North Philadelphia’s Francisville is getting an apartment building at 801 N. 19th St. after years of delay and a complexchange in ownership.
The six-story project, clad in red brick, will include 110 apartments and 49 underground parking spaces. The foundations are built, and construction is underway.
The project sits on an oddly shaped lot between 19th Street, Cameron Street, and Wylie Street, which neighbors call “the triangle lot.”
The property used to be owned by the Exton-based Hankin Group, which secured building permits for a 115-unit apartment building during the pandemic.
Hankin sold the property in 2021. Now two different townhouse projects are being developedon the site, one by West Philadelphia-based Guy Laren.
The apartment project is being built under the name of Cameron Square Partners LLC, which is registered at a West Philadelphia property owned by Laren.
On the Department of Licenses and Inspections website, violations for “walkway not provided” and a failure to post permits are being appealed by the Philadelphia-based developer, contractor, and property manager Vicintas.
Laren did not respond to a request for comment. Vicintas confirmed it is the general contractor and future property manager for the apartment building but did not reply to an interview request.
Hankin’s building permit is old enough that the Philadelphia Planning Commission decided it has to go through an advisory-only Civic Design Review process again, five years after its first go-around.
The new iteration of the project is different from what Hankin proposed, with 110 instead of 115 apartments but larger layouts. It has a new architect, too, with Philadelphia-based Harman Deutsch Ohler Architecture replacing global firm NORR.
“The new owner wanted some bigger units, so we’re down five units, and we increased the height by five feet, and then we redid the entire facade,” said Rustin Ohler, a principal with the firm.
The new plans call for 40 one-bedroom apartments and 35 two-bedroom units, with the remainder mostly being larger studio units known in the industry as “junior one-bedrooms.”
The apartments will have “more square footage, not necessarily more bedrooms,” Ohler said. “The previous design had a lot of studios. This is more ones and twos [bedrooms], and they’re a little larger than your average new construction coming to the market.”
Parking has been reduced from 52 to 48 spaces, although the development team plans to expand the number of spaces by automating the garage.
Such a system would eliminate the need for people to enter the facility, depending on mechanical systems to distribute and receive cars and allowing for a much larger parking capacity.
The latest design for the new apartment building at 801 N. 19th St., with an articulated brick identifier spelling out “801.”Harman Deutsch Ohler Architecture
The apartment building contains no retail but will have amenities including a gymnasium and a narrow roof deck, including a dog park, that is set back from the edge so it is not visible from the street.
At a June meeting of the Civic Design Review committee, a representative of the United Francisville Civic Association criticized the amount of parking in the project, the increased height, the roof deck, and the new building materials.
“What was originally approved was a five-story building,” said the representative, whose name was obscured in a recording. “This is now a six-story building, and it really towers above. It just adds a lot more height to the building based on the surroundings.”
At the June and July meetings, however, Ohler noted that the threeprojects on the triangle lot are already under construction and that the apartment project is hemmed in by the bordering townhouse developments.
That restricts what changes could be made to the architecture and layout of the project, despite community concerns.
A new rendering of the apartment building shows the roof deck broken into smaller chunks, to cut down on large crowds making noise and separated from the edges of the building by newly proposed solar panels.Harman Deutsch Ohler Architecture
The development team increased “the garage ceiling height in order to accommodate future stacked mechanical parking, which would potentially double our number of cars that we could have,” Ohler said.
Since the June meeting, the development team also added darker brick spelling out “801,″ as an identifier on the building’s south-facing facade and entrance.
Ohler noted that the roof deck has been broken up into four separate pockets to prevent large groups of residents from congregating. It also was pushed back from the street to accommodate neighbor concerns.
“The roof decks have been designed to be centered into the building, so that nobody can get near the edge,” Ohler said. “And we did add the solar panels, there’s no way for anybody to get near the edge, so that would address their concerns of sound from the roof deck.”
A 2-month-old Bucks County infant was struggling to swallow and could hardly hold his head up.
He was diagnosed last month with infant botulism, a rare, potentially deadly infection that affects the nervous system and can lead to paralysis.
The family and their lawyer believe the baby, now recovering at home, ingested the bacteria that causes the infection from an infant formula subsequently recalled by its manufacturer, Nara Organics, over contamination concerns.
Federal legislation proposed this spring could protect babies by requiring formula manufacturers to test for more pathogens. The bill, HR 7867, is awaiting hearings in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
“I want responsible manufacturers, responsible industry partners, who say we know there is a risk of this and we’re going to be ahead of the game,” said U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Montgomery County Democrat and cosponsor of the bill.
When asked for comment on the proposed legislation, Nara Organics pointed to safety protocols posted on its website saying the company exceeds the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s current requirements.
The New York-based company said it voluntarily recalled all of its infant formula on June 13 “in an abundance of caution,” after the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported three cases of infant botulism in babies who had consumed Nara formula.
As of July 6, a fourth case had been confirmed, and FDA testing identified the botulism-causing bacterium C botulinum in some of the company’s formula, according to an update posted on the company’s website.
Nara Organics did not comment directly on the proposed regulations. When asked for its position on the legislation, the Infant Nutrition Council of America, which represents manufacturers, said its members “share the goal of ensuring families have access to safe, high-quality infant formula.”
“Infant formula is among the most highly regulated foods in the United States, and INCA supports science-based, risk-based improvements that strengthen infant formula safety,” the organization said in a statement.
The push to bolster regulations comes several years after federal regulators and lawmakers started looking more closely at infant formula safety in 2022, when a massive recall for a non-botulism bacterial contamination left shelves bare for months.
But two recent infant botulism outbreaks linked to formula show the inadequacy of the steps that companies are already taking, said Bill Marler, a Seattle-based food safety lawyer who is representing Erica and Micky Goldfin, the Yardley couple whose son developed botulism after being fed Nara Organics formula.
“We need to do more to protect these kids,” Marler said.
