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  • All the Golden Globe Awards nominees with ties to the Philly region

    All the Golden Globe Awards nominees with ties to the Philly region

    Pennsylvanians know how to bring home a trophy, from the reigning Super Bowl champions to Philly natives awarded an Oscar.

    The Golden Globe Awards on Monday announced its nominees for the best in television and movies, and with it, another chance for victory for regional productions and local actors.

    The ceremony airs Jan. 11 with awards given in 28 categories.

    The Abbott Elementary crew visits the Always Sunny gang at Paddy’s Pub in the “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Abbott Elementary” crossover.

    In its fifth season, Abbott Elementary has already won the hearts of Philadelphians and three Golden Globes. Still, this wholesome band of teachers, starring Philly-native Quinta Brunson, is up again for best musical or comedy television series.

    HBO’s Task and Peacock’s Long Bright River, two crime thrillers set in Philadelphia neighborhoods and suburbs, both have leading actors nominated for Golden Globes this season.

    Mark Ruffalo as Tom, Alison Oliver as Lizzie, Thuso Mbedu as Aleah, and Fabien Frankel as Anthony in “Task.”

    In Task, Mark Ruffalo plays an FBI investigator hunting down thieves targeting drug houses in Delco. While Ruffalo may not know the definition of “jawn” in real life, his portrayal of a tortured former priest turned agent resonated with critics and earned a nomination for best male actor in a dramatic television series. The Inquirer compiled a list of the real-life locations used in the show.

    Amanda Seyfried (left) and Asleigh Cummings in the Kensington-set Peacock series “Long Bright River,” based on the novel of the same name by Temple professor and novelist Liz Moore.

    Liz Moore’s crime novel Long Bright River turned heads when it was released in 2020, detailing the harrowing story of a Kensington police officer, played in the series by Amanda Seyfried, searching for her sister in a cat-and-mouse chase with a killer targeting sex workers. While the television adaptation was filmed in New York City, the bulk of the show takes place in Kensington and other Philadelphia neighborhoods, with Seyfried grabbing a nomination for best female performance in a dramatic limited series.

    Hometown stand-up icon Kevin Hart was back to his roots with a new comedy special, Kevin Hart: Acting My Age, tackling injuries after 40, Chick-fil-A’s spicy chicken sandwich consequences, and slipping in the shower. He earned a nomination for best stand-up comedy performance on television.

    Host Kevin Hart speaks during the BET Awards on Monday, June 9, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

    The Golden Globes are introducing a new best podcast category this year, for which Bucks County native Alex Cooper is nominated for her sex-positive show, Call Her Daddy. Alongside celebrity guests like Gwyneth Paltrow, Miley Cyrus, and Kamala Harris, Cooper delves into the taboo of female pleasure and pop culture. She grew the show’s popularity into a $60 million Spotify deal in 2021.

    And through a few degrees of separation, several other nominees can be claimed as Philly-adjacent.

    Hannah Einbinder, whose father is from Doylestown, accepts the award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for “Hacks” during the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

    Take Hacks actress Hannah Einbinder, who shouted “Go Birds!” during her speech after winning an Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy series, and was filmed by the evening news crying in the streets of Los Angeles after the Eagles’ 2018 Super Bowl win.

    She may not be from Philadelphia (her father, actor Chad Einbinder, is from Doylestown), but she reps the city. HBO’s Hacks, which follows a veteran Las Vegas comic mentoring a young comedy writer, is up for best musical or comedy television series, with Einbinder and costar Jean Smart nominated for best supporting female actor and best actor in a musical or comedy series, respectively.

    And there are some broader Pennsylvania and New Jersey ties among the nominees.

    The breakout medical drama The Pitt, which takes place in the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Center, depicts a 15-hour shift in an emergency room, split across 15 one-hour episodes. The Pitt’s lead actor, Noah Wyle (known for his role as Dr. John Carter in NBC’s ER), is up against Ruffalo for best male actor in a dramatic television series.

