Another lawsuit has been filed on behalf of victims of the explosion at a Bucks County nursing home just before Christmas that left three dead and about 20 people injured.
The plaintiffs, Joseph Juhas Sr. and MaryAnn Schnepp, were residents of Bristol Health and Rehab Center when an explosion just after 2:15 p.m. on Dec. 23 ripped through the main building and caused an intense fire. The spouses of the victims also are named as plaintiffs.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, names as the defendants PECO Energy Company and its parent company, Exelon Energy, and Bristol Health and Rehab Center LLC, and its parent company, Saber Healthcare Group. The former operators of the nursing home also are named as defendants.
“Joe and Maryann suffered serious life-changing injuries because of the negligence of the defendants,” said Brian Fritz, the lead attorney representing the plaintiffs. “We plan on holding all of them responsible for their lack of action in dealing with the well-documented gas leak and conditions that led to this tragic event.”
On Monday, a lawsuit was filed alleging negligence in the nursing home explosion.
Exterior of Bristol Health & Rehab Center after the Dec. 23 fatal explosion. The photograph taken Christmas morning, Thursday, December 25, 2025.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation — including by the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates pipeline accidents.
The lawsuit alleges that the nursing home defendants “proceeded as business as usual in the face of a natural gas leak, which presented a clear and obvious threat to the safety and well-being” of the residents.
The nursing home defendants “recklessly and with callous disregard continued to supply cigarettes and lighters to the residents during the scheduled smoking sessions throughout the day while they knew or should have known that such activity could cause any gas manifestation from the gas leak to explode,” the lawsuit alleges.
In an interview with the Inquirer, Susie Gubitosi, 71, a resident who is blind and uses a wheelchair, said that just after 2 p.m. that day, she returned inside the building after joining several other residents on the patio for a cigarette break. Gubitosi said she was waiting inside for a staffer to help her with a task when the explosion occurred.
According to the lawsuit, MaryAnn Schnepp suffered traumatic brain injury, intracranial bleeding, laceration to her scalp requiring staples, a collapsed lung, and broken bones, including broken ribs.
Joseph Juhas Sr. also suffered traumatic brain injury, intracranial bleeding, and bone fractures, according to the lawsuit.
The scene at Bristol Health and Rehab Center on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025, in Bristol Township, Pa.
Zach Shamberg, chief of government affairs for Saber Healthcare Group, said in an email: “We continue to cooperate with the ongoing investigation, and we cannot comment on pending litigation.”
A spokesperson for Peco said in an email: “We are a party to the National Transportation Safety Board investigation. We are fully cooperating with the NTSB and according to the NTSB rules, we are not permitted to comment on this matter.”
The age and condition of the gas line running to the nursing home remain unclear, but Peco has said that it has about 742 miles of substandard gas lines across the state that need to be replaced — accounting for roughly 5% of its gas service, but 82% of leaks, according to a report from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.
As Champagne showered behind him in the Eagles’ postgame locker room following their Super Bowl LIX victory, Jeffrey Lurie raved to reporters about Jalen Hurts’ “clutch gene.”
Hurts, then 26, dazzled under the bright lights of the Superdome, earning Super Bowl MVP honors after he totaled 293 yards (221 passing, 72 rushing) and three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing). Lurie, the Eagles’ owner, noted that his quarterback seemed to amp up his play when the stakes were the highest.
That so-called clutch gene, according to Hurts, is truly inherent.
“Some things are in you,“ Hurts explained Wednesday.
Hurts will have an opportunity to flaunt that trait again on Sunday when the Eagles return to the playoffs after last year’s Super Bowl win. They will start from the beginning once more in the wild-card round against the San Francisco 49ers, a team they have not faced since 2023.
The opponent may be relatively unfamiliar, but the postseason is a familiar stage to Hurts. In his fifth season as the Eagles’ starter, he is tied for the best playoff win percentage (6-3; 66.7%) among postseason quarterbacks with the 49ers’ Brock Purdy (4-2; 66.7%).
Hurts has more overall playoff experience than Purdy and a Lombardi Trophy to his name. That experience, Hurts said, informs his approach to the postseason.
“I think experience is the biggest teacher,” Hurts said. “So a lot of moments you can lean on experience in itself. So just being able to reflect on, not always someone else’s opinions but your own experiences, that’s valuable.”
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles last played the Niners in 2023.
Hurts has experience playing against the Kyle Shanahan-led 49ers, too. Hurts has started at quarterback against San Francisco three times in his career from 2021-23, including the NFC championship victory that punched their ticket to Super Bowl LVII in the 2022-23 season.
Shanahan isn’t calling the defense, though. Hurts has yet to face a 49ers defense led by Robert Saleh, who rejoined the staff as defensive coordinator this year. Despite his lack of direct experience with Saleh’s 49ers, he is familiar with their physical brand of football.
“I think any time we’ve matched up against this team, it’s been a very physical, fast, and intense game,” Hurts said. “So we’ve got a lot of respect for this opponent and how they play ball and the mentality that they have. That’s something that we have a lot of respect for.”
