There is one more game separating Penn State from the Matt Campbell era, after the longtime Iowa State coach was hired by the program earlier this month.
In one week, the transfer portal for college football will open, and Campbell’s staff at Penn State is starting to take shape, with several familiar names from the coach’s tenure in Ames, Iowa.
Last week, Noah Pauley was named Penn State’s wide receivers coach and Jake Waters came aboard as the quarterbacks coach. The week before that, Taylor Mouser was announced as the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach, while Deon Broomfield (secondary) and Ryan Clanton (offensive line) also joined the staff.
Much of the defensive staff must still be filled out, especially after Jon Heacock, who was expected to follow Campbell from Iowa State to Penn State, decided to retire. The Nittany Lions reportedly are interested in former letterman D’Anton Lynn, who has been the defensive coordinator at Southern Cal the past two seasons. Adding Lynn, whose defense this year ranked inside the top 50 in points and yards allowed, would help solidify a staff with a strong nucleus.
Iowa State offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser will fill the same role at Penn State.
Mouser’s offense at Iowa State was better statistically in 2024 than 2025, but this year was only his second season as the play caller. Clanton, who played at Oregon under Chip Kelly, has been successful developing offensive linemen. While at Northern Iowa, he was instrumental in helping Trevor Penning become a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft and aided Jalen Travis, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2024 draft, at Iowa State.
Bloomfield has developed a couple of secondary players into NFL draft picks (T.J. Tampa in 2024, Darien Porter in 2025), while Pauley has similarly had success in the growth of his receivers, with Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins getting drafted earlier this year. Pauley also was key in Christian Watson’s development at North Dakota State.
Waters, meanwhile, has worked closely the past two years with quarterback Rocco Becht, who recently entered the transfer portal.
Campbell’s staff is a mix of experienced coaches and others who have transitioned from analysts to position coaches. But there has been plenty of staff turnover, even as interim coach Terry Smith was retained, along with assistant quarterbacks coach Trace McSorley.
Among those who have departed are defensive line coach Deion Barnes, the North Philly native who was vital in developing the likes of Abdul Carter, Chop Robinson, and Odafe Oweh. Barnes took the same job at South Carolina, alongside former Temple coach Stan Drayton, who coached running backs at Penn State and will do the same for the Gamecocks as running backs coach and assistant head coach for offense.
Former defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, also a Philly native, is heading to Tennessee at the same position, and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki is not returning next season, although he will coach in the Pinstripe Bowl. A few others followed James Franklin to Virginia Tech, including Ty Howle, Danny O’Brien, and Chuck Losey.
While Campbell has brought in some of his own guys, he will need to continue to look externally to fill out the rest of his staff, which likely will happen over the next couple of weeks.
Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht (3) was a player whom new Penn State quarterbacks coach Tyler Waters helped develop.
Flipping commits and bringing in transfers
Penn State signed just two players in the 2026 recruiting class, so it was natural that once Campbell was hired, that number would change. And it has in recent days.
Offensive linemen Mason Bandhauer and Pete Eglitis were among the seven players who previously committed to Iowa State and flipped to Penn State, bringing their 2026 recruiting class to nine players and counting.
And more reinforcements could be on the way via the transfer portal. Along with Becht, former Iowa State running back Carson Hansen and wide receivers Brett Eskildsen and Xavier Townsend have entered the portal.
Becht seems like a natural fit in Happy Valley, considering his experience, familiarity with staff, and the high-profile nature of the games Penn State will play, though there will be a considerable number of suitors. The ex-Iowa State quarterback has thrown for over 9,000 yards and 64 touchdowns in 39 starts.
Campbell likely will try to reconnect with some of the players he coached at Iowa State, but he also will need to recruit the players currently on Penn State’s roster. A number of key contributors, including edge rusher Chaz Coleman and defensive backs A.J. Harris and Elliot Washington, headline those who have announced their intention to enter the portal. Several starters from the 2025 season also will be making the jump to the NFL.
The new staff has its work cut out for them as they continue to build out the rest of the team for next year and beyond. But first, the rest of the staff remaining from the 2025 team will focus on beating Clemson on Saturday (noon, 6abc) to salvage what was a lost season in early October.
Penn State running back Kaytron Allen (13) and interim coach Terry Smith will look to end the season on a high with a win over Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl.
Games of the week
Amid a holiday weekend of college football, there are two games with local flair certainly worth watching. Enjoy.
Pinstripe Bowl: Penn State vs. Clemson (Saturday, noon, 6abc)
It’s a chance for the Nittany Lions to end a rough year by their standards on a high note against a quality Power 5 opponent. Motivation? Penn State enters the game as three-point underdogs. It’s a test for fresh-faced Nittany Lions quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, but the must-watch player on offense will be in running back Kaytron Allen as he continues a season-ending climb to the top of the Big Ten history books. Fun fact: Despite being two of the oldest programs in college football, this will only be the second time these teams face off.
Missouri quarterback and Spring-Ford alum Matt Zollers, left, will lead the Tigers in Saturday’s Gator Bowl.
Gator Bowl: Virginia vs. Missouri (Saturday, 7:30 p.m. 6abc)
Saturday will provide another chance to see Spring-Ford alumnus Matt Zollers lead the Missouri offense after Mizzou starting quarterback Beau Pribula announced his intent to leave the school. In six games this season, Zollers, the freshman backup, threw for 402 yards, four touchdowns, and an interception and won four of the six games in which he played. The Tigers hope he can keep that energy while entering the game as four-point favorites.
There were some signs that the Phillies and Matt Strahm weren’t long for this world. Small ones. The kind you see in a lot of relationships between headstrong people. Certainly nothing that suggested things were fractured beyond repair. Still, there was enough smoke to at least dampen the surprise when the Phillies decided to trade their versatile setup man to the Kansas City Royals last week.
Whatever the rationale for trading Strahm, his departure reopens a major question that appeared to be solved when the Phillies signed veteran high-leverage righty Brad Keller:
Will that Thomson have enough depth at the back of his bullpen to avoid another season of Russian roulette in the sixth and seventh innings?
We tend to focus on the eighth and ninth innings when assessing the strength of a team’s bullpen. But when you look at the game’s truly elite units, you’ll usually find that they are just as dominant in the bridge to their setup/closer combo. Think about the 2008-era Phillies. Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge were one of the best setup/closer combos in the game. But think about all of the big outs you saw from guys like Chad Durbin and J.C. Romero in situations that were just as pivotal as the ones Madson and Lidge would face.
