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

Because In Politics Everything Is Connected To Everything Else--

-- PA Capital-Star: 81 Years Later, A Small Normandy Town Remembers The Sacrifices Of PA’s 28th Division 

-- MCall Guest Essay: Remembering The Life Of Gov. Robert P. Casey - By Fmr US Sen. Bob Casey

-- Gov. Shapiro

-- Gov. Shapiro Files Lawsuit Against USDA’s Unlawful Termination Of Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program That Benefits Food Banks, Farmers 

-- AP: Pennsylvania Suing USDA Over Cutting Funding To A $1 Billion Food Aid Program For States 

-- City & State PA: For Bipartisan Group Of PA Politicos, A Decades-Long Shapiro Connection

-- Inquirer: Gov. Shapiro: The Federal Administration Doesn’t Know How To Govern

-- Inquirer: Shapiro Talks Democracy And Citizens ‘Giving A Damn’ At America In One Room/Pennsylvania Event In Philadelphia

-- Inquirer: President Says He Would Support PA Republican Con. Dan Meuser For PA Governor, If He Runs

-- Inquirer: PA Hired 119 Former Federal Workers Amid DOGE Shake-Up

-- Budget 2025

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: PA Stares Down Bumpy Budget Battle As Shapiro Faces Swirl Of Issues, Divided Legislature

-- Spotlight PA: Federal Uncertainty Complicates PA Budget Haggling Over Transit, Education

-- WITF: PA House Passes Private Cyber Charter School Reform That Could Save Public Schools $616 Million, Unclear Future In PA Senate

-- PA Capital-Star: Home Repair Program In PA Would Continue Investment In Essential Renovations, Energy Efficiency Improvements

-- Post-Gazette Guest Essay: Funding Horse Racing With Government Funds Is Cruelty - By  Meghan Miller, Wilberforce Institute

-- Dept. Of Revenue Reports May Tax Revenues $66.3 Million (2%) Less Than Anticipated; Fiscal-Year-To-Date $262.5 Million (0.6%) Above Their Estimates

-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports May State Revenues $33 Million (1%) Lower Than IFO Estimates; Fiscal-Year-To-Day $559 Million (1.3%) Higher Than IFO Estimates

-- Spotlight PA: Millions For Public WiFi, Digital Skills Classes In PA Cut As President Targets ‘Racist’ Broadband Program 

-- PA House/Senate

-- WITF: PA Senate Committee Advancing Election Bills, Starting Small

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: PA House Committee Votes To Make State Attorney General A Watchdog On Hospital Purchases

-- PA Capital-Star: PA Pharmacists Demand State Action To Regulate PBMs, Curb Pharmacy Closures

-- Inquirer: Want To See A PA Law Changed?  Here’s Where Most Ideas Go To Die

-- US Senate/House

-- Inquirer: PA Member Of Congress Dean Grills President’s Commerce Secretary On Tariffs: “We Cannot Build Bananas In America’ 

-- TribLive: PA Member Of Congress Summer Lee Grills US Education Secretary On Diversity Equity Inclusion Policies

-- TribLive: Fetterman, McCormick Find Common Ground On Many Issues, Split On Federal Budget Plan

-- Post-Gazette Guest Essay: A Plan For Pennsylvania Prosperity [Nippon Steel] - By PA US Sen. McCormick

-- Scranton Times: Cartwright Not Running To Regain Seat In Congress

-- Erie Times Guest Essay: How Can PA Help Break Gridlock In Congress? Join The Call For Term Limits - By Former State Senators Andy Dinnimand and John Eichelberger

-- Statewide Offices

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: PA House Committee Votes To Make State Attorney General A Watchdog On Hospital Purchases

-- TribLive/AP: Congressional Senate Republicans Revise Ban On State A.I. Regulations In Bid To Preserve Controversial Provision

-- 2025 Elections

-- Scranton Times: PA Republicans Launch Voter Registration Drive As Democrats’ Advantage Shrinks

-- City & State PA: With An Eye On Judicial Elections, Conservative Activist Scott Presler Leads Voter Training In PA

