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  • Free-agent moves? Stars moving on? Answering all of the Eagles’ biggest offseason questions

    Free-agent moves? Stars moving on? Answering all of the Eagles’ biggest offseason questions

    The Eagles’ 2025 season came to an end sooner than many expected Sunday night, with an underwhelming 23-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers ending the dream of a Super Bowl repeat.

    With the offseason officially here, The Inquirer has identified the most significant questions the team will face as it attempts to avoid the sting of a premature exit at this time next year.

    Do you expect a change with embattled offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo?

    (Editor’s note: Patullo was removed from his position on Tuesday).

    The offense’s performance this season did not reflect well on Patullo. The unit finished the year 19th in the league in scoring, 24th in total yards, and 13th in expected points added per play, which measures the average points added by the offense on each play.

    For comparison’s sake, here’s how the 2023 Eagles offense fared under former offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, who was fired in the offseason: No. 7 in scoring, No. 8 in yards, and No. 9 in EPA per play.

    The Eagles seem certain to move on from Kevin Patullo as the play caller.

    Yes, that season was different, as the Eagles lost six of their last seven games. But both the 2023 and 2025 offenses regressed substantially following Super Bowl appearances. The 2025 Eagles returned 10 of 11 offensive starters from the Super Bowl-winning team, and yet the most expensive offense in football couldn’t make it past the wild-card round.

    While all of the offense’s shortcomings this season can’t be pinned exclusively on Patullo, something has to change. If the Eagles fire a coordinator and decide to hire an external replacement, there’s always a chance that person would want to handpick his own assistants. In 2024, Kellen Moore brought in former quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier. Vic Fangio overhauled the defensive staff. — Olivia Reiner

    Is there any reason to expect changes with A.J. Brown or any of the other skill-position stars?

    Four of the offense’s big five skill players — Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, Brown, and DeVonta Smith — are under contract through at least 2028. Brown is under contract through 2029. Dallas Goedert, meanwhile, is set to become an unrestricted free agent at the start of the new league year.

    Given Goedert’s status as a pending free agent, his future as an Eagle is in question. The 31-year-old tight end had a career year with 11 touchdowns, plus two more in the postseason. After an injury-riddled 2024 season, he stayed mostly healthy and started 15 games in 2025. But he’s an aging — and potentially expensive, given his touchdown output — tight end who took a step back as a run blocker this year.

    It would be expensive for the Eagles to move on from A.J. Brown.

    Then, there’s the elephant in the room. Will Brown be back in 2026, let alone finish out his contract in Philadelphia? He voiced his frustration with the offense’s inconsistency earlier in the season. While he made an impact on paper during the regular season and eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for a fourth straight year, he also was part of the problem at times, especially in the wild-card loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He finished with three receptions on seven targets for 25 yards.

    Brown’s contract would be very difficult to move. Cutting him before June 1 would incur $72 million in dead money in 2026. The Eagles would still be on the hook for $43 million in 2026 if they traded him, too. But, as our colleague Jeff McLane wrote, would a change of scenery benefit the 28-year-old wide receiver, send a message to the locker room, and eventually clear some salary-cap space? — Reiner

    Besides Goedert, which Eagles are scheduled to become free agents? Which members of that group will be the highest priorities for the team to re-sign?

    As Reed Blankenship noted Sunday in the locker room: “It’s not going to be the same.”

    “Who knows where we all end up?” the safety said. “That’s just part of the business side of it. They can’t keep us all. I wish they could.”

    Blankenship is one of the Eagles’ nearly two dozen free agents. Like Blankenship, a few are notable players who may not be back.

    Will the Eagles be willing to pay 31-year-old Dallas Goedert?

    Let’s start with Goedert, who had a career year — the most prolific touchdown season in the history of Eagles tight ends. There are zero tight ends on next season’s roster as it stands. Along the offensive line, reserves Fred Johnson, Brett Toth, and Matt Pryor are free agents. So is wide receiver Jahan Dotson. Deeper reserves like running back AJ Dillon, quarterback Sam Howell, and injured fullback Ben VanSumeren are set to hit the market, too.

    Blankenship, linebacker Nakobe Dean, and edge rusher Jaelan Phillips are the marquee names among the defensive free agents. Two more starters from Sunday’s game are also scheduled to be free agents: safety Marcus Epps and cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. Other free agents include edge rushers Brandon Graham, Joshua Uche, Azeez Ojulari, and Ogbo Okoronkwo. Punter Braden Mann’s contract also is up.

    As for which players the Eagles will prioritize, it’s not hard to imagine them wanting to rework something with Goedert before they look elsewhere for a tight end. Phillips will be at or near the top of the priority list, too. The Eagles are thin at edge rusher and could use an impact player like Phillips at the top of the depth chart to pair with Jalyx Hunt and Nolan Smith. Blankenship’s position is a priority, but it remains to be seen what his market looks like and what the Eagles decide to do at safety. Rookie Drew Mukuba will be coming off a season-ending injury at one of the safety spots.

    As for Dean, he may be the most expendable among the top free-agents-to-be with Jihaad Campbell waiting in the wings. — Jeff Neiburg

    Howie Roseman has a reputation for being aggressive in all aspects of the Eagles’ business.

    What is the Eagles’ salary-cap situation heading into the offseason? What does history say about their willingness to be aggressive on the free-agent front?

    According to Over the Cap, the Eagles have $20.3 million in cap space for 2026. It is not a lot, partially because some Eagles have increases in their cap hit. Jalen Hurts’ cap number, for example, jumps from $21.87 million this past season to $31.97 million next season.

    The Eagles have 40 players under contract and have eight draft picks. As it stands, they again will have a high-priced offense. Seven of the eight players with cap hits of at least $9 million are offensive players.

    While there isn’t a ton of money available for Howie Roseman to play with, history shows us he is willing to be aggressive to create more room and to improve his roster to compete for a Super Bowl. He also has mastered the art of structuring contracts to game the NFL’s salary-cap system. — Neiburg

    The Eagles moved up to select Jihaad Campbell in the 2025 draft.

    How many draft picks are the Eagles scheduled to have in 2026? How aggressive do you expect them to be in moving draft capital to address other needs (or to move up in the draft)?

    The Eagles are set to have eight draft picks, including three projected compensatory picks, in 2026:

    • Round 1
    • Round 2
    • Round 3 (from the New York Jets in the Haason Reddick trade)
    • Round 3 (projected compensatory pick for Milton Williams)
    • Round 4
    • Round 4 (projected compensatory pick for Josh Sweat)
    • Round 5
    • Round 5 (projected compensatory pick for Mekhi Becton)

    Roseman has a track record of moving up in the draft, even if it’s just a couple of spots, to go get a player on the team’s short list. His most significant jump came in 2016 when he moved up six spots from No. 8 to No. 2 to select Carson Wentz. Last year, Roseman moved up one spot from No. 32 to No. 31 to get Campbell.

