Good morning, Philly. As the 2026 Winter Olympics kick off this week, it’s a great time to consider: What is curling, really? We have your explainer, courtesy of a visit to a local curling club.
Philadelphians are frustrated by the city’s snowstorm response. What does that mean for Mayor Cherelle L. Parker?
And four months after a new name and rebrand, the city’s most iconic cultural institution is now called the Philadelphia Museum of Art once again.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Snow-going recovery
Eleven days past the region’s biggest snowfall in a decade, mounds of slush and ice are still blocking crosswalks and messing with commutes.
🏔️ Much of the city’s slow recovery from the 9.3 inches and icy sleet that fell on Jan. 25 can be attributed to the Arctic freeze that followed.
🏔️ Yet while the Parker administration says it has deployed 1,000 workers and 800 pieces of snow-removal equipment to deal with the emergency — an unusually large arsenal compared with what it has mobilized to battle storms in the past — mobility remains limited in many neighborhoods.
🏔️ Now, Parker, who campaigned on a promise to provide city services, is feeling the heat from fed-up Philadelphians. Such resentment has burned other cities’ mayors before.
Reporters Sean Collins Walsh and Ryan W. Briggs dig in.
Plus: A barge carrying 21,000 tons of salt reinforcements for Philadelphia got stuck in the frozen Delaware River. And after an ice-covered car in Fishtown went viral on TikTok, it was listed as a tourist attraction on Google Maps.
Return of the PMA
Following four months of tumult that included a panned rebrand, the ousting of its top executive, and the resignation of its marketing chief, the cultural institution formerly known as the Philadelphia Museum of Art has a new name: the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Rebrand fallout: In October, the nearly 150-year-old museum announced its name would change to the Philadelphia Art Museum, or PhAM, in a bid to seem more accessible and attract new audiences. Critics quickly pounced (cue the unfortunate internet nickname “PhArt”). Board members said they had been given little notice before the rollout. A month later, director and CEO Sasha Suda was gone.
Changes to come: The board voted unanimously on Wednesday to revert to the old name. But much of the look of the rebrand, which cost around $1 million, will remain.
What leadership says: Daniel H. Weiss, who took over in November after Suda’s departure, called the entire rebrand episode “an unnecessary distraction for us. We want to move on and focus on things that matter most to our mission.”
Arts reporter Peter Dobrin has more on the museum’s about-face.
What you should know today
- Pennsylvania officials pushed back after President Donald Trump said federal officials should oversee elections in cities like Philadelphia and repeated unproven claims of election fraud.
- Philadelphia police are searching for a suspect in connection with the shooting deaths of two tow truck drivers.
- A teenager who was detained for 49 days over his friend’s killing at a SEPTA station contends police “buried” footage that showed he was innocent. Now he’s suing the city and transit officers.
- A former Villanova professor says in a federal lawsuit she was fired from the Catholic university after accusing its law school of racial discrimination involving one of her students.
- Philly’s crowded congressional race has yet to attract much money from political action committees or donors outside the region. That may change as the primary approaches.
- U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Bucks County has more cash on hand than any other GOP incumbent in a swing district nationwide as the party prepares for a tough election.
- Philadelphia biotech companies are worried about losing a key source of federal funding for early-stage innovation. The city’s new matching program offers a small boost.
- The new Norristown school board is moving to oust its superintendent, saying the district needs a new leader to reverse years of poor test scores.
Quote of the day
The developer wants to transform one of South Jersey’s deadest malls, now called the Voorhees Town Center, into a mixed-used development. But he says he needs money from the state to do it.
In other development news: A quarter-century-old zoning law threatens to block a restaurant and bar in Fishtown. And City Council is seeking to stop demolitions as an anti-blight measure, while a housing ban on the former Hahnemann campus is on hold.
🧠 Trivia time
The 76ers have traded guard Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Besides his basketball skills, which is a reason he became famous in Philadelphia?
A) His sock collection
B) His social media flair
C) His music side project
D) His celebrity friends
Think you know? Check your answer.
What (and whom) we’re …
🚍 Noting: How other Pennsylvania transit systems are dealing with the fiscal crunch that hit SEPTA last year.
🏠 Meeting: The architect whose style defined modern Jersey Shore homes.
🌴 Saying goodbye to: Bahama Breeze, including the King of Prussia and Cherry Hill locations.
🗣️ Not sure about: This Jersey Jeopardy! champ’s pronunciation of “Schuylkill.”
🕊️ Considering: The historic impact of faith in the African American community.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Delaware County borough
AIMED
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Marie Bacon, who solved Wednesday’s anagram: Philadelphia. America’s oldest warship, sunk by the British in 1776, is getting a 250th-birthday makeover.
Photo of the day
At least we’re getting some sun this week. See you back here tomorrow.
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