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  • Acquiring David Jiříček is the latest example of the Flyers’ unorthodox approach to rebuilding. It’s worth the risk.

    Acquiring David Jiříček is the latest example of the Flyers’ unorthodox approach to rebuilding. It’s worth the risk.

    With one trade Friday morning, the Flyers got more interesting. Not immediately. They’re still likely to miss the playoffs this season, which would be the sixth in a row that they’ve failed to qualify for the postseason. For all that time and longer, they’ve been the NHL’s version of late-career Martin Scorsese: Back in the day, they were great and fascinating, and now they’re one suspenseless snoozefest after another. (Seriously, has Killers of the Flower Moon ended yet?)

    Their decision to send winger Bobby Brink to the Minnesota Wild for defenseman David Jiříček was an eyebrow-raiser, though. The move in and of itself wasn’t all that surprising, in that the Flyers have a surplus of wingers both on their roster and in their farm system. They were bound to say goodbye to one of them at this trade deadline, and Brink was a prime candidate: At 24, he’s a relatively promising player on a cap-friendly contract.

    Flyers trade Bobby Brink to Minnesota for 2022 Top 10 pick David Jiříček

    No, the intrigue of the Brink trade comes from its context. It’s the latest thread in a larger pattern that general manager Danny Brière and team president Keith Jones have been weaving since they took control of the Flyers’ player-personnel department in 2023. Rather than having the team bottom out over a full season or two and ending up with a pick or picks that are at worst among the top five in their drafts, the Flyers are taking risks, some more calculated than others, by acquiring young players who were high draft picks for other clubs.

    They did it with Jamie Drysdale, whom the Anaheim Ducks had picked sixth in 2020 before trading him to the Flyers for Cutter Gauthier in January of 2024. They did it with Trevor Zegras — another Ducks draftee, ninth overall in 2019 — when they got him last offseason for Ryan Poehling and two draft picks. They did something similar in 2023 when they drafted Matvei Michkov, who fell to them at No. 7 in part because of worries among NHL clubs that he wouldn’t be leaving Russia for three years, if he was able to leave at all.

    Now they’ve done it with Jiříček. Drafted sixth overall in 2022 by the Columbus Blue Jackets, he reportedly was unhappy that the Blue Jackets thought he needed to spend time in the minors. They shipped him to Minnesota in November 2024; there, he bounced between the Wild and its farm team until Friday.

    Flyers forward Trevor Zegras has been a shrewd addition after struggling the past two seasons in Anaheim.

    At first glance, that’s not an especially appealing player profile: a high draft pick who has been traded twice before his 23rd birthday, once because he was malcontented, once because he couldn’t stick on an NHL roster. And it’s generally acknowledged that Jiříček’s skating has to improve substantially. Still, he is just 22, and he is 6-foot-4 and rugged, and he has a booming slap shot. There are tools there, and there is still time for him to mature into the player he was projected to be.

    The Flyers are attempting a daring bit of raindrop-dodging here. They haven’t tanked. They don’t want to tank. They believe it would be corrosive to the franchise as a whole and to the locker room in particular (and it certainly would be to their ticket-sales department). So they are banking — and a team source confirmed Friday that this element was part of their approach — that head coach Rick Tocchet, his staff, and the other power people in the organization can cultivate a strong enough culture that Drysdale, Zegras, Jiříček, and players like them can develop and thrive here even though they didn’t elsewhere.

    Michkov is again an instructive example in this regard. After entering the season out of shape and seeing Tocchet limit his ice time, he has been a better player since the Olympic break. The fears within the fan base that Tocchet was angering or alienating him have quelled, and Tocchet’s strategy for handling the most important player on the roster seems to be working, for the time being anyway.

    Sielski: No wonder Flyers fans are irrational about Matvei Michkov. Have you looked at this team’s draft history?

    Drysdale hasn’t been the same caliber of player that Gauthier has been — someday, someone will get the full story on why the relationship between the Flyers and Gauthier deteriorated to the point that they felt they had to trade him — but he has come a long way and is just 23. Zegras, 24, has been an excellent addition so far. The Flyers are in need of two major components of a Stanley Cup-contending team — a No. 1 center and a No. 1 defenseman — and Jiříček’s pedigree suggests that he can one day be a top-tier defenseman, assuming a team can figure out how to get the best out of him.

