All about Krasner | Morning Newsletter
And the history of Phillies Franks.
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The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Good morning and congrats to the local school that won The Inquirer’s first-ever Mascot Bracket. Today is expected to be another sunny day in the 70s, perfect for celebrating.
A week from Pennsylvania’s primary election, our top story explains why the candidates in the state’s attorney general race have so much to say about Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner.
And tonight marks the second of two Hatfield Phillies Franks BOGO Night at Citizens Bank Park. Long before the demise of Dollar Dog Night, how did the iconic Phillies Franks come to be?
Here’s what you need to know today.
— Julie Zeglen (@juliezeglen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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One name keeps coming up in the race to become Pennsylvania’s next top prosecutor: Larry Krasner. The thing is, the Philadelphia district attorney isn’t even running to become the next attorney general. So why is he the hot topic?
His “lone-wolf approach” and focus on changes to criminal justice policies have made him somewhat of a lightning rod, even in his own party, as The Inquirer’s Gillian McGoldrick reports.
“Philly’s progressive DA has consistently been mentioned on the campaign trail among the five Democrats and two Republicans hoping to get their party’s nomination in the April 23 primary election,” McGoldrick told me. “The relationship between Krasner and Gov. Josh Shapiro, who are both Democrats, was strained when Shapiro was attorney general. And whoever is the next AG will need to work with Krasner and the other 66 district attorneys across the state.”
Give her story a read to see what each candidate is saying about how they’d interact with Philly’s twice-elected district attorney.
P.S. In other Krasner news, the DA just announced the new Prolific Gun Offenders prosecution unit targeting people who repeatedly break gun possession laws in the city.
What you should know today
Philadelphia’s elected leaders had a busy Monday: Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration is proposing a significant funding cut to Kensington nonprofit Prevention Point. City Councilmembers blasted the Office of Homeless Services for overspending its budget by nearly $15 million. And a childhood friend of Council President Kenyatta Johnson admitted in court that he’d traded on that connection to profit from sales of city-owned lands.
A 28-year-old woman has been charged with stabbing a 1-year-old boy as his parents pushed him and his twin in a stroller near Rittenhouse Square on Saturday, as well as attacking a 24-year-old earlier in the day.
Dozens of protesters blocked traffic across Center City Monday morning during a spate of coordinated demonstrations that called for an end to the war in Gaza. More than 65 were arrested.
Atlantic City’s mayor and his wife, who is the schools superintendent, have been charged with assaulting their teen daughter.
Pennsylvania saw a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents in 2023 amid a nationwide surge fueled by the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, per a new report from the Anti-Defamation League.
A local developer who had been co-leading the transformation of the Family Court building on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway has pulled out. The move complicates the future of the project, which includes the relocation of the African American Museum.
A Pennsylvania group called Win Again PAC is trying to break Democrats’ “mail-in monopoly” by persuading GOP voters to cast ballots by mail.
Could we get a WNBA team? A Philadelphia expansion bid is very much in the running, commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Monday night at the league’s draft.
Dollar Dog Night may be no more, but 40 years before its demise, the Philadelphia Phillies faced another tube-shaped meat controversy: They tried to sell chicken franks instead of hot dogs. It didn’t go well.
See, Medford Meats — founded in 1864 in Frankford, later bought by Hatfield — supplied the Phillies with hot dogs once The Vet opened in 1971, and produced a whopping 300,000 dogs per day during the baseball season. A doomed cost-cutting measure changed that for two terrible years.
“It tasted a little chickeny, but it was the texture that I always remembered,” said one former ballpark worker, when asked to describe the replacement chicken franks. “It had like a rubbery texture. It would kind of snap when you bit it.”
For a fun palate cleanser, read Inquirer sports reporter Matt Breen’s decades-long history of the Phillies Franks, from their 1970s origin story all the way to BOGO Night.
P.S. Next time you find yourself at Citizens Bank Park’s Hall of Fame Club, be sure to check out the “Pioneers in Pinstripes” exhibit, featuring portraits and murals of the team’s first Black and minority players.
🧠 Trivia time
Happy Wawa Day to all who celebrate. On the homegrown convenience chain’s 60th birthday, what can customers get in Wawa stores?
A) Free hot coffee of any size
B) 60-cent birthday cake doughnut
C) Admission to the National Constitution Center
D) All of the above
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we're...
🍎 Admiring: The honorees of the 2024 Lindback Awards, including one West Philly principal who never imagined he’d be leading a school.
🌱 Planting: Wild blue phlox, hoary mountain mint, and other plants native to the area.
🥟 Phoning home about: The Carbon Copy and Mom-Mom’s combo of our Polish-American dreams.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
A West Philadelphia neighborhood is campaigning for a historical district to protect its Victorian homes from demolition. This area just west of Penn’s campus is called ...
Hint: 🌲⛰️
CHILE SLURP
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Amanda Fisher, who solved Monday’s anagram: NJ Transit. The state-owned public transportation system’s board just authorized a fare increase of up to 15% starting July 1.
Photo of the day
You can find your own slice of tulip heaven at these Philly-area farms.
Enjoy your Tuesday. Be back in your inbox tomorrow!
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