St. Joseph coach Steve Donahue saw his team’s resilience tested in the Hawks’ 76-73 win over George Washington on Wednesday night.
“We talk about, ‘A to B,’ and that’s all good and all,” Donahue said. “But when you get punched in the face, you’re up 14 in the first half and down five in the second half, it really tests you.”
It’s true. St. Joe’s (15-8, 7-3 Atlantic 10) saw its double-digit first-half lead dwindle. However, the Hawks fought back to retake the lead — and extend their winning streak to four games — as George Washington (13-10, 4-6) went cold down the stretch.
Guard Jaiden Glover-Toscano led St. Joe’s with 23 points and guard Derek Simpson had 17 points and five assists. Guard Dasear Haskins added 14 points, shooting 49.1% from the field. They also got an assist from guard Austin Williford, who tacked on eight points, seven rebounds, and had a key steal at the end of the game.
More importantly, St. Joe’s limited George Washington’s offense, who averages 84.4 points per game, to shot 35.8% from the field.
What we saw
The opening minutes had the markings of a blowout written all over it.
The Hawks embarked on an 8-0 run that gave them a 19-10 lead, which they eventually turned into a 14-point advantage. Glover-Toscano made back-to-back three-pointers, while the the offense scored most of its points in the paint.
Then came a George Washington surge. Playing without leading scorer and rebounder Rafael Castro didn’t seem to matter to the Revolutionaries, as they cut their lead to 35-30 at halftime and eventually took a five-point edge in the second half.
St. Joe’s Dasear Haskins finished with 14 points against George Washington on Wednesday.
Then the old St. Joe’s returned.
Simpson found his rhythm and Glover-Toscano poured in points, which sparked a 15-3 run in the second. Momentum swung right back to St. Joe’s as Hagan Arena erupted, and the Hawks never let up.
“I feel like I had an A to B game today,” Glover-Toscano said. “First half, I was struggling. I was playing sloppy basketball early on, and then I kind of picked it up.”
Game-changing play
Despite pushing the lead to nine, George Washington still inched back in the waning moments. Suddenly, the Revolutionaries were in striking distance, trailing by one when Simpson missed a jumper and guard Jean Aranguren grabbed the rebound.
However, there was one problem — his foot was out of bounds.
St. Joe’s Khaafiq Myers passes the ball during the second half on Wednesday.
The Hawks got the ball back again. This time Simpson attempted a three-pointer and missed, but was fouled. He knocked down all three foul shots, pushing the lead to four with 20 seconds left, effectively ending the hope of a comeback.
Up next …
The Hawks visit George Mason (20-3, 8-2) at EagleBank Arena on Saturday(4 p.m., ESPN+).
After a few weeks of uncertainty, the Eagles can rest easy knowing that Vic Fangio isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
The 67-year-old defensive coordinator will return for his third season at the helm of the Eagles defense, NFL sources told The Inquirer. The final decision came after Fangio had contemplated retirement for the last few weeks, since before the end of the season.
PHLY reported on Feb. 2 that the organization “expected” Fangio back and the decision is now definitive.
This isn’t the first time that Fangio put the Eagles through a retirement scare. Last year, following the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX victory, Fangio also vacillated about his coaching future before deciding to return to the team for a second season.
Fangio’s decision to stay brings some stability to an Eagles coaching staff that is already in the process of undergoing change, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. Just hours before Fangio’s return became certain, Jeff Stoutland announced that he would be leaving his post as the Eagles offensive line coach after 13 years.
Last week, the Eagles named Sean Mannion their next offensive coordinator, signaling the potential for more changes to the offensive coaching staff in the coming weeks. The offense isn’t the only side experiencing turnover — Christian Parker, the former defensive backs coach, departed to take the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator job on Jan. 22.
In a span of two years, Fangio has helped the Eagles defense become one of the top units in the league. The group was at its best in 2024, when it conceded the fewest yards in the league and the second-fewest points on the way to a Super Bowl victory. The Eagles defense took a slight step back last season but was still the stronger side of the ball, finishing fifth in points against and 13th in yards against.
Staff writer Jeff McLane contributed to this report.
