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  • Three Philly City Council districts emerge as key battlegrounds in the 2027 election

    Three Philly City Council districts emerge as key battlegrounds in the 2027 election

    Philadelphia City Council is already looking to 2027. And with all 17 seats on the ballot next spring, the elections are shaping up to be a pivotal test of whether the city’s established politicians can withstand a rising tide of frustration with the party among Democratic voters.

    All of the incumbents have said they intend to run for reelection, and several are likely to face serious challenges from new candidates focused on grassroots organizing and progressive groups — hoping to seize the opportunity presented by a nationwide leftward shift amid President Donald Trump’s second term.

    Three districts have emerged as key battlegrounds.

    In the North Philadelphia-based 5th District, at least four people are considering challenging Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr., a freshman lawmaker who has championed controversial legislation and at times publicly clashed with constituents.

    All 17 City Council members may be running for reelection. That would be the first time in at least 75 years.

    And the city’s progressive organizations, emboldened by a series of wins locally and nationally, are targeting two other districts: the 1st, which stretches from South Philadelphia to Fishtown and is represented by Councilmember Mark Squilla, and the 8th, which includes parts of North and Northwest Philadelphia and is represented by Councilmember Cindy Bass.

    “We’re definitely feeling confident,” said Robert Saleem Holbrook, executive director of the progressive advocacy group Straight Ahead. “Anyone who is going to be running under a progressive banner or a progressive movement is going to have to be running against the establishment, not toward it.”

    A competitive race also appears to be taking shape for the seven Council seats that represent the city at-large.

    Five of those seats are all but certain to be won by Democrats, making the May 2027 primary the key election in deep-blue Philadelphia.

    The other two at-large seats — set aside for Council members outside the majority party under the city’s Home Rule Charter — will be decided in the November 2027 general election. Currently, the two minority party seats are held by Councilmembers Kendra Brooks and Nicolas O’Rourke of the left-leaning Working Families Party.

    Several insiders said one bold-faced name is considering a run for a Democratic seat: Jane Golden, the well-known founder and executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, who is stepping down from her full-time role later this month.

    No Philly mayor has lost reelection in modern history. So does Mayor Parker have anything to worry about?
    Jane Golden, founder and executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, takes the stage during the dedication of the Super Bowl LIX mural at Spike’s Trophies on June 17, 2025 in Philadelphia.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Golden, 73, said last week that she is not currently running for Council, but acknowledged she has thought about it for years.

    “It’s always something that is tempting to me, because I just love the city so much,” she said. “I feel honored that people even think of me.”

    Progressives eye Bass’ North Philly seat

    Philadelphia’s progressive activists this year see two key opportunities to expand the loosely organized left-leaning bloc on Council, which currently consists of four members. Winning additional seats could also grow their influence by enticing more moderate members to vote alongside them if they believe primary voters are moving left.

    Progressives have in the last year authored some of the most high-profile legislation to come out of Council, including one package of bills by Brooks and Councilmember Rue Landau meant to set limits on federal immigration enforcement in the city and another by O’Rourke that codified new rights for renters.

    Leftists have notched high-profile wins in Democratic primaries across the country this year, including in Philadelphia, where democratic socialist State Rep. Chris Rabb (D., Philadelphia) bested more moderate candidates for a seat in Congress representing about half of the city. The district is one of the most Democratic in the nation.

    Chris Rabb’s election marked a big night for Philly progressives — and a rebuke of the Democratic establishment

    Next on progressives’ wish list: ousting Bass and Squilla, two more centrist Democrats who have both been on Council since 2012.

    In Bass’ 8th District, longtime labor organizer Seth Anderson-Oberman may challenge Bass for a second time after losing to her in 2023 by just 423 votes.

    Anderson-Oberman, 55, the executive director of the progressive group Reclaim Philadelphia, said last week that he is “leaning” toward taking another swing.

    “We’re in a moment in this country and this city where people have had enough,” he said. “People are looking for new answers. 
 Cindy represents the old way of doing things.”

    Union organizer Seth Anderson-Oberman, running for 8th District City Council, joins in a small rally with community and Happy Hollow Advisory Board members along Wayne Avenue at Happy Hollow Playground in Philadelphia on April 2, 2023.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Another Council run by Anderson-Oberman may test how far progressive momentum can go in Philadelphia. He was a member of the Communist Party USA in his 20s, and has said he is proud of that experience.

    Bass, 58, said she is ready for the race no matter who her opponent is.

    In June, she survived a contentious fight for another four-year term as Democratic leader of Mount Airy’s 22nd Ward. She was criticized for her handling of the process, and the party ordered a redo of the election.

    She and her progressive opponent, Octavius Price, tied, then struck a power-sharing agreement. Through it all, Bass said, longtime residents stuck by her — and she is confident voters will do the same next year.

    “My voters are people who are based in this community, committed to this community, intend to stay in the communities that they are in,” she said.

    City Councilmember Cindy Bass (center) attends the watch party for Democratic candidate for mayor Cherelle L. Parker at Laborers 332 in Philadelphia on May 16, 2023.Heather Khalifa / Staff Photographer

    Jeff Jones, a community leader and social justice advocate from Germantown, has also said he intends to run in the 8th District.

    “I want to bring that new vision and a new voice to the 8th District, where residents and children and families can know that their voice matters, their concerns will be heard, and their challenges will be met,” said Jones, 61, a first-time political candidate.

    Squilla could see a lefty challenger

    Leftists are also eying Squilla’s seat, which represents the area along the Delaware River from Pennsport to Kensington. Since Squilla took office in 2012, the district has transformed from a bastion of working-class white voters to one of the most progressive swaths of the city.

    Squilla, 63, who has strong labor ties and is one of the most pro-development district Council members, said being a centrist has likely put a target on his back in the 2027 election.

    Another contributing factor may be Squilla’s support for controversial legislation in 2024 to approve the 76ers’ since-abandoned plan to build a new arena in Center City. The project, which would have been in Squilla’s 1st District, was opposed by advocates for Chinatown, which the arena would have bordered.

    Councilmember Mark Squilla arrives in Council chambers on Nov. 12, 2024, before the start of a public hearing on a proposed Sixers arena.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    Despite the fierce objections, Council approved the project with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s support in December 2024. Weeks later, the basketball team announced it was abandoning its Center City plan and would instead build its next arena in South Philly.

    Squilla said he is prepared to defend his actions, noting that he worked to ensure any arena deal would benefit his district and that many of those promises are moving forward despite the 76ers withdrawing their proposal.

    “The goal as an elected official, and also as a leader, is not always to make the popular decision,” he said. “The goal is to have a process to make the decision that would be best for the people around it.”

    One prominent opponent of the Center City arena plan was Will Gross, the owner of Ox Coffee in Queen Village and a progressive who is the Democratic leader of the 2nd Ward. He is seen by political insiders and progressive organizations as the most likely candidate to take on Squilla.

    Gross declined to comment.

    In this 2023 file photo, Will Gross and Kay Yoon, of the No Arena in Chinatown group, deliver petitions to Councilmember Mark Squilla. Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    A progressive challenger may also emerge in the North Philly and Kensington-based 7th District, which is represented by Councilmember Quetcy Lozada.

    In 2023, Lozada, Council’s only Latina member, won decisively over social worker Andres Celin, who argued for a more social services-driven response to address longstanding issues in the beleaguered district.

    Some insiders have speculated that Celin may run again. He declined to comment.

    Lozada, 55, said she “can’t focus” on potential challengers.

    “If I spend my time listening to the buzz about who is running,” she said, “we won’t get any work done.”

    A battle takes shape in the 5th District

    In the 5th District, a seat that represents parts of North Philadelphia and Center City, a handful of Democratic challengers are lining up to take on Young, 40, who is seen as one of Council’s most vulnerable members.

    That is in part because of the unusual way in which he was elected in 2023. He ended up being the only Democrat on the ballot after several others, including party officials’ preferred candidates, were removed amid legal challenges.

    Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr. in chambers as City Council meets Dec. 11, 2025.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    One of those candidates was Curtis Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to former City Council President Darrell L. Clarke. Two sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the campaign dynamics, said Wilkerson is considering running for the seat again next year. He did not respond to a request for comment.

    Also likely to run is Jalon Alexander, an attorney who unsuccessfully ran for an at-large seat on Council in 2023. Alexander, 33, formed an exploratory committee last year and is expected to formally declare his candidacy later this summer.

    Two others are also considering running.

    Dustin Dove, a lawyer and the president of the Fairmount Civic Association, said neighbors and community leaders have encouraged him to get in the Council race, and he is “taking the possibility of running seriously.”

    “I think our city government should work for everyone by keeping our neighborhoods safe and streets walkable, making housing affordable, and ensuring fairness and access in public services,” Dove, 38, said last week.

