A healthy return to campus | Morning Newsletter

Welcome to the start of your week.

Be prepared for scattered showers throughout the day and a high of 69.

The first time Emily Whitehead was on the University of Pennsylvania campus, she was a 6-year-old dying of terminal cancer. She left as the first child to be cured of leukemia with an experimental therapy. It was a breakthrough in cancer treatment.

Now at 18, she’s back on campus, but for very different reasons.

— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Eleven years after becoming a medical celebrity, Emily Whitehead is like any other typical freshman moving away from home for the first time.

She’s trying new things, meeting new people, and figuring out what she might like to do as a career.

Few of her classmates know that former President Barack Obama once wrote her a school absentee note; Lady Gaga serenaded her on stage, and documentarian Ken Burns wrote the forward to a memoir she published with her family.

She’s opted to only share her story when asked. The spotlight isn’t something she asked for but she has enjoyed advocating for children with cancer and showing the world that there is a life after cancer.

In her own words: “It’s a privilege,” she said. “Sometimes it’s overwhelming. It actually is both.”

Whitehead said her freshman year at Penn is the first time she can remember that “cancer” has not defined how people saw her.

Read more to get a glimpse of how she’s finding her place at Penn.

Republicans Drew Murray and Jim Hasher are competing for the two at-large seats effectively set aside for non-Democrats against Working Families Party members Nicolas O’Rourke and incumbent Councilmember Kendra Brooks.

In the heated campaign to win, both sides are trying to paint their opponents’ views as extreme.

Keep in mind: Democrats dominate Council, which means the winners of the two seats will be the minority party. Whoever wins will need support from Democrats to drive any major policy and are unlikely to advance ideas that are outside the mainstream Council consensus.

There are key policy differences among the four candidates. Ahead of next week’s election on Nov. 7, The Inquirer compiled where they stand on the major issues that tend to come before Council.

Continue reading to see the candidates’ takes on city taxes and revenue, city services and programs, public safety policy, and housing and development.

For the third year in a row, neighbors around 51st and Catherine Streets built an elaborate haunted alleyway in between their homes to celebrate Halloween.

There’s specific tunnels for ghouls, skulls, and ghosts.

Notable quote: “The goal is to create something for the lower-income people who wouldn’t really have the opportunity to spend like 20 or 40 bucks per kid ... to bring their kids to something like [the Pennhurst] Asylum,” said Tim Reiner, the lead planner and architect of the over-200-foot alleyway.

Brave visitors are welcome to explore the alleyway and trick-or-treat on Halloween night, free of charge. It’s also open the Friday and Saturday after the holiday.

Keep reading for the story of how this project brought the neighborhood together.

Which fast-food giant won the legal battle for any restaurant to use the term Taco Tuesday?

A) Taco Bell

B) Chipotle

C) Qdoba

D) None of the above

Think you know? Check your answer.

📰 Reading: All about the sheepskin king of Pennsylvania, Pat Garrett, and how he built his empire.

📸 Reminiscing about: His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco’s visit to Philadelphia last week.

Hint: Former Philly mayor

ATHLETIC RUMEN

We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Email us if you know the answer. Cheers to Julia Nakhleh, who correctly guessed Sunday’s answer: Wild Boar.

On Friday, I asked you to tell me your best Halloween memory in the city.

Here’s Melissa Correll from Germantown:

In 2016, the Pietasters played a show at TLA the Saturday before Halloween. We met up with friends who came in costume. They were having a cheesesteak and looking out the second floor window at Jim’s, where they saw my partner and I walking up the block, dressed as Beetlejuice and Lydia Deetz. We all went to the show, and I have a vivid memory of Beetlejuice grabbing Steve Pietaster by the back of the head and singing with him into the mic during their cover of “Drinking and Driving.” After the show, we walked up to Paddy’s in Old City, playing Harry Belafonte from my friend’s phone, dancing all the way. Such a fun night!

Stay dry out there ☂️. I’ll be back in your inbox tomorrow!