Top 2018 local election donors; Ex-Eagle charged with insider trading | Morning Newsletter

1. Rapper Meek Mill made a special appearance at a North Philly elementary school Wednesday to surprise students with school supplies and backpacks. He'll be sending supplies to 11 more local schools, too.

2. The fight over 213 acres of rare open space in Delaware County could very well destroy it. Residents are resisting a developer's proposal for the land, but his "plan b" may be even worse.

3. Police arrested the man believed to have killed Christina Carlin-Kraft, the 36-year-old model strangled inside her Ardmore apartment last week. According to the warrant filed in his arrest, she met the man in Center City just hours earlier.

4. A Philly woman who killed her alleged abuser is now facing prison time, and her story — claiming self-defense and being charged with murder — is all too common.

5. Once again, contract talks between the Association of Catholic Teachers and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia are down to the wire. If they don't reach a deal by next week the school year may start with a strike.

6. Ahead of the midterm election, a new poll shows incumbents Gov. Wolf and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey both hold double-digit leads over their opponents.

🎧 "Back of Love"–Echo and the Bunnymen

A post shared by Jason Coopman (@jasoncoopman) on Aug 29, 2018 at 6:03am PDT

1. Some lucky Philadelphians get called for jury duty more than others. What did they do to deserve such a fate? Have hyphenated names or be a "junior" or "senior."

2. The Eagles play their final preseason game tonight against the Jets. Reporter Jeff McLane has an idea about who will make the 53-man roster before next week's opener.

3. Talk about career goals: Twenty-one-year-old photographer Quil Lemons went from toying around with his aunt's photography equipment in South Philly to shooting for Vogue and Gucci and collaborating with Target.

4. Can art inspire you to vote? Mural Arts and Philly curator Conrad Benner are teaming up for a new mural exhibit to rally voters before the next election.

5. "Bullpen by Gabe," in which seven Phillies relievers made the march to the mound through five innings last night, earned the Phillies a win over the Nationals.

6. The final summer days at the Shore are totally different than the season's start, according to the lifeguards, and so are the beachgoers. August shoobies, they say, "start to get a little anxious."

1. In the wake of the grand jury report describing decades of abuse in Pennsylvania churches, talk show host Rick Jensen writes that bishops must do more to gain back the trust of the faithful.

2. Late-summer heat waves and early dismissals are exactly why you shouldn't start school until after Labor Day, writes frustrated parent and deputy Lifestyle & Arts editor Alison Smith.

1. PlanPhilly's look at a day in the life of the people who keep Philadelphia running (from sanitation crews to street sign makers) is a simply irresistible read.

2. Ever wanted to see how Phillies manager Gabe Kapler lives? Wish granted: PhillyVoice took a peek into his newly renovated (and very blue) home.

3. Enjoy this thought experiment: in St. Paul, Minn., landlords must now help their tenants register to vote, so the Philadelphia Citizen is wondering whether the idea could work in Philly.

4. Soda tax fans will love a bubbly report from Grub Street predicting the demise of the soda industry. 

5. Brutalist architecture has found fans on Tumblr and Instagram. The New Republic's essay on why it looks so strange divorced from its historical context is fascinating. Nerdy, maybe, but fascinating.