Philadelphia local news, sports, jobs, cars, homes

Blog

  • đŸ©ș Visualizing a rising cost of care | Morning Newsletter

    đŸ©ș Visualizing a rising cost of care | Morning Newsletter

    Hi, Philly. We’ll see sun today after the region avoided the worst of yesterday’s storm.

    Affordable Care Act tax credits are set to expire at the end of this year, unless they’re renewed or replaced. See how health insurance premiums are estimated to rise across the region, depending on where someone lives, how old they are, and what they earn.

    And a man died driving on Northwest Philadelphia’s winding, wet roads. The neighborhood has tried to address the danger for decades.

    Plus, Chester County might be the only Philly suburb not raising taxes next year. Read on for a preview of Inquirer Chester County, the free weekly newsletter launching today.

    — Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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

    Health insurance premiums could increase fivefold

    Have a health insurance plan through Pennie in Pennsylvania, Get Covered NJ in New Jersey, or Healthcare.gov in Delaware? You could see costs rise dramatically in 2026 after Congress failed to renew the financial incentive program during the budget negotiations that prompted this fall’s government shutdown.

    If Congress does not approve an extension of the tax credits, monthly premiums for some could increase fivefold, but the amount depends on factors such as age, income, and county of residence. Consider these cases:

    Case study #1: A 27-year-old Philadelphia resident who makes $35,000 a year could go from paying $86 to $218.

    Case study #2: A 60-year-old Camden County resident who makes $65,000 could go from paying $461 to $1,157.

    Use our tool to see how much you’ll pay for health insurance if ACA tax credits expire.

    ‘It’s a curvy, tricky road’

    Chestnut Hill and Mount Airy residents have for years sounded the alarm about dangerous — and, in at least five cases since 2019, deadly — driving conditions on the winding Lincoln Drive.

    The latest fatal accident occurred on Sunday: A 65-year-old man died after crashing his car on Cresheim Valley Drive, which intersects with Lincoln.

    The Streets Department has installed some traffic-calming measures to improve safety along the area’s roadways. Neighbors want to see more. Most urgently, that includes the repair of the downed guardrail that failed to prevent this weekend’s crash.

    Reporter Henry Savage has more on residents’ pleas and the city’s efforts.

    What you should know today

    Plus: Chester County holds the financial line

    Inquirer Chester County launches today. Below is a peek at what you can expect from the free, weekly newsletter. Sign up here to get your guide to the news, stories, and events shaping life in your community.

    Chester County residents may be the only ones in Philadelphia’s suburbs to dodge a property tax hike in 2026.

    While the county’s proposed budget for next year has a 4.7% spending increase, officials don’t expect to pass that on to taxpayers. That’s thanks to non-personnel budget cuts initiated earlier this year across departments, as well as delayed projects.

    While still navigating financial uncertainty, the bipartisan Chester County Board of Commissioners tasked officials with holding “the line in terms of tax increases,” county CEO David Byerman said. The budget is expected to pass doing just that.

    Reporter Katie Bernard has more on how the county maintained property taxes for 2026.

    🧠 Trivia time

    Which Delaware County university has entered an agreement to buy nearly half of the Valley Forge Military Academy property?

    A) Villanova University

    B) Neumann University

    C) Widener University

    D) Eastern University

    Think you know? Check your answer.

    What we’re…

    🚌 Supporting: Quinta Brunson’s field trip fund for Philly public school students.

    đŸ•ïž Humming: “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah!” ahead of this Allan Sherman tribute.

    đŸœïž Congratulating: Fishtown’s Emmett, named one of Esquire’s Best New Restaurants.

    🏡 Noting: This professional home appraiser’s explanation of the appraisal process.

    đŸ•Šïž Considering: How Philly’s faith communities are showing up for immigrants.

    đŸ§© Unscramble the anagram

    Hint: In Bucks County

    SHINY NAME

    Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.

    Cheers to Jack Falkenbach, who solved Tuesday’s anagram: Logan Circle. The Center City park will have new sidewalks, ADA ramps, and a restored fountain this spring following a monthslong construction project.

    Photo of the day

    Tammy Novick walks beside her 2-year-old granddaughter, Lilian, as she rides her push car through Center City Philadelphia during a cold early morning stroll this week.

    Get your winter fashion on and have a good one. I’ll see you back here tomorrow morning.

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

  • Chesco residents may dodge a tax hike in 2026 | Inquirer Chester County

    Chesco residents may dodge a tax hike in 2026 | Inquirer Chester County

    Hi, Chester County! 👋

    Welcome to the first edition of The Inquirer’s new weekly newsletter, bringing you community news, important school district and municipal updates, restaurant openings, as well as events throughout the county.

    Chester County residents may avoid a property tax hike despite increased spending in next year’s proposed budget. Also this week, Chester County is home to the region’s most flood-prone waterway, a new Chester County Prison program is helping inmates find second chances, plus, a mixed-use development is being planned on former farmland in Kennett Square.

    As we start this journey together, we’ll want your feedback. Tell us what you think of the newsletter by taking our survey or emailing us at chestercounty@inquirer.com. Thanks for joining us!

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

    Chester County is poised to avoid property tax hikes in 2026

    Chester County Commissioners Eric M. Roe, Josh Maxwell, and Marian D. Moskowitz are expected to pass a 2026 budget that includes no property tax hikes.

    Chester County residents may be the only ones in Philadelphia’s suburbs to dodge a property tax hike in 2026.

    While the county’s proposed budget for next year has a 4.7% spending increase, officials don’t expect to pass that on to taxpayers. That’s thanks to non-personnel budget cuts initiated earlier this year across departments, as well as delayed projects.

    While still navigating financial uncertainty, the bipartisan Board of Commissioners tasked officials with holding “the line in terms of tax increases,” county CEO David Byerman said. The budget is expected to pass doing just that.

    Read more about how the county maintained property taxes for 2026.

