Incoming state-appointed Camden school superintendent Alfonso Q. Llano Jr. got a head start Wednesday on his new position running the troubled school system.
Llano met with Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen and other key stakeholders at City Hall for a congenial discussion ahead of taking over the district March 1. .
During a round-table discussion, Llano said his immediate priority will be to provide stability to the district. Camden has been without a permanent superintendent since June 30.
The incoming district leader said it was too early to comment on the district’s budget outlook for the 2026-2027 school year. Last year, the district had a $91 million budget deficit and made cuts affecting nearly 300 positions.
Llano said he was made aware of recent rumors about possible school closures. He said he had not received data about it and declined further comment.
In response to another question, he said he would support immigrant families who have grown increasingly afraid to send their children to school because they fear they may be targeted by ICE. About 56% of Camden’s traditional public school students are Hispanic.
“Schools are a safe place and we want to maintain them as a safe place,” Llano said.
He delicately side-stepped a question about the changing educational landscape in Camden. Thousands of students have left the city’s traditional public schools for Renaissance and charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run.
Enrollment in the Renaissance and charter schools exceeds the traditional public schools. The district has said payments to those schools have increased from $54.9 million in 2013 to $198 million.
“School choice is important to families. Camden is unique” Llano said. “We want to make sure the public school system is stabilized and innovative in a way that families feel comfortable keeping their children in the public school system.”
Camden’s new state-appointed school Superintendent Alfonso Q. Llano Jr. listens as Mayor Victor Carstarphen speaks while Llano makes his rounds Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 at City Hall, meeting with other city, county and state officials. Currently the Vineland schools chief, he doesn’t officially begin in Camden until March.
Llano said he would focus on listening and learning from educators and the community as his introduction to Camden.
“What does the reality look like? What is every day in the classroom?” he said.
Llano has been making his rounds in Camden. He was in the city Monday and joined Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service activities.
Llano said he was proud to become the first Hispanic tapped to lead the district. He is among only a handful of outsiders to become the city’s schools chief.
Camden’s new state-appointed school Superintendent Alfonso Q. Llano Jr. (left) talks with Davida Coe-Brockington, current acting state superintendent, as he makes his rounds Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026 at City Hall, meeting with city, county and state officials. Llano, currently the Vineland schools chief, doesn’t officially begin in Camden until March.
Llano will receive an annual salary of $260,000 under a three-year contract, making him among the highest paid superintendents in Burlington, Camden and Gloucester Counties.
Coe-Brockington, who will continue as interim chief until Llano arrives, said she was “honored to hold it down” until a permanent superintendent was named. She thanked Llano “for saying yes to Camden.”
Carstarphen and a group of city leaders cleared the path for the state to appoint a new superintendent. Katrina McComb’s contract was not renewed last year after The group said Camden schools needed “a new vision for leadership.”
Frank Seravalli was standing behind the players’ bench at Bucks County Ice Sports Center when his phone buzzed. He didn’t reach for it — which is not his usual instinct.
Seravalli, a former Daily News reporter, is one of only a handful of NHL insiders. His job is to talk to athletes and decision makers around the league. Missing a call or a text can mean missing a story, and in a competitive media environment, in which quick, accurate information comes at a premium, being “late” isn’t ideal.
But on Jan. 12, in the midafternoon, Seravalli was busy. He was coaching Germantown Academy’s varsity hockey team. It was the third period and the Patriots were up, 6-2, in a rematch against Episcopal (5-2 on the aging scoreboard, which was missing a number).
Despite their lead, Seravalli’s players didn’t relent. With 35.6 seconds remaining, sophomore Mick Tronoski fired another shot into the net. A smattering of fans cheered.
After the two groups shook hands, Seravalli walked off the ice. He pulled his phone from his pocket, and read that the Columbus Blue Jackets had fired their head coach, Dean Evason.
Coach Frank Seravalli talks with his Germantown Academy team in the locker room at the Bucks County Ice Sports Center on Jan. 12.
He retweeted a team statement, 27 minutes late. The NHL insider shrugged.
“I mean, it’s just life, right?” he said. “What are you going to do?”
Since July, Seravalli, 37, has served as GA’s head hockey coach. It is a daily commitment, one that he takes as seriously as his podcast and TV hits for various outlets. Five times a week, Seravalli oversees hourlong practices, and coaches hour-and-a-half games, with some 7 a.m. morning lifts mixed in.
He is not above doing the grunt work, either, like ordering gear, setting the schedule, and keeping the team’s stats. He reviews film, plans workouts, and runs the middle school program, all while keeping an eye on promising players in the area.
NHL insiders do not have an abundance of free time, so when Seravalli first told his family that he’d be coaching high school hockey, they thought the idea was absurd. And maybe it is a little absurd. Seravalli is not an alumnus of Germantown Academy. He is not doing this for the small stipend he gets halfway through the year.
But he is doing it for a reason. Just over two years ago, Seravalli’s cousin, Anthony Seravalli, died unexpectedly. He was 41 and left behind a wife and three sons.
Frank always looked up to him. Anthony was mature for his age, even as a teenager. He was a team captain and a star defenseman at Germantown Academy in the late-1990s, back when the school was winning Flyers Cups and producing NHL-caliber talent.
