LOS ANGELES — Nick Reiner, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood luminary Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, pleaded not guilty Monday to two counts of first-degree murder more than two months after their deaths, denying for the first time that he fatally stabbed his parents.
Reiner’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene, entered the plea on his behalf as he stood behind glass in an enclosed custody area of the packed Los Angeles courtroom.
The third of Rob Reiner’s four children, Nick Reiner has been held without bail since his arrest hours after beloved actor-director Reiner and photographer and producer Singer were found dead on Dec. 14 at their home in the upscale Brentwood section of Los Angeles.
Reiner appeared in court with a shaved head and light facial hair, wearing brown jail clothes. He talked to his lawyer briefly through the glass before the judge began the hearing. At one point a low door in the enclosure was opened and they crouched down and spoke face-to-face. During the hearing, he spoke only to answer “yes” when the judge asked if he waived his right for next steps of the case to proceed speedily.
Reiner was not wearing the suicide prevention smock he wore in his first court appearance in December days after his parent’s killings. It was the third time he had been set to enter a plea, but issues surrounding the high-stakes, closely watched case, including a surprising change in defense lawyers, kept it from happening until Monday.
The judge told Reiner to return to court April 29 for the scheduling of a preliminary hearing where prosecutors will present evidence and a new judge will decide if it’s enough for Reiner to go to trial.
The case will now be handled by longtime Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sam Ohta. He has had many prominent murder, manslaughter, and public corruption cases in his courtroom in recent years, but none have drawn the national media attention this case has.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman said outside court that his office still hasn’t decided whether it will seek the death penalty for Reiner. Hochman said the death penalty decision “goes through a very rigorous process. We will be looking at all aggravating and mitigating circumstances.”
Reiner’s not guilty plea is common for criminal defendants at this stage of the case, whatever their longer-term plan might be.
Reiner’s former attorney, the high-profile private lawyer Alan Jackson, had to quit the case at the previous hearing, citing reasons beyond his and his client’s control that ethics wouldn’t let him reveal. But in parting, he adamantly declared that “pursuant to the laws of California, Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder,” a stance made official by Reiner’s plea Monday.
Authorities have said nothing about possible motives, and leaks in the case have been virtually nonexistent on both sides, leaving some of the most basic questions about the killing unanswered publicly.
Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70, died from “multiple sharp force injuries,” the LA County Medical Examiner said in initial findings. Authorities said they were killed hours before the bodies were discovered. A court order has prevented the public release of more details.
Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian said Monday that his office is still awaiting the full autopsy report from the medical examiner, but all other evidence has been turned over to the defense.
Rob Reiner was a prolific director whose work included some of the most memorable and endlessly watchable movies of the 1980s and ’90s. His credits included This is Spinal Tap, Stand By Me, A Few Good Men, and When Harry Met Sally… , during whose production he met photographer Michele Singer and married her soon after.
A federal judge in Florida blocked public release of special counsel Jack Smith’s extensive report on the classified-documents case against President Donald Trump — a resounding victory for Trump’s efforts to block public viewing of what probably would be damaging details about his retention of classified materials after he left the White House in 2021.
The decision Monday morning from U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon resulted from litigation that has dragged on for more than a year in her courtroom. Cannon ruled that releasing the special counsel report could violate grand jury secrecy rules and could result in impugning the presumption of innocence for Trump and his co-defendants in a case that did not result in guilty verdicts.
The ruling can be appealed. Although Trump and the Justice Department both opposed the public release of the report, First Amendment advocacy groups and media outlets pushed in Cannon’s court for release.
Smith charged Trump in 2023 with 40 counts of illegally retaining classified defense information and obstructing government efforts to retrieve the materials. Two of Trump’s personal aides were charged with obstruction alongside him.
Cannon dismissed those charges in a decision that broke with legal precedent, ruling that Smith was unlawfully appointed and therefore had no authority to bring charges. Her decision did not touch on the merits of the case, which Trump aides at the time believed was the strongest of the criminal cases against Trump that were brought during the Biden administration.
Smith appealed the ruling but dropped the appeal after Trump won the 2024 presidential election, citing federal regulations that say a sitting president cannot be prosecuted.
In her Monday ruling, Cannon lambasted Smith for compiling the report even though she dismissed the charges in 2024. Using the discovery in the case to complete the report amounted to circumventing her ruling, she said.
In the final days before Trump took office, Smith submitted the final report to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland. Garland did not push to release it because, at the time, an appeal of Cannon’s dismissal order was still pending as the Justice Department tried to resurrect the case against Trump’s two co-defendants.
“To say this chronology represents, at a minimum, a concerning breach of the spirit of the Dismissal Order is an understatement, if not an outright violation of it,” Cannon wrote.
“The Court need not countenance this brazen stratagem or effectively perpetuate the Special Counsel’s breach of this Court’s own order,” she continued.
Garland made public the first volume of Smith’s report, which detailed the case that prosecutors built against Trump over his alleged attempts to obstruct the 2020 election results. For 137 pages, Smith detailed the incriminating evidence he says he collected against Trump over his two-year investigation and said he was confident that he had ample evidence to obtain a conviction in court.
That case also never made it to trial, with the Justice Department asking a judge to dismiss it in the final weeks before Trump took office for his second term.
The second volume of the special counsel report was expected to similarly detail the incriminating evidence Smith collected against Trump and reveal what would have been the special counsel’s strategy at court.
