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  • Two new ‘year-round’ public schools, with a special model and resources, are coming to Philadelphia

    Two new ‘year-round’ public schools, with a special model and resources, are coming to Philadelphia

    Two new schools are coming to the Philadelphia School District.

    Both schools, a K-8 and a high school, district officials said Wednesday, will have resources to help eliminate long-standing achievement and opportunity gaps for kids from underresourced communities.

    They’ll be part of the “North Philadelphia Promise Zone,” Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. announced. Watlington said they would be the first schools in the United States to replicate the success of the acclaimed Harlem Children’s Zone, with the blessing of its founder, Geoffrey Canada,who pioneered a model that takes a birth-to-career approach to tackling generational poverty.

    Watlington said the schools would be “true year-round schools.” They would bring a new approach to the new Philadelphia public schools, where prior attempts to replicate the Harlem Children’s Zone blueprint have shown mixed results.

    Harlem Children’s Zone runs charters in New York City, but the proposed Philadelphia schools will be run by the district using the organization’s educational model, which includes extra resources and a longer school day and school year, as well as extensive social service supports.

    Members of the West Philadelphia Marching Orange & Blue perform before Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker speaks on the state of Philadelphia schools during a gathering at Edison High School in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026.

    “We’re going to be partners in opening these two state-of-the-art schools,” Watlington said at his state of the schools address, held Wednesday at Edison High School in North Philadelphia.

    The district has big hopes for the schools, which officials said will be opened in existing Philadelphia school buildings — no new school structures will be involved.

    “Not only will they get better, but get better faster than our district average. We’re going to make sure the school is staffed with the very best, most effective principals,” Watlington said. “We’re going to ensure that these schools are staffed with the very best, most effective teachers.”

    They will be schools of choice, meaning parents can opt into having their children attend rather than basing enrollment on where students live.

    The schools will also pull in Temple University; Watlington said that via the Temple Future Scholars program, “every single one of these graduates from this K-8 and high school” will be college-ready.

    Many details were not clear Wednesday, including when the schools will open, what the year-round model will look like, the exact relationship with Harlem Children’s Zone, how the schools will be funded, and who will staff them. The district said it could not give more details immediately.

    News of the new schools caught an important partner off guard. Arthur Steinberg, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said Watlington’s speech was the first he heard of the initiative.

    “Any changes in working conditions must be negotiated with the PFT,” Steinberg said. “We will not agree to anything that requires members to work additional days or hours.”

    Watlington said the K-8 school will open first, and he has tapped Aliya Catanch-Bradley, the respected principal of Bethune Elementary in North Philadelphia, to lead the efforts to open the North Philadelphia Promise Zone schools.

    Catanch-Bradley said it was too soon to discuss the particulars about the schools, which will be built with significant community involvement.

    But, she said, North Philadelphia is a prime location for the cradle-to-career Harlem Children’s Zone model.

    “We know that it’s not a food desert, because food… deserts are natural,” she said of North Philadelphia. “It is food insecure by design, right? And so, we now know that you have a resource drought there, to which it’s going to take an intentional pouring of all types of resources to wrap around a community, to help expand and become a very successful ecosystem.”

    Philadelphia district officials will take time to study Harlem Children’s Zone, “but also to understand the landscape of Philadelphia, what needs to be augmented to echo the needs of this community,” Catanch-Bradley said.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker campaigned on the promise of year-round schools, and her administration has put extended-day, extended-year programs into 40 district and charter schools. But those programs are essentially before- and after-care and summer camps, paid for with city funds and offered free to 12,000 students, rather than traditional year-round education.

    Harlem Children’s Zone schools have longer school days and longer school years. It’s not clear what form the proposed North Philadelphia Promise Zone schools might take, and how these efforts would differ from prior attempts around the country to replicate the success of the Harlem Children’s Zone. Former President Barack Obama in 2010 highlighted the model and selected 20 communities, including Philadelphia, to start “Promise Neighborhood” programs that would improve access to housing, jobs, and education. Those efforts were met with varying degrees of success, and no schools opened in Philadelphia.

    Watlington’s new-school announcement capped a two-plus-hour, pep-rally-style event where he and others underscored progress the district has made in the past year — and since the superintendent came to Philadelphia four years ago.

    Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker (left), Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. (center), and school board president Reginald Streater during a ceremony on the state of Philadelphia schools at Edison High School on Wednesday.

    Other news from the state of Philadelphia schools event

    Parker, who led off the event, said she was pleased with the state of schools.

    “The school district has continued to make steady and meaningful progress,” Parker said. “Test scores are rising, attendance is rising. Dropout rates are declining, and those gains are real, and they reflect what happens when we invest in our students.”

    Parker emphasized her desire to have the city take over a list of abandoned district buildings. The school board took the first step in December, voting to authorize Watlington and his administration to begin negotiating with the city to do just that.

    Parker said that some of the buildings have been vacant for as long as 30 years. The district has not yet released a list of buildings to consider transferring, but the mayor said it includes at least 20 former schools.

    “I want you to be clear about what my goal and objective is,” Parker said. “It’s not OK for me to have 20, 21 buildings consistently vacant, red on the school district’s balance sheet, generating no revenue and not at all working at their best and highest use. We’re going to find a way to do what has never been done in the city of Philadelphia before — develop a plan for those persistently vacant buildings.”

    Watlington also ran down a laundry list of accomplishments, including ongoing fiscal stability and improvements on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card.

    He said the district would “retire” its structural deficit completely by 2029-30 though declined to give details.

