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Lower Merion and Narberth want to make Montgomery Avenue safer. Here’s how you can weigh in.

Lower Merion and Narberth are seeking residents’ input as they embark on an effort to make Montgomery Avenue safer for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.

At a meeting Feb. 3, officials from the township and the borough laid out long-standing safety issues on Montgomery Avenue and took feedback from attendees, many of whom said they no longer feel safe walking and driving along one of the Main Line’s busiest arteries.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded Lower Merion and Narberth $340,540 to study a seven-mile stretch of Montgomery Avenue, from Spring Mill Road to City Avenue, through the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program. The program awards funds to municipalities working to limit roadway deaths and serious injuries. The study will inform safety improvements at 35 intersections on that stretch of Montgomery Avenue.

Map showing the section of Montgomery
Avenue in Lower Merion and Narberth undergoing a comprehensive traffic safety study.

Officials cited a long list of safety issues on Montgomery Avenue, from out-of-date pedestrian push buttons, sidewalk curb ramps, and crosswalk lighting to regular speeding and weaving by drivers. Without proper turn lanes and signals, drivers making left turns on Montgomery Avenue often slow traffic and can endanger pedestrians and other motorists, township representatives added.

The traffic-calming effort comes at the heels of Lower Merion’s Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, which was published in 2025. The plan calls for eliminating all roadway fatalities and serious injuries in Lower Merion, with a goal of achieving a 50% reduction by 2030. Last summer, township commissioners approved a plan to install automated red-light enforcement cameras at four intersections, beginning with the intersection of Lancaster Avenue and Remington Road.

Unlike previous traffic studies that focused on individual intersections, this project will take a more comprehensive approach, officials said.

Between 2020 and 2024, there were 532 reportable crashes on Montgomery Avenue between Spring Mill Road and City Avenue. A reportable crash is defined as a crash resulting in an injury or vehicle damage serious enough to require towing. Around 2.5% of such crashes involved a serious injury. Just over half involved a minor injury, and the rest, around 46%, involved property damage only. In the same time frame, there were 920 minor crashes, or incidents with no injury and no need for towing.

In total, 3,767 crashes were reported in Lower Merion at-large between 2019 and 2023. In that time frame, Lower Merion Township accounted for 8% of crashes with a fatality or serious injury within Montgomery County.

Red-light enforcement cameras are coming to Lower Merion. Here’s what to know about the location, fines, and more.

Pennsylvania is the only state in the country where local police officers are prohibited from using radar for speed enforcement, said Andy Block, Lower Merion’s police superintendent, making it difficult for his department to enforce speed limits.

At the meeting, residents told stories of their own crashes and near-misses on Montgomery Avenue.

Kim Beam, a social worker at Bryn Mawr Hospital, used to walk to work along Montgomery Avenue every day before she was nearly hit by a car a few weeks ago.

“I had an event which would have made me one of your fatalities,” Beam said, describing her walk to work as poorly lit, contributing to dangerous, and almost deadly, conditions for pedestrians like herself.

Residents of Lower Merion and Narberth were encouraged to complete a survey that will inform officials as they develop a preliminary set of safety recommendations. A public meeting will be held once the recommendations are developed to gather additional feedback.

Residents can fill out the survey online via www.lowermerion.org/Home/Components/News/News/5605/50 or print it out and drop it off at Narberth or Lower Merion’s municipal buildings. Completed forms can also be mailed to Brandon Ford, Assistant Township Manager, Lower Merion Township, 75 E. Lancaster Ave., Ardmore, Pa. 19003.

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.

February 11, 2026
Eddie Bauer operator files for bankruptcy and is liquidating stores
Over 60 years ago, the first American to climb Mount Everest sported an Eddie Bauer coat. Now the company behind the outdoor apparel finds itself conducting liquidation sales.

The operator of Eddie Bauer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey on Monday and is winding down stores as it seeks a buyer.

Eddie Bauer is laying off some 58 employees in New Jersey at locations in Burlington, Gloucester, Middlesex, and Monmouth Counties, according to a layoff notice filed with the state.

“In an effort to rightsize the company’s store footprint and close underperforming stores, the company will be closing a number of retail locations in N.J.,” reads the notice.

In Pennsylvania, a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Labor and Industry said they had not received a layoff notice for Eddie Bauer stores as of Tuesday morning.

Before filing for bankruptcy, the company chose not to renew leases for 49 stores that had leases ending Jan. 31. Those locations have since closed, bankruptcy documents indicate.

The company is liquidating the remaining 175 stores as it seeks out a buyer.

In the Philadelphia area, Eddie Bauer stores are located at the Gloucester Premium Outlets in Camden County, at the Philadelphia Premium Outlets in Montgomery County, as well as in Concordville in Delaware County.

As of Tuesday, the Fashion District location in Center City appeared to be closed, according to the Eddie Bauer website.

What led to the bankruptcy?

Eddie Bauer stores have been operated by Catalyst Brands, which was formed in January 2025 in a merger that brought together brands including Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, and JCPenney.

The CEO of Catalyst Brands, Marc Rosen, said in a news release Monday that the Eddie Bauer operator had been in a “challenged situation,” even before the new parent company was formed last year. The company was dealing with declining sales and supply chain challenges amid other issues, he said.

