🪿 Wawa or waWA? | Morning Newsletter

Saturday is here.

Smoky conditions are expected to persist into the afternoon, followed by a chance of showers and thunderstorms.

Is it ever too late to correct a newbie’s blatant mispronunciation of a Philly mainstay? Inquirer staffers discuss.

Plus, we’re talking about what changed at the President’s House, allegations of collusion in the Philadelphia DA’s Office, and our report card for this week in Philly news.

— Paola Pérez (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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What you should know today

• A former Philadelphia prosecutor said bosses strategized with defense attorneys to overturn a murder conviction, without a meaningful review of the case.
• DraftKings is suing the city of Philadelphia in an effort to stop an investigation into the sports betting company’s marketing practices.
• An informational presentation on data centers before the Philadelphia Planning Commission sparked controversy Thursday, as more than a dozen community groups opposed bringing the energy-intensive facilities to the city.
• A Philadelphia man has pleaded guilty to stealing nude images of five victims from their cell phones and posting them online without their permission.
• Special immigration status is ending for Haitians in America. They could be sent to a homeland that the U.S. government calls dangerous.
• President Donald Trump cast aspersions on election integrity in a televised address Thursday. Gov. Josh Shapiro said the speech was “not connected with reality.”
• Screens that played reenactments depicting the daily lives of people enslaved at the President’s House in Philadelphia were turned off, among other changes to the site.
• A couple quietly collected rotten-smelling extraterrestrial material for scientists after a meteorite crashed into their New Jersey home two years ago. A study says it contains “alien world chemistry.”
• South Philly’s newest cafe has a home-run breakfast sandwich and lines out the door.
• From Citizens Bank Park getting national praise to a $5 Shore bus raising some questions, catch up on the good, bad, and weird from recent stories out of Philly.

Wait … wa-WHAT?

A reader asked: My new-to-the-area coworker keeps calling Wawa “waWa” where she emphasizes the second syllable more than the first. The first time it happened, I just made sure to say it correctly so she’d get the hint. It didn’t work. The second time, I let it go. The third time, I told her the deal but was maybe too subtle because I didn’t want to seem rude. Now, she’s still saying it that way. And to be clear: She has no distinguishable accent. Do I say something more explicitly or has the time passed? I’m trying to help!

To handle this case, we tapped in Inquirer columnist and Wawa superfan Stephanie Farr, along with life and culture reporter Dugan Arnett.

Arnett, who seems to enjoys the mispronunciation, came to a simple conclusion: They’re probably doing it on purpose to poke a bit of fun.

But the Philadelphia dictionary is sacred, after all. Farr, who recounted an embarrassing moment after committing a Philly faux pas, is wary of letting it slide.

“As someone who was a transplant many moons ago I say to you, a recent Philly transplant, that is not going to go well,” Farr said.

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

One viewpoint

In this week’s Shackamaxon, Inquirer columnist Daniel Pearson unpacks Philadelphia’s success as a host city for major events, the emergence of self-driving cars, and chatter about a progressive takeover for incumbent Council seats in next year’s races.

“As someone who closely follows City Council, I have mixed feelings about this news,” Pearson writes.

Read on for Pearson’s perspectives.

📍 Find the location

Think you know where these moviegoers are set up? Our weekly game puts your knowledge of Philly’s streets and places to the test. Check your answer.

🧩 Unscramble the anagram

Hint: 🎶 Reunited (with the Union) and it feels so good 🎶

REAWAKING

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

Cheers to Ed Rivkin who correctly guessed Friday’s answer: I Play Rocky. The trailer for the forthcoming biopic shows iconic Philly scenes and gives glimpses of the many hardships that went into making the first movie.

Plus: Rocky always represented the best of Philly. The city is finally loving him back, writes columnist Mike Sielski.

We were there

President Donald Trump attended a Defense and Innovation Summit hosted by U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle on Wednesday, marking his second stop in three weeks to Pennsylvania. National politics reporter Sam Janesch has the story, with photos by staff photographer Tom Gralish.

Somewhere on the internet in Philly

😳 Don’t mind us. We’re just casually replaying the video of LeBron James saying the magic words “trust the process” over and over again. He says it’s not a Sixers hint … but we’re still closely monitoring the Bron-O-Meter.

🌆 I’m here for the orange-on-blue contrast captured in this hazy skyline photo.

💵 People are booking last-minute trips to Sunday’s World Cup final. We have a guide to get there and back from Philly for $60.

🎛️ A hip-hop producer shared his creative sampling of the classic 6abc Action News song.

👋🏽 Thanks for stopping by. Have a good one, and I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.

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