A resurrected AI data center plan | Morning Newsletter
And new restaurant openings.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Good morning, Philly. Looking like a rainy Wednesdee.
To start, a Main Line developer’s plan for a 2 million-square-foot AI data center outside Conshohocken has been resubmitted for consideration.
And we have the definitive list of all the restaurants in the Philly area opening this month.
Plus, three people were charged in connection with last fall’s deadly shooting at Lincoln University, and more news of the day.
— Tommy Rowan (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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A Main Line developer’s plan for a 2 million-square-foot AI data center outside Conshohocken has been resubmitted for consideration.
The move comes six months after a similar plan from the same developer was stymied because of legal issues, and as some residents continue to rally in opposition to the proposal.
Developer Brian O’Neill wants to build a data center on the site of the shuttered Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill at 900 Conshohocken Rd.
The site in Plymouth Township is less than a mile from downtown Conshohocken, near the Proving Grounds sports complex, Tee’s Golf Center, and dozens of homes in the township’s Connaughtown section.
Reporter Erin McCarthy has the full report.
In other news: Following months of fiery opposition from residents that included protests and halted municipal meetings, the developers of an East Whiteland data center in Chester County called their own bluff, telling the township they will scrap their revised plans and instead build a previously approved 1.5 million-square-foot version.
May’s crop of new restaurants and food options is all over the place ...
White-tablecloth dining and taverns in the ‘burbs, a po’boy shop in the city, a pizzeria in South Jersey, and a revival of a bistro in Wilmington.
And the baking game is meeting the moment, too, as the Philly region’s bakery count is also about to rise.
June promises another rush of projects, and meanwhile in Old City, reporter Mike Klein is seeing a new restaurant row emerging on Market Street.
But for now, Klein will walk you through the newest additions coming to the Philly food scene this month.
What you should know today
The three gunmen in last fall’s deadly shooting at Lincoln University had planned to rob students at homecoming, authorities alleged.
President Donald Trump’s administration this week opened an investigation into Smith College, one of the oldest women’s colleges in the country, for admitting transgender women. Could Bryn Mawr be next?
An Upper Darby teen was allegedly driving while high when he struck and killed a former Swarthmore College professor who was riding his bike.
After a police officer was shot in the leg during a traffic stop in North Philadelphia on Monday night, a 26-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident, officials said Tuesday.
State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, a Republican running for Pennsylvania governor, said she would veto any bill favoring the legalization of recreational marijuana if she wins the November election.
State Rep. Chris Rabb, a Democrat locked in a tight three-way battle for a seat representing Philadelphia in Congress, on Monday voted against two pieces of legislation aimed at bolstering penalties for people who sexually abuse or traffic children, saying the bills would not achieve their stated purposes.
The Pennsylvania Department of State is suing a technology company that operates a popular AI chatbot, after an investigation found that it can impersonate a licensed medical professional in Pennsylvania.
Among the Phillies, Flyers, and Sixers, the South Philadelphia sports complex is slated to host two games a day for four days straight starting Thursday — so folks heading out may want to prepare to hurry up and wait.
Quote of the day
Ben Franklin’s oldest surviving letter is on display in Philly for the first time. It belongs to a former Flyers president.
🧠 Trivia time
This Philadelphia Council member was named the interim chair of Pennsylvania’s civil rights agency.
A) Isaiah Thomas
B) Curtis Jones Jr.
C) Jamie Gauthier
D) Jeffery Young Jr.
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
📱 Considering: Tristan Potter, an associate professor of economics at Drexel University, wrote in an Inquirer op/ed that smartphones are hollowing out city life in Philly.
🎶 Planning: Pink Pantheress, the Kid Laroi, Courtney Barnett, CMAT, and a Mother’s Day music fest highlight Philly music this week.
🚙 Following: Volodymyr Zelensky’s TV truck made it from the war in Ukraine to a Bensalem driveway.
🤷 Worrying about: Columnist Marcus Hayes wonders whether the Sixers and the Flyers are outclassed, out of gas, or, gulp, both?
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: This new wine bar coming to Chester County is putting the spotlight on Pennsylvania by serving only “the best of what the region has to show.”
BRAY MIXIE PORTWIN
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Jim Diamond, who solved Tuesday’s anagram: Gritty Smoothie. Wawa recently released the new Gritty Smoothie, which columnist Stephanie Farr called “a Philly oxymoron for the ages.”
Photo of the day
A new dad, a new mom, and a young guy from Southwest Philly picked up brooms in 1991, and they never put them down. This trio of tenured Center City sidewalk sweepers received a tribute last week.
👋 Thanks for starting your day with The Inquirer. Sam Stewart has you covered tomorrow.
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