In the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, I went to New York to report on a story about Johanna Sigmund, a young woman from Wyndmoor who perished after one of the hijacked planes rammed the north tower.
Over the course of my career, I’ve spent more time than anyone would want writing pieces about people whose lives were cut short prematurely. One of the most memorable was Johanna, whose story and positive spirit remain seared into my soul.
Johanna’s parents invited me, a stranger, into their home at their worst hour. They took the time to tell me about their only daughter, and shared photograph after photograph after photograph — Johanna smiling after she ran the New York City Marathon, Johanna posing with her girlfriends at a wedding, and so on.
One image stood out.
It was a photo of Johanna, 25, and her brother, John, 23, smiling while standing arm in arm at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. The photo was taken two months before the terror attacks. In the background loomed the twin towers.
An article by Paul Davies about Johanna Sigmund in the Oct. 19, 2001, edition of the Daily News.Staff
Johanna’s story has stuck with me for a quarter century, but her life is emblematic of the promise and potential of so many others who were lost. At least 40 people with ties to Philadelphia and its western suburbs were killed in the attacks, including 18 from Bucks County, 11 from Montgomery County, five in Chester County, eight from Delaware County, and three from Philadelphia. It may be impossible for any of us to fathom how many other lives were forever impacted by the horrors of that day.
I wondered how Johanna’s family and friends had fared over the years.
So much has been lost in the 25 years since 9/11. Johanna would have turned 50 on the first day of summer — the longest day of sunlight. Her elegant beauty remains frozen in time, and — all these years later — her life remains a catalyst for good.
A scholarship fund set up in her name continues to help students attend St. Malachy School in North Philadelphia, as well as another at her alma mater, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.
Johanna packed a lot into her brief time here. She was the captain of the field hockey, lacrosse, and squash teams in high school. She studied economics and played field hockey at Fairfield University, and spent a semester in Paris before moving to New York in 1998 with three friends from Philadelphia.
When I met with Johanna’s roommates a few weeks after the attack, they shared stories of her love of cooking, dancing, and listening to U2, often replaying the song “Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of” that begins, “I’m not afraid of anything in this world.”
From left: Johanna Sigmund, Rory McDevitt, and Kim Ongaro were all bridesmaids at the wedding of their friend, Lexie Beatty, in May 2001. Sigmund was one of the victims in the 9/11 attacks.h
Johanna cared for others. She distributed pizza and McDonald’s to the homeless people in her neighborhood. She helped a woman who was thrown from a taxi get to a hospital. Johanna spent the night by her side and returned home in the morning with blood on her clothes.
Kimberly Ongaro, a roommate and friend from Springside, called her “an angel.”
The toughest interview in the weeks after the attack was with Johanna’s boyfriend, Joe Bonavita. They had dated for several years and had discussed marriage.
Their final weekend together was a whirlwind. They went to the Yankees game Friday night and drove to the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., on Saturday, met up with friends, attended the Army football game, and walked through the cemetery for soldiers, which included Gen. George Armstrong Custer.
On Sunday, Johanna competed in a 5K race down Broadway before continuing on as part of her training for the Philadelphia Marathon. She and Joe shared dinner that night.
Johanna Sigmund and her boyfriend, Joe Bonavita, at the wedding of her friend Lexie Beatty Morris.
Johanna did not feel well on Monday, but went to work. When she was still under the weather on Tuesday — Sept. 11 — Joe urged her to stay home.
But she went into the office at an investment firm on the 93rd floor of the north tower.
Joe worked near the Trade Center. As he exited the subway, he saw the first plane smash into the north tower.
A life upended
I located her brother, John, and emailed him. He responded a few minutes later and graciously agreed to speak. When we connected after 25 years, it almost felt like old friends catching up.
John told me how 9/11 upended his life.
He had planned to move to New York after college, but lost interest after the attack. He visited ground zero to commemorate the first anniversary. President George W. Bush greeted families, including John’s aunt, who offered veiled advice regarding the plans to invade Iraq. “I hope you are making a prayerful decision,” she told the president.
Bush was taken aback, but continued shaking hands before circling back to tell John’s aunt that he prayed every day.
A photograph of Johanna Sigmund running in the New York City Marathon in November 2000.
After college, John, a Spanish speaker, spent a year with AmeriCorps teaching literacy to second graders in Kensington. After he explained to one class’s teacher why he wanted to take off for the anniversary of 9/11, she had her students write notes of support. John was struck by how many kids shared stories of loved ones they had lost to violence.
“Everyone has their 9/11,” he said.
Along the way, we all pay a price. Some more than others. But how one responds is a lesson for all as we navigate these trying times 25 years after 9/11.
John said he wonders how his life would have been different if not for Sept. 11. After a year teaching in Philadelphia, he moved to Texas, in part to get away. He earned a master’s degree in art education at the University of Texas in Austin before going on to teach at Say Sí, an after-school arts program in San Antonio.
John’s attempt to get away brought him back to New York. One of his students won an art award that included a trip for the student and teacher to Carnegie Hall. The artwork was displayed at the Winter Garden located near ground zero in May 2010.
“My heart sank,” John said. “I didn’t want to go anywhere near ground zero.”
Even then, nearly a decade after the towers fell, ground zero remained little more than a giant pit with the Freedom Tower slowly rising alongside it. In a macabre daily scene, tourists jammed the sidewalks, gawking and posing for pictures in front of what John could only see as a mass grave, while street hustlers sold photos of the hijacked planes crashing into the towers.
John tried to maintain his composure as he made his way through the gauntlet to the Winter Garden, but a man stepped in front of him and tried to sell him a fiery photo from the attack.
John snapped. He grabbed the stack of photos from the man, threw them in the air, and cussed him out. The two got into a tussle. After the fracas, John tried to gather himself by channeling his sister’s unflappable spirit.
John Sigmund (center) holds a picture of his sister, Johanna, as he and his family run down Kelly Drive toward the finish line of the Philadelphia Marathon in November 2001.d
“Johanna, help me,” he said to himself while overlooking ground zero. “I need to get it together.”
‘Beyond coincidence’
John calmed down and carried on. After the event, he met friends at a nearby bar. John was telling them about the run-in with the street hustler when he suddenly saw Johanna’s old boyfriend, Joe Bonavita, across the bar.
Joe had moved to New Orleans but, in a twist of fate, was in town for a 9/11 event. The two were not close but quickly bonded. John viewed the reunion as his sister’s handiwork.
“Some things are beyond coincidence,” he said.
Eventually, John did move to New York. The city helped him better find himself. After years of worrying about disappointing his parents or adding to their suffering, John told them he was gay. His parents, who have a deep Catholic faith, were supportive.
Twelve years ago, John returned to Philadelphia and fell in love with the city, and especially Fairmount Park.
After running the Philadelphia Marathon in November 2001, John Sigmund holds a photo of his sister, Johanna, and wears two medals around his neck — one he earned after finishing the race and another his sister won after completing the New York City Marathon in November 2000.Courtesy of Tony Webb / Office of the City Representative
But tragedy struck again in September. Three days after the 20th anniversary of 9/11, his father died.
For John, September remains the cruelest month. But he credits a strong support network of cousins and friends for helping him navigate life’s challenges — and added that Johanna always feels close by.
“I have a thing with the wind,” John said. “When I think about her, the wind will kick up.”
After losing his sister and father in September, John and his partner, Jaime, decided to add some positivity to the month. They got married last Sept. 26 and are planning an anniversary party in a couple of weeks.
The twinkling of colorful lights can make everything feel more vibrant — like the Miracle on South 13th Street display during Christmas.
For some South Philadelphia blocks, however, holiday lights are not enough: They light up the night all year round.
Wondering about the blocks with iconic lights strung across the street, a reader asked Curious Philly, The Inquirer’s forum for questions about the city: “How does one get the decorative street lights and who looks after them?”
For many residents, the lights had inhabited the streets before they even moved in, so the answer is not straightforward. But it seems to fall on block captains and rely on the neighbors agreeing and paying the bill.
Anthony Scola III, 66, remembers when the decorative lights were set up on his block, the 1600 block of South 13th Street. He was 6 years old and his father, Anthony Scola II, was part of the neighborhood group that organized putting them up, he said.
At first, Scola said, neighbors wanted the holiday lights only on the trees, then around their homes, and soon the light show continued to grow.
He doesn’t remember the organizing process, or how the adults got the lights, and with his 94-year-old father recently dying, that part of neighborhood history remains untold.
But, as he pointed to the tree outside, Scola showed how the lights connect through a window to an outlet inside his home. Most of the lights are on year-round, he said, but Christmas lights are not lit until the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
If the lights are affecting his electric bill, he said, he hasn’t noticed it.
