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  • The decision to move ISIS prisoners from Syria to Iraq came at the request of Baghdad, officials say

    The decision to move ISIS prisoners from Syria to Iraq came at the request of Baghdad, officials say

    BAGHDAD — The decision to move prisoners of the Islamic State group from northeast Syria to detention centers in Iraq came after a request by officials in Baghdad that was welcomed by the U.S.-led coalition and the Syrian government, officials said Thursday.

    American and Iraqi officials told The Associated Press about the Iraqi request, a day after the U.S. military said that it started transferring some of the 9,000 IS detainees held in more than a dozen detention centers in northeast Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, in northeast Syria.

    The move to start transferring the detainees came after Syrian government forces took control of the sprawling al-Hol camp — which houses thousands of mostly women and children — from the SDF, which withdrew as part of a ceasefire. Troops on Monday seized a prison in the northeastern town of Shaddadeh, where some IS detainees escaped and many were recaptured, state media reported.

    The SDF said on Thursday that government forces shelled al-Aqtan prison near the northern Syrian city of Raqqa with heavy weapons, while simultaneously imposing a siege around the prison using tanks and deploying fighters.

    Al-Aqtan prison, where some IS prisoners are held, was surrounded by government forces earlier this week and negotiations were ongoing on the future of the detention facility.

    Concerns about escapes

    With the push by government forces into northeast Syria along the border with Iraq, Baghdad became concerned that some of the detainees might become a danger to Iraq’s security, if they managed to flee from the detention centers amid the chaos.

    An Iraqi security official said that the decision to transfer the prisoners from Syria to Iraq was an Iraqi decision, welcomed by the U.S.-led coalition and the Syrian government. The official said that it was in Iraq’s security interest to detain them in Iraqi prisons rather than leaving them in Syria.

    Also Thursday, a senior U.S. military official confirmed to the AP that Iraq “offered proactively” to take the IS prisoners rather than the U.S. requesting it of them.

    A Syrian foreign ministry official said that the plan to transfer IS prisoners from Syria to Iraq had been under discussion for months before the recent clashes with the SDF.

    All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment publicly.

    Over the past several years, the SDF has handed over to Iraqi authorities foreign fighters, including French citizens, who were put on trial and received sentences.

    The SDF still controls more than a dozen detention facilities holding around 9,000 IS members, but is slated to hand the prisons over to government control under a peace process that also is supposed to eventually merge the SDF with government forces.

    U.S. Central Command said that the first transfer on Wednesday involved 150 IS members, who were taken from Syria’s northeastern province of Hassakeh to “secure locations” in Iraq. The statement said that up to 7,000 detainees could be transferred to Iraqi-controlled facilities.

    Iraq has beefed up patrols along its border with Syria. On Thursday, tanks lined up along the frontier in the northern province of Sinjar.

    Members of the Yazidi minority in Sinjar have been particularly fearful of a repeat of 2014 when IS militants overran the area and launched particularly brutal attacks on Yazidis, considered by the extremist group to be heretics. Militants killed Yazidi men and boys and sold women into sexual slavery or forced them to convert and marry militants.

    Stark warning

    IS declared a caliphate in 2014 in large parts of Syria and Iraq, attracting large numbers of fighters from around the world.

    The militant group was defeated in Iraq in 2017, and in Syria two years later, but IS sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in both countries. As a key U.S. ally in the region, the SDF played a major role in defeating IS.

    Also Thursday, the SDF accused the government of violating a four-day truce declared on Tuesday. It said Syrian government forces pounded the southern outskirts of the northern town of Kobani, which recently became besieged after the government’s push in the northeast over the past two weeks.

    A commander with the Kurdish women’s militia in Syria, speaking from inside Kobani, told reporters during an online news conference that living conditions there are deteriorating.

    Nesrin Abdullah of the Women’s Protection Units, or YPJ, said that if the fighting around Kobani continues, thousands of people “will be massacred.”

    She said that there was no electricity or running water in the town, which a decade ago became the symbol of resistance against IS. The militants at the time besieged it for months before being pushed back.

    “The people here are facing a genocide,” she said. “We have many people in hospitals, and hospitals cannot continue if there is no electricity.”

    U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari told the U.N. Security Council Thursday that clashes were taking place in parts of Hassakeh province and also on the outskirts of Kobani, an enclave controlled by the SDF, and that the situation on the ground elsewhere was “very tense.”

  • Trump rolls out his Board of Peace, but many top U.S. allies aren’t participating

    Trump rolls out his Board of Peace, but many top U.S. allies aren’t participating

    DAVOS, Switzerland — President Donald Trump on Thursday inaugurated his Board of Peace to lead efforts at maintaining a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas, insisting that “everyone wants to be a part” of the body he said could eventually rival the United Nations — despite many U.S. allies opting not to participate.

    In a speech at the World Economic Forum, Trump sought to create momentum for a project to map out a future of the war-torn Gaza Strip that has been overshadowed this week, first by his threats to seize Greenland, then by a dramatic retreat from that push.

    “This isn’t the United States, this is for the world,” he said, adding, “I think we can spread it out to other things as we succeed in Gaza.”

    The event featured Ali Shaath, the head of a new, future technocratic government in Gaza, announcing that the Rafah border crossing will open in both directions next week. But there was no confirmation of that from Israel, which said only that it would consider the matter next week.

    The Gaza side of the crossing, which runs between Gaza and Egypt, is currently under Israeli military control. Shaath, an engineer and former Palestinian Authority official from Gaza, is overseeing the Palestinian committee set to govern the territory under U.S. supervision.

    The new peace board was initially envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the ceasefire, but it has morphed into something far more ambitious — and skepticism about its membership and mandate has led some countries usually closest to Washington to take a pass.

    Trump tried not to let those not participating ruin his unveiling party, saying 59 countries had signed onto the board — even though heads of state, top diplomats and other officials from only 19 countries plus the U.S. actually attended the event. He told the group, ranging from Azerbaijan to Paraguay to Hungary, “You’re the most powerful people in the world.”

    Trump has spoken about the board replacing some U.N. functions and perhaps even making that entire body obsolete one day. But he was more conciliatory in his remarks on the sidelines of the forum in the Swiss alps.

    “We’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations,” Trump said, even as he denigrated the U.N. for doing what he said wasn’t enough to calm some conflicts around the globe.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio said some countries’ leaders have indicated they plan to join but still require approval from their parliaments.

    Why some countries aren’t participating

    Big questions remain, however, about what the eventual board will look like.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country is still consulting with Moscow’s “strategic partners” before deciding to commit. The Russian was hosting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday in Moscow.

