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  • Nor’easter is likely to cause significant flooding at the Shore, and winds may gust to 60 mph

    Nor’easter is likely to cause significant flooding at the Shore, and winds may gust to 60 mph

    With moderate flooding already has been reported at the Jersey Shore, along with wind gusts to 50 mph, the beach towns were left to wonder Friday what may happen when the extraordinary early-season nor’easter gets closer.

    And forecasters were warning that the storm almost certainly would overstay its welcome.

    “It could be slow to pull out,” said Lee Robertson, a lead meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly. “We really may not be out of the woods until Monday.”

    In a major shift, strong winds and signifcant rains were expected during the weekend all the way to Philadelphia, where winds could gust to 45 mph.

    Updated computer-model runs were favoring a storm track closer to the coast than previously anticipated, said Bill Deger, senior meteorologist at AccuWeather Inc., which would increase both the flooding and the wind potential. Beaches already have endured a long-duration assault of onshore winds, he added.

    “Our beach is going to suffer,” Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. said at a Thursday afternoon briefing. “We’re going to see a lot of beach erosion.”

    The more westward track also would increase the potential for weekend rainfall throughout the region during a time typically busy with hayrides, corn mazes, and other autumn activities, Deger said. “Mother Nature looks like it isn’t going to cooperate very much,” he said.

    He said the nor’easter could even become a “bomb cyclone,” a term for an especially intense storm.

    Potentially road-closing moderate flooding was forecast Friday into Saturday for the Jersey Shore. If the storm tracks further west, some places could see “major flooding,” said the weather service’s Robertson.

    A flood warning was in effect for the Jersey Shore towns until 2 a.m. Saturday, and flood advisories along the Delaware River until 4 a.m. Friday.

    Chances were excellent both would be extended. The storm, which was gaining strength off the Southeast coast Thursday afternoon, could take its good old time as it travels northward, which would increase the duration of flooding and the strongest winds.

    In addition, a high-wind watch was in effect at the Shore from 6 p.m. Friday into Saturday afternoon, with gusts that could reach 60 mph.

    Expected timing of the storm impacts

    Very much subject to change, the government’s National Ocean Service predicted oceanfront high tides at Atlantic City at or near moderate flood levels at 7 p.m. Friday and at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday.

    Warning that what was anticipated was more than “nuisance flooding,” Small said the critical periods in Atlantic City would be a few hours before and after the high tides.

    In the back bay areas that are a chronic source of flooding in Ocean City, tides are forecast to hit moderate levels at 8 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Monday.

    At moderate levels, some roads become impassable, and building damage is possible, the weather service said.

    In Philly, minor flooding was forecast along the Delaware River for at least five consecutive high-tide cycles, which occur roughly every 12 hours, starting at 1 a.m. Friday.

    In Atlantic City, Small said he expected the streets to fill with up to a foot of water.

    Scott Adams, the city’s emergency chief, said the duration of the winds and waves were prime concerns. “It’s not a one-two punch,” he said.

    Just how much rain the storm would generate in the region was uncertain. The rains likely would reach the Shore late Friday and the immediate Philly area sometime Saturday afternoon, Deger said.

    The winds were likely to peak Friday afternoon into the evening; however, that would depend on the career of the storm.

    The beaches should get a break Saturday as the winds become more northerly than onshore, Deger said, which would at least slow the erosion, but the strong winds likely would continue.

    Isn’t this early for a nor’easter?

    Coastal storms of this magnitude typically occur later in the fall and winter, as colder air from the north country interacts with the warm waters of the Gulf Stream. Storms form on frontal boundaries of warm and cold air.

    In this case, a major player is an area of higher pressure, or heavier air, centered over eastern Canada that has been exporting cold air southward. That has kept temperatures several degrees below normal in Philly this week.

    It is working in tandem with the storm, providing the necessary cold air to contrast with the warm waters. In addition, winds circulate clockwise around centers of low pressure, so it also was generating winds from the northeast, which is why they are called nor’easters.

    Meanwhile, the intensifying storm also was generating winds from the northeast; winds circulate counterclockwise around centers of cyclones.

    The high may be as impressive as the storm, said Steve Decker, atmospheric science professor at Rutgers University. In data dating to 1979, it might be the strongest high over Quebec on record.

    He noted that while a nor’easter did develop in mid-September last year, “it was quite weak.” All indications are that this one won’t be.

    Incidentally, this was to be the last weekend of open swimming in Atlantic City, but if you were hoping to take a dip, better wait until Memorial Day.

    Small announced the beach would be closed, and all the equipment has been moved out of harm’s way.

    Besides, the water might be a little rough.

  • A Delco man was convicted of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of an Upper Darby teen

    A Delco man was convicted of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of an Upper Darby teen

    It took a Delaware County jury about 30 minutes Thursday to convict a Clifton Heights man of first-degree murder in a random, unprovoked stabbing that killed a 15-year-old boy as he was walking home.

    Marson Weh, 39, was also convicted of possession of an instrument of crime in the April 2023 death of Michael Garr, a sophomore at Upper Darby High School.