    He goes after what he wants in veterans, too, with his most prominent example occurring in 2022 with his draft-day acquisition of Brown from the Tennessee Titans. Given that the Eagles have eight picks, Roseman has plenty of ammo to make moves and address the team’s needs. — Reiner

    The limited availability of tackle Lane Johnson this season means the Eagles must consider the future along the offensive line.

    Which personnel groups do you expect Howie Roseman to concentrate most on upgrading heading into 2026?

    Where to begin? The Eagles still have a pretty solid roster, but they do have some flaws and are set to have a few holes.

    They have no tight ends. They have no obvious answer yet for a Lane Johnson replacement. How long is Landon Dickerson going to hold up? They went heavy at offensive line toward the end of the draft last season, but they could soon need top-end talent.

    They are in the market for wide receiver help, regardless of where the Brown saga leads them. They need edge rushers. They need cornerbacks. They may need a new kicker.

    A high-impact edge rusher, like Phillips, should be high on the list of most important personnel groups to upgrade the talent level, and it will be interesting to see how the Eagles go about addressing tight end. They obviously will sign a few in free agency and could draft one. Could Goedert return?

    There are a lot of unanswered questions right now. It’s that time of year.

    The Johnson replacement is a tricky one, too. He still is very good when he’s on the field, but the clock is ticking. Same for Dickerson, who has had multiple surgeries and has played through plenty of pain. — Neiburg

    Will another NFL team lead the charge to ban the Tush Push, as the Packers did last offseason?

    Will the Tush Push be in the spotlight again this offseason? What are the mechanics of a potential rule change from a league/competition committee standpoint?

    Earlier in the season, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Tush Push was getting banned in the spring. This year, instead of detractors fixating on its aesthetics and its player safety risks, its officiating was called into question.

    But false-start penalties mounted on the Eagles as the season progressed. Defenses improved at stopping the play, too. The Eagles grew less effective on the Tush Push and eventually, in short-yardage situations, stopped running it entirely. The last Tush Push the Eagles ran in the regular season occurred in Week 16 against the Washington Commanders. It failed, just like four of their previous six attempts.

    The public outcry against the Tush Push seems to have dissipated with the Eagles’ waning efficiency. In fact, fans seemed to love the Buffalo Bills’ 10-yard push sneak for a touchdown in their wild-card win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bills were among the teams that voted to effectively ban it in the offseason, too.

    Unless there is new injury data that suggests the play is dangerous, the path to a ban is unclear. The officiating of the play still would be an issue on a traditional quarterback sneak. Perhaps the league again would seek to eradicate an offensive player pushing the runner downfield on any play, which was illegal in the NFL before 2005. Ironically, it was legalized because it was difficult to officiate.

    A rule proposal, either submitted by the competition committee or by one of the 32 clubs, would be the first step to getting rid of the play. That proposal would need at least 24 “yes” votes from the 32 owners at the spring league meeting to pass. Last year, the Green Bay Packers submitted an assisting-the-runner proposal, but it didn’t garner the requisite support. — Reiner

    The Rams’ return trip to Philly next season should be among the highlights of the 2026 home schedule.

    Who are the Eagles’ 2026 opponents?

    In addition to their six division games, the Eagles will face the 2025 winners of the NFC North (Chicago Bears on the road), NFC South (Carolina Panthers at the Linc) and AFC North (Pittsburgh Steelers at the Linc); they’ll face the entire NFC West (Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks at the Linc, 49ers and Arizona Cardinals on the road) and the entire AFC South (Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts at the Linc, Jaguars and Tennessee Titans on the road).

    The Eagles are scheduled to play nine home games in 2026. Dates are expected to be announced as part of the NFL schedule release in May.

    Compiled by The Inquirer staff.

  • Meet the local producer taking you behind the scenes of the Eagles season on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’

    Meet the local producer taking you behind the scenes of the Eagles season on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’

    On Tuesday, the final episode of HBO’s in-season Hard Knocks show following the NFC East will debut, which will encompass the Eagles’ season-ending loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round.

    The season didn’t end the way that Eagles producer Shannon Furman may have hoped, but the final episode is a 50-minute look inside the Birds’ final game.

    Furman is the mastermind behind the Eagles’ segments of the show. Because the in-season Hard Knocks is released on the Tuesday the following week, Furman said it’s important for the film crew to come in with a plan each week on which players to spotlight.

    Will A.J. Brown be traded? Kevin Patullo fired? Is Jalen Hurts holding Eagles back? Here’s what they’re saying.

    Unlike the training camp edition, this year’s in-season Hard Knocks covered the entire division, leaving the Eagles with approximately 12 minutes to fill on the show every week, edited down from several dozen hours of footage per week.

    “It’s so tough with the Eagles, because there’s so many guys and there are so many choices,” Furman said. “It ends up happening, like, ‘Who has an event this week? Who’s doing something?’ Week 1, it was like, ‘Let’s follow the quarterback,’ and then we had heard everybody saying Jordan Davis was a big personality.”

    The team filming the footage sent it in batches to the editing team in Mount Laurel each day leading up to Tuesday’s release date, flagging segments it particularly liked or thought would be good to include. Sometimes, like after the Monday Night Football loss to the Chargers in November, the filming crew submitted the last of the footage after midnight, less than 24 hours before the episode aired.

    There’s so much footage that often gets cut for time or is reused later. Furman said the Hard Knocks team shot a lot of footage of Davis for the first episode, which was released on Dec. 2, that got cut because of time restraints. But she loved the segment so much that they eventually worked him into a later episode.

    Hard Knocks also mics up players during games, and the game footage caps the episode. Furman quickly learned that some players were much better mic’d up than in an interview setting, like DeVonta Smith.

    “He’s a quiet guy off the field, and then he gets on the field and he turns into a completely different person,” Furman said. “Everybody is a little bit different. Some people stay completely the same. Some people get more quiet when they’re on the field than they are when they’re off, so you just get to see all different sides of people.”

    Eagles offseason guide: Key dates for fans to know, from free agency to the draft to opening kickoff

    Furman hoped that the show provided a new look into the team beyond what spreads on social media. She was struck most by the passion the players had for coach Nick Sirianni, and how much they respected and related to him personally.

