The quiet handling of school gambling | Morning Newsletter
And ICE interrupts marriage plans
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Welcome to Sunday.
We’re keeping a close eye on Hurricane Erin, now a Category 5 storm. Forecasters say it could create powerful rip currents off the U.S. East Coast from Florida to the Mid-Atlantic.
A Main Line high school suspended a longtime coach after he was caught gambling with students on basketball games. Tipsters say the school district tried to bury the scandal.
Further down, hear the story of a newly engaged couple whose wedding plans were derailed by an ICE arrest at the King of Prussia Mall.
— Paola Pérez (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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David Zimmerman, a nationally recognized soccer coach and teacher at Conestoga High School, missed a few days of class last winter, but not everyone knew why.
What we do know: Zimmerman reportedly placed “prop bets” with students on the stats of school athletes. Little money was involved. The NCAA has sought a federal ban on this form of betting.
Under the radar: The would-be scandal seemed to disappear. There was no public announcement from the school, and many parents in the affluent district never heard anything about it. Officials said they administered discipline as in any other case involving student misconduct.
Concerned whispers: Tipsters wrote in to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association and The Inquirer, taking issue with how the Tredyffin/Easttown School District handled the matter in secrecy, and questioning if the school administration was trying to “cover up” the controversy.
Sensitive to “bad publicity”: Conestoga is highly competitive and conscious of its image. Between hazing allegations and cases of inappropriate relationships between students and teachers, this is not the first time the top-rated institution has faced pressure.
Dive into the details with investigative reporter William Bender.
Instead of planning their wedding, Amanda Souza and Andres Paredes Morales are in the middle of a process that families and partners of migrants fear most.
Paredes Morales was detained in July by immigration agents in plainclothes at his job at District Taco. According to Souza, ICE said it wanted to question her fiancé after receiving a complaint that he was involved in a crime.
Paredes Morales, who has been in the U.S. for less than a year, is here legally under a work authorization permit that expires in 2026. He has no criminal record in the U.S. or abroad, and his attorney said she is not aware of any pending criminal case against her client.
Jesse Bunch has the story as a flurry of ICE activity continues in Montgomery County and across the country.
What you should know today
A man was killed in a shooting on a SEPTA Broad Street Line train Friday night in North Philadelphia. The suspected shooter turned himself in and said he fired in self-defense, police said.
A 12-year-old boy died after a fire broke out at a North Philadelphia residence on Friday, authorities said.
Hundreds flocked to a free medical clinic in West Philly, some lining up before its 6 a.m. opening.
Tens of thousands of refugees, victims of human trafficking and domestic violence, and others who legally immigrated to Pennsylvania and New Jersey will lose Medicaid coverage next fall, when new eligibility rules established under President Donald Trump’s signature “big beautiful bill” take effect.
Former UArts students, faculty and staff got a chance to reunite with art work and supplies left behind when the school abruptly closed last year.
Berks County nonprofit health system Tower Health reported its first full-year operating profit in seven years, thanks to the sale of its shuttered Brandywine Hospital.
My Chemical Romance brought its first-ever stadium tour to Citizens Bank Park. The performance featured guest shock rocker Alice Cooper, cheesesteak, and none other than the Phillie Phanatic.
❓Pop quiz
An exhibit at the Brandywine Museum of Art showcases panes of pigments from natural materials, including leaves and petals sourced from a Chester County nature preserve.
Which poet (and their plant album) served as a spiritual guide for the artists?
A) Robert Frost
B) Emily Dickinson
C) Sylvia Plath
D) Walt Whitman
Think you know? Check your answer.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Bok Bar’s sequel beer garden
FIBER MUCK’S NUMERALS
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Jillian Buxton who correctly guessed Saturday’s answer: Scarlet Sunrise. Meet Rutgers University’s new sweet, crack-resistant, golden grape tomato, nearly a decade in the making.
🍑 “August is the month when New Jersey really lives up to its nickname — the Garden State — and farm stands burst with vibrant, just-picked sun-ripened tomatoes, baskets of sweet corn, and ripe, juicy peaches," writes staff photographer Tom Gralish. See what’s up for grabs through Gralish’s photographic journey.
🎶 Today’s track goes like this: “Someday, baby, when the river runs free / It’s gonna carry that water of love to me.”
👋🏽 That’s it for now. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.