“Over the past year, these challenges have been exacerbated by various headwinds, including increased costs of doing business due to inflation, ongoing tariff uncertainty, and other factors,” Rosen said. “While the leadership team at Catalyst was able to make significant strides in the brand, including rapid improvements in product development and marketing, those changes could not be implemented fast enough to fully address the challenges created over several years.”

Other retailers have also faced headwinds recently. The parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus filed for bankruptcy in January, and shopping mall mainstay Claire’s, did so in August.

Eddie Bauer stores in the Philadelphia area

Pennsylvania:
- Fashion District, 901 Market St., Philadelphia
- Shoppes at Brinton Lake, 961 Baltimore Pike, Glen Mills
- Montgomery Mall, 290 Montgomery Mall, North Wales
- Philadelphia Premium Outlets, 18 Lightcap Rd., Pottstown
- Tanger Outlets Lancaster, 1140 Stanley K Tanger Blvd., Lancaster
New Jersey
- Gloucester Premium Outlets, 100 Premium Outlets Drive, Blackwood
- Jersey Shore Premium Outlets, 1 Premium Outlets Blvd., Tinton Falls
February 10, 2026
Norristown police officer who struck a naked man with his patrol vehicle has been charged with assault, authorities say

A Norristown police sergeant who struck a naked, unarmed man with his patrol SUV last week has been charged with assault, official oppression, and related crimes, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Sgt. Daniel DeOrzio, 52, used unnecessary force in the Feb. 4 incident, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said. He was placed on administrative leave after the encounter.

Prosecutors said officers had been dispatched to the intersection of West Airy and Stanbridge Streets after reports that the naked man was yelling and damaging cars in the intersection. DeOrzio was among several officers who responded and, according to investigators, he positioned his police SUV behind a gray pickup truck blocking the roadway.

After ordering the truck removed, authorities said, DeOrzio accelerated and struck the man, who was standing in the intersection with his hands on his hips.

The impact sent the man airborne before he slammed onto the pavement, prosecutors said. He was taken to Main Line Health Paoli Hospital and released two days later.

Investigators concluded that DeOrzio, the highest-ranking officer at the scene, used unnecessary force and failed to attempt basic de-escalation tactics, including verbal commands, before resorting to violence, the district attorney said.

“This was not a necessary use of deadly force in this response incident,” Steele said in a statement.

The incident drew criticism at a public meeting last week, where Norristown Police Chief Mike Trail fielded questions from residents upset over the officer’s actions. Trail said he would like to form a mental health co-responder program that would pair officers with mental health experts to de-escalate future situations.

“People experiencing mental health behavioral episodes are more likely to … be subject to use of force by responding law enforcement officers because they lack the tools and the sophisticated training necessary to de-escalate,” he said.

DeOrzio turned himself in Tuesday morning and was arraigned. District Judge Cathleen Kelly Rebar set his bail at $100,000. DeOrzio could not be immediately reached for comment.

February 10, 2026
An ex-Philly City Council aide from a prominent political family is accused of sexual harassment

After Sharif Street Jr. got into a highly public fight at Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s 2024 inauguration ceremony, his boss, City Councilmember Jim Harrity, extended him some grace.

Harrity, who credits Street Jr.’s father, State Sen. Sharif Street (D., Philadelphia), with giving him a second chance earlier in his own career, kept the junior Street on staff as a special assistant, saying the incident was a lapse in judgment.

But according to another staff member in Harrity’s office, it was not the only transgression.

Shanelle Davis, a former constituent services representative, filed a federal lawsuit last week against the city claiming that she told supervisors months before the inauguration fight that Street Jr. had sexually harassed her while she was at work, including twice grabbing her and making sexualized comments about her body.

She said in the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, that no action was taken and Street Jr. remained on staff.

Davis is seeking unspecified damages from the city, which she claims violated state and federal laws related to gender-based discrimination. Street Jr. is not named as a defendant in the suit, but he is mentioned throughout the 13-page filing.

Davis’ complaint portrays a dysfunctional workplace environment in the City Hall office, including an alleged physical altercation between Street Jr. and another staffer for which no one was reprimanded. Davis, who is Black, claimed another colleague in Harrity’s office made racist comments, including hurling the N-word toward her.

Davis, who was hired in late 2022, said in the lawsuit that she was fired for underperforming at her job about a year later, after Harrity won reelection.

Her attorney did not respond to a request for comment Monday. Street Jr. did not respond to calls seeking comment.

Harrity, a Democrat who represents the city at-large and was a longtime aide to the elder Street, said in a statement that he “categorically denounce[s] workplace harassment, or any conduct that undermines a respectful and professional work environment.”

He declined to comment further, citing the ongoing legal proceedings. A spokesperson for the city law department also declined to comment.

The lawsuit is the latest legal trouble involving Sharif Street Jr., 26, who over the last three years has pleaded guilty to criminal offenses in Philadelphia, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties. In August, his employment with the city was terminated the week he pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the inauguration assault and another incident.

City Councilmember Jim Harrity speaks to colleagues on during a Council session in September.

