🗳️ Dead heat | Morning Newsletter

Welcome to a new week. It’s set to be a mostly cloudy day, with high temps in the low 70s.

Election Day 2024 is less than six months away, and in purple Pennsylvania, voters are narrowly split between the two major parties’ presidential candidates. A new poll from The Inquirer, the New York Times, and Siena College found that President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are in a statistical tie. Two big sticking points for voters: the economy, where Trump leads; and abortion, where Biden leads.

And as the climate warms, can Philly become a hothouse for bananas and pineapples? Read on for these stories and more.

— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Come Nov. 5, we’ll see a repeat of the 2020 election, as President Joe Biden fights to keep former President Donald Trump from retaking the White House. It’s shaping up to be another close match.

According to a recent poll of 1,023 registered voters in Pennsylvania, Trump would lead Biden 47% to 44% in a two-way race, which is within the statistical margin of error.

The big takeaways: Most voters are unhappy with the state of the economy, and trust Trump to do more to improve it. Young and nonwhite voters aren’t backing Biden as strongly as they did in 2020. And a whopping 10% of voters would pick independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., roughly the same percentage as those who said they’re unsure.

On abortion: Trump leads Biden on every issue included in the poll — the economy, crime, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — but this one. Biden has centered reproductive rights on the campaign trail as a key issue, while Trump has bragged about his role in paving the way for the Supreme Court’s decision that ended the federal right to an abortion.

On Gov. Josh Shapiro: Pennsylvania’s chief executive isn’t on the ballot this year, but if he is in 2028, he’ll likely find wide support in his home state. The poll found that most voters approve of his leadership so far — including 42% of Republicans. “He actually seems to try to work with both parties,” one said.

National politics reporter Julia Terruso and data reporter Aseem Shukla break down the full results of the poll from The Inquirer, the New York Times, and Siena College.

This region is better known for apple trees than guava trees. But a local nonprofit is testing whether guava — and bananas, and olives, and kumquats — could indeed grow here, as temperatures rise and conditions become more like their native lands.

🫒 The Philadelphia Orchard Project has set up two high-tunnel, unheated greenhouses as a sort of living lab, as environment reporter Frank Kummer puts it, to see if the exotic plants can survive inside.

🫒 The opportunity to grow new fruits is “a silver lining” to the “very black cloud” of climate change, the org’s co-executive director told The Inquirer. As temperatures increase, he said, “we want to be ready to adjust to those changes and share that knowledge with our community partners.”

🫒 Kummer has the full story on the greenhouse project, which is based at the Woodlands in West Philly.

P.S. If you love earthy stories like this, be sure to subscribe to The Inquirer’s free Outdoorsy newsletter, which returns on June 7.

The Phillies’ June 23 game against the Arizona Diamondbacks will be the earliest ever at Citizens Bank Park. What time is it scheduled to start?

A) 2:35 p.m.

B) 12:35 p.m.

C) 11:35 a.m.

D) 8:35 a.m.

Think you know? Check your answer.

🚢 Walking: The Revolution Remix tour of Philadelphia from the South Asian American Digital Archive.

✒️ Admiring: Hajichi, a traditional tattoo style for Okinawan women, which a local tattoo artist is working to revive.

🖼️ Accessing: Museums for $2, available to anyone with an ACCESS Card or Art-Reach ACCESS Card.

The name for the policy-driven program to end injuries and deaths from traffic crashes.

Hint: 👀 0️⃣

IRVIN OOZES

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Geoff Dolman, who solved Sunday’s anagram: Nick Castellanos. The Phillies player sadly lost his longtime furry companion, Tiger, on Friday morning. That night, in an 8-2 win over the Marlins, he honored Tiger in a way that only he could: with a home run.

📬 Think back to the night that changed your life in a way that could only happen in Philly, a true example of the Philly spirit, the time you finally felt like you belonged in Philly if you’re not a lifer, something that made you fall in love with Philly all over again — or proud to be from here if you are. Then email it to us for a chance to be featured in the Monday edition of this newsletter.

This “only in Philly” story comes from Inquirer investigative reporter William Bender, who describes a brush with the mob (and an invitation for pasta dinner):

A voice mail left on my office line: “Hey, why don’t you write about the Eagles instead. It might be, ehhh … safer.”

Private caller. South Philly accent. Threat masked as a polite suggestion. Yep, I was onto a good mob story. I had recently written about how a crooked mob associate had somehow raked in nearly $2 million in tax dollars fixing Philadelphia Police Department vehicles.

What tipped us off? Oh, the cop cars parked inside his auto body shop. Anyway, the city canceled the contract the day after my first story ran. Headline: “Reputed mobster’s contract with the city of Philadelphia gets whacked.” Turns out, I later learned, the guy had allegedly been kicking up money to imprisoned mob boss Joseph “Uncle Joe” Ligambi.

So you can see how I had become … a problem … in the eyes of the anonymous caller.

My editor says: Don’t worry, Bill, killing journalists is bad for business. I say: Are we perhaps overestimating the business acumen of today’s Philly mobsters?

Around that time, a high-ranking mobster’s mother had randomly suggested that I come over for pasta dinner. Now I’m hearing Al Pacino in Godfather Part II: “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” I don’t believe in coincidences. Is this nice lady going to sprinkle some arsenic over my rigatoni instead of Parmesan cheese?

I never did take her up on dinner. Am I paranoid? Probably. But, in my defense, also still alive.

Hope you got a laugh out of that one, Philly, or at least an appreciation for what our reporters sometimes go through to get the story. Now, back to your Monday! May it be a good one.

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