American ski champ Lindsey Vonn was airlifted off Olympia delle Tofane and was in stable condition following surgery on a broken leg Sunday after crashing during the women’s Alpine skiing event at the Winter Olympics.
Vonn, skiing with a torn ACL she ruptured last month, lost control near the start of the race and crashed after clipping a flag on the course. She was heard screaming after the crash as she was surrounded by medical personnel before she was strapped to a gurney and flown away by helicopter, possibly ending the skier’s storied career.
The race was paused for nearly half an hour, with a stunned crowd watching.
“Lindsey Vonn sustained an injury, but is in stable condition and in good hands with a team of American and Italian physicians,” the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team said in a statement Sunday afternoon.
“That definitely was the last thing we wanted to see,” Vonn’s sister, Karin Kildow, said during NBC’s broadcast. “It happened quick. When that happens, you’re just immediately hoping she’s OK. It was scary, because when you start seeing the stretchers being put out, it’s not a good sign.”
“She does have all of her surgeons and her [physical therapy] staff here and her doctors,” Kildow added.
All downhill skiers were required to have smart safety air bags in their racing suits, triggered by motion sensors and GPS data in the event of a crash. Vonn’s air bag inflated during her crash, which may have softened her fall, supplier Dainese told the Associated Press.
Lindsey Vonn the moment she crashed into a gate during an Alpine skiing downhill race at the Olympics.
The 41-year-old underwent a partial knee replacement in April 2024, which rekindled hope of an Olympic return after retiring in 2019. She suffered another setback last month when she ruptured her ACL skiing at the Alpine Ski World Cup in Switzerland.
Fellow Team USA skier Breezy Johnson won gold in the event, her first Olympic medal. But speaking after the national anthem, Johnson’s thoughts were on her teammate.
“It’s devastating,” Johnson said. “It’s not the physical pain — we can deal with physical pain — but the emotional pain is something else. I wish her the best and I hope that this isn’t the end.”
She has some experience in what happened to Vonn. Johnson crashed at Cortina d’Ampezzo and injured her knee, which forced her to miss the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Andorra’s Cande Moreno and Austria’s Nina Ortlieb both also crashed during their runs Sunday. Ortlieb was able to stand up and walk off the course, while Moreno needed to be airlifted.
Tyrese Maxey will compete in the three-point contest on Saturday at All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, the NBA announced Sunday afternoon.
Maxey, the 76ers’ standout point guard, is one of the NBA’s most dangerous three-point shooters, connecting on 38.2% of his 8.8 attempts per game. That effectiveness from deep has contributed to Maxey entering Sunday ranked sixth in the NBA in scoring at 28.8 points per game.
The three-point contest is part of the All-Star Saturday festivities. The other three-point contest participants are the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker, the Charlotte Hornets’ Kon Kneuppel, the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell, the Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray, the Milwaukee Bucks’ Bobby Portis, and the Miami Heat’s Norman Powell.
Maxey is also an Eastern Conference starter for the All-Star Game next Sunday. Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe will play in the Rising Stars competition on Friday.
Noam Chomsky, the Philadelphia-born and educated intellectual, told Jeffrey Epstein to “ignore” negative media attention as the disgraced financier was being accused of abusing women and girls, emails recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice show.
“Noam. I d love your advice on how I handle my putrid press. its is spiraling out of control,” Epstein wrote in an email dated Feb. 23, 2019. Epstein then asked Chomsky if he should “defend myself” or “try to ignore.”
In a response purportedly from Chomsky, the famed linguistics professor advised Epstein “the best way to proceed is to ignore it” and “not to react unless directly questioned.” Chomsky drew parallels to his own experience with “hysterical accusations of all sorts,” writing, “I pay no attention, unless I’m approached for a comment on a specific matter.”
“What the vultures dearly want is a public response, which then provides a public opening for an onslaught of venomous attacks, many from just publicity seekers or cranks of all sorts,” the email said. “That’s particularly true now with the hysteria that has developed about abuse of women, which has reached the point that even questioning a charge is a crime worse than murder.”
Chomsky’s wife and spokesperson, Valeria Chomsky, did not immediately respond to an email from The Inquirer seeking comment.
