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

Because In Politics Everything Is Connected To Everything Else--

-- 2022 Priorities

-- WITF: Republican Budget Chiefs Want PA’s Plethora Of Pandemic-Era Cash Used ‘Judiciously’

-- Governor’s Budget Address Feb. 8 

 

-- PA’s Role In Assault On U.S. Capitol

-- AP: U.S. House Committee Investigating Assault On U.S. Capitol Subpoenas 2 Fake 2020 Republican Electors In PA

-- WLVR: U.S. House Committee Investigating Assault On U.S. Capitol Subpoenas Lehigh Valley Man Who Reportedly Pushed Election Lies

 

-- New Voting Districts - Senate, House, Congressional

-- AP: State Judge Begins Review To Pick New Congressional Voting District Map

-- Spotlight PA: Commonwealth Court Weighs PA Congressional Voting District Maps With National Implications

-- PennLive - Charles Thompson: Mappapalooza: Fight Over PA Congressional Voting Districts Map In Court

-- Inquirer: How Different Congressional Maps Would Redistrict Pennsylvania

-- Inquirer: All 14 Proposed PA Congressional Redistricting Maps

-- Spotlight PA: Wolf Vetoes PA Congressional Voting District Map Sent To Him By Republicans

-- Spotlight PA: PA Republicans Send Doomed Congressional Districts Map To Wolf Likely Handing The Choice To State Courts

-- AP: State Court Has A Dozen Congressional Voting Districts Maps To Review; Hearings Get Underway Thursday 

-- PA Cap-Star: Courts Likely To Pick PA Congressional Districts Map After Wolf, Legislature Fall Short

-- ErieT: Wolf Says State Redistricting Should Be Above Partisan Bickering

-- AP: Lawmakers Stalemated On PA Congressional Map, Republican Senate Leader Says

-- Spotlight PA: What Delayed Voting District Maps Could Be For May 17 Primary Election

-- TribLive Editorial: Just Draw The New Voting District Maps Already

-- ReadingE Editorial: Local Impacts Of Redistricting Don’t Get Enough Attention

 

-- Governor’s Race

-- Inquirer: PA Governor’s Race Will Shape Voting Law, Maybe The 2024 Election

-- PennLive - Jan Murphy: PA Likely To Shatter $80 Million Total For Spending In Governor’s Race

-- AP: Democrats Shapiro, Fetterman, Lamb To Miss Biden Pittsburgh Visit Friday Due To Scheduling Conflicts

-- PennLive - Charles Thompson: Republicans Dave White, David McCormick Win SW PA Straw Poll For Governor U.S. Senate

-- City & State: Rep. Austin Davis Scores SEIU Endorsement For Democratic Lt. Governor

-- TribLive Guest Essay: As Governor, Shapiro Will Protect Our Democracy - Rep. Emily Kinkead (D)

 

-- U.S. Senate Race

-- AP: PA Democrats Deadlock On Endorsing In U.S. Senate Race; Lamb Gets Most Votes

-- PG: PA Democrats Opt To Sit Out U.S. Senate Primary; Lamb Doubles Fetterman In Votes

-- City & State: Here Are Endorsements In PA’s U.S. Senate Race

-- Pennlive - Charles Thompson: Democratic U.S. Senate Hopefuls Trade Policy Ideas, Occasional Jabs On Eve Of Endorsement Meeting

-- AP: Democrats Shapiro, Fetterman, Lamb To Miss Biden Pittsburgh Visit Friday Due To Scheduling Conflicts

-- PennLive - Charles Thompson: Republicans Dave White, David McCormick Win SW PA Straw Poll For Governor U.S. Senate

-- WESA: Bartos Touts His Business Experience, Derides Other Republican U.S. Senate Candidates For Weak Ties To PA

-- MCall: Sen. Ted Cruz Rallies Republicans In Lehigh Valley To Kick Off Candidate’s Bid To Replace Toomey

-- AP: PA Republican U.S. Senate Hopeful Enlist Other Republican Stars

-- PG: Fetterman Criticized For Skipping Black Clergy Forum

-- TribLive Guest Essay: Dr. Oz Is Fun, But The Republic Must Come First - Joseph Sabino Mistick

-- ErieT Guest Essay: PA Farmers Need Right-To-Repair - Lt. Gov. Fetterman, Democratic Candidate For U.S. Senate

-- PG Guest Essay: Pittsburgh Knows Biden Agenda Has Failed - Dave McCormick, Republican Candidate For U.S. Senate, Fmr Hedge Fund Manager

