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  • Evan Simon became a true starting QB in his final year of college, and it’s a year he won’t forget.

    Evan Simon became a true starting QB in his final year of college, and it’s a year he won’t forget.

    If someone were to ask Evan Simon how the 2025 season went, his answer would be simple — the best of his college football career. Why? He finally had an opportunity.

    The quarterback’s collegiate career started at Rutgers in 2020. He spent four seasons as a backup in New Brunswick, N.J. He transferred to Temple with two years of eligibility remaining — and the chance to be a starter.

    “It’s taken me six years, and for each game I traveled, whether I was at Rutgers [or] Temple and I played or didn’t play, I had one family member there,” Simon said. “My mom drove to Ann Arbor, Michigan, when I was a third string or whatever. This just had to be the year that I gave myself a chance, and it was just a matter of doing whatever it took.”

    Evan Simon wanted to change Temple’s trajectory in football. He’s devoted time to make it happen.

    It wasn’t easy. At Temple, there were quarterback battles and a coaching change that stood in the way of Simon achieving his goal, but he did it. His career ended when Temple lost to North Texas on Nov. 28, and, while the 5-7 Owls fell short of a bowl game, Simon helped usher in a new era of Temple football.

    “I’ve had a shaky career. It’s taken six years for me to start the first game of the year,” said Simon, who threw for 2,097 yards and 25 touchdowns, while throwing just two interceptions this season. “It’s been quite the journey. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.”

    Carving his role

    Simon doesn’t like to talk a lot about what happened at Rutgers.

    The Manheim Central graduate joined the team in 2020. However, much of his time with the Scarlet Knights was spent on the sideline, prompting him to enter the transfer portal in 2023.

    The options were limited, but one school stuck out: Temple, which had lost quarterback EJ Warner, who transferred to Rice.

    “I had two other schools that were pretty interested, but they were lower level than Temple,” Simon said. “I had a great conversation with [former Temple coach Stan Drayton]; he made me laugh. I talked with the offensive coordinator. They both seemed like great people. I just put my trust in Temple as a whole.”

    Temple quarterback Evan Simon (6) threw 25 touchdowns this season.

    He competed with Forrest Brock, Temple’s third-string quarterback in 2023. Brock won the job and started the first two games. The door cracked for Simon when Brock injured his wrist against Navy on Sept. 7. Simon started the next game against Coastal Carolina.

    Temple nearly defeated the Chanticleers, but Simon had his coming out party the following week against Utah State. He threw five touchdowns in a 45-29 comeback win over the Aggies. Simon would start every game but one for the rest of the season.

    Temple, however, finished 3-9, and Drayton was fired before the season ended. Temple then hired K.C. Keeler, who opened up the quarterback position. Simon was considering entering the portal again.

    “That whole transfer portal window was not easy, especially when you know coaches are telling you about guys who they are recruiting,” Simon said. “You’d like to think your position is safe, but it’s never safe. They brought two other senior quarterbacks in during this whole past year. It’s always in the back of your head.”

    Getting a chance

    Former Oregon State quarterback Gevani McCoy joined Temple in April, prompting yet another competition for Simon. This time was different, though. Simon was going to do anything to earn his job back, he said.

    “I would study [McCoy], in a sense,” Simon said. “I’d study how many notes is he taking, how hard is he working in the weight room, how he interacts with teammates. I said this toward the end of the year, but bringing in two other quarterbacks and the competition during camp was by far the best thing that happened to me.”

    He began doing things he had never done before, like sleeping in Edberg-Olson Hall. Simon was becoming a leader on the team.

    Keeler took notice too, and named Simon the starter. He threw a career-high six touchdowns in the season opener against Massachusetts on Aug. 30, while McCoy was the backup.

    “Chance is all we need,” Simon said. “I think Coach Keeler is a big part of it as well. He kind of forced me to be in some of those uncomfortable situations where it’s talking to the team or just things where you’re being forced to talk more.”

    Next steps

    When Simon walked off the field against North Texas, it signified multiple things.

    Temple lost its fourth straight game, missing a chance at a bowl game. But for Simon, it was the final game of his college career.

    But it won’t be the last time he picks up a football.

    The chance of being drafted isn’t high, Simon said, but he hopes to get a camp or workout invite from an NFL team. He signed with an agent at the end of this season and will spend the winter and spring training to prepare for Temple’s pro day.

    “These next couple months are all unknown,” Simon said. “I’m just going to try to stay in the moment and make the most of it when the time comes.”

    First-year coach K.C. Keeler is committed to Temple, Philly, and his ‘grandpa’ dance moves

    Simon’s journey was filled with twist and turns, and despite getting one year as a true starter at Temple, Simon says he wouldn’t change a thing because he believes that he left an impact on the program.

    “This is a group of guys where they’re harder on themselves than their coaches are on them from a care factor,” Simon said. “We won five games, and we lost two games by a total of two points, and we played five ranked opponents. And, damn, we played hard, even in blowout losses. I think you give Keeler another year, baby, here we go.”

  • A look back at Philly-area businesses that didn’t survive 2025

    A look back at Philly-area businesses that didn’t survive 2025

    Last year, you may have celebrated Christmas or New Year’s with a meal at an Iron Hill Brewery.

    At the time, your holiday preparations may have included trips to Joann fabrics or Party City, which was having its going-out-of-business sale. You may have stopped for medicines and other toiletries at Rite Aid.

