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  • Phillies call up Alan Rangel to take fifth spot in rotation: ‘We’ll see what he can do’

    Phillies call up Alan Rangel to take fifth spot in rotation: ‘We’ll see what he can do’

    WASHINGTON — The Phillies have a solution for their fifth spot in the rotation, for the time being.

    The team called up Alan Rangel from triple-A Lehigh Valley ahead of Monday’s game against the Nationals. The right-hander, who has a 3.99 ERA in 70 innings with the IronPigs, was scheduled to appear behind lefty opener Tim Mayza on Monday, which started in a rain delay. And according to interim manager Don Mattingly, the plan is for Rangel, 28, to stick around with the big league club for now.

    “I mean, at this point I think we’ve kind of made a commitment to that spot,” Mattingly said. “I’m not saying we’re making a commitment to a full start every time. It could be openers, it could be starting. Sometimes the team lineup construction depends.”

    ‘Phillies Extra’ Q&A: Preston Mattingly on the trade deadline, his ‘special’ chance to work with his dad, and more

    This marks Rangel’s second stint with the big league club this season. He appeared in one game in April, allowing one earned run and striking out five over three innings against the Cubs. In six career major league games, Rangel has a 2.57 ERA.

    The fifth rotation spot had been vacated by Andrew Painter, who was optioned last week to reset and work on his fastball after struggling to a 7.06 ERA. Painter is scheduled to throw multiple bullpen sessions before seeing game action in triple A.

    The Phillies used Mayza as an opener on Monday because of the Nationals’ left-handed heavy lineup. Washington had six lefties and switch-hitters penciled into their lineup for the series opener. But facing a team with more righties, Mattingly said he would feel comfortable using Rangel as a traditional starter.

    “I’ve seen him only pitch a little bit in spring training, but I think the fact that Rangel has kind of been the guy throwing the best, they felt like, down there, and he was going to be the best guy, long-term, for us,” Mattingly said. “ … We’ll see what he can do. He’s throwing the ball well. Last time he came up, felt like he threw the ball well. So we’ll see what it looks like.”

    Phillies reliever Kyle Backhus had allowed one earned run across his last five appearances before his elbow injury. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Backhus reactivated

    The Phillies had the flexibility to use Mayza in an opening role because Kyle Backhus (left elbow inflammation) was activated from the 15-day injured list on Monday, giving the Phillies three lefties in the bullpen, also including José Alvarado.

    Backhus, a sidearmer, had a 4.66 ERA before landing on the injured list on April 30. However, that number is skewed by his first appearance of the season on March 26, when he gave up three earned runs in ⅓ of an inning.

    The Phillies still need a right-handed bat. Let’s take an early dive into some options before the trade deadline.

    After that, Backhus had been pitching his way into a higher-leverage role, and had allowed one earned run across his last five appearances before the injury.

    “He was throwing the ball really well, and it felt like he was getting his outs and looking really good,” Mattingly said. “As you get a guy back, you just kind of get comfortable first, we wouldn’t like stick him in the eighth or anything like that. But we do think he is a guy that matches up well with the lefties. He’s a different look for us. I like him, he’s really athletic, he handles the position well, so has a lot of good things other than just pitching.”

    Extra bases

    MLB released its second update for its All-Star fan voting on Sunday, and Brandon Marsh has accumulated 1,256,874 votes and ranks second among National League outfielders, only behind the Dodgers’ Andy Pages (1,518,451). The top two position players and top three outfielders once voting closes on June 25 will advance to the second phase. Also in position to advance is Kyle Schwarber (1,540,202, second among designated hitters), Bryson Stott (801,006, second among second basemen), and Alec Bohm (804,309 votes, second among third basemen). … Jesús Luzardo (6-4, 4.20 ERA) is scheduled to start Tuesday opposite Nationals right-hander Zack Littell (6-6, 5.45).