Prosecutors already said that some of the documents found in the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida home and private club, contained information about top-secret U.S. operations so closely guarded that many senior national security officials were kept in the dark about them.
Trump and his attorneys first asked Cannon to block the release of the report before he was inaugurated for his second term. Cannon temporarily blocked the release on Jan. 7, 2025 — about two weeks before Trump took office.
Once Trump regained the presidency, the Justice Department said it opposed releasing the report. Trump, in his personal capacity, also filed requests in Cannon’s court to block the release.
Smith has testified to Congress in recent months about his cases against Trump. He has said that he is limited in what he can reveal, in part because of Cannon’s prohibition on releasing the report.
It is common practice for special counsels to release reports even if their investigations do not result in guilty verdicts.
Special counsel Robert K. Hur, for example, released a report in 2024 detailing his investigation into whether President Joe Biden unlawfully retained classified materials after his vice presidency. The damaging report explained why Hur opted against charging Biden.
Cannon attempted to differentiate the release of Smith’s report from other cases, saying that there was no precedent for releasing a report in a case in which the charges have been dismissed and the defendants maintain their innocence.
Trump’s request to dismiss the case on the grounds that Smith was unlawfully appointed was considered a long shot when he filed it, and Cannon’s ruling was unexpected and unusual.
“The Court strains to find a situation in which a former special counsel has released a report after initiating criminal charges that did not result in a finding of guilt, at least not in a situation like this one, where the defendants contested the charges from the outset and still proclaim their innocence,” Cannon wrote.
Pennsylvania State University’s THON dance marathon raised a record $18.8 million to fight pediatric cancer, organizers announced Sunday at the conclusion of the annual event.
The 46-hour dance marathon, which has been going on for more than 50 years at the state’s flagship university, began 6 p.m. Friday inside Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center on the main University Park campus and finished 4 p.m. Sunday. More than 700 dancers competed.
The money raised goes toward Four Diamonds charity, which supports research for a cure and families whose children get treatment at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital.
“While we are incredibly proud of this record-breaking total, the true success of THON is found in the thousands of Penn State students who came together with a singular purpose,” Benjamin Roitman, THON executive director, said in a statement “This milestone is a direct reflection of the tireless effort and collective spirit of our community who, embodied the ‘Love Leads Forward’ theme, proved that there is no limit to what we can achieve when we stand together for the common cause of conquering childhood cancer.”
More than 16,500 student volunteers participated in THON, which along with Four Diamonds has helped more than 4,800 children through the years, the organization said.
UPPER BERN, Pa. — Not enough clean water. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of sewage dumped into systems designed to handle much less. More calls for already overwhelmed EMS departments.
Pennsylvania leaders, municipal officials, and first responders say communities will be overwhelmed by the federal government’s plans to turn vacant warehouses in Berks and Schuylkill Counties into massive ICE detention centers and processing facilities.
A recently released memo from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says it selected sites based on engineering reviews and found a warehouse-to-detention center conversion would have “no detrimental effect.”
But state officials and Upper Bern Township leaders — who were blindsided by the Feb. 2 purchase and are still largely operating in the dark — are pointing to facts about capacity and raising serious concerns about how these plans would play out.
Commonwealth leaders in emergency management, environmental protection, health, and labor cosigned a Feb. 12 letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem asking that the department not “impose such intolerable burdens on residents of Schuylkill and Berks counties.”
“If reporting about DHS’s plans is accurate, the facilities will violate the legal requirements applicable to public drinking water, sewage, and water pollution,” the state officials wrote.
They continued: “The stress each facility will place on local infrastructure will, among other things, jeopardize Pennsylvanians’ access to safe water, deplete resources and infrastructure needed for emergencies, and overextend already strained emergency response personnel.”
The federal government has provided few specifics on the impacts Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s plans could have on these rural communities. A meeting among federal, state, and local officials has yet to materialize.
Upper Bern Township’s Board of Supervisors, who have spoken publicly through solicitor Andrew Hoffman, said in a prepared statement on Feb. 12 that ICE’s plans at the vacant warehouse would “more than double” Upper Bern’s population.
Its wastewater treatment plant could be overwhelmed by a 1,500-bed facility, and supervisors wonder what extracting “potable water from wells for those 1,500 or more people” could do to the water supply.
Here’s what we know about the potential impact on the community:
A view from the Upper Bern Township building near Shartlesville, Pa., on Feb. 9.
Sewage
When the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) signed off on the plan to build the Hamburg Logistics Center several years ago, documents show the agency approved the warehouse to produce 8,000 gallons of sewage daily.
If it’s used as an ICE processing center and holds up to 1,500 people, that number would skyrocket to more than 100,00 gallons per day, officials said in their letter to Noem.
Upper Bern’s “maximum monthly flow from serving its current customers is 131,000 gallons per day,” they continued. And its treatment plant is designed to only treat up to 155,000 gallons daily.
Upper Bern renewed its wastewater permit with DEP in January 2024, indicating that the township was not modifying or adding onto the system. The average monthly flow reported during that renewal was 78,000 gallons per day.
Township sewer engineer John Roche said no one has submitted a formal request to change the use or increase sewer capacity at the warehouse.
“If the use changes, we’d have to look at that on an individual basis,” Roche told Spotlight PA after a supervisors’ meeting on Feb. 12. “We haven’t had any new requests yet.”
Neither Roche nor Upper Bern’s solicitor was available for comment for this story.
