saying the election would be about differences between Democrats and Republicans.
“At the end of the day, the American people need to see the contrast,” Scott said. “And the good news is, they’re seeing the contrast.”
Shelley Fabares, an actor who was a fixture on television for decades from her days as a young teenager on The Donna Reed Show, through One Day at a Time and Coach, has died. She was 82.
She died Saturday in Los Angeles, her family said in a statement to the Associated Press. No cause was given.
“To her family and friends, Shelley was a source of love, strength, laughter, and comfort,” her family wrote. “She had a remarkable ability to make people feel welcomed, valued, and cared for.”
Ms. Fabares was born in Santa Monica, Calif., in 1944, and started acting as a young child. Her first television credit came at age 10 when she appeared on The Loretta Young Show. Many movies and television shows followed: She acted with Paul Newman, Frank Sinatra, and Eva Marie Saint in a Producers Showcase production of Our Town; was in the Rosalind Russell movie The Girl Rush and the Rock Hudson drama Never Say Goodbye. Other early credits include Annette, Captain Midnight and the “Black Leather Jackets” episode of The Twilight Zone.
Her biggest break came when she was cast as Mary Stone on The Donna Reed Show, where she was a regular from 1958 through 1963. During that time she also got a recording contract and had two Top 40 hits including “Johnny Angel.” In the early 1960s, she also co-starred in three movies with Elvis Presley: Girl Happy,Spinout and Clambake.
“I think the years on The Donna Reed Show, the years from 14 to 19, were so incredibly important,” Ms. Fabares told the Los Angeles Times in 1993. “Donna Reed was simply an extraordinary woman, a woman of great strength, kindness, integrity, and compassion. I am not trying to make her sound like a saint, but she had the most profound influence on me. I carry her with me today.”
In the late 1970s, Ms. Fabares made an impression as Francine Webster on the CBS sitcom One Day at a Time. She also played James Caan’s wife in Brian’s Song. One of her biggest roles came when she was cast as Christine Armstrong in Coach, although the show took a minute to find its audience.
“I did always feel from the very beginning if they could find the right spot for us, this was a show that would last,” she said in the 1993 Los Angeles Times interview.
Ms. Fabares married twice, first to producer Lou Adler in 1964. She had been married to M*A*S*H actor Mike Farrell since 1984. She was also a devoted advocate for awareness of Alzheimer’s, which affected her mother.
In early 1999, a visit to the emergency room for an esophageal bleed revealed that she had progressive liver failure. After spending 22 months on a waiting list, she had liver transplant surgery in October 2000.
In an interview with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles three years after the transplant, she said she’d been “changed by the experience” and was eternally grateful to Farrell, who was with her “every step of the way.”
Her family, in their statement, said, “We will remember Shelley for her kindness, loyalty, wit, courage, and beautiful spirit. We will miss her deeply — not only as a celebrated performer, but as the loving and extraordinary person she was in our everyday lives.”
President Donald Trump has claimed that the White House needs a massive new ballroom because it would provide him and future presidents with a secure, hardened facility. But former officials say the argument fails to acknowledge that the presidential complex already has one.
More than a decade ago, federal officials built a highly protected bunker, embedded deep underground, that can shelter the president and his top aides in a national security emergency, according to three former officials.
The facility, which was secretly completed during the Obama administration, can house dozens of people for up to multiple weeks, two former officials said. It’s buried more than 60 feet underneath the White House complex and built to withstand a nuclear blast, two of the officials said, ensuring the president and his team have a secure command center to run the country in times of extreme duress.
The bunker’s existence, the former officials said, undercuts the Trump administration’s emerging legal argument in the ongoing lawsuit over the $600 million ballroom complex’s construction: that the facility must be completed due to its significance for U.S. national security.
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss elements of the secretive facility, some of which have not been previously reported.
The Washington Post is withholding some details of the bunker and its construction in order to not compromise sensitive White House security protocols.
Asked about Trump’s assertions about the need for a new military complex, the White House defended the project and criticized past officials for discussing existing security structures.
“The East Wing Modernization Project is inextricably tied to the security of the President, the White House grounds and the certain security infrastructure assets,” said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle in a statement.
“Recent events such as the foiled attack on the historic UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House proves exactly why the East Wing Modernization Project is severely needed for large scale events, which include drone proof structures and drone ports among other critical security enhancements,” Ingle added.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. issued an order Friday allowing the Trump administration to continue ballroom work in the short term as the Supreme Court weighs an emergency appeal in a lawsuit challenging whether the construction requires the approval of Congress.
A U.S. district judge and a federal appeals panel have both ordered the administration to stop building the ballroom until lawmakers authorize the project. But the judges carved out an exception: Construction on national security needs, such as a planned military complex underneath the ballroom, can continue.
In August court filings supporting the White House’s case, Trump’s top national security team urged the Supreme Court to allow the project to proceed. The construction, they said, comes as the president faces rising threats from foreign adversaries and terrorists, alongside advances in commercial drone technology that could more effectively target White House grounds.
Trump officials argued the ballroom complex would provide essential security upgrades to the president’s residence and help guarantee the U.S. government could continue functioning during a crisis.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller wrote in his filing that the facility “serves continuity-of-government interests by ensuring that the President and senior national security staff are able to operate from a protected facility during any attack on the nation’s capital.”
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has repeatedly asserted the ballroom’s construction would help resolve an “emergency” in the White House’s “defensive posture” posed by the spread of military-grade drones.
Driscoll told the Supreme Court in an Aug. 13 filing that completing the ballroom complex was necessary so Trump could run the country in a crisis.
