Some of the country’s biggest football stars have brought back a decade-old internet trend where people douse themselves in ice water to raise money for research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurodegenerative disease known as ALS.
Former Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson put ALS and the Ice Bucket Challenge back in the spotlight in late June when he announced his diagnosis on “Good Morning America.”
“Years ago, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge united millions of people around the world around one cause and helped change the fight against this disease,” Johnson wrote on social media after his announcement. “Today, I’m asking you to help me do it again.”
It was a callback to the original challenge, which raised over $100 million for ALS research when it originated in 2014, and is now described as one of the more notable success stories in an age of social media-driven activism.
More than a decade later, experts say that windfall transformed ALS research by drawing more scholars into the field and powering breakthroughs in ALS diagnosis and care. They hope a revival of the trend might do the same as researchers continue to hunt for a cure.
“We can do so much more now than we could then,” said Eva Feldman, a professor of neurology and director of the Scott Pranger ALS Center at the University of Michigan.
The simple premise of the Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014, to film yourself getting an icy splash, make a donation and nominate three friends to do the same, was primed to spread across the internet and came as Facebook debuted hashtags and “trending” topic lists to boost viral videos. Celebrities, politicians and around 17 million people participated in the trend, according to the ALS Association.
“It brought extreme recognition to the disease,” Feldman said.
The swell of attention and funding from the Ice Bucket Challenge “spawned a generation of young investigators” who were newly drawn into ALS research, said Nicholas Maragakis, a professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University.
Experts said among the biggest breakthroughs in the past decade include the identification of over a dozen genes associated with ALS.
Mutations in genes can cause cells to produce abnormal proteins that damage neurons and can lead to ALS, and identifying which genes carry these mutations has helped scientists understand the disease. New treatments for ALS include drugs that target these faulty genes.
“Many of the genes we’ve identified are directly related to [funding from] the Ice Bucket Challenge,” said Calaneet Balas, the CEO and president of the ALS Association.
Other areas where ALS research has progressed include the use of stem cells to model the behavior of neurons to better understand how they deteriorate, and the identification of more biomarkers, such as chemicals in blood or spinal fluid, associated with ALS.
Those indicators can allow doctors to gauge the presence or severity of ALS in a patient, which has helped with diagnosing patients as well as evaluating the effectiveness of drugs in clinical trials.
“We understand the disease much better than we did in 2014,” Maragakis said.
The quality of care for ALS patients has also increased by “light-years,” Balas said. Research into brain implants has allowed some people with ALS to communicate, work and even reclaim their voices. Johnson gave his GMA interview using a device that uses recordings of his voice to synthesize speech, according to the program.
“To be able to do all of that did not exist 10 years ago,” Balas said.
The ALS Association says more work will be needed. A study last year funded by the ALS Association that analyzed a region of Italy projected that ALS prevalence could increase in the U.S. by around 16 percent from 2024 to 2040 — to an estimated total of around 42,000 cases — as the country’s population ages and ALS patients live longer.
Further funds raised could go toward larger-scale studies on risk factors of ALS and ways to make the disease more livable, Feldman said.
A cure for ALS may not be imminent, and there “won’t be one silver bullet,” Balas said. But she added that she is optimistic about making ALS livable with further advancements in patient care and treatment.
The internet has changed in the years since the Ice Bucket Challenge’s heyday. But even if this revival does not eclipse the original challenge, Balas said it is reminding the public about ALS, and the power of a bit of viral goodwill.
“I think it’s wonderful to have the resurgence, whether it matches what happened in 2014 or not,” Balas said.
2026 Toyota bZ XLE FWD Plus vs. 2026 Volvo EX30 Twin Motor Performance Electric Ultra: A little EV battle.
This week: Toyota bZ
Price: $40,468 as tested. Options were few, floor mats and such. Lots standard for this trim level.
What others are saying: “Highs: Smooth and nearly silent powertrain, excellent efficiency, comfortable front seats. “Lows: Long wet stopping distance, no one-pedal driving ability, lacks some expected EV-specific features, compromised driving position, meager small-item storage,” says Consumer Reports.
What Toyota is saying: “Miles and miles of innovation.”
Reality: Whoa, dropping that letter and number from the name really helped this EV.
What’s new: Toyota has given a bit of a rethink to the bZ4X, rebranding it now as simply the bZ. (Even I could not remember the old name, and I get paid to remember the name. Then again, I never had the pleasure of testing one, just the Subaru Solterra clone.) They’ve also stretched the range to 314 miles, at least on the version tested. Comforting. It has a new sleeker look too.
It’s part of Toyota plotting its own path on EV, with the improved bZ and larger bZ Woodland, a path that was cut years ago and now they’re stuck with it. But could it mean a resurgence of EVs, when they’ll finally come in to their own? When a consistently trustworthy brand like Toyota jumps in head first, it could open up new possibilities. Especially if oil prices stay high.
Up to speed: Like most EVs, the bZ climbs to 60 mph with seemingly no effort. There may be a Sport mode; I didn’t feel the need to look for it. There is an Eco mode, and I didn’t bother turning it on.
The front-wheel-drive versions of the bZ create 221 horses, and hit 60 mph in 6.2 seconds, according to Car and Driver, which puts it into respectable fast-car territory. The all-wheel drives have a second motor, 338 horsepower, and get to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, according to Motor Trend, more like an EV.
Shiftless: The bZ has a nice dial shifter on the console; push down and twist counterclockwise for Reverse, or clockwise for Drive. Press a button for park. The tiny parking brake lever is conveniently nearby.
On the road: The aerodynamics and heavy batteries make driving a rewarding experience. There’s a little bit of fun but there’s mostly just a smooth glide as you zip along.
The front-wheel-drive version does a great job of not feeling like one. Oversteer or lurching to the side on corners is limited, although the torquey motor meant the bZ left rubber behind on occasion when the light turned green.
The interior of the 2026 Toyota bZ provides comfort up front, sadness in the back, at least with the cloth seats in the test model.Toyota
Driver’s Seat: The cloth seats provided great comfort and support. Toyota makes a superb basic seat; it was the main selling point in Sturgis Kid 1.0’s first car, a 2016 Scion iM, and every family member who drove it agreed those were refreshing. The bZ carries this spa-day mantel.
The faraway gauge pod pretends to be mounted on the steering column. I’d found it cumbersome and somewhat hard to read in my Solterra test, but this time I was charmed. The Lovely Mrs. Passenger Seat commented on how neat it looked.
The sloped front windshield makes for a welcome cockpit for anyone who ever spent time in a 1990s GM dustbuster minivan.
Friends and stuff: Here, the bZ starts to lose its charm. Rear-seat passengers will find plenty of legroom, and decent headroom. Foot room is a little snug but there’s so much legroom.
But the real downfall is the rear seat. The seat cushion is so crushable it’s almost like sitting on an air mattress, and so short from front to back it’s like sitting on a log. So I guess it’s an air log?
Cargo space is 38.1 or 56.1 cubic feet.
Play some tunes: The 14-inch Toyota audio multimedia screen is perched liked an iPad on the dashboard, complimenting the gauge screen nicely and giving the bZ a very Prius-like feel. Getting around the system is almost entirely through the touchscreen, but it’s big enough that it’s not too impossible.
Sound from the system is very good, an A. Extremely clear audio.
Keeping warm and cool: The Lovely Mrs. Passenger Seat commented on the round temperature control dials’ attractiveness. I explained how they meant swiping something else on the screen by accident, but then couldn’t replicate my errors when asked. Sigh.
The rest of the controls are on the ebony portion of the touchscreen, and do require some eyes-off-the-road time. The fan is especially difficult to operate. Notably, the bZ alerted me to keep my eyes on the road, and I told it, “You know, this is all your fault. But it won’t be YOUR insurance rates going up.” No response. No apology. Jerk.
Range: The vehicle reported a 314-mile range. The best mileage comes in the low-priced offering, which is a nice touch. The next level Limited range drops to 299 miles, and the Limited all-wheel drive will only travel 278.
