Build your Philly Barbie | Morning Newsletter
And Philly’s booming soccer scene.
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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
There’s a slight chance for a pop-up storm, but it will otherwise be mostly cloudy Friday with a high near 85.
Philadelphia appears to have Barbie on the brain. We know President Barbie, Astronaut Barbie, Flight Attendant Barbie, and many more.
What if there was a Barbie that actually repped our city? Today’s lead story reimagines what that local Barbie could be.
— Paola Pérez (@pdesiperez, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Greta Gerwig’s Barbie premieres in theaters this weekend, and the city is taking notice.
There are themed events happening around the city like a roller skating party and super pink-washed menus. And there’s also the hype around “Barbenheimer,” a.k.a. the double-feature of Oppenheimer and Barbie, since they drop on the same day.
Historically, the iconic Mattel doll has some loose ties to the Philly region, like the National Barbie Doll Collector Convention that was hosted in the city in 1996, and the 2000 Republican National Convention Barbie.
It’s been awhile since we received a local Barbie, so to commemorate the movie’s release, we’ve created a new set of Philly Barbies. They are:
📱 Comcast Executive Barbie
🏈 Eagles Superfan Barbie
🎒 Temple Student Barbie
🎧 Local Music Fan Barbie
Get to know more about each unique doll in this fun interactive.
📮 What would your Philly Barbie be called, and what would it look like? Email us for a chance to be featured in this newsletter.
🎤 Now I’m passing the mic to civics reporter Henry Savage.
Being an English Premier League soccer fan in Philly used to be a lonely endeavor when your favorite team and fan club are more than 4,000 miles away. That’s why when Philadelphians find fellow team supporters, these groups become more than just fandom.
“I have met some of my best friends through this group,” said Chris Wirtalla, founder of the Newcastle United supporters club in Philadelphia. “Folks have gone out to concerts with each other, we go over each other’s houses for dinners — some of these folks were actually invited to my wedding. The most surprising aspect of it is that there are all these people with different ages and interests. I like to call it a group of misfits because you wouldn’t normally think that these folks would fit together, but there’s a shared passion.”
These dozen or so tight-knit clubs of Premier League fans, like Wirtalla’s, have been growing in Philadelphia since the mid-2000s when soccer’s popularity began to rise with Premier League and the U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS) leagues starting in the ‘90s, according to founders of local supporter clubs. For them, to finally see these two worlds colliding — English soccer and Philly sports fandom — will culminate with the biggest weekend in their clubs’ existence.
Keep reading on the Premier League scene ahead of the big games starting this weekend.
What you should know today
During President Joe Biden’s visit to Philadelphia on Thursday, he offered prayers for victims of the fatal Bucks County floods, touted his administration’s economic agenda, and said the reopening of I-95 “filled me with pride.”
Each year, Philadelphia’s waterways are forced to swallow a dirty mix containing 15 billion gallons of untreated sewage and rainwater during storms because of an antiquated city system, according to a new report. This does not pose a threat to drinking water because river water gets treated before residents drink it, but it does create health threats for aquatic life and recreational users.
Temple University Hospital unionized staff members rallied Thursday to protest management’s decision to move a clinic where they can seek job-related care.
A new hotel is coming to Northeast Philadelphia near an underutilized shopping center that used to be part of the Franklin Mills complex.
Students at four Pennsylvania universities that rely on state funding are worried about the status of their in-state tuition discounts amid a state budget impasse.
An inmate was charged with attempted murder for an assault on a Philadelphia correctional officer.
Abbott Elementary stars Sheryl Lee Ralph and Lisa Ann Walter joined a Hollywood strike protest in LOVE Park Thursday. SAG-AFTRA, a union representing about 160,000 Hollywood actors, went on strike last week after failing to reach a deal with the major film and TV studios.
Unused gift cards can feel like wasted money. Learn what to do if you have them after a store goes out of business.
🧠 Trivia time 🧠
Kenneth Ford, a retired nuclear physicist, worked on the H-bomb in Los Alamos, N.M., in the early 1950s and knows several people depicted in the new movie Oppenheimer. What Philly-area county does Ford live in now?
A) Delaware
B) Montgomery
C) Gloucester
D) Camden
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
👀 Reading: 5 takeaways from the Time cover story on Sen. John Fetterman’s depression.
⚽ Following: All of The Inquirer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup coverage in one place.
🍿 Planning: Where to watch free outdoor movies in Philly this summer.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram 🧩
Hint: South Philly landmark
DELMER SENIOR
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Michael Hanzeli, who correctly guessed Thursday’s answer: Stephen Starr.
Photo of the day
That’s all for now. Enjoy the weekend, and I’ll catch up with you on the news bright and early Sunday.