    He and Reginald Streater, president of the city’s school board, said the district still has a ways to go but has made strides. More than half of all district students still fail to meet grade-level standards in reading and math.

    But, Watlington said, “I can assure you we’re making progress. We’re going to double down. More for our children, not less. More opportunities, more access, more exposure, more good things to come in 2026.”

  • Union reach agreement on a new contract with attacking midfielder Ben Bender

    Union reach agreement on a new contract with attacking midfielder Ben Bender

    Homegrown midfielder Ben Bender has reached an agreement on a new contract with the Union that could see him remain with the club through 2028, the team announced Wednesday.

    Bender, 24, who was in the club’s academy system and was a first-round MLS SuperDraft selection in 2022 by Charlotte FC, agreed to a deal that retains him through the June 2027 transfer window, with an option to remain until the June international transfer window in 2028.

    Bender appeared in seven league matches after joining the club in May of last season. Manager Bradley Carnell lauded his “work ethic” in addition to the “positive contributions” he made on the field.

    “Ben has been a positive addition and has made meaningful contributions since returning to the Union last May,” Carnell said in a statement. “When given opportunities, he’s consistently made the most of them, bringing a high level of competitiveness and a strong work ethic to the pitch every day. We’re confident in his continued development and future impact with the team.”

    Bender will remain in what looks to be a crowded yet versatile attacking midfield corps. He’ll primarily compete with midfielders Milan Iloski, Indiana Vassilev, and brothers Quinn and Cavan Sullivan, the latter of whom is heading into his third season of a five-year deal before departing for Manchester City of the English Premier League.

    Source: Union’s sale of defender Kai Wagner to Birmingham City is imminent

    With Tai Baribo’s departure, Iloski could move into an attacking role, much like he did when he was paired with Baribo in a two-man attacking formation. This would create more opportunities for a player like Bender, who can work effectively in a supporting role for the forward units or play as a more box-to-box midfielder.

    The Union will begin the first phase of a two-part preseason on Jan. 17 in Marbella, Spain, before returning at the end of the month to prepare for their second camp in Clearwater, Fla. The club’s first official match will be in the Concacaf Champions Cup against host Defence Force in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on Feb. 18, followed by a return leg at Subaru Park on Feb. 26.

    The club will open MLS play on the road against D.C. United on Feb. 21 (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).

    Follow the Inquirer’s complete coverage of Union soccer right here!
  • CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames, who sold U.S. secrets to the Soviets, dies in prison at 84

    CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames, who sold U.S. secrets to the Soviets, dies in prison at 84

    WASHINGTON — CIA turncoat Aldrich Mr. Ames, who betrayed Western intelligence assets to the Soviet Union and Russia in one of the most damaging intelligence breaches in U.S. history, has died in a Maryland prison. He was 84.

    A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons confirmed Mr. Ames died Monday.

    Mr. Ames, a 31-year CIA veteran, admitted being paid $2.5 million by Moscow for U.S. secrets from 1985 until his arrest in 1994. His disclosures included the identities of 10 Russian officials and one Eastern European who were spying for the United States or Great Britain, along with spy satellite operations, eavesdropping and general spy procedures. His betrayals are blamed for the executions of Western agents working behind the Iron Curtain and were a major setback to the CIA during the Cold War.

    He pleaded guilty without a trial to espionage and tax evasion and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Prosecutors said he deprived the United States of valuable intelligence material for years.

    He professed “profound shame and guilt” for “this betrayal of trust, done for the basest motives,” money to pay debts. But he downplayed the damage he caused, telling the court he did not believe he had “noticeably damaged” the United States or “noticeably aided” Moscow.

    “These spy wars are a sideshow which have had no real impact on our significant security interests over the years,” he told the court, questioning the value that leaders of any country derived from vast networks of human spies around the globe.

    In a jailhouse interview with The Washington Post the day before he was sentenced, Mr. Ames said he was motivated to spy by “financial troubles, immediate and continuing.”

    Mr. Ames was working in the Soviet/Eastern European division at the CIA’s headquarters in Langley, Va., when he first approached the KGB, according to an FBI history of the case. He continued passing secrets to the Soviets while stationed in Rome for the CIA and after returning to Washington. Meanwhile, the U.S. intelligence community was frantically trying to figure out why so many agents were getting discovered by Moscow.

    Mr. Ames’ spying coincided with that of FBI agent Robert Hanssen, who was caught in 2001 and charged with taking $1.4 million in cash and diamonds to sell secrets to Moscow. He died in prison in 2023.

    Mr. Ames’ wife, Rosario, pleaded guilty to lesser espionage charges of assisting his spying and was sentenced to 63 months in prison.

  • Contract grades: Was signing Christian Dvorak for the long haul the right move for the Flyers?

    Contract grades: Was signing Christian Dvorak for the long haul the right move for the Flyers?

    With a dearth of centers on the market, the pivot-needy Flyers acted quickly to retain one of their own, signing Christian Dvorak to a five-year, $25.75 million contract extension on Monday night.

    The deal, which kicks in next season, carries a reasonable $5.15 million average annual value but will pay the soon-to-be 30-year-old Dvorak through the age of 35. It also contains some player trade protection, including a full no-move clause in the first two seasons.

    Flyers sign center Christian Dvorak to five-year, $25.75 million contract extension

    But was general manager Danny Brière right to lock in a player who is having a career year but doesn’t necessarily fit the team’s age profile? We asked our writers to grade the deal from a Flyers perspective.

    Jackie Spiegel: B

    Why did the Flyers sign Dvorak to an extension? Just take a look at Trevor Zegras’ first goal in the Flyers’ statement win Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks.

