ST. LOUIS — When Bryce Harper volunteered to move back to the outfield, he wasn’t concerned about his knee.
Harper said Tuesday that he “banged up” his left knee in the Phillies’ final series before the All-Star break in Detroit. It happened when he slid into second on a double in the Phillies’ July 11 game against the Tigers.
He was sore. Not enough to miss any time, but Harper said it was bothering him during the Home Run Derby, from which he was eliminated in the first round.
After the All-Star break, it started to improve. But now that Harper is back in right field to open an infield spot for newly acquired second baseman Luis Arraez, his knee is starting to bother him again.
“Just time on feet,” Harper said. “It’s more when I stop than when I run, so it’s more like braking on it. But when I’m at full speed, I feel fine. When I hit, I feel fine. It’s just coming down from it.”
It’s still not bothering him enough that he needs a full day off, but the knee is part of the reason Harper has started at designated hitter twice in the last three days, including Monday’s series-opening 6-5 win against the Cardinals. Kyle Schwarber started at first base both times to allow Harper a half day.
Harper returned to right field on Tuesday, though, with Alec Bohm drawing back in the lineup at first. Interim manager Don Mattingly plans to keep finding opportunities to rest Harper as he builds up as a right fielder. He has removed Harper for a defensive replacement late in games when the Phillies are leading to give him a break, which Harper has said he’s fine with.
But Harper doesn’t expect his DH days to be quite this frequent going forward.
Bryce Harper switched to the outfield after the Phillies acquired Luis Arraez at the trade deadline last week.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
“I didn’t really think [Monday] was that type of day for me. That was more of just like a DH spot. It’s hot, that kind of stuff,” Harper said. “Obviously, it’s bothering me a little bit, but I don’t know. We’ll see. I’ll take a DH anytime I can get it, but I don’t think we’re there at that point yet.”
In fact, it’s important to Harper that he continues to get everyday outfield reps in order to get acclimated.
“I think the more I play, I think it’ll help me just like getting in condition more,” he said. “I feel like I’m in spring training again, trying to get through everything. So I think the more I play, the more I get my body accustomed to playing the outfield. I think it’ll kind of weasel its way out.”
Harper, 33, has started all 120 Phillies games this year. Mattingly said it’s feasible for him to start all 162 — which would be a first in Harper’s career — provided that the knee is manageable and he stays healthy otherwise.
“It just depends if the health stays good, right? That’s all it is. I mean, we’re not going to not have him in there unless he can’t be in there, and he absolutely has to have a day,” Mattingly said. “So I think it’s realistic.”
Harper is looking forward to getting in the outfield on Thursday during the Phillies’ Field of Dreams game against the Minnesota Twins in Dyersville, Iowa. The stadium is located adjacent to the field shown in the 1989 film, with a cornfield in center field that the players walk through at the beginning of the game.
Harper said that he has corn on the cob-related gear that he plans to wear during the game.
“It’ll be cool, the corn behind me, stuff like that. So I’m excited,” Harper said. “It’ll be fun for all of us. I mean, we all grew up watching that movie, so being able to kind of walk through the corn and do some pretty cool stuff with the older generation will be a lot of fun.”
Alex McFarlane was recalled on Tuesday to the Phillies’ bullpen.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
McFarlane back up
The Phillies bullpen got a reinforcement on Tuesday, with righty Alex McFarlane called back up to the major league club. He filled the spot of Alan Rangel, who was optioned after pitching 2⅔ innings in the Phillies’ win on Monday.
Rangel was one of two arms available in relief behind Monday’s starter Andrew Painter, along with Jonathan Bowlan.
Chase Shugart was recalled Monday even though he was unavailable to pitch. To be eligible to return less than 15 days after being optioned, Shugart had to replace an injured player on the 26-man roster. Caleb Kilian’s oblique strain provided that opportunity.
This marks the third stint with the major league club this season for McFarlane. The right-hander had a scoreless appearance against the Dodgers for his major league debut on July 22. With the bullpen still stretched thin, however, it’s possible the Phillies might need to call on him in higher-leverage situations.
“He’s going to have to get big [outs],” Mattingly said. “Bigger ones than before. So we’ll see. We’re looking for him to just throw the ball the way he’s been throwing it, and he’ll be fine.”
Extra bases
Zack Wheeler (10-3, 2.69 ERA) is scheduled to start Wednesday’s series finale opposite Cardinals right-hander Kyle Leahy (8-4, 3.45).
Gina LaPlaca, the former mayor of Lumberton Township who pleaded guilty earlier this year to driving drunk with her toddler in the car, has been charged with faking signatures on a nominating petition to run for township committee, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said.
LaPlaca, 47, and her husband, Jason Carty, 49, were both charged by summons with third-degree knowingly filing a false petition, two counts of third-degree tampering with public records or information, and fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records.
LaPlaca also was charged with fourth-degree making a false statement under oath.
According to the prosecutor’s office, multiple people whose names and purported signatures appeared on LaPlaca’s nominating petition indicated that they had neither signed the petition nor authorized anyone to do so on their behalf.
The petition was submitted by Carty to the Lumberton Township municipal clerk and contained an affidavit signed by LaPlaca that she “personally circulated the petition [and] that such petition was signed by each of the signers thereof in his/her own handwriting,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Carty also allegedly collected signatures for the petition.
Without the allegedly fake signatures, the prosecutor’s office said, LaPlaca’s petition would have lacked the needed number of signatures required to qualify for the primary.
Both LaPlaca and Carty are scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Mount Holly on Sept. 21.
In March, LaPlaca, who served as mayor until December and is still a member of the township committee, pleaded guilty before Burlington County Superior Court Judge Craig Ambrose to driving under the influence and child endangerment.
