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  • Philadelphia is the only big city on Zillow’s top 20 list of most popular housing markets

    Philadelphia is the only big city on Zillow’s top 20 list of most popular housing markets

    Zillow’s list of the most popular real estate markets of 2025 is dominated by midsize cities in the Midwest. But one large city ranked in the top 20: Philadelphia.

    The main driver of popularity is housing affordability, which helped push Philadelphia up the list.

    The city also remains popular because of its central location on the East Coast between major job hubs such as New York and Washington. And Philadelphia is a place people want to be for its culture, restaurants, and music and arts scenes, said Orphe Divounguy, senior economist at Zillow.

    But “that affordability can’t be overstated,” he said.

    “Relatively more affordable markets are really seeing more rapid home value appreciation and more traffic on Zillow,” he said. The company considered these factors, as well as the number of days properties took to sell this year, to rank the popularity of cities.

    In many of the top 10 most popular markets, the median home value in November was less than $350,000. These markets are near growing job markets or sit along key commuter routes and are small enough to offer a sense of community, according to Zillow.

    Homes in the most popular markets tend to go under contract in days instead of weeks. And they’re growing in value.

    Most of the cities on the top 20 most popular list — with the exception of No. 19 Philadelphia — range in population from about 100,000 to 300,000 people.

    In Philadelphia, the median home value in November — about $230,000 — was up almost 3% from last year, and homes for sale took a median of 20 days to go under contract this year. And more searches for Philadelphia listings on Zillow are coming from outside the region, which shows broad interest.

    Allentown was the only city in Pennsylvania to make Zillow’s top-10 list of popular markets this year.

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    Lessons from the list

    A lot of the smaller cities on Zillow’s most popular list are near big, more expensive cities.

    For example, the most popular market this year — and the second most popular last year — is Rockford, Ill., which is 90 miles outside Chicago. Residents can access a large job center without paying big-city home prices.

    Rockford is popular with out-of-town home shoppers, and homes went under contract within just five days this year. It was one of the fastest-moving markets on Zillow’s list.

    Divounguy expects buyers will continue to be attracted to more affordable markets that have homes available to buy and will move away from expensive markets where fewer homes are built.

    “Philadelphia, because it’s so attractive, needs to continue to build housing,” he said. “It needs to keep up with the interest people have to live in the area.”

    Pa. isn’t building enough housing, and that’s hiking prices, Pew says

    More city superlatives

    Albany, N.Y., is the third most popular city on Zillow’s 2025 list and the most popular in the Northeast.

    The most popular small town on the list — defined as a place with no more than 20,000 people — is Lake Forest, Ill., which is 30 minutes outside Chicago. Zillow said the town’s proximity to a big city, historic charm, and position along Lake Michigan make this market attractive for homebuyers.

    Among cities with more than 250,000 residents, Toledo, Ohio, is most popular. The median home value is an affordable $126,000, and it’s on the tip of Lake Erie.

    For the second year in a row, Portland, Maine, is Zillow’s most popular vacation town. The company said Portland’s historic architecture, food, and arts scene attract homebuyers.

    Bullhead City, Ariz., is the most popular retirement town and draws residents with warm temperatures and outdoor recreation along the Colorado River, Zillow said.

    And Normal, Ill., the site of Illinois State University, is the most popular college town. Zillow cited its revitalized shopping and dining district. State College, home to Penn State, is a runner-up.

  • Best pop music albums of 2025, according to our pop music critic

    Best pop music albums of 2025, according to our pop music critic

    My 2025 10-best list is heavy on storytelling songwriters of all stripes, from country to rock to hip-hop to dance-pop.

    The Brooklyn band that is hyped as the future of rock is on it, as is the Spanish visionary who’s making outrageously ambitious classical-pop music that isn’t cringe, and a rising Philly band whose wildcat energy is infectious.

    And hopefully a few surprises along the way.

    Scroll to the bottom for a Spotify playlist to sample the Top Ten, and 10 more from the honorable mentions list.

    Francie Medosch of the Philadelphia country rock band Florry, in Philadelphia in 2023. the band’s new album is ‘Sounds Like…’

    10. Florry, “Sounds Like …”

    Francie Medosch’s roiling Philly-born band is alive with roadhouse energy on its third album, which injects swagger and self confidence into a gleeful attack that builds on 2023’s The Holey Bible. Medosch, who grew up in Berwyn and currently lives in Vermont, infuses Sounds Like … with a locomotive drive that kicks into gear immediately on “First it was a movie, then it was a book.”

    Quiet idylls such as “Dip Myself in a River Like an Ice Cream Cone” are welcome, but Florry feels most at home on death defying escapades like “Truck Flipped Over ’19.”

    This cover image released by Warner Records UK shows “Fancy That!” by PinkPantheress. (Warner Records UK via AP

    9. PinkPantheress, “Fancy That!”

    This hook-filled second album by British songwriter and producer born Victoria Beverley Walker gets the nod from me over West End Girl, the headline-grabbing release by Lily Allen, Walker’s most pronounced influence. West End Girl, which appears to target Allen’s ex David Harbour with philandering allegations shared in forensic detail, is the more lurid listen.

    Fancy That! employs a similar musical approach — skittering drum n‘ bass beats, buoyant melodies, light as a feather spoken-sung vocals — but to convey the kick of new romance in the big city.

