Mobile COVID-19 testing has made its Philly debut | Morning Newsletter
And, the Eagles didn’t lose (but they didn’t win either).
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
So how do we feel about the Eagles' game yesterday? Down late in the fourth quarter to the Bengals, the Birds did mount a comeback before a scoreless overtime period ended the game in a tie. “Is this as low as they can go?” asks beat writer Les Bowen.
In other news, tomorrow marks five weeks until Election Day. My colleagues have been reporting on everything you need to know about registering to vote, casting a ballot, and more. Find it all at Inquirer.com/election.
— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 Mobile Response Unit made its first stops in Philadelphia this weekend. Along with offering free testing, the unit also offers information and bilingual support through a partnership with the state Health Department, the Independence Blue Cross Foundation, and Latino Connection. After making stops elsewhere in the state, the unit stopped at the Columbia North YMCA on North Broad Street and Concilio, a Latino community organization on Hunting Park Avenue.
The unit’s motto is “sharing knowledge to erase fear,” and the CEO and founder of Latino Connection said the effort recognizes that making it easier "for people to receive free PPE items and information in both English and Spanish ... is essential for closing the divide on health disparity in Pennsylvania.”
During Trump’s presidency, a “suburban revolt from the Republican Party" and other political realignments have been building for years, my colleague Andrew Seidman reports. And they’ve been solidified in elections following 2016. Democrats' progress has varied depending on the region, and one test is the largely white, affluent, and well-educated towns outside Pittsburgh, where Republicans have held seats for decades.
WeChat, the social media app owned by a Chinese tech giant, combines aspects of Facebook, Venmo, Google Drive, Twitter, Zoom, and text messages in a single app. And for many local Chinese Americans and immigrants from China, it can serve as a type of lifeline, my colleague Jason Laughlin reports. The app helps connect people with family overseas and helps with networking, organizing, and communication.
The Trump administration says it’s concerned that the data gathered on WeChat could end up in the hands of the Chinese government. A ban would prevent the app and incremental upgrades from being downloaded.
What you need to know today
“I do think that people are motivated,” said State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, a Philadelphia Democrat and a top Joe Biden supporter in the state, about Black voters' support of the former VP. "I also think people are incredibly disheartened by the drain of all that has come with the mismanagement of this pandemic. But I often push back on this amorphous idea of enthusiasm because ... an enthusiastic vote, an unenthusiastic vote, counts the same. A vote is a vote.”
You shouldn’t wait to fill out the 2020 Census, even though the deadline could be extended.
One nightmare scenario for Pennsylvania election officials is a fight over which presidential candidate will win the state and grab its electoral votes. But the head of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania has fueled fears of chaos by saying that the GOP-controlled legislature could be allowed to choose a slate of electors loyal to President Donald Trump even if he doesn’t win the popular vote.
After decades of financial stress, Chester City has created another plan to revitalize its waterfront.
Police shot and killed a Pennsylvania man during a confrontation in August in Ventnor, N.J. Videos show that police failed to stun the man because a Taser wouldn’t work.
The New York Times uncovered two years of President Trump’s tax returns, claiming that he paid $750 in U.S. income taxes in 2016 and 2017.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
Keep sharing those fall colors. Great shot, @strangerphilly.
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
🦅A tie? Yep, a tie. The Eagles made a comeback against the Bengals yesterday, only for the game to end in a tie after neither team scored in overtime.
⚾To add to our city’s sports woes, the Phillies' loss yesterday officially ended their season — the ninth in a row where they’ve failed to make the playoffs.
🥚These dogs are being trained to sniff out spotted lanternfly eggs.
⛳Compared withlast August, golf rounds were up over 20% last month. Courses in the Philly region are feeling a coronavirus pandemic boost.
💍When COVID-19 ruins wedding plans, are couples the ones left paying the price?
🎼There will be fall classical music and dance seasons in Philly. But they’re going to look a whole lot different.
Opinions
“But if this pandemic has taught us anything, it’s how important the little things, which are actually the big things, are when all seems lost. That includes family, and to many people, including myself, that family means their beloved animals.” — writes columnist Helen Ubiñas about a Philly animal disaster relief program that works — but is shutting down.
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, a Republican, writes about why he’s voting for Joe Biden.
Columnist Maria Panaritis writes about an underfunded school district struggling with a teacher shortage that eliminated its pandemic cyber academy, putting even more stress on families.
What we’re reading
Philadelphia Magazine writes about chef Elijah Milligan and his pop-up dinner series that’s turning into a restaurant concept called Greenwood, named after the Black Wall Street district in Tulsa, Okla., that was destroyed by a white mob in 1921.
The Los Angeles Times has a story about the “anti-Spotify.” It’s called Bandcamp, a music streaming platform that has become much more as it focused on transparency and niche communities.
Thousands of people have started to book flights that take off and land in the same place just to feel the thrill of flying again, the New York Times reports.
Your Daily Dose of | Wine cork art
At 92, Walter Deuschle isn’t one to turn down a challenge. While undergoing monthly chemotherapy treatments for leukemia, Deuschle has spent time in his Huntingdon Valley home art studio building a 7½-foot-tall Eiffel Tower made out of wine corks.