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

Because In Politics Everything Is Connected To Everything Else--

-- Gov. Shapiro

-- Inquirer: Poll: Shapiro Has Support Of More Than A Third Of Ex-President’s Voters, That Could Help Him In 2028

-- Politico: Shapiro’s Pennsylvania Energy/Climate Play Aims For Balance Of Power On Climate Issues  

-- Spotlight PA: Shapiro Updates State Employee Code Of Conduct Amid Gaza Protests Raising Free Speech Concerns

-- Inquirer: Shapiro Knew Officials Were Prepping To Take Down Penn’s Encampment As He Called For Its Removal

-- WESA/Spotlight PA: PA Dairy Farmers Could See Financial Boost From Shapiro’s Proposed Subsidy Program

-- PA Capital-Star: Shapiro Says His Administration Preparing To Hire Next Generation Of State Workers

-- Spotlight PA: PA State Prisoner Has Shapiro’s Support In Compassionate Release Case

-- TribLive Editorial: Does Quadriplegic Inmate Deserve Compassionate Release After 49 Years?

-- Budget 2024

-- Spotlight PA: Education Funding Boost, Tax Cuts On Table As PA Budget Talks Begin

-- PA Capital-Star: PA House Democrats Propose $5.1 Billion In New Funding For State’s Poorest Schools

-- Post-Gazette/PennLive: Taxing, Regulating ‘Skill’ Gambling Games A Definite Maybe In Next State Budget

-- City & State PA: Republican Senate Appropriations Chair Talks PA Budget, Senate Republican Tax Cut Proposal

-- LancasterOnline: Republican Chair Senate Appropriations Unsure When Lawmakers Will Pass State Budget

-- WESA/Spotlight PA: PA Dairy Farmers Could See Financial Boost From Shapiro’s Proposed Subsidy Program

-- PA Gaming Control Board Reports April Revenue Up 5.87% Over Last April

Statewide Races

-- WITF/AP: National Political Themes Will Lead Off The Campaign For PA Attorney General

-- PA House/Senate

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: Catholic Child Sex Abuse Survivor Rep. Mark Rozzi Decries PA’s Failure To Act On Lawsuit Window Issue For Victims  

-- The Center Square - Anthony Hennen: PA Senate Session Recordings Not Available To Public

-- Wilkes-Barre Times: Controversial ‘Skill’ Gambling Games Increase In Popularity Across The State

-- Wilkes-Barre Times: Area State Legislators Weigh In On ‘Skill’ Gambling Games

-- US Senate/House

-- Inquirer: Poll: Casey Narrowly Leads McCormick In PA US Senate Race

-- Post-Gazette: Republican US Senate Candidate Proposes Moving US Dept. Of Energy To Pittsburgh

-- TribLive: Fetterman Stands By Biden Despite Rift Over Israel

-- Inquirer: What The Latest Poll Says About Fetterman

-- November Election

-- PennLive - John Baer: Don’t Let All The Political Madness Turn You From Democracy

-- Post-Gazette: Allegheny County: Primary Was ‘Calm Before The Storm’ Of November General Election

-- Inquirer: Biden is Struggling In PA; Takeaways From New Inquire/NYT/Siena Poll

-- Inquirer: Poll: More PA Voters Trust Ex-President With Economy Than Biden

-- Inquirer: Poll: Pennsylvanians Consider Crime A Major Problem, Think Ex-President Will Do A Better Job Of Addressing It

-- Election Reforms

-- WITF/Votebeat: ACLU Signals Effort To Target Disparate County ‘Notice And Sure’ Policies For Flawed Mail-In Ballots

-- National Politics

-- WHYY: Will PA Go Blue In 2024 Elections, Summit Mulls Keystone State’s Role In The Election

-- PA’s Role In Assault On US Capitol

-- AP: Lebanon County Man Sentenced To Nearly 4 Years In Prison For Crimes Related To Assault On US Capitol

-- PennLive: Feds Seek One Of Longest Prison Terms For Lebanon County Man Charged With Crimes Related To Assault On US Capitol

-- PennLive: Lebanon County Man Sentenced To Prison For Crimes Related To Assault On US Capitol Apologizes To Dauphin County School That Got A Bad Rap After His Arrest

-- PennLive: No Question Centre County Man Charged With Crimes Participated In The Assault On US Capitol

-- PennLive: FBI Probe Into PA Republican Con. Scott Perry’s Efforts To Overturn 2020 Election Could Undo His Committee Hopes

-- Miscellaneous State/Harrisburg Politics

-- Post-Gazette: Pennsylvania Lags In Electing Women To Political Office

-- Spotlight PA - Stephen Caruso: Super Bowl Tickets, Luxury Resort Stay Among Perks PA Lawmakers Accepted In 2023

-- Spotlight PA: PA’s Judges Must Reveal The Perks They Accept, But The Public Won’t Find Those Disclosures Online

-- LancasterOnline: Undisclosed Donors Pay For PA House Speaker Portraits In PA’s Capitol

-- AP: Latinos Found Jobs And Cheap Housing In Hazleton, But Political Power Has Proven Elusive

-- PennLive - Jan Murphy: Republican PA Treasurer’s Communications Director Also A Paid Reporter

-- PA Politics Of Russian Invasion

-- AAA Gasoline Prices: PA- $3.75  National- $3.59  Ohio- $3.50

-- WNEP: UGI Utilities Announces 4.5% Increase In Cost Of Gas Starting June 1, Another 7.3% Increase Projected For Dec. 1  

