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

Because In Politics Everything Is Connected To Everything Else--

-- Gov. Shapiro

-- Gov. Shapiro Releases $600 Million In Redevelopment Assistance Capital Project Funding

-- Budget 2025

-- PittsburghUnionProgress.com: State Legislators Break Promise To Address Transit Funding ‘Crisis’

-- Dept. Of Revenue Reports October Tax Collections $57.1 Million (1.7%) Above Governor’s Estimates; Fiscal Year Up $77.3 Million (0.6%) Above Estimate

-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports October State Revenue $71 Million (2.1%) Below IFO Estimates; Fiscal Year Up $385 Million (2.9%)

-- Statewide Races

-- Spotlight PA: How PA Candidates For Attorney General Plan To Approach Opioid Epidemic

-- PA House/Senate

-- Post-Gazette -Ford Turner: 2 Years After Tight Election Set Off Power Struggle In PA House, Both Sides Predict Victory

-- Spotlight PA: At Least $34 Million Spent On Key Races To Determine PA House, Senate Control

-- US Senate/House

-- WESA/AP: Republican Con. Scott Perry Led Conservative US House Takeover, Now He’s In A Tough Race Against A Moderate Democrat

-- November Election

-- TribLive: ‘Patience Is The Watch Word’ On Election Day As Votes Are Counted, Expert Says

-- WHYY: Campaign Messages Overwhelm Pennsylvania Voters

-- PennLive: Your Guide To The 2024 General Election In Pennsylvania

-- TribLive: Don’t Mail That Election Ballot, Deliver In Person To Ensure It Counts, Officials Say

-- PA Capital-Star: State Elections Office Said 2 Million Mail-In Ballot Applications Approved Ahead Of Deadline

-- AP: US Supreme Court Allows Pennsylvania To Count Contested Provisional Ballots, Rejecting Republican Plea

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: PA Supreme Court Puts Hold On Undated Mail Ballot Ruling To Avoid Confusion On Election Day

-- PA Capital-Star: Commonwealth Court Rules (Again) That Undated PA Mail-In Ballots Must Be Counted

-- AP: PA Court Loosens Mail Ballot Rules, But A Fast-Track Appeal Is Likely

-- AP: Republicans Ask US Supreme Court To Block Counting Some Provisions Ballots Cast After Mail-In Ballots Were Rejected For Not Having Privacy Envelopes In PA

-- AP: Federal Judge Tosses Lawsuit By PA Republican Members Of Congress Challenging PA Overseas, Military Voting 

-- PA Capital-Star: Federal Judge Cites ‘Phantom Fears Of Foreign Malfeasance’ In Dismissing Republican Challenge To PA Overseas, Military Voting 

-- WHYY: Judge Orders Bucks County To Extend Mail Ballot Deadline Following Republican Legal Challenge

-- LancasterOnline: More Than 4,000 Mail-In Ballots Receive Legal Challenge Across 14 PA Countie

-- AP: Lehigh County Extends Early In-Person Voting Deadline By One Day

-- Erie Times: Erie Judge Orders 11th-Hour Remedies For Erie County Voters Affected By Delayed Mail Ballots

-- Erie Times: Erie County Republican Activists Mailed Thousands Of Voter Registration Cancellation Forms

-- York Daily Record: Testimony: Voter Registration Cancellation Mailings Part Of Statewide Republican Group ‘PA Fair Elections’ Campaign

-- PA Capital-Star: PA Democratic Party Suing Erie County Over Thousands Of Missing Mail Ballots That Could Affect Up To 20,000 Voters

-- TribLive: Allegheny County Debunks Social Media Video About Bhutanese-Nepalese American Voters In South Park

-- TribLive: Allegheny County Says Voting Process Is Secure

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Allegheny County Elections Are The Best In The State, They Deserve More Trust

-- PennLive: Investigation Confirms ‘Hundreds’ Of Fake Voter Applications In Lancaster County

-- WITF: York County Approves Nearly Half Of Voter Registrations Submitted At Deadline, Refers 740 Others To District Attorney

-- WNEP: Monroe County District Attorney Reveals More Information On Fraudulent Voter Registration Forms

-- AP: Hundreds Of PA Voters Are Challenged By Republicans Based On Postal Service’s Change-Of-Address Database

-- WITF: Few Details Released On Possibly Suspicious Voter Registration Forms In York County

-- The Center Square: Firm Tied To Fraudulent Voter Registration ‘Scheme’ Goes Dark

-- AP: Clumsy Early In-Person Voting Option Has Backed Up Election Offices In PA, Frustrated Voters

-- KDKA: Washington County Board Of Elections Hires 20 Armed Security Guards

-- LancasterOnline: Lancaster County Commissioners Send ‘Cease And Desist’ Letter To F&M College Over Voter Registration Claims

-- TribLive: Westmoreland Fire Department Apologizes For Halloween Parade Entry With VP Harris Handcuffed, Leashed To Golf Cart

-- TribLive: Westmoreland Republican Leaders Skip Unity Rally Days After Parade Float Depicted Political Violence

-- TribLive Editorial: Halloween Parade No Place For Political Retribution

-- Post- Gazette: These Areas Of Pennsylvania Could Determine The Outcome Of The Election

-- MCall: PA Latinos Express Outrage Over Puerto Rico Insult At Ex-President’s Political Rally

-- Elections

-- PennLive - John Baer: Finally!  It’s Time For Pennsylvania’s ‘Only Poll That Counts’

