It’s the great pumpkin, Pennsylvania! | Morning Newsletter

Happy Friday, Philly. You’re going to want to step outside tonight and look up: The northern lights could potentially be visible.

For today’s lead story, we travel to Western Pennsylvania, where farmers are obsessed with growing gourds that weigh as much as a rhino. Welcome to the wild world of competitive giant pumpkin growing.

And the $100 million drug treatment facility proposed by Mayor Cherelle L. Parker just four months ago might open as soon as this fall.

Plus, we have two new games for you: the latest edition of Bird Box to test your knowledge of Eagles players past and present, and this week’s news quiz featuring questions on mail ballot mishaps, a beloved local reality show star, and eight more.

— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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The largest pumpkin ever grown in Pennsylvania weighed 2,404 pounds. Yes, more than a literal ton. But Enon Valley farmer Dave Stelts is pretty sure he can grow one bigger. He would even say he’s “obsessed” with trying.

🎃 He’s not alone in Western Pennsylvania, the center of the state’s giant-pumpkin universe. (You won’t find such monstrous gourds — which grow around 60 pounds a day in the summer heat — anywhere near Philadelphia.)

🎃 But far beyond the Keystone State, a global rivalry between farmers has been sprouting for years, expanding all the way to Southampton, England, and other distant lands.

🎃 “The only real competition is Mother Nature and yourself, not Dave. We are all warping and bending nature. None of this is normal. We all have the pumpkin sickness,” a British competitor said of Stelts. “Still, we want to beat Dave and he wants to beat us. He knows we have an absolutely enormous pumpkin.”

Rural reporter Jason Nark tells the tale of giants among men, and pumpkins, too.

In early June, the Parker administration revealed plans to construct a $100 million “wellness village” on a city-owned plot of land next to the State Road jail complex.

Those plans are moving along quickly. Though it may take another two years for the entire facility to be completed, a section of the development may be ready to open and serve up to 120 people as soon as this fall.

City documents reveal new details about who might be referred to the facility, what rehabilitation services might be offered, and what upgrades are being made to existing structures on the property.

City Hall reporter Anna Orso has the latest on one of the mayor’s signature initiatives.

In related news: After initially ruling that Philadelphia shouldn’t have used opioid lawsuit settlement funds to pay for a $7.5 million revitalization project in Kensington, the state committee that oversees that spending has partially reversed course.

Welcome back to Curious Philly Friday. We’ll feature both new and timeless stories from our forum for readers to ask about the city’s quirks.

This week, we have an explainer from reporter Michelle Myers on the improvements that have been made during the Schuylkill Expressway’s years of roadwork. As an oft-stuck-in-traffic reader noted: It’s not new lanes or barriers. So, what has PennDot been up to all this time?

The answer includes resurfaced roads, additions such as mileage markers and rumble strips, and a new variable speed limit system, all in the name of increased safety. And more work is coming. Here’s the full explanation.

Have your own burning question about Philadelphia, its local oddities, or how the region works? Submit it here and you might find the answer featured in this space.

Composer Osvaldo Golijov, who earned his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, worked on the music for a recently released film for about eight months, sometimes “waking up at 3 a.m. and working until 7 or 8 p.m. straight.” Which film did he score?

A) Joker: Folie à Deux

B) Megalopolis

C) The Wild Robot

D) Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Think you know? Check your answer.

🍁 Peeping: The latest fall foliage forecast for Philly and the rest of the state.

✝️ Remembering: When Pope John Paul II became the first sitting pope to visit Philadelphia.

👻 Planning: Visits to these 10 Halloween boo-zy and spooky events.

We’re on the edge of hearing this legendary singer-songwriter’s feature on the third Eagles Christmas album.

SICKEST VINE

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Jessica Lake, who solved Thursday’s anagram: Collingswood. Check out The Inquirer’s guide on where to eat, drink, and play in the South Jersey township known for its stroll-worthy main street.

🗳️ Don’t forget: The deadline to register to vote in the 2024 general election is Oct. 21.

Thanks for starting your day with The Inquirer. Have a great weekend.

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