It was fairly quick to charge on my home 110-volt outlet, adding 20% range overnight, and it advertises that it takes eight hours to fully charge on a 240-volt standard home charger.
It’ll charge from 10-80% in 30 minutes on a fast charger, slightly slower than the 20 minutes on other carmakers’ EVs.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has declared a statewide code red air quality day due to Canadian wildfire smoke blowing into the Philadelphia region.
The poor air quality prompted the start time for the Phillies-Mets game to be moved an hour earlier. A Phillies game was postponed in June 2023 due to air quality issues caused by wildfire smoke.
A heat advisory is also in effect in Philadelphia, where the heat index could reach 100 degrees. There’s also the potential for an isolated thunderstorm this evening between 4 p.m. and 11 p.m.
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Suffocating dome of smoke descends over Philly region
John Burns Jr., of Grays Ferry Philadelphia, Pa., sitting out at Cherry Street Pier with the wildfire smoke from Canada in Philadelphia, Pa., on Thursday, July 16, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
The polluted campfire-like vaporfrom Canadian wildfires plummeted air quality Thursday, lowered visibility enough that flights were delayed at Philadelphia International Airport, and prompted cancellation of a concert at Cooper River Park in Camden County.The Phillies moved Thursday night’s game up one hour due to air quality concerns.
The smoke, which was expected to blanket the region at least through Friday, originated from fires burning in Western Ontario, said Sarah Johnson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Mount Holly office.
It was swept in by winds that mixed to keep it closer to the ground.
“It’s just a factor of the winds at all levels kind of working together,” Johnson explained.
It is difficult to pinpoint when the air quality might return to normal, she said. Those forecasts come from state environmental protection departments and are usually no more than 48 hours out.
What to know about the wildfire smoke in Philly and its health impacts
Penn State graduate student Ray Boone waits for the bus with a face mask on because of the air quality, on Thursday, July 16, 2026 at 17th Street and JFK Boulevard in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has declared a statewide Code Red air quality day due to Canadian wildfire smoke blowing into the Philadelphia region.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
As Canada grapples with hundreds of active wildfires, the rest of North America is feeling the impactsstruggles with air quality alerts.
In Philadelphia and elsewhere, the air quality score is considered unhealthy, particularly for the most sensitive people.
Whether you are planning on going out or staying home, here’s what three experts had to say about staying healthy and what precautions are needed:
Pennsylvania DEP issues statewide code purple alert for Friday
Air quality is expected to continue to deteriorate Friday, with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issuing a code purple alert for the entire state as smoke from wildfires in Canada and Minnesota continue to blanket the area.
A code purple alert indicates “very unhealthy” air quality conditions, which could effect the general population. It is the second-highest step on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s color scale, with only maroon — which indicates a “hazardous” air quality — outranking it.
Department officials advised all residents to limit their time and exertion levels outside. Sensitive groups — including children, elderly people, and people with respiratory illnesses — are advised to avoid outdoor activities altogether.
Friday’s code purple alert is one step above Thursday’s code red.
The state DEP advised that residents and businesses should avoid using gas-powered lawn and garden equipment, and not burn leaves or trash to help keep fine particulate pollution levels down amid the alert.
The Phillies’ game against the New York Mets will begin an hour earlier than initially scheduled, due to air quality concerns.
Now, the game will start at 6:10 p.m., the Phillies announced Thursday afternoon. Gate opening times, however, will stay the same, with third base and left-field entrances opening at 5:10 p.m., and all other gates opening a half hour later.
Thursday’s game was initially scheduled to start at 7:10 p.m., and will kick off a three-game series against the Mets at Citizens Bank Park.
In 2023, the Phillies postponed a game against the Detroit Tigers over air quality issues from Canadian wildfires.
Air quality is ‘potentially pretty dangerous’ for sensitive groups
Thursday’s smoky air is not just overshadowing Philadelphia’s summer sky; it’s also clouding your lungs.
The city’s air quality score is in the red stage, according to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. It is not as hazardous as the maroon level, but the air is still considered unhealthy — particularly for more sensitive populations.
“It’s potentially pretty dangerous air quality to individuals who are fragile,” said Dr. Michele Columbo, the allergy and immunology chief at Main Line Health. “They can have difficulty breathing, dry cough, wheezing, tightness in the chest, and even feel light-headed because of high heat.”
You might not consider yourself “fragile,” but Columbo said people 65 or older, folks with asthma or any kind of lung issues, individuals with cardiovascular disease, children, and pregnant women are the most affected by the current air conditions.
While most of the city is continuing daily life as normal, Columbo cautions people in the sensitive category against staying outside for more than a couple of minutes at a time, and even encourages rescheduling outdoor activities.
Children in particular are at risk because they breathe faster than adults. And pregnant people in the third trimester may already be experiencing difficulty breathing without the added contaminants to their lungs.
Folks falling in this category should stay inside, where setting the air-conditioning to recirculation can help, Columbo said. For people who can’t avoid going outside, wear an N-95 mask, he added.
Columbo also urged patients with chronic respiratory problems to make sure to carry and use their inhalers when outside.
A statewide code red air emergency and heat advisory is not stopping global EDM phenomenon Deadmau5 from headlining FIFA Fan Festival in Lemon Hill Thursday night.
As air quality reaches unhealthy levels, according to five monitoring stations across the city, and the heat index could read 100 degrees, Fan Fest officials said the festivities and Deadmau5 performance would go on as scheduled.
“We encourage the public to take proper precautions if attending Fan Fest today,” said Melissa Ferdinand of Philadelphia Soccer 2026, the host city committee that runs the festival.
The festival opens from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., with Deadmau5 taking the stage at 7 p.m. The Ghosts N Stuff producer posted to Instagram three hours ago that he was en route to Philly, and just so happened to bump into his contemporary and global DJ icon, Zedd, Thursday morning.
Wildfire smoke not dampening some tourists’ time in Philly: ‘It’s much worse out west’
Julie and Bill Guise, 66 and 72, respectively, basked in the somewhat cool breeze billowing from a giant fan inside the President’s House complex at around 1 p.m. hoping to get relief from the oppressive air. The Flagstaff, Ariz., residents, however, were unaware of what exactly was causing it.
“We couldn’t figure out what it was,” Bill Guise said of the haze in the atmosphere.
It wasn’t out of lack of familiarity with wildfire smoke. It was the opposite. Their region of the country is so often affected by this kind of smoke, and at much closer range, that this level of smokiness didn’t even register to them as wildfire-related.
The couple was in town visiting their son, a jazz bassist and University of the Arts graduate. While the smoky air is uncomfortable for them, as is the general humidity that the desert-dwellers are unaccustomed to, they said it’s unlikely to change their plans for the day.
“We have such limited time here and so many things to do,” Bill Guise said.
The couple was meeting with their son later at Valley Green Inn for dinner and planning on seeing a play tomorrow morning at Penn’s Landing. They don’t plan on letting the haze get in the way.
“It’s much worse out west,” Julie Guise added, likening the western smoke, when it’s extra bad, to sitting next to a campfire.
For father-daughter duo David and Brayden DeMaria, this level of smoke is somewhat of a reprieve from what they were experiencing in Syracuse, N.Y., before they traveled down to Philly.
“We left yesterday morning and it was, like, orange leaving the house,” Brayden DeMaria, 19, said standing outside Independence Hall around 1:30 p.m. “The color of the sky is completely different.”
The two came to town for Wednesday’s Tame Impala concert (though they were mostly there for the opener, Djo) and will return home later today. They planned on packing the day with finishing their trip to Independence Hall, thrifting, and then hitting up Franklin Fountain for ice cream.
Deteriorating air quality appears to be heading toward Philly
Air quality is deteriorating rapidly in Central and Western Pennsylvania this afternoon as smoke from Canadian wildfires pours across the U.S. border, data from government air sensors show.
