Banged-up Birds’ season ends; the issues City Council will examine in 2020 | Morning Newsletter
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The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Although the Eagles’ loss is a downer, there’s plenty to look forward to this morning. With 2020 upon us, Philly has a new-look City Council and a new police commissioner. My colleagues preview the challenges and opportunities ahead.
— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
In the end, injuries and the Seahawks were just too much to overcome. Carson Wentz’s playoff debut was cut short when he was ruled out for the rest of the game after taking a hit to the head in the first quarter. From there, 40-year-old backup Josh McCown played well but was ultimately able to lead the Eagles’ rag-tag offense to only three field goals.
The Seahawks will move on to play the Packers next weekend, while the Birds head into an offseason after a year plagued by injuries and inconsistent play.
A younger, more liberal City Council will be sworn in today at the Met Philadelphia. My colleague Laura McCrystal spoke with several of the city’s new and returning Council members. The main issues that’ll take center stage in 2020 are poverty, gentrification, gun violence, education funding, and cleaning up environmental hazards in city schools.
But there’s still the question of how a more liberal group of councilors will shape policies around these issues. A longtime observer of city politics is a bit skeptical about how far to the left City Council will actually move.
In no particular order, new Philly police commissioner Danielle Outlaw will have to rebuild the department’s accountability, select her inner circle, and drive down violent crime. And those overarching plans and decisions will also direct how the department handles other issues.
For example, she’ll have to examine Philadelphia’s relationship with immigration authorities. Outlaw has both defended and ended ICE partnerships in the past.
What you need to know today
Here’s how Pennsylvania’s new sentencing guidelines for probation violators “could increase mass incarceration."
Two members of Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation, who represent battleground districts, have endorsed Joe Biden in the Democratic primary.
A crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike yesterday that involved a tour bus, tractor-trailers, and passenger vehicles killed five people and injured at least 60, according to a turnpike spokesman.
Philly-area lawmakers are divided about the U.S. strike that killed a top Iranian military leader. This weekend, protesters in Philly and throughout Pennsylvania rallied and marched against the action.
Days after the blackface episode at the Mummers Parade on New Year’s Day, two Mummers associations condemned “expressions of hate.” The Fancy Brigade Association and the String Band Association released separate statements that disapproved of events that involved “racial discrimination.”
A teenager has been charged in the fatal stabbing of a South Jersey deli owner. A regular patron of the deli started a GoFundMe effort to help the family of the victim, and it surpassed its goal of $30,000 yesterday.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
Hey Eagles fans, take that same energy into 2020. Thanks for capturing the the mood yesterday, @kylehuff.
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
🦅Even though the Birds lost, Eagles fans showed up for their team at the Linc yesterday. We compiled the best moments from the tailgates.
💳After a massive data breach, some of Target’s leaders left the company. Should Wawa’s bosses get the same treatment?
🏥Americans’ health changed in 2019. And five phenomena had an outsized impact.
🍬A South Jersey candy shop began when a man sold caramels out of a Model T Ford in 1920. Now, the beloved shop is turning 100.
🌴“Ugly chic” clogs made a Philly-area business millions. Now, the couple who started that company has a new business venture: tropical farms.
⚾/🎤Philly’s combo batting cages/concert venue packed the house for the last time this weekend. “The whole point of [Everybody Hits] is that it was batting cages,” said a concert promoter, “that just happened to have sick shows.”
Opinions
“A pair of New Year’s Eve 'pocket’ vetoes by Mayor Jim Kenney left Philadelphia’s poorest taxpayers and residents with little to celebrate.” — The Inquirer Editorial Board writes about some of the mayor’s final moves of 2019.
The Mummers Parade can be saved, despite its controversies, Ron Goldwyn writes. Goldwyn covered Mummers and the parade for the Daily News for more than 20 years and also served as a commentator on the parade telecast.
Inquirer columnist Trudy Rubin writes about the killing of Qassem Soleimani, which, she writes, has started a war without clear goals or a strategy to cope with Iran’s revenge.
What we’re reading
An Asbury Park Press report finds that New Jersey police chases kill innocent victims while catching relatively few criminals.
A New York Times story explores how elders tell their children that it’s OK to say goodbye and how children tell their parents it’s OK to go.
The Intercept published an essay about what it’s like to try to escape from the Australian fires.
Your Daily Dose of | Christmas wishes coming true
After 963 days in a Philadelphia shelter, Lucy, a 4-year-old mastiff-pit bull mix, woke up in a plush brown dog bed inside her new home. Lucy was one of several pets adopted as part of a December initiative that included letters to Santa that asked to be adopted.