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Supervised injection site doesn’t break the law, judge rules; Pa. failed to detect and stop abuse at schools | Morning Newsletter

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Ian Cain looks at his phone in Harrisburg, PA on April 25, 2019. Cain was 17 years old in 2009 when he left the Glen Mills Schools. He says he was beaten by counselors for things like saying "yeah" instead of "yes."
Ian Cain looks at his phone in Harrisburg, PA on April 25, 2019. Cain was 17 years old in 2009 when he left the Glen Mills Schools. He says he was beaten by counselors for things like saying "yeah" instead of "yes."Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer
    by Josh Rosenblat
    Published 

    The Morning Newsletter

    Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter

A federal judge yesterday made a ruling in Philadelphia that could shape how U.S. cities combat overdoses. Philadelphia could become the first city in the nation to have a supervised injection site. And, across Pennsylvania, an Inquirer investigation has revealed that the state’s oversight of privately run juvenile programs resulted in a failure to stop abuse at schools.

— Josh Rosenblat (@joshrosenblat, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

Despite warnings, Pennsylvania failed to detect and stop abuses at schools

After an Inquirer investigation published in February revealed decades of abuse and cover-ups at Glen Mills Schools, Pennsylvania closed the once-renowned campus, pulled its licenses, and removed its students.

But the state didn’t say how its $39 billion Department of Human Services failed to detect and stop abuse at Glen Mills for so long. The Inquirer has found that Pennsylvania’s oversight of Glen Mills and other privately run juvenile programs has been bare-bones at best and negligent at worst.

Judge rules that a supervised injection site would not break federal law

A Philadelphia nonprofit’s proposal to open the nation’s first supervised injection site doesn’t violate U.S. law, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Specifically, the judge said that a 1986 law designed to target so-called “crack houses” does not apply in the case. “The ultimate goal of Safehouse’s proposed operation is to reduce drug use, not facilitate it,” the judge wrote.

The decision is expected to shape the legal debate surrounding the facilities in other U.S. cities. Advocates feel that supervised injection sites can be a tool in fighting the overdose epidemic that has contributed to more than 3,000 deaths in Philadelphia over the past three years.

What you need to know today

  1. Asbestos concerns have canceled classes at the Ben Franklin/Science Leadership Academy school building.

  2. A former Philly police officer retired from the force after being accused of sexually harassing female cops. Now, he’s been charged with sexually assaulting a minor.

  3. New Jersey credited companies with millions of dollars in “phantom” taxes so they could qualify for an incentive package.

  4. Is racist speech a crime? A jury is deciding whether to convict the ex-Bordentown, N.J. police chief with hate-crime assault.

  5. Twin births in the U.S. are finally declining after more than 30 years of increases. While the study that reported this data doesn’t give a reason, experts agree about what might be going on.

  6. Yesterday was the hottest October day in Philadelphia since 1941.

Through Your Eyes | #OurPhilly

🌙🌃I’m loving the addition to Philly’s skyline. Amazing picture, @lightbender_photo. 🌙🌃

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. Here’s what three metal signs reveal about the history of a Philly neighborhood.

  2. Arguably the NBA’s best trash-talker says he won’t be talking trash this year 🤔.

  3. Officials from colleges in Pennsylvania and New Jersey praised a federal judge’s decision in Harvard’s affirmative action case.

  4. How much do Philly baristas make? A crowdsourced spreadsheet is tracking salaries and benefits in order to increase transparency and solidarity among coffee shop workers.

  5. Beyoncé's dad revealed that he has breast cancer. He is in the 1% of men to have a cancer that is thought of as a woman’s disease.

  6. A Philly woman recorded 30 years of TV, and a movie was made about her.

Opinions

“Kids are walking around middle schools and high schools with smartphones and apps that have become a bully’s best friend. Live grenades, you might even say. And all we parents are doing, it seems, is watching, helplessly, as Big Tech keeps getting bigger and bigger while our kids get sucked deeper and deeper into the diabolical depths of their profit-making devices and apps.” — columnist Maria Panaritis writes about how we aren’t doing enough to protect kids from the ills of smartphones and social media.

  1. The controversy surrounding a member of Philadelphia City Council’s Facebook post is a reminder that elections matter, The Inquirer Editorial Board writes.

  2. Should Pennsylvania legalize medical marijuana? Advocates on both sides of the issue debate.

What we’re reading

  1. Philadelphia magazine mapped all the places in Philly where you can get a flu shot.

  2. What, exactly, happened to WeWork? New York magazine takes a deep dive.

  3. To save the Komodo dragon, the Indonesian government wants visitors to pay $1,000 to enter Komodo National Park. The Washington Post asks if it will work.

Your Daily Dose of | The UpSide

A Philly teen has changed the lives of thousands of people in Liberia by raising money to provide water purification systems to a medical clinic and school in the country.