 

-- May 2021 Election

-- MCall: Lehigh, Northampton Counties Need Spanish-Speaking Poll Workers For May Primary

 

-- Election Reform/2020 Election Fallout

-- Spotlight PA: PA’s Mail Voting Law Ruled Unconstitutional, But Remains In Place As Wolf Appeals

-- CourierT: Republican PA Cong. Kelly Celebrates Initial State Court Ruling Eliminating Mail-In Voting For Over 1.3 Million Pennsylvanians [Kelly Also Led Efforts To Overturn The 2020 Election Results By Spreading Misinformation]

-- TribLive: Commonwealth Court Strikes Down Mail-In Voting: AG Files Appeal

-- PennLive - Charles Thompson: Appeals Filed With PA Supreme Court After Mail-In Voting Law Ruled Unconstitutional

-- PA Cap-Star: Commonwealth Court Rules Pennsylvania’s Mail-In Voting Law Unconstitutional

-- AP: Commonwealth Court Strikes Down Expansive Mail-In Voting Law

-- MCall - Paul Muschick: Why I’m Glad A Court Struck Down PA’s Mail Voting Law, A Chance Now To Write A Stronger Law

-- TribLive Editorial: Logical Failings With Mail-In Voting Challenge, Court Ruling- Put The Issue Before Voters In A Constitutional Amendment

-- WBTimes: Luzerne County Election Bureau Proceeding As Usual With Mail-In Ballots

-- ErieT: Erie Postmaster, Project Veritas Face Off In Court Over 2020 Mail-In Ballot Claims

-- CourierT: Analysis: We Examined Millions Of PA Voter Records, There Were Few ‘Irregularities’ 

-- ErieT: More Democrats Than Republicans Changing Affiliation To Opposing Party In PA

-- ScrantonT: Lackawanna County DA Finds No Voter Fraud In Drop Box Case

-- LancasterOnline Editorial: Lancaster County Republicans Shouldn’t Align Itself With Disinformation-Spreading FreePA

-- PA Cap-Star: What The Right For Voting Rights And PA School Funding Lawsuit Have In Common

-- Inquirer: Progressives Want To Derail Republican Appointment To Philly’s Elections Board

 

State Constitutional Amendments

-- Spotlight PA: Complete Guide To More Than 70 Proposed Amendments To State Constitution

-- PA Cap-Star: With Abortion Amendment To Constitution, PA Republicans Have Given Up On Legislating

-- PG Guest Essay: PA Constitution Getting The ‘Sharpie Treatment’ By Republicans Under Influence Of Special Interests And Dark Money Groups - Reps. Ryan Bizzarro (D)  & Pam Snyder (D)

-- Guest Essay: Legislating By Constitutional Amendment Is Not Legislating - Rep. Dan Miller (D)

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Republican Legislators Shirking Their Duties As They Push Dozens Of Constitutional Amendments - Mark Singel (D)

-- ScrantonT Editorial: Republican Lawmakers Drunk On Constitutional Amendments

-- PG: PA Republicans Look To Referendum To Amend Constitution To Privatize Wine, Liquor Sales

-- MCall- Ford Turner: Will PA’s State-Run Alcohol Stores Finally Be Privatized?

-- Inquirer: New Effort To Eliminate State Liquor System Via Constitutional Amendment

-- PG Editorial: Privatizing Liquor In PA On The Ballot

 

-- Harrisburg Potpourri

-- PA Cap-Star: Gift Ban Advocates Target PA Republican Leaders

-- PennLive - John Baer: Wolf, Corman, Mastriano, Oz Said What?  Things In Politics That Make You Go, ‘Hmmmm’

-- PA Cap-Star: How PA Politicians Are Adapting Their Campaigns In The Age Of COVID

-- CourierT: Rep. Wendi Thomas Won’t Seek Reelection

-- Gov. Wolf: DCED Secretary Dennis Davin To Depart; Neil Weaver Named Acting Secretary

-- LancasterOnline/The Caucus: Fmr PA Treasurer Barbara Hafer’s PAC Collected $2.3 Million From Investments, Paid Daughter $500,000 Since She Left Office

-- WESA: Move To Privatize PA Liquor Sales Draws Familiar Opponents

-- PG: PA Republicans Look To Referendum To Amend Constitution To Privatize Wine, Liquor Sales

-- Inquirer: New Effort To Eliminate State Liquor System Via Constitutional Amendment

-- MCall- Ford Turner: Will PA’s State-Run Alcohol Stores Finally Be Privatized?

