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💧Nature vs. developer | Morning Newsletter

And Plowden’s widow gets (some) justice.

    by Taylor Allen
    Published 

    The Morning Newsletter

    Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter

The sun returns but with a breeze. Expect a high of 64 and enjoy the cooler weather.

Congratulations, it’s Friday and you made it to the end of the week. I’m still hunting for plans, but I’m jealous of you if you’re taking advantage of the outdoor music season that isn’t over yet. Philly has a five-festival weekend including Firefly, Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Fest, and Making Time.

It got me thinking: What’s the best music festival you’ve attended and why? Double points if it was in Philly. Personally, I really enjoyed going to The Roots Picnic back in June. Jazmine Sullivan’s vocals are simply unmatched.

  1. 📧 Email us and you could end up in the newsletter.

We have a lot of news today. Let’s dive in.

If you see this 🔑 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.

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

Doubling down on housing for Manayunk’s flood-prone Venice Island

Despite the common knowledge that Manayunk’s Venice Island is flood-prone, Rock Urban Development is pushing forward with an apartment complex proposal.

  1. At 213 units, the project would almost double the number of homes on the island between the Schuylkill and the Manayunk Canal.

Necessary context: This proposal comes a year after Hurricane Ida swamped Venice Island and much of adjacent Main Street Manayunk, causing millions of dollars in property damage.

  1. In 1999, the same year the once-industrial Venice Island was rezoned for residential development, Hurricane Floyd hit. The river rose 14.1 feet, a taste of what was to come.

  2. Residential building on the land isn’t popular among neighbors. The Manayunk Neighborhood Council sued to prevent residential development from springing up on the southern half of the island but was defeated at the state Supreme Court.

Reminder: Rescue boats were required to save residents from one of the developments in 2014, but another project moved forward a few years later.

Reporter Jake Blumgart explains why Rock Urban Development still thinks this is a smart idea.

The widow of the man killed by an ex-Philly cop finds justice in his conviction

For Tania Brown — the widow of Dennis Plowden Jr. — Wednesday’s conviction of a former Philadelphia police officer on charges of killing her husband was a victory, but one drenched in sadness.

  1. “I feel that this granted some measure of justice,” Brown said Thursday. “Dennis’ death is not vain. Someone has acknowledged that there was wrong done.”

Officer Eric Ruch Jr., who is white, fatally shot the unarmed Plowden, who was Black, two days after Christmas in 2017. It was moments after Plowden emerged dazed from a crashed car after leading police on a chase.

  1. Five years later, the racially mixed jury acquitted Ruch of a third-degree murder charge but found him guilty of the lesser offense of voluntary manslaughter.

  2. “Despite the jury not finding him guilty of third-degree murder, for us, the family, a win is a win,” Bond said. “He’s not walking away from this.”

A historic moment: The conviction was an extremely rare event and the most serious ever obtained for an on-duty killing by a city police officer.

Read more of Craig McCoy’s exclusive interview with Tania Brown.

What you should know today

  1. Philadelphia sued the owner of Lindley Towers, the apartment building damaged by the partial collapse last week.

  2. Thousands of older Pennsylvanians are at risk of losing property tax rebates because of state legislative inaction.

  3. Pat Toomey is backing a bill to change how Electoral College votes are counted, adding more Republican weight to the push to avoid a repeat of the attempt to overthrow the 2020 presidential election.

  4. SEPTA authorized to spend $200M on about 70 properties to make way for the King of Prussia Rail.

  5. Local coronavirus numbers: Here’s your daily look at the latest COVID-19 data.

🧠 Philly Trivia Time 🧠

Yesterday was the first day of fall, which means we’re entering the season of cooler nights, sweaters, and pumpkins. Pennsylvania ranks among the top states in pumpkin-growing, producing a hefty 81.6 million pounds in 2021.

Question: How much are all those pumpkins worth?

A. $22 million

B. $15 million

C. $30 million

D. $17 million

Find out if you know the answer.

What we’re ...

📖 Reading: This discussion between our columnist Elizabeth Wellington and Ibram X. Kendi about his adaption of Zora Neale Hurston’s Magnolia Flower.

🍮Craving: Austin-style breakfast tacos.

đŸ“ș Watching: Even though the movie probably wasn’t worth all that drama before the release, I’ll give Don’t Worry Darling a chance 🔑

đŸ§© Unscramble the Anagram đŸ§©

Hint: Our migrating butterfly

AMCROHN

Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shout-out to a reader at random who answers correctly. Today’s shout-out goes to Lavida White, who correctly guessed QuestLove as Wednesday’s answer.

Photo of the Day

And that’s your Friday. Enjoy your weekend. I’ll be back in your inbox Sunday ☀