Fairmount residents are accustomed to annual July Fourth fireworks; it comes with the territory of living near Benjamin Franklin Parkway, where the city stages its major celebrations. With the United States’ 250th birthday, this July Fourth is no different — except that the fireworks will start closer to midnight.
“We have the whole family coming to our home, all on their way right now,” said Fairmount resident Margo DelliCarpini. “But 11:30, midnight is just too late for some families with children. I understand that it’s the Fourth of July, but the late start for fireworks is decidedly not a family-friendly decision.”
DelliCarpini will have her children and grandchildren visit to experience the Semiquincentennial in the city where the country began. But with young children in tow, parents along for the trip were hoping to have them in bed by midnight, she said. Instead, the large group is looking to catch one of the fireworks shows at Valley Forge or across Montgomery County, which start around 9 p.m.
Fans react to the music as the Wawa Welcome America Festival concluded July 4, 2023, with a free concert on Benjamin Franklin Parkway.Charles Fox / Staff Photographer
Philadelphia’s July Fourth concert and fireworks show, the One City: Unity Concert for America, is expanding its lineup from two to three acts like in years past, to 10 artists, including Christina Aguilera, Will Smith, Meek Mill, and Seal. The show will also start earlier and end later, spanning into July 5 by the time people head home.
The city did not respond to request for comment.
Other cities, like New York, Boston, and Los Angeles, are keeping their 9-9:30 p.m. start times, while Washington, D.C. is among the cities pushing back its fireworks show to 10:30 p.m. or even 11 p.m. to allow for its expanded America 250 showcase.
Mykola Kosyk, 36, a lifelong Fairmount resident, has been witnessing the Parkway fireworks for years. Usually he’ll catch some of the concert with his wife, head back home, have time to set off some fireworks of his own with family, and then all head back to the Parkway for the city’s grand finale. Kosyk said he’ll still likely watch the midnight fireworks on Saturday, but feels disappointed that younger Philadelphians may not get to experience itas children during 1976’s Bicentennial, Kosyk’s father recalled.
“It is the 250th, so if there is a time to do something big, I’m open to the idea,” Kosyk said of the later show. “But I also feel bad for the youngsters coming out, because 9 p.m. is usually a pretty good time for kids to watch the show. Midnight is pushing it a little for kids.”
For residents like Kosyk and DelliCarpini, the nuisance is less with the noise of fireworks which most Fairmount residents are used to by now, but how late the show will run, limiting access to younger kids and delaying vehicle and pedestrian traffic later into the morning.
The Inquirer reported that this year’s event will cost more to operate after Mayor Cherelle L. Parker decided to change the management of the festival from its previous nonprofit partner to a for-profit production company. Parker defended that decision at a news conference Wednesday: Philadelphia needed to meet the moment and host a celebration that is “fitting to and for our historical significance and prominence.”
Jason Derulo performs during the Wawa Welcome America July 4th Concert on the Parkway in 2022.ELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer
Moving an expected 300,000 attendees and their vehicles
Besides the hurdles for parents with younger children, there’s also the headache of moving an expected 300,000 people from the Parkway back home after the show.
SEPTA has covered most of its bases for getting people home. Regional Rail lines will have extended service on all lines, but the Landsale/Doylestown, Paoli/Thorndale, Manayunk/Norristown, Trenton, and West Trenton lines are the only lines that will run their last train between 1 a.m. and 1:10 a.m. All other Regional Rail lines stop running before 1 a.m., and in some cases before midnight, so people traveling in from the suburbs should plan accordingly.
Subways and trolleys will run overnight for those heading back home within the city, and bus service will run on a Sunday schedule, which usually stops operating around 2 a.m. for some routes.
But vehicle and pedestrian traffic could use some city intervention, said Dustin Dove, president of the Fairmount Civic Association, as there is concern among local civic leaders and some residents about how the city is handling traffic leaving the Parkway.
“It’s usually a bit of a mess near the Parkway after the fireworks and can lead to some reckless driving nearby as people are stuck,” Dove said. “Historically, after the fireworks, there are thousands of pedestrians and cars that come into the neighborhood.”
A police presence is seen in Eakin’s Oval as people wait for the fireworks to start at the Wawa Welcome America Festival on Tuesday, July 4, 2023.Allie Ippolito / Staff Photographer
Dove and others are hoping to see an increased police presence and traffic direction, as the event will be much later with more people this year, Dove said.
Additionally, residents hope police manage safety accordingly on Saturday.
“There’s going to be problems when you live in a city; it’s not like it’s the middle of nowhere with no neighbors, but this week … you’re now having people walk back home at midnight, 12:30 a.m.,” DelliCarpini said. “There needs to be a safe environment after the show.”
The King of Prussia Mall is set to get several new shops and restaurants in the coming months.
As some other retail centers struggle, die, and transform, the massive Montgomery County complex has remained a thriving shopping destination, with a wide array of retailers, dining options, and experiential concepts.
Candyland Adventure: The indoor playground and kids entertainment center, which already has a Springfield location, plans to open another location near Primark this winter, according to Candyland’s Facebook page.
Los Chicos Mexican Grill: The restaurant is set to open at a yet-to-be-released location.
The Pandora store will also move from the Court to the Plaza, and the David Yurman store will undergo a facelift. David Yurman will open a temporary boutique near Neiman Marcus while its permanent location is renovated.
King of Prussia Mall Tuesday, May 10, 2016.David Swanson / Staff Photographer
Adidas: The sportswear company’s new location, near Eataly, includes a customization lab, where customers can personalize jerseys or put custom designs on sneakers.
Nespresso: The boutique sells coffee makers and espresso machines, fancy milk frothers, and more from its new outpost near the Apple store.
Faherty: The casual, coastal-style clothing brand has a new store near Nordstrom.
Larry Cohen and Marla Hexter’s Schwenksville neighbors often stop by to admire the wildflower meadow in front of their home.
Some admirers, Larry said, ask for advice. They are considering replacing their front lawns with a meadow as he did.