Air sensors in Centre County recorded an air quality index of 345 at 1 p.m., or hazardous, the highest and most dangerous level tracked by the Environmental Protection Agency. Other sensors in Lycoming and Bradford Counties recorded AQIs above 200, or very unhealthy.
Under these conditions, according to the EPA, the entire population is at risk for adverse health effects with prolonged exposure.
The worst conditions appeared to be gradually drifting southeast across Pennsylvania Thursday afternoon. Forecasts show the thickest smoke reaching the Philadelphia region late Thursday into Friday morning.
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Flights delayed into Philadelphia due to low visibility
The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground delay on flights headed into Philadelphia International Airport Thursday due to low visibility caused by wildfire smoke.
According to FlightAware, 148 flights have been delayed heading into PHL Thursday. Currently, the posted delay is 66 minutes and scheduled to remain in place until 11:59 pm.
There are currently no delays on planes departing PHL.
Travelers are encouraged to check with their airlines for the latest flight information, as the impact of Canadian wildfires is expected to linger across the Philadelphia region Friday.
Concert featuring Beach Boys co-founder canceled due to poor air quality
The poor air quality across the Philadelphia region is beginning to impact events scheduled to take place outdoors.
A concert featuring Al Jardine, co-founder of the Beach Boys, scheduled to take place at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, N.J., at 8 p.m. on Thursday has been canceled, organizers announced.
The show has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 4.
There has yet to be any announcements regarding Thursday night’s Phillies game against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Temple doc says smoke-filled air has a ‘uniquely toxic profile’
Eric Balaban, a pulmonary and critical care fellow at Temple University, was hesitant but still went running Thursday morning, even as smoke from Canadian wildfires smothered the region.
“If I didn’t have an addiction to running, I would not have gone. And I would recommend other people not to run. Do as I say, not as I do,” he said with a laugh.
But exposure to the smoke is a serious matter, Balaban said. He said that smoke that travels “carries a uniquely toxic profile that poses severe health risks to both healthy individuals and vulnerable populations.”
Balaban said the smoke, which has traveled hundreds of miles, undergoes what’s known as “photochemical aging,” meaning it interacts with oxygen, heat, and sunlight to help generate high levels of ground-level ozone and highly irritating aerosols.
That’s in addition to the ground-level ozone also produced by weather conditions such as on Thursday.
Ground-level ozone is a pollutant that forms when nitrogen oxides and volatile organics emitted by vehicles, power plants, and industry react in sunlight, especially during hot days. It can cause airways to constrict, leading to shortness of breath, so it can especially affect those with asthma, emphysema, and chronic bronchitis.
Balaban also explained that the fine particulate matter (PM2.5) within the smoke is small enough to cross from the lungs directly into the bloodstream, bringing a body-wide exposure that can increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes, in addition to causing acute chest tightness, shortness of breath, and dizziness in otherwise healthy people.
Those risks are amplified for those with preexisting conditions like asthma or COPD, he said.
He suggests people replace home air-conditioning filters to improve indoor air quality and, if they have existing conditions, to make sure they have extra respiratory medications and inhalers on hand.
Balaban emphasized the world is undergoing an environmental crisis with climate change, and encouraged the public to address the “root cause” of it through civic action.
“We have opportunities to mitigate and prevent these environmental catastrophes from happening, but it is something that we need to agree to do together,” he said.
People try to beat the heat with a hand fan in limited shade in Center City.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Ruth McDermott-Levy, a professor at Villanova University’s school of nursing, says that not only has air quality become a risk today for those already with health issues, but for everyone.
“All of us are at risk today,” McDermott-Levy said. “Certainly there are groups of people at greater risk, from pregnant women, children, older people, and those with cardiac and respiratory illnesses. But we’re at an unhealthy level for everyone.”
She has previously written an article about the impact of wildfire smoke on health. This newest round of wildfires from Canada, as well as the second heat dome to descend on the area in as many weeks, indicates climate change, she said.
Wildfire smoke is particularly damaging, she said. Wildfires carry not only smoke from burning trees, but from buildings it sweeps up, and pollutants already in the air. That can include pollution coming into Philadelphia from Boston and New York, McDermott-Levy said.
“Wildfire smoke is among the most toxic air pollution that we have,” she said.
She said that pollution not only can penetrate the human bloodstream, but also settles on crops and livestock.
She suggested that those with tickets to tonight’s Phillies game reconsider going, especially children whose lungs are still developing. A Phillies-Tigers game was postponed in 2023 because of Canadian wildfire smoke, but no announcements have been made regarding Thursday’s game.
Meanwhile, high heat and sunlight combine with gases in the air to produce more ground-level ozone.
“This is climate change and we are living it,” she said.
Philly health officials urge residents to limit outdoor activities
Hazy conditions in Center City Philadelphia Thursday, caused by wildfires in Canada.Denali Sagner / staff
With Philadelphia under a Code Red Air Quality Alert, city officials are urging residents to limit their time outdoors.
“Today is not the day to start your marathon training plan,” Palak Raval-Nelson, commissioner of the city’s Department of Public Health, said in a statement.
As of 11 a.m., Philadelphia’s Air Quality Index was 182, solidly in the middle of the “unhealthy” range, which means conditions are bad enough for members of the general public to experience health effects.
Especially at risk are residents with heart or lung conditions, who should take “extra special care” outdoors Thursday, Raval-Nelson said. Children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems are also at higher risk.
People experiencing symptoms including trouble breathing, heart palpitations, nausea, or dizziness are encouraged to seek immediate medical attention.
Despite the warning, city services will operate normally. Employees working outdoors are being encouraged to take frequent breaks and should consider wearing a mask, the city said.
Most Philly Parks and Recreation activities will operate normally
City pools will be open Thursday and won’t have restrictions based on air quality.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
The wildfire smoke will not disrupt most Philadelphia Parks and Recreation facilities or activities on Thursday, according to spokesperson Ra’Chelle Rodgers.
The city’s pools and parks will not have restrictions based on air quality, she said. Summer camps may cancel some trips, outdoor sports or other activities on a case-by-case basis, but will otherwise remain open and move indoors.
The department is following the city’s health guidance on air quality, and instructing leaders to monitor the situation and use their best judgment, Rodgers said.
Poor air quality threatens the Phillies-Mets game in South Philly
The Phillies were forced to play in smoky conditions in June 2023, ultimately forcing the team to postpone a game.Steven M. Falk / Staff Photographer
Wildfire smoke from Canada is creating air quality issues in Philadelphia, threatening to derail the Phillies’ return to the diamond.
The Phillies are scheduled to kick off a three-game series against the New York Mets Thursday at Citizens Bank Park beginning at 7 p.m., but the game could be postponed if conditions in the city don’t improve.
As of 9:30 a.m., Philadelphia’s Air Quality Index was 181, solidly in the middle of the “unhealthy” range, which means conditions are bad enough for members of the general public to experience health effects.
Air quality levels are expected to fluctuate during the day, but issues are forecast to linger through tonight and potentially into Friday, according to Paul Fitzsimmons, lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Mount Holly office.
“I think this evening there still will be air quality issues the Philly area and surrounding areas” Fitzsimmons said. “It’s tough to say exactly how bad they will be.”
The Phillies did not respond to a request for comment. The team isn’t scheduled to play Friday, so shifting the game back a day wouldn’t create much of a scheduling headache.
It wouldn’t be the first time the Phillies were impacted by smoke. In June 2023, the team postponed a game against the Detroit Tigers due to air quality issues stemming from Canadian wildfires.
The Phillies-Mets game is the only MLB matchup on the schedule Thursday, as the league restarts following the All-Star break. MLB games scheduled Friday in Toronto, Boston, and New York City, which are all experiencing air quality issues.
The Washington Spirit defeated Gotham FC in National Women’s Soccer League action Wednesday night at Citi Field in New York City, and players said the smoky air had an impact.
Air quality is expected to improved for Sunday’s men’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina, which will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Smoke in Philly could linger into Friday afternoon
Hazy skies at Independence Hall and across Center City Philadelphia Thursday.Michelle Myers / staff
The smoke we’re experiencing in Philadelphia is from fires burning in western Ontario and the impact could be felt through at least Friday afternoon, said Sarah Johnson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Mount Holly office.