-- Baker Hughes: PA Natural Gas Drilling Rigs Same As Last Week- 21

-- Post-Gazette: Republican US Senate Candidate Proposes Moving US Dept. Of Energy To Pittsburgh

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Consol Energy Aims To Be A Leading Force In Slowing The Shift To Renewable Energy

-- Observer-Reporter: Consol Energy Enlow Fork Mine Tour Offers Rare Glimpse Into ‘Underground City’

-- Utility Dive: AEP Ohio Proposes Data Center, Cryptocurrency Electricity Tariff Amid 30 GW In Service Inquiries

-- Utility Dive: NERC: 25 GW Of New Solar To Boost Summer Grid Reliability, But Extreme Heat Poses Widespread Risks 

-- Oil & Gas Journal: Gulfstream LNG Gas Export Facility Gains FERC Approval For Next Step In permitting Process [Not Affected By Pause]

-- Marcellus Drilling News: ETF Trends: US LNG Gas Export Capacity To Rise 80% By 2028 [Even With Pause In Permits For New Export Facilities]

-- Bloomberg: Texas LNG Gas Outages Push Traders To Use AI, Satellites To Track Production Due To Lack Of Access

-- Reuters: China LNG Gas Imports Could Hit Record Levels In 2024, PetroChina Official Says

-- Bloomberg: Oil-Sands Capital Of Canada Now Grappling With Second Wildfire

-- Bloomberg: Wildfire Prompts Partial Evacuation Of Canada’s Oil-Sands Capital

-- Financial Times: US Shale Oil  Companies Accused Of Conspiring To Curb Production To Raise Oil Prices 

-- S&P Global: US Lawmaker Probes Oil, Gas Sector On Alleged Regulatory Rollback Deal With Ex-President

Gas Explosions

-- WTAE: Peoples Gas Pipelines Being Replaced Near Crescent Township Home Explosion In Allegheny County

-- Republican Herald: Natural Gas Pipeline Break Had Route 61 Closed 33 Hours In Schuylkill County

-- WNEP: Gas Leak Snarls Traffic In Schuylkill County, Route 61 Closed

-- TribLive: Plum Borough Recognizes First Responders To Natural Gas Home Explosion

Train Derailments

-- Altoona Mirror: Norfolk Southern Brings Hazmat Training To Altoona

-- AP: Whistleblower Questions Delays, Mistakes In Way EPA Used Sensor Plane After Norfolk Southern Train Derailment

-- Flooding

-- DEP Now Accepting Applications For Act 167 County Stormwater Management Planning [PaEN]  

-- PEMA Publishes Updated Guidance For Disaster Recovery Assistance Program For Individuals  [PaEN]  

-- Observer-Reporter: Canonsburg Seeks Funding To Address Flooding Issue

-- The Derrick: Issue Of Stormwater Runoff, Home Damage Spurs Knox Mayor’s Resignation

-- StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: Heaviest PA Storms Drop 60% More Rain Than They Used To, Report Says 

-- Williamsport Sun: Author Tim Palmer Says Flood Mitigation Requires More Than Holding Back The Water

-- EPA May 29 Webinar: Addressing Stormwater Challenges With EPA Technical Assistance & Funding, 1:00 p.m. 

-- Education

-- Spotlight PA: Education Funding Boost, Tax Cuts On Table As PA Budget Talks Begin

-- PA Capital-Star: PA House Democrats Propose $5.1 Billion In New Funding For State’s Poorest Schools

-- PennLive - Jan Murphy: Republican Lawmakers Make Renewed Pitch For Private School Vouchers In PA

-- WITF/WHYY: PA Teacher Shortage Acute In Special Education, Math And In Underserved Communities

-- TribLive Editorial: What Can Pennsylvania Do About Truancy?

-- AP: Blair County School District’s Decision To Cut 19th Century Hymn From Student Concert Raises Concerns

-- Inquirer: Shapiro Knew Officials Were Prepping To Take Down Penn’s Encampment As He Called For Its Removal

-- TribLive Editorial: Applying To College Shouldn’t Be So Complicated

-- Health Care

-- WITF/WVIA: Democratic State Senators, Reps Say The Healthcare System Has Bad Business Models

-- Spotlight PA: Penn State Health Agrees To Suspend Kidney Transplants For 2nd Time Since 2022

-- Erie Times: Erie County Tops PA Overdose Rate For 2nd Straight Year

-- Law Enforcement

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: Catholic Child Sex Abuse Survivor Rep. Mark Rozzi Decries PA’s Failure To Act On Lawsuit Window Issue For Victims  

-- TribLive Editorial: Jacob Jaillet’s Story Reveals The Overlooked Consequences Of Gun Violence

-- Spotlight PA: PA State Prisoner Has Shapiro’s Support In Compassionate Release Case

-- TribLive Editorial: Does Quadriplegic Inmate Deserve Compassionate Release After 49 Years?

-- The Economy

-- Dept. Of Labor & Industry Reports April Unemployment Rate Remains At 3.4%, 7th Consecutive Month At Same Rate

-- WESA: ID Verification Kiosks At CareerLink Offices Aim To Assist Pennsylvanians Applying For Unemployment Benefits

-- PA Capital-Star: Shapiro Says His Administration Preparing To Hire Next Generation Of State Workers

-- Post-Gazette: PA Received $16.7 Billion In Federal Funding For Infrastructure, Clean Energy, Other Projects

-- Other

-- PennLive: PA Holds Billions’ Worth Of Unclaimed Property, How To Find Out If any Of It Is Yours

-- TribLive: Renowned Forensic Pathologist Cyril Wecht Dies

[Posted: May 19, 2024]