A dangerous infection
Infant botulism occurs when babies ingest C botulinum in foods or dust and dirt particles. The bacteria’s spores colonize in the large intestine and release a toxin that affects the nervous system.
Symptoms include changes in facial expressions, such as smiling less, slow feeding, constipation, and low energy. Untreated, the toxin can spread and cause paralysis, making it hard for babies to breathe and eat.
Infants are at greatest risk of illness because their digestive systems are still developing and less able to fight off infection.
The Goldfins’ baby, identified by the initials W.G. in court records,spent two nights in the intensive care unit at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was treated with BabyBIG, the botulism antitoxin that is manufactured by the California Department of Public Health. The medication’s antibodies bind to the toxin and neutralize it, improving symptoms within 48 hours.
On June 6, he returned home, where he is feeding well again, and regaining movement in his arms and legs. He is receiving weekly physical therapy for developmental delays in his gross and fine motor skills, according to the lawsuit.
Testing challenges
Federal regulators began looking more closely at infant formula in 2022, after Abbott Nutrition issued a massive recall over concerns of non-botulism bacterial infections.
Abbott temporarily shut down one of the largest formula manufacturing plants in the country while it investigated the cause of the contamination, leaving families scrambling to find the formulas they relied on for their infants and medically fragile children.
Pinpointing the exact source of contaminants can be challenging.
The bacteria that causes botulism, for instance, could have been present in the Nara Organics’ powdered milk formula, in dust that settled on the packages during transportation, in the water used to mix it, or on the hands of those preparing the food, said Molly Potter, a senior clinical dietitian with Nemours Children’s Health in Delaware.
According to its website, Nara Organics tests its formulas throughout the manufacturing process, first testing raw ingredients, then during production, and again with the final product.
The tests the company uses include so-called sulfite-reducing clostridia (SRC) enumeration, which a leading international food-safety group recommends for identifying spores of the bacteria that causes infant botulism.
Researchers from IEH Laboratories & Consulting Group, a Washington-based firm that specializes in laboratory testing and analysis for the food industry, worked with ByHeart to analyze its infant formulas that had been linked to at least 28 cases of infant botulism this year and last.
A bottle of milk prepared from infant formula.Giulia Marchi
Improving safety
Dean said she hopes the proposed legislation will open up more conversation about how best to improve infant formula safety.
The bill tasks the FDA with developing a list of pathogens that formula companies should test for, and working with manufacturers to begin any tests they aren’t already doing.
The FDA would also set a schedule for how often manufacturers need to test for the new list of pathogens.
Under the legislation, companies would be required to report contamination results within a day, and retain records of positive test results.
Dean is among more than two dozen lawmakers to sign on as cosponsors. Rep. Jefferson Van Drew, who represents South Jersey’s 2nd District, is one of two Republican cosponsors.
Potter, the Nemours dietitian, said she hopes increased testing will help families feel more at ease.
In the meantime, parents can reduce the risk to their children by only purchasing formula from reputable stores, checking expiration dates, and storing powdered formula canisters properly. Caregivers should make sure to mix formula in clean equipment, and wash their hands before preparing and feeding it to a baby.
Jude Pare and his partner, Diane Tix, live in rural Minnesota until temperatures dip below freezing, when they take refuge in Arizona for the winter. While away, their mail is forwarded. But Pare, 77, said he didn’t receive any warning from his Medicare prescription drug plan that his $0 monthly premium was about to increase.
So he didn’t know he had a bill to pay. After he and Tix returned home to Minnesota in April, they got a letter from Wellcare, the insurer that provided his drug plan, saying his coverage had been terminated after three months of unpaid premiums totaling $28.80. Under Medicare’s rules, he can’t enroll in a plan again until the fall, for coverage beginning in 2027.
Pare takes Xarelto, a blood thinner that reduces his risk of strokes, blood clots, and pulmonary embolism. “He could bleed to death without it,” Tix said. A 90-day supply of the drug costs about $1,800 using a coupon from GoodRx, a discount drug website, she said.
Pare is among tens of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries who were on Wellcare’s Value Script drug plan who will likely go without prescription drug coverage for the rest of the year because they didn’t pay premiums for three months.
Next year, thousands more people in 32 states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and Washington, D.C., who are enrolled in zero-premium drug plans from Wellcare and other insurance companies may find themselves in the same situation if their premiums go up and they don’t realize it, according to a KFF Health News analysis of drug plan data. Premiums and other changes for 2027 will be unveiled in September.
Going without medication can be life-threatening, especially for Medicare beneficiaries. Nearly 90% take one or more prescription drugs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Almost half live with four or more chronic health conditions that can cause functional or cognitive impairments.
Congress added prescription drug coverage to Medicare in 2003. But the coverage is administered by commercial insurance companies, which compete fiercely with one another for the business of about 56 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in drug plans.
Zero-dollar or very low monthly premiums have helped make Wellcare’s Value Script the best-selling stand-alone prescription drug plan in Medicare, with nearly 6 million customers across the U.S., according to government data. But in 26 states and Washington, D.C., some Value Script members who didn’t have to pay a premium last year were caught off guard by increases in 2026.
After a two-month grace period — which Wellcare extended to three — Medicare drug plans can drop customers who don’t pay their premiums, no matter how small the amount. Some members who lost their coverage in Nevada, for example, owed as little as $8.10 for three months, according to a KFF Health News analysis of Medicare drug plan data.
Wellcare terminated coverage for about 140,000 Value Script beneficiaries in April, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly about it and feared reprisals at work for doing so. About 40,000 of the people who were dropped may be able to enroll in new coverage immediately because they have low incomes and receive financial assistance through a program Medicare calls “Extra Help.”
Multiple state officials said they had heard the same disenrollment figures, including Nevada’s insurance commissioner, Ned Gaines, who chairs the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ senior issues task force; Rebecca Gouty, director of the State Health Insurance Assistance Program in West Virginia; and Tim Smolen, director of Washington state’s Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors. The West Virginia and Washington initiatives are part of the federally funded State Health Insurance Assistance Program, or SHIP, which provides free, unbiased help navigating Medicare.