    Weh will be sentenced in November to life in prison for stabbing Gar 11 times, including once in the throat, according to District Attorney Tanner Rouse.

    The two were strangers, Rouse said, and had “no earthly connection.” The DA said Weh offered no motive for the stabbing.

    Michael Garr was killed in April 2023 as he walked to his home in Upper Darby.Handout

    A passerby, Ian Coughlan, tried to help Garr, but his injuries were too severe, and he died of cardiac arrest before medics could arrive.

    The prosecutor said the case would make the “worst episode of Dateline,” one without any twists and leaves no room for alternate theories or interpretation.

    No one else was near Garr that night, he said, as Weh was seen “hunting, stalking” the teenager for more than a mile.

    When Weh was arrested, he was still wearing parts of his “kill suit,” nondescript clothing that included thermal underwear stained with Garr’s blood, Rouse said. And he was still carrying the murder weapon, a folding knife that matched the dimensions of Garr’s fatal wounds and still had his dried blood caked in its handle.

    “See this for what it is,” Rouse said. “Because when you only consider the blood on his pants, the blood on his knife, that alone proves he is guilty. There is no other explanation, no reasonable doubt.”

    After the killing, investigators quickly identified Weh through surveillance footage, which recorded him following Garr for more than a mile. Gradually, prosecutors said, he closed the distance between them, and attacked Garr as they approached Brunswick Avenue near Bridge Street in Drexel Hill.

    Weh’s attorney, Ian McCurdy, conceded in his closing arguments that it would “strain credulity” to say there wasn’t evidence to prove that Weh killed Garr.

    Still, he urged jurors to consider that prosecutors had failed to explain his intent in doing so.

    “As horrible as this situation is, the death of a young man killed way too early his life, this boils down to did the Commonwealth prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said

    McCurdy supported his contention by citing a two-minute window of time where neither Garr nor Weh were recorded on surveillance video.

    “The point is we just don’t know what happened in that small bit of time,” he said. “And that’s why I suggest to you the Commonwealth hasn’t proven that Marson Weh killed Michael Garr with malice.”

    In responding to McCurdy’s theory of the case, Rouse, the district attorney, did not mince words: The evidence that Weh intentionally killed Garr, a crime that constitutes first-degree murder, he said, is overwhelming.

    Beyond that, he said, Weh confessed to killing Garr during an interview with detectives. And he showed what Rouse described as a consciousness of guilt by soaking the hoodie and he gloves he wore on the night of the attack in ammonia — detectives found the items in that condition when they searched his home days later.

    Rouse urged the jurors to convict Weh of first-degree murder, likening doing so to parents protecting their children from the evils of the world.

    “There is simply no getting around the evidence,” he said. “You cannot stab someone in the throat and not mean it.

    “That kid had no chance.”

  • Union alum Auston Trusty embraces being a USMNT role model for Cavan Sullivan and Neil Pierre

    Union alum Auston Trusty embraces being a USMNT role model for Cavan Sullivan and Neil Pierre

    FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — When Auston Trusty turned pro with the Union a decade ago, the club’s youth academy was just starting to find its footing.

    Now everyone knows about it, and the waves of players it has produced for the club and the U.S. national team. Trusty knows better than most, as the Media native is on the academy’s board.

    But the scale of how far things have come in less than a decade has hit especially hard this week. The 28-year-old is sharing the field with the newest Union youngsters to break through: Cavan Sullivan, Neil Pierre, and Frankie Westfield.

    “Yeah, it’s crazy. I still think of myself as the young kid from Philadelphia, but now these guys are,” Trusty told The Inquirer on Thursday in an interview at U.S. Soccer’s national training center, before the team headed to Orlando to prepare for Saturday’s game against Peru (4:30 p.m., TNT, Telemundo 62).

    Cavan Sullivan (second from left) on the ball in front of Auston Trusty during a drill at Thursday’s practice.Jonathan Tannenwald

    “The way they look at me, they all know my history,” he said. “They all know where I came from, how I came from it, and I’ve been that person they’ve been trying to aspire to be. I’m really appreciative, I’m really grateful, and it’s a blessing that I’m able to be that person for them.”

    It feels long ago, at least in soccer terms, that Trusty turned down a scholarship offer to the University of North Carolina in the summer of 2016. He signed with the Union just days before he’d have headed to Chapel Hill. Back then, such a move was seen as unusual.

    Before Auston Trusty scored a World Cup goal, he ‘put the work in’ at Penncrest High and Nether United

    “College, at the time, was probably the smarter move to other people,” he recalled. “To me, signing pro, I was taking a risk for myself. So it kind of opened that pathway for all these kids to come after me, and it’s pretty cool.”

    A year after Trusty’s move, Mark McKenzie left Wake Forest following his freshman season, and Brenden Aaronson backed out of a verbal commitment to Indiana.

    Auston Trusty (left) and Mark McKenzie together during their playing days with the Union.

    The tide had turned, and there was no going back. By the time Frankie Westfield turned pro in 2024 instead of going to Penn State, no one batted an eye.