GA hockey’s stature has diminished since then. New York Rangers goalie great Mike Richter once played for the Patriots, but for years, the program was essentially dormant. Local recruiting wasn’t a priority. It was unclear whether there would be enough players to field a team in 2025-26.
Until Seravalli arrived. He has told the school he’s willing to make a five-to-10-year commitment to restore the program to what it was. In his mind, this is the best way to honor his late cousin.
“I thought of him, and how big high school hockey was 25 to 30 years ago, and how I could help make that big again,” Seravalli said. “And I was like, ‘Maybe, this was supposed to happen.’”
A ‘fixture’ of GA hockey
Germantown Academy was an unlikely hockey powerhouse in the 1980s, ’90s, and 2000s. The coed school had an enrollment of only 1,200 students, from kindergarten through 12th grade. These numbers allowed the Patriots to fill only one varsity team most years.
It paled in comparison to some of the bigger programs in the area, like La Salle College High School, which was able to fill four teams (one varsity and three junior varsity).
Nevertheless, GA found success. Players took pride in its underdog identity, especially while playing local behemoths like Council Rock and Malvern Prep. Germantown Academy won two Flyers Cups — the hockey championship for eastern Pennsylvania high schools — in 1982 and again in 1983, and a state championship later that year.
The team won three more Flyers Cups in 1991, 1994, and 1995, and went 100-0-6 in regular-season league play for over five seasons in the mid- to late-1990s.
Anthony Seravalli was a key part of GA’s team. He joined thevarsityas a freshman in 1996, and quickly established himself as a leader. Dan McDonald, a defenseman who was two years older, would drive him to school every morning.
Anthony Seravalli (right) was a critical part of GA’s program in the late 1990s.
The underclassman would rarely — if ever — call out sick with an injury or illness. His teammates estimated that he’d be on the ice for about 70% of Germantown Academy’s games (a hefty workload for a young player). Seravalli was a physical presence, standing at 6-foot-2, with a big windup slap shot that was hard to miss.
He carried no ego, despite his abilities. Anthony was inclusive with all of his teammates, including those who spent more time on the bench. In 1999, a few players got injured, and Seth Gershenson, a self-described “bench guy,” was asked to play some shifts.
Before Gershenson took the ice, Seravalli pulled him aside to give a few words of encouragement.
“He respected my effort and willingness to go out there and get beat up a little bit,” Gershenson said.
Many local players also participated in club hockey. They saw it as a way to get noticed in eastern Pennsylvania, which was not exactly a hotbed for the sport. As a result, club teams often took precedence over high school teams.
But this was not the case for Seravalli. GA always came first. Gershenson referred to him as a “fixture.”
“He took being a captain really, really seriously,” Gershenson said, “and he took the success of GA really seriously. He took pride in our success much more than whatever his club team was doing.”
Frank Seravalli grew up in Richboro, Bucks County, just a few minutes from the Face Off Circle, where Germantown Academy played at the time. By age 6, he was attending games and practices to watch Anthony and another cousin, Jason Jobba.
The elementary school student would stand in the same spot, behind the net, with a fizzy Coke in hand, and his face pressed up close to the glass.
“Watching your cousins who are a bit older, those are your heroes,” Seravalli said. “And for me, that’s part of where my love for the game came from.”
The Seravallis were a big, tight-knit group. Almost everyone played hockey, and almost everyone went to work at the family construction business. This was the path Anthony took, but he also found time to give back to his alma mater.
Frank Seravalli fondly remembers watching his older cousins play hockey when he was a child.
In 2004, while Frank was playing at Holy Ghost Prep, Anthony returned to GA as an assistant coach. He had a knack for connecting with the players, most of whom were familiar with his high school career.
One example was Brian O’Neill, a GA alum and former U.S. Olympian who is now playing pro hockey in Sweden.
O’Neill was a talented skater, but he lacked defensive fundamentals. This was one of Anthony’s strengths, and when O’Neill was moved to defense in his sophomore year, he began to work with the assistant coach.
Seravalli constantly reminded him to keep “stick on puck.” It was a message that O’Neill had heard for years but never fully understood. That changed when the coach stepped in.
“It was easy for him to sell me on what he was trying to teach, because I had a lot of respect for him as a player and a person,” O’Neill said. “He didn’t really have to earn my trust. That was already there.”
The goal was to put pressure on his opponent, in a way that didn’t involve hitting or cross-checking. The coach ran drills in which O’Neill would hold a puck in his right hand, and the stick in his left, to focus on keeping the stick down.
“It’s amazing,” O’Neill said. “You would think, ‘OK, I can’t grip the stick with my other hand, so I pretty much am playing with one hand,’ and all you can do with that is pretty much stick on puck.
“You would think you would be way worse at defending, but it’s actually the opposite, because all you’re focused on is stick on puck. And you’re not focused on hitting.”
The concept finally clicked. O’Neill, who went on to play in the NHL, still uses it to this day.
“[Anthony] was the guy that gave me the most advice on defense,” he said, “and that definitely made a huge impact on my career.”
Germantown Academy players celebrate after a goal against Episcopal Academy at Bucks County Ice Sports Center.