    There is no denying the chemistry the two friends have on the ice. According to Natural Stat Trick, when they are on the ice together at five-on-five, the Flyers have scored 27 goals. When it’s Zegras without Dvorak? Seven. When it’s Dvorak without Zegras? Five.

    But while their connection has not only fueled a possible career year for Zegras, it has done the same for Dvorak. At 29 years old, he is on pace for 18 goals and 53 points, which would demolish his career high of 38 set in 70 games during the COVID-19-impacted 2019-20 season. And his coach that year? Rick Tocchet.

    Dvorak has an established bond with Tocchet and Zegras, and while both appreciate his smart 200-foot play and his propensity to drive the net — something this team has long missed — Dvorak also brings stability and versatility. He can play up and down the lineup at wing or center, and at any strength.

    Flyers center Christian Dvorak is on pace to tie his career high of 18 goals and shatter his career high of 38 points.

    This is something to keep in mind when asking the question about him standing in the way of future centers like Jett Luchanko, Jack Berglund, and Jack Nesbitt. Although no one knows what the roster will look like in one to three years, knowing the veteran forward can slide over or down when those guys are ready is key.

    And there has been some chatter that maybe, just maybe, because the Flyers have an abundance of high-end talent on the wing in Porter Martone, Matvei Michkov, Tyson Foerster, Alex Bump, and, for argument’s sake, Zegras, the need is just for solid centers who can complement these guys. Why not have a responsible two-way guy like Dvorak fill one of those slots?

    Plus, it needs to be noted how much the Montreal Canadiens and their reporters have said that Dvorak is missed in the locker room and on the ice.

    Now, it is only 41 games into Dvorak’s tenure in Philly, so it’s interesting that Dvorak is being handed a long-term deal; he did say on Tuesday that term was important to him. But Brière continues to stress that he likes guys who bet on themselves, like Ryan Poehling, like Noah Juulsen, like Dan Vladař, and like Dvorak did when he signed over the summer and did again on Monday.

    Will there be the same motivation going forward? Dvorak seems like a guy who is determined to keep the pedal to the floor.

    For Trevor Zegras, the trade to the Flyers is not just a refresh, it is also a homecoming of sorts

    “We wanted to get to know him a little better, and since he arrived, total pro,” the GM said. “What he’s done on the ice, he’s a good example for our players and for all our young guys that are coming up; that’s the part that I love.

    “His play speaks for itself, obviously. But I’m excited about what he’s bringing to the rest of the team, and eventually all our good young prospects, being able to play both ends of the ice, win faceoffs, smart hockey. I’m excited that he wanted to stay here. I think for us, it’s a good sign [that] someone who bet on himself chose us and then wants to stay here. It’s very exciting.”

    There’s a lot to read between the lines on that quote, but the biggest is “chose us.” Philly hasn’t been a destination for a while, and it’s fair to say that with the free-agent market for centers shrinking by the day, Dvorak would have been paid handsomely. But he chose the Flyers because he believes in what is happening here.

    The Flyers are doing so well in part because of a good vibe in the locker room. It happened for a long chunk of the 2023-24 season before the wheels fell off. Locker room chemistry is vital to on-ice production. Teams have fallen apart when players have been traded. It’s why a team makes, let’s say, the Stanley Cup Final, and, for lack of a better term, a glue guy is allowed to walk or is traded, and it quickly falls apart.

    Could this deal age poorly? Sure. But could it also work out and pay off? Yes. And why not take a gamble when you know things are going well now, things should get better for the team in the future, and well, there’s not much else out there?

    Trevor Zegras has thrived alongside Christian Dvorak and was thrilled to see his close friend sign a long-term deal in Philly.

    Gustav Elvin: C

    I’ve been largely a Brière defender to this point, as I think he’s done an underrated job of clearing bad contracts or fits from the previous regime like Ivan Provorov, Kevin Hayes, Tony DeAngelo, and Joel Farabee, while patiently stockpiling assets and making some shrewd additions like Sean Walker, Zegras, and Vladař. But I simply can’t wrap my head around this one for the Flyers.

    Dvorak is a good player, and $5.15 million is fair monetary value for a player who plays a position of need and seems to have some untapped offensive skill and chemistry alongside Zegras. But giving an oft-injured, soon-to-be 30-year-old center, not to mention one who has primarily been a third- and fourth-liner until this season, five years is a major risk and potentially a costly misstep as the rebuilding Flyers inch closer to their window of contention. A three-year deal with a higher $6 million or $6.5 million AAV would have made more sense to me from a Flyers perspective.

    Flyers general manager Danny Briere is taking a risk signing a nearly 30-year-old center to a five-year contract.

    To borrow a 2024 line from former coach John Tortorella, whom I did not expect to be channeling here, the Flyers “can’t fall in love” with players who don’t fit the timeline or plan. Signing Dvorak — someone the team prioritized signing to a one-year deal so much so that it overpaid him just six months ago — to a contract with this long a term is doing exactly that. It’s a rash response to a barren center market and an overreaction to a player on pace for a career year while attached to a really good creator in Zegras.

    To me, this screams: We don’t have a No. 1 center and none are available, so let’s sign the closest thing we’ve got, even though he’s ideally a third-line center. To make matters worse, the Flyers already have two of these guys signed long-term in Sean Couturier and Noah Cates.

    From a 30,000-foot view, the move appears to be a signal that the Flyers are done rebuilding in earnest and now are ready to push for the playoffs. It will be a popular deal with the players in the locker room and surely will add juice for them to try and get over the line this spring. But might it have lasting consequences?