-- TribLive: Republican Rift: Pittsburgh, Allegheny County Republicans Refuse To Back Moreno For Mayor

-- Elections

-- WITF: PA Senate Committee Advancing Election Bills, Starting Small

-- AP: US Supreme Court Rejects Republican Bid To Bar Some Provisional Ballots In PA

-- PA Impacts Of President’s Tariffs

-- Republican Herald Editorial: US Tariffs Are As Dangerous As They Are Illegal

-- The Center Square: What’s Next For US Steel After Merger With Nippon Steel

-- Post-Gazette Guest Essay: A Plan For Pennsylvania Prosperity [Nippon Steel] - By PA US Sen. McCormick

-- Inquirer: PA Member Of Congress Dean Grills President’s Commerce Secretary On Tariffs: “We Cannot Build Bananas In America’ 

-- AP: 50% Tariffs On Steel, Aluminum Start Wednesday

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Aluminum Industry Warns President’s New Tariffs Could Damage US Supply Chain And Defense Capabilities 

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: New Steel, Aluminum Tariffs To Hit Construction Industry

-- Wall Street Journal Editorial: President’s 50% Tariff Will Punish US Steel Users, Including American Car Makers

-- AP: President’s Tariffs Would Cut US Deficits By $2.8 Trillion Over 10 Years, And Shrink The US Economy, Raise Inflation, Reduce Household Purchasing Power, CBO Says

-- AP: Congressional Republican Tax Bill Will Add $2.4 Trillion To The Deficit, Leave 10.9 Million More Without Health Insurance, CBO Says

-- PA Impacts Of President’s Policies

-- Gov. Shapiro Files Lawsuit Against USDA’s Unlawful Termination Of Local Food Purchasing Assistance Program That Benefits Food Banks, Farmers 

-- AP: Pennsylvania Suing USDA Over Cutting Funding To A $1 Billion Food Aid Program For States 

-- Republican Herald Editorial: Elon Musk Is Putting The DOGE Chain Saw Down, But The Damage Has Been Done

-- Inquirer: Veterans Administration Employees Rally In Philly: ‘Save Our Jobs, Save Our Vets’ 

-- TribLive: US Dept. Of Homeland Security Takes Down List Of ‘Sanctuary Jurisdictions’ Posted Last Week 

-- Republican Herald: Federal ICE Arrests Pottsville Man Who Came To US In 2009

-- Republican Herald: Letter Campaign Underway To Support Man Arrested By Federal ICE In Pottsville 

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Pittsburgh Job Corps Campus To Shutter, Displacing Hundreds Of Students And Staff

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Pittsburgh Job Corps Center Closure To Have ‘Lasting Consequences’ On Region’s Workforce; 438 Students Affected 

-- Williamsport Sun: Sullivan County Job Corps Center To Close

-- Post-Gazette: Federal Judge Rules AmeriCorps Must Restore Grant Funding And Members To States That Sued Over Cuts, Including PA 

-- Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh Job Corps To Remain Open For Now After Court Order Blocking President’s Shutdown

-- WESA: Spurred By Federal Job Corps Loss, Allegheny County Forms Team To Respond To President’s Cuts

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Job Corps Is  A Program Everyone Should Like, Pittsburgh Shouldn’t Let It Die

-- Post-Gazette: Richard King Mellon Foundation Pledges $2.6 Million For New Job Training Opportunities

-- TribLive: Federal Mine Safety Offices In PA Pulled From List Of DOGE Closures

-- TribLive Editorial: Where Does President Stand On Coal Mining?  [Future Of Mine Safety Offices]

-- TribLive/AP: President’s EPA Moves To Roll Back Rules Projected To Save Billions Of Dollars And Thousands Of Lives 

-- AP: Impact Of Potential EPA Rule Cuts [Video] 

-- Post-Gazette: More Than 600,000 PA Children Could Be Blocked From Full Child Tax Credit In ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ 

-- WITF/LancasterOnline: Democrats, Advocates In Harrisburg Urge Republicans To Oppose Federal Medicaid Cuts

