👛 Voting with their wallets | Morning Newsletter

Morning, Philly. With another sunny week, it’s official: The region has matched a record for dryness that dates to the dawn of official weather recordkeeping in the United States.

In battleground Pennsylvania and beyond, some supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump make spending decisions based on their politics. Our lead story today explores how shoppers navigate when business and politics collide.

And a Kensington garden project is cultivating community by keeping teens busy and cleaning vacant lots. Read on for these stories and more.

— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

P.S. This is your reminder that tomorrow at 5 p.m. is the deadline to apply for mail-in voting, and Election Day, Nov. 5, at 8 p.m. is the deadline to correct or return a mail-in ballot.

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

A Main Line deli where a pro-Trump ad was filmed. An ice cream maker that advocates for “progressive social change.” A home improvement retailer cofounded by a billionaire Republican donor. Depending on a voter’s political leanings, one may be more or less likely to patronize these businesses.

👛 Consumers on both sides of the political aisle have participated in boycotts of companies that don’t align with their principles. Countering such actions are those who join “buycotts” — supporting a company because of its values, whether those values are perceived or explicitly stated.

👛 “Giving them $100 a week and propping up something I don’t believe in, it just feels wrong,” one former customer of Hymie’s Deli told The Inquirer. Meanwhile, another customer plans to visit more since the controversial Republican Jewish Coalition ad aired: “I want to go there soon and get a corned beef sandwich before the election.”

👛 Yet some consumers choose to enact consumer politics selectively. The Trump supporter at Hymie’s says she can still love Bruce Springsteen, the Jersey-born music superstar who recently endorsed Harris. (Alongside former President Barack Obama, the longtime Democrat is hosting a hybrid concert-rally at the Liacouras Center today.)

Consumer reporter Erin McCarthy spoke to Philly-area voters and business owners about the impact of boycotts and buycotts.

In other election news:

In Kensington, teens are getting paid $18 an hour to transform empty lots into public gardens.

The work comes by way of Klean Kensington, founded to keep young people occupied and neighborhood spaces trash-free. They’ve rehabbed six parcels so far, with as many as 50 kids participating.

It’s a small fix in an area where an open-air drug market thrives. But participants say it’s made a hugely positive difference in their lives, and in their perception of their community.

Reporter Michelle Myers visited Hilton Street Garden to learn how pride can grow from once-neglected ground.

Which is not a rule related to displaying political lawn signs in Pennsylvania?

A) Lawn signs are protected by the First Amendment

B) Homeowners associations are allowed to restrict political signage

C) It’s a crime to steal or deface a lawn sign

D) Campaign signs must be removed one week post-election

Think you know? Check your answer.

🍭 Protecting: Trick-or-treaters from cannabis edibles, allergens, and more this Halloween.

👋 Volunteering to be: An extra in Deliver Me From Nowhere’s Asbury Park-filmed scenes.

🎸 Saluting: This historic South Philly church’s ministers of rock n’ roll.

The Chester County borough that’s home to an eponymous university

CHEW STREETS

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Arlethia Perry-Johnson, who solved Sunday’s anagram: Wells Fargo Center. Chefs at the South Philly arena — which will eventually be renamed — brought new eats to the concession stands this year. Here’s what’s on the menu.

📬 Think back to the night that changed your life 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 reader Chayim Stern, who describes an unforgettable hit at Veterans Stadium:

In the late 1970s and early ‘80s, I worked as a vendor at Veterans Stadium for concessions company Nilon Brothers. On one particular shift, I was working the third base side on the lower level at the Vet and had just walked past the foul pole. I had just one cup of soda left in my tray with an ice cream vendor right behind me when I noticed the fans in my section beginning to stand up. Suddenly, I realized that a home run ball (hit by Phillies center fielder Garry Maddox) was heading right toward me.

I instinctively raised my hand to try to catch the ball, but in doing so lost my grip on the tray. The ball hit my bare hand and bounced behind me, where the ice cream vendor scooped it up. To my horror, a kid was standing there with a bloodied forehead due to my tray hitting him. I pulled out a folded-up paper towel and applied pressure to stop the bleeding. Amazingly, the kid was calm, but his father went ballistic and I knew this was not the end of the story. I turned to the ice cream vendor and said we’d better give the kid the ball, so I handed him a $5 bill and that’s exactly what we did.

It was one of the best decisions I ever made, because an inning later, I was called into the Nilon Brothers offices at the stadium to speak with one of their executives. The first question she anxiously asked me was, “Did you give the kid the ball?” When I said we had, she breathed a sigh of relief and said everything would be OK. She told me that there were some pending lawsuits, but none where the injured party got the ball, bat, or whatever. I still had to describe in detail what happened so she could file a report, but she assured me again that I would not get in trouble, and she was right.

The following week on a popular TV show at the time called “This Week In Baseball,” there was a short clip of Maddox’s home run with the narrator, Mel Allen, saying that the game was so popular that “even the vendors are getting into it!”

👋 I hope your week gets off to a great start. See you back here tomorrow.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.