U.N. releases life-or-death climate report, Montco teacher lands local game show | Morning Newsletter
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The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
If there's one thing I hope you take away from this morning's newsletter, it's a long look at the U.N.'s new report on climate change. It paints a frankly terrifying and bleak picture for the planet if global warming isn't limited in the next two decades. If, after that, you understandably need some levity, don't hesitate to read up on Richard Curtis, the Montgomery County teacher who spends his weekends filming a local game show. He's a ball of sunshine.
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— Aubrey Nagle (@aubsn, morningnewsletter@philly.com)
When Richard Curtis got his first big TV break, it was thanks to a contest to guest co-host Live with Kelly alongside South Jersey native Kelly Ripa.
That led to more Live with Kelly appearances and eventually a role as guest correspondent on Fox29's Good Morning Philadelphia.
Now he's the star of The ClassH-Room on Fox29, a game show which pits local teachers and students against each other in a battle of wits. But during the week he's still a high school teacher in Montgomery County — with one crazy schedule.
The U.N.'s Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a startling report Monday on the dire effects of global warming.
It claims if we limit human-caused warming to just 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit from where it is now, instead of the globally agreed-upon goal of 1.8 degrees F, we could keep a "semblance" of the ecosystems we still have. If not, we can expect worse droughts, heatwaves, sea rise, extreme weather, food scarcity — essentially, a more difficult Earth to live on, for all of us.
The panel says it is still possible to prevent this extra degree of heat. But they see little chance the world will rise to the challenge as it will require unprecedented changes from governments all over the world in the next 12 years.
A bill that quietly passed through the New Jersey Senate in July could make car dealers very happy.
Car buyers? Not so much. The bill aims to drastically curtail legal remedies for consumers suing car dealers.
One beneficiary of the bill is a South Jersey dealership which has racked up 461 consumer complaints since 2006 — and whose owner and his son donated or loaned hundreds of thousands of dollars to New Jersey Democrats.
What you need to know today
If you want to vote in the midterm elections Nov. 6, you need to make sure you're registered. Today is the deadline in Pennsylvania, and those for New Jersey (Oct. 16) and Delaware (Oct. 13) are around the corner.
Say it ain't so: top Eagles running back Jay Ajayi may have played his last game with the team. He's out for the season with a torn ACL during the final year of his contract.
Vandals took to the South Philadelphia Christopher Columbus monument and the History of Italian Immigration Museum yesterday to express disgust with Columbus Day, spray painting the statue and the sidewalk in front of both.
Good news: Philadelphia finished the last fiscal year with nearly a $1 billion cash balance among all its funds. The bad news: the city is unlikely to save any of it.
In Haddon Heights, a new roadway and sidewalk reconstruction project could mean tearing down a neighborhood's healthy sycamore trees. Residents of the New Jersey suburb are now fighting to stay in the shade.
Have you heard of REAL ID? Pennsylvania and New Jersey residents will need to get a new ID card (or else carry a passport) in order to board a domestic flight after Oct. 1, 2020.
As Philadelphia's first safe injection site prepares to open, the new nonprofit leading the charge, Safehouse, is explaining exactly how the location will operate.
Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly
Another reminder of upcoming voter registration deadlines from @matt_johanning.
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!
That’s Interesting
Looking for a job? Try the new Met Philadelphia. The North Philly concert venue opens in December and is looking to fill more than 200 positions.
The Sixers lost their final preseason game yesterday in Shenzhen, China, but Joel Embiid still managed to be the best player on the floor.
It's mascot mania in Philadelphia. The city's third new promotional creature in a month debuted yesterday but, luckily, the Please Touch Museum's Squiggles isn't nearly as creepy as Gritty.
As the coal industry's reign ran out, the Pennsylvania town of Shamokin became a shell of its former self. Now a former Giants fullback wants football to bring the town hope again.
The Haverford School's Soft Robotics team just pulled off a repeat victory at a Harvard design competition. Last year gummy bear-like candy brought home gold. This year it was throwing clay pots.
Days-long international bachelor parties, matching T-shirts, special Snapchat filters — the wedding industrial complex has made being part of a bridal party more expensive than ever.
Opinions
The parents of five sisters who were sexually abused by one Pennsylvania priest are speaking out. Pat and Ed Fortney write that the Pennsylvania Senate must vote for a bill to reform the statutes of limitations for victims of childhood abuse.
Columnist Christine Flowers writes that Sen. Susan Collins probably ended her political career by voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court justice, but her courage should inspire us all.
What we’re reading
Following the U.N.'s scary report, a collection of photos of the world's flood victims feeling climate change's effects now, is worth a look via Fast Company.
The Philadelphia Tribune's profile on principal and community activist Sharif El-Mekki provides some much-needed positive news this morning. What he's overcome is incredible.
Philly loves its neighborhoods, so Billy Penn is covering the city's annual Clean Block Contest to see who loves theirs the most.
Has Kanye West been "canceled"? Wired's essay on "cancel culture," when the public tries to throw away its public figures, is a really thoughtful look at the phenomenon.
Your Daily Dose of | Tentacles
Don’t be scared, there’s no giant sea monster taking over the Navy Yard. Those massive tentacles, which you can see from planes flying into Philly, are just an art installation.