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  • Philly City Councilmember Kendra Brooks is considering running for mayor, sources say

    Philly City Councilmember Kendra Brooks is considering running for mayor, sources say

    Kendra Brooks, a progressive who made history as the first third-party candidate to win a seat on Philadelphia City Council in 100 years, is considering challenging Mayor Cherelle L. Parker in the spring Democratic primary election, according to two sources familiar with her thinking.

    The sources, who were not authorized to speak about the matter publicly and did so on the condition of anonymity, said Brooks is mulling a campaign but has not yet made a decision. She declined to comment Friday.

    To run in the Democratic mayoral primary, Brooks would have to resign from her seat on Council. Under state law, she could remain a member of the Working Families Party or switch her party registration to Democrat..

    A bid for the mayor’s office would pit Brooks, the de facto leader of the city’s Working Families Party and democratic socialist faction, against Parker, a centrist who has long been aligned with the city’s Democratic Party establishment.

    Brooks, a longtime organizer from North Philadelphia and the minority leader on Council, got her start in politics as a public education advocate and has served on Council since 2020. Her most high-profile legislation this year was a package of bills that placed new restrictions on federal immigration enforcement in the city, and drew legal challenges from the Trump administration.

    She has been critical of Parker, especially with regard to the mayor’s strategy of largely sidestepping criticism of President Donald Trump’s administration. Brooks has said that officials who do not outwardly oppose the president’s mass deportation campaign are engaging in “complicity disguised as strategic silence,” and she accused the mayor of “caving” to Trump when the administration last year quietly abandoned race- and gender-conscious contracting goals.

    “People want to see leaders fighting for something,” Brooks said at the time, “and right now we don’t see our city fighting for anything.”

    Aren Platt, the executive director of the mayor’s political campaign arm, declined to comment.

    City Councilmember Kendra Brooks joins Chester Mayor Stefan Roots (right) and protesters at a rally outside City Hall Sept. 17, 2026.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Brooks’ supporters see the mayor as potentially vulnerable as progressives have ascended nationally and notched wins over more traditional Democrats. That includes Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s victory last year in New York City and Abdul El-Sayed’s win in the Michigan Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.

    Closer to home, the left is emboldened by State Rep. Chris Rabb, who was backed by Brooks’ coalition and in May won the Democratic primary for a seat in Congress representing about half of Philadelphia. He toppled two centrist Democrats who were each supported by party leaders, big donors, and politically powerful labor unions.

    Despite the energy on the left, no progressive has officially launched a run for mayor ahead of the May primary election. Shania Bennett, the mayor’s former director of youth engagement, who has never run for office before, said this month that she will challenge Parker. Bennett said recently that she had not yet hired a campaign team or developed a policy platform.

    She was Mayor Parker’s director of youth engagement. Now, she’s planning to run against her former boss in 2027.

    Any challenger to Parker faces significant hurdles. No Philadelphia mayor has lost reelection in modern history, and Parker would be backed by the city’s Democratic Party, which can now spend unlimited amounts of money in coordination with its chosen candidates under a new board of ethics policy.

    Parker will also be supported by the deep-pocketed building trades unions that boosted her in the crowded open mayoral primary in 2023.

    “We’re going to put all the resources, both financial resources and people resources, to bear to make sure that Mayor Parker has a second term,” said Ryan Boyer, the head of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council. “I want to be clear and vociferous that the Philadelphia Building Trades … are fully and completely behind Cherelle Parker.”

    In this March 2025 file photo, City Councilmember Kendra Brooks, left, listens to Mayor Cherelle L. Parker deliver her annual budget address.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    Parker is likely to see support from a super PAC bankrolled by city developers, and she also has her own massive war chest. Her campaign had $1.4 million in the bank as of May, according to the most recent campaign finance paperwork available. Brooks had $17,000 on hand as of her last report in January.

    But Brooks, who has won citywide election twice to represent the city as an at-large member of Council, could be a formidable opponent. She is one of the most prominent left-wing politicians in the city, and she is well-known in national progressive circles.

    The Working Families Party’s chapter in Pennsylvania recently commissioned a poll that showed Brooks as broadly popular with the city’s Democratic primary electorate but with much lower name recognition than Parker, according to polling documents obtained by The Inquirer.

    According to the survey of 900 respondents, 35% said they had a favorable view of Brooks, with just 4% saying they had an unfavorable view. Nearly 40% of respondents said they did not know who Brooks was.

    Nearly all of the respondents knew of Parker. Forty-eight percent said they had a favorable view of the mayor, and 40% said they had an unfavorable view. Those findings are similar to a June Suffolk University/Philadelphia Inquirer poll.

    Nick Gavio, a spokesperson for the Working Families Party, said in a statement that the organization often conducts polling on public opinion in the city and that the survey was “one test among a battery of others that we conducted in Philadelphia ahead of the 2027 elections.”

    “We are pleased that the Working Families Party and Minority Leader Brooks are so popular,” he said, “which we believe reflects our focus on the issues that matter to the working people of this city.”

    City Councilmember Kendra Brooks talks with Dominique Howell (right) in chambers as City Council returns for its fall session Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. Howell is a long-time constituent and was there with the non-profit Liberty Resources, part of the Philadelphia Coalition for Affordable Communities.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Several other leftist politicians in the city have been rumored to be considering running for mayor against Parker, but none have said publicly that they intend to launch a campaign.

    One is District Attorney Larry Krasner, the third-term prosecutor who is one of the most prominent progressive district attorneys in the country. Krasner has been increasingly critical of Parker, and in June said that he would not rule out the possibility of running against her.

    But the district attorney has recently faced significant scrutiny related to his handling of a complex post-conviction case. Last week, U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond said that Krasner may have committed federal crimes and that he had referred the matter to the Department of Justice for investigation.

    Krasner has denied wrongdoing.

    Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the steps Brooks would have to take to run in the Democratic mayoral primary. She could remain a registered member of the Working Families Party or switch her party registration.
  • A huge ICE detention center in Pa. could be sold to the federal government, losing local oversight

    A huge ICE detention center in Pa. could be sold to the federal government, losing local oversight

    Big change could be coming to a giant ICE detention center in central Pennsylvania, but not the kind that advocates have demanded at a facility facing federal complaints for medical neglect and assaults against detainees.

    There are signs the Moshannon Valley Processing Center could end up being sold to the federal government, a move critics fear could insulate the center from some state regulation.

    In the meantime, county officials approved a controversial extension of the current operating contract Tuesday, ensuring the largest detention center in the northeastern United States can run unimpeded for at least the next six months.

    The contract between Clearfield County and Florida-based GEO Group, the for-profit owner of the 1,876-bed facility, was set to expire at the end of September. But Republican Commissioners Tim Winters and John Sobel voted 2-1 against Democratic Commissioner Dave Glass to extend GEO Group and ICE’s contract to operate the Moshannon center.

    The vote came at a contentious meeting at which speakers from the audience mostly voiced opposition, questioning why the county had become entangled in federal immigration policy and doubting the true worth and use of the $100,000 payment.

    “Blood money!” one person shouted after the vote.

    Clearfield’s vote took place as President Donald Trump’s administration quietly mounts a takeover of private detention centers like Moshannon, as it is called, to expand bed capacity to support its mass-deportation goals.

    Some local officials and immigration advocates think Moshannon may be next to be sold. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said ICE does not discuss potential facility acquisitions.

    “The long-term solicitation process remains ongoing,” a spokesperson said.

