Under the First Amendment, we the people are given Freedom of Speech. This is a gift from our founding fathers. At Thursday night’s, August 26, Gloucester City Council meeting I proposed installing a CITIZENS
PODIUM equipped with a microphone in order for the public to express their concerns to our elected officials.
This podium will be dedicated in the memory of Theresa Graham. Theresa served as the president of the Gloucester City Board of Education for many years. She was also the president of the Gloucester City Senior Citizens Association. She was a watch dog for our community for many years. And, she attended many council meetings always expressing her opinion on matters pertaining to the operation of the City that she loved dearly.
She told like it was. I know this because she called me out a few times when I was the City’s mayor.
Donations for this citizens podium can be sent to : Theresa’s Freedom Podium, c/o Bob Bevan, 522 Jefferson Avenue, Gloucester City, NJ 08030
For decades, a diagnosis of metastatic pancreatic cancer left patients and physicians facing the same harsh reality: limited options, difficult treatments and too little time. Now, a pill tested in a global clinical trial may begin to change that.
The oral targeted therapy helped patients live nearly twice as long as those who received standard chemotherapy, marking a major advance for one of cancer’s most difficult diseases. Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, participated in the global study and was the only South Florida site to offer the trial.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Rasonque, the brand name for daraxonrasib, a first-in-class targeted therapy for adults with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The approval was based on the phase 3 RASolute 302 trial, which enrolled 500 patients across 59 sites in six countries.
Patients who took the pill lived a median of 13.2 months, nearly twice as long as those who received standard chemotherapy.
A Milestone Years in the Making
“This is a monumental shift in the treatment of pancreas cancer,” said Peter Hosein, M.D., co-leader of Sylvester’s Gastrointestinal Cancer Site Disease Group. “It’s a historic day for pancreatic cancer.”
The approval was wider than investigators expected. The trial required KRAS mutation testing, but the FDA approved the therapy for eligible patients regardless of KRAS mutation status.
“For a drug to be approved that has the potential to benefit a broad range of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer, this is unprecedented,” Dr. Hosein said.
“This approval is a landmark for patients, but it is also an important scientific milestone because it demonstrates that RAS, one of the most important drivers of pancreatic cancer, can be successfully targeted. At the Sylvester Pancreatic Cancer Research Institute, our goal is to build on advances like this by bringing together clinical trials, patient-derived biospecimens and laboratory investigation to understand why some tumors respond, why resistance develops and how we can make these responses deeper and more durable,” said Nipun Merchant, M.D., founding director of the Sylvester Pancreatic Cancer Research Institute (SPCRI) and the Alan Livingstone Professor in the DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery.
A Patient Experience
For Julian Itzkowitz of Port St. Lucie, Fla., the impact is personal. In 2022, the 80-year-old had severe back pain. An MRI revealed a pancreatic tumor. He underwent a Whipple procedure that September, but soon after, the cancer had spread to his lungs. Chemotherapy made him too sick to continue.
Three months ago, he began taking daraxonrasib through Sylvester’s Expanded Access Program while FDA review was underway.
“My appetite is good. I feel good about myself, and I can travel without any problems,” he said.
His mother died of pancreatic cancer 20 years ago, when patients had far fewer options.
“I hope I can stay on this drug for a long time,” he said. A recent scan showed his tumors had shrunk since starting treatment.
“Despite having some side effects, their quality of life was better because their cancer was better controlled,” Dr. Hosein said of patients on the drug during the clinical trial. “And the thing that has the biggest impact on quality of life is cancer control.”
More Than a New Treatment
For Dr. Hosein, the approval offers patients something less easily captured in clinical data: hope.
“A lot of times when people come in with a new diagnosis of pancreas cancer, they are depressed and their whole world is turned upside down,” he said. “Knowing that there’s something like this, which is such a big breakthrough, which is also not chemotherapy, is a big deal.”
Sylvester’s role grew from its participation in multicenter clinical trials and pancreatic cancer research programs. The cancer center became the first Florida site to open an Expanded Access Program for daraxonrasib, allowing eligible patients to receive the therapy before approval. More than 80 patients enrolled in approximately three months.
Dr. Hosein has also helped design RASolute 304, a new study testing whether daraxonrasib can prevent pancreatic cancer from returning after surgery.
The Next Scientific Question: Resistance
A biospecimen initiative is collecting blood and tumor samples to study why some tumors evade RAS inhibition. RAS is a family of proteins that drives the growth of most pancreatic cancers and has long been one of the most difficult targets in cancer biology.
That effort is closely integrated with laboratory research at the SPCRI aimed at defining the mechanisms that allow pancreatic cancers to escape RAS inhibition. Dr. Merchant, Jashodeep Datta, M.D., the DiMare Family Endowed Chair in Immunotherapy and co-leader of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Site Disease Group, and Nagaraj Nagathihalli, Ph.D., associate professor in the DeWitt Daughtry Family Department of Surgery and assistant director of basic science research at the SPCRI, are working collaboratively to understand how tumor-intrinsic changes and interactions within the tumor microenvironment contribute to treatment resistance and to identify strategies to prevent or overcome it.
“FDA approval is an extraordinary milestone, but it is also the beginning of the next set of scientific questions,” Dr. Datta said. “The challenge now is understanding why some tumors eventually evade RAS inhibition and how we can develop new strategies to prevent or overcome that resistance. Through ongoing collaborations with Revolution Medicines and other industry partners, we are laser-focused on understanding and targeting factors in the tumor microenvironment that provoke and sustain resistance to RAS inhibition in pancreatic cancer.”