The smoke had been lingering high in the atmosphere since Tuesday, but changing wind patterns caused it to mix closer to the ground by late Wednesday afternoon, she said.
“It’s just a factor of the winds at all levels kind of working together,” Johnson explained.
Visibility in the immediate Philadelphia area has dropped to between three to five miles. Visibility of beyond six miles is typical for a sunny, smoke-free day.
Visibility worsens farther north, Johnson said. In the Poconos and Central New Jersey, for example, it has dropped to around one to two miles. Reading is at two miles.
Johnson said that conditions are similar to, but not quite as severe yet, to June 2023 when smoke from Canadian wildfires were so bad they caused the Phillies to postpone a game against the Detroit Tigers.
It’s difficult to pinpoint when the air quality might return to normal, she said. Those forecasts come from state environmental protection departments and are usually no more than 48 hours out.
But she expects the haze to persist through Thursday and Friday, and that air quality could potentially deteriorate further overnight.
“Getting the exact visibility is still pretty challenging when we’re talking about smoke, more than several hours out,” Johnson cautioned.
Air quality in Philly ‘unhealthy’ due to wildfire smoke
You might want to skip that morning run or wait a few days to mow the lawn.
Smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires has descended over the Philadelphia region, casting a haze, causing a campfire-like smell, and producing poor air quality.
The Air Quality Index by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is in the unhealthy range for Center City, Northeast Philadelphia, Chester, Norristown, and Camden. The index ranges from 0 to 500. Unhealthy is from 151 to 200. Center City was the highest in the area at 184, as of 7:30 a.m.
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The index measures a range of pollutants, including really fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5; carbon monoxide; sulfur dioxide; and nitrogen dioxide.
The National Weather Service has issued an air quality alert until midnight Thursday.
And the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has issued a Code Red Air Quality Action Day for fine particulates. An Air Quality Action Day means that air quality within the region may approach or exceed unhealthy standards.
Code red means that young children, elderly people, and those with respiratory problems, such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis, are especially vulnerable and should avoid outdoor activities. Everyone else should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion.
In addition, the NWS has issued a heat advisory until 8 p.m. Thursday with the heat index to hover near 100.
Code red air quality alert has been issued for the Philly area
The sun tries to peek through the clouds and wildfire smoke from Canada over houses in Ridley Park Thursday.Torin Sweeney / Staff
Smoke from Canadian wildfires began enveloping the region Thursday, creating a haze, a faint smell of charcoal, and a potential danger for people with respiratory issues.
The National Weather Service has issued a code red air quality day for Philadelphia and surrounding counties through midnight. That means air quality across the region is forecast to approach or exceed unhealthy standards.
By daybreak, air quality was tumbling to unhealthy levels in Philadelphia and a broad swath of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, according to an Inquirer analysis of dozens of public sensors.
Early Thursday morning, the amount of fine particulate matter in the air, measured by the Environmental Protection Agency in a metric called the Air Quality Index, or AQI, had risen sharply.
Air with an AQI above 150 is considered unhealthy to breathe with prolonged exposure for most individuals, according to the EPA. In air quality alerts issued by the National Weather Service, forecasters recommended avoiding prolonged outdoor exposure, and particularly avoiding common activities like exercise.
It was unclear when the smoke would dissipate across the region, but the National Weather Service said it could linger into Friday.
This map shows air quality in the Northeastern U.S.
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Canadian wildfire photos: How things look elsewhere
Julian McTaggart is playfully pushed into Vermont’s West River as smoke from Canadian wildfires creates an orange haze over the area.Kristopher RadderWildfire smoke blankets downtown Toronto Wednesday after wildfires swept across Ontario.IAN WILLMSThe CN Tower is pictured in Toronto as wildfire smoke fills the city.Laura Proctor
MONROEVILLE, Pa. — When Michelle Parsons was planning her wedding in 2007, she had only one honeymoon destination in mind.
“My fiance asked, ‘Where do you want to go?’” Parsons recalled. “And I said, ‘The Monroeville Mall.’”
The modest two-story shopping complex, 20 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh, might not seem like the most romantic choice. But to horror lovers like Parsons, the Monroeville Mall is “a holy place” — not to mention one of the largest and longest-standing movie sets in the country.
In the late 1970s, George A. Romero, the creator of the modern zombie genre, took over the building to shoot “Dawn of the Dead,” a blood-soaked tale of four survivors who hide out in an abandoned mall as they try to fend off bloodthirsty creatures and greedy bikers. As Romero once told Rolling Stone, the Monroeville Mall epitomized “the false security of the whole consumer America trip,” making it the perfect backdrop for a gory allegory about 20th-century capitalism run amok.
Since the film’s U.S. release in 1979, “Dawn of the Dead” has attracted generations of fans to Monroeville, including Parsons, a 46-year-old X-ray technologist from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. When she finally arrived at the mall after her wedding, Parsons began to cry.
“I was in heaven,” she said.
The marriage didn’t last. But Parsons’ love for the movie, and for the mall, has endured.
Last month, she was back in Monroeville for the Living Dead Weekend. This year, it united an estimated 3,000 “Dawn of the Dead” aficionados with more than 60 cast and crew members, its organizer, Kevin Kriess, said. Together, the “Dawn of the Dead” faithful celebrated the building’s history — and began the uneasy process of saying goodbye to the mall.
In October, Walmart announced it had teamed with Cypress Equities, a development company, to buy the property for $34 million. According to a filing, there are plans to demolish the mall and build a multiuse center. The Living Dead Weekend, which has been held since 2015, will need to find a new home.
“I’m in denial,” Parsons said. “You just kind of hope there’s a Hail Mary, that maybe they’ll save some part of this.”
Many Living Dead Weekend attendees expressed a similar disbelief. How could their beloved gathering space simply disappear?
“It’s hard to fathom, because it’s so iconic to so many people,” said Greg Nicotero, a Pittsburgh native and an executive producer of “The Walking Dead” who got his start as a special-effects makeup artist with help from Romero. “I’d equate visiting the mall to going to Georgetown and standing at the bottom of the steps where Father Karras lands in ‘The Exorcist,’” he said. “Or going to Martha’s Vineyard and seeing Quint’s shack from ‘Jaws.’”
Given the mall’s imminent closure, the mood over the weekend was bittersweet. There were panel discussions, autograph sessions and VIP parties where former zombies mingled with revelers. Fans, some of whom paid $50 for a three-day pass, re-created their favorite scenes — like a shootout on the mall’s top floor — and met up with other enthusiasts, including people from New Zealand, Sweden and Britain.
“I’ve told friends and family, ‘If you love this movie, get down here as soon as possible,’” said Joseph Lilagan, a warehouse traffic-support specialist from Mesa, Arizona, who has visited the mall nearly a half-dozen times, and was attending this event for his 38th birthday. “Being here widens the fan vibe within you. Who wouldn’t want to come and enjoy whatever’s left?”
Retail decay
As attendees overtook the mall, the building’s declining health was hard to ignore.
A handful of prominent businesses were shuttered, including a vast Forever 21 store that sat in darkness. Some smaller stores looked as though they’d been abandoned in a hurry: In one hollowed-out location, all that remained were a few skeletal fixtures and a lone red hat; in another store, a limp “Grand Opening” sign sat on the floor.
Such images of retail decay would no doubt feel familiar to dead mall scholars — as well to viewers of “Backrooms,” the industrial-space horror film playing at the Monroeville Mall’s movie theater.
“We’ve gone from deindustrialization to de-mallization,” noted Tony Buba, an 82-year-old documentarian who has spent decades chronicling the plight of working-class Pennsylvania. Buba, who had a small role in “Dawn of the Dead,” admitted he was no fan of malls, having watched them put mom-and-pop stores out of business. But even he was feeling sanguine about the Monroeville Mall’s current state. “I think someone should buy it and turn it into an indoor zombie amusement park,” he said.