  • In Harrisburg, Philadelphia Mayor Parker asks lawmakers to double school renovation fund to $250 million

    In Harrisburg, Philadelphia Mayor Parker asks lawmakers to double school renovation fund to $250 million

    HARRISBURG — Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker called on Pennsylvania’s General Assembly to double what it sets aside for school districts to update their aging facilities, as the Philadelphia School District embarks on a $3.3 billion plan to modernize 169 school buildings.

    Parker hosted a two-hour news conference at the state Capitol on Monday, asking Pennsylvania’s split legislature and Gov. Josh Shapiro to increase the amount of money available for school facility renovations from its current $125 million to $250 million as part of this year’s state budget, which is due at the end of the month.

    The school district is on track to close 17 schools as part of the larger modernization efforts, following months of protest and controversy over the facilities plan.

    Parker appeared alongside City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, Philadelphia School Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr., and school board president Reginald L. Streater, following several weeks of tensions with state and city legislative leaders over her proposed tax plans to raise revenue for the city and the school district, which ultimately failed.

    But on Monday, the city leaders appeared as a united front in Harrisburg, showcasing their commitment to “rightsizing” Pennsylvania’s largest school district, which is the ninth-largest in the nation.

    “We are here united to let you know that we are proud that the City of Philadelphia has some skin in the game, and we are not coming here simply with our hat in hand, asking the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to come save the School District of Philadelphia,” Parker said, noting that the city was able to stave off classroom cuts.

    “It is the General Assembly who told us last year we will not give additional funding until you come back with a facilities plan. So we went to work,” Johnson said during the news conference Monday.

    Now it is on the state to set aside additional funding to help school districts update their facilities, Parker and Johnson said.

    Shapiro, a first-term Democrat, proposed keeping the pot of money at $125 million for the coming fiscal year, as part of his $53.2 billion budget proposal.

    Pennsylvania is facing its own budget problems, as the state is on track to spend more than it brings in in revenue this year and in future years. Shapiro’s budget proposal would spend $4.3 billion more than the state’s projected revenue for the coming fiscal year, meaning Parker’s funding increase request faces an uphill battle.

    The event highlighted a coalition of advocates, from labor leaders to recent graduates to public education advocates — all calling on the state to increase the state’s capital fund, in addition to continuing to increase the city’s adequacy funding.

    The school district is facing a $300 million structural deficit and had planned to cut more than 300 school-based positions before city officials cut a deal to keep funding the positions with a yet-to-be-determined revenue source.

    Several of the speakers recalled recent times when their young children did not have access to bathrooms, or instances when schools had to shift to virtual learning because the buildings are unequipped to handle cold or hot weather.

    The speakers, including Parker, emphasized that the issue of aging school buildings is not exclusive to Philadelphia. It is an issue faced by school districts around Pennsylvania, including rural and suburban ones.

    “So goes the decision-making in this building, so goes the future of rural, urban, and suburban Pennsylvania, and all of our children,” Parker said.

    In a letter sent Monday to members of the General Assembly, top leaders from the Pennsylvania League of Urban Schools and the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools echoed the calls.

    “Safe, modern school buildings should not depend on a community’s zip code, and we stand with Mayor Parker in calling for Harrisburg to make that needed commitment to students in every corner of the Commonwealth,” the letter said.

    In a letter to Shapiro in January, ahead of his annual budget pitch, Parker requested that the state double the amount available for school facility improvements, and she sought a revision to the guidelines to allow a single district to receive up to 25% of the total grant funding in a given year. That would open approximately $50 million to $60 million annually for the district to tap into to improve school buildings, according to the letter.

    Parker, who served as a state representative for 10 years before joining City Council and her election as mayor, received a major blow to her tax plans from Harrisburg in the final days of city budget negotiations. Three sources with knowledge of the closed-door state budget talks told The Inquirer then that lawmakers would not approve increases to the city’s hotel and long-term rental taxes she requested to help expand the city’s homelessness services.

    Only one state lawmaker joined the mayor’s event: Sen. Art Haywood (D., Philadelphia/Montgomery). Parker met separately in a private meeting with Philadelphia’s House delegation to Harrisburg.

