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  • Another weekend snow watch and ‘exceedingly rare’ cold are on tap for Philly

    Another weekend snow watch and ‘exceedingly rare’ cold are on tap for Philly

    Another weekend snow chance and more cold are in the forecasts. But the big difference between last week and this one in the Philadelphia region is a matter of degrees — about 10 of them.

    A coastal “bomb cyclone” could form during the weekend with significant impacts, at least at the Shore. Computers were still sorting out what effects, if any, it would have in Philly. On Thursday, however, they favored snow staying to the south and east, with only a 40% chance they got to I-95.

    In the meantime the cold will be epical by Philly standards.

    If the forecast holds, in addition to coming close to ending a 32-year zero-less streak, Philadelphia would have daily minimums of 5 degrees Fahrenheit or lower on the next two mornings.

    And it appears the city will have its first nine-day stretch in which the temperature failed to reach 30 degrees since 1979, based on analysis of temperature data from the Pennsylvania state climatologist.

    In issuing a cold weather advisory for wind chills as low as 10 below zero, the National Weather Service in Mount Holly noted that “it is exceedingly rare to get this combination of length and magnitude of an arctic airmass for this area.”

    Philadelphia’s forecast high on Thursday, 19, would be more than 10 degrees lower than the forecast for Anchorage, Alaska.

    Heading into the weekend, that subtly laminated lunar landscape with the one-horse-open-sleigh look in the fields and parks is almost certain to persist while bedeviling road-clearing efforts.

    Some snow is possible late Saturday or Sunday — and this is becoming a habit — in time for the rising of the full “Snow Moon,” which may be a problem for the Jersey Shore. The full moon will likely contribute to tidal flooding.

    Snow removal contractor Jordan Harlow clears the sidewalk in front of an apartment building on Main Street in Doylestown Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, following Sunday’s snowstorm. He said the layer of ice made it twice as difficult to use the snow blower.

    The snow outlook for the weekend

    On Wednesday only two things were certain about the latest threat: A major coastal storm is going to blow up during the weekend, and it’s not going to rain.

    “Everything looks like it’s going to come together,” said Paul Pastelok, the long-range forecaster for AccuWeather Inc.

    AccuWeather said it may intensify enough to qualify as a “bomb cyclone.”

    An early consensus among computer models was that the storm would stay too far offshore to generate a major snowfall in the immediate Philly area. Pastelok said it was looking for Philly to get “sideswiped” with a 1- to 3-inch event. However, that was very much subject to change.

    The weather service would not be making a first guess at potential accumulations until Thursday afternoon, said Alex Staarmann, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Mount Holly. In its forecast discussion Wednesday, it said that based on a consensus of the models, the Shore had a 35% to 50% chance of 6 inches of snow or more, with a 20% chance along I-95.

    More certain was the potential coastal flooding threat at the Shore with potent onshore winds coinciding with Sunday’s full moon.

    And while it may seem the atmosphere enjoys ruining weekends, it’s not uncommon for weather systems to fall into 3½- and seven-day cycles. That has to do with the spacing between weather systems, meteorologists say.

    Regardless of what happens during the weekend, the region is going to begin the workweek with snow on the ground.

    The snow is going to have more staying power than the average computer-model snow forecast.

    It’s not going to get a whole lot warmer anytime soon

    Even though it’s ice cold, as if developing a slow leak, the depth of the snow pack is actually decreasing, but ever so ponderously.

    That 9.3 inches of snow and sleet that accumulated Sunday was down to 6 inches at Philadelphia International Airport on Wednesday morning, Staarmann said.

    Compaction and sublimation, which is similar to evaporation, are lowering the depth, despite the cold. But Wednesday’s depth report was the same as Tuesday’s.

    Philly snow cleanup: What to know about plowing, parking, schools, and more

    And after what does or doesn’t happen Sunday, temperatures are forecast to remain below freezing at least until Feb. 4.

    No significant warm-up is in sight, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center has odds strongly favoring below-normal temperatures until Feb. 11.

    The upper-air pattern continues to favor cold pouring into the Northeast.

    And more cold air is possible later in the month with a visit from the polar vortex, Pastelok said.

    Average temperatures in Philly finished 3.6 degrees below normal in December, and despite a 10-day warm spell earlier in the month, January is projected to finish at least 2 degrees below long-term averages.

    For Pastelok and other seasonal forecasters, it has been a tough winter.

    “We underestimated how cold the Northeast would be this year,” he said.

  • Bradley Carnell opens up about what drives him and his tactics as Union manager

    Bradley Carnell opens up about what drives him and his tactics as Union manager

    Bradley Carnell can be pretty reserved in public. It’s not that he doesn’t like being on camera, but you aren’t always going to get too much from him in a news conference.

    At the United Soccer Coaches convention a few weeks ago, the Union’s manager got a different opportunity. It was his first time at the longstanding event, and he spent an hour on stage talking about his coaching methods.

    Carnell’s journey has taken him a lot of places. The Johannesburg, South Africa, native turned pro at age 16 in his home country, then at 21 moved to the first of four clubs he played for in Germany. He played 40 times for the Bafana Bafana, including at the World Cup in 2002.