-- TribLive: Report: Congressional Republican Medicaid Cuts Will Hurt PA Hospitals, Patients

-- Post-Gazette: Study: Proposed Republican Medicaid Cuts Endanger 7 UPMC Hospitals

-- PennLive: Federal Budget Bill Would Create Healthcare Funding Headache For PA

-- MCall Guest Essay: Congressional Republican Budget Bill Will Cost 43,000 Lehigh Valley Residents Their Health Insurance - By Jane Berger, Moravian University

-- Tribune-Democrat: Behavioral Health Professionals Sound Alarm On Potential Federal Funding Cuts

-- Tribune-Democrat: Sheetz Racial Discrimination Case On The Chopping Block As President Rewrites Civil Rights

-- Wall Street Journal: FEMA Scraps New Hurricane Plan And Reverts To Last Year’s; New FEMA Head Recently Learned There Was An Annual Hurricane Season 

-- NPR: FEMA Was Starting To Fix Long-Standing Problems, Then The New President Came

-- The Atlantic: FEMA Is Not Prepared, Citizens Could Be On Their Own This Hurricane Season

-- TribLive/AP: Congressional Senate Republicans Revise Ban On State A.I. Regulations In Bid To Preserve Controversial Provision

-- Spotlight PA: Millions For Public WiFi, Digital Skills Classes In PA Cut As President Targets ‘Racist’ Broadband Program 

-- WHYY: Congressional Republican Budget Bill Would Slash PA Schools’ Savings From Planned Solar Energy Projects By Cutting Tax Credits

-- TribLive: Harvard Gets Backing Of Other Universities, Including Pitt, In Funding Fight With President

-- WESA - Rachel McDevitt: With Significant Chinese Student Enrollment, Pitt And CMU Could Feel Hit From President Revoking Visas 

-- TribLive - Joseph Sabino Mistick: America’s Coming Brain Drain Due To President’s Actions

-- PennLive: President’s Foreign Visa Suspensions Threaten ‘Beacon’ Of Higher Education In PA And Beyond 

-- Post-Gazette Guest Essay: First They Came For Harvard, They’ll Come For Us - By Bruce Ledewitz, Duquesne School Of Law

--The Allegheny Front: Logging Will Increase 10% In Allegheny National Forest Under President’s Directive 

-- Williamsport Sun: PA Hardwoods Industry Worries About Impact Of President’s Tariffs On Wood Industry  

-- Inquirer: DOGE Closed Campgrounds At Federal Raystown Lake, Now The Locals Are Suffering: ‘If They Don’t Do Anything Soon, This Summer Is Ruined’

-- Bloomberg: President Plans To Offload National Park Sites, But States Don’t Want Them [Flight 93 Memorial; Gettysburg National Military Park, Delaware Water Gap] 

-- New Federal Administration

-- Inquirer: Gov. Shapiro: The Federal Administration Doesn’t Know How To Govern

-- TribLive Editorial: Response Team To Deal With Federal Disruptions May Be Best Way To React 

-- Republican Herald Editorial: Office For Sale: President’s Cryptocurrency Self-Dealings Corrupt Washington

-- National Politics

-- Financial Times: Could A Small Pennsylvania Town [Stroudsburg] Help Democrats Rediscover Their Mojo? 

-- AP: Some Pittsburgh Steelers Fans Upset President Received A Jersey At Political Rally 

-- Miscellaneous State/Harrisburg Politics

-- Inquirer: Want To See A PA Law Changed?  Here’s Where Most Ideas Go To Die

-- Financial Times: Could A Small Pennsylvania Town [Stroudsburg] Help Democrats Rediscover Their Mojo? 