    Jeremy Allen White as Bruce Springsteen.

    Jeremy Allen White stars in the latest Bruce Springsteen biopic, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, and is nominated for best actor in a dramatic film. The production was almost entirely filmed around New Jersey — at the request of The Boss — including in Cape May and other parts of South Jersey.

    After a major overhaul of the award show in recent years, including the sunsetting of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association due to ethics and diversity concerns, the new Golden Globe Awards are judged by a panel of 400 journalists from across the world.

    The Golden Globes will be broadcast live on Jan. 11 at 8 p.m. Philadelphia time on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.

  • Gov. Shapiro ‘was instrumental’ in preventing SEPTA strike

    Gov. Shapiro ‘was instrumental’ in preventing SEPTA strike

    Transport Workers Union Local 234 and SEPTA agreed Sunday night to continue contract talks in the morning, avoiding for now a strike that could have ground to a halt much of Philadelphia.

    Beginning in late afternoon, members of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s staff met with union leaders and SEPTA senior managers at the governor’s Philadelphia office. The goal was to unstick talks that had faltered, seeing if compromise was possible.

    The union’s push for an increase in pensions and SEPTA’s proposal for union members to pay a greater share of the cost of their healthcare coverage emerged over the last week as the biggest obstacles to an agreement, according to both union and transit authority sources.

    “Gov. Shapiro’s office brought the parties together and they made progress,” SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said. “It was significant.”

    In a statement, the union said “significant progress” was made.

    “Gov. Shapiro was instrumental in preventing a strike that could have started as soon as Monday morning. We’re grateful for his close involvement,” said TWU Local 234 President Will Vera.

    Sticking points

    On Friday, Vera declared he was out of patience at what the union saw as SEPTA’s intransigence and threatened to lead members in a walkout.

    A work stoppage would have brought chaos to a mass transit system that carries a weekday average of 790,000 riders.

    TWU Local 234 represents 5,000 bus, subway, elevated train and trolley operators, as well as mechanics, cashiers, maintenance people and custodians, primarily in the city.

    Their one-year labor contract expired Nov. 7, but members stayed at their posts. On Nov. 16, they authorized Local 234’s leaders to call a strike if needed. The vote was unanimous.

    SEPTA and the union were not far apart on salary and both wanted a two-year deal after a series of one-year pacts during a time of financial crisis for the transit agency, sources said.

    Management wanted to hike what union members pay for health coverage and increase co-pays for doctor and hospital visits.

    The union pushed for an enhancement to the formula that determines retirees’ monthly pensions, based on years of service. It was last increased in 2016.

    SEPTA officials calculated that TWU’s proposed changes would have created an annual unfunded liability of about $6 million for an undetermined length of time. The union says the pension plan books showed a bump was affordable.

    Because TWU Local 234 is the largest SEPTA union, its contracts are used as a template for the other locals working for the transit system, which could boost costs.

    Regional Rail was a concern to SEPTA because commuter railroad workers, like others, receive a federal pension that has tended to be less generous. Those unions would have wanted a SEPTA sweetener to their retirement benefits too.

    TWU Local 234 also wanted changes to work rules involving sick time benefits and the length of time it takes new members to qualify for dental and vision benefits — currently 15 months.

    The local also represents several hundred suburban workers, primarily operators, in SEPTA’s Frontier district, which runs 24 bus routes in Montgomery County, Lower Bucks County, and part of Chester County.

    The Victory district has a similar number of employees, who are represented by SMART Local 1594. They run Delaware County’s two trolley lines, the Norristown High Speed Line, and 20 bus routes in the suburbs.

    Unions for both the Frontier and Victory districts could choose to strike alongside TWU Local 234. If that happened, Regional Rail, already plagued by delays and cancellations due to federally-mandated repairs on train cars, would be the only public transit running.

    Strike-prone reputation

    SEPTA unions have walked off the job at least 12 times since 1975, earning the authority a reputation as the most strike-prone big transit agency in the United States.

