What a Biden-Harris ticket means for Pa. | Morning Newsletter
And, the nation’s leading behavioral health nonprofit for youth failed to protect its children from sexual abuse.
The Morning Newsletter
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We now know the full Democratic ticket for the 2020 election, as Joe Biden has tapped California Sen. Kamala Harris to be his running mate. My colleagues spoke to Democrats in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania about the choice, and whether Harris will have a profound impact on how the state swings in November.
And yesterday, a sobering investigation into the nation’s leading behavioral health nonprofit for youth uncovered supervision, staffing, and training lapses that led to the abuse of children.
— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Founded in Chester County more than a century ago, Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health specializes in treating children with intellectual disabilities, mental disorders, and trauma. And last year, it won a $40.2 million federal contract to house immigrant children separated from their parents at the border, saying it was “uniquely qualified” to detect and prevent sexual assault.
But my colleagues Lisa Gartner and Barbara Laker found that Devereux staff abused children for years — while red flags were ignored. At least 41 children as young as 12 have been raped or sexually assaulted by staff members in the last 25 years, according to their investigation, which relied on criminal cases, lawsuits, medical records, incident reports, therapy notes, pay stubs, text messages, police interviews and interviews with former residents, family members, staffers, attorneys, and law enforcement officers. Devereux has pledged to implement new procedures to address these issues.
“Harris represents the future and promise of this country. Her candidacy is historic and inspiring, not only for Black Americans, but for millions of Asian American voters, the fastest growing voting bloc in the country,” said a statement from a leader of a group that backs Indian American candidates.
That sentiment was echoed by many Democrats in the region following Joe Biden’s selection of Harris as his running mate. She is the first woman of color on a major presidential ticket. But some who hoped for a more liberal choice to pair with Biden’s relative centrism were more focused on winning November’s election than on enthusiasm for Harris.
At an emergency virtual hearing held by Philadelphia City Council yesterday, officials including District Attorney Larry Krasner, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, and councilmembers tried to come up with new strategies to combat the city’s spike in gun violence.
While the meeting did little to provide explanations for the increased violence, it did lay out the scale of the problems the city faces. It also provided a platform where officials expressed outrage and exhaustion, especially in relation to the shootings that have wounded or killed over 100 children in the city so far this year.
What you need to know today
Penn State won’t be playing college football this fall — at least not as a member of the Big Ten. The conference was the first Power 5 league to postpone fall sports including football because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Pac-12 made a similar decision later yesterday.
Penn will hold only remote classes this fall and dorms will be closed to almost all students. No on-campus activities will be held, either.
Philly sanitation workers couldn’t keep up with the volume of trash on the city’s sidewalks in recent weeks, so they began to combine garbage and recycling, according to a city official. The practice will stop as soon as workers catch up on the backlog, the official said.
College students from India were recruited to go to Pennsylvania and New Jersey to collect proceeds from an international robocall scam, federal prosecutors say.
A longtime Philadelphia judge doesn’t wear a mask in court. And prosecutors and defense are complaining.
Employers had the chance to apply for Pennsylvania’s $50 million hazard pay program. But some employers turned down the opportunity to get the added funds that would have given employees a pay boost, enraging workers, my colleague Juliana Feliciano Reyes reports.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
That’s a nice summer haul, @dianneb53. If you want to get a head start on your fall harvest, check out my colleague Grace Dickinson’s story.
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
⛈️Yep, there’s another flood watch in the region set for tomorrow.
🏒The Flyers face the Montreal Canadiens tonight in the NHL playoffs. Here are 20 things you should know about the Habs.
🌶️Growing up in Mississippi, chef Nia Minard didn’t think much of the hot tamales that were sold on the street in Yazoo City. Then, after leaving Mississippi for Philadelphia, she says she “really started to value my own distinct foodways.” The result: she’s now serving up her takes on her hometown’s comfort foods every Wednesday night this summer out of a food truck in Mifflin Square Park.
🥗Gardeners, it’s time to start planning for your fall harvest. Here’s what you should be planting now.
🚓Have a traffic ticket you don’t think you deserved? Fighting it can be worth it, according to an assistant district attorney.
🏈My colleague Phil Anastasia reports on what the shutdown of Philadelphia Public League sports means for the athletes.
Opinions
“But these players, some of whom are playing without a paycheck while the communities they came from struggle to make ends meet, have no reason to trust that the system that’s exploited them for so long will have their health and safety as the top priority. They’re being asked to play during a pandemic that has claimed more than 150,000 lives, disproportionately impacting Black communities and minorities as a whole.” — writes staff writer EJ Smith in a column about whether college football should be played this season.
Should the U.S. Postal Service be privatized? Rep. Dwight Evans and David Ditch, a research associate at the Heritage Foundation, discuss the pros and cons.
Columnist Jenice Armstrong writes that Philadelphians shouldn’t follow Mayor Jim Kenney’s advice and stop their DIY home projects to accommodate the city’s delayed trash pickups.
What we’re reading
Philadelphia’s former zero waste and litter director writes for the Philadelphia Citizen about how to fix Philly’s trash problem.
Are we hurting our pets? A Guardian story explores whether we have an “unhealthy relationship with other species.”
HuffPost has a story on how schools are grappling with disciplining students from afar. Can you block a student from an online classroom?
Your Daily Dose of | Bread + Math
When the coronavirus pandemic changed life as we knew it, many turned to baking. Philly math teacher Zach Posnan did, too. But he’s taken it to a different level. In his home oven, Posnan has baked up a hibiscus and lemon zest boule, a loaf that tastes like a Detroit-style pizza, and the bright purple one you can see above.