But the 49ers defense of late isn’t the same group that throttled the Eagles, 42-19, two seasons ago. For one, Dre Greenlaw, who got into it with Eagles security chief Dom DiSandro on the sideline in that game, is no longer on the team.
That isn’t the only difference, nor the most notable. Injuries have ravaged Saleh’s unit this season, with inside linebacker Fred Warner and defensive ends Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams sustaining long-term injuries that will prevent them from suiting up on Sunday.
The San Francisco inside linebacker corps has experienced the most turnover of any position. All five linebackers who made the 49ers’ initial 53-man roster out of training camp are injured, including projected starter Dee Winters, who did not practice on Wednesday due to an ankle ailment.
The 49ers will be missing defensive end Nick Bosa (center) and linebacker Fred Warner (right) for Sunday’s wild-card matchup.
The Eagles, meanwhile, are potentially getting healthier. Lane Johnson returned to practice on Wednesday for the first time since he sustained a Lisfranc foot injury in the Nov. 16 win over the Detroit Lions. His status for Sunday’s game remains in question, as he was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice.
Hurts is healthy, too, and fresh off a week of rest, luxuries the Eagles haven’t always had in the postseason. His good health seemingly correlates with his career-low as a starter in rushing attempts this season (105). But Hurts pushed back on the notion that the decrease in carries was intended to keep him out of harm’s way.
“I think the season just kind of going the way it has, the approach this year and how the games have been called with this coordinator, with coach KP [Kevin Patullo],” Hurts said. “It’s just kind of going that way. Just kind of taking it in stride and tried to give my best, whatever position I’ve been put in.”
Hurts has been put in all kinds of positions this season, whether he handed the ball off to Saquon Barkley or dropped back more to pass. The Eagles have shown flashes of an identity at times throughout the season, especially when to establish the run game and build passing concepts off those looks. But their overall performance as a group has been characterized by inconsistency.
Still, winning in multiple ways, according to Hurts, isn’t necessarily bad.
“I think it depends on what perspective you look at, half empty or half full,” Hurts said. “I think being able to evolve and change as much as we have and still find ways to win, maybe gives off this perspective of, ‘Well, what are they going to do? Who are they?’ I do definitely think that is a way that you can look at it.
“Also, at the end of the day, we’re not going to be judged off how it got done. We’re going to be judged off if we did it or not. So my focus is on doing it.”
Hurts and his clutch gene have done it before in the playoffs. Doing it again hinges on whether he can help the offense, as listless as it has been at times this season, find a new gear.
Robinson, a Rutgers University professor and snow expert, said he was aware at the time of the 122-inch total measured at High Point in North Jersey during the eventful winter of 1995-96.
The findings, released Tuesday, were published in a 60-page memorandum authored by Chris Stachelski, an official with the National Weather Service’s Eastern Regional Headquarters.
The report included several pages of images and discussion of the 1995-96 winter during which Philadelphia experienced its biggest snow in its 140-year period of record.
As state climatologist, Robinson said he long had intended to vet the 122-inch figure.
He said he was well familiar with the observer who was measuring all that snow and that he is “someone who is meticulous.”
Robinson said one might ask why he didn’t seek to verify the record sooner.
“I didn’t. It was too far on the back burner for far too long.”
Robinson said the impetus was a national effort a few years back to assemble snowfall records for every state, and that prompted him to look again at the High Point record.
He said the weather service ultimately took the lead in the investigation, and after a meeting with Stachelski, the committee decided 10 feet of snow truly fell upon High Point that winter.
Monday is an anniversary of sorts for Nakobe Dean, but not one to celebrate. When the linebacker takes the field for the Eagles on Sunday — yes, he will play — it will be 364 days after he was knocked from the Eagles’ wild-card playoff victory over the Green Bay Packers.
Dean watched the Eagles win the Super Bowl from the sideline. He danced in place with the help of crutches while streams of Champagne and beer flew around the championship locker room until there was no more alcohol to soak in.
Then, a long rehabilitation from a patellar tendon tear in his left knee began. There were long days of training, and the 25-year-old even dipped his toes in ballet classes to improve his flexibility. But while Dean recovered, the Eagles also drafted his eventual replacement, Jihaad Campbell, in the first round. Then he started the 2025 season on the physically unable to perform list and didn’t debut until Week 6.
Patellar tendon tears are difficult injuries to come back from, but Dean has barely missed a beat. He overtook Campbell and returned to his starting role next to Zack Baun by Week 8. Dean has been one of the best blitzing linebackers in the NFL since he returned. He has four sacks in 10 games after having three sacks in 15 games last season. He has been solid in coverage, too. All eyes will be on Dean and Baun on Sunday as the Eagles face a talented San Francisco offense built around running back Christian McCaffrey and tight end George Kittle.
Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean is helped off of the field during the second quarter of last year’s wild-card playoff game against the Packers.
