Montgomery County immigration advocates renewed calls for more municipalities to approve policies that would limit police and local government cooperationwith U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as President Donald Trump’s administration ramps up enforcement.
Advocates have been calling for welcoming policies across the county for months but advocates estimated that as of Wednesday, only six of Montgomery County’s 62 municipalities had enacted policies. Even those, they argued, were lackluster.
“ICE has created a crisis in our neighborhoods, and we cannot afford silence, mixed signals, or leadership that only reacts once harm has already happened,” said Stephanie Vincent, a leader of Montco Community Watch.
Ambler, Springfield, West Norriton, Abington, Norristown, and Cheltenham had approved policies, advocates said, though they are mostly internal policies that advocates say don’t do enough to protect immigrants.
Stephanie Vincent, the leader of Montco Community Watch, speaks at a news conference about ICE activity in Montgomery County at Ascension Church in West Norriton Thursday.
The sense of urgency was palpable Thursday as ICE dramatically expands its presence and visibility, both in the Philadelphia region and across the United States.
Montco Community Watch has documented at least 97 detentions and 30 suspected ICE detentions in Montgomery County, and “there are likely more detentions that we have not heard about,” Vincent said.
The group was joined Thursday by representatives for Indivisible Greater Jenkintown, a progressive advocacy group, and the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition at Ascension Church. Advocates said that strong welcoming policies,sometimes referred to as sanctuary policies, would outline that police will not honor ICE detainer requests without a judicial warrant, that local government resources will not be spent on ICE, and that communities will feel safe to access resources without fear of federal agents.
Advocates had been working since the summer to encourage municipalities across Montgomery County to approve policies limiting cooperation with ICE. The county, particularly the Norristown area, had become a hot spot for ICE enforcement in the early months of the Trump administration.
In July, video of a raid at a West Norriton grocery store appeared to show local police assisting the federal agency; the township said federal authorities had sought assistance to retain order while they served a warrant for tax evasion.
Super Gigante International Food Market, 1930 W. Main St., in West Norriton on July 16.
Advocates pushed county leaders to enact a welcoming resolution, but officials consistently reiterated that they lacked any control over local police forces.
Despite months of requests, Montgomery County has not passed a formal ordinance or resolution declaring itself a welcoming county. The county’s Democratic commissioners have cited limits to their power, concern about creating a false sense of security, and a preference for internal policy changes.
Advocates said Thursday that they strongly prefer limitations on local collaboration with ICE to be enshrined in ordinances rather than enacted throughinternal policies or statements, which canlack transparency and accountability and are not alwaysenforceable.
“None of [the six municipalities’ policies] are complete and the most visible problem on all of them is a lack of any accountability,” said Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, of Indivisible Greater Jenkintown.
Julio Rodriguez, from the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition, added that a lack of clear boundaries between local policies and federal agents creates more confusion and worry in the community.
“It reinforces that fact the people just don’t know what’s happening,” Rodriguez said.
Staff writer Jeff Gammage contributed to this article.
ALBANY, N.Y. — President Donald Trump’s effort to install political loyalists as top federal prosecutors has run into a legal buzz saw lately, with judges ruling that his handpicked U.S. attorneys for New Jersey, eastern Virginia, Nevada, and Los Angeles were all serving unlawfully.
On Thursday, another federal judge heard an argument by New York Attorney General Letitia James that the administration also twisted the law to make John Sarcone the acting U.S. attorney for northern New York.
James, a Democrat, is challenging Sarcone’s authority to oversee a Justice Department investigation into regulatory lawsuits she filed against Trump and the National Rifle Association. It’s one of several arguments she is making to block subpoenas issued as part of the probe, which her lawyers say is part of a campaign of baseless investigations and prosecutions of Trump’s perceived enemies.
Her attorney Hailyn Chen argued in court that since Sarcone lacks legitimate authority to act as U.S. attorney, legal steps taken by him in that capacity — like the subpoenas — are unlawful. In response to a question from U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield, Chen said Sarcone should be disqualified from the investigation and the office.
“Sarcone exercised power that he did not lawfully possess,” Chen told the judge.
Justice Department lawyers say Sarcone was appointed properly and the motion to block the subpoenas should be denied. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Belliss argued that disqualifying Sarcone would be “drastic and extreme.”
“We don’t think that’s a proper remedy,” Belliss said.
Schofield, after peppering both attorneys with questions, did not say when she would rule.
The fight in New York and other states is largely over the legality of unorthodox strategies the Trump administration has adopted to appoint prosecutors seen as unlikely to get confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
The hearing came a week after a federal judge in Virginia dismissed indictments brought there against James and former FBI Director James Comey. That judge concluded that the interim U.S. attorney who brought the charges, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed. The Justice Department is expected to appeal.
On Monday, a federal appeals court ruled that Alina Habba, Trump’s former personal lawyer, is disqualified from serving as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor.
Under federal law, the president’s nominees for U.S. attorney must be confirmed by the Senate. If a position is vacant, the U.S. attorney general can appoint someone temporarily, but that appointment expires after 120 days. If that time period elapses, judges in the district can either keep the interim U.S. attorney or appoint someone of their own choosing.
Sarcone’s appointment didn’t follow that path.
Trump hasn’t nominated anyone to serve as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York. U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Sarcone to serve as the interim U.S. attorney in March. When his 120-day term elapsed, judges in the district declined to keep him in the post.
