Trump, McCain, Veterans | Morning Newsletter
President Trump’s latest bid to undercut the Affordable Care Act is being felt in Pennsylvania; Sen. John McCain received the Liberty Medal, with presenters emphasizing his bipartisanship; and the results of the soda tax are in — and they aren’t so sweet. If you like what you’re reading, it’s free to sign up to get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday. I would love to hear your thoughts, ideas, and feedback, so please email me, tweet me @tommyrowan, or reach our social team on Facebook.
— Tommy Rowan
At Liberty Medal ceremony, McCain blasts ‘half-baked’ nationalism
Sen. John McCain of Arizona, ailing with brain cancer, received the Liberty Medal in a ceremony at the National Constitution Center Monday night for his lifetime of service to the nation. His friend, former VP Joe Biden, presented the award.
Reporter Aubrey Whelan wrote that each speaker for the evening emphasized bipartisanship, concluding with McCain’s call for compromise in the Capitol — and around the country. He said it was a privilege to serve “this big, boisterous, brawling, intemperate, striving, daring, beautiful, bountiful, brave, magnificent country.”
Then, he said, Americans need to reject nationalism “cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems.”
It’s a worldview, he said, “as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history.”
Pa. approves drastic ACA exchange increases
Reporter Harold Brubaker writes that President Trump’s decision to end payments to insurers that help make health coverage affordable for millions of lower-income Americans under the Affordable Care Act blew up what would have been a year of relatively low rate increases in Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Department of Insurance on Monday announced that it had approved average rate increases of 30.6 percent for individual plans to be sold next year on the Affordable Care Act health insurance exchange due to the loss of federal subsidies.
Earlier projections showed that rates would increase 7.6 percent, in a sign that the health-insurance market for ACA plans was settling in Pennsylvania.
Leaving the war in the woods
Cindy Ross is a naturalist and writer who spent most of her life raising children on trails all over the country. She’s a firm believer in the healing power of nature and her non profit for Veterans, River House PA, works with the VA hospitals taking Vets out to hike, bike, paddle, as well as Veterans in the Kutztown U. Veterans’ Club.
On a recent weekend, reporter Jason Nark joined Ross as she brought 75 vets to the New Ringgold Boy Scout Camp near Reading to find peace in the woods.
They traveled there and talked to some of them about their experiences and what nature has been doing for them. A must read.
What you need to know today
Some of the soda tax results are in, and they aren’t good. According to a city survey, businesses that sell sweetened beverages are claiming the city’s soda tax has hurt their bottom line. Of 741 businesses that responded, 88 percent of them reported at least some revenue loss, and nearly 60 percent reported declines of more than 10 percent since the tax went into effect in January, Laura McCrystal reports.
Federal prosecutors urged a judge Monday to impose the maximum possible term on former District Attorney Seth Williams: 5 years in prison, and nearly $1 million in restitution, Jeremy Roebuck reports.
Chiropractors are jumping into the lucrative but barely regulated field of stem cell therapy, and hyping its potential. Mainstream orthopedic researchers warn that “regenerative medicine” has no magic bullets for arthritic knees and aching backs.
Been sexually harassed? Philly region says #MeToo. The hashtag, created in response to the Harvey Weinstein scandal to spread awareness about sexual harassment, took off on social media Sunday and continued on into Monday, inspiring women to tell often painful stories of harassment and assault. The goal was, and is, to create a community of support, and to highlight the scope of the sexual assault.
Representatives from as many as 59 American Indian tribes will meet next month in Minnesota to discuss the next steps in retrieving more children’s remains from the former Carlisle Indian Industrial School, now the grounds of the Army War College, Jeff Gammage reports.
Some Philly schools have rich arts programs, and others have none. How do you fix it? Art and music education, long neglected in Philadelphia as years of budget crises forced spending priorities elsewhere, are being reimagined, Kristen Graham reports.
Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly
A post shared by Randy Pike Heinzel (@randypikeheinzel) on Oct 16, 2017 at 4:20am PDT
We want to see what our community looks like through your eyes. Show us the park that your family walks through every weekend with the dog, the block party in your neighborhood or the historic stretch you see every morning on your commute to work.
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 to build those followers!
That’s Interesting
Inquirer Food Critic Craig LaBan has scoured the Pennsylvania and Jersey suburbs and produced an Ultimate Dining guide with more than 150 recommendations for the best places to eat and drink. This preview highlights his top picks for places to drink. Go to philly.com Thursday for the full list or buy the print version at philly.com/store.