The former Big Lots warehouse in Schuylkill County, which ICE wants to turn into a detention center for 7,500 people, has a system approved to discharge even less than the one in Upper Bern — no more than 6,000 gallons per day, according to the letter. The system is also connected to the treatment facility by a 2-inch diameter pipe, which state officials told Noem isn’t suitable for a detention center.
Drinking water
Neither warehouse was designed to provide the amount of potable water that would be needed to run these detention centers, state officials warn, and finding alternatives would be all but impossible.
Upper Bern officials said the township has no public water system. Homes and businesses rely on wells for potable water.
In the letter to Noem, state officials wrote that the vacant warehouse is designed to draw water from an on-site water well. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) previously approved the construction of such a system, “because it could provide treated water for use by a limited number of employees engaged in warehouse activities based on three anticipated separate shifts in a 24-hour period.”
However, the agency hasn’t approved the operation of the system. What’s more, it’s not designed to provide drinking water 24 hours a day for some 1,500 people, they wrote.
During an April 2025 inspection, DEP officials also found several deficiencies that suggest the drinking water system “was not constructed in accordance with the approved designs.”
The Tremont Township warehouse is even more strained, the letter said. While it is serviced by the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority’s public water system, that system already struggles to provide adequate services to the community.
State officials estimate a 7,500-bed facility would need up to 800,000 gallons of safe water per day, which is nearly all of the available 1 million gallons stored for the Tremont area. The plant is permitted to only treat 330,000 gallons daily by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission.
That not only threatens access to safe drinking water, but could also “lead to calamity in the event of an emergency,” state department heads warned. For example, the same water supply is used for fighting fires, and the current systems may not have the supply or the water pressure needed to extinguish a blaze.
Emergency services
Communities across Pennsylvania are already experiencing an EMS crisis. Adding high-density facilities to the rural communities of Upper Bern and Tremont Townships — populations 1,600 and 300, respectively — will exacerbate those problems, local first responders told Spotlight PA.
Hamburg EMS has served Upper Bern Township for years, Chief Leslie Herring told Spotlight PA. While there are still many unknowns, she said first responders worry about how the ICE processing facility would impact their call volumes and response times.
“We’re just concerned because it’s not only going to affect us, it’s going to affect every other neighboring squad in the county,” Herring said. “We’re worried about what it’s going to do to all the surrounding municipalities and boroughs.”
Berks County officials declined to discuss the impact on emergency services. Emergency Services Director Brian Gottschall referred a Spotlight PA reporter to county spokesperson Jonathan Heintzman. Heintzman later declined to comment after consulting with the county commissioners and solicitor.
Scott Krater, director of Schuylkill County’s 911 center, is responsible for dispatching EMS, police, and fire personnel throughout the county, and noted the challenges these sectors already have. He said attracting 911 call operators is difficult.
Schuylkill County already has three prisons — run by the county, state, and federal governments — but none house the number of people anticipated for the empty warehouse. The county prison typically incarcerates fewer than 300 people, and both the federal and state prisons have about 1,200 inmates each.
“Those normal challenges that we have here would obviously be the same, or maybe more taxing on the telecommunicators that are working currently with the increase in call volume,” Krater told Spotlight PA.
Western Berks Ambulance Association provides mutual aid for Upper Bern Township and is the second in line to respond to emergencies, CEO Anthony Tucci said.
Tucci reached out to other EMS companies and DHS to learn more and better prepare, but said he hasn’t heard back. He estimates an ICE facility could add an additional 60 to 70 EMS calls a month.
“I think it’s going to be a huge impact on our community,” Tucci said.
Fire departments operate on a similar system of mutual aid and could also experience an increase in emergency calls, state leaders wrote in their letter to Noem.
While Tremont is serviced by five fire departments, Upper Bern is protected by just one: Shartlesville Fire Company, which is staffed by volunteers. It’s unclear how many calls the department averages monthly. Calls and emails to the fire company were not returned.
DHS has also failed to engage with area hospitals that would serve the ICE facilities, the Pennsylvania agency leaders said in their letter, which they called disconcerting. Hospitals need to plan for disasters, such as a fire at these buildings, that would cause an influx in patients.
“Area hospitals may not have the capacity to prepare for these emergency events without support and the lack of communication from federal officials raises serious concerns,” the state leaders wrote.
Reading Hospital and Penn State Health St. Joseph in Berks County did not immediately respond to Spotlight PA’s questions, nor did St. Luke’s Hospital or Lehigh Valley Hospital in Schuylkill County.
The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, which represents more than 235 providers across the state, was unable to say whether DHS has contacted local hospitals.
“Hospitals continuously update their plans — especially when there is a major change in the community — to ensure they are prepared to respond to emergencies and address their communities’ needs,” the association said in an emailed response to Spotlight PA questions. “Strong collaboration with local leaders, state and federal agencies, and other stakeholders is an important part of this process.”
Public safety
Neighbors have questioned how the proposed processing center would affect public safety.
Chelsey and Zach Kramer, who live in a mobile home community across the road from the warehouse, came to Upper Bern Township’s Board of Supervisors meeting on Feb. 12 to oppose ICE’s purchase of the warehouse.
They said they are worried about guns and security presence at the site, road closures, and not being able to access their home.
“Are we going to have to be showing ID to get home? Are they going to be blocking off our roads?” Chelsey Kramer told Spotlight PA.
The Kramers said they also worry about how a detention facility could impact recreational and family-friendly spaces near their home.
