Sixers fans have had a lot to celebrate over the last few weeks, whether it was Tyrese Maxey’s second All-Star nod, VJ Edgecombe’s Rising Star selection, or their backcourt duo gracing the cover of SLAM magazine.
“It’s a beautiful thing,” said 32-year-old Ruben Rivera. “There [are] good things to look forward to as a Sixers fan.”
However, that all changed on Saturday morning when the team suffered a significant blow. The NBA announced that nine-time All-Star Paul George would be suspended 25 games without pay for violating the NBA and National Basketball Players Association anti-drug program.
“So, somebody sent me a meme,” said 40-year-old West Philly native Hoag Davis. “And I thought it was a joke. That’s crazy to me. It was right when I thought the Sixers were about to get it together.”
Earlier this month, Paul George (right, with ball) and Sixers center Joel Embiid (left) combined to score 61 points in a win over the Bucks.
But for other fans, including Robert Phillips, 23, and Xavien Phillips, 20, this felt like a common Philly occurrence.
“That’s the Sixers for you,” Robert said. “We pick up a little traction and we’re doing our thing and something always bad happens to us. We have some sort of bad luck. But, we’re going to pursue through it. That’s how we is. Maxey’s hooping. Embiid’s hooping. The whole team is hooping. So, we should be good.”
That was a common feeling for Philly sports fans who made their way to the Xfinity Mobile Arena to catch Saturday’s game against the Pelicans, especially with George coming off a big game less than a week ago which saw him finish the night with 32 points.
“I mean, it felt like man just one more thing, just as the team’s getting healthy, just as they’re starting to roll,” said 36-year-old Ishmael Amir. “You have Paul George have a big game the other day. So, your hopes are getting high and then you get this news out of the blue. But you get over it. We’ve got the young talent. We’ve got Maxey, who’s an All-Star. We’ve got VJ [Edgecombe]. We’ve got Embiid looking healthy. It’s only 25 games. It gives PG enough time to rest to get fully healthy for a postseason run, so it’s unfortunate, but we’re gonna be back.”
Paul George shared a statement following his 25-game suspension for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Program. (via @ShamsCharania) pic.twitter.com/oCHWa0VDhy
George sat out of Saturday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, with the Sixers heading into the game with the Eastern Conference’s sixth-best record. Although Amir believes the 25 games gives George enough time to heal, others believes it’s enough time to negatively impact the season.
“I think it will impact the season from maybe a three-seed to a six-seed,” Rivera said. “It will hurt. There’s no denying. But, we got to be optimistic. If Embiid keeps balling, we’re going to be alright. We still got Maxey. We got to be optimistic.”
Heading into Saturday’s game George was averaging 16 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 27 games. The forward won’t be eligible to play until March 25 in the Sixers game against the Chicago Bulls at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
A deep bench has been crucial as Villanova maintains its hold on second place in the Big East.
Just look at Saturday’s 69-56 win over DePaul at Finneran Pavilion.
Senior guard Ryanne Allen accounted for 17 points for the Wildcats (16-5, 9-3 Big East) and was their second-leading scorer behind sophomore guard Jasmine Bascoe (27 points).
The 6-foot-1 Perkasie native aims to bring a spark and is averaging 9.0 points and 2.3 rebounds, mostly off the bench.
“Our bench has been tremendous,” said Villanova coach Denise Dillon said. “I think any of them are capable of being in that starting lineup, with Ryanne, Dani [Ceseretti], and Brooke Bender. They generate a lot of offense for us. It’s so nice to have that spark coming off the bench.”
Bringing a ‘spark’
Allen’s specialty has been her consistent shooting from beyond the arc, where she’s averaging 48.7% this season. Against DePaul, she shot 5-for-6 from the field, including 3-for-4 in three-pointers.
Allen led the Wildcats to a strong finish against the Blue Demons (5-18, 2-10), contributing a three-pointer and a layup on consecutive possessions in Villanova’s 7-0 run in the final two minutes of action. She also led Villanova with seven rebounds, as it edged DePaul, 38-34, on the boards.
Dani Ceseretti shoots over DePaul’s Michelle Ojo during the first quarter at the Finneran Pavilion on Saturday.
“The big challenge today [against DePaul] was rebounding,” Dillon said. “It’s been a challenge for us as a team. So we crowned a rebounding leader today, and Ryanne was awarded the crown today. I think we’ve got to compete against each other. If we’re doing that, then we’re getting better.”
Although she has only started one game this season, Allen’s experience and sharp shooting have made her a crucial part of the rotation.
“When I come in, I just want to make an immediate impact and bring energy to those who have already been out there,” said Allen, who’s in her second season at Villanova after spending the first half of her college career at Vanderbilt. “Being on the bench, you’re able to see things, see what’s happening out there. So I want to bring that energy and see what I can do to help the team in any way.”
Allen is embracing the opportunity to finish her college basketball career not far from where it started, at Archbishop Wood.
“That’s one of the reasons I came back here, to be able to have my family here, especially to be able to see my siblings, my parents, grandparents, and aunts show out for me every game,” Allen said.
Every game will be crucial in the final stretch of conference play before the Big East tournament. Allen hopes that the energy she brings to the court will reverberate around the rest of the team.
