Philly teams want more fans in the stands | Morning Newsletter

Philadelphia announced loosening restrictions on Friday, including allowing some fans at sporting events. But all the teams that are currently playing — the Sixers, Phillies and Flyers — have decided to wait before inviting people to attend home games. They’re all hoping for Pennsylvania to allow a higher cap on crowds, and a decision from state officials could come this week.

And, believe it or not, we’re about a year into this pandemic. We want to know how you’re feeling about everything. You can tell us here, and look out for some pre-pandemic memories from other Philly-area residents in this newsletter.

— Lauren Aguirre (@laurencaguirre, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

Each week we go behind the scenes with one of our reporters or editors to discuss their work and the challenges they face along the way. This week we chat with education editor Yvette Ousley about how she approaches her job and what she’s proud of.

What does an education editor do and what interests you the most about this subject?

As an education editor, I collaborate with my team in planning, coordinating, revising and promoting their stories. What interests me the most about education is that it is the equalizer, the one thing that can help people pull themselves up no matter their circumstance.

What does an average day look like for you? And what things are you watching out for as an editor that reporters don’t usually worry about?

No day is exactly the same. But there are things that happen daily. These include reading several newspapers and newsletters, attending morning and afternoon news budgeting meetings and other meetings, checking in with each member of my team, and editing stories. As an editor, I am always looking for stories we may have missed, national stories that we can localize, trends, interesting ways that people may be presenting journalism over various platforms, and alternative ways to tell our stories, and stay connected with and provide information to readers during a pandemic.

What’s something about education that you find is often misunderstood?

In some communities, I think the value of education is often misunderstood.

What’s a project or story you’ve worked on in the last year that you’re particularly proud of?

I work with a team of stars, so it is difficult to pick just one. Our pandemic coverage has been excellent. I am also proud of a story about a little girl who attended former President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, where Trump suggested that she was enrolled in a failing Philly public school and would be getting a scholarship to attend a school of her family’s choice. Maddie Hanna and Kristen Graham turned over every rock to find the girl and broke a story on how she already was attending one of the best charter schools in the city. Finding the family was particularly challenging, because we were looking for the girl in the public school system where she was not enrolled. There isn’t a centralized system for kids enrolled in charters.

I am also very proud of a story Sue Snyder did about a winning women’s basketball coach who was accused of abusing players at Swarthmore College. This was a challenging piece because it involved issues of race and sexuality and allegations of sexual assault. We went to great lengths to make sure our sourcing was diverse, and that we handled concerns around race and sexuality with care. We discussed and debated and went back and pulled in more people for feedback because we wanted to get this right.

Why did you decide to become a journalist?

I became a journalist because I loved writing and stories from the time I was in elementary school and wanted to use my talents to magnify stories, especially those around Black people and communities.

What’s something you do in your free time for fun? Anything you’re looking forward to in the near future?

I enjoy reading and roller skating in my free time, and I am looking forward to traveling.

Email Yvette Ousley at yousley@inquirer.com and follow her on Twitter at @YvetteOusley.

This is a gorgeous shot of the “snow moon” over Philly. Thanks for sharing, @lightbender_photo!

Tag your Instagram posts or tweets with #OurPhilly and we’ll pick our favorite each day to feature in this newsletter and give you a shout-out!

Some Texans after the recent winter storms are getting huge electric bills, but that couldn’t happen here in the Mid-Atlantic, right? Well, it already did. The culprit is variable-rate power contracts that some customers signed up for from third-party energy suppliers. Many customers aren’t aware they’re signed up for these variable rates, but you can find out where you stand in about five minutes. Here’s what you can do to protect yourself from an astronomical electric bill.

What’s your last memory before the coronavirus changed everything? We’re almost a year into the pandemic, so we asked our Instagram followers about their last pre-pandemic memory. Here are a few of their responses:

🐱 “Lucky enough to see a sold-out midnight showing of Cats at the Ritz!”

📺 “Watching Outbreak at my local dive bar, Lorraine, talking with other patrons about Covid.”

🎒 “Having a really boring day at high school. Would be my last ever (in person).”

💼 “Annoyed with work. I thought, ‘it might be nice to have a few weeks at home to reset.’ LOL.”

👰 “We got legally married the day before shut down (celebrated in August, outside, distanced).”

📅 “Wait, there was a pre-pandemic? 🙃”

This past year has felt like forever for a lot of people, and we want to know how you’re holding up. Tell us how it’s going with our form here. We’ll publish select responses online in the coming weeks.

And be sure to follow us on Instagram at @phillyinquirer so you can participate next time we ask a question!

You can stay the night in Buffalo Bill’s house featured in Silence of the Lambs. The Pennsylvania home will have open weekend rentals available soon, but in the meantime, its new owner is running a contest on Facebook and Instagram for a free weekend stay at the house featured in the classic thriller. The contest ends today, so act fast if you want a chance.