When a barge strike shut down Amtrak service south of Wilmington on Saturday, singer and actor Nick Jonas found himself with an unexpected layover — and an impromptu dinner in Delaware.
Jonas was traveling from New York to the Baltimore area for a stop on his “A Night With Nick” solo tour when his train was halted. A barge had struck the Susquehanna River Bridge between Perryville and Havre de Grace, Md., disrupting Northeast Corridor service.
Unable to find a rideshare for the rest of the trip, Jonas searched Google for “best restaurant in Wilmington” and landed at Bardea Food & Drink, according to co-owner Scott Stein. (Bardea, six blocks from the train station, happens to be a local favorite of Inquirer critic Craig LaBan.)
The Camp Rock star and three members of his team settled in for dinner while arranging alternate transportation.
Jonas recounted the unexpected stop on Snapchat before continuing to the Hall at Live! inside Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland, where he performed Saturday night.
They had several of the restaurant’s signature dishes, including the ricotta gnocchi and burrata pop tart, along with two pizzas, a half-chicken, gem salad, and fusilloni pasta, before a car service fetched them.
The detour came a day after the national release of the film Power Ballad, a dramedy co-starring Paul Rudd and Jonas.
Sheriff Rochelle Bilal on Monday announced a major restructuring of her office to reduce chronic deed-processing delays following property auctions — a problem she previously claimed she’d fixed.
Among several leadership changes, Bilal said she has hired an undersheriff, although her spokesperson would not confirm the identity of the new second-in-command.
A news release about the shake-up also outlined other planned improvements, such as the creation of a public-facing “deed tracker” that would allow winning bidders at sheriff sales to follow the status of their deeds.
Philadelphia’s independently elected sheriff is charged with auctioning off thousands of tax delinquent and foreclosed properties every year, but many bidders have complained about waiting a year or more after paying to get a deed of sale.
Last month, Bilal was hit with a court order demanding she speed up this process, or face consequences.
The “comprehensive operational reorganization plan” the sheriff unveiled Monday includes the hiring of sales technicians to improve customer service around sheriff sales, which have been plagued by complications since Bilal took office in 2020.
In addition to the post-sale delays, for example, almost all tax-delinquency sales were halted between 2021 and 2024 after Bilal attempted to award a no-bid contract to an online auction house without the approval of city contract lawyers.
Now, more than halfway into her second term, Bilal pledged to do better.
“The Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office continues to evolve to meet the needs of the public we serve,” Bilal said in the news release. “This reorganization represents our commitment to operational excellence, accountability, and ensuring residents have greater access to information and services.”
The announcement comes just six weeks after Bilal told City Council, during a pitch to increase her office’s budget by more than 50%, that sheriff sales were going “full blast.” She said processing delays after auctions have been resolved and that any ongoing delays were the buyers’ fault.
“If you believe them that run to the newspaper — ‘Oh I ain’t got my deed’ — well they never tell them they didn’t pay the invoice,” Bilal told Councilmember Cindy Bass at the April hearing.
But interviews with real estate agents, investors, and attorneys, as well as court documents and city records, showed that is not true. Some even said the problems had gotten worse since The Inquirer first started tracking the delays in mid-2024.
At April’s budget hearing, City Council members praised Bilal and declined to press her on the deed problems.
City judges have proven less deferential.
Last month, in response to a lawsuit over the delays, the judges filed a court order threatening to appoint a “special master” to oversee auctions if Bilal doesn’t get a handle on the situation.
The May 13 order, signed by Common Pleas Court Judge Paula Patrick, supervisor of the court’s commerce division, requires Bilal to come up with a plan for “promptly” delivering deeds and distributing post-sale funds, which must occur before a property can be resold.
The same day the order became public, the sheriff announced the retirement of Undersheriff Tariq El-Shabazz, a lawyer who oversaw deed filing and was previously the office’s highest paid staffer, earning $200,000 a year.
While the sheriff’s office said in Monday’s news release that it is “pleased to announce the appointment of a new Undersheriff,” Bilal’s spokesperson, Teresa Lundy, did not give the person’s name.
“As of now, I have not confirmed the hiring of the new undersheriff or any other specific positions,” Lundy said in an email.
Lauren Cristella, president and CEO of the good-government group Committee of 70, which has called for abolishing the sheriff’s office, noted that Bilal “spent years resisting accountability” and appears to have taken action only in response to lawsuits and a court order.
“Philadelphians shouldn’t need to sue their own government to get basic services fulfilled,“ Cristella said. ”Reorganization plans are only as meaningful as their implementation.”
Anshul Kuncha, 28, was found with a gunshot wound to the back of his head on the 2300 block of Edgley Street just after 12:30 a.m. Friday, police said. Kuncha, was an Indian national living in the city at the time of his death, according to the Consulate General of India in New York.
“Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences to his family during this difficult time,” the consulate said in a statement on social media. “The Consulate is in touch with Anshul’s family and is extending all possible assistance.”