    While I don’t think this move alone completely kiboshes the team’s future, it sets a worrying precedent. The mantras of “patience” and “threading the needle” that Brière and president Keith Jones have constantly preached suddenly seem to be taking a backseat to winning. This will remind many of the panic moves from the Flyers’ past, when general managers and ownership prioritized sneaking into the playoffs rather than looking in the mirror, tearing it down, and trying to build a sustainable Stanley Cup contender from the studs up.

    The Flyers need a high-end center. How can they get one?

    It also seems like a bit of an indictment of the center prospects in the system like Luchanko, Nesbitt, and Berglund, and their potential timelines to becoming NHL contributors. The Flyers are no closer to having a bona fide No. 1 center or No. 1 center prospect after this deal, and no matter how good their wingers are or how hard they work collectively, they won’t be legitimate Cup contenders until they unearth or acquire at least one. Dvorak is a solid player, not a great one, and the Flyers already have plenty of those. While he might help the Flyers reach the playoffs this season, he isn’t the type of needle-mover that will help them truly contend in a top-six role.

    At best, Brière’s big bet pays off and Dvorak stays healthy and continues to produce at this season’s level. But I’ve seen this story countless times before with aging centermen with a lot of tread on the tires. It usually doesn’t end well.

  • Radnor moves to acquire 14 acres of Valley Forge Military Academy by eminent domain

    Radnor moves to acquire 14 acres of Valley Forge Military Academy by eminent domain

    The Radnor Township Board of Commissioners is moving to use eminent domain to take 14 acres owned by the Valley Forge Military Academy, which has said it will close this year.

    A motion Monday by the board authorized township solicitor John Rice to draw up legal paperwork to use eminent domain — a process that allows municipalities to take a property from owners, whether they want to sell or not — by paying an appraised value for the land.

    The Board expects to introduce an eminent domain ordinance at its Jan. 24 meeting. The ordinance would have to be approved after a second hearing and public reading. No date is set for that.

    It’s likely the township would use the land to build a new recreation center and park.

    Valley Forge Military Academy spans about 70 acres in Wayne in Delaware County. The board said its goal is to prevent more development in the area around North Wayne.

    Commissioner Jack Larkin cited a number of developments in recent years that have raised concern about overdevelopment and increased traffic.

    A video still of Radnor Commissioner Jack Larkin speaking at a Jan. 5, 2026, township meeting regarding the possible taking of 14 acres of Valley Forge Military Academy through eminent domain.

    He said the township has reached out to academy officials but have not heard back.

    “We would need to get this started, to ideally negotiate in good faith, a friendly arrangement, which we started to do,” Larkin said. “And we just haven’t really heard anything back from the school.”

    He said the school has not turned down a deal or set a price.

    “They just kind of went radio silent,” Larkin said at the meeting, and added that, as a result, the township decided to move ahead with a plan that would allow it to use eminent domain.

    However, a representative of the Valley Forge Military Foundation said said Thursday the school was unaware the township planned to move so fast.

    Plans for the 14 acres

    Larkin said in a separate interview Wednesday that the township is eyeing the land as a solution to the township-run Sulkisio Gym on Wayne Avenue.

    The gym needs major repairs, and its lease will be up in coming years. So the township needs to consider whether it’s worth putting more money into the facility, given that it might not remain a tenant when the lease expires.

    As a result, the township is considering a new gym and park for the 14 acres, which are bounded by Eagle Road to the south, the Oak Hill development to the east, and the buildings of the academy’s main buildings to the west.

    “We’re on the hunt for another alternative,” Larkin said. “This would be the place we would hope to build a replacement rec center. But that’s not going to take the entire 14 acres. So we would favor the balance would have some flavor of a park.”

    Larkin said whether the park has trails, a playground, or a community garden will be subject to public input.

    He said the township knows the value of real estate in the area and has a ballpark price per acre it’s willing to pay, but he would not disclose a total figure.

    “My real hope,” he said, “is that we end up negotiating a deal and this is not an exciting process. They want to sell, and we want to buy.”

    Larkin did not believe the 14 acres would conflict with land being eyed for a charter school.

    Currently, a group seeking to open Valley Forge Public Service Academy Charter School on land at the closing military school is already equipped with a leadership team and board, but it cannot open as a publicly funded charter school without approval from the local school board.

    Radnor school board officials are now considering the plan for a charter school that could open in the fall.

    Radnor school board is considering charter’s plan to open on Valley Forge Military Academy campus

    What can eventually be built on the land is restricted by the current institutional zoning to educational, medical, religious, and museum uses, although zoning variances can always be sought.

    Valley Forge Military Foundation’s responds

    John English, board chair of the Valley Forge Military Foundation, said Thursday that the academy was aware Radnor had expressed interest in buying some of the property.

    “We were not aware that the Township believes it needs to proceed as quickly as it is,” English said in an email statement. “While Valley Forge Military Academy is closing, the Valley Forge Military College is still very much active and thriving on our campus as it continues its national security mission of training and commissioning future officers for the United States Army.”

    English said the trustees are, “undergoing a thorough analysis and evaluation of the future needs of the Foundation and the College.”

    Once they establish a path forward, English said, they would be “pleased to share those plans with Radnor Township.”

    What happened to Valley Forge Military Academy

    The rush to buy the land stems from the school’s imminent closure.

    The academy announced in September that it planned to close at the end of the 2025-26 academic year amid declining enrollment, financial challenges, and lawsuits over alleged cadet abuse. Its college would continue to operate on the main campus.