“Securing this reinforced subterranean node guarantees uninterrupted command and control in place,” Driscoll wrote, calling the project “a nondiscretionary prerequisite to ensure the President can maintain continuity of government, uninterrupted operations, and effectively exercise National Command Authority during an attack or global crisis.”
The arguments echoed the Trump administration’s increasing effort to rely on national security as a way to justify the ballroom’s completion.
Trump has taken to calling the project a “military complex” in his public comments and social media posts, and has repeatedly posted AI renderings of drones, troops, and even fuel tanker trucks stationed on the future East Wing roof to press his case.
“The ballroom is so much a military component with the drones and the bomb shelters,” Trump told reporters on the South Lawn on Wednesday.
The White House has been racing to complete the project before any court-ordered halt takes effect. Officials told the Supreme Court earlier this month that construction was about “65% complete” and that about 250 workers are working 20 hours per day, seven days a week to quickly finish it.
The structure goes five stories deep into the ground, and much of the underground work has been completed, the administration said. The project is already 70 feet above ground in some places, officials told the Supreme Court.
After asserting in court last year that the secure portion of the project could be carried out independently of the ballroom, the administration has reversed its argument.
Maj. Gen. Garrett R. Hoffman, director of the White House Military Office, told the Supreme Court that the aboveground ballroom and belowground military facility are “inextricably intertwined elements” and that the new construction “provides extraordinary protection to these spaces that has not been available in the past.”
Officials have also stressed that the concrete, steel, and other materials used for both parts of the project are being chosen for national security reasons. In court filings, they detailed how the ballroom’s construction materials are intended to stop bombs, rockets, missiles, and even nuclear blasts.
“It is, in a very large way, a ‘safe room’ for the Presidency and the continuity of government,” wrote Joshua Fisher, a senior White House official who is managing the project, in his Supreme Court filing.
The two former officials noted this same argument had been invoked two decades ago to construct the White House’s existing subterranean bunker that is hardened against nuclear blasts and other threats. They questioned why the administration has suggested that the White House lacks such a secure location, including one that could help ensure a functioning government in national security crises.
They also contrasted secretive efforts to build the existing bunker to the current project. Details about the secure White House facility are among the most closely guarded secrets in the U.S. government, the former officials said, and its construction was concealed from many lawmakers, administration officials, and the public.
During the new ballroom’s construction, Trump has repeatedly revealed private aspects of the planned East Wing military complex, such as its medical capabilities and “drone port.” And the renovation has occurred in public view, potentially allowing foreign adversaries to spy once-hidden elements of the White House complex — a threat Trump officials invoked in their court filings to urge that construction continue.
Trump has separately accused the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the organization that sued to halt the ballroom’s construction, of being “treasonists.” He has claimed that the nonprofit group, which Congress charged with helping preserve historic buildings, was asked not to file a lawsuit for national security reasons.
“I said the problem with the suit — I told them this — is that we have many military things in this ballroom, and ideally, they shouldn’t be revealed,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Aug. 17. “But now they are revealed, so the world knows about it.”
The National Trust’s filings have not revealed any new information about the ballroom project that Trump or the administration did not previously disclose.
National Trust officials also told the Post that they were never briefed on the bunker, that they were not asked by Trump or the White House to not file a lawsuit, and that they sued to halt the ballroom because they believe the president does not have the authority to unilaterally make wholesale changes to the historic White House grounds.
Trump officials did share classified information directly with U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon as he weighed the National Trust’s arguments, beginning last year. Leon ultimately ordered a halt to ballroom construction but said the administration could keep working on the underground military complex.
The White House’s protections for presidents have evolved as threats have increased.
For decades, the White House bunker was limited to a small facility located in the basement of the East Wing, built during World War II to help protect President Franklin D. Roosevelt in case of an emergency. That site — known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, or PEOC — is where the Secret Service hurried Vice President Dick Cheney and first lady Laura Bush during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The attacks of Sept. 11 prompted the White House to begin work on a much more secure facility, said journalist Ronald Kessler, who referenced construction of the bunker in his 2018 book, The Trump White House: Changing the Rules of the Game. The upgraded facility, he wrote, was completed during the Obama administration, had a monthslong food supply, and was equipped with its own self-contained airflow system.
“It’s a serious issue. What could be more important than maintaining continuity of government?” said Kessler, who supports the Trump administration’s efforts to expand the White House’s secure facilities through the ballroom project.
Kessler and the former officials who spoke with the Post acknowledged the necessity of providing the president with a secure facility amid ongoing serious threats. Trump has faced multiple assassination attempts, the latest of which — from Iran earlier in the summer — prompted the Secret Service to stage an elaborate ruse that ended with the president flying back from the NATO summit in Ankara on a separate aircraft, apart from Air Force One.
Still, the two former officials questioned the White House’s public case that the existing architecture is insufficiently hardened. The existing site, the two people said, is buried deep into the Washington bedrock, accessible by a private elevator and built specifically to protect the president from a vast array of threats, including an attack from a weapon of mass destruction.
Its specifications, the former officials said, include many of the safety protocols the White House is describing in an attempt to justify the new ballroom complex.
The former officials also warned that the administration’s abrupt decision to demolish the East Wing, and expose what sat underneath it, could have itself created national security risks. The PEOC, two former officials said, sat only about 20 feet under the East Wing and may have been destroyed or damaged in the construction process.
Fisher, the White House official managing the project, said that he was worried that halting construction now could unwind nearly a year of work.
“Pausing work now, as the district court has ordered, will jeopardize everything we have done so far,” Fisher told the Supreme Court. “Depending on how long that freeze persists, it might force us to tear down everything we have done as a degraded mass, to allow for whatever comes next — something that would be disruptive and extremely dangerous.”
