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  • Eagles newcomers ’26: Jonathan Jones brings another veteran body, Super Bowl experience to cornerback group

    Eagles newcomers ’26: Jonathan Jones brings another veteran body, Super Bowl experience to cornerback group

    With Eagles training camp drawing nearer, The Inquirer is taking a closer look at the more than three dozen new faces who are expected to report along with the rest of the team on July 28.

    Player: Jonathan Jones

    Position: Cornerback

    Age: 32

    Previous experience: Jones is the most veteran player in the cornerbacks room, bringing 10 years of NFL experience to the Eagles. He spent nine seasons and earned two Super Bowl rings (2016, 2018) with the New England Patriots, the team that signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Auburn in 2016.

    He spent most of his early Patriots career as a backup defensive back (primarily at nickel) and a special teams contributor until 2022, when he earned the starting outside cornerback job out of training camp. That year, he started 16 games, registering a career-high four interceptions (including one returned for a touchdown), three forced fumbles, and 11 pass breakups.

    Jones remained the starter in New England in 2023 and 2024, then signed with the Washington Commanders as a free agent in 2025. As a backup last season, he started seven games, making five pass breakups and notching one sack. He took the bulk of his snaps on the outside.

    Path to a roster spot: Cornerback depth — at either spot, but most likely on the outside. The Eagles are set among their starting trio of Quinyon Mitchell and Riq Woolen on the outside and Cooper DeJean in the slot. Michael Carter II could be the primary backup in the slot if he doesn’t win the starting safety job, but Jones could earn the top backup role on the outside if he fares well in training camp against contenders that include Kelee Ringo and Mac McWilliams.

    Fun fact: For his introductory news conference in March, Jones took a private plane from Charlotte to Philadelphia — that he piloted himself. Jones earned his pilot’s license in April 2023 while he was a member of the Patriots. He documented his flight to Eagles mandatory minicamp in a video shared to his Instagram page.

    Quotable: “I can remember being the younger guy in the room, full of veterans, Devin McCourty and those guys, and just trying to compete with them. And so now being the older guy in the room, just still having that joy of the game, coming out, competing in practice and games, and just still having that childhood joy of playing football is definitely what keeps you going.” — Jones in March on his rare longevity as an undrafted player

    Samori Touré (83) saw limited action with the Packers earlier in his career. Paul Sancya / AP

    Player: Samori Touré

    Position: Wide receiver

    Age: 28

    Previous experience: Touré, who is 6-foot-1, 196 pounds, has four years of NFL experience, spending the latter half primarily on practice squads.

    He began his career with the Green Bay Packers, the team that drafted him in the seventh round out of Nebraska in 2022. Touré saw limited action in Green Bay, combining for 13 receptions for 160 yards and a touchdown in 22 games (two starts) in two seasons on the active roster. He was released in August 2024 after ending the previous season on injured reserve.

    Since his release from the Packers, he has been on three practice squads: the Chicago Bears (2024), the Denver Broncos (2025), and the New Orleans Saints (2025). He was only active on game day with the Saints, the team that picked him up in late November last season after the Broncos released him in late October. Touré had one reception for three yards in one game with the Saints.

    Path to a roster spot: Receiving depth, both on the outside and in the slot, most likely as a member of the practice squad. The active roster seems like a stretch, given that Touré will be competing with Darius Cooper, Johnny Wilson, Elijah Moore, and Britain Covey for one of those last couple spots in training camp.

    Even the practice squad will be a challenge for Touré to make, seeing as he does not have special teams experience. In addition to the aforementioned active roster contenders, Touré will have to beat out practice squad incumbents Danny Gray and Quez Watkins for a spot on that unit.

    However, while Touré did not overlap with Sean Mannion in Green Bay, they are both products of Matt LaFleur’s offense to an extent. That experience could give Touré a boost while competing for a role in the revamped Eagles offense, which will likely feature similarities to the Packers’ scheme.

    Fun fact: Touré is named after his great-great grandfather, Samori, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He was the founder of the Wassoulou Empire in West Africa, which spanned modern-day Guinea, Mali, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone from 1878-1898.

    Quotable: “Samori has had his moments, and we gotta continue to build upon those and become more and more consistent along the way. But he’s a guy that we definitely have high hopes for. He has the tools necessary that you look for in terms of being able to separate. He has them in his body. He possesses those. It’s just continuing to get more and more reps.” — LaFleur on Touré in July 2023, via Packers.com

  • They wanted to recreate childhood Shore memories. So they rebuilt a house in Strathmere

    They wanted to recreate childhood Shore memories. So they rebuilt a house in Strathmere

    Creating their forever home was a labor of love for Wendy Whittington and Fred Duffy.

    The couple, on the cusp of retiring from medical careers in Dallas, spent several years designing the Strathmere home they moved into this summer. It’s a showcase of their passions: family, books, travel, and wine.

    “We wanted to recreate an old beach house with the feel of the Shore we knew from growing up,” said Whittington. She grew up in nearby Dennis Township and Duffy visited Long Beach Island in his youth.

    An ornate candle holder, a gift from Wendy Whittington for her husband, Fred Duffy, sits in a nook in the living space.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
    The main bedroom of the Strathmere home.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer

    “We have a big family and wanted a place that was welcoming,” Whittington said, “a gathering place.”

    So they razed and rebuilt the house they had bought a decade earlier. They had purchased the rundown two-bedroom ranch as a rental property, with a plan to replace it later.

    “We had an affinity for coming back to the beach and Strathmere worked for both of us,” said Whittington. “It felt like coming home.”

    The uppermost deck offers a view of the ocean.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer

    But the house was too small for their large blended family. Together they have eight children, four of whom now have spouses.

    Working with Halliday Architects and Oliver Custom Home Builders, they spent about four years designing and almost two years building the new house. The roughly 4,000-square-foot home has two main floors. The second floor, where the couple spend most of their time, includes a spacious kitchen and den, primary bedroom and sitting area, Duffy’s office, and a secret wine cave.

