✖️ What’s in an arena name? | Morning Newsletter
And the MOVE bombing, 40 years later.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Good morning, Philly.
Say goodbye to the Wells Fargo Center, and hello to the Xfinity Mobile Arena: Comcast-Spectacor is changing the name of the 21,000-seat home of the Flyers and 76ers on Sept. 1. Predictably, spectators had a range of reactions to the new moniker.
And as Philadelphia approaches the 40th anniversary of the MOVE bombing, depositions in legal cases shed new light on the way the city and the University of Pennsylvania treated victims’ remains.
Plus, federal funding cuts continue to hit the region hard. We rounded up the latest.
— Julie Zeglen ([email protected])
If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.
Farewell, Wells Fargo Center. Make way for the Xfinity Mobile Arena.
✖️ Whether you knew it as the home of our long-suffering Sixers and Flyers, or as the local tour stop of major musical acts, you probably have some feelings about the name change. Lots of other Philadelphians did.
✖️ Is it a welcome shift or does it bring the potential for confusion? Are you shocked — shocked! — they didn’t go with “Uncle Bobbie’s Memorial Jawn” or “Philly Pretzel Factory Tire Fire Forum,” two carefully crafted options from The Inquirer’s name generator?
✖️ Ah, well. Guess sponsorship offers were limited. Too bad the phrase “mobile arena” looks “like a Bookmobile except for underperforming sports teams,” as columnist David Murphy puts it.
✖️ We have a few months left with the Wells Fargo Center. In the meantime, relive the top 10 moments of this era, from Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball to Joel Embiid’s 70-point franchise-record-making game.
✖️ Want more insight into the name? The change comes as Comcast, the Philly-headquartered parent company of both the arena and the Xfinity brand, shifts its strategy.
Services and programs in the Philadelphia region continue to be impacted by funding freezes or cuts by President Donald Trump’s administration. The latest losses:
$10.2 million in federal grants for AmeriCorps, focused on 11 education programs including CityYear, Teach for America, and Joyful Readers
$5.7 million in Title X funds meant for cancer screenings, contraception, and other sexual health services for under- and uninsured patients
$1.4 million in National Endowment for the Arts grant cancellations, including cases where the money has already been spent
In other federal policy news: A city official said Tuesday that Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration is prepared to go to court if Philadelphia’s federal funding is put at risk under Trump’s sanctuary city order. In Bucks County, Sheriff Fred Harran says some opponents of his plan to have the department partner with federal immigration agents have used “Holocaust-era language” to slander him.
What you should know today
A top Philadelphia Fire Department official is under investigation for harassment. Whistleblowers say this official is retaliating against them with an overtime-abuse probe.
Montgomery County’s district attorney has ruled that a member of the county’s SWAT team was justified in fatally shooting a Pottstown man last month.
A prison in Burlington County is plagued with overcrowded cells, filth, and vermin, a state watchdog report found.
Philly district attorney candidate Patrick Dugan’s campaign claimed — and then removed — endorsements from wards that have not yet backed him for DA.
Montco leaders and students said Tuesday that deep cuts proposed for SEPTA service would make the county less livable.
Some residents of Pine and Spruce Streets are challenging a city proposal for neighborhood loading zones to complement a new ban on vehicle drivers stopping in bike lanes.
Former students of the locally tied School of Rock allege that Paul Green routinely abused his position as founder of the now-famed musical education program.
West Philly-raised comedian, actor, and showrunner Quinta Brunson will receive a key to the city in honor of her impact with Abbott Elementary.
On May 13, 1985, city officials ended a 12-hour standoff with members of the radical, Black-led, back-to-nature group MOVE by sending a police helicopter to drop explosives on their West Philadelphia house. Eleven MOVE members died, five of them children.
Forty years later, relatives of the victims still wonder if they have buried all of their family members’ remains.
Through a monthslong collaboration with Temple University’s Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting, The Inquirer traced how the remains of a MOVE bombing victim were allowed to be shipped back and forth across the country and ultimately placed on display for Penn donors at museum events and exposed to thousands of viewers of an online, open-access course.
More on MOVE: Listen to the latest episode of MOVE: Untangling the Tragedy. This six-part podcast series is produced with the Logan Center.
🧠 Trivia time
The U.S. Open Cup comes to Subaru Park tonight. Three generations of which Bridesburg family have made history in the soccer competition?
A) The Blakes
B) The Lloyds
C) The Sullivans
D) The Uhres
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🥘 Joining: The book club-slash-potluck at Binding Agents, Philly’s only cookbook store.
📖 Reading: Brandon Graham’s children’s book, BG’s ABCs, out this Friday.
🍝 Rushing: To get in line to become a member of Palizzi Social Club.
🪪 Double checking: That we have REAL IDs, now mandatory to board domestic flights.
🏩 Remembering: The historic Chateau Bleu Motel in North Wildwood, now a pile of rubble.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Co-headlining this year’s Wawa Welcome America concert
UNJAM VILLA ZINES
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Rita Morley, who solved Tuesday’s anagram: Rite Aid. The Philly-based chain is filing for bankruptcy for the second time in fewer than two years, and will close or sell all of its remaining stores. Pharmacy customers, take note: Rite Aid will keep filling prescriptions for now, but script files are set to be sold in an auction next week.
Photo of the day
🦉 One last fully funded thing: The Cecil B. Moore Scholarship program covers full tuition at Temple for public school students in eight nearby zip codes. Its inaugural cohort graduated this week. “Being from North Philadelphia or anywhere else in the city doesn’t make us less, but it makes us more,” participant Sa’Dasia Jordan said in a speech at the celebration.
Thanks for starting your day with The Inquirer, as always.
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.