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Blueberry farms face questions about worker treatment and pollution; Bias incidents spike in N.J. | Morning Newsletter

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In the South Jersey blueberry farms, migrant workers typically live in large metal "pole barns," where 50 to 100 people sleep on bunk beds and use outdoor latrines.
In the South Jersey blueberry farms, migrant workers typically live in large metal "pole barns," where 50 to 100 people sleep on bunk beds and use outdoor latrines.Read moreJOSE F. MORENO / Staff Photographer

    The Morning Newsletter

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Severe thunderstorms ripped through the region yesterday, forcing disruptions to SEPTA services during evening commutes. But the forecast looks clear today and tonight, when the Eagles take on the Titans in their first preseason game. In New Jersey, an Inquirer investigation looks into the state’s famous blueberry farms and found that conditions at many of them may be harming both workers and the thousands of people who eat their berries.

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— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

Every summer, blueberry farms in South Jersey house thousands of migrant workers, usually living in large, metal equipment barns without bathrooms or fire protection. And, the fields and waterways in which they work have been polluted for years with detergent, grease, and human waste.

It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Atlantic County Health Department cited a handful of farms for violating a water pollution law.

It was all done under the radar, with environmentalists shocked to hear the findings of The Inquirer’s investigation. It seems that many of these farms have been potentially harming workers as well as the thousands of consumers who eat their berries.

The Democratic National Committee is calling it Organizing Corps, and the idea is to give a new group of staffers the skills and experiences they’ll need so that they can have paid jobs during the general election. Those skills include door-knocking, phone-banking, and volunteer recruitment strategies.

This is an effort to match the Republican’s advantage in having the incumbent. The Republican National Committee has raised $62 million for their own outreach and training efforts.

The DNC is being strategic about where they have these groups. There are two cohorts in Pennsylvania, a state the party lost in the 2016 election.

In 2018, 569 bias incidents were reported in New Jersey, according to a state report released Wednesday, more than any year since 2011. Reported incidents dropped between 2010 and 2015, but climbed again in 2016.

New Jersey’s trends are consistent with nationwide trends, the report said. The national figures for the common motivations behind the bias incidents also aligned with data from New Jersey, with race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, and sexual orientation among them.

New Jersey has now created a task force to address the situation, especially among students and young adults.

What you need to know today

  1. As President Donald Trump visited El Paso and Dayton, Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) critiqued him for feeding white supremacy. Booker was in Philadelphia for a campaign event last night.

  2. John J. Dougherty — aka Johnny Doc — the Philadelphia labor leader indicted on embezzlement and corruption charges, could end up facing not one, but two trials. That’s what several of the top officials in his electricians’ union, who are all codefendants in Doc’s federal case, want.

  3. Democrats in Pennsylvania’s legislature want Gov. Tom Wolf to call a special session on guns.

  4. The group Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney created in the aftermath of the PES refinery fire held its first of five public meetings this week. The group’s goal is to gather input on the future of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery complex, which announced its closure and filed for bankruptcy earlier this summer.

  5. Activists have flagged cops’ offensive Facebook posts, prompting a number of probes across Montgomery County. Earlier this year, a similar incident occurred in Philadelphia.

  6. The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s record-breaking fund-raising campaign has passed the $455 million mark. The campaign is ahead of schedule.

  7. A woman was ejected from Sesame Place earlier this week after a tirade directed at a Muslim woman. She captured the incident on camera and alleges it all began when the other woman told her to “go back" where she came from.

Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly

August showers bring azalea flowers ... that’s how the saying goes, right? Nice picture, @nickjmalf.

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

  1. The Eagles open their preseason tonight at the Linc against the Titans. For some players, it’s a huge opportunity. For others, it’s just a bother.

  2. Thinking about getting a hip or knee replacement, heart bypass surgery, or spinal fusion? Check a new Pennsylvania report to see how the hospitals rank in terms of complication rates following these common procedures.

  3. SEPTA’s Paoli-Thorndale line carries thousands of locals between Philadelphia and the western 'burbs every day. But how many of those commuters know that their train route is actually a pretty good bar crawl? Hop on the “Beer Train.”

  4. Researchers in England think they found a way to prevent seagulls from stealing your food when you’re down the Shore.

  5. Philadelphia has a fairly low quality of work-life balance, according to a new ranking of 40 U.S. cities.

  6. The city’s pools are starting to close, marking, for some, the unofficial end of a (way too short) summer.

Opinions

“... it’s an illustration of the sort of flashpoints defining Philly of late: Fears that gentrification will lead to a loss of community identity, and concerns that affordable housing be developed as neighborhoods evolve. At heart is the larger question of exactly who gets to determine the shape and future of a community.” — The Inquirer Editorial Board writes about the complicated process of neighborhood improvement.

  1. Solomon Jones writes for The Inquirer about the one thing on which he agrees with white supremacists.

  2. Where did the CEO of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia learn about leadership? In Girl Scouts, Madeline Bell writes.

What we’re reading

  1. WHYY reports on the disparity of trees among some Philly neighborhoods.

  2. Here are some things you can do if your child is addicted to tech, according to the New York Times.

  3. Millennials are already itching to switch their careers. That means that many will need to add another skill to their resume: learning how to pivot, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.

Your Daily Dose of | The UpSide

Following near-death experiences and a heart transplant, a Philadelphia emergency-medicine resident can empathize with her patients and continue living her “beautiful" life.