    How Valley Forge Military Academy fell apart nearly a century after its founding

    In December, Eastern University entered an agreement to buy nearly half the Valley Forge Military Academy property, which is less than a mile from the Christian university’s St. David’s campus in Delaware County.

    The planned purchase by Eastern includes 33.3 acres encompassing the football stadium, track, and athletic field house, as well as multiple apartment buildings that will be used to house students.

    Eastern University to purchase nearly half of Valley Forge Military Academy’s property

    In the academy’s closing announcement, school leaders cited declining enrollment and rising insurance premiums, in part tied to the school’s extensive legal battles.

    The Inquirer has reported that even with the school’s finances in a tailspin, board members in recent years personally lent $2 million to cover operating costs, financial disclosure records show.

    They tried other methods to drum up revenue, including franchising the academy’s brand to an Islamic private school in Qatar and unsuccessfully attempting to open a charter school on campus.

    They leased out their buildings for private events and authorized the sale of nearly one-third of the campus to luxury home developers, according to federal filings and emails obtained by The Inquirer.

    Even so, enrollment in 2025 fell to 88 cadets, down from more than 300 a decade ago, the school said.

  • Vineland educator is named new Camden superintendent, the first Hispanic to lead the district

    Vineland educator is named new Camden superintendent, the first Hispanic to lead the district

    A veteran Vineland educator has been named the state-appointed superintendent to oversee the Camden school system, state Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer announced Wednesday.

    Alfonso Q. Llano Jr. was selected after a national search that began in June. He will begin heading the troubled South Jersey school system starting March 1.

    He will be the first Hispanic superintendent to lead the district. Demographics in Camden have shifted in recent years, and 56% of its traditional public school students are now Hispanic, 42% are Black, and 1.2% are white.

    Dehmer made the long-awaited announcement at the monthly state Board of Education meeting in Trenton. The board unanimously approved the appointment.

    “I’m honored for the opportunity to serve the Camden City School District,” Llano said. “Together, we’re going to work through transparency and tough times. We’re going to achieve great things.”

    Llano will receive an annual salary of $260,000 under a three-year contract.

    In Vineland, he was the highest-paid superintendent in Cumberland County with an annual base salary of $206,000.

    Davida Coe-Brockington, a longtime Camden educator who has served as the interim superintendent during the search, will remain in that role until Llano takes over. She was not a candidate for the job.

    Llano succeeds Katrina T. McCombs, whose contract was not renewed after a group of city leaders, including Mayor Victor Carstarphen, called for her ouster. The group said Camden schools needed “a new vision for leadership.” McCombs left Camden in July for a state role after seven years as superintendent.

    Reactions to Llano’s hiring

    Carstarphen and other officials praised Llano’s appointment in a statement released Wednesday. The mayor lauded the state “for identifying someone who will bring meaningful change for Camden’s students.”

    “I am confident he will be an excellent leader who prepares our students for the future and always puts our students’ academic interest first,” Carstarphen said.

    N’Namdee Nelson, president of the Camden City Advisory School Board, said: “We want to ensure that every child in the school district has access to a great school.”

    Others, like former longtime school board member Jose E. Delgado, wished Llano well but were less optimistic. He said the selection of a Hispanic superintendent was “long overdue.”

    “He’s stepping into a very dysfunctional environment that will require a wide array of fiscal, administrative, and educational skills,” Delgado said.

    Llano inherits a district with declining enrollment — it currently has about 5,532 students — low test scores, and a high dropout rate. There have been modest gains since the state seized control of the district in 2013.

    The changing educational landscape in Camden poses the biggest challenge. Thousands of students have left the city’s traditional public schools for Renaissance and charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run and now lead the district’s enrollment.

    Camden is the only district in New Jersey with three school types. Charters enroll 3,236 students, and Renaissance schools have 6,664 students.

    Last spring, McCombs cited the declining enrollment in part for a $91 million budget deficit. She cut more than 100 positions and laid off teachers and support staff in a massive restructuring.

    Camden Education Association president Pamela Clark, who represents more than 1,000 teachers and support staff, said she hopes to meet with Llano soon to discuss concerns about possible layoffs and school closures.

    “I will continue to advocate fiercely to protect my members’ jobs and school closures, and I hope the new superintendent brings fairness, transparency, and unity to our city,” she said.

    Llano’s past work in Vineland and Trenton

    Llano has been superintendent of the Vineland district in Cumberland County since 2021. His five-year contract was set to expire in June.

    During a meeting in June, the Vineland board was bitterly divided over whether to renew his contract. The board must give six months’ notice if it plans to terminate a superintendent. The motion to not renew it failed, and it was unclear what direction the board would pursue.

    In Vineland, Llano oversaw a diverse district of more than 10,200 students enrolled in 16 schools. About 63% of the students are Hispanic, 14% are Black, and 18% are white. About 17.4% of its students are multilingual learners.

    Vineland has some of the same issues as Camden schools — low test scores and chronic absenteeism. The majority of the students in the sprawling 68-square-mile community are economically disadvantaged.

    Llano also spent 10 years in the Trenton school system, most recently as the interim schools chief for nearly a year prior to moving to Vineland. He previously was the district’s chief academic officer for six months. He also was an assistant superintendent and principal in Trenton.

    According to his LinkedIn profile, Llano also had stints in the Readington Township and Howell Township school districts in a career spanning 27 years.

    He is pursuing a doctoral degree in education at Seton Hall University. He holds master’s degrees from New Jersey City University and Kean University, and a bachelor’s degree from Rowan University.

    Interim State-appointed Camden school Superintendent Davida Coe-Brockington.

