Supervised-injection site to open next week; Democratic women in a Pa. swing county are united, but not on a candidate | Morning Newsletter
Plus, why are residents at a new luxury apartment getting sick?
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
We’ll get right into the news today: Organizers say that the country’s first supervised-injection site will open in South Philly next week after a judge ruled the proposed facility wouldn’t violate federal law. Also, West Philly residents yesterday elected a new state rep. And, outside of the city, my colleague Anna Orso explored how a major swing county in Pennsylvania is feeling as the Democratic primary heats up.
— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Within hours of a federal judge’s issuing a final ruling that a proposed supervised injection site would not violate federal law, site operators said they would open one in South Philly next week. It’ll be the first supervised-injection site in the United States.
Sources familiar with the decision confirmed to my colleagues that the site would operate out of Constitution Health Plaza at 1930 S. Broad St., just steps from Passyunk Avenue. A second site elsewhere in the city could open shortly after this first one does.
The organizers behind Safehouse, the nonprofit formed to open the site, are expected to announce more details of their plan at a news conference today. Check Inquirer.com for more information on this developing story.
Getting the One Ardmore apartments built was an epic struggle that spanned more than a decade. Lower Merion residents didn’t like the architecture. And neighbors fought a $10.5 million state grant all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court — and lost.
Last spring, the 110-unit luxury building opened. But it’s now facing other unforeseen hurdles: complaints about mold and poor air quality. And, some residents say they’ve gotten sick and have been forced to leave. But the company that owns the building calls the Facebook and Nextdoor app complaints “misinformation” based on “unfounded and unscientific claims.”
One of the common refrains for Democrats in the Lehigh Valley is: “Any blue will do.” There’s an anxiety, especially among a group of women in Northampton County, that President Donald Trump will win again, which can overwhelm any preference about which candidate should ultimately take him on. Pennsylvania’s April 28 primary is still two months away, but some organizers in the swing county are on edge, spending hours gaming out how different Democrats might appeal to their neighbors.
Republicans and Democrats see Northampton County as an opportunity. But compared with places in Pennsylvania that also flipped to Trump in 2016, the Lehigh Valley skews higher in income and education levels, demographics that align more with Democrats.
[🗳️Interested in how Pennsylvania is shaping the 2020 election? We’re launching a new email newsletter covering the nation’s ultimate battleground state. Sign up and don’t forget to pass it along.]
What you need to know today
The Democratic presidential candidates sparred again in debate last night just days before the South Carolina primary.
Voters in West Philly selected Democrat Roni Green to be their new state representative.
The CDC warned yesterday that the coronavirus will spread in the U.S. But health departments in New Jersey and Pennsylvania said that they haven’t yet received working testing kits.
A poll taken in a key Pennsylvania county that Trump flipped from Barack Obama indicates that the president trails his top Democratic opponents despite positive feelings about the economy, which is usually a predictor of reelection strength.
New Jersey has taken the groundbreaking step of declaring white supremacists a major threat.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
☔I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. Rain is no fun, but it does make for some great pictures. Thanks for sharing, @ninthdayofmarch.
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
💐Tickets for the Philadelphia Flower Show cost 40% more this year than they did last year. But the president of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society said the increase had nothing to do with systemic losses at the organization or the decline in the group’s endowment.
🤕Ben Simmons won’t be playing for at least the next two weeks because of a nerve impingement in his back. And that is forcing the Sixers to confront an injury situation they predicted.
📚Though Black History Month officially ends this week, a first-grade teacher is on a mission to change how the subject is taught in New Jersey public schools all year.
🎨On the outside, his life looked perfect. On the inside, he was “friggin’ miserable.” So he left his corporate finance job to become an artist, and it’s actually working out.
🤖You should expect more apartments around Philly to offer smart-home tech.
😋We have these five restaurant weeks in the Philly region on our radar.
Opinions
“Teachers have always faced a complex task, but the job today is harder than ever. Not only have rigorous national standards added pressure to improve student performance, but classrooms must also support an increasingly diverse student population with a wide range of backgrounds and learning abilities.” — writes Deanna Burney, who has served as a principal at the elementary, middle, and high school levels in Philadelphia, about Philly teachers needing more support and respect to stay in their jobs.
The Inquirer Editorial Board writes that Philadelphia is right to take the LGBTQ foster care case to the Supreme Court to fight a “bigoted view that should not be rewarded with public funds.”
The 2020 Census represents an opportunity for black Philadelphians to reclaim power, writes Alyn E. Waller, senior pastor of the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia, and Andrea Custis, the president and CEO of the Urban League of Philadelphia.
What we’re reading
Supporters of the Free Library system are asking for more money for the city’s libraries after last year’s efforts didn’t have much success. KYW reports on how advocates are trying to make an impact 10 days before Mayor Kenney presents his budget to City Hall.
A turquoise fish may hold the secret to stopping human aging, the Guardian reports.
Chicago magazine did an oral history of the accidental dognapping that captivated the city.
Your Daily Dose of | 💌 Philly Love 💌
Sally Field, Jason Segel, André Benjamin, Eve Lindley, and the rest of the cast and crew of Dispatches From Elsewhere this week released a video titled “Love Letter to Philadelphia.” Here’s a quote from Segel that really stuck out: “I really fell in love with the city. It has all the culture of a big city, but I never felt like it was in charge of me. When I walk out the door in New York, I’m like, the city is in charge. But in Philly, it felt like much more of a partnership.” The show premieres Sunday night on AMC.