What Comes Next
Sylvester is enrolling patients in the RASolute 304 study, a phase 3 trial testing whether daraxonrasib can reduce recurrence after pancreatic cancer surgery.
Researchers also opened a study for newly diagnosed patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer that combines chemotherapy with a KRAS-targeted therapy.
“With other ongoing trials, it is conceivable that in the future, we will recommend this pill for someone with newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer rather than chemotherapy infusions, which have been the standard for decades,” Dr. Hosein said.
It also shows how today’s breakthrough can seed tomorrow’s research. Research underway across SPCRI is already focused on the next phase: understanding why tumors adapt, identifying mechanisms of resistance and developing strategies to overcome them, and building on the progress now reaching patients.
For patients like Itzkowitz, that future is no longer an abstract scientific goal. It is already beginning to take shape.
The World Series of Poker (WSOP), the world’s most prestigious brand in poker, awarded $3,053,585 during its most recent Circuit tour stop at Harrah’s Atlantic City, which ran August 13-24 and hosted 18 WSOP trophy events. The poker festival drew some of the best players on the East Coast, including Quantitative Trader Brian Luo, who won the biggest title of the series, and 2015 WSOP World Champion Joe McKeehen, who won two events, adding two rings to his ample trophy case.
The marquee $1,700 buy-in Main Event at Harrah’s drew a field of 698 entrants, generating a prize pool of just over $1 million. Luo, 29, ultimately finished as the last man standing, earning the grand prize of $189,145.
LYON, France – An eight-month operation targeting West African organized crime groups has led to 58 arrests and the identification of 263 suspects.
Operation Jackal IV (November 2025 – June 2026) aimed to disrupt money laundering, identify high-value targets, seize assets, and support arrests and prosecution.
The operation, which brought together 22 countries from six continents, is a response to the escalating global threat posed by West African criminal networks – such as the Black Axe and other similar groups. These groups are responsible for a significant share of the world’s cyber-enabled financial fraud, typically through romance scams, cryptocurrency and investment scams or business email compromise fraud, as well as other serious and violent crimes.
The Philadelphia Police Department’s Crash Investigation Division is attempting to locate the below vehicle which left the scene of fatal crash that occurred on August 27, 2026, on or around 1:45am, on the 5500 block of Rising Sun Ave. The vehicle was last seen east on Tabor Rd. from Rising Sun Ave. at approximately 1:46am.
Vehicle Description: 2023-2026 Kia Sportage, X-Line, Jungle Green.
To submit a tip via telephone, dial 215.686.TIPS (8477)
This program offers property tax relief to New Jersey residents who own or rent property in New Jersey as their main home and meet certain income limits. This year’s ANCHOR benefit is based on residency, income, and age from 2025.
The Delaware State Beach Patrol celebrates a third national championship as part of the Sussex County Lifesaving Team. /Delaware DNREC photo
For the third year in a row, the Sussex County Lifesaving Association won the national championship title at the U.S. Lifesaving Association’s annual competition, with major wins by members of the Delaware State Beach Patrol, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced.
“The lifeguards who have been safeguarding our state park beaches all summer have also put Delaware on the map three years in a row in this national competition,” said DNREC Secretary Greg Patterson. “We are proud of the Delaware State Beach Patrol not only for their remarkable skills and competitive drive, but also for their daily commitment to protecting Delaware beach visitors. They have excelled at both.”
The Philadelphia Police Department Homicide Unit is looking to identify the suspect, depicted in the following surveillance video excerpts, as part of an ongoing investigation into the homicide by shooting of a 60-years-old male, that occurred on Monday, August 5th, 2024, at about 2:51 AM, at Rising Sun Avenue and Goodman Street.
Pamela Powell, aged 75, of Gloucester City, New Jersey, passed away on August 23, 2026 at home.
Born in Camden, New Jersey, on November 21, 1950, Pamela was the cherished daughter of the late William A. Powell and Anna Theresa McVey Powell. She was a Gloucester City High graduate who spent her career in service to her community. Pamela worked for over six years in housekeeping at Nemours in Deptford, NJ, and served as a longtime, familiar face behind the bar at the Red Mill. She was also a dedicated member of the ICAC Club of Gloucester City.
Pamela was a loving mother, MeMe, great-grandmother, sister, and aunt. She is survived by her sons, John Wrigley and Edward Wrigley; her cherished grandchildren, MacKenzie (Nicholas) Roberto and John “Boo” Wrigley; great-grandchildren, Adrianna and Aubrey; her sister, Angela Powell; her brothers, John Powell, Michael Powell (Yvonne), and Anthony Powell; as well as many loving nieces and nephews; and beloved friends, Maryann, Dee, Barb, and Maureen. Predeceased by her lifelong friend, Michael Massey.
Services will be private at the family’s request.
Condolences and Memories may be shared at www.mccannhealey.com under the obituary of Pamela Powell. Funeral Arrangements and Inquiries through: McCANN–HEALEY FUNERAL HOME, Gloucester City Ph:856-456-1142
New Jersey small businesses with 10% or less of total sales going to international buyers can apply for federal STEP grants covering up to $15,000 in export-related expenses. The reimbursement program covers trade show participation, export training, international marketing, and trade missions.
All business types qualify if they meet SBA small business size standards. Applications are reviewed first-come, first-served until September 1 or when funds are exhausted. Approximately 80 businesses will be funded.
Businesses that received less than $50,000 in total previous STEP funding remain eligible. All activities must be completed by September 29, 2027.
There are only a few days to act. Call1-800-JERSEY-7(800-537-7397) and ask for the Office of Export Promotion.
