FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Turning his head left and right to scan for onlookers on the sidelines, A.J. Brown ran across the Patriots practice field and only slowed down his trot as he finally approached Jalen Hurts.
The two men shared a high five, a hug and a brief conversation. Once considered close friends, the players looked like they couldn’t contain their smiles as they caught up.
The nature of the conversation remained a mystery, but it was a meeting fans and NFL observers had been anticipating for months.
For the first time since Brown was traded from the Eagles to the Patriots on June 1, the once-inseparable duo met on the lower practice field at New Balance Athletics Center, which is adjacent to Gillette Stadium, after their teams met for the second day of joint practices.
Brown and Hurts’ relationship goes back nearly a decade, when Hurts hosted Brown on a recruiting trip at the University of Alabama. The relationship blossomed to the point that Hurts was named godfather to Brown’s daughter, Jersee.
Their bond loosened near the end of their four-year run together in Philadelphia, with Brown reportedly wanting out due to frustration over his lack of targets last season.
A.J. Brown (right) approached Jalen Hurts on the practice field Thursday. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Whatever tension exists, both players have acknowledged the success they had during their tenure together. Hurts helped Brown post the two highest single-season receiving yard totals in Eagles history — 1,496 yards in 2022 and 1,456 in 2023. With Brown as his No. 1 target, Hurts grew into a three-time Pro Bowler and MVP candidate in 2022.
The pair helped lift the Eagles to a Super Bowl win in the 2024 season.
Brown spoke with a group of reporters on Wednesday and was asked about his relationship with Hurts.
“Philly, man, y’all are tough,” Brown said with a laugh. “Man, it’s love. Listen, honestly guys, none of that stuff even matters. You all should want to report something positive. You know asking the question is going to turn negative. Let’s not get into that. Let’s keep everything positive.
“It’s love my way. And move forward, that’s all.”
Hurts was asked a similar question Wednesday, as Brown spoke on another field.
“I think it was a great day out here,” Hurts said. “I mean, I know he’s going out there and competing. Got a lot of love for him. I always have. Seems like it was a competitive practice.”
Both men will be in attendance when the Patriots host the Eagles in both teams’ second preseason game on Saturday, but neither is expected to play.
Amazonhas proposedinstalling hundreds of backup natural gas generators for the hyperscale data center it is building in Falls Township, Bucks County, just off the Delaware River.
The generators require permission from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which has green-lighted five other environmental permitsfor the project.
But on Tuesday, Shapiro issued sweeping new guardrails on data centers, including removing Amazon from the state’s fast-track permitting process.
The move was a stark shift from Shapiro’s position on data centers in June 2025, when he championed the Amazon deal as part of a $20 billion Pennsylvania data center investment. Since then, public pushback to data centers has reached a fever pitch.
Tuesday’s announcement raises questions about the DEP’s decision on the Falls Township project, one of the few hyperscale data center developments nearingcompletion in the region to meet the power-hungry computing needs of artificial intelligence.
Robyn Briggs, a DEP spokesperson, said that as of Thursday, the agency’s air quality team was still reviewing the latest permit application for the generators. The process includes a 30-day public comment period that endedMonday. The DEP has not said when it expects to make a decision.
Briggs said that the DEP received 1,236 comments about the permit and that each would be given “equal weight and consideration.”
It was widely expected that many residents had writtento oppose the approval, given the large amount of social media posts on the topic. Nearly 5,000 people have signed a petition calling for a moratorium on data centers in the township.
What the DEP is deciding
Amazon Data Services Inc. is developing a 250-acre campus within the Keystone Trade Center in Falls Township on a site formerly occupied by U.S. Steel.
Amazon plans 2 million square feet of data center space across 10 buildings for cloud computing and AI.
It already has both local and state approvals for the first of two expected phases of the project’s build-out. The DEP requires permits to ensure companies meet state and federal standards when sending pollution into the air or water.
To date, Amazon has been approved for five environmental air and water discharge permits. That includes approval last year for 72 diesel-fired emergency engines.
Amazon has also applied to install 280 natural gas-fired “critical backup generator engines” at 4,287 horsepower each.
It also wants to install three more diesel backup generators.
The generators and pollution
The company says the generators wouldprovide backup power in the event of a main utility power supply interruption and would not be used to meet peak demand.
