It would be Sheetz’s first outpost in Wawa’s home county.
A Sheetz and Wawa now sit across the street from each other in Limerick Township, Montgomery County.
If approved, the store would be constructed about five miles down the road from Wawa’s corporate headquarters, and across the county from the site of Wawa’s first store, in Folsom.
The Sheetz would be in the Village at Painters’ Crossing shopping center near the intersection of U.S. Routes 1 and 202, according to the application. Sheetz would take over a parcel in the northeast corner of the complex that is currently occupied by a vacant former bank and a closed Carrabba’s Italian restaurant.
Along with Sheetz’s usual offerings of made-to-order food, grab-and-go snacks, and drinks, the outpost would include indoor and outdoor seating, two mobile-order pickup windows, and six gas pumps, according to the application. It would not include a drive-through.
Customers crowd into the indoor dining area at the new Sheetz in Limerick Township that opened last week.
Nick Ruffner, Sheetz public affairs manager, declined to provide additional information about the proposal, saying in a statement that “it is still very early in the process.”
Zoning changes and other approvals would be required before anything is built, Chadds Ford Township solicitor Michael Maddren said. As of Tuesday, Sheetz had only submitted the sketch plan, which was discussed at a planning commission meeting earlier this month, Maddren said.
At the meeting, township officials did not express strong opinions about the sketch, Maddren said: “We need a little more detail.”
Craig Scott (left) of Wayne and Dave Swartz (right) of Collegeville had breakfast at last week’s grand opening of the first Sheetz in the Philadelphia suburbs.
If the Chadds Ford project moves forward, Sheetz could establish a foothold in three of Philly’s four collar counties: Along with its new Limerick, Montgomery County location, Sheetz also has expressed interest in building a store in Chester County.
In the fall, company officials submitted a sketch plan to Caln Township officials, proposing a location at the site of a shuttered Rite Aid on the 3800 block of Lincoln Highway in Downingtown, according to the township website.
After years of Sheetz opening stores in Western and central Pennsylvania, and Wawa expanding closer to Philly, Sheetz and Wawa’s footprints have increasingly overlapped in recent years.
A Wawa opened outside Harrisburg in 2024, marking the chain’s first central Pennsylvania location. It is down the street from a Sheetz.
Time may be a flat circle, but that doesn’t stop us from wondering why. A reader asked through Curious Philly, The Inquirer’s forum for answering questions, why there are so many chicken bones on the sidewalks and streets of Philadelphia.
Two architects appear to bebehind Philadelphia’s chicken-bone temple.
First are animals, who forage through trash looking for the final scraps left on discarded bones. Whether they discover drumsticks by ripping through trash bags on the street or from dumpster diving, these animals likely drop the bones wherever they finish with them.
Theculprits most likely to blame are rats, followed by raccoons and opossums, said Rich Foreman, the owner of Dynamite Pest Control in West Philly.
While it’s unclear if rats have a particular taste for fried chicken, the animals are among the least-picky eaters around and will take advantage of any food source, from human scraps to cannibalism. And Philadelphia is seemingly a good place to be a rat, being declared the eighth-rattiest city in the United States in 2025 by the pest-control company Orkin, measured by tracking its new residential rodent treatments.
Adrian Jordan, Vector Control Crew Chief, works keeping the rat population under control, in Philadelphia, Friday, March 7, 2025.
Foreman sees the chicken-bone problem all over the city, as with some restaurants in Port Richmond that called Dynamite when they saw their trash all over the street. He is confident animals were behind the mess, and said he has “never seen” humans do anything of the sort.
Foreman said the city’s twice-weekly trash pickup initiative has not helped, since it means an additional day of easily accessible trash on the street for animals.
He said the best way for people to prevent critters from going into their garbage for bones is to get large, durable trash cans.
“And make sure you put the lid on it,” he said.
Residents with trash arriving at garbage dump site at Caldera Road and Red Lion Road in northeast Philadelphia. AFSCME District Council 33 workers enter their second week on strike, Tuesday, July 8, 2025.
Scavenging animals was the conclusion that the Search Engine podcast reached in a 2024 episode investigating the cause of the chicken bones littering the streets of New York City. Other cities have reported the same problem, including Chicago, Miami, and Washington.
And yet, anecdotal evidence from residents demonstrates that human activity clearly contributes to the problem.
Jessica Griffith has become the David Attenborough of abandoned chicken bones, documenting and appreciating the beauty of what she encounters in the wild. More than 10 years ago, when she lived in South Philly, Griffith, 46, would notice the chicken bones frequently on walks with her dog. She started photographing them and posting the pictures to Facebook, finding the bones everywhere, including a pile on a SEPTA train.
“It was just bizarre to me. Just a phenomenon,” she said.
Jessica Griffith snapped this picture of some discarded chicken bones on the Broad Street Line in 2013.
Her documentation gathered a following, and people started to send their own submissions. Griffith received pictures from all over the globe — people in Seattle, Las Vegas, South Korea, Sweden, and the Dominican Republic all had their own pictures of discarded chicken bones to share.
When Brian Love, 53, walks his miniature pinscher, Ziggy, through the Gayborhood, he often sees other people smiling at his dog. But then he realizes it’s because Ziggy is carrying a chicken bone in his mouth.
Love has complained to his friends about constantly needing to tussle with Ziggy over what the dog sees as a treasure. He has watched people toss chicken bones on the ground, and recently came across a pile of four bones on a mound of snow. Love wishes his neighbors would just use trash bins.
“It’s your food that you’ve literally just had in your mouth. Throw it in the trash,” he said.
Stephanie Harmelin, 43, has the same problem with her dog in West Philly, and she said she accepts the bony sidewalks as part of living in a city. She has seen aggressive squirrels rifling through trash, but also has come across bones at street corners and under park benches that appear to have been dropped by humans.
She said part of the problem is educational. Once, Harmelin pulled her dog away from a bone on the street, and two fellow walkers asked her why.
Harmelin explained how chicken bones are unsafe for most dogs to consume. Cooked bones splinter when a dog chews on them, and the sharp fragments may cause life-threatening damage as they pass through the dog’s digestive track.
One woman was shocked, and said she had not realized chicken bones were potentially dangerous to dogs when she had tossed them to the ground before.
Theo Caraway of Philadelphia walking his dog Cooper, 6 months, Shitzu/Poodle wearing his Eagles jersey along Kensington at Ontario Street on Philadelphia, Friday, September 5, 2025.
Harmelin has had similar conversations with others who were not aware of the hazards bones create. Now, she is less likely to be frustrated at whomever has dropped the chicken bone on her street corner.
“We’re trying to assume what other people know and intend, but we can’t,” she said.