    After hanging up his cleats in 2011, Carnell started his coaching career at the University of Johannesburg. From there, he had two assistant jobs with South African pro clubs, then moved to the U.S. in 2017 to join the New York Red Bulls’ staff. He’s been in this country ever since, and the Union are his third coaching stop in MLS.

    Bradley Carnell (left) playing for South Africa against Paraguay in the 2002 World Cup.

    What has stayed constant over the years? One thing is how he sees the sport.

    “Überzeugungstäter,” he said, a word learned while living in Germany. “A perpetrator. I’m a criminal of the game model that I’m presenting today.”

    Bradley Carnell orchestrated the Union’s success in 2025. His second season in charge matters more.

    This produced some amused looks, and not just because of the multiple languages involved. Carnell was not surprised.

    “I believe in it so much, and this is who I am,” he said. “Not because I’ve learned the game that way. It’s just because I live my life in a certain way.”

    Bradley Carnell giving instructions to his players during a game last year.

    You can get that sense at an average Union practice, where Carnell, 49, often is right in the middle of the fray.

    “When setting up a game model, one, it’s based on previous experiences of your playing days: caching influences, but also DNA, how I live my life every single day,” he said. “Fast, energetic, proactive, on the front foot — these are all terms that are coming to life now because it’s just who I am. If I’m playing Monopoly with my family, I’m trying to win the game in the quickest way possible.”

    What’s the secret sauce at the Union’s youth academy? Here’s a taste of it.

    The manager who had the most influence on Carnell was Ralf Rangnick, who coached the young left back at German club VfB Stuttgart from 1999 to 2001. Ragnick is known as one of the founding fathers of “gegenpressing,” the high-octane tactics that spread all over Germany and eventually worldwide.

    Those ideas have stayed in Carnell’s mind for a quarter of a century.

    Bradley Carnell (left) during his playing days with German club VfB Stuttgart in 2002.

    Inside the playbook

    Carnell put up a slide that laid out four principles: “Hunting” to gain possession high up the field; “swarming” to regain the ball after losing it; “striking” to try to get to the opponent’s goal within 10 seconds; and “waves” of attacking moves.

    He talked a lot over the course of his session about the defensive side of things, especially “rest defense”: how the centerbacks position themselves when their teammates have the ball up the field.

    Quinn Sullivan ‘would love to be the face’ of the Union. When he returns from a torn ACL, he just might be.

    He also took an interesting question from the audience about man-to-man vs. zone defending.

    “I don’t mind going one-for-one at the back,” Carnell said. “It’s not man-marking. So if they cross over the center back axis, I’m not going to say to you, ‘Go with him and track him all over the field.’”

    If this brought the term “matchup zone” to anyone’s mind, it hasn’t been used much in soccer. But if it ever was going to be, the city that produced John Chaney would be an appropriate place to start.

    The Union won the Supporters’ Shield and reached the second round of the playoffs in Bradley Carnell’s first year at the helm.

    But the most interesting stuff, as it is for Union fans, was what he said about attacking.

    Quality on the ball is valued over time on the ball, a point Union fans have certainly learned by now. And Carnell laid out his “baseline” for how he wants his team to score: 60% in transition, 30% on set pieces, and 10% in possession.

    “We can go quick — I say [with] quality on the ball, you can always get quicker,” Carnell said. “But if you try to go too quick, then there’s going to be turnovers. So, progressive quality over speed. We can always learn to get quicker in this transitional phase of the game.”

    Japhet Sery Larsen got an assist from Mikael Uhre as he decided to join the Union

    Last year, the Union scored around 50% of their goals in transition, 30% from set pieces, and 20% in possession. That wasn’t quite what Carnell had aimed for. How did he react?

    “We don’t see it as a failure,” he said. “We just see it as an adaptation. To every team you inherit, or every team you go to in terms of me joining here a year ago at the Philadelphia Union, we see certain trends, character traits in players, in how we can get this effectiveness.”

    Some highlights of the year

    The Union ranked well in some stats he likes. They were second leaguewide in shots taken within 10 seconds of gaining possession, at 2.84 per 90 minutes. They were also second in percentage of first passes of a possession that went forward in transition, at 45.5%. And they had the fewest passes per shot sequence, at 2.3 per 90 minutes.

    “Reactions quicker than the opponent can get themselves organized against,” Carnell said.

    Cavan Sullivan looks ahead to what should be his biggest year yet with the Union

    He put up some tactical graphics on his slides to illustrate the plays he wants. He also showed some videos of notable plays that the Union made last year, and they really made the point.

    Carnell said “one of my favorite moments of last year” was a goal the Union scored on May 30 at Montreal: a counterattacking dash that covered almost the entire field in 12 seconds in just the second minute of the game.

    Another goal Carnell liked came on April 19 at home against Atlanta. The visitors had the ball, but only briefly: Kai Wagner and Jovan Lukić teamed up to jam Brooks Lennon just short of the midfield line.

    Danley Jean Jacques was nearby, and started dashing upfield. Three passes in eight seconds later, he had his first goal in a Union jersey.

    “In our game model we’re saying, ‘Go put out the fire,’” Carnell said. “’Go win the ball as high as you can. Be brave. Be brave and hunt in numbers.”