The race to fill Philadelphia’s open congressional seat is the marquee election in the city this year, but with less than four months left until primary election day, it has yet to attract much money from political action committees or donors outside the region.
Most of the campaign thus far has been funded by big checks from individual donors, and several of the top contenders to represent Pennsylvania’s 3rd Congressional District — the most Democratic in the nation — have raised most of their money from people who live in Pennsylvania.
That’s according to an Inquirer analysis of recently filed campaign finance reports that break down contributions to each candidate between October and December.
The filings, coupled with previous financial reports, provide a snapshot of who is contributing to each Democrat’s campaign heading into the election year, and how capable each contender is of powering their operations and advertising.
While money is not the only factor in a political campaign, fundraising prowess can be used as a predictor of viability, and it can persuade other donors to contribute. Ten candidates announced they are running for the seat held by retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, but it’s likely that not all of them will make it onto the May 19 primary election ballot.
However, the two physicians in the contest, Ala Stanford and David Oxman, have each dedicated six-figure loans to their own campaigns, and progressive State Rep. Chris Rabb is expected to draw donations from left-leaning groups.
Physician Ala Stanford (right) arrives at a forum hosted by the 9th Ward Democratic Committee Dec. 4, 2025. She is a Democratic candidate running to represent Philadelphia’s Third Congressional District.
Interest from outside Philly will also likely rise as the primary election draws near.
If national political figures weigh in on the race, they can lean on their vast networks of donors across the country to keep their preferred candidates’ campaigns afloat.
And deep-pocketed special-interest groups with their eyes on influencing Congress may seek to sway the race in its final months.
Not much PAC money — yet
Under decades-old campaign finance law, corporations cannot give directly to candidates for federal office. But their executives, board members, and employees can fund PACs that are used as vehicles to prop up their supported candidates.
As the role of money in politics has drawn scrutiny over the years, so has the reliance on so-called corporate PACs. That is especially true among some Democrats who see accepting money from them as a litmus test of their working-class bona fides.
Rabb has hammered the issue in public forums and debates. He says he has never accepted corporate PAC money since his first run for office in 2015, and has repeatedly called on the other contenders to refuse corporate PAC funding.
None of the candidates for the 3rd District has thus far leaned on corporate PAC money, according to the campaign finance reports.
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However, PACs associated with labor unions have gotten involved.
Street raised about $40,000 in the last period from PACs associated with labor groups. He is backed by the deep-pocketed Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, an umbrella organization of unions that endorsed him last fall.
In the past, the trades have also funded super PACs, outside spending groups that can raise unlimited amounts of money but must follow strict rules largely barring them from coordinating directly with the campaigns they support.
Ryan Boyer, head of the Philadelphia Building & Construction Trades Council, was one of the first to speak at Cherelle Parker’s election night party at the Sheet Metal Workers Local 19 on Nov. 7, 2023.
But no such super PAC has materialized so far, according to campaign finance reports. Rather, the bigger financial factor in this race — at least through the end of last year — was candidates lending money to their own campaigns. Stanford put up $250,000 on Dec. 31, the last day of the reporting period. And Oxman has lent his campaign $175,000.
Small vs. big-dollar donors
While the candidates relied largely on donations from individuals, the size of the checks they brought in varied. Under campaign finance limits, individuals can give up to $3,500 to a candidate per election.
The average contribution to State Rep. Morgan Cephas since she announced her campaign was $596 — about half of Street’s and Rabb’s average contributions. Individual donors gave the most to Stanford, on average, with the average contribution to her campaign totaling $1,737.
That analysis includes only donors who contributed more than $200 through the course of the year. Campaigns are required to itemize only contributions above that threshold.
State Rep. Chris Rabb at a forum hosted by the 9th Ward Democratic Committee Dec. 4, 2025. He is a Democratic candidate running to represent Philadelphia’s Third Congressional District.
Small donations, or contributions under $200, have made up a tiny fraction of the money brought in by the top contenders so far, according to the latest filings. About 11.5% of the money Rabb raised was from small-dollar donors. Such contributions made up less than 5% of all funding for Stanford, Oxman, and Street.