    TWU last struck in 2016. It lasted for six days and ended the day before the general election. Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign was worried about voter turnout, and the city sought an injunction to end the strike. That proved unnecessary.

    Regional Rail would operate during a TWU strike. Locomotive engineers and conductors on the commuter service are represented by different unions than transit employees, and are working under current contracts.

  • Donald Trump will visit Northeast Pa. on Tuesday to promote his economic agenda ahead of 2026 midterms

    Donald Trump will visit Northeast Pa. on Tuesday to promote his economic agenda ahead of 2026 midterms

    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 a national tour 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.

    Democrats are already planning for 2026 and think they can flip these four Pa. congressional seats

    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.

    The president has repeatedly claimed that prices have fallen since he took office in January, but a CNN fact-checking report from November said prices and inflation have increased. Many experts have pointed to Trump’s tariff policies as contributing to increased prices.

    Tuesday’s visit appears to be the president’s first to the Keystone State since attending an energy summit in Pittsburgh in July. In November 2024, Trump defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris and won the presidency with the help of battleground Pennsylvania, garnering more votes than any statewide Republican candidate in history.

    The president had a particularly strong performance in Northeast Pennsylvania. last year, making some of his top gains compared with his 2020 performance in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties.

  • Sabrina Carpenter slams Trump administration for using her music in ‘disgusting’ ICE video

    Sabrina Carpenter slams Trump administration for using her music in ‘disgusting’ ICE video

    Sabrina Carpenter’s not mincing words when it comes to the Trump administration using one of her songs in a video promoting ICE and the Department of Homeland Security.

    On Tuesday, the pop princess condemned the White House for posting a video featuring ICE arresting protesters and undocumented immigrants to one of her songs. The video, which was published on the White House’s X account one day earlier, was captioned “Have you ever tried this one?“ alongside the hearteye emoji and was paired with Carpenter’s track ”Juno.”

    It’s a nod to a scene in Carpenter’s just-wrapped “Short n’ Sweet” tour, where she would playfully “arrest” someone in the crowd “for being so hot,” giving them a souvenir pair of fuzzy pink cuffs before performing “Juno.”

    Carpenter, a Bucks County native, replied to the post, “this video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.” Her response has been viewed more than 2 million times.

    It’s the latest in a series of similar incidents, where artists ranging from Beyoncé to the Rolling Stones have objected to the White House using their music in videos promoting the Trump administration’s agenda without their consent.

    Last month, Olivia Rodrigo had a similar exchange in the comments of a White House Instagram video demanding that undocumented immigrants self-deport over the singer’s track “All-American Bitch.” Rodrigo, who is Filipino American, commented at the time, “Don’t ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda.”

    The White House also used a song by Carpenter’s friend and musical collaborator, Berks County’s Taylor Swift, last month. Fans of Swift’s called out the use of “The Fate of Ophelia” in a video celebrating President Donald Trump, despite the president’s repeated slights toward the pop star. Swift herself did not comment on the video, but she has previously criticized Trump for posting AI photos of her on his social platforms.

    Carpenter, 26, worked with HeadCount on her “Short n’ Sweet” tour, registering 35,814 voters — more than any other artist the nonpartisan voter registration group worked with in 2024. She’s been vocal about her support for LGBTQ+ rights and has publicly donated to the National Immigration Law Center.

    When Trump won last year, she took a moment during her concert to say “I’m sorry about our country and to the women here, I love you so, so, so much.”

    “Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: We won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists and pedophiles from our country,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told the New York Times. “Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?”

  • Republicans won in Trump-friendly Tennessee, despite swing toward Democrats. Here’s what it means for Pennsylvania and 2026.

    Republicans won in Trump-friendly Tennessee, despite swing toward Democrats. Here’s what it means for Pennsylvania and 2026.

    A special election in a safely Republican district in Tennessee became must-watch TV for political observers Tuesday night, the latest sign of anti-Trump sentiment ahead of the 2026 midterms.

