Bryce Harper’s dream is to compete in the Olympics.
First, he’ll suit up for the World Baseball Classic.
Harper announced his plans Tuesday on Instagram, posting a photo of himself superimposed in a Team USA jersey. The Phillies star joins a loaded roster that includes Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, Bobby Witt Jr., teammate Kyle Schwarber, and ace pitchers Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal.
“Put the colors on my chest for the 1st time when I was 15,” Harper wrote in a caption below his photo. “No other feeling like it.”
Harper was among the first players to commit to Team USA for the 2023 World Baseball Classic, but he was unable to play after undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in the previous offseason.
As a teenager, Harper participated in several international tournaments. He won a gold medal at the 2009 Pan Am junior world championship for an under-18 U.S. national team that featured 10 future major leaguers, including Manny Machado and Nick Castellanos.
Harper never misses an opportunity to stump for major leaguers in the Olympics. He discussed it at a postseason news conference in 2023 and brought it up again when the Phillies played in London in 2024. He said he has shared his feelings with commissioner Rob Manfred.
From left, Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, Brian Ragira, and Nick Castellanos with the under-18 U.S. national team in 2009.
Baseball will be reinstated as an Olympic sport in 2028 in Los Angeles. In October, Manfred told reporters at the World Series that MLB will consider extending the All-Star break in 2028 to enable major leaguers to compete in the Olympics.
“I’ve been a huge advocate of baseball getting back in the Olympics and us taking that pause during the regular season, kind of like hockey does, to just let the guys go and play,” Harper told The Inquirer in 2023. “It’d be so much fun to have that and have the game and see that in the Olympics and have the best players in the world doing it.”
Team USA will compete in Pool B of the WBC field. Players will leave their respective spring-training camps in early March. The United States will open the preliminary round March 6 in Houston against Brazil. The WBC final will be played March 17 in Miami.
Harper, 33, batted .261 and slugged .487 with 27 homers and a 129 OPS-plus last season. And although those numbers were below his typical standards, he tied for sixth among first basemen in homers and ranked fifth in slugging.
Phillies backup catcher Garrett Stubbs committed to playing in the WBC for Israel. Manager Rob Thomson said recently that he hasn’t been informed of other players who will be going to the WBC. Jesús Luzardo and José Alvarado pitched for Venezuela in 2023.
Millions of dollars in federal funding for homeless services are at risk after the Trump administration on Friday moved forward with a plan to cut support for most long-term housing programs that serve people otherwise without stable shelter, according to officials in Bucks and Montgomery Counties.
The plan, which is still being fought in court after the Department of Housing and Urban Development released an earlier iteration of the policy shift in November, seeks to upend the way communities across the nation, including Philadelphia, treat people experiencing homelessness and would reroute the spending of $3.9 billion in grants for a program called Continuum of Care that localities rely on to fund housing programs.
The latestdevelopment came Friday night, when HUD appeared to respond to a judge’s ruling in the legal battle by issuing a new set of rules to apply for the federal awards. The new HUD document reduced the amount of funding available for permanent housing by two-thirds, a drastic decrease, said Kayleigh Silver, administrator of the Montgomery County Office of Housing and Community Development.
The new plan “we believe will worsen homelessness and destabilize communities, not improve them,” said Kristyn DiDominick, executive director of the Bucks-Mont Collaborative, at a news conference Monday in Warminster. The nonprofit fosters resource sharing between the two counties.
Officials said hundreds of people in the counties, including families, veterans, and people with disabilities, could lose access to housing as a result of the funding shift. Nationwide, the HUD plan could displace 170,000 people by cutting two-thirds of the aid designated for permanent housing, advocates say. In Philadelphia, tens of millions of dollars used to fund the city’s 2,330 units of permanent supportive housing are at risk, city officials said in November
Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia, a social worker by trade, said HUD broke its “promise” to continue providing support to programs.
“If we can’t trust HUD, how are we supposed to get the people we work with to trust us?” said Ellis-Marseglia, a Democrat.
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner in the Oval Office on May 5.
The HUD announcement followed two lawsuits, including one from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and 20 other states’ attorneys general and governors, against President Donald Trump’s administration over the cuts included in the November draft of the plan.
