Skip to content
Newsletters
Link copied to clipboard

Made in America to stay on Parkway, Data sheds light on Philly shootings | Morning Newsletter

All the local news you need to know to start your day, delivered straight to your email.

The Chainsmokers perform on the Rocky stage during the Budweiser Made In America festival on the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on Sept. 3, 2017.
The Chainsmokers perform on the Rocky stage during the Budweiser Made In America festival on the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on Sept. 3, 2017.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer
    by Ray Boyd
    Published 

The chance of rain isn't going away yet, Philly. Now, the same can be said for the Made in America festival. The beef no one saw coming between Mayor Kenney and Jay-Z appears to be over as the city and Roc Nation have struck a deal to keep the festival in town and on the Parkway. Shootings are on the rise in Philadelphia, compared to last year and we're putting all the data in your hands with an interactive, up-to-date tool. Delaware native Elena Delle Donne is one the brightest stars in the WNBA. She thinks it's time for people to know that and for her fellow players to fight for more.

Reading this online? Sign up here to get this newsletter delivered to your inbox every morning.

— Ray Boyd (@RayBoydDigital, morningnewsletter@philly.com)

» READ MORE: Deep dive into Philadelphia shooting data so far this year

Compared to last year's number, shootings are on the rise in Philadelphia. There were more than 700 shooting victims in the city from January 1 to July 18, this year — a 12.3 percent increase from a year ago, according to Philadelphia Police Department data.

The full story is in the numbers. My colleagues Garland Potts and Jared Whalen created a live, updating map that puts the data right at your fingertips.   

Want to see where the majority of shootings have taken place in Philly in 2018 and where your neighborhood ranks? How about seeing which day had the least amount of shooting victims? This interactive piece will tell you all of those things and much more.

» READ MORE: Philly reverses course: Made in America is here to stay, on the Parkway

The future of the Made in America festival was up in the air after Philadelphia announced that it would no longer be held on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway beyond 2018. That uncertainty is over as Mayor Kenney had a change of heart Monday, announcing not only would the festival stay in Philly, it would stay on the Parkway.

Last week, Kenney explained that the city had a miscommunication with Jay-Z's company, Roc Nation, over the location of the festival. The explanation followed a fiery op-ed written by Jay-Z for The Inquirer. In it, he characterized the annual festival as a major tourism draw for Philadelphia.  

Complaints from residents around the Parkway were among the reasons Kenney cited for wanting to move the festival after 2018. After deciding to let it stay, neither Kenney nor Roc Nation detailed how things would be different moving forward. All we know is the show will go on — a win for both sides writes Inquirer music critic Dan DeLuca.

» READ MORE: WNBA star Elena Delle Donne is tired of her league being invisible

Basketball stars are everywhere — commercials, billboards and obviously on the court on our TVs. Well, that's true for NBA stars. For their WNBA counterparts, it's a different story.

One of the leading voices of the league also happens to be one of its best players — Elena Delle Donne, a Delaware native and Washington Mystics star. Don't get Delle Donne wrong. She's living a good life and has had an amazing career. But the all-star is aware that most American sports fans don't even know her name and that's the case for most of her colleagues.

When it comes to compensation for players and marketing of the league, Delle Donne wants more and she's speaking out. She's not just fighting for herself and current WNBA players. She's playing the long game.

What you need to know today

  1. Vice President Mike Pence was in Philadelphia on Monday, hoping to bring in some money for Republican Rep. Lou Barletta's U.S. Senate bid. He also brought out a large crowd of protesters that used the dystopian-themed Hulu series, The Handmaid's Tale, to get their message across.

  2. Phillies fans honored Chase Utley last night as he kicked off his last regular season trip to Philly. Utley will retire at season's end and the crowd welcomed "The Man" back in raucous fashion. Prepare for goosebumps.

  3. The left-wing group Reclaim Philadelphia is talking about "a political revolution in Philadelphia." The group has found success among young voters in the city's gentrifying areas. Now, can they take their movement city-wide?