    The Associated Press called the race in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District for Republican Matt Van Epps, who was leading Democrat Aftyn Behn by about 9 percentage points with about 99% of the vote in. That was a steep decline from the 22-point win President Donald Trump recorded in the same district just last year, and from his 39-point victory in 2016.

    It was the latest sign of a Democratic blue wave forming, following Election Day sweeps in Virginia, New Jersey, and Virginia last month. It also was the third straight special election in a deeply Republican district where voters swung toward the Democratic candidate by double-digit margins.

    “Sometimes in politics, what is happening is clear and in front of you,” David Chalian, CNN’s Washington bureau chief and political director, said Tuesday night. “Democrats are significantly, significantly over-performing what Kamala Harris did last year vs. Donald Trump in all of these places.”

    While Democrats were not successful in stealing a Republican seat Tuesday night, there are about 100 districts Trump won by a slimmer margin that Republicans will now need to defend during the 2026 midterms, according to the New York Times. Democrats need to flip just a couple to take back the majority in the House for the remainder of Trump’s term.

    While Trump celebrated Van Epps’ victory on social media, Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin called the results “a flashing warning sign for Republicans heading into the midterms.”

    “What happened tonight in Tennessee makes it clear: Democrats are on offense and Republicans are on the ropes,” Martin said in a statement.

    What is the Republican majority in the House?

    Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R., La.) is dealing with a shrinking majority.

    Van Epps’ victory means Republicans will hold 220 seats, while Democrats have 214 seats; 218 are needed to control the majority.

    Two seats remain vacant, and both are expected to go to Democrats, further reducing the already slim majority of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.).

    The first is in Texas, where a runoff will be held Jan. 31 to fill the seat vacated by the death of Democratic Rep. Sylvester Turner. The race is down to two Democrats — Christian Menefee and Amanda Edwards.

    The second open seat is in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, which will hold a special election April 16 to fill the spot vacated by New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill. While the district was represented by a Republican as recently as 2018, it has been safely blue since maps were redrawn following the 2020 Census and is expected to remain in Democratic control.

    Not surprisingly, there are a lot of Democrats vying to replace Sherrill. At least 13 have entered the race or are about to do so, a lengthy list that includes former Rep. Tom Malinowski, progressive activist Analilia Mejia, Obama White House alum Cammie Croft, Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, and current Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way.

    Just one Republican has announced a bid to replace Sherrill — Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway.

    Then there is the Georgia seat of GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, which is set to become vacant following her resignation on Jan. 5. It is unclear when Georgia will hold a special election to replace Greene, but Gov. Brian Kemp is required to set a date within 10 days of her departure.

    The seat is considered safely Republican, but that is hardly definitive after what happened in Tennessee on Tuesday night.

    Why was there a special election in Tennessee?

    Former Rep. Mark Green (R., Tenn.) left Congress suddenly to launch his own business.

    Tuesday’s special election was held to replace the seat vacated by Republican Mark Green, who resigned in July to launch a new business called Prosimos.

    Green’s decision to leave Congress, and his role as the chair of the Homeland Security Committee, came in the middle of his fourth term.

    So what is Prosimos? According to Green, it’s a development and strategy firm designed to help U.S. businesses better compete against the influence of China. The company’s website says it provides “tailored strategies and expert guidance to navigate the complexities of global business development.”

    What does this mean for Republicans in Pennsylvania and New Jersey?

    Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R., Pa.) is one of four Pa. Republicans facing a tough reelection battle.

    If there has been a trend since Trump’s inauguration, it’s that voters are keen on punishing Republicans at the ballot box.

    In four previous special elections for House seats held in 2025, Democrats significantly outperformed Harris’ margins in 2024. That was also true of Election Day victories in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Georgia, where two Republicans were booted off the state’s Public Service Commission.

    Closer to home, there are five House seats — four in Pennsylvania, one in New Jersey — that Democrats hope to flip during the 2026 midterms, potentially deciding the balance of power during the final two years of Trump’s presidency.

