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  • From Philly DA to federal inmate, Seth Williams now has another new title: city jail chaplain

    From Philly DA to federal inmate, Seth Williams now has another new title: city jail chaplain

    He walked toward the cellblock in Riverside Correctional Facility, pulling a cart of books behind him.

    For a moment, it was quiet. The only sounds that echoed off the jail’s cinder block walls were the squeaks of his cart’s wheels.

    But as a heavy door to a busy unit swung open, Seth Williams’ work was set to begin.

    “Chaplain up!” one of the inmates inside yelled.

    Williams smiled at the crowd of prisoners who began walking toward him and his squeaky cart, which was filled with Bibles, Qurans, and other religious texts.

    “Step into my office,” he said, placing his hand on an inmate’s shoulder.

    Nearly a decade after Williams went through one of Philadelphia’s most spectacular and public falls from grace, the former district attorney — whose tenure imploded as he was prosecuted on federal corruption charges — is now serving as a chaplain in the city’s jails.

    The role’s expectations are modest. He offers spiritual counseling and religious programming to the 600 or so prisoners held at Riverside. It is part-time and pays about $21 per hour.

    Still, for Williams, the position was uniquely appealing. After putting people in jail as the city’s top prosecutor, then spending five years in federal prison as an inmate himself, he believes he can use what he learned from that journey to help young men avoid committing crimes in the future.

    “I can be a better advocate, a better vessel, to help prevent crime and reduce recidivism … by helping people learn the skills they need to keep jobs and de-escalate conflict,” Williams said. “The best use of my experience … is helping people who are incarcerated the way I was.”

    Williams believes his efforts now can help reduce recidivism among young men in jail.

    It is a long way from the halls of power that Williams once inhabited as the city’s first Black district attorney — and from his standing as a politician who was viewed as a possible future mayor.

    Still, Williams says, he is fulfilled by this more humble form of service. And becoming chaplain is not the only role he has taken up behind bars: For the last two years, he has also volunteered at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, teaching weekly classes on career preparedness and poetry, and at State Correctional Institute Phoenix, where he directs a volunteer program about Christianity.

    Last month, Williams agreed to allow an Inquirer reporter to join him inside the city’s jails as he counseled inmates. He shared stories about his time in prison, delivered socks and toothpaste to indigent inmates, gathered a group to recite the rosary, and gave books to men who expressed interest in spiritual counseling.

    He was energetic, open, and passionate. He spoke openly about his past misdeeds, but remained defiant about his federal prosecution — saying he was wrong for not reporting gifts he received as DA, but insisting that he did not sell his office to his benefactors, as the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged.

    Williams acknowledged that his path to becoming a jailhouse chaplain and volunteer has been unusual. He pointed out, for instance, that the room where he teaches his Career Keepers course is just down the hall from the jail’s print shop — which once printed the DA’s letterhead with his name at the top.

    Prisons Commissioner Michael Resnick said Williams’ transformation is one of the key attributes he brings to the job.

    “He just has a passion for this work, to get people on the right path,” Resnick said.

    And Williams said he feels as if he is doing more to help people now than he ever has.

    “What if the worst thing that happens in your life,” he said, “could be used for good?”

    From rising star to ‘criminal’

    To understand where Williams is now, it helps to recall where he came from.

    After he was elected district attorney in 2009, Williams, then 42, promised to reform the office where he had spent a decade working as a line prosecutor. He said he would assign lawyers to handle cases by neighborhood, place greater emphasis on charging crimes correctly at the outset, and divert minor offenses into community-based treatment programs.

    His policy positions were part of his appeal, but he also leaned into a compelling personal story: Abandoned in an orphanage at birth, Williams was adopted at age 2 and raised in Cobbs Creek. He went on to graduate from Central High School, Pennsylvania State University, and Georgetown University’s law school before returning to his hometown to work as an assistant district attorney.

    When he ran to become the city’s top prosecutor in 2009 — his second attempt after a narrow loss four years earlier — he had a campaign slogan that matched his aspirations: “A new day, a new D.A.”

    Williams thanks supporters after winning the Democratic primary for district attorney in 2009.

    And for a while, some political observers said, he was living up to that mantra. In addition to engineering an ambitious restructuring of the office, he made headlines during his first term by charging West Philadelphia doctor Kermit Gosnell with killing babies during illegal late-term abortions, and by charging Msgr. William Lynn, a top official in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, with shielding sexually abusive Catholic priests.

    Charismatic and camera-friendly, Williams was easily reelected to a second term in 2013, and homicides began falling to their lowest levels in decades. Some began wondering if he might leverage his success as DA into a run for City Hall.

    Williams and then-Mayor Michael Nutter at a press conference in 2010.

    Beneath the surface, though, challenges in Williams’ personal life began to mount.

    Several years after he and his wife divorced, creditors pursued him for unpaid bills. Yet he still made frequent stops to smoke cigars and hobnob with the city’s elite at the Union League — expenses he sometimes paid for using campaign funds.

    He now admits he was also drinking too much, “numbing myself from the daily trauma with too much Jack Daniel’s and martinis and Yuenglings.”

    By 2015, the FBI was investigating whether he had been misusing campaign funds to live beyond his means. And two years after that, he was indicted on charges of wire fraud, honest services fraud, and bribery-related crimes.

    Federal prosecutors said he not only misspent political money but also sold the influence of his office to wealthy allies who showered him with vacations, clothing, and a used Jaguar convertible.

    Williams outside of federal court, where he was charged with bribery and related crimes.

    Williams insisted he was not guilty and took his case to trial. But midway through the proceedings, he accepted an offer from prosecutors to plead guilty to a single count of violating the Travel Act.