Street Jr. comes from one of Philadelphia’s most well-known political families. His grandfather is former Mayor John F. Street, his mother is Common Pleas Court Judge Sierra Thomas Street, and his father is a state senator and the former head of the state Democratic Party who is now running for a seat in Congress.

Anthony Campisi, a spokesperson for the elder Sharif Street’s congressional campaign, said the state senator had “no knowledge” of the sexual harassment allegations.

“Sharif loves his son unconditionally and has supported his son through personal troubles, like so many parents across Philadelphia,” Campisi said. “That being said, Sharif unequivocally condemns sexual harassment in all its forms and is looking for the legal process to play out.”

City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, who took over as leader of the chamber in 2024, declined to comment. Under City Council rules, individual members are responsible for hiring and terminating their own employees.

State Senator Sharif Street (D., Phila.)is in the state House chamber as Gov. Josh Shapiro makes his annual budget proposal Feb. 3, 2026.

Street Jr. was arrested several times over three years while working in City Hall as an assistant in Harrity’s office, court records show. Davis’ lawsuit comes about six months after Street Jr.’s employment in Harrity’s office ended, according to payroll records.

In January 2024, Street Jr. punched a security guard at the entrance to Parker’s inauguration ceremony at the Met Philadelphia on North Broad Street. He told The Inquirer at the time that he was defending his grandfather, the former mayor, whom he said the guard had grabbed because they were trying to enter at a back entrance without waiting in line.

“I saw my grandfather get grabbed and I just sort of blacked out,” Street Jr. said. His father defended him at the time, saying the security guard had initiated the altercation.

Later that month, Street Jr. was charged in connection with a hit-and-run from the previous August that left a 14-year-old injured.

The two cases were consolidated in Common Pleas Court, and Street Jr. pleaded guilty in August to charges of assault and causing an accident that resulted in an injury. According to prosecutors, he was sentenced to 60 days in jail.

Four months later, when he was no longer working in city government, Street Jr. was briefly jailed in Delaware County following what police in Upper Darby described as a “prolonged struggle” during a traffic stop. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, a summary offense.

February 10, 2026
A security fence has sparked dueling lawsuits between Gov. Josh Shapiro and his Abington neighbors

Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Abington Township neighbors filed a federal lawsuit Monday against Pennsylvania’s first couple, in what is the latest clash over security upgrades to his personal home following an arson attack on the governor’s Harrisburg residence while Shapiro and his family slept inside.

In the suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Shapiros’ neighbors in Abington Township, Jeremy and Simone Mock, accuse the governor and his wife, Lori Shapiro, of illegally occupying part of the Mocks’ yard to build an eight-foot security fence last summer in what they claim in the lawsuit is an “outrageous abuse of power.”

In short, they asked a federal judge to order the Shapiros off their property.

The Shapiros quickly filed a countersuit in Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas on Monday against the Mocks, asking a judge to declare that the disputed chunk of the property has been theirs for years.

The attempt to build the new fence is part of a larger security upgrade for Shapiro and his family, following the April firebombing of the state-owned governor’s residence in Harrisburg, when a man broke in to the mansion and set off Molotov cocktails that quickly engulfed part of the home. Cody Balmer, 38, pleaded guilty in October to attempted murder and was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison.

The arson at Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion erupted within minutes. The impact lingers.

The Mocks, whose property is adjacent to the Shapiros’ Montgomery County property, say the planned location of the fence is on their property unlawfully and violates their rights, according to the lawsuit.

The couple is represented by Wally Zimolong, a Delaware County attorney who is described as “the ‘go-to’ lawyer in Pennsylvania for conservative causes and candidates” on his firm’s website. He previously represented the political campaigns of President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.), according to his website.

“The Governor looks forward to a swift resolution and will not be bullied by anyone trying to score cheap political points, especially at the expense of his family’s safety and wellbeing,” Will Simons, a spokesperson for Shapiro, a Democrat running for reelection, said in a statement.

According to the Mocks’ lawsuit, the Shapiros approached their neighbors in July to discuss the construction of a security fence near where their yards meet. The Shapiros were interested in purchasing a portion of the Mocks’ property for the fence, and also discussed a lease option. But the couples couldn’t agree on the price, according to the suit.

Things took a turn in late August, when, according to the lawsuit, the Shapiros’ attorney told the Mocks they would obtain the chunk of land through “alternative actions.”

“What followed was an outrageous abuse of power by the sitting Governor of Pennsylvania and its former Attorney General,” the complaint says. (Shapiro served as Pennsylvania’s attorney general before he was elected governor in 2022.)

The Shapiros told the Mock family, according to the neighbors’ lawsuit, that they owned the land through adverse possession, a legal mechanism through which a person can gain ownership of a property they’ve actively used for at least 21 years. The Shapiros have lived in their Montgomery County home for 23 years.

The governor and first lady then began planting arborvitae-type trees and other plants on the Mocks’ property, flying drones over it, threatening to remove healthy trees, and “chasing away” contractors who came to work in the Mocks’ yard, the lawsuit claims.

The complaint also accuses Shapiro of directing state police to patrol the property. Troopers instructed the Mocks to leave the area of the yard multiple times, calling it a “disputed” area or “security zone,” the suit says.

