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Who’s Biden’s best VP choice? Pa. insiders weigh in. | Morning Newsletter

Plus, indoor dining is coming back to New Jersey.

Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden speaks, Wednesday, June 17, 2020, in Darby, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Democratic presidential candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden speaks, Wednesday, June 17, 2020, in Darby, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)Read moreMatt Slocum / AP

    The Morning Newsletter

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

Starting July 2, indoor dining, as well as casinos, can start to reopen in New Jersey, but only with a limited capacity, according to Gov. Phil Murphy. If certain coronavirus targets are met, Mayor Jim Kenney said, Philadelphia could begin implementing indoor dining one day after New Jersey’s announced date. City officials also announced yesterday that Philadelphia had surpassed 25,000 confirmed coronavirus cases.

— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

The killing of George Floyd and the ensuing protests against police brutality and racism have changed the narrative around whom Joe Biden should pick as his running mate to take on President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

Among some Pennsylvania Democrats, there’s a consensus that Biden should add a woman of color to the presidential ticket. Others told my colleague Jonathan Tamari that Biden should emphasize a personal and policy rapport.

You could get your hair cut, swim in a pool, and participate in sports practices starting yesterday in New Jersey. Gov. Murphy also announced that casinos and indoor dining could reopen with 25% capacity on July 2.

Even so, Murphy cautioned against residents thinking the pandemic was over. In South Jersey, the rate of positive tests was above 5%, according to the state’s health commissioner. That’s higher than the less-than-2% rate in the rest of New Jersey.

What you need to know today

  1. In rare cases, the coronavirus can stop your heart and a defibrillator may not work, according to a new Penn study.

  2. A man who was killed in a terrorist attack in England this weekend was a Northeast Philadelphia native whose brother is a police captain.

  3. A longtime public official in Cherry Hill has resigned after comparing looters in Philadelphia to “animals” during a public meeting.

  4. Hilco, the company that’s buying the bankrupt South Philly refinery, wants a cheaper price and an extension of tax breaks on the property at the last minute.

  5. According to Philadelphia police statistics, there have been 947 calls related to fireworks, bombs, or other explosions from May 29 to June 21. That has prompted a Mount Airy woman to start a task force that will seek to make fireworks illegal in Philadelphia.

  6. If parking lot operators develop “good jobs,” Philadelphia City Council says, the city will bring the parking tax rate back down.

Through your eyes | #OurPhilly

Great shot, @judy_cagg. Any other birders out there?

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. The fate of Major League Baseball in 2020 is now in the hands of one man, reports beat writer Scott Lauber. And his next move should be to cancel the season, columnist Bob Brookover writes.

  2. 🎓Penn is offering every Philadelphia public high school senior a free college and career prep program.

  3. 🛍️Now that stores are starting to open, here are some tips on how to shop safely.

  4. 🏀Here we go again: another Instagram video of Ben Simmons is getting Sixers fans excited.

  5. 🦅A man from Florida has been charged with assault after a video surfaced of him sucker-punching an Eagles tight end in a South Dakota bar.

  6. 🏞️Philly has proposed a $43 million extension to the Schuylkill trail that could help fill the last gap in the trail that goes from Montco to Bartram’s Garden.

Opinions

“The memorial is more than simply a tribute to an extraordinary individual; it is a symbol of an aspirational America. It has, in effect, become ‘ground zero’ for peaceful prayer and thoughtful dialogue among Philadelphians about our city’s future.” — write Carol Clark Lawrence, James B. Straw, and V. Chapman-Smith, leaders of the Octavius V. Catto Memorial Fund, about why Catto is a civil rights icon in Philly.

  1. Pennsylvania and New Jersey have to improve their vote-by-mail processes, the Inquirer Editorial Board writes.

  2. For the one-year anniversary of the South Philly refinery explosion, Joshua Friedman of Philly Thrive writes about ending environmental racism.

What we’re reading

  1. My colleague Brandon T. Harden’s succulent has been one of the only living things spending time in The Inquirer newsroom since we all were told to stay at home beginning in March. When staff members have visited the newsroom in the last few months, sometimes they’ll water the plant, keeping it alive. Billy Penn has the story of Assata, ”a beacon of endurance and solidarity during unsettled times.”

  2. This story from Vox is about “reality” — how your brain constructs yours and the implications that our realities have for our polarized world.

  3. Where does policing in the U.S. go from here? Newsweek’s report examines what needs to happen beyond “reform.”

Your Daily Dose of | Grads

For adult students, their journey to getting a degree is often long, and certainly rewarding. About 37% of college students in the United States are older than 25, many of them juggling full-time jobs and raising children with their coursework.