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  • The USMNT lived down to Donald Trump’s expectations: They played like the losers he thought they were

    The USMNT lived down to Donald Trump’s expectations: They played like the losers he thought they were

    If you didn’t believe it before, you need to understand it now: Donald Trump never should have picked up that phone, never should have put in that call to one of his toadies, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and never should have tried to exert his icky influence in a sport rife with corruption.

    The 4-1 loss by the U.S. men’s national team to Belgium on Monday night at Lumen Field in Seattle was a fitting result. It was an embarrassing end to the World Cup for the home country. It was cosmic payback for a club that hoped to benefit from a president who wanted to strongarm Team USA into the quarterfinals and found out that sports can resist even an autocrat’s attempts to stack the deck.

    Sometimes, once you show you’re willing to wallow in the mud, you can never wash the stain away. The justifications for the Trump administration’s overtures to FIFA to wipe out the one-game suspension for Folarin Balogun — and for FIFA’s acquiescence — were oh-so easy and obvious: This is FIFA.

    U.S. forward Folarin Balogun (20) was the center of attention against Belgium in the World Cup’s round of 16 on Monday.

    This is an organization with a history of scandal and corruption so long and detailed that Robert Caro could only begin to chronicle it. This kind of back-scratching and deal-making is nothing new at soccer’s highest level. This is how things work, and everyone knows it and holds their nose against the stench, and all the complaints from Belgium and the other countries left in the World Cup were nothing but rank hypocrisy.

    If another national team were in the same situation that the USMNT found itself after Balogun was hit with that questionable (at best) red card last Wednesday against Bosnia and Herzegovina, its president or prime minister would have done the same thing Trump did, right? Any means necessary in an every-country-for-itself system, right?

    USMNT blown out of World Cup with a 4-1 loss to Belgium in the round of 16

    Wrong. The corrective to dishonor and dishonesty isn’t to do more dishonorable things. Yet that was the remedy that Trump sought and put Team USA in the position of accepting. No, Balogun never deserved a red card and the subsequent suspension. Yes, it was a terrible call. But terrible calls happen at all levels of sports, because sports — at least until the gamblers and robots take them over completely — are officiated and overseen by human beings, and errors and mistakes are part of the game.

    Stuff happens, and you deal with it as best as you can, and no one gets a do-over days later just because Donald Trump says so. His actions wouldn’t have been appropriate in youth soccer — imagine a parent of a punished player pressuring a league’s commissioner to lift a suspension and the commissioner giving in — let alone in the biggest sporting event on the globe.

    What’s more, Trump and those who supported or tolerated his interference in The Balogun Affair apparently never stopped to consider that he might be damaging his own national team’s chances. In that 2-0 victory over Bosnia, Balogun’s teammates not only survived the final 26-plus minutes of the match without him but also scored shorthanded to extend their lead.

    Watch: USMNT fans ride a wave of emotions during the first half against Belgium

    They had become underdogs. They had acquired the momentum that comes with being a team that had to fight adversity and had given a strong indication that it could overcome it.

    But once FIFA reversed its decision, that entire narrative — that sense that the USMNT might use Balogun’s suspension as inspiration and triumph in the face of an unjust call — disappeared. Now, the USMNT wasn’t the tough, resilient bunch that could withstand the absence of its best player. Now it was so out of its depth without Balogun that it needed the shady political boss to cut a deal in the smoke-filled room to bail it out.

    Belgium players react after their team scored one of four goals against the United States in Monday’s round-of-16 World Cup match.

    Well, the Americans fit that pathetic profile Monday night. They allowed Belgium to take an early lead, then gave up the winning goal just 61 seconds after Malik Tillman tied the game at 1, then conspired to commit a crushing gaffe when goalkeeper Matt Freese played the ball outside the box, burped it up, and watched Hans Vanaken roll a shot past him for a two-goal Belgium edge.

    They were outplayed, outmatched, and outclassed, their performance all the more humiliating for the strings that their president had pulled for them, for the message that he had sent about their chances.

    Before Auston Trusty scored a World Cup goal, he ‘put the work in’ at Penncrest High and Nether United

    Donald Trump told the world that these athletes needed a man willing to act like a mob boss to make things easier for them, that the USMNT wasn’t strong enough to take home victory on its own and without his help. It turned out he was right. He treated them like losers, and on Monday night, they met his expectations.

    What an un-American way to bow out.

  • Exploding lithium-ion batteries are blamed for fires in area junkyards and drop in port traffic

    Exploding lithium-ion batteries are blamed for fires in area junkyards and drop in port traffic

    Scrap metal, one of the Philadelphia area’s biggest shipping products, has been piling up in area scrapyards since June 4 when Camden officials closed EMR USA Holdings Inc.’s metal-shredding facilities after the latest in a series of fires affecting the region’s million-ton-a-year scrap shipping industry.

    Scrap dealers, faced with bulging inventories, blame the fires on the increased use of lithium-ion batteries — not so much large car batteries but the increasingly ubiquitous, highly combustible smaller batteries slipping into landfills from lawn mowers, construction tools, “smart” infrastructure, and household appliances.

    The two-alarm May 29 fire, following a four-alarm Feb. 21, 2025, blaze that sent 100 neighbors fleeing for shelter, is the latest in what Camden code enforcement director Gabriel Camacho said have been up to a dozen “harmful, offensive, or obstructive” blazes at the Camden yard, which is at 1400 S. Front St. near the city’s Beckett Street Terminal. The fires spread smoke and hazardous materials.

    Camden officials in statements on the fire have focused on the effects, not the causes, of the fires.

    EMR CEO Joseph W. Balzano, whose company sued to reopen, last year agreed to pay the city $4.5 million up front and $2.2 million over five years, plus more for community and facility upgrades. After the May fire, the company promised steps to reduce fire risk.

    City Council is scheduled to review the proposal at a meeting Tuesday evening.

    The scene at EMR Metal Recycling in Camden on Feb. 22, 2025, the morning after a four-alarm fire sent thick plumes of black smoke over Camden County, causing some residents to evacuate two nearby hotels.

    EMR, including its offices and auto-parts business as well as its recycling facilities, employs 575 workers — almost 200 are Camden residents — including members of the Teamsters union. Some workers operate shredding and sorting machinery and haul old iron and steel to the South Jersey Port Corp.’s nearby pier, which is named for Balzano’s late father, who headed the port.

    EMR shreds and ships steel from smaller dealers, some to foreign users, but most of it, in recent years, to U.S. electric steel mills and other industrial recyclers.

    “We haven’t laid anyone off — our people are like family — but we are getting to the end of our rope,” Balzano said last week.

    Competing terminals at the port in Fairless Hills, Bucks County, and in Newark, N.J., have picked up some of the business, he said — at a higher price, including the cost of trucking scrap a longer distance.

    England-based European Metal Recycling Ltd. acquired and began operating the Camden site since it purchased the former Camden Iron & Metal in 2006.

    Scrapyard officials say they tracked the latest fire to a discarded lithium-ion battery, a factor in what they say is a surge of scrap fires.

    “It’s the biggest issue all recyclers face,” Balzano said. “Regulations need to be put in place that keep these batteries out of commerce.”

    The batteries are used in items like stoves, washing machines, dryers and “things you wouldn’t think of like light ballasts or guard rails,” he said.

    “Just last week we had 440 people in a Zoom meeting about lithium battery fires. Since then, you had Doylestown Recycling and another facility in Long Island burn to the ground,” said John Thomas, president of the national Construction & Demolition Recycling Association.

    “Nine times out of 10, it’s a power-tool lithium-ion battery,” he said. “Contractors throw ‘em in the dumpster, not realizing it’s hazardous once it’s broken out of its original container. Lead-acid batteries, not such a big deal. But lithium batteries burn so hot, you almost have to let ‘em burn out.”