Even if more people get the message, though, it appears you will still be as likely to find a chicken bone on the street as a fallen leaf.
Although they’re a gross nuisance of a sidewalk adornment, Griffith doesn’t really mind them. She said they are more of a curiosity that make Philly what it is, in a small way.
When evaluating NFL prospects, a player’s past performance is often the best predictor of future performance. The same can be said for the act of scouting itself.
Howie Roseman, who began serving as Eagles general manager in 2010, has an extensive draft history that can be used to project his future prospect preferences. Roseman has had personnel control during 15 draft cycles, not including 2015 when Chip Kelly was in charge of those decisions. Those 15 draft classes offer windows into Roseman’s valued traits and abilities at each position.
For years, the Eagles’ player personnel department has been gathering information about the 2026 draft class. At the scouting combine next week, Roseman and his staff will continue to learn about the scores of NFL hopefuls and determine their prospective fit within the organization.
What can the Eagles’ draft history tell us about the questions they will seek to answer about some of the top prospects at three positions of need next week?
Will new Eagles offensive line coach Chris Kuper have the same impact on the team’s draft board as did his predecessor Jeff Stoutland?
‘Critical factors’ on the offensive line
Jeff Stoutland is no longer the Eagles offensive line coach, but will his philosophies in scouting prospective talent linger within the front office?
Throughout his 13-year tenure, Stoutland often emphasized the importance of his players possessing “critical factors” — traits that make them unusual (in a positive way) — to fit in on the Eagles line. Those factors were essential for everyone, from free-agent additions to Day 3 draft picks.
The Eagles may still take his approach in identifying offensive line talent, which is one of their key responsibilities this offseason. Given the uncertain future of Lane Johnson, regardless of whether he returns for the upcoming season or not, the Eagles could look to bolster their prospects at tackle.
For Johnson and Jordan Mailata — Roseman’s biggest draft success stories at tackle — “critical factors” trumped time on task. Johnson, the No. 4 overall pick out of Oklahoma in 2013, had three seasons of tackle experience going into the draft. Mailata, the Eagles’ 2018 seventh-rounder, had none.
They were remarkable athletes at their size, though. Johnson flaunted his athleticism at the combine, ranking in the 99th percentile in the 40-yard dash (4.72 seconds). But most offensive linemen aren’t running 40 yards unabated downfield. His 98th percentile 10-yard split (1.61 seconds) was a reflection of the short-area burst that would help provide the foundation for his All-Pro career.
This tackle class is top-heavy with talent that could interest the Eagles. Kadyn Proctor, the 6-foot-7, 366-pound tackle from Alabama, stands out for his movement skills at his hulking size. He can reinforce that notion with a strong performance at the combine. In addition to athleticism, Stoutland valued versatility along the offensive line. Proctor has the skill set to line up at guard, too, giving the Eagles another interior option if Johnson returns for a 14th season.
After a standout week at the Senior Bowl, Max Iheanachor, the 6-6, 330-pound tackle out of Arizona State, could be on the Eagles’ radar. He’s a rawer prospect than Proctor, beginning his football career in junior college only five years ago. Iheanachor has the requisite size and quickness at the position, though, and he could continue to improve his draft stock with eye-catching numbers at the combine.
However, without Stoutland on the staff developing the offensive linemen, it will be interesting to see if the Eagles gravitate toward a tackle prospect with a higher floor.
Zach Ertz (left) and Dallas Goedert were productive college tight ends who were selected by the Eagles beyond the first round.
Tight end production
Come the start of the new league year next month, the Eagles will likely put up their “help wanted” sign at tight end. After eight seasons in Philadelphia, Dallas Goedert is set to become a free agent, and his asking price may be too steep for the Eagles to meet. Grant Calcaterra, the Eagles’ second-string tight end, is poised to hit the open market, too.
The Eagles will likely draft a tight end in April, but how early? Goedert was a 2018 second-rounder (No. 49 overall) out of South Dakota State. Zach Ertz was drafted in the second round, No. 35 overall, out of Stanford in 2013. With Roseman at the helm, the Eagles have never selected a tight end in the first round, but could that change in 2026?
Kenyon Sadiq, the 20-year-old out of Oregon, is the consensus top tight end in this year’s draft class who could come off the board within the Eagles’ range (potentially earlier) at No. 23 overall. His speed and athleticism are his strengths, and he will likely continue to turn heads at the combine workouts.
Sadiq doesn’t boast the college production that most first-round pass-catchers have achieved, though, a group that includes the Eagles’ pair of second-round tight ends. In three seasons at Oregon, Sadiq posted 892 yards and 11 touchdowns on 80 receptions. Since the turn of the century, only one offensive skill player with at least 40 games played and fewer than 1,000 yards from scrimmage has been drafted in the first round — tight end Benjamin Watson (by the New England Patriots in 2004, No. 32 overall out of Georgia).
Goedert and Ertz were their respective teams’ top weapons by the end of their collegiate careers. Sadiq, who declared for the draft after his junior season, was not. Why? That’s the question the Eagles must answer as they mull the decision to use a first-round pick on the versatile hybrid tight end.
At 6-3, 245 pounds, Sadiq is smaller than Goedert (6-5, 256) and Ertz (6-5, 249). Still, Sadiq makes for an intriguing fit in the Shanahan-esque scheme that new Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion is expected to bring to Philadelphia. The speedy Sadiq has the ability to exploit mismatches in the passing game, given his ability to outrun linebackers. He excels at making plays with the ball in his hands, which could be a benefit to the Eagles in the screen game.
Realistically, Days 2 and 3 could be the ideal spots to draft a tight end given the depth at the position in this year’s draft class. But Sadiq, a better athlete than Goedert or Ertz, could quell some doubts about his college production by dazzling at the combine.
Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell (tackling SMU wide receiver Jordan Hudson) is a player who has been linked to the Eagles in multiple mock drafts.
Need for speed, skill at cornerback
The cornerback position is a reminder that Roseman’s track record isn’t always predictive. Going into the 2024 draft, he had never drafted a cornerback in the first round. That year, he bucked the trend with the selection of Quinyon Mitchell with the No. 22 overall pick.
One of the biggest questions about Mitchell’s future in the NFL as CB1 was answered at the Senior Bowl. He had mostly played in off coverage and zone at Toledo, but he performed well in press-man against other top prospects in Mobile, Ala. Roseman said after the first night of the draft that Mitchell’s Senior Bowl showing helped him see his “diverse array of skill sets.”