    Federal ownership could insulate the properties from compliance with certain local and state laws, important to the Trump administration when other expansion plans, like turning empty warehouses into detention centers, bogged down amid community and legal opposition.

    Moshannon is a common destination of those arrested for immigration violations in Pennsylvania. An unannounced congressional oversight visit in May found that of the 1,417 adults detained there, roughly 78% lacked serious criminal charges or convictions of violent behavior — a contrast to Trump and his allies’ arguments for increased detention.

    ICE agents outside the Delaney Hall migrant detention center in Newark, N.J., in June.LEXI PARRA

    Trump’s push for mass detention and deportation

    Congress voted in July 2025 to allocate $45 billion to the Department of Homeland Security for immigration detention, more than a decade’s worth of typical funding. At the time, Trump immigration officials touted the funding as a way to treat deportation “like a business,” with acting ICE director Todd Lyons saying he wants to see the deportation system run “like [Amazon] Prime, but with human beings.”

    DHS, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, went on to spend millions on reopening shuttered prisons, allocated $1.2 billion to house thousands in tents on a Texas military base, and attempted to convert nearly a dozen warehouses across the country into mega detention centers to the tune of $1 billion.

    However, in June, ICE made plans to offload seven of those warehouses, totaling $700 million, by giving them to other agencies or selling them outright, according to the New York Times.

    A warehouse purchased by DHS to house an ICE detention center in Surprise. Caitlin O'Hara

    With a near-record 65,000 people in detention, ICE’s latest push has been to buy established private detention centers and build more facilities alongside them, as seen with the summer sale of four private detention centers owned by CoreCivic, the nation’s other large private prison owner, to ICE.

    GEO Group’s founder and executive chairman, George Foley, said in a May earnings call that the private prison company was “engaged in an active process for the sale” of several facilities to ICE. Foley acknowledged Democratic-led states were considering more active oversight in detention centers, saying, “I think the logical solution to much of that is federal ownership of the facilities.”

    CoreCivic and GEO Group reported a combined $1.4 billion in quarterly revenue this spring, not including the closed or potential sales of detention facilities.

    GEO Group did not respond to a request for comment.

    A detainee sits behind glass in a common area at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in 2023.REUTERS / Quinn Glabicki

    The potential sale of Moshannon to ICE

    GEO Group has not officially stated its intention to sell Moshannon to ICE. But recent ICE contract bid requests and local dealings with the center’s warden are leading local officials and immigration advocates to suspect a sale.

    Earlier this month, ICE requested 10-year contract bids for “turnkey” detention facilities across the country, including in the Philadelphia area. Moshannon is the only private facility in the region that fits that criteria, said Jasmine Rivera, executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, which had called on county commissioners to deny a contract extension.

    Rivera said the proposal requests include provisions that could lead to the sale of private detention centers to ICE, similar to its dealings with CoreCivic. GEO Group and ICE’s contract extension “is a stopgap measure” so the parties have “the time to finish the land assessment in the sale of Moshannon,” Rivera said.

    In a Sept. 8 Clearfield County commissioners meeting, Glass told the public he directly asked Moshannon warden Leonard Oddo earlier this year whether the Clearfield detention center could be sold to ICE. Oddo said no, according to Glass. In the first week of September, the commissioner e-mailed Oddo the same question, to which Oddo responded, “‘I’ll have to refer you to GEO corporate on that,’” Glass said.

    “I took that as kind of a red flag that there may be some kind of a sale,” Glass said at the meeting.

    Moshannon Valley Processing Center, an ICE detention facility operated by the Geo Group, where migrants are housed, in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, U.S., August 24, 2025. REUTERS/Quinn GlabickiREUTERS

    What it means for Pennsylvania residents

    Having Moshannon fall under federal ownership would mean many of the tax benefits Clearfield County receives for serving as a middleman would cease, Glass said.

    “Whatever you think about the facility, having that facility sold to the federal government and losing the tax base on that would be a huge blow,” he said.

    Clearfield commissioners have no say in approving the sale if GEO Group and ICE agree to terms.

    Due to a now-reversed order that banned federal agencies from contracting with private prisons, GEO Group is contracted through Clearfield County, meaning ICE funding — around $5 million monthly — flows through Clearfield to GEO Group for operating the detention center. Clearfield collects a $200,000 administration fee for its intermediary role.

    The county also receives $688,000 in annual property taxes from the facility, and GEO employs 400 people there. However, Rivera noted ICE still owes more than $230,000 in unpaid medical services provided by regional EMS providers — a debt U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) has urged ICE to repay.

    Winters, who voted to extend the contract, said that current federal immigration policy was “not working,” but that losing a seat at the table with ICE and GEO would leave Clearfield County worse off.

    Voting “no” on the contract extension would have eliminated “our communication and our ability to investigate claims,” he said. “Our oversight ability is very small, but we still have it.”

    For Rivera, any sale is concerning because ICE could ignore Pennsylvania lawmakers’ attempts to protect public health, environmental and zoning standards, and the safety of those detained, she said.

    Even if the commissioners had denied the contract extension, ICE would have continued operating without a contractual federal agreement, Winters said, as it did with CoreCivic in New Mexico last year after its contract with Torrance County expired.

    The newly extended contract will allow ICE to continue paying GEO Group for operating Moshannon through Clearfield County until mid-March 2027. At that point, GEO Group and ICE could approach the county with a new contract, or, as advocates and some local officials fear, federal ownership could come into play.

  • Fans are paying $350 for signs at SEPTA’s vintage sale (yes, Broad Street already sold out)

    Fans are paying $350 for signs at SEPTA’s vintage sale (yes, Broad Street already sold out)

    Transit fans who asked what in the El was happening with SEPTA’s old stuff inspired a sale of vintage items from its vault this month, marking the first time in the agency’s six decades of existence that Philly’s biggest fleet has held anything close to a garage sale.

    Dubbed “RETROmania,” the sale began online Sept. 14 and is already proving to be a gravy train for SEPTA, with decommissioned transit signs selling out for up to $350 a pop.

    It’s no surprise that signs for the Broad Street Line, which has shuttled Philly sports fans to and from the stadium complex for decades, have been among the hottest-ticket items. Other available products include old street and transit maps and vintage TransPass design sheets.

    A TransPass sheet from 1994 is selling for $50 during SEPTA’s RETROmania sale.Courtesy of SEPTA

    The early success of the online sale has SEPTA Store manager Al’Lee Floyd and store supervisor Melissa “Meli” Smalls excited for the in-person sales at the store on Oct. 2 and 3.

    “It was a big surprise … we did not anticipate some of the signs would sell out in one day,” Floyd said.

    Since taking over the SEPTA Store at the agency’s headquarters on Market Street near 12th in Center City in 2021, Floyd has reinvigorated the agency’s merchandise and fan base with wildly popular items like viral pint glasses and must-have ugly Christmas sweaters.

    Al’Lee Floyd, manager of the SEPTA Store, outside of the store at the SEPTA headquarters in Center City in 2024. Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer

    But SEPTA’s vintage sale — the first of its kind anyone can recall — was inspired squarely by its customers. Over the last two years, as SEPTA rebranded the names of its lines and signage, like switching the Broad Street Line to the B (a change many Philadelphians have neither accepted nor acknowledged), SEPTA fans have inquired about what’s happening to the signs with the old names on them.

    “When people started noticing the stations were switching over, a lot of people were coming into the store and asking what we were doing with the signs coming down,” Smalls said. “We got with our wayfinding team and asked what the plans were and they said they could get them to us if we wanted them.”

