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  • Eagles’ A.J. Brown ruled out for Giants game with hamstring injury

    Eagles’ A.J. Brown ruled out for Giants game with hamstring injury

    Receiver A.J. Brown (hamstring) has been ruled out for the Eagles’ rematch against the New York Giants on Sunday, according to the team’s final injury report released Friday afternoon.

    Brandon Graham (not injury related), cornerback Jakorian Bennett (pectoral/injured reserve), center Cam Jurgens (knee), cornerback Adoree’ Jackson (concussion), and outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari (hamstring) also have been ruled out against the Giants. Receiver Darius Cooper (shoulder/injured reserve), whose 21-day practice window opened on Thursday, is questionable.

    Eagles vs. Giants predictions: Rounding up experts’ picks for a Week 8 NFC East rematch

    Brown did not practice this week as he recovers from a hamstring injury, an ailment that popped up on the injury report in the aftermath of the win over the Minnesota Vikings. It is unclear when Brown sustained the injury, as he played 46 offensive snaps (92%) against the Vikings.

    He was on the field until the final passing play of the game, in which he caught a 45-yard pass from Jalen Hurts on third-and-9 with 1 minute, 45 seconds remaining. Brown has dealt with hamstring injuries before, most recently during training camp when he was sidelined for eight practices.

    “Obviously, he’s a great player,” receiver DeVonta Smith said on Friday before the final injury report was released. “We hope for him to be out there. But we’ll have to adjust if that’s the case that he’s not out there. We’ll have to adjust, and everyone’s going to have to study a little harder. Guys are going to be moving around in different spots and things.”

    Brett Toth likely will fill in at center for the injured Cam Jurgens against the Giants on Sunday.

    With Jurgens ruled out, Brett Toth likely will take his place as the starting center, just as he did in spot duty against the Vikings. Toth, the 6-foot-6, 304-pound depth offensive lineman, filled in for Jurgens at center in practice on Thursday during individual drills with the rest of the starters on the offensive line.

    Toth has started one game this season — the Week 6 matchup against the Giants, in which he took the place of the injured Landon Dickerson at left guard. He has taken 77 career regular-season snaps at center over the course of five seasons (four with the Eagles, one with the Carolina Panthers). The majority of his experience as a backup has come at guard (178 snaps at left guard, 27 at right) and right tackle (102 snaps).

    “A big thing in between the different positions in controlling, setting the point [as a center],” Toth said Friday. “Everyone’s job relies on you putting everyone in the right position to do their job. A lot of communication at both spots. But at center, it all starts there. Conducting the band kind of deal.”

    Meanwhile, even though Graham won’t return to action on Sunday, he was a full participant in practice all week. The 37-year-old defensive end came out of retirement on Tuesday. He said “everything’s going good right now,” even if he isn’t playing against the Giants.

    “Just being able to go three, four plays without really feeling, like, dog tired and really pushing,” Graham said Friday. “But I’d just say just a credit to the work that you put in during the offseason, and then for me, just making sure that if I am sore, we’re communicating. I mean, I was sore the next day. It felt like training camp. But it wasn’t a bad sore. It was a good sore, that first day of school.”

    Eagles WR DeVonta Smith’s toughness outweighs his undersized frame: ‘He’s small in stature, but he plays big’

    Kelee Ringo is the next man up to start in place of the injured Jackson. He has started two games this season (seven games total) at the outside cornerback spot opposite Quinyon Mitchell, conceding 11 receptions for 172 yards, according to Pro Football Focus. He also has registered a pass breakup and 22 tackles.

    Tight end Grant Calcaterra (oblique), Dickerson (ankle/back), tight end Dallas Goedert (calf), defensive tackle Moro Ojomo (shoulder), and linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr. (ankle) have been removed from the injury report and are available to play. This will be Calcaterra’s first game since Week 5 against the Denver Broncos.

  • FBI Director Kash Patel came to Philly to talk about an investigation targeting a Kensington drug gang

    FBI Director Kash Patel came to Philly to talk about an investigation targeting a Kensington drug gang

    FBI Director Kash Patel visited Philadelphia Friday to announce the results of a large-scale investigation into a Kensington-based drug gang — the latest demonstration of how President Donald Trump’s administration is seeking to highlight what it’s called a nationwide crackdown against suspected drug dealers.

    The target of the investigation — which spanned several years — was a gang that had long run a 24-hour open-air drug market on the 3100 block of Weymouth Street, according to court documents. The group was sophisticated, the documents said, with dozens of members working specific schedules, performing specific roles — such as block owner, street dealer, or lookout — and seeking to control territory with the threat of violence.

    Members dealt drugs including fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and crack, the documents said, and oversaw “one of the most prolific drug blocks in the city.” They also controlled parts of other nearby streets in a neighborhood where single corners have historically been able to generate tens of millions of dollars per year in drug sales.

