Bonner-Prendergast’s Korey Francis and Westtown’s Jordyn Palmer were named Mr. and Miss Basketball for the 2025-2026 season.
The award honors the best male and female high school players in Pennsylvania. Fans, coaches, and the media vote on the awards.
Francis, a junior guard, averaged 21.5 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.7 steals, while shooting 52.1% from the field, including 35.3% from the three-point line. Bonner-Prendie went 24-6 and won its first-ever state championship in basketball.
Palmer, a junior forward who’s considered one of best players in the nation, averaged 23.2 points, 13.2 rebounds, and 6.4 assists. She led Westtown to a 28-2 record last season.
Other local finalist included junior guard Silas Graham (Haverford School), sophomore forward Colton Hiller (Coatesville), and senior Sammy Jackson (Roman Catholic).
Palmer’s teammate Atlee Vanesko, a senior forward, and junior guard Ryan Carter (Friends’ Central) were also finalists.
On Tuesday, the Portland Trail Blazers announced Micah Nori would be the franchise’s next head coach. A 17-year veteran NBA assistant coach, Micah is the father of Phillies outfield prospect Dante Nori, a 2024 first-round pick.
Micah Nori was the lead assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves for the past five seasons, supporting the development of star guard Anthony Edwards. With head coach Chris Finch sidelined with a ruptured patellar tendon during the 2024 playoffs, Nori took over a majority of the game day operations that postseason. The Timberwolves went on to make the Western Conference finals.
Just over a month after the Timberwolves fell to the Dallas Mavericks in that series, Micah was with 19-year-old Dante when he was drafted by the Phillies with the 27th pick out of Northville (Mich.) High School.
Earlier this week, prior to the Blazers announcement, Dante appeared on The Show before The Show, Minor League Baseball’s official podcast. On the podcast, he talked about the various NBA players he grew up around due to his father’s profession. When Micah coached for the Toronto Raptors, Dante got to hang with Vince Carter. Then, when his father was hired by the Kings, he learned from DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins.
More recently, he has taken inspiration from Edwards’ work ethic.
“I mean, [Edwards is] a freak,” Dante said. “The most explosive athlete I’ve ever seen in my entire life. You see the way he takes care of his business. Like, he’s one of the top five players in the NBA. And personally, I’d say he’s No. 1. You know how that goes.
“When I go [to the Timberwolves practice facility], I’m always in there like 5 a.m. lifting before they get in because I’m on their time. As soon as I’m done, [Edwards] is one of the first ones in. No matter what level you’re at, the work, he never stops. He always wants more.”
In March, Dante starred in the World Baseball Classic. In six games with Italy, the outfielder had a 1.185 OPS with two home runs and six RBIs in six games.
Prior to the WBC semifinal, Dante got a shoutout from Alex Rodríguez — who is also a co-owner of the Timberwolves.
“This is a future star,” Rodríguez said on the Fox pregame show. “Dante Nori. Do not forget the name.”
Rodríguez’s proximity to Dante’s father may have made him a bit biased.
“People were like, ‘Let’s take that with a grain of salt,’” Nori told the Inquirer. “You laugh. As soon as I saw that, I was like, ‘Oh, here we go. Someone’s typing [a message]. Someone’s typing.’ I laughed about it, though.”
Off the field, Dante is an avid baseball card collector. Micah, who played baseball at Indiana before finding a career in basketball, shares this interest with him. He even helped Dante track down some of his rookie cards on eBay.
“When I paid, I used my real name and address,” Micah told the Inquirer. “The guy was like, ‘Wait, are you related?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m his dad.’ It’s a cool little community. Because the people would be like, ‘Oh my gosh. I have a couple more right here. I’ll send them to you.’”
Micah inherits a Blazers team that finished 42-40 and is headlined by 25-year-old All-Star forward Deni Avdija and veteran Damian Lillard. Interim coach Tiago Splitter was hired by the Bulls after stepping in to lead the team after then-coach Chauncey Billups was arrested by the FBI following an investigation into illegal sports betting and rigged poker games.