The earlier plan gave HUD the authority to restrict funding for groups that recognize the existence of transgender and nonbinary people, populations that face greater risks for homelessness. County officials are still seeking clarification on whether that provision remains in the new plan.
HUD temporarily rescinded the controversial plan on Dec. 8, just hours before a hearing on the lawsuits, citing an intent to revise it. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy, who presided over the hearing, issued a preliminary injunction blocking HUD’s efforts until a new funding notice is issued. It remained unclear to local advocates and service providers the differences between the new plan posted later that night and the original.
“HUD will continue working to provide homelessness assistance funding to grantees nationwide. The Department remains committed to program reforms intended to assist our nation’s most vulnerable citizens and will continue to do so in accordance with court orders,” a spokesperson for the department said in a statement to The Inquirer.
The confusing standoff marks the latest obstacle that nonprofits have had to endure after a lengthy federal government shutdown and Pennsylvania’s state budget impasse, both of which contributed to funding delays and instability.
Bucks and Montgomery County service providers and advocates at Monday’s news conference handed out literature that said“Chaos isn’t a strategy” and called on Congress to step in, noting that the funding process is months behind.
The impacts “land on real people,” DiDominick said.
Housing is also an important resource for survivors of domestic violence, said Stacy Dougherty, executive director of Laurel House, a domestic violence organization in Montgomery County.
“For victims of domestic violence, access to safe housing can be the difference between staying in an abusive relationship and being able to leave, and sometimes even the difference between life and death,” Dougherty said.
Erin Lukoss, CEO of the Bucks County Opportunity Council, added that “housing is the foundation,” a backbone for the entire system that tries to address poverty and food insecurity. A lack of clarity on this funding is another stressor for service providers and those who benefit from the resources
“What makes this moment especially concerning is not just the potential reduction in funding, it’s the instability of the rules themselves,” Lukoss said.
New Year’s Day is still more than a week away, but already, everything’s coming up Philly in 2026.
In the latest sign that the city is poised for a banner year, the Wall Street Journal has named Philadelphia the world’s top place to visit in ‘26 — echoing what various national and international publications have been saying for weeks.
The primary draw, of course, is the nation’s 250th birthday celebration, which is expected to bring an endless stream of tourists — not to mention contribute to as much as $2.5 billion to the city and region in additional tourism dollars, by one estimate.
The city’s sports calendar in the coming year ain’t looking too bad, either.
Most notably, the FIFA World Cup arrives next summer with a much-anticipated slate of games in June and July. (France and Brazil are among the teams that’ll take part in six matches slated for Lincoln Financial Field.)
And in July, Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game festivities will take place at Citizens Bank Park — in the same year the Phillies rank among the betting favorites to win a third World Series title, no less — while Xfinity Mobile Arena will be hosting first- and second-round games for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Oh, and the PGA Championship returns to the Philadelphia area, May 11-17 at the Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square.
The Wall Street Journal’s recognition marks the latest in a spate of hype for Philadelphia in the coming year. Last month, Travel + Leisure named the city one of its top places to travel in ’26, as did the BBC.
Joining Philadelphia in the Journal’s top five destinations for ‘26 were Basque Country, Spain; Okavango Delta, Botswana; Yunnan, China; and Guadalupe Valley, Mexico.
Tulsa, Okla. — which in June will celebrate the 100th birthday of the country’s favorite lonely highway with its annual Route 66 Road Fest — was the only other American city to make the Journal’s top 10.
Christmastime is here, as Vince Guaraldi and Lee Mendelson put it in the nostalgia-inducing song composed for A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965.
The soundtrack to that TV holiday classic has been reissued this year, so it qualifies for inclusion on this playlist of the best holiday music of 2025. The 30 songs of holiday cheer — along with interludes of winter solstice melancholy — assembled on a streaming Spotify playlist are either newly recorded this year, or as with tunes by Chuck Berry and Roberta Flack, reissued in 2025.
They come from new holiday albums by Herb Alpert, Old Crow Medicine Show, Mickey Guyton, Brad Paisley, and others. Individual songs from Philly artists like Soraia, Bret Tobias Set, and Lizzy McAlpine also make an appearance. Look out for brand names such as Luke Bryan, Cher, and Gwen Stefani.