Bondi then took the unusual step of appointing Sarcone as a special attorney, then designated him first assistant U.S. attorney for the district, a maneuver federal officials say allows him to serve as an acting U.S. attorney.
Chen called it an abuse of executive power.
The New York subpoenas seek records related to a civil case James filed against Trump over alleged fraud in his personal business dealings and records from a lawsuit involving the National Rifle Association and two senior executives.
Belliss argued in court that the U.S. attorney general has broad authority to appoint attorneys within her department and to delegate her functions to those attorneys. Belliss said that even if Sarcone is not properly holding the office of acting U.S. attorney, he can still conduct grand jury investigations as a special attorney.
Sarcone was part of Trump’s legal team during the 2016 presidential campaign and worked for the U.S. General Services Administration as the regional administrator for the Northeast and Caribbean during Trump’s first term.
Habba also served as an interim U.S. attorney. When her appointment expired, New Jersey judges replaced her with a career prosecutor who had served as her second-in-command. Bondi then fired that prosecutor and renamed Habba as acting U.S. attorney.
A similar dynamic is playing out in Nevada, where a federal judge disqualified the Trump administration’s pick to be U.S. attorney there. And a federal judge in Los Angeles disqualified the acting U.S. attorney in Southern California from several cases after concluding he had stayed in the job longer than allowed by law.
Authorities have charged two men in connection with a double fatal shooting outside a Bordentown convenience store, prosecutors said Thursday.
Justford Doe, 23, and Giovanni Varanese, 21, are charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, and other offenses stemming from the Nov. 5 killing outside a 7-Eleven and Valero gas station at the intersection of Route 130 North and Farnsworth Avenue.
The shooting left Daniel Patterson, 22, and Mason Knott, 21, dead.
Bordentown Township police were called at about 11:30 p.m. to the convenience store after Patterson, a Philadelphia resident, came into the store suffering from gunshot wounds and asked for help. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office. Knott, of Wrightstown, was transported to a hospital in Trenton, where he died.
Police said the men shot Knott in the back of the head, then stole marijuana that was in his vehicle. They shot Patterson three times and stole his Jeep, police said.
The assailants fled but crashed in Florence Township, the prosecutor’s office said.
Authorities did not say Thursday how they connected Doe and Varanese to the killings.
The men are being held in the Philadelphia Department of Prisons, but will be extradited to New Jersey to face the charges, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The transit agency says it will miss Friday’s federal deadline to finish outfitting all 223 Silverliner IV Regional Rail cars with a new heat-detection system. The reason: It needs to wait for 7,000 additional feet of thermal wire.
About 30 of the 50-year-old cars have not yet had the safety feature installed, officials said. The wire required to finish the job is on back order.
“I don’t think the suppliers expected one agency to raid their entire stockpile,” spokesperson Andrew Busch said.
SEPTA needed about 39,000 feet of the thermal wire to outfit the entire fleet of Silverliner IV cars, he said. “It was an unusual demand on the supply chain,” Busch said. SEPTA has worked with two manufacturers and four distributors.
The missing link is expected to arrive next week, and the installations should be finished the following week, Busch said.
SEPTA worked with two manufacturers and distributors to get the large rolls of wire.
The thermal wire is made of spring steel, separated by a polymer that melts at high temperature, allowing the steel conductor to touch and connect the electric circuit. That allows it to provide earlier warning of a potential problem so cars can be pulled from service.
Delays, cancellations, station skips, and overcrowded trains running with fewer than the normal number of cars have been regular challenges for riders during the work, which started in October.
Meanwhile, SEPTA is leasing 10 passenger coaches from Maryland’s commuter rail system, MARC, which Amtrak is scheduled to deliver late Friday night at 30th Street Station. They will be towed to SEPTA’s nearby Powelton yard.
WASHINGTON — Whether fans like video reviews in soccer or not, they tend to draw complaints when those reviews seem to take too long.
It might seem natural to want a time limit for those reviews, perhaps one or two minutes. The sport’s global governing body is saying no, though, at least for now.
“Well, there might be different opinions, which I will respect,” FIFA’s refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina said Thursday at a media briefing ahead of Friday’s 2026 men’s World Cup draw. “Certainly, when something lasts a bit longer, it’s not because the referee is, say, lazy or slow. Probably, things which are considered are particularly complicated.’”
A game referee from 1995 to 2005, including the 2002 men’s World Cup final, Collina took his new role with FIFA in 2017 and has remained a public figure ever since.
Pierluigi Collina (left) speaking at Thursday’s event.
“Something else to consider is when you are waiting for someone, every second looks like an eternity — when you are under pressure and you are doing something, time flies,” he said. “So, referees, when they are doing that, probably they do not really realize that time is passing for them so quickly. But, we all know that timing is an issue in every activity, so we are always trying to improve.”
Collina acknowledged a report by the Times of London earlier this week that the International Football Association Board — the entity that sets the rules of how soccer is played — is considering expanding what VAR is allowed to rule on.
The expansion would include second yellow cards, which result in red cards and expulsion; and whether officials got it right calling a corner kick vs. a goal kick.
“It was already announced after a meeting of the IFAB football and technical advisory panel: the discussion took place, and the outcome was to propose to further discuss and propose” at the IFAB’s next business meeting on Jan. 20, Collina said. If a proposal passes there, it will go to the annual general meeting in March. That vote would be for implementation on June 1, in time for the World Cup.