Under a deal with prosecutors, LaPlaca entered a three-year diversionary program for first-time offenders. She also agreed to attend regular Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and install an ignition interlock device in her vehicle. LaPlaca told the judge she had installed an interlock device last October. And she had already completed inpatient and outpatient treatment, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said cell-phone video showed LaPlaca driving a blue 2019 BMW erratically on Route 38, swerving across the center line and nearly striking a utility pole. After the motorist who recorded the video alerted police, officers located LaPlaca and found an open container of alcohol in her vehicle, authorities said.
LaPlaca told police she had been drinking before picking up her 2-year-old son from daycare, prosecutors said. At the time, her blood-alcohol concentration measured 0.30% — more than three times New Jersey’s legal threshold for intoxication.
Despite calls from state lawmakers to step down, she declined to resign as mayor and remained in office until her term ended in December.
In a text message Tuesday, LaPlaca said: “I’m still in process of retaining counsel so there’s not much I can say other than these charges are absolutely baseless.”
Carty could not be reached for comment Tuesday. A lawyer for Carty also could not be reached.
In a separate case, Carty was arrested in late May and charged with aggravated assault and harassment, court records show.
The New Jersey Globe news outlet reported last month that LaPlaca had alleged that Carty tried to strangle her. But then she allegedly wrote a letter to the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office saying that her husband did not assault her and that she wished for the charges to be dropped, the New Jersey Globe reported.
A spokesperson for the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment on the alleged letter, but did say that the case had been transferred to the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office.
A spokesperson for the Mercer County’s Prosecutor’s Office could not be reached for comment.
A teen sought in connection with the killing of a Pennsylvania State University student in South Philadelphia surrendered to police on Tuesday, the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Kadafi Fleming, 19, is also a suspect in the theft of a Philadelphia police officer’s car during a Monday morning robbery that ended in a shootout, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Fleming surrendered around 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Philadelphia Police Department’s headquarters at 400 N. Broad St., the U.S. Marshals Service said.
Authorities previously charged Azzubair Outen-Fleming, 16, and Kaiseem Smith, 16, with murder, robbery, and related crimes in the killing of 22-year-old William “Billy” Schmidt, who was robbed of his cell phone and shot on June 6 on the 1900 block of Durfor Street. This week, the marshals announced that they were seeking Fleming on a robbery charge in connection with the killing.
Fleming is Outen-Fleming’s older brother, authorities said.
The announcement of the marshals’ manhunt for Fleming came after another crime in South Philadelphia: About 3:15 a.m. Monday on the 6900 block of Grosbeak Place, authorities said, thieves stole a green Dodge Charger belonging to an off-duty police officer.
Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Robert Clark said the officer found the thieves a few blocks from where his car had been stolen and exchanged gunfire with them before they fled.
Fleming has been named a person of interest in that theft, Clark said.
It was unclear Tuesday whether anyone had been injured in the shootout. Philadelphia police did not respond to requests for information about the incident.
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Clark added that he did not expect the search to last long, noting that marshals had captured Fleming’s brother in June more than 1,700 miles away at a home in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Smith, who is accused of being the triggerman in Schmidt’s killing, turned himself in to authorities shortly after Outen-Fleming’s arrest. Outen-Fleming’s stepfather, Donte Abdulmalik, 35, has also been arrested and charged with helping his stepson evade the authorities.
The Eagles held the 10th practice of their 2026 training camp on Tuesday at the Jefferson Health Training Complex. Here were my observations from Day 10 (and links to Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9):
Medical ward
The Eagles had no changes to their injury report. The following didn’t practice: Wide receiver DeVonta Smith (hamstring), receiver Makai Lemon (hamstring), cornerback Jonathan Jones (shoulder), receiver Johnny Wilson (knee), running back Dameon Pierce (hamstring), safety Cole Wisniewski (hamstring), outside linebacker Keyshawn James-Newby (ankle) and receiver Danny Gray (concussion). Receiver Britain Covey (hamstring) and linebacker Chance Campbell (groin) were again limited.
Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said that outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard wouldn’t be back “for a couple more weeks, at least.” If “a couple” is two, than the earliest Greenard could return would be Aug. 25. Even if it’s a little later, it seems likely that he could be available by the season opener on Sept. 13.
Greenard’s level of involvement, however, would depend on his conditioning and comfort in a new defense. Fangio said as much about Jones and that he would need a ramp-up period to be “calloused” enough to play at full speed.
Vic Fangio hinted on Tuesday that the first-unit defense would play in the first preseason game, as has been customary under Fangio. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Start your engines
I don’t expect coach Nick Sirianni to reveal his plans for the first preseason game on Saturday at the Ravens, just as I don’t expect him to play the first-unit offense. There’s an argument for playing the starters considering the new scheme, but I just don’t see Sirianni taking the risk. The old-school Fangio has a different view and has been given free rein to play his starters. When I asked about his usage plans, he said, “We’ll see how that goes, but you guys have been around here.” In other words, the first defense will play some.
As for the offense, another sign that Jalen Hurts and Co. won’t play in Baltimore came with the lopsided number of practice repetitions they took over the second and third groups on Tuesday. Saquon Barkley has been getting as much work as he normally does in camp, but there was a slight uptick in his touches. He had nine carries in team drills and was targeted once as a receiver.
Barkley had some positive runs. It’s difficult to say for certain how many yards he would have gained with no tackling. But there was really only one rush when I felt he would have lost yards. He had far too many negative-yard runs last season. Obviously, there is hope the new blocking scheme will help keep defenders out of the backfield. I do wonder how Barkley will adjust to more outside zone, but he should thrive in any system.
As for the notion that he will have more opportunities as a receiver, that hasn’t been the case through most of camp. That could certainly change once the season begins. Hurts did go to his running back over the middle at one point on Tuesday, but his pass was a touch behind and Barkley couldn’t make the grab.