    A custom-made bookcase has a hidden door that leads to a refrigerated wine storage area.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
    Whittington and Duffy enjoy collecting and tasting wine.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer

    The first floor is where their kids hang out. It has three bedrooms, a second kitchen, and Whittington’s study.

    “The kids are welcome upstairs, but they aren’t encouraged to come up,” joked Duffy. “That’s our sanctuary.”

    Despite the boundary, “everybody always ends up in the kitchen anyway,” Whittington said. So “we wanted a kitchen big enough to allow for that.”

    Whittington and Duffy both enjoy cooking. Their main kitchen was designed with functionality in mind, and includes a large quartz island, Thermador appliances with a five-burner gas stove, double ovens, a pot filler, a copper sink, and lots of storage space.

    The second-floor main kitchen, one of two, is spacious, with ample seating and a large pantry area.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer

    The open-concept layout allows guests to mingle in the sitting area, a cozy room with a fireplace, comfortable couches, and a stunning view of the ocean. Large walnut bookcases are filled with books, evidence of their passion for reading. Hidden behind one of the bookcases is the temperature-controlled wine grotto.

    The pair often eat at the bistro table in the corner. When the house is full of guests, they eat in the dining room at an oak table they bought from Land & Sea Furniture in Ocean View. Custom made by Amish woodworkers, it seats 14.

    The extensive use of wood throughout the home is one of its most striking features. Rich mahogany defines the exterior trim and extends to the ceiling of the couple’s primary bedroom. Inside, walnut takes center stage, featured in the flooring, trim, and distinctive banisters.

    Whittington and Duffy, passionate readers, built a library area with a custom bookcase and a custom walnut banister.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer

    The home is filled with treasures from their travels, as well as finds from stores in Philadelphia, antique shops in Cape May, and Etsy. The door knocker, which dates back to the 18th century, was found on a trip to Barcelona and the fish-shaped outdoor shower handles came from Uruguay. They discovered several hammered steel pieces of art in Haiti.

    At Architectural Antiques Exchange in Philadelphia, they found the Belgian cabinet they converted into the powder room vanity, the stained glass for the transoms in the kitchen, and the stained glass door for Whittington’s study.

    “Everything is personal and has a story,” said Duffy.

    The light fixtures are among their favorite accents. They aimed for period-appropriate pieces with a whimsical flair. For example, the dining room lights are original milk glass and the second-floor living room chandelier is brass. The two matching stairwell lights are vintage Venetian mouth-blown Murano caged-glass bubble lanterns.

    Whimsical wallpaper brings fun and funky beach designs into the home, featuring fish, octopus, crabs, and seagulls.

    Light fixtures believed to be over 100 years old hang in the library area.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
    The vibrant jellyfish pattern in this bathroom is one of several eye-catching wallpaper treatments in the house.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
    An antique door knocker greets visitors to the home.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer
    A stained glass window above a doorway off the second-floor kitchen.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer

    The home boasts several outdoor spaces, including a grassy backyard. From the large roof deck, Duffy and Whittington can take in both sunrises and sunsets, and the cozy front porch is where they read and relax. The primary bedroom and a guest bedroom also have walk-out decks.

    “We enjoy sitting on the deck, looking at the stars, listening to the ocean, and having a bottle of wine,” said Whittington. “That’s blissful.”

    Is your house a Haven? Nominate your home by email (and send some digital photographs) at properties@inquirer.com.

  • Knee pain? Ragged cartilage? Research suggests surgery’s not the best answer

    Knee pain? Ragged cartilage? Research suggests surgery’s not the best answer

    Thousands of Americans who undergo a common knee surgery might be making their problems worse rather than better.

    Researchers who followed patients for 10 years after they received either the actual procedure, arthroscopic knee surgery to trim degenerative cartilage tears, or merely “sham surgery” — a skin incision — for knee pain, found that the surgery provided little or no benefit and was, in fact, associated with accelerated osteoarthritis and higher rates of reoperation. That generally meant a total knee replacement.

    “I don’t know how I would defend this procedure at all,” said one of the study’s authors, Teppo Järvinen, an orthopedist and the head of the Finnish Centre for Evidence-Based Orthopaedics. “What has been shown dramatically is that patients who have this procedure have more pain — they do worse. All the scores pointed in the same direction.”

    Järvinen said the Finnish study, published in April in the New England Journal of Medicine, was the first to show the surgery left many patients worse off. Though the study was small, the results were compelling, he said, because his team picked the patients “most likely to benefit.”

    The study does not apply to cartilage tears incurred from an acute pain-causing injury. It included subjects middle-aged or older who were experiencing knee pain and whose MRIs showed cartilage tears.

    Evidence has been accumulating steadily for over a decade that arthroscopic knee surgery to shave torn, degenerative cartilage does not help more than physical therapy. Arthroscopic rates in Finland have dropped 90%, Järvinen said. They have been falling in the U.S., too, but at a far slower rate.

    One study of commercial claims in the U.S., which counted over 2 million meniscus surgeries from 2010 to 2020, found the number decreased by about 4% each year. Most procedures were performed on women and patients in their 50s.

    In the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program, the number of procedures has declined steadily in recent years, from about 169,000 in 2014 to 91,000 in 2024, federal data show. These figures do not include beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage, private insurance plans that cover more than half of Medicare enrollees.

    Prior studies of scans have found that such tears are common in people over 50, the result of wear and tear and often not painful.

    “Nothing supports the idea that a patient’s pain comes from the meniscus,” Järvinen said.

    Robert Brophy, director of the Orthopaedic Clinical Research Center at Washington University in St. Louis, said that “evidence is growing for judicious use of this surgery in this population.” But, he noted, “many patients do benefit.”