Dante, 21, is batting .245 with 12 stolen bases in 52 games at double-A Reading this season.
Two Philadelphia pastors groomed and sexually exploited two teenage boys, authorities say, paying them for explicit videos and sharing the images with each other in a scheme that stretched across years and may involve additional victims.
Isaiah Banks, 30, and Bryan Jackson, 42, are charged with sexual abuse of children, sexual exploitation of children, conspiracy, corruption of minors, and related crimes, District Attorney Larry Krasner said Tuesday.
Banks served as pastor of Second Pilgrim Baptist Church in Francisville, while Jackson served as a pastor at Garden of Prayer World’s Prayer Center in Strawberry Mansion, Krasner said.
Both men were arrested, arraigned, and released from jail after posting bail — $600,000 for Banks, and $100,000 for Jackson. Prosecutors said they had sought higher bail, but their request was denied.
Efforts to reach Banks’ attorney, Richard Kravets, were unsuccessful. No attorney for Jackson was listed in court records.
The investigation into the men began in April after police received a report that a teen had been solicited by Banks through text messages and social media to send sexually explicit videos in exchange for money or food, authorities said. The messages, they said, came to light after a witness checked the boy’s phone.
Prosecutors said Banks shared images he received with Jackson, who they said had also posed online as a female to solicit additional images and videos from the victim.
As investigators dug deeper, authorities said, they found evidence suggesting that Banks and Jackson had received sexually explicit images and videos from other victims, dating back to February 2024.
“A position of trust, when it is abused, has its criminal consequences,” Krasner said during a news conference to announce the charges.
He declined to provide additional details about the case, including the victims’ ages and genders. He said that the investigation is continuing and that releasing additional information could discourage other victims or witnesses from coming forward.
Court records, however, offer a more detailed portrait of the alleged crimes.
The victims, both boys, were 15 and 16 years old when investigators began their inquiry, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Jackson’s arrest. None of the crimes is alleged to have occurred on church grounds.
In the document, police described what they said was a yearslong pattern of communications, photographs, and videos showing Banks and Jackson cultivated transactional relationships with the boys.
Messages recovered from the men’s phones were also “littered with images and videos of nude men,” and photographs “from a barbershop and church events,” according to the affidavit.
By May, as the police investigation was underway, the tone of the messages between the two men had shifted, police said: In one message, Banks warned that one of the boys was rattled by the involvement of authorities.
During an interview with detectives, Banks acknowledged knowing the boys for more than a decade, and said Jackson was a friend, according to the affidavit. He told detectives he typically paid $50 for videos that the boys sent, the document said.
Efforts to reach officials at the church and prayer center where the two men worked were unsuccessful Tuesday.
According to Second Pilgrim Baptist Church’s website, Banks was elected senior pastor in 2017. The website describes him as a leader who is “loved genuinely by our congregation because of his passion to see our church thrive and because of his genuine care and love for all those who are a part of our church.”
Garden of Prayer World’s Prayer Center does not appear to have a website. An Instagram account appearing to belong to the church features photographs of Jackson promoting its events.
Krasner asked that anyone with additional information contact the district attorney’s office victim and witness services unit at 215-686-5709; the police department’s special victims unit at 215-685-3251; or the Philadelphia Center Against Sexual Violence hotline at 215-985-3333.
The Spring-Ford Area School District is moving to fire an eighth-grade Spanish teacher over protests from parents and students who say she is being unfairly terminated.
The school board voted Monday to approve a statement of charges surrounding the dismissal of an employee, who was not identified in board documents. The statement of charges was not made public, which is typical procedure for school district personnel matters.
But numerous supporters of Jasmine Ewing, including her husband, spoke out at Monday’s meeting against the dismissal, describing “Señora Ewing” as a passionate and dedicated educator who had positively impacted their lives.
They also urged the board not to fire her over what some characterized as false accusations.
