Top 10 Stories: Harrisburg/PA Politics Reported By Local News Media Last Week

Because In Politics Everything Is Connected To Everything Else--

-- Gov. Shapiro

-- Erie Times: Scandal May Have Brought Down Shapiro’s Former Legislative Secretary, Lead Budget Negotiator - Here’s What We Know

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: Top PA Senate Republican Will Seek Hearing On Shapiro’s Handling Of Sexual Harassment Allegations Against Fmr Legislative Secretary

-- Spotlight PA: Shapiro’s Office Quietly Settled Sexual Harassment Allegation Against Former Legislative Secretary

-- PA Capital-Star: Republican Lawmakers Say Shapiro’s Response To Former Legislative Secretary’s Sexual Harassment Allegations Shows Room For Improvement

-- PennLive - John Baer: Shapiro Probably Wants To Take Back These 3 Words- ‘Consider The Source’

-- Budget 2023

-- AP: PA Universities Still Waiting For State Subsidies, It Won’t Make Them More Affordable

-- The Center Square: Report On State Fiscal Health Calls Pennsylvania Taxpayer ‘Sinkhole’

-- Post-Gazette/Capitolwire.com: Review: Some PA Tax Credit Programs Seem To Be Working While Others Are Largely Unused

-- PA House/Senate

-- PennLive: PA Senate Republican Leader Gives Ultimatum To House Over Changing Primary Date, Agree With Senate Or Matter Is Closed

-- AP: PA Counties Tell Governor, Lawmakers It’s Too Late To Move 2024 Primary Election Date 

-- TribLive Editorial: Not Time To Move 2024 Primary, What About 2028?

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: Top PA Senate Republican Will Seek Hearing On Shapiro’s Handling Of Sexual Harassment Allegations Against Fmr Legislative Secretary

-- Post-Gazette/Capitolwire.com - Robert Swift: Casino Slots Revenue Factor In PA ‘Skilled’ Gambling Games Debate

-- City & State PA: Republican House Member Proposes Rule Change To Limit Late-Night Committee Votes

-- US Senate/House

-- PA Capital-Star: Fetterman To Headline Iowa Democratic Party Dinner In Nov.

-- PA Capital-Star: Fetterman Makes Appearance On The Late Show

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Feds Must Enhance Transparency Of Corporate Campaign Funding

-- PA Capital-Star: PA Member Of Congress Summer Lee Urges Congressional House Republicans Not To Nominate ‘White Supremacist Antisemite’ Scalise As Speaker  

-- November 2023 Election

-- Spotlight PA: New Interactive Tool Illustrates Why Judges Matter, How They Shape Policy

-- PA Capital-Star: Judges Running For PA Supreme Court Race Talk About Judicial Philosophies

-- PennLive: PA Supreme Court Candidates McCaffery, Carluccio Lament Outside Groups’ Spending, Attack Ads

-- PennLive - Charles Thompson: Infused By National Politics, School Board Races Look Like The Main Event In November Election

-- Spotlight PA: A Complete Guide To November 2023 Election

-- TribLive: Voting Begins Ahead Of November Election

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Joe Rockey For Allegheny County Executive

-- Election Reforms

-- AP: PA Counties Tell Governor, Lawmakers It’s Too Late To Move 2024 Primary Election Date 

-- PennLive: PA Senate Republican Leader Gives Ultimatum To House Over Changing Primary Date, Agree With Senate Or Matter Is Closed

-- WITF: PA’s 2024 Presidential Primary Date Unlikely To Change Due To Legislative Impasse

-- TribLive Editorial: Not Time To Move 2024 Primary, What About 2028?