After having been held captive by a Taliban-linked extremist network in Afghanistan for five years, York County, Pa., native Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle and their three children returned to Canada safely over the weekend. After their rescue, Boyle said he was surprised to discover that Donald Trump had been elected president of the United States. During their captivity, one of Boyle’s captors told him that Trump was president before he was forced to make a “proof-of-life” video that was released in December 2016, but he thought the man was joking.
Sometime soon, it will become passé to visit Philadelphia International Airport to catch a plane. On Monday, PHL unveiled renovations to Terminal B, one of its busiest, home to American Airlines, which operates 390 daily flights here. The $30 million redesign, with 1,000 iPads in the gate areas and a half-dozen new restaurants, was begun 18 months ago.
The 47-year-old Voorhees inventor who brought the incredibly successful Scrub Daddy sponge to market in 2012, which went on to be the biggest-selling Shark Tank products of all time, introduced a new line on Sunday. And it’s already a hit: The new Scrub Daisy product line launched on QVC, and sold out 16,000 units in seven minutes.
Sports Columnist Bob Ford wants you to run a finger down the Eagles schedule. Right now. And what do you get? A 10-6 record looks like a layup. He thinks 11 or 12 wins seem more likely based on how the Eagles have played and how the remaining opponents have played. But, how far can they go? And on that note, Marcus Hayes offers five reasons why the Eagles are at the top of the NFC.
Is Woodbury the new Collingswood? The South Jersey city makes efforts to connect with the LGBTQ community, including a liaison to the community from the police department.
Opinions
“Just as it was with the predatory mortgage loans that helped fuel the housing boom and bust, payday lending is an insidious business that preys largely on poor and working-class consumers, leaving many worse off.“ — Our editorial board’s explanation for why payday loan sharks should be arrested and tried.
This is beyond “Fake” or “Real” news. This is about the most important news: Local. The type of news gathered by a group of devout localities, plugged-in and power-averse. The type of new that most affects reader’s directly, and much like the daily newspaper, is becoming a dying breed. In a state with such a rich journalistic tradition, dating back to Benjamin Franklin and The Pennsylvania Gazette, it’s sad to see only 60 daily newspapers and a dearth of local coverage. I agree with Salena Zito: Without good local journalists, the nation’s divisions deepen.
President Trump is not incorrect. The truth is, Puerto Rico’s inability to bounce back after Hurricane Maria ravaged their Caribbean island has been compounded by its financial handicap, having defaulted on more than $70 billion in public debt. Not to mention its significant pension-shortfall crisis.While further financial assistance is expected from the federal government, those funds would be targeted at restoring the public infrastructure, but it is unlikely to be directed toward restructuring the island’s debt. But, as former City Solicitor Nelson A. Diaz and former City Finance Director G.Edward DeSeve argue, not addressing the island’s debt will only exacerbate Puerto Rico’s vulnerability. So the federal government, the duo contends, has a responsibility to step in.
What we’re reading
New Jersey is in a tight competition with Illinois: For the state with the worst fiscal situation. [NPR]
De-boarding a crowded SEPTA train can be a hot mess. There’s a better way. [Philly Mag]
A deep dive into the new Vaux High School shows how Philadelphia is rethinking its neighborhood learning institutions. [Next City]
A joint investigation between The Washington Post and ‘60 Minutes’ found evidence that amid a targeted lobbying effort, Congress weakened the DEA’s ability to go after drug distributors, even as opioid-related deaths continued to rise. [Washington Post]
Death at a Penn State Fraternity: Tim Piazza fought for his life for 12 hours before his Beta Theta Pi brothers called 911. By then, it was too late. [The Atlantic]
Your Daily Dose of | Silly Rabbits
When asked about drugs at a Phoenixville mayoral forum last week, Republican nominee Dave Gautreau proposed that, if elected, he would look into getting the borough police department a cheaper alternative to pricey K9s: Drug-sniffing bunnies. Fur real.
Most Popular on Philly.com
Over 28 years, Fishtown family made vacant lot its own; now Philly wants it back
(Updated) Center City restaurant agrees to pay 63 workers $396K in back wages, damages
Best places to drink in the suburbs: A sneak peek at Craig LaBan's new Ultimate Dining Guide
With apologies to Allen Iverson, Flyers have their own 'Answer'