The Mocks purchased the house in 2017, according to property records, and their lawsuit says they have paid taxes on the property over the time period. The offer to purchase the land shows the Shapiros knew it wasn’t theirs, according to the complaint.

“The Shapiros continue to occupy the Mock Property without permission or any legal justification whatsoever,” the lawsuit says.

The security fencing for the Shapiros’ home was purchased but ultimately never installed, and is being repurposed at the Pennsylvania State Police training academy, Spotlight PA previously reported.

Zimolong declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday.

The Shapiro’s countersuit

The Shapiros’ lawsuit doesn’t dispute many elements of the Mocks’ suit, but casts them in a different light.

As the Shapiros tell it, a land surveyor discovered in summer 2025 that the Mocks actually owned about 2,900 square feet of land that the Shapiros had believed was a part of their property since they bought the home in 2003. That time period, 22 years, satisfies Pennsylvania’s adverse possession law.

The Mocks didn’t consider that part of the property to be theirs, according to the complaint, until the Shapiros told them.

But after negotiations fell apart when the Shapiros attempted to purchase the land, the Mocks sought a permit to erect their own fence and include the disputed area on their property, the suit says.

Shapiro’s security detail denied a tree-removal contractor access to the area, according to the complaint, because the first couple believe they possessed the land.

And the state police troopers the Mocks saw were part of Shapiro’s security detail, which after the April attack have conducted review of his Abington home.

The governor and his wife are asking a judge to find that they are the “legal and equitable owners” of the area in dispute.

This image provided by Commonwealth Media Services shows damage after a fire on April 13, 2025, at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion while Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept inside.

Scrutiny over security

Shapiro has faced scrutiny for using taxpayer dollars with little transparency to upgrade the security of his personal home, which is the primary residence for two of his four children, who are school-aged. State Police spent at least $1 million to upgrade security on his Abington Township property, in addition to more than $32 million in upgrades and repairs to the Harrisburg governor’s mansion.

The GOP-controlled Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee in December took the rare step of subpoenaing Shapiro for access to records about how taxpayer dollars were spent to upgrade the Shapiro property and home, including a new security system and landscaping work previously reported by Spotlight PA. Sen. Jarrett Coleman (R., Lehigh), who chairs the committee, argued the subpoenas were necessary because the Shapiro administration did not turn over the requested documents, or turned over incomplete records.

As the Democratic governor of the nation’s fifth most-populous state, Shapiro continues to face threats to his safety. Police arrested a Carlisle man last week for allegedly sending messages to the governor’s office, that said “I do plan on stalking and hurting your family, before adding “metaphorically speaking of course.” The man, George R. Brown Jr., later told police they were “fake threats” and he was trying to get help with an eye injury he suffered while at Cumberland County Prison, PennLive reported.

February 9, 2026
Man who stole nearly $250,000 from Pa. Occupational Therapy Association charged with theft

A Western Pennsylvania man stole nearly $250,000 from the Montgomery County-based Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association, prosecutors said Monday, and spent the money on a trip to Disney World, country club membership fees, an Outer Banks vacation rental, and other personal expenses.

Michael Fantuzzo, 40, was charged with several counts of theft for the crimes, which prosecutors said took place between 2021 and 2024 while Fantuzzo, of Westmoreland County, served as treasurer for the nonprofit trade organization.

In all, prosecutors said, Fantuzzo spent $246,708 of the association’s funds, effectively reducing its savings account to zero.

Fantuzzo admitted to investigators that he used the association’s funds for personal expenses, though he initially told them he had spent $90,000 of the group’s funds and did so by accident.

A further investigation into Fantuzzo’s spending found that the sum was much larger.

Prosecutors say Fantuzzo spent more than $100,000 from the association’s bank account to pay off debt on a handful of credit cards opened in his name.

And Fantuzzo charged more than $128,000 to the association’s credit card, including $10,513 to install a hot tub at his home; $7,247 for a vacation home rental in Duck, N.C.; $5,460 for his local and county taxes; $4,124 for membership to the Hillcrest Country Club; $2,040 for a limousine service; and $2,019 for the trip to Disney World.

Members of the Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association, based in Plymouth Meeting at the time of the theft, realized something was wrong when newly elected board members learned the organization they inherited was experiencing “severe financial distress,” police said. They reported the suspicious payments to authorities in November.

The association advocates for occupational therapists and provides career development and networking opportunities, among other services, according to its website.

Investigators say they linked the spending back to Fantuzzo in a variety of ways.

Some payments, such as the Disney World tickets, included Fantuzzo and his family members’ names on the charges. Meanwhile, the PayPal payments went to an account bearing the name of Fantuzzo’s wife. And investigators tracked Fantuzzo’s name back to invoices and rental agreements for other purchases.

Fantuzzo turned himself in to Montgomery County authorities on Feb. 6. He was released from custody and is expected to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 17.

February 9, 2026
Five measles cases in Lancaster County are Pa.’s first outbreak of 2026

Five cases of measles have been confirmed in Lancaster County, the Pennsylvania Department of Health said this week.

The cases, all among school-age children and young adults, are the first of 2026 in Pennsylvania. Four of the cases are related, making this the state’s first measles outbreak of the year.