The Wildcats next travel to Indianapolis for a matchup with Butler on Wednesday (7 p.m., ESPN+).
“In February, you’ve already played every [Big East opponent], so everyone knows what you can do, and they see your strengths and your weaknesses,” Allen said. “So it’s important to be able to find different ways to win, continue to put our foot in the gas and push forward when everyone’s trying to get as many wins as possible.”
Every day, sometimes several times a day, the 7-year-old girl wants to talk about the mother she lost in the Northeast Philadelphia plane crash.
“She’s missing her all the time and she’ll ask me, `Do you think I look like my mom? Do you think I dress like my mom? Do you see my bag? This is my mom’s bag,’” said 35-year-old Shantell Fletcher, the girl’s godmother.
It has been a year since a medical jet crashed on Cottman Avenue near the Roosevelt Mall, killing all six people onboard. The explosion cast a plume of plane shrapnel and fire over the neighborhood. At least 16 homes were severely damaged and about two dozen people were injured that night.
The girl’s mother, Dominique Goods Burke, and her fiance, Steven Dreuitt Jr., along with Dreuitt’s 10-year-old son, Ramesses Dreuitt Vazquez, were driving on Cottman Avenue on Jan. 31, 2025, just after 6 p.m. when the plane slammed into the ground at more than 278 mph, within feet of their car.
Flames instantly engulfed the vehicle. Dreuitt, 37, trapped in the car with his legs crushed beneath the steering wheel, died at the scene, but Goods Burke and Ramesses escaped with severe burns.
A floral photo of Dominique Goods Burke is carried out after the funeral service as family, friends and community members gather outside at Tindley Temple UM Church in Philadelphia, Pa., on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Dominique passed away at Jefferson hospital on April 27 due to the critical burns from the Roosevelt Mall Learjet crash along Cottman Avenue.
Goods Burke, 34, died of her injuries in April at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, leaving behind her daughter and her 16-year-old son, Dominick Goods. (The family asked The Inquirer to withhold her daughter’s name to protect her privacy.)
On Saturday evening, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and other city officials planned to place a wreath at the crash site. About 100 people gathered inside Engine 71 Fire Station on Cottman, the station closest to the crash site.
The plane’s impact had left a bomb-like crater in a driveway apron between a Raising Cane’s restaurant and a Dunkin’ Donuts. The 8-foot-deep hole has since been filled in and paved over, but the loss and devastation are irreparable.
“I don’t know how we made it through a year. It feels fresh, raw. Sometimes it’s hard to breathe,” said Fletcher, who was Goods Burke’s first cousin and best friend. “Losing her, I’ve felt alone and empty. I miss laughing with her. I miss joking with her. I miss celebrating life with her.”
Fletcher is helping to raise Goods Burke’s daughter and her son, Dominick, an 11th grader at Imhotep Institute Charter High School in East Germantown. Dominick’s father was Dreuitt, so he lost both parents.
“My godson doesn’t have his mother or his father. My goddaughter doesn’t have her mamma,” Fletcher said. “Other than them coming back, nothing could ever give us a reprieve from the pain.”
Ramesses Dreuitt Vazquez, 10, spent months in a Boston hospital recovering from burns to more than 90% of his body when the car he was riding in caught fire in the Jan. 31, 2025 plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia.
“I have my moments of still struggling. It’s been really tough,” said Dreuitt’s 61-year-old mother, Alberta “Amira” Brown, whose grandchildren are Ramesses and Dominick. “The life that we once had, we can never get it back.”
An irreplaceable booming voice
Dreuitt worked as a kitchen manager and team leader at the Philadelphia Catering Co. in South Philadelphia for more than seven years. Co-owner Tim Kelly said it was Dreuitt’s job to call staffers to lunch, which the company served to its 45 employees each day at noon.
“Steve would always call lunch, which basically was him just yelling, ‘LUNCH,’ three times loudly,” Kelly said. “His deep booming voice. Many of the guys here have tried to replicate it, but to no avail.”
“Time does help. It softens the blow,” Kelly said. “It was very difficult for a long time for a lot of us, but we’re at the point where we can remember him with a little less sadness and we can smile a bit.”
Goods Burke, whom loved ones affectionately called “Pooda” and colleagues called “Dom,” worked at High Point Cafe as a day bakery manager for years.
Cafe founder Meg Hagele said the staff treats her former work space, dubbed “Dom’s table,” with a shrine-like reverence. Seeing Goods Burke’s handwriting on recipes, scribbles in margins, stirs memories of her vibrancy and creativity.
“She’s very present with us still,” Hagele said. “This accident was just a shock to the entire city, but to be touched so personally by it is just freakish and profound.”
NTSB investigation continues
The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the crash’s cause. The plane — a medical transport Learjet 55 owned by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, headquartered in Mexico City — had taken off at 6:07 p.m. from Northeast Philadelphia Airport. It climbed to 1,640 feet before nosediving just three miles away around 6:08 p.m.
NTSB investigators recovered the cockpit voice recorder at the scene, but after repairing it and playing it back, they found the device “had likely not been recording audio for several years,” according to a preliminary report released in March.