    He may or may not become that kind of player. Whether he does or doesn’t isn’t really the point. The point is that the only way the Flyers are going to return to respectability again is by taking some chances and having those gambles pay off. They’re past playing it safe. They might end up exactly where they are now or in even worse shape, but at least they’ve stepped into the casino.

    Danny Brière has taken an unconventional and risky path to rebuilding. Time will tell if it pays off.
  • An Upper Darby restaurant is reportedly closing a year after appearing on Gordon Ramsay’s show

    An Upper Darby restaurant is reportedly closing a year after appearing on Gordon Ramsay’s show

    When Steve and Kelly Wilson appeared last year in an episode of Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service — a FOX reality show in which the celebrity chef lends a hand to struggling restaurants — it appeared to be a victory for their Upper Darby barbecue establishment, Wilson’s Secret Sauce.

    In the episode’s final moments, after executing a significant makeover, Ramsay stands with the Wilsons in the restaurant’s dining room, which is brimming with patrons.

    “A full house,” Ramsay tells the couple. “Get used to it.”

    The reality, though, has apparently been different.

    Just a year after Ramsay’s reality-TV glow-up, the Wilsons told Philadelphia magazine this week that they’d elected to close the restaurant and sell the building after a year of declining business.

    From the start, the couple’s restaurant was an unlikely endeavor. Their foray into the local food scene came around 2010, when Steve — a former mechanic — began a barbecue catering service from their home. But when demand jumped in the ensuing years, they eventually decided to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

    Kelly, at least, was not exactly thrilled with the idea.

    “[Steve] came home from bowling and asked me if I wanted to open up a restaurant — I literally said, ‘[Expletive] no,’” she said on the episode of Secret Service. “‘I’ve never worked in one, you’ve never worked in one, and I don’t think we could work together all day long.’”

    Nevertheless, Wilson’s Secret Sauce debuted in 2018 in Upper Darby, specializing in barbecue dishes while also serving everything from pizza and lobster to egg rolls.

    But stress quickly ensued, and when Ramsay came to town last March, he set about transforming the restaurant.

    Over the course of the 43-minute episode, Ramsay chastised the couple for everything from food hygiene to kitchen inefficiencies before helping implement a variety of changes aimed at ensuring the restaurant’s survival.

    Among the various changes pushed by Ramsay was significantly shrinking the restaurant’s expansive menu, which the couple did, whittling their dozens of menu items down to just 13.

    But the Wilsons later told Philadelphia magazine that business slowed after Ramsay’s suggested change, at least in part because customers missed the items that had been cut from the menu.

    “We had a lot of customers coming in from day one of the new menu begging us to bring the old menu back,” Kelly Wilson told the magazine. “We were getting lost with his menu, and our menu really worked a lot better.”

    While the Wilsons’ sit-down restaurant is set to close, they said they’ll continue the catering service that was once their bread-and-butter, operating out of a shared “ghost kitchen.”

  • Painted Bride’s new executive director is an arts leader who, many years ago, interned at the arts organization

    Painted Bride’s new executive director is an arts leader who, many years ago, interned at the arts organization

    Nearly a year after longtime executive director Laurel Raczka announced she was stepping down from her post at Painted Bride Art Center, the arts organization has found a new leader.

    Risë Wilson is the organizations’s new executive director, succeeding Raczka, who led the Bride for 26 years.

    Th exterior of Painted Bride Art Center Project Space, 4029 Cambridge St., Philadelphia, Wednesday, September 3, 2025.

    With this appointment, Wilson, a Germantown native, will be returning to her hometown and the organization that kick-started her arts career nearly 30 years ago.

    Wilson interned at the Bride under Raczka and former leader Gerry Givnish, who transformed the former cooperative gallery into an alternative performance space.

    “That experience changed my life,” Wilson said in a statement, responding to questions from The Inquirer, “setting me on a course to develop my own socially-engaged artistic practice while championing fellow artists committed to community-based work.”