Kuncha’s family, who are located in Hyderabad, India, are working to repatriate Kuncha’s remains, according to the Press Trust of India, an Indian news agency.
Police responded to Kuncha’s shooting early Friday morning in Strawberry Mansion, and took him to Temple University Hospital. He was pronounced dead there at about 12:45 a.m.
At the time of the shooting, Kuncha was making a delivery to a vacant apartment at the Raymond Rosen Homes, a Philadelphia Housing Authority-owned property in North Philadelphia. Surveillance footage from the area showed two people following Kuncha as he walked to the property’s door, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told 6abc.
Police were later able to identify the phone number associated with the order Kuncha was delivering, and said that the food was found untouched inside the property.
No arrests have been made in Kuncha’s killing, and no weapon was recovered at the scene, police said. Investigators are offering a $20,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the case. Anyone with information can contact the homicide unit at 215-686-3334, or the police department’s tip line at 215-686-TIPS. Tips can be made anonymously, police said.
Police statistics indicate that as of Sunday, 62 homicides were reported in the city this year, representing nearly a 35% drop over 2025.
State Sen. Anthony H. Williams, a veteran state senator from Philadelphia known for his advocacy on school choice and who has led one of the city’s most muscular political factions for decades, says November will be his last time running for reelection.
But first, he has more work to do for the advancement of Black Philadelphians and the Democratic Party before he retires, he added in an interview this week.
Williams, 69, did not commit to completing another four-year term, opening up the possibility that he could handpick his successor if he decides to retire early.
“I’m thinking about getting reelected and serving, that’s all I’m thinking about,” he said. “I’m here, I’m gonna run to November, and we’ll see what happens after that.”
Williams ran unopposed in 1998for the seat after his father, the late Hardy Williams, decided within hours of the filing deadline he would not run for reelection. At the time, the move was was widely seen as an intentional play by the late Williams to hold the seat for his son. Now, Anthony H. Williams says that recollection excluded a key piece of information as to why his father retired so suddenly: He had been diagnosed with dementia just before he decided not to run.
“We didn’t have a plan for me to take over,” the younger Williams said, noting that former State Rep. James Roebuck Jr. had filed to run, too, but ultimately withdrew from the race due issues with his petitions. “It wasn’t like I got a free pass.”
When a state legislator resigns before the end of his or her term, a special election is called to fill the vacancy. The ward leaders in that district then get to choose who should take over the seat, dodging a competitive primary and largely deciding the outcome in closed-door meetings.
Anthony Hardy Williams (left), seen here in 1998, when he was a state representative and his father (right) was a state senator.File photo
Williams —who has been in state government, both as a representative and senator, for nearly four decades — is seeking his sixth term to represent parts of Southwest Philadelphia and Delaware County in Harrisburg. He recently won his primary election over Democratic challenger David Goldsmith Jr. and will not face a Republican challenge in November.
Williams has had a far-reaching — and at times, turbulent — legacy in Harrisburg and the city, running twice unsuccessfully for Philadelphia mayor in 2015 and 2019 and once unsuccessfully for governor in 2010.
Over 37 years in Harrisburg, Williams has mentored numerous young Philadelphians who started as aides in his Senate office, who have gone on to becometop legislative leaders. That list includes: House Speaker Joanna McClinton, Philadelphia City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, House Appropriations Chair Jordan Harris, Superior Court Judge Timika Lane and more.
State Sen. Anthony H. Williams, State Rep. Jordan Harris and Councilman Kenyatta Johnson at the Inaugural Dorys Erving Fit Youth Foundation Celebration at the Ritz-Carlton on Friday, November 15, 2013. (HughE Dillon/Philly.com)
“It’s a testament to his dedication and his commitment to seeing Black independent politics grow and mentoring young people to get into office — not to just be there, but to do something,” Harris said Friday.
Looking at Williams’ list of mentees who now outrank him in office shows his legacy and humility, Harris added. And Williams is willing to have spirited disagreements with his mentees, Harris said.
“He’s mentored people who vehemently disagree with him on certain issues, but the endgame of upward mobility for underrepresented people is all the same,” Harris said.
Johnson, in a statement, credited Williams for playing a formative role in his political climb, and for always being willing to “share his wisdom, offer candid advice, and invest in the next generation of leaders.”
“Philadelphia is a better city because of [Williams’] service, and I am proud to call him both a colleague and a friend,” Johnson added.
In an interview, Williams said that he’s seen Harrisburg change tremendously since he first was elected to as a state representative in 1989. Today, Democrats control the state House after flipping the chamber in 2022 for the first time in 12 years, a Black woman from Philadelphia leads the House, and a democratic socialist leads Philadelphia’s delegation to Harrisburg in the Senate. Democratic lawmakers successfully fought to change how Pennsylvania’s public education system is funded, and they’ve advanced gun reforms.
And, he said, it’s no longer a place for career politicians like him.