    All the same, he acknowledged that current practice among his peers is “all over the map.” For example, data show that surgery for meniscus tears in the Medicare population is far more common in the South than in the Northeast.

    A massive study committee of orthopedic societies in Europe and the U.S. last June released a consensus statement noting that “degenerative meniscus lesions can be treated with comparable results with either non-operative (including physical therapy) or surgical approach.” It recommended a trial of physical therapy before surgery but still endorsed the operation.

    A concerted campaign by orthopedic specialty societies called the Save the Meniscus Society has been ongoing for years. The group advocates for protecting and maintaining long-term knee health through nonsurgical treatments, surgical repair, and other therapies.

    One inherent issue in all medical specialties is that appropriate treatment is often in the eye of the physician beholder, meaning that specialists create the guidelines for when a treatment is in order. And financial considerations may influence that decision, Järvinen said.

    In the U.S., physician payments are decided by the Relative Value Scale Update Committee, or RUC, a committee of the American Medical Association composed largely of specialists. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his advisers have reportedly looked into wresting control of that committee from the association, though it’s not clear how that could be done, since the AMA owns the billing codes used to calculate patients’ charges.

    Arthroscopic knee surgery takes 30 to 60 minutes in the operating room, and the patients spend a few hours recovering in a surgery center or in a hospital outpatient department. Medicare allots on average $2,159 to $3,875 for the procedure, depending on where it is performed; patients pay 20% of the fee as coinsurance. There may be additional costs, for example, if more than one doctor is involved in the procedure. Commercial insurers average well more than twice that, said Marcus Dorstel, a senior vice president at the data analytics firm Turquoise Health, adding that the amount providers charge for the procedure varies widely. Those charges do not include the fees of the surgeons and the anesthesiologist.

    Treating chronic knee pain has a variegated history.

    Fifty years ago, the treatment for cartilage tears, from acute injury or from wear and tear, was to remove the entire piece of cartilage. At that time, doctors did not consider it a shock absorber but a useless, vestigial piece of tissue like the appendix.

    Today, the first-line therapy for a painful knee with degenerative tears is physical therapy and, for some people, weight loss. Then there is arthroscopic surgery, depending on the view of the surgeon about its utility.

    There is also a menu of injections: Steroids have proved scientifically valuable in the short term. And injections of stem cells and plasma-rich protein are widely offered but are controversial — and not covered by most insurance — because studies have been at best inconclusive about their benefit.

    And as orthopedists are backing away from shaving off meniscus tears, they are highlighting a newer procedure — sewing the torn cartilage back into a whole. But that is typically an option for patients under 50 with acute injuries and clean tears, and it is unclear exactly which patients might benefit.

    When all else fails, there’s a different surgery that’s also a big moneymaker for hospitals and doctors: knee replacement.

    KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.

  • What we know about the ICE shooting in Maine

    What we know about the ICE shooting in Maine

    An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a man in a vehicle on Monday morning in Biddeford, Maine. It was the second fatal episode in a week, as the Trump administration continues its immigration crackdown, and the latest in a string of encounters between agents and people in cars.

    The man was identified as Joan Sebastian Guerrero, according to Matthew Felling, a spokesperson for Sen. Angus King, I-Maine.

    The Homeland Security Department said in a statement Monday that ICE agents had been monitoring what they believed to be the residence of someone who was in the country illegally and for whom they had a removal order.

    It was unclear from the department’s statement whether Guerrero was the person agents had been seeking.

    Video recorded early Monday and posted to social media showed agents surrounding a body next to a car with bullet holes in the windshield.

    “I heard agony,” said Mary Hayes, a local resident, who said she saw a screaming woman on her knees, next to a young girl. “I heard a howl that came from your soul, that your whole life had just changed and it was never going to be the same.”

    Here’s what we know:

    Witnesses heard gunfire early Monday morning

    On Monday morning, agents tried to stop a vehicle that had departed from the residence they were monitoring, DHS said in its statement, which came nearly 12 hours after the shooting.

    “The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon,” the statement continued. The driver was struck and died from his injuries.

    In a separate communication received by some members of Congress, the department used more pointed language, saying the driver had “weaponized his vehicle toward law enforcement.”

    As of Monday evening, no video evidence confirming the government’s version of events had emerged.

    People who live nearby reported hearing gunfire at an intersection at around 7:15 a.m. Several reported seeing a body on the ground next to a car.

    Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat who represents the area, said in a phone interview Monday that “we have gotten reports that ICE officers shot through a car window, and the individual in the car was killed.”

    Immigration officials have said little about the victim

    Though King’s office named Guerrero as the victim, the DHS statement did not.

    Three advocacy groups released information about the victim in the shooting but did not name Guerrero. In a joint statement, the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition and Presente! Maine, identified him as a 26-year-old Colombian man. A third group said he had a partner and a young child. The source of the advocates’ information was unclear, and could not be immediately confirmed with authorities.

    The Colombian Embassy said in a statement Monday that it was assisting the family of a Colombian national who had died in Biddeford. The embassy said it was also requesting information from DHS “regarding the circumstances surrounding this lamentable death.”

    King said Monday that he had spoken with Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary. King said that Mullin had told him that the man had been the target of an arrest warrant “based upon his immigration status.”

    But Felling said later that Mullin called the senator again and told him the driver had not been the target of any warrant. “He said they were looking for someone, essentially, and the person they shot was not the person they were looking for,” Felling said.

    Officials are demanding a full investigation

    Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, said in a statement that the State Police and other agencies were consulting with federal officials to “determine the facts of what occurred this morning.”

    Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called for a “full and impartial investigation.”

    “We will get answers, but we do not have them yet,” said Biddeford Mayor Liam LaFountain, who also pushed for an investigation.

    This is the second death in a week involving an ICE agent firing into a vehicle

    Amid a national surge in immigration enforcement, a federal agent last week shot and killed another individual in a vehicle: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican man who died after a traffic stop in Houston.