    • PA-01: In Bucks County, Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick is used to close races, but next year could be particularly challenging for the five-term moderate. In addition to nationwide trends, Democrats won each countywide office by around 10 percentage points last month, and Bucks County District Attorney Joe Khan is the first member of their party ever elected to the office.
    • PA-07: In the Lehigh Valley, Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie is the biggest target for Democrats after ousting Susan Wild by just 1 percentage point in 2024. Cook Political Report lists the district as a true “toss up” and five Democrats have already entered the race.
    • PA-08: Farther north, in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan is also looking to win reelection to a seat he flipped by just 1 percentage point in 2024. The district leans Republican — Trump won it by nearly 9 percentage points — and so far Bresnahan’s only challenger is Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti.
    • PA-10: Another of Cook’s “toss up” districts. Republican Rep. Scott Perry, an outspoken Trump supporter who supported the president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, is seeking his eighth term. Perry narrowly won reelection in 2024, defeating former news anchor Janelle Stelson by less than 1 percentage point. She is running against Perry again in 2026 and has already received an endorsement from Gov. Josh Shapiro.
    • NJ-07: The northwestern New Jersey district is currently represented by Republican Tom Kean Jr., a moderate who won reelection by about 5 percentage points in 2024. Cook lists Kean’s district as a “toss up,” and he faces a crowded field of Democrats in what would otherwise be a safely Republican seat.
  • 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.

  • House of the week: A custom-built four-bedroom house in Bucks County for $799,999

    House of the week: A custom-built four-bedroom house in Bucks County for $799,999

    Joann Spatola and her then-husband were living in a Horsham townhouse in 1990 when builder Nicholas Braccia came to them with a proposition.

    He knew of a vacant piece of land near the Chalfont pizzeria the couple owned that would be the perfect place for a contemporary home they could help design.

    “We’d only been married two years, and we wanted something of our own,” she said. So she and Braccia went over blueprints and basically designed the house together.

    The great room.

    She has spent 35 years in the four-bedroom, 3½-bathroom home.

    But she is single now, and her kids are grown, so she is ready to downsize to an over-55 community in North Wales.

    The house “has good bones,” she said. “They don’t make them like that any more.”

    The kitchen was redesigned five years ago.

    And she is particularly sad to lose the kitchen she helped design five years ago, with its quartz countertops and stainless steel appliances. “But it’s too much upkeep for me,” she said.

    The house has 2,671 square feet and is three stories, including the finished basement, which has been used as a home gym and includes a half bathroom.

    The dining area off the kitchen.

    The first floor has two bedrooms, a great room with a vaulted ceiling, the kitchen and dining room, and a full bathroom.

    The second floor has the primary bedroom and bathroom, with the main closet in the bathroom, as well as a double-bowl vanity and sunken bath tub. There is another bedroom and bathroom on this floor. And there is a walkout attic.

    The deck overlooks a large, landscaped yard with a gazebo.

    Dining room

    All mechanicals have been updated.

    The house is close to parks, schools, and shopping. It is in the Central Bucks West School District.

    It is listed by David Dupell of Coldwell Banker Realty for $799,999.

  • A man accused of committing voter fraud in Bucks County in 2020 says a Trump pardon should wipe out his criminal case

    A man accused of committing voter fraud in Bucks County in 2020 says a Trump pardon should wipe out his criminal case

    President Donald Trump’s decision last month to pardon dozens of political allies who helped him try to overturn the 2020 election was quickly criticized by some opponents.

    Now, a man accused of committing voter fraud in that contest by voting twice for Trump is seeking to wipe out a pending criminal case by saying the powers of that pardon action should extend to him.

    Attorneys for Matthew Laiss wrote in court documents last month that the language in Trump’s pardon proclamation “clearly extend” to Laiss, who is awaiting trial on charges that he illegally voted twice in the 2020 election — first by submitting a mail-in ballot in Bucks County, then by voting in-person at his new home in Florida.

    Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia charged Laiss in September with crimes including voter fraud and voting more than once in a federal election, and they said he faces potential prison time if convicted.

    Last month, however, Laiss’ attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the case, saying that the pardon Trump issued Nov. 7 clearly applied to Laiss, and that Laiss had accepted it.

    Although Laiss was not among the 77 people Trump listed when specifying who would receive relief, Laiss’ lawyers said the proclamation’s preamble included language making it applicable to “all United States citizens” for conduct, voting, or advocacy surrounding the contest.

    In addition, his attorneys wrote, Trump allies including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Mark Meadows were all explicitly pardoned for “exponentially more egregious alleged conduct.” Extending relief to them while denying it to Laiss, his lawyers wrote, “would be outrageous.”

    Federal prosecutors say Laiss is “entirely incorrect.”

    In a reply brief filed last week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Trump’s pardon was intended for people who were seeking to expose or rectify potential fraud in the 2020 election — not for people like Laiss, who are accused of actually committing it.

    Beyond what they said was Laiss’ clear misinterpretation, prosecutors said that they checked with Trump’s Office of the Pardon Attorney and that it does not believe the president’s clemency —` which it helped effectuate — applies to Laiss.

    “In other words, it is this office’s understanding that if Laiss were to appeal directly to the Office of the Pardon Attorney for a pardon based on [the] November 7 pardon proclamation, that petition would be denied,” prosecutors wrote.

    It was not immediately clear how or when U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. might rule on the issue, although Laiss was scheduled to have a final pretrial hearing Tuesday morning.

    If Leeson rules that the case can proceed, a trial is scheduled to begin next week.

  • Thirteen years after he abused his infant son, an ex-Bensalem man is charged with the boy’s murder

    Thirteen years after he abused his infant son, an ex-Bensalem man is charged with the boy’s murder

    A former Bensalem resident who spent two years in state prison for abusing his infant son is now charged with the boy’s murder after police say complications from the injuries he inflicted more than a decade ago caused the boy’s death.

    Kyle Hinkle, 38, who now lives in Allentown, was charged Monday with third-degree murder in the death of his son, Leonardo, who was 11 when he died in August 2024.

    After the child’s death was ruled a homicide earlier this year, investigators in Bucks County spent months gathering medical records and other evidence to link it to the injuries he received as an infant.

    Hinkle remained in custody, in lieu of 10% of $2 million bail. There was no indication he had hired an attorney.

    Investigators first learned of the abuse in October 2012, when the boy was taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital with severe head injuries, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Hinkle’s arrest.

    Doctors there determined the injuries had been intentionally inflicted to the then-3-month-old, and a CAT scan revealed signs of similar, older injuries that were still healing, the affidavit said.

    The boy’s grandmother told detectives that on an earlier occasion, she had seen bruises on the child’s arm that matched a necklace Hinkle used to wear, indicating he may have struck the boy with it.

    In an interview with detectives, Hinkle admitted he shook the baby vigorously without supporting his head out of frustration because he would not stop crying.

    The injuries left the child wheelchair-bound, nonverbal, and reliant on a feeding tube, according to prosecutors.

    Hinkle pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child in 2013. He served two years in state prison, followed by three years of probation, court records show.

    In the intervening years, the boy and his mother moved to Oliver, Fayette County, southeast of Pittsburgh.

    When the child died in 2024, the Fayette County coroner ruled his death a homicide, saying, in a statement, that complications from living with Shaken Baby Syndrome directly led to his death.

  • Bucks County fuel spill victims inspired a federal bill calling for $500M to modernize pipelines

    Bucks County fuel spill victims inspired a federal bill calling for $500M to modernize pipelines

    U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican, introduced a bill Thursday with a Democratic co-sponsor to modernize pipelines and emergency responses in the wake of a leak of a Sunoco pipeline detected this year in Bucks County.