    Jalon Alexander, an attorney and community advocate, speaks to attendees at a meeting about potential SEPTA budget cuts hosted at Garden of Prayer Church in Strawberry Mansion on June 9, 2025.Erin Blewett / For The Inquirer

    And Max Tuttleman, 37, a philanthropist who unsuccessfully ran for an at-large seat in 2023, said he “cares deeply about the 5th District and would never close the door to serving Philadelphia.”

    He added that “Center City and the neighborhoods around it should be growing faster than they are.”

    That was a subtle dig at Young, who critics say has been too hostile to development in his district by opposing some residential projects.

    Young said in an interview last week that he intends to run for reelection, but that challengers are not his focus.

    “I‘m focused on serving my constituency, serving my community,” he said. “The work that we’ve been doing will hopefully earn the support of the residents of the 5th District.”

    A smaller, but competitive, at-large field

    Over the last several election cycles, dozens of candidates lined up to run for at-large seats during a time of immense turnover in Council.

    But with seven incumbents all looking toward reelection in 2027, there may be fewer challengers who line up to take them on. So far, only Golden and a handful of others have emerged as possible contenders.

    David Alexander Jenkins, a cultural strategist known for delivering impassioned speeches during Council’s public comment section, said he is considering a run, encouraged by fellow community members.

    “When the community that is around you constantly pushes you to intercede on their behalf, then it’s because they have trusted you to do what it is that you do best,” Jenkins, 39, said. “I think it would be incredibly unwise to ignore that.”

    And Jude Husein, 28, a Palestinian-born community activist who was raised in North Philly, has already launched her campaign. If her bid is successful, Husein, a former staffer for State Sen. Art Haywood, would be the first member of Gen Z on Council.

    In this 2023 file photo, Jude Husein, of North Philadelphia, speaks at a rally for a Day of Solidarity event at the Art Museum steps.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Leaders of progressive organizations said they are closely watching her candidacy. However, Husein is not exactly running as a leftist. She said that her policy positions are varied and that she will seek endorsements from any institution that is “values-aligned.”

    “I’m running because I think government should work for the people who pay for it, and should make neighborhoods affordable and safer,” she said.

    Also in the running for Council at-large seats are Billy McCann, 46, a former teacher who lives in Port Richmond, and Isaiah T. Martin, 26, who lives in West Philly and leads a community development nonprofit. The pair, who both said they are progressive, have established something of a slate with Jones, who is challenging Bass in the 8th District.

    They said they would prioritize public education, affordability, housing assistance, and government accountability, and they argued that establishment Democrats are failing to connect with voters.

    “A new day is coming,” said Martin, another member of Gen Z who would make history on Council if elected. “It’s time we get people who are going to do the actual work and not just sit here and talk about it.”

  • ‘We’re fighting Satan’: The war to save bees from a hornet invasion

    ‘We’re fighting Satan’: The war to save bees from a hornet invasion

    Jackie Currie had never seen anything like it. She had raised bees in South Carolina for more than a decade, and her insects had almost always been eager to fly out and collect pollen. But one day last summer, she found her bees huddled at the entrance of their hive, like frightened beachgoers after a shark attack.

    The bees were right to be reluctant. There were murderers in their midst.

    Hovering like hummingbirds just outside the hive were two yellow-legged hornets. Despite being shorter in length than a paper clip, these predatory insects possess a venomous sting and a seemingly sadistic streak when killing honeybees. Once they snatch their prey, the hornets butcher the bee by removing its head, legs, and wings to gain access to the nutritious abdomen.

    Currie’s bees faced a dangerous dilemma: Leave the nest and risk dismemberment or allow the hive’s resources to dwindle, putting the entire colony at risk of collapse.

    “What’s heartbreaking is that my bees don’t know how to defend themselves,” Currie said in June as she watched several yellow-legged hornets hunt outside her apiary. “The bees that know how to deal with yellow-legged hornets are in Asia, not here.”

    Natives of Southeast Asia, yellow-legged hornets first appeared in South Carolina in late 2023 and have spread rapidly throughout the Lowcountry, an idyllic stretch of coastline known for its beaches and golf courses. The region’s balmy weather and bevy of bees make it a hornet heaven, said Brad Cavin, an apiary inspector with Clemson University’s department of plant industry.

    As the state honeybee inspector, Cavin, who has a billowing beard and wears a neon vest whenever live hornets are in the area, is helping to spearhead an effort to track and remove the hornets. In 2024, Cavin’s team discovered 16 yellow-legged hornet nests; this year, the team had already removed 345 nests from the Lowcountry by late June.

    Cavin lives in Greenville, S.S., and makes the nearly 250-mile drive to the Lowcountry multiple times a month. The son of a pastor, he often likens his team’s mission to save this coastal paradise from a plague of invasive insects to a biblical bout between good and evil.

    “This is the Garden of Eden,” he said, “and we’re fighting Satan.”

    A buffet of bees

    With their orange faces, large eyes, and legs that look like they were dipped in Carolina gold barbecue sauce, yellow-legged hornets are visually striking. Yet these eye-catching insects have managed to sneak aboard cargo ships and have moved far outside their native range. They arrived in Europe via France in 2004 and in recent years have popped up everywhere from North Africa to New Zealand.

    Yellow-legged hornets were first observed in the United States by a beekeeper near Savannah, Ga., during the summer of 2023. The insects had likely entered through the Port of Savannah and subsequently spread into South Carolina. (This year, a yellow-legged hornet sighting was reported at a port in Washington state, though the U.S. Department of Agriculture was unable to verify it.)

    Georgia and South Carolina’s Lowcountry provide yellow-legged hornets with a buffet of bees. Georgia is the nation’s third-largest producer of honey, and as of 2022, South Carolina was home to nearly 24,000 bee colonies.

    And the hornets have no shortage of things to eat beyond bees. They feed on everything from deer carcasses to oyster shells and discarded prawn heads. Cavin has seen them pecking at dead alligators.

    To curb this spread, the Clemson team has been focusing on finding and removing the hornets’ nests, which the insects fashion out of wood and plant fibers that they chew into a cementlike paste. The comblike structures are encased in a protective shell covered in swirling patterns that resemble oyster shells.

    When queen yellow-legged hornets emerge at the beginning of spring, they build an embryo nest the size of a Ping-Pong ball. Once the queen and the first generation of her offspring outgrow the embryo nest, they construct what’s called a primary nest, a cantaloupe-size structure that can be fabricated anywhere from a sprinkler valve box to the eaves of a building. Once the primary nest reaches the size of a basketball, the hornets build an even larger structure, known as a secondary nest, usually high up in the trees. With plenty of treetop real estate, these nests can grow larger than beach balls and contain thousands of hornets.

    To find these nests, the team set up a public reporting system last year. The resulting deluge of tips has not always been reliable. Many are cases of mistaken identity, calling out the nests of bald-faced hornets or paper wasps. One reported embryo nest proved to be something even more innocuous: the husk of a hickory nut.

    Trapping and tracking

    The team’s other technique is to find the hornets outside the nest. So far in 2026, the team has deployed more than 4,300 traps throughout South Carolina, fashioned out of plastic buckets and jugs and hung from tree branches.

    To entice the hornets, the team brews up an irresistible bait: a mixture of grape juice and brown sugar syrup that Cavin calls “Georgia juice,” a nod to his mother, who is from Savannah. This sticky concoction has proved effective at catching hornets without attracting beneficial insects like honeybees. Cavin initially bought cases of grape juice from Costco but now buys the juice by the pallet. This year, by the end of June, the team had already used some 4,100 gallons of grape juice and more than 9,000 pounds of brown sugar.

    One recent morning, Cavin’s colleague Miguel Martinez mixed up a batch of Georgia juice in a jug on the bed of a pickup truck. “At the end of the day, I end up smelling like vinegar or wine,” Martinez said. “It’s not the most appealing scent.”

    Martinez and Cavin were preparing to check and refill a string of traps running across Coosaw Island, a mosaic of marshes and pine forests near Beaufort, S.C. Most of the traps were spaced a quarter-mile apart and located right off the road, making the monitoring effort fairly easy. Some of the swampier trapping locales, Martinez noted, were home to alligators and snakes.

    The traps are meant not to eradicate yellow-legged hornets but to help researchers pinpoint where the insects are congregating. Several hornets in a trap are likely to mean a nest is nearby. This morning’s catch was relatively small: five yellow-legged hornets across nearly 10 traps.

    When the team members come across a trap containing dozens of yellow-legged hornets, they place additional traps, using triangulation to help locate the nest. Eventually, they convert some traps to open-lid bait stations and observe the flight paths of the various hornets, which usually fly straight back to their nests after gorging themselves on Georgia juice.