In a statement posted on social media, Valeria Chomsky said the couple was “careless in not thoroughly researching [Epstein’s] background,” calling it a “grave mistake.” She apologized for the couple’s “lapse in judgement.” Noam Chomsky, who is 97, suffered a massive stroke in 2023 and is unable to speak, according to the statement.
On behalf of Valeria & Noam Chomsky I am sharing this letter of Valéria Chomsky.
She writes with total transparency about Noam's stroke, the specific context of their interactions with Jeffrey Epstein, and the deep regret they both carry regarding that “lapse in judgment.”… pic.twitter.com/qdg22p0Y0M
The statement said the couple did not know the extent of the allegations against Epstein until his 2019 arrest, and cautioned that the men’s emails should be “read in context.”
“Epstein created a manipulative narrative about his case, which Noam, in good faith, believed in,” the statement read. “It is now clear that it was all orchestrated, having as, at least, one of Epstein’s intentions to try to have someone like Noam help repair Epstein’s reputation by association.”
Noam Chomsky has appeared in other batches of the Epstein files. In her statement, Valeria Chomsky — whose name and emails were also among the more than three million documents released — said her husband and Epstein were introduced in 2015. When asked in 2023 about his relationship with Epstein by the Wall Street Journal, Noam Chomsky replied, “First response is that it is none of your business. Or anyone’s. Second is that I knew him and we met occasionally.”
Noam Chomsky was born in Philadelphia’s East Oak Lane neighborhood, attended Central High School, and earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. Considered the founder of modern linguistics and one of the most cited scholars, he is celebrated for his research and influential political activism.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman said Sunday that he expects the Department of Homeland Security to shut down Friday as negotiations over immigration enforcement have stalled, an outcome that could impact air travel and emergency response across the nation.
“I absolutely would expect that it’s going to shut down,” the Pennsylvania Democrat said during an interview on Fox News’Sunday Morning Futureswith Maria Bartiromo.
Funding for DHS is scheduled to lapse Friday, a deadline that lawmakers set after separating the agency’s funding from other parts of the federal budget and approving a two-week extension to continue talks.
At the center of the impasse is Democrats’ insistence on overhauling federal immigration enforcement. The party’s leaders drafted a list of 10 policies they want Republicans to agree to in exchange for their support in funding DHS, which includes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Among Democrats’ demands are banning immigration enforcement agents from wearing masks and requiring DHS officers to obtain a warrant signed by a judge before entering a home.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) said Sunday during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union that “at this point” he was not willing to accept a deal that didn’t include President Donald Trump’s administration implementing Democrats’ full list of ICE changes.
“We know that ICE is completely and totally out of control,” Jeffries said. “They’ve gone way too far, and the American people want them reined in.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) speaks to reporters about Venezuela, the ICE shooting in Minneapolis, and affordability ahead of a vote in the House to extend the Obamacare subsidies for three years at the Capitol on Jan. 8. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
“We, the Democrats, we provided 10 kinds of basic things, and then the Republicans pushed back quickly saying, ‘That’s a Christmas wish list,’ and that they’re nonstarters,” Fetterman, a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said. “I truly don’t know what specifically are the Democrats’ red lines that it has to be — certainly not going to get all 10.”
Fetterman generally opposes any measure that would shut down the government and has been the only Senate Democrat to vote for some Republican budget proposals. He added that he is concerned about federal workers, including TSA agents, not being paid amid a funding lapse.
“Every American deserves to be paid for the work that they’ve done,” he said. “That’s real lives, and they’re not wealthy if they’re TSA folks. They’re allowing us to fly safe here in America, and that’s part of that conversation now, too.”
Stagecraft and technology being what they are these days, one can imagine any number of ways Peter and the Wolf could be souped up. If the key to audience-building is children, Prokofiev’s children’s classic would seem to be the perfect chance to engage them with eye-popping visuals.
But the Philadelphia Orchestra is smart enough to let the piece speak for itself.
It also knows you don’t mess with success. Saturday morning in Marian Anderson Hall marked the 10th time the orchestra has presented the piece with actor-narrator Michael Boudewyns over nearly two decades, and no one should ever touch a hair on this modest production’s furry little head. In its simplicity and humor, here is one of those rare, perfect things in this world.