Mitchell also helped his draft stock at the combine. He ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash, the second-fastest speed by a cornerback that year. Unsurprisingly, speed seems to be one of the priorities for the Eagles at the position, with their cornerback selections over the last three draft classes running at most a 4.41 in the 40 at the combine. Cooper DeJean, who did not participate at the combine because of an injury, ran a 4.42 at his pro day.
Could Roseman go back to the cornerback well in the first round again? The Eagles have a need at CB2, with Adoree’ Jackson set to become a free agent in March.
Some notable draft analysts seem to think so. Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks, NFL Network draft analysts, tabbed Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell to go to the Eagles in their first mock drafts of the year.
The 5-11, 180-pound Terrell is relatively undersized at the position, although that might not necessarily be a deal-breaker. By comparison, Mitchell has fairly average size at 6 feet, 195 pounds, but his 34th-percentile arms (31 inches long) haven’t seemed to hold him back in the NFL.
Regardless of his size, Terrell has solidified himself among the top cornerbacks in this year’s draft class with his smart instincts and competitive spirit, a pair of traits that would be coveted by Vic Fangio. He also has inside-outside versatility if the Eagles ever decide to move DeJean outside full-time. If Terrell tests well at the combine, he could get his foot in the door of the late first round.
She has been staying there only for a few months, but Samantha Robinson knows why her grandparents loved their Elkins Park end-unit townhouse and the neighborhood.
“Everybody says hello,” she said. “Everybody looks out for each other.”
Her mother, Kerry Rosenthal, said her dad “really liked the wall space and the lighting. Being an end unit made it easier for my mom to grow things.”
Rosenthal said it’s possible to walk through the neighborhood and think you’re in a rural area until you hear the commuter rail train nearby .
Her parents — Beverly Green, a writing teacher, and Stephen Green, an attorney — bought the condo in the gated Breyer Woods development in 2011, expecting to renovate it so they could age in place. The Greens died in October.
The back porch with a permanent gas grill.
The 2,936-square-foot house, built in 1993, has three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and two half bathrooms.
The main level has a living room with a working gas fireplace, a deck, and a dedicated home office that could serve as a fourth bedroom.
A two-car attached garage leads directly to the laundry room.
The living room has a working gas fireplace.
The upper level primary suite has vaulted ceilings and multiple closets.
The finished walk-out basement has a half bath and kitchenette and opens to a second private deck.
Community residents have access to a tennis court and can join the adjacent student center at the Elkins Park campus of Drexel University, which has a clubhouse and gym.
The kitchen.
The house is a short walk from the Jenkintown SEPTA station, and a supermarket is less than a half-mile away.
The house is listed by Frank Blumenthal at Keller Williams Real Estate Tri-County for $499,000.
When The Simpsons writer Christine Nangle got a chance to pen the Philadelphia episode that airs Sunday night, the comedian from Oxford Circle knew it was high stakes — and local audiences would be watching closely.
“It was a lot of pressure. I was joking like, ‘If they hate it, they’re gonna burn my parents’ house down, and if they love it, they’re gonna burn my parents’ house down,’” Nangle said with a laugh.
The idea originally came from Simpsons producer Mike Price, who grew up in South Plainfield, N.J., and suggested a visit to Philadelphia as a plot premise to Nangle, knowing she was a native.
Co-executive producer and writer Christine Nangle at “The Simpsons” 800th episode party in Los Angeles.
Last summer, Nangle and Price brainstormed what could bring their beloved cartoon family to the city and they landed on a nod to the National Dog Show. It was partially inspired by Nangle’s own 11-year-old rescue pit bull, Philby, who had just died. (Nangle got a shoutout in the episode with a competition sponsored by “Philby’s Poop Bags.”)
Titled “Irrational Treasure,” the episode is a spoof of the 2004 film National Treasure. A group of historians believe that the Simpsons’ family dog, Santa’s Little Helper, is a descendant of Benjamin Franklin’s greyhounds, and holds the key to finding the inventor’s long-lost treasure somewhere in the city.
Before getting to Philly, Santa’s Little Helper gains weight as Homer (Dan Castellaneta) overfeeds and spoils him. When the dog eats Marge’s (Julie Kavner) ambrosia salad full of toxic grapes, they rush to the emergency veterinarian, voiced byThe Pitt star Noah Wyle.
Marge consults with Adrienne (Brunson), a canine nutritionist and trainer who gets the dog working out to “Far From Over,” the ‘80s track by Frank Stallone (Sylvester’s brother). The pair enroll Santa’s Little Helper in competitions to help build agility, and he soon becomes a winner who can qualify for the big dog show in Philadelphia.
Adrienne (Quinta Brunson) and Santa’s Little Helper in ‘The Simpsons’ episode “Irrational Treasure.”
“I basically wrote this [Adrienne] role for Quinta, and she said yes, which is awesome,” said Nangle, who’s a big fan of Brunson’s Philly-set sitcom, Abbott Elementary. “When we recorded it, I said to her, ‘Thank you for saying yes, because I didn’t have a second choice, and I don’t know what I would have done.’”
Though the whole family wants to go to the show, Marge insists that only she and Santa’s Little Helper attend. But Homer has other plans and he manages to stow away in the trunk for the 18-hour drive.
Actor Kevin Bacon with “The Simpsons” co-executive producer and writer Christine Nangle and executive producer Mike Price.
“Philadelphia, my kind of town,” Homer says with reverence. “Throwing ice balls at Santa Claus, climbing greasy street lamps. The city Lenny Dykstra learned to be crazy, where every steak is cheesed and every tush is pushed. Even though I’ve never been, I feel like I was born there and I never left.”
When they arrive — passing a welcome sign calling the city “The Big Scrapple” — a hotel concierge (Bacon) greets them: “Yo! Welcome to the Hotel Philadelphia. We offer 24-hour room service from our full Boyz to Menu. If you need a wooder or any other jawn just ring the Patti LaBelle and we’ll send a jabroni right up.” (Boyz II Men also contributed their own version of The Simpsons theme song for the episode.)
The “Fresh Prince suite” in ‘The Simpsons’ Philadelphia episode.
That legendary Philly accent was essential to his character, and Nangle knew Bacon could do it well. “From [hearing] the first ‘Yo,’ I felt homesick, like, immediately,” she said.
They stay in the graffiti-covered Fresh Prince suite and Marge soon finds Homer’s list of “Awesome things for me to do in Philadelphia,” from head-butting a local, to a Mare of Easttown tour, to ripping off a piece of Jason Kelce’s beard.
“How is a dirtbag tour of the city supporting the dog?” Marge asks, exasperated.
The answer? Distraction tactic. The group of historians, who call themselves H.O.A.G.I.E. Men (Historians of America’s Great Inventors and Enlightened Men), ask Homer to take them to Santa’s Little Helper and he lies, telling them his wife and dog are on a tour of the city.