    Salgado Araujo, a construction worker and father of three who had lived in the country for more than 30 years without legal status, was not the initial target of the officers who pursued his vehicle, according to immigration officials.

    The Houston and Maine killings add to a growing list of encounters between immigration agents and people in vehicles.

    About 20 people have been shot at in their cars, some of them fatally. Federal officials have in several cases claimed that the agents’ actions were justified because their lives had been endangered by “weaponized” vehicles. Witnesses of the Houston shooting said that Salgado Araujo had not used his vehicle as a weapon.

    As in the shooting of Salgado Araujo, it appeared that federal agents were not wearing body cameras Monday, King said. So “we have no video evidence of what occurred in this case,” he added.

    Immigration arrests are on the rise nationwide

    Daily arrests of immigrants in the United States doubled in the last week of June and have continued to increase, signaling a reinvigoration of the president’s crackdown after a spring slowdown.

    Immigrants make up about 5% of Maine’s population and have helped prop up the state’s economy, hampered by its aging population. Over the years, Maine has welcomed waves of refugees fleeing conflict in the Middle East and several African countries.

    In January, ICE detained hundreds of immigrants in the state during an enforcement surge the agency called “Operation Catch of the Day” — a reference to Maine’s commercial seafood industry.

    Now, locals say agents have returned, making frequent appearances in Biddeford in recent months. Biddeford, a working-class city of roughly 22,000, contains a growing community of Latin American immigrants.

    Talla Fall, who is originally from Senegal, lives near where the shooting took place Monday. ICE agents have been in the neighborhood “every day, every week,” he said.

    This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

  • Graham’s death complicates GOP agenda in Congress

    Graham’s death complicates GOP agenda in Congress

    WASHINGTON — Still shaken from the sudden death of Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Senate Republicans returned to Washington on Monday and were immediately forced to confront the policy and political complications caused by his absence.

    Coupled with the extended leave of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who was hospitalized last month and has not said when he will return to the Senate, Graham’s death Saturday has created further difficulties for an election-year legislative agenda that already faced significant hurdles.

    The loss of Graham and the absence of McConnell have temporarily whittled down an already slim Republican majority and are threatening to stall spending bills, a major budget measure the party had hoped to use to push through hundreds of billions of dollars of military spending, and at least one crucial nomination.

    It also left uncertain the fate of a new package of sanctions against Russia that Graham had negotiated in the days leading up to his death, which now lacks its most influential Republican champion in the Senate.

    In the coming days, Senate Republicans had hoped to quickly confirm President Donald Trump’s pick as attorney general, Todd Blanche, whose confirmation hearings are set for Wednesday and Thursday. They are also eager to pass annual spending bills before a Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government. And with the midterms looming, many Republicans are hoping to find a way to push through sweeping policy initiatives in an arcane budget process known as reconciliation that allows them to skirt a Democratic filibuster.

    All of those are up in the air with the loss of Graham. He sat on the Appropriations and Judiciary committees, where Republicans could now find themselves short of a majority to approve legislation or nominations, and was the chair of the Budget Committee, which would drive the reconciliation process.

    Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., the majority leader, who was a longtime friend of Graham’s dating to their early years together in the House, had already been skeptical that he and his fellow Republicans could push through a politically charged, one-party budget bill so close to the November election.

    “Obviously there are a lot of considerations that we have to work through: how big it is, what the offsets are, what our limitations are,” Thune said. “To get that done and get the requisite number of votes in both the House and Senate will be a heavy lift.”

    Thune and other senators were visibly affected by the death, and Graham’s Senate desk was draped in black velvet and held a vase of white roses.

    With senior roles on the panels overseeing the Justice Department, spending and budget policy, Graham was seen as an important Republican voice in all three efforts. And as Republicans try to take advantage of their governing trifecta before the elections, Graham was viewed as a crucial link between the Senate and the White House.

    Many of Graham’s colleagues acknowledged that he would have been particularly valuable helping Senate Republicans navigate an increasingly tense relationship with Trump, who has grown frustrated by their refusal to bow wholeheartedly to his agenda.

    “His voice is going to be really, really missed in terms of the relationship that Senate Republicans have with the president and his team,” Thune said in a CNN interview Monday. “Because he was so good and so effective at talking to the president, and it was so respected by the president.”

    That connection would have been central to any attempt to push through a third reconciliation bill.

    Trump last week urged congressional Republicans to turn to the procedure — which allows bills that affect government revenues to pass the Senate on a simple-majority vote — to provide $350 billion to the Pentagon and to impose long-sought restrictions on elections.

    As chair of the Senate Budget Committee, Graham would have overseen that process, steering any measure through complex rules that govern what provisions can be included. Before his death, he signaled a willingness to try to meet Trump’s demand, even as many Republican senators, including Thune, have been skeptical that they could muster the necessary support to pass such a measure given disputes about how to pay for new spending with compensating cuts elsewhere.

    Though Thune has not yet named a successor, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is widely viewed as the next in line to lead the budget panel. But Johnson is among the staunchest fiscal conservatives in Congress, and his approach to spending cuts may rankle vulnerable lawmakers who do not want to slash government programs.

    Asked about the path forward Monday, Johnson brushed off questions. “Look, I just walked by Lindsey’s desk,” he said. “It’s kind of one step at a time.”

    Thune’s most immediate challenge may come with Blanche’s nomination. While some Republicans have voiced concerns about Blanche’s role in establishing a Justice Department fund for people claiming to be victims of unfair prosecution, Graham, a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was seen as a reliable supporter who would have helped Blanche advance.

    But after Graham’s death, Republicans on the committee hold only an 11-10 edge on, meaning objections from any one Republican senator on the committee could stymie Blanche’s nomination. Two of them, Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and John Cornyn of Texas, have raised questions about Blanche. Cornyn reiterated his concerns Monday after a federal judge in Miami assailed a settlement that Blanche brokered between Trump and the IRS that protected the president and his family from tax audits.