The audience applauds for the Philadelphia Orchestra’s performance of “Peter and the Wolf” Saturday in Marian Anderson Hall.
Saturday’s concert was also, judging from an audience whose ages looked to span from 2 years old to 80, a powerful generational bridge. Surely there were a few grandparents in the hall who remember going to these Philadelphia Orchestra family concerts with Leopold Stokowski on the podium.
The series continues in March with another on-ramp to classical music: Britten’s dazzling The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.
Michael Boudewyns narrating “Peter and the Wolf” with conductor Naomi Woo leading the Philadelphia Orchestra, Feb. 7, 2026, in Marian Anderson Hall.
Prokofiev’s piece — which is about to turn 90 years old — can be frightening in some productions: The French horns are as menacing as the fang-bearing wolf they depict. But Boudewyns has a grab bag of tricks so disarming that the scare factor practically disappears.
His props are drawn from household items: The duck is a feather duster, the bird a diaphanous, darting, bright yellow swatch of fabric. Who can’t help but laugh at a gun represented by a toilet plunger? Boudewyns narrates while choreographing the action in response to the changing character of the music and arc of the story. For an audience growing up in the digital thicket, here was a bright clearing. Nothing beats a good story, enticingly told and heightened by a great score.
With a suitcase as the wolf, Michael Boudewyns narrating “Peter and the Wolf” with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Feb. 7, 2026, in Marian Anderson Hall. It was his 10th time performing with work with the orchestra since his first appearance in 2007.
Naomi Woo, the orchestra’s assistant conductor, was visually engaging, leading the work and three others, including a truncated version of the first movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. These concerts are another reminder of the deep bench of talent within the orchestra beyond the principal chairs. In the Prokofiev, that meant Patrick Williams’ glossy flute sound as the bird, clarinetist Samuel Caviezel as the bouncy cat, oboist Peter Smith’s poignant duck, and the appropriately lumbering (but polished) grandfather emanating from the bassoon of Mark Gigliotti.
All deserved special recognition, and Woo gave the players bows, but no orchestra roster was published in the concert’s Playbill (even though the usual lists of board, staff, and oodles of donors were included).
Narrator and actor Michael Boudewyns and conductor Naomi Woo embrace after their performance of “Peter and the Wolf” in Marian Anderson Hall on Saturday.
One of the unspoken truths of all art is that its effect on people is ultimately unknowable. The two children in front of me — one looked to be 3, the other even younger — were ostensibly too small to be there, and yet there’s no way of knowing what they were absorbing. The power of these concerts is in being in the presence of this orchestra, with that incredible sound. No other kind of ensemble has the same impact. And despite all the squirming and low chattering coming from the next row, there was really only one thought to which I kept returning: what lucky children.
The Philadelphia Orchestra, conductor Naomi Woo, and actor Michael Boudewyns perform Britten’s “The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra,” March 14, 11:30 a.m., Marian Anderson Hall, Broad and Spruce Streets. Tickets $29-$66. ensembleartsphilly.org, 215-893-1999.
The slow drip of the U.S. government’s still grossly incomplete release of its files on late financier and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein has nonetheless become a who’s who of Planet Earth’s rich and famous — from billionaires like Bill Gates and Elon Musk to cultural icons like filmmaker Woody Allen and, of course, two presidents.
The average American paying any attention to this global bonfire of the vanities probably barely noticed this name: longtime British politico Peter Mandelson, who most recently served as the U.K.’s ambassador to the United States.
Across the pond, it was another story. The Fleet Street tabloid press went wild over revelations that Mandelson — a key insider in the ruling Labour Party, long known to have been one of Epstein’s globe-trotting pals — maintained his close ties even after the American’s 2008 child prostitution conviction, writing Epstein in 2009 to hail his release from jail as “liberation day.”
But unlike the fallout in the United States, Mandelson’s Epstein problem didn’t end with some embarrassing headlines. Back in September, when an initial batch of Epstein’s emails went public, Prime Minister Keir Starmer — Mandelson’s longtime ally — immediately fired his friend from his ambassador’s post in Washington, D.C., and the scandal has only intensified.