    U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond showed no mercy — jailing Williams immediately, then imposing a five-year prison term, the maximum allowed by law. The judge called Williams a “criminal” who surrounded himself with “parasites” and “fed his face at the trough” of public money.

    A mentor in solitary

    During the first five months of Williams’ incarceration, he was held in solitary confinement at Philadelphia’s Federal Detention Center. That was intended to protect him — former law enforcement officers can become targets behind bars — but it left him confined to a cell for 23 hours a day.

    The Federal Detention Center, at 7th and Arch Streets.

    Beyond the once-monthly 15-minute phone call he was allowed to make to his daughters, Williams said, there was one thing that helped him endure isolation: Friar Ben Regotti.

    Regotti, then a resident at Center City’s St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, served as the detention center’s chaplain. And when Williams was in solitary, he said, Regotti came to his cell every day and offered an escape: praying with him through a slit in the thick steel door, hearing his confession, and offering him books, including the Bible, which Williams — who was raised Catholic — said he finally read cover-to-cover for the first time.

    “I’d lost everything,” Williams recalled. “But Father Regotti was the kindest person to me.”

    When he was transferred to a prison camp in Morgantown, W.Va., Williams continued his spiritual journey by attending weekly Masses, Bible studies, and services for other religions. He also completed substance abuse classes, taught classes to help prisoners get high school diplomas, and learned how to play the saxophone.

    He made some unlikely friends while he was locked up, including Michael Vandergrift of Delaware County, who is serving a life sentence plus 20 years for killing a rival drug dealer as part of a hired hit; and Bright Ogodo of Brooklyn, N.Y., who was sentenced to more than six years in prison for running a sophisticated identity-theft ring out of TD Bank branches.

    Williams said Ogodo later told him he was considering taking his own life — he had even written a letter to his family, convinced they would be better off without him. But when Ogodo saw that Philadelphia’s former DA was in jail, too, Williams said, Ogodo changed his mind.

    “He said, ‘I saw you walking with your head up, and [thought], if you can survive, so shall I,’” Williams said.

    Finding his footing

    Williams was released from prison in 2020, but said almost no one was willing to help him get back on his feet. Before he was incarcerated, he said, he had visited the governor’s mansion and taken his daughters to the Easter egg roll on the White House lawn. But afterward, few people would even take his calls.

    “Nobody would hire me,” he said, describing people’s default position toward him as “the Heisman,” the college football statue with an arm extended to keep opponents away.

    So Williams — whose law license was suspended when he was convicted — found work at a Lowe’s Home Improvement store in Havertown, unloading trucks and fulfilling online orders from 7 p.m. until 5:30 a.m.

    Most of his coworkers, he said, had also recently been released from prison. And while working, he said, he was “kind of providing pastoral care [to them] daily,” similar to his teaching of GED courses in prison, or participating in Bible studies.

    In time, he said, he began developing his ideas about self-improvement into formal programs for nonprofits, providing ways for recently incarcerated people to learn the skills needed to maintain consistent employment — developing a resumé, for instance, but also focusing on topics like conflict de-escalation.

    Much of his motivation for doing that work, he said, came from research showing that recidivism is greatly reduced among people who receive substance abuse counseling, career coaching, and regular spiritual practice.

    “What all three have in common,” Williams said, “is changing the hearts and minds of people.”

    In 2023, he ran into Terrell Bagby, then a deputy commissioner in Philadelphia’s jail system, and the two discussed the possibility of bringing Williams’ teachings into the jails. That’s how he ended up bringing his volunteer courses — Career Keepers and Prison Poets — into Curran-Fromhold, the city’s largest jail, he said.

    In a recent session of Career Keepers, Williams was at the head of the class as nine prisoners sat at a U-shaped table around the room. They took turns practicing public speaking by delivering updates on the weather, sports, and news, then discussed topics including how to reward positive behavior — rather than linger on bad choices — and how to display gratitude.

    In the moments after the prisoners were escorted back to their blocks, Williams said the men he has taught over the years have often been more open and vulnerable than he expected. Some have shared stories about traumatic experiences — such as being shot or sexually abused — and then discussed how those experiences affected their lives.

    “I spent all this time trying to get out of prison,” he said, “and then I found myself loving being there, trying to help the inmates themselves.”

    Becoming a presence

    Inside his spare chaplain’s office at the jail, Williams has a desk, a few shelves, and scores of religious books. He keeps packs of white T-shirts, socks, and toothpaste to put into care packages for prisoners and, before making his rounds, keeps a list of people he wants to see.

    His time on the cellblocks can be brief. During his rounds on a recent day, his presence did not always seem to have much of an impact. As he passed through each unit’s main expanse, where dozens of prisoners have cells overlooking a bustling common area, some prisoners were more interested in getting their lunch or hanging out by the phones than in checking out what Williams had to offer.

    But other times, during several different stops, Williams sat and prayed with prisoners. And the care packages he hands out have become a frequent request, he said.

    He wound down his shift in a room near the law library, reciting the rosary with a half-dozen men who had expressed interest in praying with him.

    Williams’ chaplaincy is centered at the Riverside Correctional Facility in Northeast Philadelphia.

    Regotti, the chaplain Williams had encountered in solitary, said in an interview that even though they first met while the former DA was behind a thick steel door, Regotti could immediately sense his curiosity, intellect, and desire to better himself.

    “Going from feeling absolutely desperate to finding ways to cope, it was kind of a mark of his own personal resilience,” Regotti said. “He really developed into somebody that was in touch with God’s grace.”

    Williams said he now aspires to be for people what Regotti was for him — a comforting presence in a dark place, and someone who, he hopes, can help provide guidance that can last well beyond someone’s time in confinement.