    Coe-Brockington said Llano’s reputation precedes him and that she was looking forward to working with him to “focus on the progress we’ve made in the district and focus on creating better outcomes for the students and families of Camden City.”

    It was unclear Wednesday whether Coe-Brockington would remain in the central office when Llano takes over or return to Creative Arts High School, where she has been principal since it opened in 1999.

  • An attempted package theft in Feltonville turned into a police shootout

    An attempted package theft in Feltonville turned into a police shootout

    Philadelphia police are searching for a man they say tried to steal a package from the front steps of a Feltonville home, then exchanged gunfire with both the homeowner and responding officers before fleeing Sunday evening.

    Security camera footage from a home in the 400 block of East Rockland Street shows a man approaching the front steps and attempting to take a package, police said. The homeowner, a 50-year-old man, came outside carrying a handgun and confronted him, police said.

    The homeowner fired a shot into the ground, police said, prompting the man to run. As he fled, the man fired a gun at the homeowner, they said.

    Officers who had been called to the area after reports of a crowd and a person with a weapon on the 4900 block of D Street heard the gunfire and ran toward it, police said. When they encountered the man, police said, he fired his weapon at one of the officers, and the officer fired back.

    The man escaped, police said. Officers later recovered a .40-caliber handgun and a jacket on Rockland Street.

    Police described the suspect as light-skinned with a stocky build, and a possible goatee. He was last seen wearing a brown coat, black pants, and gray sneakers.

    Police ask that anyone with information about the man or the shooting call or text police at 215-683-1866.

    The Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

    The officer who fired his weapon has been placed on administrative duty, as is customary, pending an internal investigation, police said. His name has not been released.

  • Reputed Black Mafia leader Lonnie Dawson is out of prison. Here’s what to know about his case.

    Reputed Black Mafia leader Lonnie Dawson is out of prison. Here’s what to know about his case.

    After more than 40 years behind bars, reputed former Black Mafia leader Lonnie Dawson has been freed from prison, ending a decades-long legal drama that includes state and federal convictions for crimes, including drug trafficking and murder.

    Dawson’s release, though weeks old, went viral on social media in recent days thanks to video clips appearing to show his first moments as a newly free man. The widely shared video shows a man exiting the gates of a prison and immediately kneeling on a sidewalk in prayer.

    Dawson, also known as Abdul Salim, was freed from SCI Smithfield in Huntingdon County on Dec. 22 following a successful petition under the Pennsylvania Post Conviction Relief Act, his attorney, David B. Mischak, told The Inquirer. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections confirmed Dawson’s release date, noting that he had been held in that state prison for three months before he was freed. The bulk of his incarceration, however, was served in federal prison.

    “Mr. Dawson has spent the majority of his adult life behind bars,” Mischak said in a statement posted to his law firm’s website. “After more than 40 years of incarceration, Lonnie Dawson is grateful for the opportunity to live out his remaining years with dignity and peace.”

    Dawson’s path to release was a long and circuitous one that stretches back to a 1975 murder of which he was twice convicted at the state level — and sentenced to life. In the 1980s, federal convictions on drug distribution and related charges followed, leading to a staggering 134-year federal sentence. Here is how The Inquirer and Daily News covered it:

    https://www.newspapers.com/article/philadelphia-daily-news/188400141/

    Article from Aug 10, 1982 Philadelphia Daily News (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) <!— –>

    The murder of Herschell Williams

    In November 1975, a purported drug dealer and Black Mafia member named Herschell Williams — also known as the “Jolly Green Giant” due to his 6-foot-6 frame — was gunned down near his Mount Airy home. Shortly after the murder, Dawson, along with fellow reputed Black Mafia members Roy Hoskins and Joseph Rhone, were arrested in connection with the slaying while driving on the Schuylkill Expressway, reports from the time indicate.

    Investigators later linked Williams’ murder to a dispute over cocaine, and authorities alleged that Hoskins and Rhone carried out the shooting while Dawson, whom they said ordered the killing, served as the getaway driver, The Inquirer and Daily News reported. Several months later, both Dawson and Hoskins were convicted of murder in separate cases and sentenced to life in prison, while Rhone, who jumped bail following his arrest, remained a fugitive.

    The convictions stuck until July 1978, when the state Supreme Court ordered new trials due to legal errors during the initial proceedings. Following their arrests, both men had been questioned by then-Detective Michael Chitwood, and Dawson’s conviction was overturned in part because his attorney was not allowed to cross-examine Chitwood. Dawson alleged Chitwood had fabricated a confession used during the trial, according to Inquirer reports.

    The retrial, however, did not work out in either man’s favor. Dawson, for his part, was again convicted in August 1982 and later sentenced to life for a second time, despite having maintained at trial that he was busy giving one of his children a haircut about 20 blocks away at the time Williams was killed, according to Inquirer and Daily News reports.

    https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer/188400725/

    Article from Dec 14, 1982 The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) <!— –>

    A federal conviction

    As Dawson awaited retrial in the Williams case, more legal issues were added to his docket. In April 1982, an FBI affidavit alleged that Dawson and Hoskins quickly took over the Black Mafia after the state Supreme Court overturned their convictions, and revealed that both had been investigated over the past year by federal authorities.

    That, however, only came to light after Dawson, Hoskins, and several others were arrested following a high-speed car chase on I-95 in which a car was riddled with bullets in an apparent attempt to kill a federal informant, Inquirer and Daily News reports from the time indicate.