Philadelphia elected officials State Rep. Rick Krajewski (from left), State Sen. Nikil Saval, and State Sen. Anthony Williams attend a rally at the University of Pennsylvania Mar. 20, 2025.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
But Williams said there are still critical issues of policy and politics that he wants to address with his time left in office.
First, he wants to be a bridge between generations of Democratic leaders — though he dislikes how Democrats currently label themselves as “progressive” or “moderate” to differentiate their views. He said he’s been speaking frequently with progressive leaders since State Rep. Chris Rabb, a democratic socialist, won the party’s nomination to represent Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District in Congress.
“The Democratic Party as it’s currently constituted is something that’s not current, and not visionary about moving forward,” Williams said.
“I want to spend time working with those folks who are in that progressive community who will identify with the fact we have common ground on a lot of these areas. We have a different rhythm, or as they say, a different vibe,” he added.
Throughout his time in office, he said he’s had his ideas stolen and boasted by white leaders, including a successful illegal gun task force. He’s cut deals with top Republicans for impactful programs that still exist today, such as an apprenticeship program that helped increase diversity in the building trades. He’s been an outcast at times as one of few Democrats to advocate for school choice options, a label that he knows follows him.
News conference hosted by Pennsylvania State Senator Anthony H. Williams (podium) outside the Penn Carey Law School, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025. At rear from left are Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, law professor Stacy Hawkins, State Rep. Napoleon Nelson, Rev. Marshall Mitchell, Penn Trustee Board, State Rep. Rick Krajewski, State Sens. Nikil Saval and Art Haywood.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
Now, he wants the buy-in of statelegislators and the private sector to address economic inequities among Black Philadelphians. Black residents make up the largest racial or ethnic groups in Philadelphia, but have one of the highest poverty rates in the city with 22.3% of Black residents living in poverty in 2024, according to a Pew Charitable Trusts survey released this year. Instead, Black residents should be driving the economy, Williams said.
“Fundamentally, we have to take hold of the economy in the city,” he said. “We collectively have the power to do something about it. Not individually, collectively.”
He sees more school choice options — and reimagining the whole public school system if necessary — as part of this solution. He’s faced criticism throughout his career for his support of school choice efforts, citing his big-dollar support from Pennsylvania’s richest man Jeffrey Yass, who solely supports candidates willing to send state money to private schools.
Yass, who usually supports Republican candidates, was among the sole funders of Williams’ failed bids for governor and mayor. Williams has been criticized for taking money from a top GOP supporter who wants to divert money away from Pennsylvania’s public school system.
“People think I’m a one-hit wonder,” Williams said of his support for using public dollars to send some students to private schools. “We have to be honest about what we’re doing and not doing and have honest, hard conversations about how we’re gonna change how we do this.”
That’s how Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast announced her pregnancy on Instagram on Monday — with an added exclamation point — after performing with a quite visible baby bump at the Governors Ball in New York’s Flushing Meadows Corona Park over the weekend.
The Crying in H Mart author, for whom the coat check at Philly venue Union Transfer is named (she used to work there), has two more festival dates scheduled this month: at Bonnaroo in Tennessee and the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco.
Then Zauner kicks off a tour opening for Death Cab for Cutie at the Highmark Mann in Philadelphia on July 17. She’s playing in support of her 2025 album, Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women).
Zauner, who grew up in Eugene, Oregon, founded Japanese Breakfast in 2013 while living in Philadelphia and also leads the band Little Big League.
Melancholy is the follow-up to her 2021 album, Jubilee, which earned her two Grammy nominations.
The H Mart grocery store cited in the title of her book — a book about grieving her mother, Chongmi, and exploring her Korean identity through food — is in Elkins Park.
The songwriter and author, who is a Bryn Mawr College graduate, is married to guitarist and keyboard player Peter Bradley. They were married in 2014.
Last year, Zauner guested on the song “NamgungFefere” by the South Korean band Silica Gel and also recorded her own song “My Baby (Got Nothing at All)” for the soundtrack of the Dakota Johnson-starring movie Materialists.
She’s also written a screenplay for a film version of Crying in H Mart. In 2022, it was announced that actor Will Sharpe — currently starring as Mozart in the Amadeus TV series — would direct from Zauner’s script. But the movie is on hold, and Sharpe is no longer attached to the project.
Zauner is not the only acclaimed woman of indie rock who rose to prominence in Philadelphia in the 2010s to recently announce a pregnancy.
A real-life lesson in patience is here for Philly’s young playground users.
Already closed since the winter, FDR Park’s Anna C. Verna Playground will be fenced in for at least another few weeks while it awaits the arrival of new parts for its massive 30-foot slide, after an inspection found the equipment did not meet updated voluntary safety guidelines. The award-winning playground and home of the largest “Megaswing” swing set in North America was a signature piece of FDR Park’s $250 million revamp.