    New Jersey lawmakers have been advancing bills to better track lithium-ion batteries and to regulate scrap recycling yards.

    Burns Co., a building-materials recycler whose yard covers more than 12 acres in Philadelphia’s Hunting Park section, needed city help putting out its most recent lithium-ion battery fire in May, said Allen Burns, who runs the family-owned yard, which employs nearly 100.

    He points to scorch marks on a concrete-block wall at the facility.

    “It took 30 firemen five hours to put out the fire,” Burns said. “They looked on our camera system, dug down, and found a lithium-battery-powered tool. There must be a landfill fire every day from a lithium battery.”

    Burns said the Camden shutdown has backed up shipments at yards around the region.

    “We have had to bail metal to conserve space,” he said. Disposal costs are up.

    David Wiechecki, owner of International Scrap Iron & Metal in Chester, said, “You don’t want to leave [lithium-ion batteries] laying in your yard. It’s a real problem.”

    “You go over the loads with a fine-tooth comb, but people who want to sneak them by will do it,” he said. “Meanwhile, prices are down because export demand is down,” leaving scrapyards with more iron and more fire concerns.

    Lithium-ion battery fires were blamed last year for burning dozens of decommissioned SEPTA buses and led to the end of SEPTA’s Proterra electric-bus program.

    Thomas said his group and national scrap-metal and waste-disposal trade associations want federal legislation forcing manufacturers to pay lithium-ion battery recycling fees.

    “But they don’t want them back. It’s cheaper for them to buy virgin material,” he said. “So there’s a big tug of war in state legislatures with the manufacturers. In Pennsylvania, we had a bill stalled in the state Senate just in the last 10 days with no action.”

    Staff writer Frank Kummer contributed to this article.

    This story has been updated to correct the timing of EMR’s agreement with Camden last year.

  • What are South Jersey farmers doing to remedy lost crops? GoFundMes, bigger pumpkin patches, and higher prices

    What are South Jersey farmers doing to remedy lost crops? GoFundMes, bigger pumpkin patches, and higher prices

    Cynthia Martini of Mantua Township visits Mood’s Farm Market every year to pick blueberries. During a typical summer, she collects 40 pounds of them. She used to bring her kids, but now that they’re older, she goes solo.

    Her routine on June 30 didn’t look much different from the last 25 years. On a hot morning, she picked two Tupperware containers of blueberries in paint-streaked shorts.

    “In an hour I picked 10 pounds,” Martini said. “So not bad.”

    But rather than harvesting in the farm’s designated pick-your-own area, Martini kept to to an area typically reserved for staff.

    Mood’s, a 180-acre fruit farm in Elk Township, Gloucester County, opened the off-limits fields as one strategy to survive the summer after a spring crop freeze destroyed about two-thirds of its blueberries and all its cherries, plums, nectarines, pears, and peaches. The farm will likely have only a handful of healthy apples come fall. That means no apple hayrides, even though pick-your-own operations are one of its primary revenue streams. A skeleton crew is working the land rather than a full staff, and it’s taking workers longer to pick fruit since there’s less on the bush.

    After picking her own blueberries, Cynthia Martini (right) of Mantua talks with owners Richard Mood and daughter Patti Mood at Mood’s Farm in Gloucester County on June 30.

    The Elk farm isn’t alone. The freeze destroyed large swaths of fruit crops across the Northeast after temperatures rapidly dropped and spiked again in April. In May, New Jersey officials estimated losses of at least $300 million. A month later, the Garden State, which has nearly 450,000 acres of cropland, secured a disaster declaration that made farmers in all 21 counties eligible for emergency federal loans.

    But South Jersey farms like Mood’s are getting creative to survive a summer with depleted income and damaged crops. From promoting frozen fruit to temporary closures to raising prices, here’s how farms are keeping on.

    Spend less and plant more

    Rowand’s Farm, a 20-acre sweet and sour cherry orchard in Glassboro, Gloucester County, is going through unprecedented circumstances.

    Stephen Rowand, the farm’s third-generation owner, said he’s usually excited when a spring frost arrives, since the cold weather thins out the fruit and produces larger cherries.

    “This season is unique for us as a first with NO CROP at all,” Rowand said via Facebook Messenger. “No income.”

    Rowand decided to close the farm, but that hasn’t meant time off. To ensure the orchard blooms next season, the farm still needs mowing, irrigation, fertilizer, and trimming, and without the ability to hire farmworkers. Rowand, 60, is doing all that work himself through extreme heat. He said he’s currently living off his retirement savings and might have to get a job in the offseason next fall. He’s trying to stay frugal by avoiding vacations and eating out.

    But Rowand has managed to find some solutions to survive.

    To make sure they stay fed, his family planted a bigger garden of tomatoes, string beans, eggplants, cucumbers, greens, and herbs for their personal diets after figuring out the freeze had eliminated their income. He said he will likely apply for a loan from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency to pay bills, and a GoFundMe, which has raised $25,000 so far, has helped pay for some of Rowand’s farm expenses.

    “It’s really helping keep the farm from going into debt,” Rowand said, “which is usually what puts a farm out of business in the end.”

    Duffield’s Farm Market in Sewell, Gloucester County, like Mood’s, won’t have peach picking this summer and is still considering whether it’ll apply for loans. Since the freeze halved their apple crop, the farm won’t offer apple picking trips for local schools this fall, either. To ensure people have enough to pick in the fall, owner Tracy Duffield said, farmers planted a field of pumpkins early.

    As for labor, without peaches to pit, Duffield said there’s less to do, which means reducing hours for the farm’s migrant workers from Puerto Rico.

    “It’s not just us. Everybody is kind of in the same boat,” Duffield said. “Just support your local farm. We’ll recover.”

    ‘A silver lining’

    South Jersey farmers say the natural laws of supply and demand mean fruit prices will rise this year. Mood said their farm’s blueberry prices have doubled, while Duffield’s increased the cost about 50 cents per pound.

    “We still have a business to run, and we have to support the families involved with the business,” Duffield said. “They just have to understand for this year, anyway, that things are going to be a bit higher.”

    Blueberries for sale at the farm stand at Mood’s Farm in Gloucester County.

    Anthony DiMeo owns DiMeo Farms and Blueberry Plants Nursery, which has a large pick-your-own blueberry operation in Hammonton, Atlantic County. With significant damage to his crop, DiMeo said, he anticipates the season to end a couple of weeks early.

    “But there’s a silver lining to this, and that is the price is very high,” DiMeo said. “Even for blueberries that might not be the biggest or might not be the best, the price is exceptional.”

    DiMeo, though, said he decided not to significantly raise prices this year, keeping blueberries at $2.50 per pint, a cheaper price than most grocery stores and farm markets. The choice to eat the losses was influenced by the price consumers are already paying to get through life right now.

    “They’re spending enough as it is with gas and tolls and everything else,” DiMeo said.

    ‘Just luck’

    Bob Fralinger of Fralinger Orchards, a fifth-generation peach and nectarine farm in Bridgeton, Cumberland County, said it was “just luck” that some of his peaches survived the freeze.

    His farm sits along the Cohansey River, and the heat emitting from the water kept the temperature a couple of degrees warmer for the crops. Fralinger said he still lost about half his peaches, but since nearby South Jersey farmers weren’t quite as lucky, nearly 100 farm markets, some hours away, have come to him for fruit. Duffield’s and Mood’s are on that list.

    The increased interest has meant Fralinger has to make sure he has enough peaches for everyone, including his typical wholesalers. And even though Fralinger is having no problem selling, the reduced harvest means he worries that the revenue won’t be enough to pay next year’s bills.

    “Your margins are so close that you can’t survive from one year to the next unless you do things just right, and that’s the problem,” Fralinger said.