Under the current rules, a straight red card is reviewable, but a second yellow card that results in expulsion is not reviewable.
“Certainly, extending the possibility of the VAR to intervene in some specific circumstances is something [on] the table,” Collina said, adding: “It would be a pity if the result of the competition, whichever the competition is, is decided not by what the players do on the field playing, but by a honest mistake made by the decision-maker.”
Specific to corner kicks calls, he said “that the main criteria is no delay” in the action on the field.
“It takes normally, how long? 10, 15 seconds to get the attackers ready to take the corner kick,” Collina said. “In these 10-15 seconds, if the corner kick was wrongly given, everybody has the evidence that the start of play is wrong. To me, it’s difficult to understand if they have the possibility to see that, why we have to hide our head under the sand and hope that nothing happened on the corner kick which is taken.”
Collina also said that FIFA hopes to use referee bodycams again next summer, after debuting them in the Club World Cup.
“It was, I would say, a great success,” he said. “It has been implemented in some leagues, [which] means that it was well-received by the TV viewers — also, referees got some benefit from using that. So, pretty confident that the rule-maker, as mentioned, IFAB, will give us the permission to to implement it during the next World Cup [in] ’26.”
Preparations at the Kennedy Center in Washington for Friday’s event.
FIFA defends expanding the World Cup to 48 teams
It was no surprise to hear FIFA officials say Thursday that it’s a good thing to expand the men’s World Cup to 48 teams, as will happen for the first time next year. The women’s tournament will follow suit in 2031 when the U.S. spearheads a regional tournament alongside Mexico, Costa Rica, and Jamaica.
But the way those officials framed it nonetheless was news, especially for the international media outlets that have traveled to D.C. this week.
“It’s less than 25% of the 211 countries who are affiliated to FIFA,” said Arsène Wenger, FIFA’s chief of global football development and the famed former manager of English Premier League club Arsenal. “Still, 75% of the teams are not there, and I count in there China, India — that’s 3 billion people.”
FIFA’s chief football officer Jill Ellis, the former U.S. women’s national team manager, noted how the growth of women’s soccer worldwide has made it easier to have a 48-team tournament without fear of lopsided games.
“We see it in the in the college basketball landscape right here in the U.S.,” said the coach who led the U.S. women to World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019. “We’re used to these teams that are maybe lower-ranked and then they suddenly have this phenomenal run.”
Jill Ellis (left) and Arsène Wenger (right) on stage Thursday.
Will weather be an issue again?
The hot temperatures at this summer’s Club World Cup understandably raised a lot of complaints, and fears of more problems next summer. Wenger raised that unprompted.
“If there’s one uncertainty that we don’t master, it’s the weather,” Wenger said. “Especially in Miami, you know, places like Atlanta, where you had some problems last year. So we’ll do the maximum to protect the competition and the players.”
He also said “we will consider a lot the best possibilities for the teams to be protected from heat” as FIFA finalizes the kickoff times before Saturday’s announcement. But skeptical fans worldwide won’t believe that until they see it.
Temperatures were in the 90s during many Club World Cup games this past summer.
In a move that could soon bring closure to a mystery investigated by federal law enforcement for nearly five years, the FBI announced a person has been arrested for allegedly planting pipe bombs in Washington ahead of the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.
The suspect was identified as Brian Jerome Cole Jr., 30, of Northern Virginia, Attorney GeneralPam Bondi said in a Thursday news briefing.
The pipe bombs were placed near the offices of the Democratic and Republican national committees on the night of Jan. 5, 2021, the FBI previously said. The explosives did not detonate.
Federal law enforcement officials said they located Cole by using evidence they already had — not a new tip — including cell phone data and purchasing records that a special team of investigators was brought in to reevaluate.
“That evidence has been sitting there collecting dust,” Bondi said.
But who is Brian Cole? Here’s what we know so far about the alleged suspect.
Who is Brian Cole?
Brian Cole, 30, lives in Woodbridge, Va., a community in Prince William County about 20 miles south of Washington.
According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia reviewed by USA TODAY, Cole resides in a home with his mother and other family members.
Prince William County Public Schools Director of Communication Diana Gulotta confirmed to USA TODAY that Cole graduated from Hylton High School in Woodbridge in 2013.
According to public records reviewed by USA TODAY, Cole does not have a criminal history but does have several traffic violations on file, which took place after the pipe bomb incident.
What charges is Brian Cole facing?
Cole is charged with use of an explosive device, Bondi told reporters.
Documents say Cole bought pipe bomb components from Home Depot, Walmart
Cole’s credit card and checking account records showed that he purchased multiple items as early as October 2019 through late 2020 consistent with the components used to manufacture two pipe bombs placed at the RNC and DNC offices, according to his 7-page charging document.
Cole bought components including a galvanized pipe, end caps, electrical wire, battery clips and white kitchen timers, court records also said. Investigators tracked Cole’s purchases at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, and Micro Center.
The suspect bought items including safety glasses, a wire-stripping tool and a machinist’s file, which could be used to make pipe bombs, officials said. Cole then allegedly continued to buy the components after the pipe bombs were found, including a kitchen timer, more nine-volt batteries and galvanized pipes during January 2021.
A call to Cole’s phone number listed in public records, as well as to other relatives, went unanswered on Thursday.