    💡 Community News

    • An Inquirer analysis of U.S. Geological Survey data found that the East Branch Brandywine Creek near Downingtown is the most flood-prone waterway in the Philadelphia area. Between 2005 and 2025, it had 11 major and 22 moderate floods, including a record 19.1-foot surge in September 2021 from Hurricane Ida.
    • A portion of former mushroom farmland near the intersection of Routes 41 and 1 in Kennett Square is being eyed for development. Baltimore-based Stonewall Capital is looking to turn the 235-acre site into 622 residential units and shops. The developer plans to begin work on the $300 million White Clay Point project next fall. (Philadelphia Business Journal)
    • Main Line Health opened a new outpatient facility in Devon on Monday. The $13.8 million, 22,700-square-foot center at 80 W. Lancaster Ave. offers primary care, rehabilitation, imaging, and laboratory services.
    • In case you missed, HBO series Task, which was created by Berwyn native Brad Ingelsby, has been renewed for a second season. The crime drama scored a record $49.8 million tax credit from the state to film locally, the largest amount Pennsylvania has given to a single production.
    • Heads up for drivers: Peco will continue performing utility construction roadwork on Newtown Road between Sugartown and Waterloo Roads in Easttown Township on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Dec. 19. And in Caln Township, Pennsylvania American Water will continue water line installation that will shut down Olive Street between South Caln Road and 13th Avenue from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through February.
    • In other transportation news, PennDot is hosting a virtual meeting tomorrow at 7 p.m. to discuss proposed improvements to the intersection at Newark Road and Baltimore Pike in New Garden Township.
    • Avondale and West Grove Fire Companies recently voted to merge into a single department. They will operate under a combined name, which is yet to be announced, and continue to provide fire and EMS services to over 120 square miles in southern Chester County. The merger is expected to take about 12 months to complete. The newly formed department will have a mix of both career and volunteer responders.
    • In other emergency services news, Westtown-East Goshen Police Commission last week named a new chief of police for the Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police Department. David Leahy, a 26-year veteran of the department, has been elevated from his role as interim chief and will be sworn in on Dec. 19.
    • Chester County is home to three of the region’s most magical holiday light displays: In West Chester, there’s the Griswold display and the Lights Up Holiday Weekends, while in Nottingham, the Herr’s Holiday Lights Display dazzles with more than 600,000 lights.
    • Those heading into West Chester this season can expect plenty of crowds. The Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce estimates 40,000 people will visit the borough throughout the holiday season, including for this weekend’s tree lighting, which features a new 28-foot tree. (Daily Local Times)
    • In Downingtown, borough parking lots will be free through Jan. 1.

    📍 Countywide News

    đŸ« Schools Briefing

    • Kennett Consolidated School District is considering redistricting its elementary schools due to uneven enrollment and ongoing housing development. The district is drawing up a comprehensive map of planned attendance areas. (Chester County Press)
    • Kindergarten registration for the Coatesville Area School District is now open for the 2026-27 school year.

    đŸœïž On our Plate

    • The Local opened its doors yesterday at 324 Bridge St. in Phoenixville, taking over the former Your Mom’s Place. It’s launching this week with breakfast and plans to expand to lunch service shortly. Menu items include breakfast sandwiches, omelets, pancakes, and French toast.
    • Several holiday-themed pop-ups have opened or will soon throughout the county. In West Chester, Station 142 has transformed into Miracle on Market Street; Hotel Indigo has converted its basement speakeasy Room 109 into the North Pole Social; and Slow Hand has added Sleigh Bar. Grain in Kennett Square is serving up holiday sips at its North Pole KSQ pop-up and on Saturday, a Christmas-themed pop-up is taking over 10 N. Main St. in Phoenixville.

    🎳 Things to Do

    🎁 Several holiday markets are popping up this weekend, including Historic Sugartown’s Holiday Craft Market & Biergarten on Saturday. Kennett Square’s Holiday Village Market kicks off its two-weekend run this Saturday and Sunday at The Creamery, and for the first time, Fitzwater Station in Phoenixville is hosting a Christmas Village. It takes place Saturday and Sunday and returns for two more weekends after that.

    Here’s what else is happening around Chester County:

    🎭 A Christmas Carol: Catch People’s Light’s adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic. ⏰ Through Jan. 4, days and times vary đŸ’” Prices vary 📍 People’s Light, Malvern

    💎 A Longwood Christmas: This year’s annual holiday display is inspired by gems. Timed reservations are required. ⏰ Through Sunday, Jan. 11, 10 a.m.-11 p.m. đŸ’” $25-$45 for non-members, free for members 📍 Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square

    🎄 West Chester Hometown Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting: The beloved events kick off with the tree lighting at the historic courthouse at 6:30 p.m., followed by the parade at 7 p.m. ⏰ Friday, Dec. 5, 6:30 p.m. đŸ’” Free 📍 Downtown West Chester

    ❄ Coatesville Christmas Parade and Christmas Wonderland: Kick off the day with a parade. Later, Santa will help light the city’s tree. ⏰ Saturday, Dec. 6, parade starts at 10 a.m., Wonderland is 4-7 p.m. đŸ’” Free 📍 Downtown Coatesville

    💃 The Phoenixville Christmas Spectacular: Catch one of three performances of this dance-forward show celebrating Phoenixville’s holiday charm. ⏰ Saturday, Dec. 6, 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 7, 2 p.m. đŸ’” $18-$25 📍 The Colonial Theatre, Phoenixville

    👾 Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella: The Broadway adaptation of the beloved fairytale comes to life on stage on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. ⏰ Saturday, Dec. 6-Sunday, Dec. 28, select days and times đŸ’” $40-$50 📍 Uptown Knauer Performing Arts Center, West Chester

    🏡 On the Market

    A Chadds Ford home perfect for entertaining

    The kitchen features an island and looks out on the living room.

    This Chadds Ford home is ideal for a home chef or host, featuring double ovens, a Sub-Zero refrigerator, and a 10-foot island with seating in the kitchen, plus a butler’s pantry with a bar sink and additional storage and prep space between the kitchen and dining room. The updated home, originally built in 1952 from a Sears kit and since expanded, has four bedrooms, including a first floor primary suite. Other features include a large deck and a suite with a kitchenette and a private entrance.

    See more photos of the property here.

    Price: $1.1M | Size: 4,129 SF | Acreage: 2

    đŸ—žïž What other Chester County residents are reading this week:

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

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

  • Former East principal denies discrimination claims | Inquirer Cherry Hill

    Former East principal denies discrimination claims | Inquirer Cherry Hill

    Hello, Cherry Hill! 👋

    A former East principal has denied discrimination allegations made against him by a former assistant principal earlier this year. Also this week, the district’s elementary schools may redistribute students as they face potential overcrowding, some retailers at the Cherry Hill Mall reported seeing fewer shoppers on Black Friday compared to past years, plus farmhouses at Holly Ravine Farm will soon be torn down as the town preserves the land.

    We want your feedback. Tell us what you think about the newsletter by taking our survey or emailing us at cherryhill@inquirer.com.

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

    Former East principal denies allegations of discrimination and retaliation

    A former Cherry Hill East principal has denied allegations made against him by a former assistant principal.

    Former Cherry Hill High School East Principal Daniel Finkle has denied claims that he engaged in discriminatory behavior or retaliated against former assistant principal David Francis-Maurer, who filed a lawsuit earlier this year after his contract was not renewed. Francis-Maurer claimed that Finkle and other officials discriminated against him based on his religion and sexual orientation.

    But in court documents filed last month, Finkle’s legal representatives said Francis-Maurer was fired for job performance.

    They allege that Francis-Maurer was unresponsive to feedback, unwilling to collaborate with colleagues, and that he failed to complete mandatory performance reviews of employees, The Inquirer’s Denali Sagner reports.

    Read more about Finkle’s response to the lawsuit.

    What to know about the district’s ideas to rebalance elementary schools

    Clara H. Barton Elementary School is among the schools expected to see overcrowding in the next few years.

    Five of Cherry Hill’s 12 elementary schools are expected to exceed capacity in the coming years, and to head off overcrowding, the district has begun looking at “balancing” them.

    By the 2028-29 school year, the district projects it will be short about 337 seats, and is considering a number of solutions, including reassigning students to less-crowded schools or converting an administration building.