    Gene “Malice” Thornton and Terrence “Pusha-T” Thornton of Clipse. Their new album is ‘Let God Sort Em Out.’

    8. Clipse, “Let God Sort Em Out”

    It’s been 16 years since the last album by the Virginia Beach duo of Terence “Pusha T” Thornton and brother Gene “Malice” Thornton. Malice became “No Malice” while making gospel rap, while Pusha carried on with the hard-hitting street tales the brothers are once again excelling at.

    Let God Sort Em Out was produced by Pharrell Williams, and its clean sound and exacting rhymes carry a whiff of nostalgia on songs like “The Birds Don’t Sing” and “All Things Considered,” as the Thorntons mourn their late parents.

    James McMurtry in 2022. His new album is ‘The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy.’ (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

    7. James McMurtry, “The Black Dog and the Wandering Boy”

    These nine originals plus a cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Broken Freedom Song” reaffirm McMurtry’s stature at the top of the rich tradition of Texas songwriters. (A great one was lost this past week with the death of Joe Ely.)

    The album finds McMurtry railing against getting old in “South Texas Lawman” and chronicling the life of a musician on the road without sentimentality on “Back to Coeur d’Alene.” “Sons of the Second Sons” is a snarling, timely protest song partly inspired by Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

    Grammy nominated singer and producer Dijon’s 2025 album is ‘Baby.’

    6. Dijon, “Baby”

    Producer and singer Dijon Duenas, a Met Philly headliner and SNL music guest in the past month, emerged as one of the stars of 2025 with his exuberant and deliciously unpredictable second album. The Washington native, who has a costarring role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, is a close collaborator with Mk.Gee, the South Jersey musician featured on Baby.

    They both also appear on two of the year’s high profile releases: Bon Iver’s Sable, Fable and Justin Bieber’s Swag. Baby is a never-dull shape-shifting listen that, at its best, earns the highest praise: It sounds kinda like Prince.

    This image released by Columbia Records shows “Lux” by Rosalía. (Columbia Records via AP)

    5. Rosalía, “Lux”

    Lux is, without question, the most ambitious and daring album on this list. Not just because its classical-pop mix is a 180-degree about-face from Rosalía’s hyperkinetic dance music on 2022’s Motomami. It’s also an exalted exploration of the feminine and divine, inspired by a host of saints including Clare of Assisi, Joan of Arc, and Hildegard of Bingen. It includes a Bjork cameo, a Patti Smith sample, and sharp words for the Catalan visionary’s ex-fiance Rauw Alejandro.

    Amid operatic aspirations and backing by the London Symphony Orchestra, Lux contains elements of hip-hop, reggaeton, and electronica. Though it can be enjoyed for its musical pleasures alone, you get more out of it depending on how much you put in. Rosalía sings in 14 different languages. 14! So if you’re not quite that multilingual yourself, a lyric translation site is essential.

    The cover of “Getting Killed,” the new album from Geese. MUST CREDIT: Partisan Records

    4. Geese, “Getting Killed”

    Geese isn’t for everybody. (For something that goes down easier, try Goose.) Cameron Winter, the band’s lead vocalist, warbles unprettily as the Brooklyn band’s fourth album gets underway, immediately working his way into a panic. “There’s a bomb in my car!” he shouts, while accompanied by experimental rapper JPEGMAFIA on vocals.

    The young band of the moment — all members are 23 — rides an uneasy groove. Bursts of noise reflect the anxiety of the age. In a recent sold-out show at Union Transfer — they could have easily filled a room twice as large — the band was locked in and in tune with the crowd to an extraordinary degree. “I have no idea where I’m going,” Winter sang, in the midst of thrilling adventure. “Here I come!”

    The Hold Steady leader Craig Finn’s 2025 solo album is ‘Always Been.’

    3. Craig Finn, “Always Been”

    The Hold Steady frontman has released five solo albums but none so fully realized — or Philly-connected — as this one. It’s a narratively linked set about a Harrisburg priest who loses faith and attempts to reset his life on the Delaware shore. Adam Granduciel of Philly’s the War On Drugs produces and brings a trademark cascading sound while always keeping the focus on Finn’s sharply detailed real life stories. “Luke and Leanna” is a masterclass in understated heart break.

    Karly Hartzman of the band Wednesday in Greensboro, N.C. on June 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

    2. Wednesday, “Bleeds”

    “Wound Up Here (By Holding On)” is a standout track on the superb sixth album by the North Carolina band Wednesday. It starts off like a Southern gothic short story, with a dead body dragged out of a river. Appropriate enough, since the Karly Hatzman-led band’s blend of country-leaning Americana and shoegaze has been labeled “creek rock.”

    “Wound Up Here” also works as a testament to perseverance in the face of hardship, or heartbreak. The latter is in play throughout Bleeds as Hartzman and the band’s guitarist MJ Lenderman — whose Manning Fireworks topped best-of lists last year — split up during the making of the album.

    Saddest line, in retrospect: “I wanna have your baby, because I freckle and you tan.” Funniest jam band-dissing line: “We watched a Phish concert and Human Centipede, two things I now wish I had never seen.”