Provider records show Cole’s cell phone connected with towers consistent with his being in the area of the RNC and DNC offices on Jan. 5, 2021.
In addition, court documents continued, a Virginia license plate registered to a 2017 Nissan Sentra that he owns was captured on camera the same day at 7:10 p.m., at the South Capitol Street exit from Interstate 395 South. That’s “less than one-half mile from the location where the individual who placed the devices was first observed on foot,” records said.
It was not immediately clear if he had obtained legal counsel.
On Thursday, Prince William County police and FBI agents sealed the street in front of the suspect’s home.
It was not immediately known what law enforcement recovered, if anything.
Paul George will sit out the first game of the 76ers’ back-to-back to end the week.
The forward will miss the game against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday at Xfinity Mobile Arena due to left knee injury recovery, which has included holding him out from playing on back-to-back nights.
The 6-foot-8, 220-pounder could be available to play on Friday against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum.
Sixers forward Paul George is averaging 13.5 points and 4.8 rebounds this season.
He’s not the only Sixers player unavailable to face the Warriors.
Kelly Oubre Jr. (sprained left knee) and Trendon Watford (left adductor strain) will remain sidelined. Joel Embiid (left and right knee injury recovery) was upgraded to questionable. And Quentin Grimes (right calf tightness) is available to play.
George has already missed 14 games due to his left knee and a sprained right ankle. He missed the first 12 games of the season with left knee injury recovery, then he sat out the Nov. 19 loss to the Toronto Raptors because it was the first game of a back-to-back. And George missed the Nov. 25 loss to the Orlando Magic with a sprained right ankle.
He is averaging 13.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.8 steals in 22.2 minutes.
President Donald Trump will visit Northeast Pennsylvania on Tuesday to promote his economic agenda, including efforts to lower inflation, the White House confirmed to The Inquirer on Thursday.
The trip will kick off what is expected to be anationaltour of Trump touting his economic policies ahead of the 2026 midterms, when Democrats and Republicans will battle for control of Congress.
The specific location for Trump’s visit has not yet been made public, but Northeast Pennsylvania will be a major battleground in next year’s midterms.
Democrats believe that they can oust freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan, of Lackawanna County, threatening the GOP’s slim House majority. Democrats are also specifically targeting the districts of U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, of Bucks County; Ryan Mackenzie, of Lehigh County; and Scott Perry, of York County.
Trump endorsed Bresnahan and most of Pennsylvania’s GOP delegation on his social media platform, Truth Social, last month. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democrat, is mounting a campaign to unseat Bresnahan, who won by roughly a percentage point last election.
Affordability — which Trump called a “fake narrative” used by Democrats — has been a top issue for voters, including during November’s blue wave when Democrats won local contests throughout Pennsylvania, in addition to the gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey.
Since World Cafe Live founder Hal Real stepped down as CEO in May, drama at the University City music venue has been unending.
Joseph Callahan, who brought the Portal to Philadelphia in 2024, took over from Real and pledged to save the nonprofit venue from financial ruin and $6 million of accumulated debt, in part by turning it into a virtual reality entertainment hub.
Labor peace seemed to be achieved during a rowdy town hall meeting in July, when then-World Cafe Live president Gar Giles said the company had agreed to collective bargaining with production and front-of-house workers who unionized with IATSE Local 8 and Unite Here Local 274.
But this fall, union organizers say, the venue has reneged on that promise, and on the pledge, made by new CEO J. Sean Diaz in September, to hire back fired employees.
“World Cafe Live has refused to come to the bargaining table,” said Unite Here’s Mat Wranovics. Some workers have been sent letters claiming they owe money back to the company. Others had paychecks deposited into their bank accounts, they say, only to have the money withdrawn without explanation.
And workers are not the only ones expressing frustration with Callahan and his management team — so is the venue’s landlord, the University of Pennsylvania.
Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory perform at World Cafe Live, in Philadelphia, Friday, February. 7, 2025.
The university owns the building at 3025 Walnut St. that houses World Cafe Live’s 650-capacity Music Hall and 220-capacity Lounge. It is also home to the university’s radio station, WXPN-FM (88.5), which is a separate business.
According to public documents obtained by The Inquirer, as early as July, Penn’s real estate office sent Callahan and Giles notice that they had defaulted on their lease and owed the university $1.29 million for rent and utility payments dating back to April 2022. (Callahan has said that in the period before he took over as chairman of the World Cafe Live board, the venue was losing between $45,000 and $70,000 per month.)
Most of that bill had accrued while Real — who converted World Cafe Live into a nonprofit in 2018 — was still CEO. Callahan and Giles were granted 12 days to pay, stressing that the grace period “is being afforded to you only because of Landlord’s relationship with prior management and WXPN, not you.” The last two words were underlined for emphasis.
World Cafe Live President and CEO J. Sean Diaz poses at the embattled West Philly music venue Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.
On July 22, Penn lawyers delivered a notice to vacate, terminating their lease with Real Entertainment LLC. (The venue is still identified by the name Real gave it in 2004.)
World Cafe Live, however, remains in business, with a busy schedule this weekend: Indie band Carbon Leaf is playing the Music Hall on Friday, and country-folk stalwarts Pure Prairie League on Saturday.
That’s because Real Entertainment, with Callahan as its chairman, challenged the eviction notice with a counterclaim in Common Pleas Court.