    Smalls and Floyd took their customers’ curiosity as a sign and went full steam ahead with a vintage sale, digging up other items from SEPTA’s warehouse.

    This 1984 street and transit map from SEPTA sold for $25 in its RETROmania sale.Courtesy of SEPTA

    Street and transit maps from 1966 to 1999, which were priced at $25 each, have already sold out, but a Delco Public Transit Map and Guide from the 2010s is still available. There are also plenty of vintage TransPass sheets from 1993 and 1994 still for sale at $50 each.

    Some decommissioned signs were still available as of publication, like one for Walnut-Locust / Avenue of the Arts that’s going for $350 and an Olney Transportation Center sign priced at $125.

    This Walnut-Locust sign was still available, as of publishing time, for $350 in SEPTA’s RETROmania sale.Courtesy of SEPTA

    Among the most popular items were what SEPTA calls its “lollipop” signs, circular plastic signs ringed in green with the SEPTA logo in the center, that sold for $350, and, of course, the Broad Street Line signs, which ranged from $125 to $350.

    “If a sign identified anything to do with NRG [Station] or any sports complex stuff, it was a little more of a higher ticket item,” Floyd said.

    Broad Street Line signs, like the one pictured above, quickly sold out in SEPTA’s RETROmania sale.Courtesy of SEPTA

    SEPTA had already sold more than 100 signs as of Sept. 18, when it dropped a new batch of signs into the mix — prototypes with the current names of the lines on them for $50 each.

    Unsurprisingly, those haven’t been as popular as the old signs that are drenched in nostalgia (and probably other things) and aged with a fine Philadelphia subway patina.

    Anyone who buys a decommissioned SEPTA sign is required to sign an agreement that they will not use it for commercial purposes, Floyd said.

    Affectionately referred to by staff as “lollipop” signs, these circular signs already sold out at $350 a pop during SEPTA’s RETROmania sale.Courtesy of SEPTA

    The in-person sale at the SEPTA store will include merchandise similar to that in the online sale, along with vintage apparel. A preview sale will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 2 at the store, with the main sale taking place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 3.

    Floyd recommends getting in line early.

    “It’s first come, first served, once it’s gone, it’s gone,” she said.

  • Viral video of LeBron James missing jumpers in an open gym sparks debate online

    Viral video of LeBron James missing jumpers in an open gym sparks debate online

    All eyes are on LeBron James … at all times.

    On Tuesday morning, a minute-long video of James, who signed with the 76ers over the summer, missing jumpers at an open run in California started going viral on X.

    The original YouTube video the clips were taken from is over an hour long, sparking backlash from James’ loyal fans and other X users.

    One account responded to the post saying “The fact that people spend their time making a missed shot lowlight reel just confirms he’s the Greatest Ever.” Others pointed out that in the full video, James goes 11-for-19 and accused fellow users of “nitpicking” as a way to generate clicks and popularity for their posts.

    A user posted a second compilation with videos of James’ jumpers, most of which are from beyond the three-point line at Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, Calif.

    In response to the highlight video, a user pointed out that the prevalence of smartphones with cameras has placed all athletes in a position to be recorded and painted in a certain light at any time.

    Others said it seems no athlete is more scrutinized than James, who one user said has workouts that are analyzed more than some players’ playoff performances.

    Most of the users who were defending James and not following for what they referred to as “clickbait,” agreed, that at 41 years old and as the current oldest player in the NBA, James is faring a lot better than many athletes his age, and fans are excited to see what his 24th season will hold.

    And one thing they know for certain is that more James scrutiny is soon to come.

  • Wonderland Pier showing signs of collapse; Ferris wheel will be ‘torched’ and cut into pieces, developer says.

    Wonderland Pier showing signs of collapse; Ferris wheel will be ‘torched’ and cut into pieces, developer says.

    The wall under the decking of Wonderland Pier is caving in and showing signs of collapse, say owner Eustace Mita and Ocean City inspectors.

    Ocean City has sent Mita a “Notice of Unsafe Structure,” along with a request for an engineer’s report and a plan of corrective action, city spokesperson Doug Bergen said.

    “It’s an emergent condition,” Bergen said. The wall is toward the rear of the structure and is “not anywhere near where the public would walk by,” he said.

    The decking is caving in on the landlocked Wonderland Pier in Ocean City, prompting Ocean City to issue a notice of unsafe structure. The city says the cinder-block wall below one of the decks toward the rear of the property is unstable.Courtesy Eustace Mita

    “The city’s only involvement is with the cinderblock wall that’s caved in and falling over,” he said.

    Mita, meanwhile, was sounding the alarm that the conditions of the pier and the iconic Ferris wheel were dire.

    He said Monday that he was consulting engineers and that the Ferris wheel would need to be “literally torched” and cut into pieces to be taken down.

    “It’s going to take a long time and a lot of engineering,” he said.

    “The original plan was to dismantle the Ferris wheel and reassemble it,” Mita said.

    However, the steel company that dismantled the Morey’s Piers Ferris wheel for refurbishing told Mita that would not be possible for the Wonderland Ferris wheel.

    Mita said “even the bolts that hold it together” are beyond dismantling, permanently welded in place, “because of the conditions of being oceanfront, and non-operable for so long.”

    The Giant Wheel Ferris wheel and Raiders (right) interactive maze with tunnels, bridges, and slides.on the final day for the beloved Wonderland Pier in Ocean City Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Mita is negotiating with Ocean City to build a hotel on the site, which was declared “in need of rehabilitation,” in part because of the deterioration of the pier.

    While Mita used the condition of the pier to justify a designation that would allow him to build the hotel without zoning changes, community members have contended that, as the owner, Mita was responsible for allowing the pier to deteriorate.

    The amusement pier, owned for decades by the family of Mayor Jay Gillian, closed for good in October 2024. Despite community opposition, City Council approved the rehabilitation designation in June, triggering ongoing negotiations over Mita’s project.

    A rendering of the proposed new Icona in Wonderland Resort, to be built on the site of the old Wonderland Pier. The proposal for a 252-room resort includes saving the iconic Ferris Wheel and carousel.Courtesy Icona Resorts

    His original plan for a seven-story hotel included preserving the Ferris wheel and the historic carousel, in addition to several other kiddie rides. He said Monday he was still trying to save the carousel.

    Mita said he would try to “limit the damage as best we can” to the pier.

    “We can’t make repairs because it’s imploding,” he said.

    Eustace Mita talks about the construction of this beachfront Achristavest home on 116th Street in Stone Harbor on Tuesday, August 18, 2026.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer

    Mita told the Ocean City Sentinel last week his latest design proposal called for the hotel to be set back from both the Plaza Place neighborhood at the rear of the property and the boardwalk in front.

    He described a hotel that gets higher toward its center, with a public plaza in front, and a building that will be about 23 feet higher at the rear border than the 50-foot high log flume that is currently there. “It will have a beautiful plaza, which will be open to the public and will have firepits and the like,” he told the Sentinel. “That’s really where we’re at.”

    The old Wonderland Pier site on the boardwalk in Ocean City, N.J. as seen from Wayne Avenue on Jan. 6, 2026. The beloved amusement pier shut down in October 2024. A developer wants to build a luxury hotel. A report put the cost of repairing the Ferris wheel, Carousel and log flume at as much as $6.5 million.Amy S. Rosenberg / staff
  • Gov. Josh Shapiro has raised $60 million for his reelection campaign. What will he do with it?