Last week, Scotland Yard investigators raided Mandelson’s two U.K. homes in a reported criminal investigation into whether the government official leaked secret and sensitive financial information to Epstein around the time of the Great Recession in2008. (Headline in the tabloid Sun: “Police rummage through Mandy’s drawers.”)
Meanwhile, Americans watching Britain’s rush to hold a powerful man to account for his unconscionable relationship with modern history’s most notorious sex creep are probably all asking the same thing.
Wait, you can do that?
Paris prosecutors raid the French offices of Elon Musk’s X as part of an investigation into spreading child pornography and deepfakes. https://t.co/YdCYxI8FLA
Here in the land where Epstein sex trafficked scores of underage girls — including the U.S. Virgin Islands hideaway now known as “Rape Island” — the sound of any type of justice or accountability for the financier’s powerful confederates has been an ear-splitting silence.
Since Epstein’s mysterious August 2019 death in a Manhattan federal jail cell, only his longtime companion and procurer of young women, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been criminally charged and convicted, and she has been moved by her longtime friend Donald Trump’s Justice Department to a low-security prison where she reportedly gets special perks.
Most of the corporate CEOs, company or university board members, NFL team owners, scientists, etc., etc., etc., who maintained close Epstein ties even after his 2008 state conviction on lurid crimes with minors have faced no sanctions, or just minor ones. Last week’s news that Brad Karp — chair of the powerful law firm Paul Weiss, already under fire for a controversial deal with Trump to head off a lawsuit with pro bono legal aid — is stepping down over revelations of his Epstein contacts stood out because it was such a rare nod toward accountability among U.S. elites.
This is why the reaction in Europe to Epstein’s close ties with some of its top leaders ought to be a wake-up call for the United States and our own rotten system of justice.
The Epstein accountability party isn’t just breaking out in Great Britain, although our cross-Atlantic ally has led the way ever since the artist formerly known as Prince Andrew was booted from the royal family as allegations mounted that he took part in some of the illegal sexual activities on Epstein’s island.
Images from an undated and redacted document released by the U.S. Department of Justice, show Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, leaning over an unidentified person.
Despite the aggressive moves against Mandelson and the ex-royal now called Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, some observers think Starmer’s already tottering Labour government could collapse amid questions over what it did know about Mandelson’s Epstein connection, and when it did know it. A pointed headline in the Guardian newspaper bluntly summed up an increasingly prevalent U.K. viewpoint: “Deceit, betrayal and a scandal that demands historic change.”
But the fallout has spread well beyond the British Isles. When it came out that Joanna Rubinstein, a Swedish U.N. official, visited Epstein’s island in 2012, and that Miroslav Lajčák, national security adviser to Slovakia’s prime minister, discussed “gorgeous” girls in emails with the financier, both of them quit their jobs.
Imagine that.
Norway, much like the U.K., has been rocked to its core by revelations that so many of the nation’s elite leaders had Epstein ties. That even includes the nation’s crown princess, Mette-Marit, who had a running, jovial email conversation with Epstein that included such mundane matters as teeth whitening. More seriously, Norway’s economic crimes unit — yes, some countries actually have such a thing — has opened a corruption investigation into former Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland’s relationship with the disgraced U.S. moneyman.
There’s more. Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland have also announced their own investigations. In particular, Poland is digging into mounting evidence over associations between Epstein and Russian intelligence — an existential matter for a nation that’s been overrun and dominated by its eastern neighbor in the past.
In the United States, officials seem more likely to investigate chemtrails or what happened to Amelia Earhart than conduct a serious probe of whether Trump’s former friend was with the Russians, too.
Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, and Crown Princess Mette-Marit applaud during the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo, Norway, in December.
Rob Ford, a professor at the U.K.’s University of Manchester, told the Associated Press that Europe has “a more functional media, we have a more functional accountability structure, that there is still a degree of shame in politics, in terms of people will say: ‘This is just not acceptable, this is just not done.’”
And that goes beyond Epstein. Also last week, French authorities raided the Paris office of U.S. citizen and world’s richest person Elon Musk’s social media giant X (formerly Twitter) as part of a sweeping probe into the site’s allegedly unlawful data extraction, as well as the recent scandal involving its artificial intelligence platform Grok spreading child sexual abuse material. The U.K. is also investigating Grok.