    Prosecutors indicted 33 people in all, court records show, including Jose Antonio Morales Nieves and Ramon Roman-Montanez, whom they described as two of the group’s leaders. Most defendants were charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances or other drug-related crimes.

    Moralez Nieves “owned” the 3100 block of Weymouth, prosecutors said, and let dealers sell there by paying him “rent.” Roman-Montanez, meanwhile, organized street-level operations — developing schedules, doling out roles, and managing profits.

    U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said the investigation into the Weymouth Street group would effectively eliminate it.

    U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said more defendants were indicted in this case than any other federal prosecution in the Philadelphia region in a quarter-century.

    And although prosecutors did not estimate how much money the group made during its decade-long run on the block — and none of its members were officially charged with committing acts of violence — Metcalf said the arrests nonetheless “annihilated” a gang that had terrorized a long-suffering part of Kensington.

    Patel said the effort was emblematic of how law enforcement — both local and federal — can work together to address chronic issues including drug dealing and gun violence.

    “Everyone in America should be looking at this takedown,” Patel said “This takedown is how you safeguard American cities from coast to coast.”

    Law enforcement and FBI at Weymouth Street between Clearfield and Allegheny Avenue on Friday, October 24, 2025.

    FBI agents and Philadelphia police officers conducted a series of raids in Kensington early Friday morning in support of the initiative. Wayne Jacobs, the FBI’s top official in Philadelphia, said agents served 11 search warrants, and that 30 of the 33 defendants were in custody as of Friday afternoon.

    Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said he was proud that the arrests might help bring “safety, dignity and peace” to Kensington — a neighborhood that Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration has sought to prioritize throughout her two years in office, nearly tripling the police force in the neighborhood.

    While officials acknowledged that the investigation began several years ago, the results nonetheless came as Trump and some of his top cabinet officials — including Patel, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — have sought in recent weeks to promote what they’ve cast as a concerted effort to address crime across the country, particularly involving suspected drug traffickers.

    Some of the Trump administration’s initiatives have been relatively conventional, such as Friday’s raids in Philadelphia and other recent takedowns in cities such as Milwaukee and Pittsburgh.

    Trump and Patel have also touted the FBI’s arrest numbers this year, saying they are “working non-stop to make America safe again.”

    Dan Bongino, one of Patel’s top deputies at the FBI, said Friday that the Philadelphia arrests were part of that mission, writing on social media: “When President Trump told us to ‘go get em,’ he wasn’t kidding. And neither were we.”

    FBI agents were on the 700 block of East Clearfield near Weymouth Street on Friday morning.

    Still, other aspects of the campaign have been highly controversial, including Trump seeking to deploy federal troops to cities such as Chicago and Portland in response to what he’s called widespread unrest or clashes between protesters and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Local officials have described Trump’s efforts as unnecessary and challenged them in court.

    Trump also moved to effectively federalize law enforcement in Washington, D.C., an effort that local officials called a “baseless power grab” in a lawsuit.

    And international tensions have started to rise over the military’s continued bombing of alleged drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean — strikes that have killed dozens of people and raised questions about whether the tactic is legal.

    Around Weymouth Street on Friday, SWAT units had dispersed by noon. Residents by then had gathered in the street along the narrow block, where some rowhouse doors were left ajar and several neighbors peered curiously from upper windows.

    Victor Ramirez, who has lived near Weymouth Street for 20 years, said police activity has become more common in the area in recent months.

    “It’s a different story almost every day,” Ramirez said outside his home.

    Ramirez said increased law enforcement activity has frightened his neighbors. He said most are “good people” who work to feed their families. Still, Ramirez said he feels more safe with the increased attention to crime in the neighborhood.

    The FBI raid Friday morning felt like a significant escalation, he said. Ramirez was surprised to see agents armed with assault rifles hopping out of armored cars and making arrests.

    The raid came on the day of a fall block party on Allegheny Avenue, which stretched between F and G Streets and intersected with neighboring Weymouth Street. The event is popular with local children, Ramirez said, and he hoped it would bring positive energy to a block that experienced an unusual morning.

  • Dinner, dancing, and political power: Cherry Hill’s ‘Golden Age Prom’ harnesses the electoral energy of senior citizens

    Dinner, dancing, and political power: Cherry Hill’s ‘Golden Age Prom’ harnesses the electoral energy of senior citizens

    At the 12th annual Golden Age Prom in Cherry Hill, Shirley Temples were flowing, the buffet line stretched across the room, and seniors — both senior citizens and high school seniors — danced the night away to the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” and Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”

    The event, hosted by the Cherry Hill Education Association, brings Cherry Hill’s older residents together for a night of food, dancing, and celebrating the prom king and queen.

    “Prom is a very memorable moment for a lot of people, and it makes them feel young again,” said Waleska Batista-Arias, the president of the Cherry Hill Education Association. “Just because the body ages, doesn’t mean you lose your youthful spirit.”