    This cover image released by RCA Records shows “Snipe Hunter” by Tyler Childers. (RCA via AP)

    … And finally, 1. Tyler Childers, “Snipe Hunter”

    Tyler Childers’ country-ness is as unmistakable as his pungent Kentucky twang. His sound oozes Appalachian authenticity, but he’s also a freewheeling spirit who flouts convention. He spoke out in support of Black Lives Matter with his 2020 album A Long Violent History and used his 2023 single “In Your Love” to tell a love story about gay coal miners.

    At the core of Childers’ Rick Rubin-produced seventh album is “Nose on the Gridstone” a haunting blues about evading addiction. “Oneida” is a tender romance between an earnest teenage suitor and a woman old enough to buy a bottle of wine. Childers has fun chomping down on his enemies on “Bitin’ List” and, spiritual seeker that he is, dreams of traveling to India in “Tirtha Yatra” to further explore the ways the Bhagavad Gita “changed me metaphysically.”

    My album of the year.

    Honorable Mentions: Lily Allen, West End Girl; Alex G., Headlights; Belair Lip Bombs, Again; Hannah Cohen, Earthstar Mountain; Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band, New Threats From the Soul; Mekons, Horror; Snocaps, Snocaps, They Are Gutting A Body of Water, Lotto; Jeff Tweedy, Twilight Override; Hayley Williams, Ego Death at a Bacholerette Party.

  • Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. found not guilty on all counts of abusing his teenage daughter

    Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. found not guilty on all counts of abusing his teenage daughter

    Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. was acquitted of child endangerment and related crimes Thursday after being accused of repeatedly assaulting his teenage daughter.

    Small, 51, faced charges stemming from a handful of incidents in late 2023 and early 2024 in which prosecutors said he and his wife abused and assaulted the teen. The couple said the incidents stemmed from their disapproval of their daughter’s relationship with a young man, leading to escalating tension and arguments in the family home.

    The jury delivered its verdict at 12 p.m. after deliberating for two days. They found Small not guilty of endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated assault, making terroristic threats, and witness tampering.

    “Thank you, Jesus! Thank you, jury!” Small said as the verdict was announced and broke into tears.

    Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Small said he and his family were prepared to “put this chapter behind us, in peace.”

    “It’s a lot of political forces out here that are against the leadership of my wife and I,” Small said. “But guess what? The people of Atlantic City want us, the people of Atlantic City need us, and the people of Atlantic City deserve us.”

    Had Small been convicted of any of the crimes, he would have been required by state law to cede his office.

    Those stakes were evident as the mayor’s friends and supporters packed into the courtroom for nearly two weeks of the trial. Supporters surrounded Small and broke into cheers outside the courthouse, celebrating a political career whose future had depended on the opinion of jurors.

    Small said he had been heavily scrutinized for more than a year after news of the allegations broke in spring 2024. He said he and his wife had since been “drug through the mud” and cast as child abusers by the media.

    Small’s defense attorney, Louis Barbone, said the verdict was “absolute proof that our justice system works” and that “honest men like Marty Small are vindicated.”

    Atlantic County Prosecutor William Reynolds said he and his office “respectfully disagree with the verdict.”

    “We acted based upon the complaints of the victim,” Reynolds told reporters. “The trial in this case was truly to give the victim a voice — the jury chose not to believe that voice.“

    Prosecutors said Small, a Democrat who was reelected this year amid his legal struggles, punched his daughter and beat her with a belt. In an incident central to their case against the mayor, prosecutors said, Small struck her in the head with a broom multiple times, knocking her unconscious.

    Jurors heard a conversation the teen recorded on her phone, in which Small told the girl he would “earth slam” her down the staircase. And prosecutors said that after the girl reported the abuse and investigators stepped in, Small encouraged his daughter to “twist up” her account of the events to minimize his involvement.

    Over the course of the trial, Small and his wife, La’Quetta — who also faces charges of abusing the teen — looked on as prosecutors described the mayor’s actions as criminal. Prosecutors presented photos of the teen’s bruises and listened to testimony from a pediatrician who said the injuries did not appear accidental.

    Small’s defense team, by contrast, told jurors that the teen had lied to investigators and exaggerated the extent of her injuries, and that she and her boyfriend had conspired against her father.

    Barbone had called the trial “extortion by child.” He said the mayor was a caring father who was only attempting to discipline an out-of-control child, and presented jurors with more than 40 character witnesses on his behalf.

    Small also testified and said he loved his daughter. He denied abusing her in the manner she described, telling jurors: “I did not hit my daughter with a broom.”

    The girl, now 17, took the stand last week and described being punched in the legs by her father in his “man cave” after her parents found out she had sneaked her boyfriend into the family home to have sex.

    “He said some words and put his hands on me,” the teen testified. Her father, she said, “was punching me in my legs and he hit me with a belt.”

    Prosecutors said the girl’s decision to testify was one of the most challenging things a teenager could do, and they rebuffed Barbone’s suggestion that the girl was a liar who sought retribution against her politically powerful father.

    As for the broom incident, Barbone said, the mayor had not hit the girl but was wrestling the broom out of her hands when she fell and hit her head.

    Prosecutors showed jurors photos of marks on the girl’s face. But a nurse who treated the teen at a hospital several days after the girl complained of headaches said she had not been able to find signs of injury.

    Jurors asked to review multiple pieces of evidence during their deliberation, including video of Small’s testimony about the broom incident.