They crave the profusion of blue cornflowers, red poppies, yellow black-eyed Susans, purple larkspur, a variety of bee balm and more. The flowers attract 17 bird species including bluebirds and gold finch, as well as pollinating insects. The meadow now extends from the frog pond in front of the house to the curb where wisteria entwines the mailbox.
A sign reading, “Pardon Our Appearance, Meadow in Progress,” sits in the newer of two meadows planted in Hexter and Cohen’s front yard.Kriston Jae Bethel / For The InquirerThe newer of two meadows grows in Hexter and Cohen’s front yard.Kriston Jae Bethel / For The Inquirer
Set among the blossoms is a metal sculpture of a woman holding the female symbol of a circle over a cross. It was fashioned by the late Zieglerville artist Phillip Smith.
The meadow project began in 2023 when Cohen and Hexter enlisted the services of S. Edgar David of SED Design in Blue Bell. David Brothers Landscape Services in Collegeville removed the grass, seeded wildflowers, and continues to cultivate the meadow.
When Cohen and Hexter purchased the property of more than an acre in 2015, Callery pear trees flanked the driveway. The invasive species has been replaced with yellowwood, larch, maple, and swamp oak and smoke trees. Cohen protects the bark of the young trees with chicken wire to deter deer.
A frog sits in the pond in the home’s front yard.Kriston Jae Bethel / For The InquirerAnother frog in the pond.Kriston Jae Bethel / For The Inquirer
The backyard, where rescue dogs Barkley and Caleb romp, has an azalea-shaded swimming pool and a vegetable garden fenced in to keep out rabbits and other marauders.
In raised beds, Hexter grows beets, carrots, cabbage, green beans, English peas, garlic, blackberries, and raspberries — which birds eat — and onions, a deterrent to slugs and snails. Strong scented marigolds also repel pests.
There are five rain barrels around the house as well as several bird feeders, a blue bird house, and a bat house — as yet unoccupied.
By the front door is a sign designating the property as a “Wildlife Habitat.” Another says “Welcome” in English and Farsi. Cohen spent time in Afghanistan.
A “Certified Wildlife Habitat” sign and a “Welcome” sign on display in the couple’s yard.Kriston Jae Bethel / For The InquirerA bird feeder with a built-in camera sits in the backyard.Kriston Jae Bethel / For The Inquirer
His and Hexter’s careers sent them all over the world. He worked in the foreign service for the U.S. State Department and she was with the CIA.
The couple live by the motto “Think globally act locally,” considering the broader health of the entire planet while focusing on practical, hands-on solutions to protect habitats and help the environment.
They have solar paneling on the south-facing roof of their two-story home; a geothermal heating and cooling system; energy-efficient insulation, doors, and windows; and two electric vehicles.
Between meadows and trees, only the roofline and solar panels are visible from the driveway.Kriston Jae Bethel / For The Inquirer
Cohen and Hexter met on a blind date in Washington, D.C., and married in 2000. After postings in Africa and Brazil they lived in Virginia.
When they retired they wanted a home where Hexter would have space to garden, and where they could age in place. They were familiar with Montgomery County because Cohen grew up in Pottstown, where his great-grandfather emigrated from what is now Slovakia in the late 1880s.
The home Cohen and Hexter bought was built in 1986 as a one-story with two bedrooms and a bath. In the 1990s a second floor with three bedrooms and two baths was added as well as a two-car garage.
The two-car garage was added onto the home by a previous owner.Kriston Jae Bethel / For The InquirerMarla Hexter cleans up some overgrown carrots in her vegetable garden.Kriston Jae Bethel / For The Inquirer
The couple liked the downstairs sleeping area and walk-in shower and rooms upstairs to host family. They each have a son and daughter from previous marriages, and three grandchildren.
The house has a ramp to the backyard deck and a ramp from the house to the garage, built by prior owners.
But the wooden deck was rotting. The couple replaced it with Trex, a sturdy wood composite. They furnished the deck with an attractive table and chairs made of recycled plastic and decorated it with containers of flowers and potted fig trees.
Bees collect pollen from a magnolia flower in the backyard.Kriston Jae Bethel / For The InquirerA house sparrow grips a tree branch in the front yard. Since they planted the meadows, neighbors have commented on the number of birds that visit their neighborhood, the couple said.Kriston Jae Bethel / For The Inquirer
Growing the fruit has been a challenge for Hexter who gathered tips from local growers and from the annual fig festival in Upper Pottsgrove.
She and her husband are active in the community. “It is our plan to stay here forever,” Hexter said.
Is your house a Haven? Nominate your home by email (and send some digital photographs) at properties@inquirer.com.
Like many, I’m big fan of Nicolas Cage’s work. How big? On my bachelorette party to New Orleans a few years ago I requested we tour St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 so I could get a pic of me and my girls with Cage’s nine-foot pyramid tomb.
Not only can the man seriously act, he can also seriously overact. As a writer who loves puns ( especially bad ones), I appreciate someone who has fun with their art form to the point it causes eye rolls.
And so, when I learned about Uncaged in Jenkintown: A Nic Cage cocktail crawl that happened on Sunday, I wanted to check it out. In some ways, it turned out to be like a lot of Cage movies — not a blockbuster, but still quirky and fun.
“Honeymoon in Vegas” plays at Buckets Bar during the Nic Cage cocktail crawl on Sunday in Jenkintown. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The crawl was spread across four Jenkintown bars — the Keep Easy, the Drake Tavern, Buckets Bar, and King’s Corner. Each one featured Cage-themed cocktails and hosted a “Cage match,” where participants went head-to-head in challenges based on Cage films.
Organizer Mel Hager, an owner of the Keep Easy, said she sold out of the 50 Uncaged kits she’d prepared for $15 a pop. While the crawl was free to attend, those who bought a kit — including yours truly — received a passport book, which got you a free Cage match at each establishment (otherwise they were $2 to play); a piece of Cage cash, which was good for one shot at any of the bars (it’s a tiny dollar bill with Nic Cage’s face on it, I’m never spending that); and one of a variety of Cage masks (I felt like I won the lottery when I got the Con-Air Cage).
