Better parks, cleaner rivers | Morning Newsletter
And some unvaccinated city workers are put on leave
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The Morning Newsletter
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It’s looking like another day in the upper 80s with moderate humidity.
Today, we’ll look at the major investments Pennsylvania is making in its future.
Then, we’ll look at how many workers Philadelphia is putting on leave for not getting vaccinated.
If you see this 🔑 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.
— Evan Weiss (@eaweiss, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
“We haven’t seen numbers of this kind for investment in conservation for probably several decades,” Ezra Thrush, senior director for government affairs for the nonprofit environmental advocacy group PennFuture, said. “It’s going to be significantly meaningful for land conservation, for farmland preservation, for open spaces, for our parks and forests. This was something that we didn’t think was going to be possible, given today’s political environment.”
The new money includes $220 million to establish a new Clean Streams Fund. Pennsylvania has 85,000 miles of waterways — the highest stream density in the continental U.S. One-third of those waterways are considered polluted enough to harm wildlife, recreation, or drinking water.
An additional $320 million will go toward drinking water, sewer projects, flood control, and dam repair.
And there’s more — a lot more. My colleague Frank Kummer has the story.
What you should know today
The best upcoming concerts, featuring Elton John, Snacktime, Phish, and more.
Philly officials touted tax relief efforts. But some homeowners stand to lose money.
The 10 best things to do in Philly in the next week.
Is a 10 p.m. curfew for teens a good idea in Philadelphia?
New Jersey renters can apply for a shot at state rental vouchers for the first time in five years.
Local Coronavirus Numbers: Here’s your daily look at the latest COVID-19 data.
A story in numbers:
Roughly 270 workers were put on leave this month for failing to comply with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
22% of the Fire Department requested exemptions.
15% of the Police Department requested exemptions.
12% of the city’s unionized workforce — or more than 2,500 people — have either had an exemption approved or have a pending request.
More than 5% of the unionized employees in the Prisons Department were placed on leave.
Nearly 4% of the Fire Department’s unionized force — which includes firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs — are on leave as well.
My colleague Anna Orso has the story.
🧠 Philly Trivia Time 🧠
How many doses of the monkeypox vaccine did Pennsylvania receive this week?
0
450
1,280
94,000
What we’re …
🤔Learning: The FDA clears the way for more monkeypox vaccine shipments.
📘Reading: America’s maternal mortality crisis traces back to Philadelphia, home to the nation’s first delivery wards. From the start, Black people received unequal treatment and were exploited for science.
🤔Learning: Atlantic City, welcoming the National NAACP Convention, looks at its own Black origins.
🧩 Unscramble the Anagram 🧩
This island in the Delaware River may be confused with something that is trivial, minor, or of little importance.
LANTY DIPEST
Think you know? Send your guess our way at morningnewsletter@inquirer.com. We’ll give a shoutout to a reader at random who answers correctly. Today’s shoutout goes to Karen Cleaver, who correctly guessed Tony & Nick’s Steaks as yesterday’s answer.
Photo of the day
Thanks for joining me. My colleague Ashley Hoffman will take it on Sunday. 👋