    Others are asking why Putin and other authoritarian leaders had even been invited to join. Britain’s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said her country wasn’t signing on “because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues.”

    “And we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace, when we have still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine,” she told the BBC.

    Norway and Sweden have indicated they won’t participate. France declined after its officials stressed that while they support the Gaza peace plan, they were concerned the board could seek to replace the U.N.

    Canada, Ukraine, China, and the executive arm of the European Union also haven’t committed. Trump calling off the steep tariffs he threatened over Greenland could ease some allies’ reluctance, but the issue is still far from settled.

    The Kremlin said Thursday that Putin plans to discuss his proposal to send $1 billion to the Board of Peace and use it for humanitarian purposes during his talks with Abbas — if Russia can use of those assets the U.S. had previously blocked.

    Others voice reservations

    The idea for the Board of Peace was first laid out in Trump’s 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan and even was endorsed by the U.N. Security Council.

    But an Arab diplomat in a European capital said that Middle Eastern governments coordinated their response to Trump’s invitation to join the Board of Peace and that it was crafted to limit the acceptance to the Gaza plan as mandated by the U.N. Security Council.

    Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter more freely, the diplomat said the announced acceptance is “preliminary” and that the charter presented by the U.S. administration contradicts in some parts the United Nations’ mission. The diplomat also said that other major powers are unlikely to support the board in its current form.

    Months into the ceasefire, Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinians continue to suffer the humanitarian crisis unleashed by more than two years of war. And violence in Gaza continues.

    Key to the truce continuing to hold is the disarming of Hamas, something that the militant group that has controlled the Palestinian territory since 2007 has refused to do, despite Israel seeing it as non-negotiable. Trump on Thursday repeated his frequent warnings that the group will have to disarm or face dire consequences.

    He also said the war in Gaza “is really coming to an end” while conceding, “We have little fires that we’ll put out. But they’re little,” and they had been “giant, giant, massive fires.”

    Iran looms large

    Trump’s push for peace also comes after he threatened military action this month against Iran as it carried out a violent crackdown against some of the largest street protests in years, killing thousands of people.

    Trump, for the time being, has signaled he won’t carry out any new strikes on Iran after he said he received assurances that the Islamic government would not carry out the planned hangings of more than 800 protesters.

    But Trump also made the case that his tough approach to Tehran — including strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June last year — was critical to the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal coalescing.

    Meanwhile, Trump also spoke behind closed doors for about an hour with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and called the discussion “very good” without mentioning major breakthroughs. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected in Moscow for talks aimed at ending Russia’s nearly 4-year-old war in Ukraine.

    Zelensky later addressed the Davos forum and said there would be two days of trilateral meetings involving the U.S., Ukraine and Russia in the United Arab Emirates starting Friday — following the U.S. talks in Moscow.

    “Russians have to be ready for compromises because, you know, everybody has to be ready, not only Ukraine, and this is important for us,” Zelensky said.

  • Philly bill to ban waste incineration gets put on hold after failing to gain Council support

    Philly bill to ban waste incineration gets put on hold after failing to gain Council support

    A high-profile bill to ban Philadelphia from incinerating its trash was put on hold Thursday after intense lobbying by residents, activists, and industry put its future in doubt.

    The bill’s sponsor, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, made a last-minute decision to pull the measure, which would prevent the city from shipping its trash to be burned for energy at the Reworld Delaware Valley Resource Recovery Facility in Chester.

    “I made the difficult decision to hold the bill today because my colleagues have asked for more time with it,” Gauthier said, noting she had not given up on the bill.

    Gauthier said the bill would prevent “dumping on cities that are more vulnerable than us.”

    “This would never happen in a community that wasn’t populated mainly by Black people, and mainly by poor Black people,” she said of Chester. “The people that are lobbying otherwise — they know that they would never accept this where they live.”

    The move to hold the bill came after hours of public testimony by people speaking for and against it.

    However, almost all of those speaking against the bill either work for Reworld, the Chester waste-to-energy plant, or represent labor unions. Reworld employees could be seen lobbying Council members in the hallways.

    Philly sends a third of its trash to a Chester incinerator. Council members took a ‘Toxic Tour’ to get a closer look.
    File: Philadelphia Councilmember Jamie Gauthier.

    What’s in the bill?

    Gauthier’s “Stop Trashing Our Air Act” would prohibit the city from contracting with companies that incinerate solid waste or recyclables. Gauthier said that 37% of the city’s trash is incinerated.

    For 30 years, she has fought a waste-to-energy plant in Chester City: ‘We don’t have a choice’

    The bill, she has said, is designed to combat environmental injustice, contending incineration has been particularly harmful to the Chester area.

    Chester Mayor Stefan Roots and local activists expressed support for the legislation on Thursday, citing health and environmental concerns.

    “I’m asking you and begging you,” Roots said in asking Council to vote in favor of the bill. “We’re counting on all of you to support it.”

    Chester resident Zulene Mayfield, left, Philadelphia Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, right, and Chester Mayor Stefan Roots meet to discuss Gauthier’s “Stop Trashing Our Air Act,” which would ban the city from incinerating waste, during a visit with lawmakers and staff in Chester, Pa., on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025.

    Roots said the Reworld plant burns more trash than all of Delaware County produces.

    Multiple Chester and Philly residents say the emissions from Reworld either caused or exacerbated asthma and other health conditions.

    Andrea Robinson moved to Chester three years ago, she testified to Council. But she was unaware of the Reworld facility when she moved there.

    “I walk out my door and smell the stinky odor. I’m embarrassed to invite family and friends over. There are dust and dirt all over the car and windows,” she said.

    Fierce lobbying

    Gauthier’s bill ran up against a fierce effort to prevent its passage.

    Alex Piscitelli, facility manager at Reworld, testified that the plant operates under “the strict requirements of the Clean Air Act.”

    He said claims that the facility causes human health issues “are simply not supported by the data” and emissions “operate well below federal limits.”

    Multiple representatives of the company spoke, including workers who lived in Chester and Philadelphia.

    Ramona Jones, who lives in Chester and works at Reworld, said the job allows her to be close to her children and family. She said the company has given her ”a livable wage, a higher wage.”

    Matt Toomey, a business agent for the operating engineers union, told Council that “up to 120 family-sustaining jobs” were at stake, and noted the Reworld plant is heavily regulated and located in an already industrialized area.

    Political reality

    Aides for Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, whose administration opposes the legislation, also worked the room.

    Council members hardly ever call for votes on doomed bills. But Gauthier initially appeared to be willing to roll the dice by calling the measure up for a vote despite its uncertain fate.