  • St. Joe’s women get it done down the stretch to beat La Salle, 69-65

    St. Joe’s women get it done down the stretch to beat La Salle, 69-65

    St. Joseph’s built a 10-point lead with less than six minutes to play in an Atlantic 10 women’s game against La Salle on Wednesday night at John E. Glaser Arena.

    Then the Hawks offense went silent and La Salle began to mount a comeback. An and-one layup plus a pair of free throws from Explorers guard Aryss Macktoon made it a four-point game with less than two minutes remaining.

    But St. Joe’s (14-6, 5-4 A-10) warded off a La Salle comeback to earn a 69-65 victory. The Hawks outscored the Explorers by 26-3 in bench points and shot 44.8% from the field.

    “I think what you saw was a game of runs,” St. Joe’s coach Cindy Griffin said. “There was a lot of great offense out there. Not a whole lot of defense at times. But I was really pleased with how we came out in the second half, especially in the third quarter. We got a little space and we were able to make plays down the stretch.”

    Statistical leaders

    St. Joe’s had a balanced scoring effort with seven players scoring at least seven points. Guard Gabby Casey led the way with 14 points, with 10 coming in the second half. Emily Knouse added 11 points on 3-for-5 shooting in three-pointers. Forward Cecilia Kay had a team-high seven rebounds.

    La Salle guard Joan Quinn finished with a game-high 18 points against St. Joe’s on Wednesday.

    Guard Joan Quinn made 4 of 7 three-pointers and scored a game-high 18 points for La Salle (11-10, 4-6). Forward Kiara Williams contributed 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting and six rebounds. Macktoon, the Explorers’ leading scorer, was well guarded but managed 11 points and seven rebounds.

    Stinson comes up clutch

    After Macktoon’s and-one layup to cut St. Joe’s lead to four points, the Hawks were in desperate need of a basket to stunt the Explorers’ momentum. They turned to a player who was quiet offensively all game.

    Forward Faith Stinson did not score for the first 38 minutes but scored her first points when it mattered most. She got free on a cut and guard Rhian Stokes (11 points) delivered a perfect pass that Stinson converted to halt La Salle’s run.

    After its Big Three moved on, St. Joe’s women’s basketball leadership has a decidedly Philly flair

    The basket gave St. Joe’s breathing room.

    “You saw a senior post who had been there, done that,” Griffin said. “She came up big in the first game [against La Salle], and at the end of the day, we went to her, we found her. Rhian found her in the first game and I think that kind of sealed the game and it was just the same situation today.”

    Big second half

    The Hawks built a 24-17 lead with back-to-back three-pointers from Knouse, a freshman. However, the Explorers did not stay down long, thanks to Williams. She made two straight jumpers to cap an 11-2 run, which gave La Salle a two-point lead. The teams traded baskets to enter halftime tied at 32.

    St. Joe’s forward Cecilia Kay (32) battles La Salle forward Kiara Williams for a rebound.

    St. Joe’s jumped out to a 38-34 lead to open the third frame and never allowed La Salle to retake the lead. That lead ballooned to 10 halfway through the fourth quarter, and the Hawks’ strong second half helped them prevail.

    “I think we came out and it didn’t really go our way, but then we showed up in the second half with our grit, our toughness and staying composed and staying together to really come out and take a force in the first three minutes of the second half,” Casey said. “I think that was just really great, and that gave us momentum throughout the game.”

    Up next

    St. Joe’s returns home to take on Davidson (15-7, 7-2) on Sunday (1 p.m., ESPN+), while La Salle will travel to face Duquesne (7-14, 0-10) on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+).

  • Spain is a wine-making giant. Try this underappreciated red.

    Spain is a wine-making giant. Try this underappreciated red.

    Spain is the world’s third largest wine producer, with a longer history of growing grapes and making wine than France. However, the region was slower to modernize due to its unique history, which included a teetotaling 20th century dictator who systematically forced the wine industry to churn out cheap wines rather than improve their quality during his 35-year rule. In a remarkably swift turnaround sparked by joining what is now the European Union, Spain is today making some of the most exciting world-class wines, many of which blend old-world traditions with new-world techniques to broaden their international appeal.

    (Sadly, wines like this one — from one of Spain’s most respected appellations — have not been well represented in Pennsylvania wine stores, simply because the state-run system has also been slow to modernize.)

    Most of Spain’s wines are red, and the vast majority are made with grapes native to their localities. The nation’s two most famous red wine appellations are Rioja and Ribera del Duero, which are both made using primarily tempranillo grapes and hail from neighboring regions. On the map, these zones appear to be separated only by a range of mountains, but their climates and cultures could not be more different, and these key factors shape the flavor of their wines.

    Of the two, Rioja is better known and far better represented in our area. It is also the cooler of the two regions. Makers blend tempranillo with other grapes and have a tendency to age wines longer in barrels, often producing old-school wines that can be as delicate as French pinot noir. Ribera del Duero wines are usually denser, darker, and stronger and more often made with 100% tempranillo, as with this example. Since they are grown in warmer, drier conditions that amplify their ripeness, their winemaking is more likely to reflect modern sensibilities familiar to fans of California wines. This value-oriented example features tempranillo’s signature combination of red- and blue-fruit flavors like raspberry and blueberry. Being of the oaked “roble” style, it also features an overt gloss of new-oak aromas (think vanilla and coconut).

