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For these neighborhoods, the DA race is personal | Morning Newsletter

And, the Eagles schedule is out.

    The Morning Newsletter

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

Hello, dedicated readers of The Inquirer Morning Newsletter.

First: Community members and leaders in neighborhoods among the hardest hit by crime and incarceration discuss the Philly DA race.

Then: Here’s everything you need to know about the Eagles’ recently-released schedule.

And: Thirty-six years ago today, Philadelphia became “The City That Bombed Itself.”

— Ashley Hoffman (@_ashleyhoffman, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

For two North Philly neighbors two blocks apart, their choice in the DA’s race is about more than politics — it’s personal. Lisa Dees’ 15-year probation for food stamp fraud finally ended in 2018. She credits incumbent Larry Krasner for that.

Sazam Berrios is afraid, two blocks over, where drug activity has spiked. He blames the DA. Democratic challenger Carlos Vega, who says he’ll be harder on criminals, has his vote. Though the pandemic has led to a surge in violence in other big cities, too, some blame Krasner and his emphasis on reform for the violence in Philly. For some, Vega’s appeal is just that he’s not Krasner, who is determined to upend a system he says fails Black and brown communities.

Read on for reporters Julia Terruso, Ellie Rushing, and Oona Goodin-Smith’s story about how residents in neighborhoods with some of the highest crime and incarceration rates are deciding between candidates in the race for district attorney of Philadelphia.

Your 2021 NFL Schedule Starter Kit

The NFL announced its 2021 schedule last night, and the Eagles are headed to Las Vegas for the first time ever to face the Raiders on Oct. 24. NFL stadiums, including Lincoln Financial Field, also are set to be filled with fans this season. Read on for a look at the upcoming schedule, including one of the most anticipated road games, especially for Eagles fans on the ground.

  1. Our beat writers, all of whom are dedicated Bird watchers, predict the outcomes of all 17 games.

  2. What are the odds? In sports betting, and in life, you better shop around. Here are the Eagles’ and opponents’ win totals, and Super Bowl odds.

  1. 🆕 Whether you’re anxious about reopening, cautiously optimistic, or ready to go out now, here’s how to handle the social aspects of the new normal.

  2. Symptoms of COVID-19, flu, common cold, and allergies can overlap. How to tell the difference.

  3. Here’s our guide to safety and side effects of the vaccine for kids and teens.

  4. Here’s when you need to wear a mask, according to CDC guidance.

  5. Here’s what you need to know about taking allergy medicines before getting a COVID-19 vaccine.

  6. Side effects mean your COVID-19 vaccine is working. But what if you don’t have a reaction?

What you need to know today

  1. On May 13, 1985, police dropped a bomb on the West Philly MOVE house. The fire caused by the explosion killed 11 people, including five children, an atrocity that Philadelphia still grapples with today.

  2. Earmarks are back. How about $1 million for a sports and recreation facility in North Philadelphia and $500,000 to help people with mental health problems in Bucks County? This is what lawmakers want Congress to spend money on in Pa. and South Jersey.

  3. Even as overdose deaths rose across the country last year, new prescriptions for buprenorphine — widely considered the gold standard for opioid addiction treatment for new patients — dropped in the early days of the pandemic.

  4. A Chester County man facing charges in the January rioting at the Capitol told FBI agents he stormed the building but claimed antifa was behind the attack.

  5. The pandemic and polarizing 2020 election was so pervasive that it has made its way into Pennsylvania’s normally low-profile school board races.

  6. Misrepresentation in media impacts marginalized communities. Know the four kinds of information pollution.

Through your eyes | #OurPhilly

Vacation, all we ever wanted.

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

🛫 CEOs of Heathrow and Philadelphia International Airport are urging President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to allow for more U.S.-U.K. travel.

🛍️ Tour Ammon Mediterranean Market, the grocer that’s keeping South Jersey stocked with a robust inventory of Middle Eastern bread, fresh produce, and halal meat.

🎼 The XPoNential fest lineup for Wiggins Park is here, and more artists could join depending on availability.

🥫 Because we can start a Thursday morning with this, here’s where to get canned cocktails at restaurants and bars.

🎸 Upper Darby’s Todd Rundgren has been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Good things come from banging on the drum all day.

📻 Spike Eskin, who brought major change to WIP, is leaving for New York City’s WFAN.

Opinions

“The struggle in Sheikh Jarrah is one that everyone, especially liberals and progressives, should pay attention to — and stand in solidarity with,” columnist Abraham Gutman writes as his family shelters in Tel Aviv. He says that American progressives’ silence on Palestine is so pervasive that there’s a term for it: “progressive except Palestine.”

  1. Hunting down or confronting trolls can be an endless game of whack-a-mole. Just ask columnist Helen Ubiñas about the movie The Columnist.

  2. Changing a law that should have been abolished long ago is not enough to erase the ongoing legacy of racial discrimination, columnist Solomon Jones writes of Georgia’s overturning its citizen’s arrest law.

What we’re reading

  1. Philly Mag has the early word on ice cream shops coming to the city.

  2. Travelers are headed to the longtime tourist destination of Hawaii, and Teen Vogue has the story on what native Hawaiians would like you to know first.

  3. So they say they really ascended to the top of the world’s highest mountains. Researchers checked that out in a story from The New York Times.

The same sort of self-discipline that served Zoë Martin-Doike as a classic violinist has also been the soundtrack of her studies for an accounting degree while the pandemic shut down live performances. Party idea: Get taxes done after a performance? Music to our ears.