-- PennLive - Jan Murphy:  Republican Senator Wants Cocktails To-Go To Make A Comeback In PA

-- TribLive Editorial: Is Gambling Growth A Good Thing For Pennsylvania

-- PA Cap-Star: Patient Limits For Nurses Bill Has Majority Support, But Won’t Advance In Harrisburg, Why?

-- AP: General Assembly Fast-Tracks $225 Million More In Pandemic Aid To Hospitals

-- PennLive: Lawmakers Call For Anti-Discrimination Statute After Chambersburg Revokes LGBTQ+ Ordinance

-- Inquirer: PA Horse Racing Officials Release New Plan For Reducing Fatalities At Tracks

-- PG: Pennsylvania Gets Failing Grades On Tobacco Control

-- WHYY: Councilmember Introduces Bill To Repeal Philly Soda Tax

 

-- Budget 2022

-- WITF: Republican Budget Chiefs Want PA’s Plethora Of Pandemic-Era Cash Used ‘Judiciously’

-- AP: General Assembly Fast-Tracks $225 Million More In Pandemic Aid To Hospitals

-- PA Cap-Star: Wolf, Lawmakers Need To Release Pandemic Relief Funds To Nursing Homes

-- TribLive Guest Essay: PA’s Out-Of Control Spending Is Driving Away Residents - Commonwealth Foundation

-- Inquirer: New Effort To Eliminate State Liquor System Via Constitutional Amendment

-- TribLive Editorial: Is Gambling Growth A Good Thing For Pennsylvania

-- WITF: County Commissioners Push For More Money For Mental Health Services Among Top 2022 Priorities -  Click Here for all priorities.

 

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

-- TribLive: Pittsburgh Leaders, Residents Seek Answers After Poor-Rated Bridge Collapses: ‘It Is Outrageous’  [The federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Will Provide Needed Resources To Address These Issues, But Also Mine Reclamation, Plugging Oil & Gas Wells Left Behind By Conventional Drillers, All But 1 Republican Voted Against It In PA]

-- AP: Federal Investigators Vow To Put Collapsed Pittsburgh Bridge Under A ‘Microscope’

-- TribLive: 1 In 8 Bridges In PA Rated In ‘Poor’ Conditions: ‘It’s A Resource Problem’

-- TribLive Editorial: Pittsburgh Bridge Collapse Shows Infrastructure Failings

-- PG Editorial: Bridge Collapse Won’t Be Last Infrastructure Failure

-- PG Editorial: Repairing Western PA’s Other Regional Superhighway: The Rivers

 

-- COVID Pandemic In PA

-- Dept. Of Health Weekly Update On COVID Trends In Cases, Vaccinations, Hospitalizations

-- Inquirer: Declining COVID Surge A Promising Sign, But It’s Not Over Yet

-- PG: New COVID Cases Drop By Nearly Half In Allegheny County

-- MCall: Lehigh Valley COVID Case Rate Plummets 72% In 12 Days

-- ScrantonT: New COVID Cases Trending Upward Again In NE PA

-- CitizensV: NE PA Hospitals Still Stressed As COVID Patient Numbers Level Off

-- MCall Guest Essay: Lehigh Valley Health Systems - Hospitals Need Your Help Ending COVID Surge

-- WilliamsportS: Community Marks 472 Local Deaths Due To COVID

-- TribLive: COVID Surges Through Westmoreland County Prison

-- AP: General Assembly Fast-Tracks $225 Million More In Pandemic Aid To Hospitals

-- Gov. Wolf Celebrates Passage Of Bipartisan Bill Providing $225 Million To Support Health Care Workforce

-- MCall - Ford Turner: PA Senate Approves Spending $225 Million To Recruit, Retain Nurses, Other Bedside Hospital Workers

-- PA Cap-Star: Patient Limits For Nurses Bill Has Majority Support, But Won’t Advance In Harrisburg, Why?