The generators wouldhave pollution controls to lower nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, including formaldehyde and ammonia, according to the company. Emissions would be restricted to below allowable maximum levels.
The DEP is reviewing public comments before making a decision on Amazon’s permit.
If the permit for the backup generatorsis approved, Amazon would still need additional permitting for a plannedsecond phase of the project.
Shapiro’s new guardrails
Shapiro signed an executive order on Tuesday dramatically restricting data center development in Pennsylvania. He had been an early champion of data center development, including a $20 billion commitment from Amazon to build the Falls Township data center, as well as one in Luzerne County.
Now he is taking a hard-line stance against the industry as proposed projects draw bipartisan backlash. Although his order does not include a moratorium on data center development, it requires local approval for projects to receive state permits, which may block development.
The order removes all data center developments, including those by Amazon, from the fast-track permitting program, and no data centers will be considered for the program moving forward.
The DEP said the governor’s new permit review process would compel all data center projects going forward to enter into consent orders, which are legally binding agreements for environmental requirements, such as wastewater conservation standards.
When Amazon announced plans to build the data center in 2025,Falls Township officials welcomed theproject as a boost to the 1,800-acre Keystone Trade Center being redeveloped by NorthPoint Development on the old steel mill grounds. NorthPoint is working with Amazon.
Shapiro also hailed the data center as a job creator and tax revenue generator.Hesaid his team had worked with Amazon on the deal and would help to garner local support, develop infrastructure, and ensure “our permitting processes move quickly and efficiently.”
Data center opposition
Opposition to data centers has gained critical mass over the last year, with local groups fighting against each proposal. Criticsfear air and noise pollution and the amount of electricity and water the centers would need. The data centers are also the target of a chorus against rising electricity prices, much of which can be attributed to utility companies’ and regional grid operator PJM’s struggle to keep up with the demand for power.
Falls Township has been no different, but its data center is the closest to completion.
After a particularly contentious community meeting in July, the Falls Township Board of Supervisors approved a resolution declaring a portion of a zoning ordinance used for data centers “substantively invalid.” The board said staff would review sections of the ordinance for possible amendment.
“We heard the people,” Falls Supervisor John Palmer said in a statement.
However, the amendment would have no impact on Amazon’s data center, which the township approved in March 2025 before the public announcement with the governor.
Staff writers Jake Blumgart and Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.
Both astronomy and meteorology suggest that it won’t be long before these things decline in frequency, but in the meantime another flash-flood watch is in effect for the Philly region.
A tornado watch also was posted for Philadelphia and the neighboring Pennsylvania counties.
The National Weather Service watch spans from noon Thursday until 2 a.m. Friday, for the potential for rain rates of 2-to-4 inches an hour in areas along I-95 and South Jersey.
And the federal Storm Prediction Center has posted a severe-thunderstorm watch, in effect until 10 p.m., for storms that could kick up gusts approaching 60 mph.
“There could be multiple rounds of heavy rain over urbanized areas,” said Joe Wegman, a meteorologist with the government’s Weather Prediction Center. In advance of the anticipated main events, a blob of light rain moved through the region late Thursday morning.
Also, the federal Storm Prediction Center sees an outside chance of severe-level storms, those with gusts near 60 mph, and a 5% chance of tornadoes in and around Philly.
And those who have not had the good fortune of spending the last two months in heat-free and smokeless environments probably can skip the next paragraph.
The timing, ferocity, rain totals, and targets all remain uncertain.
What is the best estimate on the storm timing in Philly?
The higher-resolution models were suggesting that the likeliest time for storms to arrive in the Philly region would be between 2 and 3 p.m. Thursday, Wegman said.
The worst of it may hold off until 4 or 5 p.m., said Matt Benz, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc.
The storms likely would back off between 6 and 7 p.m., but that timing could disrupt a peak commuting period.
“Why would we conveniently time these things?” Wegman quipped.
“There’s plenty of moisture coming up, and a front approaching from the west,” he said. “If the front stalls, the storms might linger longer than people want them to.”
Plus, renegade storms could race out ahead of the front, setting off precipitation earlier, he added, and that appeared to be case Thursday.
The weather service in Mount Holly said the “greatest risk” for severe storms would be between noon and 10 p.m.
