Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Every Sunday, Mike Newall brings you an inside look at a story defining Philly this week and a preview of what\u2019s coming in the week ahead.<\/p>\n
Happy Sunday everyone. The Birds aren\u2019t any better in England<\/a>. And revolt at the Larry Krasner<\/a>\u2019s office after high-ranking prosecutors resign<\/a> amid growing scandal<\/a>. We\u2019ve got the scoop.<\/p>\n Philadelphia Police Officer Shane Seiber, shot to death in West Philadelphia<\/a> over the weekend, remembered as \u201cbeautiful soul<\/a>.\u201d Officer Seiber\u2019s death is the department\u2019s fourth in the line of duty<\/a> in three years.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania has logged 1000 measles cases \u2014 the largest outbreak<\/a> since the 1990s<\/a>. We\u2019ve got your questions answered<\/a>.<\/p>\n But let\u2019s start with ghosts. <\/p>\n The ghosts of not-so-distant-Philadelphia feel strikingly alive in Hidden City Philadelphia\u2019s new landmark visual history: Philadelphia in Color 1950-1990<\/a>. Hitting shelves next week, and, amazingly, believed to be the first-ever, comprehensive color photographic history of Philadelphia, the collection features hundreds of rarely-seen street photos, portraits, and family snapshots.<\/p>\n The result is spellbinding. A technicolor time capsule of a vanished but powerfully familiar Philadelphia. A bygone city bursting to life in living color.<\/p>\n A 1951 snapshot of a Gimbels Thanksgiving Parade \u2014 the Atomic Age spaceship float and its costumed riders nearly luminous in lush Kodachrome light. A pair of South Philadelphia<\/a> women proudly posing outside a Mifflin Street rowhouse in 1952, sunlight shining off their Sunday pearls. A Ben Franklin impersonator strolling South Broad, his gold waistcoat sparkling. A young boy and girl, siblings it seems, resting wearily under an Italian Market shopfront one day in 1969. <\/p>\n The book became the obsession of Peter Woodall, Hidden City\u2019s project director, who scoured largely forgotten collections of unsung Philly street photographers, hobbyists, and archivists. He scrolled eBay, Etsy, and Flickr.<\/p>\n The photos he collected of neighborhood parades, horse-drawn delivery trucks, street corner scenes all had one thing in common: There\u2019s a dignity there that\u2019s not often granted to that era of Philadelphia.<\/p>\n The aim was to tell a fuller, more beautiful story of that time.<\/p>\n In color, the faces seem more recognizable, the places more immediate.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing I see is ourselves looking back at us. I see this beautiful range of people who have an incredible amount of style. Who take themselves seriously. Who don\u2019t put up with s\u2014,\u201d said Nathaniel Popkin, author and urban historian, and co-founder of Hidden City Philadlephia.<\/p>\n The folks at Hidden City have achieved their goal: The story they tell is beautiful. It\u2019s one of grit and grime, yes, but also resilience and pride and celebration and a uniquely Philadelphia style. <\/p>\n Philly is a city that\u2019s always lived with its ghosts. It\u2019s part of the charm. We tend to give short shrift to those of our more recent past.<\/p>\n But here they are on the page, in ordinary moments, in their extraordinary Philadelphia, calling out to us, reminding us who we are \u2014 and how we got here.<\/p>\n Video of the Week<\/p>\n Watch Inquirer music critic Dan DeLuca\u2019s discuss why Philly\u2019s music scene is one of the greatest in the country: a 140-year-old church.<\/p>\n Data deep dive<\/p>\n Has LeBron James<\/a> flown over your house? Inquirer analysts have done their homework on LeBron\u2019s helicopter commuting<\/a> from Manhattan to South Philly.<\/p>\n A look ahead<\/p>\n The very public resignation<\/a> of two supervising prosecutors this week, after Larry Krasner ignored calls to correct alleged false federal filings, roiled an office long beset by churn and conflict. Chris Palmer<\/a>, who covers federal courts, has been reporting from the inside. We asked him to tell us what he\u2019s hearing \u2014 and where he thinks the story is heading.<\/p>\n Mike: This one may hang around?<\/p>\n Chris: The most extraordinary part is that a federal judge has told the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office that he believes the city\u2019s District Attorney may have committed crimes, including obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and perjury. All of the legal experts I talked to say they have no historical parallel.<\/p>\n It\u2019s rare for judges from their perch to even typically criticize prosecutors let alone suggest their actions could be criminal misconduct.<\/p>\n Mike: U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond has referred the case to federal prosecutors? What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n Chris: One of the major questions remains, \u201cWhat is the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office going to do?\u201d Every legal expert I talked to seems to believe they will have to at least review the materials that the judge sent. But the extent and depth of that investigation and whether it turns into criminal consequences for Krasner could take months to unfold and will likely play out largely in secret. <\/p>\n Mike: The case is already causing strife inside the D.A.\u2019s office, right?<\/p>\n Chris: Multiple staffers within the office who held prominent positions felt so disillusioned with their interactions with the D.A. that they decided they had to quit is something that has reverberated.<\/p>\n Mike: They didn\u2019t go quietly. Krasner called them \u201cinsubordinate.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris: You don\u2019t see that type of staff dissension play out in public very often.<\/p>\n