“What foundation are we setting for the kids to know that they can retaliate against a teacher who is trying to hold them accountable for extremely inappropriate actions?” said Miranda Dombrosky, a 2010 Spring-Ford graduate and district parent.
Dombrosky, who described herself as a friend of Ewing’s, referred to a student who had “bragged about getting a teacher fired” and accused the district of punishing “an innocent teacher.”
Tamika Jeter, a district parent who credited Ewing with fostering her son’s enthusiasm for learning Spanish, told the board “it would be a big mistake to let a small thing that was considered playful among students cause her to lose her job.”
Erin Crew, a district spokesperson, said Tuesday that “out of respect for the students and families involved, and because this is an ongoing personnel matter, the district will not comment on matters related to an individual’s employment.”
The resolution approved by the board Monday “authorizes moving forward with a statement of charges while providing all due process rights required by law,” Crew said.
As a result of the board’s vote, Ewing plans to request a public evidentiary hearing, her husband, Brian Ewing, said at Monday’s meeting.
Brian Ewing told the board that he and his wife had “statements and factual information that directly dispute these claims against Jasmine, and raise serious concerns about this process.”
“If the district insists on dragging this forward, the public will see what was done, who did it, and why it never should have happened,” said Ewing, who said his wife was not present Monday because she was leading students on a trip to Costa Rica.
At a school board meeting the week before, at which supporters also spoke on her behalf, Jasmine Ewing said it was “devastating to stand here facing termination” after devoting herself to her teaching career.
As a Latina, she said, “Spanish has always meant something deeper to me,” and she viewed her job as not just an educator, but a “cultural ambassador.” She said the support shown by community members was a “legacy I will carry with pride for the rest of my life.”
Some supporters told the board that Ewing was an asset to the district as a teacher of color, providing valuable representation.
Former students like Sofia McClintock said Ewing had broadened their horizons through international trips she had led.
“Teachers who truly care are not easy to replace,” McClintock said. “They are the teachers that students remember years after leaving their classrooms because of the difference that they made, and that is Señora Ewing for me.”
While supporters of Ewing dominated the school board meetings Monday and last week, one former student spoke out against the teacher, accusing Ewing of participating in antisemitic bullying.
The student, Kayla Woodman, who graduated from Spring-Ford earlier this month, said that when she had Ewing for Spanish in eighth grade, boys repeatedly harassed her for being Jewish, including through a “Heil” chant.
Ewing, Woodman said, not only did not tell the boys to stop, but “joined in and laughed.”
It was not clear whether Woodman’s accusations were connected to the reasons the district is now seeking to dismiss Ewing.
Woodman, who described the experience as “some of the darkest times in my life,” said that she had been afraid to go to administrators and that her parents had had a private conversation with Ewing.
More than a third of short-term rental properties like Airbnb and VRBO in Philadelphia have licensing issues, according to a new report from the City Controller’s office released Tuesday.
The controller found that of 3,734 analyzed licenses associated with short-term rentals, 1,327 were expired ornoncompliant.
“Short-term rentals are an increasingly important part of Philadelphia’s lodging market, especially during major events that we’re experiencing right now,” City Controller Christy Brady said in a news release.
“The industry’s growth requires a clear, efficient regulatory framework with strong licensing and enforcement tools to identify noncompliance,” her statement read.
In one casehighlighted by the report, the controller found a host operating 50 listings in the city without any of the correct licensing.
In other cases — including one property offering renters the chance to “Chill in Style Anime Themed Escape”— licenses were either absent or associated with unrelated uses like dumpsters or towing companies.
Philadelphia’s short-term rental market has been in the spotlight this summer, as the city hosts major tourism events including the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the World Cup, and Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game.
The city has 121 registered hotels with 19,615 rooms and over 4,000 short-term rentals.
That’s a large reduction from before the licensing regulations took effect in 2023, according to the Department of Licenses and Inspections (L&I).
L&I says it has removed 10,452 unlicensed properties from rental sites since the beginning of 2024.