The one outlier was Pablo Iván McConnie-Saad, an ex-Treasury Department official under former President Joe Biden. His campaign has been somewhat low-profile so far; however, small-dollar contributions made up a quarter of his total of $119,000 raised.
His campaign said in a statement that the filings are evidence that his run is “entirely people powered.”
Stanford’s campaign manager, Janée Taft-Mack, noted that the pediatric surgeon has been campaigning for a shorter amount of time than several of her opponents. She announced her campaign in October, several months after Street and Rabb.
Taft-Mack added that the range of donors “underscores a coalition that crosses income levels, neighborhoods, and communities.”
Where the money came from
While every candidate vying for Evans’ seat has touted grassroots support, it appears that Cephas and Street raised the most money from donors who live in Philadelphia.
About half of the individual donors who gave more than $200 to Street and Cephas are city residents. Both candidates have also raised the most money from donors living in Pennsylvania.
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Street, who formerly led the state Democratic Party and has connections to donors across Pennsylvania, raised 81% of his individual contributions, or about $488,000, from in-state residents. For Cephas, the share was 78%,or about $162,000.
Anthony Campisi, a spokesperson for Street, said the latest finance report “highlights the entire point of our campaign.”
“Sharif is running to represent Philadelphians from across an incredibly diverse district,” he said, “and is building the coalition needed to both win and effectively serve in Congress.”
Cephas’ campaign manager, Salvatore Colleluori, said her fundraising within the city shows she has a “broad base of support, especially in Philadelphia.”
“She has been a champion for Philadelphia in the state House, and people know that,” he said. “They want to support that work.”
Rabb, a progressive who has support from left-leaning organizations and activists outside the region, had among the lowest share of contributions from Philly-based donors, according to The Inquirer’s analysis.
He said in a statement that when small-dollar donations are accounted for, he believes he will have “more Philly donations than any of the establishment candidates.”
Rabb said he will soon be rolling out endorsements from progressive organizations “that will significantly grow our donor base.”
Staff writer Sean Collins Walsh contributed to this article.
Penn State winger Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft, was charged with aggravated assault and related crimes Wednesday, after allegedly assaulting a 21-year-old man during an altercation in State College over the weekend, according to a statement released by the State College Police Department.
The arrest, first reported by Onward State, a Penn State student-run blog, stemmed from an incident hours after McKenna played in Penn State’s outdoor game against Michigan State at Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon. According to the local police department, at approximately 8:45 p.m. in the 100 block of South Pugh Street, he allegedly punched the male in the face twice, resulting in a fractured jaw and a lost tooth and requiring corrective surgery and his mouth being wired shut.
State College Police Department has released a statement regarding the arrest of Gavin McKenna. He was arraigned and released on bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/wAldz58Sb0
The felony, which is defined as “attempts to cause serious bodily injury or causes injury with extreme indifference,” carries a 20-year maximum sentence in Pennsylvania. The misdemeanor carries a maximum of two years, and fines are also attached to each of the four counts.
McKenna, a freshman at Penn State, was arraigned before District Judge Casey M. McClain and released on $20,000 unsecure bail. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing the morning of Feb. 11 at the Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Pa.
Penn State officials acknowledged the arrest on Wednesday evening, telling The Inquirer, “We are aware that charges have been filed; however, as this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not have any further comment.”
McKenna’s adviser, Pat Brisson, was not immediately available for comment.
Penn State forward Gavin McKenna was projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft.
Hours before the alleged assault on Saturday, McKenna scored a goal and added two assists in the No. 6 Nittany Lions’ 5-4 overtime loss to the No. 2 Spartans.
A native of Whitehorse, Yukon, McKenna is ranked No. 1 on the NHL’s 2026 Central Scouting list among North American skaters.
After a new rule was passed granting Canadian Hockey League players NCAA eligibility this season, McKenna left the CHL this summer to play college hockey. The freshman, who is one of the biggest recruits to ever play college hockey and one of the faces of the changing landscape of the sport, has 11 goals and 32 points in 24 games this season.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
At this time a year ago, as he celebrated his second Super Bowl title as the Eagles’ offensive line coach, Jeff Stoutland was being hailed as the greatest assistant coach in franchise history. His only real competition: Vic Fangio, whose arrival as coordinator the previous offseason saw the team turn its defense from its greatest weakness to its greatest strength.