The playground’s construction was overseen by the nonprofit Fairmount Park Conservancy, and Verna opened to the public in October 2023. Following its completion, ownership of and responsibility for the playground passed over to the city. A final safety audit before opening day found it to be in compliance with the voluntary guidelines in place at the time, according to Meghan Talarowski, the playground designer and executive director of Studio Ludo.
Last year, two organizations issuing standards and recommendations for playgrounds — the Consumer Product Safety Commission and American Society of Testing and Materials— each created new safety recommendations regarding tall towers, like the Verna slide. Previously, there was no such guidance, Talarowski said.
After Philadelphia Parks and Recreation conducted a routine inspection of the playground in January, it found the slide did not meet those new recommendations, which included having safety guards along the structure.
The department immediately shut the entire playground down and put chain-link fences around it, according to Parks and Recreation Commissioner Sue Slawson, who began her role in 2024. The inspector also determined the structure users climb to get to the top of the slide had many missing or loosened bolts, she said.
Previous Philadelphia Parks and Recreation inspectors had identified missing or loose bolts and replaced them, but this was the first time the guard issue has been raised, she said. Last summer, a video went viral of a little boy climbing the outside of the slide and falling to the ground, luckily without major injury.
“Once we realized that there was an issue and we were concerned about liability and safety for the young people that were using it, we put up the fence. And our goal was to ensure that it was not used until we got the necessary pieces to ensure that the playground was safe,” Slawson said.
Nicky Talarowski, 8, plays on a slide at the new Anna C. Verna Playground at FDR Park in Philadelphia, Pa. on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The city ordered the necessary bolts and guards from the playground’s parts manufacturer in Germany in March, and they are expected to arrive later this month. Installation will begin upon their arrival, according to parks and recreation department spokesperson Ra’Chelle Rogers.
Philadelphia Parks and Recreation has put up signage informing visitors the playground was closed “for maintenance,” Slawson said. But the precise cause of the closure has not been well known or advertised. Visitors have regularly pried open the fence to use the playground despite the department resealing it multiple times, Slawson said.
While Verna could reopen relatively soon, another significant Philadelphia Parks and Recreation closure does not figure to be remedied in time for this summer. Towey Recreation Center in North Philadelphia announced its closure last week, after an assessment determined its roof was structurally compromised and required immediate repairs, Rogers said.
Towey will be closed indefinitely while the city determines a renovation plan. Repair work could take several months.
In the meantime, its playground will remain open, Rogers said. Towey’s summer camp will be moved to Cruz Recreation Center, which has the capacity to accommodate campers from both sites. Other programming will be accommodated at nearby Philadelphia Parks and Recreation facilities.
A man was killed in a double shooting in Kensington over the weekend, authorities said.
Rymir Ibn-Allah Shaw, 23, was shot on the 3500 block of F Street, police said Monday.
Officers responded to the scene Saturday around 11:50 p.m. to find Shaw in the street with multiple gunshot wounds.
He was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at midnight.
Another man, whom police did not identify, was also shot, they said. He was struck once in the back.
Officers found the man injured near G Street and Erie Avenue and took him to Temple University Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition, the department said.
Investigators believe the shooting was related to an argument. They have not named any suspects or announced an arrest.
Anyone with information on the incident is urged to contact the Philadelphia Police Department’s Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or submit an anonymous tip.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Blake Zielinski walked into his interview with the Flyers on Thursday at the NHL scouting combine and said the first thing general manager Danny Brière asked him was whether it felt like home.
Zielinski said the question helped ease his nerves. A native of Berlin, N.J., he grew up a diehard Flyers fan, learning how to play at rinks like Pennsauken Skate Zone and skating for the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers. He is now preparing for his first NHL development camp by training at Holleydell Ice Arena in Sewell.
At one point, the 18-year-old, who is heading to Providence College in the fall, wanted to be ex-captain Claude Giroux. These days, he’s keeping an eye on Travis Konecny’s game and told The Inquirer he thinks he was at every Flyers home game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“I made it known I was a Philly kid, and kind of understood what it took to play for them, and hopefully they got that message,” he said Saturday after completing the last day of testing, including the dreaded Wingate test, which calculates a player’s anaerobic fitness. Zielinski finished 10th.
Now, while one would expect a kid from South Jersey to be a Flyers fan, how about a teenager from Finland? For the record, these days Juho Piiparinen is a Dallas Stars fan because his idol, Miro Heiskanen, plays there, but he grew up liking the Orange and Black.
“They are pretty legendary,” said Piiparinen, who did meet with the team. “They’re from Philadelphia, and that was my dad’s favorite team, and I have their hat, too.”
So, how did this all happen? His dad, Jarkko Piiparinen, liked watching in the ’90s “the legendary goalie” Ron Hextall, and Eric Lindros, “a big center.” And the 6-foot-3, 203-pound, right-shot defenseman who is strong defensively but is working on developing his offensive game, especially with getting time on the second power-play unit, is someone the team could snag at No. 21 in the first round of the NHL draft.
