Philly officer who pepper sprayed kneeling protesters will be charged | Morning Newsletter
Plus, how coronavirus affects young adults with chronic illnesses.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
It’s going to be a bit cooler today (emphasis on “bit”). But storms like the ones from last night could hit the region this afternoon. Stay dry, friends. The big news out of Philadelphia this morning stems from the citywide protests last month against police brutality. The SWAT officer who was seen on video pulling down the masks of people protesting and pepper spraying them as they knelt will be charged with simple assault and other crimes. We also have stories that look at the return of sports (the Phillies play tomorrow!), alleged racial discrimination at the Free Library, and the future of the urban-suburban divide.
— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
The Philadelphia SWAT officer who was captured on video in June pulling down the masks of people protesting and pepper spraying them while they knelt on the Vine Street Expressway will face criminal charges. Richard P. Nicoletti turned himself in yesterday and will face charges of simple assault, reckless endangerment, official oppression, and possession of an instrument of crime, District Attorney Larry Krasner said.
Architecture critic Inga Saffron writes that “the city-suburb divide is an overly simplistic way of looking at how the pandemic will influence where people choose to live in the coming years.” In the past, major urban events haven’t necessarily forced a max exodus. Rather, in Philly, for example, the city’s population has actually grown since 9/11.
But this crisis might be different, Saffron writes. Even so, “the rumors of the city’s death seem greatly exaggerated,” she writes.
For young adults who are immunocompromised, it can get frustrating to see peers ignore public health recommendations while attending parties and gathering at bars and beaches. Just three months ago, people ages 19 to 24 in the Philadelphia region made up just 5% of new coronavirus cases. Now that figure is up to 17%, according to new state data.
“I can’t even wrap my head around the younger crowd that’s partying and not listening to guidelines,” a 25-year-old with Huntington’s disease told my colleague Bethany Ao. “It’s incredibly disheartening to hear people say that this could be a media ploy.”
What you need to know today
City officials said that keeping the statue of Christopher Columbus in Marconi Plaza would be “unacceptable” and “completely unsafe” while presenting a proposal to remove the monument from the plaza.
Mayor Jim Kenney is pressuring the longtime president and director of the Free Library of Philadelphia to resign, sources told my colleague Sean Collins Walsh. Employees have complained about racial discrimination and inadequate coronavirus planning.
The true number of people infected with the coronavirus in Philadelphia was actually about seven times higher than the official number of confirmed cases in late April, a new study suggests. But that comes with caveats.
The Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court formally reprimanded a former state Supreme Court Justice for her handling of the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State. The group also reprimanded the lawyer who leaked his client’s confession in the 2017 killings on a Bucks County farm.
New plans reveal how Hilco wants to reshape the South Philly refinery site.
Philadelphia wants $300 in fines and penalties from a woman whose car was “courtesy” towed to an illegal parking spot.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
I wonder if they caught anything good. Thanks for sharing, @matthewscottbarber.
Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we’ll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out!
That’s interesting
📺NBC Sports Philadelphia will broadcast Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers games in the coming weeks. My colleague Rob Tornoe examines how they plan to do it.
🍽️Even with the challenges for the restaurant industry since March, new restaurants have been opening during the pandemic.
☄️You can see a rare comet in the sky over the next few nights. If you miss it, don’t worry. You can catch it again in about 7,000 years.
🍄More mushroom production has moved north of the border to Canada. What does that mean for Chester County, one of the areas in the United States that grows the a lot of mushrooms?
🦅In just a week’s time, the Eagles could be practicing again. My colleague Jeff McLane writes about what that could look like.
🎵Recording artist and songwriter Pink Sweat$ is bringing back R&B’s old-school sensitivity. My colleague Dan DeLuca also interviewed the Philly native live on Instagram. You can watch it here.
Opinions
”However, now the mindset I hope to carry in wearing masks as well as in taking care of my patients is to do that which I believe is right, not for any other reason than that it is the right thing to do.” — writes Jason Han, a cardiothoracic surgery resident in Philadelphia, about the importance of wearing a mask everywhere.
Inquirer columnist Trudy Rubin discusses the coronavirus lessons the White House should have learned from other countries. You can watch the video here.
In fewer than 30 days, three bicyclists have died in Philadelphia. Sarah Clark Stuart and Randy LoBasso of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia ask: “How many preventable deaths will it take for Philly to care about bicycle safety?”
What we’re reading
A Chalkbeat Newark story reports that families in New Jersey were promised $416 per child in coronavirus food benefits. But, some families are still waiting.
The MLB season starts tonight and both American and National League teams will play with designated hitters. That change could have happened way back in the 1970s, but the Phillies were involved in keeping the rules separate for the two leagues, the Ringer reports.
I know we’re heavy on baseball in this section today, but I can’t help it. Can you tell I’m excited? Sports Illustrated has an interesting story about the long journey for an MLB pitcher to overcome the yips.
Your Daily Dose of | Home runs
Baseball has seen a home run surge. And science can help explain why. “The physics of baseball ain’t rocket science,” a Yale physicist once said. “It’s much harder.”