    “As a person who grew up in Philadelphia, learning about Nick, he is Philadelphia,” Furman said. “Everyone should love this guy, because he is the definition of our city, the fiery, where maybe it comes across as arrogance at times, but at the same time you still love him. It’s like a lovable arrogance. He’s perfect for this city.”

  • The Jalen Hurts roller coaster just lost Kevin Patullo. How will the next rider fare?

    The Jalen Hurts roller coaster just lost Kevin Patullo. How will the next rider fare?

    Jalen Hurts knew the score. He knew Kevin Patullo was done. It made zero sense for the Eagles quarterback to say he wanted the offensive coordinator to return, knowing it was a fait accompli.

    “It’s too soon to think about that,” Hurts said Monday when asked about wanting Patullo back. “I put my trust in Howie, Nick, and Mr. Lurie.”

    Who will be the Eagles’ next offensive coordinator? Start with these eight names.

    The Eagles haven’t officially fired or demoted Patullo as of this writing, but it’s only a matter of time before Howie Roseman, Nick Sirianni, and Jeffrey Lurie come to that conclusion after a once-banging offense ended a calamitous season with a whimper on Sunday. (Editor’s note: Patullo was removed from his position Tuesday).

    It was hard to find any source within the NovaCare Complex who expected otherwise. And if you listened closely to Hurts’ comments at his locker stall the day after the Eagles lost to the San Francisco 49ers, you could hear in his tone an elegy for Patullo.

    “I hate that, you know … [pause] … I hate that,” Hurts said before another pause. “I hate that it ended this way, but I know we’ll be better from it.”

    Hurts was talking about how the season ended, but he just as easily could have been talking about Patullo’s fate.

    He could have also, of course, stood up on his stool and defended the coach. He could have taken accountability for his role in the first-time play-caller’s struggles. He could have pointed to specific plays he failed to make and specific ways he limited the offense.

    But it really made no sense. Patullo will be the latest coordinator to exit the annual roller coaster that is having Hurts as your quarterback. From the highs of getting head coaching promotions (see: Shane Steichen and Kellen Moore) to the lows of getting canned (see: Brian Johnson and eventually Patullo).

    Hurts, meanwhile, will remain and have a fifth different coordinator and sixth play-caller since Sirianni became head coach in 2021. And if you want to go all the way back to college — as Hurts has noted before — he’ll have his 14th different play-caller in the last 11 years.

    That’s a lot of change and most of it out of his control, especially in Philadelphia after Sirianni gave up play-calling during his first year. But Hurts isn’t a pup anymore. And even he seemed to acknowledge that play-caller turnover isn’t a credible excuse after he won a Super Bowl in his first season with Moore.

    The Eagles need to ask themselves some hard questions. Jalen Hurts should face a few of them.

    “I accept the change,” Hurts said when asked about areas he wanted to work on this offseason. “I accept that those things come, whether expectations are met or whether we’re making Super Bowl runs. I’ve experienced both ends of it, and so I have a unique perspective on that.

    “So I’m not going to allow that to be an excuse for us not to make championship runs and for us to not have the success that we desire and that I desire.”

    Hurts is just one piece of the puzzle, just as Patullo was. They’re major parts of the machinery, so they rightfully get the most attention. But too much outside blame was placed on the coordinator because he was new, while not enough was directed toward the quarterback because of his previous success.

    It’s understandable. Doesn’t make it accurate.

    Inside the Eagles, most understood that there were myriad reasons for the offense’s decline. The personnel wasn’t as good. The offensive line wasn’t as healthy. The coaching staff wasn’t as sharp. And it’s damn hard to repeat as champions. The margin for error is slim in the NFL.

    The Eagles’ best leaders looked internally at themselves and what they could improve and refused to point fingers. But there was definitely some redirecting of criticism, with the split about evenly distributed between Hurts and Patullo.

    The Hurts critics just seemed louder. Some of the gripes were performance-based. Like the offense isn’t exotic and moves slowly because Hurts can’t read complex defenses or doesn’t want pre-snap motion. Or his inability to process post-snap limits middle-field throws. Or he doesn’t want to run as much anymore.

    All claims can have some semblance of truth, but the first two didn’t seem to hinder the offense when the going was good. The scheme, as wide receiver DeVonta Smith said Sunday, was essentially the same since 2021.

    Eagles grades: Another overly conservative offensive performance results in season-ending flop

    There was more nuance than that. The system evolved to become more run-based. Moore brought in some new passing concepts in 2024, but some were never used. The Eagles could rest on their talent more than most.

    But they rolled it back again in 2025 as running back Saquon Barkley said on Monday — similar to how they did in 2023 — and defenses caught up. And Patullo, as it increasingly became clear, wasn’t able to consistently dial up sustainable drives. He showed his acumen in the red zone, but getting there was often a battle.

    If there was a conflict between Hurts and Patullo that went public, it was over designed quarterback runs. Hurts didn’t originally deny reports that he didn’t want to run as much, but when asked last week about how that factored into his good health this season, he suggested that it wasn’t his doing.

    “The approach this year, and the way the games have been called with this coordinator — with Coach KP — it’s just kind of gone that way,” Hurts said. “I’ve taken it in stride and [am] giving my best with the position they’ve put me in.”

    It’s hard to believe that Hurts doesn’t have a say in those conversations. He has said his influence has steadily increased. Some team sources have said it’s much greater than has been conveyed. But if he has been overpowering coaches, isn’t that as much of an indictment of Sirianni and Patullo as it is the quarterback?

    Hurts was asked Monday how comfortable he had been with being uncomfortable in the offense.

    “I think that’s the essence of what my career has been,” Hurts said. “Can’t say that every situation I’ve been in has been the most comfortable, but I’ve been able to find my way out of it and find ways to win and find ways to success. And so that’s a part of growth, and I’ve never run away from growth.”

    Hurts has progressed. He’s better as a drop-back passer. He’s better at reading coverages. He’s better vs. the blitz. But in his growth as an NFL quarterback, he may have lost sight of how his mobility made him dynamic.

    “He is not who he thinks he is,” an Eagles source said.

    Teammates openly call him “Lil Jordan” in reference to his relationship with Michael Jordan, being one of the faces of the Air Jordan brand, and wanting to emulate and be the NFL version of the iconic basketball player. It’s a slight tease and Hurts rolls with it, several players said.

    He is an easy target. No one faces as much scrutiny. And some of the internal forces against him seem to be holding his famously stoic demeanor against him. He isn’t the most cuddly creature.

    But he has taken steps in that regard, as well. When A.J. Brown made it apparent he was frustrated with Hurts earlier in the season, he went to the receiver first to clear the air, two sources close to the situation said.

    “That was mostly about not being on the same page,” one source said.

