Two weeks after major protests and demonstrations began in Philadelphia, the city has not seen a large spike in COVID-19 cases. Other parts of the country, though, are seeing worrying upticks in cases, with indicators pointing to reopening business, restaurants, and other public places, according to a New York Times report. The Philadelphia region began decreasing coronavirus-related restrictions earlier this month and New Jersey took a major step yesterday.
— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday that it’s illegal for an employer to fire someone for being gay or transgender. This will have a major impact in Pennsylvania, one of about two dozen states that didn’t have a law protecting LGBTQ workers from employment discrimination.
So, what happens next? An advocate told my colleague Anna Orso that Pennsylvania’s General Assembly should expand on the Supreme Court’s decision by passing legislation that implements and enforces those now-nationwide civil rights protections.
In the weeks following the killing of George Floyd, images of tens of thousands of people marching in cities across the country flooded social media feeds. But protests also sprouted up in small towns, where demonstrations rarely, if ever, happen. In Pennsylvania, protests supporting the Black Lives Matter movement have occurred in at least 56 of the state’s 67 counties.
Of the towns in those counties that had demonstrations, at least 40 of them were towns that President Trump won in 2016. Experts who study protests and politics told my colleagues Andrew Seidman and Jonathan Lai the antiracism protests in deeply conservative areas could have an impact on this November’s presidential election.
- New Jersey police departments have been ordered to identify officers who are fired, suspended, or demoted for misconduct. And reforms have advanced in Pennsylvania to create a confidential misconduct database for officer background checks.
- In a 34-second video posted to Facebook, a woman yells, “Black Lives Matter,” to a man tearing down Black Lives Matter signs in a South Philly park. The man, a city court supervisor, responds: “Not to me, they don’t.” He was fired yesterday.
- The damage to Philadelphia’s budget caused by the coronavirus pandemic is $100 million worse than expected, meaning that new tax increases or service cuts could be coming, Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration announced.
- An employee at a South Jersey Wawa was told to take off his Black Lives Matter mask. He quit, and now Wawa is examining its uniform policies.
- When Philly schools reopen, the returns of students and staff might be staggered.
- Rural Pennsylvania hospitals spent a lot of money stockpiling personal protective equipment to prep for a predicted rush of coronavirus patients while cutting back on outpatient services and elective surgeries. Three months later, the result has been major revenue losses from which rural and small-town hospitals are struggling to recover.
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- ⚽My colleague Jonathan Tannenwald interviewed Kevin Durant about why the NBA star became an owner of the Philadelphia Union soccer team. (In other sports ownership news, the Sixers’ owners bought a stake in the Pittsburgh Steelers.)
- 🥘How many of restaurant critic Craig LaBan’s suburban favorites are open right now?
- 😷The touchscreens at Wawa, on ATMs, at convenience stores, and self-checkout booths aren’t going away any time soon, despite fears of the coronavirus.
- 💰PayPal has set up a $530 million fund to assist black-owned businesses in Philly and elsewhere.
- ⚾As other pro sports leagues plan for the comebacks, Major League Baseball is struggling to reach an agreement to get the 2020 season off the ground. Columnist David Murphy writes that the league is destined for a labor strike in the future. And columnist Marcus Hayes writes that baseball really doesn’t matter all that much anymore.
- 🗳️Across Pennsylvania, progressive candidates won Democratic primaries this month, with some being first-time candidates that ousted party-backed incumbents.
“We cannot expect police to act consistently with constitutional guarantees of equality, fairness, and integrity, without a system that is built on full transparency, oversight, and accountability. The failure of government and the courts to mandate and implement policies that would ensure democratic controls on the police, leaves them with a broad immunity from even the most harmful abuses and does little to incentivize good policing.” — writes David Rudovsky, a civil rights and criminal defense attorney, about the difference between “actions” and “commissions” when it comes to police reform.
- In 1951, Philly’s police brutality was brought to the United Nations. Linn Washington Jr., a Temple professor, writes about whether it’s any better in 2020.
- The Inquirer Editorial Board is reminding us that the coronavirus pandemic isn’t over, even if we are “reopening.”
- An ABC News story reported that Philadelphia stands out when looking at loitering and curfew arrests made nationwide.
- The Drexel women’s basketball team looked poised to have “a perfect season.” Then, it all ended. The Athletic has the story.
- Pop-Up Magazine tells the story of a med student, illustrating what it’s like to become a doctor during a pandemic. You can watch the video here.
Hita Gupta, a student at Conestoga High School, created a foundation called Brighten a Day with the goal to assist seniors in nursing homes and children in hospitals. The foundation makes goodie baskets, cards, and videos, and also sends smart devices that help seniors stay connected with their friends and families.
