Mayor Kenney’s legacy | Morning Newsletter
And how to make breastfeeding work at work
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The Morning Newsletter
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Happy Monday. Welcome to a new week.
The rain is over for now. Enjoy the partly sunny skies and high of 51.
Next month, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney will no longer have the top job in the city. As he closes this chapter, he sat down in a City Hall conference room with The Inquirer to reflect on his eight-year tenure.
— Taylor Allen (@TayImanAllen, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com
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Mayor Jim Kenney knows how he wants to be remembered: “as someone who cared.”
Kenny gave hundreds of speeches over the past eight years but the 11 words he will most likely be remembered for are the ones he said standing on the Ben Franklin Parkway on the night of July 4, 2022: “I’ll be happy when I’m not here — when I’m not mayor.”
For him, it was a moment of exasperation after two police officers were struck by stray bullets. But for many Philadelphians, it was the crystallization of a growing frustration about a mayor who didn’t seem to want the job.
Like any mayor, he’ll be defined by the city’s successes and failures while he was in office. But more than any of his recent predecessors, he’ll also be remembered for his temperament, which was often sullen, paired with his hands-off leadership style.
Read more to learn how Kenney defends himself against critics and what’s next for him.
For psychiatrist Johanna Beck, breastfeeding has been a major part of her life for the past three years. It’s required extensive planning, persistence, and three kinds of breast pumps so she can express milk while also doing her work tasks and seeing patients.
In her own words: “There is a big burden of pumping at work,” Beck said. “The way it gets better is visibility.”
Balancing a job and pumping several times a day is described by many as tedious and laborious, even under the best conditions.
Keep in mind: A federal law passed in April expanded workplace pumping rights. Employers must provide workers with a reasonable time for lactation breaks as frequently as needed up to a year post-childbirth. Employers must also provide a lactation space that is not a bathroom, shielded from view, and free from intrusion by coworkers or the public.
Still, existing laws don’t resolve the long list of challenges.
Meet the Philly-area parents who say they made pumping work at work — or didn’t.
What you should know today
Thomas Jefferson University gig workers who act as medical patients, known as standardized patients, want to unionize.
Sylvester Stallone returned to Philly for the first-ever Rocky Day at the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum.
Prosecutors said in court filings that in the months following former labor leader John Dougherty’s 2019 indictment, he was repeatedly caught on tape threatening to “beat up,” sue, or “run over” potential witnesses against him.
Center City’s only mosque is under contract to buy a home of its own after years of praying inside a Catholic church’s back room.
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) and Republican Dave McCormick took turns addressing a politically mixed audience at the Pennsylvania Society event in New York over the weekend. Both were perfectly polite and it’s likely a preview of the tone of the 2024 Senate race.
A University of Pennsylvania freshman won $100,000 in college tuition at the Dr. Pepper halftime challenge at the Big 12 championship.
MeatEater, the popular outdoors podcast about hunting and fishing, is coming to the Keswick Theatre in Glenside.
🧠 Trivia time
Which American Idol winner performed at the Philly Holiday Experience tree lighting?
A) Kelly Clarkson
B) Carrie Underwood
C) Jordin Sparks
D) Fantasia
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🚌 Considering: Gifting SEPTA-branded gifts this Christmas.
🎧 Listening to: Aja Monet’s Tiny Desk Concert.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: PATCO’s “ghost” station
INFERNAL QUARKS
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Steve Meranus, who correctly guessed Sunday’s answer: Brooklyn Bowl.
Photo of the day
That’s all I have for you this morning. I’m starting my day with some Christmas shopping online.🎁 Thanks for starting yours with The Inquirer.