It may be a while before the drought advisories disappear, but since Monday Philadelphia has had more rain than in any entire month since March 2025. And the city of Camden has been clocked well over a half-foot of rain.
In both instances, if it seemed like most of that came in a hurry, it did.
On Thursday, for the second time in a week, downpours set off a flood of warnings in the city, the neighboring counties and Delaware.
And more showers are possible Friday and Saturday, but the atmosphere isn’t expected to upstage its performance since it turned off last weekend’s 100-degree heat.
Thursday’s downpours wrung out 2 and 3 inches of rain in several towns across the region.
Flooding was reported along numerous roads, with vehicles stranded, including in the vicinity of the Ben Franklin Bridge, the National Weather Service said. The rains could continue until 7 or 8 p.m. Thursday, said Alex Staarmann, meteorologist inthe Mount Holly office.
Multiple water rescues have been reported in Wilmington.
Philadelphia broke a 74-year-old record for a July 9 with 2.61 inches of rain measured officially, according to the weather service.
At one point flood warnings had been posted for the city and in all seven neighboring counties.
But the rain lately has been random. And in the grand casino of the atmosphere, that was the case Thursday, and not every place got the soakings.
The drought conditions are likely to persist despite the storms
In the weekly inter-agency U.S. Drought Monitor update posted Thursday, some degree of drought conditions persisted in all of New Jersey, Philly, and the neighboring Pennsylvania counties.
The drought monitor has most of the region was in “moderate drought,” with some improvement in Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester Counties.
But all of Chester County and most Montgomery County were in “severe drought.” Southeastern New Jersey, including the Shore towns, were in “extreme drought.”
Soil moisture levels will remain significantly below normal during the next week, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.
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And it appears the atmospheric faucets are going to shut after Saturday.
Said Joseph DeSilva, meteorologist at the weather service’s Mounty Holly office, “Next week looks pretty dry.”
The Union wanted to host a closed-door friendly against the New England Revolution at Subaru Park on Thursday morning to help prepare for MLS’s return after a six-week break for the FIFA World Cup.
Mother Nature had other plans.
After lightning extended the exhibition’s halftime break, the game entered a second delay in the 66th minute after a loud clap of thunder sent the players off the pitch. The match, which was initially planned as a 120-minute exhibition, was relocated and finished with a 45-minute half inside the WSFS Sportsplex.
New England won the disjointed friendly, 3-2. Milan Iloski and Ezekiel Alladoh scored for the Union.
Despite the interruptions, the friendly gave an early glimpse of what the Union may look like under interim manager Ryan Richter, who took over after the Bradley Carnell’s dismissal in May.
Here’s three things we learned from the Union’s exhibition against New England:
Union uniformity
Those expecting the dismissal of Carnell to change the Union’s identity will be disappointed.
Richter has kept the Union’s structure and shape the same through the club’s World Cup break.
The Union came out for Thursday’s friendly in their usual shape, with four backs, two defensive midfielders playing centrally, two attacking midfielders stretching wider, and two strikers atop the formation.
Interim manager Ryan Richter kept the Union’s shape the same during Thursday’s friendly.Jonathan Tannenwald / Staff
The club’s shape stayed consistent through both portions of the outdoor friendly. The Union trotted out an entirely different lineup of players after the second delay moved the friendly indoors, but the shape stayed the same.
The Union pressed New England in their own defensive third, as they have done to all of their MLS opponents this season. Richter is well-versed in the way the Union want to play. The Warminster, Bucks County, native, who played college soccer at La Salle, has been on the Union coaching staff since 2018 and spent last season as the head coach of Union II.
Players in place
The personnel on the field looked a bit different during the friendly. Olwethu Makhanya and Danley Jean Jacques, still recovering from World Cup runs with South Africa and Haiti, respectively, did not play.
Andre Blake started in goal, and Nathan Harriel and Frankie Westfield took their usual spots at outside back. Japhet Sery Larsen played in central defense alongside Neil Pierre, the 18-year-old center back currently on loan at Lyngby, a Danish club the Union own a minority share of.
“He can clearly hang with the physicality,” Richter said of Pierre. “He’s improved so much in the way he’s reading the game and his decision making. … There’s no reason why he can’t compete at this level.”
Indiana Vassilev and Jesús Bueno made up the defensive midfield, Ben Bender and Cavan Sullivan started in attacking midfield, and Bruno Damiani and Iloski made up the starting striking partnership.
The lineup remained unchanged after the lengthy lightning delay at halftime. Richter made a pair of changes in the 65th, bringing in Alladoh for Damiani and Jovan Lukić for Bender, shortly before the second lightning delay.
Ezekiel Alladoh, shown in May, scored the Union’s second goal on Thursday when the friendly moved indoors.Philadelphia Union
The Union made mass substitutions after the friendly moved indoors. Geiner Martinez, Philippe Ndinga, Finn Sundstrom and Agustín Anello, among some Union II players, were brought into the lineup for the indoor portion of the match.
Alladoh scored the Union’s second goal once the match moved indoors. Ndinga made a run into the right side of the 18-yard box before playing the ball across the face of goal to Anello, who set it for Alladoh. The 20-year-old Alladoh laced a shot from close range that beat New England’s keeper.
The Union got a chance to see their depth in a competitive environment, which may prove important as the club restarts its match schedule. After two MLS matches in July, the Union will play eight matches in August as they start the Leagues Cup, a competition between MLS and Liga MX.
“You can train well, but you can’t hide once the game actually starts,” Richter said. “You see exactly how guys fit in, what they’re capable of, what their role could possibly be.”
Sullivan starts
Sullivan played well in the friendly, creating the Union’s first goal with a run down the right flank and a cross into the box for Iloski, who headed the ball in.
Sullivan created a few other chances that didn’t end up in the back of the net and put a free kick from the edge of the 18-yard box on frame. He was brought off the pitch after the friendly moved inside.
Sullivan, 16, made nine starts across all competitions during the first half of the Union’s season, including five of the last six matches before the World Cup break. He scored twice in the Concacaf Champions Cup and scored his first MLS goal against Orlando City in May.
It is yet to be seen if Sullivan, set to depart the Union for English Premier League side Manchester City at the end of 2027, will start to play a bigger role for the Union as they close out the 2026 season.
The Union will return to MLS play on July 22 when they host the New York Red Bulls (7:30 p.m., Apple TV+).
Richard H. Glanton, 79, formerly of Philadelphia, longtime lawyer, onetime executive deputy counsel to former Gov. Dick Thornburgh, business entrepreneur, former Lincoln University trustee, and innovative former president of the Barnes Foundation, died Sunday, June 21, of a heart attack at his home in Princeton.
Born and reared in rural Georgia and one of the first Black graduates of what is now the University of West Georgia, Mr. Glanton went on to become a prominent Philadelphia lawyer, state government policy and administration expert, corporate vice president, and indefatigable president of the Barnes Foundation’s collection of Impressionist, post-Impressionist, and modern art.
He was elected president of the Barnes Foundation in 1990, served until 1998, and championed a series of controversial initiatives to finance extensive gallery renovations and the operation of its art collection and related educational programs. To raise the money, he suggested, among other things, selling 15 of the collection’s hundreds of paintings, charging million-dollar fees for a worldwide lending tour of 83 paintings, extending visiting hours, increasing admission, building a new parking lot, selling a coffee-table catalog, and renting out its art studios.
All of his ideas, several of which did not materialize, drew supporters and critics, and Mr. Glanton, also a Barnes trustee, spoke often of his policy discussions with other Barnes officials, art experts around the world, politicians, and neighbors of the foundation building in Lower Merion Township. In 1990, he told The Inquirer: “I never purported to know anything about art. But I can lead.”
His most successful project turned out to be a two-year world lending tour of 83 foundation paintings that raised about $20 million and drew raves from museum leaders in Washington, Paris, Tokyo, Fort Worth, Toronto, and Philadelphia. The exhibition in Paris drew a then-record 1.5 million visitors, and Mr. Glanton was feted at every stop.
“Richard is somebody who started out by wanting to do something good and important and substantial, and persevered to do it despite a great deal of criticism,” Glenn D. Lowry, then director of the Art Gallery of Ontario, told The Inquirer in 1995.
Some critics said Mr. Glanton and others valued the foundation’s commercial success over its original educational role and what The Inquirer’s Edward J. Sozanski called “the Barnes mystique.” When the lending tour ended at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1995, Mr. Glanton told The Inquirer: “I never realized or understood that it could be controversial to make available to the public a collection that is a public trust.
“But I think if you think something’s right, you should do it, whether or not people disagree, and whether it is popular or not. … You have to think not only in terms of your lifetime, but in 100 years, 1,000 years. And when you do, these little slings and arrows don’t really matter that much.”
A story and this photo of Mr. Glanton appeared in The Inquirer in 1995.Newspapers.com
Mr. Glanton was executive deputy counsel to Gov. Thornburgh from 1979 to 1983, and he met often with constituents and helped fill judicial vacancies. “Richard is a political animal,” Ted Pillsbury, then director of the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, told The Inquirer in 1995. “He understands politics. He understands what makes politics work, and he understands people. And he does not take certain things personally.”
Mr. Glanton earned his law degree at the University of Virginia School of Law in 1972 and spent several years with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, United Airlines, and other companies. In Philadelphia, he represented politicians and other notable clients, and specialized in energy, insurance, and real estate cases for firms known now as WolfBlock and Reed Smith.
He was also senior vice president of corporate development at Exelon Corp., founder of a local TV station, social media company, and consulting firm, and board member at Aqua America, the Morris Arboretum, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and other groups. He ended a workplace sexual harassment suit with a private settlement in the early 1990s and had public policy spats with local government officials and former Lincoln president Niara Sudarkasa.
He considered running for mayor in 1995. Former Gov. Ed Rendell said: “He was exceptionally bright, courageous, and never afraid to challenge the status quo in pursuit of what he believed was right.”
Mr. Glanton was at home in a suit jacket and tie.Courtesy of the family
One of 11 children, Richard Howard Glanton was born Nov. 21, 1946. He was reared in rural Villa Rica, Ga., did not start school until the fourth grade, and worked with his siblings for years on the family farm.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in English and, in 2005, was awarded an honorary doctorate from West Georgia. He married Scheryl Williams, and they had a daughter, Morgan, and a son, David.
After a divorce, he married Eileen Candia, and they had a daughter, Georgia. They lived in Philadelphia and Chicago, and moved to Princeton in 2009.
Mr. Glanton was a doting father, his family said. He taught his children to ride bikes and read Shakespeare. “He taught me that there was no room in which I didn’t belong or couldn’t strive to enter,” his daughter Morgan said. “I love him for that.”
Mr. Glanton was an avid reader and golfer.Courtesy of the family
Nearly everyone he met remembered his laugh and perpetual suit jacket and tie. He played golf, was an avid reader, and would talk politics for hours.
“He was fearless in his conviction to do what he believed was necessary and proper to achieve his goals and provide for his family,” his son said. His wife said: “He was kind and generous. He made everyone he spoke to feel special. He was always bringing you in.”
In addition to his wife, children, and former wife, Mr. Glanton is survived by two sisters, four brothers, and other relatives. One sister and four brothers died earlier.
Memorial services are to be held at noon Saturday, July 18, at Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church, 119 Thomas Dorsey Dr., Villa Rica, Ga. 30180, and at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 18, at the Union League, 140 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19102.
Chester County health officials confirmed two measles cases in residents this week as the highly contagious disease continues to spread in Southeastern and Central Pennsylvania.
The county has now seen four cases since late June, in addition to one case recorded this winter.
The newly reported cases bring Pennsylvania’s tally to 101 measles cases this year, more than six times the cases confirmed in 2025.
An ongoing outbreak centered in Lancaster County, where 52 residents have been sickened since April, is the state’s worst in three decades.
It’s unclear whether the cases in Chester County are connected to the Lancaster outbreak, said Nancy Sullivan, the supervisor of the disease investigation and surveillance program at the county health department.
The latest cases show the virus “is circulating in the community, particularly the western part of Chester County,” Sullivan said.
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Health department staff in Chester County, which borders Lancaster County, have sought to contain the outbreak by conducting contact tracing for months.
But it can be tricky to link patients through their contacts to other confirmed cases.
“It’s difficult for some individuals to establish who they’ve been in contact with. Sometimes they’re unsure,” Sullivan said.