    Again they watched the mayor recall the morning he urged his daughter to get ready to attend a peace walk in January 2024 following a spate of killings in Atlantic City.

    The teen refused, cursing at Small before ripping his shirt and throwing laundry detergent on him, the mayor testified. A scuffle broke out when she picked up a butter knife and the broom, he said.

    Mentioning the hospital examination, the mayor asked: “Where is the bruise, where is the bump, where is the bleeding?”

    In less than half an hour, jurors returned their verdict.

    Small, in his post-verdict remarks, described his daughter as “lost” and vowed to right the course of his family life.

    “I’m gonna get my daughter back,” Small said. “In the Bible, it says, ‘Father, forgive her, for she know not what she do.’ And that’s what we’re gonna do.”

    Prosecutors declined to comment on what would happen to the girl, who is still a minor and does not currently live with her family.

    Small’s wife, La’Quetta, is scheduled to stand trial in January on charges of endangering the welfare of a child and simple assault. La’Quetta Small, the superintendent of Atlantic City public schools, is accused of repeatedly beating her daughter.

    Also facing a forthcoming trial is Constance Days-Chapman, the principal of the Smalls’ daughter’s high school. Prosecutors say when the teen reported her parents’ abuse, Days-Chapman failed to notify child welfare authorities and instead told the couple of the report.

    Days-Chapman, who is Marty Small’s former campaign manager, was later charged with official misconduct and related crimes.

    Reynolds, the county prosecutor, said his office would hold an internal meeting to discuss the charges against La’Quetta Small and Days-Chapman. They will also meet with the Smalls’ daughter, he said.

    “We need to get the victim in here and have a discussion with her before any decisions are made — and that’s out of respect for her,” Reynolds said.

  • ❄️ Holiday markets, Dickens classics, and winter lights | Things to do

    ❄️ Holiday markets, Dickens classics, and winter lights | Things to do

    Days after the year’s first snowstorm in Philly, there seems to be a clearer and sunnier path toward the holidays.

    While there’s less snow and slush than in previous years, the Christmas spirit is still filling the air. There’s also a bevy of holiday-themed events worth adding to your to-do list, too.

    For the final newsletter entry of 2025, I wanted to leave you with a thoughtful gift. Untie the invisible bow that adorns this week’s edition of Things to Do, and feast your eyes on the musicals, concerts, and pop-ups happening this weekend. I hope you enjoy.

    — Earl Hopkins (@earlhopkins_, Email me at thingstodo@inquirer.com)

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Cody Lewandowski, Michael Covel, and the cast of Walnut Street Theatre’s ‘A Christmas Carol’

    The many versions of ‘A Christmas Carol’ you can watch in the region

    Since Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was first published on Dec. 19, 1843, the story of three ghosts haunting the wealthy Ebenezer Scrooge to save his soul has remained a Christmas classic.

    The book was so popular, the first printing sold out before Christmas Eve, and the haunting narrative was adapted for the stage just a year after its release.

    The work of the English novelist has drawn countless theater productions, and there are currently several actively running in the Philadelphia region. There are productions at Walnut Street Theatre, New Hope Arts Center, the Lantern Theater Company, and at People’s Light in Malvern running until Jan. 4.

    Read more about the slew of productions here.

    The best things to do this week

    🎶 An operatic return: Opera Philadelphia returns to the Kimmel Center from Friday to Sunday for three performances of The Seasons, a reimagining of Antonio Vivaldi’s string masterpiece, The Four Seasons.

    🎁From Center City’s Christmas Village and Dilworth Park’s Made in Philadelphia market to Bucks County’s Peddler’s Village and Bethlehem’s iconic Christkindlmarkt, these holiday markets are worth a look before they close.

    🎅🏼 Frightful festivities: Join the annual foray into Christmas fright at PhilaMOCA on Friday. The showroom will screen a 16 mm horror double feature and holiday-themed shorts, plus a potluck of assorted foods, snacks, beverages, and desserts.

    🎄 Let your creativity shine this Christmas: Get crafty in the days leading up to Christmas. Historic St. George’s Museum & Archives invites community members to make Victorian ornaments, wax seals, and holiday cards on Saturday.

    🎭 A momentous play at the Ardmore: The Mountain Top, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Katori Hall, is a reimagining of the night Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famed (and final) speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” The play will be running at Ardmore through Sunday.

    📅 My calendar picks this week: Pancakes & Booze at Underground Arts and Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” at the Walnut Street Theatre.

    Tyler Childers sings on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden.

    The take: Best pop music albums of 2025, according to our pop music critic

    Our pop music critic Dan DeLuca drops his 10 best pop albums of 2025, and it’s a list driven less by hype than by heart. From Tyler Childers’ soul-baring Snipe Hunter at No. 1 to bold turns by Rosalía, Geese, PinkPantheress, and Philly’s own Florry, these are records built on storytelling, risk-taking, and songs that reward close listening. Bonus: There’s a Spotify playlist at the bottom if you want to sample before committing.

    Winter fun this week and beyond

    🏮Don’t miss the Wanamaker Light Show: The holiday tradition, which dates back to 1956, will feature thousands of dancing snowmen, candy canes, and the incredible sounds of the Wanamaker Organ through Dec. 24.