There are the on-field elements on Dean’s mind. The 49ers, he said, do things no other team does with their use of the fullback and their dynamic schemes. The Eagles will need to have “good eyes,” Dean said, and focus on their footwork and technique while making sure to be physical. But there’s the personal element, too. Dean said football is always personal to him, but Sunday, almost a year to the day from the sport being temporarily taken from him, will have extra significance.
“It’s always personal,” Dean said Wednesday. “You got a timeline to play this game of football that you love.”
Dean has learned that the hard way a few times. The 2022 third-round pick, among the first wave of Georgia Bulldogs to the Eagles’ defense, had his 2023 season ended after five games because of a foot injury. Then the knee injury in the playoffs last year forced him to be a spectator during what would have been some of the biggest games of his career. Then, even as he helped the Eagles’ playoff push this season, he was again forced to the sideline after suffering a hamstring injury against Washington in Week 16.
Dean said he probably could have played through the hamstring injury, but the rest served him well.
“They want me in the playoffs the best I can be,” Dean said of the Eagles’ decision to sit him down for a couple of weeks.
Dean thinks he’s a better player today than he was a year ago as he prepared for the playoff run. “The more ball I play, the better I see it, the more I understand it,” he said. He’s said he’s not surprised he came back from his devastating injury in this manner.
Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean (center) suffered a hamstring injury during a Week 16 win over the Commanders.
“When you’re going through an injury, and I got a goal that I set for myself, I’m going to come back and be the best,” Dean said. “I’m not shooting to just get to where I was before. No, I’m shooting to get better and get better every day.
“I’m a human. I have emotions. But I never lost faith that everything would be great. I never lost confidence in myself.”
Dean said the journey helped him grow as a person and football player.
“Everything I talk about, or I’ve talked about in the past before I hurt my knee, I had to stand on it,” he said. “I had to stand on being that positive person who’s taking a day at a time, who puts one foot in front of the other. The message hasn’t changed for me. But I had to stand on what I believed in and what I talked about.”
He has spent part of this week providing perspective to younger players like Campbell and fellow rookie Smael Mondon on what it means to be in the postseason — “a lot of people want to be where we’re at,” he said — and what to expect from the atmosphere at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday. (“It’s like someone talking about an amusement park that they’ve never been to before and I’ve been,” he said.)
It’s the playoffs, and every game could be the last. For Dean, that reality is especially true. This is the final year of his contract, and his future with the Eagles certainly is up in the air. The Eagles have a lot invested in Campbell, and Dean has played well enough after returning from his injury to earn a decent contract, one that could come from another team. It is a thought that Dean said has crossed his mind after the Eagles won their Week 17 game in Buffalo.
Dean then reminded himself that he needed to be present. Sunday will mark his first playoff game since he was carted off the Eagles’ sideline last January. He wants to enjoy what’s in front of him.
“I got to live in the moment,” Dean said. “I got a lot of guys that I played with in college. You don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m just enjoying every second, every moment with them, with Zack and my linebacker room, everybody in the locker room. Just living in the moment and not even thinking about it.”
It is, after all, time for “playoff ball,” Dean said.
“It’s time to get to it, time to turn it up a notch.”
The Flyers beat the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night, 5-2.
But hockey is all about the details. So, as the Flyers hit the halfway mark with a 21-12-7 record, let’s take a look at why the small details from Tuesday night matter in the big picture.
Trevor Zegras is a lightning rod
The Flyers forward conceded postgame that he was downplaying how important the game was to him when he spoke to the media earlier in the day.
“It was a tough ending with my time there, and I’ve been thinking about this game for a long time,” said Zegras, who was acquired by the Flyers from the Ducks in June. “It was one that meant a lot to me, and it was cool to get one and then, obviously, two.”
“Playing against your old team, that kind of shoved you out the door, that third one would have been pretty cool,” he added. “But we got the win, so that’s what matters.”
Despite coming out hard, the Flyers trailed 1-0 after public enemy No. 1, Cutter Gauthier, scored a power-play goal. They needed a boost and got it with Zegras scoring not once, but twice, each via a one-timer from beneath the right circle that coach Rick Tocchet said “looked a little [Leon] Draisaitl-ish.” Indeed.
Zegras is the game-breaker the Flyers have been craving for years. He is someone who can change the course of a game in an instant, pressuring and creating turnovers with his deftness and quick footwork, setting up his teammates with his creativity, or having the drive to find the back of the net.
Trevor Zegras says his celebration was a reenactment of how fast Anaheim hung up after telling him he was traded 😭🔥 pic.twitter.com/G0VkOdQOaW
He’s never played a Stanley Cup playoff game, but that doesn’t mean Zegras has not starred on some of hockey’s biggest stages. The New York native — who said Philly “is home for me” on Tuesday — helped USA Hockey defeat Canada to win gold at World Juniors. He is back to being the guy who dazzled fans when he entered the NHL, and it’s clear he is someone who won’t shy away from strapping the Flyers to his back and carrying them when it matters — maybe in late April?