Surprise bills
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which oversees Medicare drug plans, declined to provide the number of Value Script members who lost coverage due to unpaid premiums. “The agency does not publicly provide plan-specific disenrollment figures or state-level breakdowns related to the non-payment of premiums,” Christopher Krepich, a spokesperson, said in a written statement to KFF Health News.
Centene Corp., Wellcare’s parent company, also declined to provide disenrollment numbers.
“We recognize how disruptive a loss of coverage can be and are committed to helping members understand their options,” said Sarah Baiocchi, senior vice president for specialty and prescription drug plans at Centene. She acknowledged that “some members in our Value Script plan experienced a premium for the first time, or for the first time in several years.”
Baiocchi said all Value Script members received a CMS-required annual notice of changes in September, before the premium increases took effect.
A version of the booklet sent to members in two states and Washington, D.C., is 21 pages long. The new premium is mentioned on pages 3 and 8, along with changes to out-of-pocket costs and how to find updates on covered drugs and network pharmacies.
The company also informed members about 2026 premium changes through phone calls, text messages, regular mail, or email, Baiocchi said.
Wayne Bennett lost his Medicare drug coverage because he didn’t pay the premium, which was free last year but — without his knowing — went up this year. “Medicare should be doing something about this so that we can go ahead and get coverage now,” he says. (Wayne Bennett)Wayne Bennett
People who are dropped are not able to reenroll or join another drug plan until the start of the open enrollment period this fall for coverage beginning Jan. 1, unless they qualify for an exception, Krepich said. And because they will have gone without coverage for at least 63 days, they could be hit with a permanent late-enrollment penalty that increases every year for the rest of their lives.
“Medicare should be doing something about this so that we can go ahead and get coverage now,” said Wayne Bennett, 74, who lives in Durham, N.C.
In May, he found out that Wellcare had canceled his Value Script plan because he hadn’t paid his $3.60 monthly premiums. He takes nine prescription drugs to treat his blood pressure, glaucoma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and other health problems. He filled most of his prescriptions — including several at no cost — before he lost coverage. He doesn’t know what he’ll have to pay when his supply runs out.
Gouty, the West Virginia program head, said many Medicare beneficiaries arrange for their monthly drug plan premium to be automatically deducted from their Social Security benefits, and that many likely thought that choice remained in place until they changed it.
“They didn’t realize that when the plan was a zero premium in 2025, that stopped the Social Security premium deduction and they would have had to reelect it for 2026,” Gouty said.
In other words, even if they mistakenly thought the premium was still zero, Medicare beneficiaries would have needed to somehow allow Social Security to make deductions — something the agency doesn’t do — or set up a payment plan through their bank or credit card in case payment was necessary.
“That sounds goofy,” Tix said.
Centene’s Baiocchi blamed the Social Security Administration for the problem: “We believe this was a key driver of non-payment disenrollments and subsequent complaints.”
Spokespeople for the agency referred questions about the matter to CMS.
Krepich said legal requirements for drug plan enrollment and disenrollment limit what CMS can do to help beneficiaries who lose coverage for not paying their premiums.
‘Pretty upset’
Now that Pare has no prescription drug coverage, his doctor replaced his blood thinner medication with a much less expensive drug that should be just as effective. Pare paid $111 for four other medications that used to be free under his Value Script plan. He hasn’t had to refill four more prescriptions yet and doesn’t know what they will cost, Tix said.
If Wellcare members knew about the premium increases, they could have set up direct billing or an automatic payment plan early this year before the payment grace period ended April 1. But they would have been able to fill prescriptions during the grace period, so if they didn’t see Wellcare’s notices, they likely assumed there was no problem with their coverage.
Bennett, the North Carolina man, said Wellcare used to send him text messages with health tips and reminders when it was time to pick up a prescription. He didn’t know his premium had increased from $0 to $3.60 until it was too late.
“I was pretty upset,” he said, when he called the company. “The premium wasn’t that much, and I was ready to pay it right off the bat. I had my credit card out ready to make the payment.”
The customer service representative wouldn’t let him pay because his coverage had been canceled, Bennett said.
Hoping to restore it, Bennett called Senior PharmAssist, a Durham nonprofit that advises Medicare beneficiaries and is one of more than 2,200 SHIP sites across the country. He was told he must wait until January to restart his drug coverage, said the group’s executive director, Gina Upchurch.
He doesn’t qualify for the “Extra Help” low-income subsidy or meet other CMS criteria for a special enrollment period, which would allow him to change drug plans during the year. CMS typically allows midyear switches for beneficiaries who, for example, move out of their plan’s service area, experience a natural disaster, or get help paying for drugs from a state program.
Senior PharmAssist was able to help one of its participants join another drug plan after she lost Value Script coverage because she is in North Carolina’s pharmacy assistance program for people with HIV/AIDS and has limited income, Upchurch said.
A further exception allows any Medicare beneficiary to enroll at any time in a drug plan that has earned five stars, the top grade in Medicare’s performance ratings. However, there are no five-star Medicare drug plans available to the general public. Only two insurers offer five-star plans, and only for retirees from certain employers. Their combined enrollment is about 8,700 as of June 1, according to the insurers.
But Upchurch, with more than two decades of Medicare expertise, doesn’t blame beneficiaries for not paying attention or for assuming Wellcare’s messages were bogus. Older adults are particularly vulnerable to identity theft and other scams and are often advised to ignore junk mail and calls from telemarketers.
Since Value Script members such as Bennett continued to get their prescriptions filled during the payment grace period, “why wouldn’t they think this was a scam?” Upchurch asked. “They are constantly bombarded by people selling them something that’s illegitimate or trying to scam them.”
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling, and journalism.