    This year, however, you can’t go to any of those places: All of these businesses served their last customers in 2025.

    Here’s a look back at a few of the notable Philly-area businesses that closed in the past year.

    RIP to Rite Aid

    The then-still open but scheduled to be closed Rite Aid store on Clements Bridge Road in Barrington on July 13. The store’s pharmacy closed on July 7.

    It didn’t come as a total surprise when Rite Aid filed for its second bankruptcy in less than two years.

    The Navy Yard-based pharmacy chain had closed dozens of locations in recent years. Even after it emerged from its first bankruptcy in September 2024, shelves meant to be filled with drugstore essentials — such as cold medicines and pain relievers — remained bare at some stores.

    In filing for bankruptcy again, Rite Aid announced that it would be closing or selling all locations. At the time, it had about 1,000 stores nationwide, including about 100 in the Philadelphia region.

    The rise and fall of Rite Aid

    Across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, thousands of Rite Aid workers lost their jobs. Some, like Angela Gardin, also said bittersweet goodbyes to regular customers.

    Gardin, assistant manager at the Queen Village Rite Aid, was moved to tears by customers’ handwritten thank you notes, which were scrawled on pieces of paper and taped to the store’s front window in its final months.

    By late August, all Pennsylvania and New Jersey Rite Aids had shut their doors for good, sending prescriptions to CVS, Walgreens, or other local pharmacies of a customer’s choosing.

    The closures further exacerbate pharmacy access issues, especially for lower-income Philadelphians who don’t have cars. People in more isolated rural areas are also impacted: The 46,000 residents of Perry County, west of Harrisburg, lost half their pharmacies when their three Rite Aids closed.

    Adieu to Iron Hill Brewery

    A view from the outside looking in of a shuttered Iron Hill Brewery in West Chester in October.

    Iron Hill Brewery’s closure was so abrupt that fans didn’t even get to raise one last pint to the regional chain.

    On a Thursday morning in late September, the nearly 30-year-old company, considered by many to be a pioneer of the local craft-brewing scene, announced that its brewpubs had closed their doors for the last time.

    The news left 16 massive Iron Hill shells, including in Center City, Exton, Huntingdon Valley, Maple Shade, Media, Newtown, North Wales, West Chester, and Wilmington. Earlier in September, the company had closed locations in Chestnut Hill and Voorhees, as well as its flagship brewery in Newark, Del.

    The closed Iron Hill Brewery in Maple Shade in September.

    Bankruptcy filings shed more light on the Exton-based company’s financial straits: Iron Hill owed more than $20 million to creditors and had about $125,000 in the bank.

    In November, a bankruptcy judge approved an offer by Jeff Crivello, the former CEO of Famous Dave’s BBQ, to resurrect 10 Iron Hills, including in Center City and West Chester, pending landlord negotiations. The restaurants could be reopened as Iron Hills or as other brands.

    Crivello said he plans to reopen the Rehoboth Beach brewpub — as well as the Iron Hill restaurants in Columbia and Greenville, S.C. — as locations of Virginia-based Three Notch’d Brewing Co.

    The fates of the other ex-Iron Hills will be determined in the bankruptcy process. Brewing equipment, furniture, and other items from the closed restaurants were auctioned off earlier this month.

    Mainstays say goodbye in the Philly burbs

    Gladwyne Market as pictured in October.

    Local chains weren’t the only business casualties of 2025.

    Main Line residents lost Lower Merion-based Maxwell Taxi Cab Co. in February, marking the end of an era for suburban-based cabs. Maxwell, which had operated for more than 50 years, was later acquired by a Bryn Mawr-based limo service called ML Car Service Ltd.

    Also in Lower Merion, consumers lost the Gladwyne Market, a community grocery store.

    In South Jersey, the Bistro at Cherry Hill, a beloved restaurant that operated in a 1,200-square-foot mall kiosk for 27 years, closed abruptly in July.

    At the time, the restaurant’s president, Andy Cosenza, said the closure was due to a communication “breakdown” that had resulted in his voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition being converted to a Chapter 7, or liquidation, without his knowledge. Since then, however, Cosenza has been indicted on charges of tax fraud. The Bistro has remained closed.

    In the city, the Macy’s in the Wanamaker Building closed in March, as did the Macy’s at the near-dead Exton Square Mall. And the latest iteration of Olde Bar, most recently an event venue in the historic Bookbinder’s building, shut its doors this summer.

  • Letters to the Editor | Dec. 26, 2025

    Letters to the Editor | Dec. 26, 2025

    Gun control works

    In response to the Dec. 14 mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Australia, right-wing voices in the U.S. have quickly moved to point to this tragedy as evidence that gun control does not work. This is not only a disgusting lie, but also a claim that is so divorced from reality it would be laughable were its consequences not so dire.

    According to the Associated Press, since the Port Arthur massacre in 1996, which saw Australia implement sweeping gun control laws, that nation has experienced a total of six mass shootings. According to the Gun Violence Archive, the U.S. had twice that number in December 2025 alone.

    This does not have to be our reality. We do not have to continue losing members of our communities to gun violence. Gun control works, and while our legislators should have passed commonsense gun control decades ago, the least they can do is pass it now.