    On Thursday, Trusty and Westfield had lunch together after teaming up in one of the morning’s training drills.

    For ‘brothers’ Cavan Sullivan, Frankie Westfield, and Neil Pierre, getting called up to the USMNT together is ‘another level’

    “From what I’ve known from him, and from what I’ve heard, he’s a great player [with a] great mindset,” Trusty said. “Him, along with the other players from [the] Union, it’s really cool to see how far they’ve come, together and individually, and also their mindsets. … It’s their first time, so maybe they’d be hesitant, but they have great mindsets, and that’s what I really want to see.”

    It was obvious to ask about Pierre, a fellow centerback with so much potential. Trusty hadn’t talked with him much yet as of Thursday, mainly due to travel delays coming over from his club home at Celtic in Glasgow, Scotland. But Trusty has seen highlights, including of Pierre’s four goals for the Union this year, and is happy to have another Union centerback with the national team.

    Neil Pierre (third from right) is always easy to spot in a crowd thanks to his 6-foot-6 frame.Jonathan Tannenwald

    “He seems [like] a really good guy, seems good as a person, as a player, seems like he has a lot of talent,” Trusty said. “Obviously, his physical attributes — he’s really tall, and I think a lot of times people can focus on physical attributes. I’m really excited to see how he is on the ball, how he is as a player.”

    And of course, there’s Sullivan. Trusty has known the 16-year-old and his family for a while, so he hasn’t just seen the player through Union games.

    Neil Pierre could be on the cusp of his next star turn as he heads to his first USMNT camp

    “He’s a humble kid, and he’s a grinder,” Trusty said. “He has that Philadelphia Union mindset where you know you don’t take it for granted, you go out there and grind, and you make the most of it. But he’s a humble kid, and he comes from a good family as well.”

    It will strike some people that Trusty focused on Sullivan’s humility. To outsiders, the talk is of cockiness and a hype train. But Trusty knows the difference between that and the right kind of confidence.

    Cavan Sullivan (right) cracking a smile at the start of Thursday’s practice.Jonathan Tannenwald

    “You see him off the pitch, see how he approaches a game, how he starts a game, how he approaches his transactions with teammates and coaches, and the game itself with his own play,” he said. “But during it, if someone’s going to do stepovers, someone’s scoring goals, and they’re celebrating, or if they show confidence on the pitch, that is exactly what you want to see. I don’t want an attacker, or any player, on the pitch that’s not confident.”

    Given that, he concluded: “So if someone’s feeling themselves, someone’s confident in their ability and backs themselves, all power to him.”

    For all the hype, Cavan Sullivan has genuinely earned his moment on the USMNT’s biggest stage

    Now the time has come for Sullivan and the other newcomers to make their first marks at a new level.

    “It’s for the more veteran, more established players to lead the young guys, and guys who could possibly get their first caps, to make sure they know what this team’s about,” Trusty said. “When you wear this crest, you’re not just representing yourself. You’re representing your teammates, your coaches, but everyone that’s ever believed in you, and an entire nation that’s behind you. So it really means a lot.”

  • Penn welcomes a top 10 opponent for home opener, but it’s not shying from the spotlight

    Penn welcomes a top 10 opponent for home opener, but it’s not shying from the spotlight

    The Ivy League was the last college football league to kick off its season, so Penn will play its second game against a team that has already played, and won, four.

    Penn welcomes Lehigh to Franklin Field on Saturday (1 p.m., ESPN+) for its first home game under new leadership in coach Rick Santos and freshman starting quarterback Miles Teodecki.

    “It is what it is,” Santos said of the Ivy League’s scheduling. “We don’t have as much access to the student-athletes in the summer. So you can look at it like it’s a competitive disadvantage, but for us, we always want to look at it [as], ‘What can we control?’”

    Penn kicks off milestone season in dominant fashion with season-opening win over Bucknell

    Senior defensive back and team captain Josh Narcisse also didn’t think the later start gave Penn a disadvantage.

    “Obviously, they have a few more weeks of film that we can watch on them, so if you want to talk about advantages, that’s one,” he said. “Then, obviously, we’re coming in probably a little bit healthier than they are. [They are] probably a little more banged up after four weeks.”

    Beginning next season, the Ivy League announced that it will start earlier, however. Week 1 will be Sept. 11, 2027, and there will be a bye week in October.

    “I think that’s pretty big for us as a program,” senior tight end Dante Barone said, “but … it doesn’t really change our mentality.”

    The mentality, according to Narcisse and Barone, is “to be great.”

    “To be a great team, you have to play great teams,” Barone said.

    Penn football coach Rick Santos is in his first year with the program.Penn Athletics

    Lehigh (4-0) currently is ranked sixth in the FCS and won back-to-back Patriot League championships in 2024 and 2025. The Mountain Hawks also have a new head coach, Richard Nagy, the team’s former defensive coordinator.

    “They are one of the best teams in the country in all three phases, extremely well-coached,” Santos said.
“I know Coach Nagy very well from battling against him. … So tough-nose[d] team, really well coached. They play hard.”

