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Why Philly feels squeezed by U.S. economy, Philly Latinos face Trump’s America | Morning Newsletter

All the local news you need to know to start your day, delivered straight to your email.

Stephanie Chapman and her son, Momo, then 1. Working and going to school, Chapman still finds the economy daunting.
Stephanie Chapman and her son, Momo, then 1. Working and going to school, Chapman still finds the economy daunting.Read moreELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Staff Photographer

Happy Monday, Philadelphia. I'm extra grateful to be chatting with you this morning because I have the pleasure of introducing you to Curious Philly, an exciting new venture which connects our reporters to the most pressing questions you have about your community. Not only can you send us your questions and vote on your favorites, but we're going to answer them — and we've already kicked it off with a deep report on poverty in Philly. There's much more on it all below, and I can't wait for you to dig in. Another story I'm particularly excited about is my colleague Juliana Feliciano Reyes' report from Philly's annual Hispanic Fiesta. She spent a gorgeous day talking with Philly Latinos about their experience in Trump's America and their responses are worth a read. Thanks for starting your day with us.

Reading this online? Sign up here to get this newsletter delivered to your inbox every morning.

— Aubrey Nagle (@aubsn, morningnewsletter@philly.com)

» READ MORE: Why do Philadelphians feel squeezed as U.S. economy seems to hum? Introducing Curious Philly

If you could ask your city a question, any question at all, what would it be? With our new question-and-response forum Curious Philly, you can submit every query you have about the region, big and small. Readers will vote on their favorites and our journalists will seek answers.

We're kicking off the service with a great reader-submitted question: Despite seeing improvement in the national economy, what we hear about the average income for Philadelphians is that it's still down. Why is that?

It's a complicated question with a complicated answer — so reporter Alfred Lubrano dug into the numbers and met with Philadelphians to find out exactly what's going on.

» READ MORE: ‘It’s pushing us to do more’: Philly Latinos on Trump’s America

Following a police raid that forced them away from Philadelphia's Immigration and Customs Enforcement office, "Occupy ICE" demonstrators protesting family separations at the U.S. border have set up a new camp at City Hall.

They're free to stay, Mayor Jim Kenney said, as long as they don't set up tents and generators.

But across town, at Penn's Landing, reporter Juliana Feliciano Reyes says Philadelphia's Latino community practiced another kind of resistance this weekend: celebrating their culture. She joined the annual Hispanic Fiesta and asked attendees what it's like to live as a Latino in Trump's America.

» READ MORE: Kids and guns: study finds urban-rural divide that changes with age

Gun violence is now a leading cause of pediatric injury and death in the U.S., but it plays out very differently in rural and urban communities, a new study shows.

Rural teens are more likely to suffer from self-inflicted firearm injuries and rural preteens more likely to suffer accidental gun injuries. Their urban peers are far more likely to suffer firearm injuries due to assault.

Experts say the findings make it clear solutions to gun violence are not one-size-fits-all.

What you need to know today

  1. Following a risky operation, four teen boys have been rescued from a cave in Thailand where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been trapped for more than two weeks. Eight boys and the coach remain inside, but rescue operations are about to resume.

  2. Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola was named an All-Star yesterday, so he'll be the team's lone representative in the July 17 All-Star Game. More good news: the Phillies are in first place in the NL East despite losing Sunday.

  3. Two big public health trends are colliding as Pennsylvania researchers hope to find out whether medical marijuana could help treat opioid addiction after becoming the first state to approve the treatment.

  4. A landmark lawsuit which landed Friday alleges that Pennsylvania's new school-funding formula not only failed to fix disparities between wealthy and poor public schools, but it actually made the spending gap worse.

  5. Another video of a local arrest has gone viral after a public safety officer allegedly called the police on a black youth at the Philadelphia Zoo. Comments on the video suggest he was selling water outside the zoo gates.

  6. If you need to call an ambulance in an emergency, it will cost you — but how much? The Inquirer's Philly Health Costs project has examined why bills fluctuate and what you can do about it.

Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly

The break in the heat gave us a beautiful sunset Saturday, which @drewcm2020 luckily captured.

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

  1. The NBA Summer League season is underway, and new Sixer Zhaire Smith is already showing progress after his second game. His coaches say patience is key when it comes to Smith's growth.

  2. You may have heard of Tommy John surgery, a procedure to fix elbow injuries, thanks to its namesake, a former major-league pitcher. But it's high school athletes, not professionals, that are increasingly finding themselves under the knife.

  3. Carlos Basualdo, the curator of contemporary art for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is known for his ambitious projects and acquisitions. Before he joined the art world, however, he was better known as an equestrian, rancher, engineer, and poet.

  4. Toll Bros. isn't the only threat to Jewelers' Row. The introduction of lab-grown diamonds is changing the entire industry. Is it good for business? Depends on who you ask.

  5. Meek Mill dropped a new EP over the weekend and it includes a Philly anthem with a pun we're surprised Mill hasn't used before.

  6. One tiny block in Queen Village is at war with the Philadelphia Water Department. What's the "Nightmare on Monroe Street" all about? Residents say their street is sinking.

Opinions

"People in foreclosure come from all walks of life. They are schoolteachers and firefighters, salesclerks and auto mechanics, veterans and parents of soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. So what's the right thing to do?" — Elyse Cherry, chief executive of Boston Community Capital, on why stabilizing low-income Philly neighborhoods helps us all.

  1. President Trump's meeting with Kim Jong Un, during which he downplayed the North Korean leader's human rights abuses, weakened America, writes Democratic U.S. Rep. Brendan F. Boyle.

  2. Maintaining public spaces may not be as sexy as opening shiny new ones, but keeping up civic infrastructure is the real key to a city's success, write Randall Mason and Elizabeth Greenspan of PennPraxis, the outreach arm of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Design.

What we’re reading

  1. There's plenty of summer heat to be had, so there's plenty of time for seasonal cocktails. Philadelphia Magazine gathered nine cool recipes from local bartenders you may want to try.

  2. The Inquirer has joined publications across Pennsylvania to dedicate coverage to the state's opioid crisis and last week PennLive compiled the many stories into one list. One PennLive story on a Little League umpire educating children about drug abuse is a must-read.

  3. If you appreciated my colleague Alfred Lubrano's story on poverty in Philadelphia, you'll want to dig into New York Magazine's explanation of a new study claiming American workers are getting ripped off. 

  4. NPR reports that in our internet-obsessed world, Buddhism is helping some screen addicts reclaim their time. (If you're currently hunched over a phone ignoring the world around you, this hint is directed at you.)

  5. You can take this debate offline: Rolling Stone has compiled a list of the "100 Greatest Songs of the Century So Far" and, naturally, there's a lot to unpack.

Your Daily Dose of | Exploration

This summer, Camden students are hopping in canoes and becoming expert tour guides on the Delaware River — and learning about their city, its waterways, and themselves along the way.