    Gov. Josh Shapiro has raised $60 million for his reelection campaign. What will he do with it?

    Gov. Josh Shapiro has raised more than $60 million toward his reelection effort since he took office, his campaign said Tuesday.

    According to the campaign, those preliminary figures mean that the first-term Democratic governor has added $13.3 million to his war chest since June, as he maintains a significant fundraising edge over his Republican opponent Stacy Garrity.

    Filings on Tuesday showed Garrity had raised around $1.8 million this cycle, with her campaign coffers nearing $3 million. After spending $1.5 million, she will enter October with roughly $1.4 million cash on hand.

    So with a massive cash advantage, where will Shapiro’s campaign money go? And could anyone else benefit from his spending?

    Even as he pulls ahead in polls, Shapiro has spent heavily on advertising. His campaign has promised he’s keeping his foot on the gas through Election Day in efforts to secure his own victory and elect Pennsylvania Democrats up and down the ballot in hopes of flipping the state Senate and electing Democrats in four battleground congressional districts. He’s donated roughly $5.7 million in total to the state party to fuel the effort, an additional $2.5 million since June, according to his campaign.

    Gov. Josh Shapiro spent more than $2.4 million on ads this week. His GOP opponent, Stacy Garrity, spent $672.

    Beyond the November election, he’s widely expected to launch another campaign as a 2028 presidential prospect. Although the law prevents him from transferring his gubernatorial campaign money into a political action committee that funds a run for president, that doesn’t mean he’ll spend all his fundraised money before this year’s election, experts said.

    In the governor’s race, the first checks he owes are paying for campaign staff salaries, spending money on advertising, and renting leases for field offices, among other costs, according to campaign experts. As a careful politician, he’d likely also want to reserve a fair amount of cash for surprise developments in the race, they said.

    But after all of Shapiro’s receipts are accounted for, experts said, a potentially large stock could remain available, presenting him with options for how to spend it — if at all.

    Daniel Weiner, the director of elections and government at the Brennan Center for Justice, said Shapiro has several options available.

    “It is incredibly common for candidates who are not facing an especially competitive race to still try to raise money hand over fist and amass a war chest,” Weiner said. “It can be used to fund a future run for office of one sort or another. It can also be used, increasingly in this era of very deregulated money in politics to just build a general political machine.”

    Keeping it in the party

    Shapiro, who has maintained high favorability among both Democrats and Republicans, has established himself as a formidable fundraiser, bringing in dollars from across the commonwealth and the nation. Donors can give him as much as they’d like, since there is no limit on political contributions in Pennsylvania, said Matthew Foster, a professor of political science at American University.

    “There’s a lot of ways for politicians to use political cash to help their allies and to help their team,” said Michael Beckel, an expert on money in politics at Issue One, a Washington, D.C.-based bipartisan nonprofit. “They can spread that money around to help people who need it. And there’s certainly a lot of people who might potentially want help from a big name like Governor Shapiro.”

    Pennsylvania law allows Shapiro to transfer endless amounts of money from his campaign account to other state candidates. His campaign said he had not given any money directly to state candidates, but that he has supported them in other ways.

    He is also not allowed to transfer money from his gubernatorial campaign to any congressional candidates.

    Instead, he has poured money into the state party.

    Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro accepts the endorsement for a second term as governor at the state Democratic Party’s winter meeting in Harrisburg on Feb. 7, 2026.Gillian McGoldrick

    Since last fall, Shapiro has given $5.7 million to the state Democratic Party and its election effort. That money is used to benefit Shapiro as well as state Senate and congressional candidates by pooling funds for their field offices, signage and volunteers.

    “A donation to the state party historically has helped get the vote out statewide,” said Philadelphia-based Democratic strategist Adam Erickson.

    Plus, donating to the state party versus national groups helps to ensure the money is spent on Pennsylvania races, Weiner added.

    Key Pennsylvania races to watch in the midterm elections this November

    Pennsylvania Republicans have held on to the state Senate for more than 30 years, even as the House chamber and governor’s mansion have swapped partisan control and are currently both occupied by Democrats.

    This year, Democrats have “a strong opportunity to flip the state Senate,” Erickson said, but that the effort will take “an unprecedented amount of spending” from Shapiro and the state party.

    Often, Shapiro has appeared alongside candidates at campaign events, rather than donating to them. On Sunday, Shapiro joined Democrats in Chester and Montgomery Counties to kick off door-knocking and phone-banking efforts benefitting several legislative candidates, such as state House candidate Elizabeth Moro in Chadds Ford and state Senate candidate Chris Thomas in Harleysville.

    “Under Governor Shapiro’s leadership, the Party is rallying support all across the Commonwealth and putting Democrats in a strong position to win everywhere this November,” said Manuel Bonder, a spokesperson for Shapiro’s campaign.

    Campaign volunteers hand out sign to supporters of Gov. Josh Shapiro and Democratic Pa. Senate candidate Chris Thomas at a rally in Towamencin, Montgomery County before heading out to canvass Sunday, Sept. 29, 2026. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    From Pennsylvania to Pennsylvania Avenue

    Shapiro has batted away questions about his presidential ambitions, saying he’s focused solely on his gubernatorial reelection, but he has many of the signs of a future candidate: a book tour, frequent hits on cable television, and a voice on key issues likely to emerge in the next Democratic presidential primary.

    Tim Ford, an attorney who handles legal concerns for Democratic campaigns in Pennsylvania, said Shapiro’s sizable bank account is “also a flex to show he’s capable of raising this kind of money,” and another clue that he may be eyeing a higher office.

    If Shapiro does choose to run for president, he’s not allowed to legally transfer his state-level campaign fundraising to a federal political action committee associated with his campaign.

    “One thing that I think people get wrong is they believe that he’s raising money for his next office,” Erickson said.

    Governor Shapiro (left) and Democratic congressional candidate Bob Brooks (right) greet supporters during a campaign event at the United Steelworkers Union Hall in Bethlehem on July 26, 2026.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer

    That would put him at a slight disadvantage compared to any sitting federal elected officials who can spend their campaign funds on a presidential run and who are also speculated 2028 presidential contenders, including U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly and Jon Ossoff, who has been the top fundraiser this midterm cycle.

    Still, Shapiro’s cash stockpile “sends a message that he’s been a successful fundraiser,” Beckel said. “While past performance doesn’t guarantee future results, he certainly would try to [leverage] that to his advantage to say, ‘I’ve been a successful fundraiser in the past, I will be a successful fundraiser in the future’.”

    Former staff or associates could create a federal super PAC, a type of political action committee that can take in and spend unlimited contributions but must do so independently of a candidate and without directly coordinating with the campaign. Shapiro could repurpose his state campaign account into that super PAC, Weiner said, but he would have no say on the messaging in ads or how money is spent.

    While this practice of loose coordination skirts the spirit of the law, Weiner said it often goes unenforced.

    “In theory, super PACs are supposed to be independent from candidates, but in practice, they work hand-in-glove with them,” he said.

    Former staffers of Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, another potential 2028 contender, have established the Unity First PAC. Moore has headlined fundraisers for the group, but is not technically in control of the PAC.

    California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who may also run for president, launched a super PAC called Campaign for Democracy. The PAC has poured $1.7 million into state party and legislative committee races, mostly in South Carolina, where Democrats will hold the first contest of the presidential primary race in 2028.

    There are no official records that Shapiro, or those associated with him, have created a super PAC, according to FEC filings.

