The crises handoff | Morning Newsletter
And, investigating a Temple University dean.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Good morning.
First: We had experts size up the incoming president’s intense to-do list ahead of Wednesday, when he’s sworn in.
Then: Temple University hired an outside law firm to look into workplace complaints about the education college dean. We spoke to faculty who shared their concerns about the dean’s behavior.
And: “It’s kind of like whoever’s coaching him is working for him. But it can’t be that way.” We went inside to get you the story of how it seems the Eagles gave Carson Wentz too much influence too soon.
In case you missed it yesterday, here’s how you can still honor Martin Luther King Jr. today in Philly.
— Ashley Hoffman (@_ashleyhoffman, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Up until now, Biden offered Americans a promise in a drastically different tone.
Now, he’ll go to work. Wednesday is inauguration day, when Biden will show up for the job with all that comes with the territory. In 2021, that means grappling with a raft of issues far worse than those facing Barack Obama the last time Biden rolled through the White House. Cleaning up a predecessor’s mess is nothing new, but this handoff is. He follows two presidents who were cultural symbols “bigger than politics” in their own ways. One thing he has going for him: hours clocked. Experts say Biden has the executive and legislative experience to take responsive action on our national dilemmas, through.
Here’s what experts say about what Biden is inheriting for his term.
We talked to 10 current or former Temple University faculty members who said the education college dean played a role in creating a hostile environment.
A law firm is probing the complaints, which staff members told us had gone ignored. About half of the 70 full-time faculty signed a letter back in July, raising issues about the dean’s leadership, saying faculty were “deeply concerned about faculty members’ loss of voice in our own college, and about a growing climate of fear, mistrust, and intimidation.” Specifically, they spoke of berated employees and a culture where people were afraid to speak. We learned that Temple has hired the Stradley Ronon law firm to investigate, a move many we spoke with are also concerned about.
Dean Gregory M. Anderson said he is cooperating with the review in a statement. Education reporter Susan Snyder has the story on the investigation into the dean.
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What you need to know today
A Pa. man who joined the Capitol riots was charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct. Officials tracked him down after he posted selfies at the Capitol on Facebook.
There was just a handful of demonstrators in Pennsylvania and New Jersey on Sunday despite the FBI warning that state capitals could be targeted by far-right extremists or armed protesters.
When a top Pa. Republican said he didn’t think election fraud claims influenced the attack on the Capitol, he was dead wrong. Here, we get into plenty of evidence proving that can’t possibly be the case.
This is what it’s like inside popular restaurants that recently reopened for indoor dining in Philly.
A few dozen people gathered at a historic Philly church that rang a bell 400 times for the nearly 400,000 Americans who have died from the coronavirus.
A suspect in the fatal shooting death of a 25-year-old man walking his dog in Brewerytown has been identified. And he was freed on bail two weeks earlier.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
Like the masterful school-skipping deception artist Ferris Bueller never said, if you don’t stop to look around for a while, you might miss a little piggie on a bike. Thanks for sharing @karenbenson.eyeful.
Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we’ll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout-out!
That’s interesting
🦅 How does an Eagles player such as Carson Wentz regress? The answer lies in the fact that he was a high order of worship. This is the inside story.
🗄️ The transcribe-athon marches on as volunteers transcribe the collection of the Freedmen’s Bureau Records, making the enormous archive accessible to the public.
🏀 This is what happens to the Sixers when Joel Embiid isn’t there.
☂️ Philly has a weather mystery on its hands. What happened to the precipitation surplus after a stormy year? Well, anything “normal” would be abnormal.
Opinions
“There will be no true reckoning with the structural racism of American society without a reckoning with the structural racism of America’s market-driven economy.” — Writes The Inquirer Editorial Board, a group of journalists who operate separately from the newsroom, noting what Martin Luther King Jr. wanted for the economy.
These are the three ways to reform our Constitution to reimagine the presidency, write Ilya Shapiro, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies director, Timothy Sandefur, vice president for litigation at the Goldwater Institute, and Christina Mulligan, Brooklyn Law School vice dean.
It was time for these Amish Country politicians to desert Trump after years of tolerating him, so why aren’t more lawmakers doing the same? columnist Maria Panaritis writes.
What we’re reading
Can people fly out of Philly’s airport to another country right now? They’ll have to prove this first now since new rules have gone into effect amid soaring international travel numbers, BillyPenn tells us.
There’s a Joe Biden-scented candle, WHYY reports, and it’s not the fragrance of ice cream.
Ten Nepali climbers made history by climbing one of the world’s most treacherous mountains all the way to the summit. National Geographic has a map charting their feat.
The Cumberland County school district is working to feed thousands of students who are learning remotely and battling food insecurity while classrooms are closed. There are free breakfast and lunch meals at grab-and-go drive-through locations, and even door-to-door deliveries. They’ve served up a million meals so far, and there’s no sign of slowing down. We visited Bridgeton, N.J., to see the heartwarming grab-and-go process in action.