    Though celebration is the centerpiece of the Golden Age Prom, the annual event offers Cherry Hill’s teachers union an opportunity to build support for public education among seniors, a powerful, yet sometimes overlooked, voting bloc.

    According to Kathy Kiehner, 78, a retired reading specialist who has attended the prom for years, it’s about harnessing “the energy of senior citizens that forgets to get tapped.”

    Attendees dance during the Golden Age Prom sponsored by the Cherry Hill Education Association at the Legacy Club in Cherry Hill on Thursday, October 23, 2025.

    Dispatch from the dance floor

    Though the prom has historically been held at one of Cherry Hill’s schools, the education association had to upgrade to the Legacy Club this year to meet rising demand. Even still, they had to turn people away.

    Jeanne Kiefner, a retired school nurse, adjunct professor, and longtime Cherry Hill resident, said the prom “makes people healthy,” offering socialization that can be hard to come by in one’s 70s, 80s, and 90s. Many sources did not share their age with the reporter.

    As the night went on, attendees enjoyed the buffet — one remarked that there’s nothing seniors love more than free food. They posed in the photo booth and line danced with student volunteers from Cherry Hill’s two high schools.

    Seated by the dance floor, Cathy Jenkins, 76, and Emma Waring, 72, said they’ve been friends for longer than they can count. After doing some quick math, the two deduced they had met about 35 years ago while working in the Camden City School District. The retired educators are now involved in the Cherry Hill African American Civic Association, which uplifts Black history education and supports local students.

    When the Golden Age Prom announcement drops every year, Waring said she and her friends start calling and texting each other right away. Waring likes that the event is lively and cross-cultural, bringing together seniors from across Cherry Hill’s diverse communities.

    “This is something we look forward to,” she said.

    Attendees stand in the dinner buffet line during the Golden Age Prom sponsored by the Cherry Hill Education Association at the Legacy Club in Cherry Hill on Thursday, October 23, 2025.

    ‘These people vote’

    The Cherry Hill Education Association hosted the first Golden Age Prom over a decade ago at Kilmer Elementary School to help bring attention to much-needed infrastructure improvements in the district. While teachers and parents understood the district’s dire building needs, many Cherry Hill residents, including seniors who were no longer attached to the schools through their children, did not. In order to pass a bond to pay for the repairs, the education association knew it would have to physically bring voters into the schools.

    “The idea was that these people vote, so if you want them supporting anything in the school system, you have to have them be a part of it,” said Kiehner, the former reading specialist.

    The first bond referendum failed. But in 2022, a $363 million bond, one of the largest in New Jersey history, passed, allowing the Cherry Hill school district to make improvements to all 19 of its schools. It was the first time in 23 years that Cherry Hill voters approved a school bond.

    “Thank you for your support so that we could improve our school facilities for our students and future generations,” Batista-Arias told attendees, an expression of gratitude that was met with roaring applause.

    Batista-Arias said the association wanted to continue the intergenerational prom tradition and bring attention to upcoming elections. Candidates for Cherry Hill school board pitched voters from the dance floor, and some even stuck around for the “Cupid Shuffle.”

    The Cherry Hill Education Association does not make endorsements in local races, but it is supporting the New Jersey Education Association’s endorsement of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill, which Batista-Arias announced to attendees (the Sherrill endorsement also received some applause).

    The majority of this year’s prom was funded by the New Jersey Education Association’s PRIDE in Public Education campaign, an effort to build support for public education across New Jersey. The Golden Age Prom is free to attendees.

    Kathy Kiehner wears her hat and sunglasses while talking to friends during the Golden Age Prom sponsored by the Cherry Hill Education Association at the Legacy Club in Cherry Hill on Thursday, October 23, 2025.

    Bringing seniors out of isolation

    Emerging from the photo booth in ankle-length, bedazzled dresses, Ann Alfano and Norma Galosi explained that they met just a few months ago at square dancing class and decided to come to prom together. Alfano never went to her own school dances as a teenager, so this prom was her first. When asked how their first hangout outside of dance class was going, they agreed: “Well.”

    Joyce Layer, 84, moved to Cherry Hill 41 years ago after getting married. At the time, she knew no one. Line dancing classes, she thought, would be a good way to meet people. Four decades later, she dances on Tuesdays and Fridays, and she showed up to The Legacy Club ready to show off her moves.

    “I’m just a person who likes people, who likes to dance,” Layer said.

    “It’s a fun night,” she added. “It’s nice to do it for the seniors because so many of us are isolated.”

    Joanie Broglin dances wearing her tiara during the Golden Age Prom sponsored by the Cherry Hill Education Association at the Legacy Club.

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • The government shutdown is disrupting air travel. Sean Duffy visited PHL to blame Democrats.

    The government shutdown is disrupting air travel. Sean Duffy visited PHL to blame Democrats.

    The federal shutdown messaging war was in full swing at Philadelphia International Airport Friday, where U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed airline travel disruptions on Democrats, as air traffic controllers are slated to miss their first full paycheck next week.