But timing remains one of the most vexing challenges for severe-weather forecasting, says Bill Bunting, deputy director of the storm center, in Norman, Okla.
“I have seen remarkable progress,” said Bunting, who has been at it for 40 years, “but we’re nowhere near perfection. In the end, the science has its limitations.”
The forecast for the weekend and the rest of August
The storm experts have had plenty of practice around here this summer. So far, Philadelphia officially has recorded 21 thunderstorms since June 1, several more than normal.
It has also been a banner summer for smartphone alerts and assorted scare grams.
About 11 inches of rain has been measured at Philadelphia International Airport, roughly four inches above normal, since July 1.
That said, yes, both Chester County and the entire state of New Jersey remain under state-declared drought warnings, with residents asked to conserve water.
And drier times may be coming, or at least a reduced incidence of those late-day thunderstorms, said Brian Hurley, senior branch forecaster with the Weather Prediction Center.
The days are getting shorter, and the sun is losing some of the gas it uses to fuel convective storms, he said.
But all pumpkin spice aside, summer is not quite over, and shower chances are in the forecast into Sunday night.
The Pennsylvania agency that owns Philadelphia’s seaport facilities plans to buy three Navy Yard buildings at the foot of South Broad Street for $22.6 million, as it seeks to relocate its headquarters from Port Richmond.
The board of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (PhilaPort) voted Wednesday to authorize staff to purchase the properties at 5101 and 5115R S. Broad St., which are owned by Delaware-based 5101 South Broad Street Associates L.P., a partnership controlled by the family of the late logistics executive Dennis J. Colgan Jr.
PhilaPort CEO Rich Lazer said in a statement that the goal of moving the authority’s operations to the Navy Yard is “to create a comprehensive maritime campus with the space we need to grow, expand our reach, attract new business, and create more good-paying jobs.”
“This move is an investment in PhilaPort’s long-term growth and in the future of Philadelphia’s maritime industry,” said Lazer, who took the port authority’s top job in June.
Agency documents say the properties — including a 1909 building that was once home to a submarine periscope factory — are currently occupied by tenants under leases that extend through 2028 and 2029. The leases generate $1.8 million in annual rental revenue, according to PhilaPort.
Property records show that as of last year, the tenants included logistics firm Geodis USA Inc. and engineering firm Q.E.D. Systems Inc.
PhilaPort owns marine terminals, warehouses, and other facilities along the Delaware River from Port Richmond to South Philly. Its new headquarters would bring the agency closer to key assets including the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal and Mustin Yard, the rail yard it bought last year with $90 million in state funds.
It wasn’t immediately clear what might happen to PhilaPort’s current headquarters in Port Richmond.
The authority’s board on Wednesday authorized staff to borrow $18 million from First Trust Bank to finance the acquisition. The agency — which is funded by rental revenue it generates from leases with tenants — plans to make a $5 million down payment.
PhilaPort said the $22.6 million purchase price was subject to certain conditions.
The current owner is a limited partnership controlled by Dennis J. Colgan III, a Riverton property manager, and his sister Lisa Colgan Antonucci, according to property records. They couldn’t be reached for comment.
Their father, Colgan Jr., of Moorestown, died in 2024 at 84. He started a customs brokerage in Philadelphia in 1970 with partner Wolf Barth and later bought back Barth’s stock. Barthco International grew into a global logistics company with 700 employees.
Colgan moved his company’s headquarters from Center City to the Navy Yard in 2004, converting the former submarine periscope factory into a 45,000-square-foot office building overlooking the Delaware River.
Colgan’s partnership acquired the 150,000-square-foot property at 5101 S. Broad St. in 2003 for $300,000 from an affiliate of Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. (PIDC), a public-private economic development corporation.
He said at the time that his company spent $10 million purchasing, restoring, and equipping the building.
Colgan sold Barthco to Ozburn-Hessey Logistics in 2006 for $75 million, The Inquirer reported, but retained ownership of the building. OHL was later acquired by Geodis, which now occupies the property.
In 2007, Colgan bought the 80,500-square-foot property at 5115R S. Broad St. for $185,000 from a PIDC affiliate.
Staff writer Jake Blumgart and news researcher Ryan W. Briggs contributed to this article.