Brown, of Mount Airy, said she got a letter from the NTSB a few weeks ago saying investigators were making progress.
“That’s hope right there,” Brown said in a recent interview. ”It will help to know exactly what happened to make that plane come down. Does it change anything? No.”
Alberta “Amira” Brown remembers her son, Steven Dreuitt Jr., who died in the Jan. 31, 2025, plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia. In November, Brown attended a memorial service at Oxford Presbyterian Church in North Philadelphia.
The cremated remains of the six Mexican nationals who died aboard the plane were returned to loved ones in Mexico City last spring. Among the passengers were 11-year-old Valentina Guzmán Murillo and her 31-year-old mother, Lizeth Murillo Osuna. They were returning home after Valentinahad spent four months undergoing treatment for a spinal condition at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia.
Also killed were the pilot, Alan Montoya Perales, 46; his copilot, Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez, 43; a Jet Rescue doctor, Raul Meza Arredonda, 41; and paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla, 41.
Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Jeffrey Thompson (from left) Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, and Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel ring a ceremonial bell at the one-year anniversary memorial observance of the Northeast Philly plane crash Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, at Engine 71 Fire Station on Cottman Avenue in Philadelphia.
In the moments after the crash, hundreds of firefighters and rescue workers swarmed the area to put out homes and cars on fire from the jet fuel or burning pieces of aircraft that struck them.
Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Jeffrey Thompson, a 36-year veteran of the city’s fire department, said the plane crash “was without a doubt the biggest thing that I’ve ever responded to.”
In an interview on Thursday, Thompson recalled rushing to the scene from his Fishtown home, filled with dread and adrenaline.
“I remember it was dark. It was cold, and it was raining — it was like something out of a disaster movie,” Thompson said. “As I got closer, I could just see a sea of lights.”
He arrived to find multiple homes and cars on fire. Pools of jet fuel everywhere. And so many pieces of debris that he initially had no idea of the plane’s size. He said he and other first responders will never forget seeing body parts strewn among the wreckage.
“This still affects all of us. Just to see that is so unnatural,” Thompson said. “And the work that they did that night — that’s indelibly etched in their memories.”
More than 150 firefighters scoured “blocks and blocks” of homes, entering each one and every room, to make sure everyone was accounted for. He said he is amazed how multiple agencies worked together to bring “order to chaos.”
“That just gives me goose bumps,” Thompson said. He added, “This is actually therapeutic — me talking to you has been therapeutic because there was a lot there that night and I don’t often talk about this.”
Miracles, luck, and skill
As tragic as that night was, Thompson said, there was some miraculousness, including the fact that the plane struck a patch of empty pavement between two busy restaurants.
“Sometimes in this life, there’s luck,” Thompson said. “It was rush hour. You had a shopping mall and a densely populated neighborhood. It could have been infinitely worse.”
Lashawn ‘Lala’ Hamiel, Andre “Tre” Howard III, and his family cheer on the Eagles during Super Bowl LIX.
Andre Howard Jr. had just picked up his three kids — then ages 4,7, and 10 — from aftercare at Soans Christian Academy. They headed to Dunkin’ for strawberry doughnuts. As they were leaving the parking lot in Howard’s car, the plane exploded a few feet away. A plane part crashed through the car’s window. Howard’s 10-year-old son, Andre “Tre” Howard III, used his body to shield his 4-year-old sister and a piece of metal struck his head.
Tareq Yaseen, a neurosurgeon at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, was having dinner with his family, including his kids, ages 10 and 6, at Dave & Buster’s at Franklin Mall when he rushed back to the hospital to perform emergency surgery on Tre.
The boy had two gashes in the right side of his head, and his skull had been shattered into more than 20 pieces, Yaseen recalled.
“My son is the exact age as Tre, which made things very personal and emotional to me,” Yaseen said. “He’s gonna die. He was basically losing consciousness and going in a bad direction.”
“I felt for a moment that I would not be able to help him,” Yaseen said. “I was very scared that I’m gonna fail. There’s too much on the line and it’s a little boy.”
Yaseen said he worked fast to relieve the pressure on Tre’s brain and remove bits of broken skull. The surgery was a success. More than 60 relatives and friends in the hospital waiting room hugged and thanked him, Yaseen recalled.
“It’s a moment that would happen in the movies,” Yaseen said. “I was very lucky to take part in saving his life.”
Tre was transferred to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he made a near-full recovery. He celebrated his 11th birthday in December.
“With time, he’ll grow up and forget about it. God gave us a gift to forget, which is great,” Yaseen said. “But I will never forget.”
Jefferson neurosurgeon Tareq Yaseen poses for a photo with Andre “Tre” Howard III and his mother, Lashawn “Lala” Hamiel at Jefferson Torresdale Hospital.
A memorial
At the memorial Saturday, Mayor Parker read aloud the names of all eight who perished that night.
“To all the families who continue to carry this grief everyday, that until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes, you can’t begin to understand what it’s like,” Parker said. “It is important for us to affirm that they know that Philadelphia stands with you today and we will always.”
She asked the victims’ family members in attendance to stand and be recognized, including Brown, her grandson, Dominick, and Lisa Goods, the aunt of Goods Burke.
