Good morning, Philly! Let’s start the week off right (even if it starts off wet).
Read more Reese D’Ariano embraces role as youngest player on USA field hockey’s World Cup roster
Latino voters shifted toward President Donald Trump nationally in 2024, but several Philly Latino voters say they’re all in on Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro as the gubernatorial election approaches.
A 46-foot-long “Join or Die” sculpture is expected to be unveiled this fall, but still $600,00 needs to be raised. The National Park Service has started a public donation page to close the funding gap.
Plus, a former state lawmaker who’s now leading a Delaware County transit agency was charged with a DUI and child endangerment, and more news of the day.
— Sam Stewart ([email protected])
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‘People are sacrificing necessities’
Jorge Luis Burgos of North Philadelphia, a registered Democrat, was one of many Latino voters who shifted to the right and voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Now, he’s planning to shift back and vote for Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro as he runs for reelection in the key swing state.
Burgos said he voted for Trump in 2024 because he was worried about inflation and felt betrayed by the last-minute switch that swapped then-President Joe Biden for Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. But he said Trump has failed to fulfill his promises, and he has found himself turning back to the Democratic Party.
In the last decade, support of Republican candidates, specifically Trump, has grown in the majority Latino precincts of Philadelphia — with Trump’s share of the vote increasing from 6.1% in 2016 to 21.8% in 2024.
But now many Latino voters have not seen the outcomes they were hoping for, with a May poll from Pew finding that Trump’s support has fallen more sharply with Latino voters than other voters.
🐍 Slithering to completion
A 46-foot-long sculpture of Benjamin Franklin’s “Join or Die” snake is set to be unveiled this fall on the Liberty Bell Center block of the Independence Mall, near the corner of Fifth and Chestnut Streets. The sculpture will feature eight pieces that represent segments of the snake’s body.
The Independence Mall sculpture will be installed on the ground, allowing visitors to interact directly with the sculpture.
The sculpture was originally one of several other improvements to the park proposed in 2025 and was to be completed before this year’s semiquincentennial. In July of 2025, the Inquirer reported that the project was short the $1.6 million needed to complete the project by this summer.
Severe budget cuts to the National Park Service and other federal funding gaps forced the trust to turn to public fundraising for their improvement efforts.
What you should know today
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Former State Rep. Nick Miccarelli, who left Harrisburg in 2018 during the #MeToo reckoning and then landed a higher-paying job running a publicly funded transit agency, is facing felony charges of child endangerment following a DUI arrest on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
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President Donald Trump says he will order U.S. forces to hold off on new strikes against Iran, contending that Mideast allies have reached the parameters of a deal to end the five-month old war.
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Federal authorities are warning that critical infrastructure systems in the United States could be at risk after at least seven states reported cyberattacks that interrupted their water or wastewater operations last week.
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Vincent Pastore, a veteran actor who played mobsters and tough guys, and was best known for portraying Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on The Sopranos, has died. He was 80.
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Learn how a “perfect storm” spread fire, heat, and smoke across the Northern Hemisphere. Major wildfires and their massive, suffocating plumes of smoke blanketed vast swaths of North America and Europe, in some cases combining with intense heat waves.
Quote of the day
Will Yip — a Northeast Philly record producer who won a Grammy earlier this year — is also a huge Phillies fan. In fact, he believes that fandom is what brings people together. And it’s that fandom with the Phils that helped him win a Grammy.
🧠Trivia time
South Philadelphia’s new pedestrian and bicycle route, the Washington Avenue Connector, will connect what park to the Delaware River?
Read more Police issue a warrant for a suspect in the Delco Walmart shooting
A) Columbus Square Park
B) Dickinson Square Park
C) Jefferson Square Park
D) Chew Park
Think you know? Check your answer.
What (and whom) we’re …
📚 Reading: A collection of “scandalous” 19th-century manuals that has made its way onto the Library Company of Philadelphia’s shelves.
🤔 Wondering: Do recent Philadelphia restaurant closings signal trouble for the industry? The Inquirer’s Michael Klein breaks it down.
🏡 Impressed by: A couple who sold their two Wildwood vacation condos, then found their dream split-level in Brigantine.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Philadelphia-based painter and photographer in the late 1800s
ASHANTI SMOKE
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Tim L., who solved Sunday’s anagram: Wissahickon Valley Park. The HBO series Task will film for its second season in the Northwest Philly park Monday through Friday.
Photo of the day
🎶 One more thing: New Barber’s Hall, a cornerstone of Philadelphia’s Black heritage, celebrated its historic run before saying goodbye. Owner Jake Adams and his wife, Sarah, were honored Saturday with a street sign near the iconic jazz venue and restaurant, which sold this year.
📬 Your ‘only in Philly’ story
Think back to the night that changed your life that could only happen in Philly, a true example of the Philly spirit, the time you finally felt like you belonged in Philly if you’re not a lifer, something that made you fall in love with Philly all over again — or proud to be from here if you are. Then email it to us for a chance to be featured in the Monday edition of this newsletter.
This “only in Philly” story comes from reader Rick Schrenker, who describes how he keeps circling back to Philly:
I don’t get to Philly that often, but I lived there for about seven weeks during the summer of 1971. And I’ve visited Philly quite a few times since.
My grandfather lived in Old Forge and was a Scranton coal miner back in the first half of the 20th century. He somehow moved to Rome, N.Y., where my parents met. He then moved to Baltimore, and they followed. When I was a teen, he moved to Philly.
He lived above the bar where he worked, just up the street from the Greyhound bus terminal. He got to know the managers of an envelope printing company in a building on the corner of (I think) 12th & Spring Garden, just around the corner from the bar. And he got me a summer job there.
My routine was to catch a late bus on Sunday night from Baltimore to Philly, work through Friday, then take the bus home and hang out with my friends on the weekends.
Fast forward maybe 10 to 15 years. My Grampa had been at my graduation from Johns Hopkins but was otherwise not around much. I got married, bought a home, had a daughter. Then he got ill. Visits to Philly picked up again. We got nice pictures of the old coal miner holding his great-granddaughter. Later, we transferred him here for the rest of his days.
Then, my daughter finished college and moved to Pottstown. And once again, opportunities to visit Philly picked up. Mostly the zoo with our grandkids. There’s lots of interesting towns between Pottstown and Philly. But a year ago, she and her family moved to New England.
So, a few weeks ago, I got a subscription to The Inquirer’s morning newsletter. I also read the Baltimore Banner, along with the Globe, of course.
But Philly has a special sauce of some sort, or at least it has for me. Maybe I’ll get back again.
P.S. We love your Only in Philly submissions, and we need more! Email us with your stories and get a chance to be featured in an upcoming newsletter.
👋 Have a good one, folks!
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