I’m talking three days of movies, history, and adventure in honor of National Treasure, the 2004 blockbuster that has Nicholas Cage stealing one of the nations’ most prized founding documents.
I won’t tell you what, when, or where just yet. You will have to scroll down and find out about the details.
Your search may open up other interesting attractions — like Pirate Day at Fort Mifflin, for example.
That’s enough hints. Read below to find a treasure trove of events and attractions happening this week:
“Movies on the Mall” event where National Treasure was screened outdoors in front of Independence Hall, September 22, 2025, in Philadelphia,Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
No, it doesn’t involve stealing the Declaration of Independence. But this weekend, the Independence Visitor Center is dedicating an entire weekend to National Treasure, the 2004 blockbuster starring Nicholas Cage.
The three-day celebration kicks off with Heist Night on Thursday. Guests will team up at Carpenters’ Hall to solve clues, crack ciphers, and locate missing pieces of history.
On Friday, fans can sit in on a live taping of the National Treasure Hunt podcast. Producer and director Jon Turteltaub will tell behind-the-scenes stories from the making of the high-action adventure.
There will also be walking tours of the filming site, self-guided photo hunts, historic district activations, and outdoor screenings of the original movie on Friday and Saturday night.
Members of the Voloshky Ukrainian Dance Ensemble perform during the Ukrainian Folk Festival 2023 at the Tryzub Ukrainian American Sport Center in Horsham, Pa., on Sunday, August 27, 2023.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The best things to do this week
📚 Grab a tote: Hey fellow book nerds — the annual Philly Bookstore Crawl is back. The celebration of the city’s vibrant bookstore scene will offer discounted titles, author signings, and giveaways.
🕺🏽 Rave at Love City Gardens: On Saturday, break out into genre-fluid dance, techno, house, and global club fun at Love City Gardens. This nomadic party series, presented by Hospitality Haus, will feature artists such as Ariel Zatina, HVNLEE, and Sweater.
🇺🇦 A taste of Ukrainian culture: The Ukrainian Independence Folk Festival returns for a celebration of traditional Ukrainian music, food, and crafts from noon to 8 p.m. Children 15 and under enter for free, and every $2 from admission supports humanitarian relief in Ukraine.
🦐 Grab a bib: Who says crayfish (aka crawfish) parties only happened in the Louisiana bayou? Far from it. The Nordic tradition started back in the 1500s, and the American Swedish Historical Museum is putting on a full-on crawfish party this Friday.
Rush performing at the LA Forum in California in June. The band plays Xfinity Mobile Arena on their Fifty Something Tour on Friday and Sunday.Richard Sibbald
Canadian rock band Rush is on tour for the first time in 11 years, and the first without legendary drummer Neil Peart, who died in 2020.
While there was cynicism about the prog-rock band’s return without Peart’s technical proficiency on the sticks, it has since evaporated, writes pop music critic Dan Deluca.
That’s because the band found Anika Nilles, the woman who now sits atop the Rush drum throne.
Nilles has received praise from Rush’s male-dominated audience on the band’s “Fifty Something Tour,” which kicked off at Inglewood’s Kia Forum on June 7.
She and her band mates Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will play two shows at Xfinity Mobile Arena. One on Friday and another on Sunday before jetting to Detroit on Aug. 26.
Avast, there be a “Pirate Day” at Fort Mifflin on Aug. 19.courtesy of the artists
🏴☠️ Ayo, matey!: Apparently, English pirate Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, wrecked port cities along the Delaware River some 300 years ago. Fort Mifflin was built to safeguard 18th-century Philly, and now it’s the site of Pirate Day. Fans of centuries-old piracy can enjoy weapon demos, a treasure hunt, and historical re-enactments.
🎭 A celebration and call to reflection: Stop by Malcolm X Park for a free staging of the playFor Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf. Guests are encouraged to bring their own chairs (BYOC) and soak up the pre-show block-party energy for the Theatre in the X show, running through Sunday.
🥁 Thursdays aren’t so bad after all: It’s Third Thursday at the Navy Yard. The monthly series will once again take place at Chapel Plaza, a 35,000-square-foot outdoor space. This week’s lineup will feature floating food trucks, live music, drink vendors, and more. If you can’t make it on Thursday, don’t fret. The series runs through October.