“When they were looking at these facilities, who at DHS looked at the campground and the mobile home community and the game lands and public trails and everything, and the community park right here, and said: ‘Let’s put one right there,’” Zach Kramer said. “The campground is going to go under for one, because who’s going to want to go vacationing near a detention facility? I know most of my neighbors are upset about this.”
The Berks County township doesn’t have its own police department, and State Police are responsible for coverage. Cars already back up at the major thoroughfares near Mountain Road during shift changes at nearby warehouses, local first responders told Spotlight PA.
Some speakers during the Feb. 12 meeting said they are worried about protesters and “agitators” coming to the area, and ensuring that people can exercise their rights to protest.
State Police “remain committed to providing the best law enforcement coverage with the utmost professionalism,” agency spokesperson Ethan Brownback told Spotlight PA in a statement, adding that their dedication to the area “remains unchanged.”
Property taxes
The $87.4 million sale of the Upper Bern warehouse to the federal government takes the sprawling property — located near the Appalachian Trail — off the tax rolls.
Since the warehouse was built and placed on the market, the property has remained vacant while generating about $199,620 annually in county property taxes, $31,229 in township taxes, and $597,110 for the Hamburg Area School District.
The township did not respond to Spotlight PA’s questions about how that revenue loss would affect the community’s annual budget.
“They’re losing $600,000 a year on school property taxes, and that’s important,” county Commissioner Dante Santoni Jr. said during a Feb. 11 town hall. “The most important thing is what it does to our communities, and we’ve seen what it’s done around this country. It tears us apart, it pits people against each other, and creates chaos.”
Spotlight PA’s Gabriela Martínez contributed to this article.
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The Monto is the name of the new Celtic bar coming in April from veteran publicans including Fergus Carey and Jim McNamara, who are taking over the former Mac’s Tavern at 226 Market St.
Carey said the kitchen will be overseen by N.A. Poe, the proprietor of Poe’s Sandwich Joint (at the Human Robot in Kensington and Poison Heart in Poplar) and Poe’s Side Piece (at Human Robot in Brewerytown). Poe plans to blend his South Philadelphia sensibility with Irish pub fare — a mashup he calls the “Poe-gues” menu.
Sandwich specialist N.A. Poe (right) with Monto co-owner Fergus Carey.
Poe said his existing lineup of cutlet sandwiches, cheesesteaks, and burgers would form the backbone of the Monto’s menu. He said he would twin those offerings with Irish breakfast, sausage rolls, shepherd’s pie, and fish and chips served on Sarcone’s bread with house-made tartar, along with a corned beef cheesesteak and a pub burger that includes blue cheese and crispy prosciutto.
“I’m not trying to be overly precious about it,” Poe said. “At this point, I know what works. Irish food isn’t fine dining. It’s approachable. The goal is to take those classics and put a solid spin on them.”
The partners of Monto (from left): Johnjoe Devlin, Jim McNamara, Gary “Swing” McDonald, and Fergus Carey,
Carey and McNamara — whose holdings include Fergie’s Pub in Washington Square West, the Jim in South Philadelphia, and the Goat Rittenhouse — have brought in as partners two well-known figures from Philadelphia’s Irish-bar circuit: Johnjoe Devlin, a Glasgow native and a 17-year bartending veteran at Plough & the Stars; and Gary “Swing” McDonald, from South Armagh, Northern Ireland, who has worked for 25 years at such pubs as the Bards, Tir na Nóg, Brownies, Ten Stone, and Murph’s.
The name “Monto” comes from the bawdy Dubliners mid-1960s song about Dublin’s historic red-light district. “I’ve been singing it for 40-plus years,” Carey said.
Designer John Fetsko, whose recent work includes the Mulberry and projects with Royal Restaurant Group, is handling the build-out.
The Market Street address carries its own legacy. Mac’s Tavern, which closed last summer after 15 years, counted South Philadelphia-raised actor Rob McElhenney — now known professionally as Rob Mac — and Kaitlin Olson of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia among its owners.
For Carey, the opening marks both a return to Old City and another chapter in a decades-long run shaping Philadelphia’s bar culture. The Dubliner arrived in Philadelphia in 1987 and landed behind the bar at McGlinchey’s before he and his late business partner, Wajih Abed, opened Fergie’s Pub. He also helped launch such beer destinations as Monk’s Café, the Belgian Café, and Grace Tavern.
Dave Allen knows how to cultivate a winning culture.
With stops at Eastern and Cherry Hill West, Allen, now in his 13th season as the Cherry Hill East boys’ basketball coach, has amassed 400 career wins at the helm, earning 28 playoff victories and two Group IV championships in the process.
This year’s Cougars look like a direct extension of Allen’s winning ways.
East ended the regular season 21-3, winning seven of its eight Olympic Conference matchups. The Cougars are slated to host Toms River North (9-17, 3-7 Shore) in the first round of the NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV Tournament on Thursday at 4 p.m.
The Cougars are looking to build off last season’s playoff run, in which they fell to Lenape, 48-47, in the Group IV championship — just a point away from raising their third championship banner in program history.
Allen, however, would be the first to say that this year’s team is different.
“Traditionally, we’ve always been a three-point shooting team,” Allen said. “We push in transition but also play some control-tempo basketball, but this year, we’ve been more of a pressing team, more of a team trying to play transition more so than we had in the past. At some points in the year, we were averaging over 70 points a game.”