    As the morning progressed, however, it became clear she did not have the nine votes needed for passage and almost certainly did not have the 12 votes that would be needed to overcome a likely veto by Parker.

    Insisting on the vote would mean that Gauthier was putting colleagues in the uncomfortable position of choosing between environmental advocates and trade unions, two important constituencies in Democratic primaries.

    But Gauthier pledged to push for the bill.

    “I am committed to this,” she said. “At the City of Philadelphia, we have to be a model for brotherly love, sisterly affection.”

  • After ‘good’ Trump meeting, Zelensky pushes Europe hard to do more

    After ‘good’ Trump meeting, Zelensky pushes Europe hard to do more

    KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky aimed a blistering speech at Europe during the World Economic Forum on Thursday after a last-minute meeting with President Donald Trump, which both leaders described as “good,” saying framework documents between the two countries — in hopes of ending the conflict — were nearing the final stages.

    After nearly four years of full-scale war, Zelensky described how life in Ukraine felt like the movie Groundhog Day with ramped-up attacks coming amid a brutally cold winter. All the while Europe is still unequipped to defend itself against Russia, he said, which has not slowed its assault since 2022.

    In the face of European weakness, Zelensky said, “the backstop of Trump is needed” with no security guarantees functioning without the United States. He emphasized that Europe needed to be a united force: “Europe should not be a salad of small and middle powers.”

    “Europe loves to discuss the future but avoids taking action today, action that defines what kind of future we will have,” Zelensky said in his speech in Davos, Switzerland, following the hourlong meeting with Trump. “If [Russian President Vladimir] Putin decides to take Lithuania or strike Poland, who will respond? … Tomorrow you may have to defend your way of life.”

    The speech, which received a standing ovation, didn’t appear to have been originally scheduled. Zelensky scrambled to get to Switzerland after Trump on Wednesday unexpectedly said that he planned to meet with Zelensky that very day, adding that he might even “be in the audience.”

    In fact, Zelensky was still in Kyiv. He had told reporters on Tuesday — as the forum was already underway — that he would likely remain in the capital, “choosing Ukraine, not an economic forum,” as millions of Ukrainians froze in their homes and workers rushed to fix an electrical grid battered by Russian drones and missiles.

    Some had hoped a bilateral meeting might lead to the inking of frameworks for security guarantees and postwar economic recovery, with officials hinting the two countries were close to the finish line. But a senior Ukrainian official on Thursday said that no documents had been prepared for signing in Davos, and a key priority of the meeting was to discuss additional air defense systems.

    In his speech, however, Zelensky did say that the documents to end the war “are nearly ready and that really matters.” He added, however, that more pressure needed to be put on Russia to make it agree to end the war and Ukraine couldn’t be the only country making compromises.

    The meeting in the Swiss Alps was closed to the press and there were no statements at its conclusion. On his way out, however, Trump told reporters that “the meeting was good with President Zelensky, we still have a ways to go” — stepping back from his message on Wednesday, that both sides were “reasonably close” and “at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don’t, they’re stupid.”

    He added that the message his envoys would take to Putin Thursday night in Moscow would be “the war needed to end.”

    At a question-and-answer session following his speech Thursday, Zelensky acknowledged that “this last mile is very difficult” and “Russians have to be ready for compromises, not just Ukraine.”

    Despite the optimism expressed by the White House, the two sides still appear to be far apart in negotiations. In a news conference Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called into question any deal that allowed the continuing existence of the current Ukrainian government.

    “Any settlement proposal founded on the primary goal of preserving the current Nazi regime in what remains of the Ukrainian state is, naturally, completely unacceptable to us,” he said.

    White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner — who met with lead Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov on the sidelines of the forum — will meet with Putin late on Thursday. Speaking at the forum’s Ukrainian Breakfast on Thursday morning, Witkoff said that he felt “encouraged” and described the Ukrainian people as “so courageous in this fight … under some real difficult conditions.”

    “I think we’ve got it down to one issue, and we have discussed iterations of that issue,” Witkoff said, appearing to gesture at territorial concessions, one of the most contentious aspects of the negotiations and a red line for Ukraine. “That means it’s solvable. So if both sides want to solve this, we are going to get this solved; that’s my view.”

    Previous meetings between Witkoff and Putin have lasted hours and will likely continue into early Friday morning, though Witkoff said he will not be spending the night and will continue on to Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, afterward. Two days of trilateral meetings will be held there between Ukraine, the United States and Russia.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on whether the Kremlin shared Witkoff’s optimism that a deal was close. At a news conference, Putin said he would also discuss Russia’s contribution to Trump’s Board of Peace with Witkoff and Kushner.

    As world leaders congregated in Davos, enjoying mountain views, plush lodges and crackling fireplaces, Ukraine’s power grid remained crippled during one of the coldest winters in years. Without electricity, many Ukrainians sought refuge in restaurants and coffee shops, kept running by generators. Outside, inches of ice slicked the streets and sidewalks. The windows of thousands of apartments remained dark.

    Concluding his speech, Zelensky said, “Let’s end this Groundhog Day.”

  • Joseph R. Syrnick, retired chief engineer for the Streets Department and CEO of the Schuylkill River Development Corp., has died at 79

    Joseph R. Syrnick, retired chief engineer for the Streets Department and CEO of the Schuylkill River Development Corp., has died at 79

    Joseph R. Syrnick, 79, of Philadelphia, retired chief engineer and surveyor for the Philadelphia Streets Department, president and chief executive officer of the Schuylkill River Development Corp., vice chair of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission, former adjunct professor, college baseball star at Drexel University, mentor, and “the ultimate girl dad,” died Saturday, Jan. 17, of cancer at his home in Roxborough.

    Reared on Dupont Street in Manayunk and a Roxborough resident for five decades, Mr. Syrnick joined the Streets Department in 1971 after college and spent 34 years, until his retirement in 2005, supervising hundreds of development projects in the city. He became the city’s chief engineer and surveyor in 1986 and oversaw the reconstruction of the Schuylkill Expressway and West River Drive (now Martin Luther King Jr. Drive) in the 1980s, and the addition of new streetlights and trees on South Broad Street and the upgrade of six city golf courses in the 1990s.

    He was an optimist and master negotiator, colleagues said, and he worked well with people and the system. “You have concepts that seem simple,” he told The Inquirer in 1998. “But when you commit them to writing, they raise all kinds of other questions.”

