Ernest Owens

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This summer’s big music festivals weren’t the epic super-spreader events many armchair experts predicted, thanks to the enforcement of vaccination and testing mandates. We should acknowledge scientific breakthroughs and not be such Debbie Downers.

The new police contract means taxpayers are about to pay even more for bad policing.

Fear, not misinformation, is why some people around me aren’t getting vaccinated, and no factual counter-argument is going to change that. So I’m going to stop fighting them on it, keep my distance, and leave it to the experts.

We called every guest and asked about their vaccination status. It led to some painful conversations — and some progress.

Those complaining about personal freedom being suppressed by new COVID rules are ignoring one thing: The very restrictions they loathe are here to keep them alive.

The rise in cases caused by the Delta variant could be halted if we stopped coddling the source of the problem. More institutions should follow the lead of the Philly restaurants refusing service to those who won’t get vaxxed.

An uncomfortable encounter in Center City has reminded me that going outside again means a return to some BS as well. But inaction is no longer an option.

More than 10 people, mostly Black, are being shot in Philly every day this month. The Mayor’s refusal to declare our city’s gun violence crisis a state of emergency shows you exactly where he stands on race.

Police allowed hate group Patriot Front to harass Philadelphians without much intervention. Compare that to their treatment of Black Lives Matter protesters, and the double standard is galling.

If there was ever a moment to get serious about defunding our police department, this would have been it. Instead, we gave the people responsible for last year’s tear-gassing what amounts to a raise.

Gym’s arrest in Harrisburg made headlines but accomplished nothing. Johnson should be doing more than holding anti-violence rallies. Activism may be what put them on the map, but I expect more than political theater from my elected officials.

The abrupt departure of Philly Pride Presents leadership gives LGBTQIA community members a golden opportunity to build something that represents all of us — and completely unlike what came before.

Philly Pride Presents doesn’t represent the LGBTQIA community. The group’s latest social media posts prove it.

The city’s full-throttle charge into normalcy felt good at first, but now I’m feeling something unexpected: survivor’s guilt.