Now, a year later, one considered going and the other now is gone.
Stoutland announced Wednesday evening on his Twitter/X feed that he had decided “My time coaching with the Eagles has come to an end.”
Philadelphia,
I’ve decided my time coaching with the Eagles has come to an end.
When I arrived here in 2013, I did not know what I was signing up for. I quickly learned what this city demands. But more importantly, what it gives back.
Meanwhile, after weeks of rumors and reports, there was still no definitive news regarding Fangio and his annual contemplation of retirement.
The Eagles and Fangio finally indicated that he will return as the DC. They did so a little more than an hour after this column published Wednesday evening, painting them as a team in disarray.
Granted, we haven’t yet reached Super Bowl Sunday, but teams that win a Super Bowl within a calendar year and then return to the playoffs usually remain more stable than the Eagles have been the past few weeks.
Vic Fangio will remain defensive coordinator moving forward, per NFL sources. After contemplating retirement, the 67-year old will return for his third season at the helm of the Eagles defense. pic.twitter.com/BJFK9bf6jd
The departure of Stoutland was a seismic development. Since arriving with Chip Kelly in 2013 from the college ranks, Stoutland has become a cult figure in NFL circles and a demigod in football-crazed Philadelphia. His demanding coaching style, dubbed “Stoutland University” by Jordan Mailata, a giant converted rugby player who was his most prized pupil, turned Mailata, Jason Kelce, and Lane Johnson into Hall of Fame candidates and helped several other linemen perform beyond expectation.
However, the offensive line in 2025 struggled. There was a cascade of injuries, but as the season collapsed, whispers regarding Stoutland’s effectiveness began to circulate.
He’d also been passed over. Stoutland was not considered a viable candidate to replace offensive coordinator Kellen Moore last year when Moore became the head coach in New Orleans, nor was he considered a viable candidate to replace recently demoted OC Kevin Patullo.
Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will return next season, ending talks of retirement.
During the season, Stoutland, who had been serving as running game coordinator, was stripped of those responsibilities by head coach Nick Sirianni.
After the Eagles hired Sean Mannion as OC last week, all offensive assistants were put on notice that Mannion might alter the staff. Quarterbacks coach Scot Loeffler was expected to be the first casualty.
Instead, Stout was out.
Stoutland is 63, and is contemplating both retirement and remaining with the Eagles in an advisory position, although, given his strong personality and his 13-year tenure, his shadow likely would be too much of a distraction. His status will remain in limbo for the time being.
I heard 2½ weeks ago that Fangio, 67, was contemplating retirement, and that it might hinge on a reunion with offensive coordinator candidate Mike McDaniel, under whom Fangio worked as defensive coordinator in Miami in 2023. I couldn’t get it confirmed in the Eagles building, so I didn’t write it, and then PhillyVoice.com broke the story over the weekend.
The most intriguing parts of that story concerned the news that not only was Fangio so close to retirement that the Eagles alerted possible candidates, but also that one of those possible candidates was former Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, who was generally despised by Eagles fans when he left for the Cardinals’ head coaching job.
At any rate, my league sources said Fangio decided to not retire last week, which was one reason Gannon went ahead and took the DC job in Green Bay. Then, on Monday, The Inquirer reported that Fangio was still dithering … but the next day, @PHLY_sports reported that Fangio was expected to stay. Which was true. By Wednesday night, anyway.
While Vic Fangio did seriously entertain retiring as recently as last week, my understanding that is no longer the case and that the #Eagles are confident in his return at this point after much persuasion.
He's expected to be back as defensive coordinator next season.
As prime candidates to replace Fangio keep getting hired by other teams, Fangio was holding the Eagles hostage.
Just one more chapter in the story of a very strange workplace.
The team, with its high-maintenance players, its impulsive head coach, and its eclectic collection of front-office characters, often gets frustrated by the way it is covered.
This is the sort of behavior that casts the organization as dysfunctional.
Vic Fangio’s Eagles defense has been dominant for two seasons.
