📚 Philly’s school librarian shortage

🪧 Wells Fargo Food Service Workers Strike

Four hundred Aramark food and beverage workers held a one-day strike yesterday, which lasted through the end of last night’s Sixers-Pistons game. In contract negotiations with Aramark, the workers are asking for a standard minimum wage across all three South Philly sports stadiums, as well as health benefits. [Inquirer 🔒]

⛔ Three More Philly Rite Aids Will Close

This month and next, pharmacy locations in Hartranft, Germantown, and Mount Moriah — plus some in the suburbs — will close their doors. The Philly-based chain filed for bankruptcy last year. [6ABC]

🦒 How Do Zoo Animals React to an Eclipse?

Apparently … they were unimpressed. Visitors at the Philadelphia Zoo were asked to observe the animals during the partial solar eclipse on Monday, but nothing seemed majorly out of the ordinary. [Billy Penn]

🛣️ PennDOT Cautions Against Phishing Scam

E-ZPass users should ignore texts that claim to be from “Pa Turnpike Toll Services” threatening late fees and asking for financial information to pay overdue balances. Similar scams have been happening in other parts of the country, too. [PhillyVoice]

Happy “Where Is It?” Wednesday! This is the segment where I show you a photo of some public art, and you tell me where in Philly it can be found.

I’m here with the big reveal of last week’s mural location, plus a new location challenge for you today. (Plot twist: It’s not a mural this week!)

Last week’s public art was shared by Hey Philly reader Susan D.:

This mural, called “La Borinqueña,” can be found in Norris Square on the corner of Mascher and Norris Streets. It depicts Marisol Rios de la Luz — the superhero protagonist of the independent comic book series “La Borinqueña” — alongside other Puerto Rican women, like NYC librarian Pura Belpré and feminist poet Julia de Burgos.

Putting this mural up was a years-long project, according to Kensington Voice. Graphic novelist Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez (the author of the comic books) managed art direction for the mural, local students helped design it, Mike Hawthorne illustrated it, Emilio Lopez digitally colored it, and community members helped paint it.

City Councilmember Quetcy Lozada shouted this out as a favorite mural of hers on the City Cast Philly podcast.

Shoutout to the Hey Philly readers who correctly identified the location of the painting:

• Siani C. (who wrote the Kensington Voice article linked above!)
• Jennese T.
• T. M.
• Laura B. (our City Cast Philly EP!)

On to this week’s photo(s!), brought to you by yours truly. I’m switching it up a little — today, I’m asking you to name the location of these statues, which you can find right next to each other:

Where are they? Send me an email with your answer, or let me know here. No Googling!

Why Philly Only Has 4 Librarians in Public Schools

Philly public schools are down to just four certified, full-time librarians, serving a student body of more than 116,000 kids. City Cast Philly executive producer Laura Benshoff talks with Mike D’Onofrio, reporter at Axios Philadelphia, about how the school librarian shortage got so bad here and what it says about the School District of Philadelphia’s larger budget issues.