At the end of the block, Julia Morrison and her husband, Michael Edmonds, are settling into the neighborhood. The couple moved inover the summer, after having lived around the corner for six years.
“We always thought the lights were owned by the city, but the neighbors told us that everyone has to pay for the cost,” Edmonds said.
According to Peco, how the string light displays are paid for depends on the specific installation and location.
Some connections go directly into homes, and the cost comes out directly in each homeowner or resident’s electric bill. Other displays, however, can be paid for through a separate account specifically for the lights. Then that account gets billed instead of each individual neighbor with lights connected to their home.
Lights string across the street along East Passyunk in South Philadelphia on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The couple is not sure how much the bill will be for the year-round lights. They are hoping to find out more after Thanksgiving, when everyone in the block comes out to set up the Christmas lights.
Whatever the cost, they said, it is worth it for the effect on the block.
“It brings the people together, and it’s just cheer,” Morrison said. “It brings the community street together, makes people feel closer.”
On the 1200 block of Wolf Street, tiny blue, yellow, and red light bulbs dance in the wind on a zigzag above the street.
They have been there for as long as Maryann Mooney, 69, remembers.
“When I was a kid, it was magical to see the lights,” Mooney said.
Over the years, she said, the tradition shrank to only putting big lighting displays out for Christmas, but small light fixtures remain all year round.
She has moved away from the block but works at a hair salon in the area, and the lights continue to make her feel like “the block is alive,” she said.
Karen Farrell, the salon owner, said the block captain comes to collect the money for the light bill, usually in December. He also is in charge of replacing any broken bulbs throughout the year, she said.
“Last year they asked for $35,” Farrell said. “I like it. I think it is pretty. It makes it festive.”
On the 2700 block of South Smedley Street, blue, red, and white lights hang from every house. They put up Christmas lights, too, but these ones are up all year long.
Ryan Schubert, 31, moved to the block in 2022. The house, he said, belonged to his wife’s grandmother, so the lights hanging from his front porch preceded their ownership.
Schubert does not know when exactly the lights arrived, but he keeps a postcard from 1991 that already features the lights across the home’s porch.
“Right now, they are red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July, but the light bulb colors are changed depending on the occasion,” Schubert said.
As far as Schubert knows, the block captain is in charge of changing the bulbs and asking neighbors for collaboration to pay the bill.
“We chip in once a year. It’s not a requirement, and it’s a pretty cool time,” Schubert said.
The most he has contributed is $100, but he has also given $20, he said.
According to Peco, neighbors looking to set up an additional account for this type of lights can contact customer service for information through an online form or by calling 1-800-494-4000.
“The Christmas display can be a little annoying because lots of people come, but I love it and it’s worth it because everyone seems happy,” Schubert said. “The all-year lights feel unique to our street, but to be honest I’m so used to big displays that I don’t even pay much attention or register the little ones.”
DALLAS, Texas — Just steps away from a Republican midterm convention that she slammed as a “farce,” U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D., Montgomery) said Thursday she was “gravely disappointed” with Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s participation in the event — as well as a range of other issues that she said indicate his abandonment of democratic values.
“What I wish he was doing was — back home in Pennsylvania — making sure, like I am, that Pennsylvania will see more Democratic members of the House to uphold the values that he originally ran on,” Dean said after Fetterman appeared in a video at the convention Wednesday night that praised President Donald Trump.
Fetterman’s appearance was a remarkable and rare turn for a Democratic lawmaker, even one who has frequently crossed the aisle to support the opposing party like he’s done since Trump returned to office.
In a video that served as an introduction to a speech by U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.), Fetterman said he and McCormick are able to “work with President Trump to fight and defend the steel way of life” in Pennsylvania.
As he’s done repeatedly, he also denounced socialism and what he considers the “anti-American way of life” that the leftist wing of his party represents. That message fit nicely into some of Republicans’ most prominent attacks on Wednesday as they tried to motivate their base to turn out for GOP candidates in the midterm elections — including in several Pennsylvania key races.
On Thursday, a web page soliciting donations to Fetterman’s campaign committee included a link to the video and said Fetterman would “keep standing his ground, speaking his mind, and putting Pennsylvania first.”
Fetterman said in a statement later that he made the video to support McCormick, who has become a staunch ally and one of his biggest defenders. He also said, as he has for months, that would not switch parties.
“That’s entirely on John,” Dean said Thursday when asked by a reporter if Fetterman should remain in the Democratic Party. “I will tell you, from the ground, from suburban Philadelphia, my constituents are livid. Those who went out and knocked doors for him, they are absolutely livid.”
Dean was in town on the second and final day of the convention alongside four other House Democrats who blasted what they were hearing from the gathering, which has largely been a celebration of Trump.
But Dean was quickly asked by reporters about the convention’s most surprising turn so far — the appearance of Pennsylvania’s controversial Democratic senator.
Dean has, historically, had a closer relationship with Fetterman compared to some of the other Democratic members of Pennsylvania’s U.S. House delegation. The pair briefly ran against each other in the 2018 lieutenant governor primary, which Fetterman won. Dean said it was then that she grew to “really like him and his family, and his values.”
Those values, she said, have taken a turn in more ways than one. She criticized his convention video as a “stunt” while saying she was mostly disappointed by his work ethic, his decisions to back Trump policies, and his “blind support” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attacks in Gaza.
“All I want is for his good health, his well being. And that has been my worry,” Dean said in an interview after the press conference, referring to Fetterman’s well-documented health struggles.
“But I think you have to look at his record, and his record of not working, of not participating, and not caucusing with Democrats, of not being active in his committees — alongside what he is active on, [which] is voting alongside Mr. Trump, and enabling this corruption of chaos,” she said.
Dean is one of several Pennsylvania Democrats who have ramped up their public concerns about Fetterman, with some essentially promising to oust him if he runs for reelection in 2028.
“He’s not going to be a senator after 2028 — mark my words,” U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, an Allegheny County Democrat who is a potential candidate for the seat, after the video.
Dean did not comment on the next election other than saying “voters will have to decide whether that is appropriate” for Fetterman to conduct himself the way he has, including associating closely with Israeli leadership.
Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has clashed with Fetterman but hasn’t heavily criticized his job performance as a senator, said Thursday he did not see the video. The governor said at an event in Chester he was “not going to get distracted” from his duties as governor and his reelection campaign.
With the season at its climatological peak, it is about to set a record for the longest wait for the development of a first hurricane in the satellite era, dating to the 1960s, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The standing record, Sept. 11, was set in 2002 and 2013, and this year the National Hurricane Center is seeing zero chances that a hurricane forms in the basin, which includes the Gulf and Caribbean, during the next seven days.
As the hurricane season approaches a peak, the National Hurricane Center map sums up the quiet of the Altantic Basin. National Hurricane Center
In 2013, only two hurricanes — storms with winds of at least 74 mph — formed during the season, which spans from June 1 to Nov. 30. That tied 1982 for the fewest number of hurricanes, said Matt Rosencrans, a scientist at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.
The 2026 season might make a run at that record, and the state of the atmosphere and history suggest it has a shot.
Who hit the mute button?
The explanation “is almost 100% El Niño,” said Philip Klotzbach, a hurricane specialist at the Colorado State University’s Tropical Meteorology Project, which has been issuing outlooks for over 40 years.
Would-be hurricanes in the Atlantic haven’t had a snowball’s chance to reach maturity.
Sea-surface temperatures in the vast, key El Niño monitoring zone have been running more than 3 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. That anomalous warmth is affecting the overlying atmosphere in such a way as to generate powerful upper-air winds from the west that are inhibiting the development of tropical storms in the Atlantic Basin.
For the strength of vertical shear across the western Atlantic, “we continue to crush” records, Klotzbach said, in observations dating to 1979.
Western tropical Atlantic/Caribbean (10-20°N, 85-50°W) vertical wind shear continues to shatter previous records, with average shear in the western Atlantic for the past 30 days >3 kt stronger than any other year in the global satellite era (since 1979). #ElNinopic.twitter.com/KM0elPofXY
How important is El Niño to the Atlantic hurricane season?
The El Niño effect on Atlantic hurricanes is evident in the available records. In the six years with El Niños of comparable intensity since 1950, hurricane activity has been well below normal.
Rosencrans cautions, however, that the data have limits. The era of satellite observation did not begin until 1966, and the credible El Niño records start with 1950.
Satellites have lifted the qualities of observation to dramatically different heights.
Klotzbach noted that in 1941 a first hurricane was not observed until Sept. 21, but neither satellite data nor aircraft reconnaissance was available. Plus transatlantic shipping, an important observation source, likely was limited because of the war. Thus, it is entirely possible that a hurricane had occurred earlier.
