News Digest :: July 19, 2022

Legislature

Sen. Jim Brewster: The PLCB, a profitable business model serving rural and urban areas, under assault (broadandliberty.com)

The Pennsylvania National Guard Is Getting a Pay Raise – MyChesCo

More transparency sought in Pennsylvania oil, gas industry | Pennsylvania | thecentersquare.com

State Senate examines gubernatorial line of succession law – City & State Pennsylvania (cityandstatepa.com)

Harrisburg Republicans: Nice bike lanes permitted only under these conditions (inquirer.com)

Analysis: Wolf traded away charter school reform for education funding (buckscountycouriertimes.com)

Each of Pa.’s 500 school districts to get safety, mental health grants as part of $200 million investment | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

New Pa. budget injects $125M into private school tax credit program that lacks accountability | TribLIVE.com

State deal nets millions for homeowners, renters | Columnists | heraldstandard.com

Election officials risk criminal charges under 31 new GOP-imposed penalties – Pennsylvania Capital-Star (penncapital-star.com)

Large donation will help feed the hungry – South Philly Review

$1M grant will help prep former Sony industrial site in East Huntingdon for tenants | TribLIVE.com

 

Coronavirus – COVID-19

COVID patients find dangerous advice and pills online : Shots – Health News : NPR

COVID rises across U.S. amid muted warnings and murky data | Coronavirus | standardspeaker.com

Bucks County reported 872 additional COVID-19 cases this week (theintell.com)

Scars of COVID persist for sickest survivors, their families | Coronavirus | tribdem.com

 

Business/Jobs

SBA’s Covid-19 EIDL program should process all applications, senators say – Philadelphia Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

CBRE report ranks Philadelphia among nation’s top markets for life sciences talent – Philadelphia Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

Goldman Sachs CEO worries recession more likely than his own economists : NPR

Gas prices continue to fall on drop in demand, declining oil prices | TribLIVE.com

Market boosts area farms struggling with inflation | News | thetimes-tribune.com

 

Education

Wolf administration reveals multi-year plan to address educator workforce shortage – Pennsylvania Capital-Star (penncapital-star.com)

The Pa. Department of Education released a roadmap Monday to bolster its number of teachers (inquirer.com)

Pennsylvania unveils extensive plan to tackle growing teacher shortage (delcotimes.com)

Pennsbury school board must pay $300k for violating residents’ free speech rights (broadandliberty.com)

Malvern Mom Threatens Lawsuit Against Great Valley Over Sexually Explicit Books – DV Journal (delawarevalleyjournal.com)

Penn law professor faces evaluation by peers for ‘racist speech’ | Local News | phillytrib.com

Former Upper Bucks Tech School director says firing was over mask rules (buckscountycouriertimes.com)

Only 28% of Americans have ‘a lot of confidence’ in public schools: poll – pennlive.com

 

Elections/Politics

Oz’s Strategy to Win Over PA Dems: Trump Who? (politicspa.com)

Inflation bigger issue than Jan. 6 in competitive House races : NPR

CNN Poll: Most Americans are discontented with Biden, the economy and the state of the country | News | phillytrib.com

See how many Democrats became Republicans in Pa. in 2022 – pennlive.com

PA Senate race: Fetterman out-raises Oz by $8.7M in Q2 (abc27.com)

GOP candidates in PA statewide races see funding slump through June (ydr.com)

Pennsylvania Democrats may be facing a tough November, but they aren’t going in empty-handed | WITF

Elizabeth Warren to head fundraiser for Fetterman in Pennsylvania Senate race (abc27.com)

Ciresi, Neafcy Face Off Again in House 146 District – DV Journal (delawarevalleyjournal.com)

Vice President Harris addresses NAACP convention; urges Black voter participation | News | phillytrib.com

Doug Mastriano helps celebrate the political movement that made him at film premiere | WITF

IRS complaints filed against church for screening conservative movie featuring Mastriano – pennlive.com

 

Environment

PA moves water quality and saving the Chesapeake ‘to the front burner’ (ydr.com)