    “The cheapest way to do that is by spreading the gospel,” he said. “People don’t want you to preach to them. They just want your presence — they want you to be there.”

  • The closure of the Bryn Mawr birth center is an inconceivable loss

    The closure of the Bryn Mawr birth center is an inconceivable loss

    Five and a half years ago, I was 41 weeks pregnant and in active labor with my second child, trying to breathe through the pain as my husband sped us to the Bryn Mawr birth center.

    Hobbling up to the birth center door, my husband in tow, I was greeted by the on-call midwife whom I had spoken to right before leaving home. She showed us to a yellow room, a beautiful birthing suite with a queen bed and window shutters that could’ve been in any home, where 15 minutes later, my healthy baby boy came screaming into the world.

    Relief flooded my body. Only days earlier, COVID-19-related policies had locked down maternity and postpartum floors. My heart ached reading stories of mothers laboring alone and being separated from their new babies. Pregnant women around me felt scared and powerless.

    Instead of pandemic-forced isolation, my husband, newborn, and I spent a peaceful night together in that yellow room, quietly being cared for by the nurse and midwife. It’s a night I’ll always cherish as the calm in the storm of an otherwise scary and painful time.

    And it’s that night I thought of when I learned that, after 47 years and over 16,000 deliveries, the Bryn Mawr birth center, also known as the Lifecycle Wellness and Birth Center, will close its doors early this year. The reason is simple and stark: It can no longer afford the rising cost of insurance.

    As a woman, I feel devastated that this choice will no longer be accessible to Philadelphia mothers. As a physician, I am angry at the continued erosion of patient care by a healthcare model that values money over people — an insurance system in which a successful, hugely impactful clinical practice nearly half a century old could dissolve under the threat of massive insurance premium hikes.

    I’ve been practicing medicine for eight years at three different hospitals in the Philadelphia region, first within general internal medicine and now within the subspecialty of cardiology. Despite my decision to work at large academic centers, I’ve come to see the birth center as the gold standard — an antidote to healthcare systems that are so large that patients feel invisible.

    At every stop of my career, I have been mentored by brilliant, dedicated health professionals. But what I’ve learned from the midwives and nurses at the Bryn Mawr birth center has profoundly impacted who I am as a doctor, and what I believe medicine should and can look like.

    In medical training, we’re rewarded for memorizing guidelines, drug mechanisms, trial names, and dates. We are taught to apply a rigid standard of care that too often ignores patient realities. The truth of medicine is that there is a lot that is not under our control.

    We miss the boat as doctors when we focus too much on medications, testing, and interventions, and fail to see the human in front of us who is suffering. Patients suffer alone, confused, bouncing around providers who don’t look up from computers to see the person in front of them for who they are.

    The Bryn Mawr birth center was different: A place where people, including me, felt seen and cared for.

    The author, a physician at Cooper University Hospital, gave birth to her second child at the Bryn Mawr birth center. She is devastated by the anticipated closure of the birth center, slated to happen early this year.

    With the loss of the birth center, Philly mothers are losing that intimate, personalized care I received in the yellow room.

    There has been an outpouring of grief from women and providers who see what a profound loss this is for our larger community. It feels devastating to me that, in a time when so many people feel disappointed by their experiences with healthcare, one of the few clinical models that actually succeeded in making patients feel cared for would be the one to close.

    And still, the birth center will close its doors. My heart is full of sadness for this inconceivable loss. But I’ll hold that alongside gratitude: for the midwives, nurse practitioners, and nurses who have taught this doctor so much about seeing patients for who they are, and respecting our bodies for what they can do.

    Cara Lea Smith is a physician at a local hospital, who was born and raised in West Philadelphia and continues to live there now with her husband and two children.

  • Letters to the Editor | Feb. 2, 2026

    Letters to the Editor | Feb. 2, 2026

    Who benefits?

    Some city officials are reportedly upset with District Attorney Larry Krasner for saying he would prosecute federal immigration agents if they commit crimes here. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s concern with avoiding confrontation has been reinforced by Police Commissioner Kevin J. Bethel, who recently said, “Who benefits when you’re putting out things and trying to … poke the bear?”

    I’ll tell you who benefits — the bear. Or, in this case, our federal government: “We the people of the United States.” And when the residents of one city fear for their lives and livelihood under the yoke of a violent federal occupation, it concerns all of the states, all of the cities. We all benefit by standing up to tyranny, or we all lose our freedom.

    Barry George, Philadelphia

    . . .

    Some folks have suggested that protesting the operations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be done at a distance and with respect. This opinion infers that getting close enough to help someone who has been pushed to the ground only serves to promote violence.

    The violence initiated by some government agents may not be a characteristic of all of them, but it is a direct result of the words and actions coming from the president and his enforcers, which appeal to the “bad actors” being actively recruited, rewarded, and pardoned. Psychological tests have proven time and time again that cruel behavior by otherwise normal people is facilitated when their identities are hidden.

    The cover for the actions of ICE is “the removal of people who are here illegally,” but even these folk have rights and protection under the law, as do we all. Now it is the “illegals” who are the targets of removal. Will “protesters” be the next target?

    The world has been witness to what happens when too few people protest an authoritarian government’s self-sanctioned actions. In America right now, most protests are happening in “blue” states. God bless the people in these states. When will “red” states folks finally step up and be counted? The world is watching.