    Cune’s Ribera del Duero ‘Roble’ (oaked tempranillo) from Spain.

    Cune Ribera del Duero “Roble”

    Castilla y León, Spain; 14% ABV

    PLCB Item #100049322 — on sale for $14.99 through Feb. 1 (regularly $17.99)

    No alternate retail locations within 50 miles of Philadelphia, per Wine-Searcher.com.

  • Temple falls in overtime to Charlotte in critical American Conference matchup

    Temple falls in overtime to Charlotte in critical American Conference matchup

    Temple had a chance to break its tie for second place in the American Conference on Wednesday night against Charlotte. The Owls trailed once in the second half and at one point held an eight-point lead.

    It wasn’t enough, however, as the 49ers stormed back to hand Temple an 80-76 overtime loss at the Liacouras Center.

    The Owls (13-8, 5-3) were within striking distance with 17 seconds remaining in overtime. Then Charlotte guard Dezayne Mingo drilled a three-pointer that pushed the 49ers (12-9, 6-2) lead to five and squandered the Owls’ comeback hopes as they missed their final four shots.

    Temple coach Adam Fisher reacts to an official’s call against Charlotte on Wednesday.

    “We won the first half, but the second half, we had a couple lapses,” said Temple coach Adam Fisher. “This is a team we knew [to] try to keep them in the 60s. Great credit to Charlotte. There’s a reason they’re 6-2 [and] towards the top of the league.”

    Statistical leaders

    Guard Derrian Ford led Temple with 21 points, while guard Jordan Mason added 20.

    Charlotte center Anton Bonke stole the show with a career-high 25 points, breaking his previous high of 20, which he set against Temple on Dec. 30. Mingo also had 19 points off the bench while dishing out 10 assists.

    Temple won back-to-back games on the road, but tougher tests are coming

    What we saw

    Mason took charge of the Owls’ offense, and 14 of their first-half points were three-pointers.

    Temple’s defense had to deal with the 49ers’ size and height advantage. When Bonke attacked the paint, the Owls found themselves in foul trouble. They finished with 20 personal fouls.

    “Good job getting into some pick-and-roll spaces and they throw it up to him, and he’s huge,” Fisher said. “Great credit to him. He had 20 against us out there last time, when we won, we knew ‘Hey, they can’t make threes.’ When Harrison scores double figures, I think they’ve won every game. So they got a lot of weapons.”

    However, Temple did limit the American’s third-best team in shooting to make 9 of 24 attempts in the first half, going 4 of 9 in three-pointers. Charlotte shot 53.8% in the second, but went 3-for-12 in three-pointers.

    Temple kept up with Charlotte and trailed once in the second half and took an eight-point lead with under seven minutes remaining. But that advantage didn’t last.

    Game-changing play

    Temple had possession with 30 seconds remaining in regulation, leading 68-66, with a chance to put the game to rest. Guard Masiah Gilyard snagged a steal and it seemed like Temple would secure a victory.

    Gilyard attempted a dagger three-pointer, but it went off the mark and after a scramble for the loose ball, it got into the hands of Mingo. He found guard Damoni Harrison, who converted a layup to send the game to overtime.

    “It looked like almost a broken play,” Fisher said.

    Temple never recovered, as it went 1-for-6 from the field in the extra period.

    Up next

    Temple will host South Florida (13-7, 5-2) on Saturday (8 p.m. ESPN+).

  • The Flyers’ lingering issues carry over to Columbus in near-comeback loss

    The Flyers’ lingering issues carry over to Columbus in near-comeback loss

    COLUMBUS, Ohio ― The Flyers traveled more than four hundred miles from where they’re known. Although they had a change in scenery, they carried many of their issues over from Monday.

    Despite Dan Vladař’s spectacular saves in net, in his first game since getting injured against the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 14, and the third career hat trick by Travis Konecny, the Flyers were handed a 5-3 loss by the Columbus Blue Jackets.

    The Flyers have now lost nine of their last 11 games, including two straight in which they have been outscored a combined 9-3.

    Sean Monahan scored with 3 minutes, 28 seconds left in regulation as he stood alone at the left post. The Flyers struggled to get the puck out, and Damon Severson sent the puck across from the right boards to the open winger. Mathieu Olivier scored an empty-netter to seal it for Columbus.

    It was a delicate few opening seconds for the Flyers when, on the first shift, Charlie Coyle gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead 38 seconds into the game. Trevor Zegras was on the boards and tried to pass to his centerman, Christian Dvorak, to start a breakout, but it went through, and Zach Werenski kept the puck in to Olivier.

    The rugged forward then fed Coyle, who was honored before the game for reaching 1,000 games on Jan. 22, as he got behind the defense. Coyle scored over the glove of Vladař.

    Later in the period, Konecny evened the game with his 18th goal of the season. It also tied him with Zegras for the points lead (46).

    Zegras had the puck deep and tried to chip it to Konecny, but it popped all the way out to Noah Juulsen at the left point. The defenseman fed it across to Cam York, and he hit Konecny in the middle. He had room and skated down and snapped the puck past goalie Elvis Merzļikins.

