A closer look at Philly’s next top cop | Morning Newsletter
🍽️ And the buffet that feeds up to 7,000 diners
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Happy Thanksgiving Eve. Expect a cloudy day with temps reaching a high of 60.
If your plan is to go to the Philly’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or to avoid it completely, we have your guide to everything you need to know ranging from start times to road closures.
Now, let’s get to the news. We know who will be Philly’s next police commissioner. Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker has tapped Kevin Bethel to be the next top cop of Philadelphia. Our lead story takes a closer look and gives an overview of his extensive career.
— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker plans to introduce Bethel as Philadelphia’s next police commissioner at a news conference at City Hall later today.
It’s a homecoming of sorts for Bethel who worked for 29 years in the city’s Police Department before retiring. For much of the past four years, he has served as the chief of school safety for the School District of Philadelphia.
Of all the candidates known to be considered for the job, he has had the longest path to the position.
Through interviews with people who have worked with him and glimpses into his career, The Inquirer pieced together a sense of how he will be in his new role.
Read more to get a sense of how he might lead the department.
What you should know today
SEPTA’s police union are set to continue tense talks with management to get a new contract, but the union says members “want to walk now.” Salaries for transit police officers remains a key sticking point.
According to police, two people were killed and at least five others were injured in a shooting Tuesday night in North Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration will allow the city’s third annual Palestinian Day of Solidarity next week but it won’t be held near City Hall and organizers are barred from using the city’s official logo and no city representative will speak at the event.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called for University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill to resign, accusing her of failing to combat antisemitism on campus amid tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas war. Republican politicians across the country have similarly blasted university presidents over how they’ve handled college divisions over the war.
Central Bucks Republican voters asked for a recount over the school board election results.
Pennsylvania will host the only 2024 vice presidential debate at Lafayette College.
After five years of union bargaining, workers at 15 restaurants at the Philadelphia International Airport will get pay bumps and free health care.
The Philly band Heavens Edge returned this year with Get It Right, their first new album in 25 years. They never quite made it big but the 60-something hard rockers wouldn’t have it any other way.
Shady Maple Smorgasbord feeds up to 7,000 daily diners in Lancaster County, making it the largest buffet in America.
The Weaver family didn’t set out to be the biggest. They began to feeding people in the early ‘80s by adding a cafeteria to their adjacent farmer’s market. The Shady Maple Smorgasbord opened officially in 1985 with a modest 250 seats.
Today, the buffet can seat close to 2,000 which is about the capacity for Sunday Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul on the Ben Franklin Parkway.
Keep reading to meet the smorgasbord’s regulars.
🧠 Trivia time
Philadelphia is home to the oldest Thanksgiving parade in the country.
This year is the parade’s ___ edition this year?
A) 105th
B) 125th
C) 104th
D) 90th
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
👀 Watching: Things are not going well in Hall and Oates land. Daryl Hall sued John Oates in a Nashville court.
🏠 Perusing: This week’s house of the week is a center hall Colonial with a pond outside of Media, Pa.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Philly’s holiday tree 🎄
CHAT LILY
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Denise Anderson, who correctly guessed Tuesday’s answer: Turkey Trot.
Photo of the day
Your Philly story
Yesterday, I asked you to turn back the clock and share a memory of Thanksgiving in the city. They have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity. Here are some responses:
Laura Szatny: When I was a child, the only real Santa Claus climbed a fire engine ladder and entered Gimbels at the end of the Thanksgiving Day parade. Of course the store was closed for the holiday. So the Friday after Thanksgiving, we took the El from Fishtown to stand at the Eagle and view the wonderful Christmas display. The primary reason for this trip was to stand in what seemed to be a very long line to sit on Santa’s lap. While waiting, my mother chatted with others while I stood by her side. She looked down to see me, but I was gone. When she looked up, there I was sitting on the lap of the real Santa. I has blithely skipped the line. I remember thinking lines couldn’t be for me because the real Santa was waiting just for me. Now, in my 80s, that adventure is family legend.
George Korejko: I took my children and friends to a Thanksgiving Day Parade years ago. Growing up in Fairmount, I knew where to park, near the Glendenning Rock Garden by Girard Avenue on Kelly Drive. It was a cold and overcast day, and by the end, it began to snow. Walking back to the car, we passed Boathouse Row and the Whispering Wall just north of it. On the ride back to Warrington, the kids were excited driving in the snow and we sang Christmas Carols all the way home.
That is it from me. We’ll be taking a break for the Thanksgiving holiday. Paola will be back on Sunday to give you the latest news. See you soon.👋🏽
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