Growing up as a student in Catholic school, I remember occasionally asking adults why God permits human pain and suffering, even among innocent children. Years later, my nephew once approached me about a conversation that took place in his classroom. He asked a nun at his school why his friend was born with a disability that left the child unable to walk. She told my nephew God knew this boy would grow up to be a thief — or worse — and that God crippled him to avoid that fate.
I was aghast and told my nephew she was wrong. God would never do something like that. Yet, the difficulties in reconciling an all-good deity with the terrible ills inflicted upon humanity remain. Does God will these horrors, as the nun at my nephew’s school implied, or just permit them? Why are the innocent as susceptible to great suffering as are the guilty?
It is one of those truly profound theological conundrums that even a youngster can grasp. A childhood friend of mine carried the heavy leg braces and profound limp of a polio patient, and I often wondered why him and not me. He was one of the nicest kids I knew; it wasn’t right. What am I supposed to think of a God who could desire that?
Then I heard Pope Leo XIV as he presented me with a different picture of God. He was speaking to a gathering of young people in Spain last month, and what he said — which was much different from anything I had heard as a student in Catholic school — has stayed with me.
“We must not spiritualize pain, superficially attributing it to ‘God’s will’ or to some mysterious plan of his, because this risks minimizing that suffering, silencing it and hurting people,” he said. “God does not want suffering. He carries it with us and invites us to trust in him with perseverance.”
The pope went on, “With God, life is always reborn.”
On the other hand, he said, moments of darkness and suffering must never be silenced just “because certain cultural norms demand that we always be victorious and perfect.”
I am, shall I say, over 50, and like just about everyone my age, I have witnessed awful pain and suffering, sometimes among the youngest and most innocent. I have been told to “spiritualize” that pain, attribute it to “God’s will,” and just deal with it.
That never sat right with me, from playing with my classmate who had polio to this very day. Leo provided me with a new way to process human suffering.
First, God does not want suffering. When we say, “Oh, it’s God’s will,” we are actually making light of the suffering, shoving it away, minimizing it.
I had never thought of it that way. Saying “It’s God’s will” seemed to make it grander, divine, special.
In fact, the “God’s will” gambit only serves to distance me from what the other person is going through. I get to shake my head with immense pity, sigh deeply, and then go about my business.
What the pope made clear to me is that we are not called to label the suffering of another, wrap it up in brown paper, and send it off to heaven. No, we are called to accompany the sufferer, fully acknowledge their pain, and help in any way we can to ease their hardship.
The pope seemed to refer to this duty again — in a broader way — when he accepted the Liberty Medal on Friday. “We are guardians and stewards of those entrusted to our care,” he said. “In this regard, the moral greatness of a nation is manifested, above all, in its capacity to support, protect and cherish the lives of all, especially the most vulnerable and those whose worth is questioned.”
We are born with fragile, mortal, material bodies. They will bruise, break, hurt, and die. That is a given: for my childhood friend, for my nephew’s disabled buddy, and for me.
We are likewise born with the enormous power to empathize, to touch the pain of another with patience and caring. That is not a given; that is a choice.
Jesus confronted hundreds of sufferers. He never said, “That’s God’s will; suck it up.” He reached out and, when possible, healed. His healing power is what is most often mentioned in the Gospels, but it may be the least understood.
I used to think Jesus’ healing gift was what separated him from us, what made him God and us just human beings. Pope Leo hinted that I have been all wrong about that.
We, too, are called to be healers. Our touch may not bring about a cure, only a connection. Suffering is not God’s will, but that connection definitely is. That connection is love.
Lonnie Barone is an author and executive leadership coach who teaches at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Fox School of Business at Temple University.
Jace Banks only started playing lacrosse six years ago, but he quickly emerged into a formidable force on the field.
The 19-year-old from Middletown, Del., who recently graduated from the Hill School, is ranked No. 6 in the country and the top player in Pennsylvania in the class of 2026, according to the National Lacrosse Federation.
Banks, an attacker and midfielder, finished his senior season with 45 goals and 17 assists. Now, he’s preparing to play at Notre Dame in 2027. While the game came easy, becoming a leader was a different battle.
“He’s a special kid,” said Dave Page, the Hill School’s head boys’ lacrosse coach. “He’s got a really quiet confidence and charisma about him and it made him a great leader, not just on the team, and in the locker room, but I think around the campus.”
Banks transferred to the private boarding school in Pottstown in 2023, after being recruited by Page during Banks’ freshman year at The Tatnall School in Wilmington. Once he began playing at Hill, Banks’ commitment to the sport changed.
“When I started, the [senior players] on the team had so much influence on my life.” Banks said. “I just remember, you’d wake up in the morning and you’d see kids already coming back from the gym or like coming back from hitting the wall or the field. … little things like that every day really motivated me and it was a shock of culture almost.”
He began to focus on drills that utilized his 6-foot-2 frame, while building his strength and speed, two areas that have become the biggest assets in Banks’ game.
Page says that’s one of the benefits of having a boarding school program.
“I tell the kids, it’s called prep school, not get you into college school.” Page said. “The preparation piece is a big part of it. … There’s the athletic, the academic, and then I think the other big piece is the community piece, and that definitely does contribute to closeness and I think that’s something we try and lean into, the huddle is a brotherhood every time.”
It also taught Banks how to be a leader.
Jace Banks came to The Hill School in 2023. He emerged as the top lacrosse player in the state in the class of 2026.The Hill School Athletics
“I remember my junior year, we had a kid named Kessy Cox [now at Villanova] come through,” Banks said. “He helped me with what a kid that has a high rank is supposed to look like and what we have to do for the team. He kind of showed me what I was lacking in.
“Many people don’t understand what it’s like to have a name. You have to run a team and you have freshmen looking up to you, and you have to calm down emotions when emotions get too high and you have to run an offense and you have to pick the plays that you’re running in the sets that you’re running in. It’s just a lot.”
Banks played multiple sports at Hill, including junior varsity basketball and running on the track team’s 4×200 relay. This past spring, while also playing lacrosse, he helped set a new school record in the event.
