📈 Charting Philly’s cost of living | Morning Newsletter
And National Teacher of the Year finalist.
The Morning Newsletter
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Hi, Philly. Record warmth is expected this week in the region. But don’t forget that winter isn’t over yet.
Can you guess how much more expensive the cost of living in Philadelphia has gotten in the past decade? Try our quiz to track how Peco, PGW, and other costs have changed.
And Haverford High’s Leon Smith didn’t have Black role models in school. Now he’s in the running for National Teacher of the Year.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Affordability is American voters’ top concern, polls show — which means it’s also a top talking point for politicians ahead of the midterms this fall.
📈 Inflation has continued to impact the cost of everyday necessities such as food, housing, utilities, and transportation since the pandemic, while wages haven’t caught up from the years of lagging behind. (Remember, too, that Pennsylvania’s minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009.)
📈 The changes are not consistent for every category, though.
📈 The average cost of one staple of the American diet has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, way outpacing inflation. Another has fluctuated dramatically amid environmental factors.
📈 And of electricity, gas, and internet bills, two out of three have actually decreased since record highs in recent years.
Complete our graphs to guess how much prices have changed and test your inflation knowledge.
More on money: Pennsylvania workers still aren’t guaranteed paid family leave, unlike their neighbors in New Jersey and Delaware. Some local employers are offering their own policies.
A longtime Haverford history teacher who helped launch the College Board’s AP African American Studies program and has mentored countless students is a finalist for a prestigious national teaching prize.
If Leon Smith is named the Council of Chief School Officers’ National Teacher of the Year in April, he will spend a year traveling the country to promote the teaching profession.
The honor aligns with his goal to encourage more young people to become educators — especially Black men, who are underrepresented in the field.
Notable quote: If teachers are “joyful, confident, and can show up as their whole selves,” Smith said, students will also excel. That “allows students to look at teaching as a job they want to do.”
Suburban education reporter Maddie Hanna has the story.
In other education news: Laura W. Waring Elementary School in Spring Garden would close and become a new middle school for Julia R. Masterman High School, according to the Philadelphia School District’s facilities plan. The change would displace neighborhood children, supporters say. Plus, continuing plumbing problems meant some kids couldn’t use the bathroom at South Philly’s Southwark Elementary last week. Parents and staff are furious.
What you should know today
Two Bucks County men accused of attempting to detonate homemade bombs at a protest outside Gracie Mansion in Manhattan over the weekend said they were inspired by ISIS, court documents show.
Pennsylvania state troopers are mourning Cpl. Timothy O’Connor, who was shot and killed while making a traffic stop Sunday in Chester County, police said.
A Chester County woman died Sunday after she was shot in her car in an apparent random attack. A man has been arrested and charged with her murder.
A basketball trainer who bribed NCAA players on behalf of professional gamblers pleaded guilty in a Philadelphia court Monday.
A federal judge on Monday ruled that the Trump administration had acted “unlawfully” in appointing three new officials to co-lead the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey.
During a visit to two Conshohocken technology companies, U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) warned Monday that the war in Iran “poses a threat here at home.”
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is proposing her first state budget today. She will grapple with proposing spending cuts as she promises not to raise taxes.
Rowan University is planning a $690 million development project that the school’s president says could be part of a “new Silicon Valley” in the Northeast.
Philly will spend $9 million to restore three miles of Cobbs and Indian Creeks, which flow through Cobbs Creek Golf Course and contribute to persistent flooding.
Quote of the day
Tessa Janecke didn’t record a point in the gold-medal game, but she was on the ice for both U.S. goals. Next up: the NCAA women’s hockey tournament.
🧠 Trivia time
Swarthmore just passed an ordinance regulating where certain “sensitive” businesses can operate. What does that category not include?
A) Vape shops
B) Cannabis dispensaries
C) Firing ranges
D) Licensed massage businesses
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re …
👟 Anticipating: The release of Nike’s Kobe 5 Protro “Lower Merion Aces” shoe.
🎫 Buying tickets for: Jill Scott’s three-night stint at the Met this summer.
🏡 Laughing at: The memes that came from a headline about Donna Kelce’s home renovation.
⚽ Noting: MLS’s for-life ban of a Union alum for gambling on his own games.
🕯️ Considering: The modern echoes of religious zealotry from the 1700s.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: La Salle University teams
ROLEX REPS
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to David Newman, who solved Monday’s anagram: Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. David Blitzer, whose company owns the Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, attended President Donald Trump’s roundtable on college sports at the White House on Friday.
Photo of the day
Spring, we’re ready for ya. See you back here tomorrow morning, same time, same place.
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