Philly’s missing playgrounds | Morning Newsletter
And a jury convicts Johnny Doc (again)
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Welcome to Friday. It’s mostly sunny with a high near 51.
A third of elementary schools in Philadelphia have no playgrounds. Our main story digs into how these spaces are created or transformed across the city, and why it will take years for every school to have one.
— Paola Pérez (@pdesiperez, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.
Every elementary school principal wants a playground. Last month, one school in South Philly saw that dream come true.
At F. Amedee Bregy School, kids used to chase after plastic bags along a yard of cracked concrete. Now, they have a beautiful space where they can race, spin, slide, laugh and have a good time on shiny new play equipment. There’s also a basketball court, a track, new trees and a patch of green turf.
The grounds are also open to the community during non-school hours.
Bregy is now one of 96 Philadelphia school district elementary schools that either have existing playgrounds or new playgrounds under construction. But 55 schools have no play structures at all.
Creating those spaces is difficult in a district that has 216 old buildings with big capital needs and a projecting a $407 million budget deficits. Bregy took five years and cost $2.1 million. So how do miracles like Bregy’s happen?
Follow along to learn about the financial challenges and plans to build more playgrounds in the city through partnerships.
On Thursday, a federal jury found John Dougherty guilty of nearly all charges in his union embezzlement trial.
Dougherty and others were accused of secretly siphoning off more than $600,000 from members of Local 98, the union he led for 30 years, to enrich himself and his family.
The verdict: The jury found “Johnny Doc” guilty on 66 counts including conspiracy, embezzlement, falsification of labor union financial reports, and wire and tax fraud.
The exception: The ex-union chief was acquitted on two counts — embezzlement and wire fraud — involving purchases at Ikea on a union card, and tax fraud involving his 2012 tax returns.
The future: Dougherty will be sentenced in March and faces up to 20 years behind bars on the most serious charge. That’s more prison time on top of the most serious counts from his 2021 bribery trial, which also carried a maximum of 20 years. Plus, there’s a third trial on extortion charges scheduled for spring. But it’s likely he could end up serving far less time.
The damage: This marks Dougherty’s second felony conviction in as many years and casts a devastating blow to his reputation as one of the region’s most transformative labor leaders.
Keep reading for more details on what went down in the courtroom, what’s next for the former labor leader, and how the jury decided on each count of the indictment.
What you should know today
A congressional committee has opened an investigation into the University of Pennsylvania’s policies and disciplinary procedures following President Liz Magill’s testimony about antisemitism on college campuses. Penn’s board of trustees also held an informal gathering Thursday in the face of bipartisan backlash over Magill’s comments including threats of more lost gifts and renewed calls for her resignation.
A school bus aide in Lansdale was charged with strangulation, simple assault and endangering the welfare of a child after a 6-year-old boy was reportedly choked on a North Penn School District bus.
A federal jury found that Thomas Jefferson University conducted a gender-biased investigation into allegations that a former Rothman Orthopaedic Institute surgeon raped a former medical resident.
The Philadelphia Historical Commission will vote today on a request by the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf to demolish a 19th-century house adjacent to the private school’s Germantown campus.
Automobile theft rates have reached a new high in Philadelphia. With one month left, 2023 was already the worst year for vehicle thefts in more than 15 years.
The Mütter Museum will not hold its popular and unabashedly offbeat holiday market, Dr. Mütter’s Merry Emporium, this year. Instead, this coming Sunday, it will host a new event with an educational emphasis.
🧠 Trivia time
The most expensive cheesesteak in Philly just got a makeover.
What’s the price tag?
A) $50
B) $80
C) $140
D) $200
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re...
🍪 Baking: Manna Bakery’s outrageously good caramelized butter honey sesame cookies.
📰 Catching up on: What happened this week in City Council, like a newly introduced resolution to get guns off the streets in a different way.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: The Queen Diva of Philly
APT BILL ELATE
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Sandy Horrocks, who correctly guessed Thursday’s answer: Taylor Swift.
Photo of the day
Thanks for starting your morning with The Inquirer. Have a great weekend.
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.