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Trauma persists | Morning Newsletter

And not enough paid parental leave.

Jacqueline Satchel (left) and her daughter, Daisha Moore, are grieving the loss of son and brother Donte Moore.
Jacqueline Satchel (left) and her daughter, Daisha Moore, are grieving the loss of son and brother Donte Moore.Read moreJessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
    by Taylor Allen
    Published 

    The Morning Newsletter

    Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter

It looks like another day of rain and scattered thunderstorms. Temps will reach a high of 90.

We’re halfway through the year and the rate of Philadelphia’s gun violence has fallen slightly. Also, homicide detectives are solving more cases this year. Although the modest improvements are a step forward, our lead story shows that there’s still a lot of work to be done.

— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

‘The hurt never goes away’

The rate of Philly’s gun violence has seen a moderate decline the past six months.

It’s hopeful but it’s also important to keep in mind that it follows the city’s most violent years in recent memory and the rate of shootings is double what it was eight years ago. The pain of the last 3½ years is fresh. More than 1,700 people were killed since 2020, when the crisis began to climb.

In her own words: “The hurt never goes away. You just learn to live with it,” Jacqueline Satchel, 54, said of living without her son, Donte Moore, who was killed a month before his 25th birthday.

The current pace of killings is still higher than it was in 2020. If this continues, the city will record the fourth-highest number of homicides in a single year since the height of the crack-cocaine epidemic in the 1990s.

Keep reading for a data breakdown of the pace of shootings.

Longer paid parental leave ... but it’s still not enough

Thousands of Philadelphia city workers will soon get six weeks of paid parent leave.

Reminder: Six weeks of paid leave for new parents is significantly less time than many private employers offer, and it’s half what federal workers across the country get.

Still, it’s a two-week expansion of the current benefit that is intended to retain workers as the municipal government struggles with a short-staffing crisis. Proponents frame it as an incremental step. It’ll initially apply to elected officials, Council appointees, some department heads, and others who aren’t represented by a labor union.

Pay attention: Benefits for unionized employees must be collectively bargained. The agreement shows a new willingness by lawmakers to expand parental leave benefits for the city’s 25,000-member workforce ahead of contract negotiations expected to begin next year with the city’s four major municipal unions.

Keep reading to learn more details of the agreement.

What you should know today

  1. Six Moms for Liberty protesters were arrested on the final day of the group’s Philly summit. According to activists, five were arrested Sunday morning for blocking traffic outside the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. A sixth was arrested for waving a flag over a barricade set up outside the hotel.

  2. In Pennsylvania, a slight majority of mobile homes and similar single-family dwellings are in urban areas. Homeowners on rented land are vulnerable and often unprotected.

  3. We looked into how residents from Philly’s hottest neighborhoods are coping as temperatures rise.

  4. Comcast employees’ reactions range from frustrated to celebratory over the new plan to require workers to show up in the office four days a week.

  5. A former warehouse in North Philly could become affordable senior housing.

  6. Wells Fargo will leave nine floors on Independence Mall to consolidate offices on West Market Street.

  7. We have a list of the best summer beers from local spots to pack for picnics and beach days.

🧠 Trivia time 🧠

Which Philadelphia restaurant won the best breakfast contest on Good Morning America last week?

A) Middle Child

B) Bart’s Bagels

C) Beck’s Cajun Cafe

D) Darnel’s Cakes

Think you know? Check your answer.

What we’re...

✅ Fact-checking: Speeches from former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley at the Moms for Liberty convention this weekend included multiple inaccuracies or lacked context.

👀 Watching: President Joe Biden’s potential new plans for student loan relief after the Supreme Court wiped out his original effort.

🧩 Unscramble the anagram 🧩

Hint: Wawa Welcome America 🎆

ALDO MOTIVE

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Fred Kaplan who correctly guessed Sunday’s answer: Dock Street Brewery.

Photo of the day

And that should get your week started. I’m off to a last-minute grocery store run before tomorrow’s Fourth of July cookout with my family. Thanks for waking up with us. ☀️