    A committee is working to present a preliminary rebalancing plan to the school board in January or February, with a final plan expected by June or July.

    Read more about the overcrowding issues here.

    💡 Community News

    • For some retailers at the Cherry Hill Mall last Friday, it was business as usual, but others said the major shopping day was quieter than in years past, a change driven in part by online shopping and economic uncertainty. Some of the shoppers who did make it to the mall said they were motivated by tradition or unmissable deals.
    • Two former farmhouses near the intersection of Springdale and Evesham Roads will soon be torn down to create a preserved open space. The township purchased the 22.54-acre former Holly Ravine dairy farm last year for $3.87 million after residents raised concerns about it being used as a senior care complex. Now the township is getting closer to seeing its plan for “passive use” and “agricultural use consistent with the farm’s legacy” come to life, according to 70 and 73.
    • The Inquirer recently analyzed U.S. Geological Survey data and found that the South Branch Pennsauken Creek at Cherry Hill is among the most flood-prone waterways in the region. It most recently flooded in December 2023, when the water reached a maximum high of 9.5 feet.
    • Work continues on the 252-unit Hampton Square apartment building between Hampton Road and Cuthbert Boulevard at the former site of an industrial complex. Hampton Square will have one- and two-bedroom units and is expected to open early next year. (Courier Post)
    • Looking to give back this holiday season? A Cherry Hill financial adviser offers tips on how to avoid charity scammers and ensure donations are going where you want them to.
    • A little update on Dick’s House of Sport at the Cherry Hill Mall: Foundation work is underway and the mall’s owner, PREIT, is estimating that the 120,000-square-foot store is still on target to open sometime in 2026, though a firm opening date hasn’t been set. (The Sun)
    • Cherry Hill of Subaru helped surprise a 10-year-old South Jersey boy battling cancer by teaming up with nonprofit Make-A-Wish New Jersey to send him on a trip to the Florida Keys this month. Fox29 captured the surprise.

    đŸ« Schools Briefing

    • Cherry Hill schools ranged widely in how they compared to others throughout the state based on the New Jersey Department of Education’s School Performance Report for the 2023-24 school year. Sharp Elementary landed in the 95th percentile, the highest of any school in the district, while Paine Elementary came in at the lowest, in the 26th percentile. (NJ.com)
    • Preschool, elementary, and middle school students will have early dismissals next week for parent/teacher conferences, which kick off Monday and run through Thursday. Next Friday, there’s a district-wide early dismissal.

    đŸœïž On our Plate

    • A new sushi and hibachi spot has taken over the former Cindy’s Chinese Cuisine and is now open at Plaza 38 Shopping Center on Route 38. Sushi House Hibachi & Teriyaki serves its namesake dishes, as well as dumplings, noodles, and bowls. (Courier Post)
    • The G.B.M.F. Challenge at the Kibitz Room is among BestofNJ.com’s top 10 favorite food challenges in the Garden State. Diners who take on the challenge get 30 minutes to eat the massive corned beef, pastrami, turkey, roast beef, and brisket sandwich that the restaurant estimates can feed three to four. Those who can finish it get the $100 sandwich for free and are added to the “Wall of Fame.”

    🎳 Things to Do

    đŸ›Œ TayLena Skate Night: Skate to Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez tunes all night. There will also be a glam station. ⏰ Friday, Dec. 5, 6:30-9 p.m. đŸ’” $14 admission, plus $6 skate rental 📍 Hot Wheelz

    💎 Gently Used Jewelry and Accessory Sale: Shop everything from second-hand jewelry to scarves to handbags at this library fundraiser. ⏰ Saturday, Dec. 6, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. đŸ’” Pay as you go 📍 Cherry Hill Library

    ❄ Winter Festival: This year’s winter festival includes a craft market to shop for gifts, a beer garden, fire pits, ice carving demonstrations, food, and live performances. It will be held rain or shine and is free to attend. ⏰ Sunday, Dec. 7, noon-4 p.m. đŸ’” Pay as you go 📍 Croft Farm

    đŸŽ€ Steve Cofield and Sweet: The classic R&B band will perform an array of tunes from Motown to neo-soul. ⏰ Sunday, Dec. 7, 4-7 p.m. đŸ’” Free 📍 Vera

    🏡 On the Market

    A mid-century modern condo in a gated community

    The condo has an open-concept living and dining area.

    Located in the Mediterranean-inspired and gated Centura community, this two-bedroom condo has undergone updates to its original woodwork, kitchen cabinetry, flooring, and walls. It features an open-concept living and dining area that is anchored by a stone fireplace, and a primary suite with a walk-in closet. It also has a balcony, two reserved garage spaces, and access to the communal pool and tennis courts.

    See more photos of the condo here.

    Price: $199,000 | Size: 1,442 SF

    đŸ—žïž What other Cherry Hill residents are reading this week:

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

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

  • An alternate history of 2023, and why the Eagles are preaching the right message

    An alternate history of 2023, and why the Eagles are preaching the right message

    The biggest risk to the Eagles right now is overcorrection. There’s an alternate history to their 2023 collapse that they should consider before making any drastic changes.

    The setup is mostly the same as the one we all know well. A team fresh off a Super Bowl berth arrives in November looking like a good bet to again win its conference. But after a 7-2 start, the hubcaps start to rattle. The team loses four of the next six games, failing to crack 20 points in all four. Questions begin to swirl about its first-year offensive coordinator. The head coach stands by his man. The team finishes the regular season 11-6 and will likely need to win two games on the road in order to get back to the Super Bowl.

    In truth, this isn’t an alternate history at all. It’s the actual history of the 2023 Chiefs. The drop-off from the season before was massive on the offensive side of the football. Kansas City scored 125 fewer points in 2023 than it did in 2022, when it beat the Eagles in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs’ average yards per play fell from 6.43 to 5.54. And it really hasn’t rebounded. Since the start of the 2023 regular season, the Chiefs have averaged 23.1 points and 348.7 yards per game, down from 28.7 and 405.2 in 2021-22.

    Friday’s loss to the Bears was the most concerning one of the Nick Sirianni era. Is it 2023 all over again?

    But the Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 2023 despite entering the playoffs having lost four of their last eight to finish 11-6. They beat the Bills and Ravens on the road, thanks in large part to a late missed field goal in Buffalo and two fourth-quarter turnovers inside the Chiefs 25-yard line by Baltimore.

    Are there lessons for the Eagles to draw here? I don’t know. Lessons probably isn’t the right word. I’m not going to sit here and argue that people are overreacting to the mess that they’ve seen from Jalen Hurts, Kevin Patullo and Co., most acutely over the last three weeks. But I do think it can be detrimental if we fail to consider the Eagles’ struggles within the appropriate context.

    Walking around the locker room after the Eagles’ 24-15 loss to the Bears on Black Friday, I heard several players use the same phrase.

    Center Cam Jurgens: “We’re 8-4. The sky’s still above us.”

    Running back Saquon Barkley: “The sky’s falling outside the locker room, but I have nothing but the utmost confidence in the men in this locker room, players and coaches included.”

    Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo with Jalen Hurts and Jahan Dotson during the loss to the Bears.

    The remainder of the season will be determined by whether the Eagles can internalize all of this talk. They are correct when they say that the situation inside the locker room is not nearly as dire as the angst that abounds outside those walls. They still have three games remaining against the Raiders and the Commanders. That should get them to 11 wins, bare minimum. That would leave the Cowboys needing to win out in order to steal the division from them. The Eagles will tell you that they aren’t thinking about these things. Such is the NFL’s this-game-is-the-only-game ethos. But, sometimes, it can be helpful to take a little peek down the road, if only to remind yourself that you aren’t standing on the edge of a cliff.

    The Eagles play in an environment that can make it awfully tough to maintain perspective. The Birds are an all-consuming thing here. Questions, headlines, boos, all of them multiply. There comes a point when any human being will stop and wonder whether everybody else is right.

    There is a long list of reasons why it makes little sense to compare the Eagles’ current straits to the ones that led to the 2023 collapse. The one similarity is the way the chicken can become the egg and snowball into a big scrambled mess. The prime mover of the Eagles’ dysfunction that season wasn’t Hurts or Brian Johnson or Nick Sirianni or some chemical imbalance within the locker room. It was a defense that couldn’t get a stop, a defense that was of a wildly different makeup than it is right now.

    Fear factors: Ranking the Eagles’ road to the Super Bowl, from the real Rams to the Bears

    It’s funny to look back to the numbers from that season. The Eagles’ NFL rankings in yards and points in 2023 were exactly what they were in 2024: seventh in points, eighth in yards. They scored 31 points in a loss to the Cardinals down the stretch in 2023.

    The worst thing the Eagles can do is hold on to any sort of thought that the foundation of their collapse in 2023 lies within themselves. The dysfunction grew from the on-field struggles, not vice versa. Yes, that dysfunction eventually reached a point when it became self-fulfilling. But the Eagles allowed it to get to that point. The Chiefs of 2023 did not.

    The reality of the NFL is that good teams struggle. It is a counterpunchers league, led by a bunch of maniac coaches who won’t rest until they figure out what you are doing and how to beat it. Andy Reid did not suddenly become a worse offensive coach over the last three seasons. Patrick Mahomes is still the same Patrick Mahomes who threw for 5,250 yards in 2022. Nobody in Kansas City or elsewhere is seriously questioning whether one of them is the problem.

    The Eagles made it look easy last year. But last year was an anomaly. The competitive environment this season is much closer to the norm. The Eagles are still one of the two teams in the NFC most capable of making the Super Bowl. In the Rams, they have already beaten the one team that looks better than everybody else.

    The message that Sirianni and his team have been preaching is the right one. They just need to keep believing it.

  • ‘Phillies Extra’ Q&A: Luke Murton on the 2026 outlook for the top prospects

    ‘Phillies Extra’ Q&A: Luke Murton on the 2026 outlook for the top prospects

    No matter what happens over the next few weeks in free agency and the trade market, one thing appears certain about the Phillies in 2026.

    It will be graduation season.

    Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter are poised to figure prominently in the Phillies’ plans — probably as soon as opening day — after spending 2025 in the minors. Fellow top prospect Aidan Miller may not be far behind.

    The Phillies are eyeing an infusion of youth for 2026. Here’s how three top prospects can fit.

    And their looming major league debuts are as essential to an aging Phillies roster as any offseason move that the team will make, including the potential re-signings of Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto.

    Minor league director Luke Murton recently joined Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to discuss the state of the farm system, with a focus on Crawford, Painter, and Miller. Here’s an excerpt from our conversation, edited for brevity and clarity.

    Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Phillies Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

    Q: Was there any point in 2025 when you got close to calling up Crawford?

    A: Any time a player performs the way Justin performed, I think the conversation will always happen. When you’ve got a guy that’s hitting .330 at triple A and is athletic and can play center field and do all these things, I think at the end of day, that’s always a conversation: Should we bring Justin up? When should we bring Justin up? The one thing that’s good for us is our major league club is very, very good. Not the best thing for some prospects. I think if you look at a lot of the organizations, Justin would have probably been in the big leagues at some point this year because of how well he performed.

    The Phillies are eyeing an infusion of youth for 2026. Here’s how three top prospects can fit.

    I do think his maturation in the minor leagues in the full season of triple A will help him heading into this year. So, yeah, I think at different points of the year [a call-up] was obviously closer than others. He’s a talented player who we believe is major league-ready. And I think he could have been ready for a lot of teams last year. I think just given where we were at, where he was at, it just probably wasn’t the best at the time. So I think him more than anybody is looking forward to the 2026 opportunity he’s going to have in front of him.

    Q: How much debate is there internally about him being best in center field vs. left field? You were pretty clear during the season that you think he can be your center fielder. Is that still the feeling?

    A: 
 I think Justin’s more than capable of playing center field. We view him internally as a center fielder. We’ll see how the offseason goes. But I think, right now, he’s geared to center field. That’s where he’s going to play, and that’s where he’s going to be with us for a very long time.

    Q: Looking back on Painter’s year, how much do you emphasize the 26 starts, 118 innings, no setbacks from a health standpoint, finishing the season, and trust that the command will get sharper as he gets further away from Tommy John surgery?

    A: 
 He did a tremendous job this year. We had expectations on him. I think the industry had expectations on him. Honestly, some of these expectations we put on players is unfair. I think he’s a guy that’s just coming back from Tommy John, that pitched over 100 innings, was healthy and at a level he’d never been without an offseason to where he could really progress and do what he wanted to do.

    So, I was very pleased, very satisfied. 
 You hear a lot of statistics of what guys do their first year out of Tommy John and how much better the second year goes. So at the end of the day, Andy’s a very, very talented kid who’s a great kid. I think he accomplished a ton this year. I think next year, he’s looking forward to accomplishing more. I think he’s down in Florida, at home, and he’s working. I know he goes in and out of Cressey [Sports Performance in Florida], spends a lot of time there, which, they’ve done a great job with him over the years. So he’s down there. He popped in here [in Clearwater, Fla.] to the high-performance camp the other day. But he looks great. He’s healthy. He’s ready to go.

    Q: What’s the plan for getting Miller some reps at other positions, maybe third base? Is that in the cards for him? And can you see him factoring into the mix at the big league level in 2026?

    A: 
 He wanted to prove that he can play shortstop. I think he’s done that internally. I think he’s done that to the industry. Where we’re at now is, Trea Turner is a phenomenal shortstop, played great defensively, led the league in hitting. It’s not easy to go replace that in the big leagues. But I think at the end of the day, we’ve talked to Aidan about possibly doing some third [base] and moving around the infield a little bit, and he’s open to it.

