A historic summer for soccer in the United States was capped off Sunday with one more record broken, as 66.4 million Americans watched Spain’s title win over Argentina.
The audience showed up despite the game ending in a 1-0 score including extra time. Ferran Torres had the breakthrough in the 106th of what proved to be 140 minutes of game clock, counting all the stoppage time.
Fox reported an audience of 42.5 million for its English-language broadcast, a new high for a soccer audience on a single channel. Telemundo’s audience of 23.9 million also set a record for the biggest viewership of a soccer game in Spanish.
¡¡¡GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL DE ESPAÑAAAAAAAAAA!!! ¡¡¡FERRAN TORRES!!! ¡¡¡GOL HISTÓRICO!!!
El jugador de Barcelona la manda a guardar y le está dando la Copa del Mundo a La Roja.
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 19, 2026
With the book now closed on the tournament, the big-picture view shows how much the world’s game broke through in America this summer.
A remarkable 63 games of 104 drew over 10 million viewers combined between Fox and Telemundo. Before this World Cup, 42 all-time broadcasts had topped that mark, according to data compiled by The Inquirer over the years. Thirty-one games of this World Cup drew over 15 million viewers; 18 over 20 million; 11 over 25 million; and five over 30 million.
Those five were the Norway-England quarterfinal (34.796 million); U.S.-Bosnia (36.195 million) and Mexico-England (46.690 million) in the round of 16; the U.S.-Belgium quarterfinal (50.125 million); and the final.
The top nine soccer broadcasts of all time in the U.S. were recorded this summer, as were 11 of the top 15 and 14 of the top 20. Each of the new entries involved at least one of the U.S., Mexico, Lionel Messi’s Argentina, star-studded England, or historic power Brazil — the last of which was playing another star in Erling Haaland’s Norway.
The big crowd at Philadelphia’s World Cup fan fest for one of the U.S. games.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Take it out to the top 25 all-time, and 18 of them came this summer. Of the four additions, three had France, with Kylian Mbappé among many big names; and the fourth was Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal facing Luka Modrić’s Croatia in the round of 32.
All these big numbers will not be lost on the networks, their advertisers, or likely the teams themselves. Some of them already knew how popular they’d be in this country, and the rest came to learn it.
Before this World Cup, the most-watched soccer game in U.S. history was the 2014 men’s final, which drew 27,314,274 viewers across ABC, Univision, and their respective streaming platforms. It now stands as No. 8.
The English-only record had stood since the 2015 women’s World Cup final, 25.632 million viewers for the U.S. ending its 16-year title drought in time zone-friendly Canada. The prior Spanish record was the 2014 men’s final, which became the first of Messi’s three title games.
It was no surprise that Lionel Messi’s Argentina was one of the biggest TV draws in this World Cup.Rebecca Blackwell
When will these records be challenged again? That’s a big question around the sport. The next two women’s World Cups are in Brazil and the U.S., which opens the door for big audiences, but their broadcast rights here are currently held by Netflix. The streaming giant has not yet agreed to any sublicensing deal to put some games on traditional television, and there haven’t been any hints about whether it will.
FIFA hasn’t done broadcast deals for the 2030 or 2034 tournaments, and now is racing to try to cash in. But it might struggle.
The 2030 tournament will be held in Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, with a game each in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay to celebrate the men’s World Cup’s 100th birthday.
The 2034 tournament will be held in Saudi Arabia. It’s likely to be moved to the winter to escape the Middle East’s summer heat, as the 2022 edition in Qatar was. But that would again put games in the middle of the American football season instead of on their own summer stage.
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office is investigating ties between one of DA Larry Krasner’s top advisers and a man serving life in prison after prosecutors learned that the official sent the man money years ago and did not disclose it.
G. Lamar Stewart, chief of external engagement and government affairs in the DA’s office, said he sent $100 to Anthony Sutton in January 2021 to support Sutton’s mentorship program, “Mann Up,” for men incarcerated at State Correctional Institute Phoenix.
Sutton, 61, who is serving life in prison for killing a man in Germantown in 1984, has been appealing his conviction for more than a decade.
The issue came to light last week, after the prosecutors assigned to Sutton’s appeal were reviewing his prison records and noticed that Stewart was among those who had sent Sutton money in recent years.
The records showed Stewart did so only once, Krasner said.
The payment raised concerns, in part because Stewart had organized and participated in meetings between Sutton’s defense attorney, Krasner, and prosecutors about the case, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Krasner’s office has opposed Sutton’s appeal and said his profession of innocence lacked merit.
When the prosecutors discovered the payment, it was quickly brought to the attention of Krasner, who then asked his office’s special investigation unit to investigate, according to multiple sources familiar with the case. The inquiry remains ongoing.
Stewart, who is also senior pastor of Taylor Memorial Baptist Church in Nicetown-Tioga, was working as the head of the office’s community engagement unit at the time of the donation. In an interview, he said he used his own money to support Sutton’s program as part of the faith-based charitable work he does to assist families and community organizations across the region every holiday season.
“I thought that the work that they were doing was positive, transformative, and it was geared to helping reduce violence in Philadelphia and to make communities and families whole,” he said.
He said he did not know of any way to reach the organization other than to send it through Sutton directly. “I was very intentional to make sure that my name was listed because when you’re not trying to hide anything, you just do things above the board,” he said.