    “If you’re seeing an increase in shutdowns right now, or delays, or cancellations, it’s because the Democrats won’t open the government back up,” said Duffy.

    Duffy also reiterated a Republican talking point, inaccurately accusing Democrats of pushing for a shutdown in order to extend health care to undocumented immigrants. Various policy experts, however, have found this claim to be false, as undocumented immigrants were already ineligible for Medicaid and insurance provided by the Affordable Care Act.

    Travel disruptions fueled by air traffic controller absences played a major role in pressuring politicians to relent and reopen government during the last government shutdown, which started in December 2018 and bled into the new year for a total of 35 days. As that shutdown dragged on, air traffic controllers who were working without pay began calling out sick, sparking major delays across the country.

    Though a PHL spokesperson said the airport has not experienced disruptions as a result of the shutdown to date, other hubs, including Newark Liberty International Airport, have. Duffy said while about 5% of delays are typically due to staffing shortages, that number has been as high as 53% since the shutdown began Oct. 1.

    Joining Duffy, Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, described how members report taking on side gigs delivering food or driving rideshares.

    Air traffic controllers were able to receive about 90% of their pay in their last check because most of their biweekly pay period fell before the shutdown.

    As more families feel the impact of the shutdown, Daniels said air traffic controllers would feel the stress at work and “instead of focusing on the safety of the American flying public, they’re now focusing on what they can’t afford to pay.”

    The visit to Philadelphia International Airport comes amid a back-and-forth between President Donald Trump‘s administration and Democrats. The White House’s official website has a “Government Shutdown Clock,” which tells visitors, “Democrats have shut down the government.” Other federal government sites blame the “Radical Left” or call the shutdown “Democrat-led.”

    Airports have not been immune to the shutdown messaging wars, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats in a video sent to the travel hubs to play — the Transportation Security Administration is part of Noem’s department and TSA workers are not being paid during the shutdown. PHL and several other airports have refused to play the video, citing federal limits on political messaging they can display.

    Just last week, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro‘s administration pushed back with its own messaging on the state Department of Human Services website.

    “Because Republicans in Washington D.C., failed to pass a federal budget, causing the federal government shutdown, November 2025 [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] benefits cannot be paid,“ reads a banner on the website.

    For airports and travelers, the possibility of a prolonged shutdown brings the potential for disruptions during one of the most popular times to travel.

    What’s more, it could affect those in the Federal Aviation Administration’s training academy, hoping to become air traffic controllers. Those students continued to receive modest pay amid the shutdown — their instructors have not — but Duffy said money is slated to run out in as little as a week or two. The transportation secretary said fears of future funding issues have caused some students to drop out at a time the department is short some 3,000 air traffic controllers.

    TSA employees at PHL, meanwhile, are also suffering.

    Joe Shuker, Region 7 vice president for AFGE Council 100, which represents TSA employees there, said workers are being required to bring doctor’s notes if they call out, adding the cost of a copay to legitimately sick staff. Shuker, like Daniels, said employees were being encouraged to keep working.

    “However, at some point running out of money will be an issue,” he said as workers struggle to pay for gas, childcare, and mortgages.

    Duffy on SEPTA

    Ahead of his visit to PHL, Duffy wrote a blistering letter to Shapiro, blaming the Democrat for SEPTA’s financial woes and, in particular, for five Regional Rail train fires this year involving 50-year-old Silverliner IV cars.

    “Thankfully, no fatalities resulted, but the department will not stand by waiting for tragedy to strike,” Duffy told Shapiro. “If changes are not made immediately, it is only a matter of time before SEPTA’s crumbling commuter rail system erupts in flames and kills someone.”

    The governor clapped back. A spokesperson noted that Shapiro has fought for new, stable state funding for SEPTA and other transit agencies in the last two budgets — only to have Senate Republicans, who hold the majority in the chamber, kill the proposals.

    “Instead of issuing a press release, if Secretary Duffy actually wants to be helpful, he should call his fellow Republicans and get them to fund the governor’s mass transit funding package for SEPTA,” said Rosie Lapowsky, Shapiro’s press secretary. “We would be happy to provide their phone numbers.”

    The mass-transit agency has been pulling the 225 cars off the line for extensive safety inspections and repairs, acting on an Oct. 1 order from the Federal Railroad Administration, which regulates commuter rail. SEPTA also is installing a modern thermal detection system on the Silverliner IVs, which were built in the mid 1970s.

    The FRA order imposed a deadline of Oct. 31 and Duffy warned unrepaired rail cars could be ordered out of service if it is not met.

    “I want a great system for Philadelphia, that’s what I want,” Duffy said when asked about the letter at PHL. “If I can be helpful, I will, if I get resistance, we can we can be great friends, or we can be really bad enemies. I think we should be in the friend business and serve in this community.”