Musk’s X is, of course, headquartered in San Francisco, but no one expects the FBI to burst into his office — not after the electric vehicle magnate donated a staggering $288 million in 2024 to push Trump back into the White House. (Although California’s Democratic attorney general has begun an investigation.)
The time-lapsed release of the Epstein files hasn’t yet produced a smoking gun concerning his close friendship with Trump, but the fact that lurid tips to federal authorities about the two-time president don’t seem to have been really investigated speaks volumes about the utter lack of elite accountability on this side of the Atlantic.
The true meaning of the Epstein files may be less what it says about any specific sex crime — horrific as those may be — and more what they show about how the most powerful men in this country understood that they can get away with anything.
Indeed, it now feels like the 1970s Watergate scandal that looked at the time like the height of accountability — Richard Nixon was forced to resign the presidency, while 48 of his allies were convicted of crimes — was actually the end. Nixon’s subsequent pardon by Gerald Ford — which emboldened the disgraced ex-POTUS to declare that “when the president does it, that means it is not illegal” — was like a bat signal for elites that their brief moment of responsibility for their actions was over.
There were virtually no criminal charges for the economic crime of the 21st century: the Wall Street-driven collapse of the global economic system in 2008. And the lack of justice is bipartisan. Prosecution of white-collar criminals in the United States hit an all-time low under Joe Biden, even before Trump began his obscene spree of pardoning the wealthiest crooks.
Gary Rush, of College Park, Md., holds a sign before a news conference on the Epstein files in front of the Capitol in November.
It was grotesque when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that presidents can’t be prosecuted for crimes that are “official acts,” yet that seemed pretty obvious after George W. Bush and Dick Cheney got away with their illegal torture regime. Who do you think we are, Europe?
If the Epstein scandal “demands historic change,” as the Brits put it, then that change has to be a newfound drive to somehow renew the spirit of ‘74 — as in 1974. The assault on the foundation of American democracy that is the Trump regime — with its billion-dollar White House corruption, brutal and murderous immigration raids, perversions of criminal justice, and much more — won’t be cured just by Republicans losing a couple of elections, assuming free and fair balloting can even take place.
The small-d democratic government that finally ends this nightmare must do the hard work Biden and his miserably failed attorney general, Merrick Garland, did not do the last time. Immigration agents who maim and kill, government officials enriching themselves, and all other crooks — especially those now being exposed in the Epstein files — must be prosecuted, convicted, and sent to prison.
Maybe that’s not the American way. But there’s a whole wide world out there that is doing things a lot better.
Born in a puppy mill in Peach Bottom, Lancaster County, Oscar suffered from “failure to thrive,” his breeder said.
By the time the breeder turned the 6-week-old toy poodle over to Phoenix Animal Rescue in Chester County, Oscar weighed just 7 ounces, according to Marta Gambone, a coordinator at the all-volunteer organization.
“But one of our volunteers was able to turn him around, from this scraggly little hamster to this wonderful Puppy Bowl player,” Gambone said.
When Oscar, a toy poodle, was rescued from a puppy mill in Lancaster County, he weighed just 7 ounces. After being nursed back to health, he’s playing in the 2026 Puppy Bowl.
After being nursed back to health, Oscar traveled to Glens Falls, N.Y., to participate in the October 2025 taping of the 22nd annual Puppy Bowl, which airs today before the Super Bowl.
Gambone said the annual event has become a wonderful way to raise awareness for animal rescues across the United States. Every one of the 150 dogs in the competition — between Team Ruff and Team Fluff — comes from a rescue.
Oscar, a toy poodle nursed back to health in Chester County, is one of this year’s Puppy Bowl stars.
Oscar, now 8 months old, has developed into a playful, social, and upbeat young dog who has found a loving home, Gambone said.
Oscar is one of six puppies from Phoenix Animal Rescue in the annual TV special this year, Gambone said. Jill, an 8-month-old Cavalier, was suffering from a hernia when she was turned over by a breeder in New Holland, Lancaster County.
The rescue also has four dogs participating in this year’s first-ever “Oldies vs. Goldies” senior dogs’ competition: Tiki, a Shiba Inu; Starlight, a Jack Russell terrier; Daisy, a Pomeranian; and Emmie, a Maltese mix.