    In 2000, as Republicans gathered in Philadelphia for their national convention, Mr. Syrnick juggled transit improvements on Chestnut Street and problems with the flags on JFK Boulevard. He also helped lower speed limits in Fairmount Park and added pedestrian safety features on Kelly Drive.

    He beautified Penrose Avenue and built a bikeway in Schuylkill River Park. He even moderated impassioned negotiations about where the Rocky statue should be placed.

    Since 2005, as head of the Schuylkill River Development Corp., he deftly partnered with public and private agencies, institutions, and corporations, and oversaw multimillion-dollar projects that built the celebrated Schuylkill River Trail, renovated a dozen bridges, and generally improved the lower eight-mile stretch of the Schuylkill, from the Fairmount Dam to the Delaware River, known as Schuylkill Banks.

    In an online tribute, colleagues at the Schuylkill River Development Corp. praised his “perseverance and commitment to revitalizing the tidal Schuylkill.” They noted his “legacy of ingenuity, optimism, and service.” They said: “Joe was more than an extraordinary leader. He was a great Philadelphian.”

    Dennis Markatos-Soriano, executive director of the East Coast Greenway Alliance, said on Facebook: “He exuded confidence, humility, and unwavering commitment.”

    Mr. Syrnick reviews plans to extend a riverside trail in 2009.

    Mr. Syrnick was a constant presence on riverside trails, other hikers said. He organized regattas and movie nights, hosted riverboat and kayak tours, cleaned up after floods, and repurposed unused piers into prime fishing platforms.

    “Great cities have great rivers,” Mr. Syrnick told The Inquirer in 2005. “Here in Philadelphia, we have Schuylkill Banks.”

    He was a Fairmount Park commissioner for 18 years, was named to the Philadelphia City Planning Commission in 2008, and served as vice chair. He lectured about the Schuylkill often and taught engineering classes and led advisory panels at Drexel. In 2015, he testified before the state Senate in support of a waterfront development tax credit.

    Friends called him “a visionary,” “a true hero,” and “a Philly jewel.” One friend said: “He should be honored by a street naming or something.”

    Mr. Syrnick (fourth from left) and his family pose near a riverboat.

    Paul Steinke, executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, said on Facebook: “He left his native Philadelphia a much better place.”

    Mr. Syrnick was president of the Philadelphia Board of Surveyors and active with the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia, and other organizations. At Drexel, he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1969 and a master’s degree in 1971.

    In 2024, Drexel officials awarded him an honorary doctorate for “his visionary leadership in engaging diverse civic partners to revive the promise of a waterfront jewel in Philadelphia.”

    He played second base on the Roman Catholic High School baseball team. He was captain of the 1968 Drexel team and later played against other local standouts in the old Pen-Del semipro league.

    Mr. Syrnick (center in white shirt) had all kinds of way to publicize fun on the Schuylkill. This photo appeared in The Inquirer in 2007.

    Most of all, everyone said, Mr. Syrnick liked building sandcastles on the beach and hosting tea parties with his young daughters and, later, his grandchildren. He grew up with three brothers. Of living with three daughters, his wife, Mary Beth, said: “It was a shock.”

    His daughter Megan said: “It was a learning experience. Whether it was sports or tea parties, he became the ultimate girl dad.”

    The lower Schuylkill is up for Pennsylvania’s River of the Year.

    Joseph Richard Syrnick was born Dec. 19, 1946, in Philadelphia. He spent many summer days riding bikes with pals on Dupont Street and playing pickup games at the North Light Community Center.

    He knew Mary Beth Stenn from the neighborhood, and their first date came when she was 14 and he was 15. They married in 1970, moved up the hill from Manayunk to Roxborough, and had daughters Genevieve, Amy, and Megan.

    Mr. Syrnick received his honorary doctorate from Drexel in 2024.

    Mr. Syrnick enjoyed baseball, football, and golf. He was active at St. Mary of the Assumption and Holy Family Churches, and he and his wife traveled together across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

    “He was humble,” his daughter Megan said. “He was quiet in leadership. He always said: ‘It’s the team.’”

    Survivors give advice about mourning their loved ones, as told to The Inquirer’s obit writer

    In addition to his wife and daughters, Mr. Syrnick is survived by seven grandchildren, his brother Blaise, and other relatives. Two brothers died earlier.

    Visitation with the family is to be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, at Koller Funeral Home, 6835 Ridge Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19128, and 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 24, at Holy Family Church, 234 Hermitage St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19127. A Mass celebrating his life is to follow at 11 a.m.

    Donations in his name may be made to the Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, 475 E. Chelten Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19144; and Holy Family Parish, 234 Hermitage St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19127.

    Mr. Syrnick (left) and his brother, Blaise, enjoyed being around water.
  • Former Uvalde officer acquitted for response to 2022 school shooting

    Former Uvalde officer acquitted for response to 2022 school shooting

    A Texas jury on Wednesday acquitted a former Uvalde school police officer on 29 counts of child endangerment after he remained outside Robb Elementary School instead of immediately confronting the gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers in their classrooms in 2022.

    The verdict is a major setback for prosecutors, who portrayed the case against Adrian Gonzales as a way to deliver justice and accountability for one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.

    Instead, jurors appeared to agree with Gonzales’ lawyers, who described him as unfairly singled out among the hundreds of law enforcement officers who arrived on the scene — a response that investigators said was marked by significant communication failures and poor decision-making.

    Had he been convicted, Gonzales, 52, faced up to two years in prison.

    The former officer of the six-member Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department was one of the first law enforcement personnel to respond on that sunny May day, when a teenage shooter walked into Robb Elementary through an unlocked door and opened fire inside two adjoining fourth-grade classrooms.

    Prosecutors argued that Gonzales bore particular responsibility for the tragedy. They focused on his initial encounter with a frantic woman fleeing the school, who pointed toward the general location of the shooter as gunfire was heard inside, and his subsequent decision not to immediately rush in, which they said went against his active-shooter training.

    However, defense lawyers noted that four other officers got to the school at almost the same time but also did not enter right away to confront the gunman. Unlike Gonzales, three of them were in a position to see the assailant, his lawyers said. One thought he spotted the shooter outside the school and asked for permission to fire, his superior officer testified.

    Minutes after he arrived, Gonzales did go into the school with several other officers. Gunman Salvador Ramos, armed with an AR-style rifle, shot at them, grazing two, and the group retreated.

    Nearly 400 officers ultimately converged on the school but did not breach the classroom where Ramos was located until more than an hour after he’d entered the building. A tactical unit shot and killed him.

    Emotions ran high during the three-week trial, which featured wrenching testimony from teachers who survived the shooting and parents whose children were among the murdered and wounded.