    Joe Sundeen, Yardley

    Paid protester trope

    Letter writer Carl Marchi noted recently that today’s “… protesting mobs … have no morals and no credibility.” He contrasts this with activists from the social justice and anti-war movements of the 1960s and 1970s, who he says “… had some moral character.” As someone whose activism started in 1966 and who remains very active to this day, I can tell Mr. Marchi he has no idea what he is talking about. As an active member of Indivisible and supporter of other current groups, I assure him that the moral character of today’s activists matches that of the ’60s and ’70s. I was heavily engaged in Philadelphia and later in Wisconsin in those days. Moral character was abundant then, and it is just as abundant now.

    He also says about today’s protesters that he “sincerely” believes they are “being paid.” It is a truly sad and completely false accusation. As a regular demonstrator, among other activities with Indivisible, I can assure him that no paychecks have been received since I started involvement in 2018. Our only “pay” is the moral support of hanging together and working together to free this country of Donald Trump’s fascism as he threatens the very survival of our democracy. I invite Mr. Marchi to check out Indivisible, but he shouldn’t expect to get paid.

    Bob Groves, Philadelphia

    Moral conviction

    I am a 79-year-old retired attorney and former teacher who took part in the 1963 civil rights march because I was strongly and emotionally outraged by the racism and inequality I saw in my own country. For similar reasons, I participated with my Marine vet son in four large protests last year in opposition to the illegal and unconstitutional actions we’ve seen from the current administration. Not only do I love my country, but I am still committed to the rule of law, which was my occupational cornerstone for almost 40 years. In addition, my 15 years as a high school teacher imbued in me the importance of truth-telling and fostering cognitive thinking skills, so the next generation can rationally analyze news events. Therefore, I must take extreme umbrage at the assertion by Carl Marchi in his letter that we protesters “have no morals and no credibility,” and, in fact, he believes we are being paid. He’s not the lone voice with the latter claim (including from a relative and former friend), and I usually laugh at something so nonsensical. But with the vast amount of disinformation circulating these days, I just can’t let this one pass. Every single person with whom I interacted at the protests (comprised of tens of thousands) voiced similar strongly fearful reactions to the horrors they were witnessing as the separation of powers embodied in the Constitution was being dismantled. How that makes them — and me — immoral and not credible is another example of the statements made by the president et al. that have no basis in fact. Many of us have jokingly asked others at the protests if they had gotten their checks from George Soros yet, as the pro-Trump minions have routinely asserted. Ridiculously false statements like that are dangerous, as they serve only to incite more hatred.

    Diane C. Lucente, Delran

    Official inaction

    We’ve known for a while now that Philadelphia has a mayor who repeatedly sits on her hands when it comes to crucial issues such as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, SEPTA, immigration, and “sanctuary cities.” The latest example of her inaction involves the removal of the historical panels about slavery from the President’s House. The mayor should take a good look in the mirror and see herself as the enabler of the removal.

    The city has known for months that Donald Trump was planning to get rid of the panels, but there was an easy way to stop him. The city could have relied upon a cooperative agreement drafted in 1950 by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the City of Philadelphia. That agreement prohibits either the city or the federal government from making changes to the buildings or grounds at the Independence National Historical Park site “except by mutual agreement.”

    Given Trump’s stated plans to change the President’s House site, the mayor and/or City Council could have declared the Department of the Interior in breach of that agreement. Further, given the city’s continued ownership of historic parcels, it could have threatened to declare that the portions of the historic district the city owns are off limits to Trump and Co. Instead, by choosing to sit on her hands and not go to court after the fact, the mayor has an uphill battle.

    Our founders would have acted thus against the king, but not so for Philadelphia’s current leadership. They clearly prefer planning a 250th anniversary party to protecting our collective heritage.

    Mark D. Schwartz, Bryn Mawr

    . . .

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker has now presided over two municipal disasters in less than a year. The city workers’ strike of summer 2025 left heaps of steaming garbage strewn across our neighborhoods. Now, the city is barely functioning days after a snowstorm. Traversing a crosswalk is now a privilege for the fit and able-bodied, and our beloved SEPTA drivers are still navigating sheets of ice on arterial streets.

    It does not have to be this way. Philadelphians should remember this next year when we go to the polls for the 2027 mayoral election.

    Brian Elmore, Philadelphia

    Dueling branches

    Minnesota’s intentional disregard for federal immigration law is the mirror opposite of former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s attempt in 2010 to enforce immigration laws in her state during Barack Obama’s presidency. In an attempt to stem the flood of illegal immigrants into Arizona, she signed into law a statute that authorized state and local police officers to enforce federal immigration laws. The Obama administration challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court Arizona’s sovereign authority to enforce the federal government’s immigration laws. Justice Anthony Kennedy and Chief Justice John Roberts joined the majority in holding that federal immigration authority supersedes Arizona from establishing any immigration rules of its own.

    Gov. Brewer tried to defend her state from drug cartels and other criminal organizations that used America’s open borders to further their interests. Now, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey are actively subverting federal immigration law and a contingent of activist judges, obstructionist politicians, and intentionally misleading members of the press to pretend that Minnesota can do what Arizona could not: establish its own immigration rules. Fifteen years ago, the Obama team argued that “we can’t have 50 different immigration policies.” Today, Obama’s friends act as if Minnesota can do whatever it wants, the consequences to federal authority and national sovereignty be damned. Either the federal government exercises authority over immigration enforcement or the state of Minnesota does.

    Richard Colucci, Pennsauken

    Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.

  • Dear Abby | Wife discovers abusive husband is planning to go

    DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been married for 15 years. He is former military, suffers from PTSD, and has been verbally abusive and controlling since our wedding. I have always worked to support us, sometimes with two jobs. We have a 14-year-old son.

    My husband has a sister who bought a house. I picked up items for her new home and looked at his phone to double-check the address. Among the recent messages my husband had sent to her was one in which he told her he was in hell living with me and he didn’t give a damn about me. He also asked his sister if he could move in with her! (She was fine with that.) He said he would figure a way out, and that there was always a way out.