🎾 Rack up the competition: It may have taken on a new name, but the same top-end competition remains. Professional women’s tennis returns to Philadelphia for the inaugural Ennoble Care Philly Open. The weeklong tournament, formerly known as the Philadelphia Tennis Classic, will see competitors Liudmila Samsonova, Ashlyn Krueger, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, and others duke it out on the court.
Staffer picks
Here’s pop music critic Dan DeLuca’s list of the best concerts this weekend.
🎤 Thursday:Isaiah Rashad is fresh off his fourth album, It’s Been Awful, andis back on the touring circuit. The Chattanooga-raised emcee will hit the Fillmore Philly stage on Thursday.
🎷 Friday:Masego, a global maestro of trap house jazz best known for 2017’s “Tadow,” will perform at the Met Philadelphia in support of his newest album, Fix Your Face.
🎶 Friday and Saturday: Motown queen Diana Ross, whose hits have endeared generations of music fans, is on her “Diana In Motion” tour. She will perform at Atlantic City’s Ocean Casino Resort on Friday, then hit the stage at the Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem on Saturday.
🎸 Saturday: There will be a triple bill of melodic power pop bands, headlined by San Francisco’s Chime School. The group will be joined by Philly’s Hurry and South Jersey’s Te Vista. The show takes place at a South Philly typewriter shop. Yes, that’s right (or write?).
🎼 Tuesday:Esperanza Spalding, the Grammy-winning jazz bassist and composer who bested Justin Bieber for best new artist at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, will perform back-to-back shows at City Winery starting Tuesday.
The 2004 blockbuster ‘Natural Treasure’ was filmed inside Independence Hall. But the film also filmed inside a replica of the landmark building — where?
A) New York City
B) Atlanta
C) Los Angeles
D) Washington DC
Here’s the answer to last week’s question: The Philadelphia Folk Festival is one of the nation’s longest-running folk music festivals. What year did it start? Answer: 1962
Ask Earl anything
Many of you have questions about each week’s listings, and others about Philly’s arts, culture, and entertainment scene.
I have you covered. Have a question? Email me for a chance to have it answered in an upcoming newsletter.
As most fans of mystery and piracy know, “X marks the spot.” Now that you’re here, I hope you found all you need for another incredible summer weekend in Philly. I know I have.
— Earl Hopkins
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
Police are looking for a group of men who used firearms to steal a Lamborghini and a Porsche from an Old City parking garage early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The incident happened around 4:20 a.m. at a garage on the 300 block of Race Street.
Police said the robbery began when two men approached a parking booth with guns and threatened the attendant inside.
They then used a hand tool to crack the window and kick it in, police said. When the attendant fled through the door, one of the men held him up using a semiautomatic handgun.
The other suspect removed two sets of keys from the booth.
Police said the men were last seen leaving the garage in an orange or yellow Lamborghini and a dark gray Porsche.
A third suspect was waiting nearby in a dark-colored vehicle, police said.
The attendant was injured by glass on his left leg and was treated at Pennsylvania Hospital.
Police are investigating and urge anyone with information to submit an anonymous tip by calling 215-686-TIPS (8477).
No matter where he is on the infield, Bryson Stott is only thinking about one thing.
It could be second base, where he started the season, or third, where he’s been playing since the trade deadline. But even back in college and the minor leagues, when Stott was primarily a shortstop, he was only focused on catching and throwing.
“Still an infielder, still on the dirt,” Stott said. “So, just catching and throwing it.”
Maybe that’s what made his transition to the other side of the diamond so seamless after the arrival of Luis Arraez. There was no mindset shift. He didn’t even change gloves. And in 41 attempts at third base, Stott has a 85% success rate, which is 7% higher than the expected success rate on those plays.
“He’s the best,” Arraez said. “He can do everything. He’s one of the best gloves we have.”
He has recorded plus-3 defensive runs saved and plus-3 outs above average at the position.
If fielders could earn a save, Stott would have shared some of the credit alongside Brooks Raley on Tuesday against the Marlins. With the lefty on the mound in the ninth with closer Jhoan Duran unavailable, Stott made two diving plays to bookend the inning.
Stops like those weren’t exactly unusual to see from Stott when he played second, but the longer throw across the diamond after getting back to his feet made them all the more impressive.
