Good morning, Philly. Saturday showers may turn our World Cup game soggy, and it appears a heat wave is on the way.
Trouble is brewing in an homeowner association’s group chat. Members are tired of one neighbor treating it like the complaint department. A reader asked: Should they get the boot? Inquirer staffers share their thoughts.
Plus, we’re talking about a $2.5 million revamp of Market Street, why an East Passyunk bar raised the price of its iconic burger, and our report card for this week in Philly news.
— Paola Pérez (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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What you should know today
- Drivers caught speeding on Frankford Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia will now face a minimum $100 fine thanks to ten new speed-enforcement cameras.
- The feds raided an Olney rowhouse and uncovered drugs, chemicals, fake DEA badges — and possible links to two missing women. A police report obtained by The Inquirer shows what officers found inside the car of the homeowner, who is now held in custody.
- Pennsylvania health officials on Friday said several people have been hospitalized amid a growing measles outbreak that has spread to six counties in the southeastern and central parts of the state.
- The Ocean City Council voted to declare the site of the old Wonderland Pier “in need of rehabilitation,” a designation sought by a developer who plans to build a luxury hotel.
- Market Street just got a glow-up in Old City. Now, Philadelphia officials are planning a major renovation of its sidewalks, landscaping, and streetscapes, from Sixth Street to City Hall.
- Fountain Porter’s iconic $6 burger is now $7. The East Passyunk neighborhood bar made the nearly 17% price increase official after months of watching the prices of ingredients creep up.
- The Wawa Welcome America festival will close streets throughout the city. Here are the road closures planned for the nation’s 250th.
- Several Pennsylvania state offices have been involved in private meetings with a company tied to liquid natural gas export plans for at least a year, records show.
- Next week, Philadelphia will begin a centuries-long stint as the host of a time capsule to be unearthed in 250 years.
- Philadelphia proves once again that no city blends history and absurdity quite like this one. From Revolutionary War reenactments to mascot lodging and a Nicolas Cage bar crawl, catch up on the good, bad, and weird from recent stories out of Philly.
HOA chat tensions
This week’s question is: I am in an HOA. We are all in one group chat and are friendly to one another. One of the women in our chat, who is very nice in person, uses the chat to complain, almost weekly.
She thinks the kids are too loud playing outside on a Saturday afternoon. She says one of us put our trash out 20 minutes before we’re technically allowed to. She says one of us closes our front door so hard that it shakes the whole building. She constantly asks for us to get her Amazon packages and if we say we’re not home she says, “ANYONE ELSE?” Yes, in caps.
So yeah, we don’t like her. We’ve tried! So there are some ideas floating around, the main one being: Do we mute that group chat and start a new one without her? Or do we just tell her what the deal is?
Cue “Complaint Department” by Lykke Li.
Inquirer writers Kiki Aranita and Elizabeth Wellington jumped into a group chat of their own for a conversation on this situation. They agreed on the need for ground rules, and established a few for folks to live by. To start, no complaints. “Complaints are for friend group chats, not neighbor group chats,” Aranita said.
The act of keeping it real with the source of the annoyance, however, requires great delicacy. “People need to know when they are getting on your last nerves,” Wellington said, suggesting a gentle approach to confrontation.
Read their full verdict here. And if you need advice, or just want to share your thoughts, we want to hear it. Email us here.
One viewpoint
This week 149 years ago, 10 Irish Catholic miners were hanged in Pennsylvania following murder convictions in a long-running labor war. It was the biggest mass execution in the state’s long history.
In a column for The Inquirer, Mark Bulik, a retired senior editor for the New York Times and author of a book on the Irish roots of America’s first labor war, explores a hidden link between the notorious labor rebels known as “Molly Maguires” and Philadelphia mummers.
“The connection explains many of the mysteries about the Mollies — where the name came from, why the Mollies wore odd disguises, why they did their killing around high points of the calendar, and why they were revived in Pennsylvania amid resistance to the Civil War draft,” Bulik writes.
Get Bulik’s perspective on why the key to understanding who the Irishmen really were lies in the longtime holiday tradition.
📍 Find the location
Think you know where to find this pool? Our weekly game puts your knowledge of Philly’s places and streets to the test. Check your answer.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: The site of America’s first paper mill (one word)
INTENSE THROWOUT
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Susan Walton who correctly guessed Friday’s answer: Fourth of July. We rounded up a list of where to watch fireworks for America’s 250th in Philly, the suburbs, South Jersey, and the Shore.
We were there
Thursday’s Group E finale at Philadelphia Stadium saw Ivory Coast take charge with a 2-0 victory over Curaçao for the FIFA World Cup.
For 19-year-old Yan Diomande, Philly will be remembered as the place the rising striker launched his star in America.
Check out the full gallery from staff photographers Jose F. Moreno and Tyger Williams.
One more read to go: FIFA has already set an all-time World Cup attendance record, and Philadelphia has been a major part of that.
Somewhere on the internet in Philly
📸 I’m loving Philly-based photographer Oreste Mercado’s ethereal captures of the city.
📰 The paper gets props for this headline presentation in print.
⚾ Owners of Nihonbashi Philly, Tokyo’s shrine to Philly culture, are calling on fellow Japanese netizens to vote for Kyle Schwarber — “NOT SHOHEI OHTANI‼️” — for the MLB All-Star Game. The Phillies’ Instagram page replied: “We are the Philadelphia Phillies and we support this message.”
🇭🇷 A wedding coinciding with a Croatian rally makes for a wholesome moment of celebration.
👋🏽 Thanks for spending time here this morning. I’ll bring you the latest news again tomorrow.
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