    The Flyers had a great chance to take a 2-1 lead with under 2 minutes left in the opening frame when, on a power play, Zegras skated through the Blue Jackets defense. He hit the puck off the heel of his blade, but the Flyers kept going, ultimately with Zegras getting another look at a wide-open net. His shot ended up hitting either the right post or the stick of Bobby Brink that was lying in the crease after he lost it during a commotion.

    Columbus took the lead with 20 seconds to go in the period on a goal by Kirill Marchenko. Skating four-on-four, after the Flyers were called for too many men during the man advantage, the Blue Jackets skated down with Werenski and Owen Tippett chasing after the puck.

    Flyers thrilled to get Dan Vladař back as they try and finish strong before the Olympic break

    From one angle, it looked like Werenski interfered with Tippett. From another, it looked clean. Regardless, there was no call, and Werenski, who will represent the United States at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, fed the puck from the right circle to Marchenko in the left for the one-timer.

    Erik Gudbranson made it 3-1 less than two minutes into the second period when his point shot off a faceoff beat Vladař. It may have nicked Dvorak on the way in.

    Despite allowing four goals, Vladař did not look rusty as he kept the Flyers in the game. He made a phenomenal standing pad save on Werenski as it looked like he batted the puck out of the air with 3:05 to go in the second.

    And then in the third period, in between Konecny scoring again from the middle of the ice to make it 3-2, Vladař robbed Adam Fantilli sitting at the right post with his glove, and then did it again to Boone Jenner from the same spot. The first save on Fantilli was reviewed, but it confirmed Vladař’s magnificent save.

    Konecny finished off the hat trick to tie the game at 3-3. He received a pass from Travis Sanheim from the left board as Konecny crashed down the right side.

    This goal and his other in the final period came off a gutsy performance by the forward, who blocked a shot late in the second period and hobbled to the bench. He went down the tunnel right at the buzzer of the middle frame and didn’t get back to the bench until after the puck dropped for the third period.

    Konecny now leads the Flyers in goals (20) and points (48).

    “He’s hitting the holes, and he’s, we call it, race inside, and he races inside on them and beats people, and then obviously he’s got a good shot,” said Rick Tocchet.

    “And he took one off the foot. He’s limping around. He might not play tomorrow. We don’t know. He [had] a lot of guts tonight.”

    Breakaways

    Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen did not return following his second shift of the game, leaving with a lower-body injury. The Finn returned on Monday after missing six games. Tocchet did not have an update on him after the game. … Defenseman Emil Andrae was a healthy scratch, along with forwards Nic Deslauriers and Garnet Hathaway.

    Up next

    The Flyers will get right back to it in Boston on Thursday against the Bruins (7 p.m., NBCSP+).

  • Gov. Mikie Sherrill says N.J. will create a database for uploading videos of ICE: ‘Get your phone out’

    Gov. Mikie Sherrill says N.J. will create a database for uploading videos of ICE: ‘Get your phone out’

    New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said her administration will create an online database for people to upload videos they record of ICE.

    “If you see an ICE agent in the street, get your phone out,” she urged New Jerseyans in an appearance on The Daily Show on Wednesday night with host Desi Lydic in New York City.

    Sherrill, a Democrat and former member of Congress, said her administration will set up an online portal “so people can upload all their cell phone videos and alert people.”

    Cell phone video from onlookers has been used to rebut the narrative of President Donald Trump’s administration after federal agents fatally shot Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

    Sherrill outlined her plan just eight days after she was sworn into office. She became the second woman to lead the state and the first female veteran governor in the country.

    “They will pick people up, they will not tell us who they are … they’ll pick up American citizens. They picked up a 5-year-old child,” she said on the show. “We want documentation, and we are going to make sure we get it.”

    The policy announcement was not featured in the television broadcast, but it was posted to YouTube shortly afterward by The Daily Show.

    New Jersey residents routinely report ICE activity and arrests around the state, including recently in Bridgeton and Princeton. The Garden State is home to about the seventh-largest undocumented population in the country, an estimated 476,000 people, according to the Migration Policy Institute in Washington.

    Amy Torres, executive director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, said Sherrill needs to do more.

    “We don’t need to see more evidence of what ICE is doing,” Torres said. “They’ve arrested a New Jersey mayor. They’ve gone after a sitting member of Congress. They’ve opened up a 1,000-bed facility in our state’s largest city and they’re ripping our families apart. New Jersey doesn’t need more evidence, we need leadership who is going to act.”

    She said the governor should work to pass additional immigrant protections, like those contained in two bills former Gov. Phil Murphy rejected in his final day in office that would have safeguarded immigrants’ data and expanded the state’s sanctuary policy.

    Mikie Sherrill supports enshrining NJ’s existing sanctuary policy into law as immigrant rights groups push for an expanded version

    Sherrill, meanwhile, also said her administration plans to put out information to help New Jerseyans know their rights in the state. And she said she will not allow ICE raids “to be staged from state properties.”

    Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, compared U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to secret police forces she observed in foreign nations during her service.