    The prosecution is “trying to hijack your emotion to circumvent your reason,” defense attorney Nico LaHood told jurors. Gonzales was “easy pickings,” he said. “The man at the bottom of the totem pole.”

    Both of Gonzales’ lawyers repeatedly acknowledged the grief of families and the community. “There’s nothing that’s going to bring these kids back,” Jason Goss said during closing arguments Wednesday. “Nothing is ever going to solve that pain.”

    But, he added, “You do not honor their memory by doing an injustice in their name.”

    Gonzales is one of two former officers to be charged in connection with the mass killing. Pete Arredondo, the former chief of Uvalde’s school district police, is also set to stand trial on charges of child endangerment. Arredondo has pleaded not guilty.

    Wednesday’s verdict marks the second time that a jury has declined to convict a school police officer for failing to stop a school shooting. In 2023, Scot Peterson, a sheriff’s deputy who worked as a security officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., was acquitted of similar charges. Five years earlier, a gunman had killed 17 students, teachers and staff members at the school.

    Gonzales’ trial took place before Judge Sid Harle in Corpus Christi, more than 200 miles from Uvalde, after the defense argued that a change of venue was necessary to obtain an impartial verdict. Jurors began deliberating early afternoon Wednesday.

    Gonzales, in a blue suit and a tie patterned with crosses, wept and hugged one of his lawyers after the verdict was read. He had not testified in his own defense, but prosecutors played an hour-long video, recorded not long after the shooting, in which he recounted his actions at the school.

    Christina Mitchell, the district attorney for Uvalde County, had told jurors that returning a guilty verdict would send a message to all law enforcement officers about their duties to members of the public and children in particular.

    The children inside Robb Elementary had followed their lockdown training, staying quiet and hidden, she said, while Gonzales did not run to confront the shooter, as his training suggested.

    “We’re not going to continue to teach children to rehearse their own death and not hold [officers] to the training that’s mandated by the law,” Mitchell said. “We cannot let 19 children die in vain.”

    Mothers of several of the children killed in the massacre cried together outside the Nueces County courthouse Wednesday night. Relatives of another victim, 9-year-old Jacklyn Cazares, reacted with fury immediately after the verdict.

    “I’m angry,” said her father, Javier Cazares, in video provided by local television station KSAT. “We had a little hope, but it wasn’t enough.”

  • ICE, housing, and ‘resign to run’: What’s on Philadelphia City Council’s 2026 agenda

    ICE, housing, and ‘resign to run’: What’s on Philadelphia City Council’s 2026 agenda

    Philadelphia City Council’s first meeting of 2026 on Thursday comes as tensions rise over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and as Mayor Cherelle L. Parker continues to sidestep that conversation while focusing on advancing her signature housing initiative.

    During the first half of the year, city lawmakers are expected to have a hand both in shaping the city’s response to Trump and in advancing Parker’s Housing Opportunities Made Easy, or H.O.M.E., initiative.

    They will also tackle the city’s waste-disposal practices, a long-standing law requiring Council members to resign before campaigning for higher office, and the city budget.

    Meanwhile, events largely outside Council’s control, including potential school closings and Philly’s role in the nation’s 250th birthday, are also expected to prompt responses from lawmakers.

    Here’s what you need to know about Council’s 2026 agenda.

    ‘Stop Trashing Our Air’ bill up for vote

    The first meeting of a new Council session rarely features high-profile votes, but this year could be different.

    Council on Thursday is expected to take up a bill by Councilmember Jamie Gauthier that would ban Philadelphia from incinerating its trash.

    Currently, the city government sends about a third of the trash it collects to the Reworld trash incinerator in Chester, with the rest going to landfills. Those waste-disposal contracts expire June 30, and Gauthier is hoping to take incineration off the table when new deals are reached.

    Philly sends a third of its trash to a Chester incinerator. Council members took a ‘Toxic Tour’ to get a closer look.
    The Reworld incinerator in Chester, Pa., on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025.

    “Burning Philadelphia’s trash is making Chester, Philadelphia, and other communities around our region sick,” Gauthier has said, pointing to elevated rates of asthma and other ailments and a legacy of “environmental racism” in Chester. The low-income and majority-Black city downriver from Philly has been home to numerous heavy industrial facilities.

    Reworld has said its waste-to-energy facility, which produces some electricity from burning trash, is a “more sustainable alternative to landfilling.”

    At a hearing last year, Parker administration officials said the city is including language in its request for proposals for the next contracts that will allow the city to consider environmental impacts. But they asked lawmakers not to vote for a blanket ban on incineration to allow the city to study the issue further.

    Parker waiting for Council to reapprove $800 million in bonds for her H.O.M.E. plan

    The biggest agenda item left hanging last month when lawmakers adjourned for the winter break was a bill to authorize the Parker administration to issue $800 million in city bonds to fund her H.O.M.E. initiative.

    Parker had hoped to sell the bonds last fall, and Council in June initially authorized the administration to take out new debt. But lawmakers made significant changes to the initiative’s first-year budget, especially by lowering income thresholds for some programs funded by the H.O.M.E. bonds to prioritize the lowest-income residents.

    Philly Council votes against Mayor Parker’s vision for her signature housing plan, signaling a win for progressives
    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker speaks to the crowd at The Church of Christian Compassion in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood of West Philadelphia on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. Parker visited 10 churches in Philadelphia on Sunday to share details about her H.O.M.E. housing plan.

    That move, which Parker opposed and which sparked Council’s most significant clash with her administration to date, required a redo of the bond authorization. Lawmakers ran out of time to approve a new version of the measure in December, but Council President Kenyatta Johnson said it could come up for a final vote Thursday.

    “Council members have always been supportive of the H.O.M.E. initiative,” Johnson said. “H.O.M.E. advances City Council’s goals to expand access to affordable homeownership for Philadelphians … and to ensure that city housing investments deliver long-term benefits for families and neighborhoods alike.”

    Council aims to limit ‘resign to run’ … again

    Council is also expected to vote this spring on legislation that would change Philadelphia’s 74-year-old “resign to run” law and allow city officeholders to keep their jobs while campaigning for other offices.

    Currently, Council members and other city employees are required to quit their jobs to run for higher office. Lawmakers have tried several times over the last 20 years to repeal the law, but they have been unsuccessful. Changing the rule requires amending the city’s Home Rule Charter, which a majority of voters would have to approve through a ballot question.

    Philly City Council is advancing legislation to let members keep their jobs while running for Congress
    Council President Kenyatta Johnson talks with Councilmember Isaiah Thomas at City Hall on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024 in Philadelphia.

