Let’s talk trash | Morning Newsletter

Hello, dedicated readers of The Inquirer Morning Newsletter.

First: Some municipalities aren’t picking up what residents are putting down, but one mayor is taking matters into his own hands as waste and recycling collection delays continue.

Then: A rare copy of one of the most important documents in the nation’s history was recently found.

And: The Pennsylvania House passed an election overhaul bill creating stricter voter ID requirements that Gov. Tom Wolf promises to veto.

P.S. Hi. I’m Olayemi, the new newsletter editor. A native to the city and region, I intend to highlight and share with you the amazing people and hidden pockets of joy that make Philly my favorite place in the world.

If I’m not eating or in the shop chair somewhere on Baltimore Avenue, I’m probably headed to Cobbs Creek to get a run in on the courts, because ball is life. This city has been a source of growth for me, and I hope to yield something fruitful in return for Philly, at the very news outlet I grew up reading.

— Olayemi Falodun (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com) and Ashley Hoffman (@_AshleyHoffman, ahoffman@inquirer.com)

Widespread delays in trash pickup due to labor shortages among waste haulers are leading to curbside trash sitting out for days, sometimes a week or longer, across the region.

To pick up where things left off, one mayor put his municipality itself to work, borrowing and renting trucks and using municipal workers to drive and collect.

Reporter Frank Kummer has more details on the regional delays and efforts to clean up.

The American Philosophical Society found that it has a very rare engraved copy of the Declaration of Independence commissioned by John Quincy Adams more than 200 years ago and given to the society in 1842.

The copy is one of eight known paper printings of the Declaration made from William J. Stone’s original copper-plated rendering of the original document, which took three years for Stone to assemble at Adams’ request.

Reporter Stephan Salisbury has the full report on the historic and unusual discovery.

Never give up on moving forward. Thanks for sharing.

Tag your Instagram posts with #OurPhilly, and we’ll pick our favorite each day to feature here and give you a shout-out.

💃 Sex and the City writer Candace Bushnell’s one-woman play is running through July 18 at the Bucks County Playhouse, and she talked with columnist Elizabeth Wellington about the journey of turning her book into a solo act, intimacy amid COVID-19, and more.

😋 Grab some cannoli at these tasty neighborhood eateries, complete with in-store and delivery options.

⚽ Soccer has been a dream ticket for sisters Sam and Kristie Mewis, who have traveled around the globe and back. Now, they are hoping to capture Olympic glory together, with U.S. Soccer expected to reveal its final Olympic roster today.

“Only the commander-in-chief, President Biden, can task his administration to produce a serious plan — now — to save Afghan translators. Before it is too late,” columnist Trudy Rubin writes, as U.S. troops will all exit from Afghanistan in weeks, with no plan to save 18,000 translators for the U.S. military who have a Taliban bull’s-eye on their backs.

The rapport between one-on-one learning aide Ryan Culmer and 11-year old student Brody Slotnick was instant. With a hand from Culmer, the determined fourth grader was able to close out his completely virtual year at the Albert M. Greenfield School in Center City on a high note.

“Ryan is one of the unsung heroes of the pandemic,” said Brody’s mother, Jami Slotnick. Brody, who struggles to hear, speak, and focus his attention due to a number of genetic and neurological issues, was hitting learning barriers online. That’s where his work with Culmer came in. “Then in May, Ryan came along,” Slotnick said. “Brody got his mojo back.”