Good morning. A round of showers are expected throughout the region.
Can love overcome the rising cost of gas? Inquirer staffers help a reader decide what to do when dating drains the tank.
Plus, we have news on a data breach that impacted local schools, what New Jersey officials are saying about a potential hantavirus exposure, and our report card for this week in Philly news.
— Paola Pérez (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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What you should know today
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K-12 schools in Philly, as well as area colleges and universities, were impacted by data breach and outage of a learning management system used by students and faculty. Some are still coping with security concerns.
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Mayor Cherelle L. Parker signed into law two bills meant to expand renter protections for Philadelphians living in unhealthy and unsafe homes.
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Two New Jerseyans may have been exposed to a person infected with hantavirus, officials said. They don’t have symptoms and risk to the public is low.
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A former teacher and special education assistant accused of abusing autistic students at Jamison Elementary have sued Central Bucks School District for not defending them in the scandal’s legal fallout.
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Former President Joe Biden canceled a Friday appearance in Philadelphia at a gathering of the city’s Democratic officials and party faithful.
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The Quakertown Borough Council defended Police Chief Scott McElree’s actions in response to what it called the “unchecked aggression” of several ICE-protesting teens who assaulted him in February.
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Northwest Philadelphia developer Ken Weinstein is buying four largely vacant office and medical buildings from La Salle University.
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Philly law enforcement officials say their plan to ensure a safe and festive atmosphere around the World Cup has been years in the making. It includes new language technology in officers’ body cams.
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From anti-Philly cheesesteak menus, struggling playoff teams, to bizarre local headlines, catch up on the good, bad, and weird from our recent stories.
A reader asked: I live in West Philly and the guy I’m dating lives in Jersey. We’ve made it work for a year, but gas costs so much these days and that trip is becoming less worth it. He doesn’t live near a bus or a train. I sometimes say I’m busy because I can’t justify the cost. He’s very good about coming to me, though. I’m thinking maybe this isn’t the right relationship if for me it’s not worth the gas money. Am I right?
To help, life and culture reporters Jason Nark and Abigail Covington joined forces to discuss the price of gas — and relationships. Speaking from experience in long-distance dating, Jason acknowledged the difficulty in making a big trek (from South Jersey to the Catskills, in his case), but that being in love makes it worth every penny.
“Let’s cut to the chase: if you’re making up lies to drive to Jersey (South? North? The Shore?), then this isn’t just about gas prices,” Jason said. Abigail concurs: Our reader must determine if this conflict is “a matter of the heart, not the moola.”
Read their full verdict here. Need advice, or want to share your thoughts? We want to hear it. Email us here.
While some people may look north to New York City as a model for Philadelphia’s next mayor, Inquirer columnist Daniel Pearson writes that perhaps the city should look to its southern neighbor instead.
“After all, [Brandon] Scott’s Baltimore has much more in common with Philadelphia than [Zohran] Mamdani’s New York,” Pearson writes. “Gun violence, a lack of economic opportunity, a struggling school system filled with underutilized buildings, these are issues our two cities share.”
In this week’s Shackamaxon, Pearson unpacks the ways Philly has (or hasn’t) taken notes from its peer cities.
📍 Find the location
Think you know where this mural is located? Our weekly game puts your knowledge of Philly’s streets and places to the test. Check your answer.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: This Philadelphian founded Mother’s Day
JAVAN RAINS
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Ed Suarez who correctly guessed Friday’s answer: Sabrina’s Cafe. The popular brunch chain is opening a big new location in Queen Village.
The South Philly sports complex is convenient, but it can quickly turn into a psychological experiment when everyone tries to leave at the same time.
Traffic is expected to be a major headache with a slew of games happening through Sunday, so Inquirer video social host Ariane Datil set out to find out why we live like this.
Transportation reporter Tom Fitzgerald also makes a cameo to deliver his hot take. Got one of your own? Sound off in the comments.
Somewhere on the internet in Philly
🏀 On Reddit, a Sixers fan shared a wild idea to keep Knicks fans out of Philly: mess with Amtrak’s pricing model. The rest is history.
🍦Shoutout to Alexis Sapp and her impressive Phillies ice cream helmet collection.
🐝 What’s with the random swarm of bees on Market Street? Send in your theories.
👋🏽 Let’s catch up again tomorrow. Enjoy your Saturday.
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