    The latest attempt, spearheaded by Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, would not entirely repeal the resign-to-run law, but instead would narrow it to allow elected officials to keep their seats only if they are seeking state or federal office, such as in Congress or the state General Assembly. Council members who want to run for mayor would still have to resign.

    Thomas, a Democrat who represents the city at-large and is rumored to have ambitions of running for higher office, plans to make minor amendments to the legislation this spring, a spokesperson said, before calling it up for a final vote. The goal, Thomas has said, is to pass the legislation in time for a question to appear on the May primary election ballot.

    Incoming clash over immigration?

    Parker has spent the last year avoiding direct confrontation with the Trump administration, a strategy that supporters say has helped keep Philadelphia out of the president’s crosshairs.

    The mayor, however, cannot control what other local elected officials say about national politics, and Trump’s immigration crackdown appears to be stirring stronger local reaction heading into his second year in office.

    After an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis this month, Sheriff Rochelle Bilal went viral for saying federal agents “will not be able to hide” in Philly. (Bilal, however, does not control the Philadelphia Police Department, which is under Parker’s purview.)

    Meanwhile, progressive Councilmembers Rue Landau and Kendra Brooks this year are expected to introduce legislation aimed at constricting ICE operations in Philadelphia.

    Demonstrators from No ICE Philly gathered to protests outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, office at 8th and Cherry Street, Philadelphia, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026.

    It is not yet clear what the lawmakers will propose. But Brooks, who has called on Parker to take a firmer stand against Trump, recently criticized the Philadelphia courts for allowing agents to seize suspects leaving the Criminal Justice Center. She said officials who in her view have failed to stand up to ICE are engaged in “complicity disguised as strategic silence,” and she vowed to force those who “cooperate with ICE in any way” to testify in Council.

    “Cities across the country are stepping up and looking at every available option they have to get ICE out,” Brooks said at a news conference earlier this month. “In the coming days, you will hear about what my office is doing about city policy. These demands must be met or face the consequences in Council.”

    Landau added Philly cannot allow “some masked, unnamed hooligans from out of town [to] come in here and attack Philadelphians.”

    “We are saying, ‘ICE out of Philadelphia,’” she said.

    Parker has said her administration has made no changes to the city’s immigrant-friendly policies, but she continues to be tight-lipped about the issue.

    Mayor Cherelle Parker won’t say how Philly is responding to President Donald Trump’s demands on ‘sanctuary’ policies

    The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records last week ruled in favor of an Inquirer appeal seeking to force Parker’s administration to disclose a September letter it sent the U.S. Department of Justice regarding local policies related to immigration.

    The administration still has not released the document. It has three more weeks to respond or appeal the decision in court.

    South Philly arena proposal still in the works

    After the 76ers abandoned their plan to build a new arena in Center City a year ago, the team announced it would partner with Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Flyers, to build a new home for both teams in the South Philadelphia stadium complex.

    The teams announced last fall they have selected an architect for the new arena, which is scheduled to replace the Spectacor-owned Xfinity Mobile Arena, formerly the Wells Fargo Center, in 2031.

    If the teams are still planning to open the new arena on their previously announced timeline, legislation to green-light the project could surface as soon as this spring. But so far, there has been no sign of movement on that front.

    “There is currently no timeline for introducing legislation to build a new Sixers arena in South Philadelphia,” said Johnson, whose 2nd District includes the stadium complex. “At the appropriate time, my legislative team and I will actively collaborate with Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration on drafting any legislation related to the Sixers arena before it is introduced in City Council.”

    School closings and 2026 celebrations also on the horizon

    In addition to its legislative agenda, Council this year will likely be drawn into discussions over school closings and the high-profile gatherings expected to bring international attention to Philly this summer.

    The Philadelphia School District is soon expected to release its much-anticipated facilities plan, including which school buildings are proposed for closure, consolidation, or disposition. The always-controversial process is sure to generate buzz in Council.

    “We will do our due diligence on the District’s Facilities Plan,” Johnson said in a statement.

    Additionally, the city is preparing for the nation’s Semiquincentennial, FIFA World Cup games, and the MLB All-Star Game. While the administration is largely responsible for managing those events, some Council members have said ensuring the city is prepared for them is a major priority.

    Johnson said his agenda includes “making sure Philadelphia has a very successful celebration of America’s 250th Birthday that results in short and long-term benefits for Philadelphia.”

    Staff writers Jake Blumgart, Jeff Gammage, and Kristen A. Graham contributed to this article.

  • Meet Conlen Booth, Swarthmore’s fire chief who just stepped into the mayor’s office

    Meet Conlen Booth, Swarthmore’s fire chief who just stepped into the mayor’s office

    Conlen Booth doesn’t typically like to be in the spotlight.

    Booth considers himself a “behind-the-scenes” guy who typically shies away from the limelight. Yet on Jan. 6, surrounded by friends, family, and colleagues, Booth was sworn in as Swarthmore’s mayor.

    Booth, 42, brings more than two decades of emergency management experience to the job, including overseeing emergency services for major hospitals and governments. He’s also spent the past 25 years with Swarthmore’s fire department, most recently as chief. Booth is Delco-bred — a Nether Providence kid, a graduate of Strath Haven High School, and a cheerleader for his home borough of Swarthmore.

    As the borough contends with the fallout of last year’s shuttering of Crozer-Chester Medical Center and Taylor Hospital, budget shortfalls, and potential fire department consolidation, Booth believes his background in emergency services and deep ties to Swarthmore make him the right guy for the job.

    Mayor Conlen Booth in downtown Swarthmore on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026.

    ‘If not me, then who?’

    Booth got into local politics the way many do — reluctantly.

    It took nudging from friends and family to step into the mayoral race. But the COVID-19 pandemic revealed a need for municipal leaders who understand emergency management and can govern in a crisis, Booth says.

    An age-old phrase kept circulating in his mind: “If not me, then who?”

    Booth competed against borough council members Kristen Seymore and David Boonin in the Democratic primary. Boonin dropped out of the race in January 2025. In February, the borough’s Democratic committee voted to endorse Booth’s candidacy 15-4, and Seymore dropped out.

    The committee’s endorsement is powerful in Swarthmore. Democratic candidates who do not receive an endorsement are discouraged from running, and in the liberal-leaning town, there are seldom competitive general elections. Booth replaced Marty Spiegel, who had led the borough since 2019.

    Who is Mayor Booth?

    Booth was born in Harrisburg and moved to Delaware County at age 2. He grew up down the street from Nether Providence Elementary School and spent summers down the Shore with his close-knit extended family and collection of family dogs.