Separately, the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday confirmed a case of measles in Collegeville involving a person traveling through the county who sought care at Patient First Primary & Urgent Care-Collegeville.

Health officials urged anyone who was at the clinic between 1:15 and 4:15 p.m. on Jan. 29 to monitor for symptoms, which include a high fever, cough, runny nose, and a red rash.

Measles has been spreading in the United States over the last year, including isolated cases among travelers and increasingly larger outbreaks. The CDC reported 49 outbreaks in 2025, up from 16 in 2024.

An outbreak is when three or more cases are related, and is a sign that the community lacks sufficient immunity to keep the disease from spreading. Experts generally consider a community to have so-called herd immunity if at least 94% to 95% of people are vaccinated.

In Lancaster County, 89% of kindergarten students and 95% of high school seniors had received two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine in 2025, according to Pennsylvania Department of Health data.

Last month, Philadelphia officials warned of a potential measles exposure for people who had passed through several transit hubs, including Philadelphia International Airport and 30th Street Station, after a traveler was confirmed to have measles.

Measles is highly contagious, and people who are not vaccinated have a 90% chance of becoming ill if they come into contact with someone who has it. The virus spreads through the air when infected people cough, sneeze, or talk, and can linger in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves an area.

People are considered immune to measles if they were born before 1957, have already had measles, or received two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends children receive two doses of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine when they turn a year old and before entering kindergarten.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has recently overseen an overhaul of the CDC’s childhood vaccine schedule, with new recommendations for when vaccines should be given and who should receive them. But the measles vaccine remains among those recommended for all children.

Staff writer Aubrey Whelan contributed to this article.

February 5, 2026
Brian Fitzpatrick has more cash on hand than any other swing district Republican incumbent in the country

U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick has more cash on hand than any other GOP incumbent in a swing district nationwide as the party prepares for a tough election.

The Bucks County lawmaker raised about $4.3 million in the most recent cycle, more than any other House candidate in the state and the 21st most of all the candidates running for the 435-member House in 2026. He ended 2024 with nearly $4.4 million when removing debt and had more than $7.3 million cash on hand as of Dec. 31. That haul makes him the best-funded of the 16 candidates on the National Republican Congressional Committee’s Patriots program, a group of vulnerable incumbents in key swing districts, according to Federal Election Commission data.

“Brian Fitzpatrick has years of electoral success under his belt and will continue to be unbeatable in Bucks County because Pennsylvanians know he’ll always put them first in Washington … this race was over before it began,” NRCC spokesperson Reilly Richardson said in a statement.

But Fitzpatrick’s district is one of four in Pennsylvania that could determine the control of the U.S. House and has long been coveted by Democrats because of its purple electorate. It is one of nine GOP-held districts in the country that former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024.

Bob Harvie, a Democrat who chairs the Bucks County commissioners, has emerged as the front-runner to face Fitzpatrick in the 2026 election.

Harvie, who would need to win the May primary to face Fitzpatrick, raised nearly $930,000 last year and has more than $400,000 cash on hand. He surpassed $1 million after getting $100,000 in the first few weeks of the year, according to his campaign.

“Based on the outpouring of support we are receiving, it’s clear voters agree and are fired up to be a part of this campaign,” Harvie said Wednesday in a news release about his fundraising.

Harvie made history flipping the Bucks County board six years ago, has strong name recognition in the district, and has the backing of national Democrats. But Fitzpatrick ended the year with nearly 20 times more cash on hand.

Fitzpatrick received more money from each of New York and Florida than from in-state donors in 2025, according to FEC data. Harvie received the vast majority of his money from Pennsylvania.

Fitzpatrick could be less vulnerable than other swing-state Republicans

Fitzpatrick has set himself apart as willing to vote against President Donald Trump without blocking the president’s flagship bills. He was the only Pennsylvania Republican to vote against Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act on final passage, and Trump called him disloyal in response. But Fitzpatrick had cast a key vote that propelled an earlier version of the legislation forward.

He recently joined Democrats and two other swing-district Republicans in the state to vote to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, which Republicans quashed. Fitzpatrick criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) and called some of his Republican colleagues “intellectually dishonest.” But Democrats have argued that Fitzpatrick has not been critical enough of the president, whom he often avoids naming when challenging his policies.

Fitzpatrick has consistently outperformed Trump in the suburban district. He won his most recent election by nearly 13 percentage points.

Jim Worthington, a GOP mega-donor in Pennsylvania and owner of the Newtown Athletic Club, said that Fitzpatrick’s approach makes him “the perfect representative for a purple county.”

“Everybody that’s moderate and people that are independents, they love him because he votes to what best represents his constituents, and by the way, sometimes he takes some votes that make me cringe a little bit, but I understand why he does it,” Worthington said.

Heather Roberts, a spokesperson for Fitzpatrick’s campaign, attributed the incumbent’s fundraising success to his ability to break the partisan mold.

“Strong fundraising follows strong leadership — and Congressman Fitzpatrick has built a broad coalition of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents who are rejecting the extremes and backing two-party, patriotic, common-sense solutions,” Roberts said in a statement.

But Democrats are still trying to tie Fitzpatrick to the president, whose popularity is falling, according to Pew Research Center and other pollsters.