Similar arguments have not swayed lower-court judges.
Leon, the district judge who first ordered the administration in March to halt its ballroom construction, chastised Trump officials for arguing that they needed to complete the project for safety and security reasons.
“Here is the bottom line,” Leon wrote in a follow-up ruling in April. “Defendants themselves forged ahead and created this ‘coordinated and managed safety hazard’ on White House grounds.”
Eagles center Cam Jurgens kept himself busy growing up in Pickrell, Neb., whether he was harvesting on the family farm or making deer jerky with his father’s homemade smoker.
That’s why it should come as no surprise that Jurgens would enter the beef jerky business.
“If I told myself as a little kid that, ‘Hey, not only are you going to have your own beef jerky brand, but you’re going to play in the NFL and be a Super Bowl champ,’ I would be like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have to go do chores,’” Jurgens said.
Jurgy is a farm-raised beef jerky line founded by Jurgens and his family. The brand features five flavors: original, hot honey, teriyaki, cracked pepper, and Jurgens’ favorite — mango habanero.
And now Jurgy is introducing a new flavor to the lineup in its first flavor and bag collaboration. Its partnering with Oceans Casino Resort to launch a limited-edition blueberry BBQ flavor. The flavor is a nod to the region’s roots, with Atlantic County being one of the largest blueberry-producing areas in the country.
“It’s been in the works for a while, and we’re happy that it’s finally at the point where we can talk about it and get this new stuff out there,” Jurgens said.
Ocean Casino Resort has partnered with Cam Jurgens’ beef jerky line, Jurgy, to release a blueberry BBQ flavor.Jurgy
Jurgy, a reference to Jurgens’ college nickname “Beef Jurgy,” was created when he was a senior at Nebraska.
It started with his mom, Beth, making T-shirts and hats on a Cricut machine and shipping them out from their family farm. Eventually, Jurgens’ best friend, Matt Sichterman, set up an online store to expand their reach.
“I saw Cam and his mom building this T-shirt and hat brand, and Cam’s mom was staying up all night shipping orders from the farm, taking orders, like pen-and-paper type of deal,” Sichterman said. “I was like, ‘I think I can add some technology in the loop.’ So, that’s always what I’ve done. I’ve always worked at technology companies and built websites. So it helped us get digital, and then we’ve continued to expand the brand.”
They entered the jerky game by finding a meat locker in Nebraska that was willing to work with them. Jurgy fully launched in 2024. Since then, Jurgens and Sichterman have been working to build the brand.
But with Jurgens preparing for the Eagles’ season and Sichterman running Flamel.ai, Jurgy will have to take a backseat.
“This is like our side job that we’re trying to build up and grow and have fun with it,” Jurgens said. “When we started Jurgy, the main thing was to stay connected with Matt, he’s one of my best friends. … And then also the No. 1 thing is just to make my mom a little bit of money through the business. It’s us three that own the LLC together.
“I try not to worry about balancing it because my No. 1 job is playing for the Eagles and taking care of that side of things. And then this is the fun side of the job. … So it’s really helpful when we get a partner like Ocean and meet all these new people and grow along the way.”
Though Cam Jurgens has been working to grow Jurgy, his “No. 1 job is playing for the Eagles.”David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
The Ocean Casino Resort flavor is available at Bottled in Ocean Casino Resort, on the resort’s website, and at Jurgy.co.
“I’ve been down to Ocean and see how passionate they are in Atlantic City and just how many Eagles fans flock down there,” Jurgens said. “So I’m excited. I mean, I saw their partnership with Hanks and how that grew and just how neat it looked. I’m really excited about our product and this packaging and how it benefits both of us.”
The release comes less than three weeks before the Eagles’ season opener against the Washington Commanders at Lincoln Financial Field. Jurgens says he’s ready to compete. That confidence comes from the “harvesting” the team has done leading into game day.
“The harvest is the fun part of the season,” Jurgens said. “You do your planting and taking care of the weeds throughout the year and making sure the crops grow. And then when you get a harvest, the whole family comes together, and you’re spending all the time together. It’s kind of similar to football.
“You work so hard in the offseason, and then you finally get to the season, you get to play a game, and it’s like you’re harvesting your own crop every Sunday, and then you get to the postseason. It’s like even more of the whole family coming together.”
Eighth graders tossed a football across the concrete schoolyard. A fourth grader broke into a dead run, intent on catching up with friends she hadn’t seen all summer. A teacher hugged a first grader with a shy smile and a giant pink backpack crammed with school supplies.
The scene at Overbrook Elementary played out across the city Monday morning as most of the Philadelphia School District’s 113,000 students returned to class for the start of the 2026-27 school year. Kindergartners are due to begin classes Thursday.
At McClure Elementary in Hunting Park, Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. repeated at a news conference his overarching goal: for Philadelphia to become the fastest-improving big-city school district in the U.S.
McClure Elementary principal Luis Garcia greets students Monday, Aug. 24, 2026 before they head into class on the first day of school in the Philadelphia School District.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The district will “double down this year to continue to drive this fast improvement, and we won’t rest until all of our children are at grade level in reading and math,” Watlington said. According to 2024-25 state data, 34% of district students meet state standards in reading, and 23% in math. (More recent PSSAs, typically available to teachers and principals by now, have not been shared by Philadelphia leaders.)
Reginald Streater, the school board president, said improving educational outcomes is also about creating generational value.