Cherry Hill East junior Chris Abreu is averaging 16.8 points, 6.3 assists, and 6.1 rebounds this season.
The catalyst for this change, Allen says, has been the team’s “really good guard play.”
This backcourt effort is led by junior Chris Abreu. The 6-foot-1 guard transferred to East after his freshman season at Paul VI and has been a constant triple-double threat. He’s averaging 16.8 points, 6.3 assists, and 6.1 rebounds this season.
“We’re a fast-paced team,” Abreu said. “Push the ball a lot and push it in transition.
“I’m really excited for the playoffs, actually.”
Thursday will mark the second meeting between East and Toms River North this season. On Dec. 20, the Cougars trounced the Mariners, 91-38, behind Abreu’s triple-double (14 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds.)
Allen indicated that his team will look to key in on the Mariners’ Jake Greenberg. The sophomore guard is averaging 13.5 points and is known to get hot from deep.
“[Greenfield is] solid,” Allen added. “He was solid against us the first time, and he’s having a good year for them, so we’re going to have to try to keep up what we’re doing defensively.”
‘Reshift some things’
To start the season, Abreu had a running mate in sophomore Jamieson Young. Against the Mariners, Young totaled 23 points. The combo guard was the Cougars’ leading scorer, averaging 21.8 points through the team’s first 12 games.
However, on Jan. 17 against St. Rose, Jameson went to save the ball from going out of bounds, landing awkwardly on his right ankle, which he had previously tweaked in the summer. This time, it required surgery. He was ruled out for the remainder of the season.
“[Young] gave us a lot in terms of his ability on the floor,” Allen said “He was our secondary ball handler and also our leading scorer. … We had to then kind of reshift some things to make up for those 22 points [per game].”
Chris Abreu says East is a “fast-paced team” this season.
First, Allen’s eyes turned to Abreu, challenging the junior to take over the scoring load and “make people better” around him. He did just that, as East won five straight following Young’s injury.
“[The message was] to just stay focused, stay disciplined,” Abreu said. “It’s hard with injuries and us being hurt, but you’ve obviously just got to push through it.”
Allen also turned to senior guard Chris Delgado. The four-year starter scored a career-high 28 points in the Cougars’ first game without Young, while surpassing 1,000 career points in the process.
“The best thing I can say about [Delgado] is that he’s a kid we want our younger players to emulate. That’s it,” Allen said. “He’s a kid who is a program kid who sacrifices. All he wants to do is win.”
This year, Delgado is averaging 11.5 points, 1.5 assists, and 2.25 rebounds, while being tasked to guard the other team’s best player. The senior has seen two deep playoff runs with the Cougars: a Group IV semifinal loss in his freshman year and last year’s final loss.
Cherry Hill East senior Chris Delgado is averaging 11.5 points, 1.5 assists, and 2.25 rebounds this season.
This will be the senior captain’s final chance to earn a championship. Consistent messaging is important for Allen, but winning is not the only thing the coach wants his players to focus on.
“Win or lose, the process is what’s going to be lasting for players,” Allen said. “Even when you win, that’s not what’s lasting. … What happens is, when you win, you change the goalpost — you start thinking about competing again.”
The offseason is about to blast into full swing and, unlike this time a year ago, the Eagles are surrounded by question marks. On the heels of the team’s failed bid for another Super Bowl, coaching changes ensued, which are expected to usher in a significant philosophical pivot on offense. But with next week’s scouting combine approaching, the Eagles, along with the rest of the NFL, will start to focus more on personnel decisions. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane has covered plenty of combines, and knows where and how to dig up juicy intel. He and Inquirer colleague David Murphy examine Eagles storylines that figure to be front and center when the league descends on Indianapolis.
00:00 Getting gossip at the NFL’s biggest power broker mixer of the year
02:36 Forecasting A.J. Brown’s future
13:34 Which Eagles free agents could stay, go
20:55 Contract extensions and their implications on the defensive line
29:45 Diving into Sean Mannion and his scheme
37:01 How much will the Eagles change the offense?
44:20 Closing the book on Jeff Stoutland’s exit, Chris Kuper’s hiring
unCovering the Birds is a production of The Philadelphia Inquirer and KYW Newsradio Original Podcasts. Look for new episodes throughout the season, including day-after-game reactions.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Mexico Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said Monday 25 members of the National Guard were left dead in Jalisco in six separate attacks after the killing of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes.
Oseguera Cervantes, known as “El Mencho” was the boss of one of the fastest-growing criminal networks in Mexico, notorious for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine to the United States and staging brazen attacks against government officials who challenged it.
He was killed during a shoot-out in his home state of Jalisco as the Mexican military attempted to capture him. Cartel members responded with violence across the country, blocking roads and setting fire to vehicles.
Also killed were a prison guard, an agent from the state prosecutor’s office and a woman whom García Harfuch did not identify. He also said some 30 criminal suspects were killed in Jalisco and four others were killed in Michoacan.
Several Mexican states canceled school on Monday, with local and foreign governments warning their citizens to stay inside after widespread violence erupted.
President Claudia Sheinbaum urged calm Monday and authorities said all of the more than 250 cartel roadblocks across 20 states had been cleared. The president was expected to address the situation at her daily news briefing Monday morning.
The White House confirmed that the U.S. provided intelligence support to the operation to capture the cartel leader and applauded Mexico’s army for taking down a man who was one of the most wanted criminals in both countries.