There have been encouraging signs in run-blocking during Sean Mannion’s first camp with the Eagles. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Blocking the run
There will be more horizontal stretching of defenses with increased outside zone runs, but Sean Mannion’s offense will have plenty of inside zone, gap schemes, and more. Guard Landon Dickerson downplayed a question about the Eagles employing more duo runs — an inside gap scheme play — this season. But it has long been a complement to the outside zone in the Shanahan offense.
We saw some of it on Tuesday with the O-linemen firing off the ball and creating double-team blocks — hence the name “duo” — that opened holes for Barkley and the other tailbacks. But we saw other concepts, too. Dickerson and tackle Jordan Mailata pulled and Barkley followed for a nice gain. And we saw tight end Johnny Mundt featured in the two-minute offense. He had successful back-to-back blocks on edge Jalyx Hunt — a wham and another at the point of the attack — that helped spring Barkley.
There were some struggles on the ground, too. Tight end Dallas Goedert couldn’t sustain a backside block on defensive tackle Jalen Carter — understandably so — and Carter caught Barkley by his jersey. Linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. diagnosed two outside runs during one period and center Cam Jurgens didn’t stand a chance of getting to him at the second level.
Hunt later got the stop when he got around Mailata, but it was Carter and nose tackle Jordan Davis who clogged the interior and forced Barkley to the edge.
Drew Kendall (66) has had a strong camp to date. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Drew carry more
Drew Kendall is getting closer to locking down the top interior O-line spot among the backups. He could be first off the bench at both center and guard. He more than held his own at left guard against defensive tackle Moro Ojomo in one-on-ones. And he had little trouble vs. Zion Wilson during his two repetitions at center.
Defensive tackle Byron Young got the better of Kendall at guard and sacked quarterback Andy Dalton during second-unit team drills. Later on, Kendall spelled Dickerson with the starters. Young appeared to win early with his pass rush, but Kendall recovered in time for Hurts to step up and heave a bomb.
Tyler Steen (56) was in the center of the action again on Tuesday. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Point of attack
Willie Lampkin continued to shine in one-on-ones. Eagles coaches keep upping the ante. Lampkin took his first turns at center against Ojomo and locked him up pretty good. Could Carter and Davis be next? That’ll be the true test for the 5-foot-11, 290-pound Lampkin.
Guard Tyler Steen and defensive tackle Ty Robinson matched up a day after their scrum in team drills. Steen was the aggressor. Robinson tried to power through, but Steen tied him up. Rookie tackle Markel Bell made easy work of edge Joshua Weru. Edge Tarron Jackson, a former Eagles draft pick who was re-signed on Monday, used a spin move to blow by tackle Cameron Williams.
Tarron Jackson appeared in 21 games with the Eagles in 2021-22 and is back on the squad. HEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer
Edge of tomorrow
Jackson gives the Eagles some much-needed depth on the edge. With Greenard and James-Newby sidelined, the top four outside linebackers — Hunt, Nolan Smith Jr., Arnold Ebiketie, and A.J. Epenesa — have shouldered a lot of snaps. Weru and Jose Ramirez haven’t done enough to earn time with the top two units.
Epenesa had an up-and-down day. He beat Mailata on the outside for a would-be sack. He also was in position when Hurts checked down to tight end Grant Calcaterra. But he was flagged later for holding Calcaterra (!) when he tried to release into a route. A few plays later, Epenesa’s false start gave the second-unit offense a first down in the two-minute period.
Ebiketie has been relatively quiet of late, but he did have a tackle for loss at one point.
Jalen Hurts and Elijah Moore hooked up for a nice connection on Tuesday.
Bombs away
Hurts’ longest completion of the day came on the play in which Kendall recovered to block Young. Slot receiver Elijah Moore was open deep when he got safety Andre’ Sam to bite on his corner fake and Hurts hit him in stride for a walk-in touchdown. It was a beauty.
Moore and Darius Cooper have been Hurts’ go-to guys for the last week. Cooper wasn’t as active today, but as the quarterback said after practice the receiver has strong hands. Hurts was talking about the catch point, but you can also see Cooper’s strength vs. man press. Cornerback Kelee Ringo tried to lock him up at the line in one-on-ones, and Cooper simply swatted his hands away.
Dontayvion Wicks hasn’t seen the ball as much of late, but he did well to drag his feet inbounds on a Hurts pass he pulled in down by his shoelaces. Hollywood Brown has been underwhelming so far.
Will Shipley will need to show some growth in blitz pickup. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Blitz grits
The blitz remained a prominent part of team and individual drills. Barkley fared the best out of the running backs during one-on-ones. Technique has never been his biggest problem. It’s been recognizing where the extra rusher is coming from. He may have missed his assignment when Dickerson needed help with Trotter.
Tank Bigsby has been hot and cold in blitz pickup. He was ice cold when linebacker Smael Mondon cruised by him in team drills. Mondon notched another pressure when running back Will Shipley was late to block him. Shipley had a long conversation with running backs coach Jemal Singleton and O-line coach Chris Kuper after watching the video board replay.
Eli Stowers (87) made an impact with the third unit on Tuesday. Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
This and that
Hurts took advantage of a clean pocket at one point and fired a missile to Goedert with safety Marcus Epps in man coverage. An unblocked Hunt chased Hurts from the pocket, but the quarterback couldn’t be caught. Rookie tight end Eli Stowers logged a few more grabs despite few reps for third-unit players.
Tight end E.J. Jenkins had a nice lead block on a Bigsby run. The Eagles keep him around for a reason. I was watching practice on another field, but my colleague Jeff Neiburg reported that Dalton tossed an ill-advised pass into a crowd that cornerback Cooper DeJean intercepted when the second-unit offense faced the starting defense.
