🎰 Courts vs. corner store games | Morning Newsletter

Happy Friday, Philly. It’s a hot one with a high near 90, and a chance of evening showers.

Many small businesses say they have become dependent on “skill games” to stay afloat. A recent state Supreme Court ruling may threaten that.

Mural Arts Philadelphia and other groups took hits in the new city budget and will have to make cuts in programs as a result.

Plus, the city responds to Trump’s lawsuit over ICE legislation, and more news of the day.

— Paola Pérez and Brian Nelson (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Uncertain future with uncertain revenue

Skill games, or slot-machine look-alikes, are essential.

That’s according to corner stores, bars, laundromats, and smoke shops across Philadelphia, who say they keep their slim-margin businesses alive.

🎰 Skill games lived in a legal gray area for more than a decade because they aren’t taxed or regulated like typical slot machines.

🎰 That could change now that Pennsylvania’s highest court recently ruled that they are one and the same. Now the countdown starts for those terms to officially take effect in four months.

🎰 Harrisburg could intervene as the state budget deadline approaches, but state lawmakers have failed for years to agree on how to tax and regulate the machines.

Many area business owners said they’re willing to stomach a tax, but chafe at what they consider to be cumbersome regulations.

In their own words: “This business is about getting a little bit of money from every product, and the machines are a tiny source of income that adds up to that,” one corner store owner told The Inquirer.

Inquirer reporters Dana Munro, Gillian McGoldrick, Michelle Myers have the story.

Budget cuts impact city art programs

In past years, the city’s budget process has followed a certain pattern for Mural Arts Philadelphia and other groups. This year was different.

Philadelphia’s nationally acclaimed program that puts colorful murals in neighborhoods and provides jobs was hoping for a boost in city funding. But the arts nonprofit learned that it will get substantially less.

The budget, ultimately agreed to by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration and City Council, will cut funding to Mural Arts — from $5.1 million in fiscal year 2026 to $3.7 million in 2027. Mural Arts is among many arts organizations retracting its proposed plans due to the proposed cuts.

Arts and culture reporter Peter Dobrin breaks it down here.

What you should know today

• Peco union workers plan to strike on the Fourth of July if they don’t have a contract by then. It would be the first worker strike in the company’s history.
• Pennsylvania health officials have now detected measles cases in York and Northumberland Counties as cases in Lancaster County, the center of an ongoing outbreak, continued to rise.
• The Trump administration is suing Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, the city, and other officials over an ordinance that bars law enforcement officers from concealing their identities as part of the ICE Out legislative package.
• The SEPTA board approved new labor contracts with the Fraternal Order of Transit Police Lodge 109 and three unions representing workers in the Regional Rail Division.
• Gov. Josh Shapiro said no Pa. businesses would participate in Trump’s Great American State Fair on the National Mall.
• A woman has been charged with murder and other offenses after an arson attempt that killed one man and damaged five homes in Philadelphia’s Franklinville section.
• Ember & Ash restaurant in South Philly is closed indefinitely after a late-night fire Wednesday sent flames to the roof through its ventilation system.
• Collingswood is considering lifting its dry town status to boost local restaurants. Residents may have the final say.
• A 188-apartment building is the latest new development slated for North Broad Street.

Plus: Why don’t Philly’s police district numbers make sense?

Welcome back to Curious Philly Friday. We’ll feature both new and timeless stories from our forum for readers to ask about the city’s quirks.

This week, we’re resurfacing an explainer about how Philly’s 21 police districts are enigmatically numbered. Why, for example, is South Philly, split into Districts 1, 3, and 17?

The department also seems to randomly omit numbers and mysteriously lists PHL as the 77th District. Here’s the full story.

Have your own burning question about Philadelphia, its local oddities, or how the region works? Submit it here and you might find the answer featured in this space.

🧠 Trivia time

A viral dance that originated in Camden has earned over a million fans across the world. What’s it called?

A) The Camden Shuffle

B) The Camden Slide

C) The Camden Bop

D) The Camden Boogie

Think you know? Test your local news know-how and check your answer in our weekly quiz.

What (and whom) we’re …

🇫🇷 Surveying: French fans on whether Philly is really the “Paris of America.”

🧀 Bragging about: Philly cheesesteaks outranking New York pizza for World Cup tourists.

⚽ Loving: Supporters soaking up the “good vibes” during Thursday’s slate of World Cup games, including Ivory Coast’s win at Philadelphia Stadium. Curaçao may have lost, but it was still a party for them.

🎸 Revealing: Our full list of the 76 most iconic Philly songs.

🧩 Unscramble the anagram

Hint: 250th 🇺🇸 🎆 🎉

HUFF JURY TOOL

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.

Cheers to Jan Schmidt, who solved Thursday’s anagram: Jenkintown. SEPTA is planning an 86-unit apartment complex near the station.

Photo of the day

One more thing: 18-year-old Khandakar Mahin, an Upper Darby graduate, was honored at the White House earlier this month for a proposal he created for another use for AI: to combat human trafficking.

👋🏽 Thanks to Inquirer intern Brian Nelson for his help co-writing today’s newsletter, and thanks to you for kicking off your weekend with us. Have a great one when you get there.

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