One of the strongest El Niño years, 1982, coincided with the record-low number of hurricanes.
But during the other record holder, 2013, the Pacific waters actually were slightly cooler than normal.
Even the strongest El Niño would not act in isolation in the chaotic environment of the atmosphere.
Early in this season, layers of Saharan dust in the atmosphere may have inhibited tropical storm development, said Benjamin Kirtman, dean of the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science.
But the evidence of El Niño’s power over the Atlantic season is “pretty clear-cut.” And this one, he said, was especially precocious.
“Whereas El Niño episodes typically ramp up toward the peak of hurricane season, this event was already in place and strengthening well before the season’s most active months,” Kirtman said, creating “hostile shear conditions.”
Take the career of Dolly, which was knighted one of the season’s five tropical storms at 11 a.m. Aug. 27 and demoted to a remnant at 11 a.m. Aug. 28. The hurricane center said it had entered “a hostile environment with significant … shear.”
What does (or doesn’t) happen next?
The likelihood of El Niño’s retaining strength into the winter and the limited historical record argue against a late hurricane rally.
On average, six tropical storms, those with winds of at least 39 mph, have formed after Sept. 11, and four hurricanes. A total of only five hurricanes formed during all six of the comparable El Niño years.
“I fully expect there to be additional storm threats as the season progresses,” Kirtman said, “but the effects of El Niño remain, so it is unlikely that the season will suddenly become very active.
“That being said, it only takes one storm to affect where you live.”
And the insurance company with the biggest piece of that business in Pennsylvania is making its voice heard in Harrisburg, Washington, and across the political landscape.
Newtown Square-based AmeriHealth Caritas, an affiliate of the Philadelphia-based healthcare giant IBX, contributed $500,000 total last year to national Democratic and Republican groups that work to elect governors and state legislators, more than double what it gave those entities in 2020.
As the GOP-led Congress passed legislation making deep cuts to Medicaid spending last year, AmeriHealth spent $1.7 million on federal lobbying, the most since at least 2008. And the company made charitable contributions aligned with causes promoted by political leaders in states where it does business — including a $5 million donation to food banks announced by North Carolina’s Democratic governor and 250 book bags for schoolchildren as a gift to the Democratic speaker of the Pennsylvania House.
It all adds up to a growing influence operation run by a company in a competitive industry that relies on government for revenue. Last year, AmeriHealth generated almost $16 billion from Pennsylvania contracts — more than half its total revenue.
Medicaid — a joint state-federal program that funds healthcare for low-income people, children, seniors, and individuals with disabilities — is also the single biggest cost driver in Pennsylvania’s budget. Almost three million Pennsylvanians, or more than one-fifth of the population, are covered by Medicaid.
AmeriHealth’s corporate political giving has drawn criticism from some Republican state lawmakers, who call it an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars.
“That’s money that’s supposed to be going out to our hospitals, pharmacies, and disabled service providers,” said State Sen. Cris Dush (R., Jefferson).
State Sen. Cris Dush (R., Jefferson) in 2021.Matt Rourke / AP
AmeriHealth’s increased political activity has come during a volatile period for Medicaid. Enrollment surged during the COVID-19 pandemic as a federal emergency declaration meant people didn’t have to reapply for benefits, even if they no longer qualified. Once states resumed verifying eligibility, insurers including AmeriHealth saw membership decline — and those most likely to maintain coverage were sicker than average.
Now insurers are grappling with the biggest cuts to federal healthcare spending in history — $1 trillion over the next decade, mostly to Medicaid — in President Donald Trump’s big domestic policy legislation last summer. They are set to take effect next year.
Lee Drutman, a senior fellow at New America, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said AmeriHealth’s political activity is part of a “tried-and-true playbook” in corporate America.
“If you do business with the government or have contracts or regulatory interests, you want to make sure the people who are making the decisions have a nice warm feeling when they think about your company,” said Drutman, author of The Business of America is Lobbying. “The best way to give them that nice warm feeling is to contribute to their campaigns and their causes.”
AmeriHealth said in a statement that it reviews all political contributions to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations and that the company does not make contributions “from legal entities that have state or federal contracts.”
AmeriHealth did not say what revenue source it uses to fund its corporate political contributions and did not answer questions about whether it had any revenue streams that were not tied to tax dollars.
“Our participation in the public policy process focuses on healthcare issues affecting our members and the communities we serve,” AmeriHealth said, adding that it supports organizations across the political spectrum.
Donations to DGA and RGA
Like most states, Pennsylvania contracts with private insurers — also known as managed care organizations (MCOs) — to manage Medicaid beneficiaries’ benefits.
Federal law sets broad coverage requirements, but states have flexibility in determining which populations are eligible and which services to include.
And every year, they set monthly rates they pay insurers for Medicaid enrollees. Federal regulators review the rates.
“That all has a huge impact on the financial health, the success of the Medicaid managed care plan,” said Edwin Park, research professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University.
It is not surprising, then, that insurers like AmeriHealth donate to political groups that elect governors and state legislators.
Among the groups that have benefited from AmeriHealth’s giving is the Democratic Governors Association, which in 2022 gave $7.2 million to then-Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s successful gubernatorial campaign and which has given $750,000 to his reelection bid.
From 2021 through last year, AmeriHealth gave $250,000 to the DGA annually, up from $100,000 in 2020. It gave $250,000 to the Republican Governors Association in 2025, up from $100,000 each of the previous two years.
The donations put AmeriHealth in the top 10% of donors to each group in 2025, according to an Inquirer analysis of Internal Revenue Service data compiled by ProPublica.
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The RGA has not invested in Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial election this year, in which Shapiro is favored against Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity.
Pennsylvania law prohibits corporations and labor unions from making direct contributions to state campaigns, though those groups can form political action committees. PACs can raise funds from their employees or members and use that money to donate to candidates. AmeriHealth started a Pennsylvania PAC in 2022.
However, corporations and unions can use their treasury funds — drawn directly from profits or member dues — to give unlimited amounts of money to groups such as the DGA and RGA. Those groups can donate to campaigns that may otherwise face restrictions on receiving corporate money, as in Pennsylvania.
In response to written questions, neither AmeriHealth nor Shapiro’s campaign would say whether the governor or his representatives had solicited contributions from the company on the DGA’s behalf.
AmeriHealth did not answer a question as to whether it had asked the DGA to designate some or all of its contributions to Shapiro’s race. Izzi Levy, a spokesperson for the DGA, said, “As a policy, DGA does not accept funds earmarked for any race or state.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro in August.Kalim A. Bhatti / For The Inquirer
“Corporations, labor unions, wealthy individuals want to have a powerful ally in a governor,” said Michael Beckel, an expert on money in politics at Washington, D.C.-based Issue One, a group that advocates for campaign finance restrictions.
“Being able to give through a group like the DGA or an RGA is a way to help secure your position as a friend and ally, who then in turn might be somebody that [governors] listen to on policy matters,” he said.
Many companies donate to these groups, but AmeriHealth’s corporate contributions have caught the attention of Pennsylvania lawmakers, including Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland).
“The money should be used as appropriated for Medicaid because we are struggling with the increased funding needs for the program,” she said, adding that it doesn’t matter which party benefits from the donations.
Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward in Harrisburg in February.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Ward said AmeriHealth has suggested that one of its contributions to the DGA “was comprised of the interest made off the principal of the Medicaid money.”
“To be clear, no matter if the political contribution is made up from the principal or the interest from Medicaid funds, it is all government money and shouldn’t be used for political purposes,” Ward said in a statement.
Under federal regulations, insurers are required to spend at least 85% of Medicaid funds on services for beneficiaries, leaving 15% for plan administration and profits. A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services said AmeriHealth has complied with those rules.
AmeriHealth isn’t the only Medicaid insurer that donates to the DGA, RGA, Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, and Republican State Leadership Committee — the latter two of which work to elect state legislators across the country.
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), the No. 2 Medicaid insurer in Pennsylvania, has given three of the four groups a total of $330,000 since 2013, the year AmeriHealth significantly increased its giving. AmeriHealth gave $3.3 million over that period of time.
By contrast, St. Louis-based Centene Corp. has far outspent AmeriHealth, giving a total of nearly $18.8 million to the groups since 2013. Centene is the No. 3 Medicaid insurer in Pennsylvania and the largest in the country, operating in 30 states.
Neither UPMC nor Centene responded to requests for comment. Centene says on its website that its political activity is grounded in the company’s public policy positions “and the best interests of our business, our employees, and the members we serve, without regard to political party affiliation.”