“A student can walk through the doors, irrespective of their race, creed, class, gender, or shared ancestry, in our schools with a world of possibilities in front of them and leave those same doors with the knowledge, confidence, and opportunity to pursue the future they envision for themselves,” said Streater, father of two children in district schools, “armed with the tools to break the bonds of generational curses and barriers designed to keep them and their ancestors and their progeny in a perpetual state of servitude and second-class citizens.”
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker was not present at the district’s first-day festivities, a rarity, but Debora Carrera, her chief education officer, touted Parker’s $48 million agreement that restored some of the 340 positions that otherwise would have been axed because of budget cuts.
That was good newsfor Johnny Beauchamp, a single father and truck driver, who was dropping off his son for his first day at McClure.
While Beauchamp said he is confident the city has addressed its budgetary concerns regarding staffing and school openings, he hopes to see some initiatives on school safety.
“I’m actually more excited than he is. It’s his first day … and his bright future starts today,” Beauchamp said. “But my main concern nowadays is the safety, especially with guns and stuff like that. Also, making sure our schools are clean and sidewalks are clear of glass and other dangerous stuff where our kids are playing.”
Overbrook is a small, high-performing school in a very old building: The school is celebrating its 120th anniversary this year. Its tight-knit community wraps its arms around Overbrook and has mounted a fierce fight to keep it open.
“Leave Overbrook alone,” said Fahmee Shabazz, dad of an Overbrook fourth grader. “Please, somebody help us.”
Teachers union and elected officials were on hand at Overbrook for a news conference to pledge continuing efforts to try. Multiple politicians have said they will keep the pressure up to remove Overbrook Elementary, Robeson High, and Lankenau High from the district’s closing list.
Teachers, politicians and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers officials listen to Kenneth Glover, principal of Overbrook Elementary School, speak on the first day of the 2026-27 school year. Glover said the school, which is one of 17 Philadelphia schools slated to close, will focus on academics this year and let adults fight a battle to stave off closure.Kristen A. Graham / Staff
“We cannot disrupt the good things that are happening here,” said State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Philadelphia), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Hughes said action needs to happen in Harrisburg to help better fund schools. But he added: “We’re still going to fight for Overbrook Elementary and the schools like it, [which] deserve to stay open.”
Last year, many Overbrook Elementary teachers used news of the school’s closing as an object lesson — in civics and the world around them — said Kenneth Glover, the school’s principal.
“I’m so happy that it’s day one,” he said. “Like I tell my students all the time, each day is a fresh start, and this year is a fresh start. Last year, a lot of the focus was on adult issues, right, fighting to keep the school open. This year, I really want students to focus on academics … for us to just have a beautiful school year.”
Overbrook Elementary School students get ready to enter the building for the first day of the 2026-27 school year. It could be the 120-year-old school’s last first day, as it’s one of 17 schools the Philadelphia School District has slated to close.Kristen A. Graham / Staff
While Glover said he still hoped the school could be kept open, he has begun to work with the district’s newly created transition office to plan for what comes next.
Still, said Kathryn McQuade, Overbrook Elementary’s art teacher, the closure and the fight to prevent it are overshadowing the year for many.
“Seven million could easily go towards … modernizing this building for the future,” McQuade said. “And that wouldn’t be a lease, that would be a one-time price tag.”
Arthur Steinberg, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said he “was hoping that when I came here today I’d be able to say, ‘Well, we saved Overbrook from the chopping block.’ Unfortunately, that is not the case. However, we have not given up the fight to keep Overbrook and every other school in the city open.”
Steinberg said the PFT would release a plan this week that would give the district a path to keep all 17 schools open.
Robin P. Cooper (upper right) watches as school and city official gather for a group photo outside the district bus. Cooper is president of Commonwealth Association of School Administrators (CASA). At far left is Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. The bus, part of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s Neighborhood Community Action Centers, was to visit and rally at schools in every city council district.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The Phillies are the hottest team in baseball, hotter than they’ve been all year, winners of nine straight for the first time since May of last season and just the second time in the Schwarber Era, which began in 2022.
We’ll call it the Schwarber Era because it was Kyle Schwarber’s 459-foot, two-run, walk-off Schwar-bomb that extended the winning streak Sunday afternoon, and because, with due respect to Bryce Harper and Zack Wheeler, Schwarber is the soul of this ballclub.
Everybody always loves Schwarber. Not everybody loves these Phillies.
Maybe you don’t. Who can blame you? Whether it’s collapses against the Diamondbacks or Mets, or an inexplicable bunt or an unforgivable error against the Dodgers, these Phillies have a way of breaking your heart.
Once bitten, twice bitten, thrice bitten … goodbye?
Paul told the Galatians, “Be ye not faint of heart,” but the greatest apostle would be ashamed of Phillies fans today. Why?
Because these Phillies are for real.
They’re beating good teams by playing mature, sound baseball, and they’re doing it generally without the best efforts of their best players.
Nevertheless, they’re 16-5 in their last 21 games and a season-high 15 games over .500 going into Monday’s series opener in Seattle. They were 9½ games behind the Braves in the NL East when the streak began, but now they’re just three games out with 31 games to go, seven of them head-to-head with Atlanta. The Phils held the No. 2 wild-card slot, two games behind the Cubs, two ahead of the Padres, and four games ahead of the Diamondbacks, the first team out.
The Phillies on Monday began a nine-game, 10-day road trip three time zones west. They face the Mariners, then the Angels, two relatively poor American League teams, by the time they get to Arizona.
They swept Miami, St. Louis, and Minnesota, all teams with valid playoff aspirations, at least until they played the Phillies. That’s the biggest reason why you should learn to love again.
Here are four more.
