A year with no commute | Morning Newsletter
And, which businesses reopen today.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Good morning. I’m happy to be back with you. Just four days into 2021, there’s plenty to talk about.
First: Life minus the commute gave people in the Philly region who “telecommute” a bonus: precious time. This is how they were able to achieve new heights of productivity rarely possible for so many essential workers.
Then: 2020 was a year that workers marched real changes into action. Here are the 10 most important figures who shaped the labor movement in Philly last year
And: Depending on what happens, a number of activities in Philly are still banned until Jan. 15 in anticipation of the post-holiday revelry spike. Restaurants in most of Pennsylvania — but not Philadelphia — will be able to resume indoor dining today. And gyms can reopen throughout the state. Here are the details on which businesses will reopen today.
— Ashley Hoffman (@_ashleyhoffman, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
The pandemic brought the work commute to a screeching halt for many, and that’s when people in the Philly region got busy.
In 2019, most Philadelphians spent an hour a day commuting. So for the better part of a year, working from home in 2020 unlocked a reserve of newfound potential impossible to contemplate for many workers on the front lines. People who could telecommute relished their time bonus, finding ways to squeeze in workouts, nurture personal relationships, and learn new languages.
The sweeping change could lead to a hybrid work setup, writes transportation reporter Patricia Madej. And as for the transportation world, the unprecedented experiment could be a “sustained shock.”
Here’s how people were feeling about their success stories from the home office in the year that gave them their time back.
The pandemic put the burden of the year squarely on the shoulders of millions of workers.
On this beat at every turn was labor reporter Juliana Feliciano Reyes. In the last year, workers confronted new dangers, new inequities and some of the same ones, and even as unemployment numbers mounted, they demanded more from employers. Organized labor made cases for such things as higher wages for nurses and new laws for domestic workers, and won.
We’ve listed the 10 most important figures in Philadelphia labor in 2020.
Helpful COVID-19 Resources
We’re answering some of the most common vaccine questions in our updated FAQ.
Here are the updated coronavirus case numbers as COVID-19 continues to spread across the region.
What to know before visiting someone who’s recovered from COVID-19.
Is it safe to travel this winter? If you are traveling, here’s a full breakdown on how to stay safer away from home wherever you stay and however you get there.
What are the first symptoms of the coronavirus and what are the differences between COVID-19, the flu, a common cold, and allergies?
Sign up to get free coronavirus news updates in your inbox three times a week.
What you need to know today
This is everything you need to know about what’s reopening today in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania.
When severe COVID-19 patients got widespread tiny blood clots, it alarmed doctors into giving anti-clotting drugs to everyone preventively. But now the latest evidence is suggesting that in the sickest COVID-19 patients, the drugs might not help.
A woman was killed and a driver arrested in a hit-and-run accident in Philly yesterday.
Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Mike Reese died following an apparent brain aneurysm after testing positive for COVID-19.
There was vandalism of federal buildings in Philadelphia on New Year’s Eve. Here’s what we know.
In audio clips from an hour-long call, President Donald Trump can be heard pressuring Georgia secretary of state to recalculate the vote in his favor.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
Let’s start 2021 off with good vibrations, shall we? Thanks for sharing @knicolephilly_.
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
🍲 We take a look at how the nightmarish year for the food industry has changed our eating habits forever.
📦 New Jersey and Pennsylvania rank among the top 10 states that residents left for a new life in 2020.
💖 Two lifelong friends for 80 years who saw the world together were inseparable until the end, when one died of COVID-19.
🔧 Many repair shops let their customers down. But an independent nonprofit put in the work to verify solid repair shops in the Philly region that offer high-quality work at a fair price.
✔️ 2021 is going to be a noisy one for cicadas, and 10 other things we’ve learned about Philly.
🦅 “Honestly, the Eagles season was its own pandemic. It was like an emotional roller coaster, a toxic relationship, and its own coronavirus,” one Center City fan told us. Nothing bands a fandom together like frustration, and if the Eagles did one thing this season that made fans want to drink at a time that shuttered the bars, it was give fans a shared experience.
🏒 The Flyers’ president of business operations, Valerie Camillo, is revamping the game-night experience.
Opinions
“It must be the year to recommit to the most basic promises of a society: to protect, and not imperil, the lives of all its members.” — The Inquirer Editorial Board writes that we need to make this year our year of public health to ensure we’re not unprepared for the next crisis again.
This is what you need to do before your next telehealth visit to get the most out of it, from experts Aditi U. Joshi, medical director of JeffConnect Telehealth, and Resa E. Lewiss, director of the Point-of-Care Ultrasound Division.
With an unconventional inauguration day just days away, it’s debate time. The Inquirer turned to a constitutional lawyer and a historian with a question: Should the presidential inauguration and official transfer of power happen earlier than they do now?
What we’re reading
In vibrant color, mural artists reflected historic fights for justice seemingly overnight. BillyPenn lists the 12 definitive projects born in street art’s birthplace that represented the city’s story in 2020.
Museums across Pennsylvania, excluding Philadelphia, are to reopen with mandatory safety measures in place. PennLive can tell you when 17 of them are slated to reopen this month.
From “stealth moths” to “Joaquin Phoenix’s spider,” the New York Times celebrates creatures to marvel at in this interactive feature.
If you’re determined to go against the grain and keep your New Year’s resolutions, willpower is overrated. You have to have a plan. This four-letter strategy can actually help you organize your thoughts and hold yourself accountable. It’s supported by decades of research. It’s called WOOP — which stands for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan.