🥟 Empanadas on demand | Morning Newsletter

Good morning, Philly. Look out for snow atop black ice as storm recovery continues, and don’t forget that city trash collection is on a two-day delay. Check when yours is getting picked up.

You can now get hot empanadas out of vending machines at 30th Street Station, thanks to a Philadelphia-founded company.

And New Jersey state lawmakers just got a 67% pay increase, their first raise in more than two decades. They still make less than their peers in Harrisburg — and most have other jobs, too.

— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Empanada. Vending. Machine.

Philly has been home to vending machines selling cheese, yarn, pastries, Narcan, and tiny art since the first Horn & Hardart in the United States opened on Chestnut Street in 1902.

🥟 There’s a new entry in the automated snack category: empanadas.

🥟 The dough dispensary at 30th Street Station comes via Empanadas United, a local company founded by a former Comcast designer and now expanding with national partners.

🥟 The machine is satiating travelers’ hunger amid yearslong renovations at the city’s SEPTA and Amtrak hub, as well as at other travel hubs around the country — but not yet Philadelphia International Airport.

Business reporter Joseph N. DiStefano explains how it all works.

More food news: A cocktail bar from Tacconelli’s opens today in South Jersey. Just don’t expect pizza.

A raise for New Jersey legislators

Elected officials in New Jersey’s state House and Senate just got their first pay raise in 25 years.

By the numbers: The lawmakers received a nearly 70% pay bump, from $49,000 to $82,000, after a law signed in 2024 took effect in January. That’s still lower than the state’s median household income, and at least $31,000 lower than what Pennsylvania legislators make.

Salary stakes: Garden State lawmakers are considered part-time, though some members say the job is a full-time commitment and most have other employment. At least one is also a public schoolteacher.

Better pay, better lawmaking? Some experts argue that the higher pay means more New Jerseyans will be able to run for office — not just those who are already wealthy or can otherwise afford to make the salaries offered — and that legislators will be able to commit more time to the job. Others aren’t so sure it will make a big enough difference.

Politics reporter Aliya Schneider has the story.

In other state government news: Pennsylvania spent $397 million in overtime last year. Here’s why state workers are logging such long hours.

What you should know today

• Candidates vying to succeed U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans asked each other questions in a Monday forum, offering hints as to which rivals they view as most threatening.
• Five teenagers arrested during a protest in Quakertown last week face charges of aggravated assault and related crimes after a judge ruled Tuesday that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence for the case against them to proceed, sources told The Inquirer.
• The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating an incident in which a swastika was reportedly drawn on a bathroom wall at the Coast Guard’s training center in Cape May.
• Philly school officials want to close Roxborough’s Lankenau High and give it to the city. A 1970s legal agreement may snarl that deal.
• Parks and Recreation will roll out the city’s first dedicated maintenance crew for its miles of trails.
• Swarthmore College president Valerie Smith will step down in June 2027 after concluding her 12th year in the job.
• Residents and supervisors of a Chester County township rejected the concept of a “boutique” data center before it was even formally submitted.
• A grey seal pup was rescued Tuesday from the middle of a snowy Jersey Shore road. “They beach themselves to sun themselves,“ Harvey Cedars’ police chief said. ”Maybe she was sick and tired of the weather, trying to find another place.”

Quote of the day

North Philadelphia native Brian Wanamaker has an incurable cancer. It hasn’t stopped him from turning Texas Wesleyan University’s men’s basketball team into a winner.

🧠 Trivia time

Philadelphia’s Department of Planning and Development has identified three possible locations for a permanent intercity bus station. Which is not one of them?

A) The former Greyhound terminal at 10th and Filbert streets

B) A pair of parking lots on Arch Street near Eighth Street

C) The Philadelphia Gateway Garage on Vine Street near 15th Street

D) A parking lot near 30th Street Station on Arch Street

Think you know? Check your answer.

What we’re …

💊 Noting: The FDA’s removal of the “black box” warning on hormone treatments for women in menopause.

🦅 Following: Where the Eagles Autism Foundation is donating the $10.8 million it raised last year.

🏘️ Comparing: What homebuyers can get for about $760,000 in Chestnut Hill, Riverton, and Upper Dublin.

🎞️ Watching: Riverbend, the lost 1989 film brought back to life in Norristown.

⚖️ Considering: Why government’s separation of powers still matters today.

🧩 Unscramble the anagram

Hint: Delaware River-adjacent neighborhood

TENN PROPS

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.

Cheers to Sonia Tupone, who solved Tuesday’s anagram: Scranton. The Flyers will bring the (fictional) Dunder Mifflin from its Northeast Pennsylvania hometown to South Philly for The Office theme night next month.

Photo of the day

Thanks for starting your day with The Inquirer. Until the city’s (outdoor) trees bloom once again, be well.

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