Flying as if it’s 1986 | Morning Newsletter
And, an update on the refinery blast.
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 from The Inquirer newsroom.
First: Leisure travel is rebounding at Philadelphia International, but business and international flights will take longer.
Then: The final report on the South Philadelphia refinery fire is among 19 open investigations that have piled up at a weakened and understaffed federal agency.
And: Expect these five changes as the Phillies welcome back baseball fans to Citizens Bank.
— Tommy Rowan (@tommyrowan, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Last year, just 11.9 million travelers passed through Philadelphia International Airport. Compared with 2019′s 33 million passengers, that represents a 64% drop. Low demand for business and international flights has airport officials planning for a three- to five year recovery, writes reporter Catherine Dunn.
While the airport has won stimulus funding from the federal government, it continues to face the prospect of “multimillion-dollar deficits” this year and next, CEO Chellie Cameron said this week. And the airport is proposing to trim staff by offering early retirements.
The last time passenger levels were this low? 1986.
Read on for the full story on the pandemic’s impact on Philadelphia’s airport.
It has been nearly two years since the Chemical Safety Board, a small federal agency modeled on the National Transportation Safety Board, began looking into the cause of the June 2019 fire at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia.
An early 2020 draft of the report recommended the government phase out the use of a dangerous chemical, hydrofluoric acid, that was released in the accident, sources said.
But the final report on the accident has yet to be released. It’s among 19 open investigations that piled up at the weakened and understaffed agency. The Trump administration, after failing to persuade Congress to eliminate the CSB, allowed all but one seat on the agency’s five-member board to go vacant, write reporter Andrew Maykuth and Center for Public Integrity executive editor Jim Morris.
Read on for the full story, which is a collaboration between The Inquirer and the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington.
Where can I get a COVID-19 vaccine in the Philly area? Use our lookup tool.
This is a step-by-step process on how COVID-19 vaccines work.
Is indoor dining safe once you’ve had the vaccine? Experts are split on the risk involved.
Here’s how to know what’s safe when it comes to summer travel this year.
What you need to know today
More city students will be eligible to return to Philadelphia School District classrooms in late April.
Advocates marched from Chinatown to City Hall on Thursday evening to show solidarity with Asian and Asian-American communities in the wake of a shooting rampage at three Asian-owned spas in the Atlanta area last week, where a white man shot and killed eight people, including six women of Asian descent.
Pennsylvania’s Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement is looking for budget help. Its $8.6 million budget is funded through dog license sales, but constant shortfalls have caused officials to divert tax dollars to maintain service. So now the bureau is seeking to increase the cost of a yearly spayed/neutered dog license from $6.50 to $10.
Black and Hispanic students in the Philadelphia suburbs are disciplined more harshly than white peers, and are underrepresented in Advanced Placement classes, a new report finds.
Villanova linebacker Iyanu Solomon, a 19-year-old sophomore, faces additional charges after a third woman came forward this week alleging he sexually assaulted her.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
Spring pastries is a mood, @zaraneifield.photography.
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
🌬️ Sure, today’s highs nearing 80 degrees sound lovely, but powerful winds from the southwest could gust to 50 mph during the afternoon, creating road hazards and perhaps causing scattered power outages.
🏀 On the last day of the NBA trade deadline, the 76ers acquired Oklahoma City Thunder point guard George Hill, while fan-favorite (and Philadelphia native) Kyle Lowry remains with the Toronto Raptors.
🎨 A new “Art Works” program will grant $3 million to community-based organizations and emerging artists in the Philadelphia region.
🏈 New Eagles quarterback Joe Flacco (still weird) says he’ll mentor Jalen Hurts mostly by competing with him, as his first priority in Philadelphia is to prove to his new team that he is still a viable quarterback.
Opinions
“But what strikes me about America’s two newest mass murderers are the things they had in common. In both cases, their life stories seem to trail off and become increasingly vague after they graduated from high school. There’s evidence that both young men spent a lot of time on their computer — the Georgia gunman with his porn habit and the Boulder shooter posting some of his grievances on social media accounts that have been taken down. It was insanely easy for them to walk into a gun store and buy their weapons of mass destruction. And stating the obvious — even if it’s an obvious we don’t like to discuss much — they were both young men,” writes columnist Will Bunch, arguing that America can’t stop mass shootings without first addressing its “white male grievance culture.”
Columnist Helen Ubiñas advocates for many Philadelphia families who are desperate not to be left in the dark about their loved ones’ unsolved murders.
The Inquirer turned to two local union members to debate business leaders: Is it time for wealth and nonprofit taxes to add to the city coffers?
What we’re reading
Josh Shapiro, state attorney general and Montgomery County native, has plans to run for governor of Pennsylvania. But Philly Mag asks: Is his style too old-school for this modern age — or is it the only way to get things done in this state?
Elie Kligman can do anything on a baseball field, writes the New York Times, but his strict observance of the Jewish sabbath complicates his future.
Even before the recent mass shootings, violent crime was surging to its highest rate in 30 years, writes The Atlantic in a story titled: “Why America’s great crime decline is over.”
When a limited number of fans return to Citizens Bank Park on April 1 for the Phillies’ home opener — 550 days since the last time they were allowed at a ballgame — they’ll see a changeup at the stadium, and not just on the baseball field.