Under the regulations adopted in 2023, short-term rental hosts who live in the properties they are renting have to get a zoning permit and a “Limited Lodging Operators License.”
For those who do not live in the property, a zoning permit and a rental license with a hotel designation is needed. The licenses must be renewed annually.
No short-term rentals are allowed in the Far Northeast section of Philadelphia, where City Councilmember Brian J. O’Neill, a Republican, banned them.
The controller’s report recommends simplifying the “complicated compliance process for hosts” and switching to a more tech-oriented enforcement approach, which could monitor “noncompliant listing across multiple platforms.”
The result, the report suggests, would help the system move away from “complaint-driven enforcement managed by a small staff” of L&I workers.
Nashville and Mount Pleasant, S.C., have outsourced short-term rental regulation monitoring to third-party companies using automated tools to track listings across platforms.
As a result, they both saw over 90% of rentals complying with local laws, a huge increase from the previous status quo.
“The city can benefit from using technology-assisted monitoring tools that can support the identification of potentially noncompliant listings across multiple booking platforms,” Brady said in a statement. “Other cities are already utilizing this technology and significantly improving their enforcement measures.”
In the run up to the World Cup, short-term rental hosts in Philadelphia — as well as hotel leaders — have expressed concern that the anticipated level of consumer interest before this summer’s festivities has not fully materialized.
Just before the games began, the region’s short-term rental market had an occupancy of about 60%, according to AirDNA, which analyzes data from companies like Airbnb and VRBO.
Serving the community is an important mission for Philadelphia native Novar Gadson. After 14 years of playing professional basketball overseas, he is back home to bring his mission to life through the Invitational Clash Movement.
The invitational is a five-day initiative at Drexel from Thursday to Monday in which pro-am men’s and women’s basketball teams from as far away as London will compete in a bracket-style tournament.
The event will also feature other activities, including a youth basketball clinic and mental health workshops.
“The basketball is obviously at the centerpiece of it, but the vision behind it is community wellness, mental health, and youth development,” said Gadson, 36.
Eight men’s teams and four women’s teams will battle it out to decide the best pro-am leagues.
The men’s teams represent Philly’s Brotherly Love League; Drew League from Los Angeles, Rucker Park Streetball from New York; Ball Don’t Stop from Toronto; the Smith League from Cincinnati; Queen City from Charlotte, N.C.; Denard Brothers from Chicago; and Great Britain Select from London.
The four women’s teams represent Brotherly Love, Rucker Park, Queen City, and Swin City League from Dallas.
For Gadson, growing up in the city was not easy. His brother, Omari, was a victim of gun violence. He was 18 when he died in 2001.
“My family has still not recovered from my brother’s murder,” he said.
To stay out of trouble, Gadson said, he started playing basketball.
He attended John Bartram High School, where he broke Kobe Bryant’s father Joe’s scoring record. He played at Rider University before playing professionally in Europe, Asia, and South America.
“Basketball is what saved me from homelessness and sexual assault to everything that I was dealing with as a child,” he said. “I feel like it’s in my heart from Christ to serve people.”
In 2021, he began developing the vision for a Philadelphia-based event that would engage the community with sports and mental health advocacy.
Gadson is the chief executive officer of the Brotherly Love League Pro-Am Foundation, a nonprofit committed to increasing access to mental health resources for underserved communities in the area.
The invitational is an extension of the foundation, he said.
How the tournament works
The competition begins on Friday and follows a bracket-style format with the winning teams advancing to the next round.
The four women’s teams will open play on Saturday.
Attendees will have a wide variety of community-focused activities that are designed to engage and connect community members with mental health resources.
The event will also feature food trucks, gaming trucks where children can play in Madden 2K tournaments, hair-cut stations for children, face painting, crowd giveaways, and youth basketball clinics. The boys’ clinic is on Saturday and the girls’ is on Sunday. Participants in the clinics will receive meals and have access to mental health workshops.
More than 30 resource tables will be available throughout the event with panel discussions focused on mental health in partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness Philadelphia. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with professionals and sign up for licensed therapy sessions after the tournament.