The Flyers can play a heavy game
The Flyers have one of the NHL’s youngest teams, and they might not be giants, but it is clear that they are up to the task of playing the heavy game that successful teams tend to deploy in the postseason.
Typically, a heavy game is described as a physical one in which teams are aggressive on the forecheck, lay big hits, win puck battles, and consistently pressure. Tocchet equates a heavy game to good body positioning and being tough to play against.
If the NHL provided the information on zone time for individual games, the ice would have noticeably been tilted in favor of the Flyers. They outshot the Ducks 39-18, limiting them five shots in each of the first two periods.
And, unlike the Ducks, who seemed to be head-hunting the whole game, the Flyers delivered clean, hard checks.
In the last few games, Owen Tippett has played like a true power forward by using his speed, skill, and 210-pound body to throw huge checks and create time and space for scoring opportunities. He had 10 shot attempts (four shots on goal and five that missed the net) and three hits.
But the player who stood out the most was Garnet Hathaway, who showed why he has been a hot commodity at past trade deadlines when teams want to bulk up for the postseason.
The forward, who was playing in his second game since being a healthy scratch for six, and doesn’t have a point thus far this season, threw several bone-crunching — but legal — hits. He had six hits, including ones on Olen Zellweger and Ian Moore that could be heard vividly in Xfinity Mobile Arena.
“Garny laying two huge hits,” Cam York said. “That’s playoff hockey, and we feel like we’re a playoff team.”
“[Hathaway] dragged a lot of people in the fight with us,” Tocchet added.
Hathaway ended up dropping the gloves with former Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas after his hit on Moore, and Noah Cates — Noah Cates! — had a tilt of his own with Jansen Harkins after the latter’s high hit on Bobby Brink in the opening minutes. Brink ended up leaving the game with an upper-body injury.
Bobby Brink gets popped and Noah Cates drops the gloves with Jansen Harkins.
“I don’t know, just kind of, I guess, maybe, speaks to the confidence and strength I kind of put on and different things like that,” said Cates, who joked that the one fight HockeyFights.com has him listed as having, which was in juniors, wasn’t really a fight.
“But, just wanted to defend a teammate. With Bobby [it] looked like a bad hit [but] wasn’t a penalty. … But I think the boys respect it, and it’s kind of a necessary thing in the game.”
The bench boss liked what he saw Tuesday and if the Flyers play as they did against Anaheim, good things should happen.
Rick Tocchet has raved about Travis Konecny’s development as a leader and key locker room voice.
Focus and unity
Whether skating as a five-man unit or going to bat for one another, the Flyers are united. They cheered when Hathaway and Cates dropped the gloves.
They chirped at Gauthier, who didn’t want to play for the Flyers, and got in his face any chance they could. Aside from Cates going after Harkins, they tried to get at Jacob Trouba and Ross Johnston after they threw high, dirty hits.
And they checked on one another. Travis Konecny was seen going up to Denver Barkey, appearing to ask if he was OK, as he got on the ice for a power play. The power play happened after Trouba went headhunting on him.
Konecny, 28, has become a true leader in every sense of the word for the Flyers.
“I love the kid. I can understand how [John Tortorella] loves him, too, in the sense of — what did he call him, a wing nut?” Tocchet said. “For me, he does some stuff that you go, ‘What are you doing?’ And then he does some stuff like, wow. So, there’s a balance there.
“But he’s an unreal guy in the room. This is a close team, and I think he’s one of the reasons why, whether it’s a football pool or whether it’s a dinner, he’s leading the brigade, or whether it’s, hey, unacceptable first period, he’s saying it.”
Home-ice advantage
The Flyers are now 12-5-4 at Xfinity Mobile Arena and, for the second straight game, sold out the building.
It’s a major step for a team that hasn’t packed the barn consistently for a while. And from the moment the puck dropped Tuesday, the faithful were into the game.
The fans at Xfinity Mobile Arena were up to the task on Tuesday, something the Flyers players hope to see consistently as they push for the playoffs.
A lot of the attention was directed at Gauthier, but that didn’t stop them from cheering and booing other aspects.
“The fans were just electric all night,” Christian Dvorak said. “It was a lot of fun.”
“The crowd was outstanding,” said Tocchet, who is in the Flyers Hall of Fame as a player. “I just remember the days when I played; that’s a loud building tonight. They were awesome. I think they really gave our team some juice.”
York said it felt like a playoff atmosphere and that he would “wish it [would] maybe happen more than once a year.” Well, if the Flyers keep playing the way they’re playing, it should.
It did give the players a look into what could be the future. Most of the Flyers have not played in a playoff game, and only Konecny, Travis Sanheim, and Sean Couturier were on the roster the last time Philly made the postseason in the 2020 bubble.
“We don’t want to be satisfied here,” Couturier said after the game. “We’ve got to keep pushing, take it to another level. It’s going to be tight till the end of the year. Look at the standings, doesn’t matter if you win one or you lose one, it’s so tight. So we’ve got to focus one game at a time.”