The mayor said she plans to keep close tabs on Dominick.
“Now he knows he belongs to me — don’t try to take him from me,” Parker said as she looked at Dominick seated in the front row.
Parker also recognized first responders for their “extraordinary bravery and selflessness.”
“In a moment of unimaginable tragedy, you all ran towards danger to protect others.”
Alberta “Amira” Brown (center), the grandmother of 10-year-old Ramesses Dreuitt Vazquez, who was severely burned after a plane crashed into his North Philadelphia neighborhood last year at the one year anniversary memorial observance of the Northeast Philly plane crash Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, at Engine 71 Fire Station on Cottman Ave., in Philadelphia
St. Joseph’s picked up its sixth win in its last seven games following a 67-58 final on the road against La Salle on Saturday.
The Hawks (14-8, 6-3 Atlantic 10) shot 14 of 32 in three-pointers, while La Salle (7-14, 3-6) made 3 of 19 three-point attempts.
The Hawks were led by sophomore guard Dasear Haskins, who finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Alongside Haskins, Hawks sophomore guard Jaiden Glover-Toscano added 16 points.
After a disappointing nonconference slate, the Hawks have surged in A-10 play. After Saturday’s matchup, St. Joe’s sits third in the conference. Head coach Steve Donahue praised his team’s ability to ignore the noise early in the season.
“We’ve been through a lot,” Donahue said. “I just see [the team’s] ability to forget about personal expectations and figure out what needs to be done on that game, and that tonight was a perfect example.”
Haskins said it simpler.
“Winning is so fun,” he said. ”I love winning so much.”
The Explorers were competitive early in the game, thanks to Rob Dockery’s 26 points, eight rebounds, and five assists. The redshirt sophomore guard was the only Explorer to finish in double-digit scoring, with freshman guard Ashton Walker adding nine points and six assists.
Hawks’ Haskins hot from deep
St. Joe’s came out hunting the deep-ball early. Thirty of the team’s 36 first-half points came in three-pointers. Six threes were courtesy of Haskins, who made all of his attempts in the first half.
With under four minutes to go before halftime, Haskins showed off his shooting touch with a pocket three that rattled around the rim before dropping.
“I was just confident in my shots,” Haskins said. “My guys were cutting for me early, making it easy for me, and I was just making shots.”
Still, La Salle did not shake.
With the Hawks living beyond the arc, La Salle’s Dockery made St. Joe’s pay in the paint, where he had 16 first-half points.
Even with Haskins’ spotless shooting to start, the Explorers trailed 36-29 entering halftime.
Late push by La Salle
Both teams exchanged punches to start the second half, but St. Joe’s kept its lead.
With 12 minutes remaining, Walker made a flashy hop step pull-up jumper in the paint to bring the score to 48-41. After exchanging misses, Toscano hit a one-handed slam to extend the Hawks’ lead back to nine.
For every positive play the Explorers made, the Hawks had an answer.
“I thought defensively we had some breakdowns that we shouldn’t have had,” said La Salle coach Darris Nichols. “But, you know, they’re a good team. They’re playing well right now, they do the job of sharing the ball.”
As St. Joe’s converted free-throws down the stretch to put the game away, its student section loudly chanted “The Hawk will never die” as the La Salle faithful filed out of Glaser.
Donahue made his way over to the fans to show his appreciation.
“I feel [the fans’ impact] at St Joe’s, more than any place I’ve been,” Donahue said. “They really care about basketball. The students care. It’s fun to be a part of that.”
After a rough start to the season, St. Joseph’s head coach Steve Donahue has the Hawks sitting third in the Atlantic 10 conference.
Up next …
La Salle travels to take on Loyola (Ill.) on Tuesday (8 p.m., ESPN+). On Wednesday, St Joe’s will host George Washington (7 p.m., NBC Sports Philadelphia).
Nearly a month after dangerous winds snarled their New Year’s Day performances, a dozen Mummers string bands got their encore.
The slate of bands reimagined their Jan. 1 routines Saturday on the snow-covered Lincoln Financial Field. It was a break from the norm — but perhaps the start of a new tradition for the 125-year-old Mummers.
“This is how we do it in our city,” Mayor Cherelle L. Parker rallied the chilly but boisterous crowd. “When we set our minds to get something done, we won’t let the weather or anything stop us.”
The mayor suggested: “I think we might be on to something big.”
Folks applaud the bands during the 2026 String Band Spectacular at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
It was not the first disruption to the century-old holiday parade, but it was the first time that the popular string band division was suspended. The reenvisioned judged portion — dubbed the String Band Spectacular — on the Philadelphia Eagles’ home turf was announced weeks later.
“Thousands of people are out here cheering like it’s New Year’s Day all over again,” Sam Regalbuto, president of the Philadelphia Mummers String Band Association, said. “The cold isn’t keeping the fans away, and it’s definitely not keeping the energy down out on the field.”
Laksumi Sivanandan, 27, and Carter Davis, 30, of East Passyunk, were at the parade on New Year’s Day but were excited to see the string bands with different scenery — and have the rare opportunity to be feet from the Eagles sideline at an accessible price. (More than 5,000 tickets, ranging from $12 to $25, were sold, according to Regalbuto.)
