🗓️ Your quick rundown of the last year | Morning Newsletter

Welcome to Monday. We’re only getting into the 40s, with possible rain in the forecast.

You made it to the last week of 2021, so today we’re taking a look back at a year of Philly news. From big stories we covered, to our most ambitious journalism, and a few other things sprinkled in between, here’s your 2021 year in review.

What was your most memorable moment of the year? Let me know at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com

— Kerith Gabriel (@sprtswtr, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

January started with the horror of the Capitol insurrection. Our reporters and photojournalists both inside the Capitol and outside on the street captured the carnage and chaos that ensued.

We also saw the passing, and remembered the life, of Temple legend John Chaney.

February brought the Philly Fighting COVID debacle, as the city health department wrestled with how to vaccinate residents en masse — and entrusted an ill-prepared Drexel student to do it.

As things went awry, the spotlight turned to the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium — which outpaced the city in vaccine distribution in just one winter night.

March saw a quickening pace of vaccinations, putting many minds at ease.

And our Eagles reporter Jeff McLane pulled back the curtain on how general manager Howie Roseman has maintained power for more than a decade.

In April, we learned that the remains of a victim of the infamous 1985 MOVE bombing had been passed around the anthropology departments at a pair of Ivy League schools. The controversy eventually led to the resignation of city Health Commissioner Thomas Farley.

In May, Larry Krasner won a big primary reelection campaign — and won it big — in a race that was seen as a referendum on his criminal justice reform agenda. Ultimately, voters didn’t blame Krasner for rising shootings and homicides.

June was the first time since the pandemic started that summer felt like summer. We looked at how schools survived a disruptive year. And we enjoyed the good vibes that came with some semblance of normalcy.

In July, we exposed the tax loopholes and breaks the ultrarich are still using to preserve a historic Main Line compound.

And we continued to track the fallout of the Capitol attack and Donald Trump’s lies of a stolen election — including how a previously little-known conservative commentator rode the election denial movement to become a Republican contender for U.S. Senate.

August kicked off the Ben Simmons drama. The fallout? A team and a fan base that have turned their back on the Sixers star. Both are still waiting to see if and when he’ll return to the court.

In September, Hurricane Ida brought the worst devastation to our region since Hurricane Sandy, affecting many parts of Philly. Though some found moments of levity in the destruction, the painful aftermath is still being felt months later.

October was my favorite month, as this very newsletter helped a woman who was abandoned as an infant find her biological family.

November saw the fall of longtime Philly labor leader John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty, who, alongside Councilmember Bobby Henon, was convicted of federal bribery charges. It was also an election month that gave us the first look at the post-Trump political era — and the enduring reality that anyone can upset the political establishment.

And we ended the month with the city setting a deadly record.

December isn’t over, and the year is ending with an uncertainty similar to how it started, as the fast-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus again strains hospitals to a breaking point. But there are also signs that we’re learning to live with COVID-19.

Our resident cartoonist, Rob Tornoe, has an illustrated look back at some of the biggest moments of the year. And this story about a South Philly family committed to service is the perfect end to 2021.

I’ve been in this position for only a minute, but it’s been a privilege to deliver the news you need to get your day started. Thanks for your continued support of Inquirer journalism. 🙏