    Executive director Laurel Raczka and Painted Bride board chair John Barber at the Painted Bride Art Center Project Space, 4029 Cambridge St., Philadelphia, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025.

    For the past two decades, Wilson has engaged with that work in Brooklyn, spearheading organizations such as the Laundromat Project, using art as a tool for community building and engagement.

    Wilson’s career has spanned public engagement, artist development, strategic planning, and philanthropic practice. Her previous roles include being the inaugural director of philanthropy at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. She has also worked with the Ford Foundation, Parsons: The New School for Design, MoMA, and the International Center for Photography.

    The community organizer and activist holds a bachelor of arts degree from Columbia University, where she was a Kluge Scholar, and a master of arts degree from New York University, where she was a MacCracken Fellow.

    The former Painted Bride with the iconic mosaic by Isaiah Zagar. Photo taken on Oct. 18, 2023.

    After years at 52nd and Market Streets, the Painted Bride recently moved to a 3,200-square-foot performance space in East Parkside. In her statement, Wilson said she’s stepping in at a time when “we all need to protect and exercise our imaginations.”

    The Bride’s storied commitment to supporting artists and “culture-bearers” is one of many reasons the role resonated so strongly with her.

    “I feel privileged to work for a cultural institution long committed to cultivating the conditions for artists to thrive, for dialogues to deepen, and for each of us to be the authors of our own story,” Wilson said in her statement.

    As she transitions into her new role, Wilson is planning more artist-centered programming and “public-facing cultural dialogue,” which includes added workshops, public discussions, and collaborative projects.

    She’s also working on strengthening collaboration between artists, neighborhood organizations, and the city’s cultural partners. These efforts, Wilson wrote, will firmly establish the Bride’s role as a “civic cultural space.”

    Raczka said she’s confident the organization will continue to be a place for artist development and community engagement under Wilson.

    “I’m excited to see [Wilson] bring her leadership and vision to this next chapter,” Raczka said. “Her work has long centered artists as essential contributors to civic life, and I believe the Bride will continue to grow as a vital cultural space under her stewardship.”

  • Marilouise H. James, retired longtime schoolteacher and home and school visitor, has died at 101

    Marilouise H. James, retired longtime schoolteacher and home and school visitor, has died at 101

    Marilouise H. James, 101, formerly of Willingboro, a retired English and social studies teacher for the Philadelphia School District, certified home and school visitor, 80-year member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., mentor, and volunteer, died Friday, Feb. 13, of age-associated decline at the Masonic Village retirement community in Burlington.

    Naturally empathetic and energetic, Mrs. James was skilled at spelling, language, and assisting students in school and families at home. Beginning in the late 1940s, she taught English and social studies at the old Sulzberger Middle School in West Philadelphia, social studies at Audenried Junior High School in South Philadelphia, and English at Northeast High School.

    She appreciated the beauty and nuances of the French language as a girl and earned second place in a statewide spelling bee in Delaware. Later, when she saw that students at Sulzberger had no French Club, she started one.

    “She was one of a kind,” said her niece Sonya Thompson. “Big smile. Big laughter. Big heart.”

    Mrs. James (center) and her daughters, Lisa (left) and Shelley, all joined Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc.

    Mrs. James earned a bachelor’s degree in French at Temple University, a master’s degree in counseling at Antioch University, and teaching certifications in English, French, social studies, home and school visiting, and guidance counseling.

    When her children came along in the 1950s, she left the classroom and, as a school district home and school support expert, managed difficult situations regarding student truancy and behavior, and crisis intervention at homes. She retired in the late 1980s.

    “She was the easiest person to talk to,” said her daughter Lisa James-Beavers. “She was warm and never judgmental. She made you feel like she always knew you.”

    Mrs. James was an active mentor in Alpha Kappa Alpha for 80 years, and her sorority sisters threw a 101st birthday party for her last August. She was a charter member of the Gamma Epsilon chapter in Philadelphia in 1945, moved to the Theta Pi Omega chapter in South Jersey in 1969, and served as its vice president, secretary, assistant secretary, treasurer, and in other roles.