    The bill is named after the Wojnovich family, whose well was tainted with 12½ feet of jet fuel.

    It would set aside $500 million in grants spread over five years to replace or upgrade high-risk hazardous liquid lines, “to facilitate the improved safety and modernization of hazardous liquid distribution infrastructure.”

    In addition, it would require that prospective homeowners be made aware of nearby pipelines, what fuel they carry, any history of incidents, and who operates the lines.

    Fitzpatrick introduced the bill, H.R. 6187, the Wojnovich Pipeline Safety Act of 2025, with U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat from New York.

    Fitzpatrick is up for reelection in 2026 in the 1st Congressional District, which includes all of Bucks County and a sliver of Montgomery County. As the last remaining Republican representing the Philadelphia suburbs in the U.S. House, Democrats believe he is vulnerable.

    Fitzpatrick — as well as other federal, state, and local elected officials — has been involved since January, when a jet fuel leak from the Sunoco Twin Oaks pipeline was detected.

    He and others have called for the line to be shut down. Fitzpatrick has called for independent testing of wells and “complete remediation” in the Mt. Eyre Manor neighborhood where the leak was detected.

    “What families endured during this leak exposed areas where the state response was not fully equipped to meet the moment,“ Fitzpatrick said Friday in an email, ”which is why I have called on the responsible state agencies to produce a codified and consistently enforced plan that will guarantee clean water and long-term protections.”

    He credited a neighborhood task force from Mt. Eyre with helping him write the bill, “from the ground up.”

    The spill has caused significant disruption in the Mount Eyre Manor neighborhood, in the Washington Crossing section of Upper Makefield, becoming a constant worry for families such as Kristine and Kevin Wojnovich.

    How a pipeline leak disrupted a quiet Bucks neighborhood: ‘Never drink the water’

    The Wojnoviches live in the suburban Bucks County neighborhood near the popular Delaware Canal State Park towpath and only a few thousand feet from the Delaware River. Theirs was one of six wells that tested above state maximum contaminant levels. Other wells tested positive for contaminants, but under those levels.

    Kristine Wojnovich at home in the Mt. Eyre neighborhood in Washington Crossing, Bucks County on Nov. 7, 2025. Just out of view, is the top of a 400 foot drinking water well contaminated after a Jan. 2024 jet fuel leak was detected in Sunoco’s Twin Oaks pipeline.

    The family began noticing a petroleum odor in their tap water as far back as September 2023 and reported it to Sunoco, which is owned by Energy Transfer. However, the company initially informed the Wojnoviches that their water simply had bacteria.

    It wasn’t until an inspection by the state Department of Environmental Protection in late January 2025 that a leak was confirmed.

    “Every page of this bill is shaped by what Upper Makefield families lived through,” Fitzpatrick said in the release, noting, “the gaps in testing, the delays in information, the uncertainty about their water, and the absence of clear standards for communication and emergency response.”

    Specifically, the bill would also require:

    • That real estate contracts include disclosure of any hazardous liquid pipeline easements within one-half mile of a property, whether the line has undergone repairs in the past 10 years, and a list of any leaks or failures.
    • Overhaul of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s current online pipeline viewer so that leak, inspection, and remediation data are readily available.
    • Updates to local emergency alert systems and response plans.
    • Pipeline operators to conduct in-person tests of water, soil, or air for potential pipeline leaks or failures.
    • Penalties for leaks, failures, and delayed reporting, ranging from $2.5 million to $5 million.
    • The reimbursement of fire departments and EMS for equipment, overtime, and cleanup costs.
    • Establishing an Office of Public Engagement and regular federal reporting.

    Kristine Wojnovich said she’s honored by the bill’s introduction, and credits both Fitzpatrick and the neighborhood task force that’s pushed for legislation.

    “Aging pipelines and outdated leak detection methods are all over this country,” Wojnovich said. “And the leak and contamination that happened in our community could have happened anywhere. This legislation is a meaningful step forward.”