Before the Olympic break, the Flyers play 15 more games. That leaves 26 when the schedule picks back up at the end of February. Forty-one games down. Forty-one to go. It’ll be an interesting journey.
On Tuesday evening, a few days ahead of the Eagles’ wild-card round matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, Center City bar Ladder 15 received an email, with a group of 100-200 people looking to book out the space over the weekend.
The only problem? It was a large group of Niners fans, looking for a place to take over on Friday night in preparation for Sunday’s game at Lincoln Financial Field.
Manager Steve Dowling, who handles event bookings at the bar, sent the email to fellow manager Joe Chilutti, who was at Tuesday’s Flyers game against Anaheim. The two lifelong Eagles fans quickly agreed they could not betray the city in a time like this.
“After very little consideration, we cannot in good conscience host anything that has to do with the 49ers,” the bar wrote back in response, in an email they shared on Instagram. “We’re Birds fans til the end. We Bleed Green. We Back our team even when it comes at a cost. Only reason I wish you luck, is because the 49ers are going to need it.”
“Was there a little part of me that felt bad sending that email? Somewhat, but minuscule,” Dowling said. “But what I felt better about was that we were backing our city.”
That said, turning down a large group did mean turning down a fair amount of money. Chilutti knew they couldn’t sell out by taking in a big group of opposing fans on playoff weekend, and Ladder 15 happily made that sacrifice — but he decided to post it on Instagram in hopes of making a funny moment out of it, and maybe attracting a little more attention to the bar.
The post quickly went viral on social media, and Chilutti’s phone has been blowing up ever since. Even if it hadn’t, though, no regrets.
“Obviously money’s green to us, and we love it and we need it in order to survive as a business,” Dowling said. “But in a weekend like this, going into the playoffs, the only green we really want to see is Birds green.”
Mastriano’s announcementWednesday now clears the way for State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, who was endorsed by the state GOP last fall as the party’s best pick to challenge Gov. Josh Shapiro this November.
“We believe, with full peace in our hearts, God has not called us to run for governor,” Mastriano said in a Facebook Live video stream alongside his wife, Rebbie.
He did not endorse Garrity as part of his announcement, nor did he mention her by name.
“For you to have a Republican governor here, the grassroots is going to have to back the candidate,” Mastriano said, referring to Garrity.
Republicans chose Garrity early — endorsing her more than a year before the 2026 election — in an effort to avoid a crowded primary like the one that eventually led to Mastriano’s nomination in 2022. They hope that a candidate like Garrity, who has won statewide elections twice and dethroned Shapiro for receiving the most votes of any state-level candidate, will have a better chance at beating Shapiro, or at least, preventing a down-ballot blowout in an election that already is likely to favor Democrats.
Mastriano, a two-term state senator representing Gettysburg and the surrounding area, publicly criticized the state party for endorsing Garrity so early, and has repeatedly said that their endorsement would not deter him from getting in the race.
In a statement, Garrity said she respected Mastriano’s decision not to run, calling him a “strong voice for faith, family and freedom.”
“I look forward to working with him to restore integrity, fiscal responsibility, and common-sense leadership in our commonwealth,” Garrity added.
Mastriano, a former U.S. Army colonel with top-secret clearance, built a grassroots online following during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic for his resistance to business shutdowns. That support continued to grow after the 2020 presidential election as he promoted President Donald Trump’s false claims that Pennsylvania’s election results were rigged. He has remained a staunch supporter of Trump ever since.
Trump’s advisers, however, feared that Mastriano’s presence on the ticket would hurt Republicans up and down the ticket despite him leading Garrity in private polling by 21 points, Politico reported in July.
Mastriano and his wife spent much of his 20-minute announcement on Wednesday reminiscing on their movement since 2020: their daily virtual fireside chats during COVID-19 closures and their other attempts to reopen the state’s businesses amid the pandemic, their efforts to overturn Pennsylvania’s 2020 election results for Trump, Mastriano’s 2022 gubernatorial run, and the GOP’s electoral successes in 2024.
However, things are different now, the couple said. The grassroots supporters aren’t as unified as they once were, and the state party overstepped in its early endorsement.
“Bottom line is: They don’t have the last say,” said Rebbie Mastriano, in a reminder to their supporters. “You have the last say.”
In the 2022 primary, the state GOP declined to endorse candidates in the gubernatorial or U.S. Senate races. That led to a crowded, nine-candidate GOP primary ballot for governor that was advantageous for Mastriano, who had built name recognition through his anti-lockdown and 2020 election efforts.
The state Democratic Party responded to Mastriano’s announcement with fresh attacks on Garrity, calling her a “far-right, toxic candidate” and noted some of the areas where she and Mastriano agree, including that she denied the 2020 election results and her past opposition to abortion. (She now says she would not support a state abortion ban.)
As of Wednesday, no GOP candidate had announced their candidacy for lieutenant governor. Garrity told The Inquirer last month she was vetting candidates and planned to announce who she’d endorse as her running mate in February, ahead of the next state GOP meeting.