A more recent example is last year’s San Diego Padres. The most dominant bullpen in the majors by a wide margin in 2025, San Diego relievers ranked ninth in the majors in total batters faced in the seventh inning while also allowing the fourth-fewest runs. The correlation between those two numbers makes sense: the better a manager’s options in the seventh inning, the more likely he is to go to that option rather than attempt to stretch his starting pitcher. Same goes for the sixth.
Those were the innings that killed the Phillies in their NLDS loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Eight of the 13 runs that the Phillies allowed over four games came in the seventh inning. Another two came in the sixth inning.
Not all of those runs were charged to the bullpen. But that’s not the whole story. Think about the seventh inning of Game 2, when Thomson stuck with Jesús Luzardo rather than going to his bullpen. Luzardo allowed two runners to reach base, both of whom ended up scoring off Orion Kerkering, who then allowed two runs of his own.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson has been forced to lean on his starters because of a thin bullpen.
A similar situation unfolded in the seventh inning of Game 4. Cristopher Sánchez took a 1-0 lead into the bottom half of the frame but allowed two of three batters to reach before Thomson pulled him. In fact, that game was Exhibit A for why a team needs at least three, and ideally four, arms who can thrive in situations where the outcome is in the balance. Not only did Thomson use closer Jhoan Duran in the seventh, and for five outs, he went to Luzardo for five outs in extras. The only other actual reliever who pitched in the first 10 innings: Matt Strahm.
In that context, it sure looks puzzling that the Phillies decided to trade Strahm for a middle reliever with a light big league track record (Jonathan Bowlan). How does a guy go from being a manager’s second-most-trustworthy option in a do-or-die postseason game to superfluous in barely two months?
Here was the explanation from Dave Dombrowski, who pointed out the presence of fellow lefties José Alvarado and fly-ball on the roster.
“We didn’t necessarily think we needed all three,” the Phillies’ president said. “[Strahm is] a year away from free agency. We were able to get a guy that we liked who has six years of [club control], and we think can help us right away. So you have to give to get. And we still feel good with our left-handers in the bullpen.”
Which is all well and good. Except, the Phillies never looked at Strahm like a typical lefty. He was even more effective against righties, in fact, with a .585 OPS against in 2025.
While the Phillies may like Bowlan, who has an impressive frame and an intriguing pitch mix as well as six more years of club control (albeit at the age of 29), Strahm’s presence in trade rumors over the last several weeks suggests the Phillies weren’t necessarily targeting the Royals’ righty. The driving force in this trade was that the Phillies were ready to move on from Strahm.
For some justifiable reasons.
Most conspicuous were Strahm’s comments after Kerkering’s fielding error in the Phillies’ NLDS elimination loss to the Dodgers, when he suggested that the team didn’t do enough pitcher’s fielding practice. A few days later, Dombrowski disputed Strahm’s characterization, going so far as to point out that Strahm did not participate in the PFP drills the team did have before the NLDS.
Not exactly bridge-burning stuff, there. But Strahm also showed some signs of decline in his age-33 season. When he was a well-deserved All-Star in 2024, he struck out a third of the batters he faced while walking 4.6% of them. Last year, both of those metrics worsened. He still struck out a solid 27.3% of batters, but his walk rate rose by almost 50%.
In fact, Strahm’s underlying results declined across the board, a clear indication that his stuff had diminished. Always a fly-ball pitcher, Strahm’s ground-ball rate plummeted by nearly a third in 2025, dropping from 31.9% to 23.8%. That decline correlated with a noticeable drop in life on his fastball, with his average velocity falling from 93.4 in 2024 to 92.3 in 2025, per Statcast.
Only four relievers in the majors have logged more than his 212⅔ innings since the Phillies signed him in 2023, three of them are younger than Strahm.
Phillies pitcher Matt Strahm yells into his glove after the Los Angeles Dodgers score three runs in the seventh inning in Game 1 of the NLDS.
There’s a realistic chance that this move looks like a nothingburger at worst by the end of next season.
Make no mistake, though. It’s a move that weakens the Phillies bullpen in the short term. Mostly, it puts a lot more pressure on Duran, Keller, and Alvarado to remain healthy and effective. If all three pitch to their potential, the Phillies will be plenty OK in tight games. But Alvarado is in his decline phase and is coming off a season where he missed 80 games and the postseason because of a PED suspension. Keller could be a one-year wonder. Behind them is Kerkering, who has yet to blossom into the high-leverage ace the Phillies envisioned and who will have to overcome the psychological trauma of his debilitating mistake in Game 4 of the NLDS.
No team would be comfortable with those kind of question marks in the ninth inning. But the seventh can be just as important, particularly when your roster is built around its starting rotation. Last year, Phillies relievers allowed the fifth-most runs in the majors in seventh innings, despite facing the fewest batters (513, or 101 fewer than the Padres). It has been a long-running theme under Dombrowski. Since 2021, the Phillies’ bullpen has the ninth-highest seventh-inning ERA in the majors (4.46), per FanGraphs.
Trading Strahm was a defensible move. But it could easily become one that Dombrowski regrets.
Bombarded with injuries and illness, the Sixers have yet to play with a full roster. But they’re 16-12 and in fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers are 1½ games behind the third-place Boston Celtics, whom they defeated twice this season. And their signature win was Dec. 19’s 116-107 road victory over the second-place — and NBA Cup champion — New York Knicks.
But with offseason uncertainty surrounding Embiid and George following left knee surgeries, the safe preseason projection for the Sixers was the NBA Play-In Tournament.
The uncertainty surrounding Sixers center Joel Embiid at the beginning of the season has worn off as the longtime center settles in following offseason knee surgery.
We may get a better idea of how good they are during the upcoming post-Christmas, five-game road trip. The Sixers open the road trip on Friday against the Chicago Bulls, who are riding the conference’s longest winning streak at four games despite having a 14-15 record.
Then, on Sunday, they face the defending NBA champions and the best team this season, the Oklahoma City Thunder. After facing the Thunder (26-5), the Sixers will play the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday and the Dallas Mavericks on New Year’s Day. They’ll conclude the five-game trip with a rematch against the Knicks (21-9) on Jan. 3.
Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey had 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 113-111 victory over the Sixers on Nov. 4.
Like the Bulls, the Grizzlies (14-16) and Mavericks have shown recent improvement. Dallas (12-20) is 7-5 after opening the season 5-15. The Mavs also won their last five home games.
“It will be a good test to play some really good teams,” George said of the road trip. “It will for sure be a test for us. But we’ve been playing great basketball, despite this loss [Tuesday night to the struggling Nets],”
Before that loss, the Sixers had won six of eight games, with their two losses coming to the Los Angeles Lakers (Dec. 7) and Atlanta Hawks (Dec. 14).