    Like Fralinger, Robson’s Farm in Wrightstown, Burlington County, also managed to salvage some peaches from the harvest this year, but not nearly enough to meet the summer demand.

    Customers travel from out of state for Robson’s peaches, fourth-generation farmer Rose Robson said, and many will be disappointed to arrive to find no peaches in sight.

    But once she overcame her initial grief over the lost crops, Robson said, she quickly hatched a plan to adapt to a potentially peachless summer on the farm.

    “Just because the farm is really sad and not great in one way doesn’t mean the whole summer has to be,” Robson said. “This could be a really fun opportunity to be creative and to bring some new people to the farm and still have a really great summer.”

    Robson had already started developing ways to boost business during the farm’s offseason in the fall, like a walking club on the farm, she said. The spring freeze just forced her to consider starting sooner and making it active year-round.

    Plus, Robson’s is focusing on what they can still offer customers.

    “We doubled up on our U-pick cut flowers,” Robson said, “which has been growing over the years anyway, so that’s kind of fun.”

    But more than anything, Robson said her priority has remained the same: “making the farm as grand an experience as we can possibly make it,” she said.

    Sandy Trifiletti (front) of Glassboro and her daughter Hope Welch and granddaughter Rosie, 6, of Pitman, pick their own blueberries June 30 at Mood’s Farm in Gloucester County.

    As farms scramble to adapt, South Jersey residents, whether they’re in the market for fresh fruit or flowers, continue to support their local markets.

    Back at Mood’s Farm, Hope Welch of Pitman picked blueberries with her two children and her mother, Sandy Trifiletti. The Welches have visited Mood’s for years.

    Hope Welch, whose son spoke some of his first words during an annual Apple Festival, asked Mood about the fate of this year’s event. Mood said one would still happen, but it probably wouldn’t revolve around apples, since they won’t have very many.

    “That hurts my heart,” Welch said. “We’ll be back for the fall festival. Whatever it’s called.”

  • Pa. officials mourn the death of former State Sen. Shirley Kitchen, who represented North Philly for 20 years

    Pa. officials mourn the death of former State Sen. Shirley Kitchen, who represented North Philly for 20 years

    Pennsylvania elected officials are mourning the death of former State Sen. Shirley Kitchen, the second Black woman to serve in the state Senate and a champion for progressive issues who represented parts of North Philadelphia for more than two decades. She died Saturday at 79. A cause of death was not immediately clear.

    Kitchen represented the 3rd Senatorial District, composed of parts of North Philadelphia, for 20 years. She is remembered by her former colleagues as a pillar and matriarch of her community who worked tirelessly to improve the lives of low-income people, even after she retired.

    “She did so many things for so many people. Now that I’m old enough to appreciate it, I’m not quite sure how she did it — and she did it with such force,” said State Sen. Anthony H. Williams (D., Philadelphia), who served alongside Kitchen in the Senate and had known her for decades. Kitchen was elected to the state Senate in 1996 and served five terms before retiring in 2016.

    Her former colleagues, some through tears, credited many of Pennsylvania’s recent criminal justice reforms as being born under Kitchen’s leadership, with her early legislative proposals paving the way for their passage years later. For example, Kitchen authored early drafts of what is now known as the Clean Slate Act, which automatically seals some nonviolent convictions after 10 years, hiding them from most employer and landlord background checks. She first introduced similar legislation in Harrisburg years earlier and it failed. In 2018, two years after Kitchen retired, the Clean Slate Act became law in Pennsylvania and was heralded as a first-in-the-nation model for criminal justice reform.

    Elected officials across the city shared their condolences, remembering Kitchen as an advocate who cared deeply for her community.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker in a social media post on Sunday recalled Kitchen as “fighting for people who often had no one else to fight for them,” and as a trailblazer for Black women in politics.

    “Shirley Kitchen cared about working people, and she cared about Philadelphia,” said Parker, the city’s first Black female mayor and a former state representative.

    City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said in a statement that Kitchen “never forgot who she was fighting for,” dedicating her life to making people’s lives better.

    State Rep. Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia), Pennsylvania’s first Black female speaker of the House, wrote in a social media post that Kitchen was “a mentor and her service in the state House and Senate inspired me greatly.”

    Williams added that Kitchen also sought to elevate other Black politicians, like himself, to elected office — and laid the groundwork for much of the city’s current political progressivism.

    “The reality is that a lot of the infrastructure that helps them, Shirley had everything to do with it, and more,” Williams said, noting her advocacy and experience during the Civil Rights Movement. “I would hope the progressives in this generation would tip their hat to a generation that really created the progressive movement.”

    State Sen. Sharif Street (D., Philadelphia) had known Kitchen since he was a child, and said she helped him see the power a Senate seat has in improving the lives of his neighbors. When she decided to retire, Kitchen encouraged Street, who was on her staff at the time, to run to fill the vacancy in the 3rd District following her fifth and final term in the state Senate.

    Williams and Street recalled Kitchen as a fair but demanding mentor.

    “If she told you to do something, you better do it,” Williams said, with a laugh.

    For Street, Kitchen “didn’t limit her advice. She had opinions about everything in my life, including when my wife was right and I needed to listen to her.”

    Street said he spoke with Kitchen weekly, and Williams said he remained in touch with her as recently as last month. She often had ideas or issues she wanted the senators to take up. Street spoke with her last week about a forthcoming Registered Community Organization meeting that she was leading about a new proposed development nearby, emblematic of her continued involvement in her community.

    Prior to her election to the state Senate, Kitchen was involved in the National Welfare Rights Movement, which was a progressive advocacy group for the dignified treatment of women and children, largely led by Black women, during the 1960s and 1970s, Williams said.

    Kitchen served as the minority chair of the Senate Public Health and Welfare committee, in which she often leaned on her social work experience to inform her legislative proposals.

    A Democrat in a time where Republicans controlled the state legislature, she served her entire tenure in the minority party, but was still able to garner bipartisan support for some of her legislative proposals.

    “This image of her being an urban Black woman from Philadelphia would limit her ability to get stuff done in the Senate just wasn’t true,” Williams added. “She could analyze people and figure out what way to approach them with exceptional skill.”

    Born in 1946 in Augusta, Ga., Kitchen attended the Philadelphia School District and graduated from Antioch University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in human services, according to her Senate Library biography. She went on to work for former Philadelphia Mayor John Street, Sharif Street’s father, before she was elected to the state House in a special election in 1987. After she lost reelection to the seat in 1989, Kitchen returned to Harrisburg a decade later after her election to represent the 3rd Senatorial District.

    “She was a transformational figure that loved her community and understood that the purpose of those of us holding elected power is to be able to make a difference in the lives of the people we serve, in a way that they can feel and see,” Sharif Street added.

    Funeral services will be announced in the coming days, he said.

    Senator Shirley Kitchen in the audience during speeches in honor of the historical marker that was unveiled at Sullivan Progress Plaza September 14, 2016. The plaza was the first black-owned and operating shopping center in America. Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016.
  • ‘I’m on this roller coaster’: Philly teachers and school staff are stuck in limbo despite promises to save hundreds of jobs

    ‘I’m on this roller coaster’: Philly teachers and school staff are stuck in limbo despite promises to save hundreds of jobs

    When a deal was struck to save 340 classroom-based jobs in the Philadelphia School District, Mayor Cherelle L. Parker and Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. declared it “Christmas in June.”

    It’s July now, but manystaffers still don’t have clarity on exactly who’s allowed to come back to positions that were almost cut and how that affects vacancies system-wide.

    “It’s a mess, and it’s getting messier,” said Alison Andrawos, a teacher at Potter-Thomas Elementary in North Philadelphia who accepted a job in another district after learning this spring that her position would be cut and still doesn’t know whether it will be restored.