Mexico hoped the death of the world’s biggest fentanyl traffickers would ease Trump administration pressure to do more against the cartels, but many remained hunkered down and on edge as they waited to see the powerful cartel’s reaction.
Many fear more violence
The U.S. Embassy said via X that its personnel in eight cities and the state of Michoacan would shelter in place and work remotely Monday and it warned U.S. citizens in many parts of Mexico to do the same.
Cars began circulating in Guadalajara before sunrise Monday with the start of the work week, a notable change from Sunday when Jalisco’s state capital and Mexico’s second-largest city was almost completely shut down as fearful residents stayed home.
More than 1,000 people were stuck in Guadalajara’s zoo overnight, sleeping in buses. On Monday morning. mothers wrapped up in blankets carried their toddlers out of the buses for a much-needed bathroom break as police trucks guarded the area.
Luis Soto Rendón, the zoo’s director, said many had been trapped there since 9 a.m. the day before, when violence broke out in Jalisco and the surrounding states. Families were left stranded, trying to distract their children, as they decided they couldn’t return home in nearby states like Zacatecas and Michoacan.
“We decided to let people stay inside the zoo for their safety,” Soto said. “There are small children and senior citizens.”
Irma Hernández, a 43-year-old hotel security guard in Guadalajara, arrived at work early Monday morning.
She normally takes public transportation to work, but buses were not running and she had no way to cross the city. Her bosses organized a private car to pick her up. Her family, she said, was staying at home, too scared to leave.
“I am worried because I don’t know how to get home if something happens,” she said.
Passengers arriving at the city’s international airport Sunday night were told it was operating with limited personnel because of the burst of violence.
Authorities in Jalisco, Michoacan and Guanajuato reported at least 14 other people killed Sunday, including seven National Guard troops.
Videos circulating on social media Sunday showed tourists in Puerto Vallarta walking on the beach with smoke rising in the distance.
A blow against a cartel could be a diplomatic coup
David Mora, Mexico analyst for International Crisis Group, said the capture and outburst of violence marks a point of inflection in Sheinbaum’s push to crack down on cartels and relieve U.S. pressures.
U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded Mexico do more to fight the smuggling of the often-deadly drug fentanyl, threatening to impose more tariffs or take unilateral military action if the country does not show results.
There were early signs that Mexico’s efforts were well received by the United States.
U.S. Ambassador Ron Johnson recognized the success of the Mexican armed forces and their sacrifice in a statement late Sunday. He added that “under the leadership of President Trump and President Sheinbaum, bilateral cooperation has reached unprecedented levels.”
But it may also pave the way for more violence as rival criminal groups take advantage of the blow dealt to the CJNG, Mora said.
“This might be a moment in which those other groups see that the cartel is weakened and want to seize the opportunity for them to expand control and to gain control over Cartel Jalisco in those states,” he said.
“Ever since President Sheinbaum has been in power, the army has been way more confrontational, combative against criminal groups in Mexico,” Mora said. “This is signaling to the U.S. that if we keep cooperating, sharing intelligence, Mexico can do it. We don’t need U.S. troops on Mexican soil.”
‘El Mencho’ was a major target
Oseguera Cervantes, who was wounded in the operation to capture him Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco, about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara, died while being flown to Mexico City, the Defense Department said in a statement.
During the operation, troops came under fire and killed four people at the location. Three more people, including Oseguera Cervantes, were wounded and later died, the statement said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said via X that the U.S. government provided intelligence support for the operation. “‘El Mencho’ was a top target for the Mexican and United States government as one of the top traffickers of fentanyl into our homeland,” she wrote. She commended Mexico’s military for its work.
The U.S. State Department had offered a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel is one of the most powerful and fastest-growing criminal organizations in Mexico and began operating around 2009.
In February 2025, the Trump administration designated the cartel as a foreign terrorist organization.
Sheinbaum has criticized the “kingpin” strategy of previous administrations that took out cartel leaders, only to trigger explosions of violence as cartels fractured. While she has remained popular in Mexico, security is a persistent concern and since U.S. President Donald Trump took office a year ago, she has been under tremendous pressure to show results against drug trafficking.
The Jalisco cartel has been one of the most aggressive cartels in its attacks on the military — including on helicopters — and is a pioneer in launching explosives from drones and installing mines. In 2020, it carried out a spectacular assassination attempt with grenades and high-powered rifles in the heart of Mexico City against the then head of the capital’s police force and now federal security secretary.
MINNEAPOLIS — While sitting next to Quentin Grimes on the bench during the 76ers’ Feb. 7 win at the Phoenix Suns, Tyrese Maxey delivered this message:
“Bro, go out there and just do you,” Maxey told Grimes. “Go hoop.”
Grimes’ off-the-bench spark reappeared Sunday night in the Sixers’ impressive 135-108 bounce-back win against the Timberwolves at the Target Center. The 25-year-old guard totaled 19 points and seven assists, complementing terrific offensive nights from backcourt mates Maxey (39 points and eight assists) and VJ Edgecombe (24 points and seven rebounds).
Such production provides a crucial lift in the games the Sixers (31-26) play without the injured Joel Embiid and/or suspended Paul George. Yet Grimes’ goal for the rest of the season is to consistently stay in “attack mode,” no matter who is on the floor with him. It would be a stretch-run boon for the Sixers’ second unit, which enters Monday ranked 28th in the NBA in bench scoring (30.6 points per game).
“If I kind of just stick to my game, stick to who I am,” Grimes said Sunday at his locker, “ … good things happen.”