    Mrs. James graduated from Howard High School at 16 after skipping two grades.

    “If anyone ever needed a smile, Soror Marilouise was always there ready to share one,” a friend said on Facebook.

    She also joined the Sickle Cell Anemia Resources Board and the Board of the Black Adoption Consortium. She belonged to the Rancocas Valley chapter of the Links Inc. and was a charter member of the Burlington-Willingboro chapter of Jack and Jill of America Inc.

    She volunteered as a patient representative at what is now Virtua Willingboro Hospital and as a library assistant at Twin Hills Elementary School. “She was a walking, talking breath of fresh air,” her niece said. “She taught all of us that kindness matters. She always said, ‘I am doing the best I can for as long as I can.’”

    Friends called her “a radiant inspiration and a true joy” and “a beautiful phenomenal woman” in online tributes. Her family said: “She did not simply experience joy. She created it. She carried it into every room, poured it into every relationship, and planted it in the hearts of all who knew her.”

    Mrs. James (right) was fun and funny, her family said.

    Marilouise Holland was born Aug. 23, 1924, in Milford, Del. She grew up in Wilmington and graduated from Howard High School at 16 after skipping two grades.

    She met Raymond James in Philadelphia, and they married in 1953. They had a son, Dennis, and daughters Shelley and Lisa, and lived in Lansdowne before moving to Willingboro in 1969. Her husband died in 1979.

    Mrs. James was fun and funny, her family said. She had an infectious laugh, loved shopping, and was, they said, “always stylish from head to toe.”

    She enjoyed hosting her family for reunions. Her niece said: “Her hospitality was off the charts.” Her daughter Lisa said: “She was easy to be around.”

    Mrs. James (front right) enjoyed time with her family.

    She read often and belonged to a book club. She saw shows at the Walnut Street Theatre for more than 25 years and attended Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Willingboro.

    She liked pizza on Friday nights and doughnuts after Sunday Mass. Her family said it was only fitting that she died during Black History Month. Her life, they said, was “a reflection of the barriers she broke and the lasting legacy she carved.”

    In addition to her children, Mrs. James is survived by seven grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, a sister, and other relatives. A sister and a brother died earlier.

    Services were held earlier.

    Donations in her name may be made to the EAF Theta Pi Omega Chapter Scholarship Fund, Box 2902, Cherry Hill, N.J. 08034.

    Mrs. James (right) and her sister, Betty
  • Mother of 20-year-old killed in Lincoln University homecoming shooting sues school

    Mother of 20-year-old killed in Lincoln University homecoming shooting sues school

    The mother of Ju’Juan Jeffers, the 20-year-old man killed during a shooting at Lincoln University homecoming last October, has filed a lawsuit against the school, the university police chief, and others.

    Attorneys for Marchelle Hargroves, Jeffers’ mother, allege that Lincoln prioritized the “college experience” over safety and, in doing so, fostered a campus culture that permitted violent and sometimes fatal acts,” according to the suit filed Friday in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia.

    “Lincoln University allowed unrestricted public access to its homecoming events and negligently failed to implement or enforce adequate security measures, including … controlled entry points, attendee screening, handheld wands, metal detectors and/or bag checks,” the suit said.

    Lincoln University announces new plans for event safety following homecoming shooting last year

    Jeffers, of Claymont, Del., was one of seven people shot at the Oct. 25 event; he was the only one who died.

    Jeffers was not a student at Lincoln, but had been invited to attend, according to the suit.

    A university spokesperson said the school does not comment on active litigation. Its police chief, Marc Partee, declined comment.

    Also named as a defendant in the lawsuit is Zecqueous Morgan-Thompson, who was charged with possessing a concealed firearm without a license at the event, but has not been charged in Jeffers’ shooting. Prosecutors have said Morgan-Thompson is not a student at Lincoln, nor an alumnus, and that it had been unclear why he was on campus. Law enforcement officials said after the shooting that they had confirmed a match between a fired .380 cartridge at the scene and the Glock 28 semiautomatic pistol that Morgan-Thompson had.

