Philadelphia Inquirer

It’s Friday, December 28th. Philadelphia is now a cleaner and safer city for kids in their homes, outdoor play spaces, and schools following the Inquirer’s Toxic City investigation. Two years of reporting and scientific testing led to a number of reforms in the city to address problems with lead, asbestos, mold, and other environmental hazards. The city has passed four new protective laws and fined more than 700 landlords who did not adhere to lead paint restrictions.

It’s Thursday, December 27th. The decades-long project that set out to make the Delaware River deeper will finally be finished next year. Since Congress approved a plan in 1992 to deepen the Delaware’s main channel by 5 feet, the project has survived pushback from environmentalists. They said it was unnecessary and would harm marine life. But supporters say this will add more than $13 million to the U.S. economy each year.

It’s Wednesday, December 26th. It wasn’t a great Christmas for the stock market. President Donald Trump criticized the Federal Reserve on Christmas Eve and the rift appeared to spook financial markets, as the major indexes on Wall Street fell another 2 percent. It’s now very possible that the market will end this month as the worst December for stocks since 1931.

Merry Christmas, it’s Tuesday, December 25th. For homeless college students, the holidays often mean staying on campus. About 58,000 students across the country say on financial aid forms that they’re homeless. And experts say that number’s actually lower than the reality, because many students don't reveal it. West Chester University in Pennsylvania has taken up a team effort to make this time a little easier for students without places to go during the holidays.

It’s Monday, December 24th. The partial government shutdown led to disappointed tourists at Philly historical sites over the weekend. Visitors were turned away from the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, which are run by the National Park Service. At one point, dozens of people waited outside to get a glimpse of the Liberty Bell through a small window. The federal shutdown began Saturday morning after lawmakers couldn’t reach an agreement on a budget.

It’s Friday, December 21st. Mayor Kenney signed Philly’s “Fair Workweek” scheduling bill into law yesterday, two weeks after it passed in City Council. Philadelphia is now the second-biggest city in the U.S., behind New York, to have a scheduling law. The goal is to make schedules for retail, fast-food, and hospitality workers predictable.

It’s Thursday, December 20th. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf supports looking into legalizing recreational marijuana. Wolf tweeted about cannabis in response to a question about the drug. He wrote that he wants Pennsylvania to “take a serious and honest look” at the issue. To legalize it, Wolf would have to get buy-in from Republican lawmakers in Harrisburg who have typically been against it. A new legalization bill sponsored by Democrats is set to be introduced in January.

Today’s briefing is brought to you by Independence Blue Cross. It’s Wednesday, December 19th. A list of Jesuit priests accused of sexually abusing minors was released by the religious order this week. Eleven priests on the list worked in Philadelphia at Saint Joseph's Preparatory School or Saint Joseph's University. Two cases involved priests that worked in Philadelphia at the time of the alleged abuse.

Today’s briefing is brought to you by Independence Blue Cross. It’s Tuesday, December 18th. An Inquirer investigation earlier this year shed light on the shocking levels of environmental hazards that threaten students and teachers in Philly public schools. Now, the district is being praised for its plan to remove lead paint. But asbestos is still lurking, especially in Philly’s older school buildings.

Today’s briefing is brought to you by Independence Blue Cross. It’s Monday, December 17th. A government shutdown could happen on Friday, as the White House doubles down on its demand for border wall funding. Last week, President Trump said he would be "proud" to shut down the government if Congress did not approve 5 billion dollars to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. He currently doesn’t have the votes in Congress to get that done.