🦺 Helping FIFA fans ride SEPTA | Morning Newsletter
And police stops face racial bias claims.
The Morning Newsletter
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The atmosphere may feel like an obnoxious broth, but at least we made it to Friday, Philly.
With thousands of travelers trying to navigate the city during the World Cup, SEPTA has recruited workers and volunteers to help show them the way. Transportation reporter Tom Fitzgerald took us along for the training class.
Two Philadelphia police officers stopped and searched hundreds of Black men on the street. Defense lawyers say the stops were illegal and racially biased.
Plus, City Council plans to investigate the police response at Pride celebrations, and more news of the day.
— Paola Pérez (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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To become a SEPTA ambassador, Tom Fitzgerald went through a bit of boot camp.
From June 13 through July 19, employees and volunteers will be posted at critical transit and Regional Rail stations as the city plays host to a handful of big summer events. As ambassadors, Fitzgerald and others would offer information, directions, and crowd control — baked in with a friendly Philly welcome.
His training included:
Cultural diplomacy: For instance, you should never flash the “OK” hand gesture to a Brazilian. It’s offensive, like flipping the bird.
Emergency scenarios: How to “bring the temperature down” if and when tensions rise or conflicts break out, or handle a more serious situation.
In Tom’s own words: “It’s a lot, which is why up to 1,000 employees have spent half a day in training with a detailed curriculum that feels like cramming for finals.”
Join Fitzgerald’s journey to get certified and help newcomers navigate SEPTA.
🚌 In other SEPTA news: SEPTA is extending Route 45 to provide direct daily bus service to the Navy Yard for the first time in more than a decade.
Over the course of two years, two Philadelphia police officers systematically targeted hundreds of Black men for unlawful searches, according to lawyers with the Defender Association of Philadelphia.
Since the lawyers challenged the legal justification for the stops, prosecutors have dropped firearms charges against 24 men the officers arrested.
In recent court filings, the lawyers said their review found that the officers mislabeled stops as voluntary encounters, delayed body-camera activation, and avoided required documentation of the stops.
The allegations raise questions about the city’s compliance with a federal consent decree meant to curb unconstitutional stop-and-frisk practices. Philadelphia entered that agreement more than a decade ago.
Criminal justice reporter Jillian Kramer has the story.
What you should know today
Philadelphia City Council will hold public hearings to examine the police department’s crowd-control tactics used during last Sunday’s Pride festivities in the city’s Gayborhood, a response that drew criticism from LGBTQ+ community leaders who have called the display of force unacceptable.
City Council approved a bill Thursday to encourage denser and taller development around Philadelphia’s transit stations. The law comes with a caveat: the council must opt stations into it. City Council also voted to ban noncommercial and commercial horse carriages, with exceptions that will be regulated by animal control.
A new public safety hub is opening on Market Street to coordinate police responses in the area.
The body of a Philadelphia teenager who vanished earlier this month while swimming in the ocean at the Jersey Shore has been recovered, the Wildwood Police Department said.
A Chesco judge quashed a land use appeal seeking to halt the construction of a 1.5 million-square-foot data center proposed for East Whiteland Township.
A Delco-based medical logistics company ceased operations last week, eliminating dozens of workers.
New Jersey secured a federal disaster declaration for the crops damaged in April’s rare heat-freeze sequence.
Drexel University received a historic $112.6 million gift to establish its new college of engineering and computing, renovate space in two buildings to foster programs within it, and provide more scholarships.
Philly artisan brewery Punch Buggy Brewing Company is opening a second location in the suburbs on Saturday.
Welcome back to Curious Philly Friday. We’ll feature both new and timeless stories from our forum for readers to ask about the city’s quirks.
This week, we have an explainer from Michelle Myers on some mysterious-looking symbols and writings on Philly-area streets and sidewalks.
It might look like a bunch of nonsense, but they all mean something. It’s a language by which utility companies communicate what’s happening underground. Here’s the full story.
Have your own burning question about Philadelphia, its local oddities, or how the region works? Submit it here and you might find the answer featured in this space.
🧠 Trivia time
Philly is opening a “hospitality hub” for visitors this summer along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. What is the hub’s main feature?
A) Misting fans
B) Public restrooms
C) Branded sunglasses
D) Water ice
Think you know? Test your local news know-how and check your answer in our weekly quiz.
What (and whom) we’re …
👟 Rooting for: This 90-year-old Havertown man competing for track and field medals.
🧤 Testing: How hard can it be to stop a penalty kick?
⚽ Recapping: The first jam-packed day of Fan Fest at Lemon Hill (see all the pics here!) and our full guide to the World Cup in Philly.
🥨 Revealing: The final top 10 in our full list of the 76 most iconic Philly foods.
🍧 Asking Philadelphians: What’s the best water ice in Philly? The most popular response might surprise you.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: If you ask some Philadelphia 🏀 fans, this pop star’s claim to the city should be revoked for repping the Knicks.
FLOATY WRIST
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Clare Cosenza, who solved Thursday’s anagram: Reading Terminal Market. The market will be part of a new expansion by the Philadelphia Visitor Center ahead of the large influx of tourists expected this summer.
🎨 One more artsy thing: Roughly 1,000 of Philly’s murals are on private homes. The Inquirer asked six homeowners why they wanted their properties to join the city’s rich tapestry of murals.
👋🏽 Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend when you get there, and I’ll catch up with you again tomorrow.
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