“It’s fun to see it in a different environment — usually you’re sitting on a lawn chair on Broad Street.”
But the rescheduled event was not without its own weather woes: On Friday, at least one string band pulled out of the performance, citing the frigid temperatures. A total of 14 bands make up the Philadelphia Mummers String Band Association, according to its website, but only 12 were scheduled to take the stage Saturday.
A coastal “bomb cyclone” was expected to douse parts of New Jersey and Delaware with some snowfall this weekend, while stinging winds and arctic air in Philadelphia pushed temperatures into single digits and plunged wind chills to as low as 10 degrees below zero. At the height of the show Saturday, temperatures barely eclipsed 20 degrees at the open-air Linc.
For spectators, who were clustered in the stadium’s lower bowl and sprinkled in suites, the keys to staying warm: layers, hand warmers, and beer jackets.
But the event offered Mummers enthusiasts and newbies alike an opportunity to enjoy the bands’ jovial music, unique sound, and elaborate costumes — with performances taking the audience from the sights of Las Vegas to New Orleans, a funhouse, and the Beauty and the Beast mansion — outside of New Year’s revelry.
“This is the moment each of the string bands work so hard for, and we’re so thrilled,” Regalbuto said. “This all came together to give them their shining spotlight out on that field in an unprecedented way. We couldn’t be more excited.”
The Fralinger String Band performs during the 2026 String Band Spectacular at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026.
New Jersey Shore communities are forecast to see minor flooding Sunday, as an offshore storm is expected to bring high winds that will also cause another bitterly cold night for Philadelphia and its suburbs.
The biggest concern is the high winds, which are expected to bring gusts of up to 40 or even 50 mph in Cape May County, as well as Sussex County, Del., according to Amanda Lee, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s Mount Holly office. Sustained winds are forecast to be 20 to 25 mph.
“There’s potential for some minor coastal flooding with the high tide cycles,” Lee said. Sunday morning’s high tide looks to carry the greatest risk, she added, with the potential for more with the Monday morning high tide.
The threat of flooding is the result of two factors: the wind pushing water closer to the coast and the full moon.
“When we’re in full moons and new moons, the astronomical tides are higher as well,” Lee said. “So the combination of those factors are leading to the potential for the coastal flooding.”
While wind and flooding are the chief concerns, the Shore could also receive some snow — up to half an inch, she said.
Philadelphia and the region
The storm’s impact is expected to be felt much less in Philadelphia, with no snow and lower winds. But breezes could push the wind chill to minus 10 degrees, Lee said.
“It’s still certainly going to be a breezy day, particularly on Sunday. We’ll potentially see wind gusts up to around 30 miles an hour or so,” she said.
Sunday morning’s low is forecast to be in the high single digits to around 10 degrees, with winds picking up later in the day to keep things frigid.
“Again, still very much the same pattern we’ve been in: very, very cold,” Lee said.
Atlantic City gears up
Lee said that while any flooding along the Shore should be minor, that could still mean some full road closures. Conditions may be worse along the bays, where winds could push ice onshore.
One community gearing up for any high winds and floods is Atlantic City, said Scott Evans, the fire chief and emergency management coordinator. He said the city is expecting minor flooding, which may mean water on a few streets.
City public works crews have been out clearing drains, and were ready to salt icy roads, Evans said.
“Just a couple of our low-lying areas are going to experience what we call our nuisance flooding, but this … will be compounded because the temperatures will be well below freezing,” he said.
Evans encouraged Atlantic City residents to take steps, as they would ahead of other potential emergencies.
“Make sure you have your emergency preparedness kits, make sure you have your medications, your flashlights, extra batteries, cell phone chargers, and some of your basic things, some food and water, some other things should your power go out,” he said.
“Let’s hope for the best here,” Evans said.
The coming days
Beyond Sunday, it will remain cold this week, Lee said, “but in some ways a little bit warmer than we have been now.”
But not “warm” warm.
“We’re actually looking at potentially cracking above freezing, most likely on Tuesday,” Lee said. But even then, the highs will only be in the lower 30s. And another shot of cold is forecast for later in the week into the following week.
The Flyers did not get the memo about the early start on Saturday.
Adrian Kempe and the Kings got out to an early 2-0 lead in the first period with two point-blank goals, and the Kings nearly made it 3-0 just seconds later, until an Andrei Kuzmenko goal got called back for offside.
But from that point on, the Flyers got their legs back. Trevor Zegras brought the team within one on the power play under a minute into the second period, and Travis Konecny tipped in a point shot from Rasmus Ristolainen seconds into the third period to tie the game. But in overtime, Konecny hit the post on a breakaway opportunity against Darcy Kuemper, and then Quinton Byfield and the Kings capitalized shortly after on the other end.
“We made some good plays, had a couple bounces that easily could have went in,” Konecny said. “I’ve got to put it away there in overtime.”
The Flyers may not have left Saturday’s game with two points, continuing their four-game losing skid, but it wasn’t all bad.
After going down 2-0 early, the Flyers killed two consecutive penalties late in the first and then drew a power play of their own, which helped build momentum heading into the second period.