Bryson Stott “can do everything. He’s one of the best gloves we have,” said Luis Arraez.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“If it worked like that, yeah,” said Alec Bohm said of Stott getting a save. “But he’s doing great over there. It’s been fun to watch.”
There were a lot of initial questions surrounding the Phillies’ post-deadline defensive shuffle. It was certainly a risk to ask three-quarters of the infield to change positions on the fly, especially when they collectively ranked near the bottom of the league in many defensive categories already.
But interim manager Don Mattingly thinks the current defensive alignment with Bohm at first, Arraez at second, Trea Turner at short, Stott at third, and Bryce Harper moving to right, is the strongest one they’ve had all season.
“I felt like that right away, and I know there was a lot of talk about it, but I felt right away that we were going to be probably better defensively,” Mattingly said. “And we’re a lot more versatile from what we can do during the course of the game.
“Again, I know it’s a lot of moving pieces, and people question what guys can do, but like I think we knew that Bryson had played third. Bohmer, I’ve seen him enough at first. Bryce has played the outfield. I feel like we’re better like this.”
To be clear, it was a low bar. For the first four months of the season before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, Phillies defenders had a minus-13 fielding run value, a StatCast metric that attempts to measure how many runs a team has been cost or saved due to its defense.
Shortstop Trea Turner (left) says communication has been key to adjusting to a new double play partner in second baseman Luis Arraez (right).Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
But since Aug. 3, they have a plus-four FRV.
There are a lot of contributing factors to their success. Bohm made a handful of early errors at first base soon after the switch. But in general, Mattingly — who knows a thing or two about playing first — thinks that the larger target Bohm provides with his 6-foot-4 frame helps the rest of the infield when they’re throwing to him.
Arraez has continued the defensive resurgence that he began in San Francisco earlier this season. In previous stops, defense had never really been his calling card. With the Padres from 2024-25, he was moved to first base and designated hitter.
Part of the reason Arraez signed with the Giants in the first place last winter was because they gave him an opportunity to return to second base. And after working with the Giants’ highly-regarded infield coach Ron Washington, Arraez has posted a plus-9 FRV at second this year.
He has taken to working with Phillies infield coach Bobby Dickerson just as well. Arraez heard glowing reports of Dickerson’s work from both Washington and his former San Diego teammate Manny Machado, who has known Dickerson since he was 16.
“Really good energy, beautiful energy that he brings,” Arraez said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “And we’re lucky to have him.”
The 6-foot-4 Alec Bohm (right) provides a bigger target to throw to at first base than Bryce Harper, who has moved to right field. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Turner, who has been the Phillies’ worst fielder this season with 18 errors at shortstop, has also shown improvement. None of those errors have come since the rest of the infield was rearranged around him, and in that span he has also posted a plus-2 FRV.
He’s been making his own adjustments, from working on not setting up too early on grounders to recently trying out a longer glove that he actually borrowed from Stott. But underpinning it all is Stott himself. His range at the position helps cover some balls in the six-hole that Bohm might have ceded to Turner.
“Stott plays a little bit different third base than Bohmer,” Turner said. “And I feel like in the last like week, Stott’s gotten a couple balls where I thought I was getting them, and you know maybe Bohmer would have let me get them, and then Stott’s made the play.”
Communication has been key with it all, Turner said, both with those plays and with Arraez, now that he has a new double play partner. He learned quickly that Arraez’s feeds to second are a little harder than Stott’s, and has adjusted to that.
“We do enough ground balls that I feel like we got them pretty fast,” Turner said.
This rearrangement is intended to be temporary. Arraez was brought in as a rental on an expiring deal, and Bohm is also a pending free agent. Harper expects to return to first base next season, and when he does, the rest of the infield could look completely different once again.
Shortstop Trea Turner (right) says the range at third base of Bryson Stott (left) has been a change from Alec Bohm.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Stott, who will be 29 in October, is under club control through 2027, and the versatility he’s showing now could give the Phillies flexibility when they shape next year’s infield. When Arraez arrived, Stott said it didn’t matter to him where he’s playing, he just goes where he’s told.
“I wasn’t really worried about him at all,” Mattingly said, “but he’s been really, really good. I’d say he’s probably better than anyone should expect, for a guy that hadn’t been over there that much.”