    His maternal grandfather, Joseph Labrum, was a longtime judge and attorney in Media. Booth remembers visiting him in his chambers and watching him in the courtroom.

    “I think seeing him in his role as a judge was always something that fascinated me,” he said.

    Booth and his partner, Tracy, met working in healthcare and have been together for around 15 years. They live with Huckleberry, their Australian cattle dog.

    Booth became interested in emergency services in high school. He set his sights on becoming a doctor and spent his teenage years working on an ambulance.

    Four days before he moved into his freshman dorm at the University of Pittsburgh, he watched a good friend die in front of him. The goal changed from enrolling in medical school to just making it through college.

    “It just sort of rattled things,” he said.

    Mayor Conlen Booth with his dog, Huckleberry, in downtown Swarthmore on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026.

    Booth graduated from Pitt in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in emergency medicine, an emerging field at the time. He earned his paramedic certification and learned the business-side of managing emergency medical teams.

    He returned home and took a job with the now-shuttered Delaware County Memorial Hospital, his first role in what would become a long career in emergency medicine. In 2019, he was an emergency response shift supervisor at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery during the massive explosion that left five people hurt and ended up shuttering the facility (Booth describes it as a “pretty insane period” in his life). Booth later spent four years as the senior director of emergency preparedness and emergency medical services at Crozer. He most recently worked as a consultant helping get supplies and meals to recently arrived refugees and asylum-seekers in New York City.

    In tandem with his career in emergency management, Booth has served as a volunteer in Swarthmore’s fire department since 2000, working his way up from rookie firefighter to chief. Last year, he helped develop the Advanced Life Support ambulance partnership with neighboring communities that has filled gaps for residents after the Crozer closures.

    Pat Francher, a longtime Swarthmore resident and community organizer, said Booth has the “awareness and perspective” that comes from a “real in-depth involvement in community welfare.”

    “I’m terrible about saying no to people when they ask me to do something,” Booth joked.

    This summer, Booth suffered a serious, non-work-related injury. He’s been in recovery since, and has come a long way.

    “It could have been so much worse,” Booth said. “I have a lot to be thankful for.”

    The SEPTA Regional Rail station in Swarthmore on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026, during the second snowfall of the weekend. The station is between downtown Swarthmore and Swarthmore College and serves the Media/Wawa Line.

    What’s next for Swarthmore?

    Booth sees educating borough council about the community’s emergency medical needs as a large part of his job as mayor.

    Jill Gaeski, borough council president, called Booth “the perfect guy” to help the 6,200-person borough navigate the challenges that lie ahead.

    The shuttering of Crozer’s hospitals continues to impact access to medical care. At the same time, the Garden City (Nether Providence and Rose Valley), South Media, and Swarthmore fire companies are in discussions about a possible merger.

    “[Booth] can really help us understand the pain points and where the sweet spots are,” Gaeski said.

    Booth says he wants to be a cheerleader for the borough, bringing in tourism and economic growth in a way that maintains Swarthmore’s small-town feel.

    He also hopes to reengage Swarthmore College’s student body, which he says has become less civically involved as the years have passed.

    “I already feel sentimental about this town,” Booth said, citing the people, restaurants, traditions, and community events that make his hometown special.

    “How do we bolster all of these things and how do we engage more people?”

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

  • Trump’s strong support in the Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pa. is splintering: ‘He left nothing for the working man’

    Trump’s strong support in the Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pa. is splintering: ‘He left nothing for the working man’

    Scowling under a wool cap and a hood, Robert DeJesus stood in the bitter wind outside the Sunrise Diner in Allentown last week and confessed his “big mistake”: voting for President Donald Trump in 2024.

    “The guy makes ‘cookie promises,’” said DeJesus, 57, a retired construction worker and independent voter from Allentown in Lehigh County. “They’re easy made and easy broken.”

    Trump’s biggest gains in the state in 2024 were concentrated in the Lehigh Valley and in Northeastern Pennsylvania. But a year into his second presidency, there are signs that his winning coalition is splintering. In interviews across five counties in the region, some voters shared their disappointment with rising grocery prices and what they see as Trump’s failure to keep his commitments.

    Even while hailing some of Trump’s policies, several Republicans interviewed said they were put off by his manner as well as his stance on key issues. That disillusionment could spell trouble for Pennsylvania Republicans as they look to hold onto two key swing congressional seats in this region in November.

    Robert DeJesus of Allentown voted for President Donald Trump in 2024, but he now regrets that decision.

    Explaining his problems with Trump, DeJesus said the president pledged “but didn’t deliver” lower grocery prices. And at the same time DeJesus and his family are contending with “insane” supermarket costs, he said, Trump cut taxes for billionaires with the sweeping domestic policy package he signed last year. It has made DeJesus feel overlooked and overwhelmed.

    “He left nothing for the working man,” DeJesus said. “People say it’s good the price of gas went down under Trump. But how we have to live, with high food and high rent, makes no sense.”

    Diana Kird, 58, a Republican who also pulled the lever for Trump, is experiencing buyer’s remorse much like DeJesus.

    “I don’t know what we’re doing in Venezuela,” said the nurse from Lehighton in Carbon County as she stood outside a Giant supermarket in town.

    “We need to stop getting into foreign wars,” a promise Trump made and “ignored,” Kird added.

    Kird said she has not seen Trump come through on his commitments. “He’s wash-rinse-repeat for me,” she said, “saying the same things over again,” such as promising cheaper groceries, “yet doing nothing.”

    Trump’s “refusal to release all the Epstein files” after saying he would was another disappointment that makes her wish she had not supported the president, she added.

    Republican U.S. Reps. Ryan Mackenzie (left) and Rob Bresnahan (right)

    Trump won’t be on the ballot this year, but Kird plans to take her frustration out on U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, the freshman Republican who won the Lehigh Valley seat by a single percentage point.

    Mackenzie and fellow freshman U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, a Republican who won his neighboring Northeastern Pennsylvania district by less than a point, are among the top targets for Democrats in November as the party hopes it can win back the House with a focus on affordability.

    In a statement Wednesday, Mackenzie blamed the Biden administration for high prices and described Trump as “a vital partner” in efforts to improve the cost of living.

    “We have made real progress,” he said, “reducing gas prices to their lowest level since COVID, keeping inflation below 3%, and delivering real tax relief for every American.”

    Bresnahan’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

    Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance barnstormed through the region last month, seeking to counteract Democrats’ affordability message, which Trump has bemoaned as a “hoax.”