    It took a while, but Hurts and Brown, whose friendship dates back almost a decade, have smoothed things over off the field. It’s unclear if they’ll be on the field together next season, although the quarterback intimated that he wants the receiver back.

    “A.J. and I have talked. We’re in a good, great place,” Hurts said. “I know you all can talk to him and ask.”

    The last sentence was a sly reference to Brown not talking to reporters in over a month. He again wasn’t available during locker clean-out day.

    Hurts, meanwhile, didn’t miss a media requirement all season. He’s heard the criticisms and he’s hardly ever thrown shade toward a teammate, coach, or otherwise. Maybe he could have taken some of the arrows for Patullo.

    But that stagecoach has departed. There will be a new coordinator in town soon enough. Hurts wouldn’t say how much influence he’ll have over the decision. He still may not be especially approachable, but Roseman, Sirianni, and Lurie have his number.

    “Overall, my line is always open,” Hurts said. “And so however involved or whatever level of inquiry I [have], I’ll definitely be available. Ultimately, I put my focus on controlling the things I can.”

  • Reservation scalpers are headed for Philly. Can restaurants clap back?

    Reservation scalpers are headed for Philly. Can restaurants clap back?

    Flip a reservation and find out — or at least that’s how the warning goes at South Philly’s acclaimed Cambodian restaurant Mawn.

    Last week, the restaurant’s owners, Phila and Rachel Lorn, took to Mawn’s Instagram to lambaste a woman attempting to sell coveted dinner reservations on the “Buy, Sell, Trade” section of Philaqueens, a private Facebook group with 75,000 members.

    “Selling a Mawn dinner reservation for this month and February if anyone is interested,” read the since-deleted post, which did not specify a price. Commenters were split on the unorthodox offering. Three people immediately replied to say they were interested, while another didn’t mince words.

    “Selling a free reservation?” she wrote. “Horrible.”

    The Lorns agree.

    “Eww. Gross … Don’t play with us,” they wrote, sharing a screenshot of the Facebook post that included the seller’s name. “All 11 of this person’s reservations are canceled.”

    The “all star seafood rice” at Mawn, an acclaimed South Philly restaurant targeted by reservation scalpers.

    The interaction was a glimpse into the burgeoning underbelly of restaurant reservation scalping, in which enterprising individuals can make a lucrative side hustle using bots and other means to snap up free reservations at in-demand restaurants, then selling them at a premium.

    The reservation black market is more established in New York City, Chicago, and Miami, where tables at celebrity-favorite Italian restaurant Carbone or Ralph Lauren’s notoriously exclusive Polo Bar can fetch between $350 and $1,700 on the third-party website Appointment Trader. One Brown University student told the New Yorker in 2024 that he made $70,000 just by using fake phone numbers and aliases to book reservations to flip on Appointment Trader. The website itself claims that sellers average $172 per reservation.

    The practice has spread to smaller cities, too: During Super Bowl LIX weekend in New Orleans, a once-free reservation for a table at the French Quarter restaurant Antoine’s went for $2,138.

    As reservation scalping becomes more widespread, so has legislation attempting to guard against it. Philadelphia City Council unanimously passed a law in December that would prohibit third-party websites from selling reservations without a restaurant’s consent, fining platforms such as Appointment Trader $1,000 per violation. The bill was signed last week by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who joined leaders in New York, Louisiana, and Illinois in banning the practice.

    Philly expands outdoor dining and cracks down on ‘reservation scalpers’ ahead of expected 2026 tourism

    Still, these bills do not prevent savvy foodies from making under-the-table reservation deals in, say, a Facebook group.

    ‘Nobody should be making money off a free reservation’

    Rachel Lorn said that she and husband Phila found out about the offending Facebook post from several back-to-back direct messages tipping her off.

    Mawn co-owners Phila (left) and Rachel Lorn, who say reservation scalpers are unwelcome at their James Beard-award winning restaurant.

    “It’s disrespectful. Nobody should be making money off a free reservation. … We felt like we had a responsibility to [say to] all the people who can’t get a reservation, ‘This is not OK,’” said Rachel Lorn, who oversees front-of-house operations for Mawn, including the restaurant’s packed guest book.

    Nowadays, scoring a Mawn reservation is about as hard as getting off the wait list for Eagles season tickets. The Lorns, who met while working at Zama, opened the cozy, 28-seat restaurant at 764 S. Ninth St. in 2023 as an ode to Phila’s parents. It was an immediate hit and has only gathered steam, garnering accolades from the James Beard Foundation, Food & Wine magazine, and the New York Times in 2025 alone.

    Customers wait in line for Mawn to open for lunch.

    Mawn draws lines that wrap around the block for its first come, first served lunch service, but dinner reservations are the hotter commodity. Rachel Lorn uses OpenTable to drop reservations at noon on the first of every month, making roughly 650 total tables available at once. Customers are allowed to book multiple reservations, Lorn said, and many regulars manage to do so. It’s a pain point for would-be diners who miss out, whom Lorn said she hears from nonstop.

    How a Cambodian noodle shop became one of Philly’s most impossible reservations

    “I watch [the reservation drops] from our computer. They sell out in seconds,” she said. “We never imagined that this would be the response to our restaurant. … It’s amazing, but it’s also a really tough position to be in. There isn’t much I can do with our small restaurant and how many seats we have.”

    Upon learning of the attempted black market deal, Rachel Lorn checked OpenTable and found that the Philaqueens poster had dined at Mawn six times prior and had 11 dinner reservations booked on different days throughout January and February. Lorn canceled them all immediately.

    Mawn’s dining room, which has only 32 seats. The restaurant is first come, first served for lunch, but dinner reservations are snapped up in seconds.

    She also reached out to the seller directly, who Rachel Lorn said didn’t respond but did manage to change the name and email associated with her OpenTable account. The Lorns said they would ban the seller, if only they could figure out a way to do so; OpenTable currently does not allow for restaurants to prevent specific users from making reservations.

    “It felt like she was trying to trick us further,” Rachel Lorn said. “She shouldn’t be coming to our restaurant.”

    The reservation seller declined to comment to The Inquirer, citing privacy concerns. She said only that she “meant no harm and there was no ill intent,” and declined to answer questions about why she was selling the reservations. The Inquirer is not releasing her name since the attempted sale happened in a private Facebook community.

    From 2024: Why you suddenly need to look on OpenTable for reservations to the city’s hottest restaurants

    $221 for a table at Barclay Prime?

    For the most part, the Mawn incident is an anomaly in Philly. Reservation scalping has yet to take off here, according to Ben Fileccia, the senior vice president of strategy for the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, which worked with at-large Councilmember Isaiah Thomas to draft Philly’s anti-reservation scalping bill.