A teammate of Flyers prospects Max Westergård and Heikki Ruohonen at the 2026 World Juniors, he’s also keeping an eye on the Flyers.
“This season, they were in the playoffs, but they couldn’t get so far,” he said. “And there’s this big, big Finnish defender, [Rasmus] Ristolainen, and I really like his style, how he plays.
“But I think it’s an amazing logo, too.”
Defensive prospect Juho Piipparinen finished tied for third in the 10-meter sprint and force plate no arm jump, tied for fourth in VO2 max, and seventh in the bench press during the fitness testing at the NHL scouting combine.Staff/Jackie Spiegel
Taking a Flyer
Zielinski and Piiparinen were two of the approximately 50 players the Flyers, with only five picks across seven rounds, met with last week.
The Inquirer can confirm the following prospects spoke with the Flyers. Players said the meeting was typically straightforward — no off-the-wall questions like Montreal is known for — with one player saying they seemed to want to know he was a good kid.
The players are divided by the position where the fitness testing schedule listed them, but keep in mind some wingers can play center, and some centers can play wing. Also note, The Inquirer did not speak to every player who was at the scouting combine. Center Viggo Björck thinks he met with the Flyers but could not remember exactly.
Centers: Rūdolfs Bērzkalns,Ryder Cali, Alexander Command, Maddox Dagenais, Beckett Hamilton, Jack Hextall, Ilia Morozov, Brooks Rogowski, Markus Ruck, Oliver Suvanto, Blake Zielinski
Left wings: Niklas Aaram-Olsen, Ethan Belchetz, Wyatt Cullen, Chase Harrington, JP Hurlbert, Adam Novotný, and Victor Plante
Right wings: Jaxon Cover, Elton Hermansson, Simas Ignatavicius, Kayden Lemire, Casey Mutryn, and Liam Ruck
Defense: Tommy Bleyl, Vladimír Dravecký, Malte Gustafsson, William Håkansson, Jayden Kurtz, Ryan Lin, Ben Macbeath, Piiparinen, Timmy Runtso, Maksim Sokolovskii, and Xavier Villeneuve
Goalie: Michal Oršulák and Tobias Trejbal
Center Jack Hextall’s uncle played in the New Jersey Devils organization. He is a distant cousin of Ron Hextall, the former Flyers goalie and general manager, and, Jack told The Inquirer, the two have never met.Staff/Jackie Spiegel
Family ties
Some players fell in love with the game because their dads played hockey. Plante’s dad, Derek, skated in 450 games, including 12 with the Flyers in 2000-01; he also spent time with the Phantoms in the American Hockey League that season.
“We were always talking about hockey. We love hockey, and everything we do, we compete,” said Plante, who will join his brothers Max and Zam at the University of Minnesota-Duluth — Max just won the Hobey Baker as men’s college hockey’s best player.
“Whether it’s raking leaves or shooting pucks or we’re in the backyard playing Wiffle ball or something, we’re always doing something competitive. At the dinner table, definitely a lot of arguments about hockey and stuff, but we’re always having good, clean fun.”
Dravecký’s dad, also named Vladimír, is still playing pro hockey in Czechia, and Dagenais’ father, Pierre, played across five NHL seasons, seven AHL seasons, and a handful more in Europe. Cali’s mom, Fiona McLeod, played professionally in Switzerland for several seasons, where she met his dad.
Jaxon Cover and Ryder Cali (not pictured) spent part of their childhood in the Cayman Islands and played roller hockey together.Staff/Jackie Spiegel
Cullen’s father, Matt, played more than 1,500 NHL games, winning a Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and two with Flyers coach Rick Tocchet in Pittsburgh. He told The Inquirer that Sidney Crosby would come over to the house and play mini-sticks — and, yes, Crosby even won at that.
But then there are the players whose parents excelled in other sports.
Tyus Sparks, who did not meet with the Flyers, first skated on a frozen basketball court in Minnesota during a Christmas trip back to his mom’s home state at 2 or 3 years old. He returned to Boise, Idaho, and started playing hockey. How did the family land in Boise? His dad, Nate, was a quarterback at Boise State before suiting up briefly in the Canadian Football League for the BC Lions.
Rogowski was on the path to play baseball, but he is now a 6-7, 236-pound center who will play at Michigan State next September. Baseball runs in the family — his father, Casey, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox and reached triple A, and the Los Angeles Dodgers selected his uncle Ryan. “They’re super supportive, but they’re a bit bummed” that the youngest Rogowski, a first baseman, didn’t follow in their path.
Ignatavicius was born in Memphis and grew up in Lithuania. His dad, Mantas, played college basketball at High Point University and then professional basketball overseas. And according to Mutryn, who Bērzkalns called the tough guy he faced in this draft class, his dad, Scott, is more than happy his son didn’t keep the family sport going.