Fitzpatrick “is no maverick and no John McCain — he is a doormat for Trump’s worst instincts and a greenlight for D.C. Republicans’ dangerous agenda that is hurting our community,” Harvie said Wednesday in a statement to The Inquirer.

“Pennsylvanians deserve a Congressman who will stand up to Trump and actually do something to lower prices — but Fitzpatrick is weak and caves to his own party when it matters most,” said Eli Cousin, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, in a statement.

Democrats, including Harvie, will also be trying to build on their successes from the November 2025 elections, when Democrats flipped two key row offices in Bucks — district attorney and sheriff — and saw wins on local school boards.

But the nonpartisan Cook Political Report expects Fitzpatrick to be in a safer position than his swing-district colleagues, rating his district as “likely” Republican, while U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan’s Northeastern Pennsylvania seat is rated “lean” Republican. Republican U.S. Reps Scott Perry of York County and Ryan Mackenzie of Lehigh County are each in districts rated as a “toss up.”

Harvie has less cash on hand than the other Democratic front-runners in the state’s swing districts.

Janelle Stelson, a second-time challenger to Perry, ended 2025 with about $1.5 million cash on hand. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, who is challenging Bresnahan, ended the year with a little more than $800,000 cash on hand. Former federal prosecutor Ryan Croswell, Mackenzie’s Democratic challenger with the most cash, has $612,000 for the Lehigh Valley race.

Does name recognition make Harvie a ‘formidable’ challenger?

Harvie’s campaign is confident that he can cash in on name recognition, having won two countywide commissioner races in the last seven years that could help raise his profile among voters in the 1st Congressional District, which includes all of Bucks County and a sliver of Montgomery County.

Provided he wins the primary, Harvie would be the first Democratic challenger to Fitzpatrick’s seat who has held countywide elected office.

But will that help Harvie’s chances?

“The starting point that Bob Harvie has with his name ID as a commissioner is just a much better starting point,” said Brittany Crampsie, a Democratic consultant in Pennsylvania, noting that he would not need to spend as much money introducing himself to voters in an expensive Philadelphia-area media market.

“He has a lot of advantages going into this race, not the least of which is his name ID, but he would be probably the most formidable matchup we’ve seen against Fitzpatrick in his tenure,” she added.

“Maybe,” GOP consultant Christopher Nicholas said as to whether Harvie has valuable name recognition, adding that “among hardcore Democrats his name ID is decent because they’re hardcore Democrats.”

“But if you stood out on the streets of Tullytown or Riegelsville or Dublin and said, ‘Who are your county commissioners?’,” residents may be unfamiliar, Nicholas said.

As of October 2025, 43% of respondents to an internal Harvie campaign survey conducted by Public Policy Polling could identify Harvie, with 26% giving him a favorable rating and 17% an unfavorable. That poll had the commissioner and Fitzpatrick tied at 41%.

This article has been updated to include a comment from Fitzpatrick’s campaign received after publication.

February 5, 2026
The new Norristown school board plans to oust its superintendent, citing poor test scores

The Norristown Area School District’s board is moving to oust its superintendent, saying the district needs a new leader to reverse years of poor test scores.

The move to replace Superintendent Christopher Dormer, who has led the Montgomery County district since 2018 and whose contract expires June 30, comes after five new members were elected to the nine-person school board in November. The board voted unanimously Jan. 20 to give Dormer notice they would not renew his contract.

Some community members expressed shock at the decision to part ways with Dormer, who is also the president of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators. Dormer has been a vocal advocate for increasing funding to Norristown, which is considered underfunded by the state, and where nearly three-quarters of students are economically disadvantaged.

Jeremiah Lemke, who joined the Norristown school board in December and is now its president, acknowledged Dormer as “a leader statewide” in advocating for a new school funding system and a superintendent who has done “many good things for the district.” But, he said at the Jan. 20 meeting, test scores are a concern.

“Student achievement in Norristown hasn’t been winning, under Mr. Dormer, for years, not months, but years — seven to be exact,“ Lemke said in an emailed statement Wednesday. ”If the Eagles didn’t win for seven years, regardless of what positive developments happened in the organization, there would be no questions asked when the head coach was replaced.“

Norristown, a majority Hispanic district, enrolls about 8,000 students.

About 28% of Norristown’s third-through-eighth graders scored proficient or above in English language arts on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment standardized tests last year, compared to 48.5% statewide. In math, 27.4% of Norristown students were proficient, compared to 41.7% statewide.

Over the last few years, changes in Norristown’s test scores have largely tracked Pennsylvania’s as a whole, with ELA scores sliding, and math scores improving. In 2023, 30.7% of Norristown students scored proficient in ELA, compared to 53.7% of students at the state level. In math, 21.6% of Norristown students scored proficient in 2023, compared to 39.4% statewide.

In a message to staff and families after the Jan. 20 vote, Dormer said he was proud of what the district had accomplished during his tenure — “including consecutive years with minimal to no tax increases, the sizable and significant additions in staffing after years of reductions, the sustained investment in new instructional resources and educational opportunities after years of unaffordability, the development and implementation of our facilities master plan after decades of deferred maintenance, and the commitment to the principles of equity, inclusion, and belonging as we navigated a worldwide pandemic and an increasingly politically divided country.”