    Super PACs have earned a negative reputation in some circles, particularly among Democrats who view them as a means to give wealthy donors outsized influence on elections. But in 2028, Shapiro and other Democrats will be under pressure to use all the tools available to them, Weiner said.

    It’s a difficult bind, said Faith Williams, who works on anti-corruption and accountability efforts at Common Cause, a democracy-focused nonprofit.

    “Our system is not good,” she said. “But at the moment everyone is playing in it, and that I think that makes it even harder to reform it because it’s hard to have the genuine desire to reform a system that currently benefits you.”

    Shapiro could also develop a nonprofit organization with his campaign funds. The 501(c)(4) groups, which can spend on political ads but cannot make electoral activity their primary focus, are under no legal obligation to disclose their donors. In some cases, this opens the door to donations from so-called “dark money” groups, or those that obscure the role of their funders.

    Experts pointed out that he could also use his leftover money for his second gubernatorial inauguration or donate it to charity. And, in an unlikely maneuver, Williams said Shapiro could refund his donors and ask everyone to donate again to a federal campaign.

    But the best way to get from Pennsylvania to Pennsylvania Avenue, Erickson said, would be to ensure success in the statewide elections this year.

    “Playing a large role in flipping the state Senate will put him in the best position going into 2027 and beyond for any larger aspirations,” he said.

    Brothers Desmond DeBaun, 5, and David Hayman, 16, after a rally with Gov. Shapiro and Democratic Pa. Senate candidate Chris Thomas in Montgomery County Sunday, Sept. 29, 2026. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
  • The Garces Foundation is changing its name and expanding to Kennett Square

    The Garces Foundation is changing its name and expanding to Kennett Square

    Olivia Ponce left her native Mexico for South Philly in 2001, with a young daughter and no extended family; she strongly felt the lack of a support system.

    Putting her own health and personal growth on the back burner to give her child a better life, she worked unceasingly in the restaurant industry for more than a decade. A phone number on a light pole offering English classes changed her life.

    The digits belonged to the Garces Foundation, created in 2012 by Ecuadorian American chef Jose Garces and Cuban dentist Beatriz Garces after the death of a friend who had avoided seeking medical care out of fear of deportation.

    Since then, the organization has helped Philadelphians from 26 countries in 12 languages, providing access to English classes, free healthcare, and support as they adapt to their new home, regardless of insurance or immigration status.

    Now, to honor its communal sentiment, the foundation has changed its name from Garces Foundation to Comunidad Garces, beginning Tuesday.

    As the organization approaches its quinceañera, the new name is just one change. The agency is expanding its free community health days from Philly to Kennett Square, where more than 28% of the population is foreign-born.

    For Beatriz Garces, the new name responds to the way people have already come to see the organization: as a community.

    “We felt like, given everything the community is going through at this moment, it was even more important to evolve the name to something that really feels welcoming to all immigrants,” she said.

    Although the word comunidad is Spanish for community, Beatriz Garces said, the sentiment and their doors are open to people from all walks of life.

    For years, Comunidad Garces has been holding Community Health Days about every other month in Philly to make medical and dental care free and accessible for people who otherwise would not have it.

    Since 2021, the foundation has treated about 5,000 people through medical assistance and the dental program, Beatriz Garces said.

    Colon and prostate cancer screenings are now available, as well as mammograms through Penn Medicine’s mobile mammography program.

    Now, these services will expand to Kennett Square in partnership with Laurel Dental of West Grove.

    “It’s the first time we expanded beyond Philadelphia,” Jose Garces said. The first Kennett Square community health day was held Saturday.

    “Just on our first day, we discovered five abnormalities in women through our mammogram screening and were able to pass them on to Penn Medicine to continue their evaluation, so day one already making an impact.”

    In the last two years, Comunidad Garces has been expanding to adapt to the needs of a growing immigrant community living through challenging times, Beatriz Garces said.

    Since 2025, the foundation has also offered digital literacy classes, even providing computers so folks can enroll in the program.

    Ponce herself learned English, got her GED certificate, discovered and treated her prediabetes, and found a support system through the organization.

    “Immigration always leaves pain in us, but there is something about the power and resistance we find through this community,” Ponce said. At the South Philadelphia-headquartered foundation, “it feels like you are loved, like there is this family vibe.”

    Most recently, Ponce was hired as a case manager at the foundation. She now helps community members find housing, employment, and schools and manage their healthcare visits.

    The expansion to Kennett Square is, in part, a way to make sure immigrants have access to what they need to build their new lives in the United States, Beatriz Garces said.

    As the name change unfolds, Jose Garces hopes the community feels more included and welcome.

    “Our name is changing, but the world remains the same,” he said. “Comunidad means community, and that means our door is open to everybody.”

  • From Phoebe Bridgers, to AC/DC, to Gorillaz, and Doja Cat, here are 30 pop music concerts you cannot miss this fall

    From Phoebe Bridgers, to AC/DC, to Gorillaz, and Doja Cat, here are 30 pop music concerts you cannot miss this fall

    Summer lingers as fall pop music season gets underway, with outdoor shows still happening in Camden, South Philly, and Fairmount Park into early October. And then the calendar quickly fills up with indoor nights in arenas, theaters, and small clubs in Philadelphia and throughout the region.

    Besides the Phoebe Bridgers, Johnny Blue Skies, Olivia Rodrigo, and Dojo Cat tours highlighted below, there are still more big names coming to Xfinity Mobile Arena: Jonas Brothers on Oct. 2, Teddy Swims on Oct. 10, and Sombr on Nov. 19.

    The Met has Beck on Oct. 18, Rawayana on Nov. 1, and Orville Peck on Nov. 11, and the Fillmore has Chief Keef on Oct. 6, Horsegirl on Oct. 23, Yebba on Oct. 30, and the Menzingers on Nov. 20. Penn Live Arts shows at the Annenberg Center include TM Krishna on Oct. 15 and Bela Fleck on Nov. 15.

    There are lots of choice dates in cozier venues. Laura Veirs and Karl Blau are at Nikki Lopez on Oct. 9; Mirah, Evan Greer, and Sad13 play PhilaMoca on Oct. 10; and Mannequin Pussy plays First Unitarian Church Oct. 28.

    Laura Cantrell and Amy Rigby do Elkton Music Hall on Nov. 12, Marshall Crenshaw is with Sarah Borges and Eric Ambel at Sellersville Theater on Nov. 18, Strand of Oaks plays Johnny Brenda’s on Dec. 12 and 13, and Musiq Soulchild kicks off a four-night stand at City Winery on Dec. 17.

    That aside, here’s your list of 30 shows not to miss.