    Fileccia said that this was the first time he had ever seen someone try to sell a reservation on Facebook, and that he had only seen a smattering of reservations for Philly restaurants on third-party platforms before working on the bill. Free trades are more common, he said, likely because cost is more top of mind for diners in Philly, a city with large wealth inequality.

    “When you have an audience of folks to which prices are no object, [reservation scalping] becomes more of a problem,” Fileccia said. “Whereas when I discuss this issue and ask people [in Philly], ‘Would you pay $500 for reservation at 7:30 p.m. at X restaurant?’ … They usually laugh and roll their eyes.”

    The gaeng pae, khao mun klone, and moo yaang prik at Kalaya, one Philly restaurant featured on reservation resale platform Appointment Trader.

    That doesn’t mean scalping doesn’t happen here.

    A recent search on Appointment Trader found prime-time Saturday night reservations at Kalaya averaging $113 and 9 p.m. reservations for any day at raw bar Tesiny for between $107 and $360. A 7 p.m. Saturday table for six at Stephen Starr’s Barclay Prime steakhouse, or a reservation for two for literally any day or time at Pine Street Grill, Amanda Shulman and Alex Kemp’s new spot? That will cost at least $241 or $124, respectively, on Appointment Trader.

    Until recently, Appointment Trader functioned similarly to StubHub, where buyers could purchase reservations that scalpers had already acquired. Now, founder Jonas Frey is shifting the model to a concierge system: Buyers request a certain reservation and an algorithm spits out an average price based on demand. Once a bid is placed, Appointment Trader matches you with a seller whose job it is to secure the reservation by any means possible. There’s a 100% refund guarantee if the request goes unfulfilled.

    Representatives for the restaurants The Inquirer recently found on Appointment Trader were initially unaware they were listed on the platform.

    “We do not have experience with guests utilizing this platform,” said Kalaya chef and co-owner Chutatip “Nok” Suntaranon. “All reservations for Kalaya run through Resy.”

    Tesiny owner Lauren Biederman called the discovery “concerning.”

    “There isn’t too much we can do in terms of figuring out if the reservation is scalped really, though,” she said, noting that Tesiny requires customers provide a credit card upon booking and charges $25 per person for late cancellations and no-shows.

    Longtime server Matthew Penn prepares for dinner service at Barclay Prime, Stephen Starr’s steakhouse, where a table can go for upwards of $221 on Appointment Trader.

    When Shulman and Kemp opened Pine Street Grill last month, they designated half the nightly seats for walk-ins, in part to keep it a neighborhood restaurant. “We were especially surprised to see Pine Street listed for such a hefty price since it’s by far our most casual restaurant,” the couple wrote in a statement. “Oftentimes a dinner for two at Pine Street is less than the reservation cost you shared.”

    Rachel Lorn said she feels “powerless” against platforms like Appointment Trader. She often finds out after the fact when a reservation has been resold. She also tries to hide her suspicion when a guest shows up and struggles to recall the name a table is under.

    “What am I going to do in that moment?” she asked, exasperated. “Accuse them?”

    Google review scammers target some of Philly’s top restaurants

    Why exactly is reservation scalping bad?

    Chief among the concerns reservation scalping has raised in the restaurant industry: It overinflates the demand for a restaurant.

    Often, scalpers will sit on hundreds of reservations that go unused, leading to no-shows that can hurt a restaurant’s bottom line and lead to less tips for servers. At COQODAQ, an upscale fried chicken joint in New York that’s popular on Appointment Trader, the no-show rate more than tripled after the website took off, Fox Business reported.

    Fileccia said it’s hard for some establishments to make that business back.

    Chefs Amanda Shulman and Alex Kemp at Pine Street Grill, another Philly restaurant that has appeared on Appointment Trader.

    “The types of restaurants that have reservations being sold are not restaurants that are going to get walk-ins to refill those seats,” he said. “These are places that people know they need a reservation for.”

    Frey, who founded Appointment Trader in 2021 after he struggled to get an appointment at the DMV, has pushed back against that narrative repeatedly in interviews. He argues that the site has gone to great lengths to tamp down on no-shows by penalizing reservation sellers for a low “sell-through rate.” If less than 50% of an account’s reservations go unsold, he has said, those accounts can no longer upload new reservations; if that rate dips below 25%, those accounts are banned altogether. (Between 2023 and 2024, Frey reported Appointment Trader did $6 million in reservation sales.)

    It’s unclear if reservation scalping will find a foothold in Philly. But at Mawn, at least, it’s deeply unwelcome.

    Rachel Lorn said the practice reminds her “of when everyone went and bought up all the toilet paper during COVID. There was nothing left for anyone else,” she said. “It boils down to a human decency thing.”

    Correction: An earlier version of this article stated City Council’s unanimously passed bill banning reservation scalping had yet to be approved by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker. Mayor Parker signed the bill into law on Friday, Jan. 9.

  • Affordable housing strengthens communities and local economies

    Affordable housing strengthens communities and local economies

    Many households that are cost-burdened are not high-income earners paying for luxury housing — they are low-income residents with limited affordable housing options. As a result, many low-income families spend more than half of their income on rent, making other necessities like food and healthcare difficult to support. High demand, low inventory, and rising costs have created an affordable housing crisis and a growing unmet demand for quality affordable housing.

    In Philadelphia, there is a deep, structural gap between the number of very low-income households and the supply of housing they can afford. As in many American cities, housing affordability is a significant issue in Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Housing Authority, in partnership with the city, is boldly addressing this issue head-on with its plan to preserve housing for its current housing stock that provides housing to nearly 80,000 Philadelphians while creating new opportunities for the tens of thousands of residents who are waiting far too long for a home.

    The benefits of preserving and expanding affordable housing extend well beyond simply providing a place to live. Affordable housing investments support wage growth by creating quality jobs in construction and related industries while also giving families more financial stability to advance in the workforce.

    Every dollar invested in affordable housing generates construction jobs, supports local contractors, and strengthens the tax base. PHA’s $6.8 billion Opening Doors Initiative is preserving existing housing and creating new affordable housing communities that generate widespread economic benefits. A recent economic impact study by Econsult Solutions Inc. demonstrates that PHA’s efforts are providing a significant boost to Philadelphia’s economy.

    PHA is working to renew 5404 Gibson Dr., an old public housing development. It’s among many projects the agency is investing in.