“My dad always made sure we knew how to throw a football, and we played other sports, but he never really wanted us playing football when we were younger,” he said of his dad, who was a QB at Boston College and spent time with the New England Patriots.
“He’s like, there’s no point in third grade playing tackle football, when the helmet weighs half as much as you do. So he’s like, just wait till fifth grade, and it was too late by that point.”
Flyers general manager Danny Briere was busy talking with other league personnel at the NHL draft combine.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Flyers news and notes
While the draft prospects meet with front office staff and go through the gauntlet of fitness testing, the week in Western New York is also a chance for general managers to chat with each other and agents.
Here’s what we’ve heard about the Flyers:
Obviously, Dylan Larkin requesting a trade out of Detroit was the hottest topic after it broke Thursday. Multiple sources have confirmed to The Inquirer that the Flyers are interested in the top-tier center, and they do think they have the assets — speculation is that the Red Wings will want a young center and a combination of NHL players, picks and prospects in return — but does he want to come to Philly? The Detroit Free Press reported Monday that he submitted a three-team list of where he’d like to go; the Flyers were not one of them. And, at almost 30, does he fit the Flyers’ timeline?
John Carlson is a name that has been tossed around as a perfect fit for the Flyers, specifically to help the power play. The Anaheim Ducks are currently on the clock to try to re-sign the defenseman whom they acquired at the trade deadline. He would prefer to come back east if that does not happen. However, at 36, he also wants to win another Cup before his career is done, and the Flyers are not in a position to do so next season. Could there still be a match?
The chatter that a contract extension has already been all but inked may have been a little premature for goalie Dan Vladař. Both sides want to get it done, but it doesn’t sound like anything is set in stone. They met this past week to get the ball rolling and, as a reminder, Vladař cannot sign until July 1.
Brière was also spotted chatting with Seattle Kraken general manager Jason Botterill. Shane Wright has been a hot topic these days as a possible solution to the Flyers’ need at center, as has Matty Beniers. But multiple reports have indicated that the ask for Wright, a 22-year-old center, is high and there is no indication that Beniers is available.
Alexander Command could be available when the Flyers select at No. 21 in the first round.Jackie Spiegel
Breakaways
Hermansson’s older brother, Simon, a former hockey player, was the leading man for “The Bachelor” in Sweden in 2019 (check out his picture on Elite Prospects for proof). The younger Hermansson did not watch and, if given the option, he would not go on the show today. … The Montreal Canadiens upped their game of weird questions by making prospects decide how far back they wanted to throw a puck into a garbage can. Don’t recall a single player saying they got it in the basket. Like last year, they asked players what animal are they on the ice? Lemire had the best answer: “I’m a grizzly bear on the ice. I like to be that horse, that big body, and yeah, can’t really stop a grizzly bear going top speed.” Montreal also asked questions like, what type of boot would you be, would you kill someone you’re in the desert with if they had the only water bottle, and if you were the captain of a destroyer during World War II and had to sink a submarine but it meant killing 10 of your crew members who fell overboard, what would you do? “Oh, I killed them,” revealed Gustafsson. … Asked Suvanto what he knows about Philadelphia, “Obviously, Rocky is from that city. … Big rivalry with the Penguins. … they got Trevor Zegras, good talented player, a lot of young great players so I think they’ve got good future ahead of them.” He’ll also listen to Linkin Park’s “Bleed It Out” before games. … How did Oršulák become a goalie? “I hated skating.” … Asked Macbeath if he sees some comparisons between himself and Travis Sanheim, who also played for the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League: “Yeah, I can see it. Elite skater, too.” He’s off to Denver in September. … Villeneuve played competitive soccer as a midfielder growing up and thinks it has helped with his footwork and how he sees the game. … Sam Reinhart’s ears must have been ringing Saturday as several players said he was either a comparable, like Hurlbert and Liam Ruck, or, when asked what is one skill they would want to take from an NHL player, like Hermansson saying he wanted his shot. Of course, several players would steal Connor McDavid’s speed. Aaram-Olsen said he’d steal Tom Wilson’s fighting.
The pizza delivery driver who was shot and killed while dropping off food to an unoccupied property in North Philadelphia last week was identified by police Monday as Anshul Kunsha.
The shooting happened just after 12:30 a.m. Friday on the 2300 block of Edgley Street in Strawberry Mansion. Responding officers arrived to the scene to find Kuncha lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to the back of his head.
He was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 12:45 a.m., police said.
No weapon was recovered, and no arrests have been made.
At the time of the shooting, Kuncha was making a delivery to a vacant apartment at the Raymond Rosen Homes. Surveillance footage from the area showed two people following him as he walked to the property’s door, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told 6abc.
Police were later able to identify the phone number associated with the order Kuncha was delivering, and said the food was found untouched inside the property.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact the Homicide Unit 215-686-3334, or the PPD tip line at 215-686-TIPS. Tips can be made anonymously, and a $20,000 reward is available for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case, police said.