“So we’re playing pretty good basketball,” George said. “[Tuesday] was one of those nights we were a little bit flat. And we’ll pick up the pieces and keep it moving.”
But George doesn’t see this as a defining road trip because the Sixers still don’t have their full complement of players.
Embiid is not expected to play in every game of this road trip because of management of injuries to both knees and soreness. Kelly Oubre Jr. (LCL sprain in his left knee) and Trendon Watford (adductor strain in his left thigh) remain sidelined. And VJ Edgecombe, Dominick Barlow, and Quentin Grimes were sidelined against the Nets (9-19) with illnesses.
Embiid, Edgecombe, Barlow, and Grimes are listed as questionable for Friday’s game
“As far as defining us, it’s still early,” George said. “We’re playing good basketball. Our record doesn’t indicate how well and challenging it’s been. We haven’t had a full roster at any point this season. Whether I’ve been down to start the season, myself and [Watford]. I come back, Kelly goes down. You know, Joel has been injured. Tyrese has been sick.
“So we really haven’t had a full roster. So it’s hard to tell what we are, who we can be.”
Sixers standout rookie VJ Edgecombe missed Tuesday’s game with an illness.
But the Sixers are eager to avenge their 113-111 loss to the Bulls on Nov. 4 at the United Center, when they blew a 24-point lead.
The Sixers relied heavily on Maxey and Embiid, either in the two-man game or in one-on-one situations, that night. The problem was that neither player could get anything going down the stretch, as the Sixers missed their final 11 shots from the floor.
Maxey finished with a game-high 39 points. However, he had eight points on 2-for-8 shooting in the fourth quarter. Embiid was worse. He was held scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting in the frame. That came after he scored two points on 1-for-5 shooting in the third period, and he finished with 20 points on 7-for-21 shooting.
The Bulls went ahead 113-111 on Nikola Vučević’s game-winning three-pointer with 3.2 seconds left. It was their only lead of the game.
The Sixers must maximize everyone’s talent and move the ball if they expect to be competitive. They must also find a way to contain Josh Giddey, who had 29 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists in that meeting. The guard is averaging 16.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 7.8 assists in the last five games against the Sixers, along with that triple-double.
Chicago Bulls and former Sixers center Nikola Vučević has consistently been a strong contributor against his former team.
Meanwhile, Vučević has tallied five double-doubles and one triple-double across his last 10 games against his former team. In addition to containing the duo, the Sixers will look to snap a three-game series losing streak.
They also believe this 10-day road trip will benefit team growth.
The trip will “get us out of our home market and be with each other on the plane, on the team bus, at the hotel, like, actually get a chance to do a few things together, too,” Andre Drummond said. “We have a couple of days in between games, too. So I know we’ll set up some team activities and really continue that bonding experience that we’re feeling right now.”
And we may get a better idea of how competitive the Sixers are, even while being undermanned.
Justin Juray didn’t know where to turn. His Maine bowling alley had been the site of a mass killing, and he was struggling — not just to reopen, but to cope with his business’s now notorious place in history.
John Curry was worried about closing his Georgia coffee shop, scrambling to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic and “drowning” financially as he waited for a $126,000 payment from a federal program for keeping his employees on staff.
In their low moments, they received help from an unexpected source: their United States senator.
Sens. Susan Collins (R., Maine) and Jon Ossoff (D., Ga.), two of the most vulnerable members of the Senate facing reelection next year, have little in common politically. But both have reputations for providing strong constituent services, an often overlooked advantage afforded incumbents that could matter on the margins in close races.
Taking requests for help and working out a solution is one of the most unsung practices in most Senate offices, often overshadowed by committee hearings and Senate floor fights in Washington and by campaign rallies and television ads back home. But no work puts voters in more direct contact with their federal representative.
Collins’ office helped Juray with tax and insurance issues, as well as securing a disaster relief loan, in the wake of what was Maine’s deadliest mass killing ever, where eight people were killed in 2023 at his Lewiston, Maine, bowling alley.
Ossoff gave Curry his card after an event at the small business owner’s Augusta, Ga., coffee shop in 2023 and told him to call if he “ever needed anything.” When the business faced serious financial difficulties while waiting for funds to cover a string of bills, he emailed the senator for help.
“He called me the next day,” said Curry. “It was not long at all before I got an email from the IRS saying that I had a check on the way.”
In separate interviews with the Washington Post, Collins and Ossoff both said they have worked to create a culture in their offices that prioritizes each interaction with people they represent.
“I know that I have had an impact,” Collins saidwhen asked to reflect on the constituent service work out of her office. “It’s extremely satisfying … when we’re able to solve a problem for an individual.”
Ossoff said he wants his constituents “to experience a level of responsiveness and accountability and concern that they have never felt before.”
Asked why all members of Congress don’t focus as heavily on such services, Ossoff said the current culture in politics is “all about attention.”
“For a lot of people in Congress, their goal is to become more and more and more famous or infamous, find the cameras, post the viral content,” he said. “That’s just not my approach to the job.”
Both Collins and Ossoff face competitive reelections next year.
Collins, who has yet to announce a campaign but has said she intends to run for her sixth Senate term, is the only Republican in the state’s congressional delegation and faces an electorate that has voted for every Democratic presidential nominee since 1992.
But Collins, a relatively moderate Republican, also faces pressure from her right, with more conservative members of her state bristling at the times she bucks her party and President Donald Trump. Maine Gov. Janet Mills announced a Senate campaign in October. The 77-year-old Democrat faces a primary challenge from a more liberal candidate, Graham Platner, a Marine Corps combat veteran and oyster farmer.
Ossoff, first elected to the Senate in 2020, faces a similarly competitive election in a state that has only recently been in play statewide for Democrats. Trump won in Georgia by two percentage points in 2024. The Republican primary to face Ossoff is competitive, a sign Republicans view him as vulnerable.
Collins’ six and Ossoff’s four state offices include case workers whose primary focus is helping constituents solve problems. But other staff in the offices — and in Washington, D.C. — regardless of their primary duties, are also expected to pitch in.
The work has created scenarios in which people who may disagree with Collins and Ossoff on specific issues are willing to back them for reelection because of the personal level of work their offices have done.
Juray, the bowling alley owner, offers an example.
Two people from Collins’ office worked with him following the shooting. Juray said they not only cleared up all the questions with his insurance company and the IRS, but they secured him a disaster relief loan that “helped us get everything put back together” so they could reopen in 2024.