    Despite their targets’ small size, the team members are also experimenting with tracking techniques. The most rudimentary: a brightly colored paint pen, which they use to mark trapped hornets before release. A splotch of blue, red, or yellow paint makes it easier to follow the hornets’ flight path through the Lowcountry’s dense foliage.

    A more sophisticated approach involves electronic trackers. The team in Georgia utilizes high-frequency radio tags that are only slightly larger than a grain of rice and weigh just 0.14 grams, about the same as a quarter of a raisin. After a hornet is extracted from a trap, it is placed on ice as a form of anesthesia. The team then secures a tag to its waist using Kevlar thread, and gives it a meal of fresh honey to provide energy for the return trip to the nest.

    After the hornet takes off, the team tracks it using a simple beeping scanner that increases in volume when pointed in the right direction. This lets the team follow a tagged insect until — hopefully — the nest becomes visible in the treetops.

    Swarms, and a deafening buzz

    Once a nest is confirmed, Cavin calls in removal experts. Among the most reliable are Nathan Krelis and Wes Long from Hilton Head Exterminators, who have removed hundreds of nests since the insect first appeared in the state, including one last summer that was the size of a car engine.

    Removing nests takes skill and steely nerves. The exterminators are often met by swarming hornets and a nearly deafening buzz. To limit the amount of pesticide they spray into the environment, the pair plugs the nest’s entrance with a small piece of sponge, creating a self-contained chamber.

    After the hornets cease swarming, the exterminators scrape the nest off and place it inside a clear plastic bag, like a takeout order. Back at his team’s headquarters, Cavin freezes the nest to kill off any surviving hornets and places the structure in a kiln to dry for preservation.

    One afternoon in June, the team conducted several removals along U.S. Route 278, a road leading out to Hilton Head Island that is lined with gated communities and shopping plazas. The exterminators suited up in beekeeping garb and climbed their ladders to remove nests from maintenance sheds, storefronts. and several houses. (When removing secondary nests from trees, the exterminators use construction lifts.)

    At one house, Karen Opderbeck watched Long remove a nest that was tucked underneath the roofline. Opderbeck, who had reported the nest, recalled a recent visit to an apiary with her garden club, where she witnessed a yellow-legged hornet hunting spree. “They were nabbing bees and going up into the trees with them,” she said.

    Long removed the softball-size nest and held it out in his gloved hand for Opderbeck to inspect. Lodged inside, like a Russian nesting doll, was the original embryo nest.

    “It’s like having a stalker right at your front door,” Opderbeck said.

    This article originally appeared in the New York Times.

  • Several Federal Donuts and Goldie locations in Philadelphia are closing amid a slowdown in fast-casual lunch business

    Several Federal Donuts and Goldie locations in Philadelphia are closing amid a slowdown in fast-casual lunch business

    Restaurant group CookNSolo will close three Center City Federal Donuts & Chicken locations and shrink its Goldie falafel chain from four shops to one as owners Steve Cook and Michael Solomonov retrench, citing weakened demand for fast-casual dining, particularly at weekday lunch.

    Federal Donuts’ shop at 1909 Sansom St. — designated only months ago as the company’s flagship after the South Philadelphia location closed in February — shut down after business Sunday. Locations at 21 S. 12th St. and 18th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway are expected to close by July 31, although Cook said staff departures could accelerate the timetable.

    Of Federal’s 45 employees, 27 will be laid off, Cook said. Eighteen employees will be retained to staff the two remaining Philadelphia stores, on Fairmount Avenue and on South Street. Federal launched in 2011 in South Philadelphia with a menu of fried chicken, coffee, and hot doughnuts from a robotic fryer.

    Federal Donuts founders (from left) Tom Henneman, Michael Solomonov, and Steve Cook at the Federal Donuts & Chicken location at 1776 Ben Franklin Parkway in 2022.Michael Klein / Staff

    Goldie, which debuted in 2017 with a menu of falafel, fries, and tehina shakes, will close its restaurants at 1218 Sansom St., Franklin’s Table food hall at 34th and Walnut Streets, and the Whole Foods Market at 2101 Pennsylvania Ave. in late July or early August. The lone remaining Goldie, at 1911 Sansom St., will absorb the chain’s delivery, takeout, and catering business.

    Eighteen of Goldie’s 36 employees will lose their jobs. Cook said the company is working to help find former Federal Donuts and Goldie workers other roles. Hourly staffers will not be given severance, Cook said, as is standard industry practice.

    Cook said the closures reflect a restaurant landscape that has changed dramatically since the pandemic.

    Dozens of fast-casual and quick-service restaurants have opened in recent years. “We feel like we’re oversaturated in the city, given the economy right now and the demand for fast-casual restaurants,” he said. Federal Donuts has experienced “significant” year-over-year same-store sales declines, he said. He hopes the closures stem the losses.

    “We have two great brands here that are worth saving, and we feel like economically this is the best way to preserve those brands.”

    Falafel from Goldie.Craig LaBan / Staff

    The company’s full-service restaurants — including Zahav, Dizengoff, K’Far Cafe, Jaffa Bar, and Laser Wolf — are unaffected by the shutdowns.

    ‘A mixed bag’

    Cook cited both the lingering decline in Center City office workers and inflation as contributing factors to the closures.

    “Post-COVID, while we’ve seen really good rebounds in the dinner, more fine-dining side of our business, weekday lunch traffic has never really returned to full strength,” he said. “The $10-to-$15 lunch is an easy thing to kind of do without.”

    Cook’s assessment reflects broader industry trends.

    Tehina shakes are a signature product at Goldie.Tim Tai / Staff Photographer

    While some national fast-casual brands such as Chipotle and Cava continue to post strong results, many regional chains are struggling as consumers increasingly choose prepared foods from grocery stores and convenience stores instead of restaurant meals, according to R.J. Hottovy, head of analytical research at Placer.ai, a location analytics and foot-traffic company.

    While fine-dining restaurants have generally continued to gain traffic through much of 2026, “fast-casual has been more of a mixed bag,” Hottovy said.

    Placer.ai’s findings show visits to grocery stores, convenience stores, and wholesale clubs increasing from a year earlier while overall restaurant visits have declined. “Middle-income consumers are increasingly substituting restaurant visits with meals at home,” Hottovy said.

    Restaurants also continue to battle rising labor costs while customer traffic softens as menu prices rise. “Price increases are increasingly showing up as lost visits,” he said.

    A sharp reversal

    The Federal Donuts closures mark a sharp reversal from its expansion ambitions after Radnor-based NewSpring Capital acquired a controlling interest in 2022.

    Federal then operated 11 locations and arena concessions, and executives envisioned a franchise system that eventually could reach 150 stores.

    The company’s largest franchisee later closed its restaurants in Radnor, Conshohocken, and Willow Grove and returned several Philadelphia stores to the company. In April, Cook and Solomonov announced plans to regain control of those city locations, simplify operations, and improve execution.

    At the time, the Sansom Street restaurant was designated as the flagship to redevelop menu items. “I thought we would get a significant bounce in sales [there] and it just didn’t happen,” Cook said.

    Cook said NewSpring remains the majority owner of Federal Donuts, while he and Solomonov retain a significant ownership stake and seats on its board. Representatives of NewSpring did not respond to requests for comment.

    Under the restructuring, two Philadelphia stores will remain. CookNSolo will take over the location at Seventh Street and Fairmount Avenue, now owned by the company, as a franchisee around Aug. 1.

    Federal cofounder Tom Henneman confirmed that he was in talks to operate the location at Sixth and South Streets as a franchisee.

    Cook said those stores were chosen because of their historical performance and geographic separation. Consolidating delivery and takeout in two locations instead of five should improve profitability, he said.

    Besides the two city stores, Federal will continue operating independently owned franchises in Marlton, Lancaster, and the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, along with its licensed airport and stadium locations.

    Goldie, unlike Federal Donuts, is owned entirely by CookNSolo.

    CookNSolo has also been the focus of pro-Palestinian demonstrations and boycott campaigns since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023. Activists have criticized the restaurant group for raising money for an Israeli emergency medical nonprofit as well as Cook’s and Solomonov’s outspoken support for Israel. The chefs have said their support for Israel was “not unqualified” and have criticized the Netanyahu government’s efforts to thwart a two-state solution.

    A group with the Instagram handle @boycottcooknsolo on Monday reported word of the store closings, contending that the boycott had softened sales.

    Cook disagreed. “Any time there’s been a protest, it’s always resulted in a short-term increase in business,” Cook said. “This is really an economic decision that goes back many years at this point.”

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  • Tom Burgoyne insists he’s just the Phanatic’s best friend. A new documentary convinced him to admit he’s more.

    Tom Burgoyne insists he’s just the Phanatic’s best friend. A new documentary convinced him to admit he’s more.

    Tom Burgoyne was selling computer supplies for six months after graduating from Drexel when he saw a listing in the newspaper that said “mascots wanted.” It didn’t say who was looking for mascots or where the job would be located. Burgoyne, who was the mascot in high school at St. Joe’s Prep, didn’t need to know.

