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: Gov. Shapiro, Legislature Wrapping Up Remarkably Unproductive Year; What Happened?

-- Spotlight PA: We Tracked Shapiro’s 11 Biggest Campaign Promises Thru His First Year, See How He Did

-- KDKA: Shapiro Calls His First Year A Success Despite Some Disappointments

-- Inquirer: Gov. Shapiro Urged Pennsylvania Society Gathering To Continue Weekend’s Bipartisan Vibe Back In Harrisburg

-- PA Capital-Star: Lt. Gov. Davis Named Vice Chair Of Democratic Lt. Governor’s Assn.

-- WTAJ: Bedford County Man Accused Of Making Threats Against PA Governor

-- Budget 2023

-- Spotlight PA - Stephen Caruso: A Leaky Roof Is About To Close The PA House Chamber For Months, Can The Legislature Finish A Budget First?

-- Inquirer: Some PA Senators Won’t Approve State Funding For Penn Veterinary School Until Penn President Resigns

-- Post-Gazette: PA Community Colleges Still Waiting For State Funding

-- Wilkes-Barre Guest Essay: Legislators Must End Funding Delay For Community Colleges - By Luzerne County Community College President

-- Courier Times: Student Loan Forgiveness Letters Arrive In PA, What It Means And How To Check Your Status

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: The Other Education Programs Funded By Taxpayer School Tax Credits

-- PA House/Senate

-- Spotlight PA - Stephen Caruso: A Leaky Roof Is About To Close The PA House Chamber For Months, Can The Legislature Finish A Budget First?

-- The Center Square: PA Capitol Roof Leak Delays 2024 Legislative Work; Convene Budget Address In Main Rotunda

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: A Water Leak And Light Schedule Are Latest Sources Of Harrisburg Bickering

-- PA Capital-Star: Repairs To PA House Chamber Prompt 3 Month Hiatus For Lawmakers

-- LancasterOnline: Lancaster County Republican Lawmakers Blast House Democrats For Scheduling Months-Long Recess [Due To House Chamber Water Leak Repair]

-- Erie Times: Gov. Shapiro, Legislature Wrapping Up Remarkably Unproductive Year; What Happened?

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: 2 PA Lawmakers Say It’s Time For Their Colleagues To Stop Running For 2 Jobs At The Same Time

-- Inquirer: Some PA Senators Won’t Approve State Funding For Penn Veterinary School Until Penn President Resigns

-- AP: University Of Pennsylvania President, Board Chair Resign As Antisemitism Testimony Draws Backlash

-- Tribune-Democrat: Keystone Saves Retirement Program Bottled Up In PA Senate

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: PA Senate, Pass Keystone Saves To Boost Retirement Savings

-- Spotlight PA - Stephen Caruso: New PA House Rules Sought To Strengthen Bipartisanship, Insiders Say It Didn’t Work

-- PennLive: Republican Sen. DiSanto Not Running For Reelection 

-- Patch: Democratic Sen. Comitta Announces She Will Run For Reelection

-- Politics PA: Democratic Sen. Comitta Announces Reelection Run

-- US Senate/House

-- AG Henry: Allegheny County Man Charged With Forging  Signatures On Nomination Petitions For Congressional Candidate

-- WESA: Election-Petition Fraud Charges Filed Against Canvasser For Democratic Congressional Candidate

-- PennLive - John Baer: Bob Casey’s 2024 Reelection Bid Has Elements Of His First US Senate Run

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Republican US Senate Candidate McCormick Called PA’s ‘China Hawk’

-- WHYY: Sen. Fetterman Hires An Indicted, Ousted Con. Santos To Troll An Indicted NJ US Senator

-- PennLive: Fetterman Says Sen. Menendez Should Be Expelled Next From Congress

-- Post-Gazette: Why Democratic Cong. Summer Lee Vote Against Latest Antisemitism Resolution [Makes Any Criticism Of Israel Antisemitic]

-- WESA: PA Republican Con. Glenn Thompson Has Prostate Cancer, Will Continue To Work

-- PA Capital-Star: Republican Con. Scott Perry Wanted To Slash The National Labor Relations Board Budget, Even As The Agency Deals With A Boom In Organizing