    Lincoln University is conducting an ‘after-action review’ after fatal Homecoming shooting

    Morgan-Thompson, the lawsuit said, fired a round during the event, “thereby helping to incite the crowd, which negligently and recklessly contributed to the shooting death of Mr. Jeffers.”

    Morgan-Thompson’s attorney in his criminal case did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. A trial is scheduled this month for Morgan-Thompson; no other charges have been filed in connection with the homecoming shooting or Jeffers’ death.

    Other defendants listed in the lawsuit complaint include unnamed Lincoln security officers, as well as unnamed outside companies that Lincoln hired to provide additional security.

    Michael T. van der Veen, an attorney for Hargroves, described Jeffers as an honor student, chess player, and “dedicated athlete” who wanted to serve in the military and start his own clothing company.

    “He loved basketball and played throughout his school years,” van der Veen said at a news conference Friday announcing the suit. “He had a beautiful life ahead of him.”

    At a board of trustees meeting last month, the university announced new safety plans for large events, including holding no outdoor events after dusk, screening guests, and allowing only one registered guest per student for the upcoming Spring Fling event in April.

    Lincoln, a historically Black university with 1,650 students in rural Chester County, has been under pressure from its neighbors and Lower Oxford Township to make changes since the shooting.

    Several officials in Lower Oxford had reported ongoing problems with parking, trash on neighbors’ lawns, disturbances, and, in some cases, crime when the university hosts events. After thousands gathered for homecoming, emergency personnel had to use all-terrain vehicles to transport patients on stretchers because ambulances could not access the campus, given how many cars were parked around the venue, they said.

    One dead, six others shot at Lincoln University

    The township’s board of supervisors is expected to vote at their meeting at 7 p.m. Monday on a special events ordinance that would require a permit process for large events.

    According to the lawsuit, thousands packed Lincoln’s International Cultural Center parking lot after the homecoming football game, and there was alcohol consumption.

    It took hours for Jeffers to receive medical care after he was shot, the complaint says, because the roads were clogged around the university.

    Lincoln University is facing pressure from its Chester County neighbors after homecoming shooting

    “Multiple invitees were forced to render emergency medical aid because emergency medical personnel could not promptly access and reach him,” the suit said. “Lincoln University knew or should have known that the Homecoming football game and celebrations would attract a substantial number of attendees to its campus and were on notice of the need for protocols for adequate safety of and about the University.”

    Partee, the Lincoln police chief, “failed to take reasonable steps to correct or remedy these dangerous conditions,” the suit said.

    Concerns about behavior during large events had been raised with Lincoln officials by township officials and others over several years, but no adequate action was taken, the suit said.

  • Philadelphia Museum of Art hires a new chief financial and operating officer

    Philadelphia Museum of Art hires a new chief financial and operating officer

    Philadelphia Museum of Art director and CEO Daniel H. Weiss has hired a longtime associate to be the museum’s new executive vice president and chief financial and operating officer.

    Mitchell Lee Wein will oversee finances, facilities, operations, risk management, and strategic initiatives, the museum announced Friday.

    Weiss and Wein worked together in similar roles when Weiss was president of Haverford College and, before that, at Lafayette College. Wein, 63, has extensive experience on the financial and operations side of nonprofit organizations, but has never worked in a museum.

    A Philadelphian for more than three decades, he takes up the new post April 22.

    “It’s such an important institution that I’m happy to play a role for as long as I can and leave it better for the future. I think the mission is critical,” said Wein. “When I was in the private sector I thought about how we attract firms to Philadelphia, how people can have a great experience here, and the museum plays a role in that. I smile when I think about the opportunities.”

    Mitchell Lee Wein, newly named CFO and COO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

    Wein is currently senior vice president for finance and COO at the Brookings Institute, the Washington, D.C.-based think tank. He was senior vice president for administration and finance at Haverford College and held a similar position at Lafayette College. Previously, he was managing director in investment banking with UBS Investment Bank/UBS PaineWebber, and, before that, at PNC Capital Markets.