    Monique Braxton, the school district spokesperson, said the system is “moving forward with restoring the approximately 340 school-based positions approved in the revised budget,” but that staffing the positions is separate from restoring them.

    “We have been meeting with our union partners on implementation and are now working with principals on school staffing,” Braxton said in a statement. “All approved positions will be restored in the district’s budget system by Wednesday, July 9.”

    The complex process is causing additional uncertainty for teachers and staff members and prolonging an already tumultuous hiring season as the district deals with fallout from 17 forthcoming school closings and the back-and-forth over millions in cuts stemming from a $300 million district budget deficit.

    Watlington this spring directed school principals to build their 2026-27 budgets factoring in the cuts, including about $50 million in school-based trims and the elimination of 340 classroom jobs. Parker then proposed a $1-per-trip rideshare tax she said would cancel the classroom cuts, but City Council balked, and for a time, the position losses appeared inevitable.

    After a breakthrough with city officials on June 10 — after the district’s deadline to pass its 2026-27 spending plan — officials triumphantly said the cuts were off the table.

    But restoring the positions was always going to be complicated.

    Schools’ hiring timeline means that many of the teachers, counselors, and climate staff who were told they were going to be force-transferred because of the cuts sought and found new jobs over the past few months, either inside the district or elsewhere. Now, those workers either must rescind their acceptance of those new jobs or say “no thanks” to returning. Either way, that creates new vacancies in July, months after most schools have filled jobs and when many people are on vacation.

    “We haven’t heard whether our positions are going to be reinstated, we don’t know what positions are available, and we don’t know what we’re doing in a few short weeks,” said Andrawos, an English as a second language specialist who began teaching in Philadelphia schools in 1997.

    ‘I’m pretty sure I’m going to be leaving’

    Andrawos said she didn’t want to leave the city, but amid the worry of the past few months, she felt she had to explore jobs outside the district. Andrawos has been offered a position at a Delaware County school that comes with a raise and a shorter commute.

    “I’m pretty sure I’m going to be leaving the School District of Philadelphia because of this,” Andrawos said.

    She said the decision is tough — she’s forged real bonds with her students’ families, and has been fielding messages saying they hope she stays at Potter-Thomas.

    It’s not clear whether Andrawos’ position at Potter-Thomas, in North Philadelphia, will be restored because of the complicated way budgets are built, and the latitude principals have to shift positions based on school need and their own judgment calls.

    Philly school district, city officials reached a deal to save 340 jobs last month. Affected workers are still in limbo.

    Jobs are filled in city schools two ways — first, by a process called site selection, where principals hire any candidate they choose for open positions. Once the site selection window closes, district staff without positions choose from among open jobs in seniority order. Site selection closed weeks ago; force transfers without jobs have had their hiring sessions pushed back multiple times so far, and are still waiting.

    Jane Roh, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said the union notified members June 19 that all positions cut due to the deficit would be restored; the PFT was told that district notifications to affected employees would immediately follow. So far, that has not happened.

    That leaves staff sweating and frustrated by a lack of answers, some said.

    A roller coaster

    One K-8 teacher, who asked that his name be withheld because he feared repercussions, was on the force transfer list because of budget cuts. With no notice that’s being walked back, he’s left with the possibility of having to get emergency certified to teach in another subject area, which would mean taking more courses.

    The uncertainty is tough, and the answer to every question posed to the district and the union so far has been, we don’t know yet.

    “For this whole summer, where teachers are supposed to have the space to reflect and rest and plan, we can’t do that to any degree,” the K-8 teacher said.

    A teacher at a district high school, who also asked to remain anonymous because her employment situation is not settled, is in a similar boat. When her position was cut because of the deficit, she site selected into a job at another district high school.

    The process has been frustrating, she said. She once got an email saying her transfer was canceled, but that turned out to be incorrect, though she never got official notice from the district about its error and had to make calls herself to figure it out.

    When Parker and Watlington made their good-news announcement, she had no idea what to make of it. She still doesn’t, the teacher said.

    “I’m on this roller coaster; I literally don’t know which school I’m going to work at in the fall,” said the high school teacher, who would be teaching different classes, depending on where she lands. “I want to prepare for the upcoming school year, and that’s impossible if you don’t know what you’re teaching.”

    Staff at Olney High, the district school perhaps most affected by budget cuts, have been pressuring the district, publicly and in private, to halt the losses planned for their school — Olney had been slated to give up 17 staffers.

    How some Philly students included a protest against looming budget cuts in their graduation ceremony

    The school had been overstaffed four years ago as it navigated a complicated, unprecedented transition from a charter school back to a district school. It has soared, adding programs and opportunities and building a strong school culture; the community fears weathering steep staff cuts would jeopardize its progress.

    Sarah Apt, a longtime Olney teacher active in the pushback against cuts, said Wednesday that the school was told it’s getting back three of its 17 staffers.

    “We’re happy about that, but still fighting for more,” said Apt.

    Among those still in limbo is Eric Baker, an Olney English teacher who’s been struggling with the back and forth, and the possible implications for the school he’s come to love — the school recruited students for a college prep track that’s potentially losing most of its teachers, including Baker.

    “Because of this uncertainty, I’ve had to interview other places. I don’t know where I’m going to go. I would rather have the certainty of knowing where I’m going to work than having to deal with this,” said Baker. “It’s been frustrating.”

  • A record number of N.J. students are earning associate’s degrees with their high school diplomas. Meet three of them.

    A record number of N.J. students are earning associate’s degrees with their high school diplomas. Meet three of them.

    When Jasmine Thach began high school four years ago, she wanted to balance academics and extracurricular activities to pursue her college dreams.

    By sophomore year, Thach was enrolled in her first college course. She began taking as many as five classes a semester — enough credits to obtain an associate’s degree in May from Camden County College.

    Thach picked up her second diploma when she graduated in June as valedictorian from Camden County Technical Schools in Pennsauken.

    “I knew that I could do it,” said Thach, 18, of Pennsauken. “I didn’t know how lucky I was.”

    Thach is among a record group of 367 students enrolled in New Jersey’s 21 county vocational-technical schools who graduated with associate’s degrees this year while attending high school. That amounts to 30 more than the previous year, said Jackie Burke, executive director of the NJ Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools.

    “It’s a great outcome,” said Burke. “This is really an attractive option that more people are looking at.”

    Once considered an option mostly for students to pursue skilled trades, vocational-technical schools have become increasingly competitive and are attracting students who want a different pathway to college or careers.

    In a tough economy, the vocational-technical schools make it easier and more affordable for students to earn credit for college-level work. Many have partnerships with county colleges and other nearby two- and four-year colleges, Burke said.

    “It’s a reflection of students seeing the value of getting a head start,” Burke said. “This is really a way to save on those costs.”

    Of the 367 students graduating this year, 31 are from Camden County Technical Schools, which has campuses in Gloucester Township and Pennsauken. The Gloucester County Institute in Deptford has 17 graduates. Burlington County Institute of Technology has students who earned some credits, but none who obtained the full associate’s degree. Cumberland County Technical Education Center in Vineland had the second-highest in the state, with 60 graduates.

    For the 2024-25 school year, more than 35,000 students were enrolled in New Jersey’s county-vocational schools. The schools are selective; only about 12,000 of the nearly 30,000 who apply annually statewide are accepted.

    Students may study a wide range of disciplines, from traditional vocational fields like cosmetology and construction to engineering and health science.

    Under the Early College Associate Degree (ECAD) program, counselors work with students to meet their high school requirements while earning an associate’s degree and attending some of their classes on college campuses.

    In most cases students earn credits at a significantly reduced cost or free. Students can enter four-year colleges as sophomores or juniors, amounting to big savings in time and money.

    Here are the stories of a few of this year’s graduates:

    Jasmine Thach: Wanted to help fund college

    With two siblings already in college, Thach wanted to help ease the financial burdens for her parents. She volunteered as a tutor and participated in performing arts and the newspaper club, all while maintaining her grades.

    She graduated from Camden County College with an associate’s degree in liberal arts and sciences, and from Camden County Technical Schools in Pennsauken.

    In a nod to her Cambodian heritage, she learned to play the kong thom, a traditional Cambodian musical instrument consisting of gongs, and the violin. Every Sunday she travels with her family to Arlington, Va., to take lessons, part of their quest to preserve their culture.

    Jasmine Thach as she graduated from Camden County Technical Schools’ Pennsauken campus last month. Thach, who also received an associate’s degree from Camden County College, plans to attend Johns Hopkins University as a math major.

    While her mother and sister learned traditional Cambodian dances, Jasmine discovered a passion for music. “I have two left feet,” she quipped.

    Jasmine received a full scholarship to attend Johns Hopkins University where she plans to major in applied math and statistics.

    She wants to become an actuary and eventually obtain a doctorate and become a college professor.

    “I’m very big on math,” she said.

    Yeheira Acosta: `I’m just really grateful’

    Education has become a family affair for Yeheira Acosta, with her parents and younger sister following in her footsteps to make a better life.

    She graduated in June from Cumberland County Technical Education Center in Vineland and picked up an associate’s degree in computer science from Rowan College of South Jersey.

    Yeheira Acosta of Vineland, N.J., (third from left) shown with her family, graduated from Cumberland County Technical Education Center and obtained an associate’s degree in computer science from Rowan College of South Jersey. She plans to attend Vanderbilt University in the fall.

    A first-generation college student, Acosta has inspired her family. A younger sister is also on track to earn an associate‘s degree while in high school. Her father recently enrolled in a DeVry University online cybersecurity program, and her mother is pursuing a GED.

    Acosta, 18, of Vineland, plans to study AI at Vanderbilt University, where she earned a full ride. A Yankees fan, she wants to work in the sports industry.

    Although she is excited about the next chapter, Acosta said she will miss her family and her church, the Life of Faith in Vineland, where she provides technical support.

    “I‘m just really grateful, not everyone has the same opportunity,” she said. “I don’t take it for granted.”

    Max Yeung: An aspiring lawyer

    The youngest of three siblings, Max Yeung has set his sights on becoming a personal injury lawyer and a public service advocate.

    He obtained an associate’s degree in prelaw from Rowan College of South Jersey in Sewell. Yeung said following a computer science track at the Gloucester County Institute of Technology and an internship he got along the way helped him realize that law is his passion.

    Yeung said he landed an internship at an Audubon law firm with assistance from a college professor. His top priority was completing as many credits as possible.

    Max Yeung, 17, of Sewell, poses with his mother, Li Khoo, after receiving an associate’s degree from Rowan College of South Jersey.

    At his high school, Yeung, 17, of Sewell, founded a nonpartisan civics group that registered students to vote. He was also president of the National Honor Society.

    “It was a lot of juggling. There were a lot of moments when I had to huddle down,” he said. “It helped me understand what the college environment looked like.”

    Yeung plans to attend Rowan University as a law justice major. Depending on how many credits transfer, he may graduate in a year or two and then hopes to attend Rutgers-Camden Law School.

  • What will Media look like in 2035? The borough is planning for diversified housing options, safer streets, and more retail

    What will Media look like in 2035? The borough is planning for diversified housing options, safer streets, and more retail

    What are the defining characteristics of Media, and how should the borough plan for the next decade?

    Those are the questions at the core of “Media 2035,” the comprehensive plan adopted by Media’s borough council last month designed to shape the next chapter of land use, housing, economic development, traffic planning, and environmental decision making in the 5,900-resident Delaware County community.

    “A comp plan is a long-term vision of how a community can look in the future,” Brittany Forman, Media’s borough manager, said.

    The 166-page plan, built on feedback from around 500 residents, is centered around four guiding principles: Preserving Media’s character, fostering inclusivity through housing diversity, preserving the environment, and becoming a more connected and less car-dependent borough.

    Municipalities in Pennsylvania are required to have a comprehensive plan under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code and must review them every 10 years.

    Media’s leaders have been tasked with stewarding a borough that has seen immense economic growth in recent decades, transforming it from a sleepy town wrought by financial disinvestment and crime to a cultural hub and destination for families settling in the suburbs. While Media’s metamorphosis has brought new residents and investment into the borough, it has also pushed the community’s limits around housing affordability, traffic, and growth.

    “We’re a victim of our success, and it’s a good thing to be a victim of your own success,” said borough Council President Mark Paikoff. “But careful planning really is helpful.”

    Here are four key takeaways from Media’s comprehensive plan.

    Media’s charm has made it a desirable, and increasingly unaffordable, place to live

    Surveyed residents said Media’s “small-town feel,” including its historic architecture, walkability, and diverse local businesses, is the borough’s most important asset. Yet the traits that make Media a great place to live have also made it a harder place to afford to stay.

    “For generations, Media has prided itself on being ‘Everybody’s Hometown,’ a motto that reflected a genuine reality: a community where wealthy professionals, hourly service workers, young families, and retirees lived side-by-side,” the comprehensive plan states, adding that economic diversity was made possible by a “varied housing stock that offered entry points for people at every stage of life.”

    As demand for walkable, transit-accessible living has surged in the Philly region, rising real estate costs are chipping away at this accessibility, creating a “severe burden” for a large segment of Media, notably seniors, teachers, nurses, and first responders, the plan states.

    Recommendations outlined in the plan include deepening partnerships with affordable housing agencies, updating the borough’s zoning code to spur housing development in key areas, and promoting non-traditional housing options like in-law suites. Officials said there’s a significant opportunity in converting underutilized office spaces into housing, as many of Media’s vacant offices are already located in former residential properties.

    Paikoff said the borough has had informal conversations with developers who are interested in both renovating older units and building new housing, though he stressed that bringing additional housing to the borough “will take some time.”

    Downtown Media on a June day.

    Media has strong transit access but ample traffic safety challenges

    Media is defined by its density. The borough’s footprint is under one square mile, and it’s a place where pedestrians, cyclists, cars, buses, and SEPTA trolleys regularly interact.

    “For a small town, I’d say we’re very sophisticated in terms of multimodal transportation,” said Forman.

    Yet Media’s density and busy streets have also created the conditions for traffic safety issues. The borough recorded eight vehicle crashes resulting in serious injury and two resulting in death between 2013 and 2024. A 2020 traffic study conducted by the borough found that drivers regularly speed, especially along Baltimore Avenue, and roll through stop signs. Media’s only bicycle infrastructure comes in the form of painted road markings. Residents expressed a desire for more crosswalks, less disruptive downtown traffic patterns, and protected bike lanes.

    Parking, too, remains a “source of friction.” The Baltimore Avenue parking garage is the anchor of the borough’s parking system, but it’s aging and requiring increased maintenance. At the same time, a surge in food delivery services has led to frequent double-parking outside of restaurants and blocking travel lanes. Media’s current parking and loading setup, the plan states, is “largely organized for a world that no longer exists.”

    The vast majority of Media’s workforce lives outside the borough

    Nearly all workers employed in Media commute from outside the borough. Of the approximately 9,800 primary jobs in Media, only 2.5% are held by residents. While Media’s accommodation, food service, healthcare, and arts and entertainment sectors have grown, its office administration, public administration, and wholesale trade sectors have shrunk. Overall tax revenues have increased in the past decade, led primarily by a growth in earned income tax revenues.