    Gorillaz play Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden on Sept 27.Reuben Bastienne-Lewis

    Gorillaz

    Sept. 27, Freedom Mortgage Pavilion

    Gorillaz co-creators Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s plan to make an album shaped by experiences visiting India took grief-stricken shape when both men’s fathers died within a week of each other. On The Mountain, the virtual band as usual employs many guests, including Anoushka Shankar, Black Thought, Asha Puthli, and Johnny Marr. It also features collaborations from Dennis Hopper and Bobby Womack who collaborated with the Gorillaz before their deaths. freedomortgagepavilion.com

    Phoebe Bridgers

    Sept. 28, Xfinity Mobile Arena

    Three years after she sold out the Mann Center with her boygenius bandmates Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers is bigger than ever. She stoked the ardor of her fan base with pop-up shows around the U.S. in the lead-up to the release of the moody, compelling, and intensely personal Lost Weekend, whose many guests include Havertown’s own Alex G. xfinitymobilearena.com

    AC/DC — with Brian Johnson on the left, and Angus Young on the right — will bring their Power Up tour to Lincoln Financial Field on Sept. 29.Courtesy of the Artist

    AC/DC

    Sept. 29, Lincoln Financial Field

    The last big blowout at the Linc this year — other than the Eagles putting a hurting on opponents — will be the final date on the Australian hard rock band’s “Power Up Tour.” The “Back in Black” band will be powering down after two and a half years on the road. Taylor Momsen’s the Pretty Reckless opens. lincolnfinancialfield.com

    Public Image Ltd

    Oct. 2, Union Transfer

    The Sex Pistols is touring with Frank Carter cosplaying as Johnny Rotten, so John Lydon couldn’t resist hitting the road again with his other band, whose “This Is Not the Final Tour” arrives a week after the Pistols play the Fillmore. utphilly.com

    Beabadoobee brings her Powerlines Tour to the Liacouras Center on Oct. 2.Erika Kamano

    beabadoobee

    Oct. 2, Liacouras Center

    Filipino and British songwriter Beatrice Lau’s “Powerlines Tour” is in support of her fourth album, Pylon, a bracing follow-up to 2024’s Rick Rubin-produced This Is How Tomorrow Moves. liacourascenter.com

    Phish will play three nights at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Oct. 2-4.Courtesy of the Artist

    Phish

    Oct. 2-4, Boardwalk Hall

    Phish comes in threes. Last year, the jam band’s troika of shows were at the Mann; the year before the Trey Anastasio-fronted quartet’s Mondegreen fest was in Dover, Del. This year, the band returns for indoor shows in Atlantic City, where it was last seen on the beach in 2022. boardwalkhall.com

    Shaboozey performs during the Roots Picnic at the Mann Center in Philadelphia on June 2, 2024.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Shaboozey

    Oct. 6, Skyline Stage at Highmark Mann

    Shaboozey played the Mann at the Roots Picnic in 2024, just as “Tipsy (A Bar Song)” was turning him onto a star. Now he’s back, behind The Outlaw Cherie Lee & Other West Tales, his ambitious concept album that is also a comic book. highmarkmann.org

    The Chicks

    Oct. 7, Met Philly

    Texas country trio the Chicks — singer Natalie Maines and sisters Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire — is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Taking the Long Way. That 2006 album was the band’s first after it was essentially banned from country radio after Maines criticized then-President George W. Bush’s war in Iraq. themetphilly.com

    Sugar

    Oct. 12-13, Union Transfer

    Hüsker Dü cofounder Bob Mould has carried on a relentlessly rocking career with 14 uncompromising albums under his own name. But he hasn’t worked with Sugar, his power trio featuring bassist David Barber and drummer Malcolm Travis, since the mid-1990s. utphilly.com

    Philly band Sweet Pill will play the Philly Music Fest. Juliette Boulay

    Philly Music Fest

    Oct. 12-18, various venues

    The genre-spanning all-Philly showcase at independent venues kicks off with two nights of Gregory Alan Isakov at Ardmore Music Hall and concludes with Upper Darby-raised jazz sax star Immanuel Wilkins at Solar Myth. In between, attractions during the 10th anniversary of the fest include Sweet Pill, Owen Stewart, RJD2, Sug Daniels, Roberta Faceplant, and Mo Lowda & the Humble. phillymusicfest.com

    Brennan Wedl plays Johnny Brenda’s Oct. 13.Blaire Beamer

    Brennan Wedl

    Oct. 13, Johnny Brenda’s

    Minnesota-born singer Brennan Wedl — a former leader of queercore band Dazey & the Scouts — impressed as the opening act of the Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman tour that played the Met this year. Now she’s playing her first Philly headlining gig, behind her self-titled debut album, which was produced by Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield and Brad Cook. johnnybrendas.com

    Sturgill Simpson performs on Nov. 12, 2024, at the Met. Simpson is coming to the Xfinity Mobile Arena with his band Johnny Blue Skies.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    Johnny Blue Skies & the Dark Clouds

    Oct. 15, Xfinity Mobile Center

    “I want to make America not suck again,” Sturgill Simpson sings on the frisky lead track of Mutiny For the Masses, the always-unpredictable maverick songwriter’s second album as Johnny Blue Skies that makes rebellious rock and roll, country-soul, and funk fun again. xfinitymobilearena.com

    Pinhead Gunpowder

    Oct. 16, First Unitarian Church

    Big-name rock star in a tiny space: Pinhead Gunpowder is a Green Day side project of sorts. Along with Billie Joe Armstrong, the current version of the band includes Green Day touring guitarist Jason White. r5productions.com

    Sienna Spiro plays the Fillmore on Oct. 17.Mathias Apap

    Sienna Spiro

    Oct. 17, the Fillmore

    Powerhouse vocalist Sienna Spiro’s name rhymes with “pyro.” Sam Smith has called her “the voice of a generation.” The stylish 20-year-old “Die on the Hill” singer, who displays the influence of fellow throwback soul Brits like Amy Winehouse and Duffy, played the Foundry in March. She has since won raves at Coachella and Lollapalooza. She’s back at the Fillmore in October, but in the big room this time. thefillmorephilly.com

    Mike D 5D

    Oct. 19, Union Transfer

    Beastie Boys’ Adam Horowitz and Mike Diamond have been largely inactive since the death of bandmate Adam Yauch in 2012. Now Diamond — aka Mike D — has returned with Thank You, a solo album of hip-hop electro punk. He’s touring backed by a band that includes his sons Skyler and Davis Diamond. utphilly.com

    L7

    Oct. 22, Brooklyn Bowl

    L7 was a key player in the alt-rock late 1980s and early 1990s, and the grunge-adjacent all-female band was also a precursor to the riot-grrrl movement. The “Pretend We’re Dead” and “S— list” band fronted by Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner is carrying on with its “Last Hurrah Tour” despite the loss of bassist Jennifer Finch, who died of brain cancer this year. Finch’s memoir, Shooting Up and Making Out, is due in January. brooklynbowl.com/philadelphia

    Singer-songwriter Jesse Welles performs March 10 with members of his band in Detroit. He plays the Met on Oct. 23. Ted Anthony

    Jesse Welles

    Oct. 23, the Met

    Jesse Welles’ resistance songs like “Join ICE” and “United Health” — along with whimsical ones such as “At the Zoo” — have fueled a steady growth in popularity. The self-styled Dylanesque folk singer has collaborated with Joan Baez and Philly’s Mt. Joy, with whom he did a pop-up show in June at Race Street Pier. themetphilly.com.

