Postal Service says Pa.’s mail ballot deadlines won’t work | Morning Newsletter
And, what's happening in Tioga a year after a police shootout.
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The Morning Newsletter
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Thursday was not a great day for mail ballots. A letter sent by the U.S. Postal Service raised new doubts about Pennsylvania’s being able to conduct a lot of the 2020 election by mail while President Donald Trump continued his false attacks on mail voting.
We also have more on development plans for a historic Underground Railroad site, a rare auction of rock posters in Bucks County, and the BlackStar Film Festival.
— Lauren Aguirre (@laurencaguirre, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Exactly one year ago today, residents in Philly’s Tioga neighborhood were caught in the middle of an hours-long shootout between police and a gunman that became the largest mass shooting of Philly police in modern history. Now, the accused gunman, Maurice Hill, is being held for trial on even more charges.
Residents were confined in their homes for nearly eight hours during the standoff. City officials promised to patch the bullet holes and mend the relationship with Tioga, but all of that is taking a backseat to more pressing issues of today: grief, medical care, and hunger, the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Voting by mail decreases the risk of exposure to the coronavirus, and because of that, it’s safer than voting in person. But the U.S. Postal Service told Pennsylvania that mail ballots might not be delivered on time to be counted because the deadlines are too tight for its “delivery standards” — or ballots just can’t be delivered fast enough. State officials are arguing in court for deadlines to be extended to avoid disenfranchising voters.
This comes as Trump is escalating his false attacks on mail voting, and opposing additional funding to the USPS to help deliver more mail. The post office is already struggling to deliver mail regularly in the Philly area, with some residents facing up to a three-week delay.
Philadelphia officials said this week that sanitation crews are mostly caught up on picking up recycling that hadn’t been collected for weeks. But that’s not true for every neighborhood. In parts of South Philly, recycling hasn’t been picked up for a month. So residents are solving the problem on their own, but they’ll mostly be helping people who can’t do the driving themselves.
What you need to know today
While Pennsylvania investigates “heinous abuse,” City Council is calling for children to be removed from Devereux facilities, after an Inquirer report detailed a history of lapses in supervision, training and care.
Another record was set this hurricane season when a 10th storm, named Josephine, formed in the Atlantic on Thursday.
U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, from the Philly area, is seeking answers on a bogus report of a Paycheck Protection Program loan that went to a long-closed restaurant in Wynnewood.
Pennsylvania State University is changing a legal agreement that students must sign before returning to campus. The original version required students to “assume any and all risk” from the coronavirus.
A man in Haddonfield tried to hire a hit man to kill a 14-year-old after he was charged with trading sexually explicit photos with the teen, federal agents said.
A pop-up Korean restaurant, Char Kol, has been accused of cultural appropriation and is facing protests. The restaurant’s owners are white entrepreneurs who are being criticized for disrespecting Korean cuisine by using the culture for personal gain.
As the pandemic began to hit the Philly area, house sales in the suburbs went up as prices dipped — the opposite of what happened in the market in Philadelphia itself.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
The mask game is on point here. Love it. Thanks for sharing, @jeffphl!
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That’s interesting
💳 The Sixers’ Ben Simmons and the singer John Legend are part of a group backing a Philly credit card startup with $18 million.
🏘️ A developer has dropped plans to build townhouses at a significant site on the Underground Railroad in Montgomery County, but several others want to develop there.
🌱 A Haddonfield pond is New Jersey’s newest toxic algae problem.
🎬 The 2020 BlackStar Film Festival is going virtual. Here’s what to look for.
🔌 New Jersey’s new electric vehicle rebate draws 1,800 applications, despite the economic downturn.
🤘 A once-in-a-lifetime auction of rock posters is happening online and in Bucks County.
Opinions
“Women lobbied, paraded, picketed, went to jail, and starved themselves for the vote. This fall presents another chance to honor our ancestors by using it.” — writes Angela P. Dodson, author of “Remember the Ladies: Celebrating Those Who Fought for Freedom at the Ballot Box,” on why U.S. women should continue to lead the vote.
Special-ed students are at risk of falling behind amid school reopening plans, write Philly pediatrician George Dalembert and teacher Emily Wetzel-Ulrich.
Two best friends, one Black and one white, are working to transform our culture by dismantling white supremacy from the inside out on “The Opt-In” podcast. Aurora Archer and Kelly Croce Sorg each wrote about their experiences.
What we’re reading
WHYY explores how a Center City block became a pop-up concert hall.
Philly’s oldest doggie day care center is in danger of closing due to the coronavirus, Billy Penn reports.
When estranged parents take their children across borders, an industry of “recovery agents” can get them back. The New York Times uncovers how this shadowy industry works and why it’s even needed.
Your Daily Dose of | Songwriting
Voices of Valor is a program based in New Jersey that offers small groups of veterans a chance to collectively write and record an original song, with some guidance. A group of women veterans from South Jersey created a song from their hearts, with lyrics that reference the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement. Check out a video about the project and the group’s original song here.