District Attorney Larry Krasner (left) and G Lamar Stewart, head of the Community Engagement and Government Affairs at the DA’s Office, outside the President’s House in Independence National Historical Park in February 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
During a brief hearing in Sutton’s case on Monday, Assistant District Attorney David Napiorski, supervisor of the office’s law division, told Common Pleas Court Judge Giovanni O. Campbell that his attorneys needed additional time to investigate Sutton’s case after they found that someone in the office had put “money on the defendant’s books in prison.”
“That needs to be investigated by the office thoroughly before we can take any further action,” Napiorski told the judge.
Stewart said he did not try to influence the outcome of the appeal or advocate for Sutton. He acknowledged that he attended at least one meeting about Sutton’s case, but said his job requires him to coordinate and attend meetings with Krasner.
Krasner said that he saw no issue with Stewart’s donation or subsequent participation in meetings, and that his office’s inquiry and prosecutors’ comment in court Monday “establishes integrity.”
“G. Lamar Stewart gave a small amount of money for an organization … and then this office decided to oppose Mr. Sutton’s request. Where’s the issue?” he asked.
He added: “Any rock we haven’t flipped yet, we will flip. Preliminarily, it seems quite clear that this was a donation given for a completely legitimate purpose.”
Sutton did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent through a messaging app for people in prison. His attorney, Jason Javie, said Tuesday that he did not know anything about Stewart’s payment to Sutton and declined to discuss the matter further.
“My focus is 110% on the exoneration of Mr. Sutton,” he said.
The revelation comes amid mounting scrutiny over Krasner’s office’s handling of post-conviction matters. In a forceful ruling last month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said Krasner’s office had a pattern of misleading judges when seeking to overturn old murder convictions.
Last week, in a separate, controversial federal appellate case, a former assistant district attorney in Krasner’s office said prosecutors were “colluding” with defense attorneys to find the most effective way to have the murder conviction thrown out. And then, on Monday, in a striking court filing in that same contentious case, two supervisors in the law division said Krasner had instructed them to litigate the matter in a way that would “protect the office.”
And now, the office is investigating a case connected to Stewart, who has worked in the DA’s office since 2019 and is one of Krasner’s most trusted advisers.
District Attorney Larry Krasner at a press conference in May, denouncing criticism of his office leveled by Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Stewart, who is paid $154,500 annually, oversees the office’s community engagement, public affairs, and communications strategies, and acts as a conduit between Krasner and other public officials. Since Robert Listenbee retired as first assistant district attorney in January, Krasner has not named a successor — and several prosecutors say Stewart, who is not a lawyer, has effectively absorbed parts of that job. He often helps coordinate sensitive matters in cases, including relocating victims and witnesses.
He is respected by many in city government and across the community. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, speaking at Krasner’s inauguration ceremony in January, mentioned Stewart as one of the office’s most essential staffers.
“District Attorney Krasner, as a moment of personal privilege, I want you to know that G. Lamar Stewart is one of the most committed, committed, committed members of your team in engaging in community outreach, and he represents you well, sir,” she said to applause.
Stewart, born and raised in Germantown and North Philadelphia, served in the U.S. Army and worked for the Philadelphia Police Department before joining Krasner’s team in 2019. At his church, he runs a nonprofit called Taylor Made Opportunities that offers job support and mentorship to young men in the neighborhood, and supports families of homicide victims.
Stewart said he donates to community organizations, and provides meals, Christmas gifts, and other means of support to crime victims’ families each year, using his personal money.
He does not typically disclose those donations to the DA’s office, he said, and it has never been a problem.
“My Christian faith is rooted in giving, in love, in showing up for the least of these, showing up for those who have been harmed, for showing up for those who are trying to rehabilitate and be accountable for the harm they caused to bring healing to our community,” he said. “For anyone to suggest that me giving through a faith lens, in the interest of good for community, is problematic for me, that is an infringement upon my faith tradition and my religious rights.”
Krasner said he did not think it was necessary for Stewart — or other employees in the office — to disclose donations.
“I don’t know that it makes sense to require 700 employees, especially if they’re doing so on a faith basis, to disclose everyone they give donations to,” he said. “It’s certainly something we could think about.”
In Stewart’s case, his money went to support a program run by Sutton, better known as Benny Doo, who was sentenced to life in prison after a jury convicted him of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Richard Berry in the Pelham section of Germantown in December 1984. In the early 1980s, prosecutors said, Berry hired Sutton and other members of his crew, called the “Ghostbusters,” to retrieve jewelry that had been stolen from him, and agreed to pay with “a few ounces of blow and a couple thousand dollars.”
Berry never paid up, and after he started avoiding Sutton and his crew, Sutton killed him, prosecutors said.
But Sutton said prosecutors violated his right to a fair trial when they failed to turn over police documents — including polygraph results and police interviews with several witnesses — to his defense attorney. One man who testified at trial has also since come forward to recant his testimony.
Prosecutors, in a court filing in May, said Sutton failed to show how those issues could have changed the outcome of his trial. His appeal, prosecutors wrote, was untimely and lacked merit.
A 15-year-old boy was struck and killed by a CSX freight train late Monday night in Northeast Philadelphia.
Abdusalom Babaev, who was identified by police Tuesday evening, had been reported missing on Sunday from his home in the city’s Bustleton section.
Babaev was walking south along the railroad tracks near the 1500 block of Grant Avenue near his home when he was hit at 11:19 p.m., according to CSX. No crew onboard the train were injured.