Cue tourist montage: Homer eats cheesesteaks at Dalessandro’s, Pat’s, and Geno’s, pizza at Down North, Tastykakes at the Navy Yard factory, and cherry water ice on the Schuylkill in front of Boathouse Row. He takes selfies at the Mütter Museum and the Rocky statue, which appears alongside multiple other bronzes memorializing characters from the boxing franchise like Apollo Creed, Ivan Drago, Mickey, and “Hanging Side of Beef.” Of course they stop at Wawa, too — Nangle always makes sure she stops for a soft pretzel when she visits home.
Homer (Dan Castellaneta) eats a cheesesteak in South Philly in an upcoming episode of ‘The Simpsons.’
They head to a Phillies game where the Phanatic gives Homer a noogie, and then to a Flyers game where Gritty beats him up on the ice. The mascots then join the group to drink beers and watch The Roots in concert.
“I didn’t want it to just be tourist spots, I wanted to make it places where actual Philadelphians would go,” said Nangle about selecting which locations to spotlight. “It really feels like a balance, because the show is watched worldwide — I want people to get it, but I also want people who are from the area to appreciate it. And not be mad at me.”
Homer, Marge, Adrienne, and the dog all reunite at a fictional Colonial Firefighting Museum, where Nangle cameos as a security guard (“Get outta here, ya dirts!” she yells.) Turns out the H.O.A.G.I.E. Men weren’t the only ones looking for the special dog — Adrienne reveals that she, too, seeks Franklin’s treasure and she takes Santa’s Little Helper with her to Betsy Ross’ house to unlock the vault.
Questlove voices a Segway tour guide in ‘The Simpsons’ episode “Irrational Treasure.”
Marge finally makes the Rocky reference and shouts “Adrienne!” after the dog chooses the trainer over her. She and Homer chase after them, getting interrupted by a Mummers Parade and Segway tour (led by Questlove) that stops to watch a reenactment of “the Battle of Broad Street, also known as the Super Bowl 52 Riot.”
In the end, Marge and Homer save Santa’s Little Helper from Adrienne, who winds up jumping after Franklin’s key into a crumbling pit while shouting “Go, Birds!” on the way down.
Nangle had hoped the episode would’ve aired after a second Super Bowl win for the Eagles this year; instead, she was just happy that the Patriots lost. Out of the dozens of Philly references packed into the episode, her favorite joke is the shot of a beautiful dog park called “Michael Vick Reparation Park.” (The former Eagles quarterback was convicted of dogfighting.)
“I cannot believe we were allowed to do it,” she said. “Of course, as someone who had a rescue pit bull, it’s an issue that I care a lot about, but it was just so fun.”
A shot from ‘The Simpsons’ 800th episode showing Gritty, Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta), and the Phanatic at a Roots concert. Late Philadelphia journalist Dan McQuade is pictured on the top right.
Out of all the ways to make the episode authentically Philly, there was one more thing that Nangle and The Simpsons team wanted to do: Give beloved Philly journalist Dan McQuade, who died last month, a spotlight.
Nangle and McQuade met back in high school and he was a big fan of the show and planned to write about the Philly episode.
“It’s just so sad that he’s not gonna be able to see this episode,” said Nangle.
Though it was too late to make it into the broadcast version of the episode, the Disney+ version will show an animated McQuade standing behind the Phanatic in the scene at The Roots concert.
The“Irrational Treaure” episode of “The Simpsons” airs Sunday, Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
It was understandable and probably justified when a surge of roughly 3,000 masked and gun-toting federal agents into Greater Minneapolis was described in martial terms, as a kind of modern-day Battle of Stalingrad fought in a snowbound U.S. prairie metropolis.
Watching the icy slips of the clumsy U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, and the remarkable pushback from whistle-blowing neighbors braving subzero cold, the writer Margaret Killjoy quoted a friend: “ICE made a classic Nazi mistake: they invaded a winter people in winter.” So when border czar Tom Homan stood at a Minneapolis podium last week and declared an end to “Operation Metro Surge,” many in the media raced to cast the move as a major pullback.
“The Occupying Army Retreats,” proclaimed the American Prospect, in a tone that was echoed across numerous outlets. “The announcement of ICE’s withdrawal from Minnesota, like that of the British from Boston 250 years ago, marks a victory for people power.”
But the smell of victory didn’t travel the nearly 1,200 miles east to the South Jersey suburb of Lindenwold, where on the very same morning Homan announced the end of the Minnesota surge, residents were shocked by an ICE raid that targeted a bus stop for an elementary school in a district that is 60% Latino.
A Ring video from the Woodland Village Apartments, where about 44 kids were waiting for the bus, captured the alarming scene as fourth and fifth graders — some screaming “ICE! ICE!” — ran away from the masked agents in tactical gear who’d pulled up in unmarked vehicles. School officials believe no child was apprehended, although there were conflicting reports on whether any adult was arrested. But the suburban community, some 15 miles southeast of Philadelphia, was shaken to its core.
Thursday morning kids were sent running from their bus stop in panic because ICE showed up. This guy at yesterday's ICE Out of Lindenwold, NJ protest is a must watch
“I never protested before in my entire life but …,” he said, choking back tears. “I watched fourth- and fifth-grade kids run away from our own government. I never want to see that again.”
Unfortunately, America is all but certain to see this again. While Homan’s public proclamation of a drawdown in Minnesota seemed a small concession to crumbling political support for ICE, what happened in Lindenwold was a window into a dystopian near-future of more immigration raids — not fewer. This would allow an undeterred authoritarian Donald Trump regime to fill a $38 billion gulag archipelago of coast-to-coast warehouses with newly handcuffed human beings.
Even Homan said as much last Thursday, if you listened closely. “And let me be clear, mass deportations will continue, and we’re not rolling back,” he said. “President Trump promised mass deportations, and that’s exactly what the American people are going to get.”
Let’s also be clear. What happened in Minneapolis since the start of the year really was a landmark victory for democracy, and the notion that everyday Americans can defend their neighbors. At the cost of two lives, the great personal risks taken by Minnesota’s ICE resisters ended in both an unforgettable moral triumph and some real tangible gains.
The actions taken by ICE watchers — who blew their alert whistles, recorded the government’s maneuvers on their phones, or volunteered food and rides to help immigrants stay safe indoors — prevented the arrests of scores and maybe hundreds of law-abiding neighbors. The courage of their resistance drove a huge shift in public opinion against the immigration raids, forcing rare concessions from the Trump regime. This heroism probably did cause ICE to scale back its Minnesota operations sooner than planned, and even pressured the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate two agents whose version of a shooting didn’t fit reality.