    I am beyond devastated. I have always been supportive of him; now this. Part of me says I should be relieved. Why does it hurt so much?

    — SHOCKED IN TEXAS

    DEAR SHOCKED: This “hurts so much” because you were caught flat-footed, without a clue that your husband is planning on leaving you. Be GLAD you know, because you haven’t a moment to waste. Schedule an appointment with an attorney who can help you protect yourself from the financial assault that’s coming. If there are assets in the marriage, find out exactly what they are and take your cues from your lawyer. I am rooting for you.

    ** ** **

    DEAR ABBY: As a single parent with two children, ages 9 and 10, I am in a challenging situation. I have been diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a serious heart-lung illness that progressively worsens. Although I am classified as physically disabled, advancements in new medications have significantly improved my condition compared to when my children were younger.

    My mother helps me with cleaning my apartment each week, and I truly appreciate and often need her support. She holds a key to my home for emergencies. However, during her visits when we are out, she has removed items from my apartment without my consent. When I have mentioned this to her, she has manipulated my feelings and denied any wrongdoing, despite being caught in the act several times. Am I wrong for being angry about this?

    — VIOLATED IN OREGON

    DEAR VIOLATED: You are right for feeling your trust has been violated. It has been. Your mother’s gaslighting you about it is shameful. If there is an alternative to your mother helping with the housekeeping, please consider availing yourself of it. Contact your state department of social services (as well as your doctor) to find out if there are programs to help you with maintaining your household. If that is not possible, you will have to lock up any items of value you don’t want to go missing because of your light-fingered, entitled mother.

  • Horoscopes: Monday, Feb. 2, 2026

    ARIES (March 21-April 19). Don’t confuse missing an absurdly high target with failure. You’re playing a different game than someone setting modest, incremental goals. If you’re going to dream big, make peace with the fact that big dreams come with big gaps between effort and outcome.

    TAURUS (April 20-May 20). That “small issue” is way more complex than it looks and could turn into a big mess if you don’t fix it quickly and completely. A clear, thorough response now, while it’s still containable, will keep you from having to revisit this.

    GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You feel like the protagonist in an antagonistic environment. You’re resistant to joining a culture you don’t quite understand or agree with at the moment. Don’t let them put words in your mouth. Say it your way. Not loud, but clear.

    CANCER (June 22-July 22). You’ll be taking things to the next level. Are you ready to do this? Of course not. That’s not how it works. First, you commit beyond your capability. Then, in the process of the work, your capability grows.

    LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). It feels good to achieve something, but today you’re thinking a bit bigger than getting the job done. You’re arriving at a new identity. Focus not on single achievements but on building the identity you want, day by day, choice by choice.

    VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You’ll be extremely content as you untangle a messy situation. This was caused by someone who isn’t as practical and detail-oriented as you. You could place blame, but you’ll give thanks instead.

    LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). A vibe is interesting. Follow-through is informative. Chemistry can write a convincing story very quickly. Watch what people do over time instead of letting a spark decide the plot. Wait to see how someone shows up.

    SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You needn’t always use your own energy to get things done. Use energy from the outside, too, in the form of inspiring muses, helpers, teachers and tools. You also get energy from simply removing any friction with or resistance to reality.

    SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Standing between the capers of the past and your wishes for the future, your mind feels taut and energized. So much creativity lives in this tension between memory and possibility. Linger here and write it all down.

    CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). A focus on home and daily life has you zeroing in on issues of sustainability. You’re seeking habits that nourish you in the long term and organized systems that bring you freedom. A new guide will help.

    AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). A relationship will bring you playful, intelligent fun, shared language, shared history — heaven on earth. When two people are fully themselves, meeting without effort, it’s a rare bond to treasure.

    PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You let others who dominate conversations come away knowing a lot more about themselves than they know about you. Recognize when you’re nearing the limits of your natural curiosity and veering into the territory of emotional labor.

    TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Feb. 2). Welcome to your Year of Astounding Social Accuracy. You are a master at seeing what is true and predicting what people will do. As you form alliances, strengths combine, comfort increases and pressures ease. More highlights: Prosperity comes incrementally as you learn, invest and work out the systems. Blood family and chosen family give a sense of deep belonging, and an abundance of stellar shared projects increases the skills and cohesiveness of the dream team. Gemini and Taurus adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 5, 29, 50, 1 and 45.

  • Philadelphia Grammy winners this year are Will Yip, Christian McBride, and Andre Harris

    Philadelphia Grammy winners this year are Will Yip, Christian McBride, and Andre Harris

    Philadelphia artists won big at the Grammy Awards on Sunday. Bassist Christian McBride, rock producer Will Yip, and songwriter Andre “Dre” Harris took home trophies in the ceremony that preceded the prime-time telecast from the crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

    The four major awards were won by four different artists. A week ahead of his Super Bowl half-time performance, Bad Bunny won album of the year for Debí tirar más fotos, the first Spanish-language album to ever win the award.

    Kendrick Lamar and SZA won record of the year for their Luther Vandross-inspired smash hit “Luther,” and Lamar also won best rap album for GNX, and three other Grammys.

    Billie Eilish and her songwriting partner Finneas O’Connell won song of year — a writer’s award — for “Widlflower” from her album Hit Me Hard and Soft. British pop-soul singer Olivia Dean beat out nine competitors for best new artist including worthy rivals, such as Leon Thomas and Lola Young, who won best pop vocal performance for “Messy.”

