🍎 Parker’s extended learning pilot

🍎 Parker Announces Extended School Plans

The details are out for a new education pilot program for the 2024-2025 school year, which will keep 20 district schools and five charter schools open for longer hours and more days, including during the summer. Mayor Cherelle Parker says the school calendar will remain the same, and it won’t be mandatory for students to stay beyond typical school hours. [NBC10]

• Hear some thoughts on this school model — plus some other changes that could be nice to see in Philly schools — on today’s episode of the City Cast Philly podcast 🎧

⚡ City Hall Lighting Gets Upgraded

Following a $7-million, two-year project, LED fixtures outside City Hall can now be programmed to light up the building in a variety of different colors. [Axios Philadelphia]

🚶 Is Philly the ‘Most Walkable City To Visit’?

For the second year in a row, we beat out New York, Boston, and Chicago for the top spot in USA Today’s reader-voted list of walkable cities for tourists. [6ABC]

• 💬 Do you agree with Philly’s spot on the list? Reply and let me know!

🔔 Wanna Get Tipsy at Taco Bell?

You might have the chance by the end of the year, when the fast-food chain aims to open a Taco Bell Cantina location — the urban-oriented, alcohol-serving version of the restaurant — near 16th and Chestnut. [Business Journal 🔒]

Okay, Philly news fiends, here’s your chance to test how well you’ve been following the news this week! I present to you our latest Hey Philly news quiz, which includes five questions about topics that have been mentioned in this newsletter or on the City Cast Philly podcast over the past week.

Here’s a sneak peek at the first question:

Earlier this week, PennDOT put up a sign on I-95 with a misspelling. It's since been corrected, but which of these typos did it include when it first went up?

• “Chesetr”
• “Cetnral Phila”
• “Cenetr City”
• “Cenrtal Phila”

Submit your answer and take the full quiz here — and feel free to dig through your inbox to find the answers. Perfect scorers will get a shoutout in a future newsletter!

Speaking of, big shoutout to the Hey Philly readers and local news aficionados who got perfect scores on the last news quiz: Kristin S., Ellen L., Shay L., Kevin M., Michelle Q., Kavya U., Mary Agnes W., Cat C., Elissa H., Pat F., Rose C., Alex K., and Melissa B. Gold stars all around ⭐💫

‘Extended Day’ School Pilot, Kensington Funding and Interventions, Porch Pirates

It’s the Friday News Roundup! City Cast Philly podcast host Trenae Nuri is joined by Larry Platt, co-founder of The Philadelphia Citizen, and Sammy Caiola, journalist at Kensington Voice. They talk about the state of Kensington — including Philly’s “noncompliant” uses of federal opioid settlement money — the city’s plan to test out extended learning at 25 schools, and the two porch pirates who fought it out over a package in Berks County.