Dan Vladař looking to block a potential shot from the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
“We play the team game,” said Rick Tocchet. “We can’t afford to play our own game. We just can’t. It’s not an individual sport. We have too many guys that — they don’t mean to do it, but they have to understand we have to play a certain way if we’re going to compete. We did in the second or third, and we cleaned stuff up.”
Defenseman Nick Seeler said he didn’t think the overall game plan for LA changed in the second, but the team failed to execute on that game plan in the first.
After the first intermission, he said, the team regrouped.
“Our process was there, and I thought we started forechecking, and their guys got a little tired from the pressure we were putting on them,” Seeler said.
‘Trying to do the right things’
Tocchet said he thinks the team is dealing with nerves, leading to some of the issues early in games. The Flyers also haven’t had as much practice time as Tocchet would like, but they will have multiple opportunities to practice next week before the Olympic break.
But someone who’s helping the Flyers set the emotional and physical tone for each game is Konecny, who scored the game-tying goal and nearly had the game-winner.
“He’s trying to do the right things,” Tocchet said. “He’s getting open, he’s sprinting. He’s getting those goals. That’s what I’m trying to get these guys to understand. Get to those areas quick. There might be some sticks and bodies. You’ve got to get inside. I call it racing to get inside. [Konecny’s] racing to get inside.”
Travis Konecny, (11), and Christian Dvorak, (22), fighting for the puck during the second period against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
After the Flyers’ loss in Boston, Konecny was frank that he’s sick of losing, and just wants to make the playoffs again. Picking up at least one point in the standings Saturday was important, given where the Flyers currently sit with 58 points in the Metro division.
With the top three teams, Carolina, Pittsburgh, and the Islanders, starting to separate themselves a bit from the pack, it’s more important than ever that the young Flyers roster stays composed and mentally prepared to fight for a playoff spot.
“I just don’t want these guys to get bummed out because we lost,” Tocchet said. “We did some good things without the puck, and that’s what we have to do.”
Zegras back at center
Trevor Zegras played his second game in a row at center, playing primarily with Bobby Brink and Matvei Michkov. Playing center, the position he was drafted by Anaheim to play, was always in the Flyers’ plans for Zegras, but as the season has progressed, he was moved back to the wing, and at least in the early goings, he thrived in that role.
“I think we were moving our feet without the puck tonight, which was great,” Zegras said. “I thought [Brink] was awesome away from [the puck], getting over the top of people, and when guys are doing that stuff and you’re getting turnovers, that’s where the skill comes out.”
Early into the second period, Zegras scored his first goal in seven games on the power play on a feed from Brink. The goal was Zegras’ first point since a two-assist night in Utah on Jan. 21.
Trevor Zegras scores the first point for the Flyers during the second period against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
Zegras said the thing he felt most comfortable with from game one to two back at center was his face-offs. He won five of his eight draws on Saturday.
“Face-offs are the big one,” Zegras said. “I wasn’t great in Boston. Obviously, I’ve been talking to [Sean Couturier], because that’s something he’s really good at. It’s something I’m always working on, for sure.”
Konecny pointed to face-offs more generally as a key issue in the Flyers’ slow starts, including on the Kings’ first goal of the game, and in overtime.
“The linesmen, they’re kicking a lot of guys out, and especially like D-zone draws, which are hard, when you’ve got one guy in there and then I lose that one, and then it ends up in the back of the cage,” Konecny said.
Brink, who played primarily with Zegras, ended up taking five draws, losing four of them.
Breakaways
Aleksei Kolosov was recalled from Lehigh Valley and backed up Vladař against the Kings after Samuel Ersson was injured in Thursday’s loss to Boston… Lane Pederson was re-assigned to the AHL.
Up Next
The Flyers return to Xfinity Mobile arena on Tuesday (7 p.m./NBC Sports Philadelphia) to take on the Washington Capitals.
SAN ANTONIO — A judge on Saturday ordered the U.S. to release a 5-year-old boy and his father from a Texas detention center where they were taken after being detained in a Minneapolis suburb last month.
Images of Liam Conejo Ramos, with a bunny hat and Spiderman backpack being surrounded by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, sparked even more outcry about President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota. It also led to a protest at the family detention center and a visit by two Texas Democratic members of Congress.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, who was appointed by former Democratic President Bill Clinton, said in his ruling “the case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.”
Stephen Miller, the White House chief of staff for policy, has said there’s a target of 3,000 immigration arrests a day. It’s that figure which the judge seemed to describe as a “quota.”
Biery also included in his ruling a photo of Liam Conejo Ramos and references to two lines in the Bible: “Jesus said, ’Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,” and “Jesus Wept.”
Spokespersons from the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Neighbors and school officials say that federal immigration officers in Minnesota used the preschooler as “bait” by telling him to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would answer. The Department of Homeland Security has called that description of events an “abject lie.” It said the father fled on foot and left the boy in a running vehicle in their driveway.
During the Jan. 28 visit with Reps. Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett, the boy slept in the arms of his father, who said Liam was frequently tired and not eating well at the detention facility housing about 1,100 people, according to Castro.
Detained families report poor conditions like worms in food, lack of clean water, and poor medical care at the detention center since its reopening last year. In December, a report filed by ICE acknowledged they held about 400 children longer than the recommended limit of 20 days.