    Katherine Roberts, Philadelphia

    Freedom doesn’t defend itself

    The United States was founded on the idea that individual rights must be protected from usurpation. Those rights, rooted in natural law and expressed through law and custom, were never meant to survive on principle alone. They endure only when citizens actively understand and defend them. History shows that rights are rarely taken outright; more often, they are lost through neglect.

    A free society depends on the recognition that liberty is shared. In a nation defined by difference, coexistence is not optional, and respect is not sentimental — it is structural. When Americans ignore one another or reduce differences to something threatening, the civic bonds that hold the country together begin to weaken. Division does not start with conflict; it begins when responsibility is abandoned.

    The greater danger emerges when ignorance gains influence and truth is treated as negotiable. In such moments, freedom is not abolished but rebranded — used to justify exclusion, distortion, and power without accountability. Institutions remain standing, but their purpose thins. Law continues, but its moral authority erodes.

    This is the warning worth repeating: Rights lost through complacency are not easily recovered through outrage. Self-government depends not only on laws and elections, but on an informed and engaged citizenry. When truth yields to convenience and civic duty gives way to faction, the damage is no longer political — it becomes foundational.

    Joel Alan Eisenberg, Warminster

    An easy fix

    The city is expecting people from New Jersey to come see the Mummers Parade, as well as visitors during the 2026 celebration. It’s really a shame how they will be greeted when they come up from the 15th Street PATCO station, because the elevator never works, and the steps are falling apart.

    I have complained many times over the last few years. PATCO tells me it’s the city’s responsibility once you get past the turnstile. I’ve complained to the city, to the visitors bureau, to the mayor’s office. When I finally got a response, they told me to complain to SEPTA. When I told them it is not a SEPTA station, I never heard from them again. How can they not know this? I can’t believe I’m the only one who ever told them about this. I know the city has bigger problems, but this is something that can be easily fixed if they want people to come in to spend money in the city.

    Fradele Feld, Cherry Hill

    Sidewalk cleanups

    I read with interest the article about the Center City Residents Association ceasing its contract with the Center City District to clean sidewalks in its own catchment area.

    In the Graduate Hospital part of the city, we struggle with similar issues, and have in the past worked with various groups to help us keep the sidewalks clean. These groups are helpful and employ local workers.

    The one missing ingredient is that of personal responsibility: If every homeowner, landlord (those who rent out their residential properties), and business simply cleaned up their own public space on a daily basis, the city would be immensely cleaner.

    It would be lovely if the city would champion this notion of personal and shared responsibility — it would reap great benefits and would cost nothing. A real win-win. It would also require the city to expand its own enforcement in addition to policing antidumping measures and the like. As a physician, I can tell you that this is also a public health issue, and not just one of aesthetics.

    David Share, chair, South of South Neighborhood Association Clean and Green Committee

    Power of the people

    As we approach our 250th birthday as a nation, I wonder what the founders would think of the current state of affairs.

    They would be alarmed at the power wielded by our president. They would be even more concerned about how inept the people’s branch, Congress, is. The lack of bipartisanship is causing the imbalance of power between the branches of government. Without Congress doing its job, someone else has to do what needs to be done.

    The founders would feel like America is right back where it was before the American Revolution, i.e., taxation without representation.

    A national movement should be organized to protest how we’re paying taxes through the nose and not getting representation from our elected representatives. The time is now. Start by marching on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

    Brian Reilly, Medford

    . . .

    I believe in the adage, ”It bears repeating.” When you apply that to Donald Trump, I can understand why people are interested in reading many different accounts of his depraved thirst for power and his ruthless attempts to get it. However, reading those details repeated over and over again ad infinitum will not necessarily tell me how to fight Trump.

    Your editorial was an accurate and direct analysis of the Jeffrey Epstein files release, and we see once again the deceptions in which Trump engages.

    The burning question in my mind is, after the recording of all his lies, over 30,000, what do we do about it?

    We can’t just moan and complain and write editorials for the next three years. We need to do something more effective.

    I personally think we need to have more “No Kings” protests and big demonstrations, as we had against the Vietnam War.

    Judy Rubin, Philadelphia

    Dishonor endures

    As I read the recent Associated Press article about Vice President JD Vance’s recent speech, in which he refused to denounce bigots in the Republican Party, I couldn’t help comparing Vance’s positions with former Washington Post journalist Jennifer Rubin’s recent Substack post, “Remember the Unsung Resistance Fighters.” While Vance states outright his desire for a country in which white supremacy guided by Christian nationalism rules, Rubin asks us to acknowledge those of us who continue to stand in opposition, supporting instead the rule of law and the Constitution of the United States of America.

    Someday, Trump will be gone from office. To all the Republican government officials — including the U.S. Supreme Court — your voting record will remain. And with that voting record, so, too, will your dishonor.

    Cindy Maguire, Merion Station

    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.

  • Horoscopes: Friday, Dec. 26, 2025

    ARIES (March 21-April 19). Your sense of fun is going strong, and you’ll be inclined to say yes to friends intent on roping you into their games and schemes. Going along for the ride will definitely have its perks!

    TAURUS (April 20-May 20). People are curious about you. You’ll share, knowing they’re unlikely to understand. If they ask why you do what you do or why you did what you did, just shrug lightly. “Because I felt like it” is a complete philosophy.

    GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You like to keep your emotional weather private, but today you could go either way. You’re sensitive, but you choose when to show it. Process feelings on your own whim. It’s really OK to be unpredictable in this and other small, delightful ways.

    CANCER (June 22-July 22). Follow your body’s response to requests of you. If your chest tightens or you feel heavy, don’t go. If you feel curious, floaty, or lightly mischievous, go. No rationalizing. No “I should.” Only: How does this feel?

    LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You’re reliable, impressive and talented at solving problems. Do avoid letting anyone come to you every time with the same problem. If you always fix things for them, they never learn, and you become their default crisis manager.

    VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Mismatched intensity feels frustrating and has potential to discourage. But when you’re with people who can meet your hustle, your warmth and your creativity, the whole scene brightens. You get things done together and the teamwork creates a sense of belonging.

    LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Your creative energy is potent today. Don’t let it stay abstract; give it form. What you express now will come to have a life of its own and will spark something in the people who receive it.

    SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Too much negotiating hurts a relationship because the longer a negotiation goes on, the more likely you are to accidentally hurt someone’s ego by valuing or devaluing the wrong thing. Make a deal or don’t make a deal, but keep it short!

    SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Suffering doesn’t mean you’re doing life wrong. Sometimes it means life is asking too much of you. You’re one person doing the work of many. Of course you’re going to feel overextended. Your frustration about that is data.

    CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You have fans. The interest and admiration will be an energy boost. And don’t worry, you don’t have to perform for anyone. Simply do what comes naturally and make yourself comfortable … because your comfort makes everyone comfortable.

    AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). In the world of entertainment, it’s a sin to bore the audience. In polite society, it’s the norm. You’re in the mood to deliver an experience to people, and it’s OK if you go a bit out of the expected for the sake of capturing and holding their attention.

    PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Wondering if someone is good for you? Consider that “good for you” doesn’t always feel fun in the moment. Also, your needs are changing so rapidly now, the answer might be different in a few days. Return to the question next week.

    TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Dec. 26). Welcome to your Year of Sharp Timing. Your quips land, you’ll buy and sell auspiciously, you’ll say yes in the right moment, pass when necessary, and catch opportunities just before they peak. In relationships, someone meets you exactly where you are time and again. More highlights: a money-saving miracle, a supportive collaboration and a long-awaited green light. Virgo and Pisces adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 6, 8, 20, 13 and 50.

  • Dear Abby | Loss of son has grown even harder to bear

    DEAR ABBY: My son died of cancer at 33. It was heartbreaking. My daughter-in-law, “Belinda,” had grown distant before his death, and although they had a son through artificial insemination, I have almost never seen him. I helped with the weeding in my son’s yard, but any time I came, Belinda always had the baby at the park or someplace else.

    Now that my son is gone, she won’t answer any phone calls or texts. We do have some contact with her family. They have asked her why she won’t contact us, and she has no explanation. My theory is that Belinda was uncomfortable sharing our son, and it has transferred to the grandchildren. I say “grandchildren” because she used his sperm to have another child. We found out by accident that a baby girl was born. We were never notified. While I doubt this plays a big part in this, Belinda is bipolar.

    As it stands, I no longer make an effort to have a relationship with my grandchildren. They are so young, and I anticipate difficulty in pursuing grandparents’ rights because of their ages and their mother’s attitude toward us. This is painful, as they are the only part of my son that remains. I feel helpless and have pretty much blocked out the fact that I have grandchildren. Do you have any advice?

    — BLOCKED IN OHIO

    DEAR BLOCKED: What a sad letter. I do have some thoughts about your situation. The first is that because your son’s sperm was used to conceive the children, you might benefit from discussing this with an attorney and asking if your state is one in which there are grandparents’ rights. The second is, because you are hurting, ask your doctor for a referral to a licensed family therapist to help you accept what you cannot change. You have my sympathy.

    ** ** **

    DEAR ABBY: My mother took care of her mother-in-law with Alzheimer’s for nine years. My father had two sisters who had nothing to do with their mother during that time. Now, the younger sister is having health problems and wants my parents, who are 78, to take her to appointments that are more than an hour away. She also tried to move in with them. Abby, this sister has two grown children who live with her. Neither one works. One is on Social Security; the other has a spouse living there. (He has a job.) All of them have vehicles and an income to help her.

    My parents have their own health issues and really are not able to do what she wants or expects. She has always been selfish and childish. She’s constantly calling and giving my mother some sob story. I’d like to tell my aunt they aren’t able to do what she wants, but I don’t want to put my parents in an awkward position. What should I do?

    — WARY IN WEST VIRGINIA

    DEAR WARY: In what way would telling your aunt that your parents really aren’t able to do the things she’s asking put them in an awkward position? If it’s the truth, then TELL her.

  • ’Twas the night before Christmas at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. Here’s what happened.

    ’Twas the night before Christmas at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. Here’s what happened.

    PALM BEACH, Fla. — ’Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the villa, the president assured children that Santa wasn’t a guerrilla.

    “Santa’s a very good person,” President Donald Trump said on Christmas Eve, during the annual presidential ritual of helping excited little ones track Santa Claus’ location. “We want to make sure he’s not infiltrated — that we’re not infiltrating into our country a bad Santa.”

    This wasn’t exactly what Jasper, 10, from Oklahoma, had wanted to know when he dialed the NORAD Santa Tracker on Wednesday afternoon. He had called to find out where St. Nick and his reindeer were on their nightlong journey circumnavigating the globe, which the hotline “tracks” with the aid of top U.S. military technology.