During the convention’s first two days, the number of shoppers trickling in was notably low. “It looks like a zombie apocalypse happened here, which is kind of spot-on,” said Scott Yesh, 52, a regional manager for AAMCO Transmissions from Houston who was posing next to a bust of Romero in the courtyard.
Dennis Biondo, the mayor of Monroeville, said that while the sale of the building had been completed, no plans for its development had been submitted to the municipality. No closing date has been announced.
In a statement, Walmart said it had no new information, noting only that, “We believe this transformation will create a vibrant, community-centered destination that helps shape a strong, exciting future for the Monroeville area.”
But given that some tenants have been told to vacate by April 2027, the building’s end seems near.
A few of the storefronts, including a giant-size former Party City, had been converted into halls for the weekend. On Saturday afternoon during the weekend of the event, Tom Savini, the makeup effects wiz on “Dawn of the Dead” and other classic movies like “Friday the 13th” — and who acted in “Dawn” — signed autographs close to where he had executed a daring stunt.
“I dove off this balcony into cardboard boxes,” Savini, who played a machete-wielding biker in the film, said. “I can’t even look at it now without my knees getting weird.”
Savini, 79, said he was taking a stoic approach to the building’s demise. “What can you do?” asked Savini, who directed the 1990 remake of “Night of the Living Dead.” “There are petitions out there, but they’re not going to do a bit of good.”
Stumbling on escalators
Such a fate seemed impossible when the mall opened its doors in 1969. Hailed by its founders as “the U.S.’s largest enclosed shopping center,” the building featured an ice-skating rink, a $125,000 clock tower that hosted puppet shows, and more than 100 stores and businesses.
“It was busy all the time,” remembered Beverly Galando, 76, a longtime Monroeville resident who had stopped by the celebration to do some people-watching. “I used to meet my mom here for walks, and now my sister and my friends walk here. This place is a gem.”
Romero felt the same way when he toured the mall in 1974. By that point, the Pittsburgh-based filmmaker had been running from zombies for years. After the success of his 1968 thriller “Night of the Living Dead” Romero was inundated with requests for a sequel. “I was just resisting completely,” he recalled in the 2004 documentary “The Dead Will Walk.” “I didn’t want to get typecast.”
Romero’s visit helped inspire the screenplay for “Dawn of the Dead,” which filmed in late 1977 and early 1978. The cast and crew members shot in the evening and wrapped by 7:05 a.m. the next day. That’s when the mall’s automatic Muzak system switched on, and local cardiac patients arrived for their morning exercise, passing blood-splattered zombies on their way in.
“The mall was sort of our home,” said Gaylen Ross, a documentarian who played one of the human survivors in “Dawn of the Dead.” “We had complete freedom to roam around,” she said. “And we spent a lot of time waiting for blood to be cleaned up.”
Romero shot additional sequences at various Pittsburgh-area locations, including a regional airport and a gun shop (both now gone). But nearly all of the action was captured at the mall. That’s where the zombies try to reconnect to their human pasts: They wander through department stores, stumble along escalators and even take to the ice.
In one exchange from the film, Ross’ character struggles to understand the creatures’ behavior.
“Why do they come here?” she asks.
Her boyfriend, played by David Emge, says, “Some kind of instinct.”
“Memory of what they used to do,” the character adds. “This was an important place in their lives.”
A hopeful future
Though Romero took aim at me-decade commercialism in “Dawn of the Dead,” he surrounded that message with plenty of chaos and carnage, not to mention lots of gnarly special effects. That led the U.S. ratings board to slap the movie with an “X,” making it a tough sell in America (Romero ultimately decided to release it in theaters unrated). The movie proved too much for some critics, including Janet Maslin of The New York Times, who left “Dawn of the Dead” after just 15 minutes.
Nonetheless, the low-budget film eventually became a box-office hit, powered by action sequences — including scenes of motorcycles and cars tearing through the mall — as well as wry humor and an unlikely upbeat message.
“There’s a family component to the movie, because the survivors only have each other,” said Carl Hoelzl, 61, an insurance-industry employee from Stonybrook on Long Island. He was relaxing in a massage chair in the middle of the mall. “‘Dawn of the Dead’ gives you the sense of, OK, even though the world’s falling apart, people can come together and start building for a hopeful future.”
Romero would likely never have guessed that the building he used to symbolize excess would become a product itself. And there were plenty of spending opportunities for the Living Dead Weekend attendees: Autographs of many of the zombie actors cost $20 to $60, while old bricks from the mall were available for $75 each.
On Saturday night during the event, Dan Bertha was killing time near the food court, an unlit cigar in his hand. Bertha, 79, had a long history with the mall: He’d worked on its construction, and played hockey on its ice rink. He’d even starred as a SWAT team member in “Dawn of the Dead.” This was the third convention he’d attended for the film, and it was going well: The fans had been friendly, and he estimated he’d made about $1,000 a day signing autographs.
For those who wanted a more immersive zombie experience, daily tours of the mall (for $50) were conducted by Larry DeVincentz, 51, an enthusiastic “Dawn of the Dead” authority from Fort Mill, South Carolina. At one point, DeVincentz rolled on the ground for about 100 tour guests, re-creating a scene in which zombies gobble a biker’s guts.
DeVincentz was confident the “Dawn of the Dead” celebrations would continue.
He won’t have to wait that long: Over the course of the weekend, word got out that another Living Dead Weekend had been set for October. (Since 2017, the event has been held twice a year, with other installments dedicated to different horror films.) That will allow “Dawn of the Dead”-heads to revisit their beloved mall one last time.
Parsons said she would be among those returning. Many of the fans here, she noted, had come to feel like family. Last year, she even served as a maid of honor at a wedding of two friends she’d met at the Living Dead Weekend.
“George Romero brought us all together for this one thing,” Parsons said. “And this is the only vacation I take.”
Speaking to an applauding audience at the Richard M. Nixon Library on June 27, Vice President JD Vance favorably compared himself to the 37th President, “a young Senator, Vice President, writes some best-selling books, is hated by the media, it kind of sounds like JD Vance.”
But in actuality, it’s not Nixon who Vance resembles. It’s Nixon’s vice president, Spiro Agnew. Agnew, a dour-faced hatchet man, was known as “Nixon’s Nixon.” Our current dour political hatchet-wielder is Trump’s Agnew.
Vance and Agnew share similar resumes. Both were elevated to the national ticket well ahead of their times to appeal to particular electoral constituencies and took on remarkably comparable foes during their vice-presidential terms.
Like Vance, Agnew came from humble beginnings. The son of a Greek immigrant father and Virginia-born mother, his family owned a diner in Baltimore. Before joining the military and serving in World War II, he Americanized his foreign sounding first name to “Ted” and returned from combat to attend law school on the GI Bill. In 1966, Agnew won the Maryland governor’s race.
Despite scant political experience, Agnew came to the attention of influential Nixon adviser Pat Buchanan, who recognized that there was national political appeal to the governor’s tough response to rioting in Baltimore following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Agnew had pointedly criticized what he charged was the weak response of local Black leaders to civil disorder. Given that he wasn’t unacceptable to any of the feuding wings of the GOP — unlike many more prominent figures — this was enough for Nixon to make Agnew his running mate.
Once on the ticket, the Nixon campaign deployed Agnew to counter the alarming momentum of third-party candidate, segregationist and former Alabama Gov. George Wallace. On a campaign swing through North Carolina and Florida, Agnew rallied the crowd with “speeches that sounded not unlike Wallace texts,” the New York Times reported. In 1969 Wallacequipped, “I wish I had copyrighted my speeches. I would be drawing immense royalties from Mr. Nixon and especially Mr. Agnew.”
Agnew struggled in his first few months in the national spotlight and became known more for campaign trail gaffes than for policy positions.
Even so, Agnew successfully connected with nervous white suburbanites, primarily in the Midwest and South, who feared civil rights, mistrusted the metropolitan elite and wanted the anti-Vietnam War protesters put in their place. This group of voters — who Nixon later referred to as “the silent majority” — became Agnew’s biggest supporters.