Banner hung from Beaver County bridge denounces Shell cracker plant | Pittsburgh City Paper (pghcitypaper.com)

Researchers still don’t know what killed hundreds of birds last summer | WITF

 

Transportation

Unpaid Pa. Turnpike tolls increase by $50 million (mcall.com)

Flight cancellations at Pittsburgh International Airport among highest nationwide | Pittsburgh City Paper (pghcitypaper.com)

Allegheny County Airport authority CEO testifies about concession company ‘putting us at risk’ | TribLIVE.com

Pittsburgh International Airport CEO defends attempted eviction of airmall operator | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

 

Health

Monkeypox keeps spreading. Here’s what authorities are doing to stop it : NPR

Community Briefs: Widener professor receives $1.9 million from National Institutes of Health to advance research on birth-related injury – Delco Times

Abortion medications set to become the next legal battleground | Analysis – Pennsylvania Capital-Star (penncapital-star.com)

Heat and humidity limits being tested by Penn State researchers (inquirer.com)

 

State News

Pennsylvania gambling expected to hit $5B in revenues for 2022 | Pennsylvania | thecentersquare.com

Pa. Rep. Evans’ military academy diversity legislation passes U.S. House – Pennsylvania Capital-Star (penncapital-star.com)

Evans’ military academy diversity legislation passes House | Local News | phillytrib.com

R. Seth Williams: Progressive myths or reality-based solutions (broadandliberty.com)

Op-ed: Hold elected officials accountable for gun safety votes (buckscountycouriertimes.com)

Guest Opinion: My change of heart on gun law reforms (buckscountycouriertimes.com)

Unproven program gets budget windfall, a PSU extortion plot, and Jim Thorpe reclaims the gold · Spotlight PA

$267M in federal aid headed to Pa. to help small biz in underserved communities | Tuesday Coffee – Pennsylvania Capital-Star (penncapital-star.com)

As Pa. faces ‘looming crisis’ of new abandoned wells, state law will freeze well bonding rates for a decade | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

 

National News

Abortion ban blocked in W.Va.; Louisiana awaits ruling | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

N.J. panel may explore loosening mail-in ballot election challenge rule – Pennsylvania Capital-Star (penncapital-star.com) 

Uvalde report shows that gun laws matter, says Texas House committee member : NPR

Parkland school shooter was ‘cold, calculative, manipulative and deadly,’ prosecutors say in death penalty trial | News | phillytrib.com

Are gun buyback programs worth it? The answer is complicated. | Local News | phillytrib.com

Putin heads to Tehran for talks with leaders of Iran, Turkey | News | tribdem.com

Texas state police launch internal review of Uvalde response – Daily Local

The Supreme Court’s abortion, EPA rulings could open the door to more democracy | Bruce Ledewitz – Pennsylvania Capital-Star (penncapital-star.com)

U.K. breaks its record for highest temperature as heat builds (inquirer.com)

 

Local News

Harrisburg seeking millions to renovate parks (abc27.com)

Upper Darby Mayor will hold Town Hall meeting Tuesday to discuss ARPA funds – Delco Times

Hot temps on tap in Northeast PA for next week | Crime-Emergency | thetimes-tribune.com

Scranton opens ARPA grant program for pandemic-impacted nonprofits | Coronavirus | thetimes-tribune.com

A councilman in Reading wants the city to implement reparations for slavery | WITF

Easton council unanimous in support for state, federal abortion protections – lehighvalleylive.com

 

Pitt

Downtown Pittsburgh experiencing growth in housing market (nextpittsburgh.com)

Picklesburgh attendance ‘largest ever’ according to organizers | TribLIVE.com

 

Philly

Task force tracks man accused of building ghost guns in Philly | WITF

 

Washington

House to vote on same-sex marriage in effort to push back against court : NPR

Steve Bannon trial related to Jan. 6 begins with jury selection : NPR

Staff in several U.S. House offices begin the process of unionizing | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette