A 30-year-old man and 16-year-old boy were killed after a meeting for a possible transaction escalated into gunfire early Tuesday evening in the city’s Germantown section, police said.
Officers responded shortly after 5 p.m. to multiple reports of a shooting at the intersection of West Queen Lane and Laurens Street and found the man and the teen lying on the ground unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds to their upper bodies, said Chief Inspector Scott Small.
They were both transported by police to Temple University Hospital, where they were pronounced dead around 5:30 p.m. A handgun was found on the body of the man.
At the shooting scene, police found 11 spent shell casings from a handgun and a rifle, Small said.
A Nissan registered to the deceased man was found at the scene with a bullet hole and the driver’s side door still open, Small said.
A witness said the 30-year-old arrived at the location for a transaction that was reportedly not related to drugs, and the teen was with another man who apparently had the rifle, Small said. The man who arrived with the teen fled the scene.
Police were checking for video from cameras in the area that may have recorded what happened, Small said.
The Rocky statue sitting atop of Philadelphia Art Museum’s famed steps could soon be there permanently — and the one at the bottom may be going back to the Italian Stallion himself, Sylvester Stallone.
That’s according to a recent proposal from Creative Philadelphia, the city’s office for the creative sector, which is slated to present its proposal at an Art Commission meeting for a concept review Wednesday. The plan, the proposal notes, is endorsed by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and Art Museum officials, as well as leaders in the Parks and Recreation department and at the Philadelphia Visitor Center, all of whom filed letters of support.
“This project is about more than relocating a sculpture,” chief cultural officer Valerie V. Gay and public art director Marguerite Anglin wrote in a letter to the Art Commission. “It’s about elevating an artwork that, for decades, has symbolized perseverance, aspiration, and the resilience of the human spirit.”
The statue at the top of the Art Museum’s steps was set there last December as part of the city’s inaugural RockyFest, which celebrates the Rocky franchise. Initially intended to be a temporary installation, that statue — a replica of sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg’s original, made by the artist himself — was lent to the city by Stallone, who purchased it for about $403,000 at an auction in 2017, The Inquirer previously reported.
The statue at the foot of the steps, meanwhile, is owned by the city, and has sat there since 2006, arriving after years of controversy and moves since it appeared in 1982’s Rocky III. Stallone commissioned that statue for the film, and later gave it to the city.
As part of the city’s plan, Philly would swap ownership of the two statues, taking ownership of the statue at the top of the steps, and returning the statue at the bottom “to the original donor’s private collection” following its exhibition inside the Art Museum this spring, the proposal notes.
The city would then “install another City-owned statue at the bottom of the Art Museum steps,” and move the statue at the top back several feet for its permanent installation.
The project would cost an estimated $150,000, the proposal notes. It was not immediately clear what statue would be relocated to the bottom of the steps, or what prompted the exchange of statues.
An Art Commission agenda notes that in its concept review Wednesday, the proposal could receive final approval if it is found to be “sufficiently developed.”
A history of moves
The proposed move marks yet another chapter in the Rocky statue’s storied history in town. It arrived for the filming of Rocky III, but when the shoot wrapped in 1981, a permanent location had not been approved, causing it to be shipped back to Los Angeles. It ultimately came back and was temporarily exhibited again at the top of the Art Museum steps before being moved to an area outside the Spectrum at the stadium complex in South Philly, where it was supposed to permanently stay.
But in 1990, the statue was again temporarily installed at the museum for the filming of Rocky V, reigniting public debate about whether it should remain there. The statue was returned to the stadium complex before being moved in 2006back to the bottom of the museum’s steps, where it has sat ever since.
Gay and Anglin seem to reference the statue’s history in their letter, noting that a permanent installation at the top of the museum’s steps could be an “an opportunity to lean into the evolving conversation about what is considered ‘art’ and what deserves a place in our most treasured civic spaces.”
“The Rocky statue is a clear example of this evolution,” they wrote. “Its artistic significance has not been shaped by institutions, but by the millions of people who engage with it year after year.”
“Rocky is the DNA of this great city of Philadelphia,” Schomberg said in a statement released with the airport statue’s unveiling. “There’s a little bit of Rocky in all of us. Rocky is not just known here in Philadelphia but is known across this country and the world.”
HARRISBURG — Approximately 2.7 million pieces of state agency mail never reached Pennsylvania residents last month after a state-contractedvendor failed to send them, affecting outgoing correspondence from the state Department of Human Services and the Department of Transportation, officials said Tuesday.
From Nov. 3 through Dec. 3, officials said, the affected state agency mail was never presorted and delivered by the vendor to the U.S. Postal Service, resulting in a backlog of millions of unsent state communications.
Late last week, Pennsylvania state officials discovered that a month’s worth of mail had never been sent to residents by the outside vendor, Harrisburg-based Capitol Presort Services LLC. Once the issue was discovered, the state fired the vendor for failing to fulfill its contract and hired another vendor to work through the backlog.
The state Department of Human Services, which oversees the care of the state’s most vulnerable residents and children, is still determining “the exact volume and categories of delayed mail,” said Paul Vezzetti, a spokesperson for the state Department of General Services. However, DHS was able to confirm that some services were not interrupted: residents waiting on Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards for receiving food assistance, mail sent by county assistance offices, and notices about suspended benefits duringthe federal government shutdown were not affected, Vezzetti added.
PennDot driver’s license and vehicle registration renewal invitations, driver’s license camera cards, vehicle registration cards, and address update cards are all among the routine correspondences that were never sent to residents over the last month, Vezzetti said. Driver’s license suspensions were not impacted by the stalled mail.Vehicle registration and license renewal registrations are sent three months in advance, so anyone who was due to receive one at the start of November will have until February to submit it, the agency said.
It was not clear on Tuesday which other state agencies’ mail had been impacted by the lapse in service.
All of the recently discovered unsent state agency mail was transported to USPS on Monday by the state’s new vendor and will be promptly delivered to residents by the Postal Service, officials said. PennDot customers should receive any expected mail from the time period of Nov. 3 to Dec. 3 within the next 7-10 days, Vezzetti added.
On Friday, the state secured a $1 million emergency contract with another mail presorting company, Pitney Bowes, to handle the multimillion-letter backlog.
The state had contracted with Capitol Presort Services since May 1, 2021. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2022, but had continued its work for the state until last week, when the agency mail pileup was uncovered.
It remained unclear Tuesday why it took a full month for officials to determine that 2.7 million pieces of state agency mail had not been reaching residents. It was also unclear how the issue was discovered by officials last week.
The unsent mail may prove to be a major headache for Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration, depending on which state communications were not delivered to residents. The backlog could include critical correspondence relating to state services, such as health benefits or food assistance, among others.
State agencies regularly send communications by mail about an individual’s eligibility for services or benefits, renewals and appeals, and whether a person is due to appear at a hearing about that eligibility, and more.
“Agencies across the Commonwealth continue to evaluate any potential negative effects of this mail delay and are taking proactive steps to mitigate potential impacts on Pennsylvanians,” Vezzetti added.
A spokesperson for Gov. Josh Shapiro declined to comment.
According to the state’s contract with Capitol Presort Services from 2021, the vendor was responsible for delivering more than 16 million pieces of state agency mail each year. Almost all of this mail was to be for the delivery of the state’s First Class and Next-Day mail, which are among the U.S. Postal Services’ fastest delivery options.
Philip Gray, the president and owner of Capitol Presort Services, did not immediately respond to questions about his company’s bankruptcy and how the backlog of mail came about.
Capitol Presort Services advertises itself as a way for “companies to maximize postal discounts while improving their mail delivery,” according to its website. Mail presorting allows organizations to prepare mail with the proper bar codes and trays needed for easy delivery by USPS, which USPS offers to companies at a discounted rate.
Sure, they could’ve gone in another direction, especially as Schwarber began getting offers this week. The Pirates — yes, you read that right — made a four-year, $120 million whopper, a league source said Tuesday. The Orioles and Reds offered five years, The Athletic reported, with Baltimore willing to go to $150 million.
And as the market took off for a 33-year-old designated hitter, the Phillies could’ve tapped out.
But if you’ve paid attention, you know the Phillies believe Schwarber is unrivaled, as a slugger and certainly a leader. Dave Dombrowski said all along that Schwarber, not younger free agents such as Cody Bellinger or Pete Alonso, was the priority. Hitting coach Kevin Long emerged from organizational meetings in October and told The Inquirer’s Phillies Extra podcast that losing Schwarber would be “devastating.”
Even owner John Middleton said this about Schwarber in July: “We love him. We want to keep him.”
Middleton doesn’t usually get outbid for players he wants, least of all by the Pirates. Or the Orioles. Or even by Schwarber’s hometown Reds. And so it was, before lunch Tuesday, that the Phillies made the most predictable news at the winter meetings.
Kyle Schwarber hit a career-high 56 homers for the Phillies this year.
“I had a pretty good idea that was going to be the route,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Talking to Dave throughout the season, he knew that [Schwarber] was a huge part of what they were trying to accomplish and moving forward. So, not surprised that it’s with them.”
The agreement was pending a physical and wasn’t announced by the Phillies until Tuesday night. But sources said the team’s confidence in Schwarber’s ability to stay productive through his mid-30s stems from his consistent bat speed. He’s also a more complete hitter now than when he signed a four-year, $79 million deal with the Phillies in 2022, one year removed from being non-tendered by the Cubs.
Team officials have likened Schwarber to David Ortiz, who hit more than half his 541 homers after turning 32 and played through age 40. Schwarber’s contract will run through his age-37 season.
“He’s so different than most of the guys I’ve ever been around because he’s a great player, one, and he knows how to bring the heartbeat of the clubhouse down when things are going rough,” manager Rob Thomson said. “And not only the clubhouse but individuals as well. He’s just a huge part of our ballclub.”
Lest anyone forget, it’s a club that won 96 games this year — and 95 the year before. The Phillies are tied with the Dodgers for the most wins in baseball over the last two seasons. But the Dodgers also won back-to-back World Series and made news Tuesday by signing star closer Edwin Díaz.
So, while the Phillies did what was necessary to bring back Schwarber, and extended Thomson’s contract through 2027, and remained optimistic about re-signing J.T. Realmuto, the perception, at least in Philly, is that they’re merely bringing back the band.
And given the players’ ages and contract terms, the band might start looking like the Rolling Stones in a few years.
But if the goal is to stretch the competitive window and take as many whacks as possible at the World Series, rival club officials surveyed in the lobby of the Signia by Hilton and baseball observers/insiders believe the Phillies are right to not make sweeping changes.
The Phillies re-signed Kyle Schwarber (right) on Tuesday. Is J.T. Realmuto next?
“Getting there is really hard to do, and improving in the season each year is really hard to do,” former major league general manager Jim Duquette said. “What the Phillies have accomplished is really, really difficult. If I’m the Phillies, I would be very careful with how many adjustments you make with that team.”
The Braves kept most of their core together through their run of 11 consecutive division championships in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. Former Atlanta general manager John Schuerholz famously believed in changing about 10% of the roster in the offseason during those years.
Including Schwarber’s deal, the Phillies have roughly $285 million in payroll commitments for 2026. They ended this year at about $312 million and expect to be in a similar range next year.
Even as they try to get Realmuto back behind the plate, the Phillies expect to make changes to other areas of the roster, notably the outfield. Touted rookie Justin Crawford is ticketed to be in the opening-day lineup, either in left field or center. Nick Castellanos will be traded or released. Top prospect Andrew Painter is almost sure to be in the season-opening rotation.
Dombrowski pushed back, then, on the idea that the Phillies are merely running it back, as if that would be a bad thing after 87-, 90-, 95-, and 96-win seasons and four playoff appearances in a row.
“I don’t think we ever just run it back. We’re not running our club back,” Dombrowski said, citing Crawford’s arrival and possibly an expanded role for Otto Kemp as examples of changes. “And when I say that, I’m not so sure where you win 96 games that you should really look to have to do a lot of things differently.”
Said Thomson: “We won 96 games last year. It’s not like we’re not doing well. We’ve got a good club. No matter what happens, we’re still going to have a good club.
“Even if we sign both [Schwarber and Realmuto] back, there’s still going to be some changes. And there might be some change within the lineup as far as the order, which could infuse a little bit of energy.”
Bryce Harper batted behind Kyle Schwarber in 2025, but their order could switch next season.
More specifically, Thomson hinted at flipping Schwarber and Bryce Harper in the batting order.
Schwarber batted behind Harper for a month early in the season before the latter missed a month with an inflamed right wrist. When Harper returned, he batted third, with Schwarber cemented in the No. 2 spot. And while Harper faced a lower rate of pitches in the zone (43%) than any hitter in baseball, Schwarber hit a career-high 56 homers.
“Harper was protecting Schwarber,” Thomson said, “and Schwarber is having at that point a career year. I just didn’t want to mess with it.”
Upon further review, maybe it would be better the other way around?
“Yeah,” Thomson said. “I’ve got some ideas. But I haven’t talked to the players yet, so I don’t want to talk much more about that. But yeah, I’ve thought long and hard about it.”
Those are the changes Phillies officials believe could make the difference in a 96-win team getting knocked out in the divisional round and finally winning the World Series.
Moving on from Schwarber was nothing they ever cared to contemplate.
A smattering of people pushed their luck Tuesday at the Mount Airy Casino Resort, tapping neon slot buttons, flipping dice onto felt craps tables, and wandering the rows of glowing, dinging machines.
A floor below, President Donald Trump was set to speak in a sprawling ballroom, where event staff hung a huge blue banner: LOWER PRICES, BIGGER PAYCHECKS.
Trump picked this casino in the Pocono Mountains to deliver the first big economic speech of his presidency as polls show Americans are feeling the pain of high prices — and many are blaming him.
But the contrast at the casino was hard to miss: the steady slot machine chimes of financial risk and uncertainty above and a president’s promises of stability and revival on the floor below.
How’s the economy working for Rosemary Migli?
“It could be better,” saidthe 73-year-old retired bartender from Tobyhanna, taking a puff of a cigarette before winning 35 cents on a spin.
Despite a frenzy of police and Secret Service, many gamblers, focused on their own troubles or celebrations, did not realize the president was coming. An older retired couple enjoyed an afternoon together with no obligations. Nearby, a recently widowed woman said the monotony of the slots helps her cope with her loss.
Peter Jean-Baptiste celebrated his 33rd birthday at the casino with his fiancee. The Philadelphia-based couple are saving for a wedding next year.
“It’s tough for everyone just trying to make a living, honest people trying to make a living,” Jean-Baptiste said. “One day you feel like [Trump’s] got your back, the next day he doesn’t.”
Jean-Baptiste, who works in property insurance, said he has also seen housing prices rise. And, as a child of Haitian immigrant parents, he is struggling with how Trump’s anti-Haitian verbal attacks and immigration crackdowns have affected his family.
“He does a bunch of hot takes and causes division between American citizens,” Jean-Baptiste said. “When, I feel, we really all just want to get along and get by.”
Mount Pocono is a region with mixed fortunes: Wealthy retirees have second vacation homes here, while lower-income workers are employed in warehouses and hold up the tourism industry. The area is also a hub for New York City commuters who moved here for more affordable housing.
“We live on a fixed income. We watch what we spend,” said Julie Dietz, sitting beside her husband, Glenn, as she played a buffalo-themed slot game. The Toms River, N.J., couple gamble for a few hours every now and then. She was a paralegal and he worked evaluating industrial facilities for safety before they retired.
“We know what our limitations are,” Dietz, 71, said. “Yes, food prices have gone up, but I’ve also seen some things come down — gas prices in our area. And the economy took so many years to get to this point.”
Dietz, who supported Trump in the last election, thinks an economic rebound is just going to take more time.
“He’s been in office 11 months. Eleven months. So I feel full confidence that he is going to do what he said he’s going to do. Everybody wants things immediately.”
Kathy F., who didn’t want to give her last name talking about politics and gambling, joined her husband at the casino Tuesday, despite her misgivings about losing money at a time when prices are going up.
“I go to Costco and everything is $5 more than it used to be. That’s a lot,” she said, bundled in a puffy black coat as her husband gambled nearby.
“I really don’t understand politics,” said the retired New York City civil servant, who voted for then-Vice President Kamala Harris last year. “It seems like they just fight with each other nonstop when all people want is to be able to afford to live.”
As he stretched his legs between games, Stephen Miller — “not that Stephen Miller,” he clarified — laughed off the notion of going to see Trump in person a floor below.
“If I want to see him, all I have to do is turn on the TV. He’s on at 12, he’s on at 3, he’s on at 5, seven days a week.”
The 75-year-old retired contractor supports Trump, though, and called the economy “half-decent.” He said food prices are high but eggs have gone down.
“The economy is glacial, so it moves slow. Democrats are definitely locked onto the affordability. But affordability means, what? It means whatever you want it to mean.”
Miller glanced down at a few vouchers in his hand to set off for the next set of machines.
“I’m not winning yet, but I will be and the Donald will be,” he said. “Give it time.”
MAYS LANDING, N.J. — The daughter of Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. took the stand in an Atlantic County courtroom Tuesday morning to testify against him at trial as he stands accused of physically abusing her.
As a Superior Court judge looked on, the teen told jurors her father had beaten and punched her and struck her with a broom.
“He put his hands on me,” she said.
Small, a Democrat, faces charges of child endangerment, aggravated assault, and witness tampering in connection with a series of incidents in which prosecutors say he punched, beat, and threatened his then-15-year-old daughter, largely over his disapproval of her relationship with her boyfriend. He has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyers have challenged his daughter’s credibility.
The girl, now 17, recounted the abuse in a soft voice, calmly answering prosecutors’ questions — and rejecting suggestions by an attorney for her father that she had lied about key details.
“My dad came home and he was like, upset,” the girl said as prosecutors asked her about crimes they allege took place in the Small family home in January 2024.
She said her mother had recently gone through her phone and learned that she had sneaked her boyfriend into the house. Her father, she testified, was “mad and disappointed.” As she sat in a chair that she recalled as having a Philadelphia Flyers theme, she told the jury, he hit her with a belt and punched her in the legs.
Louis Barbone, an attorney for Small, maintained that there were inconsistencies in statements the girl gave to investigators, and he disputed her account of the incident with the broom.
Earlier in the day, prosecutors played video footage they say the teen recorded at home.
Though the camera did not show images of Small or others, it captured the sound of the girl and her parents screaming amid what prosecutors described as the chaos that descended on the home after the teen started a relationship they did not approve of.
Prosecutors also showed Instagram messages the girl exchanged with her boyfriend about the alleged abuse, including one in which she told him, ”I’m scared to get in the shower because my bruise is gonna burn.”
Small’s daughter told jurors that as her father was rousing his family one January morning to attend the Atlantic City Peace Walk, she did not have her hair done and didn’t want to go. She said she and her father argued and he pushed her, so she splashed him with laundry detergent.
Small, she said, then got a broom and struck her multiple times in the forehead. She testified that she passed out, and the next thing she remembered was her father telling her brother to get her some water.
On cross examination, Barbone returned to a theme he struck in his opening statement to the jury on Monday — that Small was a caring father who, watching his daughter’s life veer off course because of a relationship he believed to be manipulative and inappropriate, had legally disciplined a disobedient child.
He told jurors prosecutors did not have a recording of the incident involving a broom, and he said the girl had been wielding a butter knife and the injuries she sustained that day happened when she fell as the two wrestled for the broom.
Barbone said the teen had exaggerated her injuries, and he noted that when initially questioned by investigators, she told them she felt safe at home.
“I didn’t want to get taken away,” the girl said, “so I said, ‘yes.’”
The trial is expected to continue through the end of the week.
Twin brothers from Absecon, N.J., were arrested and charged Tuesday with allegedly writing threats on social media against ICE agents and Tricia McLaughlin, the spokesperson for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, DHS announced.
Emilio Roman-Flores and Ricardo Antonio Roman-Flores are accused of writing on social media that McLaughlin should be hanged and declaring, “Shoot ICE on sight.”
The Absecon Police Department SWAT team and DHS executed a search and arrest warrant Tuesday morning for the brothers. DHS said both were U.S. citizens.
DHS posted a photo on the agency’s website showing a shotgun and a semiautomatic rifle and ammunition that was allegedly taken as evidence during the raid.
Emilio Roman-Flores was charged with unlawful possession of an assault weapon, possession of prohibited weapons, conspiracy-terroristic threats, criminal coercion, threats, and cyber harassment, the department said.
Ricardo Antonio Roman-Flores was charged with conspiracy-terroristic threats, DHS said.
According to public records, the brothers are 26 years old.
“If you threaten our law enforcement or DHS officials, we will hunt you down and you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Todd Lyons, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in a statement.
According to a Fox News story that DHS promoted on social media, one of the brothers allegedly wrote in reply to something McLaughlin posted: “[The Second] Amendment is in place for moments like this. Shoot ICE on sight.”
One of the brothers also allegedly wrote in response to McLaughlin, according to Fox News: “We Americans should find you, tar you, feather you, and hang you as we did to anyone serving tyrants before the Revolutionary War.”
Neither the Fox News report nor the DHS announcement specified which brother made the statements.
Let this be a warning to anyone who dares threaten or attack our law enforcement and DHS officials. We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.
It’s the Schwarbomb Phillies fans had been waiting for.
Kyle Schwarber, the National League MVP runner-up and one of baseball’s top free agents, re-signed with the Phillies on Tuesday to the tune of $150 million over five years, The Inquirer’s Scott Lauber confirmed.
Since joining the team in 2022, Schwarber has hit 187 home runs, made three All-Star teams, and helped the Phillies to their first World Series appearance in over a decade. Now, fans are preparing for five more years of Schwarbombs at Citizens Bank Park.
Re-signing arguably the best performing Phillie over the last three years has sparked joy, especially after a brutal Eagles loss on Monday night. Following four interceptions from Jalen Hurts — and a third loss in a row — Philly fans have are thankful they no longer have to worry about losing Schwarber.
SCHWARBER IT WAS ALWAYS US!!! HE KNEW WHAT WE NEEDED AFTER THAT EAGLES GAME LAST NIGHT pic.twitter.com/RstLgJIWWR
As many teams vied for Schwarber’s hand in free agency, including some tempting exes like the Red Sox and other options like his hometown Cincinnati Reds, Philly fans were happy to learn that their town was the place Schwarber would give his rose.
On top of Schwarber’s recommitment, Edwin Diaz, a star closer for the New York Mets, signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, causing a double celebration for Phillies fans.
How it feels watching Schwarber re-sign and Edwin Diaz leave my division at the same exact time pic.twitter.com/dANnsLqoek
There have been more mixed reactions regarding Schwarber’s deal from the media. The designated hitter will be 33 on opening day, and will be under contract until his age 37 season, along with Bryce Harper and Trea Turner.
“The Phillies paying Kyle Schwarber that much money for five years is a mistake,” 94 WIP’s Eliot Shorr-Parks posted on X. “Doubling down on an older core that has come up small in the playoffs is not the way to go.”
Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are both under contract into their late 30s.
On the other hand, this “older core” has dominated the regular season in recent years — with Schwarber’s efforts leading the way in 2025.
“Bringing Schwarber back was always the right move,” former Eagles linebacker and current WIP host Ike Reese wrote in a tweet after the signing. Now he wants the team to turn its attention to catcher J.T. Realmuto.
Bringing Schwarber back was always the right move. JT is next, then fill in the holes where you can. Team won 96 games(2nd most in MLB) while dealing with injuries. #Phightins ⚾️
Even media members who are fans of opposing teams — including one where Schwarber once played — are impressed by the Phillies’ decision to re-sign the slugger, with Dave Dombrowski again being aggressive in his free agency approach.
The Red Sox didn’t splurge for Schwarber — would have ruined their plan to get a hitter in his 30s coming off a major injury on a one year 17m deal who they can waive in August.
The University of Delaware on Tuesday appointed Laura A. Carlson, who had been serving as interim president, to the permanent post, effective Jan. 1.
Carlson came to the school in 2022 as provost after spending 25 years at the University of Notre Dame. She stepped into the interim presidency in July after former president Dennis Assanis announced he was stepping down last June with less than two months notice.
The university did not conduct a national search but rather engaged a consultant to help the school evaluate the qualities needed for the next president and assess Carlson’s ability to fit the role.
“Dr. Carlson has demonstrated a deep commitment to the advancement of our university and a clear passion for the success and wellbeing of our students, faculty, staff and alumni,” Terri Kelly, board of trustees’ chair, said in a statement.
As provost, Carlson, whose specialty is psychology, expanded courses offered in winter and summer sessions to give students the ability to graduate more quickly and prioritized bringing ideas from faculty and staff to fruition, the university said.
She’s a cum laude graduate of Dartmouth, where she got her bachelor’s in psychology of language and obtained her master’s from Michigan State University and her doctorate from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
“I have fallen in love with UD, and I am deeply committed to its purpose and people,” Carlson, 60, said in a statement. “Together we can make the University of Delaware a place where we inquire with impact, create with connections, innovate with intention, grow with purpose, welcome with promise, educate with outcomes, work with trust, and belong with joy.”
Ty Murchison wasn’t sure whether he should sit or stand when the media wanted to talk to him in the Flyers’ locker room in Voorhees on Monday.
On Saturday, the defenseman was recalled from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League, and, normally, availability in Allentown is held outside the room.
He was more prepared for the swarm of reporters following the team’s optional morning skate Tuesday at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Although it was hinted at a day earlier, Murchison learned officially that he would be making his NHL debut later that night.
“Extremely excited,” the 22-year-old said. “It’s been something I’ve been dreaming about my entire life. So, yeah, definitely an emotional time, but ready to go tonight.”
It’s been a journey for the California kid, a fifth-round pick by the Flyers in 2021 and someone who didn’t swap his roller hockey wheels for ice hockey steel until he was 11 years old.
“I would say roller hockey is where home is for me,” he said Monday. “The skating is definitely a bit different. It’s funny when I go back and play in the summer with all my ice hockey buddies, like I’m the only guy that can stop in my roller blades, because I pretty much grew up on them. But the rest of the guys, they usually struggle trying not to break any ankles out there.”
Murchison jokes that he didn’t know how to stop and was “blowing up kids” on the ice when he started playing. It’s not a bad thing because that’s how he evolved into a rugged defenseman.
With his size, 6-foot-2 and 212 pounds, and physicality at development camp in July, and rookie camp and the main training camp in September, his play piqued the interest of the Flyers’ new coaching staff.
“I thought from Day 1 — and I don’t think we gave [him] an exhibition game — he was really impressing me in practice,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said on Monday.
“He was [ticking] guys off, he was blowing up guys on cycles and stuff like that. And he’s played really well. I talked to [Phantoms coach John Snowden], and he’s a guy who deserves to come up and get a shot.”
When the season started, not many would have pegged him to be the first guy to take a rookie lap this season. Just a few months ago, Murchison wrapped up his four-year career at Arizona State as the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s defensive defenseman of the year after blocking 98 shots.
Ty Murchison’s roller hockey background has taken him all the way to the NHL.
After signing a two-year deal, he registered a goal and an assist in four regular-season games last season for the Phantoms and did not play in the postseason.
But this year, in 21 games, he has a goal, four points, 30 penalty minutes, and is plus-9. Murchison said he feels the pro game fits his style of play better than college because he likes to play a fast-paced, physical game.
So there he was this week, getting called into Snowden’s office to learn he was getting called up.
“My heart was beating about 100 beats per minute,” he said. “It was crazy, definitely nerve-racking, but extremely grateful to be here.”
And then he started making calls. His former teammates at ASU got a call, but the first FaceTime of the day was to his parents, Allyson and Ken.
“It was early morning back in Arizona, so woke them up, but yeah, I was choked up trying to get the words out. But as soon as I told my mom, she was screaming for my dad,” Murchison said with a laugh.
“But yeah, extremely emotional. There’s been a lot of periods throughout the last 48 hours where I’ve been getting a bit choked up and just thinking about it. Because, I mean, I’ve been thinking about this every day of my life.”
Murchison added that his parents packed their bags after that initial call and were just waiting for the next call to say he would be making his NHL debut. They will be in attendance along with about 20 buddies and family members from places like California, Prince Edward Island (his parents are from Canada), and Arizona on Tuesday when he skates against the visiting San Jose Sharks (7 p.m., NBCSP). For the record, Murchison grew up an Anaheim Ducks fan in Corona, Calif.
Ty Murchison has some familiarity with Todd Reirden (middle), having worked with his son at Arizona State.
He’ll be working with assistant coach Todd Reirden — he already knew him through Reirden’s son, Travis, who worked in analytics for Arizona State — and alongside veteran blueliner Noah Juulsen on the third pairing. Communication will be key for the new partner, as noted by Juulsen, and Murchison said he was “extremely talkative” during practice on Monday.
A big difference between this year and previous regimes is that the Flyers and Phantoms play a similar structure, especially in the defensive zone. It has helped several players, like center Jacob Gaucher and defenseman Emil Andrae, seamlessly enter the big club’s lineup when they have been called up.
Now it’s Murchison’s turn to show the bench boss what he can do. And while Tocchet called it “music to my ears” when told that Murchison likes to play a fast, hard game with an edge, the Flyers coach just wants to see him play his game.
The Phantoms coaches “felt that he was a guy who really consistently has brought his game [and is] competitive every night,” Tocchet said. “I’ve talked to [the media] about how we’ve got to squash plays, we’ve got to come up with some battle. And he’s one of those guys who, hopefully he can do it for us. I don’t know, but I think you’ve got to give him a shot.”
Breakaways
Forward Carl Grundström will be inserted into the lineup on the fourth line in place of Nic Deslauriers. Acquired in the deal that sent Ryan Ellis’ contract to the Sharks, Grundström played one season for San Jose, registering nine points in 56 games. He was recalled Dec. 2 from the Phantoms after Tyson Foerster was injured. Grundström made his Flyers debut against the Ottawa Senators on Nov. 8. … Goalie Dan Vladař (10-5-1, .906 save percentage) will start in net.
Ty Murchison signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Flyers in March.
