SEPTA service cuts whiplash | Morning Newsletter
And Boys’ Latin’s engagement strategy.
The Morning Newsletter
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It’s already Friday, Philly, and expected to be a sunny one after last night’s rain.
News broke Thursday evening that a judge ordered SEPTA to reverse all cuts to services immediately. The order does not include a prohibition on fare increases. Here’s what else we know so far.
While we await clarity on the precise impact of the judge’s ruling, students across the city must continue to navigate service reductions on their commutes to school. In the first days of the 2025-26 school year, one West Philadelphia charter has managed to boost attendance amid the cuts, instead of see it shrink like other schools have.
Plus, street festival organizers say the rising costs of Philly police patrols are crushing them. Find these stories and more below.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
P.S. Friday means trivia. Our latest news quiz includes questions on local music video stars, a water ice-flavored spirit, and more.
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SEPTA must reverse all cuts to services immediately, a Philadelphia judge ruled Thursday.
The order applies to route cuts, service reductions, and staffing eliminations, but not to proposed fare increases. The agency is also barred from implementing any new cuts. A timeline for restored service isn’t clear. A spokesperson for the transit agency said Thursday night it hadn’t decided whether it will appeal the judge’s order.
The injunction followed a second day of testimony in a City Hall courtroom, after an attorney sued SEPTA on behalf of three riders.
The Philly School District reported a sharp decrease in attendance during the first three days of the 2025-26 school year, which district officials attributed to SEPTA cuts. Yet at Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia Charter School’s two campuses, attendance so far has gone up compared to the beginning of last school year. Tardiness is down, too.
Staffers say that’s due to summertime planning and overcommunication — asking students to consider how their commutes might change, for instance, and answering parent questions about SEPTA-related lateness policies. The school also paid to add more students to its own yellow bus routes.
“We didn’t take the approach of, ‘We don’t care what’s happening with SEPTA, be here on time or else,’” CEO William Hayes told The Inquirer. “It was grace and understanding for how this could negatively impact them.”
Education reporter Kristen A. Graham has the story on Boys’ Latin’s engagement efforts.
In other school news: Pennsylvania’s $25 million solar for schools program is a hit, but budget uncertainty threatens its future. And faced with making drastic cuts to balance budgets for the 2025-26 school year, 25 South Jersey school districts decided to raise their property taxes, state records show.
What you should know today
A Philly immigrant advocacy group on Thursday urged Mayor Cherelle L. Parker to “not back down” against President Donald Trump’s threats to sanctuary cities.
During an appearance on CNN, District Attorney Larry Krasner denounced Trump’s plans to send National Guard troops to fight crime in cities and said Philadelphians should record the troops if they are deployed here.
A small group of Pennsylvania lawmakers are forgoing their paychecks as the state’s budget impasse prevents money flowing into schools and other crucial services.
The Montgomery County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to create a human relations commission that will handle claims of unlawful discrimination.
The Avenging the Ancestors Coalition held a public town hall to strategize how to protect the President’s House Site’s exhibits on slavery from the Trump administration.
Philly has a persistent problem with thieves forging deeds and selling homes that are technically owned by dead people. The Parker administration has a new way to protect homeowners.
A King of Prussia office building could be razed and replaced by more than 200 apartments.
Former Crozer Health patients can get help accessing their medical records at a free event in Yeadon on Monday.
Street festival organizers in the city are considering shrinking or canceling events, as security consumes a higher portion of the event budget.
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 resident weather expert Anthony R. Wood on seemingly random weather events. Shouldn’t meteorologists always get some kind of warning before, say, a severe thunderstorm?
While forecasting has gotten much more accurate, the science — and humans — are still limited. And thunderstorms’ small scale makes their locations and start times especially tricky to predict. 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
A new Temple University project will use virtual reality to allow people to tour which historic venue decades after it closed?
A) Uptown Theater
B) Trocadero Theatre
C) Pyramid Club
D) Veterans Stadium
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🐕 Remembering: That time a dog named Pep began his life sentence in Eastern State Penitentiary.
🎸 Anticipating: Bruce Springsteen’s Electric Nebraska box set this fall.
🥕 Learning: How to navigate new SNAP requirements in Pennsylvania.
🗺️ Mapping: The best tomato pies in the region.
☕ Considering: The unintended consequences of a new North Philadelphia curfew that’s meant to address safety concerns.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Band that postponed August concert dates in Philly and Atlantic City
HEW HOT
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Greg Gibbs, who solved Thursday’s anagram: Hamilton. We annotated every time the hit Broadway show — now celebrating its 10th anniversary — doesn’t mention Philly, but could.
Photo of the day
Thanks for ending your week with The Inquirer. Have a good one.
Correction: Yesterday’s newsletter said both the Eagles and FanDuel would pay for extra game-day trains to run after the home opener. FanDuel is the only sponsor.
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