    But out of the phone Jasper rang came a clatter. It was none other than Trump! Nothing was the matter.

    The president played along, disclosing Santa’s location, which at that moment, he said, was in the Czech Republic. But first, he offered a few choice observations about Jasper’s own.

    “Santa loves Oklahoma like I do,” Trump said. “You know, Oklahoma was very good to me in the election, so I love Oklahoma. Don’t ever leave Oklahoma, OK?”

    “OK,” Jasper replied haltingly. “I’ll try.”

    Such was Christmas Eve at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private club in Palm Beach. He had spent the morning at his golf course in West Palm Beach, just across the lagoon, and by the afternoon, he was sitting in a gilded chair before a gilded Christmas tree in his gilded living room, the first lady at his side.

    With Melania in her heels and Trump in his tie, the first couple settled down to give Christmas cheer a try. The president took his calls over speakerphone; the first lady took hers murmuring softly into a receiver held closely to her ear: “She’s able to focus totally without listening to this,” Trump said.

    Jasper’s 4-year-old sister, Anastasia, told Trump she wanted a dollhouse for Christmas.

    “I think we can work that out,” Trump replied. “I think Santa’s gonna bring you the most beautiful dollhouse you’ve ever seen.” (Whether the dollhouse would be subject to his administration’s tariffs, Trump didn’t say. He has been much clearer about dolls, saying earlier this year while imposing global tariffs that young girls would be “very happy” with just “two or three or four or five.”)

    Next was Savannah, 8, from North Carolina, who wanted to know if Santa would be mad if she didn’t leave out cookies for him. The president cocked his head and smirked. “This is getting good!” he told reporters.

    “I think he won’t get mad, but I think he’ll be very disappointed,” he counseled Savannah. “You know, Santa’s — he tends to be a little bit on the cherubic side. Do you know what cherubic means? A little on the heavy side. I think Santa would like some cookies.”

    Amelia, 8, from Kansas, told Trump she wasn’t sure what she wanted for Christmas. “Not coal,” she said.

    “Not coal, no, you don’t want coal,” the president agreed. Then he caught himself. “Well, you mean clean, beautiful coal.” He turned to the media. “I had to do that, I’m sorry,” he said.

    “Coal is clean and beautiful,” he told Amelia. “Please remember that, at all costs.”

    Next up came a 5-year-old who proudly informed the president she was from Pennsylvania.

    “Pennsylvania’s great,” Trump said. “We won Pennsylvania — actually, three times,” he continued. (He did not.)

    “This is America,” he said to reporters at one point between calls. The president did not explain what he meant by this.

    His last call was with a pair of sisters, ages 6 and 10, from Tacoma, Wash. One of them told Trump she would like a pinball machine for Christmas.

    “Pinball machine? That’s great.” Trump said. “You know Elton John?” If she did, she did not say. Nor did she point out that The Who, not Elton John, first released “Pinball Wizard.”

    “He did ‘Pinball Wizard,’” the president continued. “We’ll have to send you a copy of ‘Pinball Wizard.’”

    Trump didn’t take any questions from reporters, though there were many questions to ask unrelated to Santa’s whereabouts. What about the latest tranche of the Epstein files, which include wide-ranging references to the president? Or the Supreme Court decision that thwarts his planned National Guard deployment in Chicago? Is Nicolás Maduro on the naughty or nice list?

    Not today — not on Christmas Eve. Couples were arriving in suits and ball gowns; the aroma of roasting meat wafted through the halls. The club’s celebrations were about to begin, and the president was in the holiday spirit. “Show them the festivities,” he instructed his staff, “and then send them home for Christmas dinner.”

    Around 7 p.m., reporters were escorted into the Mar-a-Lago ballroom to take in the teeming dessert platters and his guests’ holiday finest. Trump sat at a table near the center of the room with his wife and father-in-law, cordoned off from his fellow revelers with a velvet rope.

    Two minutes later, the media were whisked away. But we all heard him Truth, ere he retired for the night: “Merry Christmas to all, including the Radical Left Scum that is doing everything possible to destroy our Country, but are failing badly.”

  • U.S. strikes Nigeria after Trump warnings on Christian killings

    U.S. strikes Nigeria after Trump warnings on Christian killings

    U.S. forces struck Islamic State targets in northwestern Nigeria on Thursday evening, following up on threats to the country over killings of Christians, President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post.

    Trump said the military conducted “multiple strikes” but did not elaborate. In a follow-up post, U.S. Africa Command said multiple people it said were ISIS terrorists were killed in strikes in Sokoto State, which is in the northwest portion of the country, bordering Niger, and has become a hot spot for a resurgence in violent extremism and the kidnapping of schoolchildren.

    “MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues,” Trump posted to social media.

    The Pentagon said the Nigerian government approved the strikes and worked with the U.S. to carry them out. No further details on how the strikes were conducted were immediately available.

    A spokesperson for the Nigerian foreign ministry confirmed the U.S. strike Thursday evening, saying that “precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by air strikes” had been carried out in response to the “persistent threat of terrorism and violent extremism.”

    “Terrorist violence of any form, whether directed at Christians, Muslims or other communities remains an affront to Nigeria’s values,” the statement from spokesperson Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa said.