All of the patients infected in Chester County were either unvaccinated or could not prove that they were immune to the virus, which can infect up to 90% of unvaccinated people exposed to it.
Several patients this summer have been hospitalized for serious electrolyte abnormalities and liver and kidney dysfunction, physicians in Lancaster and Dauphin Counties have reported.
Sullivan said that no Chester County residents have required hospitalization so far. All had tested positive for measles after they sought treatment at local healthcare facilities, she said.
Symptoms of measles include a fever, a cough, and a runny nose — similar to other respiratory diseases — that often emerge before patients develop a telltale rash.
But the disease has no specific treatments and can cause serious complications.
County officials had begun preparing for a potential measles outbreak about two years ago, Sullivan said, developing a new software system that made it easier for health workers to track cases and analyze data on an outbreak.
The county is also increasing outreach to residents about the importance of vaccination.
“We’re continuing to push the message of vaccination, checking immunity, speaking to your provider about your potential risk to developing measles, making sure people know where they can get vaccinated,” Sullivan said.
Countywide, 94.5% of kindergarteners were vaccinated against measles in the 2024-2025 school year, the last for which data is available. That’s just below the 95% threshold that scientists consider necessary to prevent the spread of the virus.
The county and state health departments have started recommending that providers offer measles, mumps, and rubella vaccinations to infants at 6 months old.
Typically, children receive an MMR dose at around 1 year old and before entering kindergarten. Under the new recommendation, a “dose zero” is given at 6 months and provides additional protection before children receive two more doses of the vaccine.
Health officials in Philadelphia, to the east of Chester County, are also recommending the “dose zero” for infants whose parents plan travel to Chester County or any of the other seven counties with measles cases.
With the MLB All-Star Game around the corner, sports apparel company ’47 is teaming up with Sarcone’s Bakery for an exclusive pop-up inside the South Philadelphia staple.
The event will run Monday and Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The bakery will offer a special ’47 menu that boasts their famous bread and tomato pie. More importantly, guests who purchase food will receive an exclusive Sarcone’s T-shirt and hat, produced in partnership with ’47.
“When you think of Philly, you think of the passionate sports fans, and you also think of the food scene,” bakery owner Louis Sarcone III said. “The main thing of the food scene in Philly is the Philly cheesesteaks, and our bread is a staple in the city of Philly cheesesteaks. And when you go into a stadium, you see the iconic ‘47 logo everywhere. I think we’re two similar companies that have been around for generations.”
Patrick Cassidy, the vice president of marketing at ’47, helped launch the search for a Philadelphia-based business to partner with. Cassidy, who was born in the city and grew up in Delaware County, felt a bit of pressure to pick the right one.
“We’re going into Philly, and I’m from Philly,” Cassidy recalled. “It’s important to me to get this right in a very real way. I’ve got plenty of cousins and aunts and uncles to answer to if I don’t do it right.”
The front of the T-shirt (left) and a black snapback hat from Sarcone’s collab with ’47.Courtesy of '47 Brand
Sarcone’s was eventually brought up as an option. To Cassidy, the partnership made perfect sense. Sarcone’s was opened in 1918 by Sarcone III’s great-great grandfather, an immigrant from Italy. Five generations later, the bakery is still family-owned. Similarly, Boston-based ‘47 was owned and operated by two families until it was sold to New Era in 2024.
“Sarcone’s, much like us, started as a family business,” Cassidy said. “Heart, history, heritage, a crazy attention to detail. The same amount of detail with how they make their bread, we’ve barely touched the ingredients in our headwear for almost eighty years.”
Sarcone III and the rest of his family are just as excited.
“We get to give something back to our existing customers,” he said. “But also we get a reach that we normally wouldn’t get because of how big [‘47 is], get a bump. And for all the people that are coming in for the All-Star Game, we’re going to be able to reach out to new customers and show them what we’re about as well.”
Guests who purchase an item from the ‘47 menu will not only receive a shirt and hat, but they’ll also be able to customize their new gear with a heat-press station on site. The MLB All-Star Game takes place Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park, with the Home Run Derby taking place one night earlier.
Peco is expanding its real estate footprint in the Philadelphia region.
