The South Jersey power family getting into the bread biz | Morning Newsletter
And the latest snow forecast
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Here’s hoping your Thursday is off to a good start. It’s a cold one, with temps again hovering in the 30s.
Today we look at the latest venture from South Jersey power broker George Norcross III, whose reach extends downashore with his purchase of an iconic bakery. Let’s get into it.
— Kerith Gabriel (@sprtswtr, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com )
The latest business venture from George Norcross III isn’t what we’d expect, with a partner we wouldn’t expect.
But here we are: The Norcross family now owns a majority share of Atlantic City’s Formica Bread, the iconic bakery that’s been a staple of the Shore since 1919. Norcross is adding “Freitag” to the name, in honor of his great-grandfather, who owned a German bakery in Camden in the late 19th century.
Norcross, a South Jersey Democratic power broker, did the deal with Frank Formica, a Republican and former Atlantic County freeholde. Formica says politics were put aside and this is all about the dough.
“We’re all kindred spirits... of flour,” he tells our reporter Amy S. Rosenberg, who summed up the deal with this line: “Politics makes strange … bread fellows.”
What you should know today
Forecasters are now saying there’s potential for up to six inches of snow for Philly this weekend, depending on how a winter storm develops.
Philly residents finally got a chance to sound off on City Council’s redistricting plan. They aren’t happy.
The omicron variant’s biggest opponent? The booster shot. So why are so many in Philly not getting one?
The dean of Temple’s college of education plans to step down amid complaints from faculty.
Brandon Brooks will retire as an Eagles great for his efforts on the field and as an advocate for mental health.
And we examine the must-read book of the year for all Philadelphians, as suggested by the Free Library.
Local Coronavirus Numbers: Here’s your daily look at the latest COVID-19 data.
🧠 Philly Trivia Time 🧠
Amy Schneider’s amazing winning streak on Jeopardy! came to an end yesterday. Schneider, whose 40 victories are the second most in the show’s history, lost to a librarian from Chicago. She pocketed a nice little chunk of change for her time. Today’s question: How much prize money did Schneider win? Take a guess and find the answer here.
a. $1.1 million
b. $1.3 million
c. $2.1 million
What we’re …
🧶 Suggesting: The best craft stores for those who like to get their knit on.
❄️ Remembering: A rogue snowstorm that surprised our region in 1979. I wasn’t around for that one, but I can readily recall the week off of school got for the blizzard of 1996.
☝🏽 Debating: Should Penn revoke the tenure of controversial law professor Amy Wax? It’s our latest Pro/Con.
Photo of the day
Just wanted to say thanks to all the readers who took the time to email their guesses for Wednesday’s trivia question. If you guessed “Lean on Me,” then you nailed it.
🎵 Fair Eastside …🎵