Tiki, a Shiba Inu, is in this year’s “Oldies vs. Goldies” senior dog competition.
They all came from breeders in Lancaster County and were in need of care, Gambone said, “and now they’re all playing on a national stage, and getting lots of attention, and finding their forever homes.”
Though all of this year’s stars have since been adopted, Gambone noted that the rescue gets about a dozen dogs per week, across a wide variety of breeds and mixes.
“Anybody looking can find what they’re looking for if they have a little patience,” she said.
Carrie Pawshaw sits for a portrait. Pawshaw, a rescue dog from the Pittsburgh region, competed in the 2026 Puppy Bowl.
Across the state in Springdale, Allegheny County, Jacqueline Armour said it’s the third year that some of her rescue dogs are playing in the Puppy Bowl.
She founded Paws Across Pittsburgh, a rescue that places dogs with foster parents until they find permanent homes. The dogs come from owners and shelters from as far away as West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio.
This year, a playful Jack Russell mix named Meeko is their star, along with a Norwegian elkhound and American Eskimo dog mix named for Sarah Jessica Parker’s character in the TV show Sex and the City.
“They pick some of them and rename them,” Armour explained, “so initially I thought they were going to call her Sarah Jessica Barker. And then they said Carrie Pawshaw.”
Armour noted that, because her organization uses foster homes, their puppies are already learning how to live in a home — getting house-trained and crate-trained, and learning how to get along with children and other pets. This also gives volunteers a chance to see the dogs’ personalities, which can be helpful in matching a dog with an owner.
Both Armour and Gambone emphasized that rescue operations offer a variety of ways for volunteers to help out.
For those who’ve never owned a dog, Armour said the experience can be profound. The medical community consensus is that having a dog can help people get more exercise, improve mental health, and lower blood pressure, and can help children learn how to properly treat an animal.
In Chester County, Gambone said she’s seen firsthand how dogs can add vitality to someone’s life.
“They help with loneliness, and on the physical side, they help people stay more active,” she said. “We have so many senior citizens coming to us saying, ‘I just need something — something to love.’ And it changes their lives.”
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to hit the brakes on its plan to develop two Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers in Pennsylvania, saying they would have a negative impact on local communities.
“While I have been clear in my support for the enforcement of federal immigration law, this decision will do significant damage to these local tax bases, set back decades-long efforts to boost economic development, and place undue burdens on limited existing infrastructure in these communities,” Fetterman wrote in a letter addressed to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and posted online Saturday.
A 1.3-million-square-foot former Big Lots warehouse in Tremont, Pa., has been bought by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for $119 million. The agency plans to detain up to 7,500 immigrants there.
The Tremont Township detention center would house as many as 7,500 people, Fetterman noted, while the Upper Bern Township one would be capable of detaining 1,500 people.
Upper Bern Township has 1,606 residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and is about 30 minutes northwest of Reading. The facility is near an Amazon warehouse and the Mountain Springs Camping Resort.
Tremont Township — where the much larger detention center is set to be built — has just 283 residents and is next to the 1,670-resident Tremont Borough. Tremont is in a rural area northeast of Harrisburg, near the Appalachian Trail, state game lands, and Fort Indiantown Gap, an Army National Guard training center.
In his letter, Fetterman said local and state officials did not have a chance to weigh in on how these massive facilities would affect everything from sewer systems and the electrical grid to hospitals and emergency medical services.
“Both townships do not currently have the capacity to meet the demands of these detention centers, with Tremont Township officials specifically stating the proposed 7,500-bed detention facility would quadruple the existing burden on their public infrastructure system,” Fetterman said.
A warehouse in Upper Bern Township, Berks County, Pa., was purchased by ICE and the Trump administration.
The letter maintains Fetterman’s stance as someone who supports ICE operations in general while criticizing the federal government’s recent handling of them. After federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis last month, Fetterman called on the Trump administration to fire Noem. A few days later, Fetterman said he supports ICE agents wearing face masks.
Fetterman was among 23 Senate Democrats to cross the aisle last month to vote for a compromise bill funding the federal government through September, while granting just two weeks of funding for DHS.