  • Explaining Saquon Barkley’s struggles

    Explaining Saquon Barkley’s struggles

    Can the Eagles finally get Saquon Barkley going? The question feels like it’s the last big one left for the Eagles’ offense to answer this season, which has seen the group go through ups and downs during the first half of the year. But on the heels of the Eagles deploying a more under-center, play-action flavored attack in Minnesota to tap into an explosive passing performance, there’s growing optimism inside the NovaCare Complex that the team is getting closer to unlocking its record-setting running back. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane examines key reasons why Barkley and the Eagles’ run game have struggled, and whether a rematch with the archrival Giants could prove the right antidote.

    00:00 The next big issue to address on offense…

    01:42 Are the run game issues all on Saquon Barkley?

    06:30 Jordan Mailata breaks down the Eagles’ different run schemes

    10:02 The impact of under-center runs

    15:42 How Barkley is dealing with his drop in production

    20:13 Where health is hurting the Eagles the most

    unCovering the Birds is a production of The Philadelphia Inquirer and KYW Newsradio Original Podcasts. Look for new episodes dropping each week throughout the season.

  • Please Touch Museum to reduce hours but programming will remain unaffected

    Please Touch Museum to reduce hours but programming will remain unaffected

    The Please Touch Museum is reducing its days of operation from six days a week to five days a week, closing on Mondays.

    Its new hours are Wednesday through Sunday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and select holidays. The museum is also pausing its monthly First Wednesday evening program.

    The changes go into effect on Oct. 29.

    The reduction in hours is a response to a 15% drop in attendance numbers from 475,000 a year pre-pandemic to 400,000 a year. Mondays, the museum found out, are the lowest visitation days.

    “This change in operations reflects post-pandemic visitation trends at Please Touch Museum and cultural institutions across Philadelphia and beyond,” Ivy Brown, spokesperson for Please Touch Museum, said in a statement. “We take seriously our responsibility to ensure the museum’s continued financial stability while delivering exceptional learning experiences for generations of children and caregivers to come.”

    O’Shon (Matthew Law) chaperones the ‘Abbott Elementary’ field trip to the Please Touch Museum in the season four finale that aired on April 16 on ABC.

    The reduction in hours doesn’t mean that museumgoers will have limited experiences. The beloved museum, featured in the season four finale of Abbott Elementary, boasts 18 permanent exhibits, including the popular Front Step where kids play on the stoop of a make-believe house.

    “Food & Family” is a 3,650-square-foot exhibit, presented by the grocery chain Giant, that introduces tots to food systems in a supermarket, a home, an industrial kitchen, and a neighborhood festival. Kids can shop for parties and grill hot dogs at their own block parties.

    The museum recently opened “AlegreMENTE | Happy Brain,” a bilingual exhibit, sponsored by Conshohocken-based pharmaceutical company Cencora, centering the relationship between children and their caregivers.

    “AlegreMENTE” invites visitors to play in a magical, make-believe forest where they can invent stories, draw, and explore emotions with an emotion wheel.

    The exhibit is open through Jan. 4.

    Please Touch Museum

    📍4231 Avenue of the Republic, Phila., 🌐 pleasetouchmuseum.org, 💵 $20.

  • Social Security recipients get a 2.8% cost-of-living boost in 2026, average of $56 per month

    Social Security recipients get a 2.8% cost-of-living boost in 2026, average of $56 per month

    WASHINGTON — The Social Security Administration’s annual cost-of-living adjustment will go up by 2.8% in 2026, translating to an average increase of more than $56 for retirees every month, agency officials said Friday.

    The benefits increase for nearly 71 million Social Security recipients will go into effect beginning in January. And increased payments to nearly 7.5 million people receiving Supplemental Security Income will begin on Dec. 31.

    Friday’s announcement was meant to be made last week but was delayed because of the federal government shutdown.

    From June: DOGE cuts have made it hard for Philly seniors to get Social Security offices on the phone

    The cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for retirees and disabled beneficiaries is financed by payroll taxes collected from workers and their employers, up to a certain annual salary, which is slated to increase to $184,500 in 2026, from $176,100 in 2025.

    Recipients received a 2.5% cost-of-living boost in 2025 and a 3.2% increase in their benefits in 2024, after a historically large 8.7% benefit increase in 2023, brought on by record 40-year-high inflation.

    The smaller increase for 2026 reflects moderating inflation. The agency will notify recipients of their new benefit amount by mail in early December.

    From May: How will switch to all-digital Social Security payments affect Pennsylvanians?

    Some seniors say the increase isn’t enough

    Some seniors say the cost-of-living adjustment won’t help much in their ability to pay for their daily expenses. Linda Deas, an 80-year-old Florence, South Carolina, resident said “it does not match the affordability crisis we are having right now.”

    Deas, a retired information systems network operations specialist, moved to South Carolina from New York in 2022 to be closer to family. She says her monthly rent has increased by $400 in the past two years.