While I didn’t drink, I hopped around to the bars, tried my hand at the Cage matches, and talked with fellow Cage fans about what brought them out to the event. Here are five of the wackiest things I saw at the Nic Cage bar crawl.
1. H.I. fashion
Vicky and Mike Hutz, of Huntington Valley, at the Keep Easy during the Nic Cage cocktail crawl on Sunday in Jenkintown. Mike Hutz is dressed as Cage’s character from “Raising Arizona,” H.I. McDunnough.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
When H.I. McDunnough kidnaps one of the Arizona quintuplet babies in the 1987 Cohen Brothers classic, Raising Arizona, he proclaims to his wife: “I think I got the best one.”
Of the few Cage character costumes I saw Sunday — which included Ronny from Moonstruck, Cameron Poe from Con Air, and someone portraying Cage’s first role as an unnamed burger shop worker in Fast Times at Ridgemont High — Mike Hutz’s H.I. McDunnough costume was undoubtedly the best one. Hutz, of Huntingdon Valley, had the open Hawaiian shirt, a wig, and McDunnough’s mugshot board.
“What else are you going to do on a Sunday afternoon when you have a Nicolas Cage crawl option?” he said. “There’s nothing he can’t do and he does it with maximum cheesiness, which is just perfect for people who love cheesy.”
2. The faces
Seeing people at bars and walking the streets of Jenkintown wearing Cage face masks was both highly amusing and mildly unsettling, mainly because the eye holes were cut out wonkily, giving them a ragged, creepy edge.
Masks included Face/Off Cage, Con Air Cage, red carpet Cage, and Dracula Cage (from the movie Renfield).
Vicky Hutz, of Huntington Valley, holds a “Con-Air” Nic Cage mask at the Keep Easy during the Nic Cage cocktail crawl on Sunday.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Julia Sousa and Josh Douglas traveled to the crawl from Roxborough because they love Cage and Jenkintown. Douglas walked from bar to bar with his Cage face mask on, which seemed to startle some passing motorists.
“I’m pretty sure they thought I was Michael Myers,” he said.
3. The Cage matches
The games based on Cage films, while homespun, were clever and fun. At Buckets, the game was inspired by the scene in Honeymoon in Vegas where Cage skydives with a bunch of Elvis impersonators. Contestants had to throw toy parachute soldiers that were painted to look like Elvis onto particular spots of a mock-up of the Vegas strip for points.
Julia Sousa and Josh Douglas, both of Roxborough, compete in the “Flying Elvis Cage Match,” at Buckets Bar during the Nic Cage cocktail crawl on Sunday in Jenkintown. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
At King’s Corner, where the challenge was based on the movie National Treasure, participants had to solve little metal mind-bender puzzles.
For the Spider-Noir Cage match at the Drake, you had to keep a balloon bouncing in the air while putting on a cape, mask, and fedora.
I failed spectacularly at all three of those challenges — and I was completely sober! The only one I did succeed at was called Ghost Glider. Based on the film Ghost Rider, the challenge was to to roll a penny down an inclined surface made to look like a road and into the tongs of a fork at the other end.
The “Ghost Glider” Cage match at the Keep Easy during the Nic Cage cocktail crawl on Sunday in Jenkintown.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
4. Stickers and sage
For winning the Ghost Glider challenge, I received a bundle of sage and a sticker for my passport book of a shirtless, reclining Cage coming out of a banana.
Let’s address the sage first: Nobody could tell me why this was my prize for winning the challenge, which somehow makes it even better. I have two theories — it could be because sage rhymes with Cage, or maybe it’s because you light sage and in Ghost Rider, Cage lights on fire.
Whatever the reason, I’m gonna smudge some stuff up this weekend.
An a-peeling sticker columnist Stephanie Farr received for winning a Cage match challenge at the Keep Easy during the Nic Cage bar crawl in Jenkintown Sunday. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Now onto this banana sticker — I don’t know why it exists, but I am so happy it does. Each bar gave a different sticker if you won a challenge, but this banana-Cage split one was, by far, the most a-peeling.
Later at the Drake, I met Erica Adams of Bensalem and “her only friend of whimsy,” Amanda Knop, who’d driven from Baltimore to attend the Cage crawl with her. Adams had her own stickers of Cage’s head she was handing out like friendship bracelets at a Taylor Swift concert.
“I just love his movies and doing silly, fun things,” Adams said. “Nicolas Cage himself is very unserious. He’s lived a million different lives in a short span already.”
5. Picolas Cage
Justin Walsh poses for a photo with “Picolas Cage” as Jessica Lopez takes the photo at the Keep Easy during the Nic Cage cocktail crawl on Sunday in Jenkintown. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
A giant cut-out of Cage as a pickle, aka Picolas Cage, was stationed outside of the Keep Easy during the crawl. As someone who likes Cage and cucumbers — but hates pickles — it was a jarring experience. But I saw others relishing the photo op so I didn’t make a big dill out of it.
From George Washington crossing the Delaware and the Continental Army lodging at Valley Forge to the so-called real Penn’s Landing and the Battle of Brandywine, the Philadelphia suburbs played a crucial role in the early development of the United States.
And though Philadelphia — the birthplace of American democracy — has taken center stage for this year’s Semiquincenntenial celebrations, Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware, and Chester Counties have spent years preparing for 2026 and have curated an extensive list of activities for residents and visitors alike who are looking to honor the United States’ 250th birthday outside the city.
Here is what the Philly suburbs have in store for the 250th:
Reenactors fire off a Galloper gun during a reenactment of George Washington’s river crossing, Washington Crossing Historic Park, Washington Crossing, Pa., Thursday, December 25, 2025.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Bucks County’s history-packed celebrations
For Bucks County — established by William Penn in 1682 — 2026 is set to be chock-full of celebratory events tied to the founding of the U.S.
