💌 Want this daily digest emailed to you? Sign up for the free Billy Penn newsletter and it’ll land in your inbox every morning.

Port Richmond school gets a library after years of planning

Port Richmond’s Liguori Academy high school cut the ribbon last week on its “Boundless Knowledge Library,” funded by community donations.

• Library access in Philly is far from a given. The city’s Free Library system has reduced hours because of staffing shortages, while the school district has fewer than 10 librarians.

Liguori also doesn’t yet have a librarian, so for now it’s operating on the honor system, Asha Prihar reports — but students are already reading more.

Bluecoat gin is sold, but local distillery is making big moves

Bluecoat gin, the signature product of Pa.’s first post-Prohibition distillery, is no longer locally owned. It was sold to a Kentucky-based whiskey maker.

• The brand’s Philly roots will never go away, noted Bluecoat co-creator Rob Cassell, who helped rewrite Pennsylvania liquor laws and open the floodgates for the commonwealth’s 140-plus craft distilleries.

Now he could again shift the landscape, Ian Mikrut reports for BP, acquiring a Bucks County boozemaker in a bid to become a regional powerhouse.

March On: The Fight for Pride

New podcast by Billy Penn reporter Michaela Winberg
Out now: Trailer | Next up: Episode 1, May 26

RECAP: What else happened?

$ = paywalled

• John Fetterman departed the hospital yesterday, after the pacemaker surgery that followed his stroke. He’ll resume lieutenant governor duties today; when he’ll return to the campaign trail is unclear. [@giselefetterman/WESA]
• The racial justice org created by a pair of women who called out the controversial 2018 arrests of two Black men at a Rittenhouse Starbucks appears to be imploding as the founders argue. [Billy Penn/Philly Mag$]
• There’s a push for PHL Airport to become its own department in the mayor’s cabinet, instead of being under the Dept. of Commerce. Council hearings start today. [Inquirer$]
• In 1922, when the first two women secured major party nominations for Congress in Pa. With this month’s primary win in Pittsburgh, Summer Lee is poised to become the first Black women to rep the commonwealth in DC. [Billy Penn/PGH City Paper]
• HHS Regional Director Ala Stanford, founder of the Black Doctors Consortium, was out in North Philly Saturday giving away infant formula. [@alastanford]
• With his five-game winning streak last week, Philadelphian Ryan Long made it into Jeopardy’s next Tournament of Champions. A Mt. Airy resident who drives rideshare, he beat fellow Philadelphian Bradford Pearson on Thursday, a show they watched together. [Jeopardy/6ABC/@bradfordpearson]
• Brunch favorite Sabrina’s Cafe is opening this week at 21st and South, the former Honey’s Sit ‘n Eat location. [Philly Grub]

MAYOR WATCH

Mayor Kenney joins Sen. Casey on Boathouse Row to announce details about new federal funding for the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia (10 a.m.).

ON THE CALENDAR

🎸 Bands supporting Billy Penn: We’re emceeing a music show at The Fire, the woman-owned indie music venue and bar on Girard Avenue. Come hang at our table as you check out local bands with sounds ranging from blues-rock to surf-goth. Tickets are $15, and a portion of sales benefit BP’s journalism. (8 p.m. to midnight, Wednesday, June 1)

🍹 Refresh your mixology skills with Art in the Age’s “Spring Spritz” cocktail workshop in Old City. Tickets include a hands-on demo where you’ll make two drinks to enjoy. (7 p.m. Tuesday, May 24)

🍭 The Northern Liberties Night Market takes over North 2nd Street with dozens of food trucks, vendors, cafes, live music, and street performers. (5 to 10 p.m. Thursday, May 26)