Because no matter what position he’s playing, this year or in the future, Stott is just going to be worried about one thing: catching the ball and throwing it.
Extra bases
The Phillies claimed right-handed pitcher Andrew Hoffmann off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks and optioned him to triple-A Lehigh Valley. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, Felix Reyes was recalled and placed on the 60-day injured list with a right wrist fracture. In eight major league games this season as a reliever, Hoffmann, 26, had a 7.71 ERA.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said on social media that the carrier arrived in the region Wednesday. It was not clear when the USS Abraham Lincoln would arrive back in the U.S. or whether it would make a port stop along the way, but the journey takes just over a month.
The Washington arrived as concerns have grown about the Lincoln’s lengthy deployment, which has included a record-setting uninterrupted time at sea of more than 250 days, and about reports of crew stress and poor mental health, as well as supply shortages, including food and hygiene products.
Several Democratic lawmakers have pressed the Department of Defense for accountability over conditions aboard the Lincoln, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said were “completely misrepresented.”
Hegseth spoke with the Lincoln’s crew last week, and Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, visited this past weekend. In an editorial published Sunday by The Wall Street Journal, Cooper said the crew “delivered a performance for the ages, and now you are going home.”
Extended deployments of carriers wear on service members who are away from home for long periods and increase strain on the ship and its equipment. While renewed hostilities between the U.S. and Iran calmed in recent weeks, the Navy is enforcing a reimposed blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz, and the Trump administration has offered no clarity on how it intends to wind down the war.
Hegseth has said the U.S. can maintain the blockade “indefinitely.”
President Donald Trump this week downplayed reports about conditions on the Lincoln, which left its homeport in San Diego in November and arrived in the Middle East in January. Trump called the nearly nine months at sea that the sailors endured a “good period of time” but added that “over the years, we’ve had them out there much longer.”
Trump told reporters Monday that he spoke with a retired admiral over the weekend who recounted being on ships for “much longer.” Trump said the admiral assured him that the Lincoln is “beautifully maintained and beautifully taken care of.” Trump did not name the admiral.
In a statement Sunday after visiting the Lincoln, Cooper praised the carrier’s leaders for prioritizing mental health and resilience.
“History will record this deployment as one of the most operationally intense and consequential of the modern era,” Cooper said.
The Washington joins the USS George H.W. Bush in the Middle East, leaving Asia without an American carrier strike group at a time when China has shown more signs of aggression.
The lack of a U.S. carrier in the Pacific may be short-lived if the Navy deploys another in the next couple of months. But it shows how the open-ended operations with Iran are running some American sailors ragged, analysts say, while the Trump administration further retreats from the Asia-Pacific region and focuses on the Western Hemisphere.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro will host the opening match and the final of the women’s World Cup next year, FIFA announced Thursday.
Brazil is the first South American nation to host the tournament and will play in the opener on June 24 against a to-be-determined opponent in the 73,000 seat Maracanã, which also hosted the 2014 men’s World Cup final.
The hosts also will play in São Paulo and Brasília during the group phase of the 32-team competition spread across eight Brazilian cities.
The Maracanã is one of soccer’s most iconic venues, having hosted the decisive match of the 1950 men’s World Cup, with Uruguay crowned champions after beating the hosts, 2-1. In the final of the 2014 edition, Germany lifted its fourth title after a 1-0 extra-time win against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
So far, only Sweden’s Rasunda Stadium and California’s Rose Bowl have hosted both the men’s and women’s World Cup finals.
Spain is the defending champion. Brazil has never won the title.
He had received an email from WHYY’s Terry Gross, herself, asking to be interviewed on NPR’s Fresh Air.
“It was so articulate and so like her,” the writer told the Hollywood Reporter. She laid out talking points and a run of show, according to Vilanch. “It felt real.”
But when Vilanch jumped on their scheduled video call, Gross was nowhere to be found. It finally dawned on Vilanch: He had been scammed. And he was not alone.
A recent string of scams and catfish-style attempts targeting stars and other media personalities are using Philly’s own Gross as the bait. Vilanch says he was the latest victim.
“If somebody claiming to be Terry Gross contacts you for an interview, it is a scam,” the comedian said in a Facebook post last week. He encouraged other potential victims to contact NPR and WHYY.