-- AP: Separating Fact From Fiction In Pennsylvania’s Election Process

-- WSJ: Pennsylvania Has Already Become Ground Zero For Election-Fraud Claims

 -- WSJ: Pittsburgh Is Now The Center Of The Political Universe

-- AP: Listen To Erie County Business Owners, Voters, They Could Help Decide The White House

-- Financial Times: Winning The US Election Could Come Down To Erie County, Pennsylvania

-- AP: Investigations Into Voter Registration Forms In PA Lead To Wave Of Misinformation

-- Erie Times Guest Essay: Built-In Safeguards, Vigilant Workers Already Protecting PA Election Integrity - By Ed Rendell, Melissa Hart, Jim Gerlach, Keith McCall

-- Post-Gazette: Law Enforcement Statewide Is Bracing For Election Day

-- AP: Philadelphia DA Sues Elon Musk’s America PAC Over Its $1 Million Giveaway

-- National Politics

-- TribLive/AP: Ex-President’s New York Event Turns Into A Rally With Crude, Racist Insults

-- Post-Gazette: PA’s Puerto Rican Voters Newly Energized After Insulting Comments At Rally Last Weekend

-- WESA: As Charleroi Glass Plant Closes, Local Businesses Worry Immigrant Workforce Could Be Next To Go

-- PA Politics Of Russian Invasion

-- AAA Gasoline Prices: National- $3.12   Ohio- $3.05    PA- $3.32

-- National Fuel Gas Increases Natural Gas Costs 3.7% On Nov. 1

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: As Fracking Turns 20 In Pennsylvania, Towns Consider New Regulations For Distance Between Homes And Well Pads [Cecil Twp., Washington County]  [PDF of Article] 

-- Baker Hughes: PA Natural Gas Drill Rigs Increase One To 13 From Last Week, Still Down From 21 On Aug. 23

-- Gov. Shapiro, Joins 4 Other Governors To Call On PJM To Reform Its Electric Generating Capacity Auction Rules To Prevent Billions Of Dollars In 'Unnecessary’ Costs To Their Residents, Businesses  [PaEN]

-- Inquirer: Electric Bills Are Rising In PA, NJ; Governors Want PJM To Help Cut Costs 

-- Utility Dive: FirstEnergy CEO Again Suggests PA, Other Competitive Electricity States Should Procure Power Supplies Outside PJM Power Auctions 

-- Reuters: EQT Sees Data Centers, Coal Retirements Driving Natural Gas Demand

-- Reuters: Exelon Has 11 GW Of Likely Data Center Demand Within Its Service Territories As Utility Navigates Regulatory Fight On Who Pays Costs  [PECO]

-- Marcellus Drilling News: Massive Data Center With 3.5 GW Gas-Fired Power Plant Proposed In Pittsylvania County, Virginia On North Carolina Border [PDF of Article]

-- S&P Global: US Natural Gas Producer Coterra Signs LNG Gas Supply Deals With Vitol, UK’s Centrica Linked To LNG Prices

-- Capital & Main: Drill, Baby Drill?  Former Big Oil/Gas Exec Says That’s Exactly What The Industry Doesn’t Need-- Too Much Production Lowers Prices 

-- Reuters: EQT Sells Remaining Stakes In Nonoperating PA Natural Gas Assets For $1.25 Billion

-- Bloomberg: European Natural Gas Prices Post Biggest Weekly Decline Since January

-- Bloomberg: European Natural Gas Prices Drop As Goldman Warns Of Bearish Risks

-- Forbes: Has The Shale Gas Boom Peaked? US EIA Signals First Drop In Production

-- Three Mile Island Restart

-- NYT: A Three Mile Island, A Test Of Nuclear Power’s Promise 

-- Wilkes-Barre Times: No Deficiencies In Luzerne County Nuclear Power Plant Emergency Response Drill 

-- Forbes: Will AI Drive A Nuclear Renaissance, Or A Natural Gas Boom?

-- MSN: Amazon Announces Plan To Develop 4 Nuclear Power Plants Along Columbia River

-- Flooding

-- Aquatic Resource Restoration Company: Bringing Oil Creek Back To Life - A Floodplain Restoration Project In York County

-- WPost: On A Hurricane-Ravaged Appalachian Trail, Vast Damage And Uncertainty

-- White House: Update On Recovery Efforts From Hurricane Helene One Month Following The Storm

-- Education

-- Spotlight PA: Controversy, Conspiracies Dominate Oley Valley School District In Berks County After Extremist Takeover 

-- TribLive: Western PA Schools Are Rethinking Security, Experts Say: ‘Those Lost Lives Can Help Prevent Future Lost Lives’

-- TribLive: State Board Of Higher Education Names Executive Director

-- TribLive: Penn State Now The Home Of The US Supreme Court Online Database

-- Health Care

-- Post-Gazette: 8 Nursing Homes Solid In Bankruptcy, Including 6 In Western PA

-- Law Enforcement

-- Post-Gazette: Law Enforcement Statewide Is Bracing For Election Day

-- TribLive: Community, Worshippers Continue To ‘Heal Together’ On Anniversary Of Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting That Killed 11 People

-- The Economy

-- Wilkes-Barre Times: Funding Secured To Begin Construction On Scranton To New York Rail Line

-- WESA: As Charleroi Glass Plant Closes, Local Businesses Worry Immigrant Workforce Could Be Next To Go

-- Inquirer: Living And Dying In Sullivan County, One Of PA’s Most Rural Counties [Immigration Only Answer To Population Decline; Ranks 10th In PA Counties Natural Gas Production]  [PDF of Article]

[Posted: November 3, 2024] PA Environment Digest