The Philadelphia Police Department responded to the area at 11:30 p.m. for a report of a train striking a pedestrian. Officers’ initial investigation indicated that a CSX train, operated by a 55-year-old man, was traveling north at a “normal operating speed” under dark conditions and limited visibility when the conductor saw Babaev walking along the tracks.
According to police, the conductor immediately initiated emergency braking in an attempt to avoid crashing into the boy, but was unable to stop the train in time.
Babaev was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:44 p.m. by the Philadelphia Fire Department. His body was transported to the city Medical Examiner’s Office for further investigation.
“CSX extends its deepest sympathies to everyone impacted by this tragic incident and will support local law enforcement as they complete the investigation,” a CSX spokesperson said.
Staff writer Robert Moran contributed to this article.
The forward posted on social media that he attended the World Cup Final in New Jersey on Sunday. That came four days after he became the highest-paid Flyer in annual average value.
Zegras signed a four-year, $36.5 million extension with an AAV of $9.125 million on July 15 after filing for salary arbitration on July 5. The contract avoided a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, which he is happy about.
“I think I just had a lot of fun being at the rink and being around the guys,” he said when asked why the Flyers became a fit after just one season during a Zoom session on Tuesday. “ … I find it lucky to be surrounded by so many amazing people, from like the guys to the coaching staff to Danny [Brière, the Flyers general manager] and [president Keith Jones], Dan Hilferty, the [governor].
“So, I found that it was just a very good situation for me mentally, and it was a lot of fun on the ice, too.”
Zegras is now locked up for several years, alongside a strong core of players, including defensemen Jamie Drysdale, who signed a four-year contract Friday, Cam York, and Travis Sanheim; forwards Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett, Tyson Foerster, and Christian Dvorak; and goalie Dan Vladař.
Comfortable playing wing or center — he skated down the middle in the playoffs, which he said gave him confidence — Zegras is projected to be the top-line center for the Flyers this season.
His offseason work involves getting bigger and stronger to help in the faceoff circle — he has won just 38.9% of his draws across 349 NHL regular-season games with the Flyers and Anaheim Ducks — and a bit more skating in August, given the shorter training camp and preseason on the horizon.
Last year, Trevor Zegras took part in the Shoulder Check Showcase in Connecticut. The event raises money and awareness for mental health.Jackie Spiegel
First, there is one more date circled on the calendar for Zegras in July. On July 30, he will join other NHLers in the Fourth Annual Shoulder Check Showcase at the Martire Family Arena on Sacred Heart University’s campus in Fairfield, Conn. The puck drops at 6:30 p.m., the game will be televised on NHL Network, and “Gritty’s coming, so I’m pretty fired up about that,” Zegras said.
But the charity game, the premier event for the HT40 Foundation, is secondary to the meaning and importance of it.
Created in 2023, the HT40 Foundation rose from tragedy. Hayden Thorsen, who wore No. 40 and was a goalie for the Junior Rangers in the Mid Fairfield Youth Hockey Association, died by suicide at the age of 16. The foundation and the game honor his memory.
“[Rob Thorsen, Hayden’s father’s] basic premise was like, ‘Who’s Hayden?’ And for him, Hayden was that kid, the guy who was always checking on his buddies,” Gary Zegras, Trevor’s father, told The Inquirer.
“If you look at pictures of Hayden, he’s always got his arms around his buddy’s shoulders.
“And so Rob’s idea was just really born out of who Hayden was, which was the guy that would ask you how you’re doing, what’s going on, arm around your shoulder, always had a smile … that simple, just act of kindness.”
Last year, Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale participated in the Shoulder Check event held at a sold-out Terry Conners Rink in Stamford, Conn. Flyers mascot Gritty is expected to be at the 2026 edition.Jackie Spiegel
Trevor, a Bedford, N.Y., native, also grew up playing for the Connecticut-based organization. His father, who has been with the association for more than 20 years, is the vice president and coaches a pee-wee team. He is also on the board and the secretary for the HT40 Foundation.
“I think the message is good because it’s something, as hockey players and athletes, we can all kind of relate to and get behind, and that would be checking in on each other,” Trevor said.
“You never know what somebody’s going through on a day-to-day basis, and maybe your phone call or your text is the reason why maybe they turn the corner for whatever reason. So it’s a pretty inspiring game, and I’m lucky that I got a lot of buddies that come and play in it.”
The Shoulder Check initiative was created to raise mental health awareness and encourage people to reach out to, and check in with, one another. Although the event includes a hockey game, the message intends to reach beyond the sports world to broader communities, including schools, community centers, and places of worship.
“Ten years ago, 20 years ago … you weren’t supposed to talk about that kind of stuff,” Gary Zegras said. “But you can talk about your feelings. You can ask your friends, how they’re doing. You can make sure that they’re doing OK. You can put your arm around their shoulder. It’s just so important that the younger kids see that so that something like what happened with Hayden doesn’t happen again.
“I just think these guys are role models in their world, and listen, not everybody in the country or the world knows who these NHL players are, right? In our world they’re everybody, but you know the reality is not everybody knows who they are. So while it’s a great starting point for the message, we’re doing everything to get the message out.”
Fans will be able to get autographs, interact with and watch NHLers including Zegras, former Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere and goalie Alex Lyon, San Jose Sharks forward Will Smith, Seattle Kraken forward Matty Beniers, and Ottawa Senators forward Shane Pinto. Everyone in attendance will pledge before the puck drops to “Reach Out. Check In. Make Contact.”