Grimes went 5-of-8 from three-point range, including makes on his first attempt from the top of the key and on a fourth-quarter launch that gave the Sixers a 102-82 advantage and prompted a Timberwolves timeout. Grimes also was a successful playmaker, with dump-off passes to center Adem Bona for inside finishes and a highlight alley-oop lob to Edgecombe in transition.
Coach Nick Nurse also appreciates Grimes’ ability to play long stretches, shifting to different positions while the coach “subbed around him.” For example, Grimes closed the first half as part of a small-ball lineup with three guards and Dominick Barlow at center.
“It looks like he’s settling back into the role we had him in earlier,” Nurse said after the game.
Grimes had flashed that such a resurgence could be percolating in the Sixers’ first two games coming out of the All-Star break. In Thursday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks, he scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half. He totaled another nine in the first quarter Saturday in a brutal defeat at the New Orleans Pelicans, but he could not carry it through the game amid the Sixers’ horrendous second-half shooting.
That aligned with Grimes’ inconsistent results throughout the bulk of his first full season in Philly, following a messy, prolonged restricted free agency that resulted in him signing his one-year qualifying offer after the start of training camp.
Early on, Grimes looked like an NBA Sixth Man of the Year contender as part of a loaded group of young and athletic guards. But he also has dipped into multiple shooting slumps — or low-attempt outings — while also mixing in the occasional reckless defensive close-out that gets whistled as a foul. He is averaging 12.8 points on 44.3% shooting, along with 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 0.9 steals in 51 games.
The fifth-year guard certainly was never going to hold the same role this season as when he was initially acquired at the 2025 trade deadline, when he became the Sixers’ top offensive option and lead ballhandler while Maxey, Embiid, and George were all shut down with injuries. Grimes acknowledges it has been challenging at times to carve out his opportunities whenever those three standouts are all available — and because Edgecombe has surpassed him on the depth chart by becoming an immediate starter as a rookie.
Still, Nurse said last week that he still wants to deliberately target a number of shots for Grimes to fire each game, instead of those attempts regularly emerging in the Sixers’ “random” offense.
Tyrese Maxey, defended by the Timberwolves’ Donte DiVincenzo, had 39 points and eight assists in the Sixers’ win over Minnesota on Sunday.
Maxey wants six or seven three-pointers out of Grimes, believing he too often pump-fakes and drives when open on the perimeter. When Grimes studies film with player development coach TJ DiLeo in the locker room about an hour before each game, a portion of their focus is on the gaps in the defense that Grimes can exploit to sharply vault up for a shot. Nurse added that Grimes is quite good at creating his own space from a defender, and launching over an outstretched arm trying to contest.
“He can get them off anytime he wants,” Nurse said of Grimes. “ … [We are working on] getting him situations where, ‘Hey, we’re going to get you the ball, and we need you to shake your guy down and shoot the ball here.’
Grimes also got a jolt of rejuvenation from the All-Star break, which he spent in Cabo San Lucas getting a tan, eating delicious meals, and spending time with his family.
The refresh helped him recommit to that on-court attack mode in the Sixers’ first two games out of the break. But Sunday was the full spark that the Sixers will need from Grimes while Embiid and George remain sidelined and when his team returns to full strength.
“I’ve got to just figure out my spots,” Grimes said. “ … When guys come back, there can’t be no drop-off.”
As a regular consumer of sushi, I’ve noticed that the gap between casual, delivery-centric sushi joints and upscale omakase in Philly has been narrowing recently — prompting me to go on a quest to identify the true gems of delivery-sushi spots. I scoured DoorDash, UberEats, GrubHub, and Caviar, and saw a lot of spicy mayo and reconstituted wasabi-flavored powder in the process. In the end, I found plenty of solid options for Center City spots serving good-quality sashimi and nigiri, and balanced rolls that weren’t too gimmicky. Here are the places that deliver in every sense.
Delivery sushi from Royal Izakaya.Delivery sushi from Vic Sushi in Rittenhouse.The square sushi with tuna shows the influence of Morimoto.Sushi donut at Kai.A gluten-free Zama chirashi bowl.
Vic Sushi Rittenhouse
Open since 2007, this tiny Rittenhouse restaurant is a go-to for reliably good sushi, whether takeout, dine-in, or delivery. They don’t get too creative when it comes to rolls, which is generally a good thing. (I like the ones with spicy tuna.) Their nigiri is solid, and their sashimi offerings are small but intentional. Get the greatest hits: tuna, salmon, yellowtail, sweet shrimp, and mackerel.
When you’re in the mood for omakase-level nigiri in your pajamas, Kichi is an excellent choice. Priced not much higher than most takeout sushi spots, the Washington Square West one-hour omakase counter sends out truly high-quality fish with all the flourishes. Nigiri platters arrive in plywood boxes, and there’s real wasabi pinched into the corner and dotted onto tender slices of fluke, hamachi, tuna, and wagyu. No spicy Sriracha mayo was to be found. Instead, a generous smear of fresh uni came atop an expertly flayed scallop, and tiny dollops of red miso, pickled vegetables, and barley miso adorned an array of rolls and sashimi, including the melt-in-your-mouth toro.
