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 a new week, Philly. Cue the nostalgia: One year ago, the Eagles won Super Bowl LIX.
Today, we look forward to another sports championship — indeed, the world’s largest — which will take place partly in Philadelphia this summer.
And we’ve debated “savesies” culture a few times in this newsletter, but with remnants of January’s storm still lingering, the topic is, maddeningly, as relevant as ever. Hear from the frustrated Philadelphians who thought they had a winter parking system, until the snow stuck around.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Did you know? The first event held at Lincoln Financial Field was a preseason friendly between European football club giants Manchester United and Barcelona in 2003. In a way, sports editor Kerith Gabriel argues, you could say Philly was built for soccer.
That assertion will be put to the test this summer when the city hosts a slate of FIFA World Cup games. Here’s what to know about the international men’s soccer tournament’s local events:
🏟️ Nine nations will compete in five group stage matches starting June 14, plus two more in a knockout game on July 4. Nearly 100 more games are happening in 15 other North American cities.
🏟️ Those countries include soccer superstars France and Brazil, as well as smaller teams with great stories. Haiti, for instance, could make history if Union midfielder Danley Jean Jacques joins his country’s team.
🏟️ See our guide for visitors on how to navigate the city and other major events — including the Wawa Welcome America festival — that will overlap with the Cup’s Philly games.
In other summer event news: We have more details about the city’s 250th celebration. Expect a massive parade, six days of fireworks, and ... Floridian Segway riders?
Back in the wintry present and 15 days out from January’s big snowstorm, Philly residents are still wrapping themselves in cozy layers, penguin-walking over icy sidewalks, and digging out their cars.
That last one has kept tensions high in some pockets of the city where frozen mounds make parking tricky. Spot-marking folding chairs and traffic cones abound.
But if you dug out a space soon after the snow stopped falling, can you still lay claim to it now, weeks later? Could you ever? Philadelphians are grappling with this existential debate with renewed vigor after years of light or no snowfall. It’s about more than right and wrong.
Notable quote: “I don’t believe in the chair. But I’m going to obey the chair,” one South Philly resident told The Inquirer. Why? “I don’t want to get keyed.”
Reporter Abigail Covington has frustrated Philadelphians’ wildest savesies stories.
What you should know today
A man died in North Philadelphia on Saturday night after being shot, police said.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman said Sunday that he “absolutely” expects the Department of Homeland Security will shut down Friday as negotiations over immigration enforcement have stalled.
The Pennsylvania Republican and Democratic Parties on Saturday both locked in their endorsements for the 2026 governor’s race.
The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission is working to keep alive the city’s project to cap the Vine Street Expressway after the federal government yanked $150 million in promised funding.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s campaign raised $1.7 million last year, though she won’t face reelection until 2027. The figure reflects the increasingly professionalized world of political fundraising in Philadelphia.
City Council President Kenyatta Johnson said he’s willing to hold up city funding to the Philly school district over concerns about its closure and consolidation plan.
Philadelphia-born Noam Chomsky counseled Jeffrey Epstein on how to handle media scrutiny in 2019, federal files show. The academic’s wife apologized for the couple’s “lapse in judgement.”
Amid White House efforts to shrink the federal workforce, hundreds of people in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have used a job site that connects federal workers to public service work.
A long vacant parking garage in Washington Square West could soon be the site of a K-8 Jewish day school.
Quote of the day
Chile native Muriel Crescenzo earned her United States citizenship Tuesday morning, after over three years of waiting and over seven with her husband, James. On Tuesday evening, they celebrated by watching the Flyers take home a 4-2 win against the Washington Capitals.
More hockey news: Flyers coach Rick Tocchet’s late parents emigrated from Italy. Now, he’s back there to coach Canada in the 2026 Winter Olympics. And Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is finally playing with his native Finland — the defending gold medalists — after years of injuries.
🧠 Trivia time
The U.S. Mint’s production facility in Philadelphia employs a team of medallic artists who translate history into pocket-sized art. Which landmark is the facility near?
A) City Hall
B) Elfreth’s Alley
C) Philadelphia Museum of Art
D) Independence Hall
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🐕 Obsessed with: The Pennsylvania pups turned Puppy Bowl stars — and adoptees.
📱 Loving: This story of “chosen brothers,” from a maximum-security prison to life on the outside.
⛸️ Watching: Snowboarding, figure skating, and speed skating according to NBC’s Olympics streaming schedule.
💤 Learning: How pink noise could disrupt sleep quality.
📚 Considering: The central importance of Black history to American history.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Township in Chester County
TIN WILLOWS
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Steve Forte, who solved Sunday’s anagram: Jefferson Health. The nonprofit system is taking on a project to boost emergency department capacity at Abington Hospital.
Photo of the day
📬 Your ‘only in Philly’ story
Think back to the night that changed your life that could only happen in Philly, a true example of the Philly spirit, the time you finally felt like you belonged in Philly if you’re not a lifer, something that made you fall in love with Philly all over again — or proud to be from here if you are. Then email it to us for a chance to be featured in the Monday edition of this newsletter.
Have a great week. Thanks for starting it with The Inquirer.
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