    But recent moves by Mackenzie and Bresnahan show the two Republicans are giving the issue more weight and seeking to distance themselves from Trump on the high cost of living ahead of tough contests in November.

    Both were among the 17 Republicans who crossed the aisle this month to support a Democratic bill to restore recently expired healthcare subsidies in the wake of a national spike in insurance premiums.

    “The break with the president on healthcare wasn’t surprising. Both men are feeling the heat from constituents,” said Chris Borick, director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.

    Borick noted that Trump’s 2024 win in the state was due in large part to his gains with voters of color, younger voters, and independents. Those same voters could be crucial to determining how Pennsylvania votes in the next election.

    “But now they’re disappointed.”

    Trump is ‘fearless’ and ‘honest’

    There were warm feelings for Trump at the Coop, a popular diner in Coopersburg, a town just outside Allentown in Lehigh County.

    “Trump’s a confident and honest man who knows business, and made a lot of money. I so admire him. And we need him,” said Tiffany Osmun, 27, who works as a host at the restaurant.

    “He’s fearless, and not afraid of what he has to do,” Osmun said.

    She plans to vote for Mackenzie in November, she said, adding, “I won’t be voting for any Democrat in the midterms.”

    And if Trump ever popped up in another election, Osmun said, “I’d vote for him again.” In his Pennsylvania speech last month, Trump referenced running for a third term, despite constitutional barriers.

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    Other Trump voters, however, acknowledged frustrations with the first year of his second presidency — even if they are pleased with most of Trump’s policies.

    “I don’t like his personality,” said Bud Hackett, 72, a semiretired construction business owner who lives in Bethlehem.

    Hackett praised Trump’s moves to curtail immigration and shrink the size of the federal workforce, but he bristled at other actions.

    “I’d say over the last year, he’s done maybe 100 things, 70 of which will result in people’s lives being better off. The other 30 have to do with stuff like building a huge ballroom [after tearing down the East Wing of the White House] for his giant, weird ego that I can’t buy into.”

    Trump may have generated a few problems on the home front, conceded soft-drink merchandiser Bobby Remer, a 31-year-old resident of Palmerton in Carbon County. But the president more than compensates by reminding the world just how powerful the United States can be, he said.

    Remer supports the president’s attacks on boats allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela, as well as Trump’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

    “He’s done great militarily, throwing our swag around,” Remer said. “It’ll show China, which floods America with fentanyl to wipe out our military-aged men with addiction, that we have a hammer that we’ll use against any nation trying to destroy us.”

    But pocketbook issues could matter more in November to other voters — especially after Trump made attacking Democrats on inflation a major theme of his 2024 campaign.

    An October poll from Franklin and Marshall College asked voters in the Lehigh Valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania how they would compare their financial status with a year ago. Around 29% of Republicans said they were better off, while 34% said they were worse off, with 37% saying they were in the same position.

    Among voters listed as independents “or something else” (such as a third party), 14% said they were better off, 32% said they were worse off, and 55% said they remained the same. Nearly half of Democrats said they were worse off, with 9% saying things were better and 43% saying they were the same.

    “Things definitely got bad under Trump. He’s heading us toward dictatorship,” said Malinda Brodt, 65, a Democrat who lives in Saylorsburg in Monroe County, which had the biggest shift to Trump in the state in 2024.

    Several Trump voters who were interviewed heaped praise on the president for lowering prices — despite mixed results — and a few quoted Trump’s speech in Mount Pocono that referred to affordability as a hoax.

    “He’s gotten down the cost of living, that’s for sure,” said Carol Solt, 80, retired from working in a bait-and-tackle shop in Lehighton. “He keeps his promises.”

    While gas and egg prices have decreased in the last year, the cost of food overall rose 3.1% last month compared with December 2024. Increased prices for beef (1%), coffee (1.9%), and fruits and vegetables (0.5%) led the way, according to consumer price index data released earlier this month.

    Ultimately, Kird, the Lehighton voter, concluded before she entered her Giant supermarket that the good times the president assured Americans they would see have yet to materialize.

    “Life is just more expensive under Trump,” she said.

  • Washington Post seeks court order for government to return electronics seized from reporter’s home

    Washington Post seeks court order for government to return electronics seized from reporter’s home

    WASHINGTON — The Washington Post asked a federal court on Wednesday for an order requiring federal authorities to return electronic devices that they seized from a Post reporter’s Virginia home last week, accusing the government of trampling on the reporter’s free speech rights and legal safeguards for journalists.

    A magistrate judge in Alexandria, Va., temporarily barred the government from reviewing any material from the devices seized from Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s home. The judge also scheduled a Feb. 6 hearing on the newspaper’s request.

    Federal agents seized a phone, two laptops, a recorder, a portable hard drive, and a Garmin smart watch when they searched Natanson’s home last Wednesday, according to a court filing. The search was part of an investigation of a Pentagon contractor accused of illegally handling classified information.

    “The outrageous seizure of our reporter’s confidential newsgathering materials chills speech, cripples reporting, and inflicts irreparable harm every day the government keeps its hands on these materials,” the Post said in a statement.

    The seized material spanned years of Natanson’s reporting across hundreds of stories, including communications with confidential sources, the Post said. The newspaper asked the court in Virginia to order the immediate return of all seized materials and to bar the government from using any of it.

    “Anything less would license future newsroom raids and normalize censorship by search warrant,” the Post’s court filing says.

    The Pentagon contractor, Aurelio Luis Perez-Lugones, was arrested earlier this month on a charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents. A warrant said the search of Natanson’s home was related to the investigation of Perez-Lugones, the Post reported.

    Natanson has been covering Republican President Donald Trump’s transformation of the federal government, The Post recently published a piece in which she described gaining hundreds of new sources from the federal workforce, leading one colleague to call her “the federal government whisperer.”

    Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the search was done at the request of the Defense Department and that the journalist was “obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor.”

    Perez-Lugones, a U.S. Navy veteran who resides in Laurel, Md., has not been charged with sharing classified information or accused in court papers of leaking.

    The Justice Department has internal guidelines governing its response to news media leaks. In April, Bondi issued new guidelines restoring prosecutors’ authority to use subpoenas, court orders and search warrants to hunt for government officials who make “unauthorized disclosures” to journalists.

    The new guidelines rescinded a policy from Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration that protected journalists from having their phone records secretly seized during leak investigations.

    Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press president Bruce Brown said the unprecedented search of the reporter’s home, “imperils public interest reporting and will have ramifications far beyond this specific case.”

    “It is critical that the court blocks the government from searching through this material until it can address the profound threat to the First Amendment posed by the raid,” Brown said in a statement Wednesday.