Fetterman said the Pennsylvania facilities would result in a tax loss of $1.6 million to the communities. He asked DHS to agree to several conditions before proceeding further with the sites.
He requested an “impact assessment,” details on the criteria used to select these facilities, an agreement that federal funds be used to upgrade them, and “a commitment to a period of public engagement and dialogue with these communities.”
“Due to these significant concerns, it is my fear that DHS and ICE did not perform any due diligence, spending more than $200 million in tax dollars for warehouses that cannot be adequately converted and further eroding trust between Pennsylvanians and the Federal government,” Fetterman wrote.
The Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This story has been updated to correct the location of one of the proposed detention centers to Upper Bern Township.
PHOENIX — Trendon Watford wanted everybody to know that he believes he beat the shot clock on his swooping right-wing three-point attempt, which he launched off a high-arcing inbound pass from the opposite corner by Tyrese Maxey.
Forget that the fourth-quarter basket was overturned by an official review minutes later.
“Go back and watch that,” the reserve forward said from his locker. “I’m about 95% sure I got that off at 0.1 [seconds]. Approximately 0.2. But hey, 76ers win. It’s OK.”
That ruling took three points off Watford’s stat line in the 76ers’ 109-103 victory over the Suns on Saturday night at Mortgage Matchup Center. At first glance, Watford’s six points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two blocks are not exactly staggering. The eye test, though, recognized Watford’s impact as a complementary ballhandler, offensive connector, and hustle player inserted into the closing lineup for the 30-22 Sixers.
Watford is showcasing that versatile skill set during a crucial stretch of the schedule, with playmaking wing Paul George serving a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy and reserve guards Jared McCain and Eric Gordon traded away at the deadline last week.
“He just knows how to play the game,” star center Joel Embiid said of Watford. “Very unselfish. Willing to make the right cuts. Whether it’s get our teammates open [or] get a shot, it comes down to [he is an] extremely smart basketball player and he does all the little things.”
Before Saturday’s game, Sixers coach Nick Nurse said it was still “early days” in evaluating Watford, whose first season in Philly had been interrupted by hamstring and thigh injuries. Although Watford did record a triple-double in a November win over the Toronto Raptors, Nurse was still curious about the types of opposing players Watford could guard and how much he could help with rebounding. He has averaged 6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 16 minutes across 30 games.
After Saturday’s victory, however, Nurse praised Watford’s ability to both bring the ball up the floor like a lead guard and post up like a big man.
“Can kind of go from one extreme to the other on offense,” Nurse said.
Trendon Watford will be counted on for ballhandling and rebounding as the Sixers recover from losing three players.
Watford was the first Sixer off the bench Saturday, and eventually became a direct substitution for guard VJ Edgecombe. In the first quarter, Watford put the ball on the floor and slung a pass to Maxey for a three-pointer that rattled through the rim. Later, Watford set a screen for Embiid, rolled into space, and then found a cutting Dominick Barlow for an and-one layup. Watford then got out in transition to take a feed from Maxey for the layup. Watford also grabbed a rebound and initiated the offense, then backed down the Suns’ Jordan Goodwin in the paint and drew the foul.
Then came two highlight sequences that official reviews erased.
With less than six minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Watford drove past his defender and through contact for what was initially ruled an old-fashioned three-point play. Maxey yelled in celebration and held up his curved arm in a layup pose while waiting to check back into the game. But a coach’s challenge changed the call to an offensive foul on Watford, saying he pushed off with his opposite arm.
Watford’s wild end-of-shot-clock three-pointer came about a minute later, which a review later determined had not left his fingertips in time. Just after that second dash of disappointment, though, Watford sank a driving floater that put the Sixers up, 96-86, with 2 minutes, 56 seconds to go.
The performance was quite the turnaround from when Watford first returned from missing more than a month with an adductor injury in his thigh — and acknowledged he needed to earn his way into consistent playing time. In his first 13 games back, Watford played single-digit minutes six times. He was completely out of the rotation as recently as last Thursday’s home victory over the Sacramento Kings.
Yet even when Watford “wasn’t the most happy” about his role, Maxey assured him that, on teams vying for playoff positioning, rotations will fluctuate throughout the season.