    The post-pandemic shift to hybrid and remote work has also “fundamentally altered” travel behavior in the borough, according to the plan. Twenty percent of Media residents worked from home in 2023, up from 3% in 2014, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. With fewer residents and workers commuting on a daily basis, traditional 9-to-5 traffic on SEPTA’s Regional Rail and trolley lines has shifted, following regional and national trends. Local neighborhood activity, on the other hand, has increased during the workday.

    Elizabeth Romaine, borough council vice president, said local businesses are already shifting to meet new consumer patterns, extending their hours or opening on weekdays when they would have previously been closed.

    The intersection of W. State Street and Baltimore Pike in Media.

    Residents love Media’s dining scene, but want more retail options

    Nearly 80% of surveyed residents reported satisfaction with Media’s vibrant restaurant scene, which draws diners from across the region. Media’s downtown is viewed as the borough’s “defining economic and social heart,” according to the plan.

    At the same time, residents expressed desire for a greater variety of retail, dining, and entertainment options. Non-food destinations and stores that fulfill everyday needs, specifically bakeries, clothing and home goods stores, and fitness centers, are outlined as particular areas of need.

    Romaine said Media has had some recent “retail successes,” like the opening of Sonny’s Vintage Clothing on State Street and the expansion of craft store Homesewn.

    The plan recommends increasing funding for the Media Business Authority, conducting a business-focused parking study and crosswalk inventory, and working to court new retailers. Recommendations also include enhancing programming at the Media Theatre to generate more foot traffic, deepen Media’s identity as a cultural destination, and “further solidify Media’s draw for visitors from across the region.”

    This suburban content is produced with support from the Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation and The Lenfest Institute for Journalism. Editorial content is created independently of the project donors. Gifts to support The Inquirer’s high-impact journalism can be made at inquirer.com/donate. A list of Lenfest Institute donors can be found at lenfestinstitute.org/supporters.

  • A cow beauty pageant honors rural Pennsylvania’s shrinking dairy industry

    A cow beauty pageant honors rural Pennsylvania’s shrinking dairy industry

    TOWANDA, Pa. — Her full name was Cashells Jry Shakira-Red-ET — Shakira to keep it simple — and like her namesake, the big red and white Holstein had 6-foot hips that didn’t lie as she hoofed down Main Street.

    Shakira is a showgirl accustomed to winning, one of the few cows that allowed judges to place a floral crown on her head at the Bradford County dairy cow beauty pageant in Towanda on June 20, about 100 years after their last one.

    “The most beautiful dairy cow in Bradford County, folks,” said Duane Naugle, Bradford County’s community planner and the day’s emcee.

    A heifer is walked down Main St. in front of the County Courthouse in Towanda, Pa., for a cow beauty contest held on Saturday, June 20, 2026.

    Other winners were Skylar, a Lineback heifer, and Camo, a doe-eyed Brown Swiss calf.

    “They’re my favorite breed. They’re just so dopey and docile,” Miranda Neville, a dairy farmer out of Warren Center, said of Camo. “I mean, just look at her.”

    Bradford County, population 59,600, sits about 175 miles northwest of Philadelphia in North Central Pennsylvania. County officials said they found an old, black-and-white photo of a similar beauty pageant from 1926 in the county courthouse recently.

    The 1926 event in Bradford County.

    The purpose of that contest a century ago, organizers said, was to highlight the county’s bustling dairy industry.

    “Getting down to the main idea, it may be stated that the Chamber of Commerce has seized upon this opportunity of giving recognition to the basic industry of Bradford County — dairying,” The Daily Review newspaper wrote in 1926.

    Officials figured that old photo was a sign, a good-enough reason to get cows on Main Street as part of the county’s ongoing celebration of America’s 250th. There was also free ice cream, a cow milking contest, and other livestock to pet.

    Dixie Joseph leads her heifer down Main Street in Towanda, Pa., for a cow beauty contest in front of the Bradford County courthouse on June 20.

    A lot has changed in dairy over the decades, as dairy farms have shuttered by the thousands, nationwide. In 2025, the USDA reported 23,609 dairy farms across the country, a 70% decrease in just 20 years.

    Earlier this year, The Inquirer chronicled the plight of a longtime dairy farm in New Jersey’s most rural county. Owners there were denied a variance to install solar panels and stopped milking shortly after.

    “We have been losing money for the last 10 years,” a young farmer there told The Inquirer.

    Henry Farley, the mayor of Sayre, Bradford County, said there were 41,311 dairy cows in the county in 1920. That number is down to 10,059 dairy cows today, he said.

    “We remain an agricultural county, and dairy is still a big part of it,” he said. “This is still rural America, and this was a great way to showcase that.”

    A cow owner glances back in front of a crowd gathered at the Bradford County courthouse for a cow beauty contest in Towanda, Pa., on June 20.

    Top employers in Bradford County include medical facilities, a mill, Walmart, and Cargill, a beef-processing plant in Wyalusing, where most major league baseballs are made from dairy cow hides.

    Many of the farmers in Towanda on June 20 owned small farms, which are the hardest to keep afloat. Most of the owners couldn’t depend on dairy as a full-time income and worked other jobs as a result.

    Many dairy farms in Bradford County have transitioned to beef, poultry, or swine.

    “Well, it’s pretty simple. Dairy prices are down, and beef is up,” said dairy farmer McKenzie Slater.

    Neville said she still milks 60 cows at her dairy, Vin-Deb Farms, but it’s not her only source of income. She also works for Bradford County’s conservation district.

    Sheyann of Campbell Farm rests on top of her calf, Norma, ahead of Bradford County’s cow beauty contest in Towanda, Pa., on June 20.

    “We all have full-time jobs, too, along with farming,” Neville said. “That’s normal around here.”

    Even Shakira, the showgirl, still milks, producing more than 11 gallons per day. She’s just preened and washed a bit more. Her udders hung low on Main Street.

    “She’s milking pretty heavy right now,” said owner Hannah Watson, of Columbia Crossroads, Bradford County. “It’s whole milk, straight from the cow.”

    A judge scores the cows on their beauty in front of the Bradford County courthouse in Towanda, Pa., on June 20.
  • This chiller-than-happy-hour European drinking tradition is taking over Philly

    This chiller-than-happy-hour European drinking tradition is taking over Philly

    As the most popular dinner reservation times trend earlier and daycaps (aka late afternoon drinks) replace post-dinner cocktails, some Philadelphia bars and restaurants are forgoing happy hour for something with a chiller, convivial vibe: aperitivo.

    A longstanding European tradition, aperitivo — which means “to open” in Italian — refers to the late afternoon and early evening hours ripe for lighter-paced drinking and snacking. While other countries have their own words for it (“apéro” in France, “la hora del Vermut” in Spain), the menu always includes fortified wines, bittersweet cocktails and liqueurs, and small bites meant to stimulate appetites.

    The ritual is a natural fit for Philadelphia, the so-called “Frenchest city in America,” and its rise of Euro-American-inspired bars and restaurants. Operators are leaning into food-driven aperitivo hours to stretch out the day longer and cater to diners that are going home earlier and drinking less. Signature aperitivo drinks — classic negronis, savory vermouths, and bittersweet amaris — aren’t as heavy or fast-paced as half-priced beer and shot specials, and often come with sidecars of salty snacks, like cured meats, olives, and bread. Others, like an Aperol spritz or an Americano perfecto (a spaghett-style cocktail with beer, Vermouth, Campari, and an orange slice), tend to be lower in ABV.

    People are “drinking earlier, coming right from work, and getting a small spritz, a snack, and then going to dinner,” said Benjamin Kirk, the beverage director at Michelin-key Hotel Anna & Bel, which offers an aperitivo menu three days a week at its cocktail lounge, Caletta. “You don’t see people out as late as you normally would since the pandemic.”

    A cheeseburger and fries, the rigatoni all Amatriciana, and croquettes are all part of the aperitivo menu at Caletta in Fishtown.