    “I sent my resume to the P.O. Box,” Burgoyne said. “I thought I’d be like the Hamburglar or the Statue of Liberty at tax time. And then the Phillies called.”

    Burgoyne aced his audition and spent five years as the backup Phillie Phanatic before becoming the main man inside the flightless bird from the GalĂĄpagos Islands.

    But Burgoyne has long protected the mascot like a professional wrestler protecting the business.

    Kyle Schwarber falls in Home Run Derby heartbreaker, Cardinals’ Jordan Walker wins in bonus time

    He’s not the Phanatic. He’s the Phanatic’s best friend. He talks about the mascot in third person — “The Phanatic will be busy on Tuesday,” Burgoyne said of the All-Star Game — and does his best to separate the man from the bird. He knows another big-league mascot who is a teacher during the day but keeps his other job so secretive that people in his school don’t know he’s a mascot.

    “I respect the hell out of that,” Burgoyne said.

    So Burgoyne, who is participating in his 30th All-Star Game, needed some convincing to peel back the curtain for a documentary expected to premiere later this year about the character he brings to life every summer. But then Burgoyne remembered watching a documentary about the Muppets that showed Jim Henson pulling the strings for Kermit The Frog. If Henson could do that, then Burgoyne could talk about what he does.

    Tom Burgoyne, the man inside the Phanatic, posed for a portrait with some of the children’s books he’s written at Citizens Bank Park in 2024.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    The documentary — which is titled Big Phan — is directed by Flourtown native Hoag Kepner, the brother of longtime baseball writer Tyler Kepner. It tells the history of the mascot, Burgoyne said, and “has a lot of heart.” And it allowed Burgoyne a chance to admit that he’s more than just a friend of the Phanatic.

    “You never want to think that there’s someone in the costume,” Burgoyne said. “I can look at an old clip of the Phanatic and I’m not thinking, ‘Oh, that’s me in there.’ I’m just thinking ‘That’s the Phanatic.’ You want that magic to stay alive.”

    For 20 years, the Phillie Phanatic has doubled as a children’s author, and nothing gives him a bigger thrill

    Burgoyne’s first All-Star Game was in 1996 at Veterans Stadium when Major League Baseball invited every mascot for the first time. The mascots were told to dress across Pattison Avenue at the Spectrum before the Home Run Derby, but the locker rooms were under construction when they arrived. So they took over the Vet’s umpire dressing room, which equipment manager Joey Dunn had already set up for the next day’s All-Star Game.

    “Here come the mascots trashing the place on Monday,” Burgoyne said. “MLB has learned a lot over the years.”

    The game has become the annual gathering of the mascots as they didn’t have a reason to come together before MLB started to invite them each July.

    Burgoyne was in Boston in 1999 when Ted Williams returned to Fenway Park. He was in Pittsburgh when Ryan Howard won the 2006 Derby, and he was in New York in 2008 when they played 15 innings. But his favorite memory is the one that leaves him wondering what could have been.

    The mascots were taking turns sliding down Bernie Brewer’s slide in Milwaukee during the 2002 Home Run Derby when the Phanatic took his turn.

    “I think someone had to give him a shove with their foot,” Burgoyne said.

    The big, feathery green thing neared the bottom of the slide just as Sammy Sosa homered off it. The Phanatic could have made a play.

    Mike Trout said he loves Philly during Monday’s All-Star festivities. But he seems no closer to playing here.

    “I’m telling you, the Phanatic was coming down the slide and it just missed,” Burgoyne said. “If the Phanatic slid two seconds earlier, he could’ve caught it on the fly in the slide. It’s such a regret. It would’ve been the ESPN Play of the Day.”

    The mascot arrived in Philadelphia in 1978 and was brought to life by Dave Raymond, who retired after the 1993 season. The schtick has been fine-tuned in nearly 50 years, but the main elements have remained unchanged. Burgoyne makes fans allow themselves to believe that what they’re seeing is real. Because he’s not in the costume. He’s just a friend. And he has no plans of stopping.

    “I’m still having fun,” Burgoyne said when asked how much longer he has in the gig. “I’ve been thinking of David Montgomery a lot and when they announced the All-Star Game so long ago for him, I was like ‘2026? Someone else can do that.’ But here we are. When you’re having so much fun, why not?”

  • A man was killed and four others wounded in a shooting after large gathering in Crescentville

    A man was killed and four others were injured in a shooting overnight outside an apartment complex in the city’s Crescentville section.

    Nearby officers heard several gunshots coming from the 500 block of East Hill Creek Drive, where the Hill Creek Apartments, a Philadelphia Housing Authority complex, is located, at 11:52 p.m., according to police. The responding officers found two people suffering gunshot wounds, an unidentified male who was shot in the leg and an 18-year-old woman who was shot in the shoulder, Philadelphia Police Capt. Louis Higginson said. Both were transported to Einstein Medical Center, where they were in stable condition.

    Additional responding officers found another unidentified man at the scene who was shot and taken to Temple University Hospital, where he died at 12:14 a.m. Monday, Higginson said.

    While investigating, officers were called to a different part of the complex around 12:10 a.m., where they found two additional people who were shot: a 45-year-old man who was shot in the arm and a 16-year-old boy who was shot in the ankle. They had fled from the shooting into a nearby property on the 5500 block of North Hill Creek Drive, police said. They were transported to Temple University Hospital, where they were in stable condition.

    Police said they found at least 17 spent shell casings at the scene.

    PHA said an unauthorized “pop-up” party held at the Hill Creek Apartments prompted the large gathering before the shooting took place.

    “The safety and well-being of our residents remain our highest priority, and PHA is making supportive services available to residents who may be impacted by this tragedy,” a PHA spokesperson said.

    As of publication time, police could not confirm a motive and no arrests have been made.

    A large crowd, shooting, and vandalism the night before

    Police were working to determine if the shooting, which occurred following a large gathering late Sunday night, was connected to another large gathering that ended in shots fired early Sunday morning.

    Around 2:45 a.m. Sunday, police responded to the Hill Creek Apartments to assist PHA police officers who were following a reportedly stolen vehicle into the area. During the incident, an unidentified person jumped onto a marked PHA police vehicle and vandalized it, police said.

    As police officers worked to disperse a large crowd that had gathered, an unknown person fired several gunshots before fleeing the scene. Two unoccupied vehicles were struck by gunfire, and no injuries were reported.

    No arrests have been made, and police did not confirm if these two shooting incidents are connected.

    Officers cited three men, ages 22, 23, and 28, for disorderly conduct during Sunday morning’s large gathering.

  • House of the week: A 19th-century twin in Chestnut Hill for $699,900

    House of the week: A 19th-century twin in Chestnut Hill for $699,900

    When Gretchen Ellis saw photos of the four-bedroom, two-bathroom twin on a cul-de-sac in Chestnut Hill, she said, “I knew it was ‘the house.’ I felt a deep sense of calm.”

    With her two sons in college, she moved from Maple Glen in 2017. Now, her sons are in Pittsburgh and Ellis is joining them.

    “I wish I could pick up my house and my neighbors and move them there,” Ellis joked.

    The kitchen has marble countertops, stainless steel appliances, and a breakfast bar. Gary Schempp

    The 1,520-square-foot home was built in 1887, designed by architect Robert R. McGoodwin.

    Hardwood flooring covers most of the home; the living room has a gas fireplace; and the kitchen has marble countertops, stainless steel appliances, and a breakfast bar with scenic views of the grounds.

    The living room has a gas fireplace.Gary Schempp

    The second floor has two bedrooms, including the primary, which has a built-in closet system, and share a full bathroom. The second bedroom can also serve as a home office.

    The two bedrooms on the third floor share a full bathroom with a claw-foot tub.

    The dining room.Gary Schempp

    Recent improvements include roof flashing reinforcement, metal roof coating, replacement of a cedar shed, and a new sump pump.

    There is a full basement with a French drain system, laundry facilities, and an exterior exit with a full set of stairs and a brick patio.

    The back patio.Gary Schempp

    The house is a short walk from SEPTA’s Chestnut Hill East and Chestnut Hill West Regional Rail lines, and the shopping corridor of Germantown Avenue.

    It is listed by Diane Reddington of Coldwell Banker Realty for $699,900.

  • All-Star Game in Philly: Luzardo cruises as other Phillies struggle; MLB commish on Harper controversy; Marsh’s dry hair highlights red carpet

    All-Star Game in Philly: Luzardo cruises as other Phillies struggle; MLB commish on Harper controversy; Marsh’s dry hair highlights red carpet

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 11:21pm

    Cody Bellinger named 2026 All-Star Game MVP

    // Pinned

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 11:16pm

    Phillies batters struggle as American League wins All-Star Game

    Phillies Bryce Harper waves to the fans during the sixth inningElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    Well that was rough.