    She listed other items that have become more expensive for her in the past two years, including auto insurance and food. “If you have been into the supermarkets lately you will notice how prices are going up, not down,” she said.

    Deas is not alone in feeling that costs are getting out of control. Polling from the AARP shows that older Americans are increasingly struggling to keep up in today’s economy. The poll states that only 22% of Americans over age 50 agree that a COLA of right around 3% for Social Security recipients is enough to keep up with rising prices, while 77% disagree. That sentiment is consistent across political party affiliations, according to the AARP.

    In Deas’ case, the MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates that an adult living alone in Florence, South Carolina, would spend per year $10,184 for housing, $3,053 for medical expenses and $3,839 for food.

    AARP CEO Myechia Minter-Jordan said the COLA is “a lifeline of independence and dignity, for tens of millions of older Americans,” but even with the annual inflation-gauged boost in income, “older adults still face challenges covering basic expenses.”

    Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano said in a statement Friday that the annual cost-of-living adjustment “is one way we are working to make sure benefits reflect today’s economic realities and continue to provide a foundation of security.”

    Emerson Sprick, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s director of retirement and labor policy, said in a statement that cost-of-living increases “can’t solve all the financial challenges households face or all the shortcomings of the program.”

    The agency has been in turmoil in recent months

    The latest COLA announcement comes as the Social Security Administration has been navigating almost a year of turmoil, including the termination of thousands of workers as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce. Trump administration officials have also made statements they later walked back that raised concerns about the future of the program.

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in July that the Republican administration was committed to protecting Social Security hours after he said in an interview that a new children’s savings program President Donald Trump signed into law “is a back door for privatizing Social Security.”

    And in September, Bisignano had to walk back comments that the agency is considering raising the retirement age to shore up Social Security. “Raising the retirement age is not under consideration at this time by the Administration,” Bisignano said at the time in an e-mailed statement to The Associated Press.

    “I think everything’s being considered, will be considered,” Bisignano said in the statement when asked whether raising the retirement age was a possibility to maintain the old age program’s solvency.

    Efforts to boost benefits for seniors

    In addition, the Social Security Administration faces a looming bankruptcy date if it is not addressed by Congress. The June 2025 Social Security and Medicare trustees’ report states that Social Security’s trust funds, which cover old age and disability recipients, will be unable to pay full benefits beginning in 2034. Then, Social Security would only be able to pay 81% of benefits.

    Social Security benefits were last reformed roughly 40 years ago, when the federal government raised the eligibility age for the program from 65 to 67.

    While a permanent solution for shoring up the benefits program has not been passed into law, both the Trump and Biden administrations have recently signed into law new benefits for retirees, which are expected to boost their finances.

    The Trump administration, as part of Republicans’ tax and spending bill, gave tax relief to many seniors through a temporary tax deduction for seniors aged 65 and over, which applies to all income — not just Social Security. However, those who won’t be able to claim the deduction include the lowest-income seniors who already don’t pay taxes on Social Security, those who choose to claim their benefits before they reach age 65 and those above a defined income threshold.

    Additionally, former President Joe Biden in 2024 repealed two federal policies — the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset — that previously limited Social Security payouts for roughly 2.8 million people, including largely former public workers.

    These measures have accelerated the insolvency of the old-age benefits program.

    Sprick at the Bipartisan Policy Center said “there have been longstanding questions about whether benefits are adequate for low-income seniors, which should inspire urgency among policymakers to work toward broader reforms instead of ignoring Social Security’s long-term solvency.”

  • Colman Domingo to receive the 2025 Lumière Award at the 34th Philadelphia Film Festival

    Colman Domingo to receive the 2025 Lumière Award at the 34th Philadelphia Film Festival

    As the 34th Philadelphia Film Festival wraps up on Sunday, organizers have a parting gift.

    On Friday, the Philadelphia Film Society, which is the parent organization for the festival, announced that Emmy-winning actor and West Philly’s very own Colman Domingo is the recipient of the society’s 2025 Lumière Award.

    The award honors Domingo’s “extraordinary contributions” as an actor, writer, and director, as well as his deep ties to Philadelphia, according to a statement.

    Colman Domingo poses for photographers upon arrival at the amfAR, foundation for aids research, gala at the Arsenale di Venezia during the 82nd edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

    “[Domingo’s] impressive ability to channel raw emotion, compassion, conviction, intensity, humor, and charisma into each of his roles is truly remarkable,” Andrew Greenblatt, CEO of the Philadelphia Film Society, said in the statement. “I couldn’t be more excited to honor Colman Domingo with our 2025 Lumière Award.”

    Domingo grew up in the city with his stepfather, Clarence Bowles, who sanded hardwood floors, and his mother, Edith Bowles, who worked in a bank. He attended Temple University, where he studied journalism before dropping out at 21 to make headlines of his own as a stage actor.