    Jazzman McBride won in two of the three categories he was nominated in. The Southwest Philly native won for best jazz performance for Windows (Live), his collaboration with Brian Blade and the late pianist Chick Corea. He also won the best jazz ensemble album Grammy for Without Further Ado, Vol. 1, credited to Christian McBride Big Band.

    Here are our Grammy predictions and a little rant in defense of country music stars

    “It is such an honor to have been in Chick Corea’s orbit for over 25 years,” McBride said in accepting the award for Windows (Live). “I was very honored to witness his legacy of excellence and greatness, watching this man play the piano like no one else did, night after night.”

    Sunday’s two wins bring McBride’s Grammy total to 11.

    Will Yip in Studio 5 in his newly constructed Memory Music Studios, South Philadelphia, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026.

    Yip won his first Grammy for his production work on Never Enough, the 2025 album by Baltimore band Turnstile, which won best rock album. Onstage at the Peacock Theater in the ceremony that was streamed on grammy.com, Turnstile frontman Brendan Yates said: “The community we found through punk and hardcore music has given us a safe place to swing in the dark and land somewhere beautiful.”

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    “It’s surreal. Rock album of the year!!! We all came up from … literally out of basements. To this?! It’s just a testament to what our community can do. Amazing, man,” Yip said in a text message to The Inquirer, after his Grammy win. He had been nominated twice before, in 2014, and recently opened his new Memory Music Studios in South Philly.

    Turnstile also won for best metal performance for the Never Enough song “Birds.”

    Songwriter and producer Harris won as one of seven writers who teamed to write Kehlani’s smash hit “Folded,” which won for best R&B song. The song also won a best R&B performance Grammy.

    Kehlani shouted out Harris in accepting that award. She was one of several winners who spoke in support of immigrants’ protest of the Trump administration’s policies. She, however, was the only one to do so by directing an expletive at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency of the Department of Homeland Security.

    Christian McBride accepting his best jazz performance Grammy award for “Windows (Live),” his collaboration with Chick Corea and Brian Blade.

    Jazz singer Samara Joy, who grew up in New York but is part of a Philly gospel music family, is once again a Grammy winner. The 26-year-old vocalist won her sixth trophy for Portrait, 2025’s best jazz vocal album.

    Camden gospel bandleader Tye Tribbett, the Philadelphia Orchestra and its leader Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Sun Ra Arkestra, the Crossing choir, UPenn grad John Legend, and jazz trumpeter Immanuel Wilkins were all up for awards in the early Grammy ceremony but went home empty-handed.

    Sabrina Carpenter performs “Manchild” during the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

    Bucks County pop singer Sabrina Carpenter was the Philly region’s big hitter with six nominations. She pulled nods in three of the four major categories, with Man’s Best Friend up for best album and “Manchild” nominated for both record and song of the year.

    Amy Allen won the best songwriter, nonclassical award for the second year in a row for her cowriting credits with several artists, including two by Carpenter in “Manchild” and “Tears.”

    Carpenter, however, was shut out in all of the categories she was nominated in, though she still came away as a winner for her prominent performance slot, with an early in the show airline and baggage claim themed “Manchild” production number in which she pulled a live dove out of her cap and flew away on the friendly skies.

    Both Philly soul singer Bilal and John Legend were part of the star-studded in memoriam segment tribute to D’Angelo and Roberta Flack that was led by Ms. Lauryn Hill.

  • Villanova Wildcats football player charged with sexually assaulting another student on campus

    Villanova Wildcats football player charged with sexually assaulting another student on campus

    A freshman football player at Villanova University has been charged with rape and sexual assault stemming from a December incident on campus, a university spokesperson said Sunday.

    D’Hani Cobbs, 20, faces charges of rape, sexual assault, and related offenses in Delaware County, court records show. He is accused of assaulting another student on Dec. 7, the university said in a statement, which did not provide any additional details about the alleged incident. The arrest was first reported by student newspaper The Villanovan.

    Cobbs was arraigned Friday and held on $250,000 bail, according to court records.

    A university spokesperson said school leaders reported the incident to law enforcement and “removed” Cobbs from campus shortly after the incident in December.

    “Sexual violence of any kind is not tolerated on our campus and we are committed to both supporting the victim and fostering a safe environment for all of our students,” the university said in the statement.

    A player bio page on Villanova’s website was out of service with an error message on Sunday, but according to social media and sports news outlets, Cobbs graduated from Camden High School in 2025 and played wide receiver at Villanova. Recruiters for the Villanova Wildcats posted a “welcome to the family” message on social media after recruiting Cobbs in December 2024.

    An attorney for Cobbs did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

  • New documents show Jeffrey Epstein tried to buy Bill Cosby’s home and closely followed the entertainer’s sexual assault case

    New documents show Jeffrey Epstein tried to buy Bill Cosby’s home and closely followed the entertainer’s sexual assault case

    In the mid-2010s, well after he was already a convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein began closely following the sexual assault case against another prominent figure: Philadelphia-born actor and comedian Bill Cosby.

    Among the millions of documents released Friday by the U.S. Department of Justice — in the latest tranche of what’s become known as the Epstein files — are emails detailing a neighborly relationship between the disgraced financier and the entertainer, who both owned townhouses on East 71st Street in Manhattan.

    Epstein and his representatives corresponded with Cosby, invited him to dinner parties, and at one point sought to retain Cosby’s personal chef as his own.

    When Cosby’s prosecution gained steam in 2015, Epstein and his inner circle became devout followers of the legal proceedings in Montgomery County, where Cosby was ultimately sentenced to three to 10 years in prison for sexual assault. (The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the sentence in 2021 after Cosby served nearly three years.) Emails indicate Epstein often saw parallels to his own ongoing legal issues — and also viewed the Cosby case as a valuable distraction from his own misconduct in the news.