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: PA’s Right To Know Law Is Too Easily Circumvented By Government

-- Inquirer: PA Museum Officials Contracted With Canadian Company To Sail The US Brig Niagara To An Ohio Shipyard For Maintenance

-- International/National Impacts On PA Natural Gas

-- AAA Gasoline Prices:  National- $3.14  Ohio- $3.06   PA- $3.23

-- PUC Reminder: June 1 Electric Price Increases Now In Effect - Tips On How To Take Control Of Your Summer Electric Bill 

-- W&J Center For Energy Policy & Management: Electric Bill Price Hikes Ahead In PA

-- NYT: Electricity Prices Are Surging, The Republican Budget Bill Could Push Them Higher [Data Center Boom, Rising LNG Gas Exports, Cuts In Clean Energy Tax Breaks]

-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports First Quarter PA Natural Gas Production Increased 2.9% Over 1st Quarter 2024; Price Of Natural Gas Increased 218% Over 1st Quarter 2024  [PaEN]

-- Baker Hughes: PA Natural Gas Drilling Rigs 18, Same As Last Week

-- Bloomberg: A.I.’s Urgent Need For Power Spurs Return Of Dirtier Gas Turbines

-- PA Capital-Star/Inside Climate News: Meta Strikes 20-Year Nuclear Power Deal With Constellation Energy [Taking More Power From Grid]

-- Utility Dive: US DOE Orders Constellation To Delay Retiring 760 MW Eddystone Peaking Natural Gas Power Plant In PA To Ease PJM ‘Emergency’ [PJM Had Earlier Approved The Plant Shutdown Saying There Was No Grid Reliability Risk] 

-- AP: US DOE Keeps Aging PA Power Plant Online Through Summer

-- Inside Climate News - Jon Hurdle: Aging PA Power Plant Ordered To Keep Running On Eve Of Shutdown; Environmentalists Say There Is No Energy ‘Emergency’

-- Utility Dive: Electricity Consumer Groups Urge FERC To Improve Load Forecasts Now Riddled With ‘Uncertainty And Lack Of Transparency’  [Data Center Demand, Unnecessary Rate Increases]

-- Utility Dive Guest Essay: FERC Skimps On Winter Storm Failure Analysis, No Data On Generators That Failed - By Paul Arbaje, Union of Concerned Scientists

-- Reuters: Energy Transfer Seeking US Government Permission To Continue Exporting Ethane To China, Our Economic And Military Competitor [Major Ethane Pipeline Operator In PA] 

-- Reuters: CEO Seeking To Build Pennsylvania LNG Gas Export Terminal Meets With White House To Ship To Asian, European Markets 

-- Reuters: US LNG Gas Exports Drop In May From April’s Record Due To Facility Outages, Maintenance

-- Reuters Guest Essay: Five Charts On Key US Electricity And Power Generation Trends

-- Flooding

-- TribLive: Flooding Hammers Murrysville, Areas Near Turtle Creek; 95 People Evacuated In Westmoreland County 

-- Post-Gazette: Flooding Prompts Evacuations In Plum, Monroeville; Road Closures In Allegheny County 

-- TribLive: Newborns, High School Grads, Elderly Rescued From Floods In Western PA 

-- TribLive: Residents, Businesses In Murrysville-Export Area Start Cleanup From Friday’s Deluge 

-- KDKA: 83-Year-Old With A Massive Hole In His Driveway From Flooding Staying Positive Despite Cleanup: ‘Just Have To Fix It’ 

-- Post-Gazette: Allegheny County Declares Disaster As Flood Recovery Continues Around Pittsburgh Region 

-- WNEP: Pittston Street Submerged In Deep Flood Water Saturday In Luzerne County

-- Tribune-Democrat: Somerset County Seats Committee To Review Applications To County Disaster Relief Fund

-- PEMA Publishes New Guidelines For State Disaster Recovery Assistance Program

-- Stroud Water Research Center: How Hurricane Ida Sparked A Major Investigation In Brandywine Watershed 

-- Wall Street Journal: FEMA Scraps New Hurricane Plan And Reverts To Last Year’s; New FEMA Head Recently Learned There Was An Annual Hurricane Season 

-- NPR: FEMA Was Starting To Fix Long-Standing Problems, Then The New President Came

-- The Atlantic: FEMA Is Not Prepared, Citizens Could Be On Their Own This Hurricane Season