Bucks’ commissionin charge of planning 250th celebrations has partnered with numerous nonprofits to promote their events on a shared calendar on a dedicated county America 250 website.
Forthcoming activities include art exhibitions, a Doylestown bash featuring big-band music and the reading of the Declaration of Independence, tours of a Revolution-era exhibit at the Mercer Museum, and fireworks at Washington Crossing Historic Park on July Fourth. Not to mention the annual reenactment of Washington crossing the Delaware River on Christmas Day.
The group also worked with the Bucks County Planning Commission and the Bucks County Herald to release a Revolutionary War trail map that takes participants throughout the county to visit historical sites.
Bucks gave $7,500 to the 250th commission in July 2024 in support of the celebrations, a county spokesperson said. Other financial support has come from sponsors, including several companies that have dished out at least $10,000 apiece.
Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie, who chairs the county’s 250th commission, said these events underscore the pride that communities have in their rich history.
“It’s also a chance for us to think back, I think, and remind ourselves about the foundation of this country, and the values that united us, because especially now we’re seeing a lot of attempts, unfortunately, within our country to divide us,” said Harvie, a Democrat who is running for U.S. Congress.
It is difficult to predict how this year’s 250th celebrations will affect the county’s tourism numbers, but Bucks typically hosts about 8 million visitors a year, Harvie said.
“We’ve been pitching ourselves sort of — no pun intended — for people who are coming here for the World Cup,” Harvie said. “We’re right between Philadelphia and New York, where you happen to have a place that’s sort of a central hub.”
The Valley Creek Trail at Valley Forge National Historical Park in Valley Forge, Pa., on Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2024.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
A ‘birthday bash’ and celebrating Valley Forge
Montgomery County’s 250th commission has curated months of events to commemorate the Semiquincentennial, but a free “birthday bash” on Monday at the county courthouse will kick off the height of the July Fourth celebrations.
Attendees can graze food trucks, take pictures, and meet an animal from the Elmwood Park Zoo.
Other programs this year include fireworks and live readings of the Declaration of Independence over July Fourth weekend, exhibits to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Valley Forge becoming a national park, and a gathering (with food and drink, of course) at a Skippack farmstead to honor Washington and his troops’ encampment in the town in 1777.
The 250th events have been planned by the county and local municipalities, said Jamila Winder, chair of the county commissioners, as an “opportunity to create meaningful, inclusive celebrations” and cultivate “civic pride.”
Montgomery County typically gets about 8 million visitors a year and are projecting an additional 1 million to the region for the 250th, said Winder, a Democrat.
To help fund this year’s festivities, the county started a grant program through which municipalities can apply to receive up to $500 to support their 250th events between now and Dec. 1.
The county has allotted a $35,000 budget for 250th celebrations, including the grant program, which 22 of 62 municipalities are a part of, a spokesperson said.
“It’s an opportunity for visitors to see how Montgomery County played a unique role in America’s founding, including our deep ties to Valley Forge in the Revolutionary area,” Winder said. “You know, people always think about Philadelphia, right? Philadelphia is a big piece of this story, but Montgomery County plays a huge role in that.”
The Delaware County Courthouse in Media is reflected in a solar panel atop one of the borough’s on-street parking kiosks along Front Street.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Delco is ‘pretty lit’ about its 250th celebrations
“If you thought Delaware County residents were proud of being Delco before America 250 — you’re just, like, next-leveling it now.”
That’s what Delaware County Council member Elaine Paul Schaefer said about Delco’s excitement leading up to the 250th, making sure to set the record straight that William Penn’s storied first steps in the New World hundreds of years ago were actually in Chester, not at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia.
The county — through its America250PADelco commission — is promoting over 100 county, town, or nonprofit events through November, from art exhibits, concerts, and fireworks to “dining under the stars” in Media, a late-summer drone show, and a reading of the Declaration of Independence on the county courthouse steps.
“Delco is pretty lit about this,” said Schaefer, a Democrat.
The county’s 250th commission has disbursed more than $650,000 in grants for various initiatives. That grant money comes from a mix of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act and from different county agencies.
Schaefer said she hopes the events encourage residents to harness a connection to their communities, particularly through the county’s 250th volunteer program.
“You can do something small, do something big. … It’s a really great way to get people involved and connected, and I think that kind of volunteerism and increasing connection to the community will carry on after this big celebration,” Schaefer said.
About 800 Battle of Brandywine reenactors in Chester County.David Swanson / Staff Photographer
For Chester County, the party will last through next year
And the events planned for this year (and next year, as it honors various Revolutionary War-era battles, including the Battle of Brandywine) are key to celebrating the county’s role in the founding of the United States.
Residents and visitors have a wide array of activities to choose from outlined on the commission’s website, including driving tours of historical sites and Declaration of Independence readings. On the evening of July Fourth, the Chester County Concert Band will be playing patriotic music as a precursor to the fireworks show.
As opposed to hosting tons of large-scale events, Chesco is more focused on local events that can foster community building, said David Blackburn, heritage preservation coordinator at the Chester County Planning Commission. The commission is working with the county’s 250th commission to carry out plans.
“We’re really oriented to supporting the communities of the county to share their stories,” Blackburn said.
The county has invested over $170,000 in educational materials and programming related to the 250th, in addition to a more than $330,000 grant from the state, a spokesperson said.
But once the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, the celebrations won’t end for Chester County, said Matthew J. Edmond, executive director of the planning commission.
In 1777, many significant Revolutionary War battles took place in the collar counties, and Chester is planning to pour a lot of resources into commemorating those historical events next year.
“We are actively talking with our commission board about ways to celebrate, ways to fundraise for it, and ways that we can make maybe 2027 to be even better than celebrations in 2026,” Edmond said.
HARRISBURG — Three years after a bitter budget standoff over allowing state funding to be used for private school tuition, top Democrats in Harrisburg are ready to engage on school choice.
