🏠 The battle to save The Colored Girls Museum

Questions Arise in Sixer’s Account of Hit-and-Run

After reviewing surveillance footage from nearby businesses, police could not find evidence of the alleged hit-and-run collision Saturday night that injured 76er Kelly Oubre Jr. Police stopped short of accusing the basketball player of fabricating the story, but the lack of footage raises new questions about the accuracy of his report. [Inquirer]

• Related: Philadelphia has already recorded 38 fatal hit-and-run traffic accidents this year, more than twice as many than there were in all of 2019, WHYY reports. Advocates are calling for Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker to double down on the city’s Vision Zero program to eliminate traffic-related deaths, which Mayor Jim Kenney launched in 2017. [WHYY/City Cast Philly]

Library Branches Open on Saturday Again

The Free Library of Philadelphia plans to open neighborhood libraries on Saturdays again, starting with 10 branches this weekend. Most branches stopped offering Saturday hours in 2018, and the library system has struggled to bring them back due to staffing and funding shortages. It hopes to reopen the remainder of the city’s 54 libraries by January, provided it can staff up by then. [Inquirer]

• Related: What To Get at The Free Library Besides Books [City Cast Philly]

911 System Shortcomings

Philadelphia police are making changes to how 911 dispatchers collect location data, interim commissioner John Sanford told City Council. The dispatch system came under scrutiny last summer after it was revealed that police showed up to the wrong location for a shooting, missing an opportunity to try to track down an alleged mass shooter who went on to kill four more people the next day. City Council also heard testimony from dispatchers who complained of stressful working conditions and residents frustrated by slow response times. [Axios]

💃 Indian Dance Performance | Thursday | 6:30 p.m.

A night of Bollywood dancing performed by the Daksha Dance Troupe and classical Indian dance performed by Nardhana Academy of Dance. [Free, Ambler]

📽️ cinéSPEAK presents: Best of Fests 2023 | Thursday | 6:30 p.m.

Watch a series of six short films by Philly filmmakers that were featured in recent film festivals. [Free, University City]

🎻 Candlelight: Featuring Vivaldi’s Four Seasons & More | Friday | 6 p.m.

A string quartet plays the Baroque composer’s iconic work by candlelight at the Independence Seaport Museum. [$41+, Society Hill]

🍗 Hop Ones at Evil Genius Beer Company | Friday | 7 p.m.

Eat progressively spicier wings while discussing “hot” questions with your friends in a game modeled after the YouTube series “Hot Ones.”  [$35, Fishtown]

😆 The Friendly Show: A Standup Comedy Show! | Friday | 8 p.m.

A standup comedy show at The Friendly Lounge. [$10, South Philly]

How a 311 Call Threatened The Colored Girls Museum

In Germantown, a three-story rowhome serves as both a private residence and the home of The Colored Girls Museum, an institution dedicated to celebrating art about ordinary Black womanhood. Since its founding in 2015, the museum has been written up in national magazines and received high-profile grants. But following an anonymous complaint to 311, its future is now uncertain. It turns out the museum violates local zoning laws and can't keep operating in that location without special permission. Host Trenae Nuri speaks with Aaron Moselle, housing and community development reporter for WHYY’s PlanPhilly, about the museum's history and what’s next for this space.