It states that World Cafe Live has been engaged “in ongoing negotiations regarding lease modifications and denies it is in default,” and adds that “the alleged amount owed is disputed, inaccurate and does not account for significant offsets, concessions and mutual understandings between the parties.”
The case is scheduled for a trial date in January. This week, a spokesperson for Penn’s facilities and real estate services declined to comment.
The new CEO
Diaz was brought in as World Cafe Live’s president and CEO in September by Callahan, who remains chairman of the board. Diaz is a Penn alum, an entertainment lawyer, a former DJ, and a band manager whose clients have included WanMor, the vocal group of Boyz II Men’s Wanya Morris’ four sons, who are also all named Wanya.
His appointment as the new CEO was announced on social media in September. He was also named Giles’ replacement as president.
“I’m not a proxy for Joe,” Diaz said in an interview this week. Callahan, he said, had extracted himself from day-to-day operations to focus on technology concerns.
In that same announcement, Diaz said that all terminated employees would be hired back. Former employees said they did receive emails urging them to request an interview, but none had been rehired.
“I should have chosen my words more carefully,” he admitted.
He also expressed optimism that the conflict over the lease could be resolved and that World Cafe Live and Penn could come to terms to keep the venue open.
“There needs to be a meeting of the minds,” said Diaz, who lives in Voorhees, in South Jersey. “Penn’s main concern, obviously, is getting paid as a landlord and making sure that XPN has the continuity they’re built up in that building. That’s an important partnership.”
Diaz acknowledged alcohol had been served at some World Cafe Live shows after the license had expired, saying he anticipated the venue would have to pay a penalty for the infraction. “But what does everybody want? The city and the state want their tax revenue. Penn wants XPN back in the building. So we are working to resolve this as fast as possible.”
In the meantime, World Cafe Live is a BYOB venue. On Thursday, a sign on the window said ticket holders would be charged $20 per person for bringing their own drinks, and $10 if they ordered food.
Joseph Callahan, the World Cafe Live’s chairman of the board and former CEO at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St. Phila Pa, Wednesday, June 18, 2025.
Continuing labor unrest
Employees like Emilia Reynolds, who is one of two former World Cafe Live bartenders who spoke to The Inquirer, do not believe Diaz’s claim that he is not Callahan’s proxy.
“Joe does all the work behind the scenes,” Reynolds said of Callahan, who is also CEO of California-based Sansar, a virtual reality company. “He tells everyone what to do.”
Reynolds, who started tending bar at World Cafe Live in 2023, said they were optimistic about this summer after “me and all my coworkers all got together and unionized the building and got our recognition.”
But that optimism waned in the fall, Reynolds said, after the company did not come to the bargaining table.
“Then fast-forward to Oct. 1, when I woke up without a paycheck. Or, to be more specific, I woke up with a paycheck and then a few hours later had the exact same amount taken right back out.”
Reynolds confronted Callahan after a show later that month about the missing money and was told “that I was one of 16 people who maliciously stole from the company and manipulated payroll.”
Two days later, they were fired via email.
Reynolds, Wranovics said, is among the employees who “were fired for a totally outrageous situation relating to the fact that they had not received pay.”
Diaz did not address Reynolds’ case but claimed that “there was some manipulation of the payroll, with employees logging in for rates or hours they weren’t authorized at.”
Allison Eskridge, also a bartender, first worked at World Cafe Live in 2005 for a two-year stint, then returned in 2015.
Like Reynolds, Eskridge talks fondly about the community of coworkers during the Real years. “Hal was always hands on. He was always going to the shows and passionate about the music. It felt like there really wasn’t another place like it. It was really, really special,” she said.
Union rep Kerrick Edwards, shows a support sticker outside the World Cafe Live building on Thursday, July, 2025 before a Town Hall meeting at the World Cafe Live with new leaders taking questions about changes at the music venue, which has been in turmoil since workers walked out during a show last month.
Eskridge said she was not paid for two pay periods in October and is owed between $1,000 and $2,000. After sending multiple emails to managers about her missing money that were not responded to, she, too, received a termination notice via email, she said.
“It just said: ‘Your services are no longer required.’”
Growing solidarity
On Oct. 12, State Rep. Rich Krajewski and City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, who both represent the University City area, posted a joint social media video after visiting World Cafe Live.
“We are here to show solidarity with the workers,” Krajewski (D., Phila.) said in the video, adding that he was “extremely disappointed and ashamed that the workers have been mistreated, they have had wages taken away from them.”
He went on to call on management “to do better and come to the table and negotiate in good faith.”
“We came here today to meet with management,” Gauthier said, only to find no managers at the venue. “We are here to say: Pay your workers.”
Sadie Dupuis, also known as Sad13, and the singer for Speedy Ortiz, performs with the band at the World Cafe Live for Free at Noon in Philadelphia, Pa., on Friday, Aug., 4, 2023. She will play as part of a World Cafe Live Workers benefit at Johnny Brenda’s on Jan. 11.
With the chaos and accusations of mismanagement, can World Cafe Live survive?
Diaz believes it’s too important not to.
“There’s a real cost” if the venue were to close, he said. “Not just to World Cafe Live as a brand, but to XPN, to Penn, to West Philadelphia, to the city, to this community.”
Though the World Cafe Live calendar has been thin and uninspired in recent weeks, Diaz said that by cutting costs, “we have got the operation to the point where it’s financially stable.”
