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

Because In Politics Everything Is Connected To Everything Else--

-- Gov. Shapiro

-- The Lever: Interview With Gov. Shapiro About His First Year In Office; PA Matters In 2024

-- Inquirer Guest Essay: Shapiro Needs To Build Bridges With Republicans - By Commonwealth Foundation

-- PennLive: Food Network Star Robert Irvine Cooks Lunch For Veterans While Gov. Shapiro Serves

-- Budget 2023

-- Independent Fiscal Office Holds Nov. 15 Economic And Budget Outlook Briefing At 1:30 p.m.

-- TribLive: What Would Recreational Marijuana Legalization Do For PA Tax Revenue?

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Pennsylvania Feeling The Heat After Ohio Legalizes Weed

-- TribLive: Ohio Just Legalized Recreational Marijuana, What Does That Mean For PA?

-- PA House/Senate

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: Group Trying To Fix PA’s Education Funding System Hears Of ‘Frightening’ Issues, And Gives Itself More Time

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Skill Gambling Games Split Lawmakers

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Pennsylvania Feeling The Heat After Ohio Legalizes Weed

-- TribLive: Ohio Just Legalized Recreational Marijuana, What Does That Mean For PA?

-- TribLive Editorial: It’s Time To Figure Out Marijuana In Pennsylvania

-- Beaver County Times: Rep. Marshall Won’t Seek Reelection In 2024

-- US Senate/House

-- Post-Gazette: PA’s US Senate Race Was Already Big, WV’s Manchin Just Made It Huge

-- WPXI: Rally For Innamorato Featuring Fetterman Interrupted By Gaza War Protestors

-- TribLive Editorial: Fetterman, Summer Lee And Israel-Hamas War

-- PennLive - John Baer: Fetterman’s Jabs At Fellow Democrats And Others Draw National Note

-- November 7, 2023 Election

-- PA Dept. Of State Election Results Website

-- Post-Gazette: Abortion Helped Democrats Win Across PA, They Say 2024 Will Bring More Of The Same

-- Post-Gazette - Salena Zito: Abortion Was A Winning Issue For Democrats, But Will It Be In 2024?

-- PennLive/AP: Democrats Won Big This Week In PA, What Does That Mean For 2024?

-- City & State PA: Sen. Street Reflects On Democrats’ General Election Wins

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Voters Clearly Rejected Divisive And Restrictive Politics - By Mark Singel

-- PA Capital-Star: Allegheny County, Philadelphia Spurred Higher Than Usual Turnout For An Off-Year Election

-- Post-Gazette: Allegheny County Voters Delivered A Nuanced Verdict - With 2024 Warning Signs For Both Parties

-- WESA: Allegheny County Democrats Made History - Why Don’t They Seem Happier?

-- Inquirer: After Another Disappointing Night For PA Republicans, Republicans Struggle To Find An Answer To Abortion

-- AP: Democrat McCaffery Wins Open Seat On PA Supreme Court; Democrats Hold 5 of 7 Seats

-- WITF/AP: PA Democrats Sweep 4 Statewide Judicial Races

-- AP: Expensive Judicial Races Might Be Here To Stay In PA After Record High Court Campaign

-- TribLive: Innamorato Claims Historic Win In Race For Allegheny County Executive

-- Post-Gazette: 5 Takeaways From Allegheny County Election Results

-- TribLive: Western PA Election Results Roundup

-- WHYY: After 100 Election Cycles, Philadelphia Puts A Woman In The Mayor’s Office

-- Inquirer: Now That Democrats Have Swept SE School Boards In Some Republican-Controlled Districts, What Happens Next?

-- WHYY: How Democrats Flipped A Central Bucks School Board Embroiled In Controversy

-- AP: Clerical Error Appears To Flip Votes For Statewide Judges Race In Northampton County; County Promises Accurate Talley

-- Post-Gazette: How Culture Wars Crept Into School District Races In Western PA

-- Observer-Reporter: Greene County Officials Work To Measure Impact Of Election Ballot Error

-- PA Dept. Of State Will ‘Follow Up’ With Northampton County Following Voting Machine Issue

-- WPSU: Voting System Error, Bomb Threat Among The Problems During PA’s November Election

-- Citizens Voice: Luzerne County May Have To Pay For Special Election In School Board Race Due To Ballot Error

-- Spotlight PA: How New Judge Of Elections Navigated His First Election: ‘Hectic From The Get-Go’

-- Erie Times: A Peek At What’s At Stake In Critical 2024 Elections

-- Post-Gazette: PA’s US Senate Race Was Already Big, WV’s Manchin Just Made It Huge

-- PennLive: Will Heated Local Races Boost Turnout? PA’s Latest Voter Registration Numbers?