Jake Elliott was again a perfect 6-for-6 during the field goal period. He was good from 33, 38, 40, 44, 45, and 50 yards. He’s missed only one kick so far this camp. … Cooper took the first return on kickoffs. Moore, Covey, and Bigsby also had returns. Lemon and Pierce watched nearby. … The Eagles have a closed walkthrough on Wednesday and return to practice on Thursday.
A South Philadelphia babysitter, originally from Argentina, was released from ICE detention Monday after being arrested at Philadelphia International Airport last month.
Iliana Lick’s arrest made national headlines as the Trump administration steps up efforts to increase immigration enforcement at American airports.
Lick, 30, had been in Philadelphia since September 2024. She had a valid work authorization and a pending asylum application, but had overstayed her visa, according to the Department of Homeland Security. She was arrested as she headed to Kansas City to watch Argentina play in the World Cup, transported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico instead.
“After nearly a month in custody, countless phone calls, legal proceedings, and several transfers across different states, this is a moment we have been praying and hoping for,” her boyfriend, Steven Melchiorre, 35, wrote in an update to supporters on Facebook and a GoFundMe page that has raised more than $18,000 for legal fees.
Though Lick’s release is a victory, the fight to stay in the country is far from over.
As a condition of her release on $10,000 bond, Lick had to surrender her passport and has to wear an ankle monitor.
Immigration advocates keeping track of those being arrested at the Philadelphia airport have said at least 10 people have been detained since mid-July. Of those, Lick is only the second to be released from custody.
Immigration advocate Vivian Chang, executive director of Asian Americans United, said the release of people arrested by ICE, whether at airports or during immigration check-ins, can be a crapshoot.
“You need like a CNN story and so many news articles, so much fundraising, all of that,” Chang said. “The vast majority of people can’t access that. They don’t get coverage, and that’s what the Trump administration is counting on.”
The Inquirer wrote about Lick’s case, and her story was most recently featured on CNN.
For its part, the Department of Homeland Security has said it is making sure undocumented immigrants are flying only to self-deport, offering them a $2,600 payment and a free flight home as an alternative to detention.
A New York Times report found instances of immigration arrests in at least 15 airports, with many of the cases getting follow-ups in local media markets.
Britni Zahodnick, who with her husband, Zane Schultz, has employed Lick as a babysitter for their two young children, ages 4 and 1, for more than a year, said she is grateful for the media attention.
When Zahodnick first learned of the arrest, she said, she was not seeing people talking about the issue on social media platforms. That changed in recent weeks.
In Philadelphia, people have rallied behind Lick, she said.
Donations have helped her to retain counsel, post bond, and pay fortransportation back to her South Philly home.
Zahodnick hopes attention to cases like Lick’s highlights how immigration enforcement is affecting people who have deep roots within their communities.
“A lot of the campaigning on this increased enforcement of immigration was really around criminals, and it just hasn’t panned out that way,” she said.
Gov. Josh Shapiro made a declaration in the early days of his administration: Pennsylvania is open for business.
The move would ultimately include promises to slash bureaucratic red tape, cut permit wait times, and offer a new direct line to Shapiro’s office for major corporations hoping to set up shop in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania would “move at the speed of business” and “get stuff done,” the new mottos used by his administration, he said. He’s campaigning for reelection in November on the same catchphrases, and boasting major successes like the 12-day repair of I-95 in 2023 that traditionally would have taken months to reopen as an example of how he can think outside the box to solve problems.
What’s more: He sees delivering for residents — showing them government can actually solve problems — as the future of the nationalDemocratic Party, while it searches for an effective message and messenger heading into the 2028 presidential primary, which he is widely expected to enter.
It was with this same spirit last summer that Shapiro announced the largest single private sector investment in Pennsylvania history: Amazon committed $20 billion in Pennsylvania that included two data center campuses in Luzerne and Bucks Counties. Pennsylvania scored the project because of its promise to fast-track permitting and use tax breaks for the massive developments.
“Pennsylvania’s gonna be better off. I think America’s gonna be better off, because we’re going to win the battle of AI supremacy and it’s going to be done right here in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box on the day he announced the deal.
Gov. Josh Shapiro announces a $20 billion investment by Amazon in Pennsylvania data centers in Salem Township and Falls Township on June 9, 2025.Commonwealth Media Services
But in a year’s time, the politics — and public opinion on both sides of the aisle — have dramatically shifted on data center development. Shapiro’s early welcome of data centers has created an opening for criticism from his gubernatorial opponent and members of his own party.
Yet efforts to cut red tape have proven to be slow and overblown: Only six data centers are actually under construction in Pennsylvania since the announcement, and 10 have received at least one state-level permit approval, according to Shapiro’s office. Still, Shapiro’s popularity is being evaluated by some voters and anti-data center activists on a perception that he moved too quickly and sacrificed the state’s safety in favor of Big Tech.
“I am all about legislators and decision makers getting s— done. This version of it is reckless and it’s irresponsible and it’s not actually serving our people,” said Carrie Santoro, the executive director of progressive advocacy groupPennsylvania Stands Up who has been holding town hall meetings in communities around the state on data centers.
“Governor Shapiro intends to use all the tools available to him to stop the dozens of speculative data center projects that do not meet community needs and Pennsylvania should expect to hear more from him on that in the coming weeks,” said Shapiro’s press secretary, Rosie Lapowsky.
Now Shapiro, who otherwise maintains vast popularity ratings in the state, faces a vulnerability on one of voters’ top priorities as he heads into November, and a particularly sensitive concern among Democrats as he potentially vies for the party’s nomination in two years.