    🚂 Holiday Garden Railway: The train displays at the Morris Arboretum will be filled with thousands of lights through Dec. 30. The glimmering G-scale mini locomotives will wind and loop throughout the garden, filling the space with the kind of holiday spirit fit for such a beautiful site.

    🩰 Philly’s Nutcracker season is in full swing: There are four versions to choose from — classic Balanchine, a new one-act for little kids, a tap-dancing trip through Paris, and a vibrant Chocolate Ballerina Company twist.

    🍿 A child-friendly rendition of a classic fairytale: The Curio Theatre Company invites kids to help shape the pint-sized retelling of Hansel & Gretel Brothers Grimm. Children aged 3—10 can help with pre-show prop-making and in-performance participation from now through Dec. 31.

    🚥 An immersive strand of lights: Otherworld Philadelphia’s annual “Magic of the Willow” is back with immersive sights and shows that incorporate 600 strands of LEDs and music from now through Jan. 4.

    Staffer picks

    While our good friend Dan Deluca is out this week for the holidays, here’s a short list of the top concerts this weekend.

    🎸 Thursday: Allen Stone and Ripe take the stage at the Filmore Philadelphia for the “Get Sweet Tour.”

    🎤 Friday: Rapper-singer Rod Wave brings his signature melodic heartbreak tunes to Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday for the “Redemption Experience Tour.”

    🎸 Saturday: The Front Bottoms, an alt-indie rock act out of Woodcliff Lake, NJ, will close out back-to-back “Champagne Jame Nights” at the Fillmore.

    🎤 Sunday: Trans-Siberian Orchestra will perform back-to-back shows on Sunday for the metal band’s “The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve” show at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    Thanks for reading the final Things to Do entry of 2025. I can’t wait to kick things off in the new year, especially with everything transpiring for the semiquincentennial. Until then, enjoy the holiday with you and yours and see you back in inboxes on Jan. 8.

    — Earl

    Courtesy of Giphy.com
  • U.S. announces massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion, angering China

    U.S. announces massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion, angering China

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration has announced a massive package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion that includes medium-range missiles, howitzers, and drones, drawing an angry response from China.

    The State Department announced the sales late Wednesday during a nationally televised address by the Republican president, who made scant mention of foreign policy issues and did not speak about China or Taiwan. U.S.-Chinese tensions have ebbed and flowed during Trump’s second term, largely over trade and tariffs but also over China’s increasing aggressiveness toward Taiwan, which Beijing has said must reunify with the mainland.

    If approved by Congress, it would be the largest-ever U.S. weapons package to Taiwan, exceeding the total amount of $8.4 billion in U.S. arms sales to Taiwan during President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration.

    The eight arms sales agreements announced Wednesday cover 82 high-mobility artillery rocket systems, or HIMARS, and 420 Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS — similar to what the U.S. had been providing Ukraine during the Biden administration to defend itself from Russia — worth more than $4 billion. They also include 60 self-propelled howitzer systems and related equipment worth more than $4 billion and drones valued at more than $1 billion.

    Other sales in the package include military software valued at more than $1 billion, Javelin and TOW missiles worth more than $700 million, helicopter spare parts worth $96 million, and refurbishment kits for Harpoon missiles worth $91 million.

    The eight sales agreements amount to $11.15 billion, according to Taiwan’s Defense Ministry.

    The State Department said the sales serve “U.S. national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernize its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability.”

    “The proposed sale(s) will help improve the security of the recipient and assist in maintaining political stability, military balance, and economic progress in the region,” the statements said.

    China’s Foreign Ministry attacked the move, saying it would violate diplomatic agreements between China and the U.S.; gravely harm China’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity; and undermine regional stability.

    “The ‘Taiwan independence’ forces on the island seek independence through force and resist reunification through force, squandering the hard-earned money of the people to purchase weapons at the cost of turning Taiwan into a powder keg,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun.

    “This cannot save the doomed fate of ‘Taiwan independence’ but will only accelerate the push of the Taiwan Strait toward a dangerous situation of military confrontation and war. The U.S. support for ‘Taiwan Independence’ through arms will only end up backfiring. Using Taiwan to contain China will not succeed,” he added.

    Under federal law, the U.S. is obligated to assist Taiwan with its self-defense, a point that has become increasingly contentious with China, which has vowed to take Taiwan by force, if necessary.

    Taiwan’s Defense Ministry in a statement Thursday expressed gratitude to the U.S. over the arms sale, which it said would help Taiwan maintain “sufficient self-defense capabilities” and bring strong deterrent capabilities. Taiwan’s bolstering of its defense “is the foundation for maintaining regional peace and stability,” the ministry said.

    Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung similarly thanked the U.S. for its “long-term support for regional security and Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities,” which he said are key for deterring a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the body of water separating Taiwan from China’s mainland.

    The arms sale comes as Taiwan’s government has pledged to raise defense spending to 3.3% of the island’s gross domestic product next year and to reach 5% by 2030. The boost came after Trump and the Pentagon requested that Taiwan spend as much as 10% of its GDP on its defense, a percentage well above what the U.S. or any of its major allies spend on defense. The demand has faced pushback from Taiwan’s opposition KMT party and some of its population.

    Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te last month announced a special $40 billion budget for arms purchases, including to build an air defense system with high-level detection and interception capabilities called Taiwan Dome. The budget will be allocated over eight years, from 2026 to 2033.