From West Philly to 13 states
For-profit AmeriHealth is owned by nonprofits Independence Health Group and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
Formerly known as AmeriHealth Mercy, the company started as a pilot program in the early 1980s at a West Philadelphia hospital. It now operates in 13 states and Washington, D.C., and employs almost 10,000 people.
AmeriHealth covered about 771,000 Pennsylvania residents enrolled for physical health — including for services such as medical visits, pregnancy and newborn care, and dental — and 176,000 for community services, including nursing homes, at the end of 2025. The company also manages benefits for behavioral health services.
In addition to its Medicaid business, AmeriHealth also offers Medicare Advantage plans for people eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, as well as Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace plans.
AmeriHealth had net income of $138 million last year after reporting a loss in 2024, though Independence Health — which includes insurer Independence Blue Cross — has continued to struggle financially.
Pennsylvania’s Medicaid program cost $49.3 billion in state and federal funds for the fiscal year that ended in July 2025, according to the Independent Fiscal Office. The state share of Medicaid expenditures, $14.4 billion, accounted for 31% of total general fund spending, among the highest ratios in the country, according to health research nonprofit KFF.
State spending on Medicaid was on track to increase 7.8% for the fiscal year that ended July 1, according to a June analysis by the IFO.
AmeriHealth’s $15.7 billion in revenue last year from contracts with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services and county governments was up from $14.2 billion the prior year and $11.4 billion in 2021 — a 38% increase over the four year-period.
UPMC saw a 50% increase over that period, for $12.6 billion in revenue last year.
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AmeriHealth has attributed its financial success last year — when it swung back to a profit a year after reporting losses in 2024 — in part to higher Medicaid rates as well as “work with state partners to support reliable access to high-quality care for the members we serve.”
Ali Fogarty, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, said rate increases are necessitated by costs that insurers incur administering the Medicaid program.
A big driver has been higher costs for GLP-1s, the drugs that manage Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Pennsylvania in 2023 started covering GLP-1s in Medicaid for weight loss only. Medicaid spending on the drugs in Pennsylvania increased from $223 million in 2022 to more than $1 billion last year, Fogarty said. The state stopped covering GLP-1s for weight loss this year.
“Realities like this can drive rate increases to ensure stability of our Medicaid program and solvency of MCOs that coordinate care, in addition to typical year-over-year increases in costs of care and operations,” she said.
AmeriHealth increased its lobbying, too
AmeriHealth spent $1.7 million on federal lobbying last year, up from $970,000 in 2024 and $400,000 in 2023, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets, a group that tracks money in politics.
The bill mentioned the most on the company’s lobbying reports in 2025 was H.R. 1, or the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The sweeping domestic policy legislation — passed by the GOP-controlled Congress and signed into law by Trump — included $900 billion in cuts to federal Medicaid spending over the next decade.
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The law reduces spending in part by imposing new work requirements on adults who are eligible for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, the 2010 law that sought to expand healthcare coverage. Pennsylvania expanded Medicaid in 2015.
Those requirements take effect Jan. 1. The new law also includes provisions requiring more frequent eligibility checks and cost-sharing requirements for enrollees in the so-called Medicaid expansion group.
The law’s Medicaid provisions are projected to increase the number of uninsured in 2034 by 7.5 million people, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. About 300,000 Pennsylvanians could lose coverage due to the Medicaid restrictions, according to Shapiro’s administration.
Medicaid insurers opposed the cuts. After the House passed its initial version of H.R. 1 in May 2025, Medicaid Health Plans of America — a trade group that represents AmeriHealth and other insurers — cautioned Senate leaders against legislative provisions “that have been found to increase churn, set up additional barriers to receiving coverage, disincentivize essential care, hamstring states in financing the program, and that will likely cause disruption that radiates across the health care system.”
Republicans say the law will strengthen the integrity of programs like Medicaid and help ensure that able-bodied adults on public assistance are contributing to society. Democrats voted against the measure, accusing the GOP of cutting the safety net to finance tax cuts for the wealthy.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act has big implications for state budgets. Starting in October, states including Pennsylvania will be restricted in their ability to finance Medicaid through taxes on healthcare providers such as hospitals, nursing homes, and insurers. States have traditionally used that financing mechanism to help draw federal matching funds.
Management consulting firm Oliver Wyman wrote that as states adjust their financing strategies, “plans may face more volatile rate-setting processes, delayed approvals, and growing tension between providers seeking to preserve revenue and payers managing constrained margins.”
As H.R. 1 is implemented, insurers like AmeriHealth are maintaining a strong presence in Washington. Records show AmeriHealth spent $1.5 million on federal lobbying through June — almost as much as it spent all of last year.
But as insurers seek to influence policymakers, they are facing increasing criticism from conservatives who say they have failed to improve patient outcomes, lower costs, or deter fraud. More broadly, Trump last year directed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to “take appropriate action to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid.”
“Medicaid managed care creates strong incentives to maximize enrollment, as plans are generally paid a fixed amount for each enrollee,” Brian Blase, a former Trump White House official and president of the Paragon Health Institute, wrote in June. “Improper enrollment, duplicate enrollment, and phantom enrollment increase payments flowing to MCOs.”
The plans say they have taken action against fraud and abuse. The Medicaid Health Plans of America in a February report pointed to an inspector general report showing that insurers in recent years had steadily increased their fraud referrals to state law enforcement agencies.
Pennsylvania’s GOP-led Senate in July passed a resolution, largely along party lines, directing the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) to audit the state’s Medicaid program. The resolution calls for a review of the “standards used in Pennsylvania to evaluate Medicaid managed care program contracts.”
Democrats said they wanted to limit the scope of the audit, saying the state’s Medicaid program is already subject to federal reviews.
The resolution does not carry the force of law, but its lead sponsor, Dush, said he hopes the bipartisan LBFC — a committee that consists of 12 legislators from both chambers of the General Assembly — agrees to take up the cause.
Charitable giving
When the federal government shut down last fall amid a congressional spending impasse, the Trump administration paused the disbursement of food assistance, known as SNAP benefits, which help low-income families pay for groceries.
Within days of that announcement, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein said the state would grant $10 million to local food banks — and that AmeriHealth Caritas and other private donors had also chipped in.
AmeriHealth, which had won a Medicaid contract with the state in 2019, gave $5 million, according to Stein’s announcement. “With the help of generous partners, North Carolina is taking action to keep families fed,” Stein, a Democrat, said in a news release at the time.
It’s an example of how AmeriHealth has made philanthropic gifts in line with causes promoted by political leaders in states where the company does business. Drutman, the lobbying expert, said supporting such causes can be seen as part of a company’s broader political strategy.
“As long as government is an important player in an industry, either as a regulator or purchaser of services, companies can have a strong interest in making sure that people in power have a positive opinion of the company,” he said. “Usually, the positive opinion of a company is not free.”
Stein’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
AmeriHealth told The Inquirer that the company and its foundation invest in community organizations “to improve access to care and address needs such as maternal health and food insecurity.”
“We invest in healthcare policy that is aligned with the needs of the nation’s most vulnerable populations,” the company said.
Another organization it partnered with was the Hope Florida Fund, a charity founded by Casey DeSantis, wife of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Governor’s Office announced in March 2023 that AmeriHealth had contributed $100,000 to reduce reliance on public assistance and make grants to local nonprofits.
The next month, the state started the bidding process for new Medicaid contracts. AmeriHealth ultimately lost its bid to remain in Florida, where it had operated since 2012. Gov. DeSantis’ office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Sometimes AmeriHealth’s gifts are smaller.
Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton, a Democrat who represents parts of West Philadelphia and Delaware County, reported on her 2025 financial disclosure form that AmeriHealth had donated 250 book bags at resource fairs in her district. She valued the gift at $2,500. A spokesperson for McClinton confirmed the gift but otherwise had no comment.
Other companies including insurers Highmark Wholecare and Independence Blue Cross gave similar gifts, according to the disclosure.
House Speaker Joanna McClinton during a Feb. 3 news conference at the Capitol in Harrisburg.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
AmeriHealth has won praise for some of its giving.
In May, Val Arkoosh, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, visited the Greater Philadelphia YMCA’s Willow Grove branch to highlight a maternal health initiative that provides a free membership and programming for expectant moms.
Arkoosh’s office said in a news release that the initiative “aligns perfectly” with the Shapiro administration’s “Healthy Moms, Vibrant Futures” strategic plan.
DHS Secretary Val Arkoosh in 2025.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
Fogarty, the DHS spokesperson, noted that the U.S. maternal mortality rate outpaces all other high-income countries and said Arkoosh, an obstetric anesthesiologist, is passionate about the issue. “We appreciate the many partners who work to address maternal mortality and are stepping up to support mothers and children in their community,” Fogarty said.