He welcomes Callahan’s metaverse ideas if they can bring in new revenue streams, but said he imagines a venue that can sustain itself by being “more accessible and inclusive.”
“And when I say that, everybody thinks I just mean race, but I don’t. It means to be more accessible to the arts in a broader way. More kinds of music, but also dance, theater, and food events. You have to make this a place that more people have access to.
“It’s going to take the right resources, the right timing, the right relationship with Penn, and some resetting to bring it back,” Diaz said. “But what I do believe is that people are forgiving. And if you do the right thing, people will come back and support.”
This article has been updated with the correct pronouns for Emilia Reynolds and the correct price for BYOB tickets at WCL. Reynolds uses they/ them pronouns and the tickets cost $20.
The board unanimously approved the new contract for the principals union. A deal with the union had been struck last week after the principals spent three months working without a new contract in place.
Board approves the rest of its agenda and adjourns the meeting
And the board approved the rest of its agenda unanimously, too.
Goals and Guardrails happens this time next week, but this is the last action meeting of the year. That’s a wrap!
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:50pm
Board member Lam requests more information from the district on controls in place to prevent cost overrun with vendors
ChauWing Lam said she’ll support a $43,390 contract with Mothers in Charge for violence prevention services, but has concerns about the cost overrun and controls in place to prevent that.
Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. said there are controls in place, and promises more information.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:47pm
Board unanimously approves new contract for principals union
The board also approved CASA’s new contract, also with a 9 to 0 vote.
Board unanimously approves meeting schedule for 2026
Ultimately, the board decides to move forward with its schedule as written: separate action meetings and Goals and Guardrails meetings for 2026.
The vote was unanimous.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:35pm
Board moves from speakers into its agenda for voting
That’s the end of the speakers list. Now we’re onto voting.
The board is voting on its 2026 meeting schedule.
Board member ChauWing Lam has concerns about keeping the board’s “Goals and Guardrails” meetings separate from action meetings. She’d like more progress monitoring as part of the board’s action meetings.
Board member Crystal Cubbage says Goals and Guardrails should remain separate. She appreciates Goals and Guardrails happening in a space that’s separate, where she can think about them with a fresh mind.
Board member Whitney Jones concurs with Cubbage, and says perhaps it’s possible to pilot some Goals and Guardrails in one meeting.
Joyce Wilkerson, who was president when Goals and Guardrails was developed, said she supports keeping Goals and Guardrails separate. The board often starts its work at 9 a.m. on board days, she said, and it’s better for them to approach Goals and Guardrails with fresh eyes on a different day.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:28pm
Clouden family speaks to the board about the state of Philly schools
Horace Clouden, a retired district employee, wants to know the true number of underperforming district and charter schools.
“Families have no confidence” in district schools, Clouden said. Clouden is a proponent of traditional junior high schools, and believes that K-8 schools are leading to poor academic outcomes.
Mama Gail Clouden (who is married to Horace Clouden) said the district “needs to stop ignoring what we know is happening.”
“We have too many schools where people don’t know how to teach our children,” Mama Gail said.
Mama Gail suggests that the superintendent not just go out to schools for photo opportunities. Go into struggling schools, she said.
Leah Clouden, Mama Gail and Horace Clouden’s daughter, says the district is “warehousing students.”
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:22pm
Retired teacher speaks in support of Keziah Ridgeway and Ismael Jimenez
Barbara Dowdall, a retired district teacher, said her mother was denied a job as a school librarian because she was Jewish.
She asks: “What is the school district’s lesson to students” when it mistreats educators Keziah Ridgeway and Ismael Jimenez?
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:20pm
Retired teacher and activist tells board to stop renewing ‘substandard charters’
“More than half of district charter schools are underenrolled,” said Lisa Haver, a retired district teacher and founder of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools.
“It’s not right for this board to renew substandard charter schools” but close neighborhood public schools, Haver said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:17pm
District school psychologist asks the board to halt the facilities planning process
Paul Brown, a district school psychologist, asks for a re-examination of community engagement around the facilities planning process.
The current survey does not “truly capture the needs of Philadelphia,” Brown suggests.
“I’m asking the district to halt the process,” Brown said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:15pm
Schools need more time for student relaxation, parent says
Toya Diggs-Clay, a district parent, says schools need more time for student relaxation and movement. They need better breakfasts and lunches, hygiene bundles going home with kids, and more.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:13pm
District speech language pathologist sounds the alarm on lack of pathologists
Tamara Sepe, a district speech language pathologist and parent, sounds the alarm about a lack of speech language and pathologists in the district, and asks for more transparency around the number of SLP positions in the district.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:10pm
Teacher wants the board to ‘resist’ the congressional investigation ‘as strongly as you can’
Freda Anderson, a district teacher, said the congressional investigation “is a witch hunt” and “does nothing to protect Jewish people.”
Anderson suggests the board and district “resist as strongly as you can.”
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:07pm
Teacher tells the board to ‘look closely at which schools have high turnover’
Philip Belcastro, a teacher at Hill-Freedman World Academy, tells the board: “Teachers aren’t leaving students. In some cases, they’re leaving administrators.”
Belcastro: “I’m asking you again to look closely at which schools have high turnover,” and to make it publicly available.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:05pm
District educator calls the congressional investigation ‘political theater’
Volin Avelin, an observant Jew, said: “Don’t waste time complying with a redundant investigation.”