  • Authorities ID 3 people killed in Maryland crash of plane from Ocean City, N.J.

    Authorities ID 3 people killed in Maryland crash of plane from Ocean City, N.J.

    Maryland State Police on Monday released the names of three young men killed when a plane that took off from Ocean City, N.J. crashed late Saturday night east of Washington D.C.

    Around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, a single-engine Piper Cherokee piloted by Yoav Bomrind, 26, of Israel, with two passengers, David Rabinovich, 19, or Israel, and Elad Naidik, 20, of Canada, crashed in a wooded area in Bowie, Md.

    Maryland State Police said Prince George’s County Public Safety Communications received an iPhone crash alert around 11:45 p.m. indicating the plane went down in the area of U.S. Routes 50 and 301 in Bowie.

    The plane was headed to the Montgomery County Airpark in Gaithersburg, Md., approximately 20 miles northwest of Bowie, apparently as part of a training flight, the state police said.

    Based on preliminary information, investigators believe the plane was owned by a flight school in Montgomery County, Maryland, the state police said.

    Multiple agencies responded to the crash area and the plane was located around 3:45 a.m. Sunday near a residential neighborhood. All three men were pronounced dead at the scene.

    No one else was injured, the state police said.

    The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

  • Philly has been called the ‘Paris of America.’ Here’s what French fans in town for the World Cup think.

    Philly has been called the ‘Paris of America.’ Here’s what French fans in town for the World Cup think.

    Some have called Philadelphia the “Paris of America.” Really.

    It might be hard for locals to wrap their heads around this title, but there is some truth to the comparison — mostly due to the cities’ similarities in architecture. France was in town on Monday to take on Iraq in the World Cup, so here’s a look at some of Philadelphia’s Parisian connections and what French fans think of the comparison.

    City’s architecture

    The Benjamin Franklin Parkway is a popular example of Philadelphia borrowing from the French. Finished in 1929, the Parkway was designed primarily by two Frenchmen, architect Paul Philippe Cret, and city planner Jacques Gréber. Their inspiration? Paris’s Champs-Élysées, a similarly grand avenue. They boast similar end points. The Champs-Élysées starts at Place de la Concorde and concludes with the grand Arc de Triomphe, while Philadelphians can spot the Philadelphia Museum of Art from City Hall, with Logan Circle along the way.

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    After World War I ended, but before the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Gréber hoped that the construction of Benjamin Franklin Parkway would bring in tourists just as the Champs-Élysées does.

    “I am glad to say that, if by this work the city of Paris may be enabled to bring its sister in America the inspiration of what makes Paris so attractive to visitors,” Gréber said in 1918. “It will be the first opportunity of Paris to pay a little of the great debt of thankfulness for what Philadelphia and its citizens have done for France during the last three years.”

    Additionally, Cret was the mind behind the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and redesign of Rittenhouse Square. City Hall also looks like it could have been picked up in Paris and plopped down in Philadelphia as it was built in the French Second Empire style. At Logan Circle, the Central Library of the Free Library of Philadelphia and the former Family Court building are of similar style to structures flanking the Place de la Concorde.

    Along the Parkway is the Rodin Museum, which holds one of the largest collections of Auguste Rodin’s sculptures outside Paris, including The Thinker and The Gates of Hell.

    Social media influencers have traveled to Philadelphia and Paris to show off the cities’ structural similarities. One influencer, who filmed various picturesque locations under Philadelphia, wrote, “sooo you’re telling me we’re not in Paris?”

    Outside of architecture, the two cities also share history. Benjamin Franklin was a noted Francophile, traveling to France on many occasions. Famously, as a diplomat during the American Revolution, a 71-year-old Franklin convinced the French to support the Continental Army’s wartime efforts.

    With all of those connections, it should be no surprise that the Michelin Guide named Philadelphia the “Frenchest American city” in 2023, beating out New Orleans for the title.