    The informant, Lawrence D. Simons, who said he was a member of the Black Mafia, was unharmed in the chase, which concluded after his would-be killers crashed their vehicle into a tree, the Daily News reported.

    Federal grand jury indictments followed, with Dawson and his alleged cohorts facing a lengthy list of charges, including obstruction of justice, conspiracy, drug, and gun counts. Authorities alleged Dawson was the Black Mafia’s leader, and said the group was linked to drug trafficking throughout Philadelphia and Delaware County, The Inquirer reported.

    After a three-week trial, Dawson was found guilty on a number of counts, and sentenced to a 134-year prison sentence and $230,000 in fines — though a later appeal dropped that sentence to 65 years and $100,000. Hoskins faced a similarly stiff penalty.

    U.S. District Judge Louis C. Bechtle in his ruling referred to both men as “major drug manufacturers” who were a “danger to the community.” The sentences, the Daily News reported at the time, were the harshest ever imposed by a federal judge in the Philadelphia area for drug trafficking.

    Dawson in court denied he was involved in a major drug ring and called the charges “a bunch of malarkey,” the Daily News reported.

    https://www.newspapers.com/article/philadelphia-daily-news/188400368/

    Article from Dec 21, 1984 Philadelphia Daily News (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) <!— –>

    ‘Ain’t calling too many shots now’

    While Dawson was imprisoned in the early 1980s, a report from the Daily News alleged that he remained in control of drug sales in Philadelphia — particularly in North Philadelphia, Germantown, and Mount Airy. An unnamed FBI source told the People Paper that despite Dawson being jailed, his drug trafficking activity did not slow down, and said he regularly met with organized crime figures to orchestrate sales.

    The Daily News later reported that Dawson was placed in administrative segregation in prison. The move, an unnamed associate told the paper, diminished Dawson’s alleged stature in the drug trade, and as a result, he “ain’t calling too many shots now.”

    In late 1984, Dawson responded to the Daily News’ reporting directly in a letter to the paper in which he denied controlling drug sales anywhere. While in prison, he said, he had never met with organized crime figures to discuss drug manufacturing or sales, and said claims were floated by reporters “in hope of getting some type of promotion and/or attention.”

    “Why must I be the sacrificial lamb?” Dawson wrote. “Why?”

  • Michael Reagan, political commentator and son of Ronald Reagan, dies at 80

    Michael Reagan, political commentator and son of Ronald Reagan, dies at 80

    Michael Reagan, a longtime political commentator for radio, TV and print media, and the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, died Jan. 4 from cancer, a conservative group affiliated with the former president said Tuesday. He was 80.

    A longtime Republican like his father, Mr. Reagan espoused conservative opinions, advocating antiabortion views, stressing adherence to Christianity and expressing skepticism about green policies. Like many in his party, he was initially a critic of President Donald Trump, describing him as an “egomaniacal billionaire” and a “political train wreck” who had little chance of winning in 2016. When Trump defied the odds and won, Mr. Reagan embraced him, decrying the “liberal media” that he said hated Trump.

    But Mr. Reagan’s political outspokenness and his famous father appeared to overshadow his lifelong struggle with scars suffered during a tumultuous childhood. He first heard at the age of 4 that he had been adopted, and he was sexually molested at the age of 7 by a camp counselor – experiences that molded his political views and prompted him to turn to religion for solace.

    Mr. Reagan kept the molestation a secret for decades, partly out of fear that revealing it could ruin his dad’s political career. Mr. Reagan finally told his father in 1987, as the president was nearing the end of his second term and when Mr. Reagan was writing a memoir. The book was going to contain the story, so Mr. Reagan felt compelled to tell his father beforehand.

    “Now here I am at the ranch. Dad’s standing in front of me with his belt buckle on, and it looks like a brand new pair of cowboy boots. Nancy’s on my left side. Nancy and Dad say, ‘So what’s in the book we don’t know about?’ I had to tell Dad, and I couldn’t look at him,” he recalled in a later interview.

    “The hardest thing was telling him the act. It was not enough to tell him, ‘Geez, Dad, I was molested,’ but the act … that was the toughest thing. I got all done. My dad looked at me and said, ‘Where’s this guy? I’ll kick his butt.’ My dad didn’t walk away, didn’t say he hated me. I thought to myself, Why didn’t I do this years ago? But I couldn’t have years ago. God brought me to the right moment in 1987.”

    Michael Edward Reagan was born on March 18, 1945, in Los Angeles. Born to unmarried parents John Bourgholtzer, an Army soldier, and Essie Irene Flaugher, his birth name was John Charles Flaugher. The Reagans changed his name after adopting him. Mr. Reagan often joked that he was born German but became Irish at 3 days old, referring to the Reagans’ Irish roots.

    Mr. Reagan first learned he was adopted from his 8-year-old sister Maureen. When Mr. Reagan asked their mother, actress Jane Wyman, what the word “adopted” meant, she first gave a stern look to Maureen before telling her son that he had been chosen so he was special. “Let’s not ever talk about it again,” Wyman told her children.

    But when Mr. Reagan went to boarding school a few years later and told a classmate that he was special, he was bullied.

    “He comes back to me, ‘You were not chosen; you’re illegitimate,’” Mr. Reagan said in a 2008 interview. “So the kids started teasing me in school that I wasn’t a real Reagan. I was the ‘Bastard Reagan,’ the illegitimate Reagan.”

    Mr. Reagan didn’t understand what “illegitimate” meant. So he consulted the Bible, and found a verse that said “all the illegitimate children and their children until the 10th generation will never enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

    “I closed the Bible. This is like 1951. [I] didn’t reopen the Bible until 1978.”