-- 2024 Elections

-- PA Capital-Star: Democrats Make Battleground Investment In Retaining PA House

-- PA Capital-Star: Erie County Democrat Jim Wertz Launches Challenge To Republican Sen. Dan Laughlin

-- Election Reforms

-- Politics PA: Republican Party Appeals Federal Court Decision On PA Mail-In Ballots

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: 2 PA Lawmakers Say It’s Time For Their Colleagues To Stop Running For 2 Jobs At The Same Time

-- National Politics

-- Williamsport Sun Editorial: In Obstructing Good Immigrants, We Fail To Stop Enough Bad Ones

-- AP: Ex-President’s Vow To Only Be A Dictator On ‘Day One’ Follows Growing Worry Over His Rhetoric

-- PA’s Role In Assault On US Capitol

-- AP: Court Filing Gives Rare Look Inside FBI Seizure Of Republican Con. Scott Perry’s Phone In 2020 Election Probe

-- PA Capital-Star: Republican Con. Scott Perry On Prosecution Witness List In Georgia Election Interference Case

-- Miscellaneous State/Harrisburg Politics

-- The Center Square: PA Capitol Roof Leak Delays 2024 Legislative Work; Convene Budget Address In Main Rotunda

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: A Water Leak And Light Schedule Are Latest Sources Of Harrisburg Bickering

-- PA Capital-Star: Repairs To PA House Chamber Prompt 3 Month Hiatus For Lawmakers

-- LancasterOnline: Lancaster County Republican Lawmakers Blast House Democrats For Scheduling Months-Long Recess [Due To House Chamber Water Leak Repair]

-- PA Capital-Star: PA Supreme Court Will Consider Whether Officials’ Facebook Posts Are Public Records

-- PennLive: Long Time Republican Cumberland County Commissioner Breaks With County Republicans; Changes Registration To ‘Other’

-- PA Politics Of Russian Invasion

-- AAA Gasoline Prices: PA- $3.51; National- $3.16;  Ohio- $2.84

-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports 3rd Quarter Natural Gas Production Down 0.5% Over 3rd Quarter 2022, But Increased Over Last 12 Months  [PaEN]

-- Baker Hughes: Natural Gas Drill Rigs In PA Drop By 1 to 20 Over Last Week

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: PA May See Biggest Drop In Decade For New Shale Gas Wells

-- TribLive: Southwest PA Enjoying Low Natural Gas Prices After Large Drop From Last Year

-- Tribune-Democrat: Peoples Gas Says Credit Offsets 149% Natural Gas Price Hike

-- Inside Climate News: Massachusetts Public Utilities Agency Sets Framework For Reducing Natural Gas Use For Heating

-- Bloomberg: Europe’s Winter Natural Gas Price Slump Shifts Focus To Summer Storage

-- AP: Leaked OPEC Letter Shows The Oil Cartel’s Worry Over The COP28 Climate Talks, Environmentalists Say 

Oil & Gas 

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Senate Republican Leaders Urge DEP To Withdraw Environmental Justice Policy Saying They Lack Statutory Authority, And Out-of-State Groups Not Actual Residents Express EJ Concerns  [PaEN]

-- PA Business Report: Senate Republicans Urge DEP To Withdraw Updated Environmental Justice Policy

-- Williamsport Sun Guest Essay: Refund Should Be Due For University Of Pittsburgh’s Shale Gas Health Impact Studies - By Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), Majority Chair Senate Environmental Committee  [Sen. Yaw called bill to reduce shale gas industry impacts ‘stupid’ ]

Natural Gas Explosions

-- TribLive: Natural Gas Smell Causes Evacuation At Plum Boro Middle School, Allegheny County  [Plum Boro Natural Gas Home Explosion Killed 6 People In August]  

-- WESA: More Than A Year After Natural Gas Explosion, McKeesport’s 9th Street Clinic Reopens In New, Permanent Space

-- The Derrick Editorial: Reliable Power Means Shoring Up Natural Gas Infrastructure

Train Derailments

-- KYW: Freight Train Derails In South Philadelphia Overnight

-- WESA/AP: Norfolk Southern To End Relocation Aid After One-Year Anniversary Of Ohio Train Derailment 

-- Education

-- Post-Gazette: New Report Details ‘Discriminatory’ Policies At PA Religious, Private Schools Supported By Taxpayers