    Weiss took over the museum in December and has been making a series of changes in the executive leadership team as he determines how to close the operating deficit and revive attendance. He must decide what to do about paused expansion plans and much-needed maintenance on existing buildings. And he will consider whether to re-open to the public the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building, the museum’s major addition that closed during the pandemic.

    Among Weiss’s early moves: he reversed the name change that had been unveiled months earlier as part of the museum’s widely-panned rebranding.

    Wein says he has been following coverage of the museum’s challenges and reading financial statements in preparation for his start. He said he looked forward to developing a plan for the museum “in support of what Dan has outlined along with other colleagues.”

  • Flyers flip tough guy Nic Deslauriers to Carolina for a conditional draft pick

    Flyers flip tough guy Nic Deslauriers to Carolina for a conditional draft pick

    Nic Deslauriers has thrown his last punch as a Flyer, as the tough guy was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in 2027 on Friday before the trade deadline.

    The 35-year-old, who was in the final year of the four-year, $7 million contract he signed with the Flyers in 2022, was one of the team’s few pending unrestricted free agents. Deslauriers has played in just 24 of the team’s 61 games this season and recently told The Inquirer that “it’s frustrating” and that “I still think I have some in the gas tank.”

    While the return isn’t much, the move was more about the organization doing right by a popular veteran who seemed to want a change of scenery and a chance to chase a Stanley Cup, which he certainly will get with the Metropolitan-leading Carolina Hurricanes.

    “I’m happy for him. I think he still has gas in the tank, too,” forward Garnet Hathaway told The Inquirer on Friday after the Flyers’ practice, in which Deslauriers participated. “I see it every day. I see the work ethic, I see how much he cares, and I see the teammate he is. So Carolina has got a great player [and a] great guy.”

    Flyers trade Bobby Brink to Minnesota for 2022 Top 10 pick David Jiříček

    Deslauriers’ time in Philly will be defined by his willingness to stand up for his teammates and take on all comers. Long one of the most feared and toughest customers in the league, the fourth-line winger managed nine goals and 20 points in 195 games with the Flyers. He also had 33 regular-season fights, including spirited bouts against heavyweights like Matt Rempe, Ryan Reaves, and Tanner Jeannot.

    “One of the toughest guys in the league around. So we’ll definitely miss him,” center Noah Cates said.

    He also was beloved by his teammates for his selflessness, toughness, leadership, and the space he created for teammates with his physicality. Whether Deslauriers will have a nightly spot in Carolina’s lineup remains to be seen, but he does bring a physicality and toughness that many have criticized the Hurricanes for lacking in recent playoff runs.

    Nicolas Deslauriers played in his final game with the Flyers on Thursday night against the Utah Mammoth.

    “A heart-and-soul guy who has your back no matter what, competes every night, and is a guy, regardless of how many minutes or how many games or how things are going, you know he’ll be a guy to support you, and will always be around to help too,” said Hathaway, who laughed when asked if he’s happy the Flyers don’t play the Hurricanes again this year.

    “It’s probably tougher than most people think, to be so competitive, as I think all of us are in this league, and not have the role you want, or the ice time you want.

    “And so be able to have that role, and personality-wise, not let it affect you, is special for a locker room to have and intricate for it to have, too. So I’m going to miss him.”

    In a corresponding move, the Flyers claimed veteran center Luke Glendening from New Jersey. The 36-year-old, who had four points in 52 games with the Devils, has played over 900 career NHL games and is known for his dexterity in the faceoff circle (55.6% career mark). He figures to be a fourth-liner or the 13th forward for the Flyers.

    Staff writer Jackie Spiegel contributed to this article.

  • Fire is extinguished at South Jersey explosion site, but investigation into cause continues

    Fire is extinguished at South Jersey explosion site, but investigation into cause continues

    Emergency responders extinguished the fire at Savita Naturals in Logan Township, N.J., late Thursday, and sealed off the cocoa butter processor’s remaining propane tanks, marking a step forward in the investigation into the massive explosion that rocked the region.

    Concerns about the structural integrity of the building at 617 Heron Drive remain, and a detailed look into the site remains pending, Gloucester County officials said at a Friday news conference.