But Trump’s mass deportation drive — with an inexorable inertia created when Congress threw a whopping $170 billion toward this effort last year — refuses to obey the normal laws of political gravity.
U.S. Border Patrol officers walk along a street in Minneapolis last month.
For starters, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has lied repeatedly to the American people, which means there’s no way of truly knowing to what extent the Minnesota surge has even ended. The day after Homan’s announcement, a St. Paul-based journalist noted 100 reports of ICE activity, still more than any other state.
But even more importantly, a flurry of reports last week about a massive ICE expansion for the rest of the year with many more agents in the field, more offices to support them, and more detention camps to hold thousands of new arrestees showed that what happened on the streets of Minneapolis was not the beginning of the end.
The fact that ICE is ending its surge in Minneapolis — similar to what happened in 2025 in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, N.C., and New Orleans, albeit on a smaller scale — seems less significant than the fact that the agency has, under Trump, more than doubled the number of field agents from 10,000 to 22,000, with many just hitting the streets.
Indeed, the drive to recruit new agents isn’t letting up. A Times of London reporter described the push as “a breakneck operation” as he watched officers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection — which also had its biggest hiring year in a decade — work the crowd with promises of a $50,000 bonus at a sold-out professional bull-riding event in Salt Lake City.
Can we really celebrate a “retreat” from Minneapolis when WIRED reported last week that ICE is also rushing to close leases on as many as 150 new offices — an average of three in every single state — to house its growing roster of agents and the attorneys and other back-office staffers needed to process the thousands of new arrestees?
Barricades block a drive outside a warehouse as federal officials tour the facility to consider repurposing it as an ICE detention facility on Jan. 15.
For example, multiple outlets confirmed last week that Homeland Security just inked a lease for high-end office space in the Westlakes Office Park in Berwyn, in Philadelphia’s Main Line suburbs, reportedly to house ICE attorneys and related personnel. A planned office in Philadelphia’s Chinatown, at 801 Arch St., is also listed by WIRED.
Experts say the logistics of converting these rectangular behemoths — like the 1.3 million-square-foot warehouse in Schuylkill County, Pa., that used to distribute cheap consumer goods for Big Lots that DHS claims can house up to7,500 detained immigrants — into even remotely humane facilities is daunting, if not impossible. Yet, DHS is plowing ahead with stunning speed, clearly expecting a pending spike in arrests.
In rural Social Circle, Ga., ICE is claiming it will convert a one million-square-foot warehouse into a detention site for as many as 10,000 people — double the town’s population — as soon as two months from now. Project Salt Box, which is tracking the rapid gulag expansion, says DHS is using a legal maneuver to fast-track bidding to allow large private firms like the Geo Group to run these detention centers.
Neither Trump’s plunging approval rating, nor the rapidly rising level of ICE resistance from everyday citizens like that flag-waver in Lindenwold, nor the Democratic demands for major reforms that have caused a DHS shutdown (with, ironically, no impact on ICE or Border Patrol) has put a dent in this unyielding drive toward rank inhumanity.
A newly bloated ICE wants to create a Minneapolis in every state, even as more and more Americans are willing to take considerable risks to stop them. What we are witnessing just over one year into the Trump regime is less a retreat and more an escalating game of chicken — with the forces of democracy and fascism headed for a dangerous collision.
If you’re part of the growing American majority who is disgusted with what ICE is doing in our streets, now is the time to get your whistle, attend a training session on what to do when the secret police arrive at your kid’s bus stop, attend a protest like the next “No Kings” event on March 28, and join the movement to protect your neighbors.
In the spirit of John Paul Jones and the revolutionary American founders, we have not yet begun to fight.
The Franklin Institute has welcomed its newest exhibit with the world premiere of “Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition.”
The 18,000-square-foot exhibit — which opened Saturday — takes visitors behind the scenes of the country’s billion-dollar theme-park industry through an expansive collection of costumes, immersive photo opportunities, and park props.
The exhibit has eight galleries, 20 interactive components, and 100 theme park-related artifacts ranging from actor show props to model roller coasters.
Young Lachlan McMahon poses for a photo at the Franklin Institute’s newest exhibit, “Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition,” on Thursday.
At an early showcase Thursday, those behind the exhibit touted it as a “first-of-its-kind look” that would “[immerse] guests in the creative process that brings Universal’s most iconic experiences to life.”
“At the institute, I think we are really a leader in bringing exhibitions that educate, but they do it while entertaining,” said Larry Dubinski, president and CEO of the Franklin Institute.
“We wanted to create an exhibit in which we could teach some interesting things about engineering, design, jobs that are in a booming business, like theme parks, and [inspire] that curiosity and creativity.”
Kyra Zamborsky (left) and Jade Beasley at the Franklin Institute’s new exhibit that pays homage to Universal’s theme parks, in Philadelphia, on Feb. 12, 2026.
Among the goals of the exhibit was to package science and technology learning in an accessible way.
“History and science and technology — these things need to be wrapped in a layer of immersion that gets today’s kids excited,” said Dan Picard, owner and chief creative officer of creative design firm MDSX. “Because they don’t want to walk through a place that’s boring. … If you do not have a vibe, you’re not going to sell tickets, you’re not going to connect with kids, and you’re not going to have a shot to create that spark that makes them curious about these topics.”
Created in partnership between the Franklin Institute and Comcast NBCUniversal, the exhibit opens with a video featuring legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg that uses archival footage to take visitors through the history of Universal’s theme parks.
From there, visitors will find a collection of galleries showcasing all aspects of the theme-park universe. There is a station on the science of roller-coasters, including models of real-life coasters, as well as costumes worn by park workers.
Among the most popular stops on Thursday was a station that allowed users to program the movements of an animatronic figure from DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon. (The exhibit features other Universal attractions, including Jaws, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and Jurassic World.)
Sprinkled throughout the exhibit are video interviews with those who make Universal’s theme parks tick — from costume designers to storyboard artists and creative directors.
“There’s so many opportunities for interactivity and creative storytelling,” said Abby Bysshe, chief experience and strategy officer at the Franklin Institute, of the draw to creating a theme park-related exhibit. “It was about kind of curating all these parts and pieces, and talking with their team members and finding ways to really highlight what makes Universal theme parks so special.”
At the new exhibit at the Franklin Institute that pays homage to Universal’s theme parks, in Philadelphia on Feb. 12, 2026.
“At the end of the day, our mission is to inspire and educate,” said Dubinski. “And here, people are going to be inspired, they’ll be educated — and they’ll have a great time as they go through.”
“Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition,” runs through Sept. 7, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Daytime tickets range from $41 for children to $47 for adults and include admission to the Franklin Institute.
Evening tickets, available from Thursday through Saturday, are $25 and limited to the Universal exhibit. Tickets at fi.edu, (215) 448-1200.
As the 76ers entered 2020 draft night, Doc Rivers and Sam Cassell had become enamored with Tyrese Maxey.
The two Sixers coaches at the time — both NBA points guards in a past life — sat together in a “silent panic” as the picks unfolded, hoping Maxey would continue slipping to No. 21.
“It really just fell right into our hands,” said Rivers, now head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks.
That was the final piece that needed to align — amid some bizarre basketball and societal circumstances — for Maxey to become a Sixer.
Tyrese Maxey signed a four-year, $204 million extension with the Sixers in 2024.
The COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 NCAA Tournament, swapping a potential final on-court showcase for Maxey with Kentucky for “working out for, like, [eight] months straight.” Several pre-draft interviews with teams were via videoconference, preventing decision-makers from witnessing Maxey’s work ethic and joyful demeanor in person and making that year’s overall talent evaluation an even more inexact science. And the only reason the Sixers had the 21st overall selection in the first place was because of a game-winning shot in the Orlando restart bubble by the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Mike Muscala, which officially conveyed a traded top-20-protected draft pick to the Sixers.
“People will remember that number [21],” Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said when asked recently about Maxey. “Because if you redraft that draft, he’s at the very top somewhere, for sure.”
Now Maxey is an All-Star starter, living up to “The Franchise” nickname bestowed upon him by teammate Joel Embiid, a former MVP. The explosive guard entered Thursday ranked sixth in the NBA in scoring average (28.9 points), leading the league in minutes played (38.6), and adding 6.8 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 2 steals per game. He signed a five-year, $204 million max contract in the summer of 2024.
Does he ever think about the specific series of events needed for his Philly origin story to occur? Yes.
“I’m blessed,” Maxey told The Inquirer last month. “I really got lucky.”
Sixers guards VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey will travel together to All-Star Weekend to partake in the Rising Stars game and All-Star Game, respectively.
Maxey and his family were at the SEC Tournament in Nashville in March 2020 when the remainder of the college basketball season was canceled because of the pandemic’s onset.
Fueled by Maxey and fellow future NBA guard Immanuel Quickley, Kentucky was a threat to make a deep NCAA Tournament run. March Madness can become a prime stage for an NBA prospect’s draft stock to soar, and missing out left Maxey with a sour “What did you come to college for?” taste.
“I was like, ‘I’m ready to go home and be with my family,’” Maxey said. “My mom came and got me that night.”
Tyrese Maxey fell to the Sixers partly because he couldn’t workout or interview in front of NBA teams.
Maxey went back to his hometown of Garland, Texas, near Dallas and trained with his father, Tyrone, his longtime coach. After signing with Klutch Sports agency, Maxey then went to Los Angeles to work with personal trainer Chris Johnson.
When Maxey learned that Rajon Rondo, a standout NBA point guard and Johnson client, arrived at the gym at 5:30 a.m., Maxey told Johnson, “I’m there.” That daily workout fed into a weightlifting session with performance coach Al Reeser, who today accompanies Maxey with the Sixers. Maxey would return to the gym for a 10 a.m. shooting session with various players, including all-time great LeBron James, before a third workout at 12:30 p.m. With no guidance yet from an NBA team or system he would be stepping into, Maxey drilled all aspects of his game, including shooting touch, passing reads, and three-point accuracy.
Maxey has kept that early-morning routine ever since, believing it now gives him a psychological advantage over competitors.
“I knew then he had everything that it took for him to have a very promising career in the NBA,” Johnson told The Inquirer in 2021. “Whatever franchise was going to get him was going to get somebody that, No. 1, could be coached. No. 2, would be prepared. No. 3, not afraid of hard work — but not just regular hard work. We talk about elite training when your body [doesn’t] feel like it.
“I knew right away, ‘Oh, he’s going to be pretty special.’”
Then Maxey’s parents made him put on a polo shirt for video interviews with team executives, where he hoped his authenticity would pierce through the “kind of awkward” digital setting. Tyrone reminded his son to make sure he conveyed that he had been trained as a point guard, even though he played off the ball at Kentucky.
Tyrese Maxey played well at Kentucky but NBA teams believed he wasn’t a great shooter.
The most common feedback Maxey remembers receiving from teams back then was he “can’t shoot,” after he made 29.2% of his three-point attempts at Kentucky. He attempted to change that narrative during a workout with an unnamed team, when Tyrone said Tyrese made 33 consecutive three-pointers and “and they still passed on him” on draft night.
“He was proving he could shoot in front of this team,” said Tyrone, who will watch Maxey compete in the All-Star three-point contest on Saturday. “ … And it’s like, ‘Man, this is crazy.’”
One team Maxey believed had “no chance” to join? The Sixers.
He had “zero” contact with the organization before the draft. But that front office was studying him behind the scenes.
President of basketball operations Daryl Morey credits general manager Elton Brand and the scouting staff for doing the bulk of the evaluation on Maxey before Morey joined the organization from the Houston Rockets in November 2020.
Former Sixers coach Doc Rivers placed trust in Tyrese Maxey when Ben Simmons stepped away from the team. Tyrese Maxey is now an All-Star starter and the top American vote-getter in the All-Star Game.
Maxey’s quickness and finishing around the rim immediately stood out. Morey believed in Maxey’s perimeter shooting mechanics and “secondary indicators” of NBA potential, despite the low three-point percentage in college. Morey also picked up on the pride Maxey took in improving his defense, which has turned him into a legitimate disruptor on that end of the floor in his sixth NBA season.
Morey told The Inquirer in 2021 that Maxey was ranked around 10th on the Sixers’ big board entering the draft.
“A lot of his on-the-surface things didn’t pop at Kentucky,” Morey said, “which is why I think the scouts get a lot of credit on this one.”
Mike Muscala, a former player with the Sixers and Thunder, is now a Phoenix Suns assistant coach.
To even possess that pick, however, the Sixers needed two fortuitous 3-pointers at Disney World by Muscala, the former Sixer who at that time was a role player for the Thunder.
Those shots beat the Miami Heat in their second-to-last regular-season bubble game, which configured the standings so that the top-20-protected draft pick that Oklahoma City owed the Sixers would convey that year. Muscala told The Inquirer that, as Maxey began his NBA ascension about a year or two later, he began to catch wind from the most-tapped-in Sixers fans of the roundabout impact he had on the team landing its future All-Star.
“It is interesting when you start thinking about different dominoes that fall,” said Muscala, who is now an assistant coach with the Phoenix Suns and said he does not know Maxey.