    In the years since, he has emerged as a transformative talent on the Broadway stage and in Hollywood. He starred as Billy Flynn in the Broadway revival of Chicago in 2010 and was nominated the following year for a Tony for his work on the musical The Scottsboro Boys.

    His starring roles in films such as the 2023 biopic Rustin and the 2024 drama Sing Sing earned him consecutive Academy Award best actor nominations.

    Colman Domingo attends the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” exhibition on Monday, May 5, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

    Domingo joins former Lumière Award honorees M. Night Shyamalan, Bruce Willis, Adam McKay, and Lee Daniels, who were all recognized for their cinematic achievements and meaningful contribution to the City of Brotherly Love.

    Along with Domingo’s honor, PFS presented its Audrey Evans Impact Award for Social Change to boxer Christy Salters and the film Christy.

    The award is named after Evans, a pioneering pediatric oncologist and Ronald McDonald House cofounder, who worked for decades at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

  • Chester saw one of its safest summers ever in 2025. No one died from gun violence.

    Chester saw one of its safest summers ever in 2025. No one died from gun violence.

    For five glorious Sundays this summer, there was peace in Chester.

    In places like the William Penn Homes and Chester Apartments, where children are often encouraged to stay indoors, shut away from the threat of gang violence, it was finally safe to play outside during the height of what is normally the most dangerous time of the year.

    Roving carnivals nicknamed “Sunday Fun Days” were organized and held in Delaware County’s lone city, in areas that had weathered a surge in violence in recent years. A few bounce houses, some water ice, and communities breathing sighs of relief were rewards for keeping the peace, and motivation to continue that trend.

    The parties, according to Geo Stockman, the lead gun violence interventionist with Making a Change Group, came during one of the safest summers on record in the city: Not a single fatal gunshot was fired in Chester during that time.

    It was a result that local police and county prosecutors say they have been working toward these last few years, through a combination of advocacy work and interventions by groups like Stockman’s.

    “This opened up the neighborhoods. It gave them a reason to say, ‘Let’s try something else, people are really looking out for us now, maybe we should put this down,’” Stockman said. “People are always telling people to stop doing something without offering them something in this place. So that’s what we did this summer. We offered them something in its place.”

    The block parties were a new addition to the programs offered by the Chester Partnership for Safe Neighborhoods (CPSN), an initiative launched by the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office in 2020.

    Gregory Cottman left, Gregory Graves, center, and Geo Stockman say the Sunday Fun Day block parties sponsored by the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office served as both a reward for neighborhoods that have curbed gun violence, and an incentive to continue that trend in the years to come.

    The program takes a holistic approach to combating gun violence, targeting teens and young adults at risk of committing crimes and offering them services, mediation, or counseling before they resort to violence.

    In its five years of operation, CPSN has seen a 65% reduction in shootings overall and a 74% reduction in fatal shootings. And since the summer, only two fatal shootings have been recorded in Chester, which prosecutors say still puts the city on pace for one of its most peaceful years on record.

    “Violence comes from a place of, of hopelessness, of despair. Just anger, resentment, and feeling like you’ve been left behind, like nobody cares,” Stockman said.

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    He spoke from experience, as a lifelong Chester resident who spent time in prison for mistakes made on the streets of his hometown.

    “That’s what makes what we do so effective. Most of us want to be stopped, but nobody stops us,” he said. “Nobody takes the time to say, ‘I’m gonna be the one to calm you down.’ It really only takes somebody with a clear mind that they understand to say, ‘Nah, that ain’t it.’”

    Stockman said he and his team have successfully mediated 130 disputes between rival neighborhoods in the last two years. They settled petty arguments, usually started on social media, that were clearly heading toward a violent conclusion.

    “This is a small community, so your reputation goes further than just the neighborhood you’re from,” said Gregory “G-Code” Graves, who works with Stockman.

    Graves said the anti-violence messaging works because it’s coming from people the intended audience can identify with.

    “We’ve been through the vetting process in all these neighborhoods, so even if it’s a little hesitation at first, it doesn’t take a great deal of persuasion to get them to come to us,” Graves said. “And we come in with meaningful things that’s going to help the situation.”

    Residents of the Chester Apartments line up for water ice at a “Sunday Fun Day” block party held this summer in Chester.

    For District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, those results are exactly what he envisioned when he brought CPSN to the county five years ago, building it on models used successfully in other cities, including Boston.

    And he is confident that the program will continue to thrive without him, as he runs for a county judgeship in the Nov. 4 election.

    “People have bought into the strategy. They’ve seen it work now, and they just wanna keep it going,” he said.

    Stollsteimer said making Chester safe was one of his priorities when running for district attorney in 2019. Similar programs, he said, had failed before because of a lack of buy-in from officials.

    This time was different — Mayor Stefan Roots became a fixture at the Sunday Fun Day parties.

    Roots said the weekly parties presented a rare opportunity for residents to meet the people making decisions that affect their everyday lives. And, in turn, allowed him and other officials to have open, honest dialogue with people living in communities most affected by gun violence.