Lainey Wilson and Bing Crosby, ‘Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!’
The wonders of technology bring together country star Wilson and Crosby (who died in 1977) not only in song but also visually, as claymation video duet partners.
Chuck Berry, ‘Run Rudolph Run’
A holiday classic from The Chess Records Christmas Album, a terrific newly reissued compilation that includes Sonny Boy Williamson II, the Soul Stirrers, and Salem Travelers.
St. Vincent, ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’
The sleeper holiday album of the year is the soundtrack to Oh. What. Fun., the Christmas comedy starring Michelle Pfeiffer. Annie Clark nicely renders this melancholy classic first sung by Judy Garland. The soundtrack also includes the Bird and the Bee, Weyes Blood, Madi Diaz, and Sharon Van Etten.
Old Crow Medicine Show, ‘Bethlehem, PA’
Nashville band Old Crow Medicine Show’s holiday album OCMS XMAS features 11 originals including the heart tugger “Grandpa’s Gone.” This one imagines a “little baby born in the Keystone State” in Lehigh County and also references the Phillies to set the scene. “We drove from the Poconos, three hours to see the King,” Ketch Secor sings. “Stopped off at a Wawa store to get some gifts to bring.”
Luke Bryan and Ella Langley, ‘Winter Wonderland’
American Idol’sBryan teams with breakout star Langley on a countrified version of the 1934 song whose lyricist is Pennsylvanian Richard Bernhard Smith.
Melissa Carper, ‘Dumpster Diving on Christmas Eve’
A lighthearted country swing tune from Nebraska singer Carper about making do someway somehow when times are tough, from the excellent A Very Carper Christmas.
Melissa Carper’s holiday album is “A Very Karper Christmas.”
Jake Shimabukuro, ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’
A sprightly instrumental from the ukulele virtuoso’s great new Tis the Season.
Mickey Guyton, ‘It Won’t Be Christmas’
A cheery throwback ‘60s bop that’s a highlight of Feels Like Christmas, the new album by the singer who broke through to the country mainstream with her 2020 single “Black Like Me.”
Kyle M, ‘Mrs. Claus Is Getting Down’
Former Saturday Night Live cast member Kyle Mooney has a five-song holiday EP called Winter’s Wish. This low-fi romp finds Santa’s wife cutting loose while her hubby makes his rounds. Alicia Silverstone stars in the video.
Jeff Tweedy, ‘Christmas Must Be Tonight’
The Wilco leader, who released his Twilight Override triple album this year, delivers a tender version of the Robbie Robertson-penned song by the Band. Also on the Oh. What. Fun. soundtrack.
The Bret Tobias Set, ‘For Christ’s Sake’
Philly bandleader Tobias updates a blue-eyed soul Christmas song he originally recorded with the Bigger Lovers, to a yearning duet with Krista Umile.
Kylie Minogue’s “Office Party” is from the new “Fully Wrapped” version of her “Kylie Christmas” album.
LeAnn Rimes, ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’
Rimes was 13 when she had her first hit with “Blue” in 1996. That’s the same age Brenda Lee was when she recorded this holiday perennial in 1958.
Soraia, “Santa Claus.”
Philly garage band Soraia, fronted by singer ZouZou Mansour, covers the Sonics of “Louie, Louie” fame on the new It’s a Wicked Cool Christmas!, the compilation curated by Underground Garage creator Steve Van Zandt.
Chaparelle and Sierra Ferrell, ‘When It Snows in Texas’
Lone Star State trio Chaparelle teams with Grammy-winning Americana singer Ferrell on this swinging new tune about a day that may never come.
This album cover image released by Craft Recordings shows “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” (Craft Recordings via AP)
Vince Guaraldi Trio, ‘Christmas Time Is Here’
The A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack album has been reissued on vinyl, featuring Guaraldi’s wistful piano tune.
Gwen Stefani, ‘Hot Cocoa’
This bouncy holiday pop song is on both the expanded edition of Stefani’s You Make It Feel Like Christmas album and the Oh. What. Fun. soundtrack.
Deer Tick, ‘Light Up Reindeer’
A reflective song about anxiety in the holiday season from the Providence, R.I., rock band.
