Good morning, Philadelphia.

Center City features lunch deals, drink specials & free events this month as Let's Do Lunch offers meals at $10, $15, & $20 through Aug.

28 while Sips hosts discounted cocktails on Wednesdays until Aug. 26, free outdoor Zumba starts Tuesday evenings, and live performances occur Thursday at Dilworth Park.

This Sunday, Aug. 9, The Garden Center at 1825 Frankford Ave will host the 4th Annual Cemita Festival with six local restaurants serving their takes on Puebla’s classic sandwich.

Live music, cultural dances at 2 p.m. (and face painting from noon to 4 p.m.) add to the celebration.

Philly offers a busy weekend with Bug Fest at the Academy of Natural Sciences (Aug.

8-9) featuring guided bug walks, outdoor movies in local parks on Friday, and the 15th BlackStar Film Festival showcasing films and panels across multiple venues. A bridal brunch at Rivers Casino adds to the mix.

Need in Deed, a nonprofit that supports teachers, is hosting Soirée 2026 on October 8 to raise $20,000 for teacher resources as the school year begins.

The event will bring food, dancing and live music (teachers will share how the program has boosted their classroom success).

Philadelphia’s school selection process, Find Your Fit, starts Sept.

8 at 4 p.m. and lets pre-kindergarten to 11th grade students apply for schools outside their neighborhood if space is available. The process now only considers English, math and science grades and gives automatic admission to select zip code residents.

A City Council committee held a hearing Wednesday on police response to crowds after the Pride parade in June in Center City’s Gayborhood — with Commissioner Kevin Bethel defending the tactics and pledging improvements next year after some officers breached department policy by wearing masks.

Two Philadelphia labs - one at Children’s Hospital and GEMMABio - have secured millions in federal funding to develop gene therapies for rare diseases, with human trials set to begin in three years.

The projects will work with an AI gene editing company to improve treatment delivery.

The Philadelphia Eagles are showing progress in training camp as Jalen Hurts and Dontayvion Wicks make promising plays while the defense holds its strength.

Several players did not practice today due to injuries (including hamstring issues) as minor scuffles broke out during drills.

The Phillies fell 10-4 in extra innings on Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park as injuries hit Painter with hamstring tightness, Hill with a wall collision, and Harper with a hand injury + the team will close the series today at 6:05.

Larry Berg, a Delaware Valley native and part-owner of LA Galaxy with Philly ties, will take over as MLS commissioner on Jan.

1. He replaces Don Garber and brings decades of private equity experience and a background playing soccer at Cherry Hill East.