AmeriHealth’s foundation said in a news release that “providing children with healthy beginnings will help them avoid adverse experiences later in childhood.”
The release featured a photo of Arkoosh standing next to a YMCA executive and Steve Fera, an IBX executive and AmeriHealth Caritas Foundation board member.
It had been six days since Dillon Minacci waited at school for his parents to finally pick him up. National Park rangers told the Minaccis to stay inside their Queen Village home — which sits on the grounds of the Gloria Dei Old Swedes Episcopal Church — as a precaution following the terrorist attacks that morning in New York.
Could the old church where Betsy Ross was once married be next? So Dillon was one of the last kids to leave St. Mary School in the shadow of Independence Hall. No one knew what to think that day, Paula Minacci said of Sept. 11, 2001. And everyone seemed to struggle to find normalcy in the days that followed.
Finally, the Phillies were back at Veterans Stadium. Their game against the Braves on Sept. 17 was the first major league game after the season was paused. Jim Minacci told his son they were going. Then he went to the church basement — where he still works with his wife as the sextons — and grabbed a big American flag on a wooden pole.
“It was embarrassing, right?” said Dillon, who was then in the fourth grade and just old enough to roll his eyes at his parents. “I was like, ‘What are you doing? Why are you bringing a flag to the park? What are we doing?’”
Paula Minacci dropped them off at the stadium and then waited to make sure they’d let them in with the big flag. The Vet was filled that night with American flags. People waved them in the stands and the players had them stitched on their uniforms. Phillies manager Larry Bowa cried during the anthem and Harry Kalas opened the telecast with an emotional monologue about how sports can be a diversion and a unifier.
No one questioned Minacci’s flag.
Jim Minacci carries his large American flag as he walks around Veterans Stadium on Sept. 23, 2001.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
He sat with the pole for a few innings in the upper deck before telling his son he wanted to take a lap around the stadium, which had a rung in front of the seating bowl. His son was embarrassed, but he told his dad he’d come with him. And then the cheers started. The fans chanted U-S-A and shouted for Minacci as he marched around a half-filled stadium with the flag over his shoulder like a patriot. Embarrassed? Not anymore, his son said.
“For us, we were like, ‘Hell yeah. This is awesome,’” Dillon, 35, said. “We got back to our seats and he said, ‘We’re going again.’ OK. I didn’t expect this to be happening. Let’s go.”
The Minaccis attended every game the rest of the season as the late-30s dad became Flag Man, a symbol of patriotism when everyone seemed to rally around the flag. They started their night marching around the upper deck before heading to the lower bowl where the chants were just as loud.
A cast of kids would leave their seats every night to walk behind Flag Man, whom Pat Burrell called “the pied piper” when Minacci was featured in the team’s highlight video.
Phillies general manager Ed Wade presented Flag Man with a custom jersey and a security guard started letting the Minaccis in without tickets. Flag Man’s hands were so sore from carrying the wooden pole that he started to wear fingerless gloves. He loved it.
Jim Minacci, aka Flag Man, is trailed by a line of kids as he walks around the upper deck over the outfield at Veterans Stadium on Sept. 23, 2001.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The Vet already had the Wolf Pack and other fan groups that injected character to a concrete goliath. Flag Man fit right in. Minacci became part of the scene.
All these years later, the 64-year-old Minacci is still not sure why he brought the flag that first night. He remembers watching the news and seeing people at Ground Zero, volunteering to dig through the rubble of the World Trade Center. Minacci wanted to be in Manhattan but had two jobs in Philly and a son. So he grabbed his flag and went to the game.
“I probably brought the flag so it could represent all those people doing all that good work,” he said. “People were doing extraordinary things against the backdrop of this terrible disaster that in our lifetime was unprecedented. I felt a real sense of wanting to go to the game to enjoy myself and be free of all the struggle and strife but also be part of a community and be with my son in a moment that meant something.”
“It was just being present and showing support for these people who were doing extraordinary things.”
Flag Man grew up near Binghamton, N.Y., in a small town he said had more cows than people. His father Paul was a Yankees fan but he often took his family in the early 1970s to Philly — where he graduated from Penn — to see games at the Vet when tickets were easy to get.
Minacci chased down players for autographs and can still remember how it felt to sit in the stands with his dad. He moved to Philly in the 1980s and soon found himself sitting in the same seats with his son.
Jim Minacci looks back on his Flag Man days as “a unifying visual. Something everyone could agree to. Back then, it was an agreeable moment.”Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
“I just always loved baseball and doing it with my dad just like he did it with his dad,” Dillon said. “Baseball is so unique in that you don’t really have to pay attention to it. That’s kind of the beauty of it. It’s an atmosphere that’s open to whatever you make it. Other sports, you’re kind of locked in on the time limit or the net you have to hit it into. Baseball is very much, ‘Are you paying attention or not? Can I take advantage of that?’ For a father and son, you get to spend time whether you’re talking or not.”
The Vet was their place before 9/11 so it was where the Minaccis needed to be after that dark Tuesday. The Minaccis — just like the rest of the 27,910 fans — longed for an escape. They didn’t know their night would be the dawn of Flag Man.
“We got home and he said, ‘We have to go again tomorrow,’” Dillon said. “I was like, ‘I’ll go to baseball every night of the week if that’s what this is.’ I was totally in. If you get a couple drinks in me, then I pull down the old video yearbook. Damn, that was cool. I can’t believe I was a part of that and my dad had the idea to do that.”
He took a trip with his parents last month to a minor-league game in upstate New York and told his dad how impactful those nights at the Vet were. His parents were always “locally minded,” Dillon said, as their work at Old Swedes made them a fabric of the neighborhood. Flag Man was an extension of that. His dad always seemed to bring people together. Everyone just got to see it this time.
“I know my son is a better person today for it. His awareness of being a part of a community,” Minacci said. “As a father, as a human being, that’s the reward.”
Dillon now lives in Austin, Texas, and will often ask another Philly transplant if they remember Flag Man. Of course, they remember that guy who used to carry a flag around the Vet. That’s my dad, the proud son tells them. No way, he hears. Flag Man is a memory.
Jim Minacci and his wife Paula at Gloria Dei Old Swedes Episcopal Church, where they work and live as sextons/caretakers.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
“There’s the baseball game, the baseball team, the baseball staff, and then the crowd who fills the stadium,” Minacci said. “We got to be a part of that community.”
Minacci brought his flag back to the Vet in 2002 and 2003 as he continued to march before the Vet closed. Citizens Bank Park opened in April 2004 and Minacci was there with his flag for the first game. The guy at the gate apologized. Minacci couldn’t bring the long wooden pole into the new park. Flag Man was finished.
“I think what bummed him out the most was him not being able to end it in a way that he wanted to,” Dillon said. “He wanted the chance to say ‘Thank you.’ It really meant a lot to him and it meant a lot to me. We met a lot of people at the ballpark and became a part of the Phillies community. So it goes.”
Dillon (front) and Jim Minacci at the Rush concert earlier this month.Dillon Minacci
Minacci stood outside the stadium that day before deciding to go home. It was over. He’s another fan now when he goes to the ballpark except that he still wears his Flag Man jersey — with No. 47 as a nod to Larry Andersen — when he sits in the seats. Kids who used to trail him at the Vet will stop him and tell him about those days. Now those kids have kids of their own. Minacci helped people come together that September. It was a time and place he’ll never forget.
“It was a unifying visual,” Minacci said. “Something everyone could agree to. Back then, it was an agreeable moment. It would be hard to find that agreeable moment today. We’re all so segmented. It’s awful. It’s really hard.”
Within weeks of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the U.S. government launched airstrikes and sent American troops to Afghanistan. In March 2003, spurred by claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. bombed and invaded the country.
In the two wars that followed, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans died, with civilians making up a significant number of the dead.
On the U.S. side, more than two million American military personnel served in Iraq or Afghanistan, and over 7,000 died in these conflicts. Hundreds of thousands more live with service-related disabilities, and according to Brown University research, more than 30,000 post-9/11 veterans have since died by suicide.
Over 117,000 Pennsylvanians served in the military since 9/11, according to 2023 state data, and 295 died in Iraq and Afghanistan. At least 50,000 hailed from New Jersey, including 163 who died.