-- National Politics

-- Post-Gazette: Rendell, Others Warn A Third Party Vote In 2024 Is A Vote For Ex-President

-- Politics PA: Biden-Ex-President Would Be ‘Lesser Of Two Evils’ According To PA Focus Group

-- AP: Impeachments, Forced Removals From Office Emerge As Partisan Weapons In The States [PA Included]

-- PA’s Role In Assault On US Capitol

-- PittsburghUnionProgress.com: Federal Prosecutors Want 8 Years In Prison For Mercer County Woman Convicted Of Crimes Related To Assault On US Capitol

-- Flooding

-- Reading Eagle: State Officials Tour Communities Ravaged By July Flooding In Berks

-- Patch: Flooding Assessment Underway In Lower Makefield Twp., Bucks County

-- ABC27: What Is The Worst Natural Disaster To Hit Pennsylvania?

-- The Guardian: Climate Crisis Costing $16 Million An Hour In Extreme Weather Damage, Study Estimates

-- Financial Times: Global Water Cycles Are ‘Spinning Out Of Balance,’ Weather Agency Reports

-- PA Politics Of Russian Invasion

-- AAA Gasoline Prices:  PA- $3.77; National- $3.60; Ohio- $3.18

-- Warren Times: Gasoline Prices Fall In Region, But Not In Warren County  [In Middle Of Conventional Oil Drilling Country]

-- WNEP: Higher Heating Oil Prices Make For Chilly Consumers

-- Reuters: US Home Heating Bills Seen Flat To Lower This Winter Over Last, Natural Gas Maybe Lower EIA Says

-- Baker Hughes: PA Natural Gas Drilling Rigs Up One From Last Week To 21

-- PJM Interconnection Formally Files Changes To Electric Capacity Market Rules With FERC Based Largely On Unreliability Of Natural Gas-Fired Power Plants During Winter Storm Elliot  [PaEN]

-- Bloomberg: Fear Grips Europe’s Natural Gas Market Facing Winter Supply Threats [War, Strikes, Infrastructure Sabotage, Leaks]

-- Bloomberg: European Natural Gas Prices Pause Increases As Traders Monitor Australia LNG Talks

-- Bloomberg: European Natural Gas Price Surges 9.7% Amid Pipeline Leak, Crude Oil Price Gains  [Oil, Natural Gas Industries Again Poised To Profit From War]

-- USA Today: Could Israel-Hamas War Raise Gasoline Prices To $5?

-- Financial Times: Oil Jumps Above $90 On Concerns Over Escalation In Israel-Hamas War  [‘Prices Could Easily Get A Lot Worse’]

-- The Guardian: Oil Price Leaps After Hamas Attack On Israel

-- Financial Times: Oil Price Jumps To $89 A Barrel Following Hamas Attack On Israel 

-- Bloomberg: Exxon To Buy Pioneer Shale Oil For $60 Billion

-- Financial Times: Behind ExxonMobil’s Contrarian $60 Billion Shale Oil Bet

Energy - Hydrogen Hubs

-- DOE Awards Natural Gas-Based Hydrogen Hub In Western PA, Renewable/Nuclear Power-Based Hydrogen Hub In Eastern PA; Reactions  [PaEN]

-- TribLive: Pittsburgh-Based Hydrogen Hub Plan Passed Over, As Hubs Selected Draw Statewide Praise

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: PA Will Have Two Hydrogen Hubs, Just What Will That Mean?

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: How Pittsburgh Fares In Hydrogen Hub Announcement, And It’s Not What You Think

-- Post-Gazette - Jonathan Salant, Anya Litvak: Southwest PA Part Of ‘Transformational’ Investment In Natural Gas-Based Hydrogen, Biden Says, As He Seeks To Wean Country Off Fossil Fuels

-- The Allegheny Front - Susan Phillips: In Philadelphia, Biden Promotes Federally-Funded Hydrogen Hubs As A Clean Energy Source And Job-Creator

-- Inquirer: What Is A Hydrogen Hub?  Explaining The Projects Biden Announced In Philly Friday

-- PA Capital-Star: ‘So Many Ways Hydrogen Can Go Wrong:’  Hydrogen Hub Announcements Viewed With Caution

-- Post-Gazette: Appalachian Hydrogen Hub Gets Green Light, And Up To $925 Million From Feds

-- Bloomberg: Amazon, Exxon, Air Products Hydrogen Hubs To Get Slice Of $7 Billion

-- AP: White House Picks West Virginia, Philadelphia Region For Hydrogen Hubs, Source Tells AP

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Once A Player, Shell Confirms It’s Not Part Of Any Regional Hydrogen Hub

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Shell Withdrew From Pennsylvania’s Hydrogen Hub Proposal Over The Summer

-- Delaware RiverKeeper Oct. 13 RiverWatch Video Report

-- AP: Biden Is Talking Green Energy, Jobs In PA Again, Will His Message Break Through?