Juray, a registered Democrat, has voted for Collins in the past. While he hasn’t decided who he will vote for next year, he says he is “leaning” toward the Republican incumbent.
“Without the senators’ support and without them, I might still be waiting on some of this funding,” Juray said. “It changed the way I saw representation as a whole.”
Chris Gardner, the head of the port authority in Eastport, Maine, was at a loss after watching the town’s historic decades-old breakwater built to protect the city’s harbor “open up like a zipper” and crumble along the rocky coast early one morning in 2014. The collapse put the livelihoods of countless people at risk.
Before the sun rose, Gardner recalled, Collins called him and promised to do “whatever it takes” to rebuild the critical infrastructure at the nation’s easternmost port. When the breakwater was rebuilt and reopened in 2017, Collins was there with Gardner, celebrating the achievement and the millions of dollars the senator helped secure for the project.
Gardner is a registered Republican who at times “hasn’t agreed with some of Senator Collins’ votes.” But he said he tells “anyone who will listen” about the role Collins played in rebuilding the breakwater. “God love her, she is hated by people on both sides of the aisle. … The irony is, she weathers all of that … because she stays focused on doing her job.”
Collins laughed when asked if she thinks her constituent services work helps temper some of the anger directed at her by people who disagree with her politics. She said that often people come up to her at the grocery store and she can tell that they might not be her typical political supporters.
“I always find that people come up to me because I’m alone,” she said. “I’m doing exactly what they’re doing. And they will come up to me and thank me for the work that my offices have done.”
Ossoff, who is far newer to the Senate than Collins, is working to build that kind of reputation.
Shortly after Ossoff joined the Senate in 2021, he invited an executive from a famed Georgia company — Delta Air Lines — to come speak with his staff on “best practices” for his customer service operation, including suggestions that “maybe are not common in the legislative branch or the federal government.”
The result? Ossoff calls a handful of people who received assistance from his office each week to check in on their experience. And at the end of every constituent call with his office, Ossoff said the caller is asked whether they would “recommend the service that my office provides for someone else in the same situation as them.”
For Claven Williams, a retired Navy commander, the answer was yes.
Williams was exposed to Agent Orange during his service in the Pacific from the 1970s to the 1990s and was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. After initially approving his claim for disability in 2024 under the newly passed Pact Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs reduced his disability to 50% in 2025, claiming that he was cured of the ailment. That prompted Williams to contact to Ossoff’s office, which successfully worked with the department to restore his 100% benefit earlier this year.
“I had dealt with other politicians; they didn’t support you like that, they didn’t go out of your way to help you,” recalled Williams, who voted for Ossoff in 2020.
The casework provided by Ossoff and Collins has drawn praise from those partisans who have opposed their elections.
“Their constituent services are second to none,” Brian Robinson, a Republican operative in Georgia, said of Ossoff’s staffduring an April radio appearance with the senator, praising him for following in the footsteps of former Republican senator Johnny Isakson.
Bev Uhlenhake, the former chair of the Maine Democratic Party who opposes Collins’ reelection next year, said the reason Collins has proved difficult to defeat in a blue state is “her relationships throughout the state of Maine.”
“They are so deep because her staff have helped so many Mainers while in crisis,” Uhlenhake said. “Constituent services in Maine are incredibly important, and she has done it really well.”
Think you know your news? There’s only one way to find out. Welcome back to our weekly News Quiz — a quick way to see if your reading habits are sinking in and to put your local news knowledge to the test.
Question 1 of 10
It’s prime Santa season and The Inquirer spoke to some of the devoted Santa actors keeping the magic alive throughout town. One Santa actor in particular, Scott Diethorne, left the mall he was stationed at for years and went freelance after he says mall officials told him to stop flashing his popular Santa-themed arm tattoos. What did the tattoos say or illustrate?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Diethorne has been freelancing for years, ever since he was instructed to tone it down at the Oxford Valley Mall in 2017. That year, he was told to hide his “Naughty” and “Nice” arm tattoos and stop striking funny poses as requested by visitors. Some malls also impose time limits. Now that he’s his own boss, Diethorne says he can give the people what they want.
Question 2 of 10
An authorized print of this historical document — signed by a former U.S. president — will be up for auction soon. Which document is it?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Less than a year after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, two industrious Philadelphians devised a plan to help raise money for injured Union soldiers, war widows, and children left orphaned by the war. The Emancipation Proclamation’s text was printed in Philadelphia in 1864 with Lincoln signing 48 copies, and sold for $10 each. Just 27 copies are still known to exist. One will be sold by Christie’s next month.
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This famous Eagle made a surprise performance at the War on Drugs’ performance at Johnny Brenda’s last weekend:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
During the second night of the War on Drugs’ three-show “A Drugcember to Remember,” the band brought out Eagles guitarist and solo musician Joe Walsh — a big surprise for the 250-capacity room show. The Walsh-Drugs mini-set kicked off with “Rocky Mountain Way.” The musicians first met when War on Drugs played Walsh’s VetsAid in 2023 and kept in touch.
Question 4 of 10
What cleaning service is being reduced in Center City due to rising costs?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The Center City Residents’ Association will not renew its contract with Center City District for sidewalk cleaning that is up at the end of this month, the group said in an email to its members. The residents’ association said its board made the decision because of rising costs charged by Center City District. The new rate would have doubled the proportion of the association’s budget going toward sidewalk cleaning in 2026, from 20% to 41%.
Question 5 of 10
What was the main issue Mayor Cherelle L. Parker said she wanted to address going into 2026 at her State of the City speech?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Parker focused on homelessness during her address. Even as Philadelphia this year shed its long-held title as the “poorest big city in America,” the number of unsheltered people increased by 20% compared to last. While shootings have reached 50-year lows, the open-air drug market that has long plagued Kensington persists.
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Question 6 of 10
Jason Kelce recently invested in this local condiment:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Kelce invested in Hank Sauce, a Jersey Shore hot sauce company based in Kelce’s beloved Sea Isle City. The sauce is sold everywhere from surf shops to the Acme and produces a variety of hot and not-so-hot sauces that have become ubiquitous at the Jersey Shore and in the Philadelphia area.
Question 7 of 10
The Brandywine Museum of Art is displaying Autumn in the Ramapo Valley, Erie Railway, an 1873 landscape by Jasper Francis Cropsey that hasn’t been seen by the public in 152 years. Since it was first commissioned, it lived in private collections in England until philanthropists brought it back to the United States. What industry is subtly featured in the painting?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The railroad industry is represented in the painting. It was originally commissioned by James McHenry, a wealthy railroad executive who worked closely with the Erie Railway.