Sirianni taunts fans, including his own. Diva wide receiver A.J. Brown complains about the offense for three seasons, reads books on the sideline, calls the offense a “[bleep] show” online, and has to be reprimanded by owner Jeffrey Lurie. Defensive tackle Jalen Carter spits on Dak Prescott before the first snap of the season and somehow gets himself ejected and suspended from the same game.
Fangio likes to golf and fish and watch the Phillies, but as a defensive coordinator, he gets to do that just one month per year.
There were plenty of reasons besides age that Fangio might’ve wanted to step away.
First, while the Eagles win, the NovaCare Complex isn’t exactly an easy place to be. Howie Roseman operates with more autonomy than most other GMs, who are more beholden to their coaching staff, especially their coordinators. Additionally, the best defenders will soon be receiving lucrative extensions, which could change the dynamic in the building. It might be a lot more pleasant coaching young, hungry talent like Jordan Davis, Quinyon Mitchell, Nolan Smith, and Cooper DeJean than coaching those same guys minus the financial incentive.
Fangio has won a title. He has made millions. Maybe, as he ages, he doesn’t want to babysit a well-paid, overweight, under-motivated Jalen Carter.
The way things go at the NovaCare facility, I can’t say that I‘d blame him.
Singer LaMonte McLemore, a founding member of vocal group The 5th Dimension, whose smooth pop and soul sounds with a touch of psychedelia brought them big hits in the 1960s and ’70s, has died. He was 90.
Mr. McLemore died Tuesday at his home in Las Vegas surrounded by family, his representative Jeremy Westby said in a statement. He died of natural causes after having a stroke.
The 5th Dimension had broad crossover success and won six Grammy Awards including record of the year twice, for 1967’s “Up, Up and Away” and 1969’s “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.” Both were also top 10 pop hits, with the latter, a mashup of songs from the musical Hair, spending six weeks at No. 1.
Mr. McLemore had a parallel career as a sports and celebrity photographer whose pictures appeared in magazines including Jet.
Born in St. Louis, Mr. McLemore served in the Navy, where he worked as an aerial photographer. He played baseball in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ farm system and settled in Southern California, where he began making use of his warm bass voice and skill with a camera.
He sang in a jazz ensemble, the Hi-Fi’s, with future 5th Dimension bandmate Marilyn McCoo. The group opened for Ray Charles in 1963 but broke up the following year.
Mr. McLemore, McCoo, and two of his childhood friends from St. Louis, Billy Davis Jr., and Ronald Towson, later formed a singing group called the Versatiles. They also recruited Florence LaRue, a schoolteacher Mr. McLemore met through his photography, to join them. In 1965 they signed to singer Johnny Rivers’ new label, Soul City Records, and changed their name to The 5th Dimension to better represent the cultural moment.
Their breakthrough hit came in 1967 with the Mamas & the Papas’ song “Go Where You Wanna Go.”
That same year they released the Jimmy Webb-penned “Up, Up and Away,” which would go to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and win four Grammys: record of the year, best contemporary single, best performance by a vocal group and best contemporary group performance.
In 1968 they had hits with a pair of Laura Nyro songs, “Stoned Soul Picnic” and “Sweet Blindness.”
The peak of their commercial success came in 1969 with “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” which along with its long run at No. 1 won Grammys for record of the year and best contemporary vocal performance by a group.
That same year they played the Harlem Cultural Festival, which has become known as the “Black Woodstock.” The festival, and The 5th Dimension’s part in it, were chronicled in the 2021 documentary from Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Summer of Soul.
The 5th Dimension also had a rare level of success with white audiences for a group whose members were all Black. The phenomenon came with criticism.
“We were constantly being attacked because we weren’t, quote, unquote, ‘Black enough,’” McCoo said in Summer of Soul. “Sometimes we were called the Black group with the white sound, and we didn’t like that. We happened to be artists who are Black, and our voices sound the way they sound.”
The group had hits into the 1970s including “One Less Bell to Answer,” “I Didn’t Get to Sleep at All,” and “If I Could Reach You.”
They became regulars on TV variety shows and performed at the White House and on an international cultural tour organized by the State Department.
The original lineup lasted until 1975, when McCoo and Davis left to make their own music.