    Santos also mentioned Lehigh running back Luke Yoder, the 2025 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, who’s already rushed for 569 yards (142.3 per game), good for second in the FCS.

    “[Yoder] never gets tackled by the first guy,” he said, “So we need to wrap up. We need to rally the football. Stopping the run has to be our No. 1 priority this week.”

    Hayden Johnson, Lehigh’s starting quarterback, was injured against William & Mary on Sept. 12 and has not returned to action.

    “It will be interesting to see if their starting quarterback plays or not. I think both of those guys, though, their signal-callers are elite with their legs, and they can really run,” Santos said.

    First-year Penn coach Rick Santos makes major starting quarterback decision before season begins

    “With [Lehigh] running the ball as much as they do, they like to control the clock, so that’s going to be something for us is to sustain drives. … We got to make this a four-quarter game.”

    While Santos was “very, very encouraged” with Teodecki and the offense in last week’s 20-7 win over Bucknell, he also sees things to tighten up this weekend. The Quakers outgained the Bison, 367-124, and Teodecki threw for 197 yards on 18-of-34 passing with two touchdowns and an interception. He also was Penn’s leading rusher with 87 yards and another touchdown.

    “We’ll clean up some things mechanically in the passing game. …
We need to finish better in the red zone, and that starts with myself and our offensive staff in terms of play calling, putting the guys in better situations,” he said.

    For Narcisse and Barone, it will be their last home opener.

    “This is what we look forward to all season,” Narcisse said. “This is why you come out here in the winter when it’s 6 a.m. and nobody sees you working. You’re rolling around the snow. This is why you do that, right? For opportunities like this to shine when the lights are the brightest.”

  • Penn endowment increases 27.4%, or more than $6 billion. It’s the largest dollar jump in the university’s history.

    Penn endowment increases 27.4%, or more than $6 billion. It’s the largest dollar jump in the university’s history.

    The University of Pennsylvania’s endowment jumped 27.4% or $6.3 billion in the year ending June 30, 2026, university officials said Thursday.

    The university’s endowment, which supports financial aid, research, teaching, patient care, and other projects, increased from $24.8 billion in 2025 to $31.1 billion, said Mark Dingfield, Penn’s executive vice president.

    “The major story here was our exceptional endowment performance,” Dingfield told members of the university budget and finance committee Thursday, “… which leads to significant growth in our total net assets.”

    Penn says its finances are stronger than anticipated. More budget cuts are still coming.

    It’s the largest one-year dollar jump in the university’s history and compares to 12.2% or $2.5 billion in 2025. The largest percentage increase in the endowment was 50% in 1983, followed by 41.1% or $5.6 billion in 2021, a university spokesperson said.

    Dingfield noted that much of the endowment is restricted for specific uses, and that some of the gains will be absorbed by an increase in the federal excise tax on Penn’s endowment earnings. The tax rate increased on July 1 from 1% to 4%.

    Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr no longer have to pay tax on their endowments thanks to Trump’s budget bill. Penn will pay more.

    “So even though the endowment performance is exceptional and we’re celebrating, some of that will need to be going to paying off that tax liability under the new tax policy,” he said.

    The endowment’s performance capped an overall strong fiscal year for the university, Dingfield said. That follows an earlier period of fiscal uncertainty. The university in January made another round of budget cuts in response to President Donald Trump’s administration’s actions that threatened future federal funding and revenues, and because of rising legal and insurance expenses.

    Penn’s endowment grows 12.2% to $24.8 billion

    Penn’s schools and centers were directed to cut 4% from certain expenses and keep in place financial cutbacks instituted the prior year, including a staff hiring freeze and freezes on midyear adjustments in staff salaries.

    But the financial report on Thursday was bright.

    “The bottom line here is that we ended the year with really strong, both balance sheet and operating performance, which does give us some flexibility heading into FY27,” Dingfield said at the meeting.

    Yet, he said, “we are very much still focused on managing the risks that exist in our current environment.”

  • Despite the absence of key players, Union boss Ryan Richter remains ‘confident’ results will come against Orlando City

    Despite the absence of key players, Union boss Ryan Richter remains ‘confident’ results will come against Orlando City

    Ryan Richter said a variation of the word “confident” or “confidence” six times over the course of his weekly press conference on Thursday.

    The Union boss was referring to several different questions posed, but mainly to his ability to earn a result against a visiting Orlando City team without multiple Union players who have fueled an 11-game unbeaten streak in Major League Soccer since the break for the FIFA World Cup.

    The Union are changing the narrative around the fate of their season in real time

    Orlando enters Subaru Park on Saturday (7 p.m., Apple TV) looking to get back on track after having its five-game MLS unbeaten streak come to an end last weekend against New England. There’s also no guarantee that French star Antoine Griezmann will play this weekend as he picked up an injury during a midweek game against Columbus in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals.

    Griezmann has been a firecracker since arriving in Orlando during the summer transfer window with eight goals and three assists in just 10 games in all competitions. Whether or not Griezmann makes a return to Philly, Richter knows they are a club not to be taken lightly, but feels confident in who remains in the locker room and is ready for availability.