    The American League blanked the National League 4-0 in the MLB All-Star Game in South Philly Tuesday night, where the only real fireworks were during a recreation of “The Sandlot.”

    Phillies’ batters didn’t help much. Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Brandon Marsh went a combined 0-5 with three strikeouts.

    Starting his first All-Star Game, Cristopher SĂĄnchez struggled, giving up three runs on three hits. Teammates JesĂșs Luzardo and Jhoan Duran pitched well during their limited time on the mound.

    Overall, the National League managed just three hits against dominant American League pitching, which recorded 15 strikeouts.

    The AL has won 11 of the last 13 All-Star Games, for those keeping score.

    — Rob Tornoe

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 11:03pm

    Timing issues during Jhoan Duran’s entrance to the All-Star Game

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 10:50pm

    Miguel Vargas homers in first All-Star Game, extends AL lead

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 10:26pm

    ‘That’s disgusting guys’: Bryce Harper strikes out after replacing Kyle Schwarber

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 10:21pm

    Phillies fan nabs a souvenir that will ‘go into a case for life’

    Phillies fan David MacDonald and his dad, Jim, after catching a Brandon Marsh foul ball. Abraham Gutman / staff

    David MacDonald will leave the MLB All-Star game tonight with a souvenir.

    The 23-year-old from Cape May caught a ball Brandon Marsh fouled in the second inning.

    “My dad and I have been talking about going to the All-Star game even before it was announced it was here,” MacDonald said. “I shed tears during the national anthem and everything.”

    Adding to the lore of what is guaranteed to be a story told and retold in the MacDonald household, father Jim MacDonald was in the bathroom for Marsh’s at bat.

    The ball instantly became the young MacDonald’s most prized possession, he said, and it will immediately “go into a case for life” after the game.

    The father-son due are Phillies diehards, and like so many children and their parents, they’ve bonded over their love of baseball.

    “It means everything to us,” the young MacDonald said. “This is one of the coolest days of my life.”

    — Abraham Gutman

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 9:52pm

    A recreation of ‘The Sandlot’ at the All-Star Game

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 9:38pm

    Jesus Luzardo cruises through fourth inning

    Jesus Luzardo on the mound during the fourth inning of the All-Star Game. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    While Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez gave up three runs in the first inning, teammate Jesus Luzardo cruised through the fourth.

    Luzardo needed just six pitches to put down the side, which included Mike Trout and a strikeout of Riley Greene.

    — Rob Tornoe

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 9:14pm

    Junior Caminero leaves All-Star Game after being hit by a pitch

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 8:54pm

    SĂĄnchez gives up three runs in All-Star Game start

    Cristopher Sanchez walks off of the mound after pitching the first inning.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    Upon being introduced Tuesday night, Cristopher SĂĄnchez stood in the bullpen, hands on his hips, tapped his chest and saluted the crowd.

    It was all downhill after that.

    SĂĄnchez, the first Phillies pitcher to start an All-Star Game since Roy Halladay in 2011, labored through a 34-pitch first inning in which he faced eight batters and gave up three runs on three hits.

    The trouble for SĂĄnchez began with a one-out single from the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez. SĂĄnchez walked Shea Langeliers of the Athletics, and two batters later, walked the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. to load the bases.

    With action in the National League bullpen, SĂĄnchez allowed back-to-back RBI singles to the Yankees’ Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice to drop the NL in a 3-0 hole before Kyle Schwarber led off the bottom of the first.

    SĂĄnchez came into the All-Star Game with a 2.62 ERA, ninth among all pitchers. But he quietly struggled before the break. He gave up nine runs in 3 1/3 innings in his worst career start July 6 in Kansas City, then dodged 10 hits in allowing only two runs in seven innings last Saturday in Detroit.

    — Scott Lauber

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 8:32pm

    Cristopher Sanchez strikes out Mike Trout to start All-Star Game

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 8:14pm

    Philly native Patti LaBelle sings the national anthem

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 8:11pm

    Cheers for Schwarber, boos for Soto

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 8:12pm

    Philly looks great as a All-Star Game host

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 8:08pm

    Photos: Jennifer Hudson, Miles Teller, and more

    Jennifer Hudson performs before the start of the All-Star Game.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
    Actor Miles Teller introduces the All-Star Game to fans and viewers on Fox. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
    Jhoan Duran, JesĂșs Luzardo and Bryce Harper during player introductions.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 7:59pm

    Big cheers for Phillies All-Stars during player introductions

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 7:47pm

    Philly fans boo Mets mascot ahead of All-Star Game

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 7:05pm

    Photos: Batting practice ahead of All-Star Game

    Kyle Schwarber passes Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy during batting practice.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
    Los Angeles Angles centerfielder Mike Trout prepares for batting practice.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
    (From left) Phillies’ JesĂșs Luzardo, Pirates’ Braxton Ashcraft, Phillies’ Jhoan Duran, and Dodgers’ Justin Wrobleski talk during batting practice.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
    Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly watches batting practice.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 5:47pm

    Brandon Marsh’s dry hair among best looks from the MLB All-Star Game red carpet

    Brandon Marsh waves during the All-Star red carpet event.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    You can take the baseball players off the field, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to stop sporting coordinated outfits.

    The All-Star red carpet ran through Independence Mall on Tuesday before that night’s All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park, and the stars were putting their stellar fashion skills on display, as fans saw a lot of coordinated outfits between families.

    Sometimes the best outfits are less about the clothes and more about the overall look, and with a head of hair like Brandon Marsh’s, there’s little the clothes have to do.

    Marsh wore his signature locks notably dry and tied back with an all-black look, from shirt to pants, jacket, and shoes.

    But he wasn’t just bringing the fashion, he also was offering tips on haircare.

    The Phillies outfielder shared his hair routine with MLB Network’s Kait Maniscalco, stating that he doesn’t do much beyond washing it once or twice a week, usually after day games, and then, of course, wetting it every inning.

    “I just water it every inning just like you do the grass or the flowers,” Marsh said.

    Brandon Marsh’s dry hair, Paul Skenes matches Livvy Dunne, and the best looks from the MLB All-Star Game red carpet

    — Mia Messina

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 5:25pm

    Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton to throw ceremonial first pitches

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 5:04pm

    All-Stars talk Philly fans and ‘impressive’ Derby atmosphere

    A fan celebrates after catching a home run from St. Louis Cardinals All-Star Jordan Walker during the Home Run Derby.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Philly has a reputation for having some of the toughest fans in professional sports — and Monday night was a clear reminder why they’ve earned that reputation. During the Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park, fans booed anyone without Philly affiliation.

    “I thought it was in a pretty impressive atmosphere last night,” said Minnesota Twins pitcher Joe Ryan. “Just seeing the Home Run Derby, [Philly fans are] always going to have a good time and they want to win. So, yeah, [I] respect it.”

    And nobody was safe — not even the kids in the outfield tasked with tracking down the non-home runs. After a failed attempt, some took heat from the Philly crowd, while others were cheered for their successful catches.

    “To be honest, I didn’t see [the Home Run Derby,]” said Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman. “But they’re passionate, man. I got to give them credit.”

    — Ariel Simpson

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 4:08pm

    Boos at All-Star Game are a Philly tradition

    Phillies fans cheered loudly for Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper on Monday night. The other Home Run Derby contestants? They got a different reception.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    The boos at Monday’s Home Run Derby may have surprised some but it’s nothing new in Philly.

    Fifty years ago, the fans at Veterans Stadium provided the soundtrack at the All-Star Game just like they did on Monday at Citizens Bank Park. The fans booed the rival Reds players during pregame introductions and roared for the Phillies. The Reds, who would beat the Phillies that October in the playoffs, had no issue with the South Philly serenade.

    “They’ve got people in this town who boo the crack in the Liberty Bell,” said Pete Rose, who was one of five Reds in the starting lineup. “So I knew I’d get a few raspberries playing third base instead of Mike Schmidt. If the game was in Cincinnati and there were that many Phillies voted into the lineup, they would be getting boos. These people are going to hate us a lot more come October.”

    The All-Star Game has grown substantially since 1976 as the midsummer classic is now a week-long event. But it’s a safe bet that it will sound like 1976 during pre-game introductions on Tuesday night. Mets, Braves, Dodgers, and even some others: cover your ears.

    — Matt Breen

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 3:38pm

    Kyle Schwarber’s son does Spider-Man pose on red carpet

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 3:19pm

    MLB commissioner discusses Bryce Harper controversy

    Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper speaks to the media ahead of Monday’s Home Run Derby.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    As details emerge on the personalized video that Bryce Harper says he unknowingly recorded on behalf of FanDuel for a sports-gambling addict, Major League Baseball is confident that the Phillies star didn’t violate any league policies.