The Phillies are winning despite middling performances of late from their aces, including Cristopher Sánchez.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
2: They’re streaking without good starts from the Big 3
During the streak, top three starters Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez, and Jesús Luzardo all left the game while trailing after an ungainly outing. They surrendered a combined 10 earned runs in 17⅔ innings. The Phillies won anyway.
All three are healthy. They just faced decent offensive teams in the dregs of summer. The Mariners have scored the fewest runs in baseball. The Angels have the second-worst OPS. The next seven days should be a feast for the Big Three.
Luis Arraez is an unconventional but productive cleanup hitter for the Phillies.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
3: The Arraez Affect
Since three-time batting champ Luis Arraez, a deadline addition, joined the lineup Aug. 4, the Phillies have mimicked his approach. Their swings are more controlled. The hitters are more on balance.
The result: fewer home runs, but more hits.
They’ve hit nine homers in the nine wins, a rate of 1.0 per game. They’d hit 148 home runs in their first 123 games, a rate of 1.2 homers per game. Sometimes, less is more.
Since Arraez’s arrival and his insertion in the No. 4 spot, No. 3 hitter Bryce Harper has a .506 on-base percentage with 25 walks. No. 5 hitter Alec Bohm saved his season: He’s hitting .393 with a 1.015 OPS and 15 RBIs in 17 games. Bryson Stott, who bats sixth, is hitting .295 with 15 walks.
Bryson Stott has been great at third base since his move there following the Arraez trade.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
4: The defense got better
The Phillies chose to play Arraez at second base. This meant Stott had to move from second to third base, Bohm had to move from third to first base, and Harper had to move from first back to right field.
The unintended consequence: This is the best Phillies infield since 2011, when Placido Polanco won a Gold Glove at third base and Jimmy Rollins should have won it at shortstop. Granted, this is a low bar — Phillies infields have been atrocious for 15 years — but Stott, a shortstop by birth, already was an elite second baseman, and his play at third has been otherworldly. Bohm is an unnatural third baseman but a natural first baseman, unlike Harper, who is a very good outfielder. Arraez is a fine second baseman, and even Trea Turner looks better at shortstop.
Aaron Nola has been solid of late after a very slow start to his season.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
5: Andrew Painter and Aaron Nola settled in
Andrew Painter, who is 23, spent all of 2025 in triple A coming back from elbow surgery that cost him all of 2023 and 2024. His big-league debut was March 31. He was inconsistent, and was sent back to triple A in mid-June.
We call this “normal.”
Aaron Nola, who is 33, threw more innings than anyone else from 2018-24. In 2025 he suffered his first significant injury since 2016, which cost him three months in the middle of the season. He struggled the first three months of this season.
Nola’s ERA in his last nine starts is 3.63. He’s had one bad start. He’s learned to lean on his knuckle-curve.
You know what happens when you get 3.6-ish ERAs from fourth and fifth starters? You win divisions, you win pennants, and you win back the hearts of your fans.
Love Hurts
I get it. It’s hard to love a team with a $300 million shortstop hitting .245; a team that had to release $20 million outfielder Nick Castellanos and $18 million starter Taijuan Walker; a team with a bullpen that is injured and ineffective and, with the exception of the closer, utterly maddening.
But in matters of the heart, there are no guarantees. You take a chance, you ride the thrill, and, as fate decides, your devotion is rewarded … or not.
“ ‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”
Lord Tennyson was English, and he died in 1892. His grandson, Lionel, became England’s cricket captain, and Tennyson simply wallowed in heartbreak: It took him 17 years to finish the elegy.
In a different time the poet properly known as Alfred, Lord Tennyson — a moderate conservative rashly bearded — surely would have been a baseball fan.
Given his predilection for misery, he probably would have followed the Phillies.
Summer may be nearing its end, but hot dogs aren’t going anywhere. Philly is deep in the throes of a hot dog era. Our inveterate cheesesteak-and-hoagie city hasbeen throughthem before, but what sets apart the current boom is that it’s not so much about standalone hot dog joints. Instead, dogs have nosed their way onto many menus where they once might have been out of place.