    Andrew Painter isn’t the only pitching prospect who might help the Phillies in 2026

    And as far as him being in the mix next year, you never know. He’s a very talented player. Don’t want to put too much on him too soon. He’ll be a big-league spring-training invite. You bring him in and you see what we’ve got, we see where the roster ends up throughout the year, and you never know 
 Obviously, that’s [president] Dave [Dombrowski] and [general manager] Preston [Mattingly] kind of doing that. But I think from a talent standpoint, from a readiness standpoint 
 the ones that are really good, they always are ready a little sooner than you think they are. So I think we’ll see. I think, at the end of day, he might move around defensively a little bit to get somewhere off shortstop. He’ll be in big league spring training, and he’s looking for the opportunity to prove that he’s ready.

    Aidan Miller has only played shortstop in the minor leagues but that position is blocked by Trea Turner at the major league level.
    Q: Could you see left field as a possibility for Miller?

    A: I don’t think you rule anything out as a possibility ever. Because I think, at the end of the day, it’s [about] how do we best service our major league team? And I think somebody like Aidan would be completely willing to go wherever he could to do that. But right now I think it’s more to say moving around the infield, see if there’s a spot there potentially ever in the future. And, again, I don’t think outfield is out of the question, but not something that I think we’ve kicked around too much recently.

    Check out the full interview for Murton’s assessment of several other prospects, including pitcher Gage Wood, outfielder Gabriel Rincones Jr., and more.

  • Chester County might be the only Philly suburb not raising taxes next year

    Chester County might be the only Philly suburb not raising taxes next year

    Chester County may be the only county in Philadelphia’s suburbs that will avoid a property tax hike next year.

    In the proposed 2026 budget, released last month, Chester County’s commissioners projected $666.3 million in operational spending, roughly 4.7% more than the county budgeted for 2025. The budget is expected to pass the three-member board of commissioners with bipartisan support.

    Despite the increased spending and more limited state and federal resources, county officials said, they expected to avoid a tax increase next year thanks to budget cuts across nearly every department and delayed projects.

    “This budget was really difficult for us, but we did what we had to to keep it at zero,” said Chester County Commissioner Marian Moskowitz, a Democrat.

    David Byerman, the county’s CEO, described the county as being in a “defensive crouch” financially.

    “We are in a very unpredictable environment in which we have a lot of conflicting information that we’re dealing with,” Byerman said, citing federal funding uncertainty under President Donald Trump. “We were charged by our commissioners in Chester County with crafting a budget that held the line in terms of tax increases.”

    How does Chester County compare with the rest of the region?

    The decision sets Chester County apart from its peers in a year that has been marked by budget uncertainty at the state and federal levels. In recent weeks, Delaware County’s executive director proposed a 19% property tax hike to address the county’s structural deficit. Montgomery County’s commissioners are proposing a 4% increase. Bucks County’s commissioners have floated a tax increase to address a deficit in next year’s budget.

    But on the heels of a 13% property tax increase that took effect in January, Chester County’s commissioners said they were eager to keep taxes flat for residents.

    “This is a pared-down budget because we didn’t know what the federal and state government were going to do,” said Josh Maxwell, a Democrat, who chairs the county board of commissioners.

    The biggest cost increases, he said, came in the form of employee and inmate healthcare.

    How did Chester County cut its budget?

    In the first quarter of this year, Chester County officials asked each county department to reduce non-personnel spending by 5% for the 2026 budget. By and large, officials said, they responded to the call, freeing up significant funds even as overall personnel costs increased.

    “We asked them to cut back, and some of them really did,” said Eric Roe, the lone Republican on the board of commissioners. “I’m really happy with how they helped us get to this point.”

    In this year’s budget, officials said, they opted to delay projects like park maintenance and computer system upgrades that could be put off.

    “The cuts are giving us an opportunity to prioritize and rethink our discretionary spending,” Maxwell said. “They may have to go to some of the things that the federal and state government used to do that they’re getting out of the business of doing.”

    Additionally, Byerman said, the county instituted a soft hiring freeze by requiring all new hires to be approved by top-level management.

    Can Chester County avoid tax increases in future years?

    Heading into next year, Maxwell said, he is bracing for cuts to federal social service programs that will result in larger expenditures from the county to serve its neediest residents.

    For example, anticipated cuts to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care program could leave 70 more families on the streets in Chester County, Maxwell said.

    “This is a year where we’re going to look at all of our programs and make sure that we’re investing in the areas that the community wants us to,” Maxwell said.

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

  • A lack of luck | Sports Daily Newsletter

    A lack of luck | Sports Daily Newsletter

    A crisp, rainy Tuesday in Philadelphia almost felt emotionally fitting for this city’s sports fans.

    The Eagles are on a two-game skid after a horrendous loss to the Bears on Black Friday, the Sixers still have much room for improvement, and the Flyers — a team that started to show some fire and promise — lost their top goal scorer in Tyson Foerster to an upper body injury.

    The forward, who notched 10 goals in 21 games this season, is expected to miss two to three months. While the team didn’t specify the extent of his injury, Foerster appeared to be holding his right shoulder before exiting in a 5-1 loss against the Penguins on Monday night, which snapped a three-game winning streak.

    Foerster has been a key role player and was off to a hot start, with six goals coming in the last seven games. His absence will certainly be felt. “He’s such a big part of the team, the locker room, everything,” Travis Konecny said.

    So where do the Flyers go from here? Well, speculation could be made that Alex Bump will get called up to make his NHL debut or maybe Nikita Grebenkin will have a chance to play in the top nine. Only time will tell if they can fill the void without Foerster on the ice.

    — Isabella DiAmore, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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

    ❓What are your thoughts on the Flyers’ improvement so far this season? Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.

    Preparing for L.A.

    Can Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown help get the offense untracked in front of a Monday night audience in L.A.?

    After the Eagles had a Black Friday meltdown against the Bears, they now have a mini-bye week to prepare for a Monday night showdown on the road with the 8-4 Los Angeles Chargers, who are coming off a 31-14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

    The Eagles offense, with all of its talent, had been floundering for weeks and is still searching for an identity entering Week 14. Nick Sirianni said in the aftermath of the loss to Dallas that the team always wants to play “tough, detailed, together.” The Eagles certainly haven’t been living up to that mantra as they embark upon the final five games of the regular season. For now, let’s focus on what we know — and don’t — about the Eagles vs. Chargers.

    And mark your calendars, the Eagles’ NFC championship game rematch against the Washington Commanders in Week 16 has an official kickoff time for Dec. 20 at 5 p.m. (Fox29).

    What’s next for the Big 3?

    From left: Phillies prospects Justin Crawford, Andrew Painter, and Aidan Miller

    Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter are poised to figure prominently in the Phillies’ plans — perhaps as soon as opening day — after spending all of 2025 in the minors. Fellow top prospect Aidan Miller may not be far behind.

    And their looming major-league debuts are as essential to an aging Phillies roster as any offseason move that the team will make, including the potential re-signings of Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto.

    Minor league director Luke Murton recently joined Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to discuss the state of the farm system, with a focus on Crawford, Painter, and Miller.

    Taking charge

    Villanova freshman guard Acaden Lewis finished with 12 points, eight assists, and no turnovers against Temple.

    It took 2œ minutes for Acaden Lewis to end a Villanova-Temple game Monday night at the Finneran Pavilion that mostly had been a sloppy fight for the first 25 minutes. The freshman was in foul trouble for the bulk of the first half but played a factor in a short sequence that changed the game as Villanova beat Temple, 74-56, on Monday night.