    “I knew where this was headed when we started to see DHS people taking loyalty oaths to the president, not the Constitution,” she said. “We saw people in the street with masks and no insignia, so not accountable at all, hiding from the population.”

    New Jersey has become a key state in the Trump administration’s plan to arrest and deport millions of immigrants, and has been slated for an expansion of ICE detention.

    A facility in Elizabeth was for a time the only detention center in the state. But the 1,000-bed Delaney Hall in Newark was reopened for detention in May, and the administration recently announced plans to hold 1,000 to 3,000 detainees at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, which spans parts of Burlington and Ocean Counties.

    The specific details surrounding that South Jersey undertaking remain unknown.

    In Wednesday night’s television appearance, Sherrill denounced the Minneapolis shootings, calling Good “a mother of three, who drops her 6-year-old off in her Honda Pilot and then gets shot and killed.”

    And she noted that Pretti worked at the Minneapolis VA as an ICU nurse.

    “I saw his official photo, and I’ve seen a million of those … with the flag in the background, I know those guys,” Sherrill said.

    Pretti was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent, while Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent. Both agencies fall under the Department of Homeland Security.

    The new governor also said on The Daily Show that she called Trump to discuss his decision to freeze funding for the planned Gateway Tunnel in North Jersey, a project championed by Sherrill that would connect New York and New Jersey under the Hudson River.

    New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill does her best New Jersey “Oh!” and “C’mon!” impressions on The Daily Show with host Desi Lydic.

    “I haven’t heard back from him yet to flag for him that this is about 100,000 jobs in the region, and by the way, his numbers aren’t looking so good in that area,” she said.

    Sherrill said the president “should listen to me because I just won back all his voters,” citing her victory in November of more than 14 percentage points, outperforming her Democratic predecessors and reversing rightward shifts in 2024.

    But she also said it is time to “rethink” the federal government’s relationship with states because of attacks from Trump.

    “We need to start looking at expanding,” she said. “This is a time when I think we’re going to see a large expansion of state power, because the states are the rational actors in this space.”

    Sherrill also played a game with Lydic where she picked which things were most New Jersey, choosing Tony Soprano over Snookie; hating New Yorkers over hating Pennsylvanians; diners over Wawa; and “C’mon!” over “Oh!”

  • McGlinchey’s Bar, which closed last summer, is now on the market

    McGlinchey’s Bar, which closed last summer, is now on the market

    McGlinchey’s Bar, which survived decades of shifting tastes, smoking laws, and disco, is now on the market, five months after its closing.

    The asking price for the property at 259 S. 15th St. is $2.45 million, according to the listing, which is being handled by Nadia Bilynsky and Dennis Carlisle of MPN Realty on behalf of the Sokol family, which has owned the building since 1968.

    Mourning McGlinchey’s: The regulars share memories

    The family is selling not only the century-old building — with bars on two floors and a vacant third floor — but its liquor license and the McGlinchey’s name.

    For generations of regulars, McGlinchey’s was known less for reinvention than for what it refused to give up: cash-only tabs, smoking long after most bars banned it, and prices that seemed detached from inflation. It seemed to outlast trends simply by ignoring them.

    And if walls could talk, McGlinchey’s would probably ask for another shot before answering.

    Its building, on 15th between Locust and Spruce Streets, opened in 1922. For the first decade, it housed offices for the Allen-Sherman-Hoff Co. In 1932, Joseph A. McGlinchey bought it, leasing the first floor to a book and gift store called the Odd Shop, opening McGlinchey’s Restaurant on the second floor, and living upstairs.

    The bar downstairs opened in the 1950s, and Henry Sokol purchased the business in 1968. In 1976, he converted the second floor into Top’s Bar, which began as a disco, later hosted music and poetry, and eventually became an extension of McGlinchey’s itself.

    Five decades ago, the neighborhood sat on the seam between old Center City grit and the city’s new, corporate face; the clientele continued to reflect a broad cross-section of society.

    Stained-glass windows inside of McGlinchey’s on Aug. 18, 2025.

    After Henry Sokol’s death in 1985 — the year construction began on One Liberty Place, the city’s first building taller than William Penn’s hat on City Hall — McGlinchey’s was passed along to sons Ronald and Sheldon.

    Ron Sokol died in 2022, and last summer’s closing was prompted by Sheldon’s retirement.

    “It was just time,” said Sandra Sokol, Ron’s widow.

    Sheldon Sokol was the daytime manager, while Sandra Sokol said she handled administrative work behind the scenes. Douglas Sokol, Ron and Sandra’s son, worked at the bar, too.

    McGlinchey’s owner Sheldon Sokol in a 2004 photo taken for “The Regulars,” a series by former bartender Sarah Stolfa, who went on to publish the collection in a book of the same name.

    For Sandra Sokol, the bar’s meaning extended well beyond its balance sheets. “We used to joke that we had two children, but McGlinchey’s was [Ron’s] third child,” she said. “It was that important to him. He was really responsible for what it became.”

    Under Henry Sokol, she said, the business began as a more traditional restaurant and gradually evolved. “When Ronnie began hiring art students as bartenders and waitstaff, that’s when it started to shift into something more edgy,” she said. “What it became wasn’t planned. It just morphed that way, the way family businesses often do.”

