🏍️ Defying gravity in Wildwood | Morning Newsletter

Well, Philly, they blew it. May Phils fans’ pain be soothed with the knowledge that we may get another chance to see the elusive northern lights tonight.

Thrill seekers recently flocked to Wildwood to watch motorcyclists zoom around a giant wooden barrel, sans helmets and inhibition. In our top story today, meet the West Chester native who defies gravity on the Wall of Death.

And does your deed say Black, Jewish, or Polish people can’t live in your home? In Pennsylvania, there’s a new way to address old discriminatory language.

Read on for the news of the day.

— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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You could reasonably assume Ariell Flight is not afraid of heights. Or death. Or the Wall of Death, which potentially combines both.

🏍️ The 26-year-old from West Chester makes a living by riding a vintage Harley inside the 14-foot, wooden dome that is the centerpiece of traveling thrill show American Motor Drome. The carnivalesque company stopped in Wildwood last weekend, offering Shore patrons a slice of weird, wild Americana.

🏍️ “I didn’t have any fear of the process,” Flight — not her real name — said of learning the skill she now performs. “I didn’t have any fear of the motorcycles. This is probably one of the safer things I’ve done, actually.” (She previously swam with sharks as a diving instructor.)

🏍️ The visiting event had special significance for Wildwood, which once boasted its own Wall of Death show, complete with the tale of an escaped lion roaming the boardwalk.

Let reporter Jason Nark introduce you to the gravity-defying characters who came to South Jersey.

Restrictive covenants, a.k.a. deed restrictions, allow property owners to limit how their homes can be changed in the future. In the past, they’ve also been used to keep certain groups from buying them — say, “any persons other than those of the Caucasian race,” as a block of Germantown homeowners wrote in 1927.

Such discriminatory language is unenforceable today, thanks to fair housing laws. But it’s still included in some deeds, leading to an often painful discovery for the document holders.

Montgomery County attorney Marshal Granor pushed for change in Pennsylvania. Now, property owners can file a form that formally rejects and nullifies the covenant — thus “taking its power away,” Granor told The Inquirer. And even if doesn’t remove the language altogether, “that, to me, is worthwhile.”

Real estate reporter Michaelle Bond explains the history of restrictive racial covenants, and how the new law works.

Sixers president Daryl Morey is entering into a new venture alongside team co-owner David Blitzer. Which sports league is getting their investment?

A) National Pickleball League

B) National Beach Volleyball League

C) Major League Table Tennis

D) World Jai-Alai League

Think you know? Check your answer.

🎥 Watching: This Kensington-born student’s gun violence documentary airing now on PBS.

🎙️ Remembering when: John Lennon and Yoko Ono came to Philly every Thursday for five weeks in 1972.

🦅 Learning: The history of Philly sports anthem “Fly, Eagles Fly.” (P.S. The latest edition of our weekly Bird Box game is here!)

A former Philadelphia leader who recently stepped back into the political fray

MIKE JENNY

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Catherine Bogdanski, who solved Wednesday’s anagram: American Water. The Camden-based water and wastewater utility — the largest in the U.S. — paused billing for customers amid a cyberattack investigation.

Enjoy your Thursday. I’ll see you back here tomorrow.

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