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Parents seek to solve daughter’s mysterious death; Senate overturns Trump’s emergency declaration | Morning Newsletter

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Joshua & Sandra Greenberg hold a scrapbook of their daughter in their Harrisburg home. In 2011, Philadelphia elementary school teacher Ellen Rae Greenberg was found dead of stab wounds in her apartment. The Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office initially ruled her death a homicide, then changed their ruling to suicide one month later, Friday July 13, 2017.  DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer .
Joshua & Sandra Greenberg hold a scrapbook of their daughter in their Harrisburg home. In 2011, Philadelphia elementary school teacher Ellen Rae Greenberg was found dead of stab wounds in her apartment. The Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office initially ruled her death a homicide, then changed their ruling to suicide one month later, Friday July 13, 2017. DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer .Read moreDAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer

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Philadelphia officials disagreed about the cause of Ellen Greenberg’s death in 2011. The brutal scene was a peculiar one and to this day, her parents continue their search for answers. President Trump’s push for border wall funding hit another roadblock Thursday as the Senate overturned his emergency declaration, meaning some GOP senators, including one you’re probably familiar with, had to go against him. And we share some positive news this morning: A new section coming to The Inquirer will focus on lifting your spirit.

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— Ray Boyd (@RayBoydDigital, morningnewsletter@philly.com)

Joshua and Sandra Greenberg’s world forever changed on a night in 2011 when the phone rang: “Something terrible has happened to Ellie.” Sandra said their lives turned “Weird. Strange. Black," on that night and from that point on, it would only get worse.

Their daughter Ellen was found dead in her Manayunk home with 20 stab wounds. Philadelphia officials disagreed about what happened, changing their determination from suicide, to homicide, and back again.

The peculiarity of the scene led the Greenbergs on a quest that no parent should have to take — one that continues to this day: finding out how their daughter died.

The Senate voted Thursday to overturn President Donald Trump’s emergency declaration aimed at securing billions of dollars for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. President Trump threatened a veto and urged Republicans to stay in line, but 12 GOP Senators voted against him.

Among the 12 was Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Writing for The Inquirer, Toomey explained his vote saying he supports Trump’s mission to secure the border, “but I have serious concerns about his national emergency declaration.”

If Trump moves to veto, Congress could vote to overrule, but that would require a vote margin across both chambers that doesn’t appear likely.

In response to Philly’s overdose death rate, the city and nonprofit organizations have launched free training classes to teach people how to use the opioid-reversal drug naloxone.

Jose Benitez, the executive director of Prevention Point, says the organization launched its classes due to demand from the public. Today, they’re held at multiple locations including Prevention Point Philadelphia and at Free Library branches.

The classes teach people what to do before, during, and after administering naloxone. It also educates students on how to determine whether someone is actually overdosing and not just in a deep high. Benitez hopes that eventually, everyone will receive this training to be able to save a life.

What you need to know today

  1. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called Friday “one of New Zealand’s darkest days,” as mass shootings at two mosques claimed dozens of lives. Authorities say the ordeal appears to be a carefully planned racist attack.

  2. Three intellectually disabled men faced unspeakable atrocities inside an unlicensed group home in Germantown. They pleaded to leave and got their wish — but not until seven weeks after the first official complaint.

  3. A Chester County man who ran an in-home daycare has been charged with rape, officials say. Children ranging from ages 3 to 7 have been identified as victims of alleged sexual assault while attending the daycare.

  4. A West Philadelphia neighborhood was left without a supermarket yesterday as a local ShopRite closed its doors. The store blames Philly’s soda tax for the closure, but the Kenney administration isn’t buying that claim.

  5. Meanwhile, citing business community concerns, City Council introduced a bill Thursday to phase out portions of the soda tax and potentially eliminate Kenney’s signature legislation all together.

  6. If the daily drumbeat of tough news stories sometimes leaves you discouraged, my colleague Ronnie Polaneczky has some good news for you — literally. She will lead a new Sunday Inquirer section that will feature inspirational stories that will lift your spirit, fittingly titled The UpSide.

Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly

There’s just something about Philly drenched in sunlight. Thanks for sharing, @sniemkiewicz.

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. Ben Lerner is a Philadelphia judge by day. But when he’s off, he trades in a gavel for a baseball bat — a love he shared with his brother Alan who died nine years ago. On the field, Lerner’s loss stings a little less, columnist Mike Newall writes.

  2. Good news, fellow Temple Owls: Ahead of Selection Sunday this weekend, two college basketball experts predict the Owls will easily make the NCAA tournament and possibly matchup with Villanova. Talk about madness.

  3. You could say former 94.1 WIP host Josh Innes was known for creating some madness on Philly airwaves. When he was fired in 2016, he went to Houston where he’s been let go once again. Despite his rocky tenure, Innes isn’t ruling out a return to Philly.

  4. Rapper Meek Mill is back in Philly for two tour stops this weekend at the Met. To top things off, the city has bestowed Meek with a special honor for his contributions to hip-hop and criminal justice reform.

  5. While we’re talking about homecomings, former-turned-current Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson was reintroduced to the Philly media Thursday. And hopefully you held on to his No. 10 jersey.

  6. This one will sting a little for Philly music fans. A mainstay of Philly’s music scene for decades, The Trocadero Theatre, is closing. Concert goers, artists and former employees are sad to see it go.

Opinions

“What the brew-ha-ha over Starbucks is really about is the lack of control over our privately run public spaces. As city officials have spun off downtown parks to private managers — Dilworth, Franklin Square, Sister Cities, the Schuylkill River Trail — the public has been effectively cut out of the decision-making process.” — Architecture critic Inga Saffron on the controversy surrounding a new Dilworth Park coffee kiosk.

  1. As the Sixers come down the home stretch of the regular season, every game carries major implications for their playoff position. Based on their remaining schedule, columnist David Murphy predicts a very familiar record and seed.

  2. There’s an aspect of Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s Green New Deal to address climate change that is being ignored, writes opinion writer Abraham Gutman — one that could save hundreds of thousands of lives.

What we’re reading

  1. The field of Democrats vying for the White House grew more crowded Thursday as former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke announced his candidacy. FiveThirtyEight breaks down O’Rourke’s rise from city councilperson to viral sensation, and examines whether his next stop could be the presidency.

  2. As 2020 approaches, eyes are also fixed on former Vice President Joe Biden who is reportedly considering a run himself. The last time he ran a presidential campaign, he lost. The Guardian takes a look out how drastically the fundraising landscape has changed since then and what that could mean for Biden’s 2020 aspirations.

  3. Pumping chemicals into the sky might sound like a weird way to fight climate change. For years, geoengineering has been taboo among climate scientists, but a new study argues that it could be highly successfully if done properly, Vox reports.

  4. Speaking of trying something different, Philly’s own Will Smith faces his fears on his new Facebook Watch show Will Smith’s Bucket List. BuzzFeed News breaks down the latest episode as Smith takes on his biggest fear: stand-up comedy.

  5. Stopping to smell the roses is now more difficult in Allentown, The Morning Call reports. More than half of the flowers in Allentown’s famed Rose Garden have been removed due to an incurable virus threatening the garden’s very existence.

A Daily Dose of | Benevolence

Alyssa Collier of Doylestown shared her experience with the expensive, often overlooked cost of miscarriage in a February Inquirer story. After reading it, an anonymous Philly-area man reached out and offered to help.