    Sign at McGlinchey’s.

    That evolution extended upstairs as well. Sandra Sokol recalled visiting Top’s in its early disco days. One night, her sister, visiting from out of town, was asked to dance by a man who turned out to be a carpenter, still wearing his tool belt — hammers and all — straight from work. “It was that kind of place,” she said. “Spontaneous, serendipitous moments.”

    Those moments, she said, added up to something larger. “People would often say — and I agreed — that it was like the experience of Cheers,” she said. “It was more than a bar. More than a business. It became an institution — and in many ways, an extension of our family.”

    Even the bar’s most controversial feature — smoking — was handled pragmatically. “It was a double-edged sword,” she said. “If they banned smoking, they might gain new customers, but they would lose longtime ones.”

    A Miller High Life on the bar inside McGlinchey’s on Aug. 18, 2025.

    When Ron Sokol died, former employees turned out for the memorial. “So many people who had worked at McGlinchey’s over the years came and told me how important the bar had been in their lives,” she said. “I’m not really talking about the business side — I’m talking about the presence it had in people’s lives.”

    Among its alumni was Fergus Carey, the serial Philadelphia bar owner, who got his start in the industry there, as did his business partner, Jim McNamara. Carey said they had considered putting in an offer on McGlinchey’s, “but at this point, Jim and I have let it go in our hearts. We met so many people there — people we worked with, people we served, people who became friends. It was an important steppingstone for both of us, professionally and personally. It’s a big part of our history in this business.”

    As the property changes hands, Sandra Sokol said she hopes its identity survives the transition. “I would really like it to remain McGlinchey’s and for a new owner to keep it as close as possible to what it was,” she said. “I especially feel that way because I know Ronnie would have wanted it to continue into the next chapter.”

  • The science behind an herbal remedy that has worked for thousands of years

    The science behind an herbal remedy that has worked for thousands of years

    The question: Does ginger really help an upset stomach?

    The science: For more than 2,500 years, ginger has been used for its medicinal properties.

    Ginger is still often recommended as a way to ease stomach upset.

    Ginger, which is available at almost any grocery store and often used as a spice, looks like a root but is technically a rhizome — a modified, horizontal-growing stem of the Zingiber officinale plant. And it has properties that can relieve mild to moderate nausea, experts and studies say. However, it works better for some types of stomach trouble than others — and it matters how you take it.

    “We live in a world where there’s this gigantic box of options for our patients and so many of them are costly and have side effects,” said Joshua Forman, a gastroenterologist at the University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center, who recommends ginger to his patients. “It’s interesting how sometimes the simplest things fly under the radar.”

    What is ginger, and why does it work?

    Ginger can be eaten raw or cooked, steeped in tea, or taken as lozenges, gummies, or chews. But when taken for medicinal purposes, Forman said, he advises his patients to take ginger root powder in capsule form, which offers more consistent dosing than most other variations, to ease symptoms of nausea, indigestion, and other symptoms.

    Here’s why it works. Ginger contains compounds such as gingerol, shogaol, and zingerone that act on receptors in our gut and nerves that send signals to our central nervous system. One receptor, 5-HT3, regulates nausea, while another, TRPV1, triggers pain signals. By affecting these receptors, ginger may help ease nausea and discomfort, Forman said.

    Additionally, these compounds can help the lower part of the stomach contract, which speeds up digestion and reduces fullness and bloating, he said.

    Ginger also has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, which may help protect against gastrointestinal irritation, said Keshab Paudel, an associate professor of pharmacology at Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine in Florida, who studies ginger.

    In a 2025 literature review on the pharmacological effects of ginger, Paudel and his colleagues found that ginger reduced nausea, particularly nausea related to pregnancy, but did not consistently relieve vomiting. Ginger also showed other potential benefits such as helping to reduce inflammation, oxidative stress, and blood glucose levels, said Paudel, who was the lead author of the study.

    Additionally, some studies show that ginger may help with nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy, particularly when combined with antinausea medications. It may help ease nausea after surgery, though findings are mixed on postoperative vomiting. It may also help with nausea related to migraine pain.

    There isn’t enough data, however, to suggest that ginger can curb nausea related to stomach viruses, hangovers, or chronic acid reflux, Paudel said.

    How should I take ginger for a stomachache?

    The amount of ginger used in studies to treat nausea varies from 500 to 1,500 milligrams divided throughout the day, with 1 to 3 grams daily at the upper end. More than that and it may worsen reflux, heartburn, and other gastrointestinal symptoms. Forman said he recommends taking 500 mg twice per day.

    If you like the taste, fresh ginger root works well in hot tea, though it’s harder to figure out what dose you are getting, Forman said.

    Just boil freshly grated or sliced ginger in a pot of water and let it steep for at least 10 minutes, then strain out the ginger. Add a tea bag or loose tea leaves (which you would also strain out) and, if you’d like, honey and lemon.

    Forman cautioned against using store-bought ginger tea drinks as they often contain sweeteners and other ingredients.

    Don’t waste your time with most ginger ales, Forman said. Many contain ingredients such as high-fructose corn syrup and very little ginger, sometimes using artificial ginger flavoring. Ginger beers (which are generally nonalcoholic, despite the name) can sometimes contain more ginger than soda, but the amount can vary.