Lizzy McAlpine, ‘Celebrate Me Home’
Lower Merion native and Broadway star Lizzy McAlpine’s cover of Kenny Loggins evaded my notice last year, so it’s in this 2025 mix.
Old Crow Medicine Show’s holiday album is “OCMS XMAS.”
Herb Alpert, ‘Sleigh Ride’
Nonagenarian music executive and bandleader Alpert plays his trumpet and sings along with his wife, Lani Hall, on one of 11 chestnuts on his new Christmas Time Is Here.
Trisha Yearwood, ‘Candy Cane Lane’
Yearwood takes a stroll down a red-and-white-striped street on her album Christmastime that’s produced by Don Was and features husband Garth Brooks.
Kylie Minogue, ‘Office Party’
A sassy new track from the Australian diva, from the new “Fully Wrapped” edition of Minogue’s 2015 Kylie Christmas album, which also includes a beyond-the-grave duet with Frank Sinatra.
Cher, ‘Christmas Is Here’
She sang “Run Rudolph Run” on SNL this month — with Roots guitarist Kirk Douglas playing Chuck Berry licks — and released a Christmas album in 2023. Now, Cher’s added this propulsive track to her Christmas song list.
Roberta Flack, ‘The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)’
The elegant, soulful singer who died in February recorded this Mel Torme-penned Nat King Cole holiday classic on her 1997 The Christmas Album. It’s been reissued as Holidays.
Eric Benet’s new holiday album is ‘It’s Christmas.’
Eric Benet, ‘I Really Don’t Want Much for Christmas’
Eric Benet puts family and romance above material things on this R&B holiday song from his new It’s Christmas album.
The SarahBanda, ‘Overture (from the Cuban Nutcracker Suite)’
Tchaikovsky hits the dance floor on Cuban Christmas, thanks to the SarahBanda, Havana musicians led by Berlin Philharmonic French horn player Sarah Willis.
Dar Williams, ‘I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight (Santa Version)’
Folk singer Williams covers the title track to Richard and Linda Thompson’s 1974 album, updated with sleigh bells.
Tyra Banks, ‘Santa Smize, Santa Smize’
A loopy hip-hop electro banger that does double duty as a dance floor mixture of mythical North Pole lore and an ad for Banks’ hot ice cream brand.
This cover image released by Mercury Nashville shows “Snow Globe Town” by Brad Paisley. (Mercury Nashville via AP)
Brad Paisley, ‘Counting Down The Days’
We could all use a break this time of the year, country singer and guitar hotshot Paisley thinks. “It’s been a grind, but I can see Christmas lights at the end of the tunnel.” From the new Snow Globe Town.
Sofia Talvik, ‘Poem at Year’s End’
Ruminative late December song from Swedish songwriter Talvik from her Wrapped in Paper holiday collection.
The Dollyrots, ‘Auld Lang Syne’
A punk-rock take on Robert Burns also on It’s a Wicked Cool Christmas!, complete with singer Kelly Ogden’s New Year’s resolutions. “Every morning we’re going to do one thing to make ourselves feel better, and then one thing to make somebody else feel better.” Cheers to that.
The Eagles clinched the division with a win over the Washington Commanders on Saturday night, becoming the first team to win back-to-back NFC East titles in 21 years.
Following the win, the Birds have moved up in most national power rankings. As they prepare to travel to face the Buffalo Bills, here’s where they stand in the latest batch …
Yahoo! Sports: Sixth
The Eagles have moved up one spot in Yahoo! Sports’ power rankings. Two consecutive victories over losing teams still left questions surrounding the team’s offense.
“The Eagles have clinched the division and have almost no chance to get the No. 1 seed in the NFC,” Frank Schwab wrote. “That means the next two weeks can be used for a combination of rest and fixing the ongoing issues with the offense. The offense has looked better lately, with 60 combined points in the last two games, but that came against the Raiders and Commanders. At least the Eagles get a couple of games out of the spotlight before the playoffs start.”
The Eagles trail the No. 5 Chicago Bears and the No. 4 New England Patriots. Meanwhile, the Seattle Seahawks (No. 1) and the Los Angeles Rams (No. 2) continue to battle for the top spot.
The Ringer: Sixth
The Ringer also has the Eagles at the No. 6 spot, two rungs above where they were last week. This week’s summary: “Glimpses of last year’s greatness are still there — when they’re playing against the NFL’s worst teams.”