    ‘Brothers’ Cavan Sullivan, Frankie Westfield, and Neil Pierre getting called up to the USMNT together is ‘another level’

    The Union will be without five players due to international duty, which includes starting goalkeeper Andre Blake (Jamaica), defenders Frankie Westfield and Neil Pierre (U.S. men’s national team) and midfielders Danley Jean Jacques (Haiti) and teen phenom Cavan Sullivan, who, like Pierre and Westfield, are taking part in their first senior-level camp for the USMNT.

    “When I look at the team that we’re going to put out on Saturday, we still have a ton of quality,” Richter said. “Of course we’re missing players, and some guys [who] haven’t gotten much minutes lately. But when I look at the group, you’re talking about putting in national team-level players; you’re talking about putting in players that have a pretty good track record in this league and other leagues. So … I step in with full confidence and the message is the same; we attack this game, trying to win.”

    With two pieces of the backline gone, two things remain to be seen: whether defender Nathan Harriel will shift into center of defense with the absence of Pierre, or remain an outside back. Also, it’s expected that with Pierre out, the team will see the return of Japhet Sery Larsen in the middle, but who pairs alongside Larsen is very much a wait-and-see.

    Union defender Nathan Harriel is a strong presence at both center or as an outside back for the club. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    “We want to give the team consistency, that’s clear,” said Richter. “And one thing that we’re all confident in is that Nathan can do a great job at center back like he’s proven over the last couple of months. But as he’s proven over the last five years, he’s a great right back as well. So we’re totally confident in the group that we’re putting out there. And Nathan is going to be a key piece no matter what position he lines up in.”

    For all the hype, Cavan Sullivan has genuinely earned his moment on the USMNT’s biggest stage

    Offensively, much of the club’s firepower will be available this weekend, most notably forward Milan Iloski, who leads the team with 12 goals. The international window game also opens up an opportunity to see more of midfielder Quinn Sullivan, who has been electric off the bench following a long rehab from an ACL injury.

    Sullivan has started just one match in league play this season, but has contributed a goal and six assists in 11 matches, none more thrilling than his rabona pass for the game-tying goal in last week’s thriller on the road against Sporting Kansas City.

    Another player who the Union could certainly benefit from running back a breakthrough performance is forward Bruno Damiani. Damiani, who has eight goals on the year, five of which came in the last three matches including a hat trick in the club’s 5-0 rout of FC Cincinnati on Sept. 9, is someone who Richter felt was peaking at the right time.

    Now, it’s all about consistency.

    “He makes it a tough game for the center backs, and he gives us an outlet,” said Richter. “Any time we play direct, he’s the target. The main job of the striker is to score goals. And now he’s been doing all the other work. … But he can’t drop that. There will be a run where he doesn’t score again. That’s every player. That’s every striker, but as long as he keeps all the other good work that he’s doing [and] he continues to help the team in a really positive way … it’s incredibly important for the team.”

    Should they emerge with the result, the team will set a record for the longest unbeaten streak in club history at 12 straight. And while it appears that’s the last thing on Richter’s mind, it’s the reality the Union now inherits.

    Not a bad place to be, all things considered.

    MLS levies fines on Union, Sporting K.C.

    On Wednesday, MLS’s Disciplinary Committee issued fines to Damiani, Jean Jacques, Kai Wagner and athletic trainer Paul Rushing for their involvement in a scuffle as the two teams headed into the locker rooms at halftime of last Saturday’s 4-3 win over Sporting Kansas City. It marked the first time the Union had violated the league’s mass confrontation policy, which is surprising for those who remember the fracas that took place during the Union’s home match against Inter Miami on Aug. 19.

    Follow the Union’s complete coverage of Union soccer right here!
  • Amid rising political violence, N.J. passes bill that would allow campaigns to use funds for security

    Amid rising political violence, N.J. passes bill that would allow campaigns to use funds for security

    New Jersey is poised to allow political candidates to spend campaign donations on security guards and equipment, amid a rising toll of national violent threats and deadly attacks against politicians and their families.

    The 80-member state Assembly on Thursday gave final approval to a bill that would enable politicians to buy alarm and motion-detection systems and hire guards “provided that the security measures address ongoing dangers or threats that would not otherwise exist were it not for the individual’s status or duties as a candidate or officeholder.”

    The bill passed 53-13 with eight abstentions.

    Majority Democrats did not speak during the debate. Some Republicans questioned why candidates’ safety should in any way depend on the size of their campaign fund. They recommended that concerned candidates apply for a firearm and protect themselves.

    Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia (R., Sussex) said she encountered “some real live wires out there” and has beefed up security in her own home. She has enlisted help from the state police and the attorney general’s office as well. But the bill still gave her pause.

    “I don’t believe anyone has ever donated to me … thinking, ‘I hope it keeps her alive,’” Fantasia said.

    Typically, candidates cannot not use political donations to cover personal expenses. But since the execution of New Jersey U.S. District Judge Esther Salas’ son in their Middlesex County home in 2020 by a self-described men’s rights lawyer, appointed and elected public officials nationwide have taken steps to protect their privacy.