Two new schools are coming to the Philadelphia School District.
Both schools, a K-8 and a high school,district officials said Wednesday, will have resources to help eliminate long-standing achievement and opportunity gaps for kids from underresourced communities.
They’ll be part of the “North Philadelphia Promise Zone,” Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. announced. Watlington said they would be the first schools in the United States to replicate the success of the acclaimed Harlem Children’s Zone, with the blessing of its founder, Geoffrey Canada,who pioneered a model that takes a birth-to-career approach to tackling generational poverty.
Watlington said the schoolswould be “true year-round schools.” They would bring a new approach to the new Philadelphia public schools, where prior attempts to replicate the Harlem Children’s Zone blueprint have shown mixed results.
Harlem Children’s Zone runs charters in New York City, but the proposed Philadelphiaschools will be run by the district using the organization’s educational model,which includes extra resources and a longer school day and school year, as well as extensive social service supports.
Members of the West Philadelphia Marching Orange & Blue perform before Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker speaks on the state of Philadelphia schools during a gathering at Edison High School in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026.
“We’re going to be partners in opening these two state-of-the-art schools,” Watlington said at his state of the schools address, held Wednesday at Edison High School in North Philadelphia.
The district has big hopes for the schools, which officials said will be opened in existing Philadelphia school buildings — no new school structures will be involved.
“Not only will they get better, but get better faster than our district average. We’re going to make sure the school is staffed with the very best, most effective principals,” Watlington said. “We’re going to ensure that these schools are staffed with the very best, most effective teachers.”
They will be schools of choice, meaning parents can opt into having their children attend rather than basing enrollment on where students live.
The schools will also pull in Temple University; Watlington said that via the Temple Future Scholars program, “every single one of these graduates from this K-8 and high school” will be college-ready.
Many details were not clear Wednesday, including when the schools will open, what the year-round model will look like, the exact relationship with Harlem Children’s Zone, how the schools will be funded, and who will staff them. The district said it could not give more details immediately.
News of the new schools caught an important partner off guard. Arthur Steinberg, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said Watlington’s speech was the first he heard of the initiative.
“Any changes in working conditions must be negotiated with the PFT,” Steinberg said. “We will not agree to anything that requires members to work additional days or hours.”
Watlington said the K-8 school will open first, and he has tapped Aliya Catanch-Bradley, the respected principal of Bethune Elementary in North Philadelphia, to lead the efforts to open the North Philadelphia Promise Zone schools.
Catanch-Bradley said it was too soon to discuss the particulars about the schools, which will be built with significant community involvement.
But, she said, North Philadelphia is a prime location for the cradle-to-career Harlem Children’s Zone model.
“We know that it’s not a food desert, because food… deserts are natural,” she said of North Philadelphia. “It is food insecure by design, right? And so, we now know that you have a resource drought there, to which it’s going to take an intentional pouring of all types of resources to wrap around a community, to help expand and become a very successful ecosystem.”
Philadelphia district officials will take time to study Harlem Children’s Zone, “but also to understand the landscape of Philadelphia, what needs to be augmented to echo the needs of this community,” Catanch-Bradley said.
Mayor Cherelle L.Parker campaignedon the promise of year-round schools, and her administration has put extended-day, extended-year programs into 40 district and charter schools. But those programs are essentially before- and after-care and summer camps, paid for with city funds and offered free to 12,000 students, rather than traditional year-round education.
Harlem Children’s Zone schools have longer school days and longer school years. It’s not clear what form the proposed North Philadelphia Promise Zone schools might take, and how these efforts would differ from prior attempts around the country to replicate the success of the Harlem Children’s Zone. Former President Barack Obama in 2010 highlighted the model and selected20 communities, including Philadelphia, to start “Promise Neighborhood” programs that would improve access to housing, jobs, and education. Those efforts were met with varying degrees of success, and no schools opened in Philadelphia.
Watlington’s new-school announcement capped a two-plus-hour, pep-rally-style event where he and others underscored progress the district has made in the past year — and since the superintendent came to Philadelphia four years ago.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker (left), Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. (center), and school board president Reginald Streater during a ceremony on the state of Philadelphia schools at Edison High School on Wednesday.
Other news from the state of Philadelphia schools event
Parker, who led off the event, said she was pleased with the state of schools.
“The school district has continued to make steady and meaningful progress,” Parker said. “Test scores are rising, attendance is rising. Dropout rates are declining, and those gains are real, and they reflect what happens when we invest in our students.”
Parker emphasized her desire to have the city take over a list of abandoned district buildings. The school board took the first step in December, voting to authorize Watlington and his administration to begin negotiating with the city to do just that.
Parker said thatsome of the buildings have been vacant for as long as 30 years. The district has not yet released a list of buildings to consider transferring, but the mayor said it includes at least 20 former schools.
