The sober road to City Council | Morning Newsletter
And Delaware owns a chunk of New Jersey.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
The sun will be out with a high of 76 ☀️.
I hope you enjoyed your weekend, especially that Eagles win.
Welcome back and let’s get your week started.
— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Jimmy Harrity, a former aide to State. Sen. Sharif Street, is likely to become a new City Council member after the Nov. 8 special elections to fill two vacant at-large seats.
He has an unlikely journey to a potential elected office which includes a decades-long connection to the political Street family and recovery from alcoholism.
Political beginnings: Harrity was introduced to the fold of local Democratic machine politics when he bought the Famous 4th Street Cookie Co. in the food court of the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, the famed South Broad Street hub for Philly politicos.
It wasn’t long before he befriended City Controller Jonathan Saidel and was eventually hired as an investigator in his office. It jump-started his political career and landed him working on former Mayor John Street’s Transformation Initiative.
While his career was moving upward, his addiction became worse, driven in part by the loss of a son in childbirth during his marriage. It ultimately halted his career in government.
Keep reading this profile from my colleague Sean Collins Walsh about Harrity’s story of starting over and second chances.
What you should know today
Mothers in Charge gathered to remember Philly’s gun violence victims on the National Day of Remembrance for Homicide Victims.
The workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art plan to strike beginning today.
Several marched against book-banning in Doylestown as Central Bucks School District targets ‘sexualized content.’
One of Philly’s first rowers was remembered with a ‘Last Row’ on the Schuylkill.
Local coronavirus numbers: Here’s your daily look at the latest COVID-19 data.
A small piece of secluded land known as Killcohook that touches the Delaware River in Salem County, N.J., is actually an official part of Delaware.
Thanks to an unusual border agreement between William Penn and King Charles II of England, signed 340 years ago, one-third of the 1,430-acre site is physically attached to South Jersey, but technically sits in the First State, the mainland of which is a little more than a mile across the river.
The U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers has authority over the tiny swath of land. It has deposited river-dredged material from there since 1898.
If someone committed a crime here, authorities in Delaware would have to be notified.
Note: Nearly all of the Delaware River between New Jersey and Delaware in the vicinity of the Delaware Memorial Bridge belongs to Delaware. It’s unusual for a river that divides two states to not be split 50-50.
Reporter Alfred Lubrano digs into the history to discover why Delaware has control.
Get out of the bus lane.
You really shouldn’t be parking in it anyway, but the SEPTA Transit Police and the Philadelphia Parking Authority are joining forces today to crack down on no-stopping and no-standing offenses.
The lanes:
Chestnut Street between 23rd and Sixth Streets
Market Street between 20th and Sixth Streets
JFK Boulevard between 15th and 19th Streets
If you’re found blocking mass transit, that ticket can be $101. (To compare, most congestion-related violations are $51).
Transportation reporter Thomas Fitzgerald has more to explain the crackdown.
What we’re...
🍴Cooking: Affordable and simple meals with local chefs’ advice.
🍿 Watching: This vendor who balances boxes of popcorn on her head at Phillies games.
🏭 Touring: A Herr’s potato chip plant and discovering how the snacks are made.
🧩 Unscramble the Anagram 🧩
Hint: Rowan University
ABEL LOGGERS OSTEOCLAST
Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shout-out to a reader at random who answers correctly. Today’s shout-out goes to Katharine Johnson, who correctly guessed Elfreth’s Alley as Sunday’s answer.
Photo of the Day
Your Essential Philly
Last week, I asked you what was the best music festival you ever attended and you delivered. The one below is my favorite. It’s been lightly edited for brevity.
Hands down, The Philadelphia Music Festival at JFK Stadium in the summer of 1968. It was a series of themed concerts like The English Invasion featuring The Who, Pink Floyd and The Troggs and An Evening of Soul with Lou Rawls and Nina Simone. Other performers included Ray Charles, Lou Rawls, and The Box Tops. Tickets to each concert went for $2. I was 9 years old that summer, but attended each event. The Philadelphia Music Festival 54 years ago may be long forgotten, but it was spectacular! — David S.
And that’s it for your Monday. I’m off to go on my morning jog 👟. Thanks for waking up with The Inquirer.