In the 1950s, the House Un-American Activities Committee dismissed 26 teachers for alleged Communism. “Learn from this shameful history and stand up for teachers teaching critical content,” Volin Avelin said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:03pm
Schools became underenrolled because of disinvestment, parent tells the board
Melanie Silva, a district parent, tells the board: Schools became underenrolled because of your disinvestment.
Families aren’t ignoring middle schools because of transitions, Silva said, continuing: We’re ignoring them because you under-resourced them.
“We expect investment, not displacement,” Silva said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 6:00pm
Teacher Keziah Ridgeway tells the board: ‘You are at a crossroads right now, with a national spotlight on you’
“All I’ve ever wanted is to protect students in the ways that I wasn’t protected from the racism that permeates the SDP schools,” Ridgeway said.
“Being a teacher should be heart work,” Ridgeway said. “It’s December and I probably spent $2,000 of our own money on our babies — because they are our babies.”
“You are at a crossroads right now, with a national spotlight on you,” Ridgeway said, asking if the district will “capitulate to McCarthyism.”
Keziah Ridgeway, a district teacher, speaks to the Philadelphia School Board during meeting on Dec. 4, 2025.
Hannah Gann, a district staff member, then spoke to the district about Ridgeway and other educators: “The baseless attacks on some of Philly’s best Black teachers” is meant to distract them, Gann said.
Allegations of Islamaphobia are just as serious as antisemitism, Gann said. “The district has far more culpability to act when its staff harms students than when its employees feel uncomfortable when they see the word Palestine on a T-shirt,” Gann said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:52pm
District teacher and former teacher each testify in opposition to any school closures
Julian Prados-Frank, a district teacher, is testifying “to oppose any plan that would close schools.”
Schools represent a safe haven for students — sometimes the only place where they get nutritious meals and get social services, Prados-Frank said.
“Our students rely on their schools as a stable refuge,” Prados-Frank said. In his first period math class, many kids miss because of transportation issues. “These kids can’t miss more math,” he said.
Jess Morris-Horowitz, a former district teacher, also tells the board: “The anxiety-inducing phrase ‘school closures’ has been coming for months now.”
The district has spent millions on unnecessary changes, and let buildings languish, she said.
“I’m here to advocate for a focus on human-centered processes and decision-making,” Morris-Horowitz said. School closures will “critically disrupt” students’ and families’ lives.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:50pm
KIPP North parent speaks to the board in support of the charter
Pro bono librarian tells the board: ‘School librarians are not expendable.’
Deborah Herskovitz, a district parent who acts as the pro bono librarian at Vare-Washington, which has one of a clutch of “small guerrilla libraries” around the district, wants the board to know that what she provides is not the same has having a certified school librarian. “The district only has about three of those.”
“School librarians are not expendable. They are not extras,” Herskovitz said.
Suburban schools all have school librarians, she said, and these are the schools parents are leaving Philly for.
“Our library is a signal to perspective parents — we value reading here,” Herskovitz said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:41pm
Another Mastery charter parent speaks in support of the school
Amberia Perkins, a parent at Mastery Charter Wister, said her kids love the school, and asks the board to support it.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:37pm
There is too much anti-Blackness and racism and not enough consequences, retired teacher says
Kristin Luebbert, a retired district teacher, says she witnessed many instances of racism, anti-Islamic, and anti-Palestinian behavior in the district.
“No consistent effort has been made to make white teachers interrogate their whiteness” and confront racism, Luebbert said.
“This leads to too many teachers and staff upholding racist and anti-Black attitudes,” said Luebbert, who is white.
There is too much anti-Blackness and racism, and not enough consequences, Luebbert said. The district must ensure that the staff that should be nurturing students “is not harming them instead,” she said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:35pm
Teacher shares concerns about ‘politically motivated attacks’ on educators
Thomas Quinn, a district teacher, tells the board: “Right now, Philly schools are under politically motivated attacks.”
Another parent speaks in support of Mastery schools
Shavon Almodovar, a parent with children at Mastery schools, is also praising her kids’ schools. Mastery has pushed her kids to grow, given them challenging and fun content, and has developed her kids in all areas.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:30pm
Parent urges the board to consider standing behind KIPP North, rather than nonrenew it
“Our children … [should] be in schools where teachers truly love the work, and not just show up to do the work,” Hazel said.
“If we truly believe in equity … then we have to stand behind the places that are already doing that,” Hazel said. She asks the board to keep KIPP North open. (The board has moved to nonrenew KIPP over academic concerns.)
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:27pm
Parents speak in support of two Mastery Charter schools
Yolanda Williams, a grandparent at Mastery Charter Clymer, says the school has done wonders for her granddaughter.
“Me, I don’t worry when I drop her off at school because she’s at Mastery. I know she’s fine, I know they’ll treat her right, and I know she’ll get her education,” Williams said.
Joyletta White, a parent at Mastery Charter Gratz, has had a positive experience at Gratz, where her son is thriving.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:20pm
Principals union president expresses gratitude to the board for their newly ratified contract
“It was very clear from actions over the weekend that we were heard loud and clear,” Cooper said. “Any time that men will meet with you on a Sunday — on a football Sunday — you know that a contract is in the making.”
There were no raises in the 2016 contract (though principals became 12-month employees again, as opposed to the 10-month employees they had been.) There were just bonuses.
But the board was listening this time, Cooper said. Over half of CASA’s 1,000 members voted on the contract, and 97% voted for it.