“Yeah, I’m a big phone-call guy,” Trevor Zegras said when asked how he reaches out. “So whether I’m driving or doing whatever, I like to check in, calling people, and seeing their face, seeing how they’re doing.”
Now that Philadelphia has wrapped up one of its busiest summers in sports — the area hosted the PGA Championship, MLB All-Star festivities, and FIFA World Cup games — we can finally take a breath, Philadelphia Stadium can again be known as Lincoln Financial Field, and Philly sports fans can turn their full attention toward the Eagles.
And with training camp starting next week, there still are several concerns surrounding the Super Bowl LIX champions. Here’s everything the national media is saying about the Birds entering training camp:
Is Jalen Hurts a top-10 quarterback?
ESPN recently asked league executives, coaches, and scouts to rank NFL players by position. Eight Eagles made their respective top 10s: Saquon Barkley (running back), Quinyon Mitchell (cornerback), Cooper DeJean (cornerback), Jalen Carter (defensive tackle), Jordan Davis (defensive tackle), Jordan Mailata (offensive tackle), Lane Johnson (offensive tackle), and Zack Baun (off-ball linebacker).
But a major name didn’t make his list — Super Bowl LIX MVP Jalen Hurts. Hurts was beaten out by the likes of Dak Prescott, Drake Maye, Jared Goff, and Caleb Williams for a spot on the list.
Hurts was honorable mention along with Baker Mayfield, Trevor Lawrence, Brock Purdy, and Jayden Daniels. And this isn’t the first time he’s been snubbed in rankings — he was No. 9 in last year’s ESPN rankings and wasn’t even mentioned in SB Nation’s top 10 list.
Despite ESPN not naming Hurts a top 10 quarterback, former NFL linebacker Manti Te’o has faith that fans will see an even better player under center this season — especially under new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion.
“Jalen Hurts is at his best when Saquon, in 2024, was running crazy. When he was almost about to break Eric Dickerson’s record, when he was jumping over people backward,” said Te’o, who’s now a host on the NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. “That is when Jalen Hurts is at his best. Sean Mannion is going to go back to that. Sean Mannion’s going to put Jalen Hurts under center and he’s going to hand the ball off to Saquon Barkley. And guess what’s going to happen after that? He’s going to do what Jalen Hurts does best. And that’s get Jalen outside of the pocket and throw the ball deep down field.”
Leaning on running back Saquon Barkley will help improve Jalen Hurts’ game and the Eagles’ offense, overall, Manti Te’o argues.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The Eagles offense finished 24th in total offense, averaging 311.2 yards per game. The team made a number of changes on that side of the ball entering this season, including hiring Mannion and trading away wide receiver A.J. Brown.
“I also think that having the departure of A.J. Brown could be a good thing for Jalen Hurts,” Te’o said. “Sometimes having a crutch in a wide receiver one limits a quarterback from being an actual quarterback.
“When you have schemes and plays that are designed specifically to have to go to somebody, it doesn’t give Jalen Hurts the opportunity to be like, ‘Man, let me look at what the defense is actually giving me.’ … I think that Jalen Hurts’ best football is ahead of him, and it could be ahead of him, and should be with someone like Sean Mannion at the helm.”
"I think that Jalen Hurts' best football is ahead of him"
According to ESPN analyst Mina Kimes, Lemon will be a perfect fit for an Eagles offense without Brown.
“I think DeVonta Smith takes more of the A.J. Brown usage, in terms of becoming more of a threat along the perimeter,” Kimes said. “But Makai Lemon is going to be really important because he fills a lot of the gaps that were pretty noticeable last year in the Eagles offense and have been for a while — specifically quick completions against zone coverage and yards after the catch.
“And I know that doesn’t sound super sexy to fantasy managers or people who think about A.J. Brown. But it is so important … to keeping that offense running on time and making it more efficient.”
"He fills a lot of the gaps that were pretty noticeable last year."
With all the questions surrounding the offense, former NFL defensive end Chris Canty believes the Eagles defense will be what leads them to another Super Bowl.
“The Eagles, when they go to Super Bowls, they have a top-two defense,” Canty said on ESPN’s First Take. “And if we’re going to establish the identity for this team, if we’re going to have a defining characteristic, I think the part that gets ignored is what that side of the ball does.
“If they want to continue to be a team that contends for titles, defense is going to have to be what wins the day.”
"The defining characteristic of this Eagles team, during this championship window, has been the defense."
Every year, players vote on the best 100 players in the league. The NFL has revealed Nos. 51-100. No Eagles players have been listed, but two former Eagles have made the cut: Brown and Josh Sweat.
Brown is No. 80, falling 51 spots from last year’s No. 29 ranking. Sweat is No. 78, improving from last year’s No. 95 ranking.
Bryan De La Cruz was eating at Brazilian steakhouse Fogo de Chão on Monday when he got a call from triple-A Lehigh Valley manager Chris Adamson.
Adamson told De La Cruz that he was heading back to the major leagues. The right-handed-hitting outfielder was officially activated on Tuesday, with catcher Garrett Stubbs placed on the 10-day injured list due to left wrist inflammation as a corresponding move.
De La Cruz has plenty of prior major league experience. Since 2021, he’s played 491 major league games for three teams. But since getting designated for assignment by the Yankees last July, he hasn’t found a foothold.
