Case of two slain South Philly teens takes a turn, Philly port preps for growth | Morning Newsletter
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Good morning, Philadelphia. Today we're taking a look at a slew of new work coming to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and a different kind of work headed to the Port of Philadelphia.
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— Aubrey Nagle
» READ MORE: PAFA becomes keeper of famed sculptor’s legacy
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is acquiring 278 works by acclaimed American sculptor John Rhoden. The school will keep 20 pieces or so and find homes for the rest, taking a chunk of responsibility for raising Rhoden's profile around the country.
You may recognize Rhoden's name from a popular local work: Nesaika, a nine-foot-high bronze sculpture, sits at Seventh and Arch Streets in front of the African American Museum in Philadelphia.
PAFA also recently began work on a brand new concert hall under its Hamilton Building. Art lovers should check out an exhibit that's open through Feb. 4 featuring the work of Thomas Eakins, Cecilia Beaux and other great Philly painters.
» READ MORE: Philly’s port prepares for growth
The Port of Philadelphia is about to see some big changes. The port already saw more containerized freight, more cars, more cargoes, and the promise of two larger cranes in 2017.
Next year, work will finish up on ship berths at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal. Designs for new warehouses at the former Philadelphia Produce and Seafood Terminal will go out to bid. A 100,000-square-foot warehouse at the Tioga Marine Terminal will break ground in Port Richmond. And a vehicle-processing center for Hyundai and Kia imports is also expected to join the Southport terminal at the Navy Yard.
What's it mean for Philadelphians? Well, work for one. Nearly 9,000 new jobs are expected to be created thanks to port improvements. A rising tide lifts all boats.
» READ MORE: Case against shooter of two South Philly teens takes sharp turn
Yesterday a preliminary hearing for 16-year-old Brandon Olivieri, accused of shooting two high school students in South Philly in October, took a striking turn. Just as prosecutors revealed a possible motive for the slayings, their lone witness turned hostile, testifying that his initial statement was full of lies.
The shooting stunned the city, drawing hundreds of mourners to memorial services for Salvatore DiNubile and Caleer Miller, both 16. Olivieri's family home faced retaliatory violence soon after the killings.
A tale of a trivial teen feud gone horribly wrong, the slaying is the latest in a trend of crimes escalated thanks to easy juvenile access to guns.
What you need to know today
Don't put away your hats and gloves: this cold weather is here to stay through the weekend. But at least it's not as bad as in Erie, which has been buried under more than five feet of snow since Christmas.
Even though its enrollment period was truncated and promotion was limited, a lot of people signed up for healthcare under the Affordable Care Act and some red states even saw an increase.
Want to prepay your 2018 local taxes and beat the clock on federal tax reform? Here's where you can (and can't) in the Philly region.
Critics have remarked on President Trump's mental health for some time. Now one Philadelphia psychiatrist says her profession has an obligation to join the discussion, despite rules against diagnosing from afar.
A rare snowy owl found its way to a Pennsylvania correctional facility over the Christmas holiday but became injured on razor wire. With the help of prison staff, the beautiful bird was rescued and is being nursed back to health.
We know "sitting is the new smoking" and we should all stand more during the work day. But two Drexel researchers are saying sitting could even become the newest workplace liability.
Despite police warning parents not to leave their kids unattended at the mall, hundreds of teens amassed at the Cherry Hill Mall Tuesday night, causing a disturbance.
» READ MORE: #OurPhilly
We want to see what our community looks like through your eyes. Show us the park that your family walks through every weekend with the dog, the block party in your neighborhood or the historic stretch you see every morning on your commute to work.
Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we'll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out to build those followers!
That’s Interesting
Love 'em or hate 'em, SEPTA tokens are going away for good. But some users say SEPTA's substitutes have yet to match the flexibility and convenience of good old fashioned coins.
Carson Wentz fans can rest assured his knee was in great hands during his ACL repair surgery earlier this month. His surgeon is an innovator well-known for work with athletes.
The Sixers have some new uniforms and they've got a retro, Declaration of Independence-inspired feel. What do you think?
A Haddonfield tradition is celebrating its 20th anniversary this New Year's Eve. The special "First Night" celebration features family-friendly fun as an alternative to the boozy party scene.
Signs have no home here: a Doylestown woman says her condo association forced her to remove her anti-hate banner and banned all other lawn signs.
Phillies fans are keeping an eye on the outfield this offseason. As columnist David Murphy writes, thanks to the addition of Carlos Santana somebody's going to be odd man out. Who will it be?
Opinions
Thousands of American schools have changed their discipline policies to try to reduce student suspensions. But, as Manhattan Institute senior fellow Max Eden writes, the policy hasn't worked and Philly schools are feeling the consequences.
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Signe Wilkinson, whose editorial cartoons grace the Inquirer, the Daily News and this very newsletter, chooses a dozen of her favorite cartoons from 2017 as a retrospective on the year.
What we’re reading
Popular investment management company Vanguard, founded in Malvern, is approaching $5 trillion in assets, yet the founder tells Philadelphia Magazine he never meant to build a colossus. Quite the accident, no?
Philly advocates hoping to end the city's cash bail system should read up on how New Jersey's first year without it has gone, thanks to WHYY.
It's time for high school students to fret over their college applications until spring. This Washington Post look at how exactly colleges decide who's in and who's out from tens of thousands of applicants is both frightening and captivating.
Speaking of college, according to the Los Angeles Times new architecture on campus is starting to look a lot like Hogwarts, thanks to a new generation of students' expectations of what college should look like. Personally, I wish my alma mater had followed suit.
If you think your credit score is scary, don't read this WIRED report on how China is experimenting with social credit scores based not just on your fiscal responsibility but on your personal history.
Your Daily Dose of | Motherhood
You’ve heard of office pets, but ever heard of an office baby? The cofounder of tech startup Practice gave birth just as the company prepared for acquisition— so the team welcomed her newborn right into the fold.