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  • Abington is trying to break its 2028 contract with Flock amid data concerns, police chief says

    Abington is trying to break its 2028 contract with Flock amid data concerns, police chief says

    Abington Township is trying to exit its Flock Safety agreement early for breach of contract over data leaks, Police Chief Patrick Molloy said at a recent meeting, as officials implement a new surveillance system and draft new policies for the replacement system.

    The township board of commissioners approved a contract for Axon cameras at its regular meeting on Aug. 27 that would replace the Flock system, which police say helped solve crimes but were rife with unexpected data security issues.

    The Flock cameras, known as automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, can collect not only plate numbers but also details about vehicles and driving habits. Police can search the footage to track a specific car across time and jurisdictions, which Abington officials say helps to solve missing persons, theft, and other cases.

    The Flock contracts are currently under review at the township solicitor’s office, Molloy said Tuesday. Abington still has a Flock camera turned on in the township, Molloy said, because it is in use for an active investigation.

    Abington is trying to exit its contract with Flock early

    Now the township is exploring ways to exit its remaining Flock contract early, officials said at the meeting. The three-year agreement, which costs $10,500 annually, would otherwise end in 2028.

    A second contract with Flock that cost $9,225 per year for two years expired last month.

    The township’s solicitors did not return requests for comment on the plans.

    Lt. Joe Blei previously indicated that the department’s Flock data were shared in ways Abington police had not expected. While Abington thought the township would retain sole discretion over its data, search logs from Abington police were released via public records requests to a police department in Illinois.

    Flock’s current terms allow customers to cancel if the company “defaults in performance of any material provision of the Agreement” and does not solve the issue within 30 days.

    The new system the township approved last month from Axon keeps data in a server that only the township has access to, officials said at the meeting, and prevents external agencies from duplicating Abington’s data.

    Abington police can access the server via evidence.com, the same website police use to access body-camera footage, officers said.

    Axon logs are also audited by external bodies, and the results of those audits will be made available to the commissioners for review, police said.

    Abington is implementing new policies for surveillance cameras

    The police department is implementing new policies of its own for the automated license plate reader systems, including scheduled audits of officer searches and a 30-day retention period for data that are not part of a criminal investigation.

    The 30-day period is longer than the new default period of seven days that Flock recently adopted, and the 48 hours recommended by the ACLU.

    But Molloy said that his department needs the extra time in order to make sure officers can gather all of the relevant data once a criminal investigation is opened.

    Abington accesses the data only for criminal investigations, and would allow external agencies, such as the federal government, to access Abington’s data only for crimes and not for civil offenses such as immigration violations, officials have said.

    Molloy said after August’s commissioners meeting that the policy also applies to fusion centers like the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center.

    The center, which shares information and intelligence among local police, federal agencies, and private companies, has a broad law enforcement remit, including monitoring social media for what it views as potential domestic terror threats, such as anti-data center sentiment.

    Police at the meeting reiterated that ALPR systems are useful in solving crimes. Abington used the Flock cameras to help solve a string of robberies that officials said involved a theft ring using Wi-Fi jammers and hidden cameras to burglarize 13 homes in Pennsylvania, Molloy said.

    “It’s probably one of the most effective tools that I’ve seen in my whole 30-year career,” Molloy said.

    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.

  • Sixers sign Dillon Jones to bolster training camp roster, potentially compete for two-way spot

    Sixers sign Dillon Jones to bolster training camp roster, potentially compete for two-way spot

    As training camp nears, the 76ers have added to their list of training camp invitees, with the latest coming in Dillon Jones.

    Jones will join the Sixers on an exhibit 10 contract, a source said. That contract will allow him to come to camp and compete for one of the remaining two-way roster spots the Sixers have open.

    The Oklahoma City Thunder took Jones, 24, with the 26th pick of the 2024 draft, and he spent his first season in Oklahoma City. A 6-foot-5 forward, he averaged 10.2 minutes and 2.5 points in 54 games. He also appeared in 10 games that postseason as the Thunder won the championship.

    Sixers add three players in advance of training camp, including Jameer Nelson Jr.

    Last summer, the Thunder traded him to the Wizards, who waived him before the start of the season. Jones ended up signing a two-way contract with the New York Knicks in January and appeared in seven games with the franchise.

    Jones will likely be in the mix for a two-way contract with the Sixers, who have Rayan Rupert and Caleb Love as two of their allotted three two-way deals. A two-way contract doesn’t count toward a team’s total on the salary cap but players on two-way deals can’t participate in the playoffs.

    Jones joins other training camp invitees the Sixers announced last week that included Jameer Nelson Jr., the son of Sixers general manager Jameer Nelson, Saint Thomas and veteran center Tacko Fall.

    Jones played in college for four years at Weber State, where he averaged 20.9 points in his senior year.

  • With control of Congress on the line, Pa. Republicans head to Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas

    With control of Congress on the line, Pa. Republicans head to Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas

    Key figures in Pennsylvania Republican politics — including the state’s top elected federal GOP official and several lawmakers in the middle of heated reelection campaigns — will participate in their party’s first-of-its-kind midterm convention this week in Dallas.

    The gathering, spurred and heavily promoted by President Donald Trump, arrives as Republicans look to defend their control of Congress this fall amid difficult circumstances. Trump’s approval ratings, including on key issues such as the economy and the war in Iran, have sunk, including in Pennsylvania.

    And Democratic challengers, some of whom have outraised their Republican opponents, have waged aggressive campaigns.

    After Trump successfully won the White House and ushered in a wave of downballot Republican wins just two years ago, the convention — described as “Trump-a-palooza” by Republican National Committee chairman Joe Gruters — is aimed at energizing the base at a critical time.

    Pennsylvanians, representing a swing state that has been key to Trump’s success in the past, will play a role.

    U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) and a pair of House lawmakers in competitive districts — U.S. Reps. Ryan Mackenzie (R., Lehigh) and Rob Bresnahan (R., Luzerne) — are among the more than 100 scheduled speakers over two days, starting Wednesday.

    Their speaking slots were among the first to be announced. Underscoring the Keystone State’s role in keeping the House Republican majority, only the host state of Texas had more representatives on the initial list of elected officials scheduled to address the crowd.

    The Pennsylvania Republican Party, meanwhile, has orchestrated a “full slate” of 55 delegates and alternate delegates.

    “The Republican Party of Pennsylvania is excited and honored to be a part of the first ever RNC Midterm Convention in Dallas,” spokesperson James Markley said in a statement. “It will be a tremendous opportunity to hear from everyday Americans about how this administration has changed their lives for the better.”

    The state party had not provided the names of the delegates as of Tuesday, though the list is expected to include party activists and other elected officials. State party leaders had encouraged Pennsylvanians to attend the gathering.

    Democrats, who see the president’s lagging approval ratings as a key to their success in the midterms, were quick to blast Pennsylvania Republicans for attending. Their response includes plans to send a small group of House Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D., Montgomery), to Dallas to push back against the GOP messaging.

    “While swing seat House Republicans try to hide from their record of raising costs on working families, gutting Medicaid to fund tax breaks for billionaire donors and supporting a reckless war of choice in Iran, House Democrats will be present to hold them accountable,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the New York Democrat in line to become House speaker if his party wins the majority, said in a statement.

    Fitzpatrick skips as other Pa. Republicans take center stage

    Four of Pennsylvania’s 10 Republican-held U.S. House seats are considered key battlegrounds as the GOP looks to maintain its four-seat advantage nationwide.

    Of those, only U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R., Bucks) has distanced himself from parts of Trump’s agenda and is not planning on attending the convention.

    Mackenzie and Bresnahan, on the other hand, will be among the featured speakers, and U.S. Rep. Scott Perry (R., York) will attend.

    Perry, a close Trump ally, has routinely won reelection in a Harrisburg-based district but is running this year against Democrat Janelle Stelson, a former local television anchor who nearly defeated him two years ago.

    Freshmen Mackenzie and Bresnahan were elected to Congress in 2024 after they each defeated incumbent Democrats by less than 2 percentage points. Local, state, and national Democrats have rallied behind their challengers — union leader and retired firefighter Bob Brooks in the Lehigh Valley, and Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti in the district that covers the northeast corner of the state.

    Bresnahan campaign spokesperson Samantha Bullock said the lawmaker was “excited to bring NEPA to the national stage because these are the people driving his work in Washington.”

    Mackenzie, in a statement that referenced his work to bring federal funds to his district and support areas like local healthcare and tax relief, said he was “looking forward to talking to the people of the Lehigh Valley, the Poconos, and the entire nation about these accomplishments, and how we can build on them in the years ahead.”

    Brooks said Mackenzie was “flying to Dallas to kiss the ring of Donald Trump and his party bosses.”

    “This is exactly why people are fed up with a broken Washington that isn’t working for working people,” Brooks said in a statement.

    Mackenzie’s campaign has similarly criticized Brooks for campaigning with national Democrats — calling an event Brooks had with Jeffries in July a sign that “establishment backers” were trying to “bail him out.”

    The convention will feature six hours of programming each night.

    Topics that speakers will highlight include the elements of Trump’s signature One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Republicans have rebranded as the Working Families Tax Cuts Act.