    “The history of Philadelphia is closer to the French history and with those architects that developed special aspects of the city, it’s introduced in a different scale that you don’t have in New Orleans,” Michelin Guide editor Philippe Orain previously told The Inquirer. “You will feel closer to France in Philadelphia than in New Orleans.”

    “Frenchest city in the U.S.”

    For the most part, French fans in Philadelphia for Monday’s game seemed to agree.

    “The architecture looks quite French,” said French fan Tao Taumas, pointing to City Hall on Monday. “Yes, a lot, and we are living in Montreal now, and it looks exactly like the French part of Montreal.”

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    Vincent Magardeau, who traveled to Philadelphia with Taumas, did not fully agree with his friend’s conclusion.

    “I’m pretty surprised that you say that,” Magardeau said after hearing of Philadelphia’s similarities to Paris. “But now that you say it, you can see the architecture here and there, but I wouldn’t say that this is the most French city that I could see.”

    Gabriel Savinaud, who “never heard about anything in Philadelphia,” arrived in the city early Monday morning after staying in New York City. A local advised Savinaud to try a soft pretzel before he leaves, so he headed to the Philly Pretzel Factory near City Hall before the game. Savinaud, despite having limited time to explore, definitely saw the similarities between the two cities.

    “The East side of the U.S. is definitely more European than the West side,” Savinaud said. “I’ve been to San Francisco as well, not European. No, it’s not. So [Philadelphia] is definitely more European and Parisian at some points. You’ve got tiny streets with lots of people making noise with their cars. Very similar, more similar to Paris than the West side.”

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    Many French fans explored Center City before taking the Broad Street Line to South Philadelphia for the game. For a moment, before it began to rain heavily, “Les Bleus” had taken over downtown.

    “You can see the vibe of French people here,” Taumas said. “With the World Cup, I would say it’s a French city, because everyone is wearing French jerseys, so you might be the Frenchest city in the U.S.”

  • Yardley family is suing an infant formula company after their baby developed botulism

    Yardley family is suing an infant formula company after their baby developed botulism

    Erica and Micky Goldfin’s 2-month-old son wasn’t eating and seemed to be having trouble swallowing. His cries were weak, and his eyelids were droopy.

    Within weeks, the Yardley parents were rushing their baby to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he was admitted June 1 to the intensive care unit and treated for infant botulism, a rare, potentially deadly infection that affects the nervous system and can lead to paralysis, according to court records.

    The couple are now suing Nara Organics, the maker of the whole milk infant formula they began feeding their son days after his birth in March, and Target, where they bought it. New York-based Nara Organics voluntarily recalled all of its infant formula on June 13, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported three cases of infant botulism in babies who had consumed Nara formula in Pennsylvania, California, and Washington.

    In the lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the family alleges that Nara Organics did not do enough to protect customers after federal regulators cautioned that whole milk powder can carry the bacteria that cause botulism.

    “Parents trusted a label that told them this was the safest, most premium thing they could feed their child,” said Bill Marler, a foodborne illness lawyer and a managing partner at Washington-based Marler Clark, who is representing the family.

    The Goldfins, who declined an interview through their lawyer, are also represented by Cherry Hill’s Ferrara & Gable.

    Nara Organics did not respond to a request for comment, but said on its website that it had issued the recall “in an abundance of caution,” and that none of its formulas had tested positive for the botulism-causing bacterium C botulinum. Tests are ongoing, according to the lawsuit.

    “We believe in taking the strongest possible measure to protect the safety of babies,” the company wrote in its recall. “Your family deserves to have complete confidence in the safety of your baby’s food.”

    Target did not respond for a request for comment.

    This is the second recent botulism outbreak linked to powdered whole milk infant formula. An infant botulism outbreak associated with ByHeart formula that began in November sickened at least 28 babies.

    What is botulism?

    Infant botulism is caused 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. Nationally, there were 181 cases of infant botulism in 2021, the most recent year for which CDC data are available.