Benjamin Napier (right) and Brian Napier crouch for a picture in front of the main gate at Fort Hood, an Army base in Texas, in 2005. The brothers enlisted two days after Sept. 11 and were deployed to Iraq in 2004.Courtesy of Benjamin Napier
“I think it’s important, regarding the veteran population, to understand the diversity of experience,” said West Chester University historian Robert Kodosky, who has interviewed hundreds of post-9/11 veterans. “Some struggle. Some don’t. Some look back on their experience with pride. Some don’t want to talk about it at all.”
As the nation marks the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the stories of these four military veterans from the Philadelphia region offer a glimpse into the experiences of countless others whose lives have been shaped by the wars that followed.
‘I can’t believe I made it home’
Benjamin Napier was 25 and living in Drexel Hill when 9/11 happened. The following evening, Napier and his younger brother, Brian, were gathered with friends in Upper Darby to attend a candlelight vigil, and Napier remembers noticing that the normally steady flow of air traffic had completely ceased. The skies were empty. That’s when he shared his thoughts with Brian.
“And I kind of turned to him, and I was like, you know, I think I’m going to do it. I’m going to join. And he was like, if you do it, I’m going to do it,” Napier said.
They enlisted in the Army on Sept. 13. Both were stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, and deployed to Iraq in 2004.
After riding in a convoy for three days from Kuwait to Baghdad, Napier, whose specialty was setting up computer and telephone networks, was sent to Abu Ghraib Prison.
The prison was not yet known for the horrific mistreatment of prisoners by Americans. But the squalid, cinderblock-walled compound, which had been a site of mass killings and torture under the Saddam Hussein regime, felt like “pure evil” to Napier.
“The place just had a vibe to it,” Napier said. “And we’re thinking, we don’t have running water. We don’t have toilets. I’m sleeping on a cot. And you’re just thinking to yourself, what in the world is going on over there.”
Soon, Iraqi insurgents began launching ferocious mortar attacks on the prison, Napier said.
Only when the U.S. soldiers got access to a TV did they learn that Abu Ghraib had become infamous. Widely shared photos of tortured Iraqis, flanked by smiling American soldiers, had became a rallying cry for war opponents.
The news also made the prison a target, and for the rest of Napier’s deployment, he said he witnessed sniper fire, shelling that killed and wounded prisoners, and the intervention of U.S. Apache helicopters that saved the prison from a hostile Iraqi takeover.
“I can’t believe I made it home,” Napier said.
It took him three years of intensive therapy to process his trauma, as well as extensive support from his wife and family, he said. Brian survived an improvised explosive device blast that left him disabled from the military due to post-traumatic stress disorder. The brothers now live in Delaware County and remain close.
Napier said despite all that he and Brian went through, he’s still glad they enlisted.
“A lot of the veterans that I talk to have that same sort of feeling. You raise your hand for something bigger than you. You’re kind of doing something for the greater good. And I think we still kind of feel that way,” Napier said.
Keshina Bouie (left) on board a C-130 aircraft, preparing to fly from Kuwait to Iraq in 2007. At right is her future husband, Anthony.Courtesy of Keshina Bouie
‘I wanted to do something positive’
Keshina Bouie, 43, remembers being sent home from South Philadelphia High School on Sept. 11. Ironically, she said, her junior ROTC class is what got canceled.
Bouie’s parents had been in the Air Force, but Bouie hadn’t planned to follow their path. However with no college scholarships lined up, she enlisted in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard to pay for school.
“At that point in my life, I wanted to do something positive. And I wanted to get a degree and break generational cycles, and I was determined to be successful,” Bouie said.
Bouie earned her degree at Cheyney University in 2007. One day before her college graduation ceremony, she received deployment orders to Iraq.
Bouie was stationed at Balad Air Base, about 40 miles north of Baghdad. There, she guarded a secret Special Forces base that was embedded within the military installation. Exploding mortars and the rush of incoming wounded soldiers became part of her routine.
“When I was in Iraq, I just wanted to focus on doing my job and getting home safe,” Bouie said.
While on deployment, Bouie met Anthony, a soldier who grew up just blocks away from her Point Breeze home.
A romance blossomed in the spare hours, though they remained separated by their jobs. When they returned home, they got married. They’ve since had two children.
The Bouie family (from left to right): daughter Savannah Bouie, mother Keshina Bouie, father Anthony Bouie Sr., and son Anthony Bouie Jr., at William Penn Charter School on Sept. 3. Army veteran Keshina Bouie grew up in Philadelphia and was in high school ROTC on Sept. 11, 2001. She joined the Army, which helped her reach personal educational goals and give her children a good life, and played a big role in her being who she is today.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Bouie stayed in the Guard for 16 years, earned a master’s degree from La Salle University, and worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Logistics Agency. Her military service, she said, ultimately helped her provide a better life for her son and daughter.
She said there are things she’s not proud of about her country, but she’s always proud of the people she served with in Iraq and glad she enlisted.
“It was literally the best decision I made in my life. And I know not everyone can say that.”
‘What are we protecting?’
Michael Miller, 52, grew up in City of Chester with seven brothers and one sister.
“We grew up pretty poor. But being a child, you don’t know that you’re poor. We had fun. We did all the things that kids do,” Miller said.
Already a father at 19, Miller joined the Marine Corps in 1994 to provide for his family. He returned home after eight years, but missed military life. He joined the Army National Guard in 2007 and deployed to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, in 2010.
“For the first six months, it was like being on a weird vacation,” Miller said. “But let me tell you something: When the snow melted off those mountains, things totally changed.”
Three of his comrades died in an IED blast that summer, and of the 370 people serving with him, about 300 returned home with Combat Action Badges, a designation given to soldiers involved in ground combat.
Miller’s main job entailed driving a large truck known as a wrecker and using it to retrieve destroyed Army vehicles and cargo.
But it was while on a mission delivering supplies that an IED detonated under his truck, launching it into the air “like it was a piece of paper.”
Marine veteran Michael Miller holds an American flag given to him for his military service in Afghanistan as he poses for a portrait at his home in Chester on Aug. 31. Miller deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 and survived an IED blast that caused a traumatic brain injury. After returning home, he was diagnosed with PTSD and an anxiety disorder. Miller has turned to poetry, writing, and podcasting to help cope with his experiences and the loss of three comrades who died by suicide after returning home.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
A doctor told Miller he had a concussion, he said, and he finished his deployment. It was only when he returned home that the extent of his traumatic brain injury and PTSD became clear. Panic attacks made him a “frequent flyer” at local emergency rooms.
“I used to go to sleep fully dressed, because I wanted to make everything convenient for the paramedics, because I was sure I was dying,” Miller said.
Miller joined Warrior Writers, a group of veterans who process their experiences through writing.
“Honestly? I do poetry. I learned to express myself,” Miller said.
What he struggles with now, Miller said, is that despite his efforts, three people he served with have since died by suicide. That’s left him feeling that the war wasn’t worth fighting.
“Because, honestly, what are we protecting when the wealth gap gets so much larger? What are we protecting, when we have so many homeless? It’s a bunch of stuff that in the grand scheme of things wasn’t worth the blood that was left there.”
‘Shona ba shona’
Milan Moncilovich, 62, said he learned about the Sept. 11 attacks while on duty at Methodist Hospital in South Philadelphia. By then, the pharmacist and hospital administrator was also a seasoned officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves.
“My first thought was, this is the beginning of something that’s going to be big, and that’s going to take a while, and most likely I am going to be part of this, and be deployed at some point,” Moncilovich said.
In 2010, the Navy sent him to Afghanistan to train Afghan medical personnel. He recalled seeing a stunning sunrise as his plane performed a tactical landing in Kandahar to avoid rocket attacks.
“To me it was like a personal, spiritual kind of sign that said, ‘Hey, anything that’s going to come in the future, just take this in, take this beauty in, and remember where your inner soul is,’” Moncilovich said.
In the northern Afghanistan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Moncilovich and other American medical professionals worked closely with Afghan doctors and nurses, he said. As they got to know one another, their motto became “shona ba shona,” a Dari phrase that meant “shoulder to shoulder” or “together.”
In this advisory role, Moncilovich’s team supervised treatment of Afghan soldiers and civilians who had been struck by IEDs or gunfire.
“I can close my eyes at any time, and I can see those soldiers in that trauma bay and on those tables,” he said. “It’s not ever going to go away. I won’t say I’m OK with it. It’s just going to be there.”
Moncilovich said he saw the positive side of the U.S. missions there, such as the construction of schools and medical facilities.
The U.S. exit from Afghanistan in August 2021 angered him, he said.
“Just to see 13 more American lives lost, it really, really upset me. That’s probably the only thing that really probably brought my rage up pretty high. Especially seeing everything we left behind,” he said.
Moncilovich, who now works for Shriners Children’s hospital in North Philadelphia, said he would jump at a chance to return and get closure.