Tyrese Maxey’s energy and joy have endeared him to the city of Philadelphia.Tyrese Maxey has routinely made himself available for Sixers charity events.
“Big shot, thanks!” Maxey said when Muscala’s name resurfaced earlier this week. “Without Mike, I’m not here.”
As the draft approached, Maxey said he believed he would go somewhere in the middle of the first round. That perplexed Tyrone, not only as a proud father but as Maxey’s former AAU coach who “knew everybody in that draft.”
Prominent mock drafts slotted LaMelo Ball and Tyrese Haliburton, who have both become All-Stars, ahead of Maxey. Ditto for Killian Hayes, who quickly flamed out of the NBA. Though those outside evaluations regularly praised Maxey’s crafty finishing and expressed belief in his shooting form, The Ringer’s draft guide also critiqued that he “lacked top-end quickness and acceleration.”
When draft night arrived, Maxey’s mother, Denyse, re-created a green room at their Texas home and asked attending loved ones to take a rapid COVID test at the door. Ball, Haliburton, and Hayes all went off the board in the top 12. When the San Antonio Spurs took Devin Vassell at No. 11 and the Orlando Magic selected Cole Anthony 15th, Maxey “knew I was going to sit for a minute.”
Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey has become a leader for the team in his sixth NBA season. Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey was knighted as “The Franchise” early in his career by former MVP Joel Embiid.
Agent Rich Paul called just before the 20th pick, predicting Maxey would be selected by the Miami Heat or the Sixers.
Morey told The Inquirer in 2021 that the Sixers were considering trading down. But when the Heat took Precious Achiuwa of Memphis and Maxey was still available, Morey wanted to shoot for a high-ceiling player instead of settling for a “solid” one.
“We chose not to [trade back] just because we believed in Tyrese so much,” Morey said then. “ … We were surprised he was there, and really thrilled he was there.”
Maxey joined a team that finished with the Eastern Conference’s best record in his rookie season, making early playing time spotty until a couple of breakout playoff performances. Then the opportunities to flourish began.
Ben Simmons’ holdout forced Maxey into starting point guard duties as a second-year player. He got to learn from future Hall of Famer James Harden, then he took over lead ballhandling duties when Harden forced his way out of Philly early in the 2023-24 season.
Maxey formed a dynamic two-man partnership with Embiid, becoming the NBA’s Most Improved Player and a first-time All-Star in 2024. Embiid’s multiple knee surgeries in recent seasons elevated Maxey into the top offensive role, with the electric skill and playing style that made him the top American vote-getter among fans in this year’s All-Star balloting.
Tyrese Maxey’s parents, Denyse and Tyrone, played a major role in his basketball development.
That all leads to this weekend, when Maxey will be introduced as an All-Star starter on Sunday.
When Maxey was asked earlier this week if he still looks back on the players who went ahead of him in the 2020 draft, an eavesdropping Trendon Watford — Maxey’s teammate and longtime close friend — vigorously nodded.
“I’ve got to let it go,” Maxey conceded. “It’s over.”
Because all of those bizarre basketball and societal circumstances — a pandemic, a Muscala shot, and a slip down draft boards — aligned to make him a Sixer.
“He landed in the right spot,” Tyrone said. “It was all God’s plan.”
When the NCAA decided to go all-in on Division I women’s college basketball by adding a national championship tournament in 1981-82, it marked a fascinating turnaround. By grabbing the reins from the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women — the longtime governing body of women’s hoops — the NCAA set out to make the game bigger and better forever.
The sport did change, vastly. Television exposure finally found big-name programs. Title IX brought more girls and women into play, literally and figuratively. All-American players and Hall of Fame-worthy coaches promulgated. What should not be lost is this: the roots of the game were plentiful, but none more important than what grew strong at schools throughout this tri-state region.
Here, programs and players were so impactful that to ignore the flood of talent became indefensible by 1982. So, the NCAA bit.
Before the dynasties at UConn and Tennessee, there were giant-killers on the courts of tiny Immaculata and Cheyney State.
Before there was a Geno Auriemma or Pat Summitt, there were legendary coaches like the Mighty Macs’ Cathy Rush and Cheyney’s C. Vivian Stringer. Rush’s and Stringer’s reputations and extraordinary programs surely caught the attention of the NCAA as they traveled the path to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Before there were all-Americans like Dawn Staley, Maya Moore, and Caitlin Clark, future Hall of Famer Theresa Shank-Grentz and the fabulous talent, Yolanda Laney, were dealing here in the Delaware Valley.
A clipping from The Philadelphia Inquirer’s sports section on March 28, 1982, when Yolanda Laney, C. Vivian Stringer, and the Cheyney State women’s basketball team was headed to the championship game of the first NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
Shank-Grentz, star of the Mighty Macs’ improbable AIAW championships, helped put a school of fewer than 3,000 students on the map. The Macs ruled the game for a near decade, winning three AIAW crowns while reaching five consecutive AIAW Final Fours.
At even tinier Cheyney State, the All-American Laney and other talents who desired to play for Stringer helped the nation’s oldest historically Black college or university become the first HBCU to play in an NCAA Division I national championship game. Stringer’s team, with not one athletic scholarship to give, made that possible in 1982.
“When you look at our team, we were part of God’s plan … a team of All-American, all-state players turning down scholarships [from larger schools] but we had one common denominator, and that was the great Vivian Stringer,” the team’s star center, Valerie Walker, said in her acceptance speech at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony in 2024. The Lady Wolves were enshrined as “Trailblazers of the Game.”
The NCAA certainly was watching and calculating how to build off the growing women athletes’ import. But it arguably would not have had the curiosity or the vision if Greenberg had not provided the cohesiveness and foresight to champion programs, big and small.
The Philadelphia Inquirer’s women’s basketball savant did so by founding his national poll 50 years ago. By connecting the dots of powerhouses across the country, the poll allowed teams, whether big, small, or minuscule, to bring into focus what previously had been a guessing game of who, what, and why which teams and trends mattered. The clarity benefited not only the programs, but the players, recruits, fans, and media from coast to coast.
Claire Smith and Mel Greenberg, Hall of Famers and former Inquirer writers.
Greenberg gave even the most accomplished chroniclers of women’s hoops — as well as newbies such as this reporter — a divining rod. His informative and increasingly powerful poll beautifully grew in strength alongside the game. Local teams certainly benefited, as Greenberg shone a light on both with his polling and prose.
