Chester County election office faces toxic workplace allegations | Morning Newsletter
And a celebrity who started his career in Pa. has died.
The Morning Newsletter
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Chester County’s general election was marked by an error that left 75,000 voters off the poll books. As the county works to understand what happened, former employees are raising concerns over high turnover and a toxic environment.
And Rob Reiner, who spent time in New Hope early in his career, was long considered one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood, and his work included some of the most memorable movies of the 1980s and 90s. On Sunday, he and his wife were found dead in their LA home.
— Sam Stewart (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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More than two years ago, a Chester County Voter Services employee made a dire prediction.
In an eight-page grievance against Voter Services Director Karen Barsoum, the employee described a hostile work environment in which election workers were subjected to “bullying” from the department’s director. At the time of the complaint, the employee wrote, 15 people had left the 25-person department since Barsoum was hired in 2021.
“I have very legitimate fears that there will be a mass exodus from voter services in the coming months,” the employee, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, wrote in the grievance document he provided to The Inquirer. “My concern is how this will impact the 370k voters of Chester County.”
Two years later, it appears his prediction has come true. The number of staff departures since Barsoum took over grew to 29 by November of this year, according to a Chester County spokesperson.
Before he came to be a beloved actor on All in the Family or celebrated for directing hits like The Princess Bride and When Harry Met Sally, Rob Reiner was just a teenager training in New Hope, Pennsylvania.
The late filmmaker — who was found dead alongside his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, on Sunday in their Los Angeles home — got his start at the Bucks County Playhouse.
Police said they were investigating the case as an apparent homicide after a family member discovered them dead. The couple had stab wounds.
The couple’s son, Nick Reiner, 32, was in custody on suspicion of murder and was being held without bail, the Los Angeles Police Department said Monday.
What you should know today
A disabled Ecuadorian immigrant tried to flag down an ICE officer in Delaware, but now, he faces deportation.
William Ingram of Bucks County pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in the death of his mother, Dolores, as well as drug offenses Monday.
The Philly-area personal injury lawyer accused by Uber of working in concert with a group of medical professionals to falsify medical records told a federal judge that the lawsuit was part of a “business tactic” to scare attorneys away from representing crash victims.
The Inquirer breaks down a new survey about how Pennsylvanians feel about AI and data centers.
A print of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln is expected to be sold at the “We the People: America at 250” auction.
The Philadelphia region has four productions of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol currently underway.
Chef Greg Vernick and chef Meredith Medoway will be cooking Italian food at the neighborhood-friendly restaurant Emilia in Kensington.
Quote of the day
Queen Village has a new watering hole, and it’s all thanks to a classic restaurant-industry meet-cute. Casa Oui fuses both partners’ culinary backgrounds — French and Mexican — in a contemporary American restaurant.
🧠 Trivia time
SEPTA officially unveiled its long-awaited Wissahickon Transportation Center in Manayunk, which is about six times the size of the previous bus depot. It is expected to serve about how many bus riders a day?
A) 7,500
B) 20,000
C) 5,000
D) 1,200
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
❄️ Watching out for: Snow and ice are sticking around the Philly region after an unusual storm.
🍸 Ditching: Holiday bars. Some of The Inquirer’s own say they felt like the Grinch heading to themed pop-ups.
💼 Thinking about: How business owners could consider strategies to reduce their future taxes.
🏡 Looking at: A historic house on a tree-lined street in Queen Village for $519,995.
🦅 Remembering: The 1991 Eagles team and how their defense saved the season.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Sources say this outfielder is finalizing a one-year, $10 million deal with the Phillies, and possibly replacing Nick Castellanos.
ALICIA GRAD SO
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
And cheers to James Howell, who solved Monday’s anagram: Pennsylvania Society. Gov. Josh Shapiro attended the Pennsylvania Society weekend in New York City, where the state’s political elite travel to party, fundraise, and schmooze.
Photos of the Year
It was another eventful 12 months in the Philly region — and it was an eventful one for our photographers and videographers who captured images that gave visual life to The Inquirer’s journalism and told stories in ways that transcend words.
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