Living in the shadow of South Street | Morning Newsletter
And live like a Jeopardy! champion
The Morning Newsletter
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We’re in for a hot one, with temperatures in the high-80s, under partly cloudy skies.
Today we hear what it’s like to be a longtime resident living right off South Street with a quiet, cheery community by day and arguably the city’s largest party strip by night.
And yesterday, I told you that thanks to Uber driver Ryan Long, Philly can lay claim to a 16-time Jeopardy! champion. We created this interactive quiz with many of the questions he answered to see how you would stack up.
Finally, I’m resurfacing one of my favorite stories: Meet the educator who never wanted to be a principal. Now, he’s considered one of Philly’s best. 🔒
— Kerith Gabriel (@sprtswtr, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
In the aftermath of Saturday’s mass shooting, our reporter Peter Dobrin, who has spent more than 20 years living just off South Street, explained what it’s like in the neighborhood.
I could try to explain, but instead here’s an excerpt from Peter’s first-person reflection. 👇🏽
Sometimes life in this corner of the city seems charmingly small-town and almost bucolic. Sometimes not.
Did we even hear the gunshots a block away that evening? You unconsciously begin to filter out noise — dismiss it along with the ATVs, motorcycles, and car radios — when you’ve spent 28 years living a half a block from South Street, as we have.
From about September to May, depending on the weather, the mood is generally soft and gentle. On summer weekends, all hell breaks loose. Tourists, college students, concert-goers — anyone looking for a bit of excitement — flocks to our neighborhood. Friday night comes, and you wish for rain (it keeps the crowds small), close the shutters, and hope things don’t get out of hand.
We call our street the breakup street; at least once a year we’re awoken by a couple that’s chosen a spot under our bedroom window to have a 2 a.m. breakup, usually after a few drinks are consumed. I wonder how the young parents nearby are able to get their children back to sleep when motorcycle after motorcycle comes screaming down the block at midnight.
Post-parade Mummers have treated our side streets as urinals, and in some years the Greek Picnic or Mardi Gras celebrations have overwhelmed the streets with violence and incivility.
But Saturday night’s shootings were very different. People died. And it feels as if some awful demon has been let out of the bottle. That demon, of course, is guns — in all of their now-ubiquitous horror.
Spend some time today with the rest of Peter’s eye-opening account of living in South Street’s shadow.
What you should know today
Police are on the hunt for a third suspect in Saturday’s deadly shooting on South Street.
Trudy Haynes, Philly’s first Black television reporter, died at 95.
Sasha Suda has been named the newest director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
John Fetterman’s in-person campaign to represent Pa. in the U.S. Senate may start later than anticipated.
Made in America returns to the Parkway in September with Bad Bunny and Tyler, the Creator as headliners
The Saint Joseph’s women’s hoops team that put women’s hoops on the map in Philly, as part of The Inquirer Sports’ Title IX series.
Considering a trip to the Philadelphia Flower Show? Know before you go with our handy guide.
Local Coronavirus Numbers: Here’s your daily look at the latest COVID-19 data.
I feel as if the last few days I’ve been sharing only the worst of Philly. From the latest shootings to NIMBY parents when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines, it’s been one stressor after another. Look, information is knowledge so it’s necessary, but I think it’s time to switch things up.
Here’s a quiz featuring a handful of the same questions Philly’s 16-time Jeopardy! winner Ryan Long was asked so you can test yourself, presented by our reporter Rob Tornoe and with interactive love from our Sam Morris.
I took it and got 7/10 questions correct. Take it and tell me how well you fared at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com.
🧠 Philly Trivia Time 🧠
A prominent Philly education nonprofit that has raised $134 million over 11 years is changing both its name and its mission. The new name is Elevate 215, but today’s question: Do you know the current name of this nonprofit? Take a guess and find the answer here.
a. The Fund for Philadelphia Schools
b. The Philadelphia School Partnership
c. Friends of Philadelphia Schools
d. None of the above
What we’re…
🍑 Sharing: Our wellness coach has exercise tips for those looking for a little lift down there.
💰 Realizing: That the wealth gap between Black and white people in the United States is the widest its ever been.
🧒 Reading: The letters children are writing to legislators in the aftermath of the Texas school shooting.
🧩 Unscramble the Anagram 🧩
Two days of tunes that kick off Philly’s unofficial start of summer.
CRITIC SOPON
Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shoutout to a reader at random who answers correctly. Today’s shoutout goes to Marie Ruddell, of Jeffersonville, Pa., who correctly guessed EAST FALLS as Tuesday’s answer.
Photo of the day
As always, I appreciate your taking time out to start your morning with The Inquirer. ✌️