Morning Headlines: Snow Emergency Over, But Commute Remains Tricky

SEPTA workers dig out from the heavy weekend snow. | SEPTA Media Relations

Good morning Philadelphia. Here’s what you need to know today:

The snow emergency is technically over, but that doesn’t mean you’ll have an easy commute today.

Philadelphia’s snow emergency is over, though the fallout remains: There is no school today — that includes the city’s Archdiocesan schools, too —nor is there trash and recycling pickup. KYW reports that all major roadways are OK, though there is snow piled high on the sides, as well as scattered ice on ramps and overpasses. Plowing continues on city streets, but Fox 29 reports that many remain impassable.

Regional Rail has largely been restored — officials warn that slow service should be expected throughout the day — and SEPTA reported this morning that service had been suspended between Malvern and Thorndale on on the Paoli-Thorndale line; as of 6 a.m., several dozen bus routes remained suspended until further notice. “We’re currently at about 60 percent of our routes,” an official said this morning. (As always, check SEPTA.org for the very latest status.) The good news? If you somehow make it into Center City today, PPA won’t charge for meter and kiosk parking violations; if you park in a PPA garage, you’ll get a $5 discount rate today. If you’re snowed in? Send your salt and plow suggestions to Philly 311. Good luck!

Blizzard-induced flooding at the shore was pretty bad — but it could’ve been worse.

NewsWorks says officials believe that ongoing beach restoration efforts may have prevented even greater flooding damage, at least in Delaware. Gov. Jack Markell said damage wasn’t as severe in areas where new dunes had been constructed, and that new dunes could be under construction by the end of the week. In New Jersey, N.J.com reports, Gov. Chris Christie suggested that some flooding damage was the result of action by Margate homeowners who have fought dune construction there.

Former Philly Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey has another new retirement gig: He’ll be a “civil rights adviser” to Chicago Police.

That department — where Ramsey spent much of his career before heading departments in Philly and Washington D.C. — has been under intense criticism after video was released showing the apparently unprovoked shooting of Laquan McDonald. USA Today reports: “Commissioner Ramsey is a not only a national leader in urban policing who has led two major police departments through civil rights reforms — he is also a native Chicagoan who knows our police department and our communities,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. The Chicago Tribune reports he has the backing of former Philly Mayor Michael Nutter: “I think he established a level of trust with the city when if a bad thing happened, people knew there would be a full-fledged investigation, and it would be legitimate and it would be thorough, and at the end we’d let the chips fall where they may.” Ramsey will reportedly make $350 an hour in the new gig.

Rick Santorum may be nearing the end of his presidential campaign.

The former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania acknowledges that his campaign appears to be in trouble as the Iowa caucuses near, stuck in the single digits in several polls. “ I think we’re going to come out with a lot of wind at our back,” he told USA Today, but added that if that doesn’t happen: “You reach a point when you realize that you aren’t going to accomplish what you’re going to accomplish and you have to look out for the greater good. … And I’ve always believed in the greater good. I’m a person who believes in a cause and trying to make this country better, not about Rick Santorum and my own aggrandizement.” He hasn’t given up yet, though: He started a final campaign push on Saturday that will take him to 50 events before Feb. 1.

Temple just beat the last remaining undefeated men’s college basketball team in the country.

The Owls, just 10-7 coming into the game, snapped the 18-0 start by Southern Methodist University, which was ranked No. 8 in the country — and led by former Sixers coach Larry Brown. Temple won, 89-80. Despite Temple’s middling record, it was the team’s third victory over a Top 25 opponent this season. AP reports: “I think this does a lot for our (NCAA tournament) resume,” Temple’s Quenton DeCosey said. “It shows people we can beat anybody.”

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