    The Wildcats, in the third year of the current Big 5 Classic format, finally will play for a championship in a City Series the program had long dominated.

    Sports snapshot

    Longtime Union captain Alejandro Bedoya (right) played against Cristiano Ronaldo when the U.S. men’s soccer team tied Portugal at the 2014 World Cup.

    David Murphy’s take

    Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts after he fumbled on the Tush Push in their loss to the Bears on Black Friday.

    The biggest risk to the Eagles right now is overcorrection. While many would say the Birds’ collapse gives flashbacks to 2023, it’s the actual history of the 2023 Chiefs. Kansas City scored 125 fewer points that year than it did in 2022. But the Chiefs won the Super Bowl despite entering the playoffs having lost four of their last eight to finish 11-6.

    I’m not going to sit here and argue that people are overreacting to the mess that they’ve seen from Jalen Hurts, Kevin Patullo and Co. But I do think it can be detrimental if we fail to consider the Eagles’ struggles within the appropriate context, writes columnist David Murphy.

    🧠 Trivia time answer

    Nick Sirianni has the best career winning percentage among Eagles coaches all-time at .700. Who is second at .594?

    B) Greasy Neale — Lauren G. was first with the correct answer.

    What you’re saying about the Eagles

    We asked: What’s the best-case scenario for the Eagles to reach the Super Bowl again? Among your responses:

    We’re gonna need a bigger playbook. — D.W. S.

    The Eagles at 8-4 need to win these last 5 games. Three games are on the road with this Monday game looking better against the 8-4 Charges if Herbert is out. If they would lose either game to the Redskins or to LV they don’t belong in the SB. As long as Josh Allen is healthy taking that game in Buffalo will be tough. Hope for the best, but remembering that we lost our last two games and were blown away by the Bears does certainly not make we fans over optimistic. If the coaching and play calling and desire to win don’t quickly improve you can forget about any trips to Santa Clara in February. — Everett S.

    We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Jeff Neiburg, Olivia Reiner, Jackie Spiegel, Devin Jackson, Jonathan Tannenwald, David Murphy, Scott Lauber, Keith Pompey, Joseph Santoliquito, and Ryan Mack.

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

    As always, thanks for reading. Hoping for some sunshine on this Wednesday. Stay warm this week, and Kerith will catch you back up tomorrow. — Bella

  • What we know (and don’t) about the Eagles entering Week 14 vs. the Chargers

    What we know (and don’t) about the Eagles entering Week 14 vs. the Chargers

    After three consecutive weeks of the Eagles defense trying to compensate for an ineffective offense, the group seemed to hit its breaking point on Black Friday.

    The Eagles conceded 425 yards of offense in their 24-15 loss to the Chicago Bears, bringing their total over the last two weeks to a league-high 898 yards. But Vic Fangio’s defense hasn’t been getting much help from the offense. The Eagles boast the fourth-worst time of possession in the NFL in the last two weeks among 26 teams that have played two games.

    Eagles open as slim favorites over Chargers in Week 14; plus, updated Super Bowl and MVP odds

    Can the Eagles stop the bleeding against the 8-4 Los Angeles Chargers, who are coming off a 31-14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders? That task might be easier if Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is hindered by his injured nonthrowing hand.

    Here is what we know (and what we don’t) about the Eagles heading into their Week 14 matchup:

    Nick Sirianni’s mantra has not equaled a win over the last two weeks.

    Tough, detailed, together?

    Something about the timing of the Bears game just seemed cruel.

    The Eagles offense, with all of its talent, had been floundering for weeks entering that contest. The strides taken in wins over the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants before the bye week seemingly were blips within the greater context of a shaky season.

    There were the Bears, led by a first-year head coach in Ben Johnson who has been getting the most out of his offensive players. They could establish the run and build a play-action passing game off it with a young, inconsistent quarterback in Caleb Williams and had success with the approach in a way that has evaded the Eagles this season.

    Everything the Eagles offense could be this season is what the Bears are right now, and the Eagles should be even greater, considering their personnel. The side-by-side disparity was glaring.

    “They played a good game; they coached a good game,” Nick Sirianni said Friday night. “They outcoached us; they outplayed us.”

    Nick Sirianni reiterates Eagles are ‘evaluating everything,’ but Kevin Patullo will still call plays

    Both admissions were alarming but not surprising. The Eagles, especially on offense, are searching for an identity entering Week 14. Still, Sirianni said in the aftermath of the loss to the Dallas Cowboys that the team always wants to play “tough, detailed, together.”

    The Eagles haven’t been living out that mantra lately. Tough? Nakobe Dean pointed to a lack of violence on defense against the Bears’ rushing attack. Detailed? From the Eagles committing the sixth-most pre-snap penalties in the NFL to Jalen Hurts and his receivers not always being on the same page, the offense hasn’t been executing the finer nuances of its responsibilities to the standard of a Super Bowl contender.

    Time will tell if the Eagles truly are together as they embark upon the final five games of the regular season, starting Monday night against the Chargers. Otherwise, the Eagles are staring down a 2023-like fate.

    A helping hand for Herbert

    As of Tuesday, Herbert was expected to play against the Eagles after fracturing his left hand Sunday against the Raiders.

    Herbert, the sixth-year starter, underwent surgery Monday. He managed to play through the injury, which happened when Raiders safety Jeremy Chinn tackled him on a scramble late in the first quarter. Herbert even completed a 10-yard touchdown pass on the following play.

    Justin Herbert finished the game Sunday despite suffering a fractured non-throwing hand against the Raiders.

    He went 15-of-20 for 151 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. A 108.5 quarterback rating isn’t too shabby for a player with a broken nonthrowing hand.

    Still, 20 attempts represent Herbert’s second-lowest total of the season and tied for third lowest in his career. He was limited to handing the ball off with his right hand and didn’t take snaps under center for the rest of the game.

    With Herbert limited, the Chargers leaned into the running game, led by running backs Kimani Vidal and Jaret Patterson. The duo combined for 180 yards and two touchdowns on 36 attempts. Vidal earned the majority of that share (126 yards on 25 carries) and forced a career-high 12 missed tackles along the way, according to Next Gen Stats.

    The Raiders might be 2-10, but their defense has given up just 3.8 yards per carry this season, which ranks third in the NFL.

    The Eagles should expect to see a continued effort to run the ball from the Chargers, given Herbert’s injury and the Eagles’ porous run defense (281 yards conceded on 47 attempts) against the Bears.

    Can the Eagles still get the No. 1 seed in the NFC? Yes, but it will be difficult.

    Plus, Monday night’s game could mark the return of Omarion Hampton, the rookie running back who has been out since Week 5 with an ankle injury. Before going down, Hampton had been averaging 4.8 yards per carry, which would rank in the top 10 in the NFL if it were sustained over 13 weeks. The Eagles ought to fix their running-game woes to avoid D’Andre Swift-Kyle Monangai 2.0.