“You’ve got to be ready,” Maxey told Watford. “Your number will be called. It’s inevitable. And you need everybody to win games, especially throughout the regular season.”
Watford has played double-digit minutes in all five games since George’s suspension began, including while totaling 16 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday’s victory at the Golden State Warriors. Maxey said Watford’s presence gives the Sixers their first ball-movement “connector” since Nico Batum during the 2023-24 season. Watford added that he does not feel any additional pressure as a 6-foot-8 ballhandler and playmaker because “I’m comfortable doing it, and I feel it’s a strong part of my game.”
Playing alongside Maxey, a close friend since they were high schoolers, has been “easy,” Watford said. He now feels chemistry building with Embiid, whom he can complement with his passing and floor-spacing.
“We’ve just got to get him to play some defense,” Maxey quipped about Watford, “and then we’ll be all right.”
Yet with the Sixers’ roster reshuffled again during the past week, Watford is carving out a necessary niche. Even if official reviews wiped away his two highlight buckets in Saturday’s road victory.
“Even if I’m not going to play 27 minutes like [Saturday], approach it like I am,” Watford said. “And just try to stay dialed inasmuch as I can. You never know what the game might bring and what the coaches might need.
“That’s been my approach, and control what I can control.”
Lindsey Vonn’s comeback story continues Sunday, where the 2010 gold medalist will hit the slopes in the women’s downhill skiing event, her first competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Women’s alpine skiing is scheduled to begin at 5:30 a.m. Philly time on USA Network, but will re-air on NBC around 9:20 a.m.
Vonn, 41, underwent a partial knee replacement in April 2024, which rekindled hope of an Olympic return after retiring in 2019. She suffered another setback last month, when she ruptured her ACL skiing at the Alpine Ski World Cup in Switzerland.
Skiing on one good knee didn’t seem to slow her down much Friday, where she successfully completed a 100-second training run without any issues … and posting the third-best time.
Just one week after tearing her ACL, Lindsey Vonn has completed her Olympic training run in Cortina.
In other Olympic action, U.S. mixed doubles curlers Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin will take on Estonia at 8:35 p.m. on USA Network. They’ll also face Sweden at 1:05 p.m., which will stream exclusively on Peacock (CNBC will re-air the match at 9 p.m.)
There’s also speed skating, with American Casey Dawson expected to compete in the men’s 5,000 meter beginning at 10 a.m. on NBC. Dawson is coming off a World Cup win in Calgary, but he’ll face stiff competition in Norway’s Sander Eitrem, who set a new world record at the Speed Skating World Cup in Inzell, Germany, becoming the first skater to finish the 5,000 meter in under six minutes (5:58.52).
Other competitions to watch Sunday include the men’s skiathlon at 6:45 a.m. on USA Network and NBC, the biathlon mixed relay at 8:45 a.m. on NBC, and the final run of the men’s luge at noon on USA Network.
How to watch the Olympics on TV and stream online
NBC’s TV coverage will have live events from noon to 5 p.m. Philadelphia time on weekdays and starting in the mornings on the weekends. There’s a six-hour time difference from Italy and here. The traditional prime-time coverage will have highlights of the day and storytelling features.
As far as the TV channels, the Olympics are airing on NBC, USA, CNBC, and NBCSN. Spanish coverage can be found on Telemundo and Universo.
NBCSN is carrying the Gold Zone whip-around show that was so popular during the Summer Olympics in 2024, with hosts including Scott Hanson of NFL RedZone. It used to be just on Peacock, NBC’s online streaming service, but now is on TV, too.
Every event is available to stream live on NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app. You’ll have to log in with your pay-TV provider, whether cable, satellite, or streaming platforms including YouTube TV, FuboTV, and Sling TV.
On Peacock, the events are on the platform’s premium subscription tier, which starts at $10.99 per month or $109.99 per year.
U.S. speedskater Casey Dawson will hit the ice Sunday in the men’s 5,000 meter event.
As a general rule, our schedules include all live broadcasts on TV, but not tape-delayed broadcasts on cable channels. We’ll let you know what’s on NBC’s broadcasts, whether they’re live or not.
NBC
7 a.m.: Cross-country skiing — men’s 10 kilometer skiathlon