Legislative action and comments from a top House Democrat this week expressing openness to a federal school-choice program marked a notable change from 2023, when a fight over school vouchers put Democratic lawmakers at odds with both Republicans and Gov. Josh Shapiro, a member of their own party.
House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) said this week that some of the uses of Trump’s tax credits, which are opposed by the country’s largest teachers unions, are “intriguing.” And he noted he is proud of some money the state now pours into one of thetax credits to fund private-school scholarships for low-income families in low-achieving districts. Those comments from Bradford, a top leader in Harrisburg, suggested a public softening on an issue that was previously a non-starter for his party— and signaled the school-choice debate may once again factor into state budget negotiations.
“For our members of our caucus who want to see alternatives for the poorest kids in the poorest schools, we’re being responsive to the needs of those constituents,” he said in an interview, referencing growing support for school choice among some House Democrats, particularly those from Philadelphia.
State Rep. Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery County) during a press conference at the Capitol in Harrisburg Feb. 3, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The school-choice movement, a largely Republican-backed effort to allow public dollars to go to private schools, faces strong opposition from education advocates who say such programs can take money from public schools.
And that debate is sure to continue. Bradford said more oversight — and an overall reform of the current tax credits — is needed to make sure the state tax dollars are actually reaching poor students.
Earlier this week, House Democrats fast-tracked an overhaul to the state’s current $680 million school-choice tax-credit programs to require additional reporting from private schools in order to secure funding. The legislation is likely to face opposition in the GOP-led Senate, where Republicans on Thursday advanced a $25 million increase to the programs ahead of a June 30 deadline to pass a state budget.
Senate Republicans called the tax credits a “priority for empowering parents,” while the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said the House bill would be “devastating” to local Catholic schools and lead to fewer scholarships for students.
A spokesperson for Shapiro said his office is reviewing the House bill, and declined to comment on whether his position on school choice has changed. Shapiro, who has sent his own children to private school in Montgomery County, has previously said he supports school choice, including school vouchers.
Shapiro has until the end of the year to decide whether to opt in to the federal program. But the signal of openness from Bradford, who is close with the governor, offers potential insight into his path forward.
That program, enacted last year under Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” would offer federal tax credits to donors for giving to organizations that grant private school scholarships. Many GOP-led states have already signed on, while some Democratic governors have declined to participate.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro taking questions from media on election day, Tuesday, May 19, 2026. He voted today at Rydal Elementary (West) 1231 Meetinghouse Road Rydal, PA. At left is Jamila H. Winder, Chair, Montgomery County Commissioners.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Shapiro will also likely face questions about school choice on the campaign trail.
He is running for reelection in November against Republican Treasurer Stacy Garrity. Garrity’s platform focuses, in part, on expanding school-choice options in Pennsylvania and she has the support of Commonwealth Partners, a political action committee largely funded by Pennsylvania’s richest man, Jeff Yass, which has poured money into supporting school choice.
The issue will also likely surface a national stage if Shapiro enters the 2028 Democratic presidential primary race. His support for vouchers drew criticism from fellow Democrats in 2024, when he was a potential vice presidential nominee.
Debate over state tax credits
Pennsylvania does not have a direct school voucher program. Instead, the state sets aside $680 million each year for tax credits that allow businesses and individuals to write off charitable giving that supports private school scholarships.
House Democratic support for those credits has quietly grown in recent years. In a June 2025 letter recently obtained by The Inquirer, 10 House Democrats, including five from Philadelphia and the head of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, asked their leadership to expand a portion of the tax credits forstudents in the lowest-achieving school districts — revealing more Democratic support for the programs than was previously known.
Public education advocates who oppose voucher programs say the state is funneling money to private schools with little accountability.
“It’s just a pot of money that a bunch of people get, and nobody really knows where it goes or what happens to it,” said Susan Spicka, executive director of Education Voters PA.
New requirements approved by the state legislature last year are set to take effect in November andwill require scholarship organizations to report the dollar amount of each award, the recipient’s district of residence, and where they attend private school.
The bill advanced by the House in a 105-97 vote this week would also require organizations to report each scholarship recipient’s income level — reducing the currentlimit to $144,000 for a family of four — and the amount of remaining tuition charged to a student. Advocates, including Spicka, called that information key to gauging whether scholarships are going to families who otherwise could afford private school.
Bradford said he’s proud of the $110 million earmarked in existing state tax credits to provide additional money to kids attending schools where a majority of students are getting scholarships. House Democrats say their newest proposal would steer more money toward those students.
But the proposed legislation — which would also reduce the tax credit donors could claim for some contributions, and require scholarship organizations to set 2% of funding aside for state oversight of the programs — drew swift backlash from private school advocates.
Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez is “deeply concerned that this legislation would have a devastating impact,” said spokesperson Ken Gavin. “The clear intent is to lead to the dilution or elimination of the programs, which are vital.”
Schools affiliated with the Philadelphia archdiocese educate nearly 44,000 students across 117 schools in the region, according to its website.
Bradford, who is Catholic, said the Archdiocese’s response “missed the mark,” arguing that this legislative effort is trying to achieve a similar goal of serving students from poor families who attend the roughest schools.
“I’m proud of my own Catholic faith. I love when my Catholic Church stands for those communities,” Bradford added. “No one should ever fear transparency, especially when you’re talking about three-quarters of a billion dollars of state tax dollars.”
President Pro Tempore Kim Ward gavels the opening as the Pennsylvania Senate hosts a ceremonial meeting at the National Constitution Center Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans on Thursday amended another House bill to increase the state’s current tax credit programs to $705 million.
President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland), a staunch supporter of school vouchers, said in a statement that Bradford‘s attention to school choice is disingenuous, criticizing the House Democrats’ bill as “overly burdensome auditing requirements disguised as ‘transparency.’”
The 2023 budget breakdown, where Shapiro ultimately vetoed the school voucher program he‘d helped draft with Senate Republicans because it couldn’t pass the Democratic-controlled House, continues to tarnish his relationships with top GOP leaders, including Ward. He and Ward have hardly spoken since.