Agnew’s penchant for gaffes and awkwardness continued after he and Nixon entered office. At a ceremony welcoming President Nixon home from a European trip in March 1969, Agnew slipped on an icy tarmac and smashed his nose. He then stepped up to the mic “bleeding profusely,” according to White House aide H.R. Haldeman.
Yet, Agnew’s response to his (literal) stumbles helped him to connect even more with anxious white Americans. He refused to stand by and let well educated elites or the news media mock him. Instead, the vice president lambasted them as “an effete corps of impudent snobs” and “the nattering nabobs of negativism,” respectively. Agnew started delivering blistering speeches with the help of Buchanan and his fellow White House speechwriter William Safire, excoriating precisely those forces who anxious white Americans loathed.
In November 1969 in Des Moines, Agnew made what a poll of leading scholars considered one of the 50 most significant American speeches of the 20th century. The vice president publicly called out the media, what he dubbed “this little group of men who not only enjoy a right of instant rebuttal to every Presidential address, but, more importantly, wield a free hand in selecting, presenting, and interpreting the great issues in our nation.” It would launch a more than half-century-long GOP crusade against mainstream journalists.
In other speeches, Agnew hammered universities for what he described as the coddling of student radicals, calling them ”circus tents [and] psychiatric centers for overprivileged, under-disciplined, irresponsible children of the well to do blasé permissivists.” Agnew warned, “The criminal left is not a problem to be solved by the Department of Philosophy or the Department of English — it is a problem for the Department of Justice.”
By the 1972 election, Nixon loathed the pugnacious Agnew and regularly disparaged him privately. He questioned his vice president’s intelligence, judgment and loyalty. Nixon, according to Haldeman, felt “Agnew doesn’t really have it” and had become convinced that “he can’t do the job” of president, should it come to that. The president even contemplated replacing Agnew on the ticket with Texas Gov. John Connally.
Yet, he demurred, because Nixon recognized how popular the vice president was with his “silent majority” base. Observers initially touted Agnew as a front-runner in the 1976 Republican presidential sweepstakes. Instead, however, the vice president’s political career crashed and burned.
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In 1973, 10 months before Watergate ended Nixon’s presidency, Agnew pled no contest to tax evasion, stemming from unreported bribes he had received while governor of Maryland. Agnew slunk away from public life, disbarred and disgraced, to an odd final chapter of his life that included writing a steamy novel, lobbying for tin pot dictators and engaging in antisemitic conspiracy-mongering.
A half century after Agnew left office, Vance is having a very similar vice presidency.
He, too, comes from working class roots. The vice president grew up as James David Hamel in a working-class household in an Ohio Rust Belt town. There, he experienced poverty and domestic instability. Like Agnew, he served in the military, went to law school and spent only two years as an elected official — in Vance’s case, two years in the Senate — before being chosen as the GOP’s vice presidential nominee.
Just as Pat Buchanan sold Agnew to Nixon as a Silent Majority kindred spirit, pundit Tucker Carlson promoted Vance to Trump as a fellow America Firster. Like the former Maryland governor, Vance joined the Republican ticket in part because he could speak to “blood and soil” Americans.
Additionally, like his predecessor, Vance has experienced verbal stumbles. In 2021, anticipating a future Kamala Harris run for the presidency, he claimed that America was run “by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”
In 2025, the vice president broke the national championship trophy in a ceremony with the Ohio State University football team. That year, the newly converted Catholic also earned gentle but firm pushback from Pope Francis for Vance’s jaw-dropping misinterpretation of the Church’s message on immigrants.
Trump has also deployed Vance as an attack dog, going after the same universities and media outlets Agnew regularly tangled with. Even before he was elected to the Senate, Vance told the National Conservatism Conference that “if any of us want to do the things we want to do for our country and the people who live in it, we have to honestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country.” As vice president, he has frequently targeted the media, charging that journalists have a “political bias” and cannot be trusted.
And like Nixon before him, Trump doesn’t seem 100% sold that his vice president is the rightful heir to his political legacy. Most recently, Trump talked about his decision to have Vance serve as the lead negotiator to end the war with Iran by throwing him under the bus, saying, “If it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD.”
Vance’s post vice presidential chapter has not yet been written but it is a good bet that he will run for president in 2028.
If he decides to seek the top job, he will run, not as a Richard Nixon Republican, but as a Spiro Agnew one. Nixon’s Watergate cover-up and general paranoia overshadowed a more moderate side: the diplomatic achievements, support for environmental protections and the creation of Title IX.
Agnew, by contrast, was an emblem of the pugilistic, populist politics that Vance has made his calling card. Those, and not substantive policy achievements, constitute Agnew’s historical legacy. Vance’s is likely to be the same.
Chuck Holden is a professor of history at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Zach Messitte is the former president of Ripon College where he was also a professor of Political Science. Jerald Podair is professor of history and Robert S. French professor of American studies emeritus at Lawrence University. They are the co-authors of Republican Populist: Spiro Agnew and the Origins of President Donald Trump’s America (University of Virginia Press, 2019)
Made by History takes readers beyond the headlines with articles written and edited by professional historians. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of The Inquirer.
Are we even still talking about pizza down the Shore? Just on the Ocean City boardwalk alone, there are so many other intriguing options: lobster rolls, Greek nachos, pierogis, birria tacos, smash burgers, Korean corn dogs, japchae, acai bowls.
But, like the rhythm of the tides that everyone should be checking before deciding where to put their chairs (see more on that below), the Shore conversation invariably turns to pizza.
In Ocean City, where people can, genuinely, be found walking down the boardwalk with whole pies under their arms, I have tried to settled the big debate: Manco’s, Preps, or, new this year, Alex’s? Or is there a wild card?
The big three feature the ringed sauce that is Ocean City’s signature. I liked my slice this week at Preps better than at a previous outing, so if you like a thicker cheese-forward slice, yet three solid rings of sauce, Preps is for you. I’m no Manco’s hater, and I am typically happy at the Ninth Street counter with a slice and a diet soda, but this time, at 12th Street, I was underwhelmed. Maybe it was just too hot out. Maybe it was that the hose-applied ring of sauce left too much of the slice near the crust sauce-free. Meanwhile, Alex’s, hailing from Roxborough, is a similar style, but crispier. The sauce on my slice was a bit well done. Maybe it had sat in the oven too long? It didn’t sing. I agree with others, including Craig LaBan in this summer’s Shore food review, that Alex’s standout is its smash burger.
The best slice I tried came from this shop in that famous 600 block of the boardwalk, shared with the former home of Wonderland Pier. That was a New York-style slice straight out of my childhood. Tangy, saucy, fresh cheese, just a hint of oil, charred yet foldable. Nicely done, Roma! If a big hotel will keep business humming at Roma, I say reason enough.
📮 What’s the most unusual thing you’ve eaten down the Shore? What do you wish there was more of (fresh seafood shacks)? And, OK, what’s your go-to pizza? Let me know what you think by replying to this email and I’ll include your most interesting responses in a future newsletter. And check out LaBan’s full Shore dining report here.
Have ideas or news tips about the Shore or this newsletter? Send them to me here.
🌞 It’s heating up again, with a dreaded west wind and some weekend showers in the forecast. (Not to mention some air quality concerns from Canadian wildfires). But you never know.
🏀 Jalen Brunson, the de facto mayor of Margate, was photographed outside the Other Lucy Grille near the Elephant with his arm in a sling. This caused an uproar in New York media and beyond.
👩🏽🎨 Visit the new MudGirls Studios on Arctic Avenue in Atlantic City. MudGirls is a nonprofit whose mission is “empowering disadvantaged women through the making of functional ceramic art and architectural tiles.”
Shore snapshot
Spectacular sunsets are an almost everyday occurrence in Strathmere. Monday, June 29, 2026.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
🧠 Trivia time
Which two beach towns had boardwalks that were destroyed in the Great Hurricane of 1944 and never rebuilt?
