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The Penn Museum’s 13-ton sphinx is on the move; Philly program puts homeless people to work at Suburban Station | Morning Newsletter

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Eric Schultz uncovers the granite sphinx at the Penn Museum prior to Wednesday's planned journey from one part of the Penn Museum to another. Schultz is part of the team that will be moving the sphinx.
Eric Schultz uncovers the granite sphinx at the Penn Museum prior to Wednesday's planned journey from one part of the Penn Museum to another. Schultz is part of the team that will be moving the sphinx.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer

    The Morning Newsletter

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Solving the riddle of the Sphinx is no easy task, and neither is moving it 300 feet, apparently. After months of plotting, measuring, and re-measuring, a crew at the Penn Museum will begin today to attempt the megalithic task of hoisting and carting the museum’s 13-ton ancient Egyptian figure across the building and through two windows to its new home in the main lobby. Meanwhile, across town, a different crew will get to work making art in Suburban Station, part of a Same Day Work program aimed at employing Philly’s homeless population.

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— Oona Goodin-Smith (@oonagoodinsmith, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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How do you move a 13-ton Egyptian sphinx? Very carefully.

For the first time in 93 years, the Penn Museum is preparing to hoist its red-granite sphinx from its Lower Egyptian Gallery to the museum’s main lobby this week — a 300-foot journey that’s taken months of planning, hydraulic help, and a makeshift roller-coaster to execute.

If all goes to plan, the 3,000-year-old Egyptian guardian figure will pass through the museum’s open windows with inches to spare, a move far more meticulously arranged than when the sphinx first arrived in Philadelphia by steamboat in 1913, and nine horses pulled it through the city to the museum.

Ten people at a time, Philadelphia’s Mural Arts program is putting some of the city’s homeless people to work, offering a payday in exchange for making art.

It’s a part of the Suburban Station-based Same Day Work program — a concept developed by Mural Arts with the Scattergood Foundation and MHP, funded by private philanthropy — which is eight weeks into a two-year pilot. Already, demand is far outpacing the slots available, and the city is looking to match the endeavor with more jobs, though plans remain tentative.

Participants spend the three-hour shift drawing and painting in a studio, and will later begin work on a mural along one of the underground corridors beneath 16th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard.

Does God endorse medical marijuana?

It’s a question Philadelphia-area faith communities are asking as the legalization of the drug’s use becomes more widespread. While marijuana use has been intrinsic to some faiths’ practices for centuries, others are strictly against it.

In Delaware, leaders may have to develop a stance on cannabis sooner rather than later as the First State creeps toward legalization — depending on whom you ask.

And, a new study from Stanford University suggests that the legalization of medical marijuana is not causally linked to opioid overdose deaths, as was once believed.

What you need to know today

  1. New Jersey has become the first state to mandate that hotels provide their room cleaners with wearable “panic buttons.” The devices, which call for help, aim to protect workers from sexual harassment and other dangers.

  2. The City of Philadelphia will pay $8.4 million toward the federal government’s cleanup of the Clearview Landfill, a Superfund site that contaminated parts of the Eastwick section of Southwest Philly and has plagued residents there for decades.

  3. After 10 hours of deliberation, a federal jury on Tuesday acquitted a Camden County Police officer of filing a false report, but could not reach a verdict on allegations that he punched an unarmed suspect during an incident caught on video. Prosecutors have a week to decide whether to retry him on the civil rights charge. If convicted, he could spend up to 10 years in prison.

  4. Comcast must pay a $9.1 million fine and refund thousands of customers for breaking Washington state’s consumer protection law more than 445,000 times, a judge ruled last week. Have you been billed for the Comcast Service Protection Plan? We want to hear from you.

  5. Enjoy the mild temperatures and manageable humidity now. Forecasters are predicting a steamy summer in Philadelphia.

  6. A soaring, 47-story glass residential tower is being proposed by developer Carl Dranoff for the spot across the street from the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, hosting 108 balconied condominiums that will range in price from $2 million to more than $10 million.

Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly

Where can we request this tour guide? 🐾 Thanks for the photo, @stormy_potato_dog.

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

  1. Come gather 'round people, wherever you roam: Bob Dylan has something to say. The elusive singer-songwriter sits down for his first on-camera interview in a decade in Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese, which premieres on Netflix tonight.

  2. Paper or plastic? Try reusable. This New Jersey-based company now offers delivery and pickup of no-waste groceries and household supplies.

  3. Now that hibernation season is over, residents in Montgomery and Bucks Counties are bearing witness to some unexpected visitors. But don’t fret, experts say. This time of year, black bear sightings aren’t the most unusual.

  4. Looking for an artistic outlet in your own backyard? Grab your scissors, vase, and Scotch tape as Philly-area floral designers share their tips on arranging flowers from your garden.

Opinions

“But for all the damage graffiti does, it doesn’t impact public safety in the way a dirt bike or ATV or quad erupting out of nowhere and racing in and out of fast-moving Philly traffic can. Many riders are oblivious to the presence, the safety, and indeed, the rights, of other people to use the city’s already overburdened street and highway network.” - The Inquirer Editorial Board on taking off-roading vehicles off the city’s streets.

  1. Columnist Will Bunch asks: Is there a kind of “bias tax” in the 2020 presidential race, where Democratic candidates who aren’t white, straight males face a deficit against Trump?

  2. Camden’s transformation hinges on help from the business community, writes N.J. Sen. Cory Booker and Donald Norcross, U.S. representative for N.J.'s 1st Congressional district.

What we’re reading

  1. Following the police shooting of 25-year-old Kaleb Belay, a Temple University student and Ethiopian immigrant, West Philly’s Ethiopian community is wrestling with racism and a formerly positive relationship with police, Philadelphia Neighborhoods reports.

  2. In February, a seemingly healthy 20-year-old Fishtown native collapsed and died from a rare genetic disease. Philadelphia Magazine tells the story of her grieving family raising awareness about the condition.

  3. Trenton’s annual Art All Night festival is back this weekend for the first time since a mass shooting killed one and wounded 22 others at last year’s event. WHYY outlines the security changes to the art festival in New Jersey’s struggling capital.

Your Daily Dose of | Anti-poop pooch

Meet Dolphina, the Philadelphia Water Department’s newest spokesdog. The recently adopted five-year-old pit-mix already has her work cut out for her as she spreads awareness about the polluting impacts of pet waste that makes its way into local waterways and, ultimately, the city’s source of its drinking water.