🧑💻 AI in the workforce | Morning Newsletter
And former Cabrini campus gets a makeover.
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! Happy Monday. Be prepared for a hot one today with highs expected to be in the 90s.
In 2024, Pennsylvania became the first state in the nation to enter into an agreement with OpenAI. State officials stress that the AI tools improve efficiency without cutting jobs.
Villanova spent more than $100 million on upgrades to the former Cabrini University campus, where half of its sophomores will live this fall and more than 2,000 students will take classes.
Plus, a father is searching for answers after lawyers say a police pursuit of an ATV ended in his son’s death, and more news of the day.
— Sam Stewart (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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When Pennsylvania announced plans in 2024 for a first-of-its-kind generative artificial intelligence pilot program with the tech giant OpenAI, the head of the state workers’ union approached state officials about entering into an agreement to provide its members with job protections.
The state agreed to talk, which led to a deal. Gov. Josh Shapiro published a public letter outlining commitments to employees amid the rising popularity of AI use, and the union reached a separate agreement with the state, establishing protections for its members.
Today, Pennsylvania state employees use AI for a range of functions but focus on relatively basic tasks: deciphering handwritten clemency applications, scanning documents, and triaging customer service requests.
Some experts say generative AI can serve as an important resource to deliver public services to constituents. But to do this best, they say, governments should first find friction points and inefficiencies in their operations and then determine if the technology can help.
The former Cabrini University campus has undergone a more than $100 million, Villanova-fueled rebirth, and students will begin attending classes and living there this month.
The Radnor Township campus once in dire need of maintenance sports a fresh look, including new light poles, landscaping, painting, furniture, boilers, roof repairs, an operating fountain, pickleball courts, and restored architectural flourishes, in addition to upgraded educational technology for classrooms.
It is all part of Villanova’s effort to make the 112-acre campus that it acquired from the shuttered Cabrini look and feel decidedly Villanovan. The campus has been closed for the last two years for the planning and upgrades.
Notable quote: “It’s always been a beautiful campus, but it looks very Villanova now. [...] You can feel the change. Everything is just done to perfection.”
What you should know today
The father of a Philadelphia man who was killed in an ATV crash in the spring said police officers pursued his son moments before he drove the wrong way on a one-way street, ran a red light, and collided with a sedan. The father has since hired a team of attorneys to investigate the incident. The father has alleged that the chase may have been unconstitutional.
A double shooting left one man dead and another wounded early Sunday in the Ludlow section of North Philadelphia, according to Philadelphia police.
The Philadelphia School District is changing a policy that effectively barred some qualified students with disabilities from gaining admission into certain magnet schools. But it did so only after a local family notified the district that it intended to sue over the old policy under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Haverford College has agreed to form an antisemitism committee and enact policies supporting Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist students as part of a settlement of a suit filed during a wave of protests against the Israel-Gaza war.
Oxford officials are inching closer to disbanding the borough’s century-old police department and joining a regional law enforcement agency, as increasing costs of maintaining the local force have outpaced revenue. But the plan has prompted worries from some residents.
Quote of the day
Linden Curhart lives with his wife, and his husband, and his partner, in a six-person polycule in Philadelphia. The polycule — the textbook term for a group involved in polyamory together — shares costs, and meets weekly to discuss chores and meals. They’ve lived collectively for two years.
🧠 Trivia time
Phillies fans have redefined what’s considered acceptable ballpark food. The Inquirer recently spoke to fans about the most outlandish things they’ve brought to the ballpark.
Which of these foods have not been brought to the ballpark, according to our readers?
A) Fresh mussels
B) Oysters tucked inside hoagie rolls
C) Hard-boiled eggs
D) These have all been brought to the ballpark
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🥖 Learning: Angelo’s wasn’t the first cheesesteak shop to innovate and use seeded rolls. It was actually Donkey’s Place in Camden.
🎸 Rocking out to: A Philly band that’s providing the soundtrack for a recreational kickball league. The band jams out from an apartment window, and the kickball players listening below “feel famous.”
🎨 Loving: Artwork gifted to Tyrese Maxey that depicts him as Spider-Man. Maxey is known as a Marvel superfan.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Eagles’ five-time All-Pro tackle
JONAH NOLENS
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Harry Whalen, who solved Sunday’s anagram: The Bourse. A lender wants to force the sale of the building on Independence Mall after work ground to a halt on a hotel development.
Photo of the day
⚾ One more thing: Chase Utley’s path to the Phillies Wall of Fame, an honor he received on Aug. 7, was forged with hours in the video room. He spent hours before and after games in that room to find any advantage.
📬 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.
This “only in Philly” story comes from reader Michael Leibrandt, who describes a night to remember at the Palestra:
Six years after Kobe Bryant electrified The Palestra with a 39-point performance against Chester High School, young sensation LeBron James arrived in Philadelphia with St. Vincent-St. Mary’s of Ohio to face-off with Strawberry Mansion.
At first for those of us who saw it, that evening’s match had little possibility of topping the rich history of the Palestra. Just a few months from now is the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Palestra and Penn’s first game there, a 26-15 victory over Yale that now seems to be a better summary of an Eagles game in South Philadelphia rather than a basketball matchup. But on this night, against the backdrop of the banners and trophies in America’s longest operational college basketball arena, history was made once again.
The marvel of the Palestra isn’t just as the oldest, continuous college basketball arena in the country. To this day it’s pillar-less interior offers spectators nearly no bad seats in all of the house — allowing you [to] feel like you are both right on the floor and right up to the action. On this night, thousands were in attendance, including Allen Iverson.
James lived up to every moment of the hype. Like the Sixers of 2026-2027, St. Vincent-St. Mary’s of Ohio had an incredible lineup. With James were Division I players and Romeo Travis and Dru Joyce III. They were a marvel to watch and proved to be too much for Maureece Rice and Strawberry Mansion.
Seeing what would be the finest player in the NBA for the next two decades and perhaps the finest in history during the holiday season in the historic setting of the Palestra was as fun-filled an evening in the fog of December 2002. Now, 25 years later, James is back in Philly for more fun evenings.
And very possibly, a championship to go along with them.
Have a good day, folks! 👋
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