    The Goldfin infant, who was identified only by the initials W.G., spent two nights in the intensive care unit at CHOP, where he was treated with BabyBIG, the botulism antitoxin that is manufactured by the California Department of Public Health and must be flown to hospitals overnight. The medication’s antibodies bind to the toxin and neutralize it, and symptoms improve 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 head lag and delays in his gross and fine motor skills, according to the lawsuit.

  • Advocates say Delaney Hall detainees have ended hunger strike

    Advocates say Delaney Hall detainees have ended hunger strike

    A hunger and labor strike by detained immigrants at Newark migrant jail Delaney Hall that drew national attention and sparked weeks of violent protests outside the detention center has effectively ended, immigration advocates said Monday.

    The detainees ended their strike because of the actions taken by the jail’s guards, and not because conditions behind bars have improved, the advocates said.

    “Because of the intimidation tactics, the disciplinary consequences for folks to be placed in segregation, [detainees] have now resorted to going back to job assignments and eating,” said Sally Pillay, an advocate with Eyes on ICE who has spent months outside of the migrant jail aiding families of detainees.

    A request for comment from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was not immediately returned. Federal officials have said for weeks that detainees never engaged in a hunger or labor strike.

    More than 300 detainees inside the immigration detention center said they launched the strike May 22 to call attention to what they called inhumane conditions, including inedible food and poor treatment by guards. Delaney Hall soon became a national flashpoint, attracting members of Congress, state officials, and sustained crowds of protesters to Doremus Avenue in Newark on a near-daily basis.

    Amy Torres, the executive director of New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, speaks outside Delaney Hall on Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025.Anne-Marie Caruso/New Jersey Monitor

    Amy Torres, executive director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, said the tactics used to break the strike are nothing new. Some detainees were transferred out of the facility as a “means of punishing them for being part of that dissent,” she said.

    Torres said among those transferred was a 20-year-old man who crossed the border at 18. He was transferred in the last two days and his location remains unknown as of Monday, she said.

    “There are hundreds more that have disappeared,” Torres said. “There’s no way to account for where they are. Are they OK? What’s going on with them? It’s pure heartbreak.”

    Pillay said activist groups have tracked detainees to facilities in Louisiana, Texas, Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, and Colorado.

    “These transfers have had devastating consequences,” she said. “We know that these facilities are in remote locations where people do not have access to their lawyers, to their families, and their support networks.”

    She noted that detainees in the units most active in the strike were deliberately broken up, with people dispersed throughout the facility. Detainees have also raised new concerns inside the jail, like discolored drinking water and weeks without access to hot water, Pillay said.

    Family visitation, which was briefly suspended during the strike, was reinstated with sharp restrictions. Pillay said visitations have been cut to 30 minutes, are only offered twice a week in some units, and are limited to immediate family members on an approved list. She said Geo Group — the private company that runs the detention center — has not posted information about the new visitation schedule online, so families show up expecting the old schedule and are turned away.

    Detainees have also been blocked from speaking with members of Congress conducting oversight visits. Detainees must now sign a privacy waiver, provided only in English, before a member of Congress can speak with them, and forms must be submitted in advance of the visit, a process Pillay said is “to probably intimidate and use retaliatory tactics against the individuals who speak out.”

    On Father’s Day, Pillay said of the 80 family members who arrived to visit loved ones, more than 30 were turned away.

    “We saw heightened emotions, distraught families, and loved ones outside,” she said.

    Dozens showed up for a protest Sunday. Some tied neckties to the fence outside the jail in honor of the fathers who remain detained and some held up signs that read, “Free the dads.”

    One protester holding an upside-down American flag near the driveway of the prison was hit by a car entering the jail parking lot, video shows. Newark Public Safety Director Emanuel Miranda said the incident is under investigation.

    “Federal agents are brutal, abusive, and reckless with the public,” Torres said. “We can only imagine what they’re doing to people in detention behind closed doors.”

    This story originally appeared on New Jersey Monitor.