    “It certainly is another area that I plan to ask about, and I’m certainly not making any commitments until after the hearing,” Cornyn said.

    Advancing legislation to fund the government out of the Senate Appropriations Committee was already going to be difficult with McConnell’s absence, and the committee has already been at a partisan impasse.

    But Graham’s death could make it nearly impossible to move any spending bills without major bipartisan support. Republicans will now need all their senators on the panel to be present and voting to overcome unanimous Democratic opposition.

    Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said the two primary actions Congress must take are to fund the government and keep it open after Sept. 30, probably through a stopgap bill, and provide money for the conflict in Iran. He predicted that progress would be difficult.

    “I’m not terribly optimistic about the next four weeks,” Kennedy said.

    This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

  • History suggests LGBTQ Republicans are making a mistake in Texas’ Senate race

    History suggests LGBTQ Republicans are making a mistake in Texas’ Senate race

    With more than three months until Election Day, the Republican campaign against Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico has already made national news for its ugliness.

    The baseless accusations against him have included claims that he’s a vegan — a near blasphemy in the beef-loving state. But the centerpiece of the campaign has been repeated assertions that he is gay or trans.

    Not long after Talarico won the Democratic primary, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller posted on X, “The Democrats made history in Texas by nominating their first transgender senate candidate,” an attack he later repeated in an appearance on Fox News, in which he added that Talarico was “clearly transitioning into a female.”

    And Miller is far from alone. Talarico’s opponent, the scandal-plagued state Attorney General Ken Paxton, dubbed Talarico “six-gender Jimmy” and “Talafreako,” claiming he’s “too low-T for Texas.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott even posted pictures of Talarico as a woman.

    Amid all of this mudslinging, one group has been noticeably silent: LGBTQ Republicans. Their failure to speak out against the assault on Talarico — which seems more an attempt to delegitimize his masculinity than to actually question his sexuality — signals a capitulation to Republican homophobia and anti-LGBTQ bigotry, not to mention a risky betrayal of their own history.

    Gay Republican organizing began in California in the 1970s as an attempt to offer an alternative to liberal gay organizations that often worked closely with the Democratic Party. The activists hoped to show that they were loyal Republicans and, in the process, stamp out the antigay “family values” politics that was beginning to take shape within the GOP.

    Two particular events in 1978 hastened this development. One was Ed Davis’ run for the Republican nomination for California governor. As Los Angeles police chief, Davis had directed the city’s law enforcement to harass gay and lesbian people. Running for political office, Davis often railed against “fruits” and “fairies.”

    That same year, a ballot initiative, Proposition 6, sought to make it illegal for any gay person to work in California’s public school system. Its sponsor, conservative Orange County state legislator John Briggs, regularly equated homosexuality with pedophilia and charged that gay teachers would molest schoolchildren.

    Gay Republicans sprang into action, taking great personal and professional risks to publicly organize and mobilize against these threats.

    They wanted to send a strong message to the GOP to reject the emerging religious right. In their view, religious conservatives who were trying to use the government to regulate and sometimes criminalize private matters, including sexuality and reproductive decisions, were anathema to the Republican Party’s tradition of individual rights and personal freedom. But they knew if an antigay ballot initiative won in a large state like California, it would make it even harder to stop the GOP’s national slide from social moderation to conservatism.

    Both Davis and Proposition 6 lost, signaling that gay Republican activism could work.

    The activists recruited other gay and lesbian people to register as Republicans to vote against outspoken homophobes in the party’s primaries and support its moderate candidates. And they insisted to party officials and Republican politicians, including Ronald Reagan, that allowing homophobic language and endorsing antigay legislation would alienate thousands of moderate and independent voters.

    Gay Republicans were thrilled when Reagan declared during his 1980 presidential campaign that although he did not support “homosexual rights,” he also believed there was no “place in our society for intolerance and discrimination.” Despite the seeming contradictions in this position, gay Republicans thought it gave them the leverage to nudge the party in a more progressive direction.

    With that goal in mind, gay Republican groups formed across the country in the 1980s, culminating in the creation of the Log Cabin Republicans, the nation’s oldest and largest LGBT Republican organization. The national organization and its state and local chapters worked against antigay efforts around the country as they sought to root out homophobia and antigay bigotry within the party.

    These groups continued to argue that abandoning bigotry could provide electoral benefits. “Republicanism is a philosophy that is closer to the hearts of gay people than is the extreme liberalism of the Democrat Party,” one pamphlet asserted. But for many gay voters, the GOP was off-limits because “of the extreme hate expressed toward gay people by certain elected GOP persons.”

    Made By History sponsors.Inquirer Staff

    When socially moderate and gay-friendly Republicans won races, especially in Democratic strongholds, gay Republican activists touted the victories as proof that they were right. After Rudy Giuliani narrowly won the 1993 New York City mayoral race, for example, they pointed out that he did so with nearly a third of the city’s gay vote.

    These victories emboldened gay Republicans, who continued to target antigay Republican politicians and encourage the GOP to prioritize economic and national security issues over culture war resentments. For decades, the Log Cabin Republicans saw themselves as existing to hold the Republicans’ feet to the fire until they eliminated — or, at least, effectively marginalized — the party’s homophobic voices.

    Leading gay Republicans, like Log Cabin president Rich Tafel, regularly squared off against religious right figures on television, shaming their homophobic views as un-American and a disaster electorally. “The gay-bashing party of Falwell and Pat Robertson will never be the majority party in this country,” Tafel contended.

    Gay Republicans scored a major victory when George W. Bush committed that the 2000 Republican National Convention would include no antigay talk in the proceedings — a significant result given that just eight years earlier, commentator Patrick Buchanan had delivered a blistering keynote address while some delegates waved signs that read “Thank God for AIDS” and “Family Rights Forever / Gay Rights Never.”