Dormer, who began his career in education as an educational assistant in the Lower Merion School District, spent 13 years as a teacher, coach, and athletic director in the Upper Darby School District before moving into administration in 2005. He became Upper Darby High School’s principal in 2008, a role he held for five years, and came to Norristown in 2016.

Performance reviews on the district’s website show Dormer was rated “proficient” by the board in 2021-22 and 2022-23. More recent reviews were not listed online.

On Wednesday, Dormer declined to comment.

Lemke — who works for a Philadelphia nonprofit, Jounce Partners, that has coached charter school leaders to improve teacher performance — said in a statement Wednesday that the decision was “thoughtful, reflective, data-informed, and unanimous, amongst new and continuing board members.”

The board last week voted to approve a $79,500 contract with Alma Advisory Group, a Chicago-based firm, to conduct a national search for a new superintendent.

Jordan Alexander, another new school board member, said during that board meeting that members “often have to make decisions that are very unpopular.”

“I’m gonna be honest, I wasn’t so sold,” Alexander said. A former Norristown student, Alexander said that when Dormer “came to the scene, the pride did go up, and it was a breath of fresh air.”

But “we cannot advocate ourselves to be the best if our performance does not reflect that,” Alexander said.

Community reaction to the ouster

Some community members accused the board of a predetermined decision.

“Staff were not aware of these changes … the community was not aware, or anybody. You guys just threw it out there,” Ericka Wharton, a parent and leader of a Norristown community center, told the board at last week’s meeting. Wharton warned the decision could create instability, including a decline in student achievement.

Carmina Taylor, a local advocate, told the board that community members deserved “a full explanation with dates and details that led to your decision.”

“This decision is short-sighted, abrupt, without consideration as to how the students will be impacted by this major shift in leadership,” said Taylor, co-founder of the Movement for Black and Brown Lives in Montgomery County.

The election of the new board came after infighting in the local Democratic Party. Chris Jaramillo, the former board president, lost the local Democratic Party’s endorsement for reelection last year. Jaramillo had opposed a tax break for a senior affordable housing development. Last week, the new board voted to rescind a November district policy that restricted tax abatements, saying it would replace it.

Jaramillo is also a co-founder of the Movement for Black and Brown Lives in Montgomery County. In an interview Wednesday, he described the board’s new leaders as inexperienced and questioned how it could quickly replace Dormer without causing disruption.

“I don’t think it’s a sound decision,” said Jaramillo. He said he worried the board would pick someone “without any sort of knowledge of how diverse Norristown and its surrounding area are.”

Taylor said Wednesday she wasn’t speaking on behalf of Jaramillo. She accused the board of “plotting” to remove Dormer.

“How in the world, if they didn’t have a sense of what they wanted to do, could they have even attempted to do that in the last 45 days?” said Taylor, who has filed a complaint with the school board, alleging insufficient transparency.

Lemke said it is “categorially false” that the board acted too quickly and without transparency. “Once we were installed, we had a short time period in which to make a decision because we knew that if we didn’t renew his contract it would not be a quick task to do a national search for a superintendent,” he said.

Taylor noted that while the district’s test scores “are bad,” Norristown has only been receiving additional state money under a new formula intended to remedy constitutional underfunding for the past two years. (The budget proposed by Gov. Josh Shapiro Tuesday would give underfunded districts their third installment of a nine-year plan.)

“It’s not enough to address the systemic issue, period,” she said.

February 4, 2026
Gov. Josh Shapiro says he’ll prevent data center developers from ‘saddling’ Pennsylvanians with higher energy costs

Gov. Josh Shapiro had a message for data center developers on Tuesday: Come to Pennsylvania, but bring your own energy — or pay up.

During his budget address, Shapiro said his proposal — the Governor’s Responsible Infrastructure Development (GRID) standards — will ensure center operators are “not saddling homeowners with added costs because of their development.”

Data centers, which house the technology to power cloud storage and other computing, have been proliferating across the country and the region due to the increasing demands of generative artificial intelligence, or AI. State and local officials are trying to keep up with the rapid pace of development, proposing new legislation — and updating existing measures — in an attempt to regulate the facilities.

Shapiro’s plan would require data centers to supply their own energy or pay for any new generation they need. It also calls on them to hire and train Pennsylvania workers and comply with “the highest standards of environmental protection,” including in water conservation, Shapiro said.

In exchange, the governor added, data center developers will get “speed and certainty” in the permitting process, as well as applicable tax credits.

The comments from Shapiro, a Democrat who has consistently encouraged data center development, come amid a flurry of legislative and executive action, as elected officials promise to keep Pennsylvania and New Jersey consumers from bearing the costs of these power-hungry facilities.

Data centers, the electric grid, and governors’ proposals

Locally, proposals for large AI data centers have faced opposition from East Vincent Township, Chester County to Vineland, Cumberland County.

A half-built data center in Vineland is expected to be completed later this year, with a capacity of 300 megawatts.

Many experts have attempted to quantify the impact of these centers on Americans’ energy bills. In one analysis, Bloomberg News found that the monthly electric bills of customers who lived near significant data center activity had increased 267% in the past five years.