    Supporters have applauded the law’s extension of Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and its litany of other features, such as investment accounts for children. Democrats and other critics have pointed to the law’s cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid spending, among other measures.

    The convention speakers will also touch on the president’s enhanced border control measures and his push for election changes such as universal voter ID, according to an outline of the agenda.

    A “candidate showcase” that will highlight “key candidates in target districts” and contrast them with their “extreme” opponents is set for Wednesday night. And an “opposition contrast” to “[deliver] the night’s sharpest partisan case against the extreme liberal Democrats” is slated for Thursday night, according to the agenda.

    Besides Trump, the members of his administration scheduled to speak include Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has engaged in a war of words with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro over the state’s measles outbreak.

    National Republicans have described the convention as a way to energize voters in a tough election year.

    Two years after winning Pennsylvania for the second time in 2024, Trump had an approval rating of 39% and a disapproval rating of 58% among likely voters in the state last month, according to an Inquirer/New York Times/Siena University poll.

    The poll found that 51% of likely voters said they were more likely to vote for a Democrat for Congress and 53% said they would want to see the House flip to Democratic control, though the poll did not ask about specific congressional races.

  • The new Herr’s mac ‘n cheese-flavored curls are not safe around me

    The new Herr’s mac ‘n cheese-flavored curls are not safe around me

    When the new Herr’s four cheese mac ‘n cheese curls first landed on my doorstep, I was skeptical. The last round of snacks Herr’s sent me found few fans in The Inquirer’s newsroom and left a range of Philly chefs scratching their heads. Would I be subjecting my colleagues once more to snacks that were more or less just fine?

    The answer was no. Because I did not share. The package was sent to me right before Labor Day weekend, which gave me too many days alone with the cheese curls for there to be any left to bring to the office.

    To my colleagues, I am sorry.

    How Herr’s are made: A factory tour of Philly’s snack powerhouse

    These snacks have achieved what no other puffed cheese curl (including those peddled by a famous cheetah) has. They are incredibly cheesy, with lingering umami, thanks to the MSG in the ingredient list. They taste exceptionally rich, with a delightful bit of funk from actual blue cheese, noted in the nutrition facts label, but not in the snack’s branding.

    While mac ‘n cheese may not be the first inspiration that comes to mind, I get where Herr’s going. There’s a curious meltiness that comes from the curls’ blend of creamy and sharp cheeses: Parmesan, mozzarella, cheddar, and Romano.

    The new Herr’s mac ‘n cheese curls are long rather than curly. Consuming them with chopsticks will prevent your fingers from turning orange.Kiki Aranita / staff /

    Texturally, they are similar to Cheetos puffs, but shape-wise, they are more elongated, with actually very little curl.

    They launched last week and are a permanent addition to Herr’s lineup of snacks. Herr’s first debuted their original cheese curls in 1976 and has introduced a few other flavored cheese curls in the last 50 years, including Old Bay-seasoned cheese curls and Stubb’s Sticky Sweet Bar-B-Q cheese curls.

    The curls come in a range of sizes, from a .875-ounce concession bag, to a family-size 7.5-ounces bag. You will want to buy more than one if you have anything like the same need for cheese that I do.

    The delivery of Herr’s mac ‘n cheese curls.Kiki Aranita / staff /

    I have already given myself a stomachache and possibly permanently stained my fingers orange. I regret nothing.

  • Fantasy meets football — er, soccer — in Union’s latest ticket promo

    Fantasy meets football — er, soccer — in Union’s latest ticket promo

    Philadelphia soccer fans may want to brush up on their dragon lore.

    The Union are hosting a Fourth Wing theme night on Wednesday at Subaru Park, based on the popular romantasy (fantasy romance) book by Rebecca Yarros that’s part of the Empyrean series.

    The “Wing Leader” package costs $90.51 and comes with a ticket to Wednesday night’s game against FC Cincinnati (7:30 p.m., FS1, Apple TV), scarf, tote bag, book, and a Yarros-autographed bookplate. A “Dragon Rider” package that includes a ticket and scarf already is sold out.

    “It’s an opportunity to attract a new audience and maybe get some people out to a Union soccer match that have never been before,” said Greg Imming, the club’s vice president of group and inside ticket sales. “A lot of these people, north of 70%, are new to our database. So that tells me a lot of these people have probably never been to a Union match before.”

    A selection of the swag available as part of the Union’s “Fourth Wing” theme night.Philadelphia Union

    A portion of the proceeds from each ticket will go toward supporting the Trevor Project, which works to prevent suicide and provide crisis intervention for LGBTQ+ youth around the country.