    The U.S. boost in military assistance to Taiwan was previewed in legislation adopted by Congress that Trump is expected to sign shortly.

    Last week, the Chinese embassy in Washington denounced the legislation, known as the National Defense Authorization Act, saying it unfairly targeted China as an aggressor. The U.S. Senate passed the bill Wednesday.

  • Trump signed an order to reclassify marijuana as a less-dangerous drug. It’s not full legalization.

    Trump signed an order to reclassify marijuana as a less-dangerous drug. It’s not full legalization.

    President Donald Trump announced he would advise federal agencies to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I controlled substance to Schedule III, easing federal restrictions on the plant.

    Trump announced the executive order Thursday in the Oval Office, alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a line of medical workers in white coats and scrubs. The president does not have the direct authority to reschedule marijuana but can request his federal agencies to do so.

    Jeff Hodgson smokes a pre-roll at his home in Cape May, NJ on Thursday, May 2, 2024. Hodgson mostly uses medical marijuana to help him sleep.

    Marijuana has been a Schedule I controlled substance since the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, meaning the federal government considers marijuana to have no accepted medical use, with a high risk of abuse. Schedule I drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, and LSD, are illegal and strictly regulated, making medical research on these drugs, including cannabis, nearly impossible.

    A reclassification would be the most significant reform on marijuana in more than half a century, opening the doors for medical research. But it would not be full legalization, said Adam Smith, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. It could also pave the way to federal intervention in the state-run medical and recreational marijuana industries, something stakeholders fear.

    “There is a possibility that in moving cannabis to Schedule III, instead of opening up access, what it will do is incentivize federal agencies to clamp down control on the availability of cannabis,” Smith said. “Treating it as other Schedule III substances, which virtually all require prescriptions, is not how this works in medical cannabis and could really create chaos and a lot of economic pain in the industry.”

    Frank Burkhauser of Woodbury displays the legal marijuana purchase that he just made at Cannabist in Deptford, N.J. on April 21, 2022. Burkhauser said he has been working for the legalization of marijuana since the early 90’s.

    Smith said stakeholders are unsure what this might mean for the wider industry but remain optimistic, as rescheduling of marijuana has been a priority for decades.

    Former President Joe Biden’s administration had moved to reschedule marijuana as a Schedule III drug; however, those plans stalled in bureaucratic limbo.

    This executive order has plenty of positives, said Joshua Horn, a Philadelphia cannabis lawyer at Fox Rothschild. Loosening restrictions could clear the way for the IRS to allow cannabis businesses to deduct business expenses (which they currently cannot do). Additionally, more traditional banking options might become available to entrepreneurs.

    “It could also rectify the criminal injustice that has been ongoing since the passage of the Controlled Substances Act, where people of color have been disproportionately impacted by the ‘war on drugs,’” Horn said. “In the end, rescheduling should reinvigorate these businesses out of their current tax and financial struggles.”

    This federal rescheduling of marijuana would come on the heels of Congress’ banning all intoxicating hemp products, which are derived from cannabis plants. While this may seem like a policy flip-flop, Smith said, these are two different issues at hand.

    Hemp products photographed at the Philadelphia Inquirer, November 21, 2025.

    “The hemp ban is the result of the fact that the market was chaotic and, in many cases, unsafe. Without regulation, that market was rife with pesticides, heavy metals, and products that should not be on shelves,” Smith said.

    But he contends there is a movement to push back against wider marijuana legalization. “There’s always pushback when there’s big change,” Smith said. “But also because of the instability created when we have state-regulated markets operating in a federally illegal area.”

    Industry folks are hoping this move better aligns the federal government and state markets, opens the doors to research, and provides better clarity to states that are hesitant to legalize marijuana, Smith said.

    In this July 19, 2019, file photo, Pierce Prozy examines a Yolo! brand vape oil cartridge marketed as a CBD product at Flora Research Laboratories in Grants Pass, Ore.

    Reducing restrictions on commercially available cannabis is “a key missing ingredient toward making clinical breakthroughs,” said Stephen Lankenau, director of Drexel University’s Medical Cannabis Research Center.

    “A key issue is that any reclassification efforts need to reduce restrictions for university-based researchers to have access to cannabis-derived THC — commercially available products in particular — for clinical studies, whether laboratory or human subjects,” Lankenau said.

    Researchers now are only able to examine hemp-derived nonpsychoactive cannabinoids like CBD or CBC. However, Lankenau said, it is unclear whether Trump’s proposal would give them the green light.

  • New season of ‘The Traitors’ to feature ‘Mama’ Kelce and Johnny Weir

    New season of ‘The Traitors’ to feature ‘Mama’ Kelce and Johnny Weir

    The upcoming season of the Emmy Award-winning reality series, The Traitors, will have a decidedly Philly flair when it debuts next month.

    In a trailer released this week by Peacock, Donna Kelce and Johnny Weir were revealed to be among the 23 contestants vying for up to $250,000 in prize money.

    Kelce, the mother of former Eagles standout Jason Kelce and mother-in-law to local super-podcaster Kylie Kelce, has been a Philly fixture for years.

    Weir, a former Olympic figure skater and skating commentator, is a Coatesville native.

    The show pits Kelce and Weir against a cast that also includes comedian Michael Rapaport, former Bachelor Colton Underwood, and Olympic figure skater Tara Lipinski — as well as a slew of reality show alums.