“People need help,” Gadson said. “I dealt with a lot of PTSD and anxiety from my experiences growing up, so I want to extend help and opportunities for therapy outside the event.”
He noted that increasing access to resources can create change in the city beyond the basketball court.
“If we give a lot of resources and access to kids outside of the basketball event, it will help the city as a whole and the violence go down,” he said.
, Gadson has struggled to revisit the trauma around Omari’s death. He said he has never celebrated his brother’s birthday. But on Monday, Omari’s birthday and the last day of the invitational, Gadson plans to honor his legacy. The foundation will recognize two families who have lost their loved ones to suicide or gun violence.
“The idea for me is to continue to bring light to his name,” Gadson said.
No parent should lose sleep over a condition that doesn’t exist.
Yet every summer, viral headlines resurface the myth of “dry drowning,” the misleading belief that a child can suddenly die days after a normal swim from water hidden in their lungs.
As a pediatric emergency room doctor, I know these rumors are not harmless. Terms like “dry drowning” create anxiety about letting children enjoy the water. They also generate false expectations about the need for long-term vigilance after swimming. Instead, we must help families recognize the real signs of respiratory distress after a water incident.
Water play and swimming are fun ways for kids to stay cool and active in the summer, but water safety should always come first. Drowning is the No. 1 leading cause of death in children 1 to 4 years of age in the U.S., and a major risk for older children as well. Inaccurate information can distract from proper prevention, recognition, and treatment, so we must understand the facts to stay safe around water.
What is drowning?
Drowning occurs when water gets in the way of normal breathing. This can happen quickly (in under 30 seconds) and silently; most kids do not scream and splash like in the movies. Drowning is not always fatal; symptoms can present or persist after a child gets out of the water but they occur shortly after the event, not days later.
Symptoms of drowning include coughing, trouble breathing, chest pain, vomiting, pale or blue-appearing skin, or being unusually sleepy, irritable, or less interested in playing. These symptoms occur as a result of the body’s natural response to drowning; the body tries to clear water from the windpipe and lungs through protective reflexes like coughing before critical organs like the heart and brain suffer from a lack of oxygen. Children who develop concerning symptoms should be promptly evaluated by a medical professional.
Drowning can occur in either salt water or fresh water, or any kind of liquid. And it doesn’t just happen in oceans and pools; young children have drowned in bathtubs, buckets, and even toilets. All it takes is a few inches of water.
Why is ‘dry drowning’ a myth?
“Dry drowning” — the idea that a child can look well after a water incident and then deteriorate days later without warning due to water in their lungs — doesn’t exist. Drowning by definition requires breathing issues caused by water. Since oxygen is necessary for life, the body does not wait days before telling you that something is awry.
So how long should parents monitor their child? Multiple analyses of drowning events have shown that symptoms occur immediately or shortly after water exposure — usually within eight hours. If water reaches the lungs, it can trigger inflammation that may take several hours to become apparent. A child who is acting like their normal self is unlikely to develop symptoms from drowning beyond this initial period.
If we recognize drowning and intervene quickly, we can help a child before breathing issues can lead to organ failure and death. The effects of non-fatal drowning range from no injury at all to severe complications, including brain damage or permanent disability. Swift action, however, can help limit the long-term consequences.
If a child gets sick days after playing in the water, they haven’t drowned, but they still need to be seen by a healthcare professional to be evaluated for other serious conditions.
How to prevent drowning
I once cared for a young child who wandered out of her house without her parents noticing, only to be found unconscious in her neighbor’s unfenced pool. Kids are naturally curious and want to explore the world; it is up to us to keep them safe. Using multiple layers of protection can greatly reduce the risk of drowning:
Swim lessons: Swimming is a life skill; the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children start swim lessons after their first birthday. Similar to putting on your own oxygen mask before helping others in an airplane emergency, supervising adults should know how to swim so they can help others. Check out classes in Philadelphia and the surrounding area for you and your children.