“I just want to thank God, mainly,” he said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “We just have to keep the faith up and just believe and keep going. Keep advancing, keep moving on, and it doesn’t matter how hard it gets. … You can always make it back up, and you just have to believe and be thankful for the opportunity to be here.”
De La Cruz signed a minor-league contract with the Phillies in the winter and was in big league camp this season. There, he reunited with Jesús Luzardo, with whom he spent time on the Marlins, and befriended some other players like pitcher Cristopher Sánchez.
Over 84 games in triple A, De La Cruz hit .269 with an .806 OPS, and played primarily left field along with stints in right field and as the designated hitter.
Bryan de la Cruz, shown during spring training, primarily played left field for triple A Lehigh Valley.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
It’s no secret how much the Phillies’ right-handed hitters have struggled this season. As a collective, they have a .217 batting average and .633 OPS, both of which rank dead last in baseball among right-handers. While Trea Turner has recently started to heat up, with four homers in his last four games, the Phillies need more production from that side of the plate.
“I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t up to date with what the team was doing here at the big league level, but my focus was and is always going to be to focus on where I’m at,” De La Cruz said. “Down in the minors, that was my main focus, just trying to perform and trying to help where I was. And now I’m here, and I’ll try to do the same.”
De La Cruz was recalled as a reinforcement before the Phillies are expected to face two consecutive left-handed starters. The Dodgers’ Justin Wrobleski started Tuesday, while Eric Lauer is lined up to start Wednesday’s series finale.
In triple A, De La Cruz has a .313 average in 48 at-bats against left-handers with three doubles and two homers.
“I’m going to be here for everyone, and for the team, and whatever they want me to contribute in, I will do that,” he said. “I’ll just try and do what I can do, and what I do best. But any way that the team wants me, I’ll just be there and try to perform.”
Stubbs, as the third catcher on the roster, made just 20 appearances, including nine starts, since his contract was selected on April 22. His last two appearances — July 6 in Kansas City and July 10 in Detroit — came as a pitcher in blowouts.
In 28 total at-bats, Stubbs has a .179 batting average.
Extra bases
Aaron Nola (3-7, 5.68 ERA) is scheduled to start the series finale against Lauer (4-5, 4.81).
Severe storms were moving through the Philadelphia region Tuesday, bringing with them the potential for flooding and tornadoes.
The National Weather Service office in Mount Holly issued a flash flood warning for the area that was slated to be in effect through 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, as thunderstorms and heavy showers made their way to the region. Forecasters had predicted potentially unsettled weather that was expected to bring “several rounds” of rain.
“Even the first round we get could result in flooding,” said Paul Fitzsimmons, lead meteorologist at the weather service’s Mount Holly office. “With successive rounds, that results in an increased threat.”
The idea, Fitzsimmons added, is that once the ground is saturated with rain, the precipitation from future rounds of rain will have few places, if any, to go.
On Tuesday afternoon, the weather service also issued a tornado watch for the Philadelphia region and beyond. That tornado watch, which the weather service said applies to parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, and Connecticut, is in effect through 9 p.m. Tuesday.
The tornado watch impacts more than 32 million people, and covers possible tornados, scattered, ping pong ball-sized hail, and wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour, according to the weather service.
Additional, more organized rounds of rain were expected to arrive later in the day, with multiple storms potentially hitting the region into the overnight period, according to the weather service. Rainfall rates could push into the neighborhood of one to two inches per hour at times.
The most severe weather, which could bring damaging winds, hail, and a possible tornado, was expected to arrive between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Fitzsimmons said.
Tuesday saw high temperatures in the 80s, but with very high humidity to start out. The storms were expected to alleviate some of that humidity, opening the way for cooler, drier days to come later this week.
It is not uncommon for weather setups to arrive with similar impacts in this way, Fitzsimmons said. It is, however, hard to say how long those patterns might last.
“There is something to the idea where you can get into patterns that repeat themselves,” he said.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn’s company is selling Pep Boys, the Philadelphia-founded auto service chain, to private equity-backed Mavis Tire Express Services for $700 million in cash, the parties said Tuesday.
Icahn’s publicly traded company, Icahn Enterprises LP, will keep owned real estate as well as Montgomery County-based Aamco Transmissions and Precision Tune Auto Care businesses.
Founded more than a century ago by Navy veterans Emanuel Rosenfeld, Maurice L. Strauss, W. Graham “Jack” Jackson, and Moe Radavitz, Pep Boys started with a store at 63rd and Market Streets in Philadelphia’s Overbrook section. It now offers repair and maintenance services at more than 750 locations across the country.
The founders became immortalized in the company’s branding, with a logo that included the cartoon faces of Manny, Moe, and Jack.
“For more than 100 years, Pep Boys has earned the trust of drivers across the country by delivering quality service with honesty and care,” Pep Boys CEO Joe Auriemma said in a statement. “Mavis shares these values and, as part of the Mavis family, Pep Boys will have the scale, footprint, and operational and technological strength to continue building on its legacy as it enters a new chapter of growth.”
A spokesperson for White Plains, N.Y.-based Mavis said Pep Boys “will continue operating under its iconic brand name.”
The deal expands Mavis’ footprint to more than 4,400 service locations. David Sorbaro, co-chief executive officer of Mavis, said in a statement that Pep Boys “brings a loyal customer base, deep-rooted market presence across the United States, and a distribution network that will meaningfully enhance our supply chain nationwide.”
