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Affordable housing moves ahead, wildfires ravage California | Morning Newsletter

All the local news you need to know to start your day, delivered straight to your email.

The Bridge is the only project in Philadelphia to comply with the city’s voluntary inclusionary housing program.
The Bridge is the only project in Philadelphia to comply with the city’s voluntary inclusionary housing program.Read moreInga Saffron

Welcome to Wednesday. You better bundle up today, and the rest of the week for that matter. Winter weather has arrived and we have a chance of snow this week, too. (Raise your hand if you're a little bit excited!)

If you like what you're reading, it's free to sign up to get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday. I would love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and feedback, so please email me, tweet me @aubsn, or reach our social team on Facebook.

— Aubrey Nagle

» READ MORE: A step forward for Philly affordable housing

Philly's affordable housing bill has taken another step forward: yesterday it passed the City Council's Rules Committee. If passed, it will require private developers to include subsidized units for low-income tenants in new, high-density projects.

The bill heads to the full Council Jan. 25, but there is plenty of opposition. The bill has already changed quite a bit since nearly failing last week: it now largely limits the mandate to zones in Center City and University City.

Developers don't like the bill at all, and others say there are better ways to get more affordable housing in Philly. But it could produce 200 subsidized units a year.

» READ MORE: The anatomy of a public apology

Harvey Weinstein. Matt Lauer. Louis C.K. Kevin Spacey. Charlie Rose. All have been accused of various forms of sexual harassment, abuse, or misconduct, and all have issued public apologies (and, in some cases, denials).

What do they all have in common? Reporter Anna Orso spoke with a psychologist and a professor of linguistics to analyze 30 public statements to find out — and annotated 12 of them. (Hint: click the story's highlighted sections to read their notes.) It's fascinating stuff.

» READ MORE: Falling Off the Cliff: Finding Work

For children with intellectual or developmental disabilities, aging into adulthood comes with plenty of challenges. Finding employment once they leave school can be one of the most difficult. And, as one advocate for adults with disabilities says, "You can't talk about community integration without talking about employment."

The third part of columnist Ronnie Polaneczky's series "Falling Off the Cliff" details the difficulties adults with disabilities face finding meaningful work.

  1. Read Part 1: A Crisis for the Disabled.

  2. Read Part 2: Finding Good Help

What you need to know today

  1. The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in the case of a Colorado baker who wouldn't make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who seemed torn Tuesday, will likely be the deciding vote when the case is decided next year.

  2. Wildfires are ravaging California once again. Winds are fanning the flames as 200,000 people are evacuated with nearly 200 homes destroyed.

  3. Russia has been banned from the Winter Olympics following the major doping scandal that has shaken the Olympic world since 2015. Individual Russian athletes are open to compete without their flag if they can prove their innocence.

  4. Penn State recruit Isheem Young is still behind bars after being charged Friday with robbing a South Philadelphia Wawa. Imhotep Charter High School's football team, of which Young is a star, is set to play for a state championship tomorrow.

  5. Since the Army finally broke the Navy's 14-win streak last year, this weekend's Army-Navy game is poised to be the closest match-up the rivals have had in quite some time.

  6. Former Democratic Pennsylvania State Sen. Robert Mellow has won a battle to get his $20k-a-month pension back — despite serving prison time for corruption.

  7. In Trump's first months as president, arrests at border crossings have plunged, but deportations from detentions made away from the U.S.-Mexico border have soared.

» READ MORE: #OurPhilly

We want to see what our community looks like through your eyes. Show us the park that your family walks through every weekend with the dog, the block party in your neighborhood or the historic stretch you see every morning on your commute to work.

Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we'll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout out to build those followers!

That’s Interesting

  1. A Temple graduate student wrote themself in for judge of election in their division this fall…and won with a single vote. Who said one vote doesn't count?

  2. Rutgers scientist Juliane Gross is in Antarctica hunting for meteorites. (Super cool, I know.) And yes, she's got the photos to prove it.

  3. Will Smith has a new gig and it's out of this world: he'll be hosting One Strange Rock, a 10-episode documentary series about Earth featuring eight astronauts and former astronauts.

  4. We are…closing. Iconic Penn State bar Rathskeller is set to close, its owners announced yesterday. The tavern has been in business since 1933.

  5. Would you pay to take pictures of someone else's dogs? It's not so far-fetched: this South Philly man's dogs are so cute passersby will cough up the dough.

  6. Ahead of this weekend's match-up against the Los Angeles Rams, Eagles fans are heading to the West Coast in droves. E-A-G-L-E-S…

  7. Exhumed Films found a long-lost, 3D print of a legendary Spanish werewolf movie that hasn't been shown since 1971 — and they're screening it Saturday. You better believe it's a hot ticket.

  8. Gifting things can be fun and all, but experiential gifts are often the most memorable. Columnist Elizabeth Wellington picked the best to give this holiday season.

Opinions

"Unless the president changes his mind, we can presume evangelical votes mean more to him than Kushner, fighting terror, or closing the ultimate peace deal."
— —

  1. Councilman Mark Squilla has introduced a bill (since held) that would outlaw playing drums in public. But street music is one of the soundtracks of the city, writes the Inquirer Editorial Board.

  2. The recent deaths of two Temple University students from overdoses have reminded Jillian Bauer-Reese, an assistant professor of journalism at Temple, of herself — and why colleges need to invest in recovery services.

What we’re reading

  1. This week Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins' ended his weekly protests during the National Anthem. Philadelphia Magazine's Ernest Owens writes that Jenkins has sold out by taking a charity deal from the NFL.

  2. WHYY's story on the breast-feeding Philly moms pushing for lactation accommodations at train stations is a great read, and even includes a Mad Max reference.

  3. After the recent back-and-forth of Christian Street Baptist Church's historic designation, Hidden Philly's article on how three buildings have been newly stripped of their designations raises a lot of preservation questions.

  4. Goodbye gunmetal, hello millennial pink? I love this dive into the brands trying to modernize hyper-masculine men's health products from The Ringer.

  5. I've always wondered where on Earth Netflix gets its TV and movie synopses from and, well, The Outline investigated. It's a weirder story than you'd think.

Your Daily Dose of | Patience

One man sat at a Kensington veterans club bar for four decades, taking hundreds of notes on his observations. Now they've been compiled into a book.