    “I think the important thing is that Bryce’s activity was not a violation of the basic agreement,” commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday in a meeting with the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. “We made sure about that, and we’ll continue to try to figure out exactly how we ended up, where we ended up on that.”

    MLB’s collective bargaining agreement, which will expire on Dec. 1, allows players to appear in advertisements or make personal appearances for casinos, racetracks, or sportsbook companies, as long as they do not encourage betting on baseball.

    The Inquirer obtained a copy of a 21-second video from November 2024 in which Harper offered a greeting to a bettor, Terry Thompson, who wagered $18.5 million with FanDuel and lost $1.5 million, according to a lawsuit that the Public Health Advocacy Institute filed in March in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia.

    Harper posted to Instagram on Monday that he thought he was just doing a message on the site Cameo — in which celebrities are paid to record videos for fans — but “what happened here went beyond anything I knew about or approved.”

    “I did not know this video would be used for commercial purposes,” Harper wrote, adding that he read a script “in good faith” before FanDuel put its own logo on the video and used it as a gambling promotion. “I did not know FanDuel would do this, I did not consent to it, and FanDuel had no right to do it.”

    Harper declined to comment beyond his initial statement on the advice of counsel.

    Manfred said he’s “aware of the situation” and Harper’s statement about it, but said, “I’m not really certain that I know all of the underlying facts well enough to evaluate the behavior.”

    Harper will be in the All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Citizens Bank Park. He was selected as the commissioner’s “Legends Pick,” one spot on each league’s roster that is filled by Manfred.

    — Scott Lauber

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 3:10pm

    Photos: Check out the Phillies All-Stars on the red carpet

    All six of the Phillies All-Stars took to the red carpet Tuesday on Independence Mall, sporting their freshest outfits with their families joining in on several of the looks. Here’s how they looked …

    Phillies pitcher JesĂșs Luzardo and his wife, Francesca Sue Luzardo.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
    Phillies closer Jhoan Duran and his family.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
    Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
    Gov. Josh Shapiro (left) greets Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and his family.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
    Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez and his family.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
    Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper and his wife Kayla Harper.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 2:45pm

    Bryce Harper talks Home Run Derby and red-carpet fit

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 2:09pm

    The Phanatic walks the red carpet in patriotic outfit

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 1:33pm

    Gameday Central: Previewing the All-Star Game — and the trade deadline

    The All-Star Game is back in Philly for the first time in 30 years, and The Inquirer has you covered. Join Phillies reporter Scott Lauber and Phillies beat writer Lochlahn March for a special All-Star episode of Gameday Central at 2 p.m.

    They’ll be on site at Citizens Bank Park to discuss All-Star week, recap the Phillies’ first half, and look ahead to the trade deadline and beyond.

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 1:57pm

    The stars are here: Watch the MLB Network Red Carpet show

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 1:18pm

    Fans arrive on Independence Mall ahead off red carpet

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 12:42pm

    Farr: Stop whining about the boos at the Home Run Derby

    A fan reacts after catching a home run from Tampa Bay Rays Junior Caminero during the MLB Home Run Derby on Monday.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    I understand some folks on social media are very upset with Phillies fans today for booing every baseball player but their own two during the Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park Monday night.

    To those whom we’ve offended, may I humbly say: BOOOOO!!! There’s no crying in baseball, you whiny babies.

    I wasn’t there in person so sadly I can’t claim to have been a part of the cacophonous crowd that joyfully jeered player after player as they walked onto the field (except, of course, for Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, who received thunderous applause), but I did laugh like hell while watching the incessant booing on TV.

    Philly literally booed these guys just for daring to show up and be introduced at our ballpark. We are so unserious.

    Our humor is just as brutal as our honesty and while it may not seem like it on the surface, both come from a place of respect. Sure we could be fake and feign applause for players from other teams, or we could be “polite” and not say anything at all, but we’d rather be engaged and enjoy a good time and a good ribbing.

    Some people on social media, however, are obviously not familiar with Philly’s game, and took great offense to our boos. On Bluesky people wrote: “Not surprised, they booed Santa but this just sucks” (that’s weak and lazy writing, do better when insulting us) and “Philly fans would boo puppies and sunshine” (all right, that’s pretty funny because it’s true).

    Heck, last night Phillies fans booed one of the kids picking up baseballs in the outfield because he didn’t catch a fly ball, so yeah, puppies and sunshine should be on high alert.

    Whiny babies are crying about Philly booing everyone at the Home Run Derby

    — Stephanie Farr

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 11:47am

    Bryce Harper’s SEPTA-themed All-Star Game cleats arrived in a train car

    Bryce Harper pays tribute to SEPTA with debut of new line of Under Armour cleats

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 8:41am

    All-Star Game in Philly: Here’s how to watch and stream

    Joe Davis (left) and Hall of Famer John Smoltz will call tonight’s All-Star Game on Fox.Fox Sports

    The Phillies will be well-represented in tonight’s MLB All-Star Game (8 p.m., Fox), which is back on Fox for the 26th straight year.

    Cristopher SĂĄnchez will start for the National League, and two Phillies players will be in the starting lineup — Kyle Schwarber and Brandon Marsh. Bryce Harper, JesĂșs Luzardo, and closer Jhoan Duran are also on the National League squad.

    Calling the game is Fox’s World Series crew — play-by-play announcer Joe Davis and Hall of Famer John Smoltz. Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci will report from Citizens Bank Park.

    How to stream the All-Star Game

    The game will stream live on the Fox Sports app, although it’s only available there for cable subscribers. It will also stream live on MLB.TV, although the subscription service is hardly worth it for Phillies fans in the Philadelphia market due to its blackout rules.

    The game can also be streamed on a host of services that carry Fox, including FuboTV, Hulu With Live TV, DirecTV Stream, Sling TV, or YouTube TV. If you live near Philadelphia, you can also watch it for free using a digital antenna, since Fox 29 is a broadcast channel.

    Other All-Star Game coverage

    Fox Sports will begin its live coverage at 7 p.m. with a pregame show hosted by Kevin Burkhardt alongside analysts Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, and David Ortiz.

    The MLB All-Star Red Carpet Show will begin at 2 p.m. on MLB Network.

    — Rob Tornoe

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 8:40am

    All-Star Game lineups: Kyle Schwarber will lead off for National League

    Kyle Schwarber finished second in Monday night’s Home Run Derby.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    The starting lineups for Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star Game were revealed by the teams’ respective managers Monday at Citizens Bank Park.

    The lineup behind Phillies ace Cristopher Sanchez, who gets the start on the mound for the National League, will begin with his Phillies teammate, designated hitter Kyle Schwarber. Outfielder Brandon Marsh will bat seventh for Dave Roberts’ NL squad.

    Here’s a look at the full order:

    1. Kyle Schwarber, DH, Phillies
    2. Juan Soto, LF, Mets
    3. Freddie Freeman, 1B, Dodgers
    4. CJ Abrams, SS, Nationals
    5. Max Muncy, 3B, Dodgers
    6. Ozzie Albies, 2B, Braves
    7. Brandon Marsh, RF, Phillies
    8. Andy Pages, CF, Dodgers
    9. Drake Baldwin, C, Braves

    Meanwhile, here’s a look at the starting lineup for John Schneider’s American League side, behind starting pitcher Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays:

    1. Mike Trout, CF, Angels
    2. Yordan Alvarez, DH, Astros
    3. Shea Langeliers, C, Athletics
    4. Junior Caminero, 3B, Rays
    5. Bobby Witt Jr., SS, Royals
    6. Cody Bellinger, RF, Yankees
    7. Ben Rice, 1B, Yankees
    8. Riley Greene, LF, Tigers
    9. Ernie Clement, 2B, Blue Jays

    — Matt Mullin

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 8:39am

    Some of MLB’s biggest stars are missing from this year’s All-Star Game

    Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani isn’t at the All-Star Game.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    The best player in Major League Baseball — a player who can make a claim to being the greatest baseball player ever — will not play in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park.

    The best player on the most popular team in Major League Baseball — a player who hit at least 53 home runs in three of the previous four seasons and is among the most recognizable figures in the sport — will not play either.

    And the best pitcher for the franchise that is hosting the game — a pitcher who can make a claim to being the best starter in the majors for the last several years — wasn’t initially selected to be an All-Star, then was, then rejected the invitation.

    If the stars everyone wants to see don’t play, does the All-Star Game still make a sound? It was a question worth contemplating Monday. It wasn’t the only one. The players who will make up the American and National League rosters Tuesday night plopped down on chairs along Ashburn Alley for the game’s media availability, and the juice wasn’t quite what it might have been.

    The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani has irritation in his left knee. The Yankees’ Aaron Judge has a stress fracture in his right rib. The Phillies’ Zack Wheeler has a bruise to his ego.