    Aperitivo is also more casual, less hurried, and lower pressure than a sit-down dinner or an after-work date. Reservations aren’t required, and it’s not uncommon to see friends popping in and out for a drink or kids joining family at the table.

    “It’s a lot easier to roll into aperitivo with a stroller and get a glass of wine with kids while you are catching up with friends rather than going to a bar,” said Chris DiPiazza of the South Philly bakery Mighty Bread, which started offering aperitivo hour in August 2024.

    Apéro is also “a marathon, not a sprint,” said Chloé Grigri, whose bars Superfolie, the Good King Tavern, Le Caveau, and Supérette all offer some version of late afternoon drink and food deals year-round. For Grigri, the purpose is less about pushing discounts so customers can drink more than it is about finding ways to intertwine French culture with happy hour. In Bella Vista, for example, the Good King Tavern is expanding daily apéro deals from 3 to 6 p.m. during the World Cup games (and beyond) to include discounted charcuterie, tartines, and “Frenchie-Americana” drink specials like Suze and Mountain Dew highballs and whiskey and Kronenburg citywides. “It’s the sort of thing you’d stumble across in Paris today in my opinion, but better,” she said.

    The Americano? Americano!, a vermouth cocktail that’s available only during aperitivo at Caletta.

    Still, prices at aperitivo tend to hover at $8 to $16 — roughly between the cost of a beer or glass of wine — which can attract customers during slower weekday business hours, said Le Virtù general manager Chris O’Brien. In the restaurant on East Passyunk Avenue’s monthly wine club newsletter, O’Brien said that 2026 has been “our busiest year on record by a long shot” with an uptick in patio reservations, where its all-you-can-eat northern Italian aperitivo events take place.

    Similarly at Fishtown’s Caletta, Kirk said he’s seen a midweek bump with more guests requesting aperitivo hours even during offseason months. Grigri also noted the timing of the World Cup this summer has worked well for her businesses across the board. “Le Caveau had an immediate noticeable uptick,” in business, she said, alongside Good King Tavern and Supérette, where aperó has had a steadier and slower build. “It’s about getting people in right before our normal busy hours,” said Grigri.

    Here are eight places to sip, linger, and graze al fresco for aperitivo in Philly.

    Outdoor seating at Caletta, which offers an aperitivo menu from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays.

    Where to find aperitivo in Philly

    Caletta

    Caletta’s patio aperitivo (Wednesday through Friday from 4 to 7 p.m.) transports you from a quiet Fishtown block to the Mediterranean coastline. At this hotel bar, the cocktails include split-based, lower ABV drinks that use house-made liqueur blends and fortified wines, like the “Americano? Americano!,” which includes a mix of coffee liqueur, sweet vermouth, red bitters, orange, and olive. A bonus: Your first drink comes with a complimentary salty snack dish of mixed nuts, roasted peppers, or salami with house-made focaccia.

    📍1401 E. Susquehanna Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19125, 📞267-682-8253 🌐 calettafishtown.com

    A selection of complimentary aperitivo snacks alongside two cocktails at Sorellina, 699 N. Broad St.

    Sorellina

    At owner Joe Cicala’s casual pizzeria in the Divine Lorraine, aperitivo is baked into the regular menu. Every table gets a few olives and tuna-stuffed peppers to snack on while deciding what to order for dinner. Italian-style bitter cocktails, imported beers, and amari anchor the bar program,​ though Cicala has noticed more customers ordering nonalcoholic bitter sodas — perhaps influenced by summer Euro trips, he noted.

    📍699 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19123 📞 267-324-3586 🌐 sorellinapizza.com

    Banshee

    Banshee’s dedicated aperitivo section features Spanish-style small plates of croquettas and patatas bravas, among others, plus drink specials from 5 to 6 p.m. daily. The Mediterranean-inspired bar in Graduate Hospital folds cocktails from Spain (Kalimotxo), France (Kir), and Italy (the not-discounted-but-still-excellent Spring Americano with strawberry vermouth and rhubarb aperitivo) into one concise menu. Our recommendation: Order everything, including a side of the house-made sourdough.

    📍1600 South St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19146 📞 267-876-8346 🌐 bansheephl.com

    A spread of stuzzichini (bite-size appetizers from Northern Italy) at one of Le Virtú’s summertime aperitivo events.

    Le Virtù

    For a glimpse of more communal-style aperitivo, East Passyunk’s Le Virtù hosts one-off seasonal patio gatherings throughout the summer that draw from the culture of Abruzzo, Italy, where owner Francis Cratil-Cretarola is from. Programming — typically on a Wednesday, weekend afternoon, or early evening — is lightly curated with unlimited buffet-style stuzzichini (bite-sized northern Italian appetizers) for $35 and $14 wines by the glass in collaboration with a rotating mix of producers and importers. Follow @levirtuphila on Instagram for upcoming events.

    📍1927 Passyunk Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19148 📞 215-271-5626 🌐 levirtu.com

    BOTLD — Midtown

    This retail shop, tasting room, and cocktail bar adjacent to the Gayborhood lets you choose your aperitivo experience — order a drink and stay awhile or buy bottled-in-state products for at-home concoctions. Either way, you can’t go wrong with its “Slayborhood Spritz,” featuring Apologue persimmon liqueur, Kyro pink gin, prosecco, and club soda or a lemon herbaceous amaro with Fast Penny Spirits Americano Bianca.

    📍117 S. 13th St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19107 📞 445-776-7000 🌐 botld.com

    Light bites and negroni cocktails from Irwin’s aperitivo menu, which runs Wednesday through Friday from 5 to 7 p.m.

    Irwin’s

    Nothing beats a rooftop hang — especially with classic Sicilian drinks and snacks. Irwin’s, just across the hall from Bok Bar, hosts aperitivo hour inside and out on the roof every Wednesday through Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. during the summer. Everything on the menu is $13 or less: Negroni cocktails, charcuterie and formaggi, anchovies, tomato pie, and eggplant caponata (a chef Michael Ferreri family recipe for an antipasto vegetable stew).

    📍800 Mifflin St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19148 📞 215-693-6206 🌐 irwinsupstairs.com

    Mighty Bread Company

    This James Beard Award-nominated South Philly bakery is home to a family-friendly aperitivo. On weekdays year-round (except Tuesdays) from 4 to 6 p.m. you can enjoy Philly-Italian bites, cocktails, beer, and wine inside or in the courtyard. Snacks highlight bread in various forms: “Mighty Munch” with baguette chips, candied nuts, and seasoned pretzel chips; focaccia; and scallop toast with fermented aji chili butter. There are easy-sippers with Pennsylvania-made spirits, too, like Char & Stave coffee Amaro and soda, a ready-to-drink sparkling wine spritz, and Mighty Bread’s own Italian semolina pilsner, Amici Del Pane.

    📍1211 Gerritt St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147 📞 215-607-3205 🌐 mightybreadco.com

    A snack board at Supérette, a restaurant, bottle shop, and wine bar on East Passyunk Avenue.

    Supérette

    Supérette captures that quintessential French-style apéro energy: Customers drift in and out the door, shopping for natural wine in the bottle shop or sipping highballs at the bar. The day-to-night vibes at Chloe Grigi’s épicerie and wine bar on East Passyunk Avenue invite spontaneous meetups fueled by olives, mini-chip-filled jambon-and-beurre sandwiches, and Frenchie disco fries (aka nachos with shredded cheese, local spam, cornichon relish, and crème fraîche). Better yet: Apéro is every weekday year-round from 3 to 6 p.m.

    📍1538 Passyunk Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147 🌐 superettephl.com

  • Phillies radio calls give him ‘goose bumps.’ Then he shares those chills with everyone on social media.