A. Margate and Ventnor
B. Beach Haven and Stone Harbor
C. Ocean City and Margate
D. Wildwood and Wildwood Crest
If you think you know the answer, email us here. First one gets a shout out.
👙 Ask Down the Shore
Tony Santini asks: I have been doing the Shore my entire life. I still pack an outfit for every day and an outfit for every night. Am I weird? Do other people do this or do they just throw stuff in a suitcase and wear the same things over and over because they are “on vacation down the shore?”
So this topic came up when I wrote about the Shore’s ultimate beach bum, Bruno Battaglia, who logged countless hours on Ventnor’s Newport Avenue beach and mentioned to me that he does, in fact, notice (and judge) when people wear the same bathing suit day after day.
But let’s face it, the Shore, not to mention the entire state of New Jersey, is nothing if not casual (just look at those lines to get into happy hour at classy places like Dock’s and the Knife and Fork). So I appreciate Tony’s effort to keep things elevated. But I think the majority is falling into the “throw stuff in a suitcase” camp. Plus, they need room for the sheets the rentals don’t provide down the Shore.
Does an early setup mean nobody can sit in front of you when the tide goes out? What about when the tide is coming in, do you have to go to the back of the line or just scrunch closer and closer? Is it just a free-for-all on a narrow beach? We asked our Shore Line text group (join here!).
We sit back, and like to have a line of vision to our kids but it never fails that people are gonna sit in front of you but I feel like that’s just the nature of the beast.
Ok to sit in front of others as long as you are willing to move behind others as the tide rolls in.
We try to get the sweet spot of finding the closest possible high tide placement that way we never have to move and those that grabbed the low tide real estate either head out with the incoming tide or relocate behind us.
Tide clock is a must.
I always try to put my chair where I won’t blocking anyone’s view of the ocean. I would hope others would do the same for me.
My favorite memories come from working as a teenager for my grandfather, Lou Segal, at his North Carolina Ave. parking lot, just down the street from the Chalfont Haddon Hall: Lou, stout and ruddy-cheeked, deploying his incredible people skills on customers, friends and fellow merchants; Uncle Sid’s artistic talents displayed in his incomparable pencil-drawings on the interior walls of the shanty; Ray Martain, the perpetual prognosticator who regaled everyone with his mispronounced “trassic” [traffic] predictions; pre-dawn SOS breakfasts at Frank Burns’ Flying Dutchman on South Carolina Ave. and lunch runs to Kornblau’s on Pacific Ave. for their juicy corned-beef sandwiches. But the topper was the fleet of gleaming white Oldsmobile convertibles racing back and forth across the city during “Pageant Week.” Their annual arrival meant that Grandpop could raise the price for parking from $2.50 to $5.00!
Send us your Shore memory! In 200 words, tell us how the Shore taps into something deep for you, and we will publish them in this space during the summer.
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Good morning, South Jersey. Hot temperatures will continue, so don’t forget to drink water today. The state has experienced an uptick in heat-related deaths from last year, according to New Jersey Monitor.
After winning a prestigious all-expenses-paid scholarship, a Haddonfield High School student has a blank check to attend any college he wants in the country.
P.S. Thank you for your continuing support. We want your thoughts! Tell us your opinion of the newsletter by taking our survey or replying to this email.
Luke Patterson will start his final year at Haddonfield Memorial High School with one less thing to consider: how to pay for college.
The student won an all-expenses-paid merit scholarship from the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation. The award will cover Patterson’s tuition, room and board, and other related expenses for any college he wants to attend in the U.S.
He’s among five students nationwide selected, and the first one to ever win from South Jersey.
Four years ago, a K-9 working for the Gloucester County Fire Marshal’s Office and another dog died after an official allegedly left them in a hot vehicle.
On July 8, Gloucester County received notice that the Attorney General’s Office closed the state investigation into the incident with no criminal charges attached.
That was one day after the Salem County Prosecutor’s Office charged a sergeant for a May incident in which the official allegedly left two K-9s in a work vehicle.
Now, a Gloucester County commissioner is using the more recent case to renew interest in the 2022 case and push for justice.
Camden might need federal aid from FEMA to deal with the aftermath of intense flooding from earlier this month, but New Jersey is still trying to get aid for a snowstorm that President Donald Trump denied. Sen. Andy Kim, a South Jersey Democrat, is among the group of senators accusing the president of “significant partisan disparity” in federal disaster aid.
According to the New York Times, data centers are projected to add billions in electricity costs in 13 states, including New Jersey.
The state will roll out a pilot over about four weeks that will distribute Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits through chip-enabled EBT cards. The move aims to prevent EBT skimming.
The Burlington County Superintendent of Elections Office will host multiple outreach events throughout the rest of the summer to encourage voter registration and educate residents on how voting machines work. The first one is today at the Cinnaminson Library.
🤠 Stampede Rodeo and Bull Riding: The event is a two-day affair full of bull riding, barrel racing, and roping. Enjoy food vendors, live music, and a beer garden. ⏰ Friday, July 17, and Saturday, July 18, 7 p.m. 💵 $25 for adults, $12 for children under 12 if you buy tickets online ahead of time📍 Miller Farms Arena, 134 N. Grove St., Berlin.
🎉 South Jersey Caribbean Festival: This 26th annual free family event features live music and dance performances, food and craft vendors, and community resources. ⏰ Saturday, July 18, 2-8 p.m. 💵 Pay-as-you-go📍Wiggins Waterfront Park, 2 Riverside Dr., Camden.
⚽ SoccerFest26 World Cup Final Watch Party & Community Soccer Tournament: Start your morning with the tournament among recreational teams from across the region. In the afternoon, cheer with fans at the viewing party for the World Cup Final. ⏰ Sunday, July 19, 10 a.m- 5 p.m. 💵 Pay-as-you-go 📍 South Delsea Drive Park, 152 Delsea Dr. South, Glassboro.
The owner of South Jersey’s Tideline added the Liquid Asset to her drink menu with a eye-popping price tag. It consists of tequila, an ice cube, a red chili pepper — and a speedboat. How much is it?
🏠 Ogling: A rebuilt Shore home after a couple spent years designing it. (Is your house a Haven? Nominate your home by email — and send some digital photographs — at properties@inquirer.com.)
Thank you for starting your morning with The Inquirer. I’ll be off for a couple of days, but my editor Julie will step in to take over Friday and Monday, so there will not be a gap in your news roundups. See you soon! ☀️
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That’s what real estate lawyer Mark Kaplin told The Inquirer’s Chester County reporter Brooke Schultz this week when she asked about pushback to development projects.
It made me laugh out loud. After years of editing real estate stories, I’ve learned that he is so right.
Kaplin talks about his latest work with Exton Square Mall and how it’s becoming harder to to get stuff done in the city and the burbs.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
Encore’s encore: A Camden apartment building comes back for a second act.
Karen Merricks, a nearly 30-year resident of a Camden apartment building once known as Northgate 1, is finally feeling safer in her home.
After years of poor conditions, a new owner purchased the building in 2024. Renamed the Encore and given a complete overhaul, the building now offers tenants:
👚 a working laundry room for the first time in years
🛜 free internet access for 15 years
🥕 an urban farm where residents get first dibs at veggies
🛝 an indoor playground and children’s room
🔍 increased security
The building’s future as affordable housing has also been secured for the next 20 years.
Read more about how the property, originally planned as a luxury residence, fell into disrepair and then came back from the brink.
Is there anything more heartwarming than a dream realized? One thing I enjoy about real estate stories is that people often talk about how hard they worked to buy their homes. It reminds me that we can do tough things.
Amanda Caroccio, a single mom in South Jersey, is a perfect example. “For a long time I didn’t think it was going to happen,” she said of homeownership. But little by little, she saved, sometimes working a whole month without a day off, and last year, she was able to purchase her dream home in Haddonfield.
She calls it “one of the greatest accomplishments of my life.”