Question 8 of 10
Who is headlining this year’s New Year’s Eve concert in Philadelphia?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The city will host its first-ever New Year’s Eve concert featuring LL Cool J, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Los Angeles rock band Dorothy, and Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts graduate Adam Blackstone — no tickets required and free.
Question 9 of 10
This activist and public figure was recently spotted rocking a Philadelphia Eagles T-shirt:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
In a brief post shared with her 3.7 million Instagram followers, Malala Yousafzai shared seven photos and looked back on her 2025. Tucked in the seven-photo carousel of the 28-year-old is a photo of her wearing a kelly green Philadelphia Eagles T-shirt as she’s getting ready to eat some Popeyes. Yousafzai was in Philadelphia promoting her new memoir in October, with Eagles superfan Kylie Kelce moderating the conversation. Kelce encouraged Yousafzai to partake in a “Go Birds” cheer.
Question 10 of 10
Less than one year removed from winning Super Bowl LIX, former Eagles practice-squad offensive tackle Laekin Vakalahi put his Super Bowl ring up for auction. About how much did it sell for?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The ring sold for $124,440 through Heritage Auctions last weekend. It has Vakalahi’s last name printed across the side. The New Zealand native Vakalahi came to the Eagles in 2024 and spent the Super Bowl-winning season as part of the practice squad. He was released on Aug. 26, 2025 as a part of the team’s final roster cuts.
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In filing for bankruptcy again, Rite Aid announced that it would be closing or selling all locations. At the time, it had about 1,000 stores nationwide, including about 100 in the Philadelphia region.
The closures further exacerbate pharmacy access issues, especially for lower-income Philadelphians who don’t have cars. People in more isolated rural areas are also impacted: The 46,000 residents of Perry County, west of Harrisburg, lost half their pharmacies when their three Rite Aids closed.
Adieu to Iron Hill Brewery
A view from the outside looking in of a shuttered Iron Hill Brewery in West Chester in October.
On a Thursday morning in late September, the nearly 30-year-old company, considered by many to be a pioneer of the local craft-brewing scene, announced that its brewpubs had closed their doors for the last time.
The closed Iron Hill Brewery in Maple Shade in September.
Bankruptcy filings shed more light on the Exton-based company’s financial straits: Iron Hill owed more than $20 million to creditors and had about $125,000 in the bank.
In November, a bankruptcy judge approved an offer by Jeff Crivello, the former CEO of Famous Dave’s BBQ, to resurrect 10 Iron Hills, including in Center City and West Chester, pending landlord negotiations. The restaurants could be reopened as Iron Hills or as other brands.
Crivello said he plans to reopen the Rehoboth Beach brewpub — as well as the Iron Hill restaurants in Columbia and Greenville, S.C. — as locations of Virginia-based Three Notch’d Brewing Co.
The fates of the other ex-Iron Hills will be determined in the bankruptcy process. Brewing equipment, furniture, and other items from the closed restaurants were auctioned off earlier this month.
Mainstays say goodbye in the Philly burbs
Gladwyne Market as pictured in October.
Local chains weren’t the only business casualties of 2025.
In South Jersey, the Bistro at Cherry Hill, a beloved restaurant that operated in a 1,200-square-foot mall kiosk for 27 years, closed abruptly in July.
At the time, the restaurant’s president, Andy Cosenza, said the closure was due to a communication “breakdown” that had resulted in his voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition being converted to a Chapter 7, or liquidation, without his knowledge. Since then, however, Cosenza has been indicted on charges of tax fraud. The Bistro has remained closed.
If someone were to ask Evan Simon how the 2025 season went, his answer would be simple — the best of his college football career. Why? He finally had an opportunity.
The quarterback’s collegiate career started at Rutgers in 2020. He spent four seasons as a backup in New Brunswick, N.J. He transferred to Temple with two years of eligibility remaining — and the chance to be a starter.
“It’s taken me six years, and for each game I traveled, whether I was at Rutgers [or] Temple and I played or didn’t play, I had one family member there,” Simon said. “My mom drove to Ann Arbor, Michigan, when I was a third string or whatever. This just had to be the year that I gave myself a chance, and it was just a matter of doing whatever it took.”
It wasn’t easy. At Temple, there were quarterback battles and a coaching change that stood in the way of Simon achieving his goal, but he did it. His career ended when Temple lost to North Texas on Nov. 28, and, while the 5-7 Owls fell short of a bowl game, Simon helped usher in a new era of Temple football.
“I’ve had a shaky career. It’s taken six years for me to start the first game of the year,” said Simon, who threw for 2,097 yards and 25 touchdowns, while throwing just two interceptions this season. “It’s been quite the journey. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.”
Carving his role
Simon doesn’t like to talk a lot about what happened at Rutgers.
The Manheim Central graduate joined the team in 2020. However, much of his time with the Scarlet Knights was spent on the sideline, prompting him to enter the transfer portal in 2023.
The options were limited, but one school stuck out: Temple, which had lost quarterback EJ Warner, who transferred to Rice.
“I had two other schools that were pretty interested, but they were lower level than Temple,” Simon said. “I had a great conversation with [former Temple coach Stan Drayton]; he made me laugh. I talked with the offensive coordinator. They both seemed like great people. I just put my trust in Temple as a whole.”
Temple quarterback Evan Simon (6) threw 25 touchdowns this season.
He competed with Forrest Brock, Temple’s third-string quarterback in 2023. Brock won the job and started the first two games. The door cracked for Simon when Brock injured his wrist against Navy on Sept. 7. Simon started the next game against Coastal Carolina.
Temple nearly defeated the Chanticleers, but Simon had his coming out party the following week against Utah State. He threw five touchdowns in a 45-29 comeback win over the Aggies. Simon would start every game but one for the rest of the season.
Temple, however, finished 3-9, and Drayton was fired before the season ended. Temple then hired K.C. Keeler, who opened up the quarterback position. Simon was considering entering the portal again.
“That whole transfer portal window was not easy, especially when you know coaches are telling you about guys who they are recruiting,” Simon said. “You’d like to think your position is safe, but it’s never safe. They brought two other senior quarterbacks in during this whole past year. It’s always in the back of your head.”
Getting a chance
Former Oregon State quarterback Gevani McCoy joined Temple in April, prompting yet another competition for Simon. This time was different, though. Simon was going to do anything to earn his job back, he said.
“I would study [McCoy], in a sense,” Simon said. “I’d study how many notes is he taking, how hard is he working in the weight room, how he interacts with teammates. I said this toward the end of the year, but bringing in two other quarterbacks and the competition during camp was by far the best thing that happened to me.”