    The Bush administration still went on to work diligently against the legalization of same-sex marriage. Even so, gay Republicans saw changing the tone within the GOP as a crucial first step toward conservative Americans eventually supporting basic rights like same-sex marriage. And as Republican voters, especially critical suburban moderates, became more accepting of homosexuality and gay rights, gay Republicans pressured the party to avoid homophobic messaging and antigay language, if not to abandon antigay politics altogether.

    And when the GOP refused to listen, gay Republicans fought back. During the 2004 presidential campaign, Log Cabin Republicans refused to endorse Bush because of his support for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages and his tolerance of antigay language in the party platform. Gay Republicans felt they had to make their opposition clear. “If you remain silent while people are kicking you in the stomach,” Log Cabin’s executive director explained, “you become completely irrelevant.”

    But this sort of opposition has come to a screeching halt in the Donald Trump era. Ironically, LGBTQ Republicans have a particularly close relationship with the president and unusual access to this White House. Additionally, gay men occupy numerous high-profile positions within the Trump administration, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Yet, these gains have scrambled how gay Republicans navigate their peculiar place within the party.

    On the one hand, they continue to speak out against some homophobia from elected Republicans, such as Rep. Andy Ogles’ (R., Tenn.) posting on X at the start of Pride Month that “Homosexuality has no place in America.” Yet, their decision to remain silent about the attacks on Talarico may speak even louder.

    It’s unclear whether they see the campaign against Talarico as an unserious attempt at humor or worry that scolding the party would be an embrace of the “political correctness” Trump has made anathema in the GOP.

    Yet, whatever their reasons, their silence signals a troubling return to the Republicanism of the past that used outright homophobia for political gain — and a forewarning of things to come. Even worse, it’s coming at a moment when Americans are exhibiting declining support for LGBTQ issues, and Republicans’ backing of same-sex marriage has plummeted, down 18% from just four years ago.

    Undoubtedly, gay Republicans have always made compromises and chosen their battles carefully in order to exert influence within the GOP. Yet, none of this included turning a blind eye to Republican homophobia; instead, they directly confronted it — even when it came from lukewarm allies like Bush.

    Gay Republicans may believe that by overlooking the attacks on Talarico, they can show themselves to be good sports who are not easily offended, true conservatives who know the difference between campaign hijinks and serious political threats, unlike LGBTQ liberals. Yet, they may soon discover that the slurs against Talarico were not an isolated swipe at a political opponent — and, worse, that their silence has facilitated the return of the GOP’s assault on LGBTQ rights.

    Neil J. Young is the author of “Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right.” He lives in Los Angeles.

    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.

  • New York to impose the country’s first statewide moratorium on data centers

    New York to impose the country’s first statewide moratorium on data centers

    NEW YORK — No large data centers can be built in New York for up to a year as the state creates rules to protect the environment and its energy grid from the power-hungry facilities fueling artificial intelligence.

    Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Tuesday imposing the country’s first statewide moratorium on hyperscale data centers, which house thousands of computer servers and require massive amounts of energy and a steady supply of water to keep cool.

    The move pushes the state into a raging debate over how to regulate the AI industry, as concerns over rising electric bills and environmental risks collide with a desire to stimulate local economies and foster the U.S. tech sector.

    “The bottom line is that progress shouldn’t arrive with a higher utility bill, deleted water supply, or noise pollution, so we have no choice but to address these challenges created by these massive facilities,” Hochul said at a celebratory signing ceremony in Brooklyn.

    President Donald Trump has warned states not to slap regulations on the AI industry, echoing tech companies in arguing such moves hamper job growth and cede ground to China in a race to lead in the rapidly growing field.

    Earlier this year, Maine seemed poised to establish a similar moratorium. But the measure was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills because it would have blocked a proposed data center in a town that has struggled after a mill closed.

    Moratoriums have been proposed in at least a dozen states but have not gotten far, though some counties and municipalities have imposed their own temporary bans.

    New York’s executive order pauses state permitting for new large data centers and directs state regulators to create standards that address environmental impacts, energy demand, water usage, and other factors, the governor’s office said.

    The decision in New York also carries political significance for Hochul’s reelection campaign and the state’s tight congressional races this fall, as Democrats move to address affordability concerns over high utility bills. In addition, the governor this year softened New York’s ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gases, citing rising energy costs for consumers.

    Hochul’s Republican opponent in the governor’s race, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, opposes a statewide moratorium and says local governments should be allowed to strike deals with tech companies for data center projects that promise enough economic benefits.

    In a statement Tuesday, Blakeman said the governor “doesn’t work with local governments and business leaders to figure out how to get things done,” while pledging to “modernize our economy to bring costs down and create good jobs.”

    The state Legislature this year approved its own moratorium bill, but Hochul’s office described the legislation as complex and said it needed additional work. Instead, the governor opted for an executive order that would take effect immediately.

    State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, a Democrat who sponsored the legislation, joined the governor during the signing ceremony. “If Big Tech is coming onto our turf, it should be on our terms,” she said.

    New York, at this stage, has not been a destination for the largest hyperscale data centers.

  • Day vs. night in Collingswood | Inquirer South Jersey

    Day vs. night in Collingswood | Inquirer South Jersey

    Good morning, South Jersey. Be safe out there: The heat wave returns this week.

    Business owners in Collingswood want their section of Haddon Avenue to be as busy at night as it is during the daytime.

    And a Camden high-rise that was known for subpar conditions underwent a major overhaul via $130 million worth of renovations.

    Plus, Red Bank Battlefield is closed until further notice because of Saturday’s storm damage, and more news of the day.

    — Taylor Allen (southjersey@inquirer.com)

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    P.S. Thank you for choosing this newsletter to provide you with your daily dose of South Jersey news. We want your input on how we’re doing! Tell us by taking our survey.