    Those fears only multiplied after President Donald Trump was wounded during a shooting at a Pennsylvania campaign rally in 2024, last year’s arson attack at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion while Gov. Josh Shapiro slept inside, and the 2025 assassination of Democratic Minnesota State Rep. and former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.

    This image provided by Commonwealth Media Services shows damage after a fire at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion while Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept inside on Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (Commonwealth Media Services via AP)A

    New Jersey would be the 17th state to allow political contributions to be spent on security, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

    Rowan University political science professor Ben Dworkin called the need for such a bill “an unfortunate development in the hyper-partisan world we live in.”

    “For any number of years, protecting the candidate meant staff walking in a circle around them, creating a bubble, and moving through the crowd,” said Dworkin, the director of the Rowan Institute for Public Policy and Leadership. “It’s sad if we have gotten to the point the majority of the legislature needs professionals.”

    It is now up to Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill to decide whether to sign the legislation into law. The 40-member Senate passed the measure in June.

    The next major statewide election is next year, when all 120 seats in the legislature are on the ballot.

    The protections could extend to candidates’ immediate family members with whom they live. Security personnel could not be relatives, nor could candidates hire security companies owned by family, according to the bill.

    Security devices may be sold after the campaign, according to the bill.

    The state Election Law Enforcement Commission would implement the measure if Sherrill signs it.

  • Philly sports summer? It’s Philly sports fall with a deluge of big events for each of the city’s pro teams

    Philly sports summer? It’s Philly sports fall with a deluge of big events for each of the city’s pro teams

    Whatever plans you have this weekend, cancel them. There are more important things going on.

    Starting this weekend, all five major pro sports in Philly will have major things going on that carry into the week ahead.

    From sitting on the brink of another Red October to welcoming Philly’s newest superstar, here is what all five Philly teams have on the horizon:

    Phillies

    There is no phrase more indicative of the Phillies’ season than “the ebbs and flows of baseball.” This season, which started with a 9-19 record for the club’s worst 28-game start with Rob Thomson at the helm, has evolved into an 87-71 season under interim manager Don Mattingly.

    Just like when Thomson took over for Girardi in 2022 and led the Phillies to the postseason for the first time in 11 years, Mattingly is on the cusp of leading the Phillies to the postseason after taking over for Thomson, who was fired on April 28.

    With a magic number of two going into Thursday’s games, the most direct path to a postseason berth is a Phillies win and Diamondbacks or Padres loss. Sitting in the third and final NL wild card spot at the beginning of the day Thursday, the Phillies can lock in their fifth consecutive postseason.

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    Eagles

    After starting the season 2-0 with two- and four-point wins over the Washington Commanders and Tennessee Titans, respectively, the Eagles are gearing up for Monday Night Football in Week 3.

    As the Birds head to Chicago to take on the Bears (8:15 p.m., 6abc, ESPN), many questions surround the game, including the status of Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, who is listed as doubtful with a hamstring injury.

    Eagles fans calling to ‘save Philadelphia tailgating’ after new guidelines proposed for sports complex

    While Williams is week to week for the Bears (1-1), Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert is expected to be out for multiple weeks with an MCL injury. Enter Zach Ertz, who played eight-plus seasons with the Eagles and was signed to the practice squad on Monday.

    Murphy: With tight ends hurt and blockers struggling, the Eagles need Zach Ertz to be more than a good story

    Ertz, 35, was a free agent recovering from a torn ACL, LCL, and hamstring suffered in December 2025. Now back in green, Ertz is just 11 catches from breaking Harold Carmichael’s franchise career catch record.

    76ers

    No king is official without a coronation, and LeBron James is getting his Monday when he’s expected to speak for the first time as a 76er.

    After a long-awaited decision, “King James” signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Sixers on July 24, but he hasn’t had any public appearances with the team yet. However, the team will have its media day Monday, marking James’ anticipated first appearance and first time speaking as a part of the Sixers organization.

    The media day also will be the first in Philly for Jaylen Brown, who held his introductory news conference with the Sixers on Aug. 6.

    Jaylen Brown on Philly fans: 'The fan base here is incredible'
    Video: Jaylen Brown on Philly fans: ‘The fan base here is incredible’

    Flyers

    Last season, what many expected to be another year of rebuilding for the Flyers ended in the second round of the playoffs after being swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes.

    Now, the hype around the Orange and Black has been established and is carrying into the team’s season opener Wednesday at Xfinity Mobile Arena when they take on the cross-state rival Pittsburgh Penguins after eliminating them in first round of last season’s playoffs, four games to two.

    Eyes are on goalie Dan Vladař, who played a big role in the Flyers’ success last season but left Tuesday’s preseason 5-1 loss to the Bruins with an upper-body injury. Porter Martone, the 19-year-old right winger who played nine regular-season games and all 10 playoff games, also brings his own level of fanfare to the team.