    The pain pushed him toward self-hate and anger. His parents’ subsequent divorce and the crime he suffered at the hands of a child molester exacerbated the negative emotions. As a high school student, he told himself he was condemned and blamed himself for his molestation.

    “I thought I was living a lie because no one knew what I had done. I questioned my sexuality, I stole money from my parents to buy prostitutes trying to convince myself I was straight,” he said in 2012. “I just didn’t know … I thought my birth parents gave me away because they knew I would be evil and I thought the Reagans would give me back if they found out.”

    He briefly attended Arizona State University and Los Angeles Valley College, and attempted to follow his parents into acting, but ultimately became better known for the radio shows he hosted, starting in the late 1980s in Los Angeles, where he briefly rubbed elbows with conservative talk show star Rush Limbaugh. Mr. Reagan attributed Trump’s rise to his ability to cater to the millions who tuned into conservative radio talk shows.

    Mr. Reagan became a frequent presence on television, radio and print as a political commentator, working as an analyst for the right-wing news outlet Newsmax during his final days.

    Although Mr. Reagan repeatedly expressed dismay over Trump’s haphazard style of politics earlier in Trump’s political career, Mr. Reagan’s opinions appeared to veer increasingly closer to those of Trump.

    Mr. Reagan initially denounced the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, calling them “wrong” and saying that they had “soiled [Trump’s] legacy forever.” But a year later, he was describing those arrested for allegedly participating in the events that day as “political prisoners.”

    In 2024, he wrote a column titled “Democrats: The Enemy of Democracy.”

    “While our streets and campuses are crawling with [left-wing protesters] and pro-Palestine vandals, Democrats are still yammering about the ‘insurrection’ of Jan. 6 and worrying about the existential threat Donald Trump supposedly poses to our democracy,” he said.

    That year, Mr. Reagan welcomed Trump’s reelection, praising the president for building a broad coalition that included “blue-collar workers, blacks and Latinos” – those who have not traditionally voted Republican.

    “With his historic political comeback and his MAGA movement, Trump has created the Republican Party of the future,” Mr. Reagan wrote in November 2024.

    In his private life, Mr. Reagan cherished his relationship with his wife, Colleen, whom he married in 1975 after a short marriage to Pamela Putnam that ended in 1972. Mr. Reagan has publicly thanked his wife for persuading him to turn to religion. Survivors include his wife and two children.

  • Donkey’s Place’s walrus bone was stolen from the bar. Staff want it back.

    Donkey’s Place’s walrus bone was stolen from the bar. Staff want it back.

    Rob Lucas Jr. is not exactly sentimental about the 27-inch walrus penis bone that for decades has adorned the bar he inherited from his father.

    But on Dec. 29, a patron was captured on video stealing the Donkey’s Place oddity, Lucas said, and it’s not something he takes lightly.

    He wants his walrus penis bone back on his bar stat.

    “I do have a credit card, but I can’t get the information from my credit card company unless I file a police report and that would mean going down to the police station and spending hours,” he said Wednesday. “We’d rather just get it back.”

    The provenance of the bone is unknown to Lucas, third-generation owner, who grew up in the local cheesesteak spot and bar.

    His grandfather, Leon “Donkey” Lucas, a heavyweight boxing contender in the 1928 Summer Olympics, opened the bar more than 80 years ago.

    In Camden for 75 years, Donkey’s Place serves cheesesteaks – and so much more

    Donkey’s got a major boost in 2015 when Anthony Bourdain featured it in an episode of his travel food show Parts Unknown. Bourdain said “the best cheesesteak in the area might well come from New Jersey,” referring to the Donkey’s Place staple served on a seeded Kaiser roll.

    Donkey’s ambience has not changed much since Bourdain’s visit. It has the feel of a bar where everyone knows your name, cozy and packed to the gills with random decor, from beer memorabilia, boxing gloves, a megalodon tooth, and of course, the walrus penis bone, also known as a walrus baculum, for the citizen scientists.

    Lucas grew up with the megalodon tooth and walrus bone but never learned what they actually were until he took the bar over from his father about a decade ago and endeavored to take stock of what he had on his hands.

    Since then, the bone has been a great conversation piece — patrons guess what it is and pose for photos with it — and just another part of the local cheesesteak spot’s charm.

    It’s why the waitress working a Dec. 29 shift didn’t think anything of the three men’s interest in the bone. Lucas said they spent a few hours at the bar while the waitress juggled patrons and the grill that’s within sight of where the patrons were sitting.

    “They weren’t wasted or anything, but they had some sandwiches, bought some merchandise, and then walked out with the walrus bone,” he said.

    But after paying their tab, Lucas said security footage shows one of the men wrapped the bone in a large pashmina-like scarf and walked out.

    Little is known about the men. Lucas said they told the waitress they’d come to the area for HiJinx Fest, the two-day dubstep, electronic music festival, held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center across the river. Lucas said the man who took the bone claimed he was a traveling tattoo artist, originally from Cleveland.

    By Wednesday, Donkey’s Bar had posted a public plea on its TikTok account, asking for help in finding the bone, sharing screenshots of the trio walking out of the restaurant, bone in scarf.

    @donkeysplacecamden

    We want our “bone” back! Please help!

    ♬ original sound – Donkeys Place Camden

    The local response has been swift so far and one of downright indignation. Lucas said some tattoo friends have circulated the story and NJ Advance Media published an article about the search. Lucas imagines internet sleuths will do their own digging, though he does not want to get anyone in trouble.

    “They could mail it back if they want,” he said of the trio. No questions asked.