Online forums reveal a number of recent catfishing attempts involving someone purporting to be Gross.
“These impersonation scams are increasingly common,” said Siwei Lyu, digital media forensics expert and director of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. “Authors are a particularly attractive target because an unexpected invitation from a prominent host or podcast can seem both flattering and plausible.”
It is unclear if one person is behind all of the Fresh Air-centered fraud or if multiple impostors are responsible. Lyu says scam scripts and techniques are easily shared, adapted, and copied, “so the same premise can be used by many unrelated actors.”
On a Facebook group for authors, a writer posted in July about being approached by Fresh Air and asked to donate money. Months earlier, psychologist Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, said he was similarly approached by “Terry Gross” via a fake Gmail account as part of a scam targeting authors.
I am targeted by several publishing scams a week, promoting book clubs, reading groups, influencers, publicity campaigns, list placers… all using AI-generated bullet points flattering my books. Yesterday it was "Terry Gross" (with a gmail, not https://t.co/5mhqQcYHlC email… https://t.co/uBFuvSQ5Wi
In Vilanch’s case, he said “Gross” asked him for money to support NPR’s nonprofit public radio efforts amid government cuts. He told the Hollywood Reporter that he thought the request was odd, but that enough credibility within the email chain had been established. So he went for it.
From there, the scammers prepped him for Fresh Air, sending interview questions and scheduling their virtual interview. When the big day arrived, Vilanch was greeted by two video boxes: a screen that read “NPR,” and one with a man who identified himself as “Mike,” the new interviewer. When Vilanch eventually bailed, he sent a final message, according to the Hollywood Reporter: “Whoever you are, I hope you enjoy the paltry sum that I sent.”
Then he reached out to NPR and WHYY. WHYY confirmed it was aware of the scams and investigating.
“WHYY, NPR and Fresh Air with Terry Gross & Tonya Mosley are aware of fraudulent emails in which individuals have impersonated Terry and members of the Fresh Air team attempting to deceive potential guests,” the news organization said in a statement. “As the article in The Hollywood Reporter mentions, other programs and podcasts have also been the subject of these scams.”
The Fresh Air situation is one of several podcast/radio scams targeting Hollywood. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Broadway actor Seth Rudetsky was targeted by a scammer posing as Nikki Glaser who solicited a podcast interview in exchange for a fee. Later, Rudetsky also received an invitation from someone supposedly working on Amy Poehler’s podcast, Good Hang.
In addition to money, some of the scams also target the victim’s social media accounts or login credentials.
Sportswriter Jemele Hill said someone once lied and claimed to be booking her for a new Facebook show hosted by Rob Dyrdek of Ridiculousness. She handed over her Facebook credentials. It took weeks to get them back, she wrote in an X post. “It’s a very sophisticated operation.”
In April, figure skater and personality Adam Rippon told a story on his podcast about being similarly catfished by someone purporting to be on Katie Couric’s podcast via Facebook Live. The follow-through scammed him out of his own Facebook credentials.
“I know I made a grave error,” he said. His Facebook account was ultimately suspended.
A spokesperson for WHYY added that Fresh Air cohost Tonya Mosley has been the named catfish in similar scams, imploring would-be guests to send money in exchange for a radio slot. As a nonprofit organization, WHYY says, it never requests payment for interviews, nor does it pay guests to be interviewed on any of its programs.
“Any communication asking a prospective guest to pay a fee — or offering payment for an interview while claiming to represent WHYY or Fresh Air — should be treated as suspicious,” the statement said.
It is unclear if any of the scams are connected. What they all have in common, though, is their apparent leverage of a celebrity figure along with heavy use of AI to capture the alleged host’s voice and flatter victims with deep-cut knowledge about their work. Lyu said generative AI’s rise in popularity and usage makes hoaxes like this even easier, allowing scammers to quickly personalize messages and operate at a greater scale.
“The technology is new, but the underlying strategy is classic social engineering,” Lyu said. “Establish trust through a recognizable identity, then use that trust to obtain money or account credentials.”
WHYY said it is concerned about its own brand and credibility being used in this case.
“We take the misuse of our journalists’ and programs’ names seriously and are concerned that scammers are exploiting the trust audiences and guests place in Fresh Air,”WHYY said. “We are working with law enforcement to address the situation.”