    For months Trump and Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Reps. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, and Riley Moore of West Virginia, have raised alarms about killings of Christians in Nigeria amid larger ethnic and religious bloodshed. Trump had previously directed the Pentagon to plan potential military action in Nigeria, and earlier this month the State Department restricted visas for Nigerians involved in the violence.

    Trump threatened an attack in Nigeria early last month, writing on his Truth Social site that: “If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”

    His post followed a meeting in Washington between top advisers and representatives of religious groups and came after he watched a Fox News segment on the topic aboard Air Force One, the Washington Post reported. The push to make the issue an administration priority was long in the making, according to three people with knowledge of the situation, but the president’s threat of military action was entirely unexpected, they said.

    The Council on Foreign Relations reported earlier this year that the Sahel, a region that spans multiple countries across Central Africa including Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Chad, and Sudan, has seen a significant uptick in the growth of violent extremist organizations as a result of decreased international counterterrorism support.

    U.S. forces lost access to key counterterrorism bases in Niger and Chad in 2024. In their place, a number of proxy military groups such as the Russian-backed Wagner Group have filled in.

    But the Trump administration has been looking at ways to reduce the U.S. role in Africa overall as it shifts to a strategy that will focus more military assets and attention to the Western Hemisphere. The administration is also looking at potentially consolidating U.S. Africa Command into a theater command that would also include U.S. European Command and U.S. Central Command, which could further reduce the attention and resources the region would receive.

    That proposal drew concern from some lawmakers, including Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Connecticut, who cautioned against the U.S. pulling back given Africa’s young and quickly growing population and economic importance.

    Nigeria is a diverse, multiethnic country split between the mostly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south. The country’s 230 million people are roughly split between Christians and Muslims. While violence has sometimes targeted Christians, it has also deeply affected Muslims, according to Nigerian and Western analysts.

    Most violence in Nigeria has taken place in the northeast, where the extremist group Boko Haram has regularly attacked churches and kidnapped children for more than a decade as part of its campaign to build an Islamist state through violence.

  • A Venezuelan family’s Christmas: From the American dream to poverty

    A Venezuelan family’s Christmas: From the American dream to poverty

    MARACAY, Venezuela — This was not the Christmas that Mariela Gómez would have imagined a year ago. Or the one that thousands of other Venezuelan immigrants would have pictured. But Donald Trump returned to the White House in January and quickly ended their American dream.

    So Gómez found herself spending the holiday in northern Venezuela for the first time in eight years. She dressed up, cooked, got her son a scooter, and smiled for her in-laws. Hard as she tried, though, she could not ignore the main challenges faced by returning migrants: unemployment and poverty.

    “We had a modest dinner, not quite what we’d hoped for, but at least we had food on the table,” Gómez said of the lasagna-like dish she shared with her partner and in-laws instead of the traditional Christmas dish of stuffed corn dough hallacas. “Making hallacas here is a bit expensive, and since we’re unemployed, we couldn’t afford to make them.”

    Gómez, her two sons, and her partner returned to the city of Maracay on Oct. 27 after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border to Texas, where they were quickly swept up by U.S. Border Patrol amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration. They were deported to Mexico, from where they began the dangerous journey back to Venezuela.

    They crossed Central America by bus, but once in Panama, the family could not afford to continue to Colombia via boat in the Caribbean. Instead, they took the cheaper route along the Pacific’s choppy waters, sitting on top of sloshing gasoline tanks in a cargo boat for several hours and then transferring to a fast boat until reaching a jungled area of Colombia. They spent about two weeks there until they were wired money to make it to the border with Venezuela.

    Gómez was among the more than 7.7 million Venezuelans who left their home country in the last decade, when its economy came undone as a result of a drop in oil prices, rising corruption, and mismanagement. She lived in Colombia and Peru for years before setting her sights on the U.S. with hopes of building a new life.

    Trump’s second term has dashed the hopes of many like Gómez.

    As of September, more than 14,000 migrants, mostly from Venezuela, had returned to South America since Trump moved to limit migration to the U.S., according to figures from Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica. In addition, Venezuelans were steadily deported to their home country this year after President Nicolás Maduro, under pressure from the White House, did away with his long-standing policy of not accepting deportees from the U.S.

    Immigrants arrived regularly at the airport outside the capital, Caracas, on flights operated by a U.S. government contractor or Venezuela’s state-owned airline. More than 13,000 immigrants returned this year on the chartered flights.

    Gómez’s return to Venezuela also allowed her to see the now 20-year-old daughter she left behind when she fled the country’s complex crisis. They talked and drank beer during the holiday knowing it might be the last time they share a drink for a while — Gómez’s daughter will migrate to Brazil next month.

    Gómez is hoping to make hallacas for New Year’s Eve and is also hoping for a job. But her prayers for next year are mostly for good health.

    “I ask God for many things, first and foremost life and health, so we can continue enjoying our family,” she said.

  • ‘Carol of the Bells’ was born in a Ukrainian city destroyed by Russia

    ‘Carol of the Bells’ was born in a Ukrainian city destroyed by Russia

    DNIPRO, Ukraine — The cherished, century-old Ukrainian song that Americans know as “Carol of the Bells” was written for layers upon layers of voices to fill churches, concert halls, and city squares.

    But in wartime, Ukrainians have learned to improvise.

