Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Eagles down Giants to win NFC East and secure playoff berth; how racist property deeds in Philly shut out people of color | Morning Newsletter

All the local news you need to know to start your day, delivered straight to your email.

Eagles running back Boston Scott (35) celebrates his third-quarter touchdown during a game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019.
Eagles running back Boston Scott (35) celebrates his third-quarter touchdown during a game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019.Read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer

    The Morning Newsletter

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

With grit, determination, and heroic performances by Boston Scott, Fletcher Cox, and Carson Wentz, the Birds capped off a remarkably wild season to clinch the NFC East. Want a fun way to celebrate the Eagles victory? Treat yourself and head out to a restaurant featured in our food critic Craig LaBan’s year in review, where he’s organized some of his more delightful experiences as he chewed his way through the city.

— Tauhid Chappell (@tauhidchappell, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

The Eagles planted their flag in the Meadowlands with a do-or-die win against the Giants, with Carson Wentz throwing for nearly 300 yards and Boston Scott securing three key touchdowns in the process. The dazzling display helped the team secure the NFC East title. The team must now cobble together its injured flock as it prepares for a playoff run.

The best part? The win denies Dallas a playoff birth. Go Birds.

In the early 20th century, blacks from the South flocked to Philadelphia, attracted by booming industry while fleeing racism, repression and segregation.

They received little to no love in the City of Brotherly Love, and a new study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia underlines how far some property deeds went to ensure that people of color couldn’t get homes.

What you need to know today

  1. The FBI is investigating the man who stormed into a rabbi’s home in Rockland County, N.Y., and stabbed five people as they celebrated Hanukkah. They’re seeking a warrant to obtain his online accounts and are looking into whether he had a history of mental illness.

  2. Wawa has been hit with a wave of lawsuits claiming the company failed to protect consumers from a massive data breach that exposed their credit and debit card information. The company initially found malware on its payment processing servers on Dec. 10. The malware had been running on its systems since March 4, and was on most of its store systems by April 22, according to Wawa’s CEO.

  3. It’s no secret that Craig LaBan searches high and low, far and wide, in basements and on rooftops to find the best cuisine the Philadelphia region has to offer. Now, as we cap off a scrumptious year in food, LaBan has compiled a list of spots that are worth your hard-earned dollars, as well as places you may want to consider avoiding.

  4. An Associated Press investigation has found that the names of more than 900 clergy members accused of child sexual abuse were missing from lists released by dioceses, including 45 clergy whose names did not appear on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s list of credibly accused priests.

  5. If you’re expecting to see Eagles tight end Zach Ertz on the field for the team’s first playoff game, you’re out of luck. The NFL Network reported that Ertz has a lacerated kidney in addition to cracked ribs, which may put him out for the next several weeks.

Through your eyes | #OurPhilly

Did you get a chance to check out LumiNature at the Philadelphia Zoo? Thanks for giving us a peek @ctp.takes.philly! 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

  1. 👶Did you know Christmas Day is the least popular birthday in several countries, including the U.S? An economist dove into current research to learn why so few people are born on Christmas, New Year’s and other holidays.

  2. 🤺Kamali Thompson is a jack of all trades. Not only is she a fourth-year medical student studying at Rutgers, she’s a world-class fencer and is now juggling school demands while training to become a 2020 Olympian.

  3. 🧘Jan. 1 tends to be “new year, new me," but instead of setting lofty goals and expectations right into the new year, it may be better to establish bite-size goals to avoid something scientists call false hope syndrome.

  4. 🌿Cannabis legalization has been sweeping the nation over the last decade, though treatment professionals are saying they’re seeing more adolescents and young adults with cannabis use disorder.

  5. 🧠A memory group found within the Spring House Estates is applying Montessori techniques in a way that can also help people with dementia.

Opinions

“Education, job training, and capital improvements in neighborhoods citywide — smart, targeted, training-to-job pipelines, not press releases — can help enfranchise swaths of the city that continue to struggle." The Inquirer Editorial Board writes how lifting up Philly’s struggling citizens must be a priority in the year ahead.

  1. “Mercy must be a partner to justice, and mercy lost when the [Board of Pardons] approved just two people for consideration by Gov. Tom Wolf. Now, these souls are all but guaranteed to die in prison,” writes Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.

  2. The 2010s are over. Judging the decade by the economy’s performance, it was a pretty good one, particularly for the wealthy, writes Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi.

What we’re reading

  1. Global warming is evident across the globe, and its destructive effects can be seen most vividly in Australia, where, the Washington Post writes, the country’s rising temperature “apocalyptic" both on its land, and in the ocean.

  2. The rise of South Asian celebrities such as Lily Singh is a boon for a community that lacks a lot of representation in broadcast entertainment, but the Huffington Post published a thoughtful critique on why her appropriation of black culture is something that needs to be addressed.

  3. Can the essence of Wakanda be found in modern society? The Ringer’s Soraya Nadia McDonald searched for black utopias represented in modern black culture and entertainment.

Your Daily Dose of | The Upside

The bronze statues of William “Wild Bill” Guarnere and Edward “Babe” Heffron now stand tall, together, outside Herron Park on Second and Reed Streets. Heffron’s statue has stood since 2015, but his best friend’s statue was recently unveiled during a November ceremony. The two South Philly gentlemen became World War II heroes, then nationally recognized names thanks to their depiction in the award-winning HBO series Band of Brothers.