    Though Yarros will not attend Wednesday’s game, it’s one of several Fourth Wing nights taking place across professional sports this year, after the series took the adult fiction genre by storm.

    The dedication of Yarros’ fan base has certainly been felt by the Union.

    “If you read Fourth Wing, you are really into Fourth Wing, for sure,” Imming said with a laugh. “Once Yarros puts out a tweet or an Instagram post, we definitely saw an uptick in sales coming through, which is great.”

    As the Union push for the playoffs, Ryan Richter is ‘never going to be excited about being in ninth place’

    Other teams hosting Fourth Wing or Empyrean nights includes MLB’s Seattle Mariners, New York Mets, and Texas Rangers; the NWSL’s Orlando Pride, Washington Spirit, and Seattle Reign; MLS’s Colorado Rapids; and the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.

    The series, which features a dragon riding school and, of course, a tumultuous love triangle, isn’t the first to branch out into the sports market to connect to fans. The Phillies are hosting Harry Potter night on Sept. 24 vs. the Milwaukee Brewers, and the first 3,000 fans to buy a ticket will receive a Phillies-themed Harry Potter house banner.

    The Fourth Wing partnership is the first of its kind for the Union, according to Imming, who’s been with the club since its inception.

    “We’ve definitely never done any type of book deal, but obviously with ‘BookTok,’ the romantasy genre is really popular, I’ve come to learn,” Imming said.

    “We’ve been working on this for many, many months, and it’s hard to believe that [Wednesday is] the night where it all comes together.”

  • Local fence brand is shutting Northeast Philly factory 9 years after being acquired by a larger company

    Local fence brand is shutting Northeast Philly factory 9 years after being acquired by a larger company

    Faced with a huge rent increase, Northeast Philadelphia aluminum fence maker Jerith Manufacturing is closing its factory by next spring.

    Continuing to operate out of the 14400 McNulty Rd. facility would be “economically impractical” in light of the rising cost of rent, general manager K. Robert Lomber said in a layoff notice filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.

    Rent on the 445,000-square-foot facility is expected to nearly triple starting May 1, Lomber said.

    In the layoff notice, Lomber said Jerith is “going out of business as a separate operating entity.” But the president of Jerith’s parent company, Ameristar Perimeter Security, said last month that Jerith would be adopting a new operating model “to better serve customers and support the long-term success of the Jerith brand.”

    The closure of the Philadelphia site affects 61 workers, 24 of whom will be offered new positions at a New Jersey facility owned by Jerith’s parent company, according to the notice. Layoffs will occur in phases beginning Nov. 15.

    Thirty-eight of Jerith’s 61 Philly workers are represented by Teamsters Local 830.

    Jerith spends about $4.4 million on employee payroll annually, and Philadelphia is expected to miss out on $140,000 annual tax revenue when it is closed, the layoff notice indicates.

    Going forward, some of the manufacturing, assembly, and transportation work Jerith has been doing in Philadelphia will be carried out by Ameristar, which also makes fences, gates, and other barriers, in New Jersey and Tulsa.

    Jerith, which dates back to 1961, uses U.S. aluminum in its products — one of the materials currently caught in the tariff dispute between the United States and Canada, under the Trump administration.

    Jerith was acquired in 2017 by Assa Abloy, which has 64,000 employees in over 70 countries and over 250 brands, including manufacturers of locks and doors, such as Ameristar Perimeter Security.

  • State prosecutors say DA Larry Krasner’s office should be kicked off a contentious federal court case. Krasner disagrees.

    State prosecutors say DA Larry Krasner’s office should be kicked off a contentious federal court case. Krasner disagrees.

    The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said in court documents Tuesday that District Attorney Larry Krasner should be barred from continuing to oversee a controversial post-conviction case in federal court — and that his office should be kicked off the case as well.

    In a brief filed with U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond, state prosecutors said Krasner’s office should not be allowed to continue to weigh in on whether a man’s murder conviction should be overturned. In recent months, prosecutors wrote, inner-office drama about the case has consumed Krasner’s office, and “the DA placed his personal interest in protecting the office above the Commonwealth’s interest.”

    But Krasner’s office countered in its own filings Tuesday that that was not true.

    Without denying that the case had caused contentious internal disagreements between Krasner and his staff, Assistant District Attorney Thomas Gaeta wrote that Krasner had handled the matter in legally appropriate ways, and that his office should be allowed to continue overseeing it.

    And even though some of Krasner’s own staffers have accused him of questionable conduct in the case — including by saying he told them to “protect the office” and that they could face “consequences” if they didn’t — Gaeta wrote Tuesday that Krasner had taken pains to ensure the case was handled “with competence and integrity.”

    “DA Krasner has taken no action inconsistent with his obligation to fairly represent the Commonwealth on behalf of the people of Philadelphia, despite the intemperate comments witnesses claimed he made,” the document said.

    The dueling filings came a week after the end of testimony in a multiday hearing in front of Diamond, during which the judge sought to learn more about how various attorneys connected to the case have behaved while it has been moving through federal court.

    The underlying case began as a routine post-conviction matter, as Dennis Johnson — found guilty of second-degree murder in 2009 — sought to have his conviction overturned.

    But in recent months, the case has led to a series of explosive revelations about the inner workings of the district attorney’s office. Many of the accusations have come from four prosecutors who said they advised Krasner to refer the case to the attorney general’s office, which, in their telling, led Krasner to respond angrily, or by suggesting tactics they thought were legally inappropriate.

    Those tactics, they said, included keeping the case in-house, potentially seeking to assign blame to a line prosecutor while protecting her supervisor, and taking steps to “protect the office” in court.

    Diamond, at one point during the proceedings, suggested he viewed the allegations as potentially criminal, saying if they were true, they could amount to perjury, conspiracy, or obstruction of justice. He did not specify who he believed might be at fault.

    The attorney general’s office wrote Tuesday that the testimony from Krasner’s staff in the case demonstrated that he had acted in ways that were self-motivated or otherwise disconnected from the merits of the underlying petition — a situation that, in court cases, is considered a conflict of interest.

    And that conflict, wrote the state prosecutors — Susan E. Affronti and John J. Boscia — would inevitably extend to anyone working for Krasner, particularly after his threat of “consequences” for those who did not follow his orders.

    “At that point, any attorneys working under DA Krasner would themselves be subject to the conflict, knowing that they were required, on the one hand, to do what the boss wanted, and, on the other hand, to do what professional ethics required,” they wrote.

    Krasner, in his office’s filing, said that was not so.

    Although the filing acknowledged that Krasner “plainly did not appreciate [his staffers’] repeated, unsolicited, and wavering advice” to refer the case to state prosecutors, he said their recommendation was “inexpert and legally unsupported.” And he said he had consulted with legal experts who agreed with him, including one whose written opinion his office attached to Tuesday’s brief.

    He also reiterated that he had hired an outside attorney to handle the case on his office’s behalf: Jean Peters-Baker, a longtime prosecutor from Missouri who previously led the prosecutor’s office in the county that includes Kansas City.

    In addition, Krasner’s filing said, “as the elected chief prosecutor, the decision on whether or not to refer the case was entrusted to him. It was not a decision for his employees to make, or attempt to force him into making, via unauthorized and legally inappropriate public pleadings.”

    His office’s brief did not deny another notable allegation from his staff: that when they suggested he refer the matter to the attorney general’s office, he described that office’s lawyers as “Nazis.”

    While the filing did not address the use of that particular term, it did say Krasner had “general mistrust” of many people working in that office “based upon decades of observing their work” in the legal system — including, in his view, people who sought to secure or defend wrongful convictions. Some lawyers who now work in that office were fired by Krasner just days after he took office in 2018.

    “DA Krasner’s view (i.e. that illegally and willfully acting to convict and incarcerate an innocent person for decades is akin to kidnapping, torture, or other war crimes) is well known,” the filing says. “But any animus he may have towards individual employees of that office based upon their own actions and inactions has nothing to do with whether he correctly declined to refer a case.”

    The attorney general’s office, in its filing, said Krasner’s refusal to send the case to an office he disliked was another demonstration of how his judgment in the matter had been flawed.

    “His actions, and his words, thus demonstrate that he acted on the basis of personal animus, not the interests of the Commonwealth,” the filing said.

    Johnson’s attorneys, meanwhile, also filed a brief Tuesday in which they took no position on who should serve as the prosecutor in his ongoing case. Their only request was that Diamond appoint only one agency to handle it moving forward, rather than forcing him to litigate his petition against prosecutors from both the city and the state.

    The decision on whether to allow Krasner’s office to continue handling the case will now fall to Diamond. The judge has not indicated how quickly he might rule.

  • Stanley M. Schwarz, community-minded trial lawyer and former assistant district attorney, has died at 95

    Stanley M. Schwarz, community-minded trial lawyer and former assistant district attorney, has died at 95

    Stanley M. Schwarz, 95, of Philadelphia, community-minded trial lawyer and founder of what is now the Schwarz & Schwarz law firm, former Philadelphia assistant district attorney, Army veteran, mentor, and golfer, died Friday, July 17, of heart failure at his home in Society Hill.

    Public-spirited throughout his life and adept at litigation regarding workplace accidents, medical negligence, reckless driving, careless manufacturers, and other personal injury issues, Mr. Schwarz founded what is now Schwarz & Schwarz PC in 1967. He represented all kinds of clients in all kinds of cases and appeared before the Pennsylvania Supreme, Superior, and Commonwealth Courts more than 20 times.

    He was featured in the Daily News in 1968 when, at no charge to his client, he won $150 from the city for a Philadelphia hairdresser whose car was mistakenly towed. “I was disturbed by her experience” with city officials, he told the Daily News.

    “To many,” his family said in a tribute, “he was more than an attorney. He was a source of guidance and hope.”

    Mr. Schwarz doted on his children.Courtesy of the family

    Mr. Schwarz lived for decades in Society Hill Towers at Second and Locust Streets near the Delaware River and represented its owners association in 1997 as it contested high-rise development along the nearby waterfront. “They’re trying to take away this little Garden of Eden,” he told the Daily News.

    He joined the district attorney’s office in 1960, worked as an assistant district attorney in the major trials unit, and handled hundreds of cases involving murder, assault, robbery, burglary, arson, and other crimes. In one notable case in 1966, he noticed that the photo of a man in the Daily News looked like the at-large suspect in a recent robbery. Detectives tracked the man down and made an arrest.

    Why did best-selling author Carol Saline email The Inquirer’s obit writer?

    He also served as a temporary judge and arbitrator for local, state, and federal courts. He belonged to several legal associations, won awards for his legal and community service, and was an honorary member of the Knights of Columbus.

    He joined the Army after high school, rose to first lieutenant, and served as an intelligence cryptographer during the Korean War. He was admitted to the Temple University School of Law after just a year in college, became editor-in-chief of its law review, and graduated in 1958.

    Mr. Schwarz and his wife, Kathy, married in 1991.Courtesy of the family

    He served two years as a law clerk in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and then as assistant to three district attorneys over six years. “He mentored generations of young lawyers and quietly helped countless people through difficult times,” his family said.

    Born in Philadelphia during the Great Depression, Mr. Schwarz and his family moved often when he was a boy. He lived in New York when he was young and worked part-time as a stock boy and janitor when he was 10 to help pay the bills.

    Survivors give advice about mourning their loved ones, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer

    He attended two dozen schools before moving to Philadelphia in middle school and graduated from Germantown High School in 1948. His family praised “the work ethic and compassion that guided him throughout his life.”

    They said: “Stan’s life was shaped by perseverance, resilience, and a deep commitment to helping others.”

    Mr. Schwarz graduated from Germantown High School in 1948.Courtesy of the family

    Stanley Morris Schwarz was born Jan. 22, 1931. He worked as a mail clerk and accountant after high school and joined the Army when he was 20.

    He married Lee Rosen in 1955, and they had a son, Daniel, and a daughter, Stacy. After a divorce, he married Kathy Campbell in 1991, and they danced and traveled the world together for years. He was especially good at the jitterbug.

    Mr. Schwarz played golf and socialized for more than 50 years at the Bensalem Township Country Club. He was a longtime member of the Society Hill Club. He took his family to boat shows and on memorable vacations to Ocean City, Puerto Rico, the Pocono Mountains, Disney World, and elsewhere.

    He self-published a breezy memoir called The Roller Coaster Life of Flappy in 2022 when he was 91, and said: “As a father, it gave me the greatest pleasure in playing with the kids, whether in our backyard, in the community pool, or in the nearby parks.”

    Mr. Schwarz enjoyed time with his family.Courtesy of the family

    Mr. Schwarz was fun and funny, his daughter said. He taught himself to play piano and saxophone, and they performed duets.

    He was an engaging storyteller. He made personal scrapbooks for his children. Friends called him “amazing” and “incredible” on Instagram.

    His family said: “He made people feel valued and left them better than he found them.” His daughter said: “He was down to earth and playful. He was great with kids. He loved everybody’s children, and the children loved him.”

    In addition to his wife and children, Mr. Schwarz is survived by four grandchildren, a sister, and other relatives. A sister and a brother died earlier.

    Services were held earlier.

    Donations in his name may be made to Congregation Beth El, 8000 Main St., Voorhees, N.J. 08043.

    Mr. Schwarz was close with his daughter, Stacy, above, and his son, Daniel, below. Courtesy of the family
  • Brandon Graham is ‘officially done.’ Let’s look back at his most memorable moments with the Eagles.

    Brandon Graham is ‘officially done.’ Let’s look back at his most memorable moments with the Eagles.

    Brandon Graham is retiring — again.

    On Tuesday, at a “Breakfast with the Birds” event hosted by Jefferson Health, the Eagles great announced that he was “officially done.” Graham, 38, retired in March 2025 following the Eagles’ victory in Super Bowl LIX. But the Eagles re-signed Graham after Week 7 last season as they lacked depth on the defensive line.

    On Tuesday, Graham put to rest any question whether he would return to the Eagles in 2026.

    Eagles legend Brandon Graham announces he’s done playing football — again

    “But let me tell you this, [the Eagles] are in great hands,” Graham said. “Jordan Davis, I’m telling you, he is a guy that’s going to get the defense going. On offense, I can’t wait for Jalen [Hurts] to prove them haters wrong as always and get us back to the promised land.

    “I’m going to still be around. … I’m still giving wisdom, helping the guys.”

    When Graham called it quits the first time, The Inquirer put together a list of his best moments on and off the field. Just like Graham did for the Eagles, we are running it back with another list of No. 55’s most memorable moments:

    His tearful goodbye

    When Graham announced his retirement in 2025, the Eagles all-time leader in games played took to the podium to say his goodbyes. Just as Jason Kelce did a year prior, Graham fought through tears to thank his coaches, teammates, and the city.

    “And finally, to Philadelphia,” Graham said. “We didn’t start so tight. As you know, you made me work for this, and I appreciate you for that. Through the struggles, the injuries, and the moment where I had to prove myself over and over again, you never let me get comfortable.

    “You held me accountable. You kept that chip on my shoulder. You pushed me to be better, and when the time came, we celebrated together two times. This city is built on hard work, resilience, and unmatched passion, and you bring the same energy to every game, every moment, every season.”

    The strip sack

    Two photographs from Super Bowl LII are hanging in many a sports bar in Philadelphia: Nick Foles catching the touchdown pass on the “Philly Special” and Graham’s strip sack of Tom Brady.

    The latter helped clinch the Eagles’ first Super Bowl in franchise history, cementing Graham as an all-time great. When asked about the play in 2023, Graham said it “changed my life.” Like many Eagles fans, Graham admitted he watches the play to cheer him up when he’s having a “bad day.”

    Before the Eagles’ 23-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round of the playoffs last season, Graham reunited on the field with Brady, who was in town for Fox’s broadcast of the game.

    Mason Spencer (right), 8, of Langhorne, presented Brandon Graham with the Mason Spencer Man of the Year Award in 2025.William Thomas Cain / For The Inquirer

    Winning the Mason Spencer ‘Man of the Year Award’

    In December 2019, Mason Spencer received a kidney transplant at just 3 years old. Following his operation, Spencer met with Graham four times. The two quickly formed a friendship.

    “I consider BG my friend,” Spencer said. “The reason I’m awarding this to him is for his kindness and his charity.”

    This defense won’t be the best in Eagles history. But it will be plenty good enough. Even great.

    In 2025, after Graham missed out on the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which honors players for their philanthropy and community impact, Spencer awarded him with the “Mason Spencer Man of the Year Award” — fit with a custom superhero trophy.

    The award’s significance was not lost on Graham.

    “I’m glad that I can be a service to him and his family,” Graham told The Inquirer. “Especially during a time nobody wants to go through. It’s a beautiful thing when you have support behind you and you have people that’s fighting with you. So for him to go through everything he had to go through, it’s so cool that he can still think about others.

    Brandon Graham had to take on a new role when he unretired during the 2025 season and rejoined the Eagles.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer

    Learning a new position

    After unretiring in 2025, Graham expected to contribute as an edge rusher — as he had through his first 15 years in the league. However, with Jalen Carter sidelined for multiple weeks following a shoulder procedure, Graham was tasked with consistent snaps at defensive tackle for the first time in his career.

    The veteran was game for the challenge and learned from Davis — who is 12 years younger than him.

    Meet the 2026 Eagles: What to know about every player

    “When I’m watching him, man, I’m learning as I’m going,” Graham told The Inquirer. “Because they’re the ones running everything over there. They know what’s going on. So I’m just picking their brain and just asking them what they think when I go.“

    Added defensive tackle Moro Ojomo: “It’d be similar to maybe someone writing with their right hand and then starting to write with their left hand. It’s not as easy as you may think it is. There are similarities, but it takes some time, and, definitely, if anyone can do it the way he’s doing it, it would be him.”

    Brandon Graham with former Eagles quarterback and Chiefs backup Carson Wentz after the Eagles won Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9, 2025.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    Retearing his triceps during the Super Bowl

    In a win over the Los Angeles Rams in November 2024, Graham tore his triceps. He had already announced that the season would be his last, so it appeared Graham’s playing career would end at So-Fi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

    However, the Graham made a surprise comeback to suit up for Super Bowl LIX just 11 weeks later.