Properly fitted life jackets: Small children and weak swimmers should wear U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jackets whenever they are near water, including pools and waterparks. Everyone should wear a life jacket when boating or participating in water-based activities in open water, such as lakes, rivers, and oceans. Inflatable aids like “floaties” are not safe substitutes as they can deflate and do not prevent drowning. Refer to the U.S. Coast Guard brochure for guidance on choosing a properly fitted life jacket.
Four-sided pool fencing with a self-latching gate: Fencing that surrounds pools decreases the risk of drowning by a whopping 83% compared to three-sided fencing or no fencing. Barriers should be a minimum of four feet high, and avoid horizontal bars, chain links, or nearby patio furniture that children could easily climb.
Close supervision:Even with a lifeguard present, adults should closely supervise infants, toddlers, and noncompetent swimmers at all times when near water, staying within arm’s reach and avoiding distractions like phones, socializing, or alcohol. This applies to bathtubs, buckets, and toilets as well. Caregivers should always clearly hand off supervision responsibilities.
Emergency preparedness: Parents, caregivers, and pool owners should be CPR trained in case of an emergency. Older children and adolescents can learn too. For the patient I cared for, CPR saved her life. A year later, she is thriving with no residual deficits.
With the right precautions, we can help kids enjoy the water safely all summer long. Talk to your pediatrician or visit CHOP Pediatric Health Chat whenever you have questions about kids’ health.
Priya Shah is a fellow physician in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and is board-certified in General Pediatrics. Her work focuses on child injury prevention.
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of CHOP. This information is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional regarding any health or medical concerns.
Gov. Josh Shapiro thinks sports could be the key to unity ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
“To me, sports is still one of the few things that allows people from all different walks of life, and different political views, to actually come together and enjoy each other’s company,” Shapiro said in an interview with 6abc while in Philadelphia for Monday’s World Cup match between France and Iraq.
“We worked really, really hard to stack these events up,” Shapiro told6abc. “And I was really purposeful about this, that as we celebrate our history, we have to find ways to come together.”
Shapiro has attended two of the three World Cup games held in the city so far, taking in Ivory Coast’s 1-0 win over Ecuador on June 14 before attending France’s 3-0 victory against Iraq.
VisitPA has committed $31.6 million to Philadelphia Soccer 2026 to help aid World Cup costs. Through this sponsorship, the state, including Shapiro, has access to tickets and suites.
“The Commonwealth has access to a mix of suite, VIP, and general admission tickets, which are being used to host business leaders, prospective partners, and other guests to further strengthen Pennsylvania’s economic development and promote the Commonwealth as the best place to visit, live, and do business,” Rosie Lapowsky, a spokesperson for Shapiro, wrote in an email.
Shapiro said he stopped by the FIFA Fan Festival at Lemon Hill before the game and admired how welcoming Philadelphians were to tourists from all over the globe.
“We are welcoming people,” Shapiro said. “We want you here, and we want you to celebrate not just a great sport; we want you to celebrate the greatest country on the face of the earth at this important moment as we celebrate the 250th birth of this nation.”
Fan fests are being held in multiple locations, allowing Pennsylvanians to bask in the World Cup excitement across the state.
“We were really insistent that this fan fest not be the only one, that we have them across the state,” Shapiro told The Inquirer during that event. “So we got one in Scranton, Reading, and Pittsburgh, and I think we’re going to see a lot of the excitement in there, too.”
Shapiro, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, is among the many possible 2028 aspirants to attend World Cup events. According to Politico, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have all also attended games.
Politico reported that, ahead of the games, Shapiro distributed 700 free tickets to Philadelphia community organizations to make the games as accessible as possible and bring people together.
“I think it [the World Cup] has a great way of allowing us to kind of blur our differences and find our commonalities and come together,” Shapiro told 6abc.
Staff writer Owen Hewitt contributed to this article.
When chef Christopher Kearse was planning Forsythia, the French restaurant he opened in Old City in 2019, he had two ideas that could not fit into the same room.
