🗑️ Talking trash pickup | Morning Newsletter
And fatal complications at CHOP.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Hi, Philly. It’s set to be a sunny, chilly Tuesday.
The city begins twice-weekly trash pickup in South Philadelphia and Center City this week as part of a pilot program. Expansion to more neighborhoods is on the way.
And Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia pioneered a lifesaving lymphatic procedure, but some kids died or suffered strokes. Doctors downplayed the risks, parents say.
Here’s what to know today.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Neighborhoods in South Philadelphia and Center City may be looking cleaner as soon as this week.
🗑️ See the difference: Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on Monday marked the official launch of a twice-weekly trash pickup pilot program announced last month. The nearly $12 million initiative will cover the area from Callowhill Street to Pattison Avenue between 30th Street and Columbus Boulevard. (Here’s the new pickup schedule.)
🗑️ “Clean and green” promise: This effort comes after an inaugural city-wide street cleaning program swept more than 18,000 blocks this summer, a pilot Parker said will return biannually. When Inquirer reporters checked on three intersections a month after they were swept to see if they stayed litter-free, the results were mixed.
🗑️ Plans to expand: City officials said they ordered more garbage trucks and compactors with the intention to bring twice-weekly trash pickups to North and West Philadelphia next fall.
Reporter Nate File has more details on the pilot program.
In other civic news: SEPTA fares went up this week. See how each service is impacted.
For nearly a decade, children with plastic bronchitis and their families have traveled from across the United States for treatment at CHOP, where doctors invented a fix to plug leaks in young lungs. Without treatment, the condition can be fatal.
But some parents say the hospital did not disclose that its lymphatic procedure could be life-threatening, too. Before June 2022, at least two children had died at CHOP from post-procedure complications. More have died since or now suffer from serious medical complications.
“CHOP saved his life,” said the mother of a now-15-year-old boy who underwent the procedure at age 7. “But I think these guys are cowboys, and they’re willing to take risks.”
Further reading: The parents of a 5-year-old who died after undergoing the procedure, Michael Sylvestre, recorded a phone call in which they asked the CHOP doctors who treated him what happened. Listen to clips from their conversation.
What you should know today
Philadelphia Police and U.S. Marshals are searching for a local man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and burying her in shallow grave in the woods of Fox Chase.
New Jersey Senator-elect Andy Kim said Monday that he is “disappointed” that President Joe Biden decided to pardon his son Hunter Biden.
Elon Musk wants his pro-Trump America PAC to target progressive district attorneys across the country, and Philly DA Larry Krasner appears likely to be on that list.
Lawmakers on Monday advanced legislation that would restrict where mobile addiction services operate in Kensington following a heated City Council hearing.
Temple University agreed to provide anti-discrimination training and review its response to antisemitism, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian complaints as part of a resolution agreement reached with the U.S. Department of Education.
Philadelphia International Airport on Monday was still relying on a generator to power Terminal D after outages delayed more than 90 flights during the weekend.
Local tourism got a big boost over the summer, thanks to international visitors and events including multiple conventions and the Linc’s Liverpool-Arsenal match.
Philadelphia Orchestra’s MatĂas Tarnopolsky is leaving his post as president and CEO to lead the New York Philharmonic. And almost three months after her sudden departure from CBS3, Jessica Kartalija is back on the air — at 6abc.
Gas in Jersey is about to get a few cents more expensive.
🧠Trivia time
Which billionaire is partnering with Philly-based Bridges to Wealth to bring the financial literacy program to historically Black colleges and universities, including nearby Lincoln University?
A) Jeff Bezos
B) Jay-Z
C) Alice Walton
D) Oprah Winfrey
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🍰 Eating: Vintage-style cakes from New June’s new bakery in Brewerytown.
🦅 Naming: The 11 Eagles (now including Saquon Barkley) who recorded 1,000 or more rushing yards in a single season.
🔺 Obsessed with: Triangle-patterned bags, thanks to Made by Hank.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Oxford English Dictionary’s 2024 Word of the Year
TIN ARBOR
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Natyna Bean, who solved Monday’s anagram: Cherry Hill. A nine-story office building is coming down adjacent to the Camden County township’s eponymous mall, and a two-story sports store with a turf field is proposed to take its place.
Photo of the day
🎤 Anyone else seeing Mariah Carey’s “Christmas Time” show at Wells Fargo tonight? If “All I Want for Christmas is You” isn’t your jam, you might want to avoid King of Prussia, Cherry Hill, and other Philly-area malls, where holiday music has been playing for weeks. For a different vibe, check out West Oak Lane’s Orrin Evans, the Grammy-nominated jazz pianist who just played the Perelman Theater.
Whatever your Tuesday plans, I hope it’s a good time. See you back here tomorrow.
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