    If you’re new to The Traitor, it’s a reality show set in a Scottish castle that features heavy doses of deception and deceit. Billed as a kind of murder mystery, it follows a group of protagonists — called “faithfuls” — who compete for prize money while simultaneously attempting to suss out the secret “traitors” among them, who are also vying for the cash.

    The U.S. series, hosted by Alan Cumming, is set to kick off its fourth season.

    It’s been an eventful past two years for Donna Kelce, who earned roles in a pair of Christmas movies, Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story and the Philly-based Christmas on Call, both last year. She is also set to become the mother-in-law to arguably the world’s most prominent musician when her son, Travis Kelce, marries Taylor Swift. The couple became engaged in August.

    Season 4 of “The Traitors” debuts with the first three episodes on Jan. 8 on Peacock. Two more episodes will be available on Jan. 15, followed by single weekly releases through Feb. 26.

  • Democrats will not release the autopsy of their 2024 loss

    Democrats will not release the autopsy of their 2024 loss

    The Democratic National Committee will not publicly release its autopsy of the 2024 presidential campaign, party officials said, a reversal intended to avoid a contentious reckoning over the party’s failure.

    Operatives involved in drafting the autopsy worried that revisiting Kamala Harris’ loss to Donald Trump would reignite the fiery internal debates that consumed the party in the wake of the 2024 loss at a time when Democrats are eager to celebrate a string of wins in 2025 and focus on the 2026 midterms, the officials said.

    But by declining to make the report public, the party is also keeping the lessons learned from its 2024 failures limited to a small group of insiders and dodging a public accounting that many Democrats believe is necessary to avoid repeating past mistakes.

    There remain sharp internal debates, for example, over the party’s stance on transgender rights, its handling of generational change, and whether Harris’ selection as President Joe Biden’s replacement on the ticket was properly conducted.

    “We completed a comprehensive review of what happened in 2024 and are already putting our learnings into motion,” Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement that did not directly address the committee’s decision to shield the report. “In our conversations with stakeholders from across the Democratic ecosystem, we are aligned on what’s important, and that’s learning from the past and winning the future. Here’s our North Star: does this help us win? If the answer is no, it’s a distraction from the core mission.”

    Democratic officials briefed on the report’s contents said the autopsy chastises the party for failing to adequately listen to voters in 2024. The report describes a feeble response to concerns about public safety and immigration in particular, allowing Republicans to dominate the issues, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private findings. That amplified the Democrats’ credibility problem on the election’s central issue: the economy.

    Another key takeaway, officials said, was that the party took young voters for granted, neglecting a group that normally supports its candidates in overwhelming numbers. As a result, they swung toward Trump, with the president winning a majority of first-time voters and increasing his share of youth voters by double digits. The report faults a party wedded to traditional media that often bypasses these voters. It calls for greater engagement with nontraditional media, something that vexed the Harris campaign.

    The report, generated based on hundreds of interviews with Democrats in all 50 states, also highlights missteps in how Democrats contact voters, the officials said, noting that while the party reached more voters than ever last year, the outreach was ineffective, led to poor-quality conversations with swing voters, and came too late in pivotal states. The changes suggested by the party, the officials said, include measuring the success of an outreach program by the impact of the conversations, not the number of attempted calls, while also investing in more long-term party building so voter contact does not begin weeks before Election Day.

    Democratic officials have struggled to craft and discuss the report for much of the year amid internal debates over the party’s direction and leadership.

    They were in the final stages of preparing it in October and began briefing top operatives and donors on its contents. But the expected public release was delayed until after off-year elections in November, with the party hoping to keep the focus on races they eventually swept in New York, New Jersey, and Virginia.

    Those preliminary briefings did not include any reflection on the handling of Biden’s late withdrawal from the race, his perceived infirmity and the lack of a competitive process used to select Harris as his replacement, which many Democrats have said was central to their party’s defeat. Members of the Democratic committee, including Martin, argued that little could be learned from those reflections, given that it is unlikely the party will face a similar situation again. Still, the lack of any reflection on Biden or Harris led some party insiders to criticize the report as intentionally avoiding what many saw as the most decisive issue in the 2024 loss.

    The delays in releasing the report have spurred internal Democratic grumbling, and the committee’s decision to keep it private was already stirring up Democratic anger.

    “A handful of wins is not the same as the rehabilitation of the Democratic brand, which is required to build real governing majorities and a national coalition,” said Alyssa Cass, a Democratic operative in New York. ”Achieving that requires real soul-searching and new ideas, and it would be nice for candidates and campaigns to know they had a partner in that hard work, instead of an institutional structure buried in the sand.”

    Other Democrats echoed Cass, casting the decision as the Democratic National Committee looking to obscure its own failings in 2024.

    But some Democratic operatives, especially those close to the committee, praised the decision as prudent. “Democrats don’t need to engage in a hand-wringing exercise about last year’s elections when we’re winning this year’s elections,” said Xochitl Hinojosa, a former top spokesperson for the DNC.

    How the party handles learning from the 2024 loss could prove critical for years to come. Democratic officials and campaign operatives from winning campaigns this year have already said they used lessons from the 2024 campaign to strengthen their operations. And some of the party’s most high-profile members, including Harris, have begun to break from the policies that defined the Biden administration.