  • A Delco judge denied a motion to dismiss trespassing charges in Swarthmore protest case

    A Delco judge denied a motion to dismiss trespassing charges in Swarthmore protest case

    A Delaware County judge on Monday denied a motion to dismiss criminal charges filed against nine people for refusing to leave a pro-Palestinian encampment on Swarthmore College’s campus last spring, setting the stage for a trial next week.

    Judge Dominic Pileggi ruled that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial and allow a jury to decide whether the so-called Swarthmore 9 had trespassed.

    The group was arrested and briefly detained outside the college’s Trotter Hall in May 2025 when officers from surrounding police departments dismantled their encampment protesting the war in Gaza and Swarthmore’s IT contract with Cisco, a company that does business with the Israeli government.

    Of the nine people arrested, only one, Jace Boland, is a student at the college. Another, Brendan Cook, is a former student who was suspended for participating in an earlier protest in 2024, but the rest are not affiliated with Swarthmore, according to school officials.

    Members of the group — Boland, Cook, Jonathan Britt, Mara Helen Cahill, Daria C. Dressler, Thomas Falcone, Colin Buckley Malcarney, Riley J. McManus, and Andrew Thomas — have all been charged with trespassing, a third-degree misdemeanor.

    District Attorney Tanner Rouse has said his office offered each member of the group a plea deal that would see those charges reduced to summary offenses, similar to traffic citations, that could be resolved by paying a fine.

    The group has refused, saying pleading guilty would set a precedent on how colleges across the country could curtail students’ protest rights.

    During Monday’s hearing, the group’s attorney, Marni Jo Snyder, argued that Swarthmore and county prosecutors violated the protestors’ constitutional rights by arresting them.

    She noted that Swarthmore changed its policy allowing protests on its campus to explicitly outlaw encampments after a similar, monthlong demonstration in the same location in 2024.

    Policing a specific type of expressive speech, she said, is illegal.

    “The policy is wrong, the repeated orders to leave are wrong,” she said. “These are improper responses to constitutionally protected speech.”

    Snyder said that, though Swarthmore’s campus is private property, administrators have allowed previous demonstrations to be held there, as well as other quasi-private events. The arrests in this case, she said, showed that prosecutors were specifically targeting demonstrators protesting the war in Gaza.

    Samantha Door, who represented the district attorney’s office at the hearing, disputed that, saying the protestors’ conduct, and not the purpose of the encampment, was the reason criminal charges were filed.

    Swarthmore issued multiple warnings to the group to disperse over the course of three days, Door said, including one final warning 10 minutes before the encampment was dismantled.

    Other protestors who left the encampment and continued to chant and hold protest signs were not arrested, she said.

    Also, Door said administrators raised concerns about public safety, since many of the protestors wore masks and refused to identify themselves, vandalized campus property with graffiti, and used pallets and other materials to create barricades around the encampment.

    The trial in the case is scheduled to begin with jury selection on June 30.

  • The Buttery’s newest outpost is officially open in Bryn Mawr

    The Buttery’s newest outpost is officially open in Bryn Mawr

    Popular Main Line bakery The Buttery officially opened its doors in Bryn Mawr last weekend, marking the third location in a growing collection of cafés owned by husband-and-wife duo John and Silenia Rhoads.

    Known for its sourdough breads, homemade pastries, and seasonal dishes, The Buttery describes itself as “part village bakery, part coffee shop, and part scratch kitchen.”

    The Rhoadses opened the first Buttery location in Malvern in 2015 and have since expanded into the Ardmore Farmers Market and now Bryn Mawr, at 836 W. Lancaster Ave. The Buttery previously had a satellite location at the Malvern train station, which closed in December.

    The bakery is beloved by Main Line residents and visitors (and even received the praises of Martha Stewart this spring).

    Vinny Petraglia, culinary operations director, drizzles olive oil on the avocado toast at The Buttery in Bryn Mawr.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer

    Joli Ridenour, The Buttery’s community manager, said customers have been asking the bakery to expand for years. When they opened in Ardmore in October, patrons were over the moon about not needing to drive to Malvern to get their beloved kouign-amann and sourdough.