The gas and electric utility company purchased a property at 100 Chesterfield Parkway in Malvern for $5.95 million in January, according to Chester County property records. The Philadelphia Business Journal first reported the purchase.
Peco’s Malvern acquisition “is part of a comprehensive, multi-year strategy to support the recent expansion and future growth of our operations teams,” Peco spokesperson Matthew Rankin said Thursday.
Administrative staff and “other support teams,” will work out of the new office, Rankin said, but did not say how many.
The property is near Peco operations facilities, Rankin said.
Peco’s expansion comes as the company brought in $814 million in net income in 2025, up 48% from the previous year. Exelon, the utility’s parent company, has said the increase was in part due to “favorable weather” and higher distribution rates.
The company proposed a rate hike again this year, but quickly withdrew the proposal after backlash. Peco had said it needed to increase prices for upgrades, to meet demand, including to prepare for data centers, and increase grid reliability. The company also cited extreme weather conditions, which can damage infrastructure.
Peco and its worker union, IBEW local 614 reached a tentative agreement on a new union contract this week, ending the company’s first worker strike in its history, which lasted three days.
The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission announced Wednesday the appointment of Amber J.E. Harris as its interim executive director, in what the agency cast as a stabilizing move amid a string of high-level departures and an ongoing probe into its spending.
Leadership at the state’s civil rights agency was upended this year after Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration requested the resignation of Chad Lassiter, the commission’s executive director since 2018. Four commissioners who oversee the agency also stepped down in recent months, creating eight vacancies on the 11-member oversight board.
The three remaining commissioners voted on June 30 to install Harris, a relative newcomer to PHRC, as the temporary head of the agency. The agency announced her appointment on Wednesday.
Debate flared in Harrisburg in February over concerns about the PHRC’s use of taxpayer dollars to attend and sponsor an awards banquet hosted by the Philadelphia NAACP, which honored Lassiter.
Emails show Lassiter instructed his staff to bypass state spending rules to secure taxpayer-funded tables for himself and his team at the event.
Lassiter said the payments were both proper and aligned with the agency’s mission. The NAACP ultimately provided the tables at no cost to taxpayers. The governor’s office has not announced findings from the audit.
City Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. — a longtime member of the commission who was named interim chair during the shake-up — said Harris will be instrumental in “easing tensions and stabilizing the agency following a period of uncertainty,” according to a statement posted on social media.
Jones did not respond to a request for additional comment on Thursday. The commissioners will lead a search process to determine a permanent replacement, PHRC spokesperson Amanda Brothman Jumper said.
Harris will be “focused on ensuring operational continuity, supporting staff, and maintaining the commission’s commitment to enforcing Pennsylvania’s civil rights laws,” Brothman Jumper said.
Harris was hired in April 2025 as regional director of the commission’s Philadelphia office, overseeing civil rights complaints filed in eastern Pennsylvania. Before that, she spent a decade as a human relations specialist at the U.S. Social Security Administration, worked at American Airlines, and cofounded a nonprofit, according to her LinkedIn page.
Harris said in a statement that she will focus on providing stability to PHRC’s staff of investigators and attorneys, who mediate potential civil rights violations in places of employment, housing, education, and accommodations.
“I believe moments of transition can also be moments of opportunity,” Harris said.
PHRC’s executive director is chosen by the commissioners, who are nominated by the governor and require approval from the state Senate.
A spokesperson for Shapiro said the administration has submitted several nominations to fill the vacant commissioner seats.
After Brazil beat Haiti in a World Cup match last month, 29,162 fans swarmed NRG Station to catch the subway.It was SEPTA’s second-highest reported crowd for a single stadium-complex event.
And the largest? The 31,087 people rode the B line after the Eagles won the NFC Championship in January 2025.
For three summer weeks, Philadelphia visitors leaned on transit — 155,333 passengers rode the subway also known as the Broad Street Line alone, SEPTA said.
From June 14 through July 4, the city hosted six World Cup matches, FIFA’s Fan Fest, and celebrations of the 250th anniversary of Independence Day.
“This was a unique opportunity for SEPTA — possibly one we will not get again for many years,“ spokesperson Andrew Busch said. ”We think there is a lot we can learn that will help improve special event service and everyday operations.”