“We did a lot of practicing.” Banks said. “That helped 100%, and it was a weird balance because you’re getting stronger [with lacrosse training] but then you were getting more explosive with the track training. When we first stepped on the field, I remember, I felt amazing.”
Banks proved to be a weapon on the field, aiding the Rams to a 13-4 record last season.
“He’s an NFL athlete, truly.” Page said ”I don’t care how good you are as a high school defender. You haven’t covered someone who’s as explosive as Jace. … And then the other piece, too, is he is a really intensely competitive kid. And I think when you’re playing next to guys that are wired that way, it sort of ups the standard, and he did a really good job modeling it for the other guys.”
Banks is headed to one of college lacrosse’s premier programs. Notre Dame advanced to the NCAA Final Four this past season, finishing as national runner-up to Princeton. Notre Dame won back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024.
“I think I am ready,” Banks said. “I think the mindset and everything that I cultivated at Hill will definitely prepare me for getting to Notre Dame and hopefully playing, and playing good.”
It wasn’t the first time Brad Stevens had heard the question. His story piques a natural curiosity. A man widely regarded as one of the world’s finest basketball coaches walked away from one of the world’s finest basketball coaching jobs at 44 years old. He did so to become a suit. Over the last five years, plenty of people have wondered aloud to the Celtics’ president of basketball operations.
So, do you miss coaching?
“I did this week,” Stevens said on Monday, recounting a conversation he had with an interrogator last week. “This is not for the faint of heart.”
Stevens’ news conference alongside Celtics majority owner Bill Chisholm earlier this week offered the world its first chance to inform its opinion on a trade that stunned the NBA like few before it. While the Sixers have yet to announce when they will field questions about their blockbuster acquisition of Boston superstar Jaylen Brown, the guys on the other side of the deal didn’t have the same luxury.
Rarely does an NBA team encounter such a universal and vociferous disagreement with a trade as the Celtics did to their decision to trade Brown to the Sixers for Paul George and a couple of first- and second- round picks. Here in Philly, the jubilation surrounding such a no-brainer decision was further enhanced by the opportunity to watch Bostonians engage in a collective public meltdown unlike any it has staged since at least the Revolutionary War. One local radio host called it the worst trade in Celtics history. Another said he felt physically ill. Bill Simmons said he woke up from a colonoscopy and assumed he’d died.
“I’m with you,” Stevens said. “That is a hard thing to trade a guy that you, first of all, care so much about and secondly have so much respect and admiration for, to a team that just beat you in the playoffs and that you’re literally going to play six times before the playoffs next year, with our two preseason games. But I do think that ultimately when you do a deal you need to think about you first and the optionality it creates for you. If I’m being honest, if that exact deal came from a team out west and you were comparing the two, then you’d probably take the team out west. But that’s not the way it was working.”
Whatever the immediate local reaction to Stevens’ defense of the decision, he and Chisholm offered a master class in how to handle blowback. You do it directly, immediately, and humbly. It helps when you believe in your decision-making process, which the Celtics clearly did. And, look, they were right to feel that way. Because, chances are, this ends up being a good decision for them.
That’s not the same as saying that the Sixers will regret their decision to trade for Brown. Nor is it the same as saying that the Celtics “won” the deal. None of those things are exclusive from one another. There is a scenario where the Celtics and Sixers both did what was best for them, and that the price was perfectly fair. Granted, things rarely align on all three of those fronts. But this is one of those deals where both sides made the most rational decision and where the market dictated the terms. A lot of the criticism currently being aimed at the Celtics would be better targeted at the 28 general managers who either couldn’t or wouldn’t beat the Sixers’ offer for Brown. If anything, the market was the irrational actor.
Jaylen Brown spent 10 seasons in Boston after getting selected third overall by the organization in 2016.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
From the Sixers’ perspective, the argument remains largely as it did in the immediate wake of the deal. More than practically any other player in the NBA, Brown at least renders believable the idea that the Sixers can contend for a championship over the next two years, given both their smallish backcourt of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe and their preexisting financial condition. Brown’s size, athleticism, explosiveness and shotmaking are a much better fit at about $60 million over three years than George was for essentially the same AAV over two years. That, at the very least, means the Sixers will be doing something other than treading water and praying for a miracle for the duration of Joel Embiid’s contract, which is as immovable — and limiting — as any in the NBA.
The Celtics were not bound by those constraints. Their desire to remain that way sits at the heart of the decision to trade Brown. Keeping his contract on their books could easily have led them to a fiscal and competitive cliff. A lot of the criticism of the Celtics seems to underestimate this reality.
The criticism doesn’t account for the idea that Payton Pritchard is worth the entire amount of the four-year, $100 million extension he is eligible to sign. Over the last two seasons, seven guards in the NBA have a .600-plus true shooting percentage while attempting at least 20 shots per 100 possessions. Those seven are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Austin Reaves, Jamal Murray, Anthony Edwards, Luka Dončić, Desmond Bane, and … Pritchard.
The criticism doesn’t account for the contract that former second-round pick Jordan Walsh could command as a free agent next summer. It doesn’t account for Hugo González potentially hitting his option year at the same time Pritchard’s current deal is expiring. The Celtics could have made it work for the next couple of years, sure. But they wouldn’t be able to do it the two years after that. The teams that lose sight of those years are the ones who end up where the Sixers were.
The criticism of the Celtics also seems to under-assess the Celtics’ return. The 2028 draft pick they acquired is hugely valuable given the probability that it ends up as a maximum-odds lottery pick and the time-value aspect of its relative immediacy. The 2031 unprotected pick will be perfectly timed on a number of levels.
I don’t have room to show you all of the work. But you should at least be able to accept that a basketball mind as astute as Stevens’ and an organization as accomplished as the Celtics have done the work. In a weird way, all of the factors that have generated such outrage are also evidence of how strongly the Celtics believed in their decision.