    Following the Eagles’ 40-22 win over the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs, Graham celebrated in the locker room. He embraced general manager Howie Roseman, who drafted him in 2010, took a selfie with Hurts, and danced with fellow Detroit native Avonte Maddox. He also made sure to FaceTime fellow team legend Jason Peters.

    To any onlooker, it would be difficult to tell that Graham was dealing with significant pain. During the game, Graham actually retore his triceps.

  • A former Philly principal must repay $31k in school book fair, trip, and class dues money

    A former Philly principal must repay $31k in school book fair, trip, and class dues money

    The former principal of a Northeast Philadelphia elementary is on the hook for $31,000 paid to the school by students but never deposited into its bank account.

    According to the Philadelphia School District’s inspector general, the former principal of Robert Pollock Elementary, Yvette Jackson, received the money from events including book fairs, holiday bazaars, and class trips — plus dues for graduating eighth graders — but “failed to deposit proceeds.” Jackson has since retired.

    Thousands of dollars is missing from a Northeast Philly elementary school. An investigation is underway.

    Multiple vendors, including Scholastic Books Inc., were not paid for goods delivered under Jackson’s watch, according to Pollock sources and documents reviewed by The Inquirer. The inspector general’s report confirmed the lack of payments.

    Jackson’s actions violated the district’s policies, “eroded the public’s trust and violated the district’s ethical standards required by the [Employee Code of Ethics] mandating honesty and forthrightness and avoiding falsification, misrepresentations and deceptions in records the former principal kept while managing and administering” school activities funds, wrote Sha S. Brown, the inspector general.

    The report stopped short of accusing Jackson of taking the funds, but said she was liable for all losses “resulting from administrative negligence and failure to exercise proper oversight and accounting” of student funds.

    At Brown’s recommendation, the district is withholding $31,576.24 from Jackson’s final termination pay. Jackson did not respond to a request for comment, but, according to the inspector general’s report, “the former principal acknowledged receipt of the memo and did not object to the proposed withholding.”

    Pollock, a K-8 school on Welsh Road, educates 900 students, 77% of whom are considered economically disadvantaged.

    Missing money, missing records

    The possible financial improprieties came to light during a reconciliation of school accounts after Jackson retired from Pollock at the end of the 2024-25 school year.

    When district personnel attempted to balance the books, money from trips, bake sales, class dues, and the holiday bazaar was missing, according to sources. Scholastic Books was not paid for either its fall 2024 or spring 2025 book sales.

    Ultimately, the district’s office of general accounting filed a complaint with the inspector general’s office “pertaining to the mismanagement of the Robert Pollock School Student Activity Fund (SAF) by the retiring principal,” according to documents reviewed by The Inquirer.

    The inspector general’s probe concluded that Jackson failed to keep adequate records and that over the course of the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years, she made only five bank deposits, despite cash having been received for various school events through the year.

    District policy requires cash received for student activities be deposited into the bank “as soon as possible, ideally daily unless this would cause an undue hardship.”

    None of the deposits Jackson made came with required documentation, such as the dates and descriptions of the activities, number of students who participated, cost of participation, and more, the report said.

    “The former principal failed to account for, and deposit, the proceeds of several fundraising activities including book fairs and class dues (graduation fees) … the OIG could only partially match one bank deposit pertaining to the school’s 2023 fall book fair sales over this two-year period. Further, records indicate the former principal failed to pay invoices of SAF-related vendors,” Brown said.

    Brown found that Jackson collected the $31,576.24 but never deposited it. She also told a staffer managing the book fair that there was “no need for receipts,” the investigation found, despite district policy explicitly stating that receipts were required.

    In some instances, vendors were stiffed. Both Scholastic and a business that provided goods for the holiday bazaar were not paid, the report said.

    Book fair money is typically used to purchase books for classroom libraries and for students to take home. Other activities, like the bake sale, fund things like classroom pizza parties and assorted celebrations.

    “According to an administrator of the school, the holiday bazaar vendor said the former principal kept telling the vendor they were ‘… good for the money,’” the report said. “In total, the OIG found that three invoices remained unpaid and totaled $16,840.49.”

    Going forward, Brown said, the district must require student activities fund money be deposited into a bank account weekly.

    “Accounting and Financial Reporting staff will continue to work with school leaders to make timely deposits,” chief financial officer Mike Herbstman said in the district’s response to the report.

    The school district had no immediate comment Tuesday on the inspector general filing.