    Wishing for an evening boost

    Collingswood has garnered a reputation for its vibrant downtown, which is clear to see in its daytime foot traffic.

    But according to the town’s business owners, it’s a different story during the weekday evenings. And they seem to agree that’s because of Collingwood’s dry status.

    While they deal with slower nights, a few eye nearby Haddonfield, which is also a dry town but allows businesses to operate under state-issued manufacturing licenses beyond just beer. It’s the reason why it now has a brewery, a wine tasting room, and a distillery.

    Read more to learn how businesses navigate the drastic differences between night and day in Collingswood.

    A $130 million overhaul

    An influx of $130 million transformed a Camden high-rise previously known for its poor living conditions.

    The affordable housing tower once known as Northgate 1 is now The Encore.

    Extensive renovations allowed all of the units to get new kitchens, bathrooms, HVAC, and more. It also beefed up security measures like cameras, access control, and fencing.

    The building is restricted to households that make no more than 60% of the median income.

    Reporter Lacey Latch has more details on the massive upgrades.

    What to know today

    • Cleanup from Saturday’s series of microburst storms was still ongoing on Monday. The storms caused flooding on several roads in West Deptford, Woodbury, and Woodbury Heights. Red Bank Battlefield is closed until further notice because of significant damage, according to officials from National Park.
    • Gov. Mikie Sherrill launched SimpleFile, a new and free website for families to apply for the state’s Child Tax Credit.
    • Two Camden students became champions of the Philadelphia MLB Players STEM League regional tournament. Their prize included tickets to a Phillies game and a behind-the-scenes look at the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby.
    • Throughout the week, there will be several roadwork projects in Camden County. Most will occur in Camden and Gloucester Township.
    • Drive-thru-only coffeehouse chain 7 Brew Coffee is one step closer to opening in Lawnside. 42 Freeway reports that last week, crews demolished the former gas station on the White Horse Pike property that will soon become the new store.
    • Gather To Graze, the business known for its charcuterie boxes and boards, will move from Mullica Hill to downtown Swedesboro, according to 42 Freeway.

    🗣️ Quote of the week

    The recent high school graduate from Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees only started running track as a freshman. She’s now one of the most accomplished runners in state history.

    🧠 Trivia time

    Where is the Campbell’s Co. based?

    A) Pitman

    B) Camden

    C) Medford

    D) Voorhees

    Think you know? Check your answer.

    What we’re …

    🌮 Craving: Tacos from La Ingrata in Camden.

    🦖 Touring: The Edelman Fossil Park & Museum of Rowan University.

    🏀 Checking: The Bron-O-Meter, our unscientific tracker on the likelihood of LeBron James coming to the Sixers.

    And that should you get started for the day. I’ll catch you tomorrow. 👋🏽

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

  • A $130 million renovation breathes life back into former Northgate, a long-troubled Camden high-rise

    A $130 million renovation breathes life back into former Northgate, a long-troubled Camden high-rise

    An apartment building with living conditions that Camden’s mayor described as “deplorable” just two years ago has undergone a transformation thanks to a $130 million overhaul.

    For years, the 21-story affordable-housing tower previously known as Northgate 1 has been plagued by poor living conditions, safety concerns, and mismanagement.

    Now under the ownership of Hudson Valley Property Group, the 321-unit building is nearly unrecognizable following top-to-bottom renovations that were completed in August 2025. Each unit was equipped with new kitchens, bathrooms, HVAC, and more as residents remained in the building throughout the construction process via on-site relocation.

    Formerly known as Northgate 1, the long-troubled North Camden apartment building has been transformed by a $130 million renovation.Linda Pedroso

    The building’s future as affordable housing has also been secured for the next 20 years after the company extended the property’s Section 8 contract, ensuring residents for 96.5% of the units pay no more than 30% of their income on rent. The Encore is also restricted to households earning no more than 60% of the median income.

    “They did everything they said they were going to do as far as fixing up the units and giving us a lot of amenities and other things like that,” said Karen Merricks, a nearly 30-year resident of the building and president of the tenant’s association.

    Built in 1962 and now called The Encore, the apartment tower overlooking the Benjamin Franklin Bridge was viewed at the time as a sign that Camden’s future was bright.

    Billed as a luxury residence, the building featured amenities like a swimming pool, a shopping “colonnade,” an underground garage, and a two-story penthouse with private roof deck access.

    But the vision for the tower never materialized, and soon saw high vacancy rates and an ownership change decades later.

    The Encore includes a playground, gym, business center, and community room for residents in North Camden.Linda Pedroso

    The building continued to deteriorate over time as maintenance requests went unanswered, units were illegally sublet, and it became a site for drug activity, Merricks said.

    A 2022 inspection resulted in 1,000 violation notices, The Inquirer previously reported.

    “Just a lot of chaos and confusion,” Merricks said of that time.

    For the first time in her nearly three decades as a resident, she began to feel unsafe in the building she called home.

    Merricks was not alone, which is why safety was one of the first things Hudson Valley worked to address when they took ownership of the building in 2024, said Andy Cavaluzzi, cofounder and partner of Hudson Valley Property Group.

    “A tremendous amount went in there because we wanted to be able to change not just the physical side of [the building]. … We were changing the whole perception and the culture, and that starts then with the operations and security,” Cavaluzzi said.

    They worked on developing a security plan for the building that included a small number of armed personnel as well as major upgrades like cameras, access control, perimeter fencing, and vehicular gates.

    “Now I’m back to feeling safe,” Merricks said. “They have armed guards here, security to make sure that no one’s coming in, roaming the hallways, smoking drugs in the exits, and stuff like that. That’s all been eliminated.”

    ‘Every part of the building was touched’

    Hudson Valley Property Group spent about $150,000 on each unit’s renovations at The Encore.Linda Pedroso

    New York-based Hudson Valley Property Group specializes in projects like The Encore — buying rental properties with troubled histories and preserving affordable apartments and undertaking extensive renovations.