    The conversation flowed naturally, he said. No pressure. No pretense.

    “This is something that’s never, never happened before,” he said. “The relationship between the city and the county is really welcome. And the results are showing themselves.”

    Roots said he lost count of how many residents came up to him at the parties to talk about their own efforts to curb violence in their neighborhoods. People, he said, who told him that the block parties, and the gun violence interventions that preceded them, were a welcome sigh of relief.

    “They told me that, sometimes, they don’t want to be ‘the man with the cape.’ They want to go on and have a life, too,” Roots said.

  • The Main Line has a new underground cocktail bar

    The Main Line has a new underground cocktail bar

    In East Asian folklore, the Jade Rabbit is a celestial figure known for compassion and hospitality. When a hungry goddess tested the kindness of animals, the rabbit offered itself as food. Moved by this selfless act, she granted it immortality, sending it to live on the moon.

    There, the Jade Rabbit eternally mixes the elixirs of life for the gods — a symbol of generosity, sacrifice, and eternal service.

    At Jade Rabbit, the cocktail bar that opened this week beneath Maison Lotus in Wayne, siblings Pearl and Paul Somboonsong are mixing their own elixirs — if not for the gods, then for, well, Main Liners.

    The Jade Rabbit Moon Landing cocktail gets its bubble on at Jade Rabbit.

    In March, the Somboonsongs opened Maison Lotus, an upscale Vietnamese restaurant and all-day cafe at 175 Lancaster Ave., the former site of Margaret Kuo.

    As they planned the two-story restaurant, they decided that the basement would be an ideal spot for a speakeasy-style bar as a passion project, alongside a banquet room where they’d host private events and mah-jongg games.

    Pearl Somboonsong grew up on the Main Line, where her parents, Win and Sudita Somboonsong, created a string of restaurants, including Mikado Thai Pepper, Teikoku, Azie, and Blue Elephant.

    The bar at Jade Rabbit in Wayne.
    Dining tables at Jade Rabbit in Wayne.

    After college, she lived in New York and Chicago, “and there was always a speakeasy scene,” she said. Philadelphia has one, too. But not so much on the Main Line, as she discovered when she moved back to join her brother in Win Hospitality, the family business.

    There are stylish bars, she said, but “I was asking, ‘Why is there not really a place where I can have that same experience where the cocktails are really the focus?”

    Hamachi with calamansi, pickled radish and chive oil at Jade Rabbit.

    Of course, Jade Rabbit is licensed, unlike a true speakeasy. But it has the characteristic unmarked door leading down from Maison Lotus as well as a low-lit, low-key vibe for its eight bar seats plus 18 more at tables. Opening night was fully booked, and there are 30 on the waiting list for tonight, Pearl Somboonsong said. It’s only open Thursday and Friday for now; more days may be added if there is demand.

    Bartender Curtis Daulerio and Win Hospitality beverage director Katrin Kanikkeberg set up the bar, whose cocktail menu is Vietnamese-inspired. For a drink called the Circle Jawn, they use a Porthole Infuser, a circular contraption invented for the Aviary, a seminal speakeasy-style bar in Chicago.

    The Circle Jawn steeps on the bar at Jade Rabbit.

    The Circle Jawn is meant to resemble a bowl of pho, so Daulerio loads the infuser with vermicelli, roasted carrots, basil, and spices such as star anise, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and coriander seeds. Then he pours Diplomatico rum, Pedro Ximenez sherry, and black walnut bitters into the porthole. The drink ($39 for two), which is poured atop a large ice cube, picks up new flavors and colors as it steeps.

    Like many new bars, Jade Rabbit also has a FlavourBlaster, the device that creates oversize bubbles and smoke on top of a drink. “Of course, we play with fire and smoke and stuff, but I didn’t want it all to be gimmicky,” Pearl Somboonsong said. “At the end of the day, it has to be about class. The goal is an amazing, well-balanced cocktail.”

    Crystal dumpling dessert at Jade Rabbit.

    Jade Rabbit offers three options for reservations: There’s a $30 per-person deposit for a bar seat; the customer orders à la carte drinks and food, and the deposit is applied to the final bill. In the dining seats, there’s a $145 five-course food and cocktail pairing menu with hamachi, flower dumplings, Chilean sea bass, A5 Wagyu steak, and crystal dumplings filled with guava and strawberries — all unique to the lounge. The third option is a three-course cocktail progression, which covers any three cocktails for $65.

    À la carte food includes bites such as Bangkok toast (brown sugar butter and bourbon creme anglaise atop milk bread), umami popcorn, and Japanese street corn, plus larger plates including the steak and sea bass.

    Jade Rabbit, beneath Maison Lotus, 175 Lancaster Ave., Wayne, maison-lotus.com/jaderabbit. Hours from 5:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Reservations suggested, though walk-ins are allowed.