How to solve gun violence | Morning Newsletter
And a SEPTA exec got paid big money to leave
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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
You can expect clear skies and a high of 51.
Philadelphians agree that the most important issue facing the city is crime.
It’s not a coincidence that it’s the No. 1 issue in the mayor’s race. The city’s gun violence crisis has driven an unprecedented number of homicides over the past three years.
Our lead story explores what residents believe could solve it.
If you see this 🔑 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.
— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Nearly half of Philadelphians in a recent poll of more than 1,200 people said that gun violence has a negative impact on their quality of life.
Important note: Black and Hispanic residents were much more likely to agree with that statement than white residents, as well as less affluent residents compared to wealthier ones.
The responses reflect the reality of living in a shooting crisis that has claimed more than 1,500 lives in just three years.
In interviews with nearly a dozen residents, people conveyed an ever-present fear of life in the city.
Respondents to the poll said the most important solution is to expand access to mental health and drug treatment services, followed by improving community-police relations.
Keep reading to learn more ways residents suggest solving the city’s gun violence crisis.
Apparently when you’re at the top, leaving a job can be just as lucrative as working there.
SEPTA effectively paid an executive to leave and continued to be responsible for his six-figure salary — plus severance costs — ever since he left the agency in December 2021.
The reason: SEPTA eliminated Lund’s job in a COVID-era reorganization about a year into a three-year employment contract. Under the contract’s terms, SEPTA must continue paying him through the end of the contract and provide six months of severance as a penalty for termination.
The result: Former deputy general manager Robert L. Lund Jr. remained the agency’s third-highest-paid employee last year, collecting a $297,076 annual salary, according to an Inquirer review of the transit agency’s payroll records.
SEPTA will continue paying the former executive until June 30, which means he will have collected a total of nearly $450,000 in salary and severance payments since the agency terminated his employment.
Keep reading to learn more about SEPTA’s record of enticing other top officials to leave.
What you should know today
Mayoral candidate Jeff Brown got $18.7 million in taxpayer support to open ShopRite stores in “food deserts.” 🔑
Raquel Evita Saraswati pretended to be a woman of color and traumatized the communities she claimed to help.
The future of the Philly Pops has grown more uncertain as the group postponed another set of concerts and the musicians of the Pops filed suit against their own management.
Philly high school students now have access to free mental health online, but some parents are wary of its use. 🔑
A long-lost 19th-century oil painting was rescued from a basement and reborn after six years of restoration, scientific study, and authentication. It’s now on display at the University of Pennsylvania’s Arthur Ross Gallery. 🔑
Philly’s horror comic, Killadelphia, is about a lot more than John Adams’ vampire revolution.
Jose Garces’ flagship Spanish restaurant, Amada, opened on the Main Line. 🔑
🧠 Trivia time 🧠
What is the name of Tastykake’s mascot?
A. Kurtis Krimpet
B. Kirbee Krimpet
C. Smiley
D. None of the above
Find out if you know the answer.
What we’re...
💸 Watching: The parent company of Silicon Valley Bank filed for bankruptcy a week after the tech-focused bank collapsed.
📚Reading: World War Z for the first time. If you have any similar book recommendations, feel free to email me.
🍴Craving: Halal hot chicken sandwiches.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram 🧩
Hint: A historical landmark and museum on Arch Street
ROSE BUSHES TOYS
We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Send us your own original anagram to unscramble if you’d like. Cheers to Matt Hilferty, who correctly guessed Sunday’s answer: Irish potatoes. Email us if you know the answer.
Photo of the day
In Friday’s newsletter, I incorrectly said where the proposed Sixers arena would go. It would be near Chinatown.
And that’s been your news debrief to start your week. Thanks for waking up with The Inquirer.