Rosebud Sioux claim their lost children | Morning Newsletter

Happy Sunday, dedicated readers of The Inquirer Morning Newsletter. Here’s what you need to know today.

Six years ago, a group of teenagers from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe traveled from South Dakota to Pennsylvania, placing candy on the graves of children buried on the grounds of the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Today, as grown young women and men, they returned to Pennsylvania to help claim the remains of nine tribal boys and girls and bring them home.

The first visit passed largely unnoticed at first. But as word spread, it helped ignite a rights and repatriation movement across North America.

— Lauren Aguirre (@laurencaguirre, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

Each week we go behind the scenes with one of our reporters or editors to discuss their work and the challenges they face along the way. This week we chat with Managing Editor for Sports Michael Huang about his job and how he’s leading The Inquirer’s sports department.

Can you describe your job and what an average day looks like?

Well, it’s been different than any other job I’ve had thus far, onboarding during a pandemic. But most of my day is consumed with personnel and content evaluation and decision making. That manifests itself in a LOT of talking and meetings. But that’s OK, as many of my colleagues are finding out, I like to talk and discuss things, whether it’s a story idea, potential hires, what’s on the homepage or sports front.

Has anything surprised you about Philly since you started the job?

Coming from ESPN, where we talked about nothing except sports, it has been refreshing to be in the 8:15 a.m. news meeting and work with colleagues who are running coverage of politics, food, business, health, and science. It has been like “mental mint jelly” for me, because you can only edit, write, or read a story about the 19-year-old shortstop so many times before it gets redundant.

What are some things you’re looking forward to for Philly sports this year?

I am extremely excited about all of our new hires and how they approach their sports. Some teams are completely rebuilding, others are in various states of contention. This keeps us a little off balance and the sports landscape a little unpredictable, but it makes it all really fun to document and produce content about. I think readers and viewers will gradually start to add more variety to our stories, instead of only X’s and O’s. We have an opportunity to reach a number of new audiences. This includes a new approach to college sports, women’s sports and female athletes, and many more “pull back the curtain” type stories.

Any tips for casual watchers looking to get more into sports?

I’d say don’t get caught up in the nuances of strategy, process, or gamesmanship. Instead, get caught up in the excitement of the game and other fans watching it. Enjoy the athletes for the many incredible things they can do ... in the moment. Now that we can enjoy games with more people, cheer for Philadelphia teams and their players. They might not be from Philadelphia, but while they play for a team here, they are honorary Philadelphians.

What’s your favorite thing about working at the Inquirer so far?

We are really doing something profound here. We have an opportunity to create something that helps Philadelphia, journalism, and society at large. To me, it’s very mission-based. I see it in the passion of my colleagues, and I try to instill that in my staff, that idea of a mission. We are at the awkward stage of transformation right now, and I know that’s a bit unnerving, but it’s the promise of getting The Inquirer to that evolved state that really has me excited about the company’s future. We no longer are a paper. We are a digital outlet that also happens to print a paper. That’s how I see it.

What are some things you do for fun in your free time?

Having a teenage daughter is a full time job, too. But I love to ride my Harley-Davidson motorcycle and work out a lot. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an over-the-hill athlete. I know it! But you have to keep Father Time at bay somehow. I plan on running the Spartan race at Citizens Bank Park this fall. I’ve done them before, and they’re so much fun.

Email Michael Huang at mhuang@inquirer.com and follow him at @michaelhuang55.

Remember to keep looking up, Philly. Thanks for sharing!

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!

For the better part of a century, Pennsylvania’s liquor laws have been among the most frustrating and restrictive in the nation. It’s not always easy to understand where to go. Liquor laws in the state have recently loosened, but we still can’t buy liquor, wine, and beer to drink at home all in the same place. So, here’s how it works.

What are your summer jams? It’s the peak of summer, so we asked our Instagram followers to share their favorite summer songs to add to our Spotify playlist. Here’s what a few of them said.

🏝️ “Beach boys - kokomo 😎”

💕 “Darling by Real Estate”

🍹 “Cold Beverages- G Love”

🗓️ “Friday on my Mind, The Easybeats”

Want to share your favorite summer song? DM us at @PhillyInquirer on Instagram and we’ll add it to the playlist.

Animals at the Philadelphia Zoo will soon be joining the ranks of those vaccinated against COVID-19. The zoo is planning to vaccinate at-risk animals, including leopards, gorillas, otters, aye-ayes, and more.