That’s a double-edged sword: Hot dog purists may want to avert their eyes. This list, which is focused on Philly proper, has some natural-casing-centric sweet spots for them, but we’ve also included spots that are bucking strict hot dog norms with croissant buns, bonito flakes, carrot salad, and pineapple salsa. Some even deploy the most divisive condiment of all: ketchup. — Jenn Ladd
The Wagyu hot dog at Almanac in Old City, topped with tonkatsu sauce, Japanese slaw, bonito flakes, and nori.Stephen Recchia
Almanac
There’s something delightfully incongruous about pairing Almanac’s hot dog with one or two of its painstakingly crafted cocktails, often made from foraged ingredients and house-fermented elixirs. As bar snacks go, the Wagyu hot dog is a bit of an indulgence, but it hits all the notes of salty, fatty, sweet, and umami — the hallmarks of snacks you’d get at a konbini, or Japanese convenience store. The juicy sausage is tucked into a run-of-the-mill yet perfect split-top bun and topped with house-made tonkatsu sauce, a crunchy cabbage slaw, strips of nori, and bonito flakes. It’s a feat of layered textures and contrasting flavors, just as one would expect from one of Philly’s finest omakase chefs. — Kiki Aranita
Almanac, 310 Market St., Second Floor, 215-238-5757, almanacphilly.com
Texas Tommy from A.P.J. Texas Weiner (47 N. 13th St.)Craig LaBan
A.P.J. Texas Weiner
Time has largely forgotten A.P.J. Texas Weiner, a no-frills, old-school luncheonette squished between a bail bondsman’s office and an omakase restaurant on 13th Street just off Filbert, across from the Criminal Justice Center. Greek immigrants Andrew Kanakis, Paul Vasiliades, and John Halkedis opened the joint a century ago, joining an early-20th-century rush of so-called Texas wiener (as it’s usually spelled) joints around town. The “Texas” in a Texas wiener refers to the thin, mild chili perfumed by cinnamon and allspice that the cook spoons onto the grilled, split 5-to-a-pound beef hot dog before adding yellow mustard and chopped onions. In sum: the best $3 snack in Center City. You can dine in, though it’s primarily call-ahead (no apps!) or grab-and-go (from the sweetest counter woman, who won’t skimp on the napkins). — Michael Klein
47 N. 13th St., 215-665-8081
Café Tinto Fishtown
Café Tinto’s hot dogs are only available from 3 to 6 p.m. on weekdays at its buzzy new Fishtown location. The scarcity only adds to the mystique of chef Daniela Garcia’s Colombian-style beef hot dogs, which are all about perfecting the golden ratio of sweet, spicy, and crunchy. Served in soft, buttery house-baked rolls, Café Tinto’s happy hour dogs come topped with Garcia’stangy pineapple salsa and a layer of crushed classic Lays potato chips. There’s something deeply satisfying and oddly nostalgic about the crunch, which reminds me of when I’d stuff Doritos inside my salami sandwich on white bread in elementary school. Chips really do make everything better. — Beatrice Forman
A Chili Cheese Dog and a Chicago Dog with a side of fries from Bad Nina’s grand opening outside Attic Brewing in Philadelphia on Wednesday, July 16, 2025.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Bad Nina’s
In 2025, Attic Brewing owner and Chicago native Laura Lacy decided to capitalize on one of the most intuitive food pairings there is: beer and hot dogs. Lacy and her husband/co-owner, Todd, decked out a vibrant yellow-and-teal food truck that operates noon to dinnertime Friday through Sunday, serving up at least 12 dog variations, including a jalapeño popper dog, a cheeseburger dog, and a classic Chicago-style dog (mustard, relish, chopped white onion, sliced tomatoes, a dill pickle spear, celery salt, and pickled peppers). Bad Nina’s go-tos are Vienna Beef brand hot dogs and Cacia’s Bakery rolls, but there are also Impossible vegan dogs and gluten-free buns (and bratwurst if you’re dogged out). — Jenn Ladd
What’s more rock ’n‘ roll than a dive bar hot dog? A dive bar chili dog. Doom technically isn’t a dive, but it is a heavy metal bar with a just-messy-enough hot dog that some dare to call the best in Philly. Doom’s dog starts with a deep-fried, ripper-style beef frank in a split-top bun. Then, it gets topped with a tofu-and-pork Bolognese inspired by mapo tofu, the spicy Sichuan classic. Doom’s version is milder and smokier, transforming the sandwich into something akin to a sloppy joe with a touch of class. Not a drop of chili is to be wasted. We recommend scooping up the inevitable spillage with a side of fries. — B.F.
The mapo chili dog from Doom, a heavy metal bar at 421 N. Seventh St., is inspired by the popular Sichuan dish.Beatrice Forman / Staff
Famous 4th Street Delicatessen
Famous 4th Street’s hot dogs are just how deli magnate Russ Cowan left them when he sold the joint in 2024 to Connecticut-based restaurateur Al Gamble: big and beefy. The Queen Villageinstitution still uses all-beef sausages for its traditional hot dogs and oversized pigs-in-a-blanket, and it still makes its challah buns in house. The only difference? The buns are now buttered and lightly toasted to mimic a Connecticut-style lobster roll, a change that Gamble said “tastes like childhood.” The deli’s classic hot dog is its bestseller, but the true showstopper is the hulking Reuben dog, which piles thin-cut pastrami, hot sauerkraut, and Russian dressing atop a 7-inch frankfurter. It’s just as filling as the sandwich it’s based on — and nearly half the price. — B.F.
The Reuben Dog at Famous 4th Street Delicatessen, 700 S. Fourth St.Beatrice Forman / Staff
Fox & Son
Reading Terminal Market has a certain “state fair” feel anyway, but a stop at this stand will make your day seem even more festive. Rebecca Foxman’s signature, crunchy hand-dipped corn dogs are made with corn batter, a boon to those who are sensitive to gluten. Choose pork-and-beef, all-beef, turkey, spicy pork, or a Beyond veggie dog, then stick with the classic or go fancy. Variations include chili-cheese-scallion, cheddar-jalapeño, and sweet-potato batter with chorizo and cilantro-lime sour cream. For a more lavish version, choose the Korean-style dog with mozzarella, sugar, ketchup, and mustard. — Michael Klein
Standard hot dog with ketchup and mustard front, hot dog with pepper hash back, and hot dog with fish cake and pepper hash at Johnny’s Hots, in Philadelphia, Aug. 17, 2026.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Johnny’s Hots
At 5:45 every weekday morning (and at 7:15 on Saturday), the window rolls up at this cash-only stand across from Penn Treaty Park. Ride-share drivers, truckers, and other hungry early birds start pulling up for grilled hot dogs and especially that old-time Philly combo of hot dogs and fish cakes, on soft buns. Johnny’s traces its roots to the 1950s, when Nunzio “John” Danze started serving waterfront workers from a lunch truck. The business later operated from a pier-side shack before moving to its current location on Delaware Avenue. The power move is the namesake spicy sausage, though the menu includes breakfast sandwiches as well as roast pork and cheesesteaks. — Michael Klein
The standard hot dog with ketchup and mustard, hot dog with pepper hash, and hot dog with fish cake and pepper hash at Johnny’s Hots on Aug. 17.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Juana Tamale
The only thing better than one hot dog is two hot dogs. Juana Tamale’s Jen Zavala serves her Sonoran-style hot dogs in pairs for $8, and prepares them just like they do in Northwest Mexico, where the street food originated before becoming Arizona’s glizzy of choice. A Sonoran dog comes wrapped in bacon and topped with refried pinto beans, Hatch chiles, red and green salsas, mustard, and mayo. Zavala’s one departure from a traditional Sonoran: She uses Amoroso’s Italian rolls instead of fluffy bolillo bread. The two have nearly the same texture, she said, and the Amoroso’s roll adds a touch of Philadelphia to a hot dog steeped in Southwestern spice. The Sonoran dog’s excess was a hard sell at first in Philly, Zavala said, but now, her East Passyunk Avenue Mexican restaurant sells between 200 and 300 a week. The more-is-more approach hits just right for those of us who view the hot dog as a prime vessel for toppings. — B.F.