“While Senate Republicans have consistently advanced legislation to provide scholarships to disadvantaged students, the track record for Gov. Josh Shapiro and House Democrats has been nothing more than a case of whiplash as their words and actions rarely align,” Ward said. “To me, it seems like the support for school choice by the House Democrat Leadership is more of a façade as they continue to cater to political special interests.”
Bradford, in response, said he is open to conversation about accountability and transparency, but that debate needs to include private schools benefiting from taxpayer dollars.
“We shouldn’t carve out any portion of our K-to-12 education,” Bradford added. “That conversation needs to be uniform.”
A choice for states on Trump’s tax credits
Shapiro has previously said he would wait for more details before making a decisionon whether to participate in the new federal tax credit program. The U.S. Department of the Treasury earlier this month released additional details, including that itwill allow individuals to receive up to $1,700 in credits for making donations to private school scholarships that can cover tuition, tutoring, and more. In Philadelphia, families making $368,100 annually, or 300% of the county’s gross median income,would be eligible to receive the scholarship.
Shapiro’s press secretary Rosie Lapowsky said the governor appreciates the guidance, but continues to await information on “how this will affect use of our existing tax credits, how states will be expected to administer the program, and how eligibility will be determined.”
Twenty-eight states have opted in to the program, most of which are led by Republicans. And Democrats are facing pressure to stay out of the program.
In a letter sent to Democratic governors this week, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and National Education Association President Becky Pringle called the program “a Trojan horse carrying near-universal K-12 private school vouchers into every state that participates.”
So far, Democratic governors elsewhere have taken differing approaches to the program. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has said her state will participate but is waiting for final guidance before officially signing on. Other governors like Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek have announced that their states will not participate. Democratic governors in Arizona and Wisconsin have vetoed legislative efforts to force their states to opt in, while governors’ similar vetoes in North Carolina and Kentucky were overridden by legislators.
Bradford said it’s “an abomination” that funding for Trump’s program came from Republicans making other cuts to the federal budget, and emphasized that stateDemocrats remain committed to increasing public education funding.
“Here in Pennsylvania,” he said, “we are a humble 102 [Democrats] in the Pennsylvania House and we are nimble and pragmatic.”
A move by the Haverford Township School District to buy artificial intelligence tools for students and teachers has been met with protest from parents who fear the technology will erode learning.
At a meeting last week, the Haverford school board voted 5-3 to approve contracts with School AI, which features AI “tutors,” and Brisk, which automates tasks for teachers, like developing quizzes and giving students feedback.
While administrators said the tools wouldn’t supplant teaching and learning, critics said it was inevitable that AI would be used inappropriately — making it easier for kids to avoid work.
“The idea of putting chatbots on computers — I don’t even care what age. I’m pretty disgusted by that,” said Christine Seewagen, a district parent of rising 12th and 7th graders.
The district already struggles to manage technology in the classroom, said Seewagen, who said her older child has observed students run math questions through an AI tool on their phones. Her younger child, meanwhile, had a teacher who directed students to upload essays to an AI tool to get feedback, Seewagen said.
“They’re just using AI, and not really being instructed on how to do it,” Seewagen said in an interview.
Administrators said they were recommending buying AI tools in part because teachers are already using freely available versions, and they want to “eliminate free roaming around platforms,” Robert Anderson, the district’s technology director, said at the June 18 board meeting.
Haverford’s superintendent, Matthew Hayes, said the School AI contract would “allow us to have a resource so that as we go through the process of the strategic plan and looking at all the implications down the line,” the district could begin teaching AI “thoughtfully, responsibly, ethically.”
He added: “And also reducing screen time,” without providing further details.
The controversy around AI in Haverford is the latest example of area parents pushing back on what they see as excessive and unchecked technology use in schools.
In Haverford, some parents said they were caught off guard by the proposal to adopt technology they felt posed risks to their kids.
Patrick Burland, the parent of an incoming 10th grader and 6th grader, noted he’d had to sign numerous permission slips for his younger child to participate in end-of-year celebrations.
“Apparently, sugar requires a signature, but cognitively rewiring her brain does not,” Burland told the board.
Anderson said Haverford had been considering how to incorporate AI for years. He said the district sought feedback from teachers, including through an AI working group, before proposing the contracts.
Board members who voted for the AI tools, meanwhile, said kids needed to learn how to use the technology responsibly.
“Not acknowledging that it’s here … we don’t gain anything, right? We actually lose and we put ourselves farther behind because it’s not going anywhere,” said board member LaTonia Lee.
But some raised questions about what the district was planning to do with the tools.
Dave Schwartz, another board member, said he would support teaching kids about AI. But the district hasn’t said how it plans to do that, he said.
“We’ve been talking very much in vague terms, and I can’t vote for something that I don’t understand,” Schwartz said.
A district spokesperson did not respond to a question this week about examples of how School AI might be used.
Board member Chris Shelton asked Anderson about criticism that the tool’s “historical figure” chatbots were giving students inaccurate information. (Last year, School AI acknowledged that responses from an Anne Frank character “didn’t provide critical historical details about the Nazis’ role in the Holocaust.”)
Anderson called it “unfortunate” that the company had promoted the historical figures feature, but said the district “would have the option to potentially not use something like that.”
John Flagler, a board member and English teacher, said he understood the burdens placed on teachers, “but I also believe there are lines that should not be crossed.”
The suggestion that grading papers is a “menial task” that could be offloaded to AI “is an insult to both the teacher and the student,” Flagler said, calling grading essential to teachers learning about students.
Administrators said Brisk wouldn’t be used for grading, but would provide “first-level feedback” — informing students they’re missing a topic sentence, for instance, said Meridith Herne, the district’s technology integration coordinator.
“We insist that our teachers read it over and modify it so it’s in their own voice,” Herne said of Brisk’s feedback. Hayes said that 97 district teachers already use a free version of the tool.
He said the tool was not meant to replace teachers.
“That’s not my intent at all,” Hayes said, describing Brisk as “an option for individuals who want exposure to it.”