The outlet had strong words for the Commanders leadership and advocated for the kind of changes that would further shake up the NFC East.
“What exactly is it that head coach Dan Quinn does for this team? It can’t be building a good defense, because his units tend to get worse each year — something that we’ve seen going back to his stint with the Cowboys,“ Diante Lee wrote. ”It can’t be player personnel or development, because GM Adam Peters is the architect of this roster, and Washington’s defensive players don’t seem to be getting markedly better in Quinn’s system.
“And we know that the offense belongs to coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who may find a new head coaching gig this offseason. If the mere absence of quarterback Jayden Daniels can cause this team to crater, then it’s probably time to bring in a new coaching regime.”
The Eagles rank behind the No. 5 New England Patriots and the No. 4 Jacksonville Jaguars. The Seahawks and Rams remain at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.
ESPN: 10th
Despite that 29-18 win over the Commanders, the Eagles have fallen in ESPN’s power rankings — dropping two spots from last week’s No. 8 ranking. As the season comes to a close, ESPN also picked a rookie of the year for the Eagles: Jihaad Campbell.
“Campbell, a first-round pick out of Alabama, has 63 tackles, an interception, two passes defensed and a forced fumble,” Tim McManus wrote. “His playing time decreased when Nakobe Dean (knee) hit his stride around the midway point of the season, but he has maintained a role in coordinator Vic Fangio’s defense and stepped up his production when Dean exited Saturday’s win because of a hamstring injury.”
The Eagles sit behind the Los Angeles Chargers (No. 9), the Chicago Bears (No. 8), and the Buffalo Bills (No. 7). The Seahawks have taken the top spot above the No. 2 Rams.
CBS Sports: 10th
The Eagles’ win over the Commanders was enough to move them up two spots from last week’s No. 12 ranking. The team sits just below the No. 9 Buffalo Bills and No. 8 Houston Texans.
“They have beaten up two bad teams the last two weeks to seemingly right things,” Pete Prisco wrote. “Now they face a tough road game at Buffalo with just seeding on the line since they clinched the NFC East.”
The Seahawks (No. 1) and the Patriots (No. 2) top the list. Meanwhile, the Rams have fallen to the fifth spot, three spots below last week’s power rankings.
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley after scoring a rushing touchdown against the Commanders on Saturday.
The Athletic: 11th
The Eagles moved up one spot from last week’s No. 12 ranking, trailing the No. 10 Los Angeles Chargers and No. 9 Houston Texans. One concern The Athletic has with the Eagles is their “lack of offensive consistency.”
“The Eagles have put up impressive numbers since Nick Sirianni said he became more involved in the offense, scoring 31 last week and 29 on Saturday,” Chad Graff and Josh Kendall wrote. “But those performances came against the Raiders and Commanders. Is their offensive turnaround legit or a byproduct of playing bad teams?”
DeSean Jackson made a splash in his first season coaching Delaware State’s football team. Now, the former Eagles wide receiver is being rewarded for it.
After an 8-4 finish, the Hornets’ most wins in a season since 2007, the university announced Tuesday that it has signed Jackson to a contract extension that runs through the 2028 season.
The Hornets were picked to finish last in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference but finish second to South Carolina State after a 28-17 loss to the Bulldogs in the regular-season finale. Jackson’s team led the FCS in rushing yards per game (291.2) and had a winning record for the first time in 13 years.
“Just two days before Christmas last year, I began the next phase of my professional career, as a first-time head coach, in a community I did not know, with players I did not recruit. It was not easy, but it was important,” Jackson said in a news release. “Giving my whole self to these young men and representing one of the best Historically Black colleges in the country has been a high honor and one I do not intend to take for granted. We have some unfinished business to take care of on the field, and I am proud to be a part of the athletic transformation taking place at the school.”
The highlight of Jackson’s season came during the Battle of Legends between Delaware State and Michael Vick’s Norfolk State at Lincoln Financial Field, as the former Eagles teammates faced off for the first time as coaches. Delaware State beat Norfolk State, 27-20, in the Oct. 30 matchup. The game brought in more than 47,000 fans and felt like a night of celebration that transcended the game.