Few teams have the stones to trade a player at the peak of his value. The Celtics’ skids were greased by Brown’s eligibility for a contract extension. More often than not, the word “No” is a first domino.
“They convinced me this was the best way for us to win, and I got there, I did, but it was hard,” Chisholm said. “It was really hard. And I recognize this is a big, big move.”
It is unquestionably a move that works in the Sixers’ favor. But that doesn’t mean it won’t work out for the Celtics, too.
But the pharmacy chain’s distinct facade still dots the landscape — in suburban shopping centers, on the corners of congested intersections, sometimes even smack dab in the middle of city blocks.
Some of these buildings are still vacant, surrounded by overgrown grass and empty parking lots. Others are getting new life as dollar stores, medical clinics, daycares, Spirit Halloweens, and a Rally House sports retailer.
A former Rite Aid (left, rear) and former Wawa (right) sat empty in Collingswood in June. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The 8,000- to 16,000-square-foot shells are ideal for only so many tenants, real estate experts have said, and it is not unusual for these kinds of properties to take several months or more to lease.
Here is a look at what’s happening at a few local zombie Rite Aids:
South Jersey Rite Aids are becoming fitness centers
A former Rite Aid in Blackwood, Camden County, has been a gym for more than a year, and its owners soon plan to open a second location at another old Rite Aid in Cherry Hill.
Nick Bennett, CEO of the Bunker Fitness Center, said the owner of the Blackwood Rite Aid building approached him after seeing the gym’s content on TikTok. At the time, Bennett said, the gym was outgrowing its 3,000-square-foot space in Franklinville, Gloucester County.
When he went to see the 13,000-square-foot former Rite Aid in Blackwood, he said, it had already been demolished inside.
“It was just wide open,” Bennett said. “That floor plan works for our business model because gyms are open. You don’t really need to put up walls.”
Steve Cristelli works out at the Bunker Fitness Center in Blackwood. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Another plus, he said: Pharmacies have rows of refrigerators, which require electrical outlets, and the Bunker crew could use those outlets to plug in workout equipment.
The old Rite Aid on Black Horse Pike needed “very little” work, just paint and rubber floors, Bennett said, and was easily transformed into the exercise and recovery space he had envisioned. The gym opened in 2025.
“We’re smashing it,” Bennett said, with thousands of members who pay between $49 and $59 a month for the 24/7 gym, which has cardio and strength machines, weights, a sauna, and a cold plunge. He declined to provide specific sales or membership figures for competitive reasons.
The Bunker Fitness Center operates inside a former Rite Aid in Blackwood.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
But Bennett said the business is doing so well that it is expanding into another former Rite Aid, 12 miles away in Cherry Hill with franchisee Jack Prendergast.
That 10,000-square-foot pharmacy shell at Brace and Kresson Roads closed more recently and needs a bit more work inside, Bennett said. When they signed the lease, he said, it “looked like a Rite Aid.”
Bennett said he and Prendergast are demolishing the interior, aiming for a September opening.
In Delco, a Rite Aid could become a township’s first car wash
The former Rite Aid in Newtown Square may get new life as a car wash.
The store at West Chester Pike and St. Alban’s Circle closed last year. In February El Car Wash, a Florida-based chain looking to expand into Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland, applied to open there, said Newtown Township Solicitor Rich Sokorai.
On its website, El Car Wash lists several other Philly-area locations as “coming soon,” including Cherry Hill, Drexel Hill, Feasterville, and Maple Shade.
The Newtown Square Rite Aid operated a drive-through, Sokorai said, and drive-throughs are permitted in that commercial zone. After a June meeting, the township zoning hearing board is considering whether to permit the car wash, with a decision expected in the coming weeks.
A Rite Aid with a “store closing” sign last summer.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
If approved, it would be the only car wash in Newtown Township, the solicitor said.
Residents of the neighborhood behind the old Rite Aid have expressed concerns to local officials, Sokorai said, “because they fear traffic.”
Others have said they are looking forward to a new business moving into the vacant space on a prime corner, Sokorai said. Even before the Rite Aid closed last summer, its shelves were often empty, the solicitor said, and “it was dying a slow death.”
Temple University buys another old Rite Aid
Temple “T” flags fly on North Broad Street.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Temple University recently bought a second former Rite Aid on North Broad Street.
The school recently closed on the old Rite Aid building on the 2100 block of North Broad for $9.25 million, according to spokesperson Stephen Orbanek. He said ArchWell Health, which operates a primary-care clinic for seniors there, will remain the tenant.
“This property’s location, directly across the street from James S. White Residence Hall, supports the priorities of our campus safety and physical environment plan,” Orbanek said.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to indicate that Temple Health plans to open neurology offices at the previously acquired Rite Aid building.
With Eagles training camp drawing nearer, The Inquirer is taking a closer look at the more than three dozen new faces who are expected to report along with the rest of the team on July 28.
Player: Stone Smartt
Position: Tight end
Age: 27
Previous experience: Rookie second-round pick Eli Stowers isn’t the only former quarterback playing tight end for the Eagles in training camp. Smartt, too, was a quarterback even into his college days. He played quarterback at Northern Arizona and Riverside City College before transferring to Old Dominion, where he eventually became a wide receiver.
Smartt went undrafted in 2022. He signed with the Chargers and made seven appearances as a rookie. His highest usage came in 2023, when he was on the field for 28% of the offensive snaps and was targeted 21 times (11 catches). Smartt, who is 6-foot-4 and 226 pounds, signed with the Jets last season and played 15 games, mostly appearing on special teams.
Path to a roster spot: The Eagles have eight tight ends on their current roster. If you’re building a depth chart heading into camp, it’s hard to get Smartt any higher than fifth, and since the Eagles won’t be keeping that many tight ends, Smartt’s odds of making the team out of camp are long. Dallas Goedert and Stowers are locks to make the team. Free agent addition Johnny Mundt figures to have a leg up for a spot due to his blocking ability. Grant Calcaterra is back but has plenty of competition — including from Smartt — to make the team. Smartt should have plenty of chances in camp and in preseason games to show he belongs, but it won’t be easy … or likely.