    Who shouldn’t take ginger medicinally?

    Although ginger is generally considered safe and is almost universally well-tolerated, it can lower blood sugar and impair blood platelet function when taken regularly at high doses, Forman said. If you have diabetes or take blood thinners, talk to your doctor before taking ginger supplements.

    Additionally, there is limited clinical data on the use of ginger in young children, so before giving it to your child as a daily supplement, consult a pediatrician, Paudel said.

    Ginger “should be viewed as a supportive, evidence-based complementary option, not a cure-all,” and people with persistent or severe gastrointestinal symptoms should seek medical care rather than trying to treat the condition on their own, he said.

    What else you should know

    There are various over-the-counter medications to treat nausea and vomiting such as dimenhydrinate (Dramamine), which is commonly used to combat motion sickness, and bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol), which can help with nausea, indigestion, and diarrhea often related to stomach bugs.

    If you prefer natural remedies, however, here are some ideas from experts:

    • Peppermint oil may relieve gastrointestinal discomfort and symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Although the evidence is not conclusive, some research suggests that enteric-coated peppermint oil capsules may reduce abdominal pain, bloating, and gas, Paudel said. (Enteric coating keeps the pill from dissolving in stomach acid so that the drug is released in the intestines, where it can be best absorbed.) But similar to ginger, “the effectiveness of these interventions largely depends on the underlying cause of the symptoms,” he said. In studies, peppermint oil appears safe for most people, but there isn’t much research on its medicinal use in women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, so consult your doctor before taking it.
    • Vitamin B6 may help with morning sickness — nausea and vomiting related to pregnancy, Paudel said. In some studies, doses have ranged from 10 mg to 25 mg, taken up to three times per day.
    • Chamomile tea also may help ease an upset stomach. A 2025 review found that chamomile was associated with reductions in sores and discomfort in the mucous membranes lining the digestive tract, suggesting it may have anti-inflammatory properties.

    The bottom line: Ginger — whether taken in capsules or fresh, homemade tea — can ease mild to moderate nausea, but research doesn’t show that it consistently reduces vomiting. It also hasn’t been shown to help with nausea related to stomach viruses, hangovers or chronic acid reflux.

  • Turnpike-fueled development | Real Estate Newsletter

    Turnpike-fueled development | Real Estate Newsletter

    What difference does a turnpike ramp make? In tiny Malvern, an E-ZPass interchange helped pave the way for billions of dollars in commercial and residential development in Chester County’s Great Valley.

    The Pennsylvania Turnpike opened Exit 320 in December 2012. The Route 29 ramp has since transformed businesses and communities in the region.

    And now, as the demand for offices has slowed, the area is seeing another rise in residential projects.

    Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:

    — Michaelle Bond

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    A residential wave

    Chester County’s Great Valley has a lot going for it, which helps explain why it’s grown so much. One of its assets is the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Exit 320.

    After it opened, corporate office parks popped up and expanded, and thousands of people moved in, drawn by new jobs and suddenly easier commutes to Philly and the wider region.

    In the last few years, the real estate landscape has shifted, and there’s less demand for offices. That’s led to a new rise in residential development.

    • A 10.3-acre property on Swedesford Road is headed for demolition so it can be transformed into hundreds of apartments and thousands of square feet of dining and retail space.
    • A developer just turned an empty office building in Exton into “hotel-apartments.”
    • A 111-acre office park off Route 29 is for sale and is being marketed as a redevelopment opportunity.

    The residential shift isn’t a surprise. There’s more demand for homes than there is supply, and families are looking for anything they can afford.

    Keep reading to learn about other residential projects underway and find out why a project manager says he sees “a runway for more.”

    A church for a home

    Coming up with $2.5 million in cash actually seems like it was the easy part of the home search for Carrita Thomas and Jake Stein.

    When they started, they had one child and were expecting twins, so the family needed more space.

    Thomas and Stein loved Society Hill and wanted to stay in the neighborhood, but there weren’t many rowhouses for sale that had at least six bedrooms, on-site parking, and outdoor space. Houses that could work sold in a blink.

    Then they saw a for-sale sign on a long-vacant church two blocks from their home.

    They originally hadn’t wanted a fixer-upper, but they ended up with their neighborhood’s most glaring example.

    Keep reading to find out why the sale was difficult, what the church looks like now, and how the couple is approaching renovations.

    The latest news to pay attention to

    Home tour: Office turned apartment

    17 Market West was the first major project in Philly to turn offices into apartments in the post-pandemic era.

    Allison Levari and Frank DiMeo were some of the first tenants to move in last June.

    The couple’s 1,200-square-foot apartment has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an open layout. The corner unit gets lots of natural light through large windows that Levari likes to open to let in fresh air and city sounds.

    Light and views help define the transformed building, a property manager said. Alterra Property Group replaced old office windows when it converted the former Morgan Lewis building into a 299-unit apartment building.

    There’s a yoga studio and pickleball and basketball courts. The rooftop has a saltwater pool, sauna, and cold plunge. The lounge includes a chef’s prep kitchen.

    Peek inside Levari and DiMeo’s home and see whether you can tell it used to be office space.

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