    For one choir displaced by Russian bombardment from the very city where many believe the song was written, that means arranging the complex choral melody for just three singers this Christmas, down from the usual 30.

    Hearing the arrangement performed by just three singers gives a sense of Ukraine after years of war at the moment: depleted, persistent, still beautiful.

    The choir is from a historic music school in the besieged eastern city of Pokrovsk — an institution so tied to the original Ukrainian song, called “Shchedryk,” or “Bountiful,” that it bears the name of its composer, Mykola Leontovych.

    The piece has long served as an unofficial anthem for the city, where he lived from 1904 to 1908.

    “Wherever we would go, we would sing this song,” said Alla Dekhtyar, 67, the school’s choir director, who will be one of its three singers to perform at the school’s downsized holiday concert this month. “It was like our business card.”

    That was before Russia’s devastating advance on Pokrovsk forced most residents — including every member of the choir — to flee elsewhere in Ukraine or Europe.

    The Leontovych music school evacuated its most precious instruments in 2024, and drone footage of the city shows the building has since been largely destroyed. Russian forces now control about 95% of what remains of the city, which they aggressively shelled like so much of Ukraine they have sought to control.

    The Leontovych school reopened in exile last year in Dnipro, about 115 miles to the west.

    But with Pokrovsk’s population so widely scattered, the choir that once blended dozens of voices for regular performances in Pokrovsk is down to just two sopranos and an alto, including Dekhtyar.

    Even so, the trio will go ahead with the modified rendition of “Shchedryk” this year. Choosing another, simpler song to perform at the forthcoming holiday concert was never an option.

    Singing the song in its original Ukrainian remains an act of resistance against Russian aggression — and a reminder of Ukraine’s contributions to the global cultural canon.

    That is especially true for those displaced from Pokrovsk. While the song is beloved across Ukraine, it is particularly special for the eastern city, where many believe Leontovych began writing it long before it premiered in Kyiv in 1916 and stunned an American crowd at Carnegie Hall in 1922.

    “For everyone else, that melody means Christmas,” said Angelina Rozhkova, director of the Pokrovsk Historical Museum, who also lives in exile in Dnipro. “For us, that melody means home — a home that we don’t have anymore, a home that is in ruins.”

    “For Russia,” she added, “our home means territory that they want to take from us.”

    Leontovych was the son of an orthodox priest and an aspiring music teacher. In 1904, he moved with his young wife to the small eastern village of Hryshyne — a hub for rail workers expanding the train line, which eventually became Pokrovsk.

    Leontovych was born in the Vinnytsia region of central Ukraine in 1877, and there are competing tales of how he ended up so far east. One version is that he heard about a job posting to teach music at the railway school from rail workers themselves, Rozhkova said. Another claims he responded to a newspaper ad.

    Once there, he directed several musical groups, including a choir of rail workers. They sang songs with Ukrainian, Russian, and Jewish roots — but his own music was influenced by sounds from his childhood. Leontovych was a fierce believer in an independent Ukrainian state, and as he gained fame he was viewed, like other Ukrainian intellectuals, as a threat to Russia’s influence over a country it claimed as its own.

    “He is connected to the culture of Donbas,” Rozhkova said, referring to the part of eastern Ukraine that includes Pokrovsk, and which Russia is trying to conquer. “He was very much carrying the flag of Ukrainian culture. He was performing repurposed traditional Ukrainian songs with his choir.”

    Historians believe that the opening notes of “Shchedryk” — the same ones that have come to signal the start of the Christmas season around the world — originated from a folkloric melody Leontovych heard sometime in his childhood, or that a choir member shared with him from their own memories.

    In the original version — the one still sung in Ukraine — there is no “ding dong, ding dong,” no mention of silver bells, no announcement that “Christmas is here.”

    The lyrics never even mention Christmas.

    Instead, voices describe a swallow fluttering through the sky as it ushers in a prosperous new year, urging a farmer to greet his newborn lambs and celebrate his future. It is because of that Pokrovsk includes a drawing of a swallow on the city’s crest, which is based on a piece of art made by Leontovych’s father.

    The song made its major debut abroad only in 1922, one year after a Soviet security agent assassinated Leontovych over his nationalist views. A Ukrainian choir promoting the country’s independence and cultural heritage performed it in Carnegie Hall that year to remarkable reviews — although some American newspapers wrongly praised it as Russian music.

    Eventually, Ukrainian American composer Peter Wilhousky adapted the song with a completely different set of lyrics in English, transforming it into a Christmas classic.

    “When Leontovych was writing ‘Shchedryk,’ he didn’t understand he was creating a hit,” said Elmira Dzhabrailova-Kushnir, 39, a cultural history specialist in Kyiv. “For him, this was an ethnic study.”

    He built the iconic song around the distinct opening notes, building it out into a masterpiece that weaves different voices and melodies into a singular experience for the audience.

    “He took three notes and, through his genius, worked it into that song,” Dekhtyar said.

    A week before Christmas, Dekhtyar and her trio from Pokrovsk gathered in the new Leontovych music school to rehearse.

    The building in Dnipro is cozy and clean, the practice rooms complete with pianos evacuated from Pokrovsk last year.

    But the space lacks most of the memories and people that made it home. Albums of archival photos dating back decades sit stacked in a corner. A painting of Leontovych leans against the wall.