“We are partners with the district,” Cooper said. “We try to lead by example.”
“We didn’t get everything that we wanted, but we are leaving feeling heard, and we are leaving with a fair contract,” Cooper said.
Robin Cooper, president of CASA, the principals’ union, speaks to the Philadelphia school board at a meeting on Dec. 4, 2025.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:16pm
Public speakers begin
We’re onto public speakers now.
There’s lots of written testimony defending Keziah Ridgeway and Ismael Jimenez, district educators who were alluded to in an order for a congressional investigation into alleged antisemitism in the district.
Sarah-Ashley Andrews is unanimously reelected as vice president
Andrews is unanimously reelected vice president, 9-0.
Andrews thanks her fellow board members “for your continued trust and support, and the push. I really appreciate the push. Thank you for the opportunity to serve again.”
Streater also responds to his reelection: “This was not a box-checking moment,” and he appreciates that the board still has confidence in him.
Sarah-Ashley Andrews speaks at City Hall on April 2, 2024.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:04pm
Board moves on to election of vice president
Sarah-Ashley Andrews is renominated as board vice president.
Cheryl Harper speaks out for her as a hard worker and steadying force, someone who works with students and community members especially well.
Crystal Cubbage says: “She has a great sense of the city and her dedication to the residents of the city in all neighborhoods is admirable. I’d like to see her play an expanded role as our vice president if elected.”
ChauWing Lam, who joined the board at the same time as Andrews, said she admires “the proudness with which she represents this board, her hardworking nature, and the style in which she welcomes those around her, brings people in.”
Streater is now praising Andrews. “It’s been a blessing to see a young powerful Black woman show up in spaces,” he said. Streater said he sees Andrews as a future president. “I’ve seen you in action and I know you’re ready to take it to the next level,” he said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 5:03pm
Streater is reelected as board president
Streater is reelected 8-0.
But there was a bit of a suprise: Board member Crystal Cubbage abstained from voting.
Reginald Streater spoke at City Hall on April 2, 2024.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:57pm
Board prepares to elect its president and vice president for 2026
We’re into the board reorg now. As secretary, Watlington presides. Reginald Streater is renominated quickly.
Streater accepted the nomination “humbly,” he said. He praises the whole board for its work in the past year. “We have demonstrated that steady leadership, not reactionary swings, produces real results,” Streater said.
The board has an enormous job in front of it in the next year: the facilities master planning process, which will bring school closures that will surely be unpopular.
“The responsibility is not lost on me,” Streater said, “and I gratefully accept.”
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:45pm
Board members respond to superintendent’s report
Board member Cheryl Harper applauds the CASA contract. Principals, Harper said, “are the backbones pushing education in the schools…you deserve the contract, and I’m so happy that you have it.”
Lots of praise for CASA from the board, generally.
Board president Reginald Streater on district principals: “You are first in our line fighting for our babies,” he said.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:43pm
The district has made improvements to the school selection process, Watlington says
An update on school selection: The superintendent says the district has made improvements to the process, changes recommended by an outside consultant including optimizing the lottery, ranking and waitlist features, and enabling schools more leeway to select criteria for their best-fit students.
This year, 21,624 students applied to criteria-based schools, up from 16,878 students last school year. There were 67,928 total applications submitted, and 17,744 career and technical education applications submitted (that number is also up).
Superintendent Tony Watlington shared this slide on progress with the district’s school selection process during a school board meeting on Dec. 4, 2025.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:37pm
5,000 people have taken the facilities planning survey so far, Watlington shares
An update, now, on the facilities planning process: 5,000 people have responded to the district’s new facilities survey.
“It’s been an honor to work with Teamsters Local 502,” Watlington said, noting principals’ key role in student learning. “We ask the board for your favorable adoption of the contract tonight.”
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:22pm
Two students share their love for KIPP North
Student speakers are up now.
First is Jovahni Hazel, a student at KIPP North. Jovahni said he never got help at his old school, but he gets lots of help at KIPP. His sister used to hate school, but she loves school at KIPP.
“Kids like me work hard, we try, we show up, we push through things most people never see … Please keep [KIPP] open.” (The board has moved to nonrenew KIPP over academic concerns.)
Timothy Fontaine, another KIPP North student, loves his school. Timothy loves music.
“At KIPP North, they’re really the ones who let me grow with it.”
A drummer, Timothy has had chances to lead music class. The staff has helped him in many ways.
“This school is more than a school to me. It’s my home.”
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:17pm
Attendance taken as the meeting begins
All nine board members are present at tonight’s meeting.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:09pm
Seniors and teacher of the month are honored
Seniors of the month are Juan Aquino of Olney High School and Andre Carter of Parkway Northwest High School for Peace and Social Justice.
Teacher of the month is Cynthia Carr from Swenson Arts and Technology High School.
// Timestamp 12/04/25 4:06pm
Final school board meeting of the year begins
School board meeting, here we go!
The final school board meeting of 2025 is the annual re-organizational meeting, when officers will be elected for 2026.
School board president Reginald Streater kicks the meeting off.
Philly school board to host its monthly action meeting
// Timestamp 12/04/25 3:45pm
The Philadelphia school board is set to host its monthly action meeting — the last of 2025 — starting at 4 p.m.
Among the topics on the agenda is the election of the board’s president and vice president for the coming calendar year.