Staff writer Jesse Bunch contributed to this article.
The euphoria at Chris Rabb’s election night party last month hadn’t even started to wane before the democratic socialist and his supporters — dancing and hugging after capturing a rarely open Philadelphia seat in Congress — spoke of setting their sights even higher.
Taking on the city’s Democratic establishment to defeat a pair of more centrist candidates in the heated 3rd Congressional District race was a momentous win on its own. But the reckoning, they promised, wouldn’t be confined to Philadelphia’s borders.
“It’s going to change not just our city, but our entire commonwealth,” Rabb said in an interview amid the celebration at a Germantown banquet hall.
It was a sentiment echoed that night by key figures in Rabb’s coalition — from the head of the Working Families Party to Pittsburgh’s U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, the only other democratic socialist representing a part of Pennsylvania.
With the 2026 Pennsylvania Democratic primary in the rearview mirror, that conversation has broadly and quickly turned to the next biggest prize in the state: the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat John Fetterman.
The senator has not said whether he will run for a second six-year term in 2028. But in an unusual situation for an high-profile elected official, a robust intraparty competition to replace him is expected to start either way in the next year as Fetterman increasingly sides with Republicans and as polls show that his support among Democratic voters has nose-dived.
State Rep. Chris Rabb is hugged by his son, Issa Rabb, during his primary election night event at Victorian Banquet Hall on May 19.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Some Democrats who watched Rabb emerge from a competitive race, notching one of the left’s biggest wins yet in Pennsylvania, see an opportunity — one that extends the energy and momentum to boost a well-organized, progressive, anti-establishment candidate in the Senate primary.
Other strategists and activists say that’s a tall task, particularly in a swing state that rarely strays from electing more centrist politicians statewide.
“Anytime you have success, it breeds enthusiasm, which translates into more volunteers, into more money — everything you need to run a campaign,” said Mike Mikus, a Pittsburgh-based Democratic strategist. “But every election cycle is different. Every campaign’s different. The quality of candidates are different. And anybody who says that any one race signifies a permanent change within a party is mistaken.”
‘A huge impact on the political landscape of Pennsylvania’
In his campaign to succeed U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, Rabb, a five-term state lawmaker, won 44% of the vote. He was up against State Sen. Sharif Street, who had the backing of the city Democratic apparatus, and physician Ala Stanford, a political newcomer endorsed by Evans.
That progressive infrastructure — the coming together of different groups to knock doors, make calls to voters, and unleash a significant independent advertising campaign in a way that rivaled the official Democratic Party organization — is likely the most important way that the left can use the experience of Rabb’s campaign to replicate its success elsewhere, strategists said.
It’s a template that could have “a huge impact on the political landscape of Pennsylvania,” said Rotimi Adeoye, a Philadelphia-based Democratic strategist who worked in the office of former U.S. Sen. Bob Casey.
In a district packed with Democratic voters, Rabb’s ability to turn out progressive voters should draw the attention of anyone looking to win the state’s Democratic Senate primary in 2028, Adeoye said.
“If a Democrat running statewide can learn from some of these organizational groups to build a strong, relational and community-based organizing campaign in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs in Montgomery County, Bucks County — they’re going to have a really big chance of winning,” Adeoye said.
In a sign that those efforts could coalesce around a Senate candidate, one of the groups that helped usher Rabb to victory remains the only major Democratic entity in the state to have publicly started laying the groundwork for a challenge to Fetterman.
The Working Families Party, which backed Fetterman in the 2022 general election after originally endorsing State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta in the primary, said in November it would organize an effort to oust him. A “Primary Fetterman” website launched in January is equipped with a “Fetterman sell-out tracker” — highlighting his votes for Trump’s cabinet nominees and opposition to war powers resolutions that would rein in his military strikes, for example — and instructions for donors on how to request a refund from his campaign.
The website remains the extent of the group’s efforts so far to rally public support and back a new candidate, though its work is expected to pick up after this year’s midterm elections. For now, the party is looking forward to bringing new members who worked to elect Rabb into its fold.
“Our goal is always to keep building on the work we do each cycle and the success we have each cycle,” said Nick Gavio, the Working Families Party’s Mid-Atlantic communications director.
One PA, another statewide group in that progressive coalition, has not yet had internal discussions about the Senate race but it supports the Working Families Party’s position as a member of its steering committee, executive director Steve Paul said. He said more than 150 members of One PA mobilized for Rabb by talking to thousands of voters.
Winning a high-profile congressional race only helps add to that organizational infrastructure, making them “sharper for the next thing,” Paul said.
“I think it shifts what’s possible, politically — what people can envision,” he said.
Potential progressive roadblocks
Mikus said progressives have increasingly surpassed “more establishment Democrats” in their ability to run strong campaigns, including in his area of Western Pennsylvania where candidates like Lee have emerged in the last decade.
Democratic primary voters are also more progressive than they were 10 years ago, he said. But campaigning on a far-left — or a far-right — platform doesn’t often equate to success on a statewide level in Pennsylvania, a swing state where successful candidates tend to walk a “fine line” that appeals to both swing voters and a message that excites their partisan base, Mikus said.
“You’ve seen this time after time in presidential elections here in Pennsylvania,” Mikus said. “Hillary Clinton versus Bernie Sanders. Joe Biden versus Bernie Sanders. The vast majority of voters in Pennsylvania will go with the more mainstream Democrat.”
J.J. Balaban, a Philadelphia-based Democratic strategist and ad maker, said the party runs the risk of “drawing too big of a conclusion” based on a single election — particularly one like Rabb’s where candidates only needed to appeal to Democrats.
“Democrats really need to think hard about what it will take to win statewide in a purple state, which Pennsylvania clearly is,” Balaban said. “What it will take to win a general election in Pennsylvania is very, very different than what it will take to win in literally the most Democratic congressional district in the country.”
After recent years of tough losses — including the ousting of Casey by now-U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican — Democratic voters will likely have a “tremendous thirst for candidates who have a credible case to make that they can win the general election,” Balaban said.
Fetterman, whose office did not comment for this story, has insisted that Pennsylvania’s purple state status means he should appeal to both sides of the aisle and not demonize the other side.
“Look at the people that are winning the primaries in our party right now, and look at their views on Israel,” Fetterman said at an American Jewish Committee conference in Washington this week.
On stage with McCormick and the head of the Jewish advocacy organization, Fetterman painted Graham Platner, the expected Democratic nominee for a U.S. Senate seat in Maine, as a “Nazi sympathizer” and connected him to Rabb.
“People also in our state, too. Rabb, he won, and he ran on being a very, very anti-Israel guy,” Fetterman said. “It’s actually a virtue [in the modern Democratic Party] … It’s heartbreaking for me. And if it isolates me, then so be it.”
Who might run?
Of the Democrats widely considered to be eyeing a campaign to replace Fetterman, the public jockeying has so far been limited to criticisms of the incumbent.
Former U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, a moderate who represented a suburban Pittsburgh district before Fetterman beat him in the 2022 Senate primary, has frequently lambasted him.
Conor Lamb speaks to the crowd at a town hall-style event organized by progressive groups at Central Penn College on June 22, 2025, in Enola, Pa. Marc Levy
And U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, who succeeded Lamb and leaned into progressive economic populism, has taken a less direct tack while noting the differences between himself and Fetterman over issues like Trump’s military interventions abroad. Deluzio has occasionally reposted others’ criticisms on social media — including one from Gavio, the Working Families Party spokesperson, last week that called Fetterman’s reversal on eliminating the filibuster “a new low” and “an indescribably massive backtrack from everything he ran on.”
None of the three have ruled out running.
Boyle is expected to weigh a Senate campaign vs. staying in the House to take a rare opportunity to lead the powerful budget committee if Democrats win the majority in November. Lamb, who’s remained highly active in Pennsylvania politics, said in an interview that he’s hoping to serve again and would run for office if he feels he “can be of service to the state.” Deluzio, who is also heavily involved in helping Democratic candidates across the state, said he’s focused on his reelection this year and that “we’ll see what 2028 holds.”
“I am not at all interested in seeing us lose this Senate election, and I certainly have gotten a lot of encouragement to look at 2028,” Deluzio said.
Progressives have also mentioned Lee, the Rabb ally who’s been a vocal member of the leftist wing on Capitol Hill while taking leadership roles in areas like securing the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
U.S. Reps. Summer Lee and Chris Deluzio, both Pittsburgh-area Democrats, speak outside the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County on May 28 after getting a tour of the facility, the largest detention center for undocumented immigrants in the Northeast.Sam Janesch / Staff
With potential candidates still several months away from making their decisions, it’s unclear who might try to take up the progressive mantle if Lee does not run, strategists say.
The field could also grow considerably. Other potential candidates could jump in, including the three other current Pennsylvania Democrats in Congress or former lawmakers like Susan Wild, who lost a swing congressional district in the Lehigh Valley in 2024. Wild said she’s “not ruling out” a run but she’s more interested in thinking about good female candidates in general since no woman has ever won a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat.
On the prospects of a battle between different factions of the party, Lamb said he believed Democrats had broadly learned a lesson — from Fetterman’s election in 2022, where he ran on being a reliable Democratic vote in the Senate — that was beyond ideological policy tests.
“Fetterman taught Democrats in Pennsylvania that you have to have a character test. Anybody can run around the state promising you these further left solutions, and that they’re going to be a thumb in the eye of the establishment, and they’re going to channel all your anger and dissatisfaction. And then that person can turn on you on a dime,” Lamb said. “The fact is that we have to evaluate our candidates based on whether they have integrity and they’re going to keep their word and, honestly, whether they have the work ethic to be a senator day in, day out.”