“I want you to be clear about what my goal and objective is,” Parker said. “It’s not OK for me to have 20, 21 buildings consistently vacant, red on the school district’s balance sheet, generating no revenue and not at all working at their best and highest use. We’re going to find a way to do what has never been done in the city of Philadelphia before — develop a plan for those persistently vacant buildings.”
Watlington alsoran down a laundry list of accomplishments, including ongoing fiscal stability and improvementson the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card.
He said the district would “retire” its structural deficit completely by 2029-30 though declined to give details.
He and Reginald Streater, president of the city’s school board, said the district still has a ways to go but has made strides. More than half of all district students still fail to meet grade-level standards in reading and math.
But, Watlington said, “I can assure you we’re making progress. We’re going to double down. More for our children, not less. More opportunities, more access, more exposure, more good things to come in 2026.”
Homegrown midfielder Ben Bender has reached an agreement on a new contract with the Union that could see him remain with the club through 2028, the team announced Wednesday.
Bender, 24, who was in the club’s academy system and was a first-round MLS SuperDraft selection in 2022 by Charlotte FC, agreed to a deal that retains him through the June 2027 transfer window, with an option to remain until the June international transfer window in 2028.
Bender appeared in seven league matches after joining the club in May of last season. Manager Bradley Carnell lauded his “work ethic” in addition to the “positive contributions” he made on the field.
Ben is back 🐍
Philadelphia Union has reached an agreement on a new contract with midfielder Ben Bender.
“Ben has been a positive addition and has made meaningful contributions since returning to the Union last May,” Carnell said in a statement. “When given opportunities, he’s consistently made the most of them, bringing a high level of competitiveness and a strong work ethic to the pitch every day. We’re confident in his continued development and future impact with the team.”
Bender will remain in what looks to be a crowded yet versatile attacking midfield corps. He’ll primarily compete with midfielders Milan Iloski, Indiana Vassilev, and brothers Quinn and Cavan Sullivan, the latter of whom is heading into his third season of a five-year deal before departing for Manchester City of the English Premier League.
With Tai Baribo’s departure, Iloski could move into an attacking role, much like he did when he was paired with Baribo in a two-man attacking formation. This would create more opportunities for a player like Bender, who can work effectively in a supporting role for the forward units or play as a more box-to-box midfielder.
The Union will begin the first phase of a two-part preseason on Jan. 17 in Marbella, Spain, before returning at the end of the month to prepare for their second camp in Clearwater, Fla. The club’s first official match will be in the Concacaf Champions Cup against host Defence Force in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on Feb. 18, followed by a return leg at Subaru Park on Feb. 26.
The club will open MLS play on the road against D.C. United on Feb. 21 (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).
With a dearth of centers on the market, the pivot-needy Flyers acted quickly to retain one of their own, signing Christian Dvorak to a five-year, $25.75 million contract extension on Monday night.
The deal, which kicks in next season, carries a reasonable $5.15 million average annual value but will pay the soon-to-be 30-year-old Dvorak through the age of 35. It also contains some player trade protection, including a full no-move clause in the first two seasons.
But was general manager Danny Brière right to lock in a player who is having a career year but doesn’t necessarily fit the team’s age profile? We asked our writers to grade the deal from a Flyers perspective.
Jackie Spiegel: B
Why did the Flyers sign Dvorak to an extension? Just take a look at Trevor Zegras’ first goal in the Flyers’ statement win Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks.
There is no denying the chemistry the two friends have on the ice. According to Natural Stat Trick, when they are on the ice together at five-on-five, the Flyers have scored 27 goals. When it’s Zegras without Dvorak? Seven. When it’s Dvorak without Zegras? Five.
But while their connection has not only fueled a possible career year for Zegras, it has done the same for Dvorak. At 29 years old, he is on pace for 18 goals and 53 points, which would demolish his career high of 38 set in 70 games during the COVID-19-impacted 2019-20 season. And his coach that year? Rick Tocchet.
Dvorak has an established bond with Tocchet and Zegras, and while both appreciate his smart 200-foot play and his propensity to drive the net — something this team has long missed — Dvorak also brings stability and versatility. He can play up and down the lineup at wing or center, and at any strength.
Flyers center Christian Dvorak is on pace to tie his career high of 18 goals and shatter his career high of 38 points.
This is something to keep in mind when asking the question about him standing in the way of future centers like Jett Luchanko, Jack Berglund, and Jack Nesbitt. Although no one knows what the roster will look like in one to three years, knowing the veteran forward can slide over or down when those guys are ready is key.
And there has been some chatter that maybe, just maybe, because the Flyers have an abundance of high-end talent on the wing in Porter Martone, Matvei Michkov, Tyson Foerster, Alex Bump, and, for argument’s sake, Zegras, the need is just for solid centers who can complement these guys. Why not have a responsible two-way guy like Dvorak fill one of those slots?
Plus, it needs to be noted how much the Montreal Canadiens and their reporters have said that Dvorak is missed in the locker room and on the ice.