He began doing things he had never done before, like sleeping in Edberg-Olson Hall. Simon was becoming a leader on the team.
Keeler took notice too, and named Simon the starter. He threw a career-high six touchdowns in the season opener against Massachusetts on Aug. 30, while McCoy was the backup.
“Chance is all we need,” Simon said. “I think Coach Keeler is a big part of it as well. He kind of forced me to be in some of those uncomfortable situations where it’s talking to the team or just things where you’re being forced to talk more.”
Next steps
When Simon walked off the field against North Texas, it signified multiple things.
Temple lost its fourth straight game, missing a chance at a bowl game. But for Simon, it was the final game of his college career.
But it won’t be the last time he picks up a football.
Former Rutgers QB Evan Simon slept in the Temple facility for six weeks to win the starting QB job 😳
The chance of being drafted isn’t high, Simon said, but he hopes to get a camp or workout invite from an NFL team. He signed with an agent at the end of this season and will spend the winter and spring training to prepare for Temple’s pro day.
“These next couple months are all unknown,” Simon said. “I’m just going to try to stay in the moment and make the most of it when the time comes.”
Simon’s journey was filled with twist and turns, and despite getting one year as a true starter at Temple, Simon says he wouldn’t change a thing because he believes that he left an impact on the program.
“This is a group of guys where they’re harder on themselves than their coaches are on them from a care factor,” Simon said. “We won five games, and we lost two games by a total of two points, and we played five ranked opponents. And, damn, we played hard, even in blowout losses. I think you give Keeler another year, baby, here we go.”
Sunday’s game between the Eagles and Buffalo Bills, premier teams in their conferences, could ultimately serve as a Super Bowl preview and a much-needed measuring stick before the teams prepare for the playoffs.
The Eagles and Bills are coming off wins over teams without playoff aspirations, and both are on the upswing after midseason lulls. Playoff seeding will be on the line as the Eagles chase the No. 3 seed and the Bills chase the Patriots in the AFC East race.
From Buffalo’s two-headed rushing attack of Josh Allen and James Cook to a shaky run defense, here is what the film says about Sunday’s Week 17 matchup (4:25 p.m., Fox29):
How the Bills forged the NFL’s best rushing attack
Cook has been lethal all season, particularly between the tackles. He leads the NFL in rushing with 1,532 yards, with more than half coming between the tackles (853 yards), according to Next Gen Stats.
The Bills do their most damage in the run game from under center. Over 1,300 of Cook’s 1,532 rushing yards have come from under center, and the Eagles allow the fifth-most rushing yards (73 yards) per game from those alignments. The Birds, though, have a minus-0.11 expected points added against under-center runs, which ranks ninth in the NFL.
The defensive plan for the #Eagles starts with slowing down #Bills RB James Cook, the NFL's leading rusher. This tight end and FB counter (HF) play has been their bread and butter run scheme, though Buffalo has a scheme diverse run game, and run IZ, OZ, power, counter, and duo. pic.twitter.com/AxAI8dmRHH
Buffalo has a diverse run game, but Cook is particularly dominant on counter runs that pull fullback Reggie Gilliam and tight end Jackson Hawes across the formation. Cook scored a 64-yard touchdown against Carolina on a counter run and scored from 45 and 44 yards out against the Texans and Browns, respectively.
In addition to counter runs, Cook also thrives finding cutback lanes on zone runs, making defenses pay if they overpursue the running back on the back side. His vision and acceleration in the hole allow him to weave through defenses. Cook has recorded 1,034 of his 1,532 yards after contact.
#Bills RB James Cook is such a slippery runner between the tackles, and consistently finds cutback lanes on inside and outside zone runs. #Eagles can't over pursue him on the backside, or he can make them pay. 1,034 of his 1,532 rushing yards have come after contact. pic.twitter.com/r0SvdeoviZ
Buffalo also likes to get Cook on the perimeter on toss plays, and its offensive line does a nice job of paving lanes for him to create explosive runs.
#Bills RB James Cook has also been effective on outside toss plays as well, as part of Buffalo's diverse running game that leads the NFL in rushing yards per game (158.9 yards). pic.twitter.com/gNK8lPzxGQ
If Cook has one weakness, it’s fumbling the ball. He has coughed it up six times but has just lost three. His three fumbles lost this season are tied for the most among qualified running backs, according to Next Gen Stats.
Allen, meanwhile, leads quarterbacks in rushing yards (552) and rushing touchdowns (12). He is particularly dangerous when he can escape the pocket on throwing downs. Of Allen’s 16 runs that have gone for 10 or more yards, five have come from the quarterback scrambling for third-down conversions, according to Next Gen Stats, and he has converted seven third-downs by scrambling.
One of the things the #Eagles defense has struggled with is defending QB scrambles, and #Bills QB Josh Allen is one of the best at extending plays with his legs and feet. He has 7 scrambles for first downs on third down, and they use him plenty in designed QB runs as well. pic.twitter.com/0FzZLQLEfq
The Bills quarterback has became the go-to short-yardage player on quarterback sneaks and designed runs. If it is third-and-short, more than a yard, the Bills will utilize Allen on zone read runs or motion into an empty formation and follow a pulling linemen on a downhill quarterback run.
On 3rd-and-short plays (excluding 3rd-and-1 sneaks), the #Bills like to use Josh Allen on designed QB runs, usually out of empty sets or utilizing the RB as a decoy to allow Allen to follow a pulling center or tackle. The frequency increases near the goal line. pic.twitter.com/DTWaIA7EGn
The same can be said about utilizing Allen’s legs in the red zone. Allen will carry the ball on similar designed quarterback runs, like a draw, counter, and power scheme runs. Even the threat of Allen running can draw extra defenders into the box inside the red zone, allowing space for Buffalo’s receivers to make plays.
Inside the 10 yard line is where #Bills QB Josh Allen is really dangerous in the run game, especially on designed QB runs. Scored twice on a QB sweep against the Bucs and on a QB draw with the RB leading against the Steelers. pic.twitter.com/NX0ANEqyHG
Poor run defense and tackling is Bills’ Achilles’ heel
While Buffalo’s rushing offense is elite, the Bills defense is allowing the fourth-most rushing yards per game this season (144.3 yards) and gives up the most yards per rush after contact in the NFL (4.1 yards), according to Next Gen Stats. They have allowed 63 runs of 10 or more yards, and nearly 60% of their opponents’ rushing production has come outside of the tackles. The Bills have also allowed 5.4 yards per rush per play, second-most in the NFL.