-- WHYY: Forecasters Predict Busy Hurricane Season For 2025

-- Gas Explosions

-- DEP: Shell Petrochemical Plant Fire Resulted In Possible Release Of An Unknown Quantity Of 1,3-Butadiene And Benzene Into The Atmosphere In Beaver County  [PaEN]  

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Shell Petrochemical Plant Still Investigating Fire At Beaver County Ethane Furnace 

-- The Allegheny Front - Reid Frazier: Explosion, Smoke Reported At Shell Petrochemical Plant In Beaver County

-- Reuters: Shell Reports June 4 Fire At Ethylene Cracker Plant In Pennsylvania

-- Train Derailments

-- AP: Confusion On Sensor Plane’s Abilities Delayed Response To Norfolk Southern Train Derailment, Report Says

-- Three Mile Island Restart/Data Centers

-- Altoona Mirror/AP: Pennsylvania Lawmakers Concerned Over Data Centers

-- Post-Gazette: PA Lawmakers Pushing For A.I. Companies To Take Root In PA [Pushing Legislation To Drop Regulations]

-- Observer-Reporter Guest Essay: How PA Can Best Support The A.I. Data Center Revolution - By Colin McNickle, Allegheny Institute For Public Policy  [Quick Permitting, No Taxpayer Subsidies]

-- PennLive Guest Essay: Restarting Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant Can Help Reverse Dangerous Air Quality Issues In Central PA - By Ralph DeSantis, Retired TMI Manager  [It’s Not Replacing Anything, It’s Adding To]

-- MCall: With An Amazon Data Center In Northampton County Out Of The Picture, Will Lehigh Valley Developer Find Another? 

-- Post-Gazette: New Ardent A.I. Data Center Opens In Allegheny County, But Doesn’t Have Its Computers Yet

-- PennLive: Middlesex Twp., Cumberland County Adopted New Zoning To Allow Hyperscale A.I. Data Center Development

-- Bloomberg: A.I.’s Urgent Need For Power Spurs Return Of Dirtier Gas Turbines

-- The Center Square: Virginia Data Center Electricity Demand Part Of US DOE Order Requiring PA Peaking Power Plant To Remain Open

-- W&J Center For Energy Policy & Management: Summer 2025 Brings Warnings Of Risk To Electric Reliability Due To Data Centers, Severe Weather Reliability

-- Utility Dive: A.I. Data Centers Could Overwhelm The Electric Grid, Unless They Are Required To Run Their Facilities On New Power Sources, Market Analytics Says 

-- PA Capital-Star/Inside Climate News: Meta Strikes 20-Year Nuclear Power Deal With Constellation Energy [Taking More Power From Grid]

-- Utility Dive: Electricity Consumer Groups Urge FERC To Improve Load Forecasts Now Riddled With ‘Uncertainty And Lack Of Transparency’  [Data Center Demand, Unnecessary Rate Increases]

-- Education

-- Spotlight PA: Federal Uncertainty Complicates PA Budget Haggling Over Transit, Education

-- WITF: PA House Passes Private Cyber Charter School Reform That Could Save Public Schools $616 Million, Unclear Future In PA Senate

-- Erie Times: Are 500 School Districts Too Many?  PA Lawmaker Eyes Consolidation To 100

-- PA Capital-Star: Harrisburg City School District Becomes First In PA History To Emerge From Receivership

-- TribLive: Educators Debate PA House Proposal To Set Flat Cyber Charter Tuition Rate

-- PennLive: PA Cyber Charter Private School Censors Student Journalists For Reporting Critically About School

-- WHYY: Congressional Republican Budget Bill Would Slash PA Schools’ Savings From Planned Solar Energy Projects By Cutting Tax Credits

-- TribLive: PA Member Of Congress Summer Lee Grills US Education Secretary On Diversity Equity Inclusion Policies

-- TribLive: Harvard Gets Backing Of Other Universities, Including Pitt, In Funding Fight With President

-- Post-Gazette: As Penn State Campuses Close, Regional Colleges Step Up To Support Students

-- WESA - Rachel McDevitt: With Significant Chinese Student Enrollment, Pitt And CMU Could Feel Hit From President Revoking Visas 

-- TribLive - Joseph Sabino Mistick: America’s Coming Brain Drain Due To President’s Actions

-- PennLive: President’s Foreign Visa Suspensions Threaten ‘Beacon’ Of Higher Education In PA And Beyond 

-- Post-Gazette Guest Essay: First They Came For Harvard, They’ll Come For Us - By Bruce Ledewitz, Duquesne School Of Law

-- TribLive Editorial: Does College Still Have A Purpose In The Age Of A.I.?