    Will it really be an All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park if the best of the best aren’t there?

    — Mike Sielski

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 8:35am

    Kyle Schwarber falls in Home Run Derby heartbreaker

    Kyle Schwarber looked set to take his first Home Run Derby title before Jordan Walker went on a late frenzy.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Kyle Schwarber needed to take a breath.

    Schwarber went deep seven times in a nine-swing span in the semifinals of Monday night’s Home Run Derby. With three swings left, he needed to regroup.

    And so, Schwarber did what any slugger in a hometown Derby would. He took a beat and waved to the Phillies fans in sold-out Citizens Bank Park to make more noise.

    Schwarber won the round and nearly the Derby. But the Cardinals’ Jordan Walker, who drew cheers from the 43,863 paying customers after each swing that didn’t result in a homer, smashed four homers in a row in bonus time to eke out a 12-11 victory in the finals.

    It marked Schwarber’s third career Derby and second runner-up finish. He came in second to Harper in 2018 in Washington, then Harper’s home ballpark. Four years later, they became teammates with the Phillies.

    There would be no rematch this time. Harper hit eight homers in the first round and didn’t advance despite crushing a 482-footer that disappeared beyond the second deck in right field before touching down in Ashburn Alley.

    Kyle Schwarber falls in Home Run Derby heartbreaker, Cardinals’ Jordan Walker wins in bonus time

    — Scott Lauber

    Philly road closures due to tonight’s All-Star Game

    All-Star Game banners are in place around town.Conor Smith / Staff

    Independence Mall will see road closures in place from 5 a.m. to midnight Tuesday due to the MLB Red Carper show, which begins at 2 p.m.

    Those closures will affect:

    • Fifth and Sixth Streets from Arch to Walnut Streets
    • Market and Chestnut Streets from Fourth to Seventh Streets
    • Ranstead and Sansom Streets from Sixth Street to Seventh Streets

    Philadelphia police, the city said, may institute additional closures in the interest of public safety.

    All roads affected by closures will also be temporary no-parking zones, the city said. If vehicles are parked in those locations during the times they are closed, the vehicles will be moved.

    Drivers who may have had their cars moved should contact the police district of the area where their vehicle was parked, the city said.

    To accommodate fans heading to Citizens Bank Park, SEPTA will run six additional express trains on the Broad Street Line, also known as the B Line, to NRG Station before and after the All-Star Game.

    Free rides on the line from NRG Station will also be available at select times during those events. Free rides begin after the sixth inning of the All-Star Game Tuesday, the city said.

    — Nick Vadala

    // Timestamp 07/14/26 8:30am

  • Kyle Schwarber and his pitcher, Rafael Peña, did a ‘practice’ run in Detroit. It set the stage for an epic Home Run Derby.

    Kyle Schwarber and his pitcher, Rafael Peña, did a ‘practice’ run in Detroit. It set the stage for an epic Home Run Derby.

    When Rafael Peña throws to Kyle Schwarber in the batting cage, he likes to challenge him. The Phillies designated hitter will get a steady stream of curveballs, changeups, and sliders.

    He’ll also get some trash talk. Peña jokingly dares the slugger to scrape out a hit. These sessions are meant to prepare; not to please. “We really don’t do a lot of feel-good BP,” Schwarber said.

    But when the DH was deciding whether to participate in the Home Run Derby, it was Peña who came to mind. The assistant hitting coach has thrown more batting practice to Schwarber than anyone in the organization (with the exception of Kevin Long, who coached him before he arrived in Philadelphia).

    Kyle Schwarber falls in Home Run Derby heartbreaker, Cardinals’ Jordan Walker wins in bonus time

    So, Schwarber asked him if he’d be his pitcher about 10 days ago while the Phillies were on the road. But Schwarber hadn’t announced that he was participating in the Home Run Derby. The coach assumed he was talking about cage work.

    “He asked me what I was doing,” Peña said. “And I was like, ‘I’m going to be in Philly.’ And he was like, ‘Do you want to throw to me? Do you want to throw BP to me?’

    “And I was kind of like, ‘What do you mean?’ And he was like, ‘Well, in the Derby.’ I throw BP to him all the time. I didn’t know if maybe he was going to stay late one of the days or something like that.”

    Kyle Schwarber electrified the Citizens Bank Park crowd in the Home Run Derby but came up just short of a title. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    Peña agreed, and the two men got to work. On Saturday, when the Phillies were in Detroit, Peña, Schwarber, Long, and bullpen catcher Brad Flanders took a car service to Comerica Park.

    They arrived hours before game time, and long before the rest of the team got there. Peña measured the exact distance from the plate that he’d be positioned in the Derby and set up behind an L screen.

    Flanders, wearing the same bright red glove he’d later use on Monday night, bent into a crouch. Schwarber stepped up to the plate. Peña began firing pitches middle, middle-in.

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    The assistant hitting coach called it a “practice round.”

    “We did 20 [pitches] and he hit 13 out of 20,” Peña recalled. “And then we did a 15 round and he hit nine out of 15.”

    Long, who was watching from a few feet away, gave his stamp of approval.

    “K-Long was just like, ‘Just feed it in there,’” Peña said. “‘You don’t need to go too crazy. Just feed it in there. Flandy has a big target, big red target.’”

    It ended up being a harbinger of Schwarbombs to come. Two days later, with Peña behind the L-screen, the Phillies DH put on an epic performance in Citizens Bank Park, falling one home run short of winning the Home Run Derby.

    Schwarber started slow — falling short in his first five tries — but gained momentum as the night went on. He finished his first round with 10 home runs, his semifinal round with nine, and his final round with 11.

    He seemed like he was guaranteed a win, until Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker crushed 12 home runs a few minutes later (an especially impressive feat, given that the crowd was actively rooting for his demise).

    Schwarbombs, boos and a walkoff: A 3D look at how Jordan Walker ruined a near storybook Home Run Derby for Phillies fans

    Even though this wasn’t the result the Phillies wanted, for Peña, it was still a meaningful moment. The assistant hitting coach was born and raised in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, where his father, Rafael Sr., took him to his first baseball game at the age of 7.

    Rafael Sr. was in the stands on Monday night. He had family and friends following along from the Dominican Republic. His daughters, Sophia and Isabella, were cheering him on from home in Oklahoma City.

    Phillies assistant hitting coach Rafael Pena has a strong rapport with Schwarber, which was evident on Monday night. David Maialetti / Staff Photographer

    “They called me [today]. They’re like, ‘Hey Daddy, are you ready? Have you practiced?’” Peña said. “It’s fun.”

    Peña said on Monday afternoon that if Schwarber hit like he did on Saturday, he’d have a good chance of winning it all. And his words proved prescient. Schwarber came incredibly close; Walker was down to his last swing.

    But the baseball gods had other ideas, and Schwarber will have to wait another year, at least, for his next chance at the trophy. And if he calls, Peña will be ready.

    “It’s special,” Peña said. “I’ve watched this since I was a little kid; every single Home Run Derby. So being a part of it is amazing.”

  • Is AI ready to take over your prescriptions? Doctors are wary of Utah’s automated refill program

    WASHINGTON — A prescription refill program that quietly launched in Utah earlier this year has kicked off a big medical debate: Is artificial intelligence ready to take over tasks that, until now, could only be performed by doctors?

    The program allows Utah residents to skip the doctor’s office and get their prescriptions refilled online by an AI chatbot called Doctronic. It’s a seemingly simple step toward making healthcare more convenient for patients and prescribers.

    But it’s also a precedent-shattering milestone that has set off alarm bells for doctors, lawyers, and public health experts. The pilot program has laid bare a host of questions about the role of AI in medicine, including how it should be regulated, whether doctors should be able to veto it, and what kind of safety measures are needed to protect patients.

    At the center of the debate: State and federal laws limit prescribing to licensed medical professionals. Proponents say those laws, which have underwritten American medicine for over 100 years, should be updated to include AI chatbots and other new technologies.

    “We have crossed a threshold in terms of giving something that is not human a medical license, whether or not we want to call it that,” said Eric Bressman, a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

    AI cannot practice medicine under current laws

    Bressman and other experts say they aren’t opposed to AI prescribing. But they say it should have to meet rigorous standards akin to human doctors, who undergo years of testing and training before being licensed to practice medicine.

    In Utah, Doctronic was able to launch thanks to a “regulatory sandbox” that allows state officials to waive laws for AI companies offering promising technology.

    The refill program is currently overseen by a five-member board of AI specialists, none of whom are doctors, who say they have implemented numerous safeguards. During the program’s initial phase, for example, human doctors review all Doctronic refill orders. The company expects to soon transition to fully automated refills.

    The head of the state’s medical licensing board says he and his colleagues learned of the program when its January launch was reported in the news. In a March letter to the state, 11 board members called for the program to be halted, citing the risks of automatically renewing medicines that can have side effects or drug interactions.