They’d won two consecutive games Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday, Paul George made a record nine three-pointers. On Thursday, the win came thanks to a last-second shot by their best and most popular player, All-Star starter Tyrese Maxey.
They were 26-21 and held the No. 6 spot in the Eastern Conference, with ammunition on the roster for the trade deadline this coming Thursday.
After last season was lost to injury, and half of this season sputtered through lingering ailments, the Big Three — of Maxey, George, and Joel Embiid — were cooking. With the deadline looming, both Embiid and George, high-mileage thirty-somethings with injury baggage and maximum contracts, finally had played themselves into marketability. The Sixers also finally had assets to trade to augment the current roster, if they wished.
There was even more to feel good about.
On Saturday, the Sixers planned to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 2000-01 team with Allen Iverson that made it to the NBA Finals — which also is the last time the franchise was truly relevant. They are in the 14th year of a scorched-earth rebuild dubbed The Process. However, as Embiid and George gelled with Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecombe, the Sixers looked like they could make a serious postseason run in an Eastern Conference decimated by injury.
That might still happen, but they’ve hit another roadblock.
On Friday, Josh Harris appeared in the notorious Epstein files as a business associate of sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. While Harris was not implicated in Epstein’s crimes, that’s a hard stench to wash away.
Then, George was suspended 25 games for violating the NBA’s antidrug policy beginning with Saturday night’s game against the visiting New Orleans Pelicans.
It goes without saying that George’s carelessness and selfishness are inexcusable. George told ESPN that he mistakenly took a banned medication to address a mental health concern.
We’re all in favor of addressing mental health, we’re also in favor of telling team doctors about every chemical you put in your body. That’s how you stay available. That’s how you earn that four-year, $211 million contract, the biggest free-agent deal in franchise history.
The Phillies had a similar issue this past season, when reliever José Alvarado was suspended 80 games in the middle of the season, as well as for the entire postseason, for taking an unvetted weight-loss drug last winter. There is simply no excuse.
It’s as if all that losing on purpose — The Process — cursed the team indefinitely.
Since the day Harris bought them in 2011, the Sixers have been an entertaining, if star-crossed, clown show. Much of it has been of their own doing. Following the Andrew Bynum deal in 2012, then the worst trade in Philadelphia history, roster builders Sam Hinkie, Bryan Colangelo, and now Daryl Morey have drafted poorly, have been held hostage by unaccomplished stars, and have hired ill-suited coaches.
Home-grown cornerstone players declined to properly develop: Nerlens Noel and Ben Simmons refused to learn to shoot, while Embiid, moody and undisciplined, refused to mature into the jaw-dropping professional he might have become.
But Noel, who was drafted ahead of Giannis Antetokounmpo; Embiid, whom they drafted over Nikola JokićJokic; Jahlil Okafor, whom they drafted over Kristaps Porziņģis; and Simmons, whom they drafted over Jaylen Brown, all were injured almost as soon as they were assigned a jersey number.
By his third season at the helm, Hinkie, brilliant in some aspects, proved unable to manage a franchise. Colangelo turned out to be more than just a nepotistic mis-hire: He and his wife were accused of using burner social media accounts to criticize Sixers players. Yes, you read that correctly. Former coach Doc Rivers so seriously offended Simmons that he forced his way out of town. James Harden did the same thing after Morey, who’d traded for him and extended his contract once, declined to offer Harden the maximum-salary money he believed Morey had promised.
There have been dozens of other rake-stepping incidents by the Sixers. None is more consequential than the Sixers’ aggressive initiative to build a downtown arena, only to pull the rug from the project at the last minute and instead build in South Philly.
That happened about this time last year in the middle of yet another lost season for Embiid, who played just 19 games as he dealt with a knee injury that limited him the previous season, but which did not deter him from a meaningless appearance in the 2024 Olympics. George and Maxey also missed significant time due to injury last season.
The Sixers started to look promising, especially when Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George were on the court tougether.
But, as of this past week, things seemed to be rounding into form for the franchise. The Big Three played together Thursday, and, after a disastrous start to the season when playing together, they improved to 9-8.
Embiid had played in 20 of 27 games, averaging 27.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 32.8 minutes. George played in 27 of 35 games, averaging 16.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 30.5 minutes.
For the first time since the end of the 2022-23 season, when they squandered a 3-2 lead in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, things looked legitimately promising.
The White House stands about 70 feet tall. The Lincoln Memorial, roughly 100 feet. The triumphal arch President Donald Trump wants to build would eclipse both if he gets his wish.
Trump has grown attached to the idea of a 250-foot-tall structure overlooking the Potomac River, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe his comments, a scale that has alarmed some architectural experts who initially supported the idea of an arch but expected a far smaller one.
The planned Independence Arch is intended to commemorate the United States’ 250th anniversary. Built to Trump’s specifications, it would transform a small plot of land between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery into a dominant new monument, reshaping the relationship between the two memorials and obstructing pedestrians’ views.
Trump has considered smaller versions of the arch, including 165-foot-high and 123-foot-high designs he shared at a dinner last year. But he has favored the largest option, arguing that its sheer size would impress visitors to Washington, and that “250 for 250” makes the most sense, the people said.