“The job of Delaware State is not to develop a good story about access and opportunity that changes and prepares young people to take their rightful place of usefulness and honor in a global community. That is Delaware State already,” Tony Allen, Delaware State’s president, said. “Our goal is to increase the number of storytellers who believe in the power of HBCUs like ours and can make the investment in a future they can see for themselves, their community, and their country. Coach Jackson understands that vision and is helping us carry that message around the world.”
Some of Amtrak’s fleet of next-generation Acela and Airo trains will likely sit idle in 2026 as the national railroad company faces delays in upgrading maintenance facilities.
Amtrak is behind schedule on completing the necessary facilities upgrades to maintain its newest fleet of trains, inspectors told Amtrak in a new report. Delays in next-gen fleet rollouts, of which there have been several, cost the company millions in lost revenue.
Early missteps in planning, like starting its fleet upgrade efforts in 2010 but its facilities upgrades in 2016, led to a “schedule misalignment,” inspectors said in the report.
Amtrak is in the process of acquiring three fleets of trains from manufacturers — NextGen Acela, Airo, and Long Distance — to the tune of $8 billion. The national railroad corporation rolled out a handful of NextGen Acela trains in August. Airo trains are scheduled to roll out in 2026 and Long Distance trains in the early 2030s, according to Amtrak.
In a recent review of the NextGen Acela trains, The Inquirer lauded the train for its smoother, faster ride, comfortable seats, and above all, its cleanliness, but lamented its infrequency and cost as the older Acela trains on Keystone and Northeast Regional services still carry the bulk of trips for a cheaper ticket.
NextGen Acela and Airo trains offer faster travel with speeds of up to 160 mph and 125 mph, respectively, and modernized cabins featuring upgraded seats, improved Wi-Fi, and expanded dining options.
A business-class car in the NextGen Acela in Washington on Aug. 27.
The latest report from the Amtrak Office of Inspector General details that under its current facility construction schedule, Amtrak will only be able to operate the first 24 out of 28 NextGen Acela trains and the first 12 out of the planned 83 Airo trains hitting the tracks in 2026.
Amtrak Acela trains sit in the Amtrak yard adjacent to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia in August 2023.
While the company began considering plans to replace its aging trains 15 years ago, Amtrak didn’t start addressing facility upgrades until 2016 for NextGen Acela and 2021 for Airo. Additionally, Amtrak took a targeted individual site approach to facility planning instead of an “overarching” one, according to inspectors.
Amtrak approved a new strategic fleet and facilities plan to align both efforts last month. However, inspectors found the company failed to appropriately define the scope of the six years of work that remains.
In the report, a senior Amtrak official described the current system as “building a house without ensuring the garage fits the vehicles.”
Amtrak officials agreed to implement a new management framework to streamline facility upgrade efforts by the end of March 2026.
The lower Schuylkill winds 36 miles from Phoenixville in Chester County to its tidal meeting point with the Delaware River at Philadelphia’s Navy Yard, sheltering more than 40 species of fish along the way.
In Center City, the river doubles as a striking urban backdrop, bordered by a trail that can draw thousands of hikers and cyclists daily.
This year, the waterway is vying for the title of Pennsylvania’s River of the Year, an annual competition spotlighting the state’s most significant waterways.
Online voting, which began Dec. 9, runs through Jan. 16, giving Pennsylvanians the chance to select the 2026 winner from three contenders: Chillisquaque Creek, the Conestoga River, and the lower Schuylkill in the Philadelphia region.
The River of the Year program is administered by the Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers, with funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR).
The contest is meant to draw public attention to rivers and their environmental importance. The winning river’s nominating organization receives a $15,000 DCNR grant to fund yearlong celebrations, including paddling events and community activities. The DCNR produces a commemorative poster in honor of the river.
Jackson Quitel, river programs coordinator for the nonprofit LandHealth Institute, said his organization nominated the Schuylkill along with a plan to educate the public “in the many wonders in this unique body of water.”
“While the Schuylkill River is widely known, not many people are aware of the immense recreational activities and ecological wonders that are present on the river today,” Quitel said.
The LandHealth Institute helps increase awareness of the river through guided walks, fishing, and kayaking, taking more than 500 people out on the water in 2025. If the Schuylkill wins, Quitel said, it would allow the group to double its reach.