‘Please help save our program’
When he was young, Frank Seravalli would visit his family’s construction business in Northeast Philadelphia. He’d often notice workers perusing thick copies of the Daily News over lunch, and dreamed about having a byline someday.
In 2009, that dream became a reality, when the paper hired Seravalli out of Columbia University’s journalism school to cover the Flyers. He stayed for six years, before leaving for the Canadian television network TSN, where he worked as a senior writer and NHL insider.
In 2021, Seravalli started his own business, the Daily Faceoff, which was sold to a media group in Denmark in 2024. He’s now building a hockey network at the streaming service Victory+.
A typical day includes a radio interview in the morning, a podcast taping at noon, and more radio and television hits at night. Interspersed are hours spent texting and calling sources throughout the league.
It is a frenetic lifestyle, one that requires Seravalli to be glued to his phone. Finding time to coach a high school hockey program seemed impractical, if not impossible. But Seravalli was drawn to the idea. So, when he saw the job opening last year, he decided to apply.
The school’s athletic director, Tim Ginter, could only laugh when he read the insider’s resumé. Among his references were two NHL general managers, an executive with the league, and a former NHL head coach.
“He’s like, ‘Call [former Anaheim Ducks head coach] Dallas Eakins,’” said Ginter. “And I’m like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’”
Seravalli interviewed for the position in the spring. He talked to two of the team’s captains, J.P. McGill and Joey Lonergan, who explained that their program was in jeopardy.
Coach Frank Seravalli talks with his team during the game against Episcopal Academy.
GA had lost five playersin 2025. School officials didn’t know how they were going to fill those spots. McGill and Lonergan had heard stories about the 1990s and 2000s teams, but returning to that level seemed like a long shot.
The Patriots hadn’t played in a Flyers Cup since 2009. After years of shrinking rosters and coaching changes, the team was moved for 2009-10 from the Suburban High School Hockey League to the lesser Independence Hockey League, which isn’t eligible for Flyers Cup entry.
“Essentially their plea was, ‘Please, help save our program,’” Seravalli said. “‘We’re not even sure we’re going to have a team next year.’
“I couldn’t say no at that point. I knew I was hooked.”
Seravalli met with Ginter shortly after. He made a succinct but powerful pitch.
“If you don’t have interest in changing your program, and really tearing it down and rebuilding it, I’m not your guy,” the insider told him. “But if you are interested, I’m willing to make a five-to-10-year commitment to build this the right way.”
He was hired in July. Seravalli rarely mentioned his full-time job, but it didn’t take long for the teenagers to figure it out. One day, while McGill was “doomscrolling” on the internet, he spotted his high school coach on Bleacher Report Open Ice.
His reaction: “Oh [expletive].”
“I texted some of my teammates,” McGill said. “I’m like, ‘He’s the Adam Schefter of the NHL!’”
Germantown Academy’s players were not aware at first that their new coach was an NHL insider.
Added junior defenseman Jack Stone: “He’s a reporter, so obviously he knows what he’s talking about.”
The insider started to use his connections behind the scenes. He’d ask current and former NHL head coaches for advice, among them Eakins, who now works for Adler Mannheim in Germany.
Eakins encouraged Seravalli to model the behavior he wanted to see in his team. He emphasized how important it was to show not only that he cared about the program, but about the players as people.
He also shared some mistakes he’d made in his own coaching career, with the hope that Seravalli could learn from them.
“Sometimes people [will] say, ‘OK, I’m a coach, now I have to take on a different persona,’” Eakins said. “And I told him, don’t do that. Don’t go in there and pretend to be [Florida Panthers head coach] Paul Maurice.
“You’ve got to go in there and be Frank Seravalli. Because as soon as you step outside of that, you’re cooked. You can only pretend to take on this other persona for so long.”
The tenor of the program changed almost immediately. Before Seravalli’s arrival, on-ice practices and team lifts were optional. Sometimes, as few as two or three players would show up. Now, they were mandatory, and everyone was expected to arrive on time.
The teenagers learned this the hard way. In October, during preseason workouts, Seravalli organized morning weightlifting. Two players — who will remain anonymous — slowly waltzed into the gym, 15 minutes late.
Coach Frank Seravalli brought a disciplined approach to the Germantown Academy hockey team.
Seravalli didn’t say anything in the moment. But after the workout, he brought the team down to the field house to run sprints. The two late arrivals were put on the sideline, so they could watch their peers suffer on their behalf.
“And I just said, ‘Look, we have a standard here,’” said Seravalli. “‘You have to make the commitment that everyone else is to show up on time and be ready.’
“And I’ll tell you what: Since then, no one’s been late.”
The players have embraced the newfound discipline. Stone said it’s something that they didn’t realize they needed, but they’re grateful to have. McGill agreed.
“He’s way more intense than what we’ve had in the past,” McGill said. “Which, to some people, can be intimidating. But if you want to play at a high level, that can’t be intimidating.
“There’s no getting away with anything around here anymore. Frank has done a great job of holding us accountable to what the new standard needs to be.”