    Phillies radio calls give him ‘goose bumps.’ Then he shares those chills with everyone on social media.

    The Phillies game wasn’t over yet last month but it was over as Nick Piccone kept the TV on mute like a distraction in the background. The Phils trailed the Nationals by two runs and were down to their last strike with the bases empty in the ninth on June 23. It was over.

    But Piccone — just like lots of diehards who accepted a loss but refused to stop watching — didn’t turn it off.

    “Just in case,” he said.

    And then it happened. The Phillies scored eight runs with two outs, delivering the most unlikely win of the season. It was time for Piccone to work. He’s built a following in recent seasons for being the guy who clips the radio calls of Philly sports highlights and posts them to social media.

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    First, he had to listen to how Scott Franzke — the Phils’ radio voice on 94.1 WIP — described the action.

    “I got goose bumps when I listened to it,” said Piccone, who lives in Delaware County. “And I just knew Phillies fans are going to love this.”

    He posted a montage of Franzke’s pitch-perfect calls that night and then watched them go viral. Philadelphia loves its teams but the city has always had a deep relationship with the voices, putting Piccone at the intersection of fandom and the way we enjoy it.

    Brandon Marsh’s homer was thrilling, but how much better did Franzke’s narration make it feel?

    “You could tell that the fan kind of came out,” Piccone said. “Like, he didn’t think that was going to happen. He had the same reaction that we did, and he’s calling it. He reaches that second level for a regular season game when I’m sure he probably thought this was going to be a loss. You could hear the surprise in his voice.

    “If you’re listening live on the radio, you feel that instantly. And even if you’re watching the video, you’re like, ‘Oh my God.’ Having him feel what we feel and hear his voice match what we’re feeling inside, makes it so much better. It makes those moments so much better.”

    Phillies radio play-by-play announcer Scott Franzke (left) with TV analyst John Kruk.

    Piccone does not get paid to post his videos, but he commits himself every game — “I watch every pitch,” he said — to tracking the calls of the big plays and sharing them on social media. He does the same thing for other teams. It’s how he enjoys the game.

    It takes about 10 minutes for Piccone to edit the clip on his computer and post it on social media.

    “People would message me from Europe or Asia and say, ‘I’m stationed here’ or ‘I moved here for work, and your videos make me feel like I’m home,’” Piccone said. “When I started doing it, I wasn’t even thinking about that stuff. So when people say that I was able to provide that, I was like, ‘Wow.’ That’s a huge reason why I continue to do it.”

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    His hustle gives a radio broadcast a new life, allowing Franzke’s words to be heard again and again. Some people want to relive a moment they already enjoyed. Others want to feel closer to home.

    “It’s flattering, honestly,” Franzke said. “It’s humbling to know that it resonates enough with someone to know that they’re willing to go through that sort of trouble and effort to spread the word.”

    Brandon Marsh watches the ball after hitting a two-run home run against the Washington Nationals on June 23.

    From Dolly to Franzke

    Franzke was told when he first got into the business to have someone in mind to whom you are broadcasting.

    “For me, the general Delaware Valley listener is stuck in traffic on the Schuylkill,” Franzke said.

    His voice is the soundtrack of traffic jams, days at the beach, and backyard barbecues. Kids tune their radio to the Phils while they’re putting on their PJs, just like their grandparents used to sneak transistor radios under their pillows. They listen to Franzke on their porch at night and power walk around the neighborhood with his voice in their earbuds.

    Radio broadcasters Larry Andersen (left) and Scott Franzke (right) call a Phillies game in 2011.

    The Phillies broadcast their first game on the radio in 1936 with a former umpire named Dolly Stark calling the action. He was regarded as the National League’s top ump but quit after the 1935 season when the league balked at his request for a raise from his $9,000 salary.

    “A new sports thrill,” said the advertisement for the games that were broadcast on WIP 610. “Seeing the game through the umpire’s eyes! Hearing what he thinks about every play, while that play is being made! And it’s a thrill that will last all summer.”

    Stark called games for just one season before he returned to calling balls and strikes. But the game became the perfect radio sport. The pace is slow enough for the broadcaster to share a story and make you comfortable. Yet the action becomes exciting enough for them to build drama and make you feel something.

    The umpire was followed by greats who became voices of summer like By Saam, Bill Campbell, Harry Kalas, and Franzke. Richie Ashburn ordered pizzas, Chris Wheeler taught you something, and Larry Andersen admires the umpire. There’s just something about baseball on the radio. It works.

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    “I think one of the reasons that baseball on the radio still works is because people can consume it passively,” Franzke said. “They’re driving, falling asleep in their beach chair, or doing yard work. They can do other things and be a part of it. A lot of people like the audio wallpaper, if you will. It’s there. It’s around them. They enjoy it passively and do other things in their life. We’re just along for the ride, I guess.”

    Piccone’s clips show that Franzke is more than just enjoying the ride. He’s driving the car. It wasn’t a silent clip of Marsh’s homer that went viral last week. It was the clip of Marsh’s homer with the announcer sounding just as stunned as you were that it happened.

    Franzke said it’s the moment that “generates the goose bumps,” since he’s just a guy. And it was the guy calling that moment last week that gave Piccone chills.

    “It doesn’t matter when it is during the season, September or April, the story of the game takes over,” Piccone said. “I think he tells that story perfectly in his calls. Offense, a great defensive play, a strikeout. That emotion comes through and you know it’s a big moment.”

    Nick Piccone says he’s “kind of jealous” of people who grew up listening to baseball games on the radio. “I didn’t even think of consuming sports in that way when I was younger. I’m glad I’m able to do it now.”

    Being that guy

    Piccone grew up on the 1993 Phillies and started watching the other teams in 1999 as a freshman at Kingsway High School. He soon was a diehard: devastated when they lost and elated when they won.

    “I just consume it,” Piccone said last month. “Like, I’m mad the Phillies lost today.”

    But the guy who chops up the audio of every radio broadcast didn’t grow up listening to the radio. He just watched it on TV.

    “People who say they were brought up listening to sports on the radio, I’m kind of jealous of them,” Piccone, 40, said. “Because I didn’t even think of consuming sports in that way when I was younger. I’m glad I’m able to do it now.”

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    “We just have amazing play-by-play guys. You think of the Phillies, you think of Franzke. You think of the Flyers, you think of Tim Saunders. You think of the Sixers, you think of Tom McGinnis. Eagles, Merrill Reese and Mike Quick. They’re synonymous with the teams.”

    Piccone planned to do what he does now — clip the radio call and match it to the TV feed — when the Eagles played the Patriots in Super Bowl LII. But his buddy’s Wi-Fi dropped that night, so Piccone closed his laptop and watched the game like a normal fan. And then the Eagles won, and he wished he had the clips.

    He made sure to have a stronger connection in 2022 when the Phillies went to the World Series. He clipped every call that October, and his social media following soared.

    He sends out Franzke’s call along with the team’s Spanish broadcasters and the opponent’s call. Piccone noticed that the TV calls are the ones usually shared by the teams or networks. The radio guys, he thought, weren’t getting their due.

    People soon started messaging him for specific calls or pointing out things he may have missed. He suddenly felt like he had a responsibility. He became that guy.

    “It’s fun being known for that,” said Piccone, who writes for Crossing Broad. “I like being that guy.”

    The Phillies season likely will end in October again, giving Piccone plenty of moments to share. The goose bumps, he said, usually are felt in the fall when the stakes are higher. But sometimes the broadcaster makes you feel it on a weeknight in June. And that’s why you leave the game on.

    “People will say, ‘I heard your call,’” said Franzke, who is not on X, formerly known as Twitter. “And there’s two places they heard it: WIP playing it back or on social media. It’s cool that Nick invests that kind of time. At the end of day, this promotes what we’re doing.”