The Philadelphia Museum of Art tears itself apart while staying open; American Airlines’ cancellations go way up | Morning Newsletter
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The Philadelphia Museum of Art is undergoing a huge makeover. And it’s trying to hide the mess. Also, an investigation has been launched regarding the police shooting yesterday morning on the Walt Whitman Bridge. The 17-year-old who two police officers shot was taken to CHOP and is in stable condition.
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— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Have you been inside the Philadelphia Museum of Art recently? If so, you might’ve noticed wings and stairways blocked off, closed galleries, and art moved to new locations.
The museum is undertaking a complicated ordeal: rebuilding itself out in the open, while trying to hide the mess.
The construction (and the museum’s associated adjustments) is scheduled to end by September 2020, despite it being “a pain in the ass to twist [themselves] into a pretzel to stay open during all of this," the museum’s director and chief executive said.
An investigation is underway after police officers shot a 17-year-old boy at around 12:40 a.m. yesterday.
The teen allegedly crashed a stolen school bus and charged officers with a knife on the Walt Whitman Bridge. The chief executive officer of the Delaware River Port Authority said the boy was shot by two officers and was taken to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and is in stable condition.
The chief officer did not identify the two cops who shot the boy and said they were not being disciplined, but are not on duty while the investigation is underway.
American Airlines operates 70 percent of the flights out of Philadelphia’s biggest airport. And, it had the highest cancellation rate of any major airline in Philly last month, with more than 330 cancellations of departures and arrivals. Southwest, JetBlue, United, and Delta all had lower cancellation rates in June.
While American says it’s working to fix the issue, canceled flights are a trend nationally.
The airline says the reasons for the cancellations are multidimensional, with the weather, labor disputes, and a supposedly outdated scheduling system being key reasons.
What you need to know today
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner was called to the witness stand in a courtroom where he won’t try cases. The judge in the case has been feuding with Krasner since the DA filed motions in all of his cases, seeking to disqualify him.
There’s a program that helps Philadelphia high schoolers who are either homeless or involved in the foster-care system learn about college and career opportunities that they might otherwise not be able to access.
A South Philly teen was sentenced yesterday to 37 years to life in prison for shooting and killing two 16-year-olds in 2017.
The South Philadelphia refinery that announced its shutdown following a fire and explosions last month has filed for bankruptcy — again. It’s the second time in less than two years that Philadelphia Energy Solutions has done so.
Philadelphia inspectors have stopped construction of the River Walk high-rise apartments near the Schuylkill River. The reason? Work was being done without proper permits.
Some inmates at a Delco prison were without air conditioning on Sunday, one of the hottest days in recent history.
A gusty line of thunderstorms late yesterday afternoon finally ended the punishing heat wave that had gripped the region, but not without leaving tens of thousands without power and disrupting PATCO service.
Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly
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That’s Interesting
A 140-pound injured sea turtle was found floating off the coast of Ocean City, N.J. Named Tabitha, the 20-year-old turtle is a loggerhead, an endangered species, and faces a long recovery.
When a 15-year-old girl said she couldn’t afford tampons or pads and instead scavenged lost-and-found boxes for socks and gloves to use, a Mount Airy sexual health counselor set out to deliver free pads, tampons, and feminine wipes to women in need.
A rookie running back on the Eagles didn’t have the college career he and his family envisioned. Though, that’s all in the past now as he battles for NFL snaps.
A house in Fishtown was destroyed by the sloppy construction next door. So why is the developer tied to the collapse cashing out?
President Donald Trump dropped in on a New Jersey wedding this weekend in a “complete and utter surprise.”
On the 59th and 60th floors atop the Comcast Technology Center and the building’s Four Seasons hotel, a world-famous chef is setting up a restaurant.
Opinions
“But more basically, changing the way we view women’s competence in our world will require efforts on all sides — in how parents, schools, and houses of worship treat girls’ and boys’ contributions, in how governments treat the vital work of caring for the next generation and our vulnerable elderly, in how employers are allowed to treat male and female employees.” — Jennifer Glass, a professor and research associate at the University of Texas at Austin, writes about the two myths that persist when we talk about equal pay.
Author and University of Pennsylvania teacher Jonathan Zimmerman writes about how a bill that prohibits anti-Semitism in New Jersey would “criminalize one side of the debate" about Israel, "quelling the discussion before it begins.”
The Philadelphia Police Department was right to fire cops for their racist Facebook posts, The Inquirer Editorial Board writes. But, in reality, many will probably be rehired.
What we’re reading
🔥 or ❄️? The New York Times has collected the summer’s hottest takes.
Thousands of Puerto Ricans filled the streets yesterday as part of a massive planned protest, demanding that the island’s governor must go, The Washington Post reported from San Juan. The embattled governor, Ricardo Rosselló, said he wouldn’t resign, but also that he wouldn’t seek reelection in 2020.
A study from Zillow shows that Philly’s median rent and home values rose in the last year, Curbed Philadelphia reports.
Your Daily Dose of | Accordions
About 300 accordion enthusiasts from around the U.S. gathered in King of Prussia last weekend for an annual festival, including a family with three generations of accordionists.