    Flyers goalie Joseph Woll says Dan Vladař’s injury doesn’t ‘change my process’ or ‘mindset’

    Union

    This summer was big for soccer in Philadelphia as it hosted six World Cup games. But even after the tourists retreated and Philadelphia Stadium became Lincoln Financial Field again, soccer has remained relevant in the city.

    The Union have gone 9-0-2 in Major League Soccer since the World Cup break after firing manager Bradley Carnell on May 27.

    Currently sixth in the Eastern Conference with 36 points and sitting in a playoff spot, Cavan Sullivan, the 16-year-old homegrown star, has brought even more attention to the team after being called up to the U.S. men’s national team alongside teammates Neil Pierre and Frankie Westfield.

    Sullivan, Pierre, and Westfield could make their USMNT debuts Saturday vs. Peru in Orlando (4:30 p.m., TNT). Meanwhile, the Union will look to improve to an unbeaten streak of 12 when they host Orlando City at Subaru Park on Saturday.

    Union star Cavan Sullivan (front) is in his first camp with the senior U.S. men’s national team.Jonathan Tannenwald
  • Koby Howard to miss ‘extended’ time as Penn State faces first true test against Wisconsin

    Koby Howard to miss ‘extended’ time as Penn State faces first true test against Wisconsin

    After Penn State’s rout of Buffalo, head coach Matt Campbell was asked how he views his team ahead of its first Big Ten matchup of the season against Wisconsin.

    “Not where we need to be,” Campbell said.

    Although the Nittany Lions are No. 13 in the AP Poll and unbeaten after three lopsided nonconference wins, it remains unclear what they’re truly capable of at this stage of the season. But conference play will answer that question. They might have to do that without star wide receiver Koby Howard, who is out with an undisclosed injury.

    Campbell said he split the season up for his team into four quarters. The first was from fall camp through the first three games of the year. The second starts Saturday against the Badgers (5 p.m., Peacock), and Penn State faces a tougher challenge with Howard sidelined.

    Penn State starts hot, runs away with a 55-13 win over Buffalo

    “It’s what you want to be a part of, is these special opportunities, starting this week, to play great teams, great coaches, great opponents, and what’s it going to take?” Campbell said Tuesday. “It’s going to take everything you learned from the first quarter of the season, and that starts with a great practice on Tuesday, and it continues to have a great practice on Wednesday if you want to be your best in the moments on Saturday.”

    Howard out for ‘extended period’

    Penn State will be without its top offensive playmaker on Saturday. Campbell said that Howard will be out “for an extended period of time.”

    “Obviously, disappointing for Koby, but he’s handled it really well,” Campbell said. “I think the best interest of him going forward, making sure we do right by him and certainly our football team.”

    Howard currently leads the Nittany Lions with 344 receiving yards and has three total touchdowns this season. He’s targeting to return for Penn State’s matchup at Michigan on Oct. 17.

    Penn State wide receiver Koby Howard has scored three total touchdowns so far this season.Barry Reeger

    Penn State is in a better position to handle an injury, as it has plenty of other weapons it can look to in Howard’s absence, including Iowa State transfer wide receivers Chase Sowell and Brett Eskildsen.

    Eskildsen has been “dinged up” the last two weeks, Campbell said Tuesday, but he confirmed he’s back at full health ahead of Wisconsin. The junior’s speed is unmatched across the roster, which should provide a huge boost to the offense moving forward.

    “Every opportunity he’s got, he’s made some dynamic things happen,” Campbell said.

    Pass rush vs. offensive line

    Through three nonconference games, Penn State has five sacks, but only two of those came from its edge rushers.

    It’ll be important for Penn State’s defensive line to succeed in rushing the passer this weekend at a higher clip, considering Wisconsin quarterback Colton Joseph’s dual-threat capabilities.

    “I think growth will have to continue to happen,” Campbell said Tuesday. “You’re playing a dynamic playmaker and a guy that can make you pay with his feet really fast, and so I just think us continuing to grow forward. I don’t know if it’ll ever be just one [guy making an impact], and I think that’s a positive thing.”

    Taylor Mouser wants more from Penn State’s run game: ‘There’s a lot of growth to be had’

    But the Nittany Lions’ are facing their toughest test yet in the trenches, as Wisconsin’s offensive line features bigger and experienced players compared to what Penn State has seen this year.

    That includes Pope John Paul II graduate Kevin Heywood, a right tackle who missed the entire 2025 season with a torn ACL but has impressed so far in his return.

    Familiarity for Abu Sama III

    Campbell will see a few familiar faces on the opposite sideline at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, including running back Abu Sama III.

    The senior spent the last three years at Iowa State, where he rushed for 732 yards and five touchdowns. Sama opted to not follow Campbell to Penn State and became the Badgers’ starting running back instead.

    “Abu’s a good player,” Rocco Becht said Tuesday. “He’s one of the best athletes I’ve ever seen. But he does like to get to the outside. He gets east and west, and he tries to bounce it outside and get north quick, and so he’s a strong back. Going to be harder for us on the defensive side to bring him down.”