    In a speech Friday night at the Democratic National Committee meeting in Los Angeles, Harris argued that both Democrats and Republicans have failed to address Americans’ deep financial anxieties and lack of confidence in government.

    “Both parties have failed to hold the public’s trust. Government is viewed as fundamentally unable to meet the needs of its people,” Harris said in an implicit condemnation of the Biden administration, which she served in for four years as his vice president and defended throughout her unsuccessful presidential campaign.

    Trump “is not the only source of our problems,” Harris said, arguing that the rise of his political movement is “a symptom of a failed system that is the result of years of outsourcing and offshoring, financial deregulation, growing income inequality, a broken campaign finance system and endless partisan gridlock.”

  • Drexel University signed a lease to consolidate medical college research in University City

    Drexel University signed a lease to consolidate medical college research in University City

    Drexel University has signed a lease that will enable it to consolidate its College of Medicine research labs in University City, Drexel and the developers of a new building at 3201 Cuthbert St. said Thursday.

    Drexel’s space in the $500 million building, a joint project from Gattuso Development Partners and Vigilant Holdings, is slated for completion in 2027. Drexel researchers moving from sites in Center City and East Falls are expected to fill four floors of the structure.

    “By bringing our research spaces together in University City, we will create an environment that fosters greater interdisciplinary collaboration, accelerates innovation, and strengthens our collective capacity for discovery,” Drexel president Antonio Merlo said in a message to the school community.

    Drexel will occupy 150,741 square feet of the 11-story, 520,000-square-foot building. The developers’ goal is to fill the rest of the building with life sciences tenants, though that could be harder than it was in 2022, when the building was announced as a partnership between Drexel and Gattuso Development.

    The move of research labs to University City is part of a long-term plan to centralize the Drexel College of Medicine, which includes the combined operations of the former Hahnemann Medical College in Center City and the former Medical College of Pennsylvania in East Falls.

    In 2023, most of the medical school’s administrative and academic functions moved to Drexel’s Health Sciences Building at 60 N. 36th St.

  • Ala Stanford gave Michael Nutter his first COVID vaccine. Now he’s endorsing her for Congress.

    Ala Stanford gave Michael Nutter his first COVID vaccine. Now he’s endorsing her for Congress.

    Former Mayor Michael Nutter endorsed Ala Stanford, a pediatric surgeon who rose to prominence in the city for her response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the crowded primary race for the 3rd Congressional District.

    “While some were giving speeches, she was giving shots,” Nutter said in remarks at the West Philadelphia church where he launched his political career.

    “While some were talking about what should be done, she was out in the streets doing what needed to be done, at great risk to herself and others when people were getting sick and dying. Dr. Ala Stanford ran toward the danger, while most of us were safely in our homes.”

    In thanking Nutter for his backing, Stanford said she was running “not because I’ve spent my career in politics. I’m running for Congress because I’ve spent my life stepping up when people needed help and the system wasn’t working.”

    During the pandemic, Stanford led the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, which brought vaccines into communities of color, inoculating thousands of Philadelphians who might not have otherwise had access.

    She went on to serve as a regional Department of Health and Human Services director under President Joe Biden and now runs a community health center in North Philadelphia.

    She is one of at least a dozen candidates vying to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans in the 3rd Congressional District, one of the most Democratic districts in the nation, which covers much of Philadelphia. Evans endorsed Stanford upon her entry into the race.

    Nutter, who led the city as mayor from January 2008 to January 2016 and before that served on City Council, called Stanford “the only person running, as far as I can tell, who has serious executive, federal government experience,” pointing to her post at HHS.

    Former Mayor Michael Nutter endorsed Dr. Ala Stanford Thursday in her bid for Congress. Here he poses with blown-up photo of her giving him the COVID vaccine in 2021.

    The former mayor teaches at Columbia University, holds a fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, and was recently named president of the Board of Directors of City Trusts. Dating back to 1869, the board oversees 119 different entities bequeathed to the city by different benefactors, including Girard College and Wills Eye Hospital.

    In the 2023 mayoral contest, Nutter endorsed former Controller Rebecca Rhynhart over a field that included several sitting City Council members, including Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who won the contest. He also got involved in the 2020 presidential election, endorsing former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s short-lived campaign.

    Nutter’s endorsement of Stanford comes a week after former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who also served two terms as Philadelphia mayor, endorsed State Sen. Sharif Street in the contest.

    Street, the first candidate to enter the race, has amassed the most Democratic establishment and organized labor support so far, but there are five months to go before the May primary and most political observers think any of four candidates — Street, Stanford, State Rep. Morgan Cephas, and State Rep. Chris Rabb — could take off.

    Street’s father, former Mayor John Street, was Nutter’s immediate predecessor as mayor.

    Stanford has a strong personal backstory, but as a first-time candidate she could face an upward climb in fundraising and establishing herself beyond her expertise in healthcare.

    She said last week she sees most issues as interconnected with healthcare and that expertise as an asset.

    “My team and I, we’ve gotten lots of advice about ‘you gotta talk about housing.’ Housing is health,” she told The Inquirer. “‘You need to talk about affordability.’ But that is prescription drugs. ‘You need to talk about safety in our communities.’ … All those issues bring me back to healthcare. … And I’m an expert in the space.”

    Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this article.