📮 Did you recently buy a home in the Philadelphia area or South Jersey? Share the story of how you did it. Email Inquirer real estate reporters at properties@inquirer.com.
‘Tis the season to fantasize about owning a Shore house. In my dreams, I have an outdoor shower, a covered porch, and a dining table big enough for my whole family to sit comfortably.
This week’s homeowners took that last point seriously and had two kitchens put into their house when they rebuilt it.
That’s just one of the special details in this spacious abode. There’s also a secret wine cave, custom book cases, stained glass transoms, whimsical light fixtures, and two bedrooms with decks.
📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.
And congrats to Diane B. and Michele G. for correctly guessing last week’s photo location: the fountain at Logan Square. Lars W. gets bonus points for knowing its proper name: Swann Memorial Fountain.
–
I pride myself on knowing a lot of Philly trivia, but I learned something new in choosing last week’s photo.
The fountain was designed by Alexander Stirling Calder (no, not the same Calder as the new Parkway museum; that’s his son). Tuck that one away for your next Quizzo night.
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
Good morning, Philly. We’re in for a hot and smoky day.
We start with beef between Philly City Council members and the mayor’s office over rising property assessments. And Council members say: Homeowners “deserve answers now.”
And smoke is drifting into Philly from Canadian wildfires, and from a large junkyard fire in Delco. It’s enveloping the region.
Members of Philadelphia City Council say they are concerned that the city’s recently released property reassessments will mean tax hikes for thousands of residents — and they are demanding to know more about the methodology used to determine property values.
Councilmember Mike Driscoll, a Democrat who represents the Lower Northeast, authored aletter sent Monday to Chief Assessment Officer James Aros Jr. and other top officials in Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration, expressing concerns on behalf of a half dozen Council members.
He wrote that his office has received “numerous” calls from constituents whose homes will see sharp increases in valuation, the measure that is used to calculate property tax bills.
Citywide, there was a 3% median change in valuations from the 2025 tax year, the last time there was a mass reassessment, according to an Inquirer analysis of assessments of single-family homes.
But some neighborhoods saw much steeper increases.
It’s about to get both hot and smoky in the Philly region.
High temperatures and high humidity, which started on Wednesday and will continue into Friday, will be met by smoke drifting south from a batch of Canadian wildfires.
The smoke will bring hazy skies and fine particle pollutants that can irritate lungs and increase health threats to those with asthma and respiratory illnesses.
Additionally, smoke from a large scrapyard fire in Delaware County has prompted the Health Department to urge residents to take precautions to avoid exposure.
Also: Amtrak and SEPTA were slowing trains down by 5 to 10 mph on Wednesday, and Amtrak was canceling some Acela and Northeast Regional train trips, because of the heat.
And in related news: New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Mayor Parker are assessing whether they’ll need to ask the federal government for help following recent storms in Philly and Camden as President Donald Trump rejects more disaster aid from blue areas.
What you should know today
A U.S. House committee has asked District Attorney Larry Krasner to turn over documents related to his office’s handling of immigration matters. They want the documents by the end of July.
President Trump used a visit to Central Pennsylvania as a chance to promote defense investments in the state and say Gov. Josh Shapiro is “overrated.”
A former Bucks County man who voted twice for Trump in the 2020 election was sentenced to six months of house arrest and three years of probation.
The city government will assume control of the Philadelphia Sexual Assault Response Center, the only program in the city that offers free sexual assault exams, after years of uncertainty over how the center would be managed and financed.
Three major Philadelphia-area health systems — Jefferson, Nemours, and Temple — are exploring an alliance to support financially struggling St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in North Philadelphia, its leaders announced.
Almost half of Pennsylvania voters say they are worse off financially compared to one year ago, while nearly 3 in 4 say they don’t want an artificial intelligence data center in their backyard, according to new poll.
Quote of the day
Sports columnist Marcus Hayes thinks Phillies star pitcher Zack Wheeler and star slugger Bryce Harper are acting weird. He wonders: Is it the pressure for the Phillies to win, or is it just us?
🧠Trivia time
This Washington, D.C.-based bagel sandwich shop has signed for a third Philly location before its first two have spread a single schmear.
🕙 Waiting on. The House passed a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent across the nation. Critics have concerns. And, yes, we have tried this before.
🙏 Mourning. Mark Donovan Hagins, an actor, teacher, and producer who knew everyone in Philadelphia’s theater community, from the upstarts to the grizzled veterans, died at his home on June 24. He was 56.
⚾ Anticipating. Baseball celebrated itself with a sparkling All-Star Week in Philadelphia. Next up: Avoiding self-destruction with a looming labor fight.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Elevenlocals took part in a tribute to this 1993 classic film atTuesday’s MLB All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park.
Cheers to Ann A. Walker, who solved Wednesday’s anagram: Federal Donuts. The restaurant group Cook N Solo will close three Center City Federal Donuts & Chicken locations and shrink its Goldie falafel chain from four shops to one.
Photo of the day
Nahir Albright, of Sicklerville fishes with his daughter Gia Albright, 5.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
And we end today with this lovely shot of a father and daughter fishing on the Cooper River on Wednesday in Collingswood.
👋 Thanks for starting your day with The Inquirer. Paola Pérez has you covered tomorrow.
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New Jersey and Pennsylvania are the latest states to tackle a growing and nationwide crisis: EBT skimming.
New Jersey isrolling out a roughly four-week pilot to distribute Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits through chip-enabled EBT cards this summer, the New Jersey Department of Human Services announced Monday.
Cumberland, Essex, and Mercer Counties, as well as anyone in the statewho has lost a card and is in need of a replacement, will be the first to get the new cards that do away with outdated magnetic stripe technology, which is vulnerable to scammers looking to steal people’s benefits.
“The new chip cards provide enhanced security to help prevent that kind of loss in the first place, keeping benefits in the hands of the people who need them,” Human Services Commissioner Stephen Cha said.
Next door, Pennsylvania has also moved forward with a chip card transition, setting aside $7 million in the latest budget for the change, which is due no later than Jan. 1, 2028. The federal government would cover the other $7 million needed for the transition as part of the current breakdown of how administrative costs are to be split.
The next steps are being worked out, and that will determine a distribution timeline, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services. Implementation of the chip cards is slated to take six to eight months.
The switch to chip cards is seen as long overdue among government watchdogs and advocates of those whose benefits have been stolen. By sticking an inconspicuous contraption onto a point-of-sale terminal, scammers can copy magnetic strip card information and spend benefits in different states. The onus of protecting the benefits has largely fallen on recipients, who are required to download apps onto their phones that allow them to lock their cards until the moment they are ready to pay for their groceries.
“This is a basic security measure that will prevent our clients from losing millions of SNAP dollars to international organized criminals, and we hope that Pennsylvania can implement this change quickly,” said Louise Hayes, a supervision attorney at Community Legal Services, which has advocated for Pennsylvania to adopt chip cards.
Help for victims of this kind of fraud has also been limited, leaving churches and food pantries to step in. Stolen benefits were being reimbursed between October 2022 and December 2024, but that ended when Congress did not extend funding.
“Having benefits stolen, with no means to replace them, only adds further strain to already stretched households,” said Natasha Johnson, assistant commissioner of the New Jersey Division of Family Development.
With the federal government no longer replacing stolen benefits, states believe EBT skimming has gone underreported in recent years.
Exact numbers of thefts in New Jersey were not immediately available.
In Pennsylvania, there were at least 5,100 skimming cases in the first five months of 2026, accounting for $2.5 million in stolen benefits, according to the Pennsylvania Office of State Inspector General, which investigates the reports and seizes the skimming devices.
In February 2025, California became the first state to begin replacing the magnetic stripe cards. Oklahoma embarked on a chip card pilot this year and Massachusetts announced in April its own plans for a pilot. This week, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced new chip cards would be distributed in the state in early 2027.
Like other states with plans to adopt EBT chip cards, New York hopes to see instances of skimming radically decline with the overhaul.
Staff writer Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.