-- Inquirer Editorial: Across The Nation Election Results Show Voters Care About Diversity and Democracy

-- TribLive Column - Lori Falce: Fmr Republican PA Sen. Rick Santorum - ‘Pure Democracies Are Not The Way To Run A Country’ On Ohio’s Vote To Approve 2 Constitutional Amendments

-- National Politics

-- TribLive Column - Lori Falce: Fmr Republican PA Sen. Rick Santorum - ‘Pure Democracies Are Not The Way To Run A Country’ On Ohio’s Vote To Approve 2 Constitutional Amendments

-- Miscellaneous State/Harrisburg Politics

-- TribLive: What Would Recreational Marijuana Legalization Do For PA Tax Revenue?

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Pennsylvania Feeling The Heat After Ohio Legalizes Weed

-- TribLive: Ohio Just Legalized Recreational Marijuana, What Does That Mean For PA?

-- Post-Gazette/Capitrolwire.com: PA Office Of Open Records Says Some Government Websites Difficult To Search

-- PA Politics Of Russian Invasion

-- AAA Gasoline Prices: PA- $3.63; National- $3.39; Ohio- $3.24

-- Baker Hughes PA Natural Gas Drilling Rigs Drop 1 To 19 From Last Week

-- New NERC Winter Reliability Assessment Finds Elevated Risk Of Blackouts In Extreme Weather Conditions; Natural Gas Supplies Still Vulnerable To These Conditions With 'Devastating Consequences'  [PaEN] 

-- Utility Dive: Much Of North America- Including PJM-- Faces ‘Elevated Risk’ Of Blackouts In Extreme Weather Conditions - North American Electric Reliability Corp [Key Issue Is Will Natural Gas Supplies Fail Again?] 

-- Center For American Progress: LNG Natural Gas Exports Raise Natural Gas Prices For Americans 

-- Reuters: US Natural Gas Prices Slide 2% To 2-Week Low On Record Output, Mild Winter

-- Reuters: FERC Calls For Natural Gas Supply Protections After 2022 Winter Power Outages

-- Reuters: US Power Use To Slide In 2023 On Milder Weather Forecasts

-- Reuters: How Shipping More US Natural Gas LNG To Europe Helped Fuel Carbon Pollution 

-- Reuters: EIA: US Natural Gas Output And Demand To High Records Highs In 2023

Natural Gas Explosions

-- WPXI: 1 Hospitalized, 15 Evacuated After Strong Natural Gas Odor At McCandless Retirement Community

-- PUC Seeks More Information On Peoples Gas Over-Pressurization Incident In Indiana County That Damaged Hundreds Of Appliances, Caused Distribution Pipeline Leaks  [PaEN]

Train Derailments

-- LancasterOnline: PA Attorney General Urges Feds To Require Railroads To Release More Information On Toxic Freight In Emergency Situations

-- Inside Climate News/The 19th: Misti Allison Lost Her Bid To Become Mayor In Ohio Town Impacted By Norfolk Southern Train Derailment

-- The Guardian: US Faces Almost Daily Hazardous Chemical Accidents, Research Suggests

-- Education

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: Group Trying To Fix PA’s Education Funding System Hears Of ‘Frightening’ Issues, And Gives Itself More Time

-- Post-Gazette: New Report Highlights Challenges Of PA’s School Funding System: ‘Ridiculously Inequitable’

-- WESA: Study Finds Inequitable PA School Funding Leaves Behind Children Living In Poverty And Rural Areas

-- Post-Gazette: PA Standardized School Test Scores Begin To Rebound, But Still Lag Behind Pre-Pandemic Numbers

-- Wilkes-Barre Times: Luzerne County Schools’ State Test Results Generally Below Average

-- Spotlight PA: Penn State Denied Students Access To Campus Crime Data, Student Wants Federal Investigation

-- Erie Times Guest Essay: Erie County Community College Growing Enrollment, Programing And Changing Lives

-- Law Enforcement

-- AP: Democrat McCaffery Wins Open Seat On PA Supreme Court; Democrats Hold 5 of 7 Seats

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: State Police Open Second Hiring Round Amid Surging Interest After Change In College Degree Requirement

-- WESA: Eleven Weeks After Standoff, Some Residents Still Waiting On Bullet Hole Repairs In Pittsburgh 

-- The Economy

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: PA Getting More Business-Friendly, But Remains Below Average

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: State Mulls Tax Credits, Exemptions For Shopping Mall Conversions

-- Beaver County Times Guest Essay: Western PA Has A Great Sales Pitch For Young Workers - By President, Beaver County Community College

[Posted: November 12, 2023]