    “We were essentially told: ‘Yes this is going on. And no, you don’t have a say in it,’” said Alan Smith, a family physician who heads the board but said he was speaking only for himself.

    Complicating the picture is the fact that medical technology is traditionally regulated at the federal level, while medical professionals are overseen by states.

    Doctronic executives consider their AI part of the state-regulated practice of medicine. But the federal Food and Drug Administration is supposed to oversee AI that directly impacts medical care or decision making, a line that some experts believe Doctronic has crossed.

    Some states are clearing the way for AI in healthcare

    In an interview, Doctronic’s executives wouldn’t say whether they have sought permission from the FDA.

    “Our goal here is really just to meet patients where they need healthcare,” said Adam Oskowitz, who cofounded the company with a tech industry entrepreneur. “We try not to get too deep into the weeds on the regulatory side.”

    In Utah, residents can visit a Doctronic website built for the refill program. After confirming their identity, the AI chatbot asks users about their prescriptions and medical history, verifying that they have a valid prescription by tapping into a national pharmacy database. If there are no issues, the AI can renew the prescription and send it to a local pharmacy. If the request requires more attention, the chatbot transfers the patient to a doctor who works for Doctronic’s telehealth service.

    Oskowitz envisions a future where many routine medical tasks, including ordering tests and analyzing results, can be offloaded to Doctronic, allowing doctors to manage thousands more patients than they can today.

    Other states are also waiving rules for AI, including Texas and Wyoming.

    Meanwhile, lawmakers in Iowa, Idaho, and elsewhere have introduced legislation to formally license AI medical services. Many of the bills are based on a template from the nonprofit Cicero Institute, a pro-AI think tank founded by Joe Lonsdale, co-founder of the artificial intelligence software company Palantir.

    Pushback against medical AI mainly stems from the economic fears of doctors and other health workers, says Cicero’s director for health policy.

    “Whoever goes first is going to take the slings and arrows because there’s economic interests, concerns about the workforce and what that’s going to mean for jobs,” said Cicero’s Adam Meier.

    Doctors see potential risks to AI prescription refills

    Smith, the medical board chair, says the risks to patients are real. He points out that Doctronic’s list of 190 refillable medications includes blood thinners, which can become dangerous if patients develop stomach ulcers or other conditions that cause internal bleeding.

    “Many times when I see people after six months I find that their medical history or situation has changed,” Smith said. “Just because something was prescribed before does not mean it’s appropriate now.”

    The American Medical Association has voiced similar concerns, warning that “prescription renewals aren’t routine checkboxes.”

    Zach Boyd, who heads Utah’s AI office, said Doctronic has thus far been overly cautious, often elevating uncontroversial decisions to doctors. In response to safety concerns, several medications have been removed from the list eligible for refills, including a drug for irregular heartbeats.

    Utah has released some initial data on the program and Doctronic plans to publish peer-reviewed studies later this year. Currently the only publication about its technology is a paper written by company scientists that was not independently reviewed.

    The study looked at whether Doctronic could correctly diagnose medical conditions based on records from 500 telehealth consultations. In the study, Doctronic’s diagnoses matched that of human doctors 80% of the time.

    The FDA is taking a hands-off approach

    Bressman says Utah should have demanded data on prescription refills up front, not after Doctronic was up and running.

    “Mostly they’re accepting the company’s word on good faith that they’re up to the task,” he said.

    The current approach to AI mirrors the haphazard medical standards of the early 20th century, Bressman says, before medical schools, medical boards, and other authorities agreed on national benchmarks for training and licensing.

    National guidelines on medical technology would typically come from the FDA, but the agency has indicated it plans to take a hand-off approach, at least under the current administration.

    An FDA spokesperson said the agency has not authorized any AI chatbots but “is committed to encouraging medical innovation and helping bring promising new technologies to patients, while keeping safety at the center of every decision.”

    For now, Doctronic and other companies are likely to expand across states with different regulatory approaches.

    “Companies may benefit in the short term by expanding their business models and kind of having the technology go beyond the evidence,” says Daniel Aaron of University of Utah’s law school. “But in the long-term, I think they risk compromising public trust and fueling backlash.”

  • Will it really be an All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park if the best of the best aren’t there?

    Will it really be an All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park if the best of the best aren’t there?

    The best player in Major League Baseball — a player who can make a claim to being the greatest baseball player ever — will not play in Tuesday night’s All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park. The best player on the most popular team in Major League Baseball — a player who hit at least 53 home runs in three of the previous four seasons and is among the most recognizable figures in the sport — will not play either. And the best pitcher for the franchise that is hosting the game — a pitcher who can make a claim to being the best starter in the majors for the last several years — wasn’t initially selected to be an All-Star, then was, then rejected the invitation.

    If the stars everyone wants to see don’t play, does the All-Star Game still make a sound? It was a question worth contemplating Monday. It wasn’t the only one. The players who will make up the American and National League rosters Tuesday night plopped down on chairs along Ashburn Alley for the game’s media availability, and the juice wasn’t quite what it might have been.

    There were a couple of famous names, such as Bryce Harper and Mike Trout. There were emerging stars, such as the Washington Nationals’ James Wood and the Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong. There were the grateful first-timers, such as the Phillies’ JesĂșs Luzardo and the Detroit Tigers’ Kevin McGonigle (a proud Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast alum). But because of some adverse circumstances, the showcase will be without three of the game’s greatest showmen.

    The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani has irritation in his left knee. The Yankees’ Aaron Judge has a stress fracture in his right rib. The Phillies’ Zack Wheeler has a bruise to his ego.

    Shohei Ohtani (left) will sit it out Tuesday night along with Zack Wheeler.Mark J. Terrill

    They were missed Monday and will be missed Tuesday, though their conspicuous absences weren’t all their fault. As the Dodgers’ best hitter and one of their best pitchers, Ohtani already bears some heavy obligations; he can be forgiven for declining to play hurt through even an inning Tuesday. And Judge hasn’t appeared in a game for the Yankees since May 31.

    Wheeler is a different story, though, and his situation did raise the issue of the All-Star Game’s purpose. Is it a showcase for the game’s most popular and accomplished players, a chance for fans to see those stars all together at once? Is it a reward for those players whose performances in the season’s first half were particularly excellent? If so, does the game really need its longtime quota system of having every team represented?

    Wheeler’s snub touched on all those topics. It had become a cause cĂ©lĂšbre around here, of course, and he was so miffed that on Friday, when Major League Baseball offered him a spot on the NL team, he said no, telling reporters, “They disrespected me, so I’m not going to participate in it.” His nose-thumbing at MLB has garnered him a lot of atta-boys from Phillies fans and media members. Still, it would be easier to be sympathetic to Wheeler if he hadn’t been selected to the All-Star Team in 2024 and 2025 and declined each year not just to pitch but to show up to the game.

    In fairness to Wheeler, he was suffering from some back tightness in 2024 and had pitched on the Sunday before the 2025 game. But in fairness to the people who make such decisions, how many times does a player have to turn down participating in the All-Star festivities before they catch the hint that he’d rather spend the break down the shore?

    Maybe the honor of playing in the All-Star Game doesn’t matter as much to Wheeler as the honor of saying he’s an All-Star does, especially once it comes time for the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s voters to consider his credentials and case for induction.

    But then, Wheeler’s attitude toward the game is nothing new among major leaguers, despite the common assertion (and reality) that baseball’s All-Star Game carries more meaning than the NBA All-Star Game or the Pro Bowl. If it does, it’s not by much.

    “I never felt like there was that much at stake,” said Phillies manager Don Mattingly, a six-time American League All-Star selection during his 14-year career with the Yankees. “I felt like it was an exhibition, really. There was so much stuff around it, all the stuff you have to do. At game time, guys want to play, but you’re not as invested as you are in a pennant race, going down to the last week of the season. It doesn’t feel like that.”

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    So instead of Wheeler, the National League’s pitching staff will have the San Diego Padres’ Adrian Morejon, a 27-year-old middle reliever with a 3.42 earned-run average this season. And because the rotation schedules of Jacob Misiorowski, Paul Skenes, and Max Meyer — three of the National League’s top starters — made them unavailable to pitch Tuesday night, Luzardo was among some late additions to the roster.

    “There’s two sides,” said Luzardo, who is 8-4 with a 3.51 ERA and 136 strikeouts in 110⅓ innings this season. “The child in me sees it as all the best stars in baseball getting together and playing a game. That was me growing up watching the All-Star Game. Now, being a player, it’s a reward for the success you’ve had. Obviously, there’s a lot of motivation to go out and perform every time out. You’re going to get the best out of everyone at these games.”

    The question isn’t whether the fans will see these players give their best. The question is whether the players they’ll see are really the best — and how many of the best of the best really want to be there at all.