Trump-style sheriff sparks friction | Morning Newsletter
👑 And Philly’s drag king competitor
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. It should be a sunny Sunday with a high near 90.
Bucks County Sheriff Fred Harran, up for reelection this year, has frequently clashed with officials and stirred controversy over immigration policies. Our main story traces his journey to becoming sheriff in one of Pennsylvania’s most critical battleground counties.
Further down, Philadelphia’s own Henlo Bullfrog brings a unique amphibious aesthetic to the new reality TV show King of Drag.
— Paola Pérez (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Bucks is the only Philadelphia area county that voted for President Donald Trump. As first-time sheriff, Harran, a Republican, has spent months in constant conflict with Democratic leaders.
Controversial decisions: Harran has faced backlash for bypassing the county board to propose salary raises for deputies and pushing for closer collaboration with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
The ICE issue: After applying for a program for Bucks to work with ICE, Harran blamed the media for reporting on the plan before it was fully realized. The proposal continues to spark fear and outrage in the county.
Debating his political ambitions: Democrats say Harran uses “aggressive, kind of cantankerous, not very nice” Trump-style tactics. Critics paint Harran as politically motivated, but he insists otherwise.
In his own words: Harran is convinced that his political opponents won’t work with him because they see him as a threat. “You gotta ask yourself why are these people against me when I’m doing all this good stuff?” Harran said.
Read watchdog reporter Katie Bernard’s story for details on Harran’s background and the political friction that he sparks in this key collar county.
🎤 I’m passing the mic to arts and culture reporter Rosa Cartagena.
Painter Joy Taney knows how to awe and unsettle viewers. With dynamic makeup and body painting skills, she has transformed actors into ghouls at Eastern State Penitentiary for Halloween and designed stunning looks for contestants on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Taney first met RuPaul in 2016 when she competed in Skin Wars: Fresh Paint, which the celebrity drag queen hosted, and won the $10,000 grand prize. With the winnings, the West Philly native relocated back home to work as a professional makeup artist and quickly became a regular behind the scenes of drag shows — and on the three latest seasons of Drag Race — where her talent was sorely sought after.
But Taney had “more outrageous ideas.” She wanted more horror and gore with prosthetics and latex; she wanted something monstrous and extraordinary. Her clients found that too extreme.
“I realized I was having those ideas for myself,” said Taney. “The only person who was really going to be embodying the thing that I was looking for in the drag scene, but wasn’t quite seeing, was me.” ― Rosa Cartagena
Now competing in the nation’s first-ever drag king reality show, get to know Taney and her dazzling, fantastical stage persona Henlo Bullfrog.
What you should know today
A 22-year-old man has been charged in a June 1 two-vehicle crash in Norristown that killed a man and severely injured his wife and two children.
The family of a 16-year-old lifeguard says she was dismissed from her job at the city’s West Philly John Kelly Pool this week for wearing modest swimwear, in keeping with her religious beliefs. An official refutes the claim.
About 150 demonstrators chanted “no war in Iran” and marched from City Hall to Rittenhouse Square on Saturday, protesting U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and demanding an end to the Gaza conflict.
Yardley officials violated the First Amendment rights of a resident when they deleted a critical comment from the Facebook page of the Bucks County borough, a federal judge said this week.
A former Main Line Rite Aid in Wayne is set to become the latest high-end hotel for your dogs.
The award-winning distillery and tasting room Pottstown’s Manatawny Still Works is set to close at the end of this weekend, as are its three satellite cocktail bars in East Passyunk, Fishtown, and Ardmore.
A North Philly woman accepted a job offer to be a counselor at a public school. Then district officials said they can’t hire her due to her immigration status.
Aramark won the food and beverage contract for the Philadelphia Union’s Subaru Park, giving it control of concessions across all of the region’s major league sports stadiums.
John DiSangro, a Temple basketball fixture and Phillies TV ace, died Thursday of a heart attack at his home in Fairless Hills. He was 60.
The Library Company of Philadelphia is one of the oldest cultural institutions in the U.S. If merger talks materialize into a deal, it could become a part of Temple University.
❓Pop quiz
Which storm caused the most Peco outages in the Philly region?
A) Hurricane Floyd (1999)
B) Hurricane Irene (2011)
C) Superstorm Sandy (2012)
D) February 2014 “ice crusher”
Think you know? Check your answer.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Top Pa. state senator
DIRK MAW
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Duke Doblick who correctly guessed Saturday’s answer: Brandywine Valley, the Kennett Symphony’s new name. It reflects the orchestra’s reach beyond Kennett Square.
🎶 Today’s track goes like this: “It might be months of bad luck / But what if it’s just broken glass?”
One more musical thing: Well wishes to Paul Simon, who had to cancel two weekend shows in Philly in order to get surgery for chronic back pain. Friday night’s concert was the legendary singer-songwriter’s first here in seven years. Read more in pop critic Dan DeLuca’s review.
👋🏽 It’s a good day to have a good day. Thanks for starting yours with The Inquirer.