A different type of connection
Not long after he was hired, Seravalli moved the team from the Hatfield Ice Arena to the Bucks County Ice Sports Center (formerly known as the Face Off Circle). The building looks just like it did when Anthony was in high school.
The white-and-blue paint is faded, but intact, and so is the thermostat, set to the coldest possible temperature. Five days a week, Seravalli walks past the spot where he stood as a child, watching his cousins with wide eyes, as they swept across the ice.
Anthony’s death was a shock to the entire family. He no longer roams the halls of the construction firm. He is no longer behind the bench at the Face Off Circle.
On Dec. 1, 1898, about 1,000 people gathered at a court in Textile Hall — today’s Kensington neighborhood. They were there to watch the Philadelphia Hancock Athletic Association play the New Jersey Trenton Nationals in America’s first professional basketball game.
According to an article in the following day’s Philadelphia Times, the game got a late start because referees were still ironing out the rules of the world’s newest professional sport.
But once the game got underway, it was fast and furious.
Hancock “started with a rush, scoring two field goals before the players had become warmed up to their work,” the story reads.
“Throughout the entire first half, the home team had the better of the argument, taking advantage of every opportunity finishing the half in the lead by a score of 11 to [0].”
In the end, Philadelphia lost by two points, a disappointment Philly sports fans know all too well, even in these modern times.
The final score: 21 to 19.
Daniel Lipschutz blended history into his love of the modern day sport for this sculpture.
That first game of the National Basketball League will be feted this Saturday at a Firstival at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Firstivals are the Philadelphia Historic District’s weekly day parties celebrating events that happened in Philadelphia before anywhere else in America, and often the world. They are part of a yearlong celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
James Naismith, a YMCA coach in Springfield, Mass., invented basketball in 1891 to keep kids active during winter months. The sport incorporated elements of rugby, lacrosse, and soccer. Instead of throwing balls into a bottomless net to score, players threw balls into peach baskets.
(In other words, there was no such thing as a rebound.)
James Naismith, inventor of basketball, with a ball and a basket.
Basketball quickly became popular with college students and in 1898, Naismith was recruited to coach the University of Kansas basketball team.
That same year, Horace Fogel, sports editor of the Philadelphia Public Ledger, organized the first professional basketball league with three teams from Philadelphia and three from South Jersey.
A 12-foot chain-link cage separated players from the fans. Ropes replaced these iron cages in the 1920s.
Fogel’s National Basketball League lasted just five years, folding in 1904 because of quick player turnover eating into profits. A second league was formed in 1937 and was sponsored by Goodyear. In 1946, the Basketball Association of America was established.
And in 1949, the BAA and NBL merged to create today’s NBA.
“This really goes to show that Philadelphia is a sports city,” said Shavonnia Corbin Johnson, vice president of civic affairs for the 76ers. “When people talk about Philadelphia sports rooted in history, tradition, and passion, it’s true, but now we know that America’s true love of sports can trace its roots right back here.”
This week’s Firstival is Saturday, Jan. 24, 11 a.m. — 1 p.m., at Xfinity Mobile Arena, 3601 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. Premium Access Entrance on the Broad Street side, near Lot C. The Inquirer will highlight a “first” from Philadelphia Historic District’s 52 Weeks of Firsts program every week.
While we all wait with bated breath to see who Jalen Hurts’ seventh offensive coordinator in seven years will be (technically, 11th if you count his college years), we’re going to switch gears and talk a little Sixers — specifically the timeshare that has transpired at the center position.
Both Andre Drummond and Adem Bona have been key contributors at the position, both under the backdrop of Joel Embiid, who, despite a litany of injuries, has been the constant at the position for the latter part of a decade.
So how do you compete with that? Well, according to both Drummond and Bona, you don’t; instead, you make the most of your minutes. Drummond, who has even been getting starting minutes recently, knows that “I probably won’t take my warmup pants off some games.”
And while you’d think it would be a battle of the big men trying to occupy minutes on the court, Drummond and Bona have become friends, reveling in each other’s moments, however fleeting or prosperous, night after night.
Inquirer writer Gina Mizell offers this rare look at selflessness on what’s shaping up to be a warmer day across the region, with highs expected to peak into the low 40s in many spots.
Ranger Suárez left the Phillies for a $130 million contract with the Red Sox.
Former Phillies pitcher Ranger Suárez took the podium in a Red Sox jersey for the first time Wednesday when he was officially introduced at Fenway Park.
The 30-year-old Suárez, who signed with the Phillies as a 16-year-old from Venezuela and developed into an All-Star and key rotation piece, departed in free agency this winter. His five-year, $130 million contract with Boston became official Wednesday.
When prompted by a reporter at his introductory news conference, Suárez clarified the traditional Spanish pronunciation of his first name.
In a wide-ranging conversation on Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball show, Jesus Luzardo said he’s interested in discussing a contract extension with the Phillies and talked about his impressive first season with the team, J.T. Realmuto’s impact behind the plate, and more.
🏈 Answering: Why were so many people from Indiana University of Pennsylvania so excited about Indiana’s national championship win, even though IUP has no ties to IU?
Lane Pederson made his Flyers debut on Monday against the Vegas Golden Knights. It was his first NHL game since March 2023.