-- WITF: With PA Hospitals Desperate For Nurses, ‘Travelers’ Make The Best Of A Bad Situation

-- TribLive: Holding Onto Hope Inside A COVID ICU: ‘It’s Like Working In A War Zone’

-- TribLive: PA Hospitals Wrestle With Nurse Staffing Issues As Pandemic Drags On

-- AP: PA Deploys First ‘Strike Team’ To Ease COVID-Related Hospital Crunch In Bucks County

-- PennLive: Patients Still Waiting Hours In ER For Care In Central PA Hospitals

-- WHYY: Chester County Limits COVID Contact Tracing Amid High Community Spread

-- Inquirer: PA Nursing Homes Playing Catch Up On Staff Vaccinations As Mandate Starting

-- PA Cap-Star: Wolf, Lawmakers Need To Release Pandemic Relief Funds To Nursing Homes

-- TribLive: How To Pick Up Free N95 Masks In Western PA

-- PG: Medical Debt Buries Some Employees At UPMC

-- AP: State Prisons To Halt In-Person Visitation Thru February Due To COVID-Related Staff Shortages

 

-- COVID - Schools

-- LancasterOnline: Large Majority Of Lancaster County Children Are Unvaccinated, Data Shows

-- TribLive: Federal Court: 2 Different Decisions On School Masks In Pittsburgh, Same Facts

-- TribLive: Federal Court Issues Injunction Ordering Upper St. Clair Schools To Keep Mask Requirement In Place

-- ReadingE: Masks Optional And No Encouraging COVID Vaccines In Hamburg Schools 

-- PG: Carnegie Mellon Plans Return To Mostly In-Person Classes

 

-- Opioid Epidemic

-- AG Shapiro: All 67 Counties Join Opioid Settlement

-- Inquirer: Here’s How Much Each PA County Will Get From Opioid Settlement

-- WESA: Allegheny County Expected To Get $90 Million As Part Of Opioid Settlement

-- Inquirer: Philadelphia Joins $1 Billion Opioid Settlement And Is Getting At Least $186 Million

-- PA Cap-Star: PA’s Opioid Settlement Is Bad For Philly, DA Says, As He Waits For Another Deal

-- PennLive: PA Plans Better Help For Children Born Into Addiction, Including Undoing Pandemic Harms

 

-- School Funding/Administration

-- Inquirer: 4 Highlights From Landmark PA School Funding Trial, As Plaintiffs Rest Their Case This Week

-- Inquirer: Decisions In Philly Schools Revenue-Driven, Not Needs-Driven, CFO Testifies At School Funding Trial

-- CitizensV: Superintendent Details Funding Hardships At Wilkes-Barre Area Schools In School Funding Trial

-- PA Cap-Star: What The Right For Voting Rights And PA School Funding Lawsuit Have In Common

-- ErieT Guest Essay: A Quality Education… With A Side Of Fries [School Funding Trial]

-- CitizensV Editorial: Fair School Funding Would Have Huge Impact On Students’ Futures

-- PA Cap-Star: U.S., PA Students Getting More Diverse, Their Teachers Aren’t

-- Spotlight PA: Massive Republican Tax Credit To Fund Private Schools Lacks Basic Accountability, Report IFO Finds [Diverting Funds From Public Schools]

-- Gov. Wolf Repeats Call For Private Charter School Reform Legislation

-- Inquirer: Taxpayer Funded Private Cyber Charter Schools Grew Faster In PA Last Year Than Any Other State

-- PA Cap-Star: Study PA Private Cyber-Charter Schools Lead On Cost; Lag On Results

-- Spotlight PA: PA School Pension Fund Won’t Require Board Members To Sign Secrecy Oaths To Hear Investigation Report

-- YorkD: York Suburban School Board Member Faces Global Conservative Backlash For Op-Ed

-- PG: Pittsburgh School Superintendent Says ‘This Is Not Who We Are’ Amid Recent Spate Of Violence

-- PG: Pittsburgh School Officials Offer Few Solutions To Ongoing Turmoil

-- TribLive: 2 Teens Charged In Fight Involving Pepper Spray At Pittsburgh H.S.

-- WESA: ACLU Finds Allegheny County Students Arrested More Often Than Anywhere Else In PA

-- PennLive: Police Officer Uses Stun Gun Against Middletown H.S. Student Who Broke Free Of His Grasp And Was Walking Away

-- PG: Pittsburgh Promise Unveils Scholarship Aimed At Increasing The Number Of Black Educators In City

-- YorkDR: York Is A Microcosm Of The Collateral Damage That ‘Just Ripples Out’ From Youth Violence

-- WITF: Midstate School Districts Grapple With Substitute Teacher Shortage

-- ErieT Guest Essay: Erie County Community College Offers Region New Opportunity And Access

-- MCall Guest Essay: How My Generation Ended Up Overeducated, Underemployed And Buried In Debt - Kutztown & Lehigh University Grad

-- LancasterOnline: Elizabethtown College To Bridge Leadership Gap With Interim President

 