“All of us who knew and loved him will definitely miss his energy and wonderful sense of humor,” McCoo and Davis, who married in 1969, said in a statement.
LaRue said in her own statement that Mr. McLemore’s “cheerfulness and laughter often brought strength and refreshment to me in difficult times. We were more like brother and sister than singing partners.”
Mr. McLemore is survived by his wife of 30 years, Mieko McLemore, daughter Ciara, son Darin, sister Joan, and three grandchildren.
A Democratic campaign manager was charged Monday in Chester County with filing fraudulent nomination petitions in the 2024 primary for auditor general, including the forged signature of a Chester County judge, authorities said.
Mariel Kornblith-Martin, 40, of Philadelphia, is accused of filing the false nomination petitions when serving as campaign manager for Mark Pinsley, the Lehigh County controller, as he sought to secure a place on the competitive Democratic primary ballot.
Petitions for Pinsley’s campaign included the names of people who said they had not signed them, including Chester County Judge Alita Rovito, Coatesville City Council members Carmen Green and Khadija Al-Amin, and West Goshen Township Supervisor Nate Wolman, The Inquirer reported.
Rovito reported the forgery to the Chester County District Attorney’s Office at the time, saying the signature was not hers and she did not sign nominating petitions for any candidate, “as to do so would be a violation of judicial ethics,” according to charging documents.
Rovito, a Democrat, told The Inquirer at the time that “the use of my name and signature is concerning to me due [to] the potential implications on my role as a member of the independent judiciary.”
Alita Rovito, a Chester County judge, poses for a portrait in West Chester, Pa. in 2020.
In the criminal complaint filed against Kornblith-Martin, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office alleges that she gave three college students “stacks of pages containing signatures of supporters” and asked them to sign the required sworn declaration at the bottom of each page. Among the charges filed against Kornblith-Martin was solicitation to false swearing.
Prosecutors say she paid the students, who are not named in the charging documents, $50 on at least three occasions to sign the petitions.
“That’s disgraceful,” former U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, the chair of the Philadelphia Democratic Party, said of the charges against Kornblith-Martin. “She’s not one of our favorites.”
The three college students were all working part-time on several campaigns run by Kornblith-Martin, according to the complaint.
The students were previously identified by The Inquirer as paid volunteers attending Temple University.
Kornblith-Martin described herself to investigators as a “political operative” in Philadelphia with 13 years of experience who had worked on 16 campaigns, according to the criminal complaint. She previously served in Philadelphia’s 39th Democratic Ward, but resigned last year, according to its ward leader, Traffic Court Judge Michael Sullivan.
Kornblith-Martin did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday or Thursday.
She turned herself in on Wednesday and has been released on bail, which was set at $50,000.
Kornblith-Martin said in 2024 that the campaign was conducting an “internal investigation” when asked about the alleged fraudulent signatures.
Pinsley told The Inquirer on Wednesday evening his campaign “reviewed what was brought to our attention but did not have enough verified information to reach independent conclusions” when concerns were raised.
“Petition drives can involve invalid or questionable signatures for many reasons, and we were not in a position to determine intent,” he added in a text message. “I was not personally involved in the signature collection, and I believe the legal process is the appropriate place for the facts to be established. If anyone knowingly falsified signatures, that would be wrong and should carry consequences.”
Pinsley said he has “not been involved” with Kornblith-Martin since his auditor general campaign and does “not know the facts of this situation.” Pinsley is now running in the crowded Democratic primary to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie in the Lehigh Valley.
Pinsley’s campaign was not the only one with signatures that came under scrutiny.
King, an entrepreneur who still has political aspirations, told The Inquirer the incident had disillusioned him about the two-party system and inspired him to reapply to law school.
“When ballot access becomes a game of shortcuts and challenges, democracy loses before voters ever enter the booth,” he said.
The February 2024 revelation that Pinsley’s campaign may have submitted fraudulent petitions shook up the race for a little-known office responsible for conducting audits to ensure that state money is spent properly.
Pinsley failed to secure the Democratic nomination over State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who ultimately lost to incumbent Republican Auditor General Tim DeFoor as the GOP swept the state’s row officesin the general election.