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: The Other Education Programs Funded By Taxpayer School Tax Credits

-- WESA: 34% Of Pittsburgh Public School Students Were Chronically Absent Last Year, Report

-- TribLive Editorial: America’s High Schoolers Running Out Of Time To Catch Up With Time Lost During Pandemic

-- York Dispatch Editorial: In Wake Of 11-Year-Old’s Suicide, We Must Do More To Address Mental Health Crisis Among Youth  [62 Suicide Deaths, Includes 3 Minors This Year In York County]

-- Courier Times: New Central Bucks School Board President Sworn In On Stack Of Books Banned By Previous Board Members 

-- Post-Gazette: PA Community Colleges Still Waiting For State Funding

-- Wilkes-Barre Guest Essay: Legislators Must End Funding Delay For Community Colleges - By Luzerne County Community College President

-- The Center Square: PA Considers Student Loan Interest Tax Deduction

-- Courier Times: Student Loan Forgiveness Letters Arrive In PA, What It Means And How To Check Your Status

-- AP: University Of Pennsylvania President, Board Chair Resign As Antisemitism Testimony Draws Backlash

-- Inquirer: Some PA Senators Won’t Approve State Funding For Penn Veterinary School Until Penn President Resigns

-- Spotlight PA: Spotlight PA Sues Penn State Trustees Over Alleged Violations Of PA’s Open Meetings Law

-- Inquirer: Penn President Facing Criticism From Shapiro, White House, Others For Comments At Congressional Hearing On Antisemitism

-- City & State PA: Penn President Liz Magill Facing Growing Calls To Resign Over Remarks On Antisemitism

-- WHYY: Penn President Defends Actions In Combating Antisemitism On Campus

-- Health Care

-- Dept. Of Health: Still Time To Protect Yourself During Respiratory Disease Season

-- PennLive: RSV Continues Sharp Rise In PA, With Flu, COVID Also Up

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: Opioid Trust Transparency Questioned After Accounting Firm Choice

-- PennLive: Window Will Close Dec. 15 To Sign Up For State-Assisted Health Insurance In PA

-- Law Enforcement

-- PA Capital-Star: High Fees, Long Waits Cast Shadow Over New Criminal Expungement Laws

-- AG Henry: Allegheny County Man Charged With Forging Signatures On Nomination Petitions For Congressional Candidate

-- WESA: Election-Petition Fraud Charges Filed Against Canvasser For Democratic Congressional Candidate

-- Reading Eagle: Berks Officials Turn Election Complaint Over To District Attorney

-- WESA: ACLU-PA Sues McKeesport, Allegheny County For Overly Aggressive Manhunt In 2020

-- TribLive Guest Essay: Save Our Most Vulnerable Kids By Investing In Juvenile Justice System - By George Hartwick, Dauphin County Commissioner, Chadwick Libby, Director of Probation Services

-- WHYY: Philly Youth Are Rallying Against The Court System, Could Repairing It Turn The Tide On Gun Violence?

-- WESA/WHYY: Temple Health Trauma Surgeon Receives Federal Grant To Study Media Coverage Of Gun Violence

-- Post-Gazette - Salena Zito: For Many, Owning A Gun Was Taboo, Now They’re Buying Them

-- TribLive Letter: PA Senate Must Act On Gun Bills For Safety Of All In PA - By PA League Of Women Voters

-- The Economy

-- Dept. of Revenue: 2024 Oil Franchise Decreases From 61.1 Cents/Gallon Of Gasoline To 57.6 Cents/Gallon; Diesel Fuel Decreases From 78.5 Cents/Gallon To 74.1 Cents/Gallon [2024 Rate;  2023 Rate]

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: PA Credit Card Debt Rises 12% Compared To Pre-COVID

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: PennDOT Mulls Several Big Fixes For Truck Parking Problem

-- TribLive: Judge Nixes Minimum Wage Hike For Allegheny County Workers

-- Spotlight PA: PA Local Government - A Key Factor In Determining Property Taxes Varies Wildly Across State

-- York Dispatch: Man With Machete At Utz Plant Subdued By Employees, Police

-- Other

-- PennLive: Demand At Food Banks, Pantries Reaches ‘Catastrophic’ Levels

[Posted: December 10, 2023]