He noted that the contracts with Brisk, for $22,260, and School AI, for $12,999, were each limited to one year.
Teachers will be trained on the School AI platform, Anderson said; it will be up to them to decide whether they want to use it. He said the district envisions the platform beingused in high school and “potentially” middle school, but isn’t planning for it to be used in elementary schools.
Parents like Burland and Seewagen, who said like-minded parents have been organizing on social media, weren’t persuaded.
“It does not feel like to me they have put any guardrails on,” Burland said in an interview. He questioned whether the district would have considered turning off School AI chatbots, for instance, had it not been asked at the board meeting.
Seewagen said many parents who have learned about the AI plans aren’t happy.
Rachel Maddow’s brief turn as a Philadelphian began with her bicycle being stolen on the first day of a new job.
“I got to work at 9 a.m. and I got out for lunch before noon, because I didn’t have anything to do,” Maddow said. “My bike was already gone.”
MS NOW’s top star was in Center City on Thursday night to interview constitutional legal expert Sherrilyn Ifill live in front of nearly 2,000 people at the Academy of Music.
But prior to the event, she reminisced about her brief time in Philly in the early 1990s, shortlyafter she came out as gay during her freshman year of college at Stanford University.
“It didn’t go well at home, so it was a bit of a scramble in terms of like paying for college, figuring out what I was going to do, where I was going to live,” Maddow said. “And I got an internship at a think tank at Penn.”
Maddow lived in West Philadelphia and basically ate nothing but Ethiopian food for a few months, though she can’t remember the name of the street: “It was in the 40s and it was one of the tree-named streets.”
In college she was an AIDS activist and focused on healthcare policy, so landing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics seemed liked an ideal fit.
Maddow said her job was to answer the phone. But the internship didn’t last long.
“I was not an additive,” Maddow said. “I don’t think I was an asset to the organization.”
Kiyoshi Kuromiya seen here in 1992, was a gay civil rights activist who helped establish ACT UP Philly. GEORGE REYNOLDS / Staff Photographer, file
Maddow’s activism began when she was still in high school, when she began working at a hospice for people who were dying during the AIDS epidemic.
Still, those few months living in Philadelphia influenced Maddow’s developing political voice. She idolized ACT UP Philly, an activist organization fighting for people with HIV/AIDS, and thinks that gay civil rights activist Kiyoshi Kuromiya is the city’s most overlooked hero for the work he did helping connect people with hard-to-find information about the virus and treatment.
“He saved millions of lives,” Maddow said. “The city needs to build a statue for Kiyoshi Kuromiya.”
Maddow has returned to Philly a number of times over the years, and every time she does, it makes her feel like she’s 19 again. Things have changed — seeing Indego bicycles to rent on street corners after hers was stolen is pretty jarring — but though her time living here was brief, she didn’t hesitate saying, “Philly was really formative for me.”
“The thing I loved about Philly at the time, and that I kind of fell in love with, even before I really knew what to do with it, was the really sparky, edgy, impolite activist spirit,” Maddow said. “I think I’m just a middle-class polite kid who doesn’t like to offend anybody, and Philly kind of shook me out of that a little bit, and made me aspire to edgier things.”
More live events and a new app coming from MS NOW
Nearly 2,000 people attended Thursday night’s event at the Academy of Music. MS NOW
A strong Philly current ran through MS NOW’s event Thursday night, which highlighted the messy history of the American experiment leading up to the country’s 250th anniversary next week.
“My mother’s best friend of 70 years lives here,” Psaki said.
Thursday’s event was part of a larger strategy of engagement at the network after breaking away from NBC and becoming part of Versant, hence the name change from MSNBC to MS NOW. Ratings are up, but the cord-cutting trend is undeniable, so MS NOW is attempting to secure a digital future while it remains a popular TV destination.
The network has now hosted three large fan events since 2024 and another is planned for Sept. 26 ahead of the midterm elections, though further details have not been announced. Attendees in Philly on Thursday night received a free, one-year subscription to MS NOW’s membership product that is set to launch soon. It will act as a streaming platform and online community for the network’s progressive fans and provide access to its biggest stars.
“We’re always looking for ways to connect with our MS NOW community, to meet more viewers where they are, and to engage them in new ways,” said Lauren Peikoff, the network’s executive producer of live events.
Cecil Parker, a Philadelphia musician, said the state of affairs in Washington compelled him to attend Thursday’s event.
“Urgency. That’s the all-encompassing word,” Parker said, who often tunes into MS NOW to get their take on the news. “They have their opinions, but it’s based on the facts. So I dig that.”
Some audience members traveled from as far as Arizona and California to have a chance to hear Maddow and her MS NOW colleagues in person.
Tony Clyburn and his wife, Lisa, drove more than 10 hours from West Columbia, S.C., to take part. A radio host back home, Clyburn said it was inspiring being in a room with people from different walks of life who want what’s best for their neighbors and their country.
“These gatherings are good because they’re as close to a town hall as we can get,” Clyburn said.
Jack Pinkowski relished his time as a photojournalist for Temple University’s student newspaper when he was enrolled there in the 1960s.
And he always admired the work of his father, the late Edward Pinkowksi, an historian and author who founded a small newspaper in the Montgomery County borough of Bridgeport.
This month, Pinkowski, a 1968 Temple grad, and his wife, Monica, gave Temple a $1.25 million gift, a portion of which will for the first time endow the editor-in-chief position for the Temple News, as well as increase other staff salaries and pay for some story-related travel and new equipment.
Pinkowski said the need for journalists has never been more important, and he lamented the struggles print journalism has faced.
“We hope to show it a lifeline, give it some support to encourage people to go into that as a field of endeavor,” said Pinkowski, 78, of Plantation, Fla. “This named editorship is a tribute to my father for starting a newspaper and having a lifetime as a critical mind that searched for facts and put them together and brought stories to the enjoyment of people.”