-- Health Care

-- Post-Gazette - Ford Turner: PA House Committee Votes To Make State Attorney General A Watchdog On Hospital Purchases

-- PA Capital-Star: PA Pharmacists Demand State Action To Regulate PBMs, Curb Pharmacy Closures

-- WITF/LancasterOnline: Democrats, Advocates In Harrisburg Urge Republicans To Oppose Federal Medicaid Cuts

-- Post-Gazette: Study: Proposed Republican Medicaid Cuts Endanger 7 UPMC Hospitals

-- PennLive: Federal Budget Bill Would Create Healthcare Funding Headache For PA

-- MCall Guest Essay: Congressional Republican Budget Bill Will Cost 43,000 Lehigh Valley Residents Their Health Insurance - By Jane Berger, Moravian University

-- Tribune-Democrat: Behavioral Health Professionals Sound Alarm On Potential Federal Funding Cuts

-- PA Capital-Star: Community Pharmacists In PA Say They’re Struggling To Absorb Rite Aid’s Customers 

-- Law Enforcement

-- TribLive: US Dept. Of Homeland Security Takes Down List Of ‘Sanctuary Jurisdictions’ Posted Last Week 

-- Republican Herald: Federal ICE Arrests Pottsville Man Who Came To US In 2009

-- Republican Herald: Letter Campaign Underway To Support Man Arrested By Federal ICE In Pottsville 

-- Tribune-Democrat: Sheetz Racial Discrimination Case On The Chopping Block As President Rewrites Civil Rights

-- The Economy

-- Post-Gazette - Anya Litvak: Pittsburgh Job Corps Campus To Shutter, Displacing Hundreds Of Students And Staff

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Pittsburgh Job Corps Center Closure To Have ‘Lasting Consequences’ On Region’s Workforce; 438 Students Affected 

-- Williamsport Sun: Sullivan County Job Corps Center To Close

-- Post-Gazette: Federal Judge Rules AmeriCorps Must Restore Grant Funding And Members To States That Sued Over Cuts, Including PA 

-- Post-Gazette: Pittsburgh Job Corps To Remain Open For Now After Court Order Blocking President’s Shutdown

-- WESA: Spurred By Federal Job Corps Loss, Allegheny County Forms Team To Respond To President’s Cuts

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Job Corps Is  A Program Everyone Should Like, Pittsburgh Shouldn’t Let It Die

-- Post-Gazette: Richard King Mellon Foundation Pledges $2.6 Million For New Job Training Opportunities

-- TribLive/AP: Congressional Senate Republicans Revise Ban On State A.I. Regulations In Bid To Preserve Controversial Provision

-- Spotlight PA: Millions For Public WiFi, Digital Skills Classes In PA Cut As President Targets ‘Racist’ Broadband Program 

-- The Center Square: What’s Next For US Steel After Merger With Nippon Steel

-- Post-Gazette Guest Essay: A Plan For Pennsylvania Prosperity [Nippon Steel] - By PA US Sen. McCormick

-- Republican Herald Editorial: US Tariffs Are As Dangerous As They Are Illegal

-- AP: 50% Tariffs On Steel, Aluminum Start Wednesday

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: Aluminum Industry Warns President’s New Tariffs Could Damage US Supply Chain And Defense Capabilities 

-- Pittsburgh Business Times: New Steel, Aluminum Tariffs To Hit Construction Industry

-- Wall Street Journal Editorial: President’s 50% Tariff Will Punish US Steel Users, Including American Car Makers

-- Other

-- Republican Herald: Schuylkill PrideFest Brings People Together 

[Posted: June 8, 2025]