-- Williamsport Sun: State Competing For Billions To Build Hydrogen Hubs - Will They Really Be Green?

-- Beaver County Times: Columbia Gas Testing Hydrogen-Blended Natural Gas In Center Twp.

Natural Gas Explosions

-- Reading Eagle: Chocolate Company Pushes Back Against OSHA Finding Company Was Responsible For Deaths From Natural Gas Explosion

Train Derailments

-- TribLive: Allegheny, Westmoreland Emergency Units Practice Hazard Response With Norfolk Southern’s ‘Safety Train’

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Policy Group Says PA’s $200 Million Rail Service Deal With Norfolk Southern Picks Taxpayers’ Pockets 

-- WTAE: ‘Unity Council’ Advocacy Group Expresses Continuing Health Concerns At Norfolk Southern Train Derailment Site

-- The Allegheny Front: Health Experts To Hold Online Workshops Looking Into Impacts Of Norfolk Southern Train Derailment In Ohio

-- AP: NTSB Chair Says New Locomotive Camera Rule Is Flawed Because It Excludes Freight Railroads

-- Education

-- Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh Public Schools Consider Closing Schools Amid Budget Deficit, Declining Enrollments [19,000 Students In Buildings To House 40,000]

-- York Dispatch: PA Lawmakers Clash Over School Censorship During Banned Books Week

-- Inquirer Editorial: Voters Can Ensure Central Bucks School Board Focuses On Education, Not Culture Wars

-- Beaver County Times: Beaver County School District Drafts Policy To Allow Book Bans

-- Wilkes-Barre Times: Lake Lehman School District Evacuates All Schools Following Threat

-- The Center Square: Report On Racial Bias In Private Charter School Authorization Released

-- Post-Gazette/NYT: Donors Call For University Of Pennsylvania Leaders To Resign After Hamas Attacks

-- Inquirer: Private Charter School Magnate Resigns As Penn Trustee, Accusing Leadership Of Embracing ‘Antisemitism’

-- Spotlight PA: Penn State’s New Top Lawyer Will Also Lead Ethics Office Temporarily, Creating Potential Conflict Of Interest

-- AP: PA Universities Still Waiting For State Subsidies, It Won’t Make Them More Affordable

-- TribLive: First Year Enrollment Up Again At PA State-Owned Universities, As PennWest Struggles

-- Post-Gazette: Pitt Wants More Students From Rural Areas, He’s Traveling To Remote Corners Of The State To Recruit Them

-- TribLive: Late School Teacher With Affinity For Washington & Jefferson College Gives Record $50 Million Gift

-- Law Enforcement

-- TribLive: Fatal Shooting Stuns Indiana County Community As Police Search For Suspects

-- TribLive: Indiana County Shooting Marks 540th Mass Shooting This Year, According To Gun Violence Group

-- TribLive Editorial: Indiana County Shooting Shows Gun Violence Isn’t Just In Cities

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Suburban Republican Leaders Blast Philadelphia DA For Crime Wave

-- PennLive: Bomb Threats At PA Synagogues Prompt Evacuations, Police Response

-- The Economy

-- WITF: PA’s Latino Economy Is Growing At A Fast Pace, New Report Shows

-- Post-Gazette: These 14 Officials Are Governing AI In Pennsylvania

-- AG Henry Announces $1 Million Settlement With Rutter’s After Data Breach

-- TribLive: PA Court Weighs Constitutionality Of Pittsburgh Tax On Pro Athletes, Entertainers

[Posted: October 15, 2023]