    PHA’s completed and anticipated investments to preserve, acquire, or build 20,000 affordable housing units from 2023 to 2030 will generate a significant cumulative impact on the local and state economies. Locally, capital investments from PHA’s planned developments are estimated to produce almost $10 billion in cumulative economic impact, supporting more than 3,700 full-time jobs, generating $2.7 billion in employee compensation in Philadelphia. Statewide, these investments are projected to produce a total of $11.3 billion in cumulative economic impact, supporting 4,700 full-time equivalent job years and $3.2 billion in employee compensation during the period of construction.

    Creating opportunities

    These capital investments are also creating new opportunities for PHA’s skilled labor partners who help build high-quality, professionally managed housing communities. Those workers, in turn, will spend a portion of their salaries and wages within our local economy, catalyzing the procurement of a wide range of goods and services, as well as new economic opportunities for local vendors. Along with expanding the labor workforce, the maintenance and operation of new and rehabbed developments will generate more than $100 million in new tax revenue for the city of Philadelphia.

    To complete all these investments, PHA must reduce operating expenses in line with lender and bond issuance requirements, potential federal public housing funding reductions, and multifamily industry staffing norms. In addition, PHA must also take action to streamline its property management functions to better service residents on-site while also decentralizing some management operations to procure qualified third-party property managers to realize millions of dollars in annual savings.

    PHA’s recently announced restructuring and rightsizing plan achieves these requirements. Through engaging the Building and Construction Trades Council to modify its collective bargaining agreement, PHA will be better able to sustain and preserve its newly developed and repositioned housing portfolio. Once fully implemented, PHA will generate an estimated $28 million in annual operating savings, which will be redirected to preserve its housing stock, provide enhanced services to residents, and expand housing opportunities to the tens of thousands of Philadelphians on its waiting list.

    This is a proactive approach to repositioning and strengthening PHA’s housing portfolio for the benefit of the families who depend on PHA. Decisions like this are never easy, but they are necessary to protect residents’ needs and to ensure the financial sustainability of PHA’s new and repositioned housing assets.

    PHA remains committed to opening doors to new affordable housing opportunities and creating a sustainable future for Philadelphia’s housing needs.

    Kelvin A. Jeremiah is the president and CEO of the Philadelphia Housing Authority.

  • Trump’s efforts to control the Federal Reserve put the U.S. economy in jeopardy | Editorial

    Trump’s efforts to control the Federal Reserve put the U.S. economy in jeopardy | Editorial

    Donald Trump was elected twice on a slogan to make America great, but nearly everything he does makes the country worse.

    Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill increased U.S. debt and boosted healthcare costs. His tariffs have raised prices, while cuts to regulations have left workplaces more dangerous. Trump has also weakened higher education, slashed lifesaving medical research, damaged relationships with allies, and undermined the rule of law.

    In short, many of Trump’s policies are making people sicker, poorer, and less safe. In that context comes Trump’s latest attack on the Federal Reserve, which will ultimately hurt all Americans.

    Since returning to office last year, Trump has pressured Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to speed up interest rate cuts in an effort to boost the economy. But the Fed has moved cautiously to avoid further inflation.

    Trump’s economic approach has been reckless and shortsighted.

    The killing of Renee Nicole Good and the moral rot of Trump’s reckless immigration enforcement plan | Editorial

    In July, he threatened to fire Powell. Last month, Trump said he may sue Powell for “gross incompetence.”

    On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into Powell involving his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee regarding the increased costs of renovations to the Fed’s headquarters in Washington.

    Trump claimed not to know anything about the investigation, but he had previously criticized the renovation costs. Let’s be clear: Trump’s long-running attacks on the Fed chair are the only reason Powell faces any legal trouble.

    The Powell investigation shows yet again how Trump continues to pervert the once-independent Justice Department, using it as a political tool to go after his perceived enemies.

    Attorney General Pam Bondi continues to do Trump’s bidding. She has launched bogus investigations into other public officials, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

    Add Powell to the political hit list that is making a mockery of American justice.

    President Donald Trump shakes hands with Federal Reserve board member Jerome Powell after announcing him as his nominee for the next chair of the Federal Reserve, in the Rose Garden of the White House in 2017.

    In a rare sign of political courage, some Republican lawmakers mustered the nerve to criticize Trump’s attack on Powell.

    Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska) said that “the administration’s investigation is nothing more than an attempt at coercion.”

    Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) said the “independence and credibility” of the Department of Justice “are in question.” He promised to oppose the nomination of a new Fed chair until the legal issues are resolved.

    But until more Republicans stand up to the president, expect more abuses of power.

    Trump’s attack is especially petty, since Powell’s term as Fed chair ends in May, though he can remain on the board through January 2028.

    Trump actually nominated Powell to be chairman during his first term in the White House. In a sign of Powell’s independence, former President Joe Biden renominated him to a second term.

    By most accounts, Powell has done an impressive job steering monetary policy through uncharted territory involving the pandemic, followed by inflation brought on by increased government spending.

    Trump’s pressure campaign on Powell has broader repercussions on America’s financial system.

    Five years on, a day that should live in infamy has instead propelled Trump’s grotesque return | Editorial

    The Fed’s independence is a cornerstone of U.S. financial markets, as it instills trust in investors, business leaders, economists, and other governments around the world that U.S. monetary policy is set without regard to political pressure.

    Without that firewall, presidents could push for rate cuts to boost the economy before an election, potentially causing higher inflation and instability down the road just for short-term political gains.

    In this instance, Trump clearly has his eye on revving up the economy before the midterms. (Trump would likely blame any subsequent inflation on Biden.)

    Politicizing the Fed creates instability and will harm investors and consumers in the long run. Reports of the Powell investigation already rattled financial markets, prompting investors to sell American stocks and bonds.

    To his credit, Powell has remained steadfast and made clear that the stakes surrounding the investigation are much bigger. “This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions — or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”

    But the damage to the Fed is already done, as Trump continues to place his political and financial interests ahead of those of the American people.

  • Her youngest son was killed in a mass shooting. Now, her eldest is charged with committing one.

    Her youngest son was killed in a mass shooting. Now, her eldest is charged with committing one.

    Two mass shootings, just years apart, forever altered Nyshyia Thomas’ life.

    In July 2023, her 15-year-old son, DaJuan Brown, was shot and killed when a mentally ill man dressed in body armor gunned down five people at random on the streets of Kingsessing.

    Then, two years later, almost to the day, police say Thomas’ son, Daquan Brown, was one of at least 15 people who fired guns aimlessly down the 1500 block of Etting Street, leaving three dead and 10 others wounded.

    It’s a symmetry almost too painful for the mother to reconcile: one son killed in a mass shooting, another behind bars, charged with committing one.

    Last month, Thomas, 37, sat inside the Philadelphia courthouse and faced the man who killed her youngest son and set in motion the crumbling of her family.