The acquisition comes a decade after Icahn won Pep Boys in a bidding war with Japan-based tire giant Bridgestone for $1 billion. Around the same time, Icahn also bought the smaller Auto Plus chain, based in Kennesaw, Ga.
That bet did not go as planned. Auto Plus filed for bankruptcy in 2023, with Icahn citing “lessened demand, supply chain disruptions, an inflationary environment, and the effects of COVID-19.”
Under Icahn’s ownership, Pep Boys closed retail auto parts stores as it focused on repairs and tire sales.
Icahn Enterprises’ auto segment reported a 3% decline in revenue in 2025 over the prior year, for a total of $1.4 billion, according to a securities filing. Icahn’s company cited “the strategic closure of underperforming locations.”
Icahn Enterprises has also pointed to reduced consumer spending on auto repairs and maintenance.
Around 2020 Icahn sold Pep Boys’ longtime headquarters on Allegheny Avenue in North Philly — which had been home to 500 employees — but leased back some space. Pep Boys no longer occupies the building, a spokesperson said.
The company is now based in Bala Cynwyd. Pep Boys spokesperson Amanda Crisafulli declined to say how many jobs are based there. She also declined to say how many employees work for the company in total.
Asked whether Mavis will keep the Bala Cynwyd office, a Mavis spokesperson said: “The integration of Mavis and Pep Boys will follow the closing of the transaction, which we expect to occur in the coming months, subject to customary closing conditions.”
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional information about Mavis’ plans for Pep Boys.
Roughly 6,600 people who were not citizens were improperly registered to vote over a yearlong span ahead of the 2024 election because of a software error in New Jersey’s motor vehicle system, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill disclosed Tuesday.
The revelation came just days after President Donald Trump’s administration targeted New Jersey as one of four states that the Department of Homeland Security claimed had noncitizens on its voter rolls, along with neighboring Pennsylvania. The White House said the announcement from New Jersey underscored the need for Trump’s proposed national overhaul of elections.
Among the noncitizens, who were wrongly registered between June 2023 and June 2024, fewer than 400 cast a ballot, Sherrill said.
The voters were scattered across the state and registered as Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated voters, though the office did not provide percentage breakdowns.
Sherrill, a Democrat who took office in January, pointed a finger at her predecessor, noting that the wrongful registrations took place under former Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. She said that she “immediately ordered” her chief counsel to investigate the issue andthat the individuals erroneously added to the voter rolls be removed “before the next election,” which will be the November midterms that will determine control of Congress. The individuals have been notified of their planned removal.
“As a military veteran who swore an oath to defend our Constitution, and as a former federal prosecutor, I believe the integrity of our elections is fundamental to our democracy. I am appalled by the reckless failures that allowed this to happen and the lack of transparency shown by those in charge at the time,” Sherrill said in a statement.
Sherrill, at a news conference Tuesday afternoon, said the investigation would determine which elections the noncitizens’ votes were cast in — and whether they included the 2025 gubernatorial race in New Jersey, which Sherrill won, or the 2024 presidential election, when the state went for Vice President Kamala Harris — but neither contest’s outcome would have been changed by these ballots cast.
The glitch occurred when individuals were applying for driver’s licenses and identification cards in New Jersey. Although they answered “no” when asked on a keypad whether they were a U.S. citizen, “through no fault of their own, the system registered them anyway,” Sherrill’s office said.
Trump last Thursday delivered a prime-time address in which he, amid conspiracy theories about his 2020 election loss, claimed the Department of Homeland Security had identified more than 250,000 noncitizens registered to vote across four Democratic-led states —New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California, and Nevada — according to a document the White House posted online during Trump’s speech.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin claimed Tuesday on X that more than 35,000 noncitizens could be registered in New Jersey.However, the department has not shared the methodology it used to arrive at that number, and experts have cautioned it could include new citizens who have not been updated in a system meant to check work eligibility.
“Just ONE illegal vote cancels out the vote of a U.S. citizen,” Mullin said.
He said he appreciated Sherrill’s announcement, but “this should’ve been done a LONG time ago.”
Pennsylvania election officials have disputed DHS claims of noncitizen registrations, but the timing of the New Jersey disclosure is sure to fuel scrutiny of the four states.
Sherrill said she learned of the error last Wednesday, the day before Trump’s address.
White House, Republicans call for changes to voting laws
Trump’s administration has been pushing states to hand over unredacted voter rolls and threatening legal consequences for election officials, but New Jersey and Pennsylvania have resisted, saying doing so could put voters’ personal information at risk.
“As the Trump Administration tries to weaponize elections for political gain, I am ensuring we protect our elections. Let me be clear: Donald Trump has zero credibility on the issue of election integrity,” Sherrill said in her statement.
The White House argued that the New Jersey disclosure helped make the case for the SAVE Act, which would require prospective voters to prove their citizenship in order to register to vote.
“Democrats and their media allies have repeatedly said it is impossible for noncitizens to register to vote, let alone cast a ballot. Time and again, they have been proven wrong. As President Trump has said, there is nothing more important than the integrity of our elections,” said Abigail Jackson, a spokesperson for the White House.
The legislation has stalled in the Senate, but the New Jersey announcement will likely renew a push for it ahead of the midterms.
“This is why we must confirm citizenship before anyone registers. Only US citizens should vote in our elections,” U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) said on X in response to the Garden State’s news.