    John Rhoads grew up in Devon, and he, Silenia, and their three teenagers now live in Paoli, so finding another outpost on the Main Line just felt right.

    Bryn Mawr felt like “a good center point on the Main Line,” John Rhoads said.

    “We’re so excited to be in this town. There’s such a hustle and bustle,” Silenia Rhoads said, adding that she’s already seen a “sense of community.”

    At the bakery’s soft opening on Wednesday, loaves of sourdough and baguettes peeked out from behind long glass cases stuff with butter croissants, lemon currant scones, and fresh bagels. Packaged cookies, branded T-shirts, and bags of homemade granola lined the walls, and customers stopped to chat with the Rhoadses.

    The 82-seat café is spacious, laid out with long communal tables, corner booths, and scattered two- and four-tops. The Buttery team wanted multiple kinds of seating options to allow for different dining experiences, from neighbors grabbing a quick coffee to families coming in for a long lunch.

    Silenia (left) and John Rhoads, owners of The Buttery, at their new location in Bryn Mawr. Said Joli Ridenour, The Buttery’s community manager, “We want people to feel really at home and welcome and like they’re walking into an old friend’s house.”Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer

    “We want people to feel really at home and welcome and like they’re walking into an old friend’s house,” Ridenour said.

    The Buttery’s Bryn Mawr location is serving its full breakfast and lunch menu, which includes bagels, quiches, sandwiches, open-face tartines, salads, and speciality Passenger coffee and tea drinks. The Rhoadses said they are hoping to expand to dinner service, as they have in Malvern, in the fall or winter.

    Ridenour said the bakery always tries to source locally, milling flour out of local grain and purchasing eggs from Highspire Hills Farm in Glenmoore. Almost everything is made in-house, including roasting their own meat for roast beef sandwiches.

    What to order? The Buttery’s staff says you can’t go wrong. The sablé cookie, a buttery French shortbread cookie, is a signature dish. Silenia Rhoads recommends the seasonal panzanella salad, made with fresh smashed cucumber, asparagus, homemade croutons, and a potpourri of herbs. The breakfast sandwich, serviced with harissa aioli on an everything brioche bun, is also a fan favorite.

    Turkish eggs with homemade naan at The Buttery in Bryn Mawr.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer

    The Buttery has been able to expand in large part due to a bakehouse the Rhoadses opened in Norristown a year ago. With more space and a centralized food preparation location, the bakehouse has “enabled us to set our sights on more,” John Rhoads said.

    The couple said a Northern Liberties location will open later this year, and further growth is on the horizon for 2027.

    The Buttery will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with kitchen service until 3 p.m.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • Amazon agrees to pay $3 million in Pennsylvania class-action settlement over unpaid wages

    Amazon agrees to pay $3 million in Pennsylvania class-action settlement over unpaid wages

    Amazon has reached a $3 million class-action settlement in Pennsylvania over allegedly unpaid wages during the pandemic.

    Employees had said they spent time off the clock before their shifts in COVID-19 screenings and were not paid for that time as state law requires, according to court documents.

    Amazon’s legal team has said that “time spent off the clock was minimal,” especially once company sites adopted temperature screenings via thermal cameras.

    A representative for Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

    The class action lawsuit was originally filed in 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Bobby Muniz, an Amazon employee at the company’s Easton fulfillment center.

    Muniz argued that the required health screening typically took 10 to 15 minutes before each shift, including the wait in line.

    Amazon and other employers must pay workers for time in security screenings, Pa. Supreme Court says

    “Both sides vigorously dispute the amount of time workers spent off the clock as a result of the COVID-19 screenings,” a recent court document indicates.

    The case went to mediation in October, and a proposed settlement was granted preliminary court approval earlier this month. A final approval hearing is set for November.