    Ashley McBryde

    Oct. 24, Lansdowne Theater

    Arkansas country songwriter Ashley McBryde has always leaned into rock and roll going back to her 2018 debut Girl Going Nowhere. But she really turns up the volume on the new Wild, which is a song cycle about a journey toward sobriety. thelansdownetheater.com

    Allison Russell plays the Colonial Theatre on Oct. 28. Dana Trippe

    Allison Russell

    Oct. 28, Colonial Theatre

    Canadian-born and Nashville-based songwriter Allison Russell says her new album In The Hour Of Chaos, is about “connecting our hearts and voices in the same space in real time.” Its many guests include Brittany Spencer, Norah Jones, and Delco soul singer Devon Gilfillian. thecolonialtheatre.com

    Afro Cuban All Stars

    Oct. 30, Miller Theater

    Juan de Marcos Gonzalez is a vocalist, impresario, and musician whose specialty is the Spanish tres guitar. He has been a key player in the Buena Vista Social Club. This tour continues the ongoing work of bringing Cuban music to the world. ensembleartsphilly.org

    Vince Staples at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, on Feb. 24, 2022. The Long Beach, Calif., rapper plays Franklin Music Hall on Oct. 30. Daniel DeSlover / MCT

    Vince Staples

    Oct. 30, Franklin Music Hall

    Long Beach, Calif., rapper Vince Staples is back on top of this game on Cry Baby, his pointedly political album that blends rock riffage and soulful funk into the mix. franklinmusichall.com

    Built to Spill & Quasi

    Oct. 30-31, Ardmore Music Hall

    Doug Martsch is an indie rock guitar hero stretching back to Built to Spill’s 1993 debut Ultimate Alternative Wavers. These days, Martsch is joined by bassist Melanie Radford and drummer Teresa Esguera. Also on the bill is Quasi, the rollicking band of ex-spouses Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, formerly the drummer of Sleater-Kinney. ardmoremusichall.com

    Geese play the Fillmore on Nov. 8 and 9.Lewis Evans

    Geese

    Nov. 8-9, Fillmore

    Incredibly brilliant indie art-pop band or nefarious industry plant that owes its success to TikTok payola? The debate around Geese’s breakthrough as (almost) universally praised critics’ darlings is silly. After the band led by Cameron Winter — the subject of a forthcoming Paul Thomas Anderson concert film — played a super sold-out Union Transfer last year, it’s back with two shows in a larger space. thefillmorephilly.com

    Kamasi Washington at the Met Philly in 2019.

    Ami Taf Ra & Kamasi Washington

    Nov. 5, City Winery Philadelphia

    Moroccan vocalist Ami Taf Ra collaborated with maximalist jazzman Washington on The Prophet and The Madman, her 2025 spiritual jazz debut that bears the influence of Sun Ra and mixes Arabic music with gospel and jazz. citywinery.com/philadelphia

    The Hooters

    Nov. 5-6, Keswick Theatre

    Last year, the Hooters’ annual Keswick shows were introduced, as always, by Pierre Robert, the WMMR-FM (93.3) radio legend who died a few days later. This will be an emotional weekend for the longstanding Philly rock band and its fans. keswicktheatre.com

    Daniel Villarreal

    Nov. 6-7, Solar Myth

    Panama-born drummer Daniel Villarreal made his name on the Chicago music scene with a mixture of jazz and funk and a range of Latin music styles. The now-Philly-based synthesist will lead a five-piece band in a two-night residency. arsnovaworkshop.com

    Olivia Rodrigo performs at the Daisy Chain Fields Music Festival on Aug. 29 at Great Park in Irvine, Calif.Chris Pizzello

    Olivia Rodrigo

    Nov. 7, Xfinity Mobile Arena

    On “The Cure,” the second single from her third album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love, Olivia Rodrigo repeats the words “I’m unraveled,” as she reels from a breakup. That lyric leads us to “The Unraveled Tour,” the second arena trek from the former Disney star who hosted her own all-woman Daisy Chain Fields festival in August. xfinitymobilearena.com

    Low Cut Connie at Concerts Under The Stars in King of Prussia on Aug. 1, 2025. Left to right: Rich Stanley, Nick Perri, Adam Weiner, Jarae Lewis (on drums, partially hidden), Amanda “Rocky” Bullwinkel, Kelsey Cork.Dan DeLuca

    Low Cut Connie & Ben Vaughn

    Nov. 20, Union Transfer

    Two generations of Philly rock and rollers team up on this bill, which finishes off a leg of the tour for Low Cut Connie’s party plus protest album Livin In the USA. LCC’s Adam Weiner is a sweaty, over the top showman, while radio host-producer Vaughn — who has a new album, Magnetic East: The Deer Tick Sessions due in October — prefers an understated, semi-ironic approach. WXPN-FM 24 Hour Song Challenge winners the Flying Vees open. utphilly.com

    Doja Cat performs during the 2025 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Nov. 8, 2025, at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. She plays Xfinity Mobile Arena on Nov. 29. Chris Pizzello

    Doja Cat

    Nov. 29, Xfinity Mobile Arena

    Rapper and singer Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini — otherwise known as Doja Cat — plays the penultimate show of a world tour that began in New Zealand last year in support of her disco-pop fifth album, Ma Vie. “Big Energy” Atlanta rapper Latto opens. xfinitymobilearena.com

    Goosemas

    Dec. 12-13, Boardwalk Hall

    Every holiday season, the Connecticut-born yacht rock jam band throws a Christmas party. This year, it’s in Atlantic City. The show in support of the band’s new Big Modern! is a benefit for Western Sun Foundation, which supports grassroots nonprofit organizations. boardwalkhall.com

  • The painful, complicated roots of American mid-century design trace back to Japanese American concentration camps

    The painful, complicated roots of American mid-century design trace back to Japanese American concentration camps

    George Nakashima never intended to move his family to New Hope.

    The famous furniture maker became one of the most sought-after artists in modern American design, considered so impactful that his home and studio in Bucks County were named a National Historic Landmark.

    It was a significant recognition from the government that had previously incarcerated Nakashima, his wife, Marion, and their then newborn daughter, Mira, forcing them to relocate from their home in Seattle to the Minidoka concentration camp in Idaho in 1942.

    The family was among some 120,000 Japanese Americans — including about 80,000 U.S. citizens — imprisoned during World War II due to the unsubstantiated fear that they could be foreign spies.

    By that point in his late 30s, Nakashima was already a successful architect and woodworker who had earned a master’s degree from MIT and traveled the world. Incarceration shaped his artistic practice and changed his trajectory significantly. At the camp, he met a skilled carpenter who taught him traditional Japanese carpentry techniques that greatly influenced his burgeoning signature style.

    Furniture designer and craftsman George Nakashima in his woodworking shop. In 2014, the U.S. Department of the Interior named his Solebury property a national landmark.The Intelligencer, file

    New Hope became a new home to the Nakashimas in 1943 when the War Relocation Authority released them under supervision, thanks to Nakashima’s old boss Antonin Raymond, who sponsored their freedom.

    (Ironically, the government respected the authority of the Czech immigrant Raymond, who was a naturalized citizen, over that of the Spokane-born Nakashima.)

    The conditions of the release prevented Nakashima from pursuing architecture projects with Raymond, so he worked as a farmhand by day while continuing to craft furniture by night. He transformed the farm’s milk house into a workshop and found inspiration in the woodlands surrounding him, where he would eventually establish himself as a giant of American design for decades to come.

    George Nakashima (1905–1990), Milk House Table, 1944, Teak and cypress, 17 1/4 × 37 1/4 × 33 1/2 in. (43.8 × 94.6 × 85.1 cm), Nakashima Foundation for Peace.Christian Giannelli

    One of his earliest pieces after incarceration served as a poetic callback to the home he was compelled to leave behind: a coffee table made of teak wood from Washington a friend shipped to him.

    Milk House Table (1944) is one of 10 Nakashima artworks on view at the Barnes Foundation this fall as part of its American art programming marking the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding. The exhibit “Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America” examines six renowned Japanese American artists whose work defined modern American art and design in the mid to late 20th century — all of whom were severely impacted by mass incarceration.