Joe Syrnick, executive director of the nonprofit Schuylkill Development Corp., which helped develop the Schuylkill Banks trail along the river, called the river “a great asset to the region.”
“It would be nice to see it get the recognition it deserves,” Syrnick said.
Once a vital waterway for the Lenni-Lenape, the river later endured severe pollution from upstream coal mining and industrial waste, eventually rebounding through years of efforts, including the protections of the federal Clean Water Act.
The Schuylkill became the nation’s first municipal‑scale water system through Fairmount Water Works and continues to provide drinking water to 1.5 million people through two intakes along its banks.
The Schuylkill River Trail, a continuous corridor running alongside most of the lower Schuylkill, has broadened access to the river’s views for residents, giving them more insight into a river many were once cut off from.
Most recently, the Schuylkill Banks section in Center City debuted a new $48 million cable‑stayed, pedestrian‑only bridge, anchoring a trail extension known as the Christian to Crescent Trail Connector. The 2,800‑foot segment delivers sweeping, unobstructed views of the river.
The DCNR describes the lower Schuylkill as an “urban oasis surrounded by bustling roads and a backdrop of a gorgeous skyline.”
Pennsylvania has 25 rivers. Of those, six are federally designated as wild and scenic and 13 are state-designated scenic rivers.
Contest nominees can also include tributaries within river watersheds. For example, Chillisquaque Creek is a 20 mile-long tributary of the Susquehanna River’s west branch. It flows through Northumberland and Montour Counties.
The Conestoga, meanwhile, feeds Chesapeake Bay.
Overall, Pennsylvania has 85,000 miles of waterways, which is the highest stream density in the continental United States.
Jason Kelce, a man of voracious appetite and enthusiasm, is putting his money behind a local Jersey Shore brand, Hank Sauce.
The hot sauce company, based in Kelce’s beloved Sea Isle City and sold everywhere from surf shops to the Acme, produces a variety of hot and not-so-hot sauces that have become ubiquitous at the Jersey Shore and Philadelphia area.
The deal with Kelce’s Winnie Capital was announced in two ways: a sedate corporate press statement, and a not-at-all sedate Instagram post featuring a full-throated Kelce throwing jabs and juggling bottles of Hank Sauce, growling and snarling about the wonders of the flavorful sauce. As only the pitchman and iconic Eagles great can do.
“BAM! POW! POW FLAVOR! YEEEEOWWWWWW,” Kelce spitballs for the camera from inside the Hank Sauce restaurant in Sea Isle, an array of sauce laid before him, before he and others off-camera dissolve in laughter. “You got some eggs that don’t have any [beeped expletive] flavor? Well we got you covered baby.
“Any notes?”
Someone throws him a bottle from stage right; he makes the catch. “I’m glad I looked,” he said.
In the comments, and in the press statement, Kelce calls Sea Isle “right in my backyard in South Jersey,” and says he and the three founders plan to “take this thing to the next level.”
“This one was a no-brainer,” Kelce said in the Instagram post. “I’ve been a consumer of this product and a fan of this brand for a long time.”
Former Eagles player Jason Kelce rips off his pants during the fifth annual Team 62 at the Ocean Drive celebrity bartending event on Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Sea Isle City, NJ. The event raises funds for the Eagles Autism Foundation.
A regular in Sea Isle City with his family, Kelce said he walked into Hank Sauce in 2015 and met Brian “Hank” Ruxton himself, who took the Eagles star into the back where they shared a beer.
“I like these guys,” Kelce said.
The statement described the arrangement as “a strategic equity investment from former NFL player, podcaster, and investor Jason Kelce.”
“The new investment and partnership with Kelce’s Winnie Capital will accelerate national expansion and increase Hank Sauce’s visibility and reach in new markets across the country,” the statement said.
Founded in 2011 by three college roommates — Ruxton, Matt Pittaluga, and Josh Jaspan — as “a hot sauce for people who don’t like hot sauce,” Hank Sauce was first made in a garage, and hand-bottled for six years. The company eventually expanded into a 10,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Millville, and is now sold in more than 5,000 stores nationwide, according to the press statement.