Lane Pederson has ridden a lot of buses in the American Hockey League over the last few years in pursuit of his dream to one day play in the NHL again.
On Monday, that persistence and those long, late-night slogs must have all felt worth it, as Pederson played in his first NHL game in almost three years when he suited up for the Flyers in Las Vegas. The 28-year-old, who signed with the Flyers this summer, hoped he’d get one more chance to prove he belongs at the top level, and he’s got it after Rodrigo Ābols suffered a long-term injury on Saturday.
Can Pederson stick on the fourth line with a coach he knows well in Rick Tocchet? No offense to Allentown, but the centerman hopes he won’t be returning to Lehigh Valley any time soon.
Cavan Sullivan is seen during a Union practice at Subaru Field in Chester. Tuesday, Jan 13, 2026.
There’s no need to remind Cavan Sullivan about all of the expectations placed on his now 16-year-old shoulders. He’s got plenty of reminders. It’s why this season, Sullivan says he’s focusing on the game and less on the pomp that comes with it.
The timing couldn’t be better as there’s a real chance he could see considerable minutes as an attacking midfield presence with the Union, a spot left vacant by his older brother Quinn, who suffered an ACL sprain last season.
Ahead of the team’s two-week trip to Spain, Cavan sat down with Tannenwald to talk about what could shape up to be a transformative season for the Union’s youngest pro talent.
On this date
Jan. 21, 2006: In Kobe Bryant’s legendary 81-point performance, he led the Los Angeles Lakers to a 122-105 win against Toronto. Bryant still holds the mark for the second-highest point total in a game behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game in 1962.
Standings, stats, and more
Want the full breakdown from last night’s Flyers game against the Mammoth? Here’s a place to access your favorite Philadelphia teams’ statistics, schedules, and standings in real time.
“[Howie] Roseman might be the best GM in the NFL over the last nine years, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to have the best roster in 2026. Any top OC candidate is looking at the Eagles job as a one-year stepping stone to the 2027 cycle of head-coaching vacancies. The 2026 Eagles are richly talented on paper, but they are saddled with far more questions than answers.” — The latest take from Hayes, who explores why the Eagles’ vacant offensive coordinator position doesn’t have a line around the block.
What you’re saying about the Phillies
We all know Bo Bichette isn’t headed to Philly. That seems to work out just fine for these Inquirer readers.
We asked: What are your thoughts on the Phillies missing out on Bo Bichette?
[I don’t care] about Bichette or anyone else while the flawed hero-culture core remains unchanged and unrepentant. Schwarber did a contract year showing, and we fell for it, as if his biggest night of last year didn’t follow that pathetic series shellacking by the Mets (who were not good). What’s more interesting is how much all the Philly teams have been whiffing on big new additions in recent years — most prominently right now, desirable OCs for the Eagles. The perpetual national media’s lambasting of our town and sports culture feels like it’s winning, and we’re at risk of becoming Pariahdelphia. — D.W. Stone
I believe it’s a great move on the Phillies to force them to start the process to go young. The fact that they did not make the run in September is due to the superstars not performing well. It’s now time to watch the development of the minor league players and analyze their improvement. You are not going to out-pay the Dodgers or Mets. Have fun watching new talent instead of Dave D trying to outspend our competitors. That has been Dave’s history on all his prior teams. — Dick F.
Losing Bichette is a Godsend. We win twice by not getting him. First, we can stop hearing about getting rid of Alec Bohm, whose performance is on par with Bichette, [and who] is young and still improving every year. And then they are able to pay and retain the best catcher in baseball, even though he is a ripe old 34 years old. This roster is much better overall. BTW, why has Bohm been on the trading block every single year? totally undeserved. — John W.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Rob Tornoe, David Murphy, Jeff McLane, Jeff Neiburg, Olivia Reiner, Gina Mizell, Scott Lauber, Ariel Simpson, Gabriela Carroll, Jonathan Tannenwald, Katie Lewis, Brooke Ackerman, and Jackie Spiegel.
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
That’s it for today. Enjoy your Thursday. Jim will be back tomorrow to get you set for the weekend ahead.— Kerith
The primary responsibility of law enforcement is to ensure the safety and security of its citizens.
Cooperation between jurisdictions and among all levels of law enforcement is a key component in obtaining that objective in our democracy. When state and local elected officials prevent their police from cooperating with federal officers enforcing federal law while allowing lawbreaking illegal aliens to roam their streets, it creates a dangerous situation for all involved — as we clearly see now. Through their inflammatory rhetoric, they incite and condone the type of resistance and violence against federal law enforcement that they would not tolerate if directed at their own police officers. Their words “inspire” Renee Good and many like her to put themselves in harm’s way while impeding U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts illegally. Liberals decry Good’s death while curiously being silent when members of their community were the victims of murder and violent crime at the hands of illegal immigrants. It is a sad commentary on sanctuary states and cities when the plight of illegals is prioritized over the safety of their actual citizens.
What kind of democracy do we have where so many of these liberal elected officials ignore their oaths of office to defend the Constitution by obeying only the laws that they agree with?
Mark Fenstermaker,Warminster, markfense@gmail.com
Wait, he said what?