One was Forsythia. The other opens in Washington Square West on Friday, seven years later.
Phoebe Schuh of PS & Daughters (left) with owners Lauren and Christopher Kearse toast on a banquette at Known Associates.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
It’s a 40-seat cocktail bar called Known Associates, taking over the corner space at 10th and Spruce Streets that previously housed Varga Bar. The concept is built around cocktails and a compact food menu rather than full dinner service, though the fare is substantial.
For Kearse, the opening is another chapter in a career that began far from cocktail bars and French dining rooms. He grew up in Levittown, one of eight children, and learned to cook while recovering from a serious car crash at 16 that left him with severe facial injuries. During that long recovery, he cooked for his parents and siblings. He later worked in some of the country’s most exacting kitchens — Charlie Trotter’s and Alinea in Chicago, and the French Laundry in California — before returning to the Philadelphia area to become sous chef at Lacroix and Blackfish, followed by 2½ years as chef de cuisine at Pumpkin. In 2012, at 28, he opened Will BYOB on East Passyunk Avenue, closing it to move uptown to open the French restaurant Forsythia in the former Capofitto space in Old City. Forsythia earned a Michelin recommendation last year.
The tile floor is one of the few elements saved from Known Associates’ previous incarnation, Varga Bar. Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
Known Associates is not intended to be an extension of Forsythia. Kearse and his wife, Lauren, who is also an owner, said the concept came into focus during their honeymoon trip through Europe, traveling by train from Zurich to Florence and spending time in smaller bars and cafés in places like Lake Como and Milan.
Lauren Kearse said one nearly empty bar in Como became the image they kept returning to: quiet, low-key, hospitable, and free of the sort of self-conscious “experience” building that now attaches itself to so many cocktail bars.
The bar at Known Associates, chef Chris Kearse’s new cocktail bar on 10th and Spruce streets, on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
That idea is reflected in the room itself, which was rebuilt almost entirely. Phoebe Schuh of PS & Daughters, who also designed Forsythia, said the black-and-white tile floors were among the few elements retained from Varga, an unassuming gastropub with serious beer chops that closed after the unexpected death of owner Rich Colli in February 2025.
The Varga Bar murals painted on the ceiling — the “Varga girls” that were part of the bar’s identity for years — were salvaged and may be auctioned, with proceeds going to a fund in Colli’s memory, Schuh said.
Crudite with potato puffs and caramelized sour cream and onion dip at Known Associates.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
The finished room is emphatically café lounge, not neighborhood drinking den. Floral wallpaper wraps the walls. Patterned banquettes line marble-topped tables. Mustard velvet chairs sit beneath wall sconces, with checkerboard flooring underfoot and a red-and-white striped canopy treatment stretched overhead. The overall effect is layered and slightly theatrical.
Schuh said her working relationship with Kearse is built on familiarity. “Chris and I just kind of speak the same language because we’re both artists,” she said. “We’re not that great at talking about our work, but we’re great at producing our work.”
The location — within blocks of Jefferson, Wills Eye, and Pennsylvania Hospitals — also helped shape the project. Lauren Kearse said they envisioned a room that could work for after-work drinks and dinner-adjacent snacking as much as destination cocktail traffic.
That balance shows up on the food menu, which is limited to 10 savory dishes and two desserts. Kearse said the kitchen’s role is to support the bar rather than turn it into another restaurant. Still, the menu is more ambitious than standard bar snacks and has some of Forsythia’s cheffy feel.
Cool ranch peas at Known Associates.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
The burger that is a signature at Forsythia appears at Known Associates as burger au poivre, topped with Comté, cut in half, and served cut-side down in a pool of peppercorn reduction ($20). Char siu duck legs ($22) come on a pretzel milk bun with fish sauce and pickles. There’s also a chicken club ($23) with green goddess dressing and Benton’s bacon.
