Tubman Statue Quote Vote, ACA Drops & PHL Updates

A Harriet Tubman statue is coming to City Hall in 2026, and the city wants your words on the base of it.

Philadelphia is soliciting public submissions to determine which quote gets inscribed beneath sculptor Alvin Pettit’s work. The guiding prompt is this: “What does it mean to walk in Harriet Tubman’s footsteps today?” Pettit’s rendering shows Tubman with her hands folded, or clenched. Depends on how you’re reading it, honestly. Either way, the piece carries weight, and the inscription vote gives Philadelphians something unusual: a direct say in what permanent civic language looks like.

Now the rough stuff.

Figures out of Harrisburg show that 120,000 Pennsylvanians have dropped their Affordable Care Act coverage. Federal subsidy cuts, premium spikes, and a cost of living that won’t quit drove that number up faster than most observers expected. Pennsylvania had held relatively steady on ACA enrollment compared to other states, so this decline hits differently. “We’re seeing families make impossible choices between rent and a doctor visit,” one enrollment counselor told a regional health advocacy group last month. That’s a six-figure headline that deserves a lot more heat from state lawmakers than it’s currently getting.

Philadelphia International Airport is back to full capacity. Terminal F came back online this morning, following the earlier reopenings of Terminals A West and C last week. PHL pushes tens of millions of passengers through its checkpoints annually, so even partial closures create cascading delays across connection banks. If your spring travel plans ran into that wall, it’s over now.

A ballot question that would’ve let Pennsylvania legislators keep their seats while running for higher state or federal office got quietly pulled from the May primary. Gone. The proposal had drawn fire for creating a clear conflict of interest, allowing sitting lawmakers to campaign on public time while still drawing a state salary. That it vanished before most voters even knew it was on the table is a story worth watching.

A few more items on the radar. Jezabel Careaga is making another push to open a café in Fitler Square, roughly three years after neighborhood opposition shut down her original plans for a Lombard Street location. Don’t count her out. West Philadelphia is seeing a genuine grassroots Yiddish language revival, which is one of the more quietly fascinating cultural developments in the city right now. And if you’ve noticed camera crews camped outside local restaurants, there’s probably a reason. “Love Is Blind” is reported to be filming somewhere in Philly, which tracks given the city’s recent run as a reality TV backdrop. Check the National Constitution Center calendar while you’re at it. They’ve been booking strong programming all year and it doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

The Tubman statue submission window won’t stay open forever. If you’ve got something to say about what it means to carry that legacy forward in Philadelphia right now, say it.