  4. No matter what you do with your life, racial profiling can be impossible to escape. Just ask these four black men and Philly educators who are sharing their experiences, hoping to make sure no one views their situations as just isolated incidents.

  5. Conservative lawmakers argue that proposed changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, will ensure that no one freeloads off the program, but local families who receive benefits say losing them will be a matter of life and death.

  6. Ali Charaf Damache, an Algerian-born al-Qaeda operative who recruited Montgomery County's Colleen "Jihad Jane" LaRose, agreed to a prison term on Monday, bringing an end to one of Philadelphia's longest-running terrorism cases.

Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly

I can't get enough of this simply beautiful, peaceful shot of the Ben Franklin from @snapshot_ianw.

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!

That’s Interesting

  1. Football is back — almost. The Eagles open training camp this week as defending champs. Reporter Zach Berman explains that the team has a set of roadblocks  in their quest to repeat that will quickly reveal themselves in camp.

  2. I bet you didn't know acting was on Doug Pederson's resume. Before directing the underdog Eagles' run to a title, he appeared in a fittingly-named 2008 film. Warning: it's a quick cameo so try not to blink.

  3. Singer-songwriter Charlie Puth — the pride of Rumson, N.J. — will have a homecoming or sorts tonight in front of fans at BB&T Pavilion in Camden. He spoke with us about his early career struggles and how two iconic Philly acts inspired him.

  4. DC Comics is bringing us a Philly-based superhero in its upcoming movie Shazam! which premiered a trailer this past weekend. While based in Philly, it wasn't shot here, which becomes pretty evident when you see the preview.

  5. The West-Philly based Jewish Farm School wants to enhance the way you interact with the world around you. Plant knowledge, cheesemaking and canning are just a few of the things you can learn in their series of "shtetl skills" workshops.

Opinions

"I am suffering from #livingwhileblack fatigue. It's real. It creeps into my subconsciousness every time I spot a police cruiser in my rear-view mirror. It's there when a store clerk innocently asks, 'Do you want your receipt?' My answer always is yes. I'm black. I may need it as proof when I get to the door." — Columnist Jenice Armstrong writes that she's worn out by #livingwhileblack cases like that Aleah Johnson, a single-mother from West Philly.

  1. Columnist Will Bunch writes that no matter what President Trump does, "The 41 Percent" will stand by him because he's mastered how to "play" president on TV.

  2. Writer Abraham Gutman writes that the criminal justice system has to resist the urge to be overly punitive when it comes to bail, even in the homicide case involving a Bucks County mother and her child.

What we’re reading

  1. In a significant other, certain things must sync up. Writer Amelia Granger couldn't understand how she was falling for a man who didn't want children — something she knew she wanted for herself. She details it all in a deeply personal essay for Buzzfeed News.

  2. A Jersey Shore trip doesn't mean you have to give up your health goals — despite the boardwalk fries and funnel cake. Philadelphia Magazine highlights the best places for a healthy meal and a workout in one popular shore town.

  3. M. Night Shyamalan has found the audience he's wanted to speak to for years. As he released the Glass trailer at Comic-Con, Shyamalan explained why movie executives wanted him to ignore comic fans, Wired explains.

  4. Talk about man's best friend. The Washington Post shares the story of Zhou Tianxiao, a native of China whose life was transformed by his dog Sylar. He had to thank his four-legged friend and did so in a very big way.

  5. It felt like a movie to Philly rapper Meek Mill. From watching the #FreeMeek movement and the Super Bowl from his jail cell, to jumping into a helicopter and heading to a Sixers game after his release, it's all been unbelievable. The Philly rapper opens up to Bleacher Report about what surprised him most.

Your Daily Dose of | History

Want to own a piece of history? A copy of the famed "Join or Die" political cartoon, attributed to Benjamin Franklin, will be auctioned off this week.