“I know that it’s completely changed now, and I understand a little more how the Vietnam vets feel now. Time will kind of change things. I know how angry they were. But now, I know what our mission was, but at the end of the day, things kind of went back to the way they were.”
Democratic leaders in New Jersey learned Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell was under investigation for alleged inappropriate behavior with women at the same time the public did — from a news report just before Labor Day weekend.
And still it took nearly a week before Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill finallytook questions from reporters Wednesday on what has reportedly been a monthslong investigation by an outside law firm.
But even then she refused to confirm an investigation into her lieutenant governor or even refer to him by name. It was unlikely to relieve the growing concerns of many in her party.
New Jersey Democratic Party leaders, frustrated by her decision to hide the matter from them, had privately urged Sherrill to share what she could ahead of Wednesday’s event, rather than let Republicans calling for Caldwell’s resignation dominate the headlines.
After this pressure, her team announced the governor would take questions from the media during a visit to a Woodbridge pizza shop Wednesday evening, her first public event since the news broke Friday.
But she offered no new details in her answers.
“I’m not going to confirm or deny whether there is an ongoing investigation, but what I can commit to people is that any complaints are taken very seriously and certainly anyone who has a complaint lodged against them, their rights are protected and they will have a full hearing,” Sherrill told more than 15 members of the media gathered outside Pino’s Pizzeria & Restaurant in Woodbridge.
She declined to answer when the complaint against Caldwell was filed or whether she had curtailed any of his responsibilities, including whether he would act on her behalf when she traveled out of state.
A Democratic operative who requested anonymity to speak freely about private conversations with legislators said Sherrill has put her allies in a tough position where they feel obligated to weigh in but do not know enough to make a public statement.
“Legislators are pissed off about this,” the operative said earlier Wednesday. “They feel left in the dark, and they feel like they’re put in a weird place.”
The operative said it feels as if Sherrill and Caldwell, who are both Trenton newcomers, have been on their own “island.”
Sherrill on Tuesday released her first comment on the matter, which did not acknowledge the existence of the investigation or name her lieutenant governor. In vague terms, she said she demands members of her administration “hold themselves to the highest standards and put their obligations to public service first.”
‘The sooner, the better’
New Jersey political operatives questioned why Sherrill did not address the investigation earlier, or by addressing it head-on with a news conference, as she did earlier in the summer when her administration discovered that thousands of noncitizens had been registered to vote during her predecessor’s administration.The governor has touted herself as prioritizing transparency and accountability.
“If I were the press secretary in that administration, I would have urged a Friday statement, the sooner the better,” said Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, who worked as former Gov. Jim McGreevey’s press secretary.
“By not doing that, you really do raise suspicions … whereas if you can tamp that down and say, ‘Here’s what we know, here’s what we’re waiting for, here’s what you’re going to know,’ that can put everything into perspective.”
Former State Sen. Loretta Weinberg, a Democrat from Bergen County, said Wednesday that she has faith in Sherrill’s nascent administration, but that it was time for the governor to personally address the investigation — the details of which have been leaked in media reports.
“I think that has been too long for what obviously began in May and has not yet come to fruition. What is taking so long?” said Weinberg, who served as Senate majority leader and made combating sexual harassment and violence a cornerstone of her long legislative career.
“When you have an unwillingness to talk, the rumor mill fills in the gaps. That’s not good for transparency,” she said.
Sherrill spokesperson Sean Higgins declined to comment on the criticism from other Democrats outside the pizza event Wednesday evening.
BINJE.com reported Wednesday that Caldwell denied allegations of misconduct toward women in a May 28 letter to Christina Fullam, the state’s chief ethics officer. He said it was “personally painful for someone to attempt to damage my reputation and slander my character with false and misleading accusations” and suggested race was involved.
“While I am troubled by this accusation, as the first single Black man to serve at this level in government, I suspect that there will be other false accusations or rumors in the future,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, in this current political environment, false accusations, especially against people of color, seem to be commonplace.”
Sherrill has garnered national attention for her decisive win last year and outspoken criticism of President DonaldTrump. She has also been supporting Democrats in other states ahead of this year’s midterms, making appearances for candidates in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, which has fueled speculation about national ambitions.
But the investigation into Caldwell and widespread media coverage could complicate her rise.
“This isn’t going away until [Sherrill and her team provide] answers,” said a Sherrill adviser, who was not authorized to speak about the matter and did so on condition of anonymity. “If they do not handle this now, it will metastasize and burst those bubbles of being on the national stage.”
Some party operatives have even begun mulling who might replace Caldwell, the adviser said.
Acting governor when Sherrill travels out of state
Caldwell served as acting governor while Sherrill was out of state on more than half a dozen days in July and August, with no opportunities for the media to ask him questions. His public schedule included appearances at a United Airlines event in Newark, a tennis event in Paterson, and a Puerto Rican Festival in Vineland.
But the role of acting governor is not just attending community events and photo ops. The position takes on all the responsibilities of governor, and choosing Caldwell as her running mate was a personal judgment call for Sherrill.
“It’s a big power to be governor — you have clemency powers,” noted one Democratic political insider who requested anonymity to speak freely, questioning why Caldwell was left to run the state while under investigation.
Assembly member Alex Sauickie, an Ocean County Republican, on Tuesday called on Sherrill to stop traveling out of state while Caldwell is the subject of investigation.
“This is no longer simply about the governor leaving New Jersey to campaign for politicians in other states or build her national political profile. This is now about who is actually in charge of our state when she leaves,” he said in a statement.
Some Democrats watching the controversy around Caldwell unfold have cited other issues that concern them with Sherrill’s administration, such as the New Jersey State Police’s aggressive response to protesters outside the Delaney Hall Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark, and major companies leaving the state, the Sherrill adviser said. They pointed to this episode as another example of Sherrill and her team operating without communication or input from other elected officials.
Only acouple ofDemocratic legislators have publicly commented on the news.
Assembly member Katie Brennan (D., Hudson), who accused a senior campaign adviser to former Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy of sexual assault in 2017, released a statement Tuesday calling the allegations serious. She used the opportunity to promote legislation that she said would “set clear standards” for how complaints are handled.
On Wednesday, State Sen. Britnee Timberlake (D., Essex) defended Sherrill’s handling of the investigation and criticized Republicans’ “selective outrage,” the New Jersey Globe reported.
Rasmussen noted that he has not seen anyone come to Caldwell’s defense in Trenton.
“Maybe he doesn’t have those people in Trenton. He was picked primarily because he was an outsider,” he said.
Another Democratic leader, who requested anonymity to speak freely and not alienate the administration, expressed disappointment that it took so long for Sherrill’s administration to acknowledge the investigation but said Caldwell deserves to have judgment wait until the investigation is complete.
“He’s played the role this administration has asked of him, advancing the governor’s agenda. He has been visible. I truly believe they have a good partnership. Everyone should have the presumption of innocence,” the leader said.
“But it’s fair to say all of us were pretty shocked when we saw the accounts. It is my hope the governor and the investigations will be completely transparent.”
Dennis Mahoney has spent a decade in disaster relief, dispatching humanitarian aid in the wake of devastating hurricanes in the United States and Puerto Rico and poverty crises in 18 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Now the 34-year-old independent candidate is using that same determination to engage in an uphill battle as he seeks to represent Philadelphia’s 3rd Congressional District this November.
Mahoney, from South Philadelphia, is the lone opponent running against State Rep. Chris Rabb, a democratic socialist from Northwest Philly who won the crowded Democratic primary in May to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans.
“I think it’s going to be a hard fight and a hard run, but I feel so strongly that people in Philadelphia want something different,” Mahoney said of his independent campaign.
Mahoney will have his work cut out for him to persuade voters to back his grassroots candidacy.
The 3rd Congressional District is one of the most Democratic-leaning districts in the country, where Rabb won with almost 45% of the vote. Rabb saw national support from big-name progressives, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), and used his victory to support other like-minded candidates throughout the United States.
And the last time Pennsylvania elected an independent to Congress was in 1920, when Milton W. Shreve of Erie won as an Independent Republican.
But Mahoney and his allies view his candidacy as an opportunity to present an alternative option after more than half of 3rd District voters in the May primary cast their ballots for Rabb’s opponents. Mahoney’s platform focuses on addressing poverty, expanding access to affordable housing, and investing in education.
Rabb’s campaign did not comment on Mahoney’s candidacy Wednesday.
The race comes amid shifting political dynamics in the United States in response to growing frustration with the two-party system.
On one hand, progressive candidates — many of whom, like Rabb, are part of the Democratic Socialists of America — have been gaining momentum in elections nationwide.
