⚾ Home opener week, in memes | Morning Newsletter
And today’s top stories
The Morning Newsletter
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Good morning.
It’s a cloudy Saturday. Severe thunderstorms in the region knocked out power for thousands early Friday, and more showers may be in store today.
Today, I’m sharing some of my favorite social media moments highlighting the Phillies’ opening week at Citizens Bank Park.
But first, there’s news on a Philly-based gene therapy company laying off workers, the fatal incident involving an Amtrak train in Bucks County, and what we know about anti-Trump protests in the city today.
— Paola Pérez ([email protected])
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What you should know today
Anger over President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk will spill into the streets of Philadelphia Saturday, as protesters march against the administration and its politics. Several streets are expected to be closed.
While Trump’s tariffs sent shockwaves through the stock market and fears of trade wars across the global economy, Republicans at the largest GOP gathering in Pennsylvania Friday were largely unconcerned — and in celebration mode.
The three people who were killed by an Amtrak train on Thursday in Bucks County were a father and his two sons, according to the coroner’s office.
The remains of the six passengers who died aboard a medical jet that crashed in Northeast Philadelphia were returned to Mexico, following a brief, somber ceremony in Center City to mark their departure.
Lumberton Mayor Gina LaPlaca, who was arrested last month for driving while intoxicated with her then-2-year-old son in the car, was censured by the township’s committee Thursday night for alleged ethical violations.
The Philadelphia Trans Wellness Conference — a decades-long annual event considered the world’s largest transgender wellness conference — will not return in 2025. At least not in its traditional format.
Jefferson Health, the Philadelphia region’s largest health system, is back in-network for people with Cigna Health insurance through their employers after the two parties agreed to a new contract, Jefferson said Friday.
University City gene therapy company Spark Therapeutics is laying off 337 employees, more than half its workforce, as part of a restructuring by its owner.
A standalone Middle Child is planned for Philadelphia International Airport’s Terminal D later this fall.
20th Century Fox is seeking $1.3 million in federal court from a Delaware County resident behind the pop-up replica of Moe’s Tavern from The Simpsons.
We are so back.
After the Eagles won the Super Bowl, it feels like anything is possible. Phillies fans are thriving off that energy and feeling pumped about the 2025 season, and the team is giving them good reason to be. With the Birds’ blessing on opening day at CBP, the Phils defied the odds, dodged the raindrops, and even broke team records in their comeback win.
With the first week at home nearly locked down, we’re ready to make more memories at the Park. But before the Dodgers and Ohtani came to town for a weekend tussle, I’ve been loving the first-week enthusiasm and humor among fans online sharing funny replays, hot takes, Phils-inspired art, and reaction memes.
To start, we’ve got the Toyota RAV4th innings again. Whether it’s a cursed ad or not, we’re out here marking ourselves safe from it. No one can escape it, not even the Iron Pigs. But when it passes, we become “the best team in baseball.” It has also given us an oddly specific highlight reel of Aaron Nola’s 2024 RAV4th strikeouts. Speaking of strikeouts, how about Taijuan Walker’s six shutout innings? We used to "pray for times like this."
Other great social media moments feature clips and reactions to wild play-by-plays, with fans cheering on another Schwarbomb, couples kissing for the love of Sosa, the Phanatic watching in awe just like the rest of us, or nervously coping when we waste loaded bases. There’s also random happenings like Brandon Marsh borrowing sunnies, tracking quotable John Kruk moments and Kruk trying to troubleshoot his email login problems, and the game stream freezing at the perfect time.
Fans online also showed their creative side — like this sketch of Bryce Harper and cool pop art Phanatic — plus their new kicks and pets’ threads. And I have to shout out this kid with a mustache, and the adorable “mini Alec Bohm.” I want to see him next to his twin somewhere on the road to Red October. And we can expect many more memes to capture the excitement, the anxieties, and the thrills along the way.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s $6.7 billion budget did not include money for Zero Fare, an initiative that provides free SEPTA passes to help low-income people reach jobs, medical appointments and other destinations in the city.
In a column for The Inquirer, former Mayor Jim Kenney urged Parker to not let this program die.
“Eliminating the free transit program now would only mean fewer people able to work, more people relying on public assistance, and an even more strained local economy,” Kenney writes.
Read on for Kenney’s perspective on the program’s benefits, and why he says Philly cannot rely on Harrisburg to save SEPTA.
🧠 Trivia time
After hiding in plain sight for 50 years, the Temple Anthropology Lab and Museum just opened to the public for the first time in Philadelphia.
TALM holds about how many artifacts?
A) 600,000
B) 5 million
C) 20 million
D) 259
Think you know? Check your answer.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: The burgeoning Philly-area agriculture operation 🧑🌾
FERN JAM WAR
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Erica Griste who correctly guessed Friday’s answer: Jersey Shore. Several Shore towns have attracted unruly teen activity in recent summers, so Wildwood officials are promising stricter enforcement of its curfew — even warning parents they could face arrest.
John Fry was inaugurated as Temple University’s 15th president on Friday.
Fry said the college will soon launch a major fundraising campaign, as educational institutions around the country reel from proposed federal funding cuts. Higher education reporter Susan Snyder has the story, accompanied by photos from staff photographer Jessica Griffin.
Somewhere on the internet in Philly
Spring nights mean Elmo drumline sightings in South Philly and the Gayborhood.
SEPTA merch, anyone? They recently dropped a new home collection. Personally, I’m into the Regional Rap map duvet.
And Philadelphians are voting on where the Portal installation should go next. Last time I checked, City Hall was in the lead.
👋🏽 See you again tomorrow morning.
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