Architectural experts counter that the size of the monument — installed in the center of a traffic circle — would distort the intent of the surrounding memorials.
“I don’t think an arch that large belongs there,” said Catesby Leigh, an art critic who conceived of a more modest, temporary arch in a 2024 essay — an idea that his allies championed and brought to the White House. His allies also passed along Leigh’s recommendation of an architect, Nicolas Leo Charbonneau, who has been retained by the White House to work on the project.
Charbonneau did not respond to requests for comment.
Asked about the arch’s height, the White House on Saturday referred to the president’s previous comments.
“The one that people know mostly is the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France. And we’re going to top it by, I think, a lot,” Trump said at a White House Christmas reception in December.
The Arc de Triomphe — already one of the world’s largest triumphal arches — measures 164 feet.
Trump also told Politico in December that he hoped to begin construction of the arch within two months, a timeline that appears unlikely given that White House officials have yet to make the final plans public or submit them to federal review panels. Memorial Circle, the plot of land that the president has eyed, is controlled by the National Park Service.
The White House reiterated the president’s desire to have an iconic monument.
The arch will become “one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world,” spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement sent to the Washington Post after this article’s publication. “President Trump’s bold vision will be imprinted upon the fabric of America and be felt by generations to come.”
Washington does not have a triumphal arch, making it unusual among major cities that have built arches to commemorate wars and celebrate milestones, and some historians and civic leaders have long argued that such a monument is needed.
Rodney Mims Cook Jr., an Atlanta-based developer and president of the National Monuments Foundation, proposed a peace arch to Washington leaders in 2000 before the plans were withdrawn in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Cook later built a monumental arch in Atlanta, the Millennium Gate Museum, intended to celebrate Georgia’s history.
Trump this month appointed Cook to the Commission of Fine Arts, a federal panel that would be set to review and approve the design of new monuments in Washington — including the president’s potential arch.
Trump on Jan. 23 also posted images on his Truth Social platform with no comment that depict three versions of a large triumphal arch, including one option with gold gilding — a hallmark of Trump’s construction projects. Asked about the president’s post, White House officials said that the arch design continues to be refined. The White House also said the plan to put a large Lady Liberty statue atop the arch, which was included in previous concepts presented by Trump and Charbonneau but not in the president’s Truth Social post, has not been abandoned.
City planners have eyed the land around what is now Memorial Circle for more than a century. A 1901-1902 report overseen by the Senate Park Commission, which laid the groundwork to construct the National Mall and beautify much of the city’s core, appears to envision some sort of structure in the circle, drawings show. Architect William Kendall in 1928 also presented plans to the Commission of Fine Arts to construct a memorial there.
Local historians and architectural experts have said that a large arch could change the relationship between several historic sites, including Arlington Memorial Bridge itself, which was intended as a bridge between North and South in the wake of the Civil War,and memorials for Lincoln and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
“It’s a very somber corridor,” said John Haigh, the chairperson of Benedictine College’s architecture program, who visited Memorial Circle with his students last year to consider the arch project. “We discussed the gravity of putting an arch there,” particularly one intended to be triumphal.
The structure as planned could obstruct views of Arlington House, the former Lee estate that sits on a hillside in Arlington National Cemetery.
“I would be very concerned about the scale,” said Calder Loth, a retired senior architectural historian for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, warning that a 250-foot-high arch could alter pedestrians’ views as they approach Arlington National Cemetery from Washington. “It would make Arlington House just look like a dollhouse — or you couldn’t see it all, with the arch blocking the view.”
They also cautioned that, barring major changes to the circle, it could be difficult for pedestrians to visit a potential monument there, given the busy motor traffic.
Loth also invoked the vantage point from Arlington National Cemetery, where visitors often look across the river toward the Lincoln Memorial and the capital beyond — a view he said the proposed arch would reshape.
“How does it impact the panorama of Washington?” Loth said, invoking a question that he said should guide designers of monuments. “What is supposed to be doing the speaking?”
Leigh initially proposed a 60-foot arch that could pop up as a temporary structure to mark America’s 250th. Trump instead wants a permanent arch, more than four times larger, funded with leftover private donations to his White House ballroom project,which he has said could cost about $400 million. Publicly identified donors to the ballroom project, such as Amazon, Google, and Lockheed Martin, collectively have billions of dollars in contracts before the administration. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post.)
Any construction plan for the arch would probably need to go through several review panels and potentially require the sign-off of Congress, given laws around constructing monuments in Washington.
Trump’s interest in enlarging the arch mirrors his desire to expand the White House ballroom, which last year sparked clashes with James McCrery II, the architect initially tapped for the project. Shalom Baranes, the architect now leading that work, told federal review panels this month that White House officials have halted plans to make the ballroom even larger.
Leigh suggested a compromise location that could allow Trump his large monument without imposing on other structures.
“If you’re going to build an arch that big, you should build it in another part of town and one possible site that comes to mind is Barney Circle,” Leigh said, referencing a site in Southeast Washington next to Congressional Cemetery, overlooking the Anacostia River. “There’s nothing around it competing with it.”