Early-down runs have been a killer for Buffalo, which is allowing the fourth-most rushing yards on first down — 34 of the 63 runs that have gone for 10 or more yards have come on that down, according to Next Gen Stats.
From under-center alignments, gap scheme runs and outside toss/zone runs have hurt the #Bills run defense. Of the rushing production allowed this season, over 57% has come outside the tackles, per @NextGenStats. pic.twitter.com/HN6qmA0b9t
In addition to the run-game struggles, Buffalo’s defense allows the most rushing yards from pistol formation runs (36.5 yards per game), according to Next Gen Stats, and a large chunk of those yards have come on outside zone and counter scheme runs.
The Eagles deviated from pistol formation runs after their first meeting with the Giants earlier this season, and have used them sparingly since the bye week. The only pistol run during their Week 16 win over the Commanders resulted in a 12-yard gain by Tank Bigsby to close out the game, and the Birds used the formation five times against the Raiders, four of which came with the game already decided in the fourth quarter of their shutout win.
The #Bills allow the third-most rushing yards per game in the NFL, and allow the most rushing yards from pistol formations (36.5 yards). The #Eagles have gone away from pistol runs after using the formation against the Lions with some success, but could add in some wrinkles this… pic.twitter.com/avS5EtMk2H
Only five times this season have the Eagles posted a positive rushing EPA. Three of them came in the first three weeks, and the other two were Week 8 against the Giants and Week 16 against the Commanders, according to Next Gen Stats. But Saquon Barkley has rushed for 100 yards or more in two of his past three games, with one trend starting to materialize.
Barkley has had four games with positive EPA on under-center runs: the Chiefs in Week 3, the Giants in Week 8, the Chargers in Week 14, and the Commanders last week. Yards after contact accounted for 117 of Barkley’s 132 yards, and the same trend carried over from the Raiders game: 75 of his 78 rushing yards were after contact vs. Las Vegas.
No clip more clearly shows the impact of the QB in the run game. The right of screen DT, DE, and LB are all taken out of the play by Jalen Hurts and then Saquon Barkley does the rest. What a run! pic.twitter.com/lt5Ulp1vQT
The Eagles are finding a formula in the run game and need to keep riding it against a struggling Buffalo defense.
X-factor: Shutting down Shakir and screen game
The passing game for Buffalo has been inconsistent, but one constant has been wide receiver Khalil Shakir, who leads the team in receptions (66) and yards (684).
As an extension of their run game and to take advantage of his elusiveness, the Bills get the ball into Shakir’s hands quickly on swing routes and screen passes. It forces defensive backs to come up and make tackles, while also challenging off coverage looks.
Of the #Bills wide receivers, the #Eagles should be most concerned with Khalil Shakir, who they move all over the formation and try to get the ball to in space. Swing passes, screens, orbit motion, and tunnel screens are all part of the Bills' offense to get Shakir the ball. pic.twitter.com/FkUJ6iKV3J
Of Shakir’s 684 receiving yards, 506 have come after the catch, according to Next Gen Stats. The bread and butter play for Buffalo’s passing game is mesh, which usually has one or two players running shallow crossing routes.
Shakir often is asked to run those routes in the offense, especially on third-and-medium distances. He’s also effective in making the first defender miss and forces missed tackles similar to a running back in space.
Khalil Shakir is the #Bills' leading receiver this season, and 506 of his 684 receiving yards have come after the catch, even though his average depth of target is 3.8 yards. Very dangerous after the catch and Josh Allen loves hitting him on shallow crossing routes on mesh… pic.twitter.com/jnbagRexa9
Cooper DeJean and Adoree’ Jackson likely will be tested in those situations to get Shakir to the ground. If Shakir is forcing missed tackles and turning 5-yard gains into 10 yards or more, it could be a long day for the Eagles’ secondary.
This week in Philly music is all about the plentiful live music options on New Year’s Eve, including LL Cool J, Snacktime, Ben Arnold, Low Cut Connie, and Kindred the Family Soul.
But before we get to the final blowout of 2025, there’s also some action with touring and local Philly bands in the days after Christmas. Not to mention: Wayne Newton!
Friday, Dec. 26
Wayne Newton
Center City will become Sin City with this rare Philly appearance by the longtime denizen of the Las Vegas Strip. “Wayne Newton, Mr. Las Vegas: Memories and Melodies” is how the 83-year-old entertainer who released 165 albums in his day — and scored a signature hit in 1963 with “Danke Schoen” — bills the show he’s bringing to City Winery for two nights. (7 p.m., City Winery Philadelphia, 990 Filbert St., CityWinery.com/philadelphia)
Saturday, Dec. 27
Jealousy Curve / John Faye
On Saturday at Underground Arts, Philly rock band Jealousy Curve shares a bill with John Faye, the longtime musician on the local scene. Faye played reunion dates with his ‘90s alt-rock band the Caulfields last month and was on stage at last week’s Pierre Robert tribute at the Fillmore as a member of David Uosikkinen’s band, In The Pocket. Faye’s latest is The Long Game, released on Uosikkinen’s ITP Entertainment last year. (8 p.m., Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., undergroundarts.org)
Gogol Bordello play the Archer Music Hall in Allentown on Dec. 28.
Sunday, Dec. 28
Gogol Bordello
Gogol Bordello, and its charismatic Ukrainian American lead singer, Eugene Hutz, have a long tradition of playing Philly shows in the week between Christmas and New Year’s. This time, the New York punk band, which mixes Romani and traditional Ukrainian music into their raucous blend, is bound for a different Pennsylvania location with a date at Archer Music Hall, the new Live Nation venue in Allentown. (8 p.m. Archer Music Hall, 939 Hamilton St., Allentown, archermusichall.com)
A Jam Without Borders
Yesseh Furaha-Ali of Snacktime, Camden trumpeter Arnetta Johnson, and the Bul Bey are among the artists who’ll be playing at Ortlieb’s at this event hosted by Corey Bernhard and Friends. It’s a fundraiser for Philadelphia families impacted by ICE. (8 p.m., Ortlieb’s, 847 N. Third St., ortliebsphilly.com)
Monday, Dec. 29
“Fear of Heights”
Philly rocker Alan Mann regularly played South Street clubs like J.C. Dobbs and Ripley Music Hall before his death in 1987. Rich Murray, who directed the video for Mann’s song “Christmas on the Block,” which became the first indie video played on MTV and a subsequent Philly holiday music favorite, has made a documentary about his relationship with Mann and his legacy. Called Fear of Heights, the movie, which begins with a 2015 clip of the late DJ Pierre Robert dropping the needle on “Christmas on the Block” on WMMR-FM (93.3), will have its Philly premiere at Film Society East. It will be followed by a discussion with Murray and his co-filmmakers moderated by WMGK-FM DJ Cindy Drue. (7 p.m., Film Society East, 125 S. Second St., filmadelphia.org)
Low Cut Connie at Concerts Under the Stars in King of Prussia on Aug. 1, 2025. Left to right: Rich Stanley, Nick Perri, Adam Weiner, Jarae Lewis (on drums, partially hidden), Amanda “Rocky” Bullwinkel, and Kelsey Cork. The band will play Ardmore Music Hall on Dec. 30 and 31.