    Former Iowa State running back Abu Sama III (photographed on Sept. 13, 2025) is Wisconsin’s starter in the back field.Michael Woods

    Becht said the defensive players who came over from the Cyclones have been relaying what they know about Sama to the defensive staff. It remains unclear, though, if Sama will actually suit up against his former coach, as he currently has the “questionable” tag on the Big Ten availability report.

    “I’m excited to get on the field with him on Saturday,” former Iowa State linebacker Kooper Ebel said. “I’m sure we’ll see a lot of each other.”

  • Penn Medicine and IBX form new company to open Philly-area ambulatory surgery centers

    Penn Medicine and IBX form new company to open Philly-area ambulatory surgery centers

    The University of Pennsylvania Health System and Independence Blue Cross, the Philadelphia area’s largest insurer, have formed a new company with plans to open at least 18 regional surgery centers.

    The for-profit company announced Thursday is part of an effort by Penn and IBX to bring lower-cost procedures closer to patients, while maintaining quality and safety, officials said.

    For Penn, the venture represents a financial leap, because it means the nonprofit health system will intentionally accept significantly lower payments for part of its business.

    “We need to work on affordability in healthcare. It’s too expensive. It’s bankrupting families,” Penn health system CEO Kevin Mahoney said.

    Medicare and private insurers like IBX who pay the healthcare bills “want to move to less costly settings,” he said, and Penn needs to be ready to capture that business.

    IBX’s CEO Kelly Munson emphasized the importance of partnerships to tackle rising healthcare costs. She noted that shifting care to ambulatory surgery centers from hospital departments can generate as much as a 50% discount.

    “The healthcare affordability crisis won’t be solved alone,” Munson said.

    A third investor in the company is Regent Surgical, a Tennessee firm with private equity investors that will manage the local centers. Its tasks include forcing efficiency. Regent already manages 40 sites in 15 states. Penn clinicians will provide services.

    Regent’s CEO, Travis Messina, called the new company the first of its kind nationally. “I’ve yet to see one that has involved both a payer, a provider, as well as a management company,” he said.

    Key details — such as the for-profit company’s name, the ownership percentages, and the time frame for opening the anticipated facilities — were not disclosed.

    The first local facility is expected to open next year, but officials did not say where.

    The Penn-IBX initiative doesn’t fit into the typical playbook for ASCs, said Dan Grauman, a healthcare consultant based in the Philadelphia area.

    Usually, physicians are also involved as owners. “They’re part owners of these surgery centers, and they drive the volume,” said Grauman, a managing director at VMG Health, a national healthcare consulting firm.

    Asked if non-Penn doctors could be involved in or be investors in the new centers, Penn and IBX said they are evaluating all options for future growth.

    The case for more ASCs in the Philadelphia region

    Southeastern Pennsylvania already has more than 100 ambulatory surgery centers, many of them specialized in gastroenterology and mainly focused on colonoscopies, state heath department data show.

    Yet the region lags the nation in the shift to lower-cost surgery centers.

    Data provided by Regent show that in 2023 and 2024 only 33% of ASC-eligible procedures in the Philadelphia region had migrated to the ASCs, compared to 56% nationally. Regent uses data from Kythera Labs, a company that analyzes health insurance claims.

    Messina attributed the slower adoption of surgery centers to the concentration of physicians employed by local health systems. “That tends to limit the amount of ASC availability in markets across the country,” he said.

    Historically, Philadelphia-area health systems tended to concentrate services in their hospitals, which have expensive fixed overhead, and in facilities that charge hospital rates. Executives focused on protecting revenue, so they could maintain broad hospital offerings, rather than on offering lower-cost options.

    Healthcare trends now increasingly are pushing care into the community. Mahoney noted that half of Penn’s chemotherapy and infusion services are provided in patients’ homes. Close to two thirds of Penn’s $13.6 billion in revenue is from outpatient care, he said.

    “We’ve been trying to deconstruct away from hospitals for a long time, and this is a natural step on that continuum,” he said.

    Penn previously invested an undisclosed amount of money in the Ambulatory Cardiovascular Center of Pennsylvania near King of Prussia. That facility is a partnership that also includes Cardiology Consultants of Philadelphia, Cardiovascular Logistics, and SCA Health.

    To incentivize more surgery centers and reduce costs for employers, IBX introduced a policy this year that it will only pay for certain procedures if they are done in a low-cost ASC. At the same time, IBX does not force patients to change doctors if their provider does not have privileges at an appropriate ASC.

    How Penn could go about opening centers

    Mahoney called the initial target of 18 locations the start.

    “Eighteen is half of what I want to do. These are not mega hospital buildings,” he said. “They’re going to be convenient. They’re going to be spread throughout the five counties, easy for people to get to, close to their homes.”

    The new centers won’t always require new construction, as is typically the case for Penn’s large outpatient centers, such as the one going up in Montgomeryville.

    The new ASC company could also acquire existing ASCs or change the billing practice at a Penn surgery center that currently charges higher hospital rates, Messina said.

    A surgery center on the campus of Penn’s Doylestown Hospital closed last year. Penn could relaunch it under the new company.

    New Jersey could also see new surgery centers from the Penn expansion.