The senator has yet to weigh in on Pennsylvania’s inclusion on the White House’s list.
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) called the failure of the registration software “not acceptable.” But he said he trusts Sherrill and the state to solve the problem and criticized “those who will choose to weaponize this issue” as attempting to undermine confidence in elections.
“I have full confidence in New Jersey’s ability to administer voter registration and elections accurately and securely, and to ensure every legal ballot is counted,” Booker said.
U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, a South Jersey Democrat who criticized Trump’s speech last week, declined to comment.
New Jersey Republicans called for a bipartisan investigation and chastised Democrats for dismissing the issue in the past.
“We believe this issue is not isolated to this one-year time frame or a software glitch. The system and verification process must be improved in order to safeguard our elections,” said Christine Giordano Hanlon, chair of the New Jersey GOP. “The public also deserves to know why this was covered up and who was responsible for keeping this critical information from the public.”
U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a South Jersey Republican facing a challenge from Cape May Mayor Zack Mullock this fall, said the state should end automatic registration through the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and require proof of citizenship to register.
“We have had extremely close elections in New Jersey, and God knows how many other ineligible voters may still be on the rolls or how many ballots have been cast without ever being identified,” Van Drew said in a statement. “It is unacceptable.”
The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, commonly known as the motor voter law, requires states to enable people to register to vote through departments of motor vehicles when they are getting a driver’s license. Twenty-three states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania, provide automatic voter registration through the DMV, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Micah Rasmussen, the director of the nonpartisan Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University in Mercer County, said the wrongful registrations were a small slice of the state’s 6.6 million voters.
“It’s got to be dealt with,” he said. “The administration is dealing with it, but it’s also something well short of systemic.”
He said that the DMV has long been a weak link in motor vehicle voter registration and that it is worth looking into replacing the vendor that runs the registration software.
“On Election Day, when voters can go and argue and plead their case before a judge because they’re not registered and they thought that they were, invariably, it surprises nobody when DMV winds up being the problem,” he said.
This is not the first time a state’s motor vehicle system has incorrectly registered noncitizens.
Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt uncovered a similar glitch in 2017 while he was serving as a Philadelphia city commissioner, discovering that a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation error had allowed168 noncitizens to register to vote in the city, and likely a couple of hundred statewide.
The state’s voter rolls were updated in 2018, and Schmidt has emphasized that noncitizenvoting remains incredibly rare.
In a statement, Schmidt said Pennsylvania’s automatic voter registration system, which was implemented in 2023, permits only eligible applicants — American citizens — to register to vote.
“AVR has allowed hundreds of thousands of eligible Pennsylvanians to register to vote while safeguarding the integrity of our voter rolls,” he said in the statement.
Sherrill said that she is exploring options to rectify the problem, and that the vendor behind the error will be replaced. Individuals responsible for the error will be held accountable, she said.
“We’re open to suggestions that make our elections more safe,” she said. “The investigation will have findings on what occurred. We will be looking carefully at what we can do to make sure it doesn’t occur again.”
Philly may be among the James Beard Awards’ most valuable players, but it won’t be their next host.
The Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau — the organization that brought the Michelin Guide to Philly last year — doesn’t plan to pursue a bid to host the James Beard Foundation’s annual awards ceremony, a spokesperson told reporters Monday.
Considered to be the restaurant industry’s Oscars, the Beard Awards have celebrated the best in food service and media across the United States every spring since 1991.
“Recognition through the awards can be transformative — driving visibility, strengthening businesses, and creating new opportunities for recipients both immediately and over time,” the Beard Foundation said last week in a statement announcing a request for information from potential host cities. “These benefits extend to the host destination as well: The multiday event showcases the local culinary community while generating national media attention and meaningful economic impact.”
Hosting the awards also comes with significant price tag: The Beard Foundation is asking interested cities to commit to spending a minimum of $4 million for the first year, with annual increases of up to 5% after. Cities can source the money through a mix of cash investment, sponsorships, and public sector funds.
Cities can send in preliminary information — including an estimate of hotel stock, prospective venues, and responses to short-answer questions — to the Beard Foundation through Aug. 7. Selected applicants will then be invited to submit official proposals. The next host will be announced in early 2027.
Philly has likely ruled itself out.
“Our mission is to attract citywide conventions, meetings, and major events that generate significant overnight visitation and hotel demand,” Convention & Visitors Bureau spokesperson Jaime Martorana wrote over email. “After reviewing the James Beard Awards’ event hosting requirements, we’ve determined they aren’t fully aligned with the PHLCVB’s mission and mandate.”
People arrive at the 2024 James Beard Awards in Chicago. The Oscars of the restaurant industry is looking for a new city to host the awards from 2029 to 2033.Erin Hooley
Philly’s untouched resumé
It’s unclear which hosting requirements don’t match up with the Convention & Visitors Bureau’s mandate of bringing major events to Philly.
Reviewed by The Inquirer, the seven-part application asks cities to detail the high-profile events it has hosted in the last three years, outline its transit options, and explain how their restaurant scene upholds values of “culinary excellence, sustainability, inclusion, [and] accessibility.”
Philadelphia spent the past two months juggling nonstop major events, from six World Cup matches, the MLB All-Star Game, and, perhaps biggest of all, the nation’s 250th birthday. All the while, the city’s estimated 19,000 hotel rooms reached a record-high 90% occupancy as hundreds of thousands visited Philly. Even the delay-plagued, chronically-underfunded SEPTA rose to the occasion, with expanded service, free fare, and dance parties.