Fun fact: Smartt has plans for life after football. He has a finance degree and has continued his financial education after college.
Quotable: “One thing that constantly comes back to my mind is helping people and families have money and make that money work for them, and also being able to leave a legacy for their next of kin,” Smartt said recently on a financial podcast.
Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Deontae Lawson (0) reacts during the second half against the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium.John Reed-Imagn Images
Player: Deontae Lawson
Position: Linebacker
Age: 23
Previous experience: Draft experts had Lawson pegged as a Day 3 pick for good reason. He was a standout at Alabama who left Tuscaloosa ranked 10th all-time in tackles (283). An ACL tear near the end of his junior season certainly may have impacted his draft stock. He initially planned to leave for the NFL after that 2024 season but returned to college and had 89 combined tackles in 15 games.
Path to a roster spot: Lawson is long and relatively lanky at 6-3 and 226 pounds.He faces a difficult path to go from undrafted free agent to the roster, but he should, at the very least, be an intriguing player the Eagles try to keep on the practice squad. Zack Baun and Jihaad Campbell are the off-ball linebacker starters, and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is right behind them. Four seems like the likely number for linebackers on the initial 53-man roster. Smael Mondon Jr., a fifth-round pick last year, is slotted in at that No. 4 spot right now, but Lawson and Chance Campbell are knocking on the door. There could be a fun competition for that fourth spot.
Fun fact: Lawson became one of just 16 players in Alabama football history to twice be named a team captain.
Quotable: “Lawson might not have elite speed or strength, but NFL teams love him as a football player because he plays fast and fiery, and his processing can be a differentiating factor,” The Athletic’s Dane Brugler wrote of Lawson in this year’s Beast draft preview. “He has the talent to compete for starting reps, but questions about durability cloud his future.”
According to NFL Network analyst Lance Zierlein, Lawson is “much better at slipping blocks than he is at taking them on. … He projects as a run-and-chase Will linebacker with three-down potential but a limited ceiling.”
Meg Kane, the president and CEO of Signature 57, a strategic communications firm, has been the driving force behind Philadelphia’s World Cup bid.
In November 2019, she was told by the city’s convention and visitors bureau that they were going to bid on the World Cup — and needed her help. Kane knew this would be the project of a lifetime, and she was put front and center as the captain of the city’s World Cup cheerleading squad.
It also has been a round-the-clock operation: From constant interviews to riding the Amtrak to New York or taking a 14-hour flight to Doha, Qatar, to see what she could learn, then debriefing with her colleagues at Philadelphia Soccer 2026.
But two years before she welcomed the World Cup, Kane faced an unimaginable family tragedy when her parents died in a house fire. Since then, a simple message from her father has guided her.
Christian Pulisic (second from right) on the U.S. bench after being subbed out injured in the second half.Abbie Parr
By the time this summer arrived, there was a bar set for the U.S. to make history — and it felt like they could. The program had just one knockout game win in its history. Winning two would mean a quarterfinal berth. It also meant toppling a giant somewhere along the way.
In the round of 16, that giant was Belgium. The U.S. needed its big players to deliver, but they didn’t. Now, what’s next for this “golden generation” of players and their $6 million coach?
And don’t blame Folarin Balogun for the global fallout over whether his red card was justified. It did, however, give Belgium the motivation it needed to win.
What we’re …
👟 Donning: Bryce Harper pays tribute to SEPTA in his new line of Under Armour cleats.
🏀 Learning: The fifth annual Cathedral Classic will return to the Palestra with an expanded five-team field.
👀 Watching: World Series MVP Cole Hamels is joining MLB Network’s draft coverage in Philly this weekend.
👏 Applauding: This Hill School graduate started playing lacrosse six years ago. Now he’s preparing to play at Notre Dame this fall.
🏈 Evaluating: Stone Smartt and Deontae Lawson will have some work to do to make the Eagles’ roster.
Phillies pitcher Jesús Luzardo has a 3.75 ERA in 18 starts this season.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
For the first time in his career, Jesús Luzardo was named an All-Star. He was added to the National League roster on Tuesday as a replacement. The news of his selection took him completely by surprise.
The Phillies also did some bullpen shuffling ahead of their series opener against the Reds. Right-hander Max Lazar was recalled from triple-A Lehigh Valley, while lefty Kyle Backhus was optioned. Plus, Brandon Marsh had the day off.
Despite being left off the National League roster, Zack Wheeler put on an All-Star performance by dominating the Reds in the Phillies’ 4-1 win. He tied a career-high with 14 strikeouts.
Noel Acciari skates into Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first round Stanley Cup playoffs on April 18.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Noel Acciari checked a lot of boxes, including playoff experience, the fourth-line role, and face-offs, that general manager Danny Brière was looking for from a free agent.
The veteran forward, who was on the Penguins team that lost in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to the Flyers, inked a two-year deal in Philly and says he’s happy to be on the other side of the Battle of Pennsylvania.
Anfernee Simons and Jaylen Brown, who are now both Sixers, spoke glowingly about their time as teammates with the Boston Celtics.Mike Stewart
Mike Gansey was focused on building a deeper lineup in his first Sixers offseason as president of basketball operations. This past season, Tyrese Maxey averaged the most minutes in the NBA, and VJ Edgecombe wasn’t far behind.
Bringing in Anfernee Simons to serve as the third guard off the bench should lighten their workload. He also has history with new Sixer Jaylen Brown.
And speaking of depth, Dean Wade, who signed a four-year contract worth almost $39 million, believes his self-made defense and ready-made shooting will make a great fit with the Sixers.
What you’re saying about the World Cup
We asked: Are you still going to watch the World Cup with the U.S. out? Among your responses:
Of course. If you follow the Premier League or La Liga or any of the top leagues in Europe you know the players on the remaining teams better than you know the USA players. And many of the “other” (non USA team) games have been fantastic. — Richard V.
