Water danger is over; Embattled Temple president resigns; Helping teens avoid violence | Morning roundup

Philadelphia wants to be able to stash more cash for a ‘rainy day’

This spring, Philly voters will have the option to change a critical aspect of the city’s ability to address financial emergencies.

• The Rainy Day Fund (officially called the Budget Stabilization Reserve) was established a decade ago, but has never been very full. It held about $34 million at the start of the pandemic, which quickly disappeared.

Now the city is sitting on some extra COVID relief cash — but a formula would need to be changed in order to stash some of it away, Jordan Levy reports.

→ Here’s how it would work

Turkey Hill’s ‘Graham Slam’ ice cream returning to store shelves

Was it the World Series appearance? Turkey Hill is bringing back its Graham Slam ice cream flavor.

• Graham Slam debuted in 2004 as a partnership between the Lancaster County dairy company and the Phillies. But the team affiliation ended in 2015, and the flavor was pulled from stores in 2017 for “lack of sales.”

Since then, Phillies fans have been campaigning hard for its return, making it Turkey Hill’s “most requested flavor of all time,” Asha Prihar reports.

→ People ~love~ this frozen dessert

RECAP: What else happened?

$ = paywalled

• Philadelphia tap water is safe, officials said last night, declaring that the chemical spill has passed by without entering the city’s system at all. Mayor Kenney even drained a glass of the stuff himself. [Billy Penn/WHYY’s PlanPhilly]
   
• Before the all-clear, restaurant owners wished for clearer messaging on the possible water contamination, for the sake of both customers and employees. [Billy Penn]
   
• Less than two years after he won the job, Jason Wingard has resigned as president of Temple University. In the past few months, faculty had called for a vote of no confidence, a university police officer was shot and killed, and grad students went on a weeks-long strike. [NBC10/Temple/WHYY/BP x 2]
   
• Roosevelt Boulevard’s hard-won speed cameras are catching offenders and dropping average speeds, but over 200 vehicles caught going 100 mph or faster had no license plates, making them impossible to ticket. [BP 2018/WHYY 2022/Inquirer$]
   
• Please Touch Museum workers voted to join AFSCME and establish one of the nation’s few children’s museum unions. Some employees had previously criticized the museum’s stifling management culture. [WHYY/BP 2021]
   
• Villanova star Maddy Siegrist, who led the team to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the second time ever, has declared for the WNBA draft. [Villanova/AP]

Weekly brief on gun violence prevention (with PCGVR)

We publish this report each week in partnership with the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting. 

• A North Philly community organizer who works in schools offers five suggestions for how to help teens avoid violence, including more resources for parents, and better teaching about the importance and impact of civic engagement. [Citizen]
   
• Superintendent Watlington said at a recent conference it’s apparent Philly students view schools as safe havens, so they have a responsibility to do better in providing safety. [Delco Times]
   
• The situation: Shootings of children in Philadelphia increased from about 30 per 100,000 pre-COVID to about 62 per 100,000 during the pandemic, per a new study. Among Black children, the rate is even higher. [WHYY/JAMA]
   
• Anti-violence advocates rallied at the Pa. Capitol as Harrisburg lawmakers held their first hearing on gun safety legislation in over a decade. The Republican-led assembly had stymied changes in firearms policy, even at the city level. [AP/Capital-Star/BP 2022]
   
• The PCGVR team joins social change org Full Frame Initiative today at 1 p.m. for a virtual discussion about reframing coverage of gun violence. [Eventbrite]

By the numbers in Philadelphia

• 35: Shooting victims recorded last week, vs. 37 the week prior. [City Controller via @PCGVR]
• 383: Shooting victims this year so far, down 23% vs. this time last year. [PCGVR]
• 103: Year-to-date homicides, down 14% vs. last year’s pace; up 45% vs. five years ago [Philly Police]

MAYOR WATCH

Pennsylvania hosts its first Commemorative Tuskegee Airmen Day at the Museum of the American Revolution in Old City, and Mayor Kenney joins Gov. Shapiro for the celebration of the WWII African American military aviators (1 p.m.). 

ON THE CALENDAR

📋 Meet the contenders for at-large seats at the City Council Candidates Convention hosted at WHYY in partnership with The Inquirer and the Committee of 70. The event will run like a reverse job fair, with candidates receiving visitors at their tables. (4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 11)

🥁 The Franklin Institute’s annual Science After Hours gala, the Spectacular Spectacular, returns with circus performers, burlesque performers, drumlines, and other entertainment. Tickets are $40 in advance. (7:30 to 11:30 p.m. Friday, March 31)

⚕️ Learn the history of Philly’s yellow fever epidemic and its racist response, and take a free tour of the nation’s first quarantine station, the Lazaretto, at the junction of the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers. (2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 1)