Of the gift, $250,000 will be used to create an endowment for the student newspaper, and the remaining $1 million will fund scholarships of up to $10,000 per academic year for students to study at Temple’s Rome campus. Applicants must have knowledge of, coursework in, or a commitment to promoting Polish or Italian studies, history, or culture.
The Pinkowskis made their money by investing in and managing real estate as well as through other careers.
The couple both worked in businesses with global ties — Jack as an importer of furniture and Monica as an importer of gourmet foods to restaurants — and saw the merit in global study. They also both attended a study abroad program for adults at Temple Rome in 2024.
Given the federal government’s policies affecting foreign students, Pinkowski said, he thought it was important to support the Rome campus so that students have an alternative way to attend an American university.
Temple president John Fry said he especially likes that the gift is so personal and that it is widening access to students to participate in both studying on the Rome campus and working for the student newspaper.
“These are two really important experiences that many students have to forgo, and I think the Pinkowskis are making both of those possible,” Fry said. “Its meaning and impact are significant.”
The gift comes as the college prepares to close a record fundraising year, led by a record $55 million gift from alumnus Christopher Barnett in October and a large gift in April from alumna Jane Creamer Sullivan and her late husband, Thomas J. Sullivan, to start its new honors college.
A boost for the Temple News
John DiCarlo, managing director of student media and adviser to the Temple News, said its portion of the Pinkowski gift will be incredibly important in supporting the newspaper with a staff of 37, which last academic year ran on a $115,596 budget that largely covers salaries and print costs.
Most of the costs were covered by the university, with the newspaper responsible for raising $23,500 through ad revenue and other means. If the publication exceeds that goal — which it did last year, raising over $29,000 — it can funnel the additional money back into operations, DiCarlo said.
The new endowment, DiCarlo said, will bring in an additional $10,000 to $12,000 annually, depending on its earnings.
Incoming senior Sienna Conaghan, 20, who will be the inaugural Edward Pinkowski Editor-in-Chief, said she is grateful for the funding, which will cover her approximate $5,400 salary. And she is glad that salaries for other staffers can get boosted, too.
“We’re asking them to do full-time jobs on a college student’s budget and a college student’s schedule,” DiCarlo said. “It takes a lot out of them because they really care.”
Conaghan, a journalism major from West Yellowstone, Mont., estimates that she spends about 30 hours a week on Temple News work. She freelanced freshman year, was assistant sports editor sophomore year, and worked as sports co-editor last year.
The experience is more important than the paycheck, said Conaghan, who plans to pursue a career in sports journalism, but the money helps.
“It has really been everything,” Conaghan said of her Temple News work. “I think I’ve learned so much from working at the Temple News, from how to be a journalist and also just how to be an adult and a person.”
The Pinkowskis initially gave a gift to the Temple News in 2023 to help it reach a fundraising goal. The college wanted to be able to pay student journalists a little more because some were having to take on second jobs to generate more income, DiCarlo said. At that time, he said, he had no idea the couple would return with such a large gift three years later; it is the largest gift the Temple News has ever received.
“Monica and I are avid readers and avid followers of print journalism,” said Jack Pinkowski, a graduate of Philadelphia’s Central High School.
Pinkowski said his father decided to start the now-defunct Bridgeport South Side Press in 1950 because the community did not have a local paper. He also wrote history books about the local area, using skills he developed as a journalist, Pinkowski said.
The Pinkowskis have had other career experience in addition to real estate and import businesses.
He was a general contractor and wedding photographer early on and later spent 18 years as an associate professor of public administration at Nova Southeastern University’s school of business and entrepreneurship in Florida.
And she was a flight attendant at one time and as a child grew up working in a family traveling carnival business in Missouri — which helped pay for her education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Jack Pinkowski said the common thread in their endeavors has been “inquisitiveness and intellectual curiosity and the ability to take something where there’s nothing and make something of it.”
Both Temple officials and the Pinkowskis hope their gift will motivate others.
“I do believe that other people pay attention to that, and it makes them say, well, maybe they can do something as well,” Jack Pinkowski said.
Philadelphia and its surrounding counties are set for what could be a record-breaking $322 million in federal and state funding to go toward building new trails segments, say trail advocates.
The money is part of a larger $8.2 billion pool of transportation funding updated through the federal Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for 2027 and spread over four years.
“We consider this to be potentially record breaking,” said Patrick Monahan, vice chair of the Circuit Trails Coalition in Pennsylvania. “It’s proof that the trails are being treated as essential infrastructure, making it safer and easier to walk and bike in the region.”
Pennsylvania gets its TIP plan updated every two years and the majorityof money goes to highways, bus and rail systems, trolleys, and ferries. It is part of an agreed-upon list of priority transportation projects. That list includes 344 projects.
In all, this year’s proposed $322 million in funding for trails would advance 27 bike and pedestrian projects across Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties.
The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) is set to vote on approving the allocations in July.
The trails, either begun or being planned, are part of the Circuit Trails, a network of hundreds of miles of multiuse trails throughout the Philadelphia region including southern New Jersey, which updates its TIP funding in alternate years.
$11 millionfor the second phase to extend the Schuylkill Banks trail in Philadelphia south from near 61st Street to Passyunk Avenue that would include a new park at the base of the Passyunk Avenue Bridge.
$58.5 million for Philadelphia’s Spring Garden Connector project that would link trail systems along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers and make Spring Garden Street safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
$50 million to improve safety for roadway users, including pedestrians and cyclists, on PA 291 from Irving Street to Ridley Creek. The project includes building a multiuse side path that will be designated as part of the East Coast Greenway, a trail system linking Maine to Florida.
$8.5 million for the Chester Valley Trail, a multiuse trail along the alignment of the former Philadelphia and Thorndale Branch, a former freight train route, including renovation of the Whitford Bridge and Downingtown TrestleBridge for bicycle and pedestrian use.
$10 million to develop a segment in Whitemarsh Township, Montgomery County, that would run from the existing Wissahickon Trail in Fort Washington State Park to the existing Cross County Trail near SEPTA’s Fort Washington Station.
