Olney athletes plead for safer fields | Morning Newsletter
And Independence Mall firings.
The Morning Newsletter
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Welcome to a new week, Philly.
Olney High School’s four-acre athletic field complex has no running water or changing rooms, so students, parents, and teachers are asking the school district to fix the deteriorating facilities. They say it’s about safety, and much more.
And President Donald Trump’s plan to cut the size of the federal government reached into Pennsylvania over the weekend with employee dismissals at several national parks, including the already short-staffed Independence Mall.
— Julie Zeglen ([email protected])
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The Olney High athletic community is mounting a campaign to get the Philadelphia School District to commit to renovating its facilities, saying they are fed up with dilapidated fields and subpar conditions.
Among their complaints: Olney’s fieldhouse was recently condemned by the city, so there’s no place for athletes to change, no access to running water or bathrooms, and nowhere to store equipment. The only bleachers on the complex are broken. Players risk injury by playing on uneven dirt.
An expensive undertaking: The school system has committed $350,000 for some improvements that will be made this spring. Yet full upgrades could cost up to $19 million.
Notable quote: “In a world where the deck is already stacked against them in so many ways, I want to know how I look them in the eyes and tell them we really do care when there’s so much evidence around them that shows them that’s not the case,” a former Olney teacher and coach told The Inquirer.
Education reporter Kristen A. Graham lays out the stakes for Olney’s young athletes.
Days after Trump signed an executive order directing all federal agencies to prepare for “large-scale” layoffs, a dozen employees were let go from Pennsylvania’s national parks.
According to a federal workers union official, the firings include two probationary employees at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, five at Gettysburg National Military Park, and five at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton.
The cuts come as Independence Mall is already operating with at least 30 unfilled openings, and just one year before the United States honors its semiquincentennial. Philadelphia’s historic district is expected to play a major role in the celebration.
Reporters Jeff Gammage and Michelle Myers explain the potential local impact of the downsizing.
What you should know today
A driver was killed when a tree fell on her car, Philadelphia International Airport had nearly 300 delayed flights and Peco reported power outages affecting 130,000 customers due to high winds expected to continue into Monday.
A man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and leaving her body in a shallow grave in Northeast Philly was apprehended in New York Saturday.
Most of the federal funds earmarked for Pennsylvania that are now frozen or restricted by the Trump administration were set aside for environmental and energy projects. The money remains inaccessible to state officials despite a federal judge’s order that the funding be restored.
Philadelphia homeowners can apply for the city’s Low-income Real Estate Tax Freeze program by Feb. 28 to keep their 2025 property tax bill the same as 2024′s. Here’s how to do it.
Haddonfield is among only 10 school districts in New Jersey that only offer half-day kindergarten. That’s changing in September.
The Camden Food Fund, supported by the Campbell’s Co., made microloans to four small food-related businesses in its first round of funding, with more on the way.
Philly is a “clear frontrunner” for WNBA expansion, according to a new report, but likely not for a few more years.
🧠 Trivia time
After he fell short of qualifying for college, what helped Eagles rookie Quinyon Mitchell relaunch his football career before he became a Super Bowl champion?
A) Bodybuilding competitions
B) A career detour in health care
C) Fruit farming
D) His favorite rescue dog
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🏳️🌈 Considering: How Philly could become an LGBTQ sanctuary city, and the importance of identity-matching names to trans and nonbinary residents.
💪 Moved by: This op-ed about one Philadelphia man’s powerful “winning hands” mindset.
🗞️ Wondering: Whether it’s time for a “NATO for news” amid intensifying assaults on the media.
⚡ Looking to: The future with — possibly — an affordable, inclusive clean energy transition.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Catholic leader in Philadelphia
PREZONE LENS
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Ellen Sleeter, who solved Sunday’s anagram: Love, Hurts. Ahead of the Eagles victory parade, Jordan Brand put a new statue in LOVE Park to pay tribute to Jalen Hurts and the team’s Super Bowl win.
Photo of the day
Paola Pérez, your weekend morning newsletter emcee, brought you all the Super Bowl victory parade coverage you could need on Saturday. But I couldn’t resist sharing one more sweet story: Ryan Quigley, a Lansdale native and lifelong Eagles fan who survived the New Orleans terror attack on New Year’s Day, joined players on the Art Museum steps. Here’s how the team made him a part of their parade celebration.
Your “only in Philly” story
📬 Think back to the night that changed your life that could only happen in Philly, a true example of the Philly spirit, the time you finally felt like you belonged in Philly if you’re not a lifer, something that made you fall in love with Philly all over again — or proud to be from here if you are. Then email it to us for a chance to be featured in the Monday edition of this newsletter.
This “only in Philly” story comes from reader Michael Thomas Leibrandt, who celebrated the Birds’ Super Bowl win in Abington Township while a friend reported from the scene in Brazil:
Where other than Philly can you see this kind of celebration? It’s been 100 years since the Frankford Yellow Jackets were granted Philadelphia’s first NFL franchise, largely thanks to on-field annihilations of opponents with much the same overwhelming onslaught of visual pleasure as these 2024-2025 Eagles. Last week, the greatest football fans in all of America got the opportunity to celebrate the greatest Eagles team ever to play in Philadelphia in a parade that would bring Broad Street alive.
Mere moments after the Eagles overwhelmed the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX , Philadelphia fans — who had overtaken the Superdome, making it feel like a home game at the Linc — poured into the streets of New Orleans to begin the celebration. Back in Philadelphia , fans erupted in a joyous celebration that extended from Broad Street to the suburbs and around Cottman Ave, not far from where a horrific plane crash occurred just a week earlier.
Nearly 5,000 miles away in São Paulo , where the team opened their season with a win over the Green Bay Packers in September , another celebration was underway. After all , these Eagles did begin their championship journey as the home team of Brazil.
👋 Wishing you an easy slide into the new week. Stay warm out there.
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