Now, it is only 41 games into Dvorak’s tenure in Philly, so it’s interesting that Dvorak is being handed a long-term deal; he did say on Tuesday that term was important to him. But Brière continues to stress that he likes guys who bet on themselves, like Ryan Poehling, like Noah Juulsen, like Dan Vladař, and like Dvorak did when he signed over the summer and did again on Monday.
Will there be the same motivation going forward? Dvorak seems like a guy who is determined to keep the pedal to the floor.
“We wanted to get to know him a little better, and since he arrived, total pro,” the GM said. “What he’s done on the ice, he’s a good example for our players and for all our young guys that are coming up; that’s the part that I love.
“His play speaks for itself, obviously. But I’m excited about what he’s bringing to the rest of the team, and eventually all our good young prospects, being able to play both ends of the ice, win faceoffs, smart hockey. I’m excited that he wanted to stay here. I think for us, it’s a good sign [that] someone who bet on himself chose us and then wants to stay here. It’s very exciting.”
There’s a lot to read between the lines on that quote, but the biggest is “chose us.” Philly hasn’t been a destination for a while, and it’s fair to say that with the free-agent market for centers shrinking by the day, Dvorak would have been paid handsomely. But he chose the Flyers because he believes in what is happening here.
The Flyers are doing so well in part because of a good vibe in the locker room. It happened for a long chunk of the 2023-24 season before the wheels fell off. Locker room chemistry is vital to on-ice production. Teams have fallen apart when players have been traded. It’s why a team makes, let’s say, the Stanley Cup Final, and, for lack of a better term, a glue guy is allowed to walk or is traded, and it quickly falls apart.
Could this deal age poorly? Sure. But could it also work out and pay off? Yes. And why not take a gamble when you know things are going well now, things should get better for the team in the future, and well, there’s not much else out there?
Trevor Zegras has thrived alongside Christian Dvorak and was thrilled to see his close friend sign a long-term deal in Philly.
Gustav Elvin: C
I’ve been largely a Brière defender to this point, as I think he’s done an underrated job of clearing bad contracts or fits from the previous regime like Ivan Provorov, Kevin Hayes, Tony DeAngelo, and Joel Farabee, while patiently stockpiling assets and making some shrewd additions like Sean Walker, Zegras, and Vladař. But I simply can’t wrap my head around this one for the Flyers.
Dvorak is a good player, and $5.15 million is fair monetary value for a player who plays a position of need and seems to have some untapped offensive skill and chemistry alongside Zegras. But giving an oft-injured, soon-to-be 30-year-old center, not to mention one who has primarily been a third- and fourth-liner until this season, five years is a major risk and potentially a costly misstep as the rebuilding Flyers inch closer to their window of contention. A three-year deal with a higher $6 million or $6.5 million AAV would have made more sense to me from a Flyers perspective.
Flyers general manager Danny Briere is taking a risk signing a nearly 30-year-old center to a five-year contract.
To borrow a 2024 line from former coach John Tortorella, whom I did not expect to be channeling here, the Flyers “can’t fall in love” with players who don’t fit the timeline or plan. Signing Dvorak — someone the team prioritized signing to a one-year deal so much so that it overpaid him just six months ago — to a contract with this long a term is doing exactly that. It’s a rash response to a barren center market and an overreaction to a player on pace for a career year while attached to a really good creator in Zegras.
To me, this screams: We don’t have a No. 1 center and none are available, so let’s sign the closest thing we’ve got, even though he’s ideally a third-line center. To make matters worse, the Flyers already have two of these guys signed long-term in Sean Couturier and Noah Cates.
From a 30,000-foot view, the move appears to be a signal that the Flyers are done rebuilding in earnest and now are ready to push for the playoffs. It will be a popular deal with the players in the locker room and surely will add juice for them to try and get over the line this spring. But might it have lasting consequences?
While I don’t think this move alone completely kiboshes the team’s future, it sets a worrying precedent. The mantras of “patience” and “threading the needle” that Brière and president Keith Jones have constantly preached suddenly seem to be taking a backseat to winning. This will remind many of the panic moves from the Flyers’ past, when general managers and ownership prioritized sneaking into the playoffs rather than looking in the mirror, tearing it down, and trying to build a sustainable Stanley Cup contender from the studs up.
It also seems like a bit of an indictment of the center prospects in the system like Luchanko, Nesbitt, and Berglund, and their potential timelines to becoming NHL contributors. The Flyers are no closer to having a bona fide No. 1 center or No. 1 center prospect after this deal, and no matter how good their wingers are or how hard they work collectively, they won’t be legitimate Cup contenders until they unearth or acquire at least one. Dvorak is a solid player, not a great one, and the Flyers already have plenty of those. While he might help the Flyers reach the playoffs this season, he isn’t the type of needle-mover that will help them truly contend in a top-six role.
At best, Brière’s big bet pays off and Dvorak stays healthy and continues to produce at this season’s level. But I’ve seen this story countless times before with aging centermen with a lot of tread on the tires. It usually doesn’t end well.