    They spent about $150,000 renovating each unit, in addition to building-wide infrastructure improvements like all new plumbing and electrical, and exterior repairs, Cavaluzzihe said.

    “Every unit was touched, every part of the building was touched,” he said.

    Residents can also take advantage of a fitness center, a computer lounge, a community room, and a children’s room with an indoor playground. Through a partnership with Citizens Bank, Encore residents also have free internet service for the next 15 years.

    Shared by hundreds of residents, the building also now has a working laundry room for the first time in years, he said.

    The site of the former pool is now an urban farm in partnership with Highlands Alliance where residents can learn how to grow their own food and have first dibs on any produce that is harvested before it is sold at local farmer’s markets. The revenue generated from sales will go back into running the farm, Cavaluzzi said.

    The Encore has an urban farm on site where residents can learn to grow their own food.Linda Pedroso

    “Affordable housing doesn’t mean it’s a place that it’s less expensive rent but you’re going to have a lesser living experience,” he said. “That’s not what it means and it doesn’t have to mean that.”

    Camden Mayor Victor G. Carstarphen said he was “impressed” by the enhancements, and called the transformation “simply remarkable” in a statement.

    Driving across the bridge from Philadelphia, the building is hard to miss. Before renovations, it was clear to anyone driving by that it was in disrepair.

    Now, the building stands out for a different reason.

    Repairs to the facade and roof along with new windows, glass doors, and balcony fencing have transformed the tower “from this amazingly big eyesore that was there” into a beacon of positivity for the city, Cavaluzzi said.

    “This is like Camden showing anyone else who wants to come in like, ‘Look, they were able to do it. This is what we want, this is what we expect,’” he said. “We want to be able to to elevate the city and we’re not OK with the status quo.”

  • Who’s rebuilding Jenkintown’s only playground? Maybe you are.

    Who’s rebuilding Jenkintown’s only playground? Maybe you are.

    Jenkintown residents are building a playground this month.

    Or at least, part of a playground.

    “They’re not professional contractors,” said Darrell Campana of Eustace Engineering, which is handling land work, like regrading and water drainage. The playground company Kompan is installing the play equipment.

    But local volunteers do plan to construct parts of the replacement for Jenkintown’s only playground on the last weekend in July after Eustace demolished the beloved Jenkintown Castle there in April.

    The finished playground, dubbed Legacy Park, will include slides, swings, a toddler section, and an imaginative play area with a stage donated by Jenkintown Music Theatre, said Kelly Hudson, who spearheaded the roughly $1.3 million project as a volunteer on the newly formed playground board.

    Residents have led planning and fundraising for the project as Jenkintown tries to balance its proud DIY ethos with the present-day constraints of construction, insurance, and liability.

    Beloved Jenkintown Castle demolished

    Playground renovation plans began after a 2024 inspection revealed several parts of the play area, which is next to Jenkintown Elementary, were unsafe.

    The castle play area was built in 2002 and lovingly maintained by residents — which may be why the structure, expected to last about 12 years, lasted more than two decades said Nina Russakoff, a Jenkintown school board member who’s helping to coordinate the new project.

    In a 2024 update on the damaged castle ahead of the renovation, school officials had to remind residents to stop fixing it themselves: “We know your intentions are good, but we need to … [follow] the recommendations of the engineer.”

    Residents held a farewell picnic and fundraiser at the castle in March before it was destroyed.

    The school’s nonprofit arm, the Jenkintown Education Foundation, and other community groups have raised about $1.5 million for the project known as Legacy Park, Hudson said. If the playground doesn’t go over budget, the remaining funds will be used to make further improvements to the park.

    There are many older, community-built parks like Jenkintown’s in the Philadelphia area, said Scott Lean of Kompan, the company providing the play equipment, but that model has become less viable in recent years.

    “The liability standpoint from doing a community build just seems a little risky in this day and age,” he said.

    Residents help rebuild Jenkintown playground

    Residents can still shape the playground’s future, though.

    Project leaders are recruiting volunteers for the community build weekend from July 30 to Aug. 2. The residents will be supervised by experienced crew leaders, with a meal and free childcare for people who volunteer a shift.

    Residents will be working on drumming stations, a sign language fence, and log seating carved from trees felled on the school grounds.

    An illustration of the DIY projects that Jenkintown residents will work on during the volunteer weekend planned this month for the town’s new parkLegacy Park Community Board

    In the meantime, land work will continue this month, although several retaining walls are already in place, Campana said.

    Volunteers may be playing a smaller role in playground construction this time around, but it was local residents who fundraised most of the park’s budget.

    Large donations came from fastener factory SPS Technologies and other local businesses, a state grant, and several families, with more than 1,600 individual donations.

    What will Jenkintown’s new playground look like?

    Volunteers also led the design of the new playground with guidance from students, teachers, and parents.

    The layout will be different from the old playground: All play areas will be visible to teachers calling children back from recess, Hudson said, and the equipment will be situated so that kids can play without distracting students inside during school hours.

    “Most screaming will move to the new location,” Russakoff said.

    Residents wanted to ensure the new play equipment is both accessible and durable, Hudson said: “Everything the kids touch in Jenkintown is 10 times over because it’s the only playground. It gets used heavily.”

    Slides, swings, mountaineering ropes, and a toddler area are set to be finished around the start of school, Lean said. The theater area will open later this fall.

    Legacy Park will be open to the public outside school hours, and the toddler area will stay open during school when students aren’t at recess.

    Jenkintown School District “has an outsized impact on the community around it,” the borough’s state representative, Napoleon Nelson, said in a statement on the project. “Its grounds are open to all, Jenkintown residents and non-residents alike.”

    Hudson said Jenkintonians want the playground “to be a community project that benefits the most people.”

    “We’re very prideful about our small little town.”

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.