    “It’s going to be a lengthy process,” said Logan Township Fire Chief Scott Oatman. “Especially as they get into the building to try to secure everything up.”

    The blast occurred at about 2:35 p.m. Wednesday. In the wake of the explosion, four employees of Savita Naturals were taken by ambulance to area hospitals, three additional employees transported themselves to medical facilities, and one person from an adjacent business was taken to a hospital for an undisclosed medical emergency.

    Three Savita Naturals employees remain in critical condition, and one was stable, officials said Friday. Conditions for the others injured were not immediately available.

    “Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to those that were injured, and their families,” said Logan Township Police Chief Joseph Flatley. “This is going to be a long road for them, we’re aware. And that’s the highest priority.”

    At the time of the explosion, there were 14 employees on the site — a majority of whom were working in a structure at the front of the property. The explosion occurred in a rear structure, where three employees were located, officials said.

    No criminal activity is suspected in the explosion, and no hazards were present to the community surrounding the facility as of Friday morning, officials said. Emergency responders continue to monitor air quality in the area.

    In addition to the Savita Naturals building sustaining suspected structural damage, two adjacent businesses — fluid engineering firm Sulzer and a food bank known as Bishops’ Storehouse and Home Storage Center — were deemed uninhabitable, and cannot resume operations until repairs are completed. Officials said they had received reports of potential property damage as far as a mile away from the site, and continue to field calls from individuals who believe their buildings may have been impacted.

    At the site of the explosion, however, several large propane tanks remain. Though not leaking, the tanks contain a total of about 500 gallons of liquid propane that will need to be burnt off or otherwise removed before the investigation can progress.

    Officials on Friday described the explosion as an unfortunate accident, noting that Savita Naturals had incurred some fire inspection violations in the past, but the company was responsive and corrected issues quickly. No violations, Oatman said, were out of the ordinary, and none caused major concerns.

    The building itself, Oatman added, was constructed in such a way that it would contain an explosion. Part of its construction included “blow out panels” that served their intended purpose.

    “If it wasn’t for that type of construction they had there, there might have been more injuries,” Oatman said. “So, we’re fortunate that there were no more additional injuries at the facility.”

    Officials also corrected reports that the building was used to process CBD, or cannabidiol, a nonintoxicating component of hemp and marijuana that has risen in prominence in recent years. While the facility has processed CBD in the past, none has been produced or extracted there since 2023, Oatman said. The propane on the site, as well as ethanol, he added, is used in cocoa extractions.

    The cause of the explosion remains unclear. Officials said they were aware of speculation that a propane tank exploded, but investigators think the explosion occurred as a result of the processes inside the building, though that belief is preliminary.

    How long that investigation might take was unclear Friday. The look into the blast remains in its early stages, and involves a number of state and federal partners.

    “I’m not sure what happened in the building,” Oatman said. “That’s why investigators are going to do the investigation.”

  • 11-year-old boy fatally shot his mother’s boyfriend in Southwest Philadelphia, police say

    11-year-old boy fatally shot his mother’s boyfriend in Southwest Philadelphia, police say

    An 11-year-old boy shot and killed his mother’s boyfriend during a fight in her Southwest Philadelphia home Thursday evening, police said.

    They did not identify the child because of his age.

    Officers were called to the scene at a rowhouse on the 1100 block of South Peach Street around 11:30 p.m., police said. There they found a 30-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound to the face in a back bedroom on the second floor.

    Police later identified the man as Jaimeer Jones-Walker of Lansdowne.

    Chief Inspector Scott Small said that based on preliminary evidence, police believe Jones-Walker showed up at the home, where the woman lives with family, and began to argue and physically assault her.

    In response, he said, the child pulled a semiautomatic handgun and fired one shot, striking Jones-Walker.

    Jones-Walker is not the boy’s father, Small said.

    The gun was registered to the child’s mother, according to police, who are continuing to investigate the shooting.

    The boy and his mother are cooperating with authorities, Small said.

    The stretch of South Peach Street was quiet Friday morning, and neighbors walking along the block or sitting outside said they did not recall hearing gunshots Thursday night.

