This Pa. county Trump won in 2016 is only looking stronger for him | Morning Newsletter
And, with indoor dining coming back in N.J., restaurants are still worried.
The Morning Newsletter
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The world still isn’t “back to normal” as we’re now over six months since the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Pennsylvania. Limited indoor dining is set to come back in New Jersey tomorrow and in Philly next week. Presidential campaigns are crisscrossing Pennsylvania. But learning is taking place over video and college campuses in the city are fighting their own coronavirus outbreaks.
— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
Voters in Luzerne County were key to Donald Trump’s narrow win in Pennsylvania four years ago, as it was one of three Pennsylvania counties to support Barack Obama twice before swinging to Trump. This single county accounted for more than half of Trump’s margin of victory in Pennsylvania over Hillary Clinton. Vice President Mike Pence held a rally there this week.
With Pence and other candidates and surrogates visiting the state over the last few days, the 2020 presidential election is kind of starting to feel somewhat normal again, my colleagues Julia Terruso and Andrew Seidman write.
As a part of our 2020 election coverage, we are unveiling a new project: The Inquirer’s Election 2020 Roundtable. It brings together 24 voters from all over Pennsylvania for a series of open, virtual conversations about the issues and candidates that matter most to them. We’ll be answering their questions and sharing those answers with you. You can meet them here.
Months ago, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he wouldn’t allow indoor dining at restaurants because of spiking coronavirus infection rates in other locations. Now, with indoor dining set to come back tomorrow, some people in the restaurant industry are worried about having the fate of their businesses depend on how others handle the pandemic.
The president of the New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association said her group is worried that restaurants will be blamed for any resurgence of the virus even as gyms, schools, and other places have started to reopen, too.
What you need to know today
Philly students went back to school yesterday, logging into their online classes.
Will six feet of social distancing actually protect you? There’s more to protecting yourself from COVID-19 than that.
A federal judge rejected requests from labor leader “Johnny Doc” and Councilmember Robert Henon to toss the political bribery case against them before it reaches trial.
More than six months after COVID-19 was first confirmed in Pennsylvania, the public still doesn’t know how many people have died or been sickened by the virus at nursing homes.
A high-ranking official in the Philadelphia Police Department has been stripped of his gun and is being investigated for allegedly assaulting a man, my colleague Mensah M. Dean reports.
Through your eyes | #OurPhilly
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That’s interesting
🏀While we still don’t know who’ll be the Sixers’ next coach, one potential candidate has taken himself out of the running. So, will the franchise opt for a leader with NBA experience?
🏒The unlikely hero who kept the Flyers’ season alive was struggling so much earlier in the series that he was benched. The team will try to stave off elimination again tonight.
🎭Don’t expect Philly theater to return next week, even though the city says it can.
😷Those “social-distancing coaches” you’ve been seeing around SEPTA transportation hubs are here to stay — at least for now.
🎰A Philadelphia investor won Pennsylvania’s auction for a new mini-casino license and he wants to put it near Penn State.
😋This smoked hoagie is a nod to the Philly classic, restaurant critic Craig LaBan writes.
Opinions
“But when senseless gun violence takes the life of a talented young person on the cusp of adulthood, it raises that death to a whole other level of tragedy, one deserving of acknowledgment in a big way. Their lives shouldn’t be reduced to just a few lines in a crime round-up story. I feel strongly about that.” — writes columnist Jenice Armstrong about Jasmine Lewis, a college basketball player hoping to make the WNBA until a stray bullet made its way into her car. Family and friends gathered to mourn Jasmine Lewis on Tuesday.
Philadelphia isn’t showing that it’s taking gun violence seriously, the Inquirer Editorial Board writes.
The best way to give educational opportunities to Pennsylvania families is to fund students directly, rather than school districts, writes Corey DeAngelis, the director of school choice at Reason Foundation, an adjunct scholar at Cato Institute, and the executive director at Educational Freedom Institute.
What we’re reading
If the Sixers do move to the Delaware River waterfront, it won’t be the first time a pro sports team moved into a city’s center. Billy Penn looks at other examples of other NBA teams that have done the same thing.
Politico reports that some in New Jersey were “stunned” to learn that Gov. Murphy’s revised budget proposal eliminates funding for suicide prevention and counseling services in schools.
ProPublica writes about a person who says he knows how to stop wildfires in California, but no one will listen to him.
Your Daily Dose of | Inspiration
Philly hip-hop artist Alexander Charles was brought up by his adoptive parents in Bucks County. He has a new album called Fortune Cookies that was inspired by finding his biological sister and learning about his Chinese and Hawaiian heritage.