🚢 Philly’s port expansion, analyzed | Morning Newsletter

Happy Monday, Philly. Halloween week is looking stunning, weather-wise. We kick it off with sunny, calm, clear skies and temperatures nearing 70 degrees.

Today, we’re starting at the Port of Philadelphia, a massive installation on the Delaware River that’s expected to more than double its container capacity in the coming years. We’ll cover what that actually means.

Then, we take a trip to Amish country, where public health officials are using old-school methods to get the word out about measles vaccine clinics.

Plus, how eligible Pennsylvanians can get $1,000 off their winter heating bills, and more news of the day.

— Laura Benshoff (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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The Port of Philadelphia is getting a huge infusion of cash, to the tune of more than $800 million in state, federal, and private investment.

Already, cargo ships carrying automobiles, paper, petroleum products, steel, and cocoa beans dock in Philly. But the new capital promises to radically increase the volume of trade that can flow through the city.

It can be hard to wrap your head around sums this large, so here’s a little breakdown, by the numbers, of what this expansion is projected to do.

6,000: The number of new direct jobs expected to be created.

100,000: The number of additional cars able to be imported.

$45 million: The annual state and local tax revenue the expansion is expected to create.

The Inquirer’s Andrew Seidman has the full story.

How do you reach an intensely private and insular community, whose members often avoid modern technology?

Public health officials asked themselves this question as they sought to raise awareness of measles vaccine clinics in the Lancaster area, the epicenter of the nation’s largest measles outbreak in decades.

After consulting with Amish elders and religious leaders, they decided to use what some call the “Amish Internet,” essentially word-of-mouth within the community. They also made the clinics discreet, so much so that some people at neighboring businesses and homes were unaware they were happening.

Notable quote: “We thought, ‘Is this going to work or not?’ It totally flipped what public health normally is,” said pediatrician Jennifer Wallace, medical director of the state’s health centers. But with time, “it’s gone gangbusters,” she said.

The Inquirer’s Wendy Ruderman and Sarah Gantz have this dispatch from Amish country.

If ever a place should be haunted, it’s Gettysburg, writes Inquirer outdoor reporter Jason Nark.

The site of the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War now hosts ghost tours, where even skeptics say they experience things they can’t explain.

It’s no secret the Philly area has lost some iconic greasy spoons in the last few years. Which historic diner closed its doors this past weekend?

A) Melrose Diner

B) Zoto’s Diner

C) Little Pete’s

D) Kelly’s Seafood

Think you know? Check your answer.

🪦 Visiting. Did you know there is a Victorian-era pet cemetery in Northeast Philly? The Inquirer’s Maggie Prosser checked out memorials to Fido (d. 1882), Fanny (d. 1878), and other good boys and girls.

🏠 Reading. New construction isn’t a cause of gentrification and rising home prices, but a response to it, urban policy consultant Ned Resnikoff argued to Inquirer real estate reporter Jake Blumgart.

🎃 Snapping. Throngs gathered at Linvilla Orchard over the weekend to pick pumpkins. Inquirer photographer David Maialetti was there to capture the fall festivities.

Hint: Neighborhood in Northeast Philly bounded on one side by the Delaware River.

ACT YON

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.

Cheers to Dawn Macy who correctly solved Sunday’s anagram: Walt Whitman. A historic church in Camden County once hosted meetings for abolitionists and housed the famed poet. You can buy it for $455,000.

Welcome back to our ‘only in Philly’ series, where we highlight stories from you, dear readers. Think back to a time you saw an example of real Philly spirit or something that made you feel like you belonged here. Then, jot it down and email it to us for a chance to be featured in the Monday edition of this newsletter.

This week, we continue with our fall-themed submissions and have an excerpt from reader Sandra Mueller’s submission, as she reminisces about Halloween in her old neighborhood:

I only lived in Philadelphia for the first five years of my life. My grandfather had a real estate office in South Philadelphia and my parents and I lived in the apartment above it. ...

One Halloween season my parents and I carved a pumpkin. Common enough a happening at this time of year. But we had no suitable place to show it. So I recall my father setting it on the second floor wall outside the apartment. Then he walked me down the stairs so we could view it from the narrow street below.

I love how Philly makes the most of small spaces to display big holiday cheer.

👋 Catch you tomorrow.

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