    Offensive line lacking

    The Chargers might be extra run-happy, given the state of their pass protection. Herbert has been pressured on 41.8% of his dropbacks this season, which is the third-highest rate in the league. His 38 sacks also rank third.

    Herbert hasn’t been getting much help from his offensive line. The Chargers have lost both of their starting tackles, Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, to injury this year. In August, Slater suffered a torn patellar tendon in his knee in practice, ending his season before it began. Alt had season-ending ankle surgery after getting hurt in early November.

    But the tackle spots aren’t the only weaknesses along the Chargers’ offensive line. The interior, namely former Eagles right guard Mekhi Becton, hasn’t fared much better.

    Mekhi Becton has not parlayed a strong 2024 season with the Eagles into consistent success with the Chargers.

    After signing a two-year, $20 million contract with the Chargers in free agency, Becton has been lackluster in Los Angeles. He has played a career-low 72% of the offensive snaps this season — primarily because of injury — although Becton told ESPN last week that he was pulled from the Week 11 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars without an explanation.

    The Raiders pressured Herbert on 26.9% of his dropbacks, his second-lowest rate of the season, according to Next Gen Stats. The Chargers’ decision to lean into the running game kept the Raiders’ pass rush, namely defensive end Maxx Crosby, at bay.

    Still, the Eagles’ pass rush could have a prime opportunity whenever Herbert drops back, especially if the Chargers fall behind and are forced to throw.

    The Eagles are coming off a season-low 25% pressure rate against the Bears. Nolan Smith led the way with four pressures on Williams, followed by Jalyx Hunt with three.

    Barkley beware

    The Chargers have statistically one of the best passing defenses in the league, allowing the second-fewest passing yards (2,020) and passing touchdowns (12) in the NFL. However, entering Sunday’s game, the Chargers’ rushing defense was conceding 4.7 yards per carry, which was tied for the sixth-highest average.

    Defensive coordinator Jesse Minter’s unit tightened up against the run following the bye week. The Chargers limited Raiders No. 6 overall pick Ashton Jeanty to 31 yards on 15 carries (2.1 yards per carry, the sixth-lowest clip by a running back in a game this season with a minimum of 15 carries).

    They achieved this by bringing more bodies closer to the line of scrimmage, whether that was inside linebacker Daiyan Henley lining up on the edge or safeties Elijah Molden and Tony Jefferson rotating into the box before the snap.

    The Chargers earned the right to rush the passer by stopping the run. The 34-year-old Khalil Mack led the way with six pressures (tied for the second-best performance by a Chargers defender in a game this season). His 46.2% pressure rate was his highest in a game since at least 2018, according to Next Gen Stats.

    Surely, the Chargers will look to limit the Eagles’ rushing attack led by Saquon Barkley, who had just 13 carries (4.3 yards per carry) in the loss to Chicago. Run blocking has been an issue for the team all season long, especially in the last two games in the absence of an injured Lane Johnson.

  • Shwego helps home service companies get plumbers and painters to you faster

    Shwego helps home service companies get plumbers and painters to you faster

    Shwego is Philly-speak for “‘Should We Go?’ Go here, go there, go where you need to be,” said Sam Puleo, a former door-to-door sales manager who gave his software start-up that name.

    Launched last year, Fort Washington-based Shwego tracks trucks and tradespeople for a collection of home service companies: several plumbers, a painter, electrician, mover, air-conditioning and heating, and solar electric contractors. Most serve Philly’s rowhouse neighborhoods and suburbs, plus outposts from Brooklyn to Miami.

    Contrasting expensive, feature-laden enterprise packages from big Silicon Valley companies, Shwego says it offers “easy-to-use software to contractors for quoting, job scheduling, dispatching, invoicing, and payments.”

    “This app makes it so much easier to steer the ship. You can’t order pizza this fast,” said Ryan Larrimore, founder of Express Drains, an early Shwego client.

    Puleo said he and business partner Junny Kim, a past Accenture IT consultant, are in growth mode, meeting demand from small businesses looking for simple digital systems without the expensive features the Silicon Valley giants sell.

    They are family men who spend less time than they’d like at home. Puleo sold his digital marketing firm to focus day, night, and weekends on Shwego. Kim has kept his day job, running a Gong Cha bubble-tea franchise in Chalfont.

    Sam Puleo, cofounder of Shwego, in client Express Drains’ office in Warminster. Express Drains owner Ryan Larrimore is at left.

    Not ‘the dinosaur way’!

    Their first and so far biggest client is Larrimore’s Express Drains, which contracts with plumbers to unstop customers’ pipes.

    “Those guys streamlined my whole business,” he said at his Warminster office and truck-repair garage. “They save me hours every night. They made it so simple. With notes, like in grade school. We do a job, the pin goes off the map. New job comes up, we see who’s nearby that can do it faster. We know where guys are. It’s like now we are playing a chess game three moves ahead.“

    Larrimore and a partner started Express Drains in 2008 after they lost their jobs when package-delivery giant DHL shut the hub where they worked. They began with a set of Spartan tools, Larrimore’s Teamsters union severance, and a $20,000 loan from Philadelphia Police and Fire Federal Credit Union.

    “I felt like Indiana Jones, stepping onto that invisible bridge,” Larrimore said.

    The service caught on fast. “Six months later we were doing 25-30 calls a week, and we figured we could use another truck,” Larrimore said.

    Soon he was paying off truck loans, buying a $4,000 sewer camera — “Worth it!” — and training friends. Apartment building owner Allan Domb is a regular client.

    Larrimore hired workers he now pays more than $30 an hour. By last year, Larrimore had a problem other small businesses might like: Too much work.

    “We were doing 100 service calls a day,” he said. “Guys were working 10 hours a day running through the whole city. It was getting crazy.”

    Revenues totaled $3.6 million last year; an average job paid $180.

    But Larrimore’s management tools hadn’t kept pace. Orders went out on a single Gmail account to which all drivers had access. Updates were a challenge.

    Someone would accidentally delete a job, he said, which meant lost work.

    Financial records were kept on paper. “Saturday night, me and my wife would separate all the bills and put it into an Excel spreadsheet. Every Monday, I’d drop a printout on [clients’] desks, and they’d give me a check for the previous week.”

    Larrimore’s brother, Josh, disapproved. “I yelled at him: ‘You can’t do everything via email. This is the worst idea ever. This is the dinosaur way.”

    Josh Larrimore (left), who works with his brother Ryan’s company, Express Drains, with Junny Kim, cofounder of Shwego, the app Express Drains uses to schedule dozens of drain-cleanings daily.

    Ryan Larrimore finally went shopping for business software — but warily.

    From ServiceTitan, the $800 million yearly sales Silicon Valley company whose software platform focuses on home-service providers, he got a quote of $5,000 a month, a big expense for a subcontractor with tight margins. Josh yelled at him some more.

    Larrimore connected with Shwego after a cold call from Puleo. “I was doing digital advertising for plumbers,” Puleo recalled. “I saw these guys got good reviews on Google.”

    Larrimore paid Puleo to update his website and online ads. On his next visit, Puleo asked, “What else do you need?”