“The moment you start dehumanizing people, the moment you start calling people Hitler, the moment you start doing that, it’s a slippery slope to violence,” Republican U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick said during a recent interview with CBS.
If I‘m reading this quote right, Sen. McCormick is saying if you call ICE Hitler, you’re going to get Hitler. That’s the problem in the first place: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is operating like the Gestapo. All rhetoric aside, an American mother was killed on the streets of an American city while exercising her constitutional right to protest. How can anyone be OK with that?
Michael Galante, Philadelphia
Investigation warranted
The U.S. Department of Justice has said it will not be investigating the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who killed Renee Good in Minneapolis. In Philadelphia, if a police officer discharges their weapon, it automatically triggers an Internal Affairs investigation, and I believe that is true for all local law enforcement agencies.
I retired from a federal law enforcement agency under the DOJ, and any use of force automatically triggered an investigation and after-action review by the Office of Inspector General (OIG). ICE is an agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. I have not seen any reports of the DHS OIG investigating this use-of-force incident.
Julio Casiano Jr., Philadelphia
New precedent?
Since Donald Trump’s invasion and arrest (kidnapping?) of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, I have been thinking about an analogy that could put this in a different context for Trump supporters.
Let’s go back to 1970. We are deep in the midst of the war we were carrying out against Vietnam. What if the North Vietnamese sent a secret commando force to Washington, D.C., and captured Richard Nixon, brought him to Hanoi, and put him on trial for crimes against humanity? Whatever we might think of him, Maduro was the head of state in Venezuela. If another country did to our head of state what we did to him, we would be outraged, too.
Peter Handler,Philadelphia
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: My husband and I have been together 30-plus years. When our love was new, it was all smiles, hand-holding and thrills when we saw each other after a long day at work or school. And, I guess, that’s normal.
Now, three kids and three grandkids later, we’re edging past our mid-50s and there isn’t much left. There are no more smiles and no more hand-holding, only two sad adults. We still love each other. Neither of us wants to be apart from the other, but we don’t know how to bring back happiness.
We hardly touch, and neither of us remembers the last time we smiled or even really laughed. We sit in the same room, living two completely different lives. I am partially disabled, so there are no more long walks or outside activities, which we used to do 20 years ago.
We are now wondering: Is this the rest of our lives? Are we going to spend the next 20-plus years in a depressing marriage in which we love each other but no longer have anything in common? Our youngest daughter is 8, and our youngest grandson is 5. We watch the kids (15, 9, 8, 5) in the evening so our eldest can work. Is there any hope for us?
— SAD SPOUSE IN NEW YORK
DEAR SAD SPOUSE: You say that you and your husband love each other. There is hope for reviving your marriage if you agree to go to couples counseling together. Marriage involves more than smiles, hand-holding and thrills. It is a deep and caring partnership. Few couples can sustain the excitement of their honeymoon years. You and your husband have already done the hard work. Now you need to find your way back together.
** ** **
DEAR ABBY: My husband and I were dining with friends in a high-end restaurant. The food was great, and so was the conversation. My husband leaned close to me and whispered, “She’s brushing her teeth!” I glanced to my left. I had thought the gal at the next table was just using a toothpick. No, she was vigorously brushing with a full-sized toothbrush!
After about a minute, she placed the toothbrush into a cosmetic bag and pulled out a denture container. She then proceeded to insert and adjust her retainer. We were flabbergasted. Never in all my years have I seen such appalling table manners. Perhaps we shouldn’t have been staring, but it was one of those moments in which you are frozen to the spot.
Abby, that restaurant has very nice bathrooms. What is happening to our society?
— SHOCKED IN THE SOUTH
DEAR SHOCKED: I understand why this woman’s performance stopped you cold. But, please, don’t blame “society” for her ignorance of the rules of etiquette, which dictate that to avoid grossing out those around us in public, we should excuse ourselves from the table and take care of our oral hygiene privately, IN THE RESTROOM if needed.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). You’re not trying to be unique or edgy — it just so happens that you resonate with topics that many people haven’t even heard of yet. It will be fun and fortifying to connect with those who share your interest.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You’re starting to question your fit in an organization or a particular role. You’re not exactly a fish out of water, but you may be a polar bear out of Alaska. The key here is to limit your time in the environment. Take lots of breaks. Is it possible to get a vacation?