Regional Rail also saw bumps in ridership, as did transit, primarily bus routes, serving the Fan Fest at Lemon Hill in Fairmount Park, SEPTA said. Bus routes 32 and 48 provided direct service, while Routes 7 and 49 had stops within walking distance of the festival entrance.
It helped that Brazil and Haiti’s June 19 game fell on the federal holiday of Juneteenth … and that sponsor Airbnb paid SEPTA to provide free rides home for people using the Broad Street Line on match days between halftime and the final whistle.
On July 4, when Paraguay and France met in an elimination round game and people were coming to Independence Day events, ridership on the overall system was up 15% compared to the previous year. Broad Street Line ridership was 62%; Regional Rail was up 48% and the lines serving FanFest were up 21%.
Transit agency analysts focused on post-match boardings on northbound trains at NRG Station because it was the most straightforward way to identify fans who attended the game and traveled on SEPTA, officials said.
Some riders headed to the stadium area were going to Stateside Live or checking out pregame festivities.
Customer service lessons learned, according to SEPTA:
Using megaphones to communicate with riders in crowded stations broke through the noise, helping people unfamiliar with SEPTA navigate.
Bringing a DJ to NRG Station soothed post-match crowds waiting for outbound trains. “More than a couple of dance parties broke out, and we think it helped keep the atmosphere festive,” Busch said.
SEPTA moved its start and end point for the B Line for the Sports Express trips from Fern Rock to Girard, easing crowds in Center City and shortening turnaround time.
Ridership on the Airport Regional Rail line typically increased 20% or more on the day before and day after a match.
Regional Rail’s Trenton line on the Northeast Corridor also carried more passengers than usual, as people took NJ Transit from New York City and northern New Jersey and connected to SEPTA.
While there were complaints about crowding, few major incidents were reported.
SEPTA gets another test next week with the MLB All-Star Game July 14 and related events, though they are expected to have a smaller impact.
After a month of World Cup festivities, baseball is taking over Philadelphia for Major League Baseball All-Star Week. The biggest event — outside of the All-Star Game itself on Tuesday — will be Monday night’s Home Run Derby headlined by Phillies stars Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber — at Citizens Bank Park.
The derby begins at 8 p.m. and streams for the first time on Netflix. This year, instead of each batter having an unlimited amount of swings in a designated time period, participants will be capped at 20 attempts in the first round and 15 in the semifinals and final.
Eight hitters are slated to compete, and seven have signed on so far. On Friday, Schwarber made his decision to join his teammate Harper in the derby. Harper officially joined a day earlier on Thursday.
Here’s what you need to know about the eight participants:
Kyle Schwarber is competing in his third Home Run Derby.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Kyle Schwarber, Phillies
Home Run Derby appearances: Third
2026 power numbers: 32 home runs, .571 slugging percentage
What to know: Schwarber’ 32 homers lead baseball. Since joining the Phillies in 2022, he has the second-most home runs in that span (219). In 2018, as a member of the Cubs, he finished second in the Home Run Derby to future teammate Harper. In 2022, he lost in the final to Albert Pujols.
Bryce Harper last competed in the 2018 Home Run Derby.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Bryce Harper, Phillies
Home Run Derby appearances: Three
2026 power numbers: 20 home runs, .509 slugging percentage
What to know: In Harper’s second Home Run Derby in 2018, then wearing a Nationals uniform, he beat out future teammates Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins on his way to winning. He finished with 45 home runs. Harper has 12 seasons with at least 20 home runs, and is on pace to finish with the season with 397 for his career.
Junior Caminero almost became the youngest player to win the Derby last year.Tom E. Puskar
Junior Caminero, Rays
Home Run Derby appearances: Two
2026 power numbers: 26 home runs, .541 slugging percentage
What to know: At 22 years old, Caminero almost became the youngest player to win the Derby last year, losing out to Cal Raleigh in the finals. He hit 45 home runs last season and is tied for fourth in baseball with 26 in 2026.
Ben Rice, Yankees
Home Run Derby appearances: First
2026 power numbers: 26 home runs, .573 slugging percentage
What to know: The 27-year old Rice is leading the Yankees in home runs. He has 59 since being called up to the majors three seasons ago.
