Police Commissioner Outlaw’s defense | Morning Newsletter
And, a Reading Viaduct update.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
First: Commissioner Danielle Outlaw says she will not resign.
Then: Our architecture critic, Inga Saffron, has an update efforts to clean up the Reading Viaduct.
And: A stock app called Robinhood seems to have more in common with the Sheriff of Nottingham, and a windy forecast ensures the rest of us unsure footing. I’ll be with y’all every Friday for the next few weeks, so let’s make the first one a good one. Happy weekend, y’all.
— Tommy Rowan (@tommyrowan, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw didn’t back down Thursday despite calls for her to resign after the release of a report disclosing that she sought to use tear gas against protesters.
Forcefully, Outlaw defended the way she led her department during protests and civil unrest last year, answering questions during a news conference that followed the release of a critical independent report.
Outlaw said she has the support of Mayor Jim Kenney, and has no plans to resign.
“Am I enough? Absolutely, and some,” she said during the news conference. “Do I deserve to be here? Absolutely, and some. Did I lead this department in the last year? Absolutely, and some. No police commissioner, chief, superintendent has ever had to deal with what we’ve dealt with in the past year.”
The report, released Wednesday, was commissioned by the city controller and conducted by two independent firms.
More than 35 years after the Reading Railroad went out of it business, its old viaduct and Spring Garden station still blight the Callowhill loft district. Its property has become a magnet for illegal dumping and drug users.
The city has cited the company for numerous violations, but has gotten nowhere. Now a local developer wants to use Pennsylvania’s Act 135 law to acquire oversight for the property and force a cleanup.
This effort comes 18 months after property owners rejected a special services district to deal with the trash problem, writes architecture critic Inga Saffron.
Helpful COVID-19 Resources
It’s time to double mask or upgrade masks as coronavirus variants emerge, experts say.
COVID-19 vaccines can cause side effects. Here’s why that shouldn’t stop you from getting the shots.
Sign up to get free coronavirus news updates in your inbox three times a week.
What you need to know today
Day-traders on Robinhood and elsewhere are pouncing on public companies and driving up prices, including American Airlines, BlackBerry and GameStop. Here is what’s behind the movement.
Philly Fighting COVID CEO admits to taking vaccine doses and administering them to his friends.
Philadelphia officials will consider establishing a public bank in an effort to boost Black-owned businesses.
Former Atlantic City Mayor Frank Gilliam was sentenced to 30 days in federal prison for stealing $86K from a youth basketball club.
After Philly’s coldest shot in two years, forecasters see winter-storm threat late Sunday into Tuesday.
SEPTA Chestnut Hill West Line will return with “restricted service” in March.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
Thanks, @carolynleonard.photos, for this terrific shot of the Manayunk Canal Towpath.
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
🎉 Here’s a list of things to do this week, which may help make February the best month of the year (hear us out).
🦅 Ex-Cardinals skipper Ken Whisenhunt has worked with the Eagles’ Nick Sirianni and Shane Steichen, and he says they will earn players’ respect. We hope so.
🎥 Our crack Clout team offers a sneak peek at the new documentary on Philly District Attorney Larry Krasner: ”We’re here because we’re different.”
☕ Our very own Insider compiled a list of new coffee shops that opened during the pandemic.
🏀 When Ben Simmons attacks the basket, the Sixers are a better team. Ask the Lakers.
Opinions
“During my 30 years of working in five television markets across the country, I heard countless stories from colleagues of both overt and subtle experiences of racism akin to what is alleged in the CBS investigation. Far too often, women and people of color find themselves navigating newsrooms full of land mines at the intersection of race, gender, and age.” — Former NBC10 anchor Renee Chenault Fattah wrote regarding CBS3 exec’s comments about Ukee Washington.
Columnist Helen Ubiñas writes about a Philadelphia filmmaker who produced a love letter to her brother, who was shot and killed in June.
Contributor Alison McCook argues that for too many people living and working in long-term care facilities, the vaccine came far too late.
What we’re reading
Philly Mag says that after 17 years underground, ”a great, big hoard of cicadas are ready to descend upon Pennsylvania this spring.”
In the Washington Post, sports columnist Barry Svrluga argues that the Curt Schilling mess shows how baseball’s Hall of Fame voting process is broken.
Billy Penn studied SEPTA data and found that more people fell on train tracks in 2020 than in the last five years despite massive ridership drop.
In the end, the Phillies and catcher J.T. Realmuto needed each other too much to split up. But why did it take so long to make a deal? Reporter Scott Lauber pieces it together with details from some of the key people involved in the negotiations.