    From left to right: Daquan Brown, Nyshyia Thomas, Tyejuan Brown, and Nesiyah Thomas-Brown, at the funeral for 15-year-old DaJuan Brown in July 2023.

    This week, she will return, but to sit on the other side of the room — to see her eldest son in shackles, seated behind plexiglass, charged with three counts of murder, nine counts of attempted murder, and causing a catastrophe and riot.

    She said her 21-year-old son feared for his life when he fired his legally owned gun twice down Etting Street the night of July 7, and that prosecutors have charged him with killings he didn’t commit.

    But she also feels for the families of the victims — one of them her son’s close friend — and imagines that, if she were in their shoes, she would want everyone who fired a gun to face consequences.

    “From being on both sides of this, it’s overwhelming, it’s unfair,” she said. “But I understand.”

    Nyshyia Thomas (right) with Tyejuan Brown and Nesiyah Thomas-Brown inside their South Philadelphia home.

    The July 7 party on Etting Street was one of two on the block that weekend celebrating the July Fourth holiday and the lives of some young men from the neighborhood who had been killed in recent years. Daquan Brown grew up about a block away and went to see childhood friends, his mother said.

    Shortly after 1 a.m., police said, gunfire erupted. Officers responded to find that more than 120 bullets had been fired down the street in nearly all directions, striking neighbors’ homes and cars — and 13 partygoers.

    Three men died. Zahir Wylie, 23, was struck in the chest, and Jason Reese, 19, was shot in the head. Azir Harris, 27, who used a wheelchair after being paralyzed in an earlier shooting, was struck in the back.

    Initially, police thought someone had shot up the party in a targeted attack. But after reviewing video footage, interviewing witnesses, and analyzing ballistics, detectives now believe the partygoers may have unintentionally shot each other.

    Police investigate a mass shooting on the 1500 block of South Etting Street on July 7, 2025.

    After people heard what they thought was the sound of gunfire — someone at the gathering may have shot once into the air or a car passing by may have backfired — at least 15 people pulled out their weapons and sprayed dozens of shots down the block, police said.

    Brown, police said, was among them. As gunfire erupted, he took cover between cars and fired two shots down the block, according to two law enforcement sources who asked not to be named to discuss an ongoing investigation.

    Investigators don’t know whether any of the shots Brown fired struck or killed anyone, the sources said. A full ballistics report is still pending, though it may never be able to determine whose bullets struck each victim.

    Four other men have also been charged with murder and related crimes.

    Thomas has tried to come to terms with the police narrative. She is adamant that her son, having fired only two shots, shouldn’t be charged with three counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. He feared for his life and acted in self-defense, she said.

    At the same time, she said, had it been her son who was shot and killed that night, she would not want to hear from anyone trying to make sense of it.

    Tyejuan Brown and a family member hold Nyshyia Thomas at the funeral of their son, DaJuan Brown, on July 15, 2023. DaJuan’s brother, Daquan, stands to right of Tyejuan.

    Still, she finds herself doing that. Brown, who worked as a security guard and has no criminal record, only started carrying the 9mm handgun because of what happened to his brother, she said.

    She remembered talking to him before he bought the weapon last year.

    “Mom, I lost my brother,” Thomas said he told her. “Y’all not burying me.”

    “I kissed him,” she said. “I told him I respect it.”

    Brown’s father, Tyejuan, is also jailed with him.

    On the night of July 7, she and Tyejuan, the father of her three children, were talking on the porch of her home when they heard dozens of gunshots coming from Etting Street. Tyejuan Brown, she said, took off running toward the party where his son was gathered.

    When Thomas reached the block, she said, she found Tyejuan and Daquan covered in blood from carrying bodies to police cruisers.

    But police said that when they reviewed surveillance footage from that night, they saw Tyejuan Brown rushing down the street holding a gun, which he is barred from owning because of drug, gun, and assault convictions.

    He was arrested in early August and charged with illegal gun possession.

    Nyshyia Thomas holds Tyejuan Brown during an interview in 2023 about the loss of their youngest son, DaJuan.

    Four days later, they came for his son.

    Until recently, Daquan Brown and his father were housed in the same block at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility and would speak to each other through a shared cell wall.

    Brown is held without bail. Thomas said her family has gathered the $25,000 necessary for the father’s bail, but he has told them not to post it.

    “I’m not coming out without my son,” Thomas said he told her.

    On the outside, Thomas and her 15-year-old daughter, Nesiyah, are left to grapple with the absence of the three men in their lives they love most.

    “I lost one son to gun violence,” Thomas said. “I’ll be damned if I let the system take my other one from me.”

    Nyshyia Thomas hugs a photo of her son, DaJuan Brown, on what would have been his 18th birthday in September. Brown was shot and killed in a random mass shooting in July 2023.
  • Letters to the Editor | Jan. 13, 2026

    Letters to the Editor | Jan. 13, 2026

    Zero empathy

    We see the picture of the car with the bloody airbag and the stuffed animals in the glove compartment. We have viewed the crime on video in slow motion and from a few different angles. We think about or remember those mornings of getting our kids or grandkids to school, and we are brought to deep sadness and even tears. That is what we feel when we are human and part of a community. Vice President JD Vance has called the killing of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent “a tragedy of her own making.”

    Similarly, President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem are working hard to make sure the ICE agent doesn’t face accountability for his disgusting overreaction. There has been no apology. They have shown no remorse. Not even thoughts and prayers. Leaders do not lose their jobs over policy differences. They are removed from office because their behavior and lack of morality are unbecoming of their positions. This time it was Renee Good. She did not deserve this. The next time, it could be someone we know and love.

    Elliott Miller, Bala Cynwyd

    Predatory interest

    Regarding Donald Trump’s call to cap credit card interest rates, it is time for the federal government to intervene and regulate the predatory interest rates these companies have charged consumers for years. Between 2008 and 2015, while the prime rate remained at a historical low of approximately 3.25% and U.S. Treasury yields were near 1%, credit card companies continued to charge interest rates exceeding 20%, and in some cases, 30%. This disparity is unacceptable. There is an old saying: “Those who control the debt, control the debtor.” This is particularly evident when consumers making only minimum payments see their outstanding balances actually increase each month due to excessive interest. I urge Congress to take action to protect consumers from these practices.

    Paul Benedict, Broomall

    Might makes right?

    This country was born in war, in defiance of a king. We would do well to remember our origins. None of our ancestors wished to kneel before a throne and the tyranny it embodied. We were founded on resistance and should expect other peoples and other nations to react similarly. The aspirations of our forefathers are shared by others around the world, and none want to exchange one tyrant for another. The “might makes right” approach we have embarked on fails to recognize the human condition we all share: stiff necks and a yearning for freedom and self-determination. Subservience is not peace; it is a slow boil that will require cycles of war to contain, if it can be contained at all.