Kenyatta did not formally challenge Pinsley’s nominating petitions to remove him from the ballot during the primary. Reached Wednesday, Kenyatta said in a statement: “Fraud occurring within any stage of our electoral process is a direct assault on our democracy.”
“The charges brought today are a first step in the legal process but accountability must not end here: the buck always stops with the candidate,” added Kenyatta, the vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.
Investigators found at least nine pages of alleged forgeries of Chester County voters, according to the complaint.
To get on the ballot in Pennsylvania for a statewide row office like auditor general, a candidate must submit 1,000 signatures, including at least 100 from at least five counties.
A 25-year-old man was pronounced dead after he was pulled from a burning house in a fire that was intentionally set early Wednesday in the city’s Kingsessing, authorities said.
The Philadelphia Fire Department responded just before 1:45 a.m. to a report of a fire in a two-story rowhouse on the 5400 block of Regent Street, authorities said
Firefighters battled the fire on the second floor and attempted to rescue a man from the back bedroom. He was transported by medics to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:29 a.m.
The fire was placed under control at 2:01 a.m. and no other injuries were reported.
“The Fire Marshal’s Office did determine this fire was incendiary, meaning it was set intentionally,” said Rachel Cunningham, spokesperson for the fire department.
KYIV, Ukraine — Envoys from Moscow and Kyiv met in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday for another round of U.S.-brokered talks on ending the almost four-year war, as a Russian attack using cluster munitions killed seven people at a market in Ukraine.
The delegations from Moscow and Kyiv were joined in the capital of the United Arab Emirates by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council chief who attended the meeting.
“The discussions were substantive and productive, focusing on concrete steps and practical solutions,” Umerov said on social media as the first of two days of talks wrapped up.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that a breakthrough in the talks may not come for a while but the Trump administration has made great progress on negotiations over the past year.
“That’s the good news,” Rubio told reporters Wednesday. “The bad news is that the items that remain are the most difficult ones. And meanwhile the war continues.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov wouldn’t offer any details on the talks and said that Moscow wasn’t planning to comment on their results.
He said that “the doors for a peaceful settlement are open,” but that Moscow will proceed with its military campaign until Kyiv meets its demands.
The current talks also coincide with the expiry of the last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States on Thursday. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could extend the terms of the treaty or renegotiate its conditions in an effort to prevent a new nuclear arms race.
Energy networks targeted
The Abu Dhabi talks were held as Ukrainians were outraged over major Russian attacks on their energy system, which have occurred each winter since Russia launched its all-out invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022.
A huge Russian bombardment overnight from Monday to Tuesday included hundreds of drones and a record 32 ballistic missiles, wounding at least 10 people. This came despite Ukraine’s understanding that Putin had told Trump that he would temporarily halt strikes on Ukraine’s power grid.
Ukrainian civilians are struggling with one of the coldest winters in years, which saw temperatures dip to around minus-4 degrees Fahrenheit.
About 60 foreign ambassadors took part in an organized visit Wednesday to a Kyiv thermal power plant that was almost completely destroyed by missiles and drones in the Monday night attack. The plant provided heating to about 500,000 people.
Russia is hitting Ukraine’s energy facilities because its armed forces believe the targets are associated with Kyiv’s military effort, Peskov said.
There has been a lack of clarity about how long Putin had promised to observe a pause on power grid attacks.
Trump said Tuesday at the White House that Putin had agreed to halt strikes for a week, through Feb. 1, and that the Russian leader had kept his word. But Zelensky said Tuesday that “barely four days have passed of the week Russia was asked to hold off,” before Ukraine was hit with new attacks, suggesting that the Ukrainian leader wasn’t fully aware of the terms of the Trump-Putin agreement.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump was “unfortunately unsurprised” by Moscow’s resumption of attacks.
On Wednesday, more than 200 repair crews were at work in Kyiv to restore power, according to the Ukrainian Energy Ministry, which said that staff were exhausted and would be rotated. More than 1,100 apartment buildings in the capital were still without heating, Zelensky said.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said that the developments were part of Moscow’s negotiating strategy.