Matt Pittaluga (from left), Kaitlin Ruxton and Brian Ruxton are the dream team behind the Hank Sauce phenomenon. (DAVE GRIFFIN / For The Inquirer)
Hank Sauce comes in multiple variations, including the original Herb Infused, plus Cilanktro, Camouflage, and Hank Heat.
As part of the deal, Kelce will “collaborate with Hank Sauce on original content and ongoing brand strategy,” the statement says.
“We’ve poured our lives into building this brand, and we couldn’t be more excited to have Jason on board — not just as a partner and ambassador, but as a genuine fan long before this partnership,” Pittaluga said in the statement.
Winnie Capital is described as “a private family office supporting the business and philanthropic activities of Jason and Kylie Kelce. The Winnie portfolio includes diverse investments and partnerships across media, athletics, consumer packaged goods, apparel, real estate, agriculture, and technology.”
The countdown to 2026 is on, and there’s no shortage of ways to celebrate the end of one year and the start of another. From New Year’s Eve dinner specials to adults-only celebrations and family-friendly gatherings, here’s how to ring in the new year in Chester County.
Festivities kick off at 5 p.m. with an $8 martini happy hour, followed by music from New Orleans-style jazz band Gumbo Nouveau from 7 to 10 p.m. Festivities continue at Molly Maguire’s after that.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, 5 p.m.-2 a.m. 💵 Pay as you go 📍Fenix Bar & Lounge, 193 Bridge St., Phoenixville; Molly Maguire’s, 197 Bridge St., Phoenixville
Bistro on Bridge in Phoenixville is hosting a party to celebrate the new year.
Conshohocken Brewing Company’s brewpub and gaming room will have performances from local bands Sun Blind, Florida Wayne Band, and Still Burning, followed by a champagne toast at midnight.
Celebrate the end of one year with throwback tunes from another. The Influence, a 1980s tribute band, will play hits throughout the night at this 21-and-over event, and wrap up in time for Kennett Square’s mushroom drop.
Phoenixville Mayor Peter Urscheler will host a fundraiser for the Colonial Theatre, which will resemble Paris’ famous cabaret, Moulin Rouge. The 21-and-over event includes food, drinks, and a champagne toast at midnight.
Stove & Tap’s throwback party will feature music from across the decades, an open bar, a late-night buffet, a disco ball, dancing, and a champagne toast.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, 9 p.m.-1 a.m. 💵 $75 📍Stove & Tap, 158 W. Gay St., West Chester
Family-Friendly New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day Events
In advance of the holiday, kids can create their own party kit, including a noisemaker and a hat. There will also be cookie decorating and themed games.
⏰ Saturday, Dec. 27, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. 💵 $10 📍Chester County History Center, 225 N. High St., West Chester
Longwood Gardens will have musical performances on the last day of the year.
Explore the gardens, which are decked out for the holidays, as a number of musicians perform throughout the grounds, including an organist, from 4 to 10 p.m. Timed reservations are required.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. 💵 $25-$45 for nonmembers, free for members 📍Longwood Gardens, 1001 Longwood Rd., Kennett Square
The mushroom capital of the world will drop its signature lighted mushroom to mark the end of 2025 and the start of 2026. There will also be live music starting at 7 p.m. and a laser show.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, 8 p.m.-midnight 💵 Free with the donation of non-perishable food 📍Downtown Kennett Square
Spend the first day of 2026 at Springton Manor Farm, which will have kids’ crafts, hot chocolate, and visits with its resident animals during this drop-in event.
Grab dinner from 4 to 10 p.m. or swing by as the clock counts down for $5 draft beer, house wine, and “Mistletoe Margaritas” from 10 p.m. until midnight. There will also be a complimentary dessert table starting at 10 p.m. and a midnight toast.
⏰ Wednesday, Dec. 31, 4 p.m.-midnight 💵 Pay as you go 📍Social Lounge, 117 E. Gay St., West Chester
On New Year’s Day, White Dog Cafe is again hosting its Pajama Brunch, which encourages attendees to wear their PJs to the restaurant, where an à la carte menu will be available. Reservations are encouraged.
⏰ Thursday, Jan. 1, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. 💵 Prices vary 📍White Dog Cafe, 181 Gordon Dr., Exton
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