🦅 My neighbor, the Eagle | Morning Newsletter

Happy Saturday, Philly. Showers are possible today.

A starstruck reader asked us for tips on how to calmly live next door to Super Bowl royalty.

Plus, we have an update on El Niño, a look at who is behind the Trump-promoted stations selling cheap gas in the region, and our report card for this week in Philly news.

— Paola Pérez (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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What you should know today

• Road closures and parking restrictions are in effect for the MLB All-Star Game events in Philly. Here are the details.
• Federal marshals arrested a man in Philadelphia in connection with a homicide in Puerto Rico.
• Philly hotels and cultural institutions saw historic crowds during Independence Week, according to new data by the city’s tourism agency.
• Delco is working to restore county services to residents after a “sophisticated cybercriminal attack” disrupted its network systems in late June.
• A Philadelphia-based political firm is at the center of the fallout of Graham Platner’s failed Senate campaign in Maine.
• Delta Air Lines customers are paying the price for record jet fuel costs after the recent leak and fire at the company’s refinery in Delco.
• Some of the 25 gas stations selling mysteriously cheap fuel in the Philly area and South Jersey have ties to local owners. There are ethical concerns.
• Warming in the tropical Pacific has been intensifying rapidly, and with increasing certainty government meteorologists say this El Niño event could become the strongest in records dating to 1950.
• Access to therapy is about to get easier for Pennsylvania residents who travel out of state.
• From the Schmitter making its long-awaited return to CBP to the Ben Franklin Bridge celebrating its 100th birthday, catch up on the good, bad, and weird from recent stories out of Philly.

The Bird next door

This week’s question is: A beloved Eagles player moved to our neighborhood. I have to pass by his house every time I drop off or pick up my son from daycare. And every time I inevitably stare at his house, and then tell myself “be cool, be cool.” I did one time throw a “Go Birds!” at him when he stopped his car to let me cross the sidewalk. How many more “Go Birds” do I get? Should we, as his new neighbors, pretend he’s not a Super Bowl champion?!

To tackle the situation, Inquirer reporters Earl Hopkins and Stephanie Farr first addressed the most important aspect: “One ‘Go Birds’ is enough,” said Hopkins. “(All right, maybe two.)”

Overall, they suggested our dazzled reader lead with casual, friendly interactions, and strongly advised against fanatic behavior. For instance, don’t swarm the guy with jerseys at a neighborhood block party that he may or may not attend.

Relative distance is also key. “It matters how close this person lives to the Eagles player,” Farr said.

Read their full conversation here. Need advice, or want to share your thoughts? We want to hear it. Email us here.

One viewpoint

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board is examining a video from Phillies star Bryce Harper that FanDuel sent to a VIP with a gambling addiction.

In this week’s Shackamaxon, Inquirer columnist Daniel Pearson unpacks Pennsylvania’s gambling dependence.

“The more lawmakers in the Keystone State rely on gambling to pay our bills, the more complicit we are in the industry’s misdeeds,” Pearson writes.

Read on for Pearson’s take, along with his perspectives on property tax assessments and state budget negotiations.

📍 Find the location

Think you know where you can get this view? Our weekly game puts your knowledge of Philly places and streets to the test. Check your answer.

🧩 Unscramble the anagram

Hint: “The Godmother of Soul”

ALBEIT PALLET

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

Cheers to Stacy Stone, who correctly guessed Friday’s answer: Rothman Orthopaedics. The large physician-owned group plans to open three new surgery centers over the next year and keep adding doctors in its Philadelphia-area market.

We were there

Staff photographer Monica Herndon captured Philly artist Paul Carpenter in his element, painting “a love letter to Philadelphia.”

Carpenter went from painting Phillies murals in his bedroom to designing limited-edition aluminum bottles. Trending sports reporter Ariel Simpson has the story of how Carpenter is scaling up his artwork in South Philly.

Somewhere on the internet in Philly

🏈 A young Eagles fan asked Saquon Barkley a funny question during youth camp.

⛱️ @bobbyfiler comically plays out motherly shenanigans down the Shore.

🔬 Fairmount Water Works shows us the microscopic creatures living in one “scoop” of the Schuylkill.

👋🏽 Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll catch up with you again tomorrow.

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