“The Kremlin will likely attempt to portray its adherence to this short-term energy strikes moratorium as a significant concession to gain leverage in the upcoming peace talks, even though the Kremlin used these few days to stockpile missiles for a larger strike package,” it said late Tuesday.
New attacks
Russia used cluster munitions Wednesday in an attack on a busy market in eastern Ukraine that killed seven and wounded 15 others, officials said.
The attack on the town of Druzhkivka darkened prospects for progress in the UAE, with Donetsk regional military administration chief Vadym Filashkin describing Russian talk of a ceasefire as “worthless.”
Russia also launched 105 drones against Ukraine overnight, and air defenses shot down 88 of them, the Ukrainian air force said Wednesday. Strikes by 17 drones were recorded at 14 locations, as well as falling debris at five sites, it said.
In the central Dnipropetrovsk region, a Russian strike on a residential area killed a 68-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man, regional military administration head Oleksandr Hancha said.
The southern city of Odesa also came under a large-scale attack, regional military administration head Oleh Kiper said. About 20 residential buildings were damaged, with four people rescued from under the rubble, he said.
After 13 seasons, Jeff Stoutland, the longest-tenured Eagles coach, will no longer be the team’s offensive line coach as the offensive coaching staff continues its overhaul.
Stoutland, who has been on the staff since 2013 and worked under head coaches Chip Kelly, Doug Pederson, and Nick Sirianni, announced his departure from coaching in a social media post Wednesday night.
Philadelphia,
I’ve decided my time coaching with the Eagles has come to an end.
When I arrived here in 2013, I did not know what I was signing up for. I quickly learned what this city demands. But more importantly, what it gives back.
“I’ve decided my time coaching with the Eagles has come to an end,“ Stoutland wrote. ”When I arrived here in 2013, I did not know what I was signing up for. I quickly learned what this city demands. But more importantly, what it gives back.”
The Eagles wanted Stoutland back, a source said, but Stoutland chose to step away from coaching. He may still be around the team in an unofficial capacity.
Stoutland, who turns 64 next week, was also the team’s run game coordinator, but his influence over the running game lessened during the season when the Eagles shifted their game planning and play-calling to offset the early struggles on the ground, The Inquirer reported last week.
Stoutland has been a coach for more than 40 years and has been widely regarded as one of the best offensive line coaches in the league for some time. His influence on the team’s offensive front was critical in its two Super Bowl victories. The success stories under his tutelage have been numerous. He helped turn Jordan Mailata from a rugby player into an All-Pro, oversaw two of the best offensive tackles in recent history, Jason Peters and Lane Johnson, and just a season ago helped Mekhi Becton turn his career around.
Stoutland has also been key in the Eagles’ success using their signature Tush Push, though, like the running game this season, that aspect of the offense took a step back.
“Stout’s influence throughout football is immense, having helped countless players reach their true potential, including many who went on to earn All-Pro honors and some who developed into future Hall of Fame talents,” the Eagles said in a statement. “His passion for the development of young players set the bar not only for our organization but for the entire National Football League.
“It is hard to fathom another coach investing more personally and professionally in their players than Jeff Stoutland.”
The Eagles had 10 first-team All-Pro selections under Stoutland, whose offensive line teaching earned the nickname “Stoutland University” during his time with the team. Jason Kelce (six) and Johnson (two) made up eight of the All-Pro honors, and Peters and Evan Mathis each were selected once during Stoutland’s tenure.
Jason Kelce embraces Jeff Stoutland after Kelce announced his retirement at the Novacare Complex on March 4, 2024.
“There is absolutely no one I credit more with the career I had than Jeff Stoutland,” Kelce wrote on social media. “The consistent passion and his eagerness to teach pushed my teammates, me, and our room to amazing success. More importantly, we became incredibly close as people. It was more than just coaching and teaching, it was his presence and sense of urgency that was unaccepting of mediocrity and potential left behind.
“He will undoubtedly be missed inside the building, and everyone that played for him. I am incredible grateful to have played for Stout, 1 of 1 coach and person. I love you coach.”
Stoutland, in his statement, said the past 13 years “have been the great privilege of my coaching career. I didn’t just work here, I became one of you.