    War is death and always represents failure in human advancement, particularly when it is chosen. Often at the center of war is an ambitious man, a “man who would be king” who sends the precious youth of a society into harm’s way. The weight of war is etched on headstones and carried in the psyches of veterans. It is no way to live. This chapter of our evolution has been written so many times before in human history. How does this end?

    Kevin Deeny, Levittown

    . . .

    U.S. Sen. John Fetterman said on Fox & Friends: “I don’t know why we can’t just acknowledge that it’s been a good thing what’s happened … We all wanted this man gone, and now he is gone.” Respectfully, senator: “Good” doesn’t mean much if the United States broke the rules to get there. I won’t defend Nicolás Maduro. I want accountability for corruption and political violence. But the U.S. can’t claim to stand for democracy while it seizes a foreign leader by force and calls it justice. Supporters point to Panama, but even then, we handed power to the democratic opposition. Trump sidelined María Corina Machado — whose coalition won Venezuela’s 2024 election — and installed a Maduro loyalist instead. Democracy isn’t restored if you ignore the vote or refuse new elections. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Pennsylvania deserves leaders who remember that.

    Lauren Steinmeyer, Ardmore

    Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.

  • Dear Abby | Grandson has distanced himself from family

    DEAR ABBY: My grandson “Ethan” and his fiancee lived with his mother until four years ago. When they moved out, they decided not to give his parents their new address. It has been several years since my daughter has seen her son. Apparently, they occasionally text.

    Ethan was married seven months ago. He didn’t invite his parents as he felt they would “make it about themselves” and distract from his day. He said I’d be invited to his wedding and would receive a nice picture from the photographer. The wedding date came and went. I saw pictures on social media, so I knew it had transpired. At the time, my gut feeling was that he felt awkward inviting me and his aunt but not his parents.

    In the past, I have sent Ethan a check on his birthday and at Christmas and helped him financially with vehicle repairs. Although I was not invited, I sent a congratulatory card for the wedding, with a significant check enclosed. He cashed the check but did not acknowledge receipt of the card.

    Because neither he nor his wife acknowledged my wedding gift, I am debating what to do for his next birthday. Should I ignore the occasion, or be an example of unconditional love and send a card? I will not send him money, as I think it was beyond rude not to acknowledge my wedding check. What would Dear Abby do?

    — ESTRANGED BY ASSOCIATION

    DEAR ESTRANGED: Dear Abby would recognize that not being invited to the wedding, after being told I would be, was a breach of etiquette. That I lovingly sent a check as a wedding gift, which was cashed with no acknowledgment, would indicate (to me) that my grandson has chosen to distance himself from me. By all means, send a birthday card if you wish, but please don’t be surprised when it, too, garners no response.

    ** ** **

    DEAR ABBY: My 25th class reunion is coming up, and I’m debating whether to go because I’m not sure how to handle a conversation that is sure to come up. I was very close to my classmates until five years ago, when my husband and I faced a series of family tragedies that took all of my time and energy. The worst was losing a daughter who would have been graduating this year.

    I’m ready to reconnect with my old friends, but how do I deal with casual conversations without making light of the situation or being a wet blanket? If someone asks, “How is your daughter doing?” I need to have a reasonable response that isn’t going to be awful for both of us. The thought of having to talk about it makes me want to stay home. Advice?

    — UNDECIDED IN LOS ANGELES

    DEAR UNDECIDED: Please accept my sympathy for the loss of your daughter. If someone at the reunion hasn’t already heard about her death and asks how she’s doing, respond with the truth, which is that she passed away several years ago. If someone asks for the details, simply say you don’t want to discuss it further and change the subject.

  • Horoscopes: Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026

    ARIES (March 21-April 19). You’re in charge of the crew today. The less you say, the more likely they are to listen and obey. And if you can get away with saying nothing except that which can be said with action, even better!

    TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Remember when you didn’t want to express your thoughts and opinions because you honestly weren’t having any? Some subjects just fail to capture your imagination, and that’s good to know. There are hotter topics out there for you, so keep moving.

    GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Everyone wants love, attention and credit for what they do. Some want the whole circus — passion, applause and bragging rights — whether they earned it or not. So, sprinkle your effort where it bounces back. Stop tossing it into black holes.

    CANCER (June 22-July 22). You made a few habits without realizing what you were doing, and now every time you enact a certain behavior, a string of other (possibly unwanted) behaviors follows. The easiest way to break this pattern is to change environments entirely.

    LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You know it’s love by what you’re willing to pay for it. In addition to time, thought and energy, inconvenience and discomfort may be part of the price. And if that seems expensive and not quite worth it, that’s good information, too.

    VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). It’s a classic scenario: the subject falls in love with the biographer, the patient projects romance onto the therapist, the model adores the photographer. You may notice a similar dynamic today. Few things are more seductive than genuine interest.

    LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). There’s something you enjoy simply for the sake of it, and it’s calling you back. What would it take to get absorbed in this again? A change of venue? A guard against interruption? Do it. Pure enjoyment restores you.

    SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). However much attention you need, that’s the amount of attention you need. It is, arguably, out of your control. So, there’s no benefit from feeling ashamed or proud of the amount. But there’s a lot of benefit to finding a way to fulfill the order.

    SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Perhaps the way you look has little bearing on the outcome today, but the way you feel about the way you look has a definite impact. Taking time to put a little extra thought into presentation will make a big difference in your attitude.

    CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Your work is developing in a remarkably layered, generous and meaningful way. Each step forward reveals new insights that enrich the whole and make the journey a pleasure in itself. It hasn’t always gone like this, so you cherish the moment.

    AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Emotions are the fire that forges relationships. Too much heat and things can bend in ways you don’t quite understand until it has all cooled off. You may return to a relationship as an armored person with wisdom in your arsenal.

    PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). While having fewer possessions means more freedom, fewer relationships can be confining. Every friendship is a world. Your experience will be limited to the worlds open to you. Making new friends doesn’t take a lot of time now, though it does take initiative.

    TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Jan. 13). This is your Year of Cosmic Connections, in which the right people find you at the right moments. Conversations open doors. Introductions ripple outward. You’re reminded that chemistry isn’t accidental, but, boy, is it fortuitous. More highlights: Travel invites you somewhere thrilling. Love grows easier, warmer and wonderfully mutual. A financial upgrade is tied to your reputation. Taurus and Sagittarius adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 41, 4, 44, 3 and 13.