    Kay Sekimachi (b. 1926), Ogawa II, 1969, Nylon monofilament, glass beads, and plastic tubing, 76 × 12 × 10 1/2 in. (193 × 30.5 × 26.7 cm), Forrest L. Merrill Collection, © 2026 Kay Sekimachi / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.M. Lee Fatherree

    “This project is focused on six pretty iconic Japanese American artists who very much collectively shaped the look and the feel of mid-century America. The idea was to really look at the collective impact of this pivotal moment of Japanese incarceration during World War II, not only in the lives and careers of these artists, but by extension, in American art and design,” said Barnes curator Cindy Kang, who spearheaded the exhibit. “The roots of American modernism actually do extend into the Japanese incarceration camps. Some of these artists received their first really important artistic experiences there because they were incarcerated with professional artists, and that very much shaped the direction of their future careers.”

    Two generations are represented in the show — those who were older, established artists before incarceration (Nakashima, sculptor/designer Isamu Noguchi, and sculptor Leo Amino) and a younger generation who had formative experiences learning from artists while incarcerated (graphic designer S. Neil Fujita, fiber artist Kay Sekimachi, and sculptor Ruth Asawa).

    Ruth Asawa (1926-2013), Untitled (S.272, Hanging Seven-Lobed Continuous Interlocking Form with Spheres in the First and Sixth Lobes), c. 1954, Copper and iron wire, 111 × 14 × 14 in. (281.9 × 35.6 × 35.6 cm), Private collection.Laurence Cuneo @ Studio 71, Inc

    Their works span media, from wood furniture to copper wire sculptures to jazz album covers. (Fujita got his start at a Philadelphia ad agency and taught at the Philadelphia Museum College of Art, which was later named University of the Arts, before becoming the design director at Columbia Records.) The final room in the exhibit evokes a typical postwar American living room with everything made by Japanese American artists that underscores how essential their artwork became to the aesthetics of modern design.

    “You may not have a Noguchi Akari lamp, but you may have the knockoffs from Target and Ikea,” said Kang.

    S. Neil Fujita (1921–2010), “Significance,” advertisement for the United Aircraft Corporation, 1959, Paper, 11 3/8 × 8 1/8 in. (28.9 × 20.6 cm), Private collection. © 2026 Estate of S. Neil Fujita. Heritage Auctions / HA.com.Courtesy of the Barnes Foundation

    In her research, Kang explored how wartime incarceration contributed to the complicated formation of an Asian American political identity following decades of anti-immigration policies and discrimination. She found that these artists’ assimilation into the legacy of American design often sidelined or erased their connections to these historic injustices.

    “Especially with Nakashima and Noguchi, their work has been so fully assimilated into American design that the fact that they have these histories is so buried … you don’t even connect American design with these histories,” Kang said.

    “That’s what I was trying to bring out [in this show]… You see a Noguchi or Nakashima chair or lamp or table and think, ‘Oh yeah that’s American design,’ and then not have any idea that it’s connected to Asian American history.”

    Leo Amino (1911 – 1989), Unyielding Defiant, 1940, Wood, 18 × 9 3/4 × 7 in. (45.7 × 24.8 × 17.8 cm), Private collection, Memphis, Tennessee. Works by Leo Amino © 2026 Leo Amino Estate. Courtesy of the Estate and David Zwirner.Stephen Arnold

    Who gets to be an “American”? That question weighed heavily on Kang as she developed the exhibit and studied the historic period when the U.S. government imprisoned thousands of immigrants, including American citizens and children. She had no idea just how timely her project would feel opening this year, as the U.S. government continues to imprison tens of thousands of immigrants under President Donald Trump’s second administration.

    “It really was not in our minds that this would be as relevant, or as on the nose as it is today, that’s really unfortunate,” said Kang. “We need to keep remembering we’ve been through this and we already know this is not a good direction. We need to learn this lesson again.”

    George Nakashima (1905 – 1990), Dried Bitterbrush collected by the Nakashimas in Minidoka, Idaho, c. 1942, Wood, 5 1/2 × 14 × 10 in. (14 × 35.6 × 25.4), Nakashima Foundation for Peace.Christian Giannelli

    For many of the featured artists, life after incarceration provided an opportunity to move past that traumatic time — they often did not discuss or share details about their imprisonment with their families or others. However, younger generations of Asian Americans, including the artists’ descendants, want to interrogate these histories further to understand how that trauma lingered on in the lives of these beloved artists.

    For his part, Nakashima told his daughter that “his wounds healed over and left no scars.”

    Still, he kept pieces of wood he collected from the Minidoka camp, which he used to create case furniture for their family home. In the exhibit, one of these remnants will be on display: a branch of dried bitterbrush.

    “Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America,” runs through Jan. 10, 2027 at The Barnes Foundation, 2025 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy., Philadelphia, 215-278-7000 or barnesfoundation.org

  • Is there an age limit for serving on a jury in Pennsylvania? No, but you can get an exemption.

    Is there an age limit for serving on a jury in Pennsylvania? No, but you can get an exemption.

    Benjamin Franklin once said there were two certainties in life: death and taxes. Then, the Jury Selection and Service Act of 1968 codified a third: getting summoned to jury duty.

    While some people may get called more often than others, all qualified citizens who receive a summons are required to show up unless they meet one of the legal exemptions.

    For senior folks, age could be the qualifying factor to excuse them, leaving a reader to ask Curious Philly, The Inquirer’s forum for questions about the city: Is there an age limit on serving for jury duty in Pennsylvania?

    » ASK US: Have something you’re wondering about the Philly region? Submit your Curious Philly question here.

    As long as you are an adult citizen, residing in Pennsylvania, and have a beating heart, frankly, the answer is no.

    Anyone with an able body and mind who can read, write, and speak English and has never been convicted of a felony or crime punishable by more than a year in prison is can participate in jury duty well into their sunset years.

    That said, in Pennsylvania state courts, people 75 years and older can request an exemption from fulfilling jury duty to not have to show up, under state law.

    The process, however, isn’t as easy as just choosing not to appear.

    Ages for excusal from jury duty

    In federal courts, summoned jurors can often be excused as early as their 70th birthday, said Corey McCrea, a courts public affairs specialist.

    The precise age, however, depends on the district court a person is summoned to; some may have higher or lower age requirements, McCrea said.

    Septuagenarians and older citizens can request to be excused from jury duty, but can still choose to fulfill their jury service if they want to, McCrea said.

    State courts also have varying ages for exemptions.

    Across the river, in New Jersey, residents must be 75, like in Pennsylvania. They have to prove their date of birth to the jury management office.

    But in Mississippi, people 65 years old and older can be excused, and only need to file an online form.

    Folks in the state of Washington, on the other hand, need to reach 80 years old before qualifying for an age-related excuse. Even then, they need to prove they can’t serve due to health reasons through an attestation form.

    Requesting an age-related excusal for jury duty in Pennsylvania

    Older Pennsylvanians who are summoned for jury in state court may request to be excused, with the specific procedure varying by county.

    Those summoned in federal court — the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for residents in Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lancaster, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, and Philadelphia Counties — must send an email to ejuror@paed.uscourts.gov within five days of getting the summons to submit their excusal request.

    Change on the way?

    Seven decades might soon become the rule for all Pennsylvanians, including those summoned in state court.

    A new bill in the Pennsylvania General Assembly proposes to lower the jury duty age exemption for all Pennsylvanians to 70.

    “When you see people that are 75 years old having trouble just walking into there, to me that’s a bring it down, bring it down to 70,” said Nancy Guenst, the Montgomery County Democrat sponsoring the bill.