Size matters at Columbus Boulevard’s newest waterfront tavern. Lucky Duck co-chef Sanil Shah claims the bar’s 10-inch wiener is likely the largest you can find in Philly — it pokes comically out the ends of its 6-inch Baker Street Bread roll. The tavern uses a smoky beef-and-pork blend from Reading-based Berks Packing Co. that has an audible snap with every bite. The toppings are simple — just brown mustard and a house-made hot honey-pepper relish that Shahsaid is loosely inspired by the packets of duck sauce that come with Chinese takeout. Bonus: Lucky Duck’s dogs are available until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, just in case a late-night glizzy craving hits. — B.F.
501 N. Christopher Columbus Blvd., Suite 2003, 215-964-9345, luckyduckphl.com
A hot dog at Lucky Duck, Aug. 17.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Lucky’s Last Chance
When Chris Barnes added hot dogs to the Lucky’s Last Chance burger-centric menu six months after it opened its first location in Manayunk in 2011, he hoped to sell “maybe 50 hot dogs a week.” Now, Barnes estimates the shop goes through between 5,000 and 6,000 franks weekly across its four locations, in Queen Village, Manayunk, East Falls, and Ambler. At Lucky’s, Deitz and Watson franks (or Light Life veggie dogs) are the base for 12 variations that push the limits of the “is a hot dog a sandwich” debate. Take the Voodoo, layered with shredded chicken, American cheese, and onion strings. Feels like a sandwich to me. The bacon bits and BBQ sauce-topped Deadwood? A very meaty hot dog. The 1Up, with sautéed mushrooms, provolone, and garlic aioli, is somehow a secret third thing — a hot dog crossed with a French dip. Rich and warm, it resonates even in winter. — B.F.
848 S. Second St., 267-519-2080; 4421 Main St., 215-509-6005; 5154 Ridge Ave., 216-842-5836; 15 S. Ridge Ave., Ambler, 215-367-5881; luckyslastchance.com
Lucky’s Last Chance uses Dietz & Watson dogs and New England-style split-top rolls.Marisa DiSalvatore
Miller’s Twist
Lines often wrap around the edges of this legendary Reading Terminal Market vendor, whose tawny, traditionally knotted Amish-style pretzels are irresistible in their own right. So what’s not to love about that same supple, salt-studded dough wrapped around a hot dog, then baked to juicy perfection? Costco customers will be particularly enthused: The Miller family uses Kirkland brand for their regular and jumbo dogs. (Dietz & Watson supplies their spicy beef and jalapeño dogs.) Buy one with or without cheese, and be sure to spring for a dipping sauce, especially the hot-sweet mustard made by the owner’s Lancaster-based in-laws. (Note that Miller’s does not make Philly soft pretzels; for better or worse, ours are not buttery. If you want a hot dog wrapped in Philly pretzel dough, head to one of three Bernie’s Pretzels in Delco.) — J.L.
Chef Chance Anies’ Filipino riff on Outback Steakhouse is a great place to go for happy hour, and particularly welcoming to kids. One of the draws is the Jollidog: an all-beef dog with mayonnaise mixed with bangus (umami-rich tinned milkfish), sandwiched in a soft bun, and topped with atchara, or pickled green papaya. It’s a perfect snack with a glass of wine, or a great meal for a toddler. Mine ate it up and clamored for another, which we happily ordered. The hot dog is on the regular menu, too, and comes with fries for only a few bucks more at happy hour. — Margaret Eby
When we kids were extra-good and my mom was feeling extra-rich, my mom would buy bacon and American cheese for our usual hot dog nights. She’d pull out the stovetop griddle, split the dogs, wrap them in bacon, and make us each a Texas Tommy — draping a thin slice of American cheese over everything to melt on contact. For me, the smoky, crispy Tommy at the Nifty Fifty’s chain is the perfect throwback to ’60s indulgence, even if the cheese of choice for the pork-and-beef dogs here is Whiz. Get yours topped with chili and eat it with a knife and fork, and don’t forget to use your napkin, as the old luncheonette lady would have reminded you. — M.K.