In June, Jac Caglianone hit nine home runs, tied for the second most in the American League in the month. Charlie Riedel
Jac Caglianone, Royals
Home Run Derby appearances: First
2026 power numbers: 14 home runs, .455 slugging percentage
What to know: Caglianone’s numbers may seem a bit underwhelming compared to his competition. However, the 23-year-old Royals right fielder is coming off a month in which he was one of the best power hitters in baseball. In June, Caglianone hit nine home runs, tied for the second most in the American League in the month.
Willson Contreras is on pace for a career high in home runs this season.Sue Ogrocki
Willson Contreras, Red Sox
Home Run Derby appearances: First
2026 power numbers: 20 home runs, .541 slugging percentage
What to know: Contreras, who is on pace for a career high in home runs this season, still has tremendous bat speed at age 34, ranking in the 96th percentile (77 mph). He will have his brother William, himself an All-Star as a catcher with the Brewers, there to support him.
Jordan Walker, Cardinals
Home Run Derby appearances: First
2026 power numbers: 21 home runs, .534 slugging percentage
What to know: Walker, also a first-time All-Star, is looking to become the first Cardinal to win the derby. After being demoted to triple-A last year, the 24-year-old Walker is having a breakout season after retooling his swing in the offseason. His 92.4 mph exit velocity when he makes contact is fifth-highest in the league.
Munetaka Murakami has 20 homers this season.Paul Beaty
Munetaka Murakami, White Sox
Home Run Derby appearances: First
2026 power numbers: 20 home runs, .560 slugging percentage
What to know: A strained hamstring kept the 26-year-old rookie on the injured list since May 30. At the time, only Schwarber had more than his 20 home runs. He returned to the White Sox lineup on Friday. His average exit velocity of 94.2 mph is in the 98th percentile of hitters.
A new study from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration detected heavy metals, including lead and arsenic, in popular tampon brands, but not enough to raise health concerns.
“While trace metals are present in tampons, the amount released during use is too small to cause harm,” the agency announced this week.
The Inquirer spoke with Robyn Faye, an OB-GYN at Jefferson Abington Hospital, about what prompted the FDA study, what women should know about it, and the latest trends in menstrual products.
Robyn Faye, a gynecologist at Jefferson Abington Hospital, specializes in menopause and sexual health.Courtesy of Robyn Faye
The study found lead concentrations were higher in non-organic tampons, while arsenic was higher in organic tampons.
Tampons are made with cotton, rayon, or both. Researchers believe cotton can absorb metals from water, soil, or industrial contaminants near fields. Some metal might get added to tampons during manufacturing.
Metals have been linked to increased risk of dementia, cancer, kidney damage, and cardiovascular and neurological harm.
The Berkeleystudy had a major shortcoming, however. It showed that metals exist inside raw tampon materials, but it did not test whether they leach out or get absorbed into the body, and if so, how much.
“Obviously, there was a concern about what the exposure would be to women using these tampons,” Faye said. “So they needed to look into the potential toxicological risk.”
What did the new FDA study find?
The FDA-led study, recently published in the journal Toxicological Sciences, tested 11 tampon products from six different brands sold in the United States. It did not name the brands, nor test any scented tampons.
The agency regulates tampons as “medical devices.”
While FDA scientists detected 19 metals at trace levels in tampons, they found “negligible toxicological concern.”
“The levels of metals released from tampons are not expected to result in adverse health effects,” the study concluded.
Scientists created a “worst-case” exposure, using a testing method that extracted as much metal out of the fibers as possible, under circumstances far more intensive than normal tampon use.
“They exaggerated the risk,” said Faye, who did not work on the study. “So the real-world exposure is probably even lower.”
The bottom line, she said, is tampons are safe to use.
What concerns do your patients have about tampons?
Faye said older women still worry about “toxic shock syndrome,” a rare bacterial infection caused from an open cut or vaginal wound. Many women still mistakenly believe it is a common risk from wearing a tampon too long.
Most younger patients, however, don’t use tampons.
“The trend in the younger women population is actually throwing out their tampons,” Faye said. “It’s interesting that the FDA is now doing a study on tampons when fewer girls are using them.”