    Amazon employees who worked for the company in Pennsylvania before July 19, 2023, and underwent COVID-19 screening are eligible to be part of the class settlement.

    Eligible workers don’t need to take any further steps. Those who want to opt out must do so by Oct. 15.

  • ‘Snuffed her life out’: Man accused of randomly shooting CHOP nurse in Tredyffrin Township appears in court

    ‘Snuffed her life out’: Man accused of randomly shooting CHOP nurse in Tredyffrin Township appears in court

    Hours before Steve Jahn shot Megan Nieberle to death on a March evening this year, prosecutors said, he drove around Tredyffrin Township for hours with a gun in his hand.

    In dashcam videos played in a Chester County courtroom Monday, Jahn is seen gripping a semiautomatic handgun in his Chevy Silverado truck, muttering to himself and glancing back and forth erratically as cars pass by.

    Those utterances, prosecutors said, offer a view into the mindset of a man about to commit murder.

    “Get out of the [expletive] way,” Jahn says an one point, one hand on the wheel, another on his firearm. “You don’t belong here.”

    “Ya’ll [expletive] are dead,” the 44-year-old says in another clip.

    Though it would be hours before Jahn, who police said was homeless, encountered Nieberle, a 53-year-old mother of three and a nurse at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, prosecutors used the videos from Jahn’s dashcam to bolster their contention that he had been prepared to harm someone that Saturday.

    Jahn, a Berwyn native, was arrested a day after the March 7 shooting and charged with first- and third-degree murder, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment.

    The hearing marked the first time Jahn appeared in a case that shocked the Chester County community and kick-started a conversation about mental illness and firearms.

    Some residents questioned why police did not act more forcefully to ensure that Jahn, who had been in a mental health crisis that day, was checked into a nearby psychiatric unit.

    Jahn, wearing a red prison jumpsuit and sporting a beard, showed little emotion during the hearing, as Nieberle’s loved ones looked on, some in tears.

    Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Wright said prosecutors had linked Jahn to the crime scene using GPS data from his vehicle, gunshot residue recovered from his hands and clothing, and remarks he made while in police custody.

    Though the footage of Jahn was illuminating, Wright said, the shooting itself was not captured on the dashcam because Jahn had removed the device shortly before the shooting.

    Wright called Tredyffrin police officers and county detectives to the stand to testify about the scene they had encountered near the intersection of Old State Road and Contention Lane, where Nieberle was found in the driver’s seat of her silver Acura SUV around 10:47 p.m. with a gunshot wound to the head.

    She was bleeding heavily, the officers said, and was taken to a nearby hospital, where she died the next morning.

    Chester County Det. Matthew Shumway of Chester County said data recovered from Jahn’s truck allowed investigators to identify him driving down the dimly lit residential street that night.

    Approaching Nieberle’s vehicle, Jahn slowed his truck to 6 mph, Shumway testified. He fired once through her driver’s side window, the detective said, a shot captured on a neighbor’s doorbell camera.

    Played in court, the short video showed Jahn’s headlights cut through the darkness and illuminate an approaching vehicle. Within seconds, a loud bang rang out.

    Jahn’s attorney, Brian McCarthy, did not contest many of prosecutors’ assertions about how events unfolded that night, but he argued that first-degree murder was not appropriate because Jahn had not shown premeditation and intent to kill, conditions required to meet the threshold for that crime.

    “What we did see does not establish murder in the first degree,” McCarthy said of the dashcam footage. The person in that video, he said, was a “troubled man looking back and forth, not a cold-blooded killer.”

    Wright, the prosecutor, countered that Jahn’s actions were premeditated. She said Jahn had rolled down his window, aimed his weapon, and would have “had to have known” that there was someone inside an oncoming vehicle.

    Of Nieberle, Wright said, Jahn “snuffed her life out and left her there to die.”

    District Judge Patricia A. Zaffarano ruled that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial on all charges.

    Jahn will be formally arraigned on July 2. He remains in custody in the Chester County Correctional Facility after being denied bail in March.