He helped me, a frenemy at the late, great Philadelphia Bulletin, appreciate the bushels of all-American players, future Hall of Fame coaches, and prominent teams that dominated the AIAW right in our own backyards. From Rutgers to Maryland, Cheyney State to Penn State, and rising Big 5 women’s teams, it fascinated me to see the seeds that one day sprouted so prominently.
To say that I saw the important contributions of the local teams growing the women’s game as clearly as did Greenberg would be beyond impudent. Rather, following the game in and around the immediate area as well as following the pollmeister was an education, one I and others needed to appreciate why the NCAA move was inevitable.
I missed seeing the Mighty Mac era by mere years. Still, I often was reminded of the footprints left during their legendary run through the ’70s. Greenberg, a walking encyclopedia of the sport, can to this day bring to life any tale about the Macs, starting with the 1972 team that won the first women’s national basketball championship.
Though I came to the job too late to witness the Mighty Macs magic, I saw what followed in their footsteps. For a similar miracle was unfolding at Cheyney State where Stringer was building a national behemoth at the tiniest of schools (today’s enrollment at Cheyney, which is now known as Cheyney University, is less than 1,000 students).
John Chaney, the Hall of Famer and Philly legend who was the coach of the men’s team at Cheyney when Stringer was leading the women there, knew which team was the stronger draw. “We were ranked No. 1 in Division II, but we’d play the first game so that we would have somebody there by halftime,” Chaney, laughing, told me for a column written for the New York Times. “The real show was our women’s team. They didn’t come to see me; they came to see Vivian!”
Former Temple coach John Chaney (left) shares stories with Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer and Nike executive Ralph Greene. Chaney and Stringer coached the men’s and women’s teams at Cheyney State in the 1980s.
It always was standing-room-only in Cheyney’s compact Cope Hall, for the scribes and fans had a sense that what they were watching was special: Two Hall of Fame coaches in the making. Oh, and one Hall of Fame team. For Stringer’s 1981-82 team that finished the season ranked No. 2 in the nation.
That final standing in the polls reflected Cheyney’s having come within one win of claiming the first-ever women’s NCAA championship. Though the team lost to Louisiana Tech in the final, just getting there was the ultimate victory.
In those days, Stringer spoke of how her Lady Wolves had to sell cookies, cakes, and sandwiches to raise funds to travel to Norfolk, Va., for that first Final Four.
That Cheyney team finished 28-3. The 11 players and coaching staff were honored years later by the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024. The team also was nominated for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2025.
Alas, those David and Goliath stories no longer happen in a world where a Cheyney State or Immaculata wouldn’t even dream of being allowed to compete at a Division I championship level. Big universities and programs awash with NIL money now gobble up the best players in the land. The little guys play in lower divisions, noses pressed against windows of the massive arenas holding tournaments made possible by the Immaculatas and Cheyney States, the Cathy Rushes and Vivian Stringers … and Mel Greenberg’s vision of what could be.
Think you know your news? There’s only one way to find out. Welcome back to our weekly News Quiz — a quick way to see if your reading habits are sinking in and to put your local news knowledge to the test.
Question 1 of 10
There will be one Tun Tavern opening in Old City, now that a long-running dispute over the name of one of Philadelphia’s most storied colonial landmarks has been resolved. What’s the historical significance of the Tun Tavern?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The Tun Tavern served as the first recruiting station for what became the Marine Corps in 1775. Now that a long-running dispute over the name of one of Philadelphia’s most storied colonial landmarks has been resolved, the Tun Legacy Foundation — a nonprofit led by Marine veterans and Philadelphia-area organizations whose origins trace back to the original Tun Tavern — will use the full name on its planned historic reproduction on Second Street.
Question 2 of 10
This building at LOVE Park (with a space-themed nickname), could soon get a reboot after years of sitting dormant:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The Saucer building, also referred to as the UFO, was added to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places last year. Built in 1960, the building predates LOVE Park, and first served as the city hospitality center. It later housed offices for park staff. Now it’s looking at a long-awaited reboot.
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Question 3 of 10
Which Philly-based bronze statue is slated to be relocated to the base of the Art Museum’s steps, taking Rocky’s place?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Creative Philadelphia, the city’s office for the creative sector, presented and had approved a proposal at an Art Commission meeting to have the “Smokin’” Joe Frazier statue take over the Rocky statue’s current home at the base of the Art Museum’s steps. Last month, the commission approved the Rocky statue coming back to the top of the steps, where it supposedly will permanently stay starting in the fall and following its first-time display inside the museum.
Question 4 of 10
Just two blocks from Independence Hall, Carpenters Hall is where Pennsylvania declared its independence from Britain in June 1776. To celebrate America’s 250th birthday, what will be installed outside of Carpenters Hall in June?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
On June 18, as part of the celebration, a blue historical marker will be installed outside the hall in addition to a three-part virtual lecture series on Pennsylvania’s constitution.
Question 5 of 10
Northeast Philly’s Delilah Dee, who runs a local social community for Latina women, worked on Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show as a part of the field team, coordinating walkthroughs and set breakdowns. Where was she when she learned she got the job?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Dee applied for a job at the Super Bowl in November. On Dec. 31, she was accepted for a position with the field team. She learned while she was at the gym and started crying. For the last two weeks, she was in Santa Clara for rehearsals.
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A landmark deli in Cherry Hill closed after 25 years without notice, filing for bankruptcy. What was it called?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The Kibitz Room in Cherry Hill shuttered without notice. Now, former owners say they want to revive the business, founded in 2001.
Question 7 of 10
This department store in Bala Cynwyd is closing after decades in business:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Saks Fifth Avenue will be closing its Bala Cynwyd location in April. Saks Global, which owns Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus, announced the impending closure in a statement Tuesday, a month after the luxury clothing retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Question 8 of 10
Which iconic Philly bar hosted a reunion for couples who found love there?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
McGillin’s Olde Ale House, the 166-year-old pub in Center City long owned by the same family, has leaned especially hard into being, in its own description, the place where more couples have met than anywhere else in Philadelphia. The bar hosted its first reunion for such couples this month.
Question 9 of 10
What issue sparked dueling lawsuits between Gov. Josh Shapiro and his neighbors?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The lawsuits center on a security fence and a disputed property line. Shapiro’s neighbors in Abington Township, Jeremy and Simone Mock, accuse the governor and his wife, Lori Shapiro, of illegally occupying part of their yard. The Shapiros filed a countersuit.
Question 10 of 10
Born in a puppy mill in Peach Bottom, Lancaster County, this 6-week-old toy poodle was one of many cute stars in last week’s Puppy Bowl:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The puppy, Oscar, who was nursed back to health after being severely undernourished, traveled to Glens Falls, N.Y., to participate in the October taping of the 22nd annual Puppy Bowl. The annual special raises 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.
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