    “im getting bad press again,” Epstein wrote to a friend in January 2015, days after a new legal development emerged against him in Florida. “as i predicted. now that cosby was off the sex headline they need to resuurect a new one.”

    Before their separate criminal troubles escalated, the two men were neighbors, living among other Wall Street elites and big Hollywood names. On Jan. 4, 2013, Epstein ordered his assistant to deliver a typo-strewn dinner invitation to Cosby’s home, with a who’s-who guest list.

    “Take this note to bull cosby s house. dear neighbor. woody allen, lewis black, bobbly slayton are having, dinner at my house, thought you might like to join. a neighborhood event,” Epstein said.

    Days later, another person, whose name has been redacted from the records, wrote Epstein to say that he heard Cosby was traveling and could not attend the Jan. 23 dinner. “Otherwise, he would have loved to come,” the person wrote, relaying a secondhand message through Cosby’s “house man.”

    Attempts to reach Cosby on Sunday were not successful.

    Epstein’s interest in Cosby’s case was intertwined with his apparent desire to do business with the comedian. Between 2017 and 2018, he had his real estate broker aggressively pursue Cosby’s team about buying his house across the street from Epstein’s own seven-story home.

    Around October 2017, Richard Kahn, a lawyer who worked closely with Epstein, sent the financier an email with the subject line “Bill Cosby is reportedly going broke paying for multiple legal bills.” Epstein asked his New York-based real estate broker David Mitchell to begin looking into purchasing “the Cosby house.”

    For more than a year between Cosby’s trial and retrial in Montgomery County, Epstein hounded Mitchell for updates on Cosby’s interest in selling the residence. He even emailed a former New York Times reporter in 2018, saying that he was “trying to buy Cosby.”

    Cosby’s attorney eventually told Mitchell the property wasn’t for sale, emails show, but that a good offer might “get a conversation started.” Mitchell did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.

    Cosby, now 88, went into foreclosure on both of his Manhattan homes. He listed the East 71st Street address for sale in 2025 for $29 million.

    In Cosby, Epstein sees parallel

    The records show that by 2015, Epstein and his inner circle were trading emails of news stories about Cosby and analyzing court filings from litigation against the entertainer.

    As the case mounted, Epstein and his longtime friend and co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, looked for rulings that they could use in their own favor.

    “Does the new Cosby information cause any issues for you?” someone, whose name is redacted in the files, wrote to Epstein in July 2015. The email was sent shortly after Montgomery County prosecutors reopened a criminal investigation against Cosby for the 2004 sexual assault of Andrea Constand.

    In October that year, Epstein emailed Maxwell with a judicial memorandum responding to a motion to get one of the sexual assault lawsuits against Cosby thrown out. (Maxwell’s attorneys would later use Cosby’s overturned conviction in 2021 to argue for the dismissal of her own sex trafficking case.)

    Others in Epstein’s network were interested in Cosby as well. Epstein’s accountant emailed him a link to a news story about Cosby’s arrest in December 2015 and continued to send his client updates on the trial over the next several years.

    At one point, the case even kindled a creative idea. Epstein emailed film producer Barry Josephson in 2015 with an idea for a movie that was “a fictionalized account of what happens to people falsely accused,” taking inspiration from the Cosby case as well as debunked sexual assault allegations on college campuses that occurred years prior.

    “Few willing to stand up and say that these girls are liars,” Epstein wrote. (Josephson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.)

    ‘Burned at the stake’

    Epstein emailed others about the Cosby trial, too, most often Soon-Yi Previn, the wife of filmmaker Woody Allen, who lived near Epstein and visited his home often for intimate house parties.

    Allen has faced public criticism for his relationship with Previn — a daughter adopted by his former partner, actress Mia Farrow. Farrow also publicly accused him of sexual abuse of their adoptive daughter, Dylan Farrow, which Allen has repeatedly denied.

    In May 2016, while inviting Previn to dinner with Noam Chomsky via email, Epstein offered a seemingly unsolicited take on the Cosby case.

    “Whether guilty or not, [he’s] being burned at the stake,” Epstein wrote.

    “They all want blood,” Previn responded.

    The topic dominated their email correspondence for the next two years.

    Allen, now 90, also took the side of Cosby in conversations with Epstein.

    “[He] is being persecuted. Ok, even if he’s guilty no one died,” the filmmaker wrote in a 2016 exchange with Epstein. “He’s been publicly humiliated, stripped of honors at schools, forced to cancel comedy tour, dropped from tv series that was in the works, old show taken off the air. Do they want his head on a pike?”

    The Inquirer messaged Allen’s last known publicist for comment on Sunday and did not receive an immediate response.

    Epstein committed suicide in a Manhattan jail following his 2019 arrest on child sex trafficking charges.

  • ‘Serious concern’: ICE agents who wear masks are driven by the threat of doxing, Pa. Sen. John Fetterman tells Fox News

    ‘Serious concern’: ICE agents who wear masks are driven by the threat of doxing, Pa. Sen. John Fetterman tells Fox News

    U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) on Sunday defended Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials who wear masks to obscure their faces, arguing that doxing is a “serious concern” for agents.

    “The agents wearing masks, I think primarily that’s driven by people are going to dox those people. That’s a serious concern, too, absolutely,” Fetterman said in an interview with Jacqui Heinrich on Fox News’ The Sunday Briefing..

    A form of online vigilantism, doxing is when someone’s private or identifying information is publicized on the internet. It’s been used to identify extremists who participated in political rallies; target and threaten people perceived to have spoken ill of Charlie Kirk in the wake of his killing; or, recently in Philadelphia, misidentify the “Phillies Karen.”

