🥇 Philly goes for gold | Morning Newsletter

Happy Wednesday. Yesterday, the temperature fell just shy of the predicted 100 degrees — and of setting a record-high minimum temp. Today brings a chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms, but it’ll still be hot, with a high near 97.

It’s almost time for the 2024 Olympics. Philadelphians will have plenty of kin to cheer on in Paris, including Megumi Field, an 18-year-old artistic swimmer from Wilmington who has been training her whole life for this moment.

And U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez is the most recent addition to a long list of Garden State officials convicted of political corruption. We have the details on his conviction, his fellow Democrats’ reactions, and other notables in the politician Hall of Shame.

Find these stories and many more below.

— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Around 80 athletes with Philadelphia ties are representing Team USA in Paris this month, from Sixers players to local university alumni to Philly natives.

🏊‍♀️ One of them is Megumi Field, an artistic (a.k.a. synchronized) swimmer from Wilmington who trained at what’s now the Phoenixville YMCA. Now 18, she has been determined since youth to make the Olympic team someday.

💪 Stakes are high — and the sport itself is intense, requiring endurance alongside a gymnast’s instincts. “It’s like running a mile,” she said, “then holding your breath for 30-second increments while you’re already exhausted from running.”

Columnist Mike Sielski has the story on the tough circumstances she navigated to get to this moment.

🥇 There are plenty more Philly-in-Paris tales to come from The Inquirer’s sports desk. Tomorrow, for instance, look for the story on a Penn swimmer who’s first in the world in the 200-meter breaststroke.

🤺 The region’s Olympians “are swimmers, track and field athletes, synchronized swimmers, fencers, equestrian riders, basketball players, field hockey players — and the list goes on and on,” sports editor Gary Potosky told me. “And when the Games begin, we will be tracking our local athletes and their quests for gold.”

🔥 I’m especially excited for The Inquirer’s interactive calendar that will share which athletes have a local connection, when they’re competing in Paris, and how well Philly is doing overall. That will go live next week, just before the start of the games on July 26.

Watch inquirer.com/sports for the latest.

U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, the three-term Democrat from New Jersey, has been found guilty in a sweeping federal bribery and corruption case. Charges included conspiracy, extortion, and acting as a foreign agent.

Gold bars and a pricey car: The bribes Menendez was convicted of taking Tuesday are only the start of the list of improper gifts he’s been accused of accepting over the years — such as a $60,000 convertible in exchange for help in pressuring the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office on a pending criminal case.

His peers’ response: Menendez remains a sitting senator and claims innocence, but top Democrats are calling for his resignation. That includes Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, and U.S. Rep. Andy Kim, who won the Democratic primary for Menendez’s seat.

Joining the club: Menendez is far from the only New Jerseyan in the politician Hall of Shame. You may remember ABSCAM, or the five (!) Atlantic City mayors who have been convicted of political corruption.

Inquirer political reporter Julia Terruso and photographer Steve Falk have been on the ground in Milwaukee as Republicans unite at their national convention. Here’s a quick snapshot of their work, plus more reporting from this political moment:

🔴 Speaking onstage on Tuesday evening, Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Dave McCormick cast the November election as a choice between the country’s “greatness” or “decline.”

🔴 A Pennsylvania poll taken shortly before this weekend’s assassination attempt against Donald Trump showed the former president with a slight lead over President Joe Biden, though within the margin of error.

🔴 The gunman who tried to assassinate Trump in Butler used the most popular rifle in America, the AR-15. There have been efforts to ban it in the state.

🔴 The two major parties’ campaign messaging is back on the political offensive after calls for peace, with Republicans saying Trump was “ordained by God” after the shooting, and Democrats warning he’ll make himself “king.”

🔴 Trump criticized childhood vaccines and appeared to promise a place in his administration, should he win, to anti-vaccine activist and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a video posted on X. We asked CHOP’s Paul Offit, a leading vaccine doctor, what he made of the exchange.

As always, find the latest news on inquirer.com.

Police identified a crime ring that has attempted 11 thefts since June 26, targeting cargo trucks across the city. Most recently, the thieves got away with around $15,000 of a certain perishable product in Southwest Philadelphia early Tuesday morning. What did they steal?

A) Frozen meat

B) Mexican avocados

C) Lobster tails

D) Water ice

Think you know? Check your answer.

🏃 Signing up for: The greased pole competition coming to Spruce Street Harbor Park.

⚽ Excited to see: The Arsenal vs. Liverpool game at the Linc on July 31.

👩‍🦱 Considering: The meaning of hair color, thanks to this read on women covering their pandemic grays.

This shuttered institution was until recently a staple of South Broad Street.

SOFTHEART UNIVERSITY

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Patricia Hoffman, who solved Tuesday’s anagram: Mike Jerrick. The Good Day Philadelphia co-host has been off the air for the past three weeks as he recovers from surgery related to prostate cancer, but told viewers he’s recovering and will be back soon.

Have a chill Wednesday, Philly. Back at it tomorrow.

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