    “I said, ‘Build me an app for dispatching,” Larrimore recalled. “He changed my life,” delivering the Shwego app for $1,100 a month.

    Simplify

    “Our number one thing is: Keep it simple,” Puleo said.

    Neither he nor Kim is a software engineer. Backed by a loan from a Lehigh Valley utility auditor, Puleo built the Shwego prototype using a Google app builder and tested it with Larrimore’s company in 2023: “I know enough to be dangerous.”

    Kim, he said, is the “logical and level-headed” partner, who oversees the five outside software developers who built the commercial app Shwego, rolled out in late 2024.

    Son of a doctor, Puleo graduated St. Joseph’s Prep in 2006 but dropped out of Temple University during what he now calls his “knucklehead” youth. After a disastrous foray into deregulated electricity brokerage (he pleaded guilty to a fraud count for his role in a 2012 price-changing scheme), Puleo went into natural gas sales, with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s blessing.

    When COVID rules stopped in-person selling in 2020, he started the digital-marketing firm, which he sold last year to a Lancaster company to concentrate on Shwego.

    Shwego is Philadelphia dialect for “Should we go?” according to cofounder Sam Puleo, who founded the business last year with partner Junny Kim to make software for what Puleo calls “blue-collar” clients that need similar solutions for scheduling, payments, and other basics.

    As an IT consultant, Kim, a Neshaminy High School and Penn State graduate, was on the road “90% of the year.” As his family grew, he sought to work for himself, close to home.

    Puleo met Kim through his office landlord. By the time they connected, Kim had already committed to running the bubble-tea store.

    Kim researched, like a good consultant: “The home-services industry is shrinking; prices are going up; there’s a lot of interest, even from private equity. And they are moving toward technology, then to AI.“

    They got a business license, bank account, and insurance. After a bad initial experience with software development, they hired professional programmers in Eastern Europe, where Puleo’s wife has family.

    Last Thanksgiving, with Kim’s store shut for the holiday, the pair met at 6:30 a.m. to begin final prep for taking the improved Shwego app live.

    “We burned the midnight oil” evenings and weekends, Kim said. “We probably speak to each other more than our spouses.”

    Last December, they put Express Drains on the new app, “just the basic bones,” as Kim put it.

    “It still looks the same now, like pins in a map. But we have added a lot of efficiencies and features,” Kim said. “Now we are ramping up to allow payments over mobile phones.”

    Next in line: adding QuickBooks integration and an improved calendar feature. Customers are asking for project management and inventory.

    Happy customers

    Shwego has a function for drivers to mark failed calls and route them back to the dispatcher, then move right to the next job.

    “We are making the product more streamlined and efficient,” Kim said. “Our main goal is to keep this product simple, so we don’t overwhelm clients” who are going electronic for the first time.

    “There’s a sense of satisfaction, fixing something,” Larrimore said. “It feels pretty good, and the customer’s happy.”

    Puleo said Larrimore has referred additional customers from the plumbers who hire his drain service.

    “I swear we have plumbers that still run paper,” Larrimore said. “You can hear it rustling when you talk on the phone. They are still stuck in their ways. I tell ‘em, ‘You should talk to Sam.’”

  • Buy now, pay later boom shows shoppers are swapping impulse buys for strategy

    Buy now, pay later boom shows shoppers are swapping impulse buys for strategy

    From spreading out payments to dodging impulse purchases, holiday shoppers this year took a more judicious approach to spending over the Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales weekend, recent data shows.

    Underscoring this trend, “buy now pay later” services such as Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay, and PayPal Pay Later are increasingly popular among consumers of all income levels — whether shoppers are looking for convenience or seeking to spread out their budget, according to David Tinsley, a senior economist at the Bank of America Institute. Most customers are “light users,” he said, meaning they have about one to four transactions in their account, he added.

    So far this holiday season — beginning in November — the services have driven $10.1 billion in spending, a 9% jump from last year, according to Adobe Analytics. Cyber Monday was the single largest day for BNPL, accounting for a record $1.03 billion, a more than 4% increase over last year. That’s about 7% of what Americans spent online that day.

    Meanwhile, PayPal reported its BNPL transactions increased 23% year over year in the days leading up to Black Friday.

    “Consumers are planning ahead, prioritizing value, and making the most of how they spend their money,” Michelle Gill, the general manager of small business and financial services at PayPal, wrote in a news release on the rise of BNPL.

    Another factor is that these services are becoming more widely available each year at checkout. “BNPL could also just be going up because e-commerce is going up,” said Sucharita Kodali, an analyst at Forrester.

    There are also risks that come with these flexible payment methods. Some services charge interest on missed payments, and experts warn it could lead to overspending, especially for financially vulnerable consumers.

    Preholiday caution

    More broadly, the rising cost of groceries, housing, and energy — as well as tariff-induced price increases on core gifting categories including apparel, toys, and electronics — has forced consumers to be savvier when their dollar isn’t going as far, analysts said.

    “People are being cautious,” Kodali said. “The other shoe is going to drop any day now — the economy from a retail standpoint has been really positive 
 and this can’t go on forever.”

    While the National Retail Federation forecasts spending in November and December will break a record $1 trillion — an increase of between 3.7% and 4.2% over the same period last year — that doesn’t mean people are buying more, rather that things are costing more, analysts say.

    Still, there were signs of strength. Online sales on Cyber Monday reached $14.5 billion, while Black Friday hit $11.8 billion, according to Adobe Analytics. That’s a 7.1% and 9.1% surge over last year, respectively, and both surpassed Adobe’s forecasts.

    But in-store shopping slumped. Visits to malls and downtown areas on Black Friday fell a respective 2.5% and 2.6% compared to last Black Friday, according to MRI Software, which tracks pedestrian traffic. Small Business Saturday mall visits fell 4.3% while downtown traffic dropped 6%.

    RetailNext, which tracks in-store traffic for more than 560 brands, recorded a steeper decline. Visits fell 3.6% on Friday and 8.6% on Saturday.

    The slowdown doesn’t mean consumers weren’t spending, said Joe Shasteen, global head of advanced analytics at RetailNext, but a shift in how they intended to spend.

    “Shoppers showed they’re done with the impulse-driven, one-day frenzy,” he said in a news release. “Prices, tariffs, and tighter budgets pushed people to shop with discipline, not adrenaline, and they responded by turning Black Friday into a value calculation.”

    Consumers also took advantage of markdowns on everyday essentials. Among the top product categories from Shopify sellers were vitamins and supplements, followed by skin care and activewear. Adobe Analytics projects online grocery sales will drive $23.5 billion in revenue, a 9.3% year-over-year increase.

    “We’re seeing promotions on essentials and the things that consumers feel they need first,” said Marshal Cohen, chief retail adviser at market research firm Circana. “When they have the opportunity to buy grocery and pharmaceutical products at a discount, they’re going to do so.”

    But that doesn’t mean all shoppers are avoiding more exciting gifts.

    “Santa Claus is going to show up — and is he going to show up with vitamins? Yeah. But he’s also going to show up with a toy here and there,” he said.