Last death-row inmate at Eastern State returns; Five Below considers price hikes | Morning Newsletter
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The Morning Newsletter
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Let me get this straight: Five Below, the Philly-based discount chain named after its $5 or less pricing strategy, is considering price hikes. Smart. That shouldn’t cause customer confusion or spur an identity crisis. And you know what? It was probably inevitable anyway. Everyone knows there’s only one great deal under $5, and that’s an unlimited digital subscription to Inquirer.com.
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— Tommy Rowan (@tommyrowan, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
The last time that Samuel Barlow visited Eastern State Penitentiary, he arrived surrounded by six or seven guards — an escort designed, as he understood it, to make other inmates view him as dangerous.
At the time, he was just a teenager, but he and a co-defendant would become the last death-row inmates at Philadelphia’s infamous prison, built to inspire penitence in 1829 and shuttered in 1970.
“They would go to extremes to make you feel like you were on death row. It didn’t feel like it to me,” Barlow, 68, told reporter Samantha Melamed. “I couldn’t envision sitting in the electric chair, frying. ... As a kid, you can’t even see to next week half the time. So you can’t see yourself getting electrocuted.”
In April, Gov. Tom Wolf commuted Barlow’s sentence. He was released to a Community Correction Center just over three weeks ago — and on Wednesday evening, he walked through the open front gate of Eastern State and gazed up at the steep stone walls.
Alin Gragossian, a third-year emergency medicine resident at Drexel University, received a heart transplant in January, less than a month after she went to the emergency room for a nagging cough and sudden shortness of breath.
Four months after the surgery, Gragossian told reporter Aneri Pattani that having someone else's organs and knowing that someone's death gave you life can be a lot to process.
“I am so lucky to be freely breathing this fresh air,” she wrote on a blog started to share her transplant experience. “I am feeling so guilty, though. These were supposed to be her breaths.”
Would you spend $10 at Five Below?
The Philadelphia-based discount chain is considering price increases on $1 to $4 items, as well as increasing some $5 items to $5.25 or $5.55.
Five Below will test these higher prices in some locations with the expectation that they would roll out across the company’s 789 stores before the end of the summer.
What you need to know today
The Philadelphia Orchestra has received its largest gift ever: a $50 million boost in perpetuity to the endowment, plus $5 million to be spent on operating costs. The donors, however, wish to remain anonymous.
Vice President Mike Pence rallied a crowd of Pennsylvania Republicans on Thursday night, challenging them to “Do everything Pennsylvania did the last time around” in the next 18 months to help reelect President Donald Trump.
High levels of PFAS, the same chemicals that contaminated drinking water in Bucks and Montgomery Counties, have been found in everyday grocery items including lettuce, beef, and even chocolate cake.
City courts’ emails are back up, but other services are still suspended since the computer shutdown on May 21. A court spokesperson said he could not provide a timeline of when the other computer services would be restored.
Philly property owners get a break: City Council is increasing the homestead exemption by $5,000 to $45,000, as part of the fiscal year 2020 budget.
Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa on Thursday called for Sen. Daylin Leach to resign following a law firm’s “preliminary report” on its investigation into sexual assault or harassment allegations levied against the Montgomery County Democrat.
Fly, Eagles, Fly: Carson Wentz and the Eagles have agreed to a four-year contract extension.
Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly
Summer is coming. Nice shot, @remaxdani.
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That’s Interesting
In one rural Bucks County community, the hurdles to host farm entertainment — a.k.a. “agritainment” — events can be daunting. Just one town over, it’s a different story.
Today is National Doughnut Day. In celebration, Federal Donuts is debuting a new take on its Cookies and Cream flavor, featuring a chocolate doughnut base. Curious how the iconic spot brings new creative options to life, month after month? Here’s a behind the scenes look at R&D process. Oh, and here’s where else to get a free doughnut.
The Piazza’s getting a revival in the form of a 35,000-square-foot “pod park” hosted in a former adjacent parking lot. It’s opening on Saturday. Here’s what to expect.
You’re welcome, Northern Ireland. Game of Thrones, the most ambitious and most honored show of the decade, has pumped more than $250 million into the local economy since 2009, provided jobs and training for hundreds of crew members, and spawned a thriving tourism trade.
Opinions
“Trump’s reckless disregard for the rule of law is screaming out for an immediate impeachment inquiry, an accelerated legal fight to get information out, and messaging to the American people that this is our worst constitutional crisis since the Civil War. That should have started weeks ago. Testimony from John Dean is just more throat clearing.” — Columnist Will Bunch on the news that House Democrats are trying to jump-start their stalled investigation of the Trump presidency by summoning a forgotten name from the past.
Christine Flowers concedes that news this week about an investigation into racist Facebook posts made by Philadelphia police officers is upsetting. But, she counters, why don’t Philadelphians see more news about the good deeds done by Philly police?
A Jewelers Row shop owner went to pick up his rarely used car from the last place he parked it, and was surprised to find another car in its place. Apparently, it was moved to make room for filmmakers shooting in the neighborhood. He found it on Market Street days later, along with a parking ticket under a windshield wiper. Enter Stu Bykofsky, who has a bone to pick with the Philadelphia Parking Authority on the shop owner’s behalf.
What we’re reading
Acme was at one time the dominant supermarket in Philly, but in the age of Whole Foods and grocery delivery services, the iconic chain fights to stay relevant. Philly Mag looks at what went wrong.
Billy Penn noticed that the city doesn’t keep an official directory of LGBTQ-owned businesses. So it decided to create a crowdsourced list of places to shop that benefit the city’s queer community.
This week, Apple announced that it was killing off iTunes. And while hoards of millennials were quick to express feelings of nostalgia, Victor Luckerson at The Ringer was having a meltdown. What will become, he asked, of its best feature?
Your Daily Dose of | Good news
In Ambler, a school custodian and teacher team up to create a space for kids in need of extra help to finish their homework, learn English, and build social skills and confidence.