Kobe, Brandy, and Philly’s legendary prom; Trump visits the Shore | Morning Newsletter
Plus, another Philly city councilmember is bracing for an indictment.
The Morning Newsletter
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For one night in the spring of 1996, Kobe Bryant and Brandy turned Philly into Hollywood. Brandy was a bonafide star. Bryant was about to become one. And they attended Lower Merion High School’s prom together. Also, we were in Wildwood for President Donald Trump’s rally last night; another city councilmember is bracing for an indictment; and millions of credit and debit card numbers that may have been stolen from the Wawa data breach are for sale in an underground market.
— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
As a 17-year-old in the spring of 1996, Kobe Bryant had a celebrity crush. He was an All-American, had secured a $2 million Adidas contract, and was on his way to the NBA. But could he really pull it off? Could Kobe get Brandy — the platinum artist and then a 17-year-old sitcom star — to come to his suburban Philly high school prom?
Yes, Kobe Bryant did that. Reporters and photographers lined the streets to get a glimpse of them, creating a Hollywood moment for a city that had few of them. Then, the teens walked into the Bellevue like everyone else. My colleagues talked to his classmates, teachers, and others about the night that Kobe and Brandy went to the prom and what they feel now as they mourn his death on Sunday.
During an interview with my colleagues, Kenyatta Johnson and his lawyer said they expect the indictment to focus on the relationships among Johnson’s City Hall office, wife Dawn Chavous’ consulting firm, and a South Philly nonprofit founded by Kenny Gamble called Universal Companies. They maintain their innocence and expect to be indicted on federal charges soon. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has scheduled a news conference for this morning to announce “a major criminal indictment” in a public corruption case.
Johnson and his wife and lawyer predict that prosecutors will make the case that Universal gave Chavous a consulting job in exchange for the councilmember’s assistance in securing zoning changes for its proposed redevelopment of the Royal Theater on South Street in 2014.
More than a dozen sources familiar with the matter have described to The Inquirer a five-year-long FBI inquiry examining everything from Johnson’s involvement in bargain-rate sales of city-owned land to Chavous’ work as a consultant, campaign adviser, and advocate for charter schools. There has been particular interest in the areas where Chavous’ work and the councilmember’s overlap.
President Trump addressed thousands of supporters last night at a campaign rally down the Shore, where he spoke about, among other things, the impeachment trial going on in Washington. He also shared the stage with Rep. Jeff Van Drew, the local congressman who left the Democratic Party because of his stand on impeachment and pledged “undying support” to Trump at a White House meeting in December.
The scene in Wildwood was like a tailgate, a winter wake-up for a beach town that’s usually sleepy around this time of year. But it wasn’t all cheery. Supporters and protesters clashed, squawking at each other like “groups of warring seagulls dive-bombing for the same french fry,” my colleagues wrote.
What you need to know today
The 76ers honored Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna, and the other victims of the helicopter crash before the team’s matchup with the Golden State Warriors with a stirring pregame ceremony. Kobe and Gianna had a bond that many could relate to.
A Chinese exchange student at Penn Charter does not have coronavirus, the Philly health department announced yesterday. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson is working on a vaccine to battle the outbreak.
Presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg is spending over $10 million in TV and radio ads in Pennsylvania. For comparison, Trump’s reelection campaign spent $400,000 in broadcast ads in the Keystone State this fall but hasn’t bought advertising here since then.
Millions of credit and debit card numbers that may have been stolen in the Wawa data breach are for sale in an underground “fraud bazaar.”
The Trump administration has become involved in the efforts to keep the 150-year-old South Philadelphia oil-refinery complex a petroleum processing facility.
Impeachment trial: Sen. Pat Toomey has a proposal regarding impeachment trial witnesses. Democrats are calling it “crazy.”
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
The Ben Franklin Bridge was lit up in purple to honor Bryant. Thanks for capturing the tribute, @jwalter211.
Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we’ll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out!
That’s interesting
🎨Eight colorful banners designed in the 1970s by Alexander Calder were lost for decades, then thought destroyed, then found, then displayed, then lost again. Now, they’ve been found once again, and they’re going to be exhibited permanently at the Free Library.
🍽️A new spot in Northern Liberties not only offers hands-on cooking classes, but you could be the judge when two chefs go head-to-head.
🍲Pepper pot soup traces its origins to African and Caribbean Philadelphians in the colonial era. During this year’s Black History Month, my colleagues will be looking at the soup’s history and legacy. Do you have a family story about the soup? If so, let us know.
🍷If temperatures keep rising because of climate change, most of the suitable regions for wine-grape growing could shrink by more than half. So how does that impact wineries in Pennsylvania and New Jersey?
🦅“I’m going to retire as an Eagle,” ex-Eagles running back LeSean McCoy said ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl. “Right now, I’m a Chief. I’m doing my thing here. But when it’s all said and done, that’s home for me. It’s weird because places I play at, people know that.”
🎤This June’s Firefly Festival is headlined by Billie Eilish, who on Sunday swept the big four awards at the Grammys: album, record, and song of the year, and best new artist.
Opinions
“If you swam out far enough into the brackish ocean, maybe you’d catch a faint glimpse of Atlantic City and the working-class American dream machine of Donald Trump’s casinos, of hitting the slots and scarfing a $35 New York strip steak. Now it was 2020, and the slayer of political correctness, a Broad Street Bully, the T-shirt prophecy, had finally come to Wildwood, a conquering hero.” — writes columnist Will Bunch about the Trump campaign rally in Wildwood last night.
Trump’s Middle East peace plan is about re-election for both him and Benjamin Netanyahu, writes columnist Trudy Rubin.
Be careful when you order from Grubhub or Postmates. Sometimes, the menus and prices are inaccurate, writes Suzanne O’Brien, the CEO and director of development for seven Philly restaurants including Royal Tavern, Khyber Pass Pub, and Royal Izakaya.
What we’re reading
WHYY has a cheat sheet about what you can do if you suspect illegal or negligent construction in Philadelphia.
Can you out-eat the price of an all-you-can-eat buffet? The Hustle breaks down the economics.
For years, skateboarding culture was seen as disruptive and dangerous in Tokyo, the New York Times reports. But could that all change if Japan sees Olympic success in the sport this summer?
Your Daily Dose of | ‘The Reese’s Guy’
After losing a contest in 2018 to promote Reese’s Outrageous Bar to a couple who legally named their daughter Reese E. Cupp, Andrew Athias was devastated. A fanboy of Reese’s since his trick-or-treating days, Athias didn’t know what he had to do to prove no one loved Reese’s more than him. But then Athias, who grew up in Philly and Cherry Hill, saw that Wawa was running a similar contest looking for people who were fans of both Reese’s and Wawa. One viral music video later, he became “The Reese’s Guy.”