Many states, including Pennsylvania, had already begun welcoming the major projects, and some hyperscale developers plan to spend billions of dollars to build them. Pennsylvania’s General Assembly first approved a sales tax exemption for data center developments in 2021, when Shapiro’s predecessor, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, was still in office.
Shapiro, for his part, initially embraced data centers as an economic opportunity for Pennsylvania, bringing union jobs for construction workers to build out the physical infrastructure for the computers running AI software. He also wanted to position Pennsylvania to inherit the most benefit from providing space for AI to operate, leading not only other states but also other countries in the race to advance new technology. He and U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) appeared together as early embracers of the technology and the massive buildings needed to power it, speaking together during McCormick’s first AI summit in Pittsburgh last summer.
Sen. Dave McCormick shakes hands with Gov. Josh Shapiro at a panel discussing state investment and infrastructure at the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh on July 15, 2025.Kaiden J. Yu / Staff Photographer
But as communities began to push back against the rapid proliferation of data center proposals, in part to protect their water and energy resources, Shapiro adjusted.
Shapiro, like many elected officials, has changed his positions and rhetoric on the unpopular developments. He announced his Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Standards (GRID) as a way to incentivize developers to follow transparency and environmental requirements in order to receive tax breaks. And when the General Assembly failed to approve his GRID standards or any substantial data center restrictions, Shapiro said he’d act on his own, though it’s still unclear what that will entail.
“You want to build a data center there? You’ve got to bring your own power; you’ve got to pay for your own power. You’ve got to be transparent with the local community — tell them who the hyperscaler is, tell them what’s going to go on there. You’ve got to have a local benefits agreement to help that community. You’ve got to protect the water sources that are used to cool off those facilities,” he said in a June interview with GZERO.
The Democratic governor has been lauded nationally for challenging PJM Interconnection, which is the electric grid operator for Pennsylvania and 12 other states over its efforts to raise prices on ratepayers. He capped the price Pennsylvania consumers could pay through 2029, as residents fear rate hikes due to the data center boom.
But Shapiro’s plan on data centers is too little, too late, Santoro said.
“I saw the GRID proposal as him moving on this issue, and the thing that I am concerned about is he didn’t move enough to keep up with how much voters have moved on this issue,” she said.
Some of those voters would agree. A Quinnipiac University poll of Pennsylvania voters, conducted in early June, found just 24% of those surveyed — and 40% of Democrats — approved of “the way Gov. Josh Shapiro is handling data centers in Pennsylvania.” It’s a stark contrast to Shapiro’s overall approval numbers, in which he’s maintained above 50% approvals — record-high favorability ratings for a first-term Pennsylvania governor.
People sign in and head into an East Vincent Township supervisors meeting where an agenda item involved a data center proposal at the former Pennhurst state hospital grounds on Dec. 17, 2025, in Spring City, Pa. Marc Levy
Joanna Tenney, 36, of East Vincent in Chester County, held a sign at a June rally in the state Capitol that read: “Shapiro: Amazon’s bootlicker.” A registered Democrat, she voted for him in 2022, and believes he should be held accountable for supporting data center development in Pennsylvania that led to the fast-tracking of a now-stalled 125-acre data center project near where she lives.
She’s so fed up with Shapiro’s approach to data centers that she said will be writing in the name of her state senator, Sen. Katie Muth (D., Chester), who has been on the front lines of advocating for many state environmental issues, for governor on her November ballot. Tenney said she and a few other anti-data center advocates plan to run a write-in campaign for Muth.
“We’ve elected somebody that we thought was going to make the right choices by us, and we don’t really see that happening,” Tenney said.
Muth, who took office in 2018, said she would not be supporting Shapiro or “any elected official who puts the interests of Big Tech ahead of the health, safety, and future of Pennsylvania communities.”
If Shapiro changes his stance on data centers, she would support him, Muth said. She is the prime sponsor of a bipartisan bill to place a three-year moratorium on hyperscale data center development.
“Get right on the issue, Right your wrongs. If you can’t be on the side of science and people, my support is MIA,” she added.
Emily VanFleet, 26, lives in Archbald in Northeastern Pennsylvania, where six data center projects are underway comprising more than 50 buildings that, when completed, will cover 14% of the town. VanFleet, who is an unaffiliated voter, said she also supported Shapiro in 2022. But because of his public support for speeding up data center development in Pennsylvania, she is “certainly not going to vote for him this upcoming election,” she said. She isn’t sure she’s going to vote at all.
“I want Shapiro to stop being a coward,” VanFleet said in June. “I have emailed him, I have called him, I have reached out to him so many times. I have not heard back, not once. I see his videos all over social media that he has an open-door policy, but I have yet to see it.”
(In May, Shapiro’s administration announced that one of the unpopular Archbald developments, Project Gravity, was removed from a fast-track permitting program for failing to properly engage with the community.)
But negative attitudes toward Shapiro’s position on data centers may be limited statewide and his position is unlikely to dramatically knock down his high popularity or reelection odds: The June Quinnipiac poll found 56% of those surveyed approve of the way he is handling his job as governor overall, and recent polling shows Shapiro ahead 53% to 40% against his Republican challenger, state Treasurer Stacy Garrity.
The data center pitfall
Shapiro’s political opponents — both immediate and prospective — are also seizing on the issue.
Garrity, of Athens in Northeastern Pennsylvania, has also led a statewide listening tour on the topic. In June, she convened one of those sessions in Hatfield with a group of commissioners, zoning planners and emergency responders to talk about how they have been impacted by data centers. She blasted Shapiro for his role in attracting Amazon and said his proposed new requirements amount to a “flip flop.”
“Josh Shapiro has failed on this topic. He was the biggest cheerleader for data center development in Pennsylvania, until he wasn’t,” Garrity said at the June 24 meeting.
Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity participates in the podcast “Ruthless” during an event hosted by Americans for Prosperity, Concerned Veterans for America, and the Libre Initiative at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Jan. 29. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Garrity has her own mixed record on data centers.
At the time of the Amazon announcement, Garrity called the investment “great news” that would bring “historic investment” and “create thousands of jobs.” And her current position remains unclear. She has said she opposes a statewide moratorium but wants “a pause” on development instead.
Like Republicans running in districts that supported Trump in 2024 but oppose data centers, she appears to be attempting to find a pro-business and pro-regulation path.
“We want to make sure data centers are an addition to the grid, not a contraction. If there’s infrastructure that needs to be added to the grid, rate payers shouldn’t be paying for it,” she said. “I’m not opposed to data centers, but we have to do them the right way, and we haven’t done it. It’s because of a lack of leadership from the government.”
Garrity’s “long record of supporting completely unregulated data center development makes it clear that she just can’t be trusted,” said Manuel Bonder, a spokesperson for Shapiro’s campaign.
Local government leaders said at Garrity’s campaign roundtable in June that there has been lack of guidance around issues, especially around power demand, water use, infrastructure, environmental impacts, and community compatibility.
Kathie Doyle, a Republican on the Richland Township Board of Supervisors, said confusion around data centers have “set off a firestorm” in her community. Earlier this year, warnings of a supposed proposal for a data center in the Bucks County township circulated on social media, but turned out to be a “business park” with two buildings.
“Our residents don’t understand that we just cannot say no,” she said. Municipalities in Pennsylvania cannot outright ban data center development.
Santoro said Shapiro’s inconsistency is a liability that could sway some voters away from casting their ballot for him.
“Certainly he is giving her an ‘in’ by staying on the wrong side of this,” she said.
And it’s not just Republicans seizing on Shapiro’s position. The early reputation Shapiro earned as a champion of data centers may become a point of attack among other Democratic contenders for the presidency in 2028, too. In a veiled jab at Shapiro in June, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, knocked Pennsylvania on a businesspodcast for allowing Constellation Energy to restart Three Mile Island nuclear plant just to power Microsoft’s data centers.
“My guess is that’s going to be a reasonably unpopular thing to have done,” Pritzker said, without noting Shapiro by name on the Prof G Markets podcast.
Vulnerability for down-ballot Democrats
With a $50 million campaign war chest and high approval ratings, Shapiro is widely favored to win reelection this year. But his record on data centers could prove a liability for those he’s hoping to pull along, some advocates, like Santoro, say.
Shapiro has been staking much of his national political clout on his ability to flip four House districts in Pennsylvania for Democratic control of the U.S. House, drawing voters to the polls with his name at the top of the ticket. He’s also aiming to flip Pennsylvania’s Senate into Democratic control for the first time since 1993, giving him a Democratic trifecta in Harrisburg, as the state’s split legislature has blocked many of Democrats’ priorities from becoming law.
Santoro predicted that could be in jeopardy “if he does not change course.”
“Shapiro’s leadership on data centers will be the thing that costs us the first Democratic trifecta in 31 years, and I think that while he will likely win reelection with this wildly unpopular position on data centers, other elected officials and candidates will not,” she said.
Other Democratic candidates aware of data centers’ deep unpopularity are differentiating themselves on the issue, despite remaining otherwise aligned with Shapiro. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, who is running in Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, released a new ad last month putting data center developers on notice.
“Big Tech needs to pay their own way, not hide behind [nondisclosure agreements]. No tax breaks. Don’t raise our electric bills. Don’t poison our water. And hire local union labor,” she said, in the ad spot. “You can’t meet that? Then get out.”
Cognetti’s stance isn’t vastly different from Shapiro’s — both want to end blanket tax breaks — but her rhetoric is much stronger, and she’s putting the issue at the forefront of her campaign.
Democrats insist Republicans, including those running at the state level, don’t have the moral high ground on data centers after failing to pass through several measures that would have enacted stricter controls for their approval.
Sam Silverman, a former congressional aide and founder of Silverman Strategy Group, a strategic communications firm focused on technology and politics, said Shapiro’s approach to data centers — proposing a plan rather than enacting a moratorium — presents a risk that could either pay off and become the model for other states, or fail to fully address all future concerns and is unpopular.
“Shapiro is going out in front by proposing a bargain now. If the standards protect ratepayers, produce visible benefits, and hold bad actors accountable, Pennsylvania could have a model others can follow,” he said. “But because he is putting forward the deal now, he will be judged on whether it delivers.”
Taking a risk involves trust, though. Shapiro can afford to make a big swing at one of the hottest issues in politics because voters put so much faith in him, Silverman said.
“Most politicians do not have the amount of trust and political capital to take a risk, either,” Silverman said.
Whether the governor is triumphant will come down to what standards go into effect and whether bad actors are held accountable, he said, “and whether Pennsylvanians believe those standards are working.”
And if the buzz around the Sixers wasn’t big enough already with LeBron James and Jaylen Brown making their debuts, the matchup against the defending champion Knicks at Madison Square Garden certainly adds some allure.
KNICKS BANNER RAISING NIGHT AT MSG. 🏆 LEBRON AND JAYLEN BROWN'S SIXERS DEBUTS. 🍿
The Knicks raise their first championship banner in 53 years before Jalen Brunson leads New York into its title defense against the new-look 76ers on Opening Night!
After being swept by New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Sixers watch the Knicks raise their first championship banner in 53 years.
And tickets are set to break NBA records, with third-party sites showing get-in prices for nearly $2,000. If that number stands, the game would be the most expensive NBA home opener ever.