Hanna Williams (left) and husband, Chad, at the 2025 Michelin Guide Northeast Cities awards at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. Their restaurant, Friday Saturday Sunday, is the only local restaurant to have a James Beard Award and a Michelin Star.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Philly is also a James Beard Awards darling, fielding finalists nine out of the past 10 years. In June, chef Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon’s Thai restaurant, Kalaya, won outstanding restaurant, while Royal Sushi & Izakaya’s Jesse Ito was named Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic, a region that spans New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington.
Visit Philadelphia, the city’s official tourism nonprofit, has worked with the James Beard Foundation since 2016, including hosting the 2020 nominee announcement and several dinner and marketing events in the years since.
“It seems to me like we should at least be having a conversation about what the relative merits of hosting are, especially since the Beards have been very good to us,” said Jonathan Deutsch, the director of Drexel University’s Food Lab and a previous judge for the Beard Awards’ media and leadership categories.
Deutsch and others in the local food scene say it’s a mistake for Philly not to try, forgoing at least a little bit of the momentum Philly has built as a destination for world-class dining and tourism. Freelance journalist and Inquirer contributorAdam Erace — who chaired the Beard Awards Mid-Atlantic subcommittee from 2010 to 2020 — highlighted that Philly’s status as a Northeast corridor city with a reliable airport makes it easy for nominees to commute.
Mawn’s Phila Lorn (left) and Rachel Lorn at the 2025 James Beard Awards in Chicago. Lorn won emerging chef that year.Courtesy of Rachel Lorn
“We’ve spent the past 10 years pushing as a city to grow. If anybody’s ready, we’re ready,” said chef Chad Williams, whose Rittenhouse Square restaurant Friday Saturday Sunday won the James Beard award for Outstanding Restaurant in 2023 and was a finalist for Outstanding Bar in June.
What could Philly miss out on?
In a few words: millions of dollars in economic impact.
The 2026 James Beard Awards in Chicago generated $8.3 million in direct spending from the operational costs associated with putting on the ceremony, plus offsite spending by attendees, according to a report the foundation commissioned from the Oxford Economics Co. That direct spending turned into $17 million in overall economic impact on the greater Chicago area, including $1.2 million in local and state tax revenue.
Philadelphia chefs are acknowledged at the Michelin Guide announcements at the Kimmel Center Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Philadelphia.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Erace and Deutsch, who both have attended the Beard Awards, describe it as a weekend of dinners, pre-parties, after-parties, and pop-ups that encourage attendees to eat and drink in the host city. This year’s awards included roughly 41 events in the days leading up to the ceremony, Illinois Restaurant Association president Sam Toia told the Chicago Sun-Times.
The restaurant awards’ voting body — composed of anonymous judges with industry experience selected via committee — is only allowed to vote for restaurants they’ve eaten at in the past year, explained Erace. This gives Chicago a small leg up. Hosting the awards enables more judges to eat in the city and speak to its restaurants’ quality.
“It seems like a missed opportunity,” said Deutsch. “You have top chefs, journalists, cookbook authors, passionate foodies … who are paying a couple of thousand dollars over the weekend for airfare, dining, and a hotel just to experience the awards.”
What about the Michelin Guide?
Last year, the Convention and Visitor’s Bureau successfully bid to bring the Michelin Northeast Cities Guide — and its award ceremony — to Philly for the first time.
“Now that the busiest period of our 2026 event calendar has concluded, we’ll be reconnecting with the restaurants and chefs recognized in the Guide to better understand how the first half of the year performed and how Michelin recognition has supported their businesses,” Martorana said.
The Michelin Man, whose name is Bibendum, arrives at the Michelin Guide announcements at the Kimmel Center, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Philadelphia.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
It’s still unclear how much it cost to court the guide, or how much it boosted Philadelphia overall. The Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau declined to share how much it paid Michelin and has yet to make data available about the spending generated by Michelin’s newfound Philadelphia presence.
Cities pay to be included in the Michelin Guide, often cobbling together funding from a mix of tourism organizations, public investment, and sponsorships. The price of admission is steep: Boston and Atlanta both paid upward of $1 million to bring the Michelin Guide to their cities, while Texas raised $2.7 million from Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and Houston to get a dedicated Texas guide. Some locals, like Virginia and Buffalo, rebuffed Michelin entirely, calling the fees unsustainable.
In Philly, the Michelin Guide and the James Beard Awards can appear to be an echo chamber, with the same set of restaurants receiving praise from both. Williams — whose restaurant Friday Saturday Sunday is the city’s only restaurant to receive a Michelin Star and a Beard Award — said each accolade generated “equal” bumps in reservations.
From left: Joe Beddia, Greg Root, Nick Kennedy (rear), Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon, and Roland Kassis, with the Michelin Man at the Michelin Guide announcement event at the Kimmel Center Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in Philadelphia.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
The sameness begs the question: Does Philly need both?
Deutsch wondered if the city’s decision to not go for the Beard Awards has to do with “fine-dining fatigue,” or if the powers that be feel like “they spent a lot of money to check that box for the next few years,” he said.
The Michelin Guide is technically the better bet — at least numbers-wise, Erace acknowledged.
“Thirty-something restaurants get some kind of recognition, and they can take that to the bank forever,” he said. “With the Beards, there’s only so many winners every year.”