At the same time, some governors, including Shapiro, have criticized and sued PJM, the Montgomery County-based electric grid operator, over its annual capacity auction, which influences how much customers pay.

On Tuesday, Shapiro reiterated calls for PJM to speed up new power-generation projects and extend a price cap.

What does Montco’s PJM have to do with data centers and why is Gov. Shapiro always so mad at it?

Separate from GRID, Shapiro also said electric companies, including Peco, should increase transparency around pricing and “rein in costs” for consumers, including low-income and vulnerable Pennsylvanians.

“These steps will save consumers money immediately,” Shapiro said. He announced an energy-affordability watchdog to monitor utility-rate requests and take legal action if necessary to prevent companies from “jacking up their rates and costing you more.”

In New Jersey, new Gov. Mikie Sherrill made energy affordability a central tenet of her campaign. At her inauguration last month, she declared “a state of emergency on utility costs,” following through on a promise she had made in stump speeches and TV ads.

Through several executive orders, she froze utility rates and expanded programs to spur new power generation in the state. She also ordered electric utilities to report energy requests from data centers.

“This is just the beginning,” Sherrill said in her inaugural remarks. “We are going to take on the affordability crisis, and we are going to shake up the status quo.”

In Pennsylvania, ‘Data Center Consumer Protection Bill’ advances

An Amazon data center is shown last year while under construction in front of the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Berwick, Pa.

Meanwhile in Harrisburg and Trenton, some lawmakers have other ideas about how to keep residents from subsidizing data centers.

As of Tuesday, nearly 30 bills in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey legislatures mentioned data centers, according to online records. Many of those bills aren’t directly related to residents’ electric bills, and instead address the facilities’ energy sources, water usage, environmental impacts, and general regulation.

Others attempt to tackle rising consumer costs.

On Monday, the Pennsylvania House Energy Committee advanced a measure referred to as the “Data Center Consumer Protection Bill.” Lawmakers say it would keep residents’ bills down by creating a regulatory framework for data centers and requiring their operators to contribute to utility assistance funds for low-income Pennsylvanians.

“Today’s vote brings us one step closer to protecting ratepayers,” Robert Matzie, the Beaver County Democrat who introduced the bill, said in a statement. “Data centers can bring jobs and expand the local tax base, but if unchecked, they can drive up utility costs. Electric bills are already too high.”

The state House Energy Committee also heard testimony Monday on a bill that would allow the state to create a “model ordinance” for local municipalities to regulate data centers, and another that would require centers to report their annual energy and water usage.

The bills were introduced by State Reps. Kyle Donahue and Kyle Mullins, both Democrats from the Scranton area, which has become a hot spot for data center development.

Human reporters explain why AI data centers are so controversial in the Philly suburbs and beyond

“There is a real concern and a sense of overwhelm among the people we represent,” Mullins said at the hearing. “The people of Pennsylvania have serious concerns about data center energy usage and water usage, especially as they see utility bills continue to rise rapidly.”

Dan Diorio, vice president of state policy for the Data Center Coalition, said he worried the bills would discourage operators from building in Pennsylvania. He said they are already incentivized to reduce energy costs, which are estimated to make up anywhere from 40% to 80% of a data center’s total operating costs.

“Data center companies strive to maximize energy efficiency to keep their costs low,” Diorio said.

Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, the Philadelphia Democrat who chairs the energy committee, closed Monday’s hearing by reminding members of one of its main objectives: to “keep down the energy bills that are skyrocketing for people back home.”

A South Jersey lawmaker says his bill could help consumers

A Philadelphia-area woman woman turns down her thermostat in attempt to save on electricity in this January 2023 file photo.

The pain of skyrocketing utility bills has been felt acutely in New Jersey, which unlike Pennsylvania uses more energy than it produces.

Between 2024 and 2025, New Jersey residents’ electric bills rose more than 13% on average, the fifth steepest increase in the U.S., according to federal data analyzed by the business magazine Kiplinger. Pennsylvanians saw a nearly 10% increase during the same period, according to the data.

Their electric bills hit record highs this summer, from the Main Line to the Jersey Shore

Prices are expected to keep rising in the coming years as more data centers are constructed.

A bill sponsored by New Jersey State Assembly member David Bailey Jr., a Democrat from Salem County, attempts to prevent future price hikes.

The legislation would require data center developers to have “skin in the game,” as Bailey described it in a recent interview, and sign a contract to purchase at least 85% of the electric service they request for 10 years. He said it would also provide incentives for data centers to supply their own energy generation.

A massive and controversial AI data center is under construction in South Jersey

“I don’t want to come off as an anti-data center person,” said Bailey, who represents parts of Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland Counties. “This is a very positive thing. We’re just saying we don’t want these big companies to come in and pass this [cost] on to our mom and pops, our neighbors, and our everyday ratepayers.”

Bailey said he was disappointed that his bill was pocket-vetoed by former Gov. Phil Murphy last month. Now, it has to restart the legislative process. But Bailey said he expects it to eventually pass with bipartisan support.

“No matter your party affiliation you understand the affordability issue,” Bailey said. “You understand your electric bill” — and how much it has risen recently.

February 4, 2026