The get-in price for the Sixers vs. Knicks season opener at MSG is nearly $2,000. 😳
This would be the most expensive NBA home opener EVER. 🤯
Here’s what social media is saying about the matchup, ticket prices, James and Brown’s Philly debuts, and more …
The hottest ticket in town
There are several reasons this opener is a hot ticket. The combination of it being championship ring night for the Knicks, James and Brown’s first game as Sixers, and a rematch between an already bitter rivalry are driving prices up.
However, tickets haven’t yet gone on sale from the teams’ primary box offices. Prices being shared online are from resellers and secondary markets.
Still, many fans are outraged and worried about what this means for tickets for the rest of the season.
Eagles tickets are gonna be cheaper than sixers tickets smh
Even the team’s home opener at Xfinity Mobile Arena against James’ first team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, on Oct. 22, has high prices due to increased demand.
THE LEBRON EFFECT
$68: Cheapest ticket to the 76ers home opener last season.
Price increase was expected obviously but what I’m worried about is that even a random Tuesday night game vs the Hornets or Nets might set you back $500 for decent lower level seats. That’s like one to two hundred in years past https://t.co/wYCb6188g5
On July 1, it seemed like the trade that delivered Brown would be the Sixers’ marquee event of the offseason. That was until James signed with the Sixers a few weeks later.
So naturally, their first game in a Sixers jersey will cause a stir, as fans finally get to see Mike Gansey’s offseason moves step onto the court.
And again, the matchup only adds to the excitement of it all, as the Sixers seek revenge in New York with a new — and what’s expected to be an improved — team.
While NBA fans will have to wait a little longer to find out when Brown will face his former team in the regular season, the Sixers will see the Boston Celtics in preseason games on Oct. 10 and 16. As for James, there is a Christmas Day game to look forward to against the Lakers. But not only will James be facing old teammates, he’ll also be facing his son.
🚨 LeBron and Bronny James are set to make more history with the first father-son matchup on Christmas Day in NBA history
But he wasn’t the only star that’s been mentioning the Sixers lately. During her stop in Philly, Hilary Duff compared her tour route to James’ career, with stops in Florida and Los Angeles before heading to Philly.
“We started in Florida, went to LA, we’ve ended up here… I’m starting to feel like LeBron”
While Hart shared his reaction on X, fellow New York Knick and Villanova teammate Jalen Brunson spoke on the third-hour of the Today Show.
When host Craig Melvin called the Sixers “the team to beat in the East,” Brunson didn’t try to dispute it.
“I mean, rightfully so,” Brunson said. “They have a lot of firepower. But we’re going to focus on what we’ve got to do, and we’ll see what happens.”
Jalen Brunson from the NY Knicks isn't arguing with anyone calling the 76ers the team to beat
Host: "There have been some of the talking heads out there on sports channels who said, 'Well, this is it.' The 76ers, they got LeBron, they got Jaylen Brown. They've become the team to… pic.twitter.com/jUiTJMn8Ui
When Melvin asked Brunson’s thoughts on the opening night matchup, Brunson said he thinks the game will be “fireworks for sure.”
“They’re going to be electric, they’re going to be definitely a team to keep your eye on,” Brunson said. “They reloaded this year, so it’s going to be a tough test, but we’ll be ready.”
Jalen Brunson is excited for opening night against the Philadelphia 76ers. We got 2 months to wait.
BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. — Jackie, the bald eagle who became an internet sensation and a symbol of the species’ recovery in California, died Monday after being treated for an illness at a veterinary facility, her caretakers announced.
For more than a decade, nature lovers watched via an online video feed as Jackie and her partner Shadow tended to their nest each year atop trees near Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles.
The nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley installed the nest camera in 2015 and documented the successes and failures of each breeding season. In 2024, Jackie diligently sat on her eggs for more than 2½ days straight after a winter storm blanketed the nest with snow.
The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation’s San Dimas Raptor Rescue team found Jackie on July 17 following reports that the bird had been involved in a fight with two other eagles and was found to be ill.
Jackie had been receiving medical treatment for three weeks at the Ojai Raptor Center, where she was treated for a variety of ailments including anemia. Despite undergoing a blood transfusion and oxygen therapy, her condition worsened and the center announced the animal’s death Monday.
“We know this news will be deeply felt by the many thousands of people around the world who have followed her journey, hoped alongside us, prayed for her, and supported the people caring for her,” the center’s statement said. “Our team is heartbroken. It has been an extraordinary privilege to care for her.”
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is caring for the remains.
Among those who enjoyed monitoring Jackie’s nests from afar was biologist Kelly Sorenson, executive director of the Ventana Wildlife Society in central California. While his group was not involved with the Big Bear eagles, he sees their breeding as emblematic of the comeback the species has made in the state over the past decades.
American bald eagles teetered on the brink of extinction until the pesticide DDT was banned in the 1970s and other protections were established, leading the species to rebound and be removed from the federal endangered list.
“You want to see a success story like that,” Sorenson said Monday. “Having access to a live cam to see the nesting first hand is very powerful. It brings people in on an emotional level.”
Believe it or not, Jalen Carter’s biggest offseason distraction was not his contract situation or rehabbing the injuries that plagued him in 2025.
It was the friendly wager he had with Vic Fangio.
“Me and Coach Vic had a little thing going where he wanted me to come in at a certain amount of weight, and I made that weight,” said Carter, who is listed at 6-foot-3, 314 pounds but noted that he’s down 10 pounds since last season. “That also shows that the contract extension wasn’t my biggest focus. My biggest focus was putting a smile on Coach Vic’s face. … And he was happy and we dapped up and we hugged it out.”
Ten days into Eagles training camp, observers can see how this body transformation is helping the two-time Pro Bowler return to form. Carter, 25, looks as dominant as ever entering his fourth season. He consistently blasts through the Eagles’ interior offensive line to create pressure on quarterback Jalen Hurts and he even outraced all defensive linemen in sprints on Tuesday.
