Job opening: Eagles starting quarterback | Morning Newsletter
And, inside Trump’s Philly impeachment team.
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 from The Inquirer newsroom.
First: Happy trails, Wentz Wagon.
Then: Bruce L. Castor Jr. and his team of Philadelphia attorneys learned to not be so polite at Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial.
And: Philadelphia’s first walk-up, COVID-19 vaccination site is a reality.
— Tommy Rowan (@tommyrowan, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Carson Wentz is now the Colts’ problem.
Our problem is the Eagles sent the former No. 2 overall pick to Indianapolis for an eyebrow-raising deal: a third-round draft pick this year and a conditional second-round pick in 2022. Not to mention, the team is stuck paying Wentz $33.8 million for this season. So, who’s to blame for what columnist Marcus Hayes calls the worst trade in Eagles history?
Columnist Mike Sielski lays blame on the team’s leadership for looking at Wentz and seeing too much of what they wanted to see and not enough of what was actually there.
But now that the Carson-trade saga is finally over after months of speculation and weeks of escalating rumors, who will lead the team next season? Seems as if Jalen Hurts will be the first signal-caller with the chance to lock down the job. For now.
For more, the Birds’ Eye View crew is here to break down the most recent developments in the latest podcast episode, available on iTunes and SoundCloud.
Bruce L. Castor Jr. and his team of Philadelphia attorneys learned an important lesson, repeatedly, over the five-days spent defending Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial: Don’t be so complimentary of the prosecuting Democrats.
The former Montgomery County district attorney and his teammates went to Washington expecting a trial like the dozens they had handled throughout their decades-long careers. Instead they got a brutal education in the fractious divisions plaguing the country while successfully defending a client whose presidency was built on tearing at those differences, writes reporter Jeremy Roebuck.
A senior Republican aide cautioned: “You get no points for being polite. This is out-and-out partisan war.”
Philadelphia will have its first 24-hour, walk-up vaccination site, starting today.
Can vaccinated people still spread COVID-19? We answered questions such as how the shots actually work and how long immunity lasts.
Where can you get a vaccine in the Philly area if you’re eligible? Use our lookup tool and find out.
Here are the updated coronavirus case numbers, as COVID-19 spreads in the region.
What you need to know today
Parents, educators, union officials, and advocates have been organized, vocal, and clear on their position that Philadelphia public schools aren’t ready to reopen. But what about those on the other side? Those who say their voices are being drowned out?
Malcolm Kenyatta, a state representative from North Philadelphia, has officially launched a 2022 campaign for U.S. Senate.
A winter storm warning remains in effect this morning, so be on alert for snow, sleet, and freezing rain.
A mother-daughter duo is making sure every Philadelphian has access to pads, tampons, cups, and panty liners in creating the nation’s first crowdfunded menstrual hub.
A woman who asked not to be publicly identified, but was one of the eight injured in Wednesday’s shootings outside the Olney Transportation Center, told The Inquirer that violence “is going to happen again,” before adding: “And it just sucks there’s nothing we can do about it.”
A detective retired hours before he was arrested Wednesday for allegedly giving away items that were in police possession, and for improperly confiscating or cataloging stolen goods, sources told The Inquirer. He is the fifth city cop arrested in a month.
Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly
Beautiful shot. Thank you for sharing, @victoria_stetskevych.
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
🎲 Good news is the pandemic will end soon, but the bad news is it will take a little longer as the country gets vaccinated. And we get it: You’re bored, I’m bored, we’re all bored. So how about a new board game? Here’s a list of the best board game stores in the Philly area.
🤦♂ Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto, who just last month signed the largest free-agent contract ever for a catcher, broke his thumb.
🛒. GIANT is a month away from the March opening of a two-story flagship store in Center City. The grocer is betting that it can lure back shoppers who have avoided spending too much time in supermarkets.
🎾 Pennsylvania native and tennis superstar Jennifer Brady reached her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open.
Opinions
“The frigid suffering of millions without electricity, water, or food, and the mounting death toll, is the kind of tragedy that should transcend our bitterly divided politics — but you shouldn’t be shocked to learn that the polar opposite has happened,” writes columnist Will Bunch, angry with GOP officials who are blaming the Texas blackouts on the unrelated Green New Deal for clean energy.
Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio provocateur who died Wednesday at age 70, was Donald Trump before Trump, writes Philip Bump for the Washington Post. Limbaugh, Bump argues, helped create Trump’s pathway to the presidency, whether the former president ever recognized it.
“I was one of the 74 million Americans who voted to reelect President Trump, in part because of his administration’s many accomplishments,” writes Sen. Pat Toomey. “Last Saturday, I voted to convict him on the House of Representatives’ article of impeachment. Here’s why.”
What we’re reading
In New York, not even the “pigeon guys” can catch a break. As the city’s working-class neighborhoods shrink, writes Allie Conti in the New York Times, so does the pigeon-keeping space.
Your Daily Dose of | Consent
A high school sex educator just snagged a $250,000 grant to teach his Main Line students about consent, but it’s not what you think. Al Vernacchio has broadened the notion of consent, making it a requirement for every interaction with another person, including with their property, body, or reputation.