    Neighbors said they often saw the woman with her daughter and son outside the home, and occasionally saw Jones-Walker, too.

    Incidents in which a child fatally shoots an adult are rare, Small said.

    “It’s unusual,” he said.

    However, pediatricians have warned that children are increasingly gaining access to firearms at home, often with deadly consequences.

    Suicide rates among young people have surged in recent years, in part due to unsecured firearms, experts with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia said in a 2024 report.

    In Philadelphia, the number of people 18 and younger who have shot themselves soared from 2 in 2019 to 20 in 2021, and the number has remained elevated.

    Children as young as 2 are strong enough to pull the trigger of a gun, pediatricians said, underscoring the need for parents of young children to secure their firearms using gun locks and storage safes.

  • Grocery Outlet is closing stores in South Jersey, Philadelphia, and Kennett Square

    Grocery Outlet is closing stores in South Jersey, Philadelphia, and Kennett Square

    Grocery Outlet bargain market is closing dozens of stores nationwide, including eight in the Philadelphia area.

    The closures were first referenced earlier this week in the company’s earnings report. The California-based grocer recorded an operating loss of $221.7 million last year, much of which it attributed to “certain underperforming stores” that will now close.

    These include five Grocery Outlets in South Jersey, two in Philadelphia, and one in Kennett Square, according to real estate marketing released Thursday.

    A company spokesperson did not return a request for comment about when the stores would close.

    The impacted Philly-area stores are located at:

    • 4004 U.S. Route 130, Delran
    • 401 Harmony Rd., Gibbstown
    • 345 Scarlet Rd., Kennett Square
    • 190 Hamilton Commons Dr., Mays Landing
    • 2017 W. Oregon Ave., Philadelphia
    • 2524 Welsh Rd., Philadelphia
    • 3174 U.S. Route 9 S., Suite 5, Rio Grande
    • 677 Berlin-Cross Keys Rd., Sicklerville
    People shop at a Grocery Outlet in Philadelphia in 2022.

    Gordon Brothers, a Boston investment firm, is looking to sublease all 36 closing Grocery Outlets. The Philadelphia-area properties range in size from 14,000 to 21,000 square feet.

    After the closures, the chain will still have several locations in the city, collar counties, and South Jersey.

    Grocery Outlet calls itself an “extreme value retailer.” It was founded in 1946, and has expanded from 128 stores to 570 stores over the past two decades. Many locations are operated by entrepreneurs who live nearby.

    In recent months, Grocery Outlet’s bottom line was impacted by economic uncertainty, as well as the November suspension of SNAP benefits that tens of millions of U.S. consumers rely on, according to president and CEO Jason Potter.

    “Consumer pressure intensified, federally funded benefits were delayed, and competition grew more promotional in the fourth quarter,” Potter said in a statement. “In response, we have begun to sharpen our focus on what matters most: delivering clearer value and a better in-store experience.”

    Customers and employees inside a Grocery Outlet in Philadelphia in 2023.

    While the grocery industry remains relatively resilient, it has faced a challenging few years with persistent inflation, tariffs that further drove up prices on some products, and continued competition from other retailers and restaurants.

    In recent weeks, Amazon closed all of its brick-and-mortar Amazon Fresh stores, including six in the Philadelphia region. The company says it plans to expand grocery-delivery services and open more Whole Foods markets, to the dismay of some Amazon Fresh customers who said they were drawn to the low prices at the smaller-format stores.

    What makes someone love their grocery store? Ask the Philadelphians who are already missing their Amazon Fresh.

    Gourmet markets have been impacted, too. Three Di Bruno Bros. locations in Ardmore and Wayne closed last month, two years after being acquired by Wakefern Food Corp., the North Jersey-based supermarket cooperative that operates ShopRite.

    A Wakefern spokesperson said the company planned to refocus on its flagship stores in South Philadelphia and Rittenhouse, as well as its growing online business. The move, spokesperson Maureen Gillespie said, would be “a positive reset that allows us to preserve and elevate the in‑store tradition while growing the brand’s reach in meaningful new ways.”