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). These are stubborn conditions, and stubborn people populate the landscape. They have something to give, but you won’t know what it is until you let go of what you want it to be. So instead of needing events to line up a certain way, you let go of expectation.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). Socializing will be about answering the very human need to be seen and heard. Your story is an evolving one and you tell it differently depending on who is asking. Today, someone new will be curious about you.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). The mood at 10 a.m. is very different from the mood at 4 p.m. — so different, in fact, you may feel like two different people. Does it help you to know it’s not an uncommon phenomenon? The world asks a lot of “a.m. you,” then “p.m. you” will ask a lot of the world.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You’ll pull off complex plans with a simple approach: jump into and execute as you go. You’re also well aware that not everyone has access to experiences like this, and you’ll make the most of it.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You’re touched by what’s around you and you’ll reconnect with possibility and a sense of aliveness. Just remember, no one comes into their own doing whatever everyone else does. Your artful approach will set you apart in the best way.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Your work will be better for the obstacles you face today. A lull will give you the chance to consider the part that you usually do automatically. This is just what you need to make things better than ever.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You want a feeling you felt before, but for some reason it’s not there. Don’t force it. This is the new you, not the old you, and you are sensitive in other ways you have yet to learn about.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). It’s nice to have assistance and support, but if you don’t get it today, you’ll get something even better. You’ll learn what you’re made of. You’ll dig deeper for your own true grit, which is the abiding resource that will never leave you.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). The French culinary term “mise en place” will apply to your current project. Get all the elements ready for use. In cooking it means peeling, cutting and measuring your ingredients, but for your current project it’s readying other resources, including your team.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Your imagination is active and responsive. You’ll gather a subtle impression from a situation, then let intuition guide your decisions without overanalyzing. The day will arrange itself in supportive ways.
TODAY’SBIRTHDAY (Jan. 22). It will be fun to know you inspire envy along with the other benefits your hard work reels in this Year of the Big Finish. You’ll be crossing the metaphorical finish line with several projects and goals, and the prize comes in money and position, hearts won and security attained. More highlights: cash through something simple, fun gatherings and beautifully supportive friendships. Aries and Capricorn adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 38, 42, 11, 4 and 18.
SALT LAKE CITY ― The Flyers were in control until they weren’t.
After ending a six-game losing streak on Monday, and snapping the Vegas Golden Knights’ seven-game winning streak in the process, they lost to the Utah Mammoth, 5-4, in overtime on Wednesday.
The Flyers had a 3-0 lead early in the second and led by two going into the final frame. It was only the fourth time after leading after two periods that they did not come out victorious.
Clayton Keller scored in overtime from the slot after he tied the game with 35 seconds left in regulation during a six-on-five situation.
The Utah captain tied the game when he knocked a bouncing puck away from Travis Sanheim. Keller skated around the defenseman, cut across the crease, and backhanded one over Sam Ersson. On the game-winner, Travis Konecny lost the puck deep in the Utah zone to Dylan Guenther, who carried it up the ice and eventually fed Keller for the shot.
Philly had chances to extend its lead several times, with Owen Tippett ringing one off the post after a sick dangle with 5 minutes, 55 seconds left, and Garnet Hathaway with the puck on his stick and skating in alone toward an empty net with just under 1:30 to play. But Hathaway didn’t pull the trigger fast enough and had his pocket picked by Nick Schmaltz.
It was a stinging loss as the Flyers led the game just 30 seconds in.
Defenseman Cam York slammed home the rebound on a turnaround shot by Sanheim. The goal came off sustained pressure by the defensive pair with the line of Christian Dvorak, Konecny, and Trevor Zegras, with the latter two using the boards before Konecny fed Sanheim.
The goal was York’s fourth of the season, tying his total from last year across 66 games.
Just over four minutes later, the Flyers were up 2-0 for the first time since Jan. 4 against the Edmonton Oilers. The Flyers broke out of their own end with Noah Juulsen sending an outlet pass up in the air to Konecny at center ice.
Konecny knocked the puck down and led Dvorak with the pass and he took off. The center skated between the defense, cut across the crease, and put the puck around the right pad of Karel Vejmelka.
The Flyers took a 3-0 lead with a power-play goal 58 seconds into the second period. After a clean zone entry, the unit of Zegras, Konecny, Jamie Drysdale, and Bobby Brink got to work.
Zegras and Drysdale played catch above the circles before Zegras put a shot on goal from inside the blue line. Brink had been in the bumper but then rotated into the left circle before dropping down and burying the rebound on Zegras’ shot.
The goal was Brink’s 12th of the season, tying his career high set last season.
Utah started to pick up its game after a hard and borderline high hit by Liam O’Brien on Tippett in the neutral zone. Initially, the referees called a major penalty, but after a video review, ruled that it did not warrant a penalty. Tippett left the game but returned to the bench later in the second period.
The Mammoth then scored two quick goals 36 seconds apart, the first by JJ Peterka and the second by Lawson Crouse.
On the goal by Peterka, there was a scramble at the side of the net, and he jammed in the loose puck. The Crouse goal came after Sean Durzi’s shot went off the stick of Brink, and Emil Andrae couldn’t handle the bobbling puck. Crouse knocked it away from the Flyers defenseman, and Schmaltz fed Crouse for the quick snapshot.
Flyers coach Rick Tocchet called a timeout to settle down his club, and it worked.
The Orange and Black had some chances, and then Dvorak added his second of the night with a power-play goal. He got the puck in the neutral zone, gained the zone, and fired a wrister from the right circle. Vejmelka couldn’t control the rebound, and Dvorak knocked the follow-up in.
With his second multigoal game of the season, Dvorak now has 12 goals, tying his total last season with the Montreal Canadiens. His career high is 18 set in 2019-20.
Utah cut it to a one-goal game with 7:13 left when Barrett Hayton deflected a Guenther shot from the left circle on a power play past Ersson. The Mammoth had the man advantage after Juulsen dropped the gloves with Jack McBain and got an extra two minutes for roughing. Juulsen went after McBain, who ran over Drysdale.
