Philly Bike Lanes, Penn Appeal & Gun Violence | Morning Roundup

Mayor Cherelle Parker’s schedule Wednesday has her hitting the Bellwether District in the morning for a Lower South District Economic Opportunity Roundtable with public and private sector business leaders, then pivoting to an afternoon session with School District leadership to announce new funding and school-based job support.

Two Parker events. One day. Both laser-focused on jobs.

That’s the message City Hall wants landing in your inbox.

Philly Bike Action brought cardboard mock-ups and cans of textured spray paint to Center City this week, staging a street-level demonstration of what eight-inch concrete barriers along the bikeway would actually look like. It wasn’t performance art. The group is making a direct case to residents and city officials who’ve argued that taller dividers would strangle car traffic or complicate deliveries. Bike advocates say the barriers protect cyclists without putting unreasonable strain on other road users, and the full details covered by Billy Penn lay out exactly how organizers are trying to get ahead of objections before any formal city decision.

Philadelphia’s bike lane fight has dragged on long enough. Cities like New York and Washington, D.C. built out concrete-protected networks years ago and watched cyclist injury rates drop.

Meanwhile, the University of Pennsylvania is appealing a federal ruling that would require it to hand over information related to Jewish staff, according to WHYY reporting. “She’s not interested in staying frozen in that one label,” a WHYY reporter told listeners in framing the broader climate surrounding the case. Penn hasn’t said publicly what specific records are at issue or how wide the disclosure order reaches, but filing the appeal signals the university won’t comply without a courtroom fight. Federal appellate cases involving university personnel records don’t move fast, and this one won’t either.

Penn researchers also dropped findings this week on a separate public health concern: the rise in vaccine skepticism around pediatric immunization. The research carries real stakes in a city where vaccine trust and access don’t look the same in every neighborhood, even if the Philadelphia Department of Public Health hasn’t formally tied itself to the findings yet.

On gun violence prevention, juniors at Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia Charter School aren’t waiting for adults to hand them a plan. Since April 23, they’ve been running community workshops, a basketball tournament, and social media campaigns, with direct outreach to local lawmakers as part of a sustained 2026 push. June 7 is a key date on their calendar as the project continues to build.

Forty students involved. Seven workshops completed. A $10 budget request that’s making its way through 15 different conversations with 23 community partners.

Brave kids doing the actual work.

One WHYY reporter described the charter school’s lead organizer as the “bravest girl in the world” while covering the students’ outreach efforts, a phrase that tells you something about how seriously people are taking what’s coming out of that school.