Earlier this year, meanwhile, a Gallup poll showed a record high of 45% of U.S. adults identified as independents in 2025.
State Rep. Chris Rabb greets supporters after appearing with U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (rear) Tuesday, July 28, 2026, on his “Made in PA: New Economic Patriotism Tour” at the City Institute Library on Rittenhouse Square.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Mahoney said he has belonged to both political parties in the past, but did not find a home in either.
The first-time politicalcandidateworked in humanitarian aid through his former Washington, D.C., church, the Christiannonprofit Food for the Hungry, and now his own firm, AOI Solutions. He said the experience provides lessons for overcoming partisan division in Congress.
“Let’s build bridges and partnerships and bring results. And that’s the same work that I did in the disaster relief field, where we would land in a spot where a disaster happened, and we’d work with anyone we could to really make the place come back to whole,” Mahoney said.
‘Anti-MAGA’ and ‘anti-DSA’
It’s those middle-of-the-road qualities that made Mahoney an appealing candidate to Craig Snyder, a registered Republican who led an effort to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid two years ago and is now leading the Philly-based Forward Party Victory Fund.
The super PAC plans to support Mahoney and other independent candidates across the country — including a pair of independent Senate candidates running in GOP-leaning states, Todd Achilles of Idaho and Brian Bengs of South Dakota — this fall via spending on digital ads and text messages. The PAC is also supporting U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, who switched from the GOP to run for reelection in California as an independent, and Kevin Block, an independent running for Rhode Island governor.
Snyder said the group is an independent offshoot of the Forward Party, founded in 2022 by former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman. He described the centrist candidates the PAC is backing as both “anti-MAGA” and “anti-DSA.”
He said a win in one of the group’s targeted races wouldbe “an earthquake in American politics.” But even if Mahoney is unsuccessful, Snyder said, it will be the start of elevating the independent movement in Philly politics.
“I think people don’t want to be told that they have to vote for somebody just because of the party label,” Snyder said. “I think that they want there to be alternatives, and so it’s our job to make that case.”
Dennis Mahoney (center) on the campaign trail as he prepares to run against State Rep. Chris Rabb in the general election in the 3rd Congressional District this November.Dennis Mahoney
Mahoney said, if elected, he would help form the first independent caucus in the U.S. House, contending he would become a coveted vote for both parties that would enable him to influence legislation and score committee assignments.
Butunder current House rules — which Kiley has proposed changing — Mahoney would not be able to hold a committee seat if he does not caucus with either party. Kiley, for instance, has continued caucusing with the GOP even after becoming an independent.
Mahoney pointed to the 19,000 signatures he received for his petition to join the ballot as a sign some voters are open to a choice in the deep-blue district.
He said he would like to debate Rabb.
“He talks a lot and engages a lot, and I think that that’s wonderful,” Mahoney said. “But I think at the end of the day, there’s people who are hurting in the district who need somebody who isn’t worried about being on, you know, MSNBC or TV, but who really is like, let’s just get into the community and drive results.”
Mahoney said he has been connecting with religious leaders, educational organizations, community groups, and youth organizers to hear feedback on what they want public service to look like in the 3rd District.
The independent will have scant resources to spread his name in just two months but said he is not concerned with raising big money for advertising. He had roughly $8,200 cash on hand in his most recent campaign finance report.
Rabb had a little more $21,000, but that was after the Democrat raised and spent more than $1.3 million for the primary campaign in which he out-raised his opponents.
Mahoney, meanwhile, has been trying to meet voters where they are — at running clubs and other fitness groups, for example.
“I think people find it refreshing to have somebody who wants to represent them out there running alongside them,” he said.
These are the most compelling conversations surrounding the Eagles’ coming season. Crazy, maybe, considering the success of each and their success in tandem, but here we are.
Hurts is under contract for three more seasons, but 2026 is his last season with substantial guaranteed money. Most teams with a $255 million franchise quarterback one season removed from winning a Super Bowl and its MVP award would have discussed an extension that would lock in that QB before the QB market inflates further, but the Eagles have not done that, according to a source. Why? Because Hurts regressed in 2025 and the Eagles are installing a new offense in 2026 and they want to see how he handles it.
Jalen Hurts and Nick Sirianni both have the equity that comes with a title and will be given a learning curve with a new offense. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Sirianni, of course, also is one season removed from winning a Super Bowl, a win that, according to an NFL source, earned him a four-year extension that pays him a $15 million salary through 2029. However, for the second time, Sirianni also lost the offensive coordinator that got him to the Super Bowl. Shane Steichen became the Colts’ head coach after 2022. Kellen Moore became the Saints’ head coach after 2024. Each time, Sirianni failed to replace them with a competent hire of his choosing, and owner Jeffrey Lurie and GM Howie Roseman got involved in pursuing the next coordinators. That’s why Moore got hired in 2024, and it’s why new coordinator Sean Mannion, a disciple of Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay, is installing that new offense in 2026.
So, while they might be overblown, there are issues with both the quarterback and the coach. Any post-2026 divorce would mean that the Eagles would eat either salary-cap money or Sirianni’s paychecks, but Lurie has never been shy to move off a bad investment.
In the NFL, it’s always easier to replace a coach than a quarterback. After all, Doug Pederson and Sirianni won Super Bowls.
Ominous, no? Apparently, no.
Relax
An offseason of communications with various NFL sources indicated two things:
The Eagles do not consider 2026 to be a make-or-break season for either Hurts or Sirianni. That’s because …
Installing an offense that is so philosophically different than what’s come before it is not a 17-game undertaking. It’s a two-season project.
This makes perfect sense.
It is the proper way to view the matter.
I’ll admit, it’s not the way I viewed the matter this spring. I thought Hurts’ limitations as a passer and decision-maker should imperil his status past 2026. I thought Sirianni’s inability to mature and his lack of offensive innovation should imperil his status as well.
I came around.
Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman both understand that Sean Mannion’s (right) offensive installation will be a work in progress. Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Several NFL insiders said that this season should not be crucial for either the coach or the QB. Why?
Because, as long as the 2026 season doesn’t deteriorate into disaster, and as long as there is promise in December that the Birds can win big as soon as next season, the Eagles will have a better foundation than ever. They could be building something that lasts for the next decade. Mannion likely won’t be here for that long, since top offensive coordinators usually get hired as head coaches as soon as they show any aptitude. But Hurts is only 28. Sirianni can become a legend in Philly. That’s what the Eagles‘ brain trust wants.
My guys
Lurie is proud of acquiring both Hurts and Sirianni while the rest of the league laughed. As such, he is as invested in them as he was invested in Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb.
Also, Lurie is 74. He’s groomed his son, Julian, to replace him at the top. What better gift to give your princeling than a stable kingdom? As such, stability through change takes time.
Lurie and Roseman realize there will be speed bumps. The offense won’t work smoothly immediately. Mannion will virtually have carte blanche in regard to concepts, Sirianni will have final say over who is asked to do what, and Hurts won’t be asked to do things he’s uncomfortable doing.
However, as long as Hurts shows improvement as the season progresses, his future in Philly will be secure.
And as long as Sirianni commits to the concepts Mannion installs, and displays a willingness to adhere to them when Mannion moves on, his future in Philly also will be locked down.
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni with owner Jeffrey Lurie before a joint practice with the New England Patriots last month. Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
I’ve known Lurie for 30 years, Roseman for 25. They don’t always tell whole truths, but they seemed particularly comfortable and, frankly, honest when, this offseason, they were asked about the futures of Hurts and Sirianni.
Asked last Wednesday on 94-WIP if this was a make-or-break season for Hurts, Roseman replied, “No, I don’t agree with that.”
Asked by reporters in April to review Sirianni’s five-year tenure, Lurie replied, “His performance has been nothing short of outstanding.”
All of this sounds pleasant now, before the first whistle blows. All of this could change drastically. The Eagles’ battered offensive line is being held together by athletic tape and stem cells. The team traded malcontent franchise receiver A.J. Brown, and his replacement, rookie Makai Lemon, doesn’t look ready for the NFL. There’s no proof that superstar running back Saquon Barkley, who carried the club in 2024 when he was 27, didn’t lose a step in 2025 when he was 28; now, he’s 29.
They host a desperate Commanders defense to start the season Sunday, travel to Chicago — where the Bears won a playoff game last season — for Game 3, then host Aaron Donald, Myles Garrett, and the fearsome Rams in Game 4.
There’s a very real chance that the Eagles’ new offense sputters in the first month of the season. There’s a very real chance that Lurie and Roseman become impatient and change their current long-range views regarding the head coach and the quarterback.
For now, though, they seem willing to give them every best chance.