Breakaways
Making the start for the second straight game — the first time since Dec. 18-20 — Ersson stopped 22 of 27 shots. … Forward Carl Grundström was a healthy scratch for the first time since entering the lineup on Dec. 9. In that 21-game span, he had seven goals and nine points. … Defenseman Hunter McDonald and forward Nic Deslauriers were also healthy scratches. … The Flyers extended their point streak to two games.
Up next
The Flyers head to Denver to face the NHL’s best team, the Colorado Avalanche — who have only five losses in regulation on the season — on Friday (9 p.m., NBCSP).
Jaeden Marshall’s 25 points off of the bench led La Salle to a 67-64 victory over Dayton on Wednesday.
Marshall shot 7 of 11 from the field, including 4-for-7 in three-pointers, and went 7-for-7 from the line for the Explorers (7-13, 3-4 Atlantic 10). Josiah Harris scored 10 points while shooting 4 of 7 from the field. Jerome Brewer Jr. had seven points, including two free throws with 21 seconds remaining.
Keonte Jones led the Flyers (14-5, 5-1) in scoring, finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and two steals. Dayton also got 11 points and five assists from Javon Bennett. Bryce Heard also had 10 points. The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the Flyers.
Marshall scored 12 points in the first half for La Salle, which led 40-29 at the break. Marshall led La Salle with 13 points in the second.
The character Tracy, played by actor Samantha Cutaran, shows up to cover the unexpected success that the school has seen while operating out of an abandoned mall. (They were forced to relocate after Abbott’s furnace broke.)
Four weeks into the disruptive move, student grades begin improving and incidents go down.
“You’re changing the face of education,” Tracy tells the teachers. “So much so, we think this is worthy enough for the front page. You guys are rock stars!”
It would’ve been funny to see how each of these characters would act in an interview — Janine (creator Quinta Brunson) might be nervous about saying the wrong thing, Jacob (Chris Perfetti) would (hopefully) praise the free press, and Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) would be skeptical and uncooperative — but the show cuts directly to the newspaper delivery. (Yes, we’re still in print!)
“Extra, extra, read all about … us!” says Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) as she drops the paper on a table.
Designed by Abbott Elementary’s props and production team, the mock front page pictures the teachers and principal Ava (Janelle James) surrounded by students with the headline, “Do schools even need schools?”
A mock front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer as seen in Season 5 of ‘Abbott Elementary.’
Janine is thrilled that the article includes her quote, “Teaching is fun.”
“Did they use mine?” Melissa asks. “‘The Giants suck.’ Is that in there?”
(Sadly, it’s not.)
The reporter, in her objectivity, excluded that insight (no matter how many real readers would agree), but Melissa is still impressed.
“The Schemmenti family name on the front page,” she says, “and nowhere does it say ‘evasion, tax, or conviction.’”
The Inquirer calls the Abbott crew “heroes” for the work they have done, drumming up positive press for the school district and leading Scholastic to donate new school supplies.
But the excitement peters out when the shrewd guidance counselor (Marcella Arguello) points out that the school district continues to be vague whenever the teachers ask when they’ll be returning to Abbott. The students are performing so well, she reminds them, so there’s “no sense of urgency.”
They later discover that the district has pulled Abbott’s construction crew to address facility problems at other schools.
It’s not all bad news, though: While the rest of Abbott Elementary was caught up with The Inquirer (we love that for us), Mr. Johnson (William Stanford Davis) clashed with the new janitor who was sent to help him clean the massive mall. Miss Carroll is played by newcomer Khandi Alexander.
“I may be old-fashioned, but women have no business cleaning,” Mr. Johnson tells the camera. “You ask me? They need to get back to where they belong — in the Wall Street board room and coaching in the NFL.”
William Stanford Davis (Mr. Johnson), Tyler James Williams (Gregory Eddie), and Quinta Brunson (Janine Teagues) in “Abbott Elementary.”
The feud doesn’t last as the two bond over using the same homemade cleaning solution. It’s a sweet turn for the mysterious Mr. Johnson; audiences have heard many tales of his backstories, from being a Jill Scott stalker to a member of the Mafia, but he hasn’t yet had a romance plot.
Until this episode, that is.
Mr. Johnson’s odd jobs — some 400 before he came to Abbott — are part of the fun for Davis.
“I’m always surprised at what they want me to do, and I try to embrace that and have as much fun with it as I can,” said the actor in a recent interview with The Inquirer.
Davis himself has worked his fair share of odd jobs, throughout his career, like DJing a country western radio station, driving a limousine, cooking at a truck stop, and other “survival gigs,” as he calls them.
“I try to bring those real-life experiences to Mr. Johnson, because they weren’t all very pleasant either, but it helps me to continue to develop this character,” said Davis.
“As an actor, you’re supposed to be able to play everything that a human being can be, and so I try to connect to Mr. Johnson’s truth, even though his truth is a little stranger than most people’s … He’s an honest, living, breathing human being. He’s just a little different than everyone else, and he’s a little smarter than everyone else.”
There is one job that Davis hopes the writers will work into Mr. Johnson’s lore: “I’m waiting on them to make me an astronaut.”