Tuesday, Dec. 30
Dark Star Orchestra
The longstanding Grateful Dead tribute band is marking the transition from 2025 to 2026 on a short East Coast tour, which includes a date at Franklin Music Hall on NYE’s eve. (8 p.m., Franklin Music Hall, 421 N. Seventh St., franklinmusichall.com)
The Samples
And for a further jam band experience, veteran Colorado 10-piece band the Samples, which blends a Dead influence with more pop-rock shadings, does two nights at 118 North in Wayne. (8 p.m., 118 North, 118 N. Wayne Ave., Wayne, 118 NorthWayne.com)
Low Cut Connie
Adam Weiner and Miss Rocky of Low Cut Connie distinguished themselves with their take on David Bowie’s “Young Americans” at last week’s Pierre Robert tribute. Let’s hope they put it in the playlist for their two end-of-the-year blowouts on Dec. 30 and New Year’s Eve.
The band didn’t put out a new album this year but had an eventful 2025, getting caught up in to pop-and-politics brouhahas in D.C. and Luzerne County, and releasing some high-quality protest songs. Bluegrass band Shelby Means Trio, led by the eponymous bassist formerly in Molly Tuttle’s band, opens on Tuesday, and Philly rock and roller Roberta Faceplant opens Wednesday. (8 p.m., Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, ardmoremusichall.com)
LL Cool J will headline a free concert on the Ben Franklin Parkway on New Year’s Eve. The show will also feature DJ Jazzy Jeff, Adam Blackstone, and Dorothy.
Wednesday, Dec. 31
LL Cool J, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Adam Blackstone
This is the big new party on the Parkway and maybe the start of a new Philadelphia tradition? The city will officially usher in the year of the Semiquicentennial with its first-ever free NYE music and fireworks spectacle. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and “Mama Said Knock You Out” hitmaker LL Cool J is making good on his commitment to play Philly after he opted out of this year’s July 4 Welcome America show in solidarity with striking municipal city workers. DJ Jazzy Jeff is, of course, the master of the Wheel of Steel, and Adam Blackstone has become one of the leading ambassadors for Philly music, and plans to debut a new civic pride song called “Brotherly Love” at the show. Dorothy and Technician the DJ are also on the bill. (8 p.m., Benjamin Franklin Parkway, phila.gov)
Snacktime
Philly R&B and soul party band par excellence Snacktime is the NYE Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia house band. This is the third consecutive year that the horn-happy outfit has closed out the season at the Fishtown bowling alley/music venue. The band that started out busking in Rittenhouse Square during the pandemic has a new single. It is a sweetly sung and inventively arranged version of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows.” (8 p.m., Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia, 1009 Canal St., brooklynbowl.com/philadelphia)
Ben Arnold
Ben Arnold was another standout at this month’s tribute to the late Pierre Robert. The Philly songwriter covered Robert Hazard’s “Change Reaction” and then led a singalong finale of the Youngbloods’ “Get Together.” Arnold put out a top-shelf album called XI this year, featuring the terrific single “Catch the Lightning,” and also toured Europe with the band U.S. Rails. He’ll be singing his own songs and some by U.S. Rails at his Kelly Center NYE show in Havertown. (7:30 p.m., Kelly Center, 4 E. Eagle Road, Havertown, kellycenter.org.)
Kindred the Family Soul performs on the Presser Stage during The Roots Picnic Day 2 at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts on June 4, 2023. The group will do two shows at the City Winery Philadelphia on New Year’s Eve.
Kindred the Family Soul
The wife-and-husband team of Aja Graydon and Fatin Dantzler appeared last month at the Met Philly with John Legend, with whom they shared salad days at the Black Lily showcases in the early 00s. The veteran neo-soul act is back as City Winery NYE headliners, playing early and late shows at the Filbert Street club on Thursday. (7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. City Winery Philadelphia, 990 Filbert St., citywinery.com/philadelphia)
Felice Brothers plays Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia on Jan. 2.
Friday, Jan. 2
Felice Bros.
Upstate New York-born sibling act the Felice Brothers’ winning, ramshackle sound has mixed folk and rock and roll into a satisfying blend over the course of 10 albums. The most recent is 2024’s The Valley of Abandoned Songs. Brother Ian and James Felice make their annual holiday season stop at Brooklyn Bowl Philly on Friday, with Canadian songwriter Charlotte Cornfield opening. (8 p.m., Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia, 1009 Canal St., brooklynbowl.com/philadelphia)
Candy Volcano
Philly Loves Bowie Week will kick off with two shows by tribute band Candy Volcano at Ardmore Music Hall. The first show will be at WXPN-FM Free at Noon, and then a nighttime show at the venue in which the band will cover Bowie’s 1976 album Station to Station. (Noon, Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, xpn.org/freeatnoon, and 8 p.m., ardmoremusichall.com)
Ring in 2026 with fireworks lighting up the Delaware River waterfront. Philadelphia’s New Year’s Eve shows will return with two displays, including an earlier, family-friendly show at 6 p.m., followed by a midnight celebration to welcome the new year. The Rivers Casino fireworks are a rain-or-shine event, with views from several free spots along the waterfront.
Best free viewing spots
For those looking to enjoy the show without a ticket, the fireworks can be seen from various locations along the waterfront, including:
Race Street Pier: 📍 North Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106
Washington Avenue Pier: 📍Washington Avenue Green, South Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147
Pier 68: 📍At the end ofPier 70 Blvd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19148
Spruce Street Harbor Park: 📍301 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106
Great Plaza at Penn’s Landing: 📍101 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd., Philadelphia, Pa. 19106
Ticketed events with great views
Elevate your celebration with one of these ticketed options:
Cherry Street Pier: Choose between family-friendly fun or an adults-only party, both offering unbeatable views and live entertainment. 💵 $32.70 (with the service fee); 🌐 delawareriverwaterfront.com
Battleship New Jersey: Watch the fireworks from a unique vantage point aboard this historic ship, complete with food and drinks. 💵 General admission: $10, VIP: $125; 🌐 battleshipnewjersey.org