-- Gun Violence/Law Enforcement

-- WITF/AP: PA Lawmakers OK Veto-Bound Bill Aimed At Killing Local Gun Laws

-- Gov. Wolf Vows To Veto Republican Bill Preempting Local Gun Ordinances

-- ScrantonT Editorial: At PA Capitol, It’s Ready, Fire, Aim On Reducing Weapons Trafficking

-- ScrantonT Editorial: Gun Violence Requires Broad Response

-- PA State Police: Gun Background Checks Increased 11% In Last Quarter Of 2021

-- PennLive - Jan Murphy: Republican House Members Call For Extending Attorney General’s Jurisdiction To Address Philly Gun Violence

-- WHYY: Philadelphia Releases Findings After Reviewing Over 2,000 Shootings In City-- 80% Of Shooting Victims, 79% Of Those Arrested For Shootings Are Black  

Inquirer: A Philadelphia Committee Spent 18 Months Examining The City’s Gun Violence Crisis, Here’s What It Found

-- WHYY: Philly DA: City’s 2022 Murder Rate Already Outpacing Record-Deadly 2021

-- Gov. Wolf Announces $23 Million In 2nd Round Of Gun Violence Intervention And Prevent Grants

-- ScrantonT: Loaded Gun Stolen From Sen. Marty Flynn’s Car Used In August Shooting By Teenager, Police Say

-- ScrantonT Column: ‘Dirty Marty’ Votes For A Gun In Every Glovebox [Sen. Marty Flynn]

-- ScrantonT Editorial: Sen. Flynn’s Carelessness With Guns Mirrors His Carelessness On Gun Legislation

-- LancasterOnline: ATF Agents Seize Illegal Guns From Leacock Twp. Property

-- AltoonaM: Blair County Eyes Gun Rights Sanctuary Language

-- ScrantonT: 2 Teens Charged In Plotting Columbine-Style Attack On Dunmore H.S. Waive Hearings

-- Inquirer: Philly DA Discusses Gun Violence After Officer’s Son Gunned Down

-- KYW: Son Of Philadelphia Police Officer, Killed In Targeted Shooting, Sources Say

-- PG - Tony Norman: Mysterious Shooting Death In Venango County, Family Deserves Real Answers

-- PG Editorial: Pittsburgh Mayor Should Release Jim Rogers Investigation

-- AP: Driver Charged In Alleged Dragging Of Philly Police Officer After SUV Stop

-- WHYY: Philadelphia Man Cleared After 37 Years In Prison Sues City

-- WITF/PennLive - Charles Thompson: Cumberland County Unveils New Mental Health, Counseling Program For First Responders

-- Gov. Wolf Announces $4.5 Million Available For Organizations Targeted By Hate Crimes To Increase Security

-- TribLive: Accused Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Says Jury System Is Flawed, Wants Charges Dismissed

-- PennLive: ‘Intimidating’ Stickers Left On Jewish Center At Dickinson College

-- PG Editorial: Antisemitism Is A Sickness We Can’t Allow To Spread

-- MCall/TNS: Poconos Resort Under Fire After Video Of Black Guests Wrongly Accused Of Shoplifting Goes Viral

-- TribLive: Civil Rights Activist And Pittsburgh Resident Alma Speed Fox Has Died

-- PennLive: Republican-Led Chambersburg Becomes First PA Town To Revoke LGBTQ Inclusive Law

-- PennLive: Lawmakers Call For Anti-Discrimination Statute After Chambersburg Revokes LGBTQ+ Ordinance

-- PG Editorial: Treating Addiction In Jail

 

-- PA Economy

-- Gov. Wolf Accelerate Deadline For $15/Hour Minimum Wage For State Employees

-- Gov. Wolf: Stop Disrespecting Workers By Finally Raising The Minimum Wage

-- Gov. Wolf: DCED Secretary Dennis Davin To Depart; Neil Weaver Named Acting Secretary

-- PA Housing Finance Agency To Launch $350 Million Pandemic PA Homeowner Assistance Fund Feb. 1

-- WESA: Need Help Paying Your Mortgage? New PA Program Opens Next Week

-- MCall: Lehigh Valley Renters Struggle To Find, Keep Affordable Housing As Prices Spike

-- PennLive: PA Restaurants Hope For Even More Financial Aid As They Struggle ‘More Than They Did In 2020’

-- MCall Guest Essay: How My Generation Ended Up Overeducated, Underemployed And Buried In Debt - Kutztown & Lehigh University Grad

-- PG: Report: Smaller Companies Sidelined In PA’s Legal Pot Market

[Posted: January 30, 2022]