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The PPA gives money back, Philly has an $88 potato, and the Eagles go 12-5? | Weekly Report Card
Some urban legends are true: cars parked in the center of Broad Street in South Philadelphia are rarely ticketed, newly released figures show.Staff file photo

The PPA gives money back, Philly has an $88 potato, and the Eagles go 12-5? | Weekly Report Card

This week’s Philly report card, grading the good, bad, and weird news coming out of our region.

By Sam Ruland

Published 

The PPA is giving money back: A+

omewhere in Philadelphia, thousands of people are about to experience something they never thought possible: getting money back from the PPA.

The Parking Authority voided 23,195 speeding tickets and is refunding $1.25 million in fines after discovering that a required speed-camera warning sign was missing from a stretch of North Broad Street. A construction crew had knocked it down, and somehow it took about three months to get a new one up.

To be clear, the drivers were still speeding. The PPA would very much like everyone to know that. But state law requires a sign warning drivers about the camera, so the tickets had to go.

There is something deeply satisfying about this. Philly drivers have spent generations feeding parking meters, sprinting back to expired spots and discovering orange envelopes tucked under windshield wipers. The PPA is usually where your money goes, never where it comes from.

So check the mail, 12,214 lucky speeders. Somewhere out there is a refund from the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

And really you should frame the check, this may never happen again.

Philly’s respect for construction barriers: D

A SEPTA bus got stuck in freshly poured concrete outside Termini Bros. last week, just two minutes after city crews finished pouring it.

How did it get there? Two passengers hopped off the bus, moved the street-closure barricades themselves, and then helped direct the driver around the construction. Shockingly, that did not go well.

It gets even better when you learn that the pothole-turned-sinkhole had been there for 14 months, long enough that it had started swallowing traffic cones. The city finally showed up to fix it, poured the concrete, and blocked off the street at 7:21 p.m. The 47 bus drove into it at 7:23.

Fourteen months waiting for a repair, and it took two minutes to ruin it.

And to once again make this story even better, it happened outside a century-old Italian bakery, the bus was covered in Top Dog Law ads, and when city workers returned the next morning to fix the fix, Joey Termini brought them cannolis.

An updated rendering of the new Flyers arena released Thursday appears to show more women fans following backlash this week against the original rendering.
An updated rendering of the new Flyers arena released Thursday appears to show more women fans following backlash this week against the original rendering.Courtesy of the Flyers

Our new sports home comes into focus: A

We’ve known for a while that the Sixers and Flyers are getting a new arena in South Philly. Now, we finally know what the thing is supposed to look like.

The first renderings dropped this week, and there’s plenty to like: a facade inspired by the old Spectrum, a huge outdoor plaza, food and drink pavilions, and a giant screen outside.

But the coolest part might be seeing three teams attached to it. When the doors open in 2030, the Sixers and Flyers will be joined by Philly’s still-unnamed WNBA team, which will begin play that same year.

Four years away suddenly feels a little more real. Now, we just need a name for the team (and, eventually, the building).

Eagle Saquon Barkley runs the sidelines during an open Eagles practice at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.
Eagle Saquon Barkley runs the sidelines during an open Eagles practice at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Tuesday, August 25, 2026.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

The Eagles go 12-5, according to science: A

The Eagles season starts Sunday, which means this is the last beautiful moment when absolutely anything can happen. So Mike Sielski did the responsible thing and predicted all 18 weeks — mostly through song lyrics and increasingly unhinged scenarios.

His forecast has Jalen Hurts doing the macarena on the first play of the season, Vic Fangio throwing up on a Dollywood roller coaster, Aaron Rodgers blaming a loss on Anthony Fauci and the illuminati, and Brandon Graham once again considering coming out of retirement. Somehow, amid all of this, the Eagles finish 12-5 and win the NFC East for a third straight year.

And you know what? Wouldn’t that be great? Twelve wins, another division title, football at Christmas, and several months spent planning Sundays around the Birds again. After an offseason of roster moves, coordinator questions, and endless predictions about what this team might be, we finally get to watch actual football.

And if we get to keep the 12-5 season, Hurts doing the macarena would just be the cherry on top.

The baked potate loaded with lump crab au gratin and a caviar "blackout" at Mr. Edison in the Bellevue costs $88.
The baked potate loaded with lump crab au gratin and a caviar "blackout" at Mr. Edison in the Bellevue costs $88.Kiki Aranita / Staff /

An $88 potato?!: F

There are certain things an $88 potato should be able to do. Like maybe change your life or fix your credit. At minimum, make you briefly forget you just spent $88 on it.

The baked potato at Mr. Edison in the Bellevue starts at an already pricey $48, stuffed with nearly half a pound of crab au gratin. Add a “blackout” of caviar and suddenly you’re sitting in front of an $88 spud.

And according to Inquirer food writer Kiki Aranita, it wasn’t good.

An $88 potato should be so delicious that you spend the next week becoming an annoying person who tells everyone, “OK, but you have to try the potato.” Instead, Aranita described hers as “all mush” and pointed out that better baked potatoes can be found a few blocks away for a fraction of the price.

Caviar or no caviar, at the end of the night, it is still a potato.

Temple’s $55 million gift disappears: F

Less than a year ago, Temple was celebrating the largest donation in university history: $55 million from alumnus Christopher Barnett. This week, the school announced it was terminating the gift, removing Barnett’s name from its College of Public Health and other programs, and accepting his resignation from the board of trustees.

The reason is quite a turn. Barnett’s company, ABA Centers of America, is under federal criminal investigation over allegations including money laundering and wire fraud. Investigators allege the autism-services provider improperly billed insurers, including for treatment while clients were napping or watching television. Barnett has not been charged and “strenuously denies” the allegations.

There is a small piece of good news buried in this mess, though. Temple hadn’t gotten any of the $55 million yet, which makes it a lot easier to give the money back.