    Dekhtyar, who used to direct the choir, now sings in it as lead soprano. Her daughter, Natalia Aleksahina, 44, who also teaches vocals at the school, has taken the alto part. Their friend Viktoriia Ametova, 43, joined Dekhtyar as second soprano.

    Behind them, a Christmas tree illuminated the corner. Holiday lights twinkled on the walls. But there was little to celebrate. Inside, each singer’s happy memories of home were buried under the pain of leaving.

    Aleksahina fled home with her mother in April 2022 after a Russian cluster munition tore through the roof of her parents’ home.

    Her 12-year-old daughter was there at the time of the attack but was unharmed. Her father was lightly wounded. The family expected the war would soon end and they would return home and rebuild. They occasionally visited Pokrovsk even as they settled in a rental apartment in Dnipro.

    But as Russian forces slowly advanced and a mandatory evacuation order was issued in August 2024, they began to realize their temporary displacement might not be temporary after all.

    “It’s a painful subject,” Dekhtyar said. “We all had our own houses. Now there’s nothing left.”

    “There’s nothing left,” her daughter repeated. “Our friends, social circle, family — everyone is scattered all over the place.”

    Ametova left amid evacuation orders in August 2024, after her neighbor’s building was badly damaged. She still carries the keys to the house and apartment she owns in Pokrovsk everywhere she goes, even if she can’t confirm they’re still standing.

    When she thinks of home, Ametova said, “I feel pain.”

    The trio agree that singing is one of the only reprieves they have left. And nothing makes them feel better than singing “Shchedryk,” a song they can’t remember not knowing —- a song that lives in them deeper than any other memory.

    They stand up. They close their eyes. Dekhtyar raises her hands. They are just three voices, but together, they fill the entire room with the precious sound of home.

  • New storm hitting waterlogged Southern California could cause more flooding and mudslides

    New storm hitting waterlogged Southern California could cause more flooding and mudslides

    WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. — Another powerful storm system threatening to soak Southern California with its wettest Christmas in years rolled into the region on Thursday, bringing the potential for more flooding and mudslides a day after heavy rain and gusty winds were blamed for at least two deaths.

    Forecasters warned the additional rain could increase the risk of debris flows in waterlogged areas scorched by wildfires in January. Those burn scar zones have been stripped of vegetation by fire and are less able to absorb water.

    Outside of California, a major storm system was moving toward the Midwest and Northeast and was expected to interfere with travel, according to the National Weather Service.

    A mix of freezing rain and sleet could create icy conditions across much of Pennsylvania and parts of Michigan and Maryland. Forecasters warned significant ice accumulation on tree limbs and power lines could cause outages. Heavy snow was expected to blanket the Northeast early Friday.

    The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in Southern California issued an evacuation warning for Wrightwood, a mountain town about 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, due to a risk of mudslides.

    County firefighters on Wednesday said they rescued people trapped in cars when mud and debris rushed down a road leading into Wrightwood. It was not immediately clear how many people were rescued.

    Roads in the town of about 5,000 people were covered in rocks, debris, and thick mud on Thursday. With power out, a local gas station and coffee shop running on generators were serving as hubs for residents and visitors. Statewide, more than 80,000 people were without power Thursday evening, according to PowerOutage.us.

    “It’s really a crazy Christmas,” said Jill Jenkins, who was spending the holiday with her 13-year-old grandson, Hunter Lopiccolo.

    Lopiccolo said the family had almost fled the previous day, when water washed away a chunk of their backyard. But they eventually decided to stay and still celebrated the holiday. Lopiccolo got a new snowboard and e-bike.

    “We just played card games all night with candles and flashlights,” he said.

    Resident Arlene Corte said roads in town turned into rivers, but her house was not damaged.

    “It could be a whole lot worse,” she said. “We’re here talking.”

    With more rain on the way, more than 150 firefighters were stationed in the area, said San Bernardino County Fire spokesperson Shawn Millerick.

    “We’re ready,” he said. “It’s all hands on deck at this point.”

    Deaths and heavy rain

    A falling tree killed a San Diego man Wednesday, news outlets reported. Farther north, a Sacramento sheriff’s deputy died in what appeared to be a weather-related crash.

    Residents around burn scar zones from the Airport Fire in Orange County were under evacuation orders.

    Areas along the coast, including Malibu, were under a flood watch until Friday afternoon, and wind and flood advisories were issued for much of the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.

    The storms were the result of multiple atmospheric rivers carrying massive plumes of moisture from the tropics during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

    Southern California typically gets half an inch to 1 inch of rain this time of year, but this week many areas could see between 4 and 8 inches with even more in the mountains, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford said.

    Snow at higher elevations

    More heavy snow was expected in the Sierra Nevada, where wind gusts created “near white-out conditions” in places and made mountain pass travel treacherous. Officials said there was a “high” avalanche risk around Lake Tahoe and a winter storm warning was in effect through Friday.

    Ski resorts around Lake Tahoe recorded about 1 to 3 feet of snow overnight, said Tyler Salas, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Reno, Nev. Forecasters expect to see up to another 3 feet of snow through Friday, Salas said. The area could see 45 mph gusts of wind in low elevation areas and 100 mph winds along mountain ridges.

    Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in six counties to allow state assistance in storm response.

    The state deployed emergency resources and first responders to several coastal and Southern California counties, and the California National Guard was on standby.