Sure why not. Most of the best teams are still in. I’m rooting for Norway. — Bill M.
Actually NO! I found watching a soccer game almost as boring as watching grass grow. Mary and Ron tried our best last night but flipped it off 20 minutes into the game. — Ronald R.
I’m done watching soccer for four years. I find the sport incredibly boring and was only watching because it was the United States. — Stiles B.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Mike Sielski, Jonathan Tannenwald, Rob Tornoe, Gabriela Carroll, Devin Jackson, Conor Smith, Lochlahn March, Jeff Neiburg, Gina Mizell, Jackie Spiegel, and Becca O’Reilly.
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.
As always, thanks for getting your morning started with me — I’ll certainly be tuned into the rest of the World Cup. Maria will be back in your inbox tomorrow. — Bella
Dana Brown-Toure, 52, says her life is in a place “somewhere between drowning and surviving.”
A former health aide living on disability benefits, Brown-Toure contends with diabetes that threatens to blind her, while risingbills continue to overwhelm her. Brown-Toure shares an arduous existence with her two children, ages 8 and 21, in the house they rentin Camden, made harder by her former husband’s recent stroke, which hampers his ability to contribute money.
Still, despite their troubles, the family takes in enough money to place Brown-Toure just above the official federal poverty level.
That the U.S. government does not consider her to be living in poverty is hard for Brown-Toure to believe. “Life’s a struggle,” she said Monday.“I would say this feels below the poverty line.”
So would the Poverty Research Institute (PRI) of Legal Services of New Jersey, a statewide legal aid nonprofit that has released a new report asserting that the actual rate of poverty in the state is about triple what the U.S. government calculates.
That means, the report says, the official number of residents living in poverty in New Jersey in 2024 — the latest statistics available — was close to 3 million, rather than the federal figure of 859,000. Brown-Toure did not want her exact income to be disclosed, but the federal poverty level for a family of three such as hers in 2024 was just over $25,000.
A person living below the official poverty level can more readily qualify for various assistance programs, such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), Medicaid, Head Start, and school meals. The problem, experts say, is that even people with incomes that are twice the poverty rate need help, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The government “severely understates poverty for high-cost states like New Jersey,” PRI director Shivi Prasad said.
New Jersey’s cost of living ranks third-highest among states, behind California and Hawaii, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis in the Department of Commerce. It also has the highest real estate property taxes in the United States, according to the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit that analyzes tax policy. The average annual tax bill in the state exceeds $10,000, compared with a national average of around $3,119, the foundation said.
As the issue of affordability continues to plague Americans, thrusting many deeper into poverty, it’s becoming clear that the government‘s methods to measure deprivation are inadequate, PRI explains.
The report, released in June and titled “2024 Poverty Data at a Glance: How the Federal Measurement Falls Short for New Jersey,” says that “the hard reality is that poverty remains deeply entrenched with millions left behind — a paradox for a state considered among the wealthiest in the nation.”
The PRI measures what it calls True Poverty Level, described as the minimum income working families need to afford basic necessities without any public or private support, without making tradeoffs such as eating less to make rent payments.
The basic flaw of the official federal poverty level, according to the PRI and other experts, is that it is a simplistic standard based on computations from 1964.
“It’s a super-inadequate measure, like the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour,” said Laura Napolitano, a sociologist at Rutgers University-Camden. “We’re looking at a dated calculation that’s been unchanged for years.”
Back in the mid-1960s, poverty thresholds were derived by taking the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s calculation for the minimum cost of food, then multiplying it by three to account for other family expenses. The thinking was that food was one-third of a family’s budget. Each year, the poverty level is updated to keep up with inflation, but the equation has remained the same for more than 60 years.
Importantly, Prasad said in an interview, as the decades have gone by, the federal poverty level has not accounted for the actual costs of housing, childcare, food, transportation, healthcare, and other aspects of everyday life. And the federal poverty level does not allow for geographic differences in cost across the nation. For example, the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Manhattan ($5,746) is vastly higher than it is in Omaha ($1,441), according to Apartments.com.
“We look at all these realistic costs to see how much a family really needs to make it,” Prasad said. “We want to see how much you’d need to survive on your own, without help from the government or from family.”
To determine how much basic survival costs in New Jersey, Prasad noted that an average monthly rent in the state is around $1,800 for a two-bedroom apartment. That would make a year’s rent more than $21,000.
Now look at childcare, Prasad said, where the maximum monthly rate that can be charged for a toddler is $1,417, according to the New Jersey Department of Human Services, which comes to around $17,000 a year.
With rent and childcare adding up to almost $40,000 annually, even if you are making $50,000 — almost twice the federal poverty rate for a family of three — “you really don’t have enough to survive,” Prasad said.
And that says nothing about skyrocketing food costs, she added. The Food Bank of South Jersey reported that over the last four years in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Salem Counties, the number of meals distributed to compensate for increasing food expenses grew by 34%.
“More of our neighbors are turning to us amid an affordability crisis that’s hitting a high-cost state like New Jersey harder than poverty measures may show,” Jane Asselta, the food bank’s president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
For a more detailed analysis of the area the food bank serves, Prasad focused on South Jersey data for The Inquirer. In Burlington County in 2024, the true poverty rate was 27.2%, Prasad said. Similarly, Camden County’s true poverty rate was 38%, while Gloucester County’s sat at 29%. All rates as calculated by the PRI were more than three times the federal poverty levels for the counties in 2024, figures show.
Ultimately, Brown-Toure said, no matter how the government classifies poverty, the one constant she endures is that life’s hardships are wearing her down.
“I’m feeling depressed,” she said. “I miss working and my weekly paycheck. And the dream I once had to own a house is all gone.
“There’s a lot of struggle right now, a lot trauma. It’s hard. And the hardship never stops.”