112 S. 12th St., 215-359-6099, instagram.com/kichi_omakase
Morimoto
Morimoto’s DoorDash menu features a selection of a la carte sushi and maki rolls that are refreshingly straightforward. You get one type of fish per roll. It’s dialed back, curated, and, overall, not terribly expensive (despite the Starr restaurant’s reputation as being quite fine dining). There are three sushi packages, delivering varying quantities of maki rolls and nigiri, none of which permit modifications. Expect cooked shrimp, kanpachi, tuna, salmon, spicy salmon rolls sprinkled in white and black sesame seeds, and the fluffiest, cakiest egg tamago. The nigiri are small, delicate, and beautifully formed, and the fish is high-quality across the board. The hoku hoku potato appetizer is simple but shockingly light, airy, and travels well. Ramekins of sauce — black garlic shio koji, aged yuzu ponzu, and wagyu tare — for $4 each (or $8 for fresh Japanese grated wasabi) put other delivery-sushi accompaniments to shame.
A notable gimmick sets this snug Center City sushi bar apart from the others on this list: their sushi donut, a ring of rice stuffed with spicy salmon, layered with slices of avocado, tuna, and salmon, then decorated with a smear of mayonnaise frosting and a sprinkle of bubu arare, or crispy rice balls. It’s possibly the silliest thing I’ve ever eaten for this job. But the rest of Kai’s menu is less gimmicky and mostly very good. You’re not going to find esoteric, difficult-to-source fish on this menu, but rather a list of generously portioned greatest hits. Kai’s sashimi and sushi set for two consists of thick rectangular slabs of tuna, salmon, kanpachi, and “white tuna” (likely escolar). Skip the over-the-top rolls, but get the Japanese-style potato croquette, somewhat of a rarity in Philly.
12 S. 10th St., 267-928-4505, kaiphilly.com
Royal Izakaya
Perhaps unsurprisingly for the sidekick restaurant to the city’s best omakase, Royal Izakaya’s delivery options on Caviar are extensive — far beyond the typical nigiri and sashimi. And you won’t have to wait till the end of the night for one of their legendary industry chirashi bowls, consisting of weirdly shaped leftover cuts of fish crammed into a deli pint with heavily soy-seasoned rice for $20. All of the fish is superb, especially the tuna. Delivery from this Queen Village destination benefits from chef Jesse Ito’s obsession with aging fish, and its sushi rice is perfect. The ikura (salmon roe) on the jumbo Aka-Taka roll gleams, nestled into its marvelous little bed of chopped tuna. Fancy maki rolls range in price from $20 to $27, making date night for two around $160, comparable to every other place on this list.
780 S. Second St. 267-909-9002, royalizakaya.com
Zama
Zama’s delivery menu, also on Caviar, skews heavily toward cooked foods, as well as rolls that you will not find anywhere else in Philadelphia. The Philly Style maki consists of chopped washugyu (American-bred wagyu that is typically less fatty than the Japanese beef) tucked into a red pepper flake-sprinkled soy paper wrapper with Bibb lettuce, rice, provolone, and spicy mayo; it comes with a truly wonderful horseradish aioli for dipping, as well as a pickled whole cherry pepper (the only pepper acceptable on a cheesesteak). Hilariously, you need to select “wit” or “witout” before checkout. Their Bronzizzle roll sparkles with fantastically bitter olive oil, and their tuna usuzukuri — tuna sliced paper-thin — is strange to peel off its takeout paper plate, but nevertheless delicious dipped in ponzu.
128 S. 19th St., 215-568-1027, zamaphilly.com
Qu Japan Bistro & Bar
The sashimi dinner from this tiny downtown sushi bar steps from the Ben Franklin Parkway is composed with expert levels of care. It consists of five different types of fish (salmon, sea bass, tuna, hamachi, and tuna), each sliced into three perfectly sized pieces, gorgeously decorated with edible flowers and specific, artfully arranged garnishes for each fish. At $40, it’s a shockingly good bargain, as are the rest of their thoughtful, beautifully constructed rolls. Qu’s White and Black roll is one of my favorites, consisting of seared black pepper-seasoned white tuna wrapped around a center of spicy, crunchy yellowtail and avocado. It’s inventive and unique without being weird. Qu is on Caviar, but doesn’t bump their presence up with marketing, so you’ll need to do a little searching through the app in order to find their page.
My personal favorite neighborhood delivery and takeout option, Kei delivers rolls are relatively simple but always consistent. I order their Nihon roll (tuna, eel, avocado, yuzu-marinated roe, scallion, and toasted sesame seeds) every time. The Grad Hospital restaurant’s takoyaki is the very best in Philly — blazing-hot little globes of crisped dough encasing nuggets of octopus. Their fried oysters are positively enormous and crisp with fried panko. Their sashimi selection is relatively small but filled with hits like sweet shrimp, salmon, fluke, scallop, yellowtail, and tuna.
This approachable Center City newcomer combines people-pleasing menu items (think deeply flavorful chicken karaage made with thigh meat and parmesan-dusted fries) with excellent, fairly priced sushi sets and chirashi bowls. Its delivery menu, on both UberEats and Doordash, is absolutely massive, so you’ll be spoiled for choice, even when ordering sashimi. Take tuna as an example, which includes three different cuts: akame (lean), chu toro (fatty), otoro (or fatty tuna belly). Be aware that prices are high — the dollar amounts are by the slice. Order by the set; individual pieces of sashimi are much pricier. For $50, their chirashi bowl isn’t massive, but rather than being puffed up with rice, it has generous helpings of diced fluke, salmon, hamachi, and tuna, plus crouton-sized spongy tamago and high-quality caviar and uni.