    An email to Fetterman’s office seeking additional comment about the senator’s stance on masked agents was not returned Sunday afternoon.

    “They could target [ICE agents’] families and they are organizing these people to put their names out there. So don’t ever, ever dox people and target their families, too,” Fetterman said to Heinrich. (Heinrich is engaged to U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Bucks County Republican.)

    Fetterman’s remarks come as congressional leaders argue over ICE funding in the wake of the shooting deaths of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol agent and Renée Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Last week, Senate Democrats attached a list of reforms to a bill funding the Department of Homeland Security, of which ICE is a part. The proposal includes banning federal agents carrying out President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown from wearing masks, among other conditions.

    Critics have argued the wearing of masks not only reduces accountability for ICE agents, but according to the FBI, has led to an increase in incidents where criminals have impersonated ICE officers to commit crimes.

    Philly lawmakers want to restrict cooperation with ICE and ban agents from wearing masks

    Last Thursday, an overwhelming majority of Philadelphia’s City Council members signed on to sponsor a package of legislation that would restrict ICE operations within the city. The “ICE Out” proposals include prohibiting law enforcement officers from concealing their identities, like by wearing masks.

    At the federal level, Trump’s White House struck a deal with Senate Democrats to temporarily fund DHS, but a partial government shutdown went into effect this weekend.

    Fetterman — who called himself a “secure border Democrat” and supports efforts to “deport all criminal migrants” during the interview — has never backed a lapse in government funding since he took office in 2023.

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    He was among 23 Democrats to cross the aisle to vote for the compromise bill late Friday.

  • Flyers Carnival: Dunking radio hosts, competing against players, and Cam York’s message to cat people

    Flyers Carnival: Dunking radio hosts, competing against players, and Cam York’s message to cat people

    Xfinity Mobile Arena’s busy weekend ended with a bang as it hosted the annual Flyers Charities Carnival on Sunday. Less than 24 hours after the 76ers’ 2001 reunion night, the throwback hardwood floor was replaced with a mini hockey rink, a carousel, and a large Ferris wheel that served as the centerpiece of the event.

    “When you think about it, we had a hockey game, Unrivaled, and we had an NBA basketball game,” said Comcast Spectacor Chairman and CEO Dan Hilferty. “Here we are the next day, celebrating a carnival with everything from a Ferris wheel and a dunk tank to all that goes along with a carnival.

    “It’s a great thing. Flyers Carnival is all about the community and it’s all about our fans having the opportunity to meet players and do fun carnival things.”

    Rachel Brown of Langhorne wears a Gritty headband as she pauses for a snack at the Flyers Charities Carnival at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    Fans had the opportunity to play a number of favorite carnival games, including some water gun fun, Skee-Ball, ax throwing, and a dunk tank that featured WIP’s Hunter Brody. And for 12-year-old Ryan Reagoso, despite a cast on his left foot, the dunk tank was the perfect opportunity to show off his pitching arm.

    “It was fun and I want to do it again,” Reagoso said.

    Flyers players interacted with fans throughout the event — signing memorabilia, posing for photos, and competing in a number of games set up within the arena, including a challenge that gave fans a chance to shoot on the goalie. Flyers defenseman Emil Andrae participated in ax throwing and defenseman Cam York had a good day on the ping-pong tables.

    “I think I went undefeated,” York said. “So, I don’t think I struggled much. But it’s super fun to interact with the fans. It’s something that’s a little bit different.”

    The Flyers’ charity event has been going on since 1977. Flyers coach Rick Tocchet was able to experience the carnival in its earlier years when he was a player for the team. Now he has a good time experiencing it as a coach.

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    “It’s funny because I’ve seen some fans from back in the day when I played,” Tocchet said. “I’m just impressed with how much money they have raised throughout the years. It’s incredible how it started and where it’s gotten to.”

    Fans wait for the doors to open for the Flyers Charities Carnival at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Sunday.

    For 13-year-old Michael Chaic, this has become a tradition started by his father, who grew up attending the carnivals. Sunday was the third carnival Chaic attended and he came prepared, bringing a Tyson Foerster game-used stick to get signed. But he did have his eyes set on another item up for auction.

    “That signed [Matvei] Michkov helmet was pretty eye-catching,” Chaic said. “So, we’re probably going to have to put some raffle tickets in there.”

    There were plenty of other items up for auction, including a team-signed decorative board, a Sam Ersson-signed set of goalie pads, and a Trevor Zegras-autographed replica stick. Fans could also get gift baskets full of the players’ favorite things. Some of the items featured in York’s favorite things basket were drink coasters, gummy worms, Uno cards, a signed hat, and a cat towel.

    “I feel like I’m known as the cat guy now,” York said. “But, I have three cats of my own right now. [The towel] is something I use around the house all the time. To all my cat people out there, stay strong. I love you guys and keep catting along.”

    The event raises money for Flyers Charities’ efforts to support local families impacted by cancer and to grow hockey in communities that may not have it.

    And with next year being the carnival’s 50th anniversary, fans can expect something special.

    “We’re going to have some really special activities next year that we can’t share yet,” said Blair Listino, the board chair of Flyers Charities. “But, we’re going to make that a really special event because that is the 50th-year anniversary. And every year we get feedback from our fans. We get feedback from our players. We’re just going to try to make it more interactive and more special for all of them.”

    Antoine Williams (right) poses for a photo with Flyers goalie Sam Ersson at the Flyers Charities Carnival.

    Kolosov joining Phantoms

    The Flyers loaned goalie Aleksei Kolosov to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the American Hockey League on Sunday. The move could hint that Ersson, who left Thursday’s game with a lower-body injury, is healthy enough to return.