2491 Grant Ave., 215-676-1950; 2700 S. 10th St., 267-719-1950; 2431 Aramingo Ave., 267-771-1950; 1140 Old York Rd., Abington, 267-833-1950; 503 S. Oxford Valley Rd., Fairless Hills, 267-571-1950; 1900 MacDade Blvd., Folsom, 610-583-1950; 3524 West Chester Pike, Newtown Square, 484-992-1950; 684 York Road, Warminster, 267-802-1950; 1365 Marrows Rd, Newark, Del., 302-742-1950; 4670 Route 42, Turnersville, 856-875-1950; niftyfiftys.com
A classic hot dog with Ortlieb’s written on it with mustard and ketchup, in Philadelphia on July 20, 2024.Tyger Williams / Staff PhotographerAn assortment of classic hot dogs with mustard and ketchup writing, Ortileb’s taco dog, a Chicago dog, and a pickle on a stick, at Ortlieb’s on July 20, 2024.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Ortlieb’s
When Kyle Costill dedicated his Northern Liberties bar to the humble hot dog in 2024, “people were laughing at us,” Costill said. “Now, it’s like everybody is doing them.” Since then, Ortlieb’s has built a tiny empire out of no-frills dogs. Costill estimates the bar has sold 30,000 in the past two years thanks to a partnership with music venue Union Transfer and Port Richmond’s Green Rock Tavern, which sells Ortlieb’s-branded steamers behind the bar. The secret to their success is the wiener, a maple wood-smoked beef frank from Nevada-based brand Snap-o-Razzo, whose natural casing is so taut, the dog pops with each bite. (That feeling has inspired Costill to work on a proprietary Ortlieb’s dog that he intends to launch by the end of 2027.) Ortlieb’s has something for everyone: You can swap out a Snap-o-Razzos for a veggie dog, or top either with a vegan three-bean chili, courtesy of chef Alan Lichtestein of Haddonfield’s Little Hen. And pickle lovers will find a new obsession in the bar’s pickle dog, a hot dog cradled in an oddly sturdy half-sour spear. — B.F.
The chili cheese dog (top) and pickle dog (bottom) at Ortlieb’s in Northern Liberties are offered in both meat and vegan versions.Beatrice Forman / Staff
Perfect Together Restaurant & Cafe
Dilbar Nurivinova, the chef at this Bella Vista halal restaurant, grew up eating Uzbek super hot dogs at street food stands across her native Bukhara. So after nearly two decades living abroad, she was eager to recreate this overloaded wiener tribute to home at Perfect Together, the restaurant she opened last year on South Street with a menu that features foods from Uzbekistan and the Czech Republic, her previous place of residence. Nurivinova’s super dog begins with a smoky pink halal beef hot dog, then is piled high with so many fixings — garlicky shredded carrots, tangy beet salad, rice noodles, a hard-boiled egg, Nurivinova’s special sauce (a ketchup zingy with cumin and paprika), and copious gobs of mayo — that it is essentially an entire Uzbek picnic on a bun. Perhaps even better is the kofta variation she makes with a well-spiced kabob of minced beef. There are several other intriguing variations to be found in Uzbek Northeast Philly. — Craig LaBan
Don’t go to this 54-year-old Fox Chase institution expecting to walk out with a griddled hot dog on a bun. Rieker’s is a market — “German-food wonderland” is probably more accurate — and, particularly, a sausage specialist. The traditional wieners here are handmade in the back, where the staff grinds bull meatwith a blend of beef trimmings, pork butt, granulated onion, paprika, and garlic powder, then makes long links that go into the smokehouse for a hickory-scented steam. You can buy the skinny, snappy wieners by the pound, along with well over a dozen other sausage varieties, plus German potato salad, dried egg noodles, and much more. — J.L.
Alex Naumenko, a sausage maker, pulls wieners from a water bath at Rieker’s Meats in Philadelphia, on July 16, 2024.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Second Daughter
Is there an ordinary treat that Rhonda Saltzman can’t transform into a work of art? The creative genius behind Second Daughter bakes all-beef Nathan’s dogs in ultra-flaky, sesame-seeded croissant shells that give faint crunch to each savory bite. The Second Daughter crew tops the dogs with ketchup and spicy brown mustard squiggles and house-made pickle chips for tangy contrast. The only drawback: The dogs are so popular at both the fourth-floor Bok Building bakery and its Rittenhouse Farmers’ Market stand, they’ve been selling out around noon. On the bright side, Saltzman says they’re not going anywhere, even after summer ends. (Look out for specials like a sloppy joe dog and a baked bean-topped dog.) — J.L.
Essington native and Starr Restaurants alum Mark Gears runs a bustling breakfast and lunch takeout trade from this Kensington corner store, which has some bodega trappings, too. Need paper towels, dish soap, sugar, and spaghetti sauce? Gears has it. That pragmatic mindset led him to add hot dogs to his menu when he opened the shop in October. “Preopening, I went to Cacia’s [Bakery] to talk bread and saw these beautiful little fresh hot dog rolls. Said, how the hell can’t that be tasty,” Gears said. Smalls’ plump griddled all-beef hot dog, served on buns delivered fresh daily, will cost you less than a fiver, but it’s well worth springing for caramelized onions, roasted long hots, and crispy bacon toppings. — J.L.
A loaded hot dog (with roasted long hots, cheddar, bacon, spicy brown mustard, and caramelized onions) at Smalls’ Provisions in Kensington.Jenn Ladd / Staff
Sonnys Cocktail Joint
A single hot dog isn’t ideal for sharing. But at Sonnys Cocktail Joint, they’ve solved that particular issue with a hot dog tower, an inspired play on the seafood tower, that replaces oysters and shrimp with hot dogs, french fries (regular and sweet potato), and a top tier filled with little cups of ketchup, ranch, and a peperoncini aioli. A small tower comes with six hot dogs, a large fits 12. The hot dogs aren’t anything fancy — a standard-issue wiener with an array of condiments — but the format is whimsical, and it’s a perfect accompaniment for a couple of cocktails. — M.E.
