Inside the new Riverview recovery site | Morning Newsletter
🏈 And Philly’s Fighting Irish faithful.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Happy Thursday, Philly. The region’s cold spell continues: Expect gusty winds and high temps in the 30s today. The latest snow prediction for Saturday? Less than an inch.
A new drug rehabilitation center will open on State Road this month as part of Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s Kensington plan. Our top story details the latest in the city’s effort to fill an addiction treatment gap.
And from the Northeast to Grays Ferry, the choice for many Irish Catholic college football fans is easy: Notre Dame over Penn State.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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The first recovery facility to be operated by Philadelphia’s government has completed construction on its first phase and will be ready to accept around 340 patients this month.
The big picture: Called the Riverview Wellness Village, the $100 million facility sits on a city-owned plot of land on State Road next to the jail complex. When construction is complete, it will be able to treat more than 600 people at a time.
Longer-term care: Patients will be referred to the facility after completing short-term, inpatient drug treatment elsewhere, and can live at the village for up to a year, officials said.
In Kensington: A new “wellness court” initiative will also launch this month in the neighborhood that is the center of the city’s opioid crisis. There, some people who are arrested for minor drug offenses could go before a judge and be offered treatment instead of criminal charges. But community advocates have concerns.
It’s the Blue and Gold vs. the Blue and White tonight when the University of Notre Dame takes on Pennsylvania State University in the Orange Bowl.
🏈 Despite the seemingly obvious in-state tie to Penn State, at places like Dean’s Pub in Grays Ferry and Walt’s Circle Tavern in the Northeast, patrons will be rooting for the Fighting Irish.
🏈 Why do a bunch of Philadelphians who never attended the Indiana school back it? It all traces back to the city’s pockets of Irish Catholics. (About 10% of Philly residents are of Irish ancestry.)
🏈 “When guys went to college or got a job on the police force or as a fireman, you went to North or you went to Dougherty, you went to Judge, and you became friends over Notre Dame,” one local diehard told The Inquirer. “You all had something in common.”
For Nittany Lions fans: Coach James Franklin’s obsession with preparation has been the key to Penn State victory. His Orange Bowl moment is decades in the making.
Relive the rivalry: Look back at some classic Penn State-Notre Dame games from the 1980s and ‘90s, complete with two-point tries, frigid cold, and a tug at a kilt.
In other Irish pub news: At Philly bars, Guinness is “not your old man’s drink anymore.” A social media trend is behind the sudden spike in sales.
What you should know today
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approved a settlement with Philadelphia Gas Works that includes safety initiatives to resolve litigation arising from a 2019 house explosion in South Philly that killed two people.
A student teacher at a Chester County high school secretly filmed male students while they undressed and showered in a locker room, police said Wednesday.
Pennsylvania’s Judicial Conduct Board has dismissed a complaint alleging impropriety and bias by a Common Pleas Court judge, but privately cautioned her about her conduct.
Within the last week, three Democratic New Jersey politicians took office with the distinction of being the first Black person to hold their respective seats.
Female teachers who say the Central Bucks School District has underpaid them compared to men are again taking their case to court, after a trial last summer ended in a hung jury.
The former principal of the Philadelphia High School for Girls has sued the school district for racial discrimination, saying she was removed from her position because she is white.
The Lower Merion school board approved a contract for new Superintendent Frank Ranelli on Monday. After three leaders in three years, he promises he’ll be there “a long time.”
Resident physicians and fellows at Jefferson Health’s Einstein Healthcare Network voted to unionize on Wednesday, joining a broader labor movement among physicians in the area.
Ushers at the Kimmel Center have struck a tentative deal on a new labor contract, easing the threat of strike.
🧠 Trivia time
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York have joined forces to protect which creature — a shared state symbol — with a dwindling population?
A) White-tailed deer
B) Eastern hellbender
C) Great Dane
D) Eastern brook trout
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
📺 Rewatching: Last night’s Abbott Elementary x It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia crossover episode, a.k.a. the Philliest moment on TV this season.
🛍️ Awaiting: News of the Center City Macy’s future.
🐟 Remembering: President Jimmy Carter’s love of fly fishing in Pennsylvania — and his conservation legacy.
🤸 Obsessed with: This Temple gymnast’s epic floor routine, featuring Kendrick Lamar and GloRilla.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Major thoroughfare in North and Northeast Philadelphia
OVERSUBTLE OVERLOAD
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Danielle Egnozzi, who solved Wednesday’s anagram: Japanese Breakfast. The Philly-founded band led by Crying in H Mart author Michelle Zauner returns with a new album and a show at the Met Philly this year.
Image of the day
💼 One last fashionable thing: We’ve loved seeing Eagles star Saquon Barkley’s standout style, curated with help from a former teammate.
I’ll be back with you tomorrow morning to close out the week. ‘Til then, be well.
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