This certainly wasn’t the case last season. In 2025, Carter generated a career-low 7.7% pressure rate while facing a double-team on a career-low 41.7% of his pass rushes, according to Next Gen Stats. This came after a wildly successful 2024 season, during which he played 79.4% of the defensive snaps and was a key contributor in Super Bowl LIX.
So, how did this change come to be? Carter attributes his weight-loss journey to fewer “big daddy meals” — which he said is when you “just fill the plate up” — and cutting out Minute Maid brand blue raspberry juice.
How, exactly, has a slimmer frame helped Carter in the early days of camp?
“I just feel better out there,” he said. “Getting out of the stacks feels much better, especially with what I was going through last year with the shoulders and all that. Everything just feels good right now.”
Getting Carter back to peak form is excellent news for an Eagles team that’s built around a tough defensive front. With Carter, Jordan Davis, and Moro Ojomo all looking sharp in camp, the Eagles should have one of the top defensive tackle rooms in the NFL in 2026.
Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio challenged Jalen Carter to improve his body this offseason and has been pleased with his defensive tackle’s progress. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Carter’s transformation even drew public praise from Fangio, who rarely goes out of his way to dish out compliments.
“[Carter has] had a good offseason of lifting,” Fangio said. “I think he started that earlier than normal for him and you can see the difference in that regard. I think he’s in a better spot now than he was.”
The next challenge for Carter is making sure he can stay locked in mentally. The Patriots are hosting the Eagles in a joint practice ahead of their preseason game on Aug. 22, which could lead to tempers flaring between the two clubs. When asked how he can stay composed, Carter said he’ll try his best.
“If I was to get into any altercations, I don’t try to start them, I just finish them,” he said with a wry smirk. “I think I pretty much know the lines. … There’s really ain’t too much I can do. You know, it’s football.
“It’s definitely fighting, that’s the main thing: We don’t want to fight. We want to get contact, get aggressive and all this, but fighting is the last thing we want.”
DAMASCUS, Syria — A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced ousted President Bashar Assad and his brother in absentia for murder, torture and crimes against humanity committed before and during the country’s 14-year civil war that left about half a million people dead.
The verdicts by a court in Damascus are the first against Assad or any members of his inner circle since his family’s five decades in power came to an end 20 months ago. They are mostly symbolic, however, because Assad and his brother Maher fled to Russia, where they received asylum after the Syrian government’s stunning collapse in December 2024.
Six other former officials were also sentenced to death in absentia. The only former official sentenced to death and in custody is Assad’s maternal cousin Atef Najib, who oversaw a crackdown on dissent that led to an uprising that sparked the civil war. Najib stood inside a cage wearing a prisoner’s uniform as the judge read his sentence aloud, and a crowd gathered outside the heavily guarded courthouse.
Even though Assad is unlikely to ever face justice, the verdicts will be popular among many Syrians, especially those who have expressed frustration that the new government hasn’t moved with enough speed or strength against Assad-era figures.
Some human rights groups, though, expressed concerns that the trials were rushed, potentially unfair, and, at the very least, exposed flaws in Syria’s justice system.
“Bashar Assad used state agencies to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity,” said judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan during a court session that was aired live on state TV — a contrast with Assad-era trials, which were conducted in secret. The verdicts al-Aryan read aloud found Assad and the others guilty of premeditated murder, including against children, as well as other acts of brutality, including torture.
Al-Aryan said Najib could appeal.
“Today is the day of justice for all the wounded, martyrs, detainees and Syrians who were forced to leave their country,” said attorney Adnan al-Masalmeh, who represented families of Najib’s victims. “Today marks a victory of right against injustice, a victory of the Syrian people against the ousted regime.”
Najib is one of the highest-ranking security officials to be put on trial. He is a former army brigadier general who was in charge of political security in Syria’s southern Daraa province.
During his tenure, more than a dozen teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a school wall were arrested and tortured. The case became a catalyst for mass protests against the repressive policies of Assad’s security forces.
The protests were met by a brutal government crackdown in 2011 that spiraled into the civil war that ended with Assad’s ouster in a lightning rebel offensive.
Some of Najib’s victims were present at the courthouse, including two who were teenagers in 2011 and expressed their opinions to the Associated Press.
“Today we reached a point where the blood was not wasted,” said Mouawiya Sayasneh, about those who died in the crackdown. Fifteen years later, “there is happiness that Atef Najib was sentenced to death,” he said.
Another man, Nayef Abazeid, who was detained at the age of 13 in 2011, expressed his satisfaction with the sentence, adding, “Our biggest happiness will be when Bashar Assad is executed.”
Maher Assad was a former commander of the Syrian military’s 4th Armored Division — which opposition activists have accused of killings, torture, extortion, and drug trafficking, in addition to running its own detention centers.
“Today’s scenes outside the courthouse reflect 15 years of pain and a justice long denied,” said Hiba Zayadin, Syria researcher at Human Rights Watch. She said the rights group opposes the death penalty in all cases, including this one, because ”it’s cruel and irreversible, especially when a fair trial isn’t guaranteed.”
She said the appeal process for Najib “needs to meet fair trial standards.” Real accountability for Assad-era crimes depends on Syria building a justice system that lasts, she said.
The Washington-based Syria Justice and Accountability Center described Tuesday’s conviction of Najib as a “historical step in Syria’s transitional period,” but said it exposed major flaws in the justice system which likely jeopardized his right to a fair trial.
It said that SJAC’s trial monitoring team attended Najib’s trial and documented multiple issues such as rushed proceedings and witness testimony that did not connect Atef to the crimes he was charged with. SJAC said Najib’s lawyer “lacked the capacity and willingness to meaningfully engage with the case or mount an adequate defense.”