Lighter dishes include black-eye pea falafel with muhammara and green-scallion hummus ($15); hamachi toast with hard-boiled egg and piri piri ($22); pomme frites with Comté cheese foam ($10); and freeze-dried cool ranch peas meant for snacking with drinks. Seasonal crudité ($12) comes with potato puffs and a caramelized sour cream and onion dip. Desserts ($12) are limited to two: toasted rice milk ice cream with sesame and peanut brittle, and triple chocolate mousse with dulce de leche and toasted hazelnut.
The kitchen is led by chef Brandon Brokenbough, formerly of Enswell and Scarpetta.
Chefs Christopher Kearse (left) and Brandon Brokenbough at Known Associates.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
Beverage director Chris Harrop’s cocktails are built around prep work and technique. The TNT ($18) — tomato and tonic — uses clarified tomato water made from tomato, red bell pepper, shallot, fennel, and cucumber. The solids left behind after clarification are dehydrated and served as chips alongside the drink. Harrop said the same clarified base can also be used as a zero-proof savory soda.
The Bittered in Bond ($20), a Boulevardier variation, is made with a house mezcal amaro, Bonal Gentiane, Cappelletti Aperitivo, Licor 43, and salt. It is bottled in a small flask with a batch number and bottling date and poured tableside, a nod to bottled-in-bond whiskey labeling.
Between Harvest ($19), meanwhile, is a Martinez variation with Hayman’s Old Tom gin, Luxardo Maraschino liqueur, Nardini Rabarbaro, and muddled cucumber. Harrop said the name came from a Forsythia customer’s observation that rhubarb and cucumber almost never overlap in season — one fading as the other begins. For summer, he said, the bar has a frozen zombie ($19) assembled to order, with the rum blend kept separate from the slush machine so each drink can still be measured and built fresh.
The name Known Associates carries a passing wink to spy movies — the Kearses are fans of Bond films — but Lauren Kearse said the bar is not built as a themed concept.
“We have no interest in doing that,” she said. “We wanted something punchy that had a little bit of mystery to it.”
Known Associates, 941 Spruce St., opens June 26 and will be open daily from 3 p.m. to midnight.
While state and federal lawmakers have blasted the Trump administration for deplorable conditions at Newark migrant jail Delaney Hall, New Jersey’s prisons watchdog has issued a new report detailing overcrowding, intolerable heat, and other deficiencies at Bayside State Prison in Cumberland County.
Bayside, one of the state’s largest lockups, now houses almost 1,300 people, more than twice its capacity, according to the report released Tuesday by the state corrections ombudsperson’s office. The mixed-security prison, which opened in 1971 in Leesburg, was built to hold 504 people.
“Turning single-occupancy rooms into double-occupancy rooms … leaves each incarcerated person with significantly less storage and personal space,” the report says.
The crowding is compounded by the closure of Bayside’s dining hall, which is now used for storage, the report says. That closure forces prisoners to eat all three meals while perched on their beds or foot lockers in their cramped cells, which at 70 square feet are about the size of a parking space.
Inspectors from the ombudsperson’s office also found old, thin mattresses; birds in the kitchen and housing units; and dirty showers, among other problems.
The prison lacks air conditioning, so inspectors also encountered stifling heat during summer inspections, with temperatures reaching 94 degrees in cells and shared spaces and 116 degrees in the kitchen, according to the report.
State health inspectors, who last inspected Bayside in November 2023, also dinged the prison for a “repeat deficiency” for the presence of insects or rodents, the report says.
The ombudsperson’s office recommended that Department of Corrections officials allow people to eat meals outside their cells in a courtyard area or day rooms if they cannot reopen the dining hall, and to improve cleaning of kitchen equipment and showers, among other things.
Officials have tried to improve some problems, such as replacing mattresses and exhaust fans and vents in shower areas, as well as putting up barriers to keep out birds, the report says.
